Slaine mac Roth

Maybe its just me but I don't think Dickens and twee musicals mix. To me, Dickens should be dark and slightly nasty

Let me say at the outset that I absolutely loathe the musical version - it almost makes Oliver look like a serious piece of social commentary. I managed to tape the Alistair Sim version over Christmas but, as yet, I've not had time to watch so, for the moment, my vote will have to go to the Patrick Stewart version.

Here's Mary ready to go to a fancy dress party: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/Jimyyz2112/kids/2007_12_23_001.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/Jimyyz2112/kids/2007_12_23_002.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/Jimyyz2112/kids/2007_12_23_003.jpg And James showing off one of his Christmas Presents http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/Jimyyz2112/kids/2007_12_25_001.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/Jimyyz2112/kids/2007_12_25_002.jpg

And isn't Brigitte Helm (Maria) one of the sexiest women ever to grace celluloid?

Another vote here for the original Terminator - definitely one of my favourite all time films

QUOTE (Test4VitalSigns @ Dec 15 2007, 12:14 AM) I like them...especially the horror flicks. Nosferatu, Totally agree with you here QUOTE (Test4vitalsigns)Phantom of the Opera (with Lon Chaney), The cabinet of Dr. Caligari Sadly, not seen these two yet I'll also have to put my hand up and vote for: Metropolis Buster Keaton films Harold Lloyd films

Sadly I've neither the money nor the room for the T-Rex head as my son James would love it

I know I've posted it elsewhere, but here is James with his birthday cake and some of his presents and Mary wearing her favourite Cinderella dress http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/Jimyyz2112/kids/James-Mary_00.jpg

Without a doubt but, in some ways, I think DC is the more ambitious film. Lab simply took a number of elements from the history of fantasy and fairy tales and put an unusual spin on them. DC, on the other hand, created its own world (even if it did use some fantasy staples). Those that aim higher can fall further.

Personally, I'm quite a fan of The Dark Crystal. I think the character designs were impressive (although the Podlings did tend towards Muppet cuteness) as was the actually performance from the puppeteer. The story may not have been particularly original but, then again, how many are (didn't someone say that there are only actually four stories and everything is a variation of one of them?) - its certainly not as derivative as some of the crap Hollywood is churning out. The fact is, if you want a reasonably entertaining film to watch with the whole family, you could do far worse.

QUOTE (steelcaressed @ Nov 27 2007, 05:49 PM) QUOTE (Slaine mac Roth @ Nov 27 2007, 01:38 PM)That's right but there's no spirtual reason behind the names - James is a family name and I like the name Mary We do too, but we opted for Molly for our youngest. It's a much less common name than Mary here in the states. Here she is, w/ her twin brother Anthony: http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/gandsome/DSCF0009-2.jpg Very sweet. The name Mary isn't particularly coomon over here now but it is gaining in popularity

That's right but there's no spirtual reason behind the names - James is a family name and I like the name Mary

Here's some pictures of James and Mary with the T-shirts I made for them recently (click to enlarge): http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/Jimyyz2112/kids/th_100_1560.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/Jimyyz2112/kids/th_100_1561.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/Jimyyz2112/kids/th_100_1562.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/Jimyyz2112/kids/th_100_1563.jpg Plus, here we have The Man With No Name: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/Jimyyz2112/kids/th_100_1555.jpg And Mary singing her favourite song There Was a Princess Long Ago

QUOTE (GhostGirl @ Oct 25 2007, 06:34 PM) My oldest cute kid has the CHICKEN POX. He had the vaccine (boo, hiss) when he was a baby, so it's a mild case. Shows how good those vaccines are, though. He's all excited to be out of school without the annoyance of actually FEELING bad. He's only mildly itchy and the rash isn't too bad. Yet. I'm glad about that. When James and Mary had them earlier this year, they got it BAD!!!!, Mary especially. At one point, the rash was so widespread that her entire torso looked red and she was literally crying due to the itch. James, on the other hand, got it worst on his face - when they scabbed over it looked like he had gone through a plate glass window.

In honour of the season, I watched John Carpenter's version of The Thing the other night. God I love that film.

I know I've posted it elsewhere but... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v694/yyz.../James_Mary.jpg

Here's one for English Rugby fans... Sales of condoms in the Southern Hemisphere reached an all time low when it discovered that you can F**k 15 australians with one Johnny

I'm another who can't really break it down by decade (in fact, some of mine go back further): Actors: Christopher Lee Peter Cushing Viggo Mortensen Errol Flynn Micheal Rennie James Stewart (His voice grates on me a bit but the man was a genius) Gary Oldman Kenneth Brannagh Ian Holm Actresses: Helen Mirren Jennifer Garner Virginia McKenna Olivias de Havilland Cate Blanchett Judi Dench Emma Thompson Miranda Otto

John Carpenter, now he's what I call a great director when he's on song (although Hallowe'en wasn't his first by a long shot). His 'Assault on Precint 13' is, to me, a near perfect execercise in cranking up the tension with minimal use of blood and guts (its been a while since I've seen it but wasn't the little girl the only one who really got covered in blood?). Similarly, if memory serves, Hallowe'en was a particularly blood soaked story. However, at the top of the list has got to be his remake of The Thing - possibly the most claustrophobic film I have seen and an exercise in pure paranoia - equally on a par with Howard Hawks' orginial. What a man.

I'm going to have to put up my hand and say that I'm not a Tarantino fan either. Then again, I'm not really that much of a Cronenberg fan but that's mainly due to limited familiarity - History of Violence (which I really enjoyed), Scanners and Videodrome (both of which I thought were fair enough) and The Fly (which left me cold - Al Heddison rules!). The subject of violence in film is atouchy one and will be argued about until the end of time. I've gone on record, elsewhere, to articulate my distaste for the current 'gorenography' trend in cinema at the moment but, on the other hand, have thoroughly enjoyed other films where the violence fully suits the plot.

I think the fact is that the UK genre press (the only I read) doesn't tend to hype to quite the same level as anywhere else and the only real buzz about Blair Witch was that it was filmed cheaply and didn't take the obvious route that horror in general does. Personally, I enjoyed it because of the complete absence of splatter thrown everywhere and the fact that it played upon people's paranoia. I'm not trying to say that its great art or one of the scariest/greatest films of all time but I'd rather watch Blair Witch than any number of Hostels/Nightmare on Elm Streets/Rob Zombie splatter fest/Friday 13ths (delete where applicable).

Favorite Bond? Probably Connery Favorite Bond girl? Tracy Di Vicenzo (OHMSS) - Diana Rigg is, possibly, one of the most beautiful women to ever walk the Earth). Favorite bad guy? Alec Trevelyan (Goldeneye)- Sean Bean is, almost, God and, as a Bond villain, equal to Baron Samedi (Live and Let Die) Favourite Film - Goldfinger - pure genius and a rollercoaster from beginning to end

Not having internet access at the time, I was lucky enough to avoid the hype on Blair Witch and, coming to it with a totally open mind and very few expectations, found it a quite enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours - hype can really kill a film stone dead hence the fact I generally avoid reveiws until I've actually seen the thing. Believe it or not, though, I think the DVD that freaked me out most of all was when I got hold of Ghostwatch. I missed the original broadcast back in 1992 and got the DVD when it was, finally, released some years later. Even though I knew the whole thing was a fake, it still freaked me out watching it. It just goes to show that shadows and sound on a small budget can work wonders if you're imagination's working with it (The Haunting is another good example). The new trend of 'Gorneography'/'Torture-Porn'/'violence-porn' or whatever you want to call it, in my eyes at least, negates the need for you to use your imagination as the images are so explicit and in your face. Remember, you're own imagination can be far more frightening that the best SFX and make-up in the business.

Sadie Frost

A week on Saturday I'll be going to see this obscure Canadian band - can't think of their name