DRACULA VS FRANKENSTEIN

ITEM [via puffdoggydaddy ]: According to Guinness Attraction, Dracula is the most filmed character of all time, appearing in 161 movies. At number two: Frankenstein, who appeared in 115 movies.

Pretty impressive, although someone should tell the Guinness people that Frankenstein was the scientist, not the monster. But Hollywood never really bothered to distinguish them, so I guess it still counts.

I’m not surprised at the result, if only because the source material for both has been public domain (at least in the US) for over a century.

Anyway, in honor of this factoid, the Eerie Books Blog has a list of 55 recommended Dracula films worth checking out, although some of them do push the limits of what counts as a Dracula movie (Ed Wood comes to mind, which they only included because Bela Lugosi is a primary character). Also available: 42 recommended Frankenstein movies.

Inevitably, there’s some overlap. Which brings us to Jess Franco, and an excuse to post this movie poster.



FUN FACT: I’ve seen 20 of the Drac films on the list. I’ve only seen 14 of the Frankenstein films. That said, three of them are on both lists.

Double feature,

This is dF

STAR TREK: THE LOST GENERATION

So I finally saw the Star Trek reboot today. I shall bore you with my opinions now.

And I should probably preface this with some context:

1. While I’m a fan of both Original Star Trek and ST:TNG, I am not militant about continuity.

2. I actually prefer ST:TNG over the original, mainly because it came about at an age where I could better appreciate what Star Trek was about. I was a kid when Original Star Trek came out, so I like it more for the camp value these days. Also, while I like William Shatner, I was always considered Jim Kirk to be kind of a jerk.



3. I’m not particularly enamored with JJ Abrams either. I only know his work from Alias (which I never got into), Lost (which I abandoned in the middle of Season 1 due to impatience), Mission Impossible III (which was competent but the weakest of the trilogy) and Cloverfield (which is well executed but doesn’t have a single original idea in it). That said, I’ve seen some of Fringe, and rather like that.

And so on to the New Hotness Star Trek:

Brilliant.

Not perfect, mind. The birth of Kirk is rather cheesy, as are the narrative coincidences that rope all the characters together and stick them on the Enterprise. Also, as villains go, Eric Bana's Nero is functional but underwhelming. And while I realize that ST has never had much respect for real science – nor should it – even I found the bit about black holes somewhat far-fetched. (And this from someone who, like Bones McCoy, knows jack about physics.)

But God it’s fun. And very well done –  Abrams’ space battles seem to riff off of Joss Whedon’s Firefly, but they look epic.

Also, I have to admit that my biggest skepticism about a ST reboot was the casting – would anyone ever really accept anyone apart from the original actors in those roles? I think mostly they will, although Chris Pine is no Bill Shatner, and I haven’t decided if that’s good or bad. But he does manage to make Kirk even more of a dick. Also, whoever cast Simon Pegg as Scotty should get at least a Golden Globe for it.

Probably the best thing about the film – apart from Uhura’s gratuitous lingerie, and can I just say it’s nice to know lingerie in the 22nd Century isn’t radically different than it is now. Yes, I notice these things. But I’m getting off track. I’ll start again.

Probably the best thing about the film is the plot device that basically allows Abrams (or whoever is going to helm the next batch of films) to say, “Fuck continuity”. They’ve got an essentially clean slate now and can take the idea wherever they want without worrying about whether it contradicts the entire ST canon. And that’s good. Clever monkeys.

So all up, it’s probably one of the best films I’ve seen this year so far. Admittedly, it’s not necessary, and is another symptom of how out of original ideas Hollywood is – I’d have loved to see all this talent and energy go into a space opera that has nothing at all to do with the Star Trek universe. But if yr going to start fresh, this is the way to do it. And extra points for making a film you can appreciate even if you've never seen an episode of Old Busted Star Trek in yr life.

Space is the place,

This is dF

WIGGY MANNEQUINS

Spotted in an alley sidewalk shop in Causeway Bay:



The afro is not for sale,

This is dF

UP NEXT: SLINGING BATSHIT IN SINGAPORE IN SEARCH OF THE SEAH STREET DELI SLUT

A few administrative notes:

1. By the request of Def Agent thelastaerie , I’ve added a new tag that’s appropriate for posts like the “Southern Baptist Praying For Obama’s Death b/w Obama Ordered Tiller Hit” story. She suggested “madness”, but it made me think of the band. So I opted for “Ministry Of Batshit”. I hope you like it. And I hope I won’t get much use out of it. But somehow I just know I will.

2. I’m off to Singapore tomorrow for another week of industrial telephones journalism madness. Normal service shouldn’t be disrupted, but one never knows. A few nights will require me to go out and drink heavily with people in suits whilst being massaged by young busty women in tank tops and miniskirts, so if I disappear for a bit, you’ll know what happened

3. Just kidding about the young busty women in tank tops and miniskirts. As far as I know.

4. While I won’t be doing much travelogue stuff, Def Agent lorilori has assigned me to look into the Legend Of The Seah Street Deli Slut.

As documented at FailBlog.


see more Fail Blog

I happen to know where the Seah Street Deli is, but I’ve never eaten there. And they don’t put their menu online. So I’ll have to go there and check out the $6.25 Slut for myself.

Because I live to entertain you people.

Bear in mind that the receipt – presuming it’s not a Photoshop meme – is over six years old, so I can’t promise they still have Sluts on the menu. But I’ve got to try.

Wouldn't you?

Gimme three sluts and a jelly donut to go,

This is dF