Enchanted Music

I might be alone, but I hated the music in Enchanted. No particular reason that I can point to, I just didn't like it. To my ears, it never really lived up to the Disney classics, such as:



Feel free to disagree or one-up me with other Disney songs.

And as a supplement to the excellent CD Andy made for us, I would suggest the following tracks for this semester:

Coldplay - Cemeteries of London (England, graveyard, ghosts, witches... perfect Graveyard Book song)
Murder by Death - Comin' Home (Werewolf overtones, a la Kelly Link)
Mew - She Came Home for Christmas (Creepy child abuse theme, harped by Joe Hill)
Symphony X - Awakenings (Wishing well, shown in Enchanted)
Porcupine Tree - Lazarus (Ghosts... kinda)
Goo Goo Dolls - Iris (Works for that short story with angels)
Nightwish - Beauty of the Beast (Gothic vampire theme)

Enchanted References

On Wikipedia I found a page that mention the references to Disney films in Enchanted. I know Wikipedia not the most reliable but I though it would be interesting to post.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Disney_references_in_Enchanted

Sex, Potions, and Rock n' Roll?

In a recent article I stumbled upon in anticipation for the next movie installment of Harry Potter, Director David Yates speaks on his take of the film and what he tried to really showcase. 

He claims this film is much more sexualized than the previous one (where our biggest romantic moment came with a sickeningly  awkward kiss....) and that although sex itself isn't shown (thank god...talk about unsettling), we will apparently be able to tell its there. 

Ok, granted I get that the characters are getting older, and we can't have them just eat chocolate frogs and sharing hugs forever, but i never got the impression that the sixth book was in anyway classified in the "sexual explosion" category. Yes, they were clearly in their teenage prime at 16 in this installment, but i would never say i felt it was ever "quite naughty".  

I call shenanigans. 

I am obviously aware of the whole "treat movies as separate entities of their novel counterparts" idea. I agree with this, and I have always been generally annoyed with those that seek to pick apart miniscule details of the movies that don't agree with the books...but I feel this is a little bit bigger than that. It's like presenting a whole different feel and atmosphere to the story, when in fact, while a little of this sexy spunk is needed to show maturity, it should not be an overriding and overbearing movie. 

Is this just me? Did I misinterpret HPHBP in this regard; did i miss this apparently obvious sexual definition? Or is this just Yates and WB working together to increase the moo-la flow at the end of it all? Afterall, sex does pay. And its not like there are millions of girls out there that would only be too eager to dish out their bucks to see Dan or Rupert turnin' it on...

I would like to hope the later....the easier answer to accept

Last class we talked briefly about how specific scenes in Enchanted mimicked specific scenes in other classic disney movies. For some screen captures that illustrate this checkout this link:  click me.

* Sarah if you haven't already found these they might be helpful. :)

"Secondary" Escapism

I feel like I was a but tongue-tied in my paper presentation last week, and now that I am actually writing this paper I have gained a little clarity. I am breaking up Hill's escapism into three categories. The first being the most common escapism where the reader delves into a world where the impossible is possible. Like The Graveyard Book or Harry Potter. Some of Hill's stories are like this, and this is what I'm thinking of as "Primary" Escapism. The second kind I have dubbed "Secondary" Escapism. I think of this as when something paranormal happens to the characters, and they recognize it as paranormal. It is beyond the parameters of the world they know which is the same world we know, so the characters escape rather than the readers. The third would be a literal escape which Hill uses very frequently as well as "Secondary" escapes. Okay maybe this is a but clearer now. Even to me.

Masking the truth or Masking something else.....

As I mentioned in class, I've decided to write my next paper on the topic of Masks. More specifically, how the idea of masks are used in Joe Hill's short story "My Father's Mask." To begin, I read through the story paying special attention to details and recorded every instance when a new mask was mentioned/introduced. I want to focus on exploring the background of those masks that were specifically mentioned and make any connections I can to the storyline itself. Here's my list as of late:
"One had whiskers and glittery spackle on it and would make the wearer look like a jeweled mouse" (246).
"..rich black velvet...for a courtesan on her way to an Edwardian masquerade" (246).
"...crimson mask...with a hooked beak and feathers around the eyes--just the thing to wear if you had been cast as the Red Death in an Edgar Allen Poe revival" (246).
"...distorted by clear plastic, and looked like a man's face molded out of an impossibly thin piece of ice"(246).
"half-face mask...made of green silk leaves, sewn together and ornamented with emerald sequins"(248).
"black kitten mask, edged in rhinestones, and with glistening whiskers..."(249).
"Very Dionysian. Very Pan" (251) [description for the mask made of green silk leaves]
"black sequined mask, with a fan of strich feathers standing up from one side" (255).
"smooth plastic mask the color of milk" (255).

Here were some of the observations I made about this list:
As far as masks, there were references to masquerade ball, Edgar Allen Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death," Greek mythology gods, and other animal references.

Paper Topic-Monsters

For my paper topic I think I am going back on a blog post I made awhile back called "Fake Monsters." I would like to talk about the different types of monsters we have read about. How some our explainable, and some not and why.

You Will Hear The Locust Sing

Ok this was my story last week. So here are my thoughts. It really wasn't a horror story. I wasn't scared at all. It is basically the story of a boy who turns into an insect (locust). While the story wasn't scary it was very crude and grotesque. The most interesting part of the whole story was how the title was woven into the story. Especially the ending, when the boy (Francis) begings to sing.

Again I'll repeat that the artwork that originally accompanied this story is available in one of my earlier posts.

Paper Topic

I was also thinking of doing a paper on Enchanted. Instead of focusing on the other Disney classics incorporated into the movie like Sara is planning on, I want to focus on the tension between fantasy and reality in the film.

I think that this is the main focus of the story. My paper would explore how it contradicts "real fairy tales", but is in fact a fairy tale itself. My attempt is to also answer how this film relates to children growing up, out of "make-believe" and into "reality." And finally the use of animation and live filming to accomplish this goal.

*Sara if this is too much like what you were thinking, let me know and I'll change. :)

Potential Paper Topic.....Part II?

No, it's not the same Sara(h), but I would also like to run my topic by everyone for feedback before I delve further into my research. I personally think I am at the edge of a good paper, but can't really find my footing. If it seems totally bogus, let me know.

I would like to talk about what the authors that we have read (such as Kelly Link, Joe Hill) have done as far as effectively creating an homage to others' works without ripping it off....essentially, my paper becomes "Remembrances vs. Rip-Offs". It would explain what differentiates the two. Imagine Kelly Link's multitude of stories that brought so many other fantasy stories, movies and media to mind; her writing is so effective at jarring our memories of these things, but I would hardly consider any of her works a rip-off of anything else. It interests me how I can read something and smile at the familiarity and yet other times I read a story and am disgusted with lack of originality and the borrowing of others' ideas. I want to focus on the "secrets of their successes" in accomplishing the former.


Does this make any sense? Haha, I think it's either really far-fetched or just too downright philosophical. I have back-up ideas just in case, but this one sticks out the most. Suggestions?

Potential Paper topic

Ok, so in an attempt to have a better idea of what I want to write about this time around, I thought I would run my idea by y'all before class Wednesday.

I know that I want to write about, Enchanted, and I was thinking I could explore all of the different fairy tales that are incorporated into the story. Most of the story is hinged on elements of classic Disney movies, as well as basic fairy tale stereotypes.

I will expand on this in class, but I was just going to try to get an idea of what you guys thought.

"In the Rundown"

The "Rundown" is the baseball scenario when a runner is trapped between bases, both ways ending in being tagged out. Wyatt experiences this situation as a little leaguer and again in the climax when he must find help for Baxter who has been stabbed. I wasn't sure how I felt about this metaphor. In the baseball rundown, both ways end in defeat. In the rundown he faces presently, on the one end you have the dying boy, but the threat had been removed as the mother flees the area. On the other end you have safety once he flags down the police car. Although we aren't told if Baxter survives or not, it can be assumed that he received help. The metaphor is really only useful to me in that one end of both rundowns is to Treat Rendell, at second base and then as a state trooper.

This story I found to be a little different from the others in terms of the protagonist. Many of Hill's protagonists are younger boys growing up or men reflecting back on their childhood. This protagonist does flashback to his childhood, but this story is not nearly as focused on his development like several other of his stories are. He is the same age throughout the story, and he is an older guy than many of the others. Also, this story takes place in one afternoon, while several others span weeks or months and even a lifetime in "20th Century Ghost"'s case.

Another thing I would like to point out is Hill's use of distinctly American images that recur through his stories. The obvious one in this story being baseball. It is also mentioned in at least two other stories. Also, the image of a hardware store is pretty American and is seen in this story and a couple others.

This story was definitely one of the scarier ones, but overall relatively enjoyable. Not my favorite though.

If only Buffy had this upbrining...

I've always been ambivalent on modern 'reimaginings' - they have a history of being polarizing in the 'quality' debate. Thus, I think my general unfamiliarity with the Dracula/Van Hellsing mythos definitely worked in my favor. Without any previous cultural baggage, I found myself really enjoying "Abraham's Boys" as a look at how children deal with moral decisions.

I'm inherently attracted to "with great power" stories, wherein children deal with being given 'adult' powers (thus my love of the Shazam!/Captain Marvel mythos), and I can understand Max's choice to use his "powers" (in this case, the knowledge of how to kill someone) for what he views as the greater good. Hill clearly leaves the question of 'what is the greater monster, the vampires or the tyrannical fanaticism of Abraham?' up to readers; his choice in perspective, however, clearly nudges readers in one direction.

Last Breath

There is a last breath game on Joe Hill's website. Kinda interesting. Here is the link

You Will Hear The Locust Sing

This is a piece of digital art by Vincent Chong that appeared with the first publication of Hill's story "You will hear the locust sing." Vincent has contributed to the cover design of both 20th Century Ghost and Heart-Shaped Box.

"Joe Hill is One Stealthy Bastard"

...Chirstopher Golden couldn't have said it better in his introduction to 20th Century Ghosts.

Joe Hill certainly is an entertaining read, his book was definitely a good one to end the semester on, in terms of reading that is. 

Of course, I had to look up his website, it's what I do. In terms of overall enjoyableness and readability, I would place his personal blog right up there with Neil Gaiman. Actually, I might even give Hill first place. His archives go all the way back to July 2005, talk about blog dedication...

I particularly liked a key design contest he apparently had on his site, open for fans to design their version of the Ghost Key. Other cool aspects of his site--he'll share with you daydreams he had as a kid, he encourages helping out independent book stores by throwing other contests, and while not all of his posts pertain to his works, you can still learn a little more about each one. 

I particularly liked his blog on his failed attempt to write a Spider Man story...

Check out his website here

And for those of you on Twitter, Hill is up on that recent trend too: Twitter!

Last Breath

So I guess I'll start with my discussion on here. I didn't realize that this story was this short...I wasn't trying to pick the shorter one. But anyway, I really disliked this story. The whole plot was just weird and at the end when the woman died, I really wanted to know what she heard from the Carrie Mayfield jar that made her act so disoriented. Did anyone else feel this way? I just felt like explaining what she heard would have given more insight and more understanding for the story. Overall, just wasn't my favorite.

20th Century Ghosts

So, I don't know if anyone else has been disappointed with this book, but I was really expecting something different. To me, I thought with the title, it would be scary ghost stories; instead a lot of them didn't scare me at all. Like Pop Art, unless I was missing something, an inflatable person is not scary, just really strange. And the story I had to read, Last Breath, wasn't very exhilarating either. I don't know. I really loved Best New Horror, it was probably my favorite, just because it was scariest. I think the title of the book should have been different. But, I guess my say so really doesn't matter..haha.

Salad Fingers

For some reason, certain parts of this collection remind me of the famous e-cartoon series Salad Fingers. It was fairly popular a few years back, and definitely has an atmosphere of psychological horror that matches well with, say, "Best New Horror." Pretty surreal stuff; I'm a fan.

Just remember to turn off the lights and up the volume when you watch them. Clicky my linky.

Fantasia and 20th Century Ghost

So, I hope I'm not completely wrong on this, but I'm pretty sure the movie playing when Alec meets Imogene in the theatre is Fantasia - the 1940 Disney movie.

If I am correct, then the comments about how it is not a children's movie is definitely true. My experiences with Fantasia go back to when I was really young, like preschool age, and my grandmother would show me Fantasia ALL THE TIME. And I hated it. It terrified me. Seriously. The music and the animation...definitely too much for my very young brain. Probably scarred me for life.

I suppose I should go back and watch the movie, now that I would probably have some appreciation for it. But with my current memories, it is totally the appropriate movie to be playing for such a creepy encounter. Reservoir Dogs is mentioned as well, as a movie when a patron comes in contact with Imogene - also appropriate.

So, any thoughts?

Widow's Breakfast

I don't know if anyone noticed this or if it is worth mentioning. One of the boys in Widow's Breakfast is named Gage. I was trying to think if a knew someone named Gage, it was so familiar. Then I realized that that was the name of the little boy in Pet Sematary. Just thought that might be worth mentioning.

Best New Horror

Ok, so I read the first story in the book expecting to pee my pants after what Andy said about it being terrifying, but I actually really liked it!

Did anyone think of Neil Gaiman's Coraline when reading the summary of Peter Kilrue's story? I had a flashback as soon as I saw the word "Buttonboy" and then learned that he had pins over his eyes.

Also....Texas Chainsaw Massacre, anyone? Haha, as soon as Carroll pulled up the driveway at the Kilrue place, I had another moment. The whole Texas Chainsaw/Devil's Rejects vibe came over me.

I can't help but wonder if Hill did this on purpose, though? This book was published in 2005, after Coraline (2002) and LONG after the original TCM. I think that he pulled a Kelly Link, purposely wanting us to be reminded of these horror stories while we were reading, just as the narrator seems to read the same stories over and over as an editor.

I really enjoyed this story. Anyone agree?

Joe Hill story assignments

For our April 15 class, here's the lineup of the people who are starting the 20th Century Ghosts conversations, story by story, as decided this past Wednesday. (Zach and Joe got assigned theirs in absentia.)

Wasn't it considerate of Hill to include the same number of stories as we have students in the class?

Keep in mind that story summaries are unnecessary unless you feel a need to sort out a confusing plotline; keep in mind, too. That you can start the conversation here on the blog, even before class.

"Best New Horror": Dan Roberts

"20th Century Ghosts": Kayla Lisenby

"Pop Art": Adam Cohen

"You Will Hear the Locust Sing": Kellie Hensley

"Abraham's Boys": Avery Dame

"Better than Home": Sara Chesler

"The Black Phone": Katie Whatley

"In the Rundown": Lauren Tucker

"The Cape": Natalie Beck

"Last Breath": Katie Huffaker

"Dead-Wood": Zach Narvaez

"The Widow's Breakfast": Jennifer Chen

"Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead": Sara Adams

"My Father's Mask": Sarah Smith

"Voluntary Committal": Joe Oaks

I like it?

I've only read a handful of the stories in 20th Century Ghosts so far, but I'm already enjoying them so much more than I thought I would.  I fell into the category of people who were kind of scared to read them, since I get scared super easily, but these stories have been extremely entertaining so far.  Has anyone else been pleasantly surprised by this book?

Miss Treason

So I don't remember if we discussed this or not..but I remember us at one point talking about the names Pratchett gives his characters. I think Miss Treason's name almost contradicts itself...because people actually came to her because she would deliver justice; so, in fact, her name represents something of guilt in which justice should be served. Did anyone else notice this?

Boffo!

Though Wintersmith has numerous elements to love, I think boffo is by far my favorite. One of Prachett's great strengths is his ability to translate metaphorical concepts into existent reality, and boffo is a great example. Everyone performs boffo in their life, but it's not often people are forced to consider the hows and why of their own boffo 9and more importantly0, it's negative consequences.

What were other people's favorite elements/set pieces (and Prachett has lots of those)?

Abraham's Boys

I was reading ahead in the Joe Hill book and came across the story "Abraham's Boys." While I was reading this story, I couldn't get the basic idea from the movie Frailty out of my head. It follows the same path of two sons with an absent mother. In Frailty, one of the sons follows the father while the other sees the error in his ways. I won't give it away just yet but this story follows a similar pattern.

Feegle Free Fall

If anyone is bored I found a Nac Mac Feegle game. It's pretty funny.

http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/discworld/freefall.html

Terry Pratchett and the Dark Morris

I was reading about all of the Terry Prachett novels we have been reading on Wikipedia, and I stumbled across an interesting fact. Apparently since the Dark Morris version of the Morris dance first appeared in literary references, some actual Morris sides have adopted the dance.

The exerpt goes on to describe an incidence that Prachett mentions in the Author's Note portion of The Wintersmith. Apparently at one of his book signings a man, who was a real Morris side, showed up to the signing dressed in all black. He then proceeded to do the Dark Morris dance in complete silence for Pratchett at the book signing.

Prachett described this event as, "It was beautifully done... But it was also a bit creepy." I honestly probably would have paid to have seen some random guy show up to a book signing dressed all in black, and do this creepy dance in front of everyone!

Discworld's Nac Mac Feegles and the Arakin Fremsen

I might be walking out on a fragile limb here, but I can see some pretty convincing parallels between Prachett's Nac Mac Feegle society and Frank Herbert's Fremen. (For those who don't know, the Fremin are a society in the Dune series that, like the Feegles, might be taken as primitive upon first glance.)

There's the obvious structure of the societies, in which both are broken down into clans (or seiches) with their own hierarchy and relationships. While the communities help one another, primary allegiance is to one's own clan/seich. Both Feegle and Fremen are primarily warrior cultures and are deeply spiritual. And, most notably, both place one woman in a particular seat of power: the kelda and the Reverend Mother.

There's a scene at the beginning of Chapter 6 in A Hat Full of Sky that fleshes out the comparison between these two ruling women more vividly than I could. It describes how Jeanne knew that Tiffany had been inhabited by the hiver, by ingesting some water from a caldron plus some "special water" from her mother's caldron. This resulted in an experience in which the kelda has access to the memories of all the keldas who came before and a slight bit of prescience from the memories of future keldas.

This ritual is nearly perfectly analogous to the ceremony that produces a Reverend Mother in the Fremen culture, in which poisoned water (of the spice, for those who know the books) is ingested and must be consciously altered to a benign drug by the potential Reverend Mother. This process awakens genetic memory, allowing her access to the experiences of her ancestors. This same spice gives a limited prescient awareness of the future, just as in the case of Jeanne.

It's interesting that these two societies can share so many parallels, but especially in regard to the similarities between the kelda and the Reverend Mother. Here we have one humorous fantasy world and one of the most serious science fiction worlds ever written sharing the exact same power structure and memory emergence. Sure, Herbert, unlike Prachett, makes more of a scientific appeal by stressing that the memories are not magical but merely wrought in our genetic code, but the fact remains that the two showcase what is essentially the same societal blueprint. It seems to support the idea that the difference between fantasy and science fiction isn't the content, but in the way said content is explained.

Morris Dance

I decided to look up the Morris Dance and I found a interesting description on wikipedia. It says that it was originally a sword dance. I just thought that was interesting. Terry Pratchett is also mentioned towards the end.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_dance

The Pratchett Series

Honestly, I have really enjoyed these books. It's a nice break from some of the heavier (Scarier) material we have read lately. It reminds me of something that I might have read as a younger person. 

Tiffany is a great main character for the book. She seems to be the anchor that keeps the stories fantastical elements from taking over. Her realism is a nice juxtaposition to all of the witchcraft and the wee free men throughout the stories. That is at least until the second story when the hiver begins making Tiffany do all kinds of crazy magic!

Font

I really loved this Prachett series. One small reason being the font. It isnt that, the font is so unusual, but the fact that by increasing or decreasing the size, or changing the case, there is a subtle change in tone, atmosphere, or volume. For example, in The Wee Free Men,p 187, Rob Anybody is trying to tell Tiffany that to officially be Kelda, she has to choose a feegle husband and set a wedding date. Mid sentance, Rob trails off into a "mutter, mutter, mutter," each word being a size smaller than the last word. A small visual clue that Rob's voice was becoming quieter. This tecnique is more peevelent in the second book when the hiver has taken over Tiffany. Occasionally when the hiver speaks, smaller words(like "help me") are sqeezed in rrpresentong the real Tiffany that was still fighting the hiver. Yhis exemplifise the simple, subtle way that Prachett also handles the rest of the series.

Wee Free Movie And TP on YouTube

It was bound to happen sooner or later...

That's right, The Wee Free Men is set to hit the big screen sometime in 2010. Scheduled to be directed by Sam Raimi, the man who brought the Spider Man movies to life, the movie is being marketed as " an event-sized live-action family film".

I went to some of the blogs regarding the upcoming movie on TP's website, and to my great surprise, many people are upset with this director choice. I wouldn't say i'm upset, per say, but I do think it will be interesting to see how Raimi can go from PG-13 fights, action, and romance to adequately portraying this much beloved children's novel.

Also, being a YouTube fanatic, I decided to see what videos awaited me when I typed in Terry Pratchett in the search bar. Much to my utter delight, I found this one of him. Ok...he is officially the most humble man, like, he is adorable when he speaks. He seems just like a little kid when he recounts a brief background of The Wee Free Men. The best quote from him- "Magic has been getting a bit too sparkly. There were too many stars, too much glitter. Stars don't make things magical, they just make them expensive"

Check it out

Another video. This one was titled "Terry Pratchett Tells a Dirty Joke".  Mmmmm, British humor. 

There are also several videos were he speaks on him diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. It is actually quite tragic; while he speaks on such a terrible affliction, he still is able to maintain his sense of humor in a way that you can't help but feel the need to give him a hug....and hope that he still has many years of writing still left in him

Pratchett's sense of humor

Practchett's vivid imagination, and his ability to pull readers in to the world of fantasy but also having that witty sense of humor is very enjoyable. I love how the Wee Free Men call Tiffany a "hag." That cracks me up...I haven't heard that word in a long time.

Also, I was looking on his U.S. Web site and he said both the Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky were both part of Discworld. And he explains Discworld as "There are no maps. You can't map a sense of humor. Anyway, what is a fantasy map but a space beyond which There Be Dragons? On the Discworld we know There Be Dragons Everywhere. They might not all have scales and forked tongues, but they Be Here all right, grinning and jostling and trying to sell you souvenirs."

I love his wording he uses, and like Katie W said I love Tiffany's character. Her smart remarks and the things she says really make her character likable.