Will Smith's Comment

Celebrities make me sick.

(You may think I am going one way with this, but just stick around...)

They are over-privileged. They are overpaid. And they are overrated. They flaunt their money and turn that money into power. They think that they can do no wrong. They think they are above the law. They think that they are gods.

And the populace has put them there. JFLY is not a highly paid celebrity because no one would even consider buying a JFLY t-shirt or seeing a JFLY movie. We have made these celebrities the new gods because we continue to idolize them by flocking to see their movies, purchasing their jerseys, and gossiping about the latest dirt spilled on those worthless early evening Hollywood TV shows.

Do some celebrities not suck? Yes. Do some of them do good in our society? Yes. I would love to shake Bono's hand for his work. And I would love to tell Oprah that she is an inspiration. But that's all any celebrity is getting from me; no autograph requests, just a handshake and a kind word - when it is deserved.

That is not often, by the way, but here is a nice blog that shows some of the good work that celebrities do: http://celebrity-do-gooders.blogspot.com/

Now that I have bashed the new gods, let me even out the scales. Celebrity does have its disadvantages. The most obvious one is privacy. Watch those garbage Hollywood TV gossip shows for more of that crap. Another is that even though those same celebrities are worshiped by the sheep of this world, they will be torn apart by those same sheep when something bad happens. Real or perceived.

Take Will Smith. Does Will Smith suck? I think not. But he is a celebrity and recently he was targeted by some vicious gossip journalists for something that he said. Allow me to reprint that quote, thanks to CNN.com:

"Even Hitler didn't wake up going, 'let me do the most evil thing I can do today.' I think that he woke up in the morning and using a twisted, backwards logic, he set out to do what he thought was 'good'."

What Will Smith said was anti-Hitler. That is plainly obvious to me.

Okay, now here is where the stupid comes in...

The sheep out there in the world hear the word "Hitler" come out of somebody's mouth and think one of two things: 1) That was obviously anti-Hitler, so I like that person, or 2) That was not obviously anti-Hitler, so that person must be a secret Nazi.

The press knows that there are only two boxes in which to place a "Hitler" comment. They play on that. And they targeted Will Smith because they knew the stupid sheep would not be able to place such an intelligently phrased statement into box #1. The gossip press does not care. They will tarnish the good name of anyone to get a story. And when that story has played itself out, they will move on to another story. However, that person's image will still remain tarnished.

Will Smith issued a statement that pointed out the heinous disregard that the gossip press had for the context in which he issued his original comment. Part of that statement can be read on CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/25/people.willsmith.ap/index.html).

Will Smith, if you read this then know that the majority of the intelligent people out in the world realize what you were trying to say. Allow me to paraphrase it:

Adolph Hitler did not get up every morning and rub his hands together like a vaudeville villain. He did not try to think of new and interesting ways to do evil just because it is evil. Adolph Hitler did do some of the most horrible things this Earth has seen, and he did them because he though that what he was doing was right. That is the real horror of Adolph Hitler; in his own mind, he was doing good. In reality, he was bringing Hell to Earth.

How's that? What box do I fall into, huh?

Will Smith, you're alright in my book. And I would shake your hand if I ever met you.

And gossip press? If you are listening, then hear this: Hollywood is crawling with filthy, disgusting scum; pick on them! Leave out the folks who are trying to do the right thing. Focus on the scumbag drunk driving debutantes or the scumbag abusing athletes. Goodness knows that there are plenty of them out there! When you take comments out of context just because they have key buzzwords in them, then you are worse scum than the worst celebrity.

The Mist

Over the years, I have become disillusioned with Stephen King. Not that I think he is a poor writer, or that I am better than him. On the contrary, I think he is an excellent writer; one whom I aspire to be like one day. However, I think he has become the institution. He has become big business, so to speak. Once, his novels of horror were truly frightening and innovative. They were crisp and fresh and unique. While they have stayed unique, they have lost their freshness, somewhat.

I speak of the novels he wrote when I tuned out, i.e., It, Needful Things, The Tommyknockers, et al. Good stories? I hated It and I could not get into Tommyknockers, but I loved Needful Things. Problem? They are - to coin a phrase - Gi-normous! I mean, honestly, do you need 1000 pages to tell the story? Have you ever heard of a trilogy? Break it up a little, man, will ya? I'll buy the books.

Of course, Stephen King being the icon that he is, he's going to take some shots, just because. I just made the suggestion that he break up some of his bigger novels; well, that was the major complaint when his Green Mile series came out. Some people had a huge issue with him breaking up the book and selling it to the public in installments. They claimed that he was bilking them out of their money, squeezing their wallets dry, so to speak. I am sure that he knows, of all of us, that you can't make everyone happy.

I am sure that even he is not happy. Especially when it comes to the film adaptions of his books. For the most part, they are awful! Sure, The Shining rocks; both of them. And I loved The Dead Zone and Christine, but some (most) of the films based on his novels suck. They veer from the story so much that you think that Hollywood is just using the title (i.e., Lawnmower Man; remember that piece of crap? Woof!)

The Mist, however, is Stephen King's redemption. An outstanding piece of horror that starts out slow and methodical. It peppers the viewer with little bits and pieces before dropping the whole bowl of evil chili on them. The atmosphere is very good and the effects are great (the monsters look grand), but the real stars are the characters. As I always say, the characters are what drive the movie. The Mist had some of the best characters that I have seen in a long time. They were quirky and real, and you loved them and you hated them and you were sad when they died. Kudos to the actors for bringing them to life, kudos to the director for undoubtedly nudging the actors in the right way, and kudos to Stephen King for creating those characters in the first place!

And right when you think that The Mist could turn sucky, it does the amazing: it stupefies you with the unexpected, and shocks itself into legitimacy. Shocks the viewer into accepting its legitimacy. The theatre was very quiet when the credits rolled, and it was not because people hated the movie; it was because they were stunned.

Great horror.

Kids movie? Absolutely not. Gore, violence, foul language, scares, wicked spiders and nightmarish creatures.

Date movie? Well, my date loved it, but she loves horror. If your date is not a huge horror fan, then skip it.

I give The Mist eight out of eight tentacles!

Beowulf

"I ... am ... Beowulf!"

Most people grow up with cartoons. Up until recently, once a person reached adulthood, they would grow out of those cartoons, save for the rare few. Looney Toons always pleased, and Disney would strike the right chords most times, but there was still something missing. That missing element was a level of adult action and drama that could only be found in books and in movies.

In the recent past, cartoons fans who had grown up to become animators and writers began spearheading a movement to make more adult cartoons. Batman: The Animated Series, Superman, and the Justice League were some excellent examples of those cartoons that werte produced for American television. Japan released scores of more adult cartoons, dubbed anime by most. Cowboy Beebop, Samurai Champloo, and the Big O were some powerful titles that worked on a level that was even more adult than the American superhero cartoons. However, these cartoons had not reached the maturity of some very simple movies. They could be shown on Cartoon Network, and they were Rated PG or PG-13, at best. Adult cartoon fans needed more; they needed some Rated-R cartoons.

Those fans got their wish in the form of Beowulf.

Horrorfest - 8 Films 2 Die 4

Horrorfest is back with its 2007 edition. Eight independent horror movies are being shown in limited release throughout the country between November 9th - 18th, 2007. If you want more detailed information, visit the official Horrorfest website at the following address ...

www.horrorfestonline.com

I cannot list all the theaters here, nor can I give any detailed previews of the eight movies that have been slated for release, but I can help out some local horror fans.

Massachusetts theatres showing Horrorfest 2007:
The Bellingham 14, Bellingham, MA
The Fresh Pond Cinema, Cambridge, MA
The AMC Liberty Tree 20, Danvers, MA
The Methuen 20, Methuen, MA, and
The Springfield Plaza, Springfield, MA

The movies on the schedule are as follows:

• Borderland - A road-trip to a Mexican bordertown runs afoul of cultists (starring Rider Strong from Cabin Fever)
• Crazy Eights - Secrets and hauntings beleague childhood friends reunited
• The Deaths of Ian Stone - A man who dies everyday, and wakes up as someone else
• Lake Dead - Dark family secrets surrounding a lake-side motel
• Mulberry Street - Apocalyptic struggle for survival in a New York apartment complex
• Nightmare Man - A woman's nightmares may be real
• Tooth and Nail - Another post-apocalyptic struggle for survival, this time starring Michael Madsen, Vinnie Jones, and Rider Strong
• Unearthed - Monster terrorizing a New Mexican town

Which films look the best? After checking out the previews on the Horrorfest website, I think that The Deaths of Ian Stone, Crazy Eights, and Mulberry Street look the best.

Which films look like garbage? Tooth and Nail and Lake Dead look very bad.

Currently, there are no show times for the movies in Massachusetts. If the festival is anything like last year, then there will be three movies shown on Friday, 11/16/07, three on Saturday, 11/17/07, and three on Sunday, 11/18/07.

That's nine movies, you say? Last year they slipped two bonus movies in as a surprise. (More money for DVD sales, too ...)