http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfa8JwwY-y4
It's not the best quality but this scene is when a minor character, Virginia doesn't realize she's a vampire and goes over to one of her neighbors house. In this version cats don't like vampires so they attack her quite violently. It doesn't have the best animation but it gets the point across.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier Continuation
As I continue to read this book, I notice that the mystery and the questions are revolved around Maxim's ex-wife, Rebecca, who died "accidentally". The protagonist, as Maxim's new wife, feels uncomfortable because she feels that she has to live up to Rebecca who was smart, pretty, and skillful at being a hostess. As the protagonist explores her new life, she learns more about Rebecca through the new people she meets like Frank Crawley, and Ben, who lives in a nearby farm. I also think that the protagonist is overly curious about Rebecca because she goes asking around about Rebecca and what she was like. Other characters, like Crawley, refused to bring up the past: "forget it, Mrs. de Winter, forget it, as he has done, thank heaven, and the rest of us. We none of us want to bring back the past, Maxim least of all."
I think that overall, the protagonist should not have married Maxim in such a rush. She barely knew anything about him but fell in love based on their encounters. Now that she is married and living her new life, she is finding more about his past, his ex-wife, and the discomfort she feels as his new wife. Not only is the servants comparing her to Rebecca, but she, herself is comparing herself to Rebecca. She feels insure knowing that her husband still loves and think about Rebecca. Throughout these chapters, she is worried that their marriage is failing which shows that this marriage is not a good idea and that it might be a mistake.
I think this books is more of a Romance novel than a mystery novel because when the protagonist interact with her husband, Maxim, there is that love atmosphere to it, whether it is jealously, arguments, or even when the couple is out on a date. At this point of the story, I am not completely sure what the mystery is but I know that Rebecca plays a big role in it considering the title is Rebecca and that there is a repetitive mentioning of her. There are many unanswered questions about Rebecca like how exactly did she die.
Monday, May 2, 2011
The A.B.C Murders (1965) Movie Review
The 1965 movie version of The Alphabet Murders ( The A.B.C Murders) did not meet my expectations. I felt as though the plot of the story was rushed throughout the movie. In the first 15 minutes Hastings had already settling in with Poirot and shown the first letter. Even though the movie uses much of the text from the story, it misses a lot of details. It add new details instead of strengthening the foundation for the story. I guess that why people always say the story never compares to the movie of the book when comparing films to novels. Also the characters are not similar to the text in the movie. Many of them have different names which made it harder to figure out who they were. To me, I imagined Poirot to be older, tired and worn out by his previous mysteries. But in this film he was middle aged and looks more energized than tired. This movie is not filled of cons, a plus can be that it is in color. The black and white aspect would have slowed the more down even more. I do not really watch mystery movies so it was funny when I heard the type of mysterious music they used in the background. I guess in the end it was very helpful to have a movie developed for the book I was reading. It helped make me visualize the story I was reading. Hopefully I can find a movie for the next book my group is reading.
Our next book we plan to read is Sole Survivor by Dean Koontz. Since we are trying to go chronologically with our authors, Dean Koontz is a more recent mystery writer.
The ABC Murders {1/7} <--- (Youtube)
I thought I would have to track down the movie of the first book I chosen The A.B.C Murders by Agatha Christie, but I found it on youtube. Its a free and convenient way to see everything I read put into actions. Its an older movie because it was published in 1965, but at least it is not in Black and White! My movie review is coming soon!
Ringworld: How do they work?
People have been asking me "what is a ringworld?", the answer is the ringworld is a manmade ring meant to act as a solution to overpopulation on earth.To give you a better idea of how that would work, click the title and you will see exactly what it is.
Let Me In getting more intense than I expected...
I’m still reading Let Me In and right now it’s getting pretty crazy. Besides the fact that about three main characters got killed off. People are getting turned into vampires, and you find out one of the main characters isn’t even a girl (even though she looks like one).
I’ve seen both movie versions of the book but they barley addressed the issue of what exactly the little girl Oskar is friends with is. In the movies they just say she’s a vampire to make it easier but in the book she makes it very clear she ISN’T one, and that she really isn’t anything. Sine her name is Eli (she pronounces it Ellie) and dresses like a girl I assumed she was a girl but I started to wonder why the author never used her or she he just used her name. Turned out her name is Elias and doesn’t have gender. So that was a little surprising (and a little gross because she’s “going steady” with the main character Oskar).
Another small thing I realized about this book is that since it’s translated from Swedish they don’t have some words we do so I was reading a sentence and what would be English for goosebumps translated to goosepimples. Though sometimes little things like that make it hard to understand exactly what theyre talking about especially when they make up words, or they leave things in Swedish.
As the book goes on it’s getting creepier and more uncomfortable to read. Though Eli's caretaker is probably the scariest character. Like it's not enough that he's commiting murder he's also a pedophile and often fantasizes about the children he's going to murder (and Eli). And that is often described with incredibly gross detail that it makes you queezy. The way he murder's his victims is also scary because he hangs them up by their feet from hooks to drain them like a butcher would do with a pig. And when he's finally caught trying to kill someone in a pool locker room he pours a cup of acid on his face, horribly disfiguring him. The way the author describes it actually made me nauseous. He explains how his mouth sealed together and how his face melted off, more graphically than I was expecting.
I’ve seen both movie versions of the book but they barley addressed the issue of what exactly the little girl Oskar is friends with is. In the movies they just say she’s a vampire to make it easier but in the book she makes it very clear she ISN’T one, and that she really isn’t anything. Sine her name is Eli (she pronounces it Ellie) and dresses like a girl I assumed she was a girl but I started to wonder why the author never used her or she he just used her name. Turned out her name is Elias and doesn’t have gender. So that was a little surprising (and a little gross because she’s “going steady” with the main character Oskar).
Another small thing I realized about this book is that since it’s translated from Swedish they don’t have some words we do so I was reading a sentence and what would be English for goosebumps translated to goosepimples. Though sometimes little things like that make it hard to understand exactly what theyre talking about especially when they make up words, or they leave things in Swedish.
As the book goes on it’s getting creepier and more uncomfortable to read. Though Eli's caretaker is probably the scariest character. Like it's not enough that he's commiting murder he's also a pedophile and often fantasizes about the children he's going to murder (and Eli). And that is often described with incredibly gross detail that it makes you queezy. The way he murder's his victims is also scary because he hangs them up by their feet from hooks to drain them like a butcher would do with a pig. And when he's finally caught trying to kill someone in a pool locker room he pours a cup of acid on his face, horribly disfiguring him. The way the author describes it actually made me nauseous. He explains how his mouth sealed together and how his face melted off, more graphically than I was expecting.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Lani Garver, Human or Angel? What's his fate?
Claire goes to a doctor that stitches up her head because of the injury. She listens what he has to say, and he talks about angels. He says that angels come to Earth to help people and show them the good in themselves and others. Claire didn't really believe him at first, but then she kept listening. Also the people around here all believe that is true. He also says that angles may appear to look like homosexuals because they don't have a gender. When he says this I think and I am pretty sure that Claire also thinks that Lani Garver could be an angel.
Lani says that he is not a girl. He never says that he is a boy though. This can mean that he is hiding something that he cannot reveal, such as him being an angel. Claire also can't ask him that, because if Lani is a normal person, she would sound crazy.
Questioning what Lani really is makes you think about a lot of things. Do you (or the characters in the book) believe in angels? Are they real and can they come to Earth?
Near the end of the book, the friends that Claire used to hang out with are planning to drown Lani as a prank or to be cruel. They end up also doing it to Claire because she hit one of the boys with a hammer. They were in a fishing net being tortured then the boys stopped and cut the net. However, Lani was not helped by them and only Claire tried to save him. What exactly happened to Lani Garver, the book ends and does not tell. The Author leaves it to the reader to decide what his fate was.
Lani says that he is not a girl. He never says that he is a boy though. This can mean that he is hiding something that he cannot reveal, such as him being an angel. Claire also can't ask him that, because if Lani is a normal person, she would sound crazy.
Questioning what Lani really is makes you think about a lot of things. Do you (or the characters in the book) believe in angels? Are they real and can they come to Earth?
Near the end of the book, the friends that Claire used to hang out with are planning to drown Lani as a prank or to be cruel. They end up also doing it to Claire because she hit one of the boys with a hammer. They were in a fishing net being tortured then the boys stopped and cut the net. However, Lani was not helped by them and only Claire tried to save him. What exactly happened to Lani Garver, the book ends and does not tell. The Author leaves it to the reader to decide what his fate was.
A Story Within a Story. "Tamar"
Tamar by Mal Peet is an book that tells two stories at once. This book tells of espionage, passion and betrayal of both stories.
The first story sets in modern day on the perspective of a young girl named Tamar. Her name Tamar was given by her grandfather who recently committed suicide who he also left a box to her.
The other story sets in the period of late World War Two more then 50 years earlier. Two agents from Special Operation Executive were sent by England to Netherlands. Their task is to unite the local resistance against Nazi's occupation. The soldiers was known by their code name, Tamar and Dart. As the young girl Tamar further uncover the mystery behind the mysterious box her grandfather left her, the more story of Tamar from the past is revealed.
This is a new book I started reading. The young girl from the modern is definitely relate to the Special Operation Executive agent's story in a way. My personal guess her grandfather is probably the agent code name Dart, who was guilty (base on the "Betrayal" from the introduction) to what he did. That might explain modern Tamar grandfather's suicide. I wonder how is this going to change the girl's life, who don't seem to have any physical connection to the story happened 50 years ago.
The first story sets in modern day on the perspective of a young girl named Tamar. Her name Tamar was given by her grandfather who recently committed suicide who he also left a box to her.
The other story sets in the period of late World War Two more then 50 years earlier. Two agents from Special Operation Executive were sent by England to Netherlands. Their task is to unite the local resistance against Nazi's occupation. The soldiers was known by their code name, Tamar and Dart. As the young girl Tamar further uncover the mystery behind the mysterious box her grandfather left her, the more story of Tamar from the past is revealed.
This is a new book I started reading. The young girl from the modern is definitely relate to the Special Operation Executive agent's story in a way. My personal guess her grandfather is probably the agent code name Dart, who was guilty (base on the "Betrayal" from the introduction) to what he did. That might explain modern Tamar grandfather's suicide. I wonder how is this going to change the girl's life, who don't seem to have any physical connection to the story happened 50 years ago.
The Trope for a Serial Killer
The trope that is constantly used in Agatha Christie’s The A.B. C Murders was the Serial Killer Trope. In this book there is series of murders done by a mysterious killer. At first, it seems as if the killer is killing his victims in an alphabetical order. As the story progresses the detectives and inspectors start to think that the killer is insane. This links goes to the many types serial killers there are and the reason they kill. In this book the real reason behind the serial killer’s killings will be revealed in the final chapters of the book.
Beauty Slain
It was a hot, muggy night and I found myself stuck in the corner of a West Indian fete. Constantly being soaked by the rum and red bull, that sloshed around in my cup. Two women danced on me while I stood, awkwardly and then I saw her. Our eyes met, hers slanted and lined with black and silver eyeliner. She smiled and licked her lips seductively, while she grinds on three men simultaneously. Gunshots rang out like a song and she fell to the ground with a peaceful smile.
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