Blackmoor Vituperative

Tonight’s film fun was Lifeforce, starring Steve Railsback, Mathilda May, Peter Firth, and a host of others. This is one of my all-time favourite movies, and unlike some movies from the 1980s, this is every bit as great now as it was the first time I saw it. Maybe even more so, since this is the Shout! Factory director’s cut on Blu-ray.

I just can’t express how awesome I think this movie is. Everyone is so perfectly cast. Steve Railback as the shell-shocked astronaut fighting his involuntary obsession with the Space Girl is perfect. Mathilda May as the Space Girl communicates through body language and expressions a range I am not sure any living actor could match. Peter Firth as the SAS colonel is as cool as James Bond and just a little bit pervy. Frank Finlay as the death-obsessed biologist is amusingly quirky and detached as only an English actor can be.

How could this movie have failed at the box office? Dan O’Bannon and Don Jakob on the script, John Dykstra on special effects, Henry Mancini on the soundtrack, Tobe Hooper at the helm… this is undoubtedly one of the best science fiction movies of the 1980s, and absolutely the best movie Golan-Globus ever produced. I have not yet watched the extensive special features, but I am looking forward to it.

THANK YOU, Shout Factory, for bringing this long-awaited director’s cut to Blu-ray!

Generally speaking, I avoid posting anything controversial here on my blog; despite the title, I prefer to focus on the positive. However, I have decided to make an exception, regarding the hate campaign terrorist group known as “gamergate”. Have you seen the term “gamergate” (or “‪#‎gamergate‬”), and wondered what it is? Here it is, in a nutshell:

A handful of unrepentant assholes who get a kick out of stirring up controversy (they may not even believe what they say — that’s not important to them, they just like “stirring the pot”) organized a harassment campaign against a number of women journalists. A larger number of socially maladjusted idiots have joined the campaign, because they are miserable, gullible creatures. The name of this harassment campaign is “gamergate” (although “gamerhate” would be a more accurate name). “Gamergate” comes from the same cretins who brought you “bikini bridge“, “ebola-chan“, and any number of other manufactured controversies that I hope you have been too smart to pay attention to.

Pretty much every argument you hear in favor of “gamergate” is either a red herring or a bald-faced lie. It’s not a real controversy: it’s simply a hate campaign a terrorist group created by malicious idiots, and anyone who sincerely thinks “gamergate” has any value is a pathetic loser who deserves to be pitied and then ignored.

If you make death or rape threats against someone for expressing an opinion that’s different from yours, or if you concoct ludicrous conspiracy theories about in an attempt to discredit them (instead of saying, you know, “I don’t agree with you. Here’s why…”, or — and here’s a novel idea — simply ignoring them), there is something seriously wrong with you. Seek help.

2014-10-19:: Personally, I think it’s gotten to the point where we need to start treating “gamergate” like any other terrorist group: don’t engage them (it only encourages them), deny them a soapbox for their toxic views, and report their crimes to the police.

2014-10-21: Chris Kluwe doesn’t mince words.

Colonel Mustard: “Just checking.”
Mrs. Peacock: “Everything all right?”
Colonel Mustard: “Yep. Two corpses: everything’s fine.”

I love “Clue” (the movie). This and “Dark and Stormy Night” are my favourite homages to the “old dark house”/”ten little Indians” genre. “Murder By Death” is a close third.

It occurs to me that Clue is unusual, for the era, in the way it handles the homosexual character. Which is to say, he is not mocked or portrayed as repugnant: the fact that his sexual preferences are politically incorrect is noted as the cause for blackmail, but other than that, he’s treated with the same amount of ridicule as any other character (perhaps less).

Professor Plum: “What are you afraid of: A fate worse than death?”
Mrs. Peacock: “No. Just death.”

Random Thoughts:

• I think it’s funny that Yvette’s shoes change from heels to flats whenever she has to run up or down the stairs.
• I love the exterior shots of the house.
• Poor Jane Wiedlin.
• I miss seeing Yvette run up and down stairs.
• Tim Curry’s impression of Michael McKean is really funny.
• I am fascinated by Miss Scarlet’s dress, which is apparently held up by friction.

Wadsworth: “Three murders.”
Mr. Green: “Six, all together.”
Wadsworth: “This is getting serious.”

Mrs. White: “Yes. I did it. I killed Yvette. I hated her … so… much. It-it-it… flames… flames, on the side of my face…”