Film review: Mama

Let's amputate the fancy preamble and cut to the chase about this movie. I don't have a good segue for it, and it seems so clear to me in the light of day that I want to jump right in.

Watching the Guillermo del Toro produced MAMA was like reading a story out of sequence. Being an aficionado of horror movies featuring frustrated ghosts, I know the drill. Spooky happenings, the skeptic explains it away, the believer does some research and finds a juicy story, activity ramps up, maybe the ghost is finally seen to prove its existence, they realize they have to do something to appease or banish the ghost, and in some films that works and in others it totally doesn't and they're all hosed.

Book review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Before I get into my review, I'd also like to highly recommend the blog entry from Amanda Palmer that I link to. Actually, you should just read anything she writes. It's a totally different experience from reading what her husband writes, but it's glorious all the same. I just enjoy very much what she wrote about her relationship with Neil in that specific entry. 

I have a bit of a relationship crush on Neil and Amanda. I will explain... 

To Induce Terror

It's no secret that I love words. I love them so much, that the way a person uses words can be a major factor in not only what I think about them, but how I feel about them. Am I saying that I fall in love with the way people talk? A little bit, yeah.

It's the words they choose, how they string them together, how creative they can be creating new words, what type of slang they use; and of course, basic spelling and grammar.

Based on the Book

Since I hope to write about book-to-movie crossovers several more times in the coming months, I want to mention that I know it seems naive to expect anything but the cliched conclusion of: It wasn't as good as the book. I'm aware of this weakness of mine; the perpetual hope that the movie will recreate the feeling of the book it was based on. But it's not entirely baseless either, as there have been quite a few quality film adaptations that were faithful to the spirit of the book. 

Book review: Warm Bodies

As I write this, the film version of WARM BODIES is burning a hole in my dining room table. After reading the book, I'm both dying to watch it, and a little nervous. I'm worried that it will pale in comparison to the novel. I'm worried it will turn into a completely different type of story just based on the trailer I saw a while back. I'm worried it will lose everything that I loved about it.

Film Review and Freak-out: Kairo (Pulse)

I hesitate to call this a review, because my reason for writing it has more to do with something out of real life that happened while I was watching it. If you're already familiar with PULSE, you'll understand why I was terrified, but if not, I'll explain to the best of my ability.

Obituaries 101

I've learned a lot about obituary research both from my own interest in cemeteries and gravestone art, and my professional experiences working in libraries. I can't say it's a huge part of my job as it is right now, but we do still receive requests from people digging through their family history who need that extra little bit of information. For example, I had someone call from out of state just last week, who was hoping to get the names of surviving children out of a couple of obituaries he requested.

If you've ever done this sort of research, or see yourself getting interested in it eventually, I thought of a few tips specific to obituary research that might adjust your expectations, tweak your tactics and hopefully, increase your chances of successfully finding what you need.