So, there's a review up for the Woodiwiss... except not really.  Le sigh.  Like the Fast before it, I was tricked, misled by Amazon.com and helpful people with their slightly not quite right recommendations.  Nevertheless, let it not be said that I don't learn from my mistakes.

I should really hit the de Palma/Williams film next, or even the Friedman/Rydell as that's next in line, but my male counterpart is snoring away right next to the television, and considering that he went to bed around 5:30 this morning, I haven't the heart to wake him with all the screaming guitars and frantic pencil-scribbling.  So for the moment we'll go to the Greenberg anthology, and hope that we can get a film churned out on Tuesday when I'm off from work.

Also, with a groan I realized that the Woosley/Kisgen film was going to be out on Monday, but I appear to have been spared the axe for another month; the film has been pushed back to January 31st.  For all the good it will do me, little masochist that I am.

It seems I have blogged too soon.  The Grell and Binkley just showed up.  Huzzah!  I've added them to the creaking pile, for later perusal.

John thinks the Grell is the best thing he's ever seen.  And, really, who can resist the combination of Phantom and Batman?  I certainly can't.

The Webber review is up!  Everyone, come do the dance of completed work with me.  It's liberating!  Yeah, I know I said it would be up yesterday, but I didn't take into account a sudden bout of hypersomnia (though considering at what time the kittens woke me up yesterday morning, I probably should have).

Despite some headaches with getting everything posted, I'm extremely grateful to get that monster out of the way.  It's probably a lucky thing that the next one on my list, the Woodiwiss, is much lighter fare.  However, I'm worried that this will turn out to be another Beast-esque fiasco, and I'm sort of scared to open it up and find out.

Anne, literary wuss.  Who knew.

First of all, merry Christmas to everyone.  Glad we got that out of the way.

Secondly, I know I'm a terrible slacker, but I promise the Webber review is 3/4 done and should be up some time tomorrow so I can get on with my life already.  In the meantime, I ordered a few more small things (but all my wallet will be able to handle for quite some time, I fear) and will be anxiously awaiting their arrival.  I still have not received the Aumack or the Flynn that I ordered a month ago, so I've sent out queries about those and hopefully the situation will be resolved soonish.

Back to writing for me.  Woohoo!

Yesterday was my birthday, so I was a lazy beeyotch.  Feel free to sue me.  However, in the spirit of garnering sympathy for my lazy ways, here's a photo of my To Be Read shelf (well, really, my To Be Read coffee table... I don't have the shelf space to spare at the moment), full of Phantomy goodness:



Of course, there's going to be a lot more than that--I estimate about ten more books, not to mention twice as many DVDs and way more than just those two lonely CDs there--but it's a start, isn't it?

The Fast review is up... such as it is.  You see, the thing is, it turns out that the book had nothing to do with the Phantom story after all.  What a bummer, huh?  I'm leaving it on here as a reminder that I need to be less sloppy about things.  Besides, we can learn from our failures, right?

I'm much less upset about this than I could be, because it means I don't have to finish that miserable novel.  Woohoo!  On to more relevant and enjoyable works!

I should really get the Webber up next.  It's daunting because it's a big project, and also because I know the damn thing really well and it's difficult to approach it from a completely unbiased standpoint.  However, since so many other things are based upon it, I really should get the monster over with so I can move on.  Alas.

As John is prone to saying, "Zomg."

Another package came today, with two more books from my Phantom list (Deney and Newman)!  Apparently John just went down the line.

He is the best boyfriend ever.

I got some unexpected packages in the mail today; they had Phantom books in them. While this isn't strange in and of itself, what is strange is that I didn't order them. It turns out that John did, as my birthday present.

This is the man who has been prone to calling me crazy, insane, unbalanced, weird, and ridiculous since the moment I embarked on my zany grad school quest. He clearly doesn't understand why I would want to do it, what possible point it could have, or otherwise see any redeeming value in the whole project.  He's not big on dissertational studies, having been raised on a firm understanding that ladies are for the making and maintenance of babies.

But, he bought me books for it, without being asked to or hinted at. Because he loves me and wants me to be happy even when he has no idea what insanity I'm up to. So thank you, babe. It means the world to me.

(Incidentally, he bought me the ones he thought were the coolest... so, Sherlock Holmes [the Meyer] and a bunch of tabby cats in opera clothes [the Wood]. That's my baby.)

The Barthelme review is up!  Yes, I know, you would think it wouldn't have taken me that long to write a review of a story that was literally only 5 pages long, but I would tell you that you were wrong.  And then stare haughtily at you until you backed off, so I could salvage my pride.

Moving on to the Fast next, finally--I feel like I haven't read anything in ages.  Even the Barthelme, excellent as it was, felt like a mere tidbit.  Satiate my appetite, oh literature!

Sweet baby Jesus, I hate the flu.  But now that that's behind me, productivity can resume.

The long, long, long delayed Lubin/Rains review is finally up--huzzah, the blasting of trumpets, etc.  I'll be doing Barthelme's short story next so that I can hopefully slap up another review in short order, and then move on to something meatier.

Begging for death.

Blind.

Unable to type.

Updates later.

Pray for immortal soul.

As usual, I have spoken too soon.  It looks like the Lubin/Rains essay will be finished tomorrow.  But to pacify my conscience, I got the Barthelme, and since I didn't have the chance to start the Fast yet, it will get moved to the front of the queue.

I'll totally pretend that makes it all okay.  See?

Finished the Lubin/Rains film!  Despite taking two days to do so.  DVD players that panic and freeze in the middle of movies do not make me a particularly happy person.  I'll try to get the review for that up tonight or tomorrow, and in the meantime plod along with everything else.

I should be doing the Barthelme short story next, but I've been lazy and not picked it up from the library yet (it's cold!  Very cold!).  I'll try to swing by and grab it after work today, but in the meantime I'll move on to the Fast for my next endeavor.  Let's hear it for progress!

Look at me go!  The Siciliano review is up and vaguely legible!  It is also a little bit... er.  Well, pointed.  But hey, it's my opinion, right?  The worst that can happen is they fail me, and after this volume of work they wouldn't dare.

A DVD blitz arrived tonight, including the Yu/Cheung, Argento/Sands and de Palma/Memmoli films, as well as the DVD recording of the Knight musical.  So much to get started on!  Hopefully I'll get a chance to watch the Lubin/Rains tomorrow, and maybe my laziness will abate for a while.

Wow. Sometimes you come across people who are kind of amazing.  Sometimes you come across people who are pretty awesome.  And then there's Pete Bregman.

Remember me whining about how I could only find the second and third installments of The Trap-Door Maker, and how the first book was sold out or out of print or whatever?  There was wailing and gnashing of teeth.  I'm sure you remember, if only so you could instruct other people to euthanize you if you ever behaved similarly.  Anyway, the brilliant folks over at the Phans Online forum were as baffled as I, but one of them (thank you so much, Sultana!) dug up Mr. Bregman's email for me.  Since every book retailer and comic distributor and online auction site in the world had already failed me, and since the Treehouse Animation (the company The Trap-Door Maker was published with) website was down, I shot him a note asking where I could buy it, since I figured if anyone would know, he would.  And frankly, I was out of other avenues to explore.

I figured, well... the worst that can happen is that he's pissed off I used his email and shouts at me.  I hate cyber-shouting.

Instead, he sent me back a very nice note saying that unfortunately, Book 1 had been sold out and not reprinted for some time; and then he proceeded to offer me a link to his personal webserver, so I could download the book for free.  For free.  Because he is seriously just that nice a guy and wanted to help me out.

(If there are any opportunists out there in the milling throng, be advised that he's already deactivated said link, and that I only downloaded book 1, not the others.  Trust me: Pete Bregman is cool enough that he deserves your money.  Go buy his other two volumes for their paltry $6 apiece or whatever it is on Amazon, because A) they are awesome, and B) he is a great guy.)

So:  Word up, Pete Bregman.  You rock my socks.  The world would be a much nicer place if people--or even artists--were all as awesome as you are.  And your art is pretty damn phenomenal, too.

The Woodiwiss arrived today, and I finished the Siciliano.  I am still too sick to see straight, but will attempt to write... something... in some form... yeah.

Hey, you shut up.  My efforts should be applauded.

The Lubin/Rains finally--finally!--showed up!  Glee all around.  It came in with the Preiss, and I picked up the Tarchetti at the library, so things are looking up.

Oh, except for the fact that I am sick.  Miserably, loathsomely sick.  It would be tragic if I had spent all of this time and energy and money on this thing only to die within spitting distance of a degree.

Oh. My. God.

So, as we're all aware, I'm busily and happily poking along on my little Phantom project, gleefully subjecting my friends list to endless reviews and inane ramblings, all in the name of academic discovery. In the course of collecting material for this mammoth endeavor, I've of course become aware of a new movie coming out at the end of this month. Angel of Music from Lighthouse Ltd. Pictures was originally intended to be a period retelling of the Phantom story, but after the wildly popular 2004 movie and various problems (mostly budgetary, from what I can tell) with the production, the premise was altered. The film now chronicles a reporter's quest to discover the true origins of the Phantom story and whether there is any truth to the events Leroux relates; along the way, events from the story begin to take on a life of their own and the reporter finds himself and his loved ones embroiled in scenes that eerily resemble those of the Phantom story, until no one is certain what is real and what is not. Period interludes begin to pepper the movie as it moves along, intensifying the confusion between reality and memory, fantasy and history.

Sounds cool, right? I was psyched from the description. There are plenty of straight-up interpretations of the story itself; how cool would it be if someone did something like this, that explored the psychological elements by tying them to a contemporary context and laid bare the themes of insanity and social stigma in an updated fashion, while still retaining enough of the period sensibilities to keep things fresh and interesting and hold the allegory together? That would be awesome. Imagine it with me, a Baz Luhrmann-esque journey through surrealism and psychosis.

This is not that movie.

Trailer the First
Trailer the Second

Be sure to watch that first one for the most limp-wristed wife abuse in the history of mankind. I haven't laughed that hard in... I don't know. I think watching the trailers may have killed some of the brain cells responsible for long-term memory. I've seen better acting from five-year-olds smeared with stolen chocolate.

I... just... argh. There are no more words. I'm torn between hysterical laughter and suicide.

I need to go lie down. I'll have to work up a more powerful will to live after the realization that I will not only have to watch this movie and pay attention, but will probably also pay money for the privilege.

At least the Lubin/Rains movie finally showed up, and the Yozaburo.  I can go watch an example of good filmmaking, or at least mediocre filmmaking, to scrub my brain.

Holy crap, I wrote a second essay in as many days. I should get an ice cream cone or something for that kind of dedication!

The Charnas review is online. Time to celebrate by falling into bed and sleeping like a rock until I have to get up for work!

I need to be encouraged to stop procrastinating. Probably with a whip.

The Meyer review is finally finished and up! Look at me be productive. Be productive, Anne, be productive! I'll be moving on to the Charnas tomorrow as I'm still operating on a library deadline; after that and the Siciliano, hopefully I'll be able to get back to my tentative timeline.

And on the shipping end of things, I got the de Mendes yesterday and the Stuart today. Sundays always depress me because I know there will be no mail and thus, no new books. What does that say about me?