Richard Dansky's Blog, page 49

Nevermore Yet Again

Friday night, M and I linked up the mighty Badger and Merri for the opening salvo of this year's Nevermore film festival. In this case, it was Strigoi, an English-language Romanian vampire film that had won some comparisons to 2008's Let The Right One In. As LTROI was probably my favorite movie of 2008, that made it a no-brainer.
First reactions to the film came in two varieties. One, it's a lot of fun, funny and sly and well-acted. Our hero is Vlad, who's managed to fail at A)becoming a doct...

Do You Like...Scary Movies?

RTP-area folk with a taste for the macabre, I hereby remind you of the incipience (if such is a word) of the Nevermore film festival, which will spread its nighted wings over the Carolina Theater in Durham this weekend. The films in question are listed here; of particular interest to me are Strigoi and The Hagwood Demon (which seems to give off an ineffable bit of Casting-the-Runes-ish vibe).

So be there. Or don't, but don't come crying to me when you're jonesing for an interesting horror mov...

Shiny New Splinter Cell Trailer

Here. Ooh, shiny!

Sometimes, You Want It Too Much (in a minor key)

In Missouri over the break, M and I noticed that one of the theaters in Columbia was showing the minimally dove-infested John Woo epic Red Cliff . This sent me into paroxysms of giddiness as A)I'm a stone-cold Dynasty Warriors goob, and the film depicted a chunk of Three Kingdoms goodness and B)we'd missed its effervescently brief run in the Triangle. In the days leading up to our catching a showing, Melinda repeatedly cautioned me that perhaps my expectations were too high, that maybe it wasn...

Sam Fisher at the Escapist

Spies and video games. Read all about 'em.

Things I Am Not Very Good At

1-Sports
2-Making souffle
3-Singing opera
4-Playing glockenspiel
5-That whole "you're sick so you should rest" thing.

FG: 100 Best

Good news on the Family Games: The 100 Best front. The book will be available in mid-March for your game-essay-reading pleasure. Kudos to James Lowder and all the fine folk at Green Ronin for putting it together.

*settles into eagerly-awaiting-his-copy mode*

Red Ring Of Death = Eye of Sauron

Last year, our 360 conked out in the middle of a party. Being a conscientious host, I went out to get a replacement. (Seriously. When you consider the price differential between the cost of the appetizers and a refurb 360 from Gamestop, it's not as big as you'd think.) Along with the replacement, I got the Product Protection Plan, which Gamestop tells you is for one year but actually is for two.

Fast forward about three weeks. The replacement 360 dies. I take it back to Gamestop to exercise t...

Things You Probably Should Not Combine In One Weekend

In no particular order:
SnowPound cake (homemade)The Drive-By TruckersGood BBQZardozHats (multiple)Some random dude getting the holy hell pounded out of him with a flashlightNeti pots, and the use thereofFurnitureVenetian blind installationFancy hard ciderStoned blonde woman with anime eyesFoofy pink liquor ("X") combined with foofy green liquor ("Tyku") that comes in a light-up bottlePowerpointA flea marketShiny rocksDimetrodonCarl Perkins' CadillacYou have been warned.

Paging Richard Dansky! Paging Richard Dansky!

My author page is up over at Simon & Schuster. Bonus points to anyone who can identify A)the t-shirt I'm wearing and B)the building I'm knocking over in the picture.