I’ve wanted to write a post about this topic forever. In fact, during my slightly grandiose moments of depression — not even hypomania — I’ve entertained thoughts of returning for a PhD in Film and writing a dissertation on this topic. But now, there’s no need because Cracked.com has done it for me!

This article shouldn’t be taken too seriously but not with just a grain of salt, either — and particularly the 300+ comments (no, I haven’t read them all and don’t recommend that you do). For example:

• The movie referred to in #1 is, in fact, spelled “memento” (see Memento). If you haven’t seen the movie, and you definitely should, you may not want to read the link because of spoilers.
• ECT is most definitely not painful nor is continuous ECT necessary to remain healthy. The most painful thing about ECT is if your nurse can’t get an IV line in on the first try and you end up with a blown vein. Or two.
• ECT can cause memory loss, both long- and short-term, both anterograde and retrograde amnesia. Maybe that’s redundant. Personally, my retrograde amnesia hasn’t improved much, but my anterograde, which is nowhere nearly as bad as the dude’s in Memento, is still iffy. This explains why I often can’t remember online or offline conversations I may have already had with you — it’s not that I don”t care enough to pay attention — it’s just that, well, I sometimes have trouble creating new memories.

I’m sure there are other inconsistencies and some incorrect information, but come on — this is Cracked.com and the article is supposed to fun, though it does touch on a very serious subject. So, here it is:

We just returned from seeing The Men Who Stare At Goats, but since Robin, who’s a huge Kevin Spacey fan hasn’t seen it yet, I won’t write a review but I’ve included the trailer. And I will say this: though based on a true story, the movie spoofs the Jedi Order, which is especially funny because Ewan McGregor, also in the movie, plays young Obi-Wan who’s a Jedi of course (see right), in TPM and AOTC. But you don’t need to be an SW fan or know anything at all about SW to appreciate the movie.

Also, there was a bunch of teenagers, mainly girls, sitting in a line outside the theater, and I was like, “What the fuck?” Brian said they were camping out for the new Twilight movie, which I’m not even bothering to link to. Turns out they’re showing it at like midnight or something. Barf. On our way out, Brian wanted to ask them if they were waiting for the new Harry Potter movie.

photo [via]

directed by John Moore

As many of you know, on Friday nights in our household we order out and watch a movie. Since it was just Halloween weekend, I wanted to see something that would really creep me out. I don’t like watching scary movies by myself; Brian doesn’t really like watching them at all because most of them are so rotten. We don’t have a Netflix account because the DVDs wouldn’t fit in our mailbox, and because we live in an apartment, anyone could just pick up the package from the floor. And…pretty much all of the nearby Blockbusters have closed down, so we rely a lot on Comcast On Demand. Unfortunately, the choices aren’t the best, but the other night we decided to give this remake of the 1976 super-creepy film, The Omen a shot.

I remember being sufficiently creeped out by The Omen, so I hoped this would do the same. Though I was a tween when I saw the original, most of the story seemed the same: a U.S. Ambassador to England and his wife have a son, Damien, who might possibly be the anti-Christ. I especially remember a scene that takes place at Damien’s 5th birthday party and which was effectively included in the remake. The only other thing I remember from the original was that Damien was cuter and that at the end, his father has to make a touch decision.

This movie has an awesome cast that includes Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles, Pete Postlethwaite, Mia Farrow, David Thewlis, and Michael Gambon, so my expectations were high. I mean, come on: the (remade) Manchurian Candidate, the chick from most every modernized version of Shakespearean plays, Kobayashi (Keyser Söze’s right-hand man — Keyer Söze? as in the devil himself???), Rosemary (as in the one who gave birth to a devil baby), Professor Lupin, and Dumbledore. In fact, Lord Voldemort has a cameo. I shit you not. I don’t mean the actor, either. The acting wasn’t superb, but it wasn’t horrible; it was certainly more than mediocre.

Though the film was beautifully shot, the cinematographer went overkill on the visual metaphors suggesting all things evil. I don’t remember enough about the original for this version to be ruined for me, but this much I can tell you: I was not sufficiently creeped out.

(via The Daily What)

Don’t understand Google Wave? That’s OK, neither do I. I do, however, understand Pulp Fiction, so this video really helped a lot!

One wild thing, anyway. I just took this picture myself because I’m too impatient to wait for Brian to get home to take it for me, which is why it’s so blurry. That, and probably because I had it done in 1992, LONG before the movie existed, so no trendiness here.

“Where The Wild Things Are” is my favorite book of all time and I’m afraid to see the movie because I don’t want it to ruin the book for me. In my experience, books are better than their film adaptations no matter how excellent the adaptation, and this is a classic. Even if people think the movie’s great, I still don’t know if I could bring myself to see it.