All I Have To Do Is Dream

www.neilgaiman.com

Title: Absolute Sandman Vol. I (Issues 1-20)
Genre: Graphic Novel - Fantasy
5 out of 5 Stars

     As I did when I did my last review, I'd like to begin this one with a little backstory. When it comes to the world of graphic novels I'm fairly new. Until not too long ago all I knew of the fantastic worlds of Marvel, DC and the like came from movies and televised cartoons. And then there was college.

     The first graphic novel I read was actually Daniel Clowes' Ghost World  for an English course on Cultural Criticism. The second, and the true spark of what is now my love for this art form was none other than Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns, because one of my senior capstone classmates was doing his project on that work. Needless to say since then I've been hooked, seeking out excellent material to read based mostly on the suggestions of friends who've been at it longer than I and there have been quite a few absolutely excellent suggestions, but one kept coming up in the must read list of several of those I've asked - Neil Gaiman's Sandman.

     So off to the library I went and reserved a copy of the Absolute Sandman Vol. I, a tome containing the first 20 issues of the series. Honestly I wasn't expecting the sheer mass of the book what really surprised me was the librarian who helped me check the book out. I passed it over the counter to him and as though it had a magical hold on him, he gently pet the cover and looked at it like it was an old friend. And now I know why. Hold on... I must add a proper introduction...thank you YouTube.

    
     Sorry, I got side tracked there. So to put it basically Sandman starts out with a bunch of dudes messing around with forces they don't understand. While trying to capture Death, they accidentally capture death's brother, Dream. This of course has many consequences and the stories immediately plunge you into the world from that event onward.

     Saying that the artwork and storylines are stunning would be an understatement, but it's more than that. I found myself encountering new concepts and characters as well as some old familiar friends and ideas. Some even similar to ideas found in another collection I've read recently, Piers Anthony's novel series Incarnations of Immortality. I also found some old friends from the DC universe, and others from sources both fictional and historical.

    My favorite issues were the first few where Dream is accidentally captured and begins his quest of vengeance (not to mention seeking out the tools of his trade). After that there was also a tale involving Shakespeare that was phenomenal, and of course I also loved the cats, read it. You'll see what I mean.

    I don't want to give away too much, so go check it out and please be sure to leave me questions or comments. Now if you'll excuse me, Volume II has just come in and I have some reading to do.

Grace’s Horror – A Review of the film Grace

Year: 2009
Length: 85 Minutes
Genre: Horror
Score:  4 out of 5 stars

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Page by .Page by . - Grace (film)

                Let me start this off with how it came to be that I watched this movie. I few years ago my wife saw a teaser poster for this film.  The poster in question bore the text “Love. Undying.” and below it a baby bottle partially filled with what you would presume to be blood with a fly on the nipple.  She really wanted to see it though we never did. Fast forward to this year, we had just picked up a subscription to a certain movie streaming company and Grace was one of the first we looked for, sadly it wasn’t there. So what did I do? Among a few other things I gave her the film for Valentine’s Day. I know, I know, it sounds so very messed up but hey, it’s how we roll.

               Check out this description of the film from one of my favorite film sites www.imdb.com : “After losing her unborn child, Madeline Matheson insists on carrying the baby to term. Following the delivery, the child miraculously returns to life with an appetite for human blood. Madeline is faced with a mother's ultimate decision.”

                “Truly Horrifying” one of the reviews on the case for the DVD states and now that you know the basic idea of the film, what would you say if I told you that a bloodthirsty infant (while certainly horrifying in its own right) is not all that makes this film horrifying?

                 This film was short, 85 minutes to be exact. I thought to myself how much horror can you really pack into a movie that’s not even an hour and a half long? But they did it. So what is horrifying? For everybody it’s different, but I’ll bet everyone can find something in this film that strikes the chord of horror within them. Here’s a taste and I’ll try and keep it as low in spoiler content as I can:

·         Secrets – No horror film would be effective without mystery. That’s what made films like Jaws so effective, you had to build up the suspense so that when the monster(s) rear their ugly head(s) it wrenches your gut in multiple directions. This is no different with Grace. Whether it’s the mystery of how and why a dead child returns to life, secrets within personal relationships, secret addictions, etc.  Whatever the case may be Grace has secrets and you encounter them so fast that you’re still in shock by the time the screen fades to black.

·         Personal Beliefs and behaviors - Whether it’s about medicine, religion or what you eat, or whatever the case may be – guaranteed someone else is going to find it horrifying. Even better what about watching someone transform their beliefs or behaviors to cope with an extreme situation, could that be horrifying? Absolutely.

·         Nature – whether it’s human nature or nature itself (i.e. plants and animals, etc.) each certainly has its horrifying elements. Remember the fly on the poster? There’s a reason it’s there. Fans of the film Amityville Horror, or the book under the same name would understand the importance of animals, flies in particular as elements of the horror genre.

Grace touches on these elements (and more) and is definitely worthy of the horror genre. So do us a favor okay? Go find this film, tuck the kids and the faint of heart into bed and ask yourself both before and after watching: What horrifies me?

And if you feel up to it…please share in the comments.

Under Construction

     So I felt bad getting this blog all set up and not having a post to put there. So here goes, my first public apology to the world wide web. The "About Me" section to the right pretty much sums up what I wanted to do with this blog. I'm still learning the site and how to set all of this up and honestly...I hate the red curtain I used as the background. However I will replace it with something better as soon as I can find or take a photo that will suit my purposes. But just like a movie theater under remodel...I'm trying to make the experience better, so please excuse the mess.

     The good news is, and I think it's good for all of us, is that rather than copping out and putting a post up of something I wrote years ago, I'm actually making an effort to start fresh. I already have my first film to discuss lined up - I just haven't finished writing it yet.  First up will be the 2009 film Grace. It's short but all sorts of messed up.

     To check out a little more about it before I have the first real post ready please follow the link here to find out what Grace is about. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. In the meantime if you think of something you'd be interested to know my opinion on, please leave a comment. See you soon!