Shining TV

I want to deviate from my depressed thoughts, so I am going to go to a subject I enjoy talking about...well besides movies. TV!! LOL. I figured I would talk about some of the shows that are REALLY shining. Seriously, I swear, just a FEW. These shows are showcasing some great acting, writing and directing. Standouts I guess you could say. Either NEW and great, or a returning fave that is excelling.

One of these shows is definitely Supernatural. Yes, it is true I am already a HUGE fanatic...errr fan, of this show. But this show is not only living up to last season, but it is surpassing it. Which I think MUST be difficult, seeing as the last season ended with Sam accidentally bringing about the Apocalypse by releasing Lucifer. But this season is turning out just as amazing! The angels have gone amuk, since God seems to be missing, and want to USE Dean as their weapon to destroy Lucifer. He is meant to be the Archangel Michael's "sword". And Sam is meant to be the vessel for Lucifer. But both luckily, have to be willing in order for either of their bodies to be inhabited. And also, luckily they have the one angel who seems sane, on their side. Castiel. Played by the awesome, and HOT, Misha Collins. Seriously, HOT. Just last weeks episode alone was phenomenal. Dean thrown 5 years into the future and having to meet up with...himself. And he does NOT love future him. And poor Castiel has gone mostly mortal and is constantly high and organizing orgies. It is hysterical because Misha plays Castiel as so straight-laced. He doesn't get jokes or innuendos. Hysterical!

Another show is NCIS. It ended with such a cliffhanger, Ziva being off the team, and apparently being tortured. Hate between Ziva and Tony, at least on Ziva's end. But they brought their A-Game back this season when they busted Ziva out of Africa, and so intelligently too. It was a group effort, and Gibbs was awesome, using his former sniper abilities. And they are not just glossing over the fact that Ziva spent months being tortured, which I appreciate as that is so lame. She is in counseling and is struggling. She hasn't been cleared for field work, so she is stuck in the Yard with her memories and emotions and she needs to take Ducky up on his offer, and talk to him. He can help her, I know it! These guys are such pro's, and their chemistry is as hot as ever. This is one show that keeps getting better as time goes by.

The Forgotten is a new show that I am so far, in love with. Ordinary people coming together, even though they have their own lives to live, they put major time aside to be a part of The Forgotten Network. People, who when the police give up on identifying their victim, keep the search going, to give that person back their identity. So that they can be laid to rest as themselves, and so that their families can have closure. Christian Slater is doing awesome as the ex-cop whose daughter disappeared and he has no idea where she is, or if she is even alive. He can only hope someone like him, will find her. He works with an artist, a plumber, a temp and the wife of someone who tuned out to be a serial killer. They all seem to have reasons for working with the Forgotten Network, but we son't know all the reasons as of yet. I look forward to finding out their reasons.

The Mentalist is also back as strong as last season! I think giving Red John's case to Boscoe, a new character, was genius! This pisses Jane off and he is doing whatever he can to get in on the case, or get the info in illegal ways. It is just another facet of Jane's personality we get to see. We see the child like glee he has in solving cases, and outsmarting the bad guys. We see the anguish he feels when he thinks of his murdered wife and daughter. We see the revenge-filled Jane when he is on the heels of Red John. But this new interaction with Boscoe, who is having none of what he considers Jane's "B.S.", is wonderful. Jane is having to compete in a manner, in order to stay in the loop, by any means neccesary. He is having to really WORK at something. He has met a good match in Boscoe, and them butting heads adds an element I didn't even realize could be good. The show is already a gem, the cast is stellar. They just all interact so well together, they too have great chemistry, which is HARD to get. But Van Pelt, Rigsby, Cho, Lisbon and Jane all just WORK together, they all make sense. No one feels like someone you could just cut from the show because they add nothing. This is one awesome show, and I would encourage non-watchers to start watching! It is a fun ride!

And the last one I will talk about that is shining is Fringe! As soon as the season premiere opened I was instantly enthralled. They had me hooked again within moments. And Olivia shooting through that car window, when moments before she wasn't even in it, was jaw-dropping! I am still pissed off that they killed Charlie, I swear they better get alternate universe Charlie to be on the show, because he was Olivia's one ally/friend in the FBI. Her confidante. Walter is as crazy and amusing as ever, his brain works in mysterious ways, and the mystery of whether Peter IS from the alternate universe, is something I can't wait for! I totally believe he is. I think our Peter died as a child and Walter was so distraught he went and got alternate reality Peter and brought him here. So when Peter realizes he is "dead" and that some of his memories are of a different Walter, there should be some amazing fireworks!! This show is getting better every week!

Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters are also shining but I promised I would only highlight a few. Some of the other new shows I am actually enjoying are Eastwick, Flash Forward and Vampire Diaries. Melrose Place I am still deciding about. And of course I am loving the lastest installment of Survivor, that Russell is PURE evil! Pretending to be a Katrina survivor is just sick! And I am also enjoying my Heroes, House (♥), Lie to Me, Castle, 90210, Criminal Minds, Top Chef, Bones, CSI ( I am giving them a chance to improve, I was a #1 fan until Grissom left), Smallville, Dollhouse, Ghost Whisperer (though the 5 year time jump was ODD) and Medium.

Gossip Girl is struggling a little right now. Last week got a little good, with the almost revelation that Lily and Rufus' son is alive. And next week's wedding looks like it could make Gossip Girl slide back into it's devilishly delicious slot. One Tree Hill though I fear we will be losing. I heard nothing until just before the premiere that Peyton and Lucas would be off the show. It doesn't even make sense, and it is being ignored basically. Why on Earth would Lucas and Peyton LEAVE? Peyton's record label, Lucas' team, their loved ones are all IN Tree Hill, so they haven't explained them splitting to my satisfaction. And with them gone there is just something missing. Lucas WAS the show, it revolved around HIM. And while I LOVE Brooke, Juilan, Mouth, Skills, Hailey and Nathan, all these new characters being thrown at us, is just kind of uncomfortable.

Wonderful Walk

I decided to switch things up excercise wise, and go for a walk today, instead of doing Walk Away the Pounds. It was a cool day, but the wind was so fierce, so it required extra layers. Which never FEELS great when you have to walk. Sure, it keeps the bite of the wind from freezing you, but once you start to sweat, it does NOT feel so great anymore. And that is what happened. If I was just strolling outside I would have just been in jeans and used one of my sweater jackets. But I was wearing my shirt, sweater jacket, heavier jacket and scarf, and while that took all of the sting out of the wind, once I started getting warm from excercising it made me sweat more. Yuck.

But it was such a beautiful fall day, I am so glad I went. I took my small Kodak with me. I would have preferred the Nikon, but I was excercising so I took the camera that fits in my jackets' pocket. You could just smell the scents of Fall starting. The trees in my neighborhood are just starting to change colors, there are plain pumpkins out on neighbor's stoops, it is just such a wonderful time of year. It was a day that made me re-appreciate living in New England. There is no place else to experience Fall. Apple Harvest Festival is going on. Katie picked up some Apple Fritters, and they are so delicious!! Sure, I didn't get them warm, which is when they are THE best, but they are still delectable!! I was licking the left over sugar off of my fingers. It IS a good thing I have decided, that the Apple Harvest only lasts 2 weekends, because if these fritters were around all the time, I would gain so much weight as I can't STOP myself from eating them!! I want Kate to pick up some more tommorrow, because once Friday arrives, the entire state shows up to get them, so you wait for hours and if they run out and you have waited 4 hours, you are out of luck!

Anyway, I am going to post the pictures I took on my walk around the neighborhood.

How to Ruin the Movies for Others

Tonight Katie went with me to see The Final Destination. She hates...loathes...abhors horror movies. She jumps out of her seat and scream out loud if something jumps out to scare you, but she had promised to go see The Perfect Getaway with me, and now it is GONE from all our theaters. So I really felt like getting to see a movie today, so when she got home, finally, I asked her and she said sure...when she found out it would be The Final Destination she was like "oh NO!", she actually said Halloween 2 would be better. But she did NOT see the first one. Even I waited for it to be on DVD so I had the power of the fast-forward button! So I was giddy. Filled my purse with candy and a water (yes I am so bad, LOL) and dragged Katie with me. I really wanted to see it, especially after hearing it did better than Halloween 2! So as we drove to the theater I sang "Let's Go to the Movies", you know, the song from Annie? Katie laughed but was groaning and grumbling, which made me laugh.

We timed things perfectly. Bought our $10.25/ticket tickets. Used the ladies room. Went in to a big theater and there was only one couple. Yes! Settled into the center on the theater right in the middle for the best seats. Got our waters out...added Propel Pink Lemonade powder to mine...mmmm so good! A few more people arrived. Just as the lights were dimming, two girls sat in front of us but a few seats to the right. They were being a bit noisy but it was the previews, and that does happen a lot. Not everyone is a die-hard trailer addict like me. Then the movie started. Within 20 minutes I noticed Katie was getting tense but not in the scared Katie way. I asked her what was wrong and she said the girls were getting texts over and over and she could hear the ding (Iphones apparently) and the light from the phone every 2 seconds. I made a move to say something but Katie was like no, if they keep it up I will say something. So I sat back, a bit ticked. If only it had ended there.

They started talking...loudly. Not even normal conversation voices but LOUD, and laughing at themselves, making it hard to hear the movie. Katie shushed them after a few minutes which made them laugh. Then they kept on doing it over and over. Then one of them started having a phone conversation. We sat in shock and no it wasn't a "sorry in a movie I have to go", she was having a conversation. So I leaned forward and told them to shut up we were trying to watch the movie too. The phone girl gives me the "In a minute finger". I couldn't believe that. What a rude person. Then they started going "I'm trying to watch the movie" in rude high pitched voices. Mocking us and laughing SO loud. Katie struck like a viper I tell you. Before I knew it she was over near them crouched behind them. She warned them, in a sugary threatening voice, she would have them kicked out if they didn't stop the phone antics and quiet down. They got all "are you threatening us? oooooohhh". Katie was like "I will give you one last chance and then I am going to talk to the manager". They were like "oooooohhh, go get us thrown out". Katie said "one more chance and that is it" and sat back down next to me. They proceeded to call her a b*%^$. And then they started doing it all again. Katie left, threw her jacket at me for safe keeping, and returned a few minutes later. They were sending a worker into the theater to sit there and if they had to, kick them out. Of course what does this BRIGHT worker do? Makes himself seen as he walks in and goes up and sits down. Of COURSE they shut up while he was in there. But I was shaking in anger by this point. The utter disrespect these two had for other people, people who also paid BIG bucks to watch the movie, and not THEM, just sickened me. And what does the guy do? Leaves after 20 minutes.

And guess what happened AS soon as he walked out the door? They started again for the rest of the movie. Katie kept telling me to relax. But I wanted to go out and complain. She told me again and again, but I was getting more and more tense with every conversation they loudly had. Every time they talked, I had to look at them. Finally I told Katie I wanted to go complain, HUGE for me, but she was all NO. I was like I want to get our tickets comped, this is ridiculous, they did nothing to stop these girls! She was all, we WILL get them comped but try and watch the movie. Which I could barely do. So no I can't really give you a review, because I couldn't even enjoy it. There was lots of blood and guts, but I didn't find it very scary. Maybe if I wasn't so pissed off, I would have gotten the thrill at least, but I was enraged.

The second the word CAST appeared on the screen, those two witches booked it out of there. I was shaking internally, they had ruined the whole experience and movie for me. The giddy happy feeling? Totally gone. So we walked up the the desk and Katie was like"Thanks for trying but they got just as bad after you left". They guy went "oh", blinked and looked down. And then Katie walked away, and I stared after her dumbfounded! I got pissed! I was like WHY did you stop me from going and complaining again if you were going to do nothing?! Why tell me we would get free passes to make up for this if you weren't going to get them. She was like "he obviously isn't paying attention to me" and more well, crap. This enraged me, I was already on the edge and I yelled at her. She was all, if you want to go back and complain go ahead! Which made me want to be sick, thinking of having to be the one to talk. So I started back, and balked. Katie was like "fine I will do it" but she didn't want to so I was like "NO." So I went to the counter and the guy looks up and I said "You know what? I am NOT okay with this. They ruined the movie for us. You showed up, being very obvious so of course they were quiet, but you only stayed 20 minutes and they started up right after you left! This is not okay!" He stared me straight in the eyes, blinking over and over. It was like he was sizing me up, deciding if I would push back if he pushed me. He goes "What do you want me to DO about it?" and did the staring thing again. I immediately said "I want a refund". He stared at me again before answering. "We don't give refunds but we have passes you can use to come back and see it at another time." I was like "We'll take those then". (Like I am going back to see this movie in the theaters again, uhm NO, it has bad memories right now!) So he goes in the back room. I am shaking so bad, I feel sick to my stomach. He returns and all of a sudden is all sweetness and light. "Here you go. You can use these at anytime for any showing of any movie." I was like "Thanks", took them and whirled around and left with Katie.

Once we were outside the shaking worsened and I apologized to Katie for getting so upset. I told her why it had gotten me so mad and that she confused the crap out of me that she changed her mind. That I couldn't stand the thought of the theater people getting off scott free, when we asked for their help and it did nothing. And we paid to endure that! She explained to me that after the day she had, when the guy said nothing after she said they didn't stop, she didn't feel like getting into it with him. Which I didn't know. I knew it was her first day back and she hated it, and hates the teacher, but I reminded her before we went to the movies, for this semester she only has this one 3-hour class with this nasty teacher and then she doesn't have to see her for a week every time. And then she is interning next semester and then she has her license! So once we were on our way, Katie told me after her day, when the guy basically blew her off, she couldn't do it. She HAD planned to, but couldn't. So I was apologizing over and over, but she was like NO. You did it, you stood up for us and got the tickets. But I was more upset that she'd had a bad day, so I am not proud of me at all. Apparently the whole day had sucked. She had no time to come home after school, she had to go directly to the bellydance class she teaches. She missed and will miss her Monday Zumba class all semester, so she couldn't work her frustration out OR go home and see us and talk to us. Her teacher decided to change books at the last minute, so Katie had to shell out more cash, when a friend had given her the original book so Kat could SAVE some money! And then these girls had been so rude to her the most, and called her those names. And she hates these kind of movies but wanted me to enjoy and could see I was stressed out and stiff for most of the movie. So her day was crap, and when the guy said nothing even when she said they didn't shut up, that was it for her. So I was apologixing every 20 seconds and she kept on telling me, Wen it's OKAY. YOU did it and that is great! I just had enough. But I was upset she had such a bad day and then I blew up, sure it lasted like 3 minutes but I don't care. It was her first day of school! So I was sorry all the way home and she was laughing at me. And then we were dissing them together and told each other what remarks and stuff the other missed from these witches. Then we got to tell Sandy all about our horrible time. I told Katie these passes are for us to go see a movie she wants to see. I might have gotten the passes, but A) she paid for the tickets ( it was a present to me) but more importantly B) it was her first day back to school and she went out to complain and she stood up for us, she was like a viper (me using a snake to describe her moves cracks her up. She deserves it. So whatever romance movie or comedy or cartoon she wants to see, she gets it. I can't believe how horrible and disrespectful some people can be at theaters. We ALL paid to see the movie, so let people enjoy it! You expect some whispering as people say something to another, but this was louder than normal talking!! And we don't need to see your phone, there is a reason they ask you to silence or turn OFF your cells!! Emergencies are one thing, answer your phone and leave the theater as you do, that is what my Dad does if work calls. But they stayed and it was no emergency!!

So Katie and I worked out together after we told Sam our saga. I did this DVD which Katie asked me to do, and yes I agreed to do it instead of my Walk Away the Pounds, because I wanted to make her happy and spend more time with her to make sure she is good. But this way we did it together so we spent more time together. And it gives Kat time to be the teacher with me, as she knows how to properly bend and such, so I amused her. I HATED this dvd. It is the Slim In 6 series, and this was the shorter one! It kicked my butt 10 times over. I think I am going to be in pain tommorrow. Sandy thought I should have to do my toning too but she hasn't done this dvd in years. She did it once and it broke her. It was before she started really excercising. You don't use weights in this but your arms are up so much, doing differnt things, they ache before the workout is over!! Even Katie's were burning she said and she is in shape!! So I have showered and am SO tired after that work out!! I ended up watching the last half hour of a show with Kate before showering. It was like 2 am almost but I had never seen this MTV show. Bully Beatdowns or something. And I HATE bullies, I had so many through all my years of school, they make me sick. So I got to see Alex Rodriguez (I have NO idea WHY I know his name and that he is good at what he does!! I don't watch any type of sport like his! But I know his name!) beat the crap out of this bully so easy and win his tormented people 10K! It was awesome. Katie was laughing at the glee I took in his downfall!! Bullies suck big time, and to see this one get taken down on TV, was greatttttt!!! I had hoped to see blood, so Katie laughed even more at my sadness. Bullies in school are bad enough, but these are people OLDER than even college years! These are "adults"! My only beef? I don't think they do this for girl bullies!! Too bad.

The Horror, The Horror!!

It's LONG, I am descriptive what can I say?!

One of my favorite types of movie to watch, for some unknown reason on my part, is HORROR movies. And it really doesn't make ANY sense, considering my first REAL horror movie, I was basically forced into seeing. I was over at my friend Sarah's house and she wanted us to go hang out with some of her fiends, I mean friends, in one of the other condos. And they were watching a Jason movie. Something not allowed in our house, but I didn't want Sarah to think me uncool, even though we were only about 10 at the time, so I didn't say anything. But everytime Jason showed up on the screen I was scared out of my mind. I was sure he was going to jump out of the screen and kill me in my sleep. Of course I'm not the best at secrets of this kind, not when they are bothering me so much I don't want to sleep, so I ended up telling my mom, and she told Sister S. who yelled at her daughter, which just gave Sarah another excuse to be snotty to me, because I was SUCH a baby. Sarah was the kind of girl who was your good friend, until someone cooler was around, then you didn't exist. Also if you crossed her, it wasn't good. Not one of the healthiest friendships from my youth, but I yearned to fit in with my peers from church and Sarah was like the only other girl exactly my age.

Anyway, up to that disastrous first encounter with Jason, the movies that scared me most were The Dark Crystal and Gremlins. Whenever my sisters or I had to go downstairs to use the bathroom at night we were sure gremlins were in the shadows waiting to eat us. And of course, no limb could be over the side of the bed, or they'd attack it and feast on us. So how did one go from that to being a horror junkie? I still ask myself that quite often. Because it's not like they can't still scare the ever loving life out of me. When I was 12 or 13, there was a Jason marathon on tv during the day and my sister Katie and I watched them all (well all there were at that time) and it was like, these are hokey...it helped that it was daylight, and these silly twits running around with no bras also helped, it was like, man she was such a bimbo, she had it coming!! So I got over my fear of Jason.

Although Freddy Kreuger still freaks me out, they can be a lil hokey too, but the glove and his disformities....ehhhh...still get to me. But I will watch them. And then I saw the Halloween movies, one thing that continues to help (because he can still freak me out too) is knowing that the mask they use is Captain Kirk painted white and messing up the hair. I'm serious, it is movie trivia I have learned watching tv programs discussing the horror genre. And one class I took had us watching Alfred Hitchcock movies, like The Birds and Psycho, (which I am a huge fan of the original) and even though they are old, you can see why they were huge for that time. And why they are still spooky. The guy from Psycho still creeps me out, he really owned that role. So I started seeing the "classic" horror movie formula (yes they are now good at ignoring that formula) and more and more movies intrigued me, while scaring me at the same time. Maybe it's that combination that has me hooked. You know you are going to be deliberately spooked, your heart is going to start beating faster and faster...maybe it's the thrill.
I watched many of the Stephen King movies, and they scared me, but the back stories were so good, that I made myself sit through them, because I wanted find out what the big twist would turn out to be. "IT" is actually a favorite of mine, even though I am terrified of clowns, I have found. Jack Nicholson in The Shining, he was good, although I prefer the remake, I think it makes a lot more sense and explains WHY the dad goes CRAZY, and what The Shining really is. Dreamcatcher really ew-ed me out, but the end was phenomenal! And the guy having a whole library for his memory, I just loved that, and their wanting to protect Duddits. I now own most of my favorite Stephen Kings, IT, Firestarter, The Shining remake, etc. So I started being hooked.
And then the commercials began for SCREAM. I HAD to see it!! Sandy was supposed to go and see it with me, because she liked scary movies a little and really wanted to see SCREAM. Unfortunately I was only 15 or 16, so since I wasn't 17 she couldn't go in with me. She had to go with the rest of the fam and see whatever they saw. I saw SCREAM by MYSELF...in a big theatre, that was mostly empty (SO creepy) and AGAIN, all by myself. And it did NOT help when someone came up behind me and touched my arm, I almost jumped through the ceiling! It was my mom, making sure I was okay. I lied kinda, said I was fine, but I was clutching my hands the entire movie. And when it was over, the fam thought it was SO funny, that I kept thinking I saw that mask everytime I turned my head. It wasn't funny though, and even when they realized how freaked I was, they still laughed. It wasn't funny!
Luckily by the time "I Know What You Did Last Summer" was released, Katie agreed to go see it with me. Ohhh, another person helps! When you get scared, you can grab onto someone's arm. And Katie is NOT a horror fan. It scared the crapola out of her, but I proclaimed her my horror movie partner, at least until Sandy could go with me to ones she wanted to see. It certainly wasn't going to be a family affair. We watched Scream on Christmas vacation, and just the opening sequence with Drew Barrymore, scared my Mom so much, she had her eyes closed, and I think she left and took a bath.
So when Scream 2 was out, I dragged Katie, kicking and screaming to see it. See, in the daylight, Scream didn't even scare me that much anymore...just sometimes...I'll explain later. And when I STILL Know What You Did Last Summer was out...the same. Luckily, by Scream 3, Sandy was available, and 17! So we saw it, freaked each other out, but laughed about it too, as we ran for the car, because it was dark out...we didn't want to be killed by a masked maniac!

And so I rented more and more. Some were so horrible, I just want my brain scrubbed of them, no nudity is NOT a prerequisite, nor are really stupid endings. And the ones with nakedness/sexuality started to really bother me, so I became more discerning, I checked WHY they were Rated the way they were. And while that has not stopped me from seeing some really LAME horror flicks, or some boobies, they barely consider that note-worthy anymore ( I just glance away, I have them, don't need to see them ).

And then dang it all, Sandy was no longer into scary movies. So who was going to see them with me? Well certainly not my pal Weezie, she went with Katie and I to see Idle Hands...Katie had toleave to drive her home the poor thing!! So who? And then I found out, my Mom used to watch scary movies when she was pregnant ALL the time, And she was like HECK NO! But during a Christmas break, we got her to watch all 3 Scream movies. Sure it was during daylight, and she worked on a project(going through ALL our photos and putting them into folders, like one for me, one for Kat,etc.). But I was wearing her down. And though she says she hates it. Who do you think I saw The Grudge with (we both hated it), The Eye with, etc. And sometimes we manage to drag my Dad too. They were both there when we saw Darkness Falls about the tooth fairy, not one for lil kids to see, not unless the Tooth Fairy being a homicidal maniac is what you want them to think. It was clever though and I LOVED it, I own it now. So my Mom is my unwilling horror buddy. When they remade When A Stranger Calls, who was the one who called who when I waitressed for a few months and asked if I wanted to go see it? MY MOM! And Weezie went too, I was SO proud of her, She was almost climbing up my arm at some points, but she made it through the whole thing and actually said it was pretty good for a scary movie! Yay Weeze!

And I really AM discerning. Ones that look too freaky or have mutated families that torture people, I avoid. I have NOT seen any of The Hills Have Eyes movies or the Chainsaw Massacre remake. One of the originals taught me that Leatherhead freaks me out too much. High Tension, where a whole family is slaughtered while one girl hides? Skipped it. And some I wait for the dvd, so I can fast forward the REALLY scary parts. That's how I learned I wanted to own The Hitcher. Some my mother actually has not minded, Joy Ride and Deep Blue Sea, she actually semi-likes. She likes to go "Candyyyy Cane, it's Rusty Nails", once in awhile. And we both do the freaky Grudge noise, it's like this arrrrrr noise from the back of your throat, to scare one another. And after seeing THE VILLAGE (only a lil bit horror, mostly suspense), my mom tortured me by finding some fake red berries and brushing it against my cheek so when I turned and saw it, I BLOODY jumped!! So while it takes a LOT of cajoling, the ones I really WANT to see, I usually see with her. It was even her idea to go and see Dead Silence in Florida...I was clutching HER hand the entire movie, because it was DOLLS, something that I have had nightmares about, especially after the CHUCKY series, and had a CLOWN DOLL!! That freaked the crap out of me! We even, when we are both home, do Scary Saturdays, where we watch a horror or suspense movie. We both are scared of Pet Semetary, but we watched it together. I usually save the really good ones for a Scary Saturday. My Mom loved Awake, with Jessica Alba and Hayden Christiansen (more suspensey), we both loathed Doomsday (we hate the new "thing" in horror, making movies that don't make sense after having watched them). The unknown movies I see in the video store, that I look at the backs of and still want to see, I usually have to watch alone. Usually late at night with Maxie cuddled to my side for protection. LOL. But if they end up being really good, I'll have my mom see them. She loved The Deaths of Ian Stone (knew she would, the only one of this years "8 Films to Die For" that was good), and she definitely needs to see The Ruins, that was freaky but good! I couldn't step on any plant for days afterward!!LMAO! And Dad and Katie (she jumps when anything jumps out in ANY movie...Jurassic Park, she practically levitated!) actually stuck around when Mom and I watched Rogue, about a killer crocodile in Australia, that is like the size of a semi-truck. It was good...yes the doggie did end up biting it, but at the end and to save his owner!! Good doggie!!