¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Mi Prima Favorita!

It's my favorite cousin's birthday today.

I hope you all are as happy as she should be.

If you all are not all that happy, I hope that your lives change for the better in the coming year.

Fantasy Quote of the Week

"The dark muse," Kane went on. "Carved from onyx, black as the starless night of sleep, the night she dwells within, the night from which she calls. She lives in the shadow of unfinished dreams -- the dreams from which we awaken and never return to. Their ghosts wait forever in limbo, incomplete visions that man will never realize."

"Her attitude is one of beckoning."

"She invites you to cross the portals of dream."

"Her face has a strange smile."

"She suggests the secret wisdom that lies within the veil of dream."

"I see mockery, too."

"For the false wisdom and inchoate images that delude the dreamer as truth."

"There is cruelty in her eyes."

Kane laughed bitterly. "Cruelty? Yes for much of dream is nightmare. Join her in her embrace, and instead of the wonders she seems to promise, the dark muse may draw you into some fathomless vortex of black terror."
--Karl Edward Wagner, "The Dark Muse"

Science Fiction Quote of the Week

It was simply that, so often, evil could come of misguided good.
--Richard Matheson, “Mute”

Book of the Week

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's first and best attempt at writing the ultimate first Spanish werewolf novel -- and I don't just say that because this novel is one of the many unofficial inspirations for one of my odder attempts to write a fantasy novel. Ms. Yarbro really knows her Spanish history and it shows. The story isn't bad either.

Please Don't Play with Liz, 'Cause You're Playing with Fire: Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy

Yes, the title character of Guillermo del Toro's 2004 version of Hellboy is awesome, but it's Selma Blair's portrayal of everyone's favorite pyrokinetic Liz Sherman that really brings me back to this movie time after time. Granted, the name of the movie is Hellboy, not Hellgirl, but it's hard for me to imagine this movie having the same impact on me if it did not have the Liz Sherman character. Indeed, the one thing that turned me against the second Hellboy movie -- Hellboy II: The Golden Army -- was the way the filmmakers of that movie totally mangled the Liz Sherman character. It is almost as if once the filmmakers finally got Liz Sherman involved in a romantic relationship with the title character, they had no idea what to do with her. Which was a darn shame given that her character was one of the most interesting characters in the first movie.

Oh, well. The first movie still holds up and the scene in which Liz Sherman went all Carrie White on some evil demons is still a classic. Indeed, though Guillermo del Toro has noted many times in interviews that he is not exactly a devout Catholic, there nevertheless seemed to be a certain Catholic subtext to the scene in which Liz Sherman finally gave in to the temptation to use her power without restraint. Indeed, during that scene, Liz held herself in a certain posture that reminded me of a medieval saint -- almost as if submitting to her power to produce fire was the equivalent of submitting to some divine act.

To be fair, there were other interesting characters in the movie as well. Ron Perlman was a gem as the title character, John Hurt did an admirable job as Professor Bruttenholm aka Professor Broom and David Hyde-Pierce did an excellent -- if uncredited -- job as the voice of humanoid fish-person Abe Sapien. Rupert Evans also had a memorable role as the young FBI agent John Myers who played a key role in the climax of the movie.

Of all the Guillermo del Toro movies that I have seen thus far, Hellboy is no doubt my favorite. I'm just sorry that del Toro never had the chance to produce a memorable sequel. Oh, well. At least we got one classic movie out of this character.

For Once, Everybody Lived

North Dallas, Garland and Richardson got hit by three tornadoes this past Sunday night. Fortunately, no one was killed or severely injured. However, more than a few buildings were destroyed and many local residents were left without power.

Quote of the Week

We fiction writers have to preserve the right to wear many hats – including sombreros.
--Lionel Shriver, Keynote Speech, "Fiction and Identity Politics", Brisbane Writers Festival, September 13, 2016

Quote of the Week

Much of what was unforgivable to the powers-that-be during the Velvet Revolution was the revolution’s sense of humor: the tone was one of mocking levity, not seething rage. And nobody likes to be laughed at. (Autocratic governments would prefer violent resistance, because these actions validate their power. But to be laughed at and mocked calls into question your ability to control the populace.)
--Sheila O'Malley, "Happy birthday, Václav Havel", The Sheila Variations, October 5, 2019

Trailer of the Week: Hellboy (2004)

It seems kinda sad to watch this trailer in the wake of actress Selma Blair's real-life health problems. Here's hoping that she gets better.

Fantasy Quote of the Week

First of all, it was October, a rare month for boys.
--Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes

Science Fiction Quote of the Week

It all comes down to a question of sanity. What is sanity -- now, in the twentieth century, any time? Adherence to a norm. Conformity to certain basic conventions underlying all human conduct. In our age, departure from the norm has become the norm. Inability to conform has become the standard of conformity. That’s quite clear, isn’t it? And it enables you to understand, doesn’t it, your own case and that of your proteges? Over a long period of years you persisted in adhering to a norm, in conforming to certain basic conventions. You were completely unable to adapt yourself to the society around you. You could only pretend -- and your proteges wouldn’t have been able to do even that. Despite your many engaging personal characteristics, there was obviously only one course of action open to us.
--Phy in Fritz Leiber's “Sanity”

Tape Noir: Baby Driver

The 2017 movie Baby Driver was like English director Edgar Wright's version of a Quentin Tarantino movie. Only good.Or at least not as pretentious as one might expect.

Yes, I know that not every critic was fond of this movie and posters on one film review site even hinted that it was undeserving of the few good reviews that it did receive. But it worked for me. And after seeing all too many movies that were literally painful to watch -- as well as movies that I often found less than thrilling after the first ten minutes -- Baby Driver was a nice surprise.

And no, I am not blind to its flaws. Like many modern action movies, it leaned very heavily on various cliches -- the black thug, the hot-tempered Latina, the inevitable crook with a heart of gold, etc. While it was not the first movie to have a character that wanted to get emotionally involved with a girl just like the one that married dear old Dad, this was the first one I've seen in a long while that emphasized that trope to the point where it seemed a wonder that the filmmakers did not name the protagonist's love interest Jocasta.

And yet for some odd reason, it worked. Maybe it was because it reminded of the days when I would play around with tape recorders and recorded various types of music off the radio. Or maybe it was because I liked actress Eiza González as the badass Latina character Monica Costello. (Wait a minute! A Latina named Costello? Surely you jest.) Kevin Spacey as a surprisingly kind-hearted mob boss was a nice surprise though I suspect many critics were surprised by the fact that his role wasn't exactly Keyser Söze II. I also liked Jon Hamm's performance as Buddy.

Personally I found it hard to believe that the title character managed to know so much about music -- yet never heard about singer Carla Thomas but that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. And yes, the movie leaned very hard upon its music soundtrack and part of me knows that I probably should be upset about that. Then again the movie soundtrack featured a lot of songs that I don't usually hear in the movies so part of me doesn't really care.

As for the movie's critical reception, well, this was definitely a YMMV type of movie. Either you liked it or you didn't. Personally, I liked it. I didn't think it was perfect but most of the films I like most rarely are. And I can't help suspecting that the late film critic Pauline Kael could come back from the grave and give this film two thumbs up and some people would still hate it. But then you could say that about almost any movie.

R.I.P. Charles G. Hill

Oklahoma blogger Charles G. Hill -- who blogged under the name Dustbury -- passed away on September 8, 2019.

He will be missed.

Pop and Halloween Song of the Week: "[The System Of] Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether"

It's that time of year again. And sometimes it's enough to drive you -- well, you know...

Movie Song of the Week: "Eddie's Teddy"

It's yet another musical number from everyone's favorite call and response movie. Personally I find it a bit scary to contemplate how many audience responses I remember in regard to this movie. Perhaps because I heard the same responses repeated almost every time I saw this movie. (And you don't even want to know how many times that was.)

As usual, my favorite character in the movie -- Columbia -- has the best line but the rest of the number is pretty nifty too. And by the way, her name is Columbia, not Colombia.But most of you knew that already, right?

Movie Quote of the Week

Doesn't cost anything extra to laugh.
--Lynn Lowry, Cat People (1982)

TV Quote of the Week

Sometimes the only sane response to an insane world is insanity.
--David Duchovny, The X-Files, “The Walk”

In and Out of the Hospital Again, Mr. Kruger?

Needless to say, this has not been a very good week for me. But at least I'm still alive. So that's one thing.