Let The Right One In

I watched Let The Right One In last night.

It's a Swedish romantic horror film based on the book by John Ajvide Lindqvist, which tells the story of a bullied 12-year-old boy who develops a friendship with a vampire in a suburb of Stockholm.

It was beautiful (and gory) and really fascinating to watch... especially the final scene, which has been described as "one of the best endings in the history of cinema."

I highly recommend this movie. It's my projected Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film of 2008.

Christmas is over...

My holiday was excellent. It was great to go home and spend time with family and old friends. We drove to Texas (12 hours) with our two dogs. It was insane. But now Christmas is over and it's time to get back in the swing of things...

I just read The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Unbelievable. I cried like a baby when it was done. Please read it. I can't wait for the movie.

My top 5 films of 2008 list will be posted next week... I still have a few that I need to check out. This year has been a tough one for good movies for me. I haven't seen some of the ones that are getting critical acclaim, so I need to check them out before I post a top 5 and piss everyone off.

But I will tell you that (as much as I wanted to love it) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button will NOT be making an appearance on the list. I recently read the short story and really liked it. The movie was disappointing to me. But more on that later...

The Animated Man:

I'm currently reading this book.

So far I find it fascinating. Since I was a kid I have been extremely fond of Walt Disney. The world he created has always had a profound effect on me. The cartoons, films, shorts, documentaries by (and about) him, as well as visits to his theme parks have not only inspired me, but have helped spark my imagination since I was small.

So, I wanted to learn a little more about the man.

Apparently, the author of this book (Neal Gabler) is the only biographer on Disney that has had access to the Disney archives. So I assume that the history is pretty accurate. Although I have heard that Disney's daughter is pretty angry about Gabler's portrayal of Walt Disney. But not only her, animation historian, Michael Barrier is pretty upset about it, as well. You can read more about that here.

Anyway, it is interesting to read about Disney being within 2 miles of where I live now as a kid in the early 1900's, selling newspapers and helping his father build add-ons to their house.

So, I guess I plan on reading this book and taking it with a grain of salt. Hopefully it will teach me a little more about the man, and inspire me like he so often does.

BEASTS!

I recently ordered this book online...



I haven't received it in the mail just yet, but I'm pretty excited about it. Lately I have been into monsters, beasts, ghouls, and the like. I am building up some ideas in my head on some illustrations I want to do of some...

So stay tuned...