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Questioner101
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 Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Don't know anyone personally by that name, just an acquaintance of a relative. Have an astigmatism, and some letters appear funny in posting squares..... |
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fortwynt
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| Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:05 pm Post subject: |
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Personanongrata
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| Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 6:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Questioner101 wrote: |
| Don't know anyone personally by that name, just an acquaintance of a relative. Have an astigmatism, and some letters appear funny in posting squares..... |
Can't you have laser surgery done to fix that?
So, Q, what kinds of authors do you prefer then? Koontz?
Or are you just not into horror/fantasy?  |
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Personanongrata
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| Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 6:20 pm Post subject: |
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Blaine was an interesting character, to me. An A.I. gone crazy, and the group of heroes needed him to get to their destination...scary stuff.
I liked the idea of a game of riddles, with their lives at stake. |
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Questioner101
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| Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 12:17 am Post subject: |
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Dune series, father and son....Heinlein, Asimov, Bradley, Card, Hillerman, Grafton, Rowling, Cooper, Kurtz.
More into SciFi/Fantasy/Mystery rather than blood/gore/horror stuff. "The Stand" was an interesting TV mini-series.
Re: Laser surgery...too many people have bad results from messing with their eyes....have a high sensitivity to reflected light (contacts) anyway....little stars or shavings would probably drive me nuts.
Leave the body alone...too many "staff" infections running about to risk anything that isn't completely necessary to sustain life. |
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Personanongrata
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| Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 12:25 am Post subject: |
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| Questioner101 wrote: |
Dune series, father and son....Heinlein, Asimov, Bradley, Card, Hillerman, Grafton, Rowling, Cooper, Kurtz.
More into SciFi/Fantasy/Mystery rather than blood/gore/horror stuff. "The Stand" was an interesting TV mini-series.
Re: Laser surgery...too many people have bad results from messing with their eyes....have a high sensitivity to reflected light (contacts) anyway....little stars or shavings would probably drive me nuts.
Leave the body alone...too many "staff" infections running about to risk anything that isn't completely necessary to sustain life. |
I hear ya on that.
Also, I understand your point on preferring sci-fi over gory slasher-type films. It's a matter of style over substance, I would venture. Not that I don't enjoy horror, too. |
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Questioner101
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| Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 1:07 am Post subject: |
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Horror films used to be campy fun (the original Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman, The Fly and 1950's monster movies) but Hamner films turned it to just gory junk (though Chris Lee was fun to watch...Dookoo and Saruman.) Star Wars/Indiana Jones began the "back to the 50's serials" and Close Encounters/E.T. were also delightful fun...
But then, "realism" reared it's ugly head....and story-line was given up, for grotesque (The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby (which I liked for some reason,) The Sentinel, The Omen etc. etc.) Most have now been turned into teen-aged slasher films, (which do not interest me) Halloween, Ax-Chainsaw-Murderers, Freddie Kruger, and all their re-runs.
If the writing is well done, with minimal slashing....only used sparingly, like salt/pepper/spices....horror can be enticing.
But if the entire treacle factory is used in a film and is the becomes the whole bloody focus, then it loses it's purpose.
Special effects have taken over....leaving nothing to the imagination, and sacrificing actual tales.
Novels have done the same thing....to their detriment. The use of foul language to hide any literary value, seems the norm. (Even Ray Bradbury has become almost unreadable....because of his trying to write for a young audience.)
It's becoming more difficult finding anything to read of any worth...but that's just my opinion. I mourn the lack of talent...find myself re-reading the old Sci-Fi stuff....(Stranger in a Strange Land.)
Have been interested in the "Da Vinci Code" type books, Knights Templar, Henry Lincoln, Lawrence Gardner, Graham Hancock, etc....but even they have deteriorated. Written to death...with no new revelations.... |
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Personanongrata
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| Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 1:55 am Post subject: |
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The current trend in horror seems to be a combination of the nastiness & brutality of 70s horror-shockers with a kind of soulless nihilistic voyeurism. I often don't feel I'm drawn into the film the way I did with older stuff, but more like I'm witnessing a recording left behind by a very mean person. Does that make any sense? There is hardly anyone or anything to empathize with in most of these films, so I usually watch them in a somewhat clinical fashion. Contrast that to the original "Haunting" film, which was very involving for me, mainly because of the characters.
Some of these films are quite good, though. Hostel was rather clever, I thought. Almost like a Hitchcockian thriller, excepting the standard over-the-top gore. In fact, I'd say it was relatively restrained, though what violence it had was quite cruel. Considering the subject matter (black-market selling of human beings for rich sadists to torture & murder), I suppose one could justify that. I really have no interest in Hostel 2, though. It will more than likely be a substandard remake of the original, which is almost always the case with horror sequels.
I much more enjoy supernatural horror, involving ghosts, haunted houses, and such.
Ramsey Campbell is an excellent supernatural horror writer, though I haven't read much of his work. Seems hard to find.
As for scifi writers, I can't get enough Phil Dick. |
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Questioner101
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| Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 5:11 am Post subject: |
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The only "ghost" films I've enjoyed have been "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" (both film and TV) "The 6th Sense," and "Ghost Town" which was in that similar genre.
House on Haunted Hill was stupid, as were many in the same (Eddie Murphy and Bill Cosby's were the worst.)
Enjoy "Ghost Whisperer" but the writing in quickly becoming formulaic and going down-hill fast.
Like "Eli Stone" just for the quirkiness of it...it continues to surprise. |
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Personanongrata
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| Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 5:30 am Post subject: |
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| Questioner101 wrote: |
The only "ghost" films I've enjoyed have been "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" (both film and TV) "The 6th Sense," and "Ghost Town" which was in that similar genre.
House on Haunted Hill was stupid, as were many in the same (Eddie Murphy and Bill Cosby's were the worst.)
Enjoy "Ghost Whisperer" but the writing in quickly becoming formulaic and going down-hill fast.
Like "Eli Stone" just for the quirkiness of it...it continues to surprise. |
House on Haunted Hill with Vincent Price? Yeah, pretty goofy stuff. 
I don't recognize some of the titles you mention. Eli Sone, Ghost Whisperer? Ghost Whisperer seems familiar... t.v. show? I don't watch much television.
I really enjoyed 6th sense. Ghost and Mrs. Muir... I vaguely recall. Waay back, I saw a film called "The Changeling" which I barely remember, but I remember I enjoyed... odd. I'll have to look for it, see if my opinion changes. I didn't care for the "Haunting" remake. Especially the ending. |
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Questioner101
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| Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 5:39 am Post subject: |
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House of Usher with Vincent Price was interesting....and much of his "Poe" stuff was campy fun. (Do like the classics....rather than the new remakes of stuff....the remake Omen...didn't even want to see it.)
Christopher Walken stuff is weird...but much prefer him in "Sarah, Plain and Tall.
Dracula 2000 and Gary Oldman's Bram Stoker's Dracula were just awful....but I really enjoy Sweeney Todd (go figure.) Maybe it was the musicianship..... |
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Personanongrata
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| Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 6:09 am Post subject: |
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I'm not eager about seeing the new Omen, either. Christopher Walken... weird?  Perish the thought! I have seen "Sarah, Plain and Tall"...nice movie, seem to recall there's a sequel, too. I actually liked the Oldman Dracula, though it was flawed. Guess it's partly because I like Oldman so much. Haven't seen Sweeney Todd. I will sooner or later, I suppose. A musical, isn't it? I like those. I did enjoy Sleepy Hollow. I loved the Indiana Jones movies... don't know about the new one, looks iffy.
As for reading, I too find myself more often than not returning to old favorites, rather than trying out recent works. I've been trying to find some decent fantasy these past few years, currently reading discworld.. mostly don't have the time or patience for any "epic saga" with eighteen books in the series.
I read Starship Troopers awhile back. Quite a remarkable book. The film seemed more like an attack on its ideas, in fact. I'm aware of these "Davinci Code" type of stories, haven't read it. Saw the movie... ehh, it was watchable. |
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"**ck it, we'll do it live." -- Bill O'Reilly.
"...................................." -- Harpo Marx. |
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fortwynt
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| Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 9:47 am Post subject: |
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The truth is, I know a lot of people who don't read King because they claim they don't want to read "horror" and etc....but as far as I can tell, stephen king stopped writing "horror" sometime after ...well...i cant say for certain when the shift started, but i clearly dont get a "horror" vibe from him for most of the books ive read, say, since 1990 or so.....I know he is still considered that, but I would call his books more "fantasy thriller, dark comedy" than anything.
Certainly the Dark Tower series was more fantasy than horror....and probably the most enthralling set of books ive ever read....but i guess im a young pup still (some might say).
As for horror movies it's very true.....these days there is no true "horror"....they rely heavily on (all too obvious) special effects, and as far as the movie being "scary", they tend to use the "BOO!" factor than the actual "creep" type of scary that used to exist in the 70's and early 80's.....like, the SURPRISE factor, something jumping out of the shadows and grabbing someone, is what passes for "scary" now.....personally I think creepy, dark, weird, grainy films are much more scary....one movie i've seen that really creeped me out that is relatively new is "The Grudge 2"....films like that are evidence that they really are starting to try and get back into the "weird" factor in movies.
you know that new type of thing they are using a lot in movies where the monster (usually a living dead zombie or something like that) walks all "funny" like? hard to explain, its very weird and is achieved (i think) by filming the person walking backwards, then reversing THAT so that they appear to be walking forwards, yet its "different" .... "jerky" and weird....anyway, that's one thing that creeps me right the **** out....it just isn't "right". |
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fortwynt
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| Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 11:19 am Post subject: |
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time drops In decay,
Like a canDle burnt Out,
ANd The mountains and the woods
Have their dAy, haVe thEir day;
What one In the rout
Of The fire-born moods
Has fallen away?
--w.b. yeats |
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Personanongrata
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| Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 11:27 am Post subject: |
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"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
creeps in this petty pace from day to day;
to the last syllable of recorded time;
and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death.
Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow;
a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
and then is heard no more.
It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing." - Macbeth. |
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"...................................." -- Harpo Marx. |
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