pumpktoberfest #38 - headless horse.

film: sleepy hollow
beer: new holland ichabod pumpkin ale

sometimes, i just want to thwack tim burton about the face with a clean, white, aristocratic-type glove. dude manages to be AWFULLY precious at times & with me the effect is always something between eye rolling & amazement. nightmare before christmas? AWESOME. edward scissorhands? AWESOME. most of his career? AWESOME. still, there's always the occasional eye roll from me whilst watching his films. so...with trepidation, i decided to bring him into the pumpktoberfest fold with his 1999 film, sleepy hollow. it stars burton personal obsession johnny depp & my personal obsession christina ricci & features miranda richardson, christopher walken & that ferris bueller principal dude of slightly-questionable character.

it's another burton take on a classic story (see: pretty much every film he's ever made). in this case, it's based on "the legend of sleepy hollow," the washington irving story first published way the hell back in 1820. i first encountered the tale through the cartoonified 1949 disney version, which i guess, as a kid, was scary. could burton possibly be better than disney though?!!! [private anti-corporate chuckle].

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pumpktoberfest #37 - fear everything.

film: cape fear
beer: flying dog the fear imperial pumpkin ale

happy first...er...second day of our fourth annual pumpktoberfest everyone! though i've managed to be the worst slacker in the history of slack when it comes to regularly posting over the past months, pumpktoberfest is a special time of year, so i've got a WHOLE MONTH'S WORTH of pumpktastic posts lined up for you. get ready, world. you're about to get a heavy dose of horror films & pumpkin beers & snacks & the like.

to start off this pumpktoberfest, we've got the scorcese-directed 1991 remake of cape fear, a thriller starring robert de niro, nick nolte, jessica lange & a young juliette lewis. both de niro (actor) & lewis (supporting actress) were nominated for academy awards for their performances and nolte & lange both hold their own. it also features performances by gregory peck & robert mitchum, who played nolte & de niro's characters in the original. i vaguely remember enjoying it years ago but in going back & watching it, i enjoyed it quite a bit.

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#194 - my last day of freedom.

mom. dad. hi. you've previously mentioned to me that you occasionally check out your favorite son's blog posts...even the ones on that website with a swear word in the name. that makes me extremely happy but in this case, i'd like to take this opportunity to suggest ahead of time that you skip this one. i mean, i wouldn't want you to think that i'm some sort of debaucherous lush or anything & when you're done reading, you probably will. sorry. i completely understand if you decide to go further though. after all, parents are pretty must just like kids, so when you tell them not to do anything, they usually do it out of pure curiosity. anyway, don't say that i didn't warn you.

...so after a calendar year that i was fully employed for about a quarter of, yesterday i started a new gig...one where i have to WEAR A TIE & report to work BEFORE 10AM. i know...OMG! for at least a half decade now, i've just slapped on a pair of jeans & rolled into work any time between 10am & 11am. yay, adulthood!

with my impending first day of work just three days away, on friday around 2pm i met up with an old friend (who will remain nameless) in midtown at lexington brass for a lil' "last free weekday" food & drink action.

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pumpktoberfest #36 - into the sea.

film: open water
beer: heavy seas the great'er pumpkin ale / heavy seas great pumpkin ale

for our final horror film of pumpktoberfest 2011, we've got what might possibly be the most boring horror film ever made--2003's open water. it's a film that's loosely based on a true story about two american tourists who went out as part of a scuba diving tour group & ended up getting left behind in the middle of the ocean. why's it so damn boring? well, while the concept of being stuck in the middle of the ocean with no hope for rescue is definitely horrifying, watching it happen to two people is far from it. for half of the movie, you're stuck looking at a dude & a girl & nothing but water all around them. sure there's an occasional brush with an ocean creature or two but c'mon now...yawn.

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pumpktoberfest #35 - harvesting crap.

film: children of the corn 3: urban harvest
beer: sam adams harvest pumpkin ale

when it comes to horror films, i have somewhat of a proclivity towards those that are part of sequel-spewing franchises. if you're able to take a concept & run with it for multiple films, especially if you're able to drag it out to the point of hilarity, i'm all for it. with that said, somehow i haven't seen a single children of the corn film even though there have been nine of them, including a TV remake of the original that came out this august. for today's pumpktoberfest pairing, i opted for the third film in the series--children of the corn 3: urban harvest--a direct-to-video gem that focuses on two farm boys who, after an incident on the farm, get adopted by a family in chicago & have to go to the city for the first time ever.

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