death of a ghost movie

i saw a movie that made me physically angry earlier this week.  was it about human oppression?  no.  was it about the plight of woman?  nope.  people punching babies?  negative.

this movie was "death of a ghost hunter".  another in a long string of scary movies using a hand held camera.  this one is about a ghost hunter who is hired to do a 3 night investigation in a seemingly haunted house.  she never makes it out.  it is supposedly based on a true story.  we know all of the information contained in the movie from the ghost hunter's journals.  

blah, blah, blah...

i should care about this.  i really like ghost movies, especially ones that are supposed to be based on a true story.  especially those with tiny child ghosts.   however, the movie is so horribly made, i stopped caring after about minute 4.

the main reason for my anger is the "film's" triple narration.  they have constant vocal narration during the movie.  if you still don't get what's going on, the person is actually doing the action while the voice is saying it.  if you still don't get it, they write it on the screen for you.

so, if you hear the voice saying the ghost hunter is interviewing a woman named rosalind, you can see her doing the interview, and they write "interview with rosalind" on the screen.  

i can only assume they made this movie for the mentally challenged ghost enthusiast.

this triple guidance continues throughout the movie.  

if you are courageous enough to make it all the way through the movie (if you have braved the perpetual frustration this movie brings with it), the ending is convoluted and long.  it recaps the  beginning of the movie while trying to creatively weave in the ghost hunter's fate.  

i don't have enough energy to go into detail about this.  let's just say that things are explained to such an extent that it actually brings up more questions than it answers. oh, and the child ghost comes and says hi.  hooray?

i don't care that the ghost hunter or her colleagues died.  it would seem their deaths should be their punishment for inflicted us with their horrible performances and story lines.

this isn't a typical review that informs readers with the director's name or the actor's names or where it was filmed.   

it is merely a warning to stay away from this dvd.  this movie is the bottle of poisonous cleaner under the sink.  i can only tell you to stay away from it and hope for the best.

a couple of bandwagons i fell off of...

1) michael phelps...i just can't jump on this one (the idea...i would for sure jump on the guy).  they (most publications) are calling him the "greatest olympian ever"  most gold medals won...yup.  sexy swimmer...you bet.  greatest olympian?  i freaking beg to differ.  and i bet some ripped greeks from a couple of hundred years ago would too.  am i being a little too nit-picky here?  i don't think so.  

but if you want to talk about it, i will be here in my apartment eating wheaties and im'ing mary lou retton.  give me a call.

2) chicago olympics...i am from chicago.  i love chicago.  it is home.  but, when this city can't even agree on how to do the annual budget for schools, transit, and, well, the city, i don't think they are ready to tackle how to handle a few billion dollars for an event millions will attend. 

it would be great to be this close to the olympics.  i will probably never get a chance to be this close to it ever again in my life.  however, i am simply worried that the city of chicago will end up being like an electrical socket that already has about 10 extra things plugged into it.  so, when everyone gets all excited and shoves in the pretty twinkle lights of the olympics, the socket catches fire.  

and, while we're on this topic, lest us forget what happened the last time chicago had a huge world event in its house...nudge...nudge..."devil in the white city"...cough.

just give this one to rio.  south america has never had an olympics.  they are due.  and, maybe by the time the the next sign up sheet is posted for olympic host cities, chicago will be ready.

until then, i will just keep politely turning down the "chicago olympics" stickers people offer me on the street.   

paper pencils

i went today with my friends meredith and tracy to help get tracy's classroom ready for her school year.  she teaches reading at a middle school.  a really 1920's looking school with remnants of ghosts and the movie a christmas story. 

coming from a long tradition of helping my mom set up her classroom for school, this was great fun for me.  it was a morning of going through numerous copies of hatchet and other newberry award winners.  we found several dusty copies of babysitter's club books (special adventure series).

i think a particularly sad note was realizing that all the old books about the solar system would have to be disposed of because of poor pathetic pluto.  

sorry pluto...nobody blames you.