Sorryless Sunday Morning

Sorryless75 Comments

Where does inspiration come from? I mean . . other than commercials and hallucinogens. Welp, I guess it depends on where you’re sitting. An idea is the composite of its metaphysical values swimming through a wilderness with no particular place to go until the feral seedlings plant themselves into a grip of ink that gives them shape.

So it was that AMC was running a Stephen King marathon yesterday morning as I searched for some inspiration for today’s post. There really was no good reason for me to tune in, seeing as how I’m not the biggest fan of King’s horror flicks. But it was The Dead Zone and Christopher Walken is in it, so that made it worth a look.

My “Very Unofficial Thespian Rules” read thusly:

  • I would listen to Morgan Freeman read a cereal box
  • I’d buy into anything a Tom Cruise character sets his mind to
  • A Julia Roberts entrance is worth the price of admission. Still.
  • Jeff Bridges owns his characters the way the tides own forever.
  • If Christopher Walken is in it, you should watch.

For thirty five years, I flouted that last one. And then yesterday morning happened and I found myself watching a movie I can’t believe I’d been missing out on for all this time. The cast is superb and the story makes you wonder why this was dropped into the horror genre, because outside of the fact that King wrote it, it ain’t got much of anything to do with horror.

But it did provide me some inspiration in the form of an idea that I thought was pretty clever . . . for about five minutes. I thought it might be fun to tuck a handful of characters from King’s horror flicks into a small town and write a short story about it.

The original idea was to use thirteen famous quotes and then build the story around it, but that wasn’t working. So I’ll try another tack, and should it work? I’ll have a Halloween “bundle” post for next weekend. If not? Well, I’ll still have my favorite Halloween song to fall back on.

Anyways . . .as pleasantly surprised as I was by The Dead Zone, I had to chase it with something more in keeping with my favorite month of the year. Rob Zombie’s Halloween did the trick. It’s been my October go-to since its release ten years ago. I tend to rummage through all of Zombie’s stuff this time of year. So far this month, I’ve digested House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects, The Lords of Salem and of course, Halloween. 

The recently released Halloween is on pace to top eighty million this weekend after a record opening for October. That eighty million would topple Zombie’s total haul, so it would seem the people have spoken. And while I am down with checking out the Danny McBride sequel, which has the Pope’s (John Carpenter) blessing . . I’ve already been served up some buyer beware 411. My son went to see it on opening night and came away unmoved. “It’s a three star movie when it should be much better . .”.

Imma finish up with a classic song that has become synonymous with the Halloween franchise. It’s done up in the new old fashioned way by Nan Vernon, who did the closing credit music for both of Zombie’s Halloween films. The girl provides with Mr Sandman- a three and a half minute sugar pill that slows things down into a purring lullaby of a bad girl’s dream. With all due respect to Carpenter and the Chordettes . . this morning I’m riding shotgun with Zombie and Nan.

Go Dodgers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

75 thoughts on “Sorryless Sunday Morning”

  1. B,

    Love your list of rules and can probably add one or two of my own, though your list just about covers my requirements so, there’s that.

    Just curious. Should this Hallowe’en post you speak of come to be, any particular reason the number should be 13, other than it being a supposedly unlucky number, or maybe because is the reverse of 31, day of the ghouls? And, whatever the reason, I care not, I know it will be just as fabulous to read as this little post was! Because, while listening to Morgan Freeman read a cereal box would be fab, reading you desribe just about anything is just as much so.

    What a fantastic version of Mr. Sandman! No offence, Karen, I love yours but this? Dreamy.

    To enjoying the rest of your spooky October!

    Q

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  2. I liked your rules. Dead Zone was one of my all-time favorite films. There are all kinds of lessons in that story. Not sure how Stephen King feels about it (he’s usually pretty grumpy on the film treatments) but I liked it. Looking forward to next week.

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  3. The Dead Zone is one of my faves, and it *is* a horror story, as it predicts a future we may be headed for, one in which a lunatic is running the government. … .. ….

    DID YOU KNOW that they made The Dead Zone a TV show a few years back starring none other than Anthony Michael Hall? Tis true! It actually was a good show. Turns out Mr. Hall can act more than he ever was allowed to do in any a John Hughes 80s flick.

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    • T-Siz,

      It’s such a good movie! And yes, I’ll give you that. It does have that. But really, it felt like a ripped from the headlines kind of story to me. Maybe it’s because we’re kinda/sorta living it . . .

      Yanno . . I vaguely remember that! I didn’t catch it though. AMH is an eighties icon thanks to Hughes though. And now I’ll HAVE to catch it.

      Which reminds me, I caught “The Mountain Between Us” on HBO recently and you’re right, it’s really really good! There is a legit chemistry between Winslet and Elba. And well . . I am not much for happy endings, but . . .

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      • Yep. We’re living a horror. 🙂

        Do catch it and let me know your verdict.

        Aw, YAY! Yes, The Mountain Between Us is good. When she’s running reaching out to try to catch the attention of the people to save her, I was so into it, MY arm went up into the air! Like, HELLO! HELP US!

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        • I think Phil Collins should do a remake of “Land of Confusion”. It would be perfect.

          Mountain is good stuff indeed. And it’s funny because I’ve done that in movies too, lol. That’s when you know it’s a keeper.

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    • Frank,

      I wasn’t aware. Well, the budget on that one was shoestring and it didn’t garner much buzz in the lead up. I miss those days, when a movie would come out of nowhere and take the cinematic world by storm. Now? You hear about a movie years ahead of time, and then it gets dissected into a million pieces before its release.

      LA vs Boston will be a classic matchup though. Two great teams, and those ballparks . . . I fear the Dodgers are the prohibitive underdogs in this one, but I’ll be rooting for ’em.

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          • Reincarnating Earl Weaver, Walter Alston, Sparky Anderson, and others would make a difference. PLAYERS make the difference, and this team needs pitching, pitching, pitching.

            Like

          • And yanno . . those dudes ain’t walking through that door.
            And players in today’s game love the player’s coach. As evidenced by recent hires in the AL East (Boone and Cora).
            Pitching is what my Yankees need too, unless they plan on watching the Bosox celebrate on their field for the next several years . . .

            Liked by 1 person

          • Cora has one heck of a team there. That Boston defense is ridiculous. Betts is arguably the best player in the game right now. And if Price has the postseason figured out, it’s going to be tough picking against Boston.
            Muelens doesn’t have a job yet, which is strange . . .

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          • Good players help make a good manager – but managers an provide that little extra – probably winning an extra 7-8 games a year. I was hoping for Muelens before a younger approach – then again, still got to have the players. Reds need a pitcher or two at the top of the rotation. Then again, most teams need that and those pitchers just can’t be found just anywhere.

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          • I would agree with that assessment. Being a good manager is like being a good artist. Most don’t recognize their talents until many years later. Thankfully for managers, they don’t have to be dead when this happens, LOL.
            But guys like Francona and the recently ‘retired’ Sciosca are worth that, maybe even more some years.
            I think pitching is such a tenuous thing. You almost need to overcompensate in your farm system, seeing as how it’s so much harder to sustain good pitching than position players. And paying big money for pitching in free agency doesn’t guarantee bupkis, as we’ve seen many a contract blow up in the team’s face.

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          • Right with you on pitching. Reds have not had much success developing top-of-the rotation guys. The love to pick cheap free agents or claim waiver guys. All that adds up to give you a bunch of 3-4-5 guys (at best). Agree – over-spending on pitching is a huge crap shoot.

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          • And then there’s the whole regular season vs postseason pitcher thing. You need your regular season guys to carry you through a long season, but you need those guys in the postseason, who will never be Cy Young material, but who are lock down in October. Andy Pettite and Duque Hernandez never came close to winning a Cy. But man . . they were invaluable when the leaves turned.

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          • No kidding. I hope the Yankees are smart about their acquisition of starting pitching. Paying top dollar means little. Finding guys who can take the ball in game situations is the way to go. Thing is, sometimes you don’t see them coming because they might be on teams that haven’t been to the postseason.

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          • Keuchel is a free agent. Solid pitcher that is probably going to score a lot more than he’s worth though. Kershaw can opt out of his deal, but I don’t see him leaving LA.
            Other than those two, there is a whole lot of “Who Knows?”. The Yankees would have to give up a king’s ransom to get someone like Bumgarner from the Giants.
            Teams are just going to have to be creative and prescient as they try and find their 2019 version of Eovaldi.

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          • I can’t imagine the Yankees won’t look under the hood on Keuchel. But they need more than him, which means that a couple of their home grown kids are going to have to step up. It would be nice if Severino righted himself and became the ace he’s promised us for the last couple seasons.

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    • Billy,

      I had to go back and look. I dug the ‘grip of ink’ personally. I rarely ever admit to liking anything I write, but that part I did like.
      You talking spring already? I just got done bitching about the winter we’re about to be subjected to! LOL

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  6. I was all set to respond to your comments about The Dead Zone and then I saw the final line of your post.

    You’re dead to me. Just … really? “Go Dodgers”? How could you? I thought … my whole image of you has been shattered. Forget the taco tour and the NoCal brewery tour. I can’t breathe the same oxygen as you. It simply wouldn’t work.

    But … The Dead Zone … I’ve always considered it to be the best movie made of a Stephen King story. Not hard to get to the top of the list since most movies of his stories are pure schlock, but The Dead Zone is and always has been one of my favorites. Glad you found it.

    So, yes, I’m getting over the shock of those final words. Barely and not really. “Go Dodgers”? I just can’t believe … who the hell are you?

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    • Okay King . . lemme ‘splain!
      I get it, the Dodgers are evil incarnate. There is nothing about the white and blue you do not absolutely loathe with every fiber of your soul. But here’s the thing. I cannot . . will not . . ever bring myself to root for that team from Boston. The team that ripped us a new one in historic fashion back in ’04. The team that currently owns the rivalry.
      So while I offer my sincerest apology for having to root for “the devil” (your words), my devil is dressed in red sox.

      The Dead Zone was such a great treat for me, because I just happened to turn it on and then I was ashamed of myself for not having checked it out sooner. But like I said, King films . . I usually don’t tend to dig with a few exceptions.

      What’s say we don’t bring up baseball for the next couple weeks huh?

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