#posting this because i rewatched rocky horror the other day and was thinking about how rocky is only the 4th most fuckable man in the movie

[officialjanetweiss]

List 8 tv shows for your followers to get to know you.

Tagged by @nero-neptune

OOPS I was tagged in this like a year ago and am just getting around to posting it 😅 I’m the queen of starting these and then saving them to my drafts to finish later and then just abandoning them. ANYWAY

(I, too, am giving a lil blurb for each one bc I love to talk)

Desperate Housewives

I started watching it a couple weeks ago finished it in the spring and I love one (1) republican. I am now slowly thrifting all of the seasons on DVD

My mom watched it when it first aired and I never sat down and joined her but I remember catching glimpses. As an adult I knew I would love it before I even started and I was right! It has WOMEN. It’s outrageous. It’s hilarious. It’s addicting. The theme song is glorious!! Almost every episode title is a reference to a Sondheim song!!! It has (mostly) aged surprisingly well. And in general it just reminds me of a time before streaming when TV was…different. Idk how to put it into words but first of all, remember when shows had 20+ episodes per season? Never forget what they took from us.

Glee

IYKYK. Any “old” songs I know I know because of either Glee or Rockband. Jayma Mays was my awakening. It introduced me to Rocky Horror and many other musicals. It got me into media literacy/critique and was the first show that I anticipated every single week and the first show I gave up on before it ended. I could go on for ages but you just had to be there (my tumblr from 2012-2015).

Passions

I watched this with my mom as a little kid and am slowly rewatching now. Soap operas are a staple on her side of the family and Passions is the only one I ever got into, because I was like 4 and there was ✨magic✨. As an adult I’m not even really into fantasy but in this case it works for me bc it’s so balls to the wall insane. I definitely don’t think I could get into it today if it weren’t for the childhood nostalgia. It ran for almost 10 years, which is not long considering some soaps are still kicking after 50 or 60. But at 2,231 episodes it’s a LOT if you’re not used to the slow pacing of the soap opera format. It’s so special to me though. I have cat and baby names picked out bc of characters on this show. AND THE THEME SONG!!

Soap

My all time fave. For 10 years I have run the only tumblr blog dedicated to Soap. It’s hilarious and touching and was ahead of its time. Susan Harris is a genius. Fleabag falling in love with a priest? Susan Harris did it first. That lady on Days of Our Lives being possessed? Susan Harris did it first. Who shot JR? Susan Harris did it first. The Golden Girls sitting at a table eating dessert and talking about sex? Susan Harris did that but she also did it BEFORE SHE DID IT. I’ve rewatched this show so many times and there are still scenes that make me laugh out loud. I would die for Jessica Tate. Bury me with the boxset.

That Girl

Just started watching this (in real time, not a year ago) and it’s just so fun!! Marlo Thomas is a cutie. Her wardrobe is unreal. I’ve laughed out loud quite a few times. She has great chemistry with the leading man whose actor’s name I shan’t bother to look up. I feel like I started watching it at the perfect time in my life too.

Ann Marie 🤝🏼 Cute little aspiring actresses who just moved out on their own to the big city and don’t have sex 🤝🏼 Me

Trial & Error

Came for Jayma, stayed for everything. Last year I watched Arrested Development for the first time and if you like that show I think you’ll like Trial & Error. Mockumentary style, wacky characters, great running gags. It was gone too soon and I’m still waiting for a season 2 DVD release.

Out of the Box

Here’s a throwback bc who am I if I don’t put a kids show on the list? I loved this show when I was little. It’s so underrated. I showed it to my current babysitting kids when I first started watching them and they love it too :,) Watching it as an adult makes me so emotional idk why. It warms my heart. If I were to ever become a preschool teacher I would make the babies sing the ending song at their graduation and make their parents cryyyy. If you have little guys in your life you should show it to them. It’s on Disney + (eewwww) but there might be episodes on youtube too.

Instead of blabbing about an 8th show here are some runner ups that I’ve enjoyed over the years, some of which I think are v underrated: Tuca & Bertie, Girlfriends, Mum (BBC, not to be confused with Mom, which I also enjoy), Fleabag, Go On, Jane the Virgin, Wonderfalls, Masters of Sex (might be due for a rewatch of that one), The Fosters (fuck them kids tho), Pushing Daisies, One Mississippi

I tag @lifesizehysteria @cakesexuality @sic-transit-gloria-mea and you can do it again @nero-neptune, I know you have more shows to talk about.

[harmonictechnicality]

Happy Valentines Day Harmony!! Couldn’t let the day pass without sending warmest wishes to the writer whose words make me believe in a romcom version of reality every time I read them and whose taste in music alone could launch 1000 crushes!! If you attended Hawkins High in 1984, the fruity four would be tripping over eachother to shove valentines in your locker (Nancy’s would be a very neat handmade heart complimenting your fashion choices and asking you on a study date, Robin’s would be a rocky horror singing card and pickup lines in her top five favorite languages, Steve’s would be whatever the 80s version of a papyrus card is and actually also flowers and balloons and so much chocolate and he would try to bribe you to not read his card with additional chocolates because it would be a sappy recounting of the first time he saw you, and Eddie’s would be a poster he drew of you two in a band (Tachycardia in Tandem, that old softie) and he would have written ~TiT 4ever~ on all of Steve’s balloons before realizing they now all said “tit” and contemplating popping them all before leaning in and cutting a new boob window in his shirt and asking you to be King and Queen Sluts for the day), but since it is not 1984 and you aren’t in Hawkins, it’s my pleasure to be able to pass along all their sweet thoughts and all of my own. As ever, I think you’re a tremendous writer with brilliant ideas and the most heartfelt execution, who is equally deft at crafting laugh out loud dialogue and tender yearning and extremely hot hookups and the most gorgeous descriptions of places and feelings and lewks, and who somehow manages to create such rich and detailed worlds that watching the same two (beloved) idiots fall in love over and over again feels new and heart racing every time. All of your posts are just as fun and delightful to see— whether you’re referring to your shadowy past as a theatre star (??) or talking about the music that makes you feel most at ease or complimenting another creator’s work or thirsting over the Joes (lol) or dropping updates about your day and your writing process, u always make me smile so anyway thanks for being alive in this moment and being online with us and I hope your day is magnificent and you treat yourself to many wonderful things 💓

Dear sweet angel!! I swear to all the stars and clouds, your messages never fail to fully brighten my day 🥹 So I want you to know how much I appreciate the time it takes to reach out or read anything I write, because I know it takes a lot of effort and I mean it when I say it NEVER goes unnoticed. I am so grateful for your kindness and your shared affinity for all things romcom ❣️

OH MY GAH, your valentine exchange is 10/10 - no notes, utter perfection. AGH! Pls write fics soon so I can gush about all of your amazing headcanons on these beloved characters 💕

In return for your sweet darling sentiments, I offer up a little meet cute story. This is a friendship meet cute that happened to me in college and I thought it was romcom worthy (despite being totally platonic):

So I was in a new friend group and I was didn’t know many of the people at this particular chill sesh. But at one point, my phone reminder went off to take my anxiety meds. So I pulled on my prescription bottle and someone at the other end of the table goes “hey! That looks like citalopram.” And I said “hey! That’s cause it is citalopram.” And then they pulled out their bottle of anxiety meds and we ended up taking our meds together. BOOM! Instant friendship via medication meet cute 🥰

I hope that story makes up for me getting to this a day late, it’s one of my favorites! Thank you times forty thousand (that feels like the right number to me) for being such a beacon of positivity in this fandom. You deserve every inch of kindness and respect, never ever forget that.

Have the absolute BEST of belated Valentine’s Day, dear friend!! 💖💖💖 (You can totally rewatch Sleepless in Seattle again, Nancy Wheeler would approve of its year round watchability 😉)

[xoteajays]

My sleep habits are extremely erratic... That never changed about me either. So I sleep whenever I'm tired, and wake up whenever I wake up - which is common knowledge. I am more toward being a crepuscular and nocturnal person, rather than a diurnal person. So nothing wrong in the day time for me. But it's usually quieter at night for me to enjoy.

But I haven't been getting properly sleep lately. So that's irritating me lately.. Maybe that's why I have been more annoyed than I usually am.

~

As for drugs.. Well. Obviously people were smoking cigarettes, Hyuga smoking whatever he was smoking too. I'm not sure if that could be a tobacco or some other product that I don't know yet. But, for Redrum though, there might have been one vague scene with drugs when the Rascals were in a meeting with Rocky about the drugs - they mention how customers were trying to convince the women to take the drugs. Maybe like cocaine? I think. Redrum might be a drug you could either snort or lick, consuming the drug in that way. The only scene I can be able to think of. If I actually remember the scenes correctly anyway.

I could send you personalities of the seasons and card suits that may help defining your characters. But I'll send a separate message for it.

But depending on what happens with Alice In Borderland, who knows if you won't get inspiration for another story. Maybe. Or.. I don't know.

Exactly! I love the Oya boys. But I also even love the Sannoh, Rascals, Rude and Daruma boys too.. Those boys needed more scenes for me. And you. Those boys actually needed more love than what happened. What the fuck. I wish we had more of them. But we're stuck with DTC instead. I like Tettsu to an extent, but never Dan or Chiharu though.

Did you see the H&L posts I sent you? Mainly the gifs of the Daruma's gambling business and the women working there. I sent that to you.

~

I was going to say something vulgar.. But just forget that. Nevermind.

So that.. He's taking on an undercover job from a completely different faction for his promotion. But only that department knows about, but not anyone who should know about the job. Like his wife for example.

And so the gang boss has a picture, a fake picture, of a man who he's thinking is her husband but he's not the real husband. So now the big bad mafia boss is showing the real husband pictures of fake husband to compare him with the husband. So basically, he wants to fuck her.

That's a whole dick measuring contest. Men are so stupid in this way.

I was only a baby when these events happened.

When it comes to expressing negative emotions towards any person.. I avoid crying in public. But I will scream, shrieking, cursing toward so many people. I may even try throwing things at them if they anger me too, or make any attempts to maim those people in some way if I can.

So I might really have a tempered when my boundaries are crossed.. I am around stupid people all the time. But I can control my temper for the most part, but I will snap if someone crosses my boundaries too.

I choose violence.

And, like Vincenzo, my wine glass broke on me.. I need new glasses.

That's what I thought? Because there are some businesses like that in America. I've actually known some people who live in the apartments connected to their businesses. My grandmother's salon also had only a single apartment above the salon, but she never lived there, but she should have though. And my uncle's friend had his apartment over an entire restaurant - his restaurant, so he never really went far for work.

So I know there are buildings like that. But an entire building seems a bit weird to me. But also kind of convenient in apocalyptic situations.

I've been rewatching All Of Us Are Dead.. Halloween season is here so I wanted to start watching some horror media. Which also include the zombie creatures. That made me think of eighth episode of Vincenzo.

So. There are actors I recognize in the show. Yoon Byung-hee's one of gym teachers, he's actually in Vincenzo as one of the lawyers working with Vincenzo. He's the nerdy looking lawyer always following Vince.

Jeon Bae-sso is On-jo's father, he was also in the show The K2 which was the show that Ji Chang-wook starred in (who is the police officer in Worst Of Evil). And in The King: Eternal Monarch with Do-hwan.. A show I have yet to watch. But I really had to confirm the actors first.

The actor of Gwi-nam seems about the same height as any male cast in the show (for the taller male characters). And he does seem like his height towards over some of the female cast for the most part since I remembered you asked about that before. Or something like that.

But now that I'm rewatching the show, I'm remembering many details as I'm just watching it. So it's actually refreshing my memory now any time a scene comes on, the characters or things to help remember it.

i’m just a tired girl. just sleepy 24/7. at night, my brain can barely shut up for long enough to sleep well. just blahblahblahs until i pass out sometime around midnight or very early in the am most nights.

~

the smoking i remember, but i don’t recall anyone actually took the redrum drug. idk enough about drugs to guess what kind of way redrum’s taken. since it seems like a ‘party drug’, maybe it could be eaten?

if they introduce some new characters, i might find someone to make an oc for. will just have to see when new information comes out.

they introduced a bunch of new characters for rascals and daruma with the smg and the babies, but then didn’t have the chance to do any with them! so yea, would’ve liked to see more of the other gangs. maybe another season as opposed to a movie.

i saw those posts! the gambling den has a such a cool aesthetic and the girls are so pretty. also every time i see those pics of hyuga on his car, all i can think is that he’d slide right off the hood if they stopped too quickly. it’s so dangerous what’s wrong with him

i’ll be keeping that other ask about the seasons and card suits saved in my inbox. so i can look at it later. thank you!

~

yes, no one else knows. just the other department guy and his boss above him since the cop is working close with them for information. not the cop’s actual division boss or his wife.

oh he absolutely wants to fuck her. he’s still totally in love with her. he ragged on her husband for being a countryside cop and that she should’ve married someone rich to live in luxury (read: the gang boss is a rich man). he also found out her mother was in hospital and brought her an expensive cashmere shoulderwrap and took her out for a walk and lied that he wasn’t a criminal like rumours were saying about him. also he got confused for her son-in-law by one of the nurses and the SMILE on his face! insane. insane man. and the cop can do NOTHING because he’s undercover and trying to get close to the boss.

i was not even born. my mother wasn’t even pregnant with me. i think my parents might’ve just gotten married.

i’ve absolutely cried in public. like probably more than once. i’ve cried at my workplace. i’m a huge baby and sometimes i just can’t hold it back. that’s the problem with burying emotions i guess. i’m very good at not yelling in public tho, can shut that down real quick and keep it in my head. very good at walking away from situations.

i don’t drink wine. never enjoyed the taste. i’m more of a rum and coke girl. so don’t have to worry about thin, more fragile glasses with that. i also just. can’t drink vodka. it makes me throw up every time. drank too much of it when i was 18 (legal age in aus).

i’m sure there’s some places like that in australia, but i don’t know of any around my area. a lot of smaller businesses where i live are stacked up. like where i went to therapy had completely different businesses above and below in the same building.

i haven’t gotten around to watching anything else, i’ve been busy with worst of evil and playing pokemon and writing another karube/niragi fanfic because i’ve been neglecting them and the s3 announcement brought me back.

[hbogirls]

what about glee!!!

my favorite female character - santana!! my favorite character of all time. she's funny, she's kind of a bitch but it's because she's making an attempt to conceal all of the feelings and insecurities under the surface, and she's hopelessly in love with her best friend. hello! she's got it all! character of all time.

my favorite male character - SAM!! he's so sweet and so dumb and so hot. he just wants to sing and protect his family and make sure his friends are happy. my perfect little blond himbo <3

my favorite book/season/etc - season 2 is my favorite season of tv ever. i feel like it exists in that perfect bubble where they were writing it while hitting their stride with finding the characters' voices and finding the footing of the show but before the outside popularity started to really influence creative decisions. it's still mostly the core group together, and they haven't started worrying yet about what happens post-graduation. it's only got like four episodes that i don't absolutely love out of it's 22 ep run, and even those aren't that bad. long live season 2!!

my favorite episode (if its a tv show) - oh man... i think officially it's duets or rumours. but there are so many i love so much. like i'm watching the rocky horror one as i type this and it's such a slay

my favorite cast member - naya will always be my girl! i always weirdly felt like we would have gotten along well had we known each other. i also really love dianna and chord and jenna and kevin and cory ofc. and i am entertained by lea as a public figure lol

my favorite ship - brittana! idek how to intellectualize exactly what it is about them, but i just love their relationship. i think it's just something about them having been friends first and seeing the good and the bad and the ugly and still choosing to love each other at every crossroads. then falling in love with each other while feeling like they have to sneak around and hide their true feelings from everybody, even each other. and the fact that santana is really only herself with britt, and britt gives her the space to grow into that. and the fact that santana is patient with britt and understands her genius before anyone else. whatever's going on there... i love it.

a character I’d die defending - santana... i'm pretty sure she's never done anything wrong in her life sorry

a character I just can’t sympathize with - i mean i just really don't care one iota about ryder or marley or the season 4 new kids in general. so it's not that i don't sympathize so much as it is that i don't care to try

a character I grew to love - idk if i'd ever say i love tina, but when i first watched the show in middle school i thought she was soooo annoying and now i'm like... okay girl you're kind of silly goofy in a good way. i also think my love for jesse st. james intensifies each rewatch

my anti otp - hmmm santana/dani pisses me off bc i've loathed demi lovato since their camp rock days (for no real reason other than vibes), but idk if that's an anti-otp situation since it lasts all of 5 episodes. it's more like a "get a job! stay away from her!" situation. i also don't like that quinn and puck get back together in season 5. like i actually thought they were kinda cute in season 1, but they don't have much of a shelf life after that.

[purplesurveys]

1137

created by: allwrongx - Bzoink

Do you have a bookshelf? If so, just one or how many? I don’t, actually. I have the most books out of everyone in the family, but they’re all either lined up or stacked in random points in my room because of said lack of shelves. Currently, I have three groups of books strategically placed around my room.

If you answered yes to the above, are your books ordered in a special way? Just by height since I have a lot of tall books like encyclopedias as well as smaller-sized novels and pocketbooks.

Have you ever owned action figures? I have a couple of wrestling action figures and I want to keep collecting more if my financial situation ever permits it in the future.

Why did you last smile? Andrew Ilnyckyj finally has a new cooking videoooooooo, which is the main BuzzFeed content I watch these days. I think his last one had been posted in January, so I’ve been feeling pretty starved for some new Andrew content.

Do you have a close relationship with your immediate family? I’m not close with them in that I don’t feel shy about kissing/hugging them or confiding in them; my family are not those people for me. But like we don’t fight (anymore) and we’re able to have pleasant talks over dinner, which is as close as I’d possibly ever get with them. 

Idk, we were ultimately never able to cultivate an emotionally strong relationship with one another, which I’ll always feel bittersweet about; but at least I now have a blueprint of how I’d want to build my relationships within my family, should I ever have one of my own.

If I gave you twenty bucks what would you do with it? Use it to pay my sister for the drawing commission I asked her to make. My total bill comes up to around that amount, anyway.

If dinosaurs could be tamed, would you want one as a pet? Nope, they can stay in the wild.

Do you crack your knuckles, neck or toes constantly? I crack my knuckles the most and my ankles as well. Never my neck and toes.

Are you constantly catching colds or other sicknesses? No, I rarely get sick.

Is there a movie from your childhood that you still watch today? I do an annual Toy Story rewatch because it’s my absoluete favorite kid’s movie. I will also always be in the mood to watch The Game Plan, which I watched every single weekday after coming home from school in like the 3rd grade.

Have you ever seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show? Nope but this has been on my list for years. Just never gotten around to downloading it and finally seeing it for myself.

Where do you do most of your shopping? I usually go to small, independent businesses that sell trendy pieces for a lot less, but I also drop by H&M from time to time. Once I feel secure enough with my savings I also wanna be able to start shopping from Zalora because they have really nice brands over there as well, haha.

Are you afraid of mice? I don’t imagine I would be since they’re tiny and cute. I’m afraid of house rats, though, especially considering how big they can get D:

What type of souvenir do you usually purchase when on vacation? I typically don’t get souvenirs for myself, but this is also because I’ve never traveled solo. My family collects magnets from all the different places we’ve been to though (and also from my dad’s work travels), so our fridge doors are filled with them. 

Do you vacation often? Yeah, my family would usually take 3-5 trips a year, usually around the country and sometimes out of; but of course we’ve had to put a stop to it since the pandemic blew up.

Are you comfortable wearing your pajamas in public places? The only place I’d be comfortable doing so is at the nearby McDonald’s, since I’ve seen residents from my village come in there wearing their PJs or housewear. Otherwise no, I’d rather dress up.

What's your favorite candy bar? Twix!!!!!!!! And while they’re not technically bar-shaped, I love Reese’s Cups too.

Do you own more than one copy or edition of a book? Hahaha yeah. I have two copies of Twilight (one is from my boxed set, another was given to me by a childhood friend, Maryrose) and Breaking Dawn (one is also from my boxed set, while the other one is the special white cover edition given to me by Angela).

If you could see any musical on Broadway right now, what would it be? Miss Saigon. That’s the only musical I’m into.

If you could put any person or characters face on money, whose would it be? I definitely want to see a woman’s face on a dollar bill or coin sometime in the future. < Oh man, this is a pretty good answer. We do already have women in our P500 and P1000 bills, but they’re accompanied by men :/ It’d be neat to see a woman take over a bill/coin all on her own, like Gabriela Silang.

The place that you'd most like to be right now is where? God I really wish I were out in a coffee shop right now but I have to saveeeeee. I’ve been meaning to check out this nearby cafe that also doubles as a co-working space (which means I can do work there without feeling guilty or anxious that I’m taking too much time there, yay), and I might visit next week.

Do large crowds make you anxious? Depends on what the context is. If I find myself in the middle of a stampede that’s quickly going ugly then I will definitely start to panic; but if I’m at, say, a concert, then personally a bigger crowd means a better experience for me.

Do you own a helmet of any sorts? None of my own, but we do have a helmet for our bike.

Will you willingly sing in front of other people besides your family? No unless a huge sum of money is up for grabs, lmao. I’ve only sang in public once, when my mom made me do a solo number on my 7th birthday.

What's in the box? Yeah, I’m not feeling creative enough for this question...

Does your family generally decorate for most holidays? No, only for Christmas.

Would you take the chance to be Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys for a day? Eh, I’d pass up on the offer. Mystery isn’t my thing.

Do you eat soup when you're sick? No. I prefer to drink lots of water as I usually lose my appetite when I’m sick anyway.

Is there a specific mug or coffee cup that you have to use all of the time? I don’t have to use it, but I’m in love with the mug Angela gave me just this past Christmas. I use it all the time now.

Have you ever watched Doctor Who? No, but I don’t think it’s my kind of genre or show.

If so, what do you think is the scariest creature yet?

Do you prefer to do your shopping online or in person? If I already have an idea of what I want to get, I prefer to get it in person. But if I need something oddly specific and have no idea where to start, that’s when I start to look for online shops or go to Shopee or Lazada altogether.

If you read, which book or series did you enjoy most as a child? Angie Sage, with her Septimus Heap series.

Do you read tour guide type books before you visit places? It’s been a while since I’ve traveled extensively, and when I was younger I didn’t really read into tourist guides. Now that I’m older, I do want to start reading up before visiting a different country – not necessarily about the best places to visit, but more about the culture and practices I have to observe. I remember being reprimanded by a Korean when I tried to snap a photo of something I saw while out in public in Jeju, and I don’t want to do something like that again.

Would you please belt out a few song lyrics here? AND IF YOU TRY TO FIND ME NOOOOW I’M IN ALL THE ECHOES THAT HAVE FAAAADED OUT soooo!!! I’M MOVING ON CAUSE I JUST WANT TO FEEL FOR ONCE THAT I BELONG, THAT’S WHAT GOING ON

How do you get rid of your hiccups? I hold my breath, which is a trick taught to me by my mom. Not always effective, but it does work sometimes.

Is there one saying that you've adopted from someone/somewhere else? I’ve picked up “Awesome!” which was Gabie’s catchphrase. My former director also liked saying “Anywhoooooo” when she wants to digress, and I’ve since adopted that into my vocabulary and mannerisms as well.

Can you lie effectively and smoothly? Yes, but I feel like shit every time I have to.

Do you buy Halloween candy when it's on sale after the holiday? No, I don’t enjoy candy anyway.

Why is your favorite teacher your favorite? She taught beyond her curriculum - music, which isn’t even part of my top 30 favorite subjects - and always made sure to inject a little bit of useful life advice in all her lessons.

Who can never fail to make you laugh? Hans.

Do you agree with the "they're just being kids" excuse? No, especially if the kids in question are already 16/17 year olds.

How many pets have you had in your lifetime? Countless goldfish, one chick, one rabbit, one cat, two birds, and two dogs.

Were you ever afraid of monsters under your bed? Sure. Still am occasionally, heh.

Would you kindly recommend your favorite movie to me? Two for the Road shows a realistic take on love told through cars and a non-linear tour around Southern Europe. If you’re into that and Audrey Hepburn’s pretty outfits in each scene, definitely check it out.

[eldritchsurveys]

227.

Do you have a bookshelf? If so, just one or how many? >> We have one.

If you answered yes to the above, are your books ordered in a special way? >> Aside from the series books being kept together, and putting smaller books on the shorter shelves, no.

Have you ever owned action figures? >> No.

Why did you last smile? >> I was cackling about the number of notes on a funny inspirobot post I’d made on my mainblog last night.

Do you have a close relationship with your immediate family? >> No.

If I gave you twenty bucks what would you do with it? >> Right now, nothing.

If dinosaurs could be tamed, would you want one as a pet? >> No, thank you.

Do you crack your knuckles, neck or toes constantly? >> I crack my knuckles semi-frequently, I guess? But not constantly.

Are you constantly catching colds or other sicknesses? >> I rarely do.

Is there a movie from your childhood that you still watch today? >> If someone put The Pagemaster on right now I’d sit down and rewatch the shit out of that.

Have you ever seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show? >> Part of it, but it never interested me enough to watch the whole thing.

Where do you do most of your shopping? >> Grocery shopping is mostly done at Meijer or ALDI.

Are you afraid of mice? >> No.

What type of souvenir do you usually purchase when on vacation? >> I usually don’t buy souvenirs unless we’re in NOLA, because NOLA souvenirs are inherently superior and much less likely to just get tossed in a drawer and never used again.

Do you vacation often? >> No.

Are you comfortable wearing your pajamas in public places? >> Depends on the place.

What's your favorite candy bar? >> I don’t have one.

Do you own more than one copy or edition of a book? >> Sparrow and I each have a copy of the Dark Tower Concordance, so now that we live together we just have... two copies. I might just get rid of mine, since that’s pretty unnecessary.

If you could see any musical on Broadway right now, what would it be? >> I’d probably just see Phantom of the Opera again.

If you could put any person or characters face on money, whose would it be? >> ---

The place that you'd most like to be right now is where? >> I’m fine here, if I can’t fast forward to a future where we’ve already moved to NOLA.

Do large crowds make you anxious? >> Yes.

Do you own a helmet of any sorts? >> I have a bike helmet somewhere, but it’s pretty obvious I’m never going to wear it.

Will you willingly sing in front of other people besides your family? >> Yes.

What's in the box? >> Nice movie reference.

Does your family generally decorate for most holidays? >> ---

Would you take the chance to be Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys for a day? >> No.

Do you eat soup when you're sick? >> If I feel like it.

Is there a specific mug or coffee cup that you have to use all of the time? >> I have two mugs and I alternate between them depending on which one’s clean, whether I want a big mug or not, and so on.

Have you ever watched Doctor Who? If so, what do you think is the scariest creature yet?  >> I’ve seen like 3 total episodes of Doctor Who.

Do you prefer to do your shopping online or in person? >> It really depends on what I’m buying and how I feel that day.

If you read, which book or series did you enjoy most as a child? >> I can’t even say, but I did read The Phantom Tollbooth a bunch, and it remains one of my favourite books.

Do you read tour guide type books before you visit places? >> No.

Would you please belt out a few song lyrics here? >> No.

How do you get rid of your hiccups? >> Wait. (Mine never last longer than, like, a minute.)

Is there one saying that you've adopted from someone/somewhere else? >> There are plenty of those, because that’s how language works, but I can’t think of one right now.

Can you lie effectively and smoothly? >> Probably.

Do you buy Halloween candy when it's on sale after the holiday? >> No.

Why is your favorite teacher your favorite? >> ---

Who can never fail to make you laugh? >> Key & Peele.

Do you agree with the "they're just being kids" excuse? >> It depends on the situation that excuse is being applied to, obviously.

How many pets have you had in your lifetime? >> 2 or so.

Were you ever afraid of monsters under your bed? >> No.

Would you kindly recommend your favorite movie to me? >> My favourite movies are The Fountain, Interstellar, Sunshine, Requiem for a Dream, and mother! but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend them to anyone without knowing what kind of movies they like first.

[nightmareonfilmstreet]

More Than Meets The Eye: Celebrating Wes Craven’s Classic THE HILLS HAVE EYES

It’s hard to imagine now, but back in the late 70’s Wes Craven was still an up-and-coming filmmaker.  In 1972, he had shocked the world with his brutal directorial debut The Last House on the Left and it wasn’t long before he returned to the world of horror.  On July 22, 1977 the now classic The Hills Have Eyes was released.  On the surface the film is simply a tale of an unfortunate family, stranded in the desert who is brutally attacked, terrorized and hunted by a group of desert dwelling savages. Upon closer inspection however, the film offers a wealth of interesting dualities both in the narrative, and in the actual making of the film.  Today marks its 41st anniversary and therefore it’s the perfect time to delve a bit deeper into this iconic movie.

    Like any good story, we should start at the beginning.  Right off the bat we are introduced to the Carter family.  Bob and Ethel Carter (played by Russ Grieve and Virginia Vincent) are joined on their family vacation by their son Bobby (Robert Houston) and daughters Brenda (Susan Lanier) and Lynne (Dee Wallace).  Also joining the Carter family is Lynne‘s husband Doug (Martin Speer) and their newborn baby.  The Carter family is the picture perfect American family.  Bobby and Brenda both young, fit, blonde and beautiful.  Lynne and Doug both young, in love and brand new parents.  Bob is a strong, domineering father figure and Ethel his loving and submissive wife.  After stopping at a dilapidated gas station and taking an ill-advised short cut, Bob crashes the family’s car and the attached trailer in the middle of the desert.  This sets the stage and the backdrop that the rest of the film will play out upon.

    The film was shot outside Victorville, California, truly in the middle of the desert, and here is one of the most obvious dualities of the film. During the day temperatures could soar above 90 degrees, while at night it would plummet to near 40 degrees.  The stark rocky terrain punctuated by only the sparsest foliage, and mostly dry and dying at that. The family, surrounded by this expansive empty space, hovers around their trailer and car.  There are numerous shots where these two ideas play off each other.  The landscape of the area is commonly shown with long, distant and expansive shots.  This is coupled with close, almost intrusive shots of the family while they’re driving and crashing their car.  Once the car has been rendered immovable, the family trailer is shown.  The space is small, crowded and nearly claustrophobic.  Here they are surrounded by countless miles of vastness, and yet confined all the same.

It’s not long before we are properly introduced to the other family in the film, led by Papa Jupiter (James Whitworth).  Papa Jupiter is a brutal man who killed his own mother, and later his father (the gas station owner Fred).  According to Fred in a revealing speech to Bob, Jupiter was always a violent person.  As a kid he would kill livestock and even his own sister. After Fred tried to kill Jupiter and left him for dead, Jupiter took to the hills.  This disturbed personality is the flip-side to Bob, a retired police officer who only quit the force because of his bad heart.  Even physically the two differ with Bob being out of shape, physically at a disadvantage and dependent on his gun for protection.  Jupiter on the other hand, while scarred and mutilated, is fast, strong and intimidating.  But Jupiter is not alone in the hills.  Jupiter has a wife of sorts known only as Mama (Cordy Clark).  She was an alcoholic and a prostitute and would give Jupiter three sons and a daughter; Mars (Lance Gordon), Pluto (Michael Berryman), Mercury (Peter Locke) and Ruby (Janus Blythe).  Mama is distant and uninterested, the exact opposite of Ethel who is loving, present and sweet.  You can see where this is going.  Just like their respective moms and dads, the kids are also near opposites of each other.

    Jupiter‘s clan are harsh and uncivilized.  When Pluto and Mars attack the family in their trailer, they make moves that are shocking and unthinkable to “normal” people like the Carter‘s.  Pluto sexually assaults young Brenda while Mars gives no thought to killing Ethel and young mother Lynne.  He also absconds with Lynne‘s new baby, saying simply “Baby’s fat.”  While these events are obviously partially story driven, they also clearly represent the vast divide between the two groups.  This is also the first real clear look we get at Pluto and Mars and their scruffy, dirty, bone clad appearances.  A visual counterpart to the Carter‘s clean cut, well-groomed looks.

Accompanying the Carter family are their two German Shepherd dogs, Beauty and Beast.  Aside from the obvious dualities of their names, the dogs also represent nature in the film.  It’s not just the Carter family who is up against nature, Jupiter‘s clan is also a victim to the harsh realities of the desert.  That’s the whole reason they’re hunting the Carter family in the first place; food has become sparse for them and they’re running out of options. Beauty quickly becomes a victim, however Beast proves to be a much more formidable character.  His showdown with Pluto near the end is a true man versus beast fight and one of the most graphic scenes in the film.  This idea is also referenced in another small, but clever way.  Inside the trailer hangs a giant poster from the movie Jaws; a nod to the power of nature.

When it came to scoring the film, Wes Craven called upon Don Peake.  Rather than a traditional action driven score, Peake created a score that not only conveyed the brutality of the film, but also the many things discussed so far.  Utilizing a mix of electronic and acoustic instruments, Peake composed a score that comes across as stark and alien.  The sounds compliment the harshness of the environment and are used in very strategic ways.  In the intense trailer scene where the mothers meet their fate, there is notably a distinct lack of score.  The scene is left to play out without any musical accompaniment and thus gives even more weight and power to the scene.  It’s only near the end of the film where roles and lines begin to blend do we begin to hear a more traditional score.  None of this is by accident and I encourage you to pay special attention to what you’re hearing, or not hearing, next time you watch the film.

    Near the end, all the lines begin to blur.  At this point the Carter family is down 3 members and missing one.  Jupiter‘s clan are down 2.  Realizing their dire circumstances, the remaining Carter’s step up to the plate and begin to truly fight back.  Brenda comes up with an ingenious MacGyver like trap for Jupiter.  (I personally love that she is the one to come up with this idea) Once Jupiter is relatively subdued, Bobby is able to finish the job and actually hit something for once with the gun he’s been brandishing the entire length of the film.  Doug also pulls it together and goes after his young child.  There’s truly only one character that rides both sides of the line in this movie, and that character is Ruby.  From the beginning, she is the most reasonable member of Jupiter‘s clan and she remains that way throughout the entire film.  She never attacks the Carter family, and she actually tricks her own brother Mars in order to help reunite Doug with his child.  Realizing the damage that her family has done, Ruby goes so far as to incapacitate her mother and assists in the downfall of Mars.  Her character is interesting and a statement of how one can break away from unfortunate circumstances and rise above them. *Cough* Watch The Hills Have Eyes 2 *Cough*

There is a reason why The Hills Have Eyes has stood the test of time and helped create the juggernaut that is Wes Craven.  His attention to detail, story, aesthetics and his willingness to take risks is present in even his earliest works.  While on the surface this film may appear to be a simple story, upon closer inspection there are numerous layers to be discovered.  We have merely scratched the surface here today and I encourage you to celebrate its anniversary today with a rewatch of this classic.  And if you do…remember…it’s only a film…it’s only a film…

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  The post More Than Meets The Eye: Celebrating Wes Craven’s Classic THE HILLS HAVE EYES appeared first on Nightmare on Film Street - Horror Movie Podcast, News and Reviews.

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