Tripping Through My Sanity

With all the gore and dark abandon this movie promised in its preview, I was ready for the chill-maker of the year. Although the film did provide some unsettling moments, this movie was far from dark. The introductory scenes give you an unsavory mix of poor dialog and spoon feeding you the plot. There is no smooth introduction or easy transition from happy town to place of terror. The writer throws the personal struggles of the leading characters in your face in a 5 minute relationship crash course and then chugs along into a town that can’t turn back. Though the ideas behind how the enemies ‘prep’ the town for attack are viable, they movie fails to explain how a few of them were actually pulled off with no one noticing the events. Ofcourse, with any horror movie in our current day, its difficult to give a believable plot full of monsters that anyone now would even come close to believing is possible, but a few moments of ‘common sense’ explanation of minor events leading up to an entire town being held powerless overnight would have helped the credibility of the story line.

The enemies themselves were decent and thankfully not your cliche trench coat wearing fiends from 80’s hair band days - but they still lacked that mysterious quality that viewers have come to enjoy from vampiric characters. That being said, I have to actually contradict myself and say that bringing the characters in as beings who gave no regard to ritual or weakness was a grand and refreshing touch. What all powerful being would ever find romance with a mortal? What blood drinking monster would ever tolerate weakness, even in its own kind? None. And this film delivered a fantastic view on what attitude a man-eater would have.

The lead characters themselves were 50/50 to my preference. Josh Hartnett, as Eban, gave a fantastic performance in what I believe is a recalling of his gut stirring role in “Black Hawk Down”. In this film he further proved his uncanny ability to strike emotion in his viewers with just the switch of facial expression. I found myself agonizing along with him during his ’state of terror’ decision making. However, Melissa George, as Stella, left me cold. In an attempt to turn antagonist into heroine, she came off instead as a heartless ’seize the day and get the glory’ tough girl with only a small glimpse of compassion to spare in the final moments once the danger had passed. She gave me the feeling of ‘why is this brave man risking his life for this cold hearted wench’.

On a side note, a large portion of the viewing audience in the theater seemed to find several parts of the movie humorous. Some I agree with, as a few scenes and nuances of the vampire behavior were over the top or seen so frequently that they became a great object for a drinking game instead of a normal pattern. Many things lost their shock value after we’d seen them happen over and over.

All in all the movie was worth the ticket price, but you won’t find yourself shouting for more at the end. You’ll be satisfied, but completely ready to head out of the theater and stretch your legs.

Grade: B+

We all know that online TYPING LIKE THIS IS YELLING…but what does it say when someone puts !!! at the end of every sentence they type? I know a handful of people who type in that manner regularly so I can only make my assumptions based on matching that ! with their personality. I’ve come to decide that using an exclamation point at the end of every thing you type generally means two things:

1. You think you are far more important than everyone else.

Everything typed is a proclamation(!!) Thus sayeth me! You will pay attention to what I’m saying because I should be heard! etc etc

2. They think the info they are typing is something only an idiot would have to be told.

Didn’t you know that! that is what it is for!! I am telling you again!!!!!

But what is more annoying is that they place one at the end of sentences that, in normal speech, would never require one.

Each time I see it - I get the image of someone with Tourette Syndrome. Stop typing like that…please. It only confirms the fact that not only should you not use ! but you usually shouldn’t be saying much at all.

It’s cold and I’m outside. I’m bundled up in a warm wool coat and hat and the snow is falling around me. I’m in a big city; the streets are busy and noisy. I continue to walk and soon come upon my boyfriend. We greet each other in the usual ways and I point to my neck, saying “Can you help me get this off?” I’m pointing to a snake that is wrapped around my neck. The snake is biting deeply into the side of my neck. He looks and says ‘Does it hurt?” I notice then that it doesn’t hurt at all, only the pressure from it being so tight. I say no and he asks ‘Why worry about it then?” I start walking again. The next people I meet are family. The same conversation happens. This time they say ‘Why don’t you take it off yourself?” So I reach up to pull the snake from my neck and upon touching it, it tightens further and bites down harder. I stop because I have the undeniable thought that if I do try to pull the snake from my neck - then it WILL hurt. I am scared. I put my hand down and refuse to touch it again. The dream continues in the same manner and I meet several people who are important in my life and whom I trust. All say the same things.

In the end, the snake is never removed and I feel like I’ve asked for help from everyone and no one helped me.

When I wake up, I don’t feel unhappy or scared…only confused.

I’m not sure what it is that is bothering me so much that I’d dream about it. Dan has offered some thoughts that make a lot of sense to me now that I’ve heard them: Some natural nervousness about an upcoming 'adventure'.

If he's right...this is easily overcome and will turn out to be a grand thing indeed.

I guess I will wait and find out!

Her drink was watered down again.
She could still remember the last time she’d been there, drinking that same iced pinot noir and listening to him rebuke her for it.

“You really shouldn’t have done that to such a fine specimen, you know. Have some class.”

She had looked up at him, not even bothering to mask her full on apathy toward him or his championed cause to protect the sanctity of wine.


She’d held her hand up then, somewhere between his newest views on Faust and his diatribe of his accountant squandering his highly inflated earnings two years previous. He paused, which was unusual, but what wasn’t about this visit? “Michael…really…” She’d then stopped to sip her wine just out of spite.

”Really what? Cathrine….” He got that look then, the one she reserved for times such as these…
“I wanted to talk to you about something..”
”Oh do tell, Michael,” she finished off the glass and set it back on the table, the stem barely able to withstand the subtle force behind her hand, “I’m so eager to hear this…whatever it is”

“You aren’t making this any easier, Cathy” Her teeth made a sharp cracking noise suddenly, and she knew within two hours her migraine would return, “This is …not easy..”
”Nothing in life is” she interrupted him yet again, ready to dump the check on him and then leave him in his own squalid dreams, “So just say it. You were always such a damn idiot.” His eyes widened and then he wagged his head from side to side as if she were a child who’d just spilled juice on the new couch, ” You know I hate it when you curse. I thought you were more of a lady….I thought a lot of things about you. But that was then…and this? this is different. Nothing is the same.”

“Oh for goodness sake, Michael….” she almost felt like yawning. The same words that only a month previous would have had her heart racing and her palms sweating, now left her simply stale.
“You remember Stephanie? Yes? well… we’ve met up for drinks, a few times now” He started to panic, she could see the beginings of it in his eyes as they darted back and forth behind his glasses.
He straightened his tie which was already set right and continued, “We havent’ slept togteher, not even so much as a kiss…I swear. Its not like that…” Cathrine motioned the water over for naother glass of wine and then leaned forward on the table - closing what little bit of safe distance he thought still existed - her voice was calm… resonant. Her eyes narrow and determined… “Idiot.”

“Cathrine… please! You mean so much to me… such a jewel…” He leaned back as if he could get away from her…from the situation…from the guilt… “You are valuable - but I don’t’ think this is right for me…”

The waiter came at that moment and she took the glass… not wasting any time before she drained the contents and stood from her chair. She searched in her purse and pulled out a few bills, tossing them on the table and started to go… his studdering beginnings of sentences coming rapidly now… begging…not for her… not to repair the last 3 years she’d wasted on him… not to even say “I’m sorry”…. but to simply assuage his guilt. His voiced dropped, trying to seduce her into agreement so he could leave without a cross on his back…”Cathrine…Catty..” He used her nickname in a last underhanded verbal assualt…”Lets not part this way..”

She turned back to him then, and cut a sharp smile….pausing again long enough to watch him fiddle with the wedding band still on his finger…then leaned in… and whispered in his ear…

“You really shouldn’t have done that to such a fine specimen, you know. Have some class.”