Author: Chas.

Design Time: Tattoo Edition

Chas.2 Comments

Sherry is getting a tattoo and I helped her work it up. It’s based off an illustration that she likes from a book (though I’ll be damed if I can remember which one). So with a few additions/modifications, it’s ready to be plastered on her foot for all eternity. “Get thee to Ye Ole Tattoo Parlor, Shortlegs!”


Rough Pencil Sketch


Finished Inked Version

Design Time: Tattoo Edition

Let Me In (2010): Some Thoughts

Chas.2 Comments


So, critics and horror fans seem to love “Let Me In,” the Americanization of the Swedish film (and novel of the same name) “Let The Right One In.”

Me? Not so much. Maybe if I hadn’t seen the Swedish version first, I would be all up with love for “Let Me In.” But, that’s not the case.

Some things that I really liked in the Swedish version are gone … like the subplot involving neighbors in the apartment complex. That’s replaced but a subplot involved a cop that just really didn’t work for me. Also a major problem for me was the staging of the iconic scene in the swimming pool towards the end of the movie. For some reason the director thought it would be a great idea to stage this in the dark which muddies down seeing all the violence from the cool perspective of being underwater. Dr. Phibes will be happy that the bad CGI cat attack didn’t make it state side. But, alas, it’s been replaced with quite a few badly done CGI shots in other parts of the movie.

Ultimately, what makes “Let Me In” so lackluster is it slavish devotion to the original foreign version. If you’ve seen that, then there is nothing here that’s going to really wind your crank. You’re basically seeing the same movie … just in an American setting with different actors and some very minor plot changes. This was the big problem with “Quarantine” (the almost shot-for-shot remake of the Spanish film “REC“).

All this makes me wonder what the big Hollywood remake of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is going to be like. Will it be a bold reinvention or a “been there, seen that” affair like “Let Me In?”

Let Me In (2010): Some Thoughts

Statement

Chas.1 Comment

Seriously. If you have four children that you either can not control or have no real interest in controlling … maybe a funeral service isn’t the place for you to be with said children.

Statement

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… WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 AM EST TUESDAY… … WIND CHILL ADVISORY HAS EXPIRED…

THE WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 AM EST TUESDAY.

* LOCATIONS… THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA.

* HAZARDS… BITTERLY COLD WIND CHILL VALUES THIS MORNING. HEAVY SNOW… MIXED WITH SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN AT TIMES… MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT.

* TIMING… SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED DEVELOP FROM THE SOUTHWEST AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. THE SNOW MAY MIX WITH OR CHANGE TO SLEET LATE IN THE DAY… BEFORE GRADUALLY ENDING AS A PERIOD OF LIGHT FREEZING RAIN AND FREEZING DRIZZLE MONDAY NIGHT.

* ACCUMULATIONS… TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 4 TO 8 INCHES… WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS NEAR THE BORDER WITH GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA. A FEW HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH OF ICE MAY ALSO ACCRUE MONDAY NIGHT.

* IMPACTS… ROADS WILL BECOME VERY SLIPPERY QUITE QUICKLY ON MONDAY MORNING. THE COMBINATION OF HEAVY SNOW EARLY IN THE EVENT… WITH LIGHT ICE ACCUMULATIONS MONDAY NIGHT… COULD CAUSE SOME ISOLATED POWER OUTAGES.

* TEMPERATURES… HIGHS AROUND 30 WITH LOWS IN THE MID 20S DURING THE WINTER STORM.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL… BE SURE TO TAKE ALONG YOUR CELL PHONE. WEAR A WARM COAT… GLOVES… AND BOOTS. KEEP A BLANKET… FLASHLIGHT… FOOD… AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.

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… WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST SATURDAY…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW… WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST SATURDAY. THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

* LOCATIONS… MADISON… HAYWOOD… GRAHAM… AND SWAIN COUNTIES.

* HAZARDS… HEAVY SNOWFALL.

* TIMING… SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE THIS MORNING… WITH ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED TO BE MAINLY CONFINED TO THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. SNOW WILL BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD AND INCREASE IN INTENSITY DURING THE AFTERNOON… AND WILL BEGIN TO ACCUMULATE MORE IN THE VALLEYS. SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT… BUT ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS WILL MAINLY OCCUR IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS AND IN THE LOWER FRENCH BROAD VALLEY.

* ACCUMULATIONS… TOTAL SNOWFALL THROUGH SATURDAY IS EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM 4 TO 7 INCHES IN THE VALLEYS… WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS. UP TO A FOOT IS EXPECTED IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS ALONG THE TENNESSEE BORDER.

* IMPACTS… SNOW COVERED ROADWAYS CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH AT LEAST THE NEXT 24 HOURS OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. TRAVEL THROUGH THE SMOKIES AND ON OTHER HIGH ELEVATION ROADS IS DISCOURAGED. ALTHOUGH TEMPERATURES MAY BE A FEW DEGREES ABOVE FREEZING IN SOME OF THE LOWER VALLEYS… HEAVY SNOWFALL RATES WILL LIKELY RESULT IN SNOW ACCUMULATING QUICKLY ON ROADS… ESPECIALLY THIS AFTERNOON.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW… SLEET… AND ICE ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

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