Fear Friday: Rosemary's Baby

I've been experiencing horror movie withdrawals. This means that I'm constantly thinking about horror films, frightening plots, horrific scores, and horrendous, yet awesome, horror movie scenes. Why is this happening? I'm blaming the weather! Why? I'm not sure, I just felt like I had to blame something. What am I going to do about it? I'm going to watch more horror films again and I may write about one every Friday from now on, I just can't go on any longer without watching more of them again!

A few weeks ago, I decided to watch Rosemary's Baby (1968). I had tried watching it before, but that was when I was younger. At that time, it creeped me out way too much, so I never finished it. I'm glad that I gave it another chance because it is a fantastic psychological horror film. I was missing out!

Rosemary's Baby is about a young couple, Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse, who move into the Bramford, a New York City apartment building that has been known for its history of housing distasteful tenants and mysterious occurrences. The two don't pay much attention to the reputation the building has because they love the apartment. However, strange things start to occur once they meet their elderly, overly friendly neighbors, Minnie and Roman Castevet. Guy takes an instant liking to them and is spending time with them constantly, which gradually causes him to become more remote and distant from Rosemary. A woman Rosemary meets in the washroom, who is close to the elderly couple, dies suddenly from a mysterious death. Then, Rosemary starts hearing strange noises through the walls and having frightening dreams involving the couple, her husband, and a satanic cult. She becomes mysteriously pregnant after one of these dreams and gradually paranoid that her neighbors have some alternative plan for her baby.

What I like most about this movie is that it's highly disturbing and that it doesn't overdo anything by adding unnecessary blood and gore. Not every horror movie needs to involve lots of blood and gore! I do enjoy some of those, as long as it doesn't go over the top. I don't find that scary, I find it gross. Psychological horror films are my favorite. The more screwed up they are, the better. I'd classify this movie as insanely screwed up, which means that I love it. I think the movie starts off kind of slow, but once you get into it, then it becomes much more interesting because it makes you feel curious. Maybe it's just a film that needs a second viewing to be fully appreciated. I highly recommend this one for my fellow horror movie lovers!

Nowhere Boy

I am a huge fan of the Beatles. I could listen to their music all day, every single day of my life, and never ever grow sick of it. I love it and I love all the members! I especially love John Lennon and I've been wanting to watch 'Nowhere Boy' (2009) for quite a while. Thankfully, I really enjoyed it.

The film focuses on John's life during his teenage years and it gives a backstory of his childhood. He was raised by his Aunt Mimi who, although stern, was very loving towards him. However, his life starts to change after his Uncle dies and his absentee mother shows up and ends up back into his life. It's her influence on him that makes him fall in love with music and want to start what would end up being one of the best bands, if not the best, of all time.

The film is said to be largely based off Imagine This: Growing Up With My Brother John Lennon, which was written by Lennon's half-sister Julia Baird. It focuses more on relationships that Lennon had while growing up than it does on anything else. The film is well done; it's well directed, it's artistic, and the acting is superb. I recommend this film to anyone looking for a great biopic to watch or anyone who loves John Lennon.

The Basketball Diaries

I can't get enough of 'The Basketball Diaries' (1995), the film adaptation of author Jim Carroll's wild and destructive teenage life (I highly recommend reading Carroll's autobiography; it's very different). Jim goes from being a talented basketball player to a strung-out heroin addict. The heroin consumes him completely and he'll do anything, and I mean anything, just to get a taste of it. Nothing is more important than the high it gives him. The addiction throws him into a horrifying downward spiral and it seems that he will never breakaway from it.

The one thing that makes 'The Basketball Diaries' watchable on more than one occasion is Leonardo DiCaprio's performance in it. He's truly a gifted actor and displays a varying spectrum of emotions in a realistic fashion. His performance in this film is one of his best. I like the way he delivers the insightful poetic lines in the film, particularly the ones written by Carroll himself. The rest of the film can basically be written off, the other characters aren't as well-developed and the acting done by the majority of the others just isn't that great. See this film for Leo's performance and accept the other stuff because his performance overpowers the parts with the crap acting that is done by some of the others.

Happy Birthday: Jack Lemmon

The awesomely brilliant Jack Lemmon would have been 86 years old this year. He passed away from bladder cancer back in 2001. Jack was a versatile actor, he could play someone insanely hilarious or utterly depressing or, in the case of his character in 'The Odd Couple,' he could play both. I love Jack Lemmon and I wish he could have been around for a little bit longer. I would have loved to have heard him speak with Tony Curtis at one of those 'Some Like it Hot' conventions. It would have been amazing. Thanks for the spectacular films, Jack!

Happy Birthday: James Dean

James Byron Dean would have been 80 years old today! I wonder what his life would have been like if he didn't get killed in that car crash when he was only 24 years old? I bet he would have ended up being a director, which would have been pretty cool. It's amazing to me that he only starred in three major films, yet he made such an enormous impression on his audience that he's still remembered today. My James Dean movie is 'East of Eden.' No one could have played Cal Trask better than Jimmy Dean!

Skins: My British TV Obsession

Thanks to Netflix's instant option and a recommendation by someone in a class I had during my final quarter of my senior year of college, I was introduced to 'Skins.' I've quickly fallen in love with this show. It focuses on a group of friends in high school who are all coping with the dysfunctions that come with  life. Each episode centralizes on a specific character, which is the best is one of the best aspects of the show, because it allows you to understand each character's motive through their own point of view. The show does involve sex, drugs, and alcohol, but the show itself is about much more than that. It's about life and how it changes and how it is full of good and bad experiences.

I've watched some of the MTV version of 'Skins' and it's complete crap. Don't waste your time with it. It's not even close to being what the British version is.

Happy Birthday: Clark Gable

Happy 110th birthday to Clark Gable! He died November 16, 1960 at the age of 59 due to a heart attack. His acting career started to kick off in 1930 when he was signed to MGM. He starred in 'Dance, Fools, Dance' after Joan Crawford requested that he star in the film with her in 1931. Later that same year, he starred in a film with Norma Shearer called, 'A Free Soul.' By 1932, he was becoming more well known by the public, especially after his performance with Jean Harlow in 'Red Dust,' which he would later remake in 'Mogambo' (1953) playing the same character alongside Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly. In 1935, after he was loaned out to Columbia Pictures for punishment for not doing something they wanted him to do, he won his first and only Oscar for his performance in Frank Capra's 'It Happened One Night,' co-starring Claudette Colbert. His career really took off after this.

My favorite Clark Gable films are the following: 'It Happened One Night,' 'Gone with the Wind,' 'Mogambo,' and 'The Misfits.' 'It Happened One Night' is enjoyable because it's funny and he has great chemistry with Claudette. All the other films are fantastic because Clark is so manly, ruggedly handsome, and humorous in them. Also, I love the drama and sadness that is displayed in 'Gone with the Wind,' 'Mogambo,' and 'The Misfits.'

What I love about Clark Gable is that he was funny, strong, sexy, and adorable with pets! Enjoy the pictures below!