Happy Halloween!

Welcome minions to one of my favourite days of the year!

I get to talk about horror movies without anyone rolling their eyes and going 'OMG shut up already,' there are skeletons everywhere, and I have an excuse to wear black nailpolish and spiders without anyone looking at me weirdly.

Because of my strange love of vintage horror, I thought I would change things up for a day and do a quick poll around my office about the scariest movies people have seen. Non B & W, gore and slash galore, the stuff freakish nightmares are made of and things that have made people cry uncontrollably.

I have seen a fair few of these, but most I would not ever attempt to watch. I like vintage horror, and I don't like seeing intestines and other things that should be inside one's body.

Feel free to add to the list of movies and of course; HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

So grab your popcorn and watch in no particular order:

- American Psycho 

- Jeepers Creepers

- Wrong Turn

- Paranormal Activity (F*& that shit!)

- Blair Witch Project

- Silence of the Lambs (I loved this so so much). 

- The Birds (Loved it!)

- Psycho (Got a copy for Xmas!)

- The Exorcist 

- The Ring

Halloween CANNOT be complete without at least some reference to the master, Vincent Price. This is a gorgeous film made in 1982 by the then not so known director, Tim Burton. 

Halloween countdown - Classics are the best

Sup peeps.

There is only a few days till the horror that is Halloween and I thought I'd share a true masterpiece I watched over the weekend - Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

I only was introduced to the book not so long ago and even though it was written some time ago, I read it cover to cover and loved it so much.

So when I was looking for something to watch over the weekend and saw they made a movie from the book in 1931 I went GO GO GO!!

My goodness it didn't disappoint. This struggle between good and evil can be interpreted in so many ways, and I love the idea of making a potion to bring out a person's inner demons. Society is made up of so many rules, expectations, ideologies and this stories is about questioning all of them.

They have made a few versions after this one, which I am now reluctant to check out because I liked this one so much.

It made me think though - do re-makes lose a lot of the point in movies through special effects?

I also checked out the 1992 version of Dracula. Apart from Keanu Reeves being a horrible actor (it was like he was just reading his lines!), it was still quirky and weird.  The original was one of the first black and white movies I ever watched, and Bela Lugosi is THE ultimate Dracula. Native Romanian accent, and those facial features that the Count off Sesame Street emulates.


Gary Oldman did an amazing job as Dracula in this version, but I think I just have a soft spot for the original.

C. :)

Halloween countdown - A tribute to Vincent Price

Confession: I haven't blogged in awhile and I haven't actually watched any horror movies in long time either.   I have missed it though.

I think I was trying to be normal? I even began writing a story about 'real life' but it seemed to fail miserably.  It was boring, predictable and I couldn't visualise it without filling it with stereotypical characters.

I guess I was bored and felt boring.

Then I realised my Pinterest boards were filled with dark, mysterious skeletons, spooky pictures and LOTS of black and white photos of history that seem a little creepy these days. I even brought in Halloween decorations for my desk at work.

I missed my creepy vintage horror. I shouldn't fight my love of crappy zombie movies, ghosts, skeletons and the macabre.

I should embrace.

So in celebration of this rekindled romance, I have decided to do a small countdown to Halloween (seeing as though its less than a week away!). Today, is a tribute to a true master of the vintage horror scene - Vincent Price.

In my recent memory anyway, I have only screamed in one movie and you will all laugh at me that it was made in 1956 and featured THE most FAKE skeleton I have ever seen. There is a scene in the movie where one of the women go down into a room in the basement by herself and she is in there by herself until the shot pans out and there is a crazy lady standing next to her. I screamed SO loud because I wasn't expecting it and then laughed at how ridiculous it was. There have been a few remakes of this movie but nothing compares to the original.

Enjoy! 

Novel Tuesday!

Hello everyone! It's my first Novel day Tuesday post, as well as the first non gaming post!

Recently, (almost a month ago) I was shopping around my local Dymocks when I saw the cover of a book that caught my eye. Of course, I had to pick it up and read the blurb on the back cover. Interested, I returned home and Googled the book, fascinated. I read the prologue and decided to buy it the very next day.

If you must know, this is my normal ritual when I discover a new book that takes my interest. I don't really want to go out and buy a book I don't like!

Anyway, this book I picked up was The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks. I started reading immediately to find a well written novel by an emerging author. The novel follows Kyler Stern's rise to power from the Warrens (aka slums) to becoming a wetboy or skilled assassin. Throw is a slight hint of magic and the recipe is complete. With the first plot twist about 200 pages in, it is a slow moving book, but after the second on about page 400, the novel keeps twisting and turning unimaginably.

After the initial confusion of a new book and new characters, locations, etc. this book provides a pleasant reading experience, however, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone younger than myself due to the violent and adult themes in this book. However, my younger sister picked this book up as I finished and enjoyed it as much as myself.

I give this book a rating of 4/5, being from an emerging author there are a few flaws in the language used, but it is an enjoyable novel and a good use of 650 pages. This novel will take a proud place on my bookshelf.

As a final little add-on, next month is November, and the month for NaNoWriMo, a competition in which you aim to write 50,000 words during the month of November. However, there is no prize apart from the novel you have just written to edit and send off to a publisher etc.

There is a lot of support throughout the month, along with a giant community who participate with you. If there are any emerging/aspiring writers, I highly recommend you take up the challenge, so if you wish to, click the link below!

NaNoWriMo

Returning to the Roots

Hello again! It's game day Friday and a lot has happened since I last typed!

All across the globe, Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2 versions have been released in the last week. Due to the incredibly unimaginative titles, I originally didn't intend to buy a copy, however, as a last minute change of mind, I bought Black 2 version on the release date. My local EBGames also sold me the limited edition for regular price because not enough people preordered. Anyway, I recieved a nice little Black Kyurem coin for my troubles.

I haven't made much progress into the games, but the sequels to the original pair do contain original characters, along with flashback missions and a load of bonus features. So far, I am enjoying what I am playing immensely and my 3DS is getting a nice workout after a few months of inactivity.

Anyway, as the newest in a franchise I have so closely followed for nearly 10 years, I am extremely satisfied with the amount of content in the games. What I am dissatisfied with is the lack of good new Pokémon from this generation. They're all rubbish... Example ->

While it's been nice to fill you in on gaming details for the last few weeks, but coming soon is an irregular post on Tuesdays for book rants/reviews... I am close to finishing one book and about halfway through a second, while I also have a third ready to blabber on about. Finally, I have two more sitting on my table waiting to be started. So I should get that up and running soon.

Finally, the next big releases I'm looking forward to are Assassin's Creed III on October 31 and Halo 4 (which I preordered) on November 6! Until then, there won't be too much news about new games that I have, but I still have games that I can talk about which I am currently playing such as Portal 2, Skyrim, etc. There won't be any lack in gaming posts, just the book posts will be all over the place.

Timeless classics

So I have an extremely long to read pile that seems to grow and grow every day. Someone will suggest 'Oh have you read this Carrie?' and if the answer is no, then it is immediately added to the list.

Same with movies and TV shows. I'm keen for anything, open to anything and if it sounds interesting, I will give it a go.

I sometimes think I should just start at the beginning of time and then move slowly forward to catch up. But then I remember this is a silly idea and something I will never adhere to.

So my current list of things I need my brain to consume are:

Books:
- Chocolat (After seeing Joanne Harris at the Writers Festival, this is probably no.1 on the list).
- 1984 By George Orwell
- Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (TOTALLY in love with her work)

TV
- Mad Dogs - Totally obsessed with Ashes to Ashes and British cop shows in general.

- Ashes to Ashes for the reasons mentioned above

- Sons of Anarchy... MUST. FINISH. IT

Movies

- OZ - the Great and Powerful ... OH. MY. GOD. 

- Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter - I read the book while in Vietnam and am skeptical but keen to watch the movie. 

Keen to hear suggestions on what else I should check out.

Friday Nights are for Gaming

Hello everyone! I'm here with more gaming news (I'll mix it up soon, I promise)

I finished Halo 3: ODST (or rather, watched my sister finish for me) finally! This is a very interesting take on the halo franchise, where instead of playing as a legendary Spartan, you play as an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (ODST). This game is a semi detective game, in which you wake up 6 hours after drop and must roam the city of new Mombasa to find clues to the rest of your squad's whereabouts. Finding a clue triggers a flashback mission where you play as a squadmate until you eventually link up with your squad and complete your main objective.

This game holds a strong campaign, but the multiplayer is just Halo 3's whacked on a second disk. Props to Bungee for an interesting side game, but they could have worked on it a little more. 7/10  (9/10 for campaign, 5/10 for multiplayer)

I picked up Assassin's Creed: Revelations at EBGames for around $35, on an impulse. I was never going to play this game after the bad reviews I've heard from my friends and the internet, but I felt compelled to complete Ezio's story before starting Assassin's Creed III.

As a strange fan of the series, who never really liked Altair, the segments which you have to play as him don't phase me too much, just so long as it doesn't effect Ezio in any way, which it doesn't apart from learning crucial information about the Apple of Eden.

The multiplayer is tougher than I expected, with no sepperation between ranks, which pulls the overall experience down, but this has to be the second game I've played where the multiplayer is fleshed out properly (the first being Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood), given a story. It's relatively easy to find a game on Xbox, though I have heard it can take up to two hours on PC.

Anyway, I'm satisfied with my recent gaming ventures, and I will hopefully be able to bring you something new soon!

New season TV

I've been waiting for this moment for about 6 months now...

My favourite shows are back!!

It's been too long since Homeland has been in my life and I cannot wait to watch the first episode in the new season. Revenge season finale was mind-blowing and the last bit, with the Florence song was seriously good TV. New Girl is back as well as Parks and Rec! HOORAY!

But there are few other new shows that are making an appearance in the next few weeks that I'm keen to watch.

I do like a good British cop drama... Life on Mars anyone? so I'm keen to check out the new show Hunted which has some chick from Home and Away - Melissa George.

There are a few others but I think the other one I'm pretty keen on is called Arrow. Maybe?

I cut things off as soon as I'm bored so let's see how these go.

What else should I be watching?