I AM LEGEND.

1. I liked that dog, Samantha. In a world with no humans, that dog was a great companion, (this from a non-dog person). I cried a little when he had to, you know, kill her.

2. Despite not liking the ending at all, this is one of my favorite films. The director, Francis Lawrence, did BRITNEY SPEARS VIDEOS before this? Wow. The pacing, the effects, the flashbacks, the dialogue? All aces. Nice work.

3. This sort of story is seriously one of the greatest joys in my narrative life. Isolation? Memories? MANNEQUINS STRATEGICALLY PLACED ABOUT THE CITY? (my favorite!)

I have always strongly identified with protagonists like these, most of them men. I think my Daddy issues have contributed to my constant seeking of powerful characters and my disdain of weak, sappy female leads. I mean, I grew up wanting to be Betty Childs (cheerleader from Revenge of the Nerds) like many others, I suppose, but there was always something more appealing about the powerful guys, the strong guys, the guys that actually DID something. Will Smith very much DOES SOMETHING in this and I was mesmerized.

4. Speaking of Will Smith, WOW! (delicious!) I have always thought he was a decent enough actor, but something different was going on here. Is he getting a little gray? It very much works for him. And the pull ups in the doorway? What a body on this guy! He was doing a one man show for a lot of this film, and he nailed it, extremely. Conversing with the mannequins? Genius. ("Please say 'hello' to me. Please say 'hello' to me!" or "BOB? WHAT THE HELL YOU DOING OUT HERE? ARE YOU REAL?" etc.)

5. Film vs. Book? I really hate to say this, but I thought the film was better. I loved Richard Matheson's story, which was riddled with Vampires, not rabid, cohabitating Zombies, but the film somehow resonated more with me. For one thing, using mannequins always earns an A+. Also, that opening scene where he's hunting deer in the mustang in downtown Manhattan? Very, very cool. And while I kept waiting for Will Smith to actually say the words, "I am Legend," I'm okay with just being shown it rather than having it stated outright (the book ends with this final declaration by Robert Neville as he's about to die, which is almost the coolest fucking thing I've ever read.) That said, the book's ending was much more satisfying. Regardless, I'll say both are legendary (hee hee).

6. My new goal? To make that treadmill downstairs my bitch the way Smith (and his dog) made theirs.
And to always have extra bacon, just in case.

Getting Lost, I am Legend.

Finished up the June Books a few days late.

1. Getting Lost by Orson Scott Card. Part of the Smart Pop book series, first published in 2006, this collection is made up of fifteen essays and an encyclopedia that cover the first two season of the show. Some essays are very good (Oceanic Tales; Have You Been Framed? and Cosmic Vertigo on the Isle of Lost) some are marginal, I won't name names. There is a reading list, of course, probably because you can't talk about Lost without talking about books and stories too, but David Lavery's (Lost's Buried Treasures) is much more in-depth. There are some cool suggestions made; one essay author totally called what ended up happening with Hurley, another posits deep meaning while analyzing Jack's tattoos. Bottom line? It's fine. Did not blow my skirt up, though.

DICK MATHESON, HOWEVER, IS A HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR.

2. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, a collection of short stories, many of them first published during the 50s. I snagged this from the Book Nook (that I co-created) at Starbucks, how glad I am that I did! First off, I AM LEGEND? I doubt there was ever a better book title, anywhere. This entire collection was right up my proverbial alley, all the way. Many of the stories had connections to Twilight Zone episodes, I'm sure many of them became Twilight Zone or Night Gallery episodes (The Near Departed, Prey, Dress of White Silk, Mad House, From Shadowed Places). I also could tell that these must have influenced Stephen King, too, because some of the prose seemed very similar, but more housebroken than King, calmer, grandfatherly, if that makes sense. I very much enjoyed all of them. I haven't seen the film yet, it's next on my netflix, but really I cannot wait. And while I Am Legend was probably the most engaging, the weightiest story in the collection, it was Mad House (a writer is full of rage because he cannot write? um. . . ) that packed the biggest punch for me. I hope I never become an angry writer, I'd hate to have my bathroom, you know, KILL ME. Also, I would leave this in the bathroom after my bath and every time I did, my daughter would carry it out, refuse to look at the cover, and bury it somewhere. It is rather creepy, I suppose.

All these DID blow my skirt up. It's still up, actually. If you like crafty, scary little stories, read these now.

June Books.

For some reason I'm always reading like 45 books all at once. I like to think of it as having my reading habits follow my moods. Like how some nights you just really crave an Adam Sandler film, other nights you are feeling a bit more Kubrick, etc.

1. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis. And this image to the left looks nothing like the yellow and black cover on my copy so already I'm feeling dishonest about how this is going. I picked this up at Half Price Books probably two years ago, started reading it two years ago, and got extremely bored and pitched it into a drawer somewhere for another year. Once I started trying to read it again (unlike Walden) I was able to enjoy it more. I seem to be developing a love/hate relationship with it; being from a small town I really take offense at some elitist city bitch just thinking she can waltz right in and start overhauling everything, but being from a small town and being a city dweller now, I can very much see where she (Carol) is coming from in wanting to make things exciting.

Lewis really didn't put many positive things in about Gopher Prairie, as far as I can tell, and that bothers me. I'm almost considering writing a huge counterpoint to this whole novel in protest.


2. The Heath Introduction to Fiction, edited by John Clayton. Yes, I am reading a textbook of short stories, one I actually had for a short stories literature class at MCTC about ten years ago. True to form as a student, I read approximately 3% of what I needed to read for the class, but held onto the book for some reason, for which I'm glad because the stories are wonderful. I'll give some examples later, but I'm just going on record to say that it's a beautiful collection. Not a very affordable one, though.

3. Getting Lost, edited by Orson Scott Card. So far I've only read the introduction and part of the first article, but it seems promising. This is more along the lines of scholarly literature (ala David Lavery) and already I'm supressing my need to tell the book to get a life, but hey, it's about Lost and it's a book, what could be better, even if it's uppity? It's kind of entertaining to read how people thought they had the show pegged (after two seasons) because I NEVER DID THAT. . .

 anyway. There are a few other books out there that I finished already, David Lavery (and others') Lost's Buried Treasures and Nikki Stafford's little bubble gum book. Lavery's is pretty cool if you want a really thorough reading list/ancestor text list/link to all other media list, etc., or to read what some pretty educated people have for theories. Nikki's book is a good read for people who don't mind a book that reads like a high school blog/people who aren't really into books but like US Weekly, or people who don't really get Lost but want to be part of the in crowd. Okay, that was mean. The book is fine but it's more of an informal collection of writings.

4. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson. Haven't started it yet, but I have high, high hopes for it. Richard Matheson is my man having written some pretty decent Twilight Zones (Steel, Nightmare at 20,000 feet, Little Girl Lost) and what would eventually become Steven Spielberg's Duel. Love this guy! I may just have to break down and put Stir of Echoes and I Am Legend on the old Netflix. One can never have too much Kevin Bacon in life, can one?

THe Twilight Zone Diaries, episode 23

A World of Difference

originally aired: March 11, 1960
written by: Richard Matheson
starring: Howard Duff, Eileen Ryan

"You're looking at a tableau of reality. Things of substance, physical material. A desk, a window, a light. . . These things exist and have dimension. Now this is Arthur Curtis, age 36, who is also real. He has flesh and blood, muscle and mind. And in just a moment we will see how thin a line separates that which we assume to be real, with that manufactured inside of a mind."

classification: drama

story: The normal world of a businessman is turned topsy-turvy when he discovers that he is an actor in a movie that is about to be cancelled. The powers that be eventually allow him to return to the happier, ficitonal world.

my summary: A little too similar to Person or Persons Unknown and getting rather old. Vindictive wife is overacting and flying off the handle for no reason. Why are so many of the wives on this show complete bitches?

"The motis apperendix for the departure from life is usually a pine box of such and such dimensions. And this is the ultimate in reality. But there are other ways for a man to exit from life. Take the case of Arthur Curtis, age 36. His departure was along a highway, with an exit sign that reads: This way to escape. Arthur Curtis, enroute to The Twilight Zone.

The Twilight Zone Diaries, episode 18

The Last Flight

originally aired: February 5, 1960
written by: Richard Matheson
starring: Kenneth Haigh, Simon Scott

"Witness Flight Lieutenant William Terrance Decker, flying core, returning from a patrol somewhere over France. The year is 1917. The problem is that the Lieutenant is hopelessly lost. Lieutenant Decker will soon discover that a man can be lost, not only in terms of maps and miles but also in time. And time in this case can be measured in eternities."

classification: war

story: A World War I pilot flies into a cloud and lands in 1959. Not knowing why he's there, he realizes he must go back to find the friend he'd abandoned so he can become the hero he was destined to be.

my summary: One of the better war episodes. Granted, all of these are typically lame. Reference to "lead bottom" amusing.

"Dialogue from a play, Hamlet to Horatio: There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Dialogue from a play written long before man took to the sky. There are more things in heaven and earth and in the sky, that perhaps can be dreamt of. And somewhere between heaven, the sky, and earth lies The Twilight Zone."