Ello mate!!

It's nice to find another person going to the Austin Spill Party who isn't a yank haha. Just to let let you know I'm from Britain so it's cool to see another pint drinker is heading across the pond to the states. Take it easy mate

Things are pretty decent, the weather is changing (I live in NY State) and it's getting really cold now. As far as what I'm reading, the comics I'm picking up are Jeff Smith's "Rasl." #3 just came out, and it's now one of my favorite current books.

Other than that, I've just finished re-reading Craig Thompson's "Blankets", a fantastic autobiographical story in graphic novel form.

I'm also reading the latest "Joe Pitt Casebook" which isn't a comic, they're a private-eye "noir" style book series written by Charlie Huston. (my profile pic is from the first book in the seires, Already Dead). It tells the story of Joe Pitt, tough-guy and smart ass living in Manhattan... Oh, and he's also a vampire. There are a lot of vampire stories going around in books and TV nowadays, but for my money, this is the best one of them all.

Sure thing, man! Sorry it was so long. I think though that it's good to "test the fear muscles" and the best and safest way to do that is with stories. And, you know, it might just not be your cup of tea. Some genres aren't for everyone.

But if you decide to ease into the genre, I'd stick with ones that have a really good solid story with good characters... so then even if you don't like Horror, at least it was well written, and had something to say. lemme suggest a few:

Jaws (some people don't qualify this as horror, but for me, it's up there because it continues to scare me each time I see it, and I really like the heroes of the story).

Jacob's Ladder This is a really under-rated one. It has some genuinely creepy parts, but the suspense and horror aspects are just a coat of paint on top of something else, a really smart character piece, with suggestions of what happens between life and death. focusing on Tim Robbin's character, who suffered in the Vietnam War, but is haunted by visions in NYC. The calm and almost spiritual scenes between Robbin's character and his chiropractor friend (played by Danny Aiello) are incredible, and worth the price of rental.

Shaun of the Dead: Like Jacob's Ladder... this movie uses a zombie outbreak as window dressing on top of a romantic comedy about a 20 something guy who needs to start acting responsibly. If anything you have to respect the way it shifts gears from Humor, to Dramatic, to Terror and right back to Humor so effortlessly. Not to use a pun, but it really has a lot of heart.

Evil Dead II: This technically is horror, because it's got blood and gore, but what makes this special is that it has more of a "three stooges" or "Looney Tunes" quality to it. It's just so goofy...

28 Days Later. Caution: this one is very intense, it is very gruesome... but it also has the flip side to all these things. it has moments of genuine calm, love and care. When two opposite forces mix together, you get the full spectrum of human emotion. It's the different motives & differing philosophies that generate a really smart snapshot as to how this movie's world came about and where it goes from here. It has great characters (both good & bad) got a GREAT ending. (word to the wise... AVOID the sequel, "28 Weeks Later". everything good that "28 Days" brought to the table, "28 Weeks" is just "run of the mill horror fare")

Hey man, what's up? I saw your question in the League Lounge. While I know you're definitely waiting to hear comments back from the LEOG guys, I too once shared your same thought on Horror movies. It wasn't until college, when I was assigned to write a ghost story for my writing class... that I realized "hey, I don't know what is scary..." I had never seen a horror movie growing up, and wasn't much of a horror reader... so I had to do research on how scary stories were told...

Anyway, I'm getting away from the point. at first I just avoided them because I didn't want to be scared. but as I approached it from an analytical standpoint, as RESEARCH, I was able to introduce myself to the horror genre and I found out what I liked and what I didn't (and what scared me, and what didn't).

I learned that the films that scared me... what I learned was that on some level, it's good to sort of "test out" the fear mechanisms of the mind. Movies are perfect for that. They're cheaper than roller coasters, and better for your health. (you can also stop them anytime...) it's that sort of simulated fear that gives you the thrills but you ARE safe.

Another thing I learned about horror is that your own imagination is more terrifying than what is on the screen. Before I introduced myself to Horror, I imagined these movies as the be-all-end-all of terror... but then watching them I realized they weren't all that. (some suspense movies can be more frightening than a bloody "horror" film)

The other valuable thing I think that Horror does; is that in real life, there are things that are immense. Huge life events that, when you experience them, you could never fathom the reasoning behind it (say, the death of a loved one... or a natural disaster or something)... Horror is basically scary fantasy. You watch a well made horror film (with good writing etc.) and it can sometimes help put feelings and thoughts into perspective. There was this lecture I heard once, a writer basically said that many of the greatest classic horror and sci-fi films in history directly related to what was troubling of the day. he used "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" as an illustration of the 50's. This film was wildly popular at a time when the US was under McCarthyism... the worry of "communists might be in your own town!" and also the fact that your neighbor might turn you in... if you're not careful!" that's just one example out of many. but (good) horror films can be like a mirror to our own society. By using fiction, it can sort of get your mind thinking about some stuff that you might not think about otherwise.

During this Horror movie experiment, I learned other things... that the bulk majority of Horror movies ARE NOT SCARY. some are simply "gross out movies." (any of your Fulci films) others are just goofy violence exploitation (Evil Dead II, which is ZANY, like a Looney Tunes cartoon with monsters). But most of them out there, they TRY to scare but fail.

For example, the movies that spooked me as a kid (I didn't see these films, but of course I was aware of them) the Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm St. films... I learned that most of the horror genre was pretty much just SILLY. Bloody, yes, but primarily just silly.

Woof, sorry about the long winded post. when it's late I tend to ramble as I type.

You should really pose your question to the LEOG 15 discussion board instead of the League Lounge comments.

Thanks!

Korey said it would be really soon ... this week is SXSW and everything is crazy around here so I would give it a couple of weeks ... SXSW just started so we will be busy for another week or so with all these movies. =)

I know that is why i was bugging Korey so much about letting me do a review ... I wanted to do one for once also but no luck yet on that one =) but anyway thank you so much for the compliments .... and no I will never let them have me ....NEVER =0 LOL

I was in Brisbane about a month ago. I got pics like that from that Andy Warhol exhibit,too

Sounds like you felt the same way I did.