Classic Friday (5): The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Movie)

Title: The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Language: English
Release Date: September 26, 1975
Director: Jim Sharman
Rating: R
Cafe Warnings: There is a tremendous amount of adult matter in this movie.
Actors: Tim Curry as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Susan Sarandon as Janet Weiss, Barry Bostwick as Brad Majors and Richard O'Brien as Riff Raff.

"Let's do the Time Warp again!"

Summary: Brad Majors and his fiance Janet Weiss were driving down a road one night when their car breaks down. With the rain pouring down and no one around for miles, they decide to hike up the road to a "castle" they saw a few miles back. When they get there, the handyman (Riff Raff-O'Brien) that answers seems a bit on the strange side. When they get into the mansion they see just how weird the whole place is. As they are taken into the Frank-N-Furter's (Curry) convention and immersed in "The Time Warp". Later they are taken into his lab and see his creation, Rocky Horror, a new-born, innocent, blonde "god" :) Brad and Janet's life alters completely from that moment as they are dragged into the world of Frank-N-Furter, the transexual transavanian scientist.

Trailer...

Wdebo's Review: I first watch RHPS during the Freshmen year, I loved it, but I only watched half of it because YouTube blocked the other parts :( So, when I found out that Glee was doing a RHPS episode I decided to rewatch it (the whole thing!) Even the second time it was wonderful and awesome, it's just so weird but so addicting, no wonder it's a cult classic!

The characters are so over-the-top, you have Janet and Brad who seem like they're very clean cut but they turn out to have a dark side too that is brought out by being in Dr. Frank-N-Furt's life. And everyone in the house is so...weird..but awesome. And of course there is the doctor himself played by Tim Curry, and I just have one thing to say. TIM CURRY IS A GENIUS!!!!! He is soo amazing his acting is so good and so convincing, such a wonderful actor, and he has really good legs which is scary....

However, even though this movie is like awesome, in all actuallity it is actuality it is a bad movie. It is low budget like, it has cheesy 80's things going on, the lyrics of the songs are quite weird, but it is still so amazing for some reason!

Seriously, if you haven't watched this go have some kind of RHPS day and just have a wildly fun time!

Grade: A-

My RHPS playlist :)


Wdebo :)

Classic Friday (4): The Handmaid's Tale

Title: The Handmaid's Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
PAPERBACK
Amount of Pages: 311
Publisher: Anchor
Release Date: March 16, 1998
Geared Towards: Teens
Extra Info: The first publication was from McClelland & Stewart in 1985.

"She did not say: Because they will have no memories, of any other way.

She said: Because they won't want things they can't have."

Summary: Offred lives in the Republic of Gilead (The United States until it was taken over) as a Handmaid. In this Republic, the handmaids are assigned to Commanders and their wives who are unable to produce children, every month the handmaids must lie down and have the Commanders make them pregnant. Offred still remembers the time before where she lived with her husband Luke and had her own daughter, when she had her own job and her own money supply, but now all of those have been stripped away from her as she is made to serve the Republic and her Commander. But there might, just might, be a little bit of hope left...
Wdebo's Review: I always enjoy dystopian style books, so when I saw this book on a list to read for my Summer homework I was quite excited to choose it, and I am very glad I did.

At first, the book was pretty good. There was that shock like, Oh wow, how could a society be like that? And it made you want to read more and more and delve into this world, but after a bit it seemed to get a little slow, and it was hard to continue, but after about the midpoint it picked up again and just got really addicitng especially the last part, which was so hard to put down because all of this stuff just came flying at Offred and it made you wonder how she would get through it all.

This novel really made me think a lot, about oppression and the beauty of freedom. It made me very freaked out reading it, but I still could not put it down, because I really wanted to see how it ended. The ending was very 1984...but with more of a kick...haha women rule :)

I was not the biggest fan of Offred, because she is very conforming and though there was some spunk in her in the middle, it was quickly wiped away, but I guess I can't hate her that much, because I would have been just like her if I was in her place.

Cafe Cover Chat: This cover isn't that bad, but the very first cover scared the crap out of me...two words...scary.baby. Click HERE to see the scary picture~ (B)

All in all, a very well written book, that is sure to scare it's readers and make us all thankful that we live in this un-perfect perfect world.

Grade: A-

Wdebo :)

Classic Friday (3): Carrie

So today's is a hybrid post :) Both a Classic Friday AND Book to Movie!! Enjoy~

Title: Carrie
Author: Stephan King
PAPERBACK
Publisher: Pocket
Release Date: November 1, 2002
Geared Towards: Adults
Extra Info: The first publication of Carrie was in 1974.

“What happens if there are others like her? What happens to the world?”

Summary: Carrie White was always a misfit at school, she was always tormented and teased at school. Her mom was religiously zealous, so religious that it becomes an obsession. Then one day, she gets her first period while in the showers after gym. She is made fun of horribly, and Carrie is confused and scared, because she knows nothing about periods and such stuff. The girls’ gym teacher, Miss Desjardin, punishes the girls. One of the girls, Sue Snell feels bad and decides to let her boyfriend, Tommy, the most popular guy in school, take her to the prom. But another one of the girls, Chris, is very very angry, especially because she has been kicked out of prom, and she has a little way of getting back at Carrie. Two words. Pig.Blood.

At first it was just a prank, dump pig blood on Carrie when she gets “crowned” as Queen at prom. But when the prank has ended, the laughter subsided, and the blood drenched on Carrie’s dress. Carrie’s anger shows her hidden side, her telekinesis, and the whole of Chamberlain, Maine, will feel the hell of Carrie’s anger and power, starting with the prom.

Wdebo’s Review: I am a big fan of Stephen King books, but the thing I hate about them is how long it takes for any thing to happen. In the beginning it hints to some action and interesting stuff; however, nothing ever actually happens, until the middle, which is like 200 pages. So, I was very thankful when I saw how thin Carrie was. After reading it, this one became on of my favorite Stephen King book because, not only did it jump right into the action at the very beginning of the book, it was actually very intersting. Telekinesis is a very interesting and novel subject.

Carrie is a very interesting character, though at first you feel bad for her and just hate all the girls, I had very mixed feelings about her, I wasn't sure if I should hate her or pity her in the end. All the other characters were pretty ugh.

Cafe Cover Chat: The cover is weird (like the book), but its pretty interesting and a little disturbing. (B-)

All in all, a very interesting and good Stephen King book, that all Stephen King lovers will hopefully enjoy, and others hopefully will too.

Grade: A-

Thoughts on the movie: So, I didn't watch a lot of the movie, I watched the prom scene and on and a little before, and since it was on AMC, so there were lots of scenes that were cut out. The movie was actually not that bad, it was ok, but just cheesy, and the cheesy-ness made it kinda funny, which I'm sure the director was not going for. But it was a pretty good movie none the less. (B-)

Wdebo :)

Classic Friday (2): Rosemary's Baby

Merry Christmas!! What do I have for you, well a cult classic "horror" movie review of course :) Enjoy!
Title: Rosemary's Baby

Year: 1968

Director: Roman Polanski

Actors/Actresses: Mia Farrow as Rosemary Woodhouse, John Cassavetes as Guy Woodhouse, Ruth Gordon as Minnie Castevet and Sidney Blackmer as Roman Castevet.

Rated: R

Synopsis: When Rosemary moves into her new apartment with her husband, Guy Woodhouse, an ambitious but unsuccesful actor, she meets a girl named Terry who tells her about an old couple, the Castevets, who has taken her in, a few days later she kills herself.

The Woodhouses later meet the Castevets, but find them to be a rather odd couple, both Rosemary and Guy make fun of them, Guy especially. But after a while Guy seems to be rather taken with the old couple. One night Minnie brings a chocolate mousse for Guy and Rosemary, Rosemary eats it but thinks it has a "chalky aftertaste," Guy tells her its fine and eat the whole thing, when Guy goes away form the table Rosemary dumps the rest of the mousse out. Later that night, Rosemary has a weird hallucination feeling which at first feels like a dream, but after a bit she realizes its not a dream but that she is part of some weird ritual, there are weird symbols drawn all over her body and a weird thing that rapes with her.

A few days later she finds she is pregnent, but her pregnency is weird she is losing pounds instead of gaining it, her husband won't even look her in the eyes, and her baby seems to be attacking her from within, and she slowly learns about sadistic happenings in their new apartment.

Wdebo's Review: Ok, I know that summary was really, long but I really don't know how to make it shorter, this movie just twists around, but also has that predictable chessy nature that all 60's movies have. But the beginning has totally weird scenes, especially the scene after the chocolate mousse...totally weirdness, especially when you're watching it with your parents :O

But after that it was pretty mild and not that bad, except aggravating like all the other 60's horror movies, just some parts are so ugh, that make you want to scream, why are you going there? There's like 1000 signs that tell you not to go!!

All in all, it was a pretty interesting movie, not my favorite, but after that horribly awkward scene it actually got pretty good, except the ending was VERY unsatisfying...and the props were pretty lol, the "devil" reminded me of the swamp thing and the "baby" looked like Donnie Drako's bunny's offspring.

Grade: B-

Wdebo :)

Classic Friday (1) Fahrenheit 451

So, I decided to do a new feature called "Classic Friday" which I will HOPEFULLY be able to get to each which, each Friday I will feature a classic be it book, movie or song...hope you enjoy! And if you want to feel free to make your own!~

Type: Book
Title: Fahrenheit 451

Author: Ray Bradbury

HARDBACK

Amount of Pages: 165

Publisher: Ballatine Books

(1st) Release Date: August 12 (My dad's b-day!), 1987

Geared Towards: Adults

Summary (From Amazon): In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury's classic, frightening vision of the future, firemen don't put out fires--they start them in order to burn books. Bradbury's vividly painted society holds up the appearance of happiness as the highest goal--a place where trivial information is good, and knowledge and ideas are bad. Fire Captain Beatty explains it this way, "Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs.... Don't give them slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy."

Guy Montag is a book-burning fireman undergoing a crisis of faith. His wife spends all day with her television "family," imploring Montag to work harder so that they can afford a fourth TV wall. Their dull, empty life sharply contrasts with that of his next-door neighbor Clarisse, a young girl thrilled by the ideas in books, and more interested in what she can see in the world around her than in the mindless chatter of the tube. When Clarisse disappears mysteriously, Montag is moved to make some changes, and starts hiding books in his home. Eventually, his wife turns him in, and he must answer the call to burn his secret cache of books. After fleeing to avoid arrest, Montag winds up joining an outlaw band of scholars who keep the contents of books in their heads, waiting for the time society will once again need the wisdom of literature.

Wdebo's Review: So, I remember trying to start Fahrenheit 451 in seventh grade but I couldn't, I guess I was "intellectually too young" as my chemistry teacher would call it. I couldn't grasp this strong idea that was hanging in the book, I'm sure many of you are probobly thinking, oh, she must be really dumb if she doesn't understand it at all, I read it in sixth grade and was perfectly fine with it. But there was just a deep sense in this book that I just couldn't understand as a seventh grader.

The main point is about well, book burning and the idea of censorship. But there was an idea, a lesson in every little twist and turn of the book, are rebels really "bad" or are they just seeing our society as something that we, the normal conformists just can't grasp.

Now, for the real review, at first, I only started it because one of my guy friends was talking about all these books, and I felt horribly stupid because I hadn't read like a single one, so I decided to read more classic books! At first, Fahrenheit 451 seemed kinda boring and hard to get into, but after a few more pagest it got very good, then boring again and then good...a total roller coaster ride...but overall, it was satisfactory.

Except I thought the Afterword was more interesting then the whole book, haha, but Ray Bradbury did bring up some very good points.

Cafe Cover Chat: Ugh, I don't like this book cover at all, not good. (C)

All in all, a good classic story, and will be enjoyed and thought over by many.

Grade: B+

Wdebo :)