The Kelly review is up.  It was, you know, kind of awful.  But in an endearing way.  On to the next play!

The Plone/Sussman review is up.  But that's not what I want to talk about today.

Every area of interest has its big name fans, and the Phantom story is no exception; probably one of the biggest is Ms. Carrie Hernandez, who (in addition to being one of the authors on my list) at one time ran one of the most thorough websites regarding the story and whose research and fanzine efforts are well-documented.  She's been off pursuing other endeavors recently, but much to my surprise and delight, she emailed me this past week to express her support for the Project.  I was, of course, both excited (yay!  Someone out there likes this stuff!) and concerned (I'm posting a really bad review tomorrow... I hope it doesn't offend her too much).  But the fun doesn't stop there; being the fantabulous creature that she is, Ms. Hernandez delved into her Phantom story archives and sent me a care package, which arrived on my doorstep yesterday.

 

As I am fond of eloquently saying in these situations... holy crap.  Not only is there a wealth of fan-stuff here (fanzines and articles and the like), but there are also out-of-print books (including that damn Flynn book that Amazon gave me the runaround on!) and several plays that I didn't even know existed, dating back to the seventies.  Oh, my goodness, gracious me.

Everything's been added to the list where appropriate, but let me just publically say: thank you, Ms. Hernandez.  I never cease to be amazed by the helpful, entirely selfless people who have shown up for the sole purpose of being totally awesome and helping me out with this whole thing.  To you, and to Pete Bregman, and forever77, and Fallulke-Elskeren, and Sakura... you guys rock the party like it's 1999.  Or something.

I'm off to the family for Christmas, but never fear... I will be all over this shit when I come back.

Ah, the holiday season... eater-up of all my time (isn't it great how I always have an excuse for why things are late?).  The D'Arcy review is up, and my copy of the Plone/Sussman film is next on the bill.  Big news is brewing--stay tuned!

The Ward review is up!  Huzzah for old recordings.  It's time to start in on the real fun; I'll be tackling my very first self-published sequel now, the D'Arcy book (could her pen name be a backhanded homage to the 1962 film?  Oh, the possibilities!).  Additionally, I finally found a copy of the 1989 Plone/Sussman film, soon to dance its horrible, awful, very bad way into my DVD player!  It's a good day.

The D'Amato review is up!  November has been a month of many changes, so as it draws to a close, I pledge to try to be better about keeping the reviews going at a reasonable pace.  Next up, a journey into the past to pick up that radio show that I never got to listen to.  Woot!

To the unfortunate gentleman or lady who, Google tells me, unknowingly stumbled upon this site while on a quest to "check how far her dark grotto goes"; I'm sorry for the confusion.  The only grotto here is the classical kind, made of rock and such.  I occasionally review materials that might fit your search criteria, but I'm afraid that this is probably a dead end for you.

Godspeed.

I've said a few things here, now and then, about the forthcoming low-budget feature film entitled Angel of Music, directed by John Woosley (which just had its first test screening, so those interested may have a chance to get their paws on it within the next few months). I try not to make too much fun of things I haven't had a chance to give a decent run-through yet, since I'm all about trying to keep the academic impartiality going, but I couldn't resist giggling at some really not flattering trailers for this film a little while back. My desire to giggle can seldom be contained.

Anyway, the film is nearing release at some unspecified future date (it's on its way to film festivals at the moment, from my understanding), so it's begun to get some press in the director's local area. My mirth for the day comes from an article about the film's premiere, in which Woosley discussed the reasons behind changing his film's plot from a faithful period adaptation of the story. After explaining that a producer had asked him to think about the reasons that the story had never been faithfully adapted before, he delivered the best direct quote ever:

“It turns out that it can’t be done faithfully to the novel because the story is really boring.”

Y'all pardon me while I clean up the soda from my spit-take snort-laugh. Shit, it's so true. That story is boring as fuck--that's why it's been so constantly and varyingly adapted, time and again, for an entire century! Leroux, you boring old bastard, it's your fault that I've had to sit through all these really bad adaptations! Write a less goddamn boring story next time, so people don't have to change everything to make it decent!

Man. It's too bad nobody writes good novels and we have to adapt the boring ones for our derivative literature. Oh, what a world.

(Edit: There's a new trailer! It's a marked improvement over the hilarity-inducing previous efforts, though still pretty amateurish, at least to my eye. Time and a full viewing of the film will tell.)

Hey, y'all.  Obviously, some things happened, and I was absent from the interwebs for an extended period of time.  This was mostly unavoidable.  But now I am back, and things will be like they used to me.  Come back, baby.  Please?

The Danova review is up, and hopefully things will continue to spin on as quickly as possible.  I'm on it, folks!

The Kindzierski review is up, and it's on to pillage!  I recently got the Danova in the mail, so it's time to backtrack to 1995 and watch a gloriously spangled interpretation of the story.  I literally cannot wait.  It will be awesome.

The Dadey/Jones review is up, though of course it's not exactly in-depth.  On to more exciting fare: I love the comic book versions!

Also, I managed to find a copy of not only the music but also a DVD of the performance of the Danova Phantom on Ice.  Glee!

Due to technical difficulties (i.e., I have no internet at home due to landlord incompetency), I've had to shelve the radio show for now and continue on my merry way with the print books.  I'm too entertained by the cuteness to mind.

The second Argento review is up.  Wackiness abounds, and I love it!  I'll be taking a short trip in the Wayback Machine now to go catch up on that radio show that got left by the wayside, but then we'll be back on track circa 1998.

Grell review is up, and it's time for me to cry like a sissy again because Argento is back, and he's badder than ever.  Oh, dear.  John has promised to hold the hand that isn't taking notes, which is a mixed blessing because then I won't be able to use it to cover my eyes when I'm whimpering.

It occurred to me the other day that I haven't been putting publisher information on these reviews.  I mean, I have the information in my notes so i can have an appropriate bibliography, but I haven't been adding them to the websites.  And then it occurred to me to wonder: why the hell not?  People might need that information!  They might be looking for this shit!  So, I'm going to be trying to get the publishing information retroactively added to the old reviews in the next few days.  Be patient with me if you're one of the imaginary people that I suspect might care about this.

Oh, and yet another new book is out, The Phantom's Song by Sabrina Callahan.  Add that to my list, and Jennifer Linforth's long-awaited Madrigal will be out later this month, too.  Glee!

The Allen review is up.  That means I've done a musical, a film, and a book this month.  I'm like a variety show!  What will she do next, folks?

The de Longprez review is up.  Lord have mercy on my soul, and thank little green apples that I get to do something else now.

On to a nice romance novel!  Yippee!

Work's been running me ragged, so the porn will have to wait until tonight.  However, I did a little internet digging and added a section to the progress page and chronology: radio shows.  I was initially kind of ignoring the one I'd heard of (the 1943), but then I discovered another more recent one, and I was forced to admit that I was just being lazy in not accepting this medium into the project.  After all, even if radio is kind of struggling these days, it was an extremely important medium in its time.  There might even be more shows out there I still haven't found (in fact, I'm sure there are, with a pervasive horror story like the Phantom's).

I considered just adding them to the musical section, but they really needed a category all their own; there's some original music, true, but most of it is spoken word and auditory acting.  So a new category it is.

Despite the fact that the fates are conspiring against me and I have no internet access at home, I've still got the Spencer review up.  I am just that dedicated.  It's impressive, I know, but try not to get all sycophantic on me.

On to the next film, which I suspect will make John grumble.  Always a good time!

Got the Kingsbury and the second Taylor!

Woo!

The Ashe review is up, and man, I love being pleasantly surprised.  Keep pleasantly surprising me, project!  I loooove you.

The next review will hopefully follow soon, since it's a nice two-hour listening affair.  Keep your eyes peeled (not really... that'd be disturbing).

Hurray, the Pratchett review is up!  Things are very busy and reviews and reading are accordingly slow, but I'm hoping to pick up the pace soon.

The long delay was because I was out on vacation and being a total slacker about work.  Worse yet, upon my triumphal return, my next book turned out to be a dud.  Alas.  The Cusick writeup is about two paragraphs of not helpful, should anyone feel the need to see it.

However, the next book is the Pratchett.  And that one is definitely valid.  So on we go!

It's hard to work when it's hot.  It's so much easier to whine.  Nevertheless, the Yu/Cheung review is up, and I can move on to the Cusick, which looks like nothing so much as a novelization of the 1989 Friedman/Rydall film.  And if THAT film didn't need to be immortalized in print, I don't know any one that does.

Sweet Jesus eating a cracker, it's been one thing after another.  Power is out, then internet is out, then banks are screwing up, then shows are going up at work, then it's a million degrees and the effort of typing would use up every ounce of moisture still clinging to my seared body.  For sanity's sake, I need some peace and quiet around here.  I've posted the Jones review, and am now off to completely switch oeuvres from "American comic crossover" to "romantic Asian cinema" for the Yu/Cheung film.  Wish me luck!

The forum is back (again)!  And while it was down, I finished the Herter review, which has been posted (beware: less of the introspection, more of the growling in this one.  I'll try to keep the next one more scholarly).

The pace is slow because life is busy, but since I have a deadline, we'll have to hope I can pick it up soon.

Revenge of the exploding forum!  It's down again.  While I twiddle my thumbs and wait for the problem to resolve itself, feel free to ignore me and go about your day.

The review for the Argento/Barberini film, she is posted.  As your long-suffering, desperately wimpy project manager, I hope you'll excuse me if I'm a little vague for a while because I can't sleep at night anymore after watching it.

I'm going to read a romance short story now, which will hopefully cleanse my poor brain of all the blood and gore and bits of person everywhere.

In addition, for all one of you that panicked, the Forums are back up and running.  Apparently the host was targeted with a nasty DOS attack, but everything is now restored to its former... ahem... glory.

Ta-daa.  The review for the incredible, the indescribable, the catastrophic Savage/Joboulian film review is up, and my caps-lock key needs a hard-earned rest.

In other news, for the six people whom it affects, Getphpbb, where the Project board is currently hosted, has been down for a few days.  I'm hoping that doesn't mean that they packed up and quit and it'll never see the light of day again, but if that does happen, at least we can interpret that as an act of God concerning my having a messageboard at all.

Hooray hooray hooray!  The Weibang review is up, and I am a little bit smarter about Chinese history.  Good times all around.  Next on board is the Savage/Joboulian film, which hopefully will see a review a little bit faster since I won't need to spend two days in the library before I can write about it.

Got the Savage film in the mail today, after a month of shipping confusion.  Hooray!

In more productive news, I'm done viewing the film and a review is pending, hopefully to be up tomorrow.

I'm going to die if I don't get some sleep, though.

Hooray, the Ebert review is finished and posted!  It's not exactly a monster of a review, but it wasn't exactly a monster of a book.  Regardless, we're moving on.

There may be a new section to the site here soon... I'm not exactly sure.  But I figure, what could it hurt, right?  Right?

I'm very tired.

I'm almost finished with the Ebert, I swear!  Really!

I wanted to take a second and pause, however, to thank the amazing Fallulke-Elskeren, who has been an enormous help in aiding me to get my hands on some of the rarer, older materials for the project.  While F-E doesn't have a website to link to, she has been sharing her impressive knowledge with the world all over the internet anyway; she has informative articles scattered all over on everything from the differing translations of Leroux's novel to Charles Garnier's writings on the opera to research techniques for the student seeking to learn more about this classic of Gothic literature.  As a fellow student, I tip my hat to her and encourage everyone interested in background material on the Phantom story to investigate her tireless research.

In other news, it's my anniversary today (four years... seems like just yesterday I was trying to shut the door in his face), so I may not be as productive as I possibly should be.  But you only get one of these a year!

Holy shit, am I failing to keep up the pace this week.  Between weddings, internet outages and squalling sick kittens, everything's been a real mess around here.  I'm about halfway through the Ebert and hope to have it finished tomorrow, with the review to follow as soon as possible; until then, I'm comforting myself with the knowledge that I've gotten a bunch more materials and the next few should whizz by.

First of all, I forgot to blog it yesterday when I posted the Kopit/Yeston musical review.  Shame on me and my absent mind.  It's there, it's larger than life, etc.  Moving on to movie critics now (uh-oh... about to realize my own inadequacy, methinks).

Second of all, and this is the cool part, Maury Yeston himself dropped by and gave me a little insight into his musical and its origins.  His comments have been appended to the end of my review, and my starstruck haze is following me around at work like a little cloud of positivity.

I'll be updating the links page today, but other than that it's business as usual.  Oh, and much love to those two or three people who are valiantly trying to have conversations on the messageboard.  Someday there will be people to talk to--I hold out hope!

The effervescent Jennifer Linforth, up-and-coming author and all around interesting internet presence, posted a wee little interview with me over at her blog.  I feel all grown-up and relevant-like.  It's nothing that anyone who's been reading the reviews probably hasn't heard before, but go show her a little love, anyway--she has plenty of Phantom-related resources over there, and is well worth your time.

The Ryan review is finally posted, miserable though it might have been.  I'll be moving on to the Yeston/Kopit musical now, and anxiously awaiting my new materials in the mail--it's been a while since I ordered and I'm starting to get worried.  I don't exactly have money to throw down the drain, here.

In my internet travails, I stumbled across this little opinion piece about the various film adaptations of the Phantom story.  While I obviously have my own, somewhat different opinion in some areas, it's nevertheless an interesting read.  It's very much a layman's interpretation of the various movies, but a valid one nonetheless.  I'm particularly interested in that quote that he attributes to Kopit--I'd like to see if that's true, as it would explain some things about the wildly divergent plot in his versions of the story.

In other news, I just realized that the Phantom blowing himself up and sealing himself in or behind the rubble, which I was theorizing about in the case of the Perkins/Daughton graphic novel, is a direct import from the Guest/Mathieson film.  Shame on me for not noticing that when I wrote the review.  I'll be editing to reflect it.

A wee little review for the Eternity Comics piece is up.  Alas, my internet is out at home, so updates will be brusque as I sneak them in on company time.

Holy goddamn, I actually posted a review.  The Rostaing review is up, which means I can move on to the wonderful world of Eternity Comics.

Heh, the forum has three registered users, one of whom is me.  So much for you people requesting a forum, you liars, you.

Strange things are afoot at the Phantom Project.

Specifically, it now has a forum.  For the two people that read this--go out!  Meet one another!  Have a blast!

Actually, more than a few people now have either mentioned that they'd like to have a forum to discuss some of this stuff, or actively asked me to set one up, so here it is.  Unfortunately, since I do not have the l33t f0rum skillz, it's pretty basic at the moment, but I'm hoping to pretty it up later, possibly when I have more time this weekend.  You can still post on it and talk to one another, and the naive child in my soul says that's what's important, right?  Right.

In the meantime, I'm still working on the Rostaing; unexpected houseguests make it hard to get anything done in a hurry.  I'm totally on it whenever I have a second, though.

The Daughton/Perkins review is up!  Huzzah!  It's a very interesting one, and I'm glad I dug through the terrifying vaults of eBay to find it.  I'm on to the Rostaing now, which I'm worried might fall apart in my hands because it's so old.  I'm really lucky to have found a copy at all!  Hurray for me!

A few more texts wandered their way in, as well--obviously, I received the Rostaing, and one of the L'Officier short stories is in my hot little clutches now, too.

The Stuart review is up!  I used my lovely check from the government to order a few more texts, which I will await with bated breath, but other than that it's business as usual around here.  Now that I'm starting to recover from the Martian Death Flu, I'm hoping to be able to pick up the pace a little bit.

Two reviews in one day!  Bam, baby!  The Pachard/Gillis film review is up, but nobody panic; it's perfectly worksafe and contains absolutely nothing explicit.  Just because the film is adult doesn't mean my review has to be (in fact, considering my sailor mouth in some of the poorer reviews, it's positively demure).  On to pillage--I get to check out a comic book next!

Lack of updates is due to real life, etc., but more is incoming.  For now, I've finished the Stuart and will be working on the review notes today, and I've received my copies of the Cusick and Joyce texts.

Ta-da!  The Rosen/Schierhorn review has been posted, and now I'm off to read some more.

For those of you who are wondering about the adult film saga, I've decided that they will be included but will be placed in a category of their own; consequently, they may be worked on in chronology on their own, rather than with the rest of the materials.  This is the same way I'm handling all the versions of Ye Bang ge Sheng.

Ugh.  After two days of having no internet (our landlord forgot to pay the cable bill... le sigh), I am back and ready to boogie.  The review on the Rosen/Schierhorn musical is halfway completed, and I got the Ryan text and the Spencer musical in the mail today.  Huzzah!

Happy Cinco de Mayo, tequila lovers!  The Richardson/Dance review is finally up in celebration.  More thoughts are on the way, but for now, it's time for me to go fall into bed for a while.

As usual, life is kicking my ass, so the Richardson/Dance is still sitting forlornly on my desk, unwatched.  I will be getting to it as soon as I possible can, because I am chafing at the bit of having to do nothing for so long.

Other thoughts, however: specifically, thoughts on fanzines.  More to the point, should stories in fanzines count under my self-imposed criteria?  I definitely said that I wasn't going to be doing fanfiction that hadn't been published, partly out of the hope for some small amount of quality control and partly because I'd be old and grey before I finished every bit of Phantom-based fanfiction out there.  Fanzine stories are, essentially, fanfiction (someone's just printed them out and stapled them together, basically), but do they count as published?  I mean, having a story published in an established magazine like, say, Fantasy & Science Fiction definitely means that you're published, even if said story isn't published in a book.  However, do I really want to open this can of worms?  And if so, does anyone with a little more insight into the fanzine scene have any advice or thoughts on it?

The Levitt/Cassidy review is up, with a greater modicum of grace and kindness than I expected of myself.  It's not that it was putrescent; I'm just usually not very kind.  So, I guess, kudos to me for being less of a jerk than usual.

On to the Richardson/Dance film, which I hear from many is either awesome or terrible.

More fun with packages!  Today, the Absinthe and the Hunt joined the serried ranks of angelic prose on my shelves.  I owe the Maranto, Black, and Johnson texts an apology; I said that they were a little improvised in format.  That wasn't improvised.  This is improvised.  May the writing inside be captivating and engaging enough to make me forget that it's crazy-looking!

Oh, man, I totally want to order more books.  I've forgotten what an undented paycheck looks like.

It's Mostly Unsupported Rumor Time again in these here parts!  This time, there're mutterings about a remake of de Palma's crazy, wacky, lovable Phantom of the Paradise.  Considering how much I loved the original movie--who could not love that kind of insanely cheerful drug trip?--I am bizarrely excited by this prospect.

Please make this movie.  I will review it with great glee, even if I hate it.  Pretty please make this movie.

The Kay review is up.  Whoa, nelly, am I tired now.

Next up, an unexpected treat: someone extremely excellent managed to find me a copy of an ancient film that nobody loves!  You know what that means... time for a viewing!

Bam, texts on my shelf.  Today it's the Maranto, Black, and Johnson.  They look a little... um... improvised in their binding and layout, but that doesn't mean there might not be pearls of literary wisdom within.

I've finished the Kay, but writing the review is kicking my ass hardcore.  I'm on it, I promise.

I was thinking today: I don't have any porn versions of the Phantom story yet.  Why is that?  After all, there are at least five that I know of out there, probably more.  Sex is such an elemental part of the story that I'm very interested to see how people play that out in a setting which caters purely to sexual fantasy.  And, as with all porn, there is so much potential for hilarity.

Goddamn pornos only being released on VHS.  Come on.  Show me some love, internet--surely there's some enterprising deviant out there that has some of these for sale.  PornQuest 2008 is on.

I'm finished with the Kay, so a review will be pending.  With little to no porn, in case anyone is worried.

Why, hello, little tax refund.  Do you know where you're going?  No, not to the bank.  No, not to the bill collectors.  No, not to the schools.  That's right, you're going to a magical place online where you go away to live with a nice company and they send me some books to console me for my loss.  It will be a magical journey.

I'm continuing my quest to find as much published material as I can, and in doing so am now hitting all the subsidy and self-publishing sites online (thanks a lot for making my life harder, Amazon).  So far, I've ordered three new texts (the Black, the Maranto, and the Johnson--hee!) and discovered a few more to add to my list.  They just keep coming out, don't they?  Notably, it seems that there's a new follow-up to the de Mendes text coming out that focuses on Raoul, who never gets his own novels, it seems like.  Should be interesting.

Apparently, the Woosley/Kisgen film has been pushed back yet again, probably to this winter.  My disappointment is probably surmountable.

The Little/Englund review is up, so guess what that means (other than that I just watched a horror movie and need to sleep with the lights on)?

Hallelujah!  I'm out of movie-land for a little while and I can read a book now!

Even better, it's time for the Kay text, which is apparently so definitive that many fans of the story consider it canon as much as Leroux.  I've heard, as usual, various good and bad things both about it, so we'll just have to wait and see what my inexpert but undoubtedly heartfelt opinion will be.

Ta-daa!  The Guest review is up and I'm on a roll (mostly, I suspect, due to the fact that it's no longer the busy season at work and I have time to type reviews while I'm sitting at my desk not doing anything).  I'll be hitting the Little/Englund film next, and then--God willing, please, please--I will be out of film-land for a while and able to go back to doing some reading.  Let's face it: film is not my first love.  Or my third love, really.  It's like a date that friends keep fixing me up with, and I'm always mildly confused as to how I ended up here.

This one may take a little while, however... this is the Englund Phantom, and I'm a complete wuss when it comes to horror films, so those two facts together mean that I'll have to keelhaul John into watching it with me.  Lest there be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Amazing people (John!) have not only fixed my Guest film problem, but bought me extra popcorn and sparkling cider, every film reviewer's hard tack and water skin.  He is a fantabulous man, especially since he now has to suffer through 2+ hours of Phantom of the Opera animation from the 1980s.

The Friedman/Rydall review is up (I had unexpected free time this weekend).

So... yeah, not really a genius sleeper hit.  But the theme song is endlessly entertaining!

On to the Little/Englund film next, but that review probably won't be finished until some time during the week.

So my copy of the Guest film turns out to be defective as well.  First Ye Bang ge Sheng, and now this.  I'm investigating alternatives while I cry inside, but in the meantime I'll probably move on... to that movie with Pauly Shore in it, the 1988 Friedman/Rydall flick.  I really put my money where my mouth is when I say I'm going to watch something bad next, don't I?

Maybe I'm being unfair.  Maybe it's a genius sleeper hit in disguise.  We'll just have to wait and see.

I was thinking about putting some kind of joke up here yesterday, but inertia and fatigue won out and I... didn't.  You know it's bad when I can't even be bothered to bestir myself for the extra effort of pranking someone.

However, I did manage to bestir myself enough to finish the review on the Markowitz/Schnell film, and to actually put it on the internet in (semi) presentable form!  I'm rather proud of that one.  It only took about half the time it usually takes me to finish a film review, which is still pretty embarrassingly long when compared to the literature and music reviews.  Leave me alone.  I'm not a visual learner.

I know I said I was going to do the Pauly Shore movie next, but extensive research (i.e., I remembered to look at my own chronology page) tells me that the animated Guest film predates it.  Hot dog!  So that's up next.  Pauly Shore will just have to wait.

Since a few people have asked recently (surreal, I know... people, out there on the internet, paying attention to what I'm doing), you can post comments on any review you like on here, but you will have to log into PBWiki to do so.  The registration's free and fairly quick and painless, so if you have a serious hankering to tell me how full of shit I am, feel free to comment away!  Sadly, the comments don't show up for non-logged-in users, either, which makes me wonder if I need to set up some kind of comment forum elsewhere.  Something to consider for later, if I end up having more than a couple of people who want to discuss.

Non-logged-in people can still send me email via the "Contact Wiki Owner" link at the bottom of each page, so even if you don't feel like registering, you can harass me to your heart's content.

In other news, despite recent events outside my control, I finally finished viewing the Markowitz/Schnell movie today, and will start on that review tomorrow.  Alas, it turned out that my freshly-imported copy of Ye Bang ge Sheng was faulty, so the wonders of classic Chinese cinema will remain a mystery to me until I can replace it.

So instead of that, I'll be doing the movie with Pauly Shore next.  Lucky me!

The Fisher/Lom review is up, and it only took... um... five days.  Hands up, anyone who is surprised.  I'm definitely not a film student, so my amateur film reviews are much more difficult and take me much longer to churn out.  Sorry to all of you (Google tells me that people only come here looking for books I haven't yet reviewed, anyway, so that's probably not very many) who were waiting in unbearable suspense.

The suspense will probably continue, because it's looking like I've got several more films to go before I can settle down with a nice book again.  As I'm writing this, I'm not yet sure if I'll go with the schmaltzy 80's versions next or backtrack and pick up the original Ye bang ge sheng, but either way, look for probably at least a few more days before I get another one processed.

I'm learning as I go.  This is all kinds of fun.

This film also marks the point at which the notebook I started taking notes in at the beginning of this project ran out of pages.  Off to the corner supply store with me!

For those looking for more information on the authors represented (or lauded, or lampooned, or unjustly criticized) around here, I've added a tasty Links page.  In addition to a few pages that may have more information for the wanderer looking to bone up on the Phantom mythos, there are also links to the websites of the authors of works I've discussed, or links to informational sources about them if an official website isn't available.

In particular, check out Jennifer Linforth, author of what looks like a seriously interesting upcoming Phantom novel, who stopped by to look around the place today, and Steve Rasnic Tem, who is not only an awesome writer but was also nice enough to link to my review from his website.

I'm in awesome-author overload from these guys.  Leave them some love while I go figure out how to watch a Chinese film three times without driving my poor boyfriend completely out of his mind.

Holy crap, the Hill review is up!  Look at me make up for lost time, guys!  Look at me go!  I also cleaned a few things up around here and added some navigational aids for the reviews.  In case anyone is, you know.  Navigating.

Moving on to the Fisher/Lom film now, because that should have been out there long, long ago.  I love it when I finally find versions I've been missing!  It's excellent!

Stay tuned for further developments.  I will be a film-viewing fiend for a while here as I catch up.

Ladies, and gentlemen, the Braunbeck review is up.  Do you know what that means?

It means the Greenberg anthology is over and done with.  Everyone do the dance with me!  You know you want to!

I'm probably going to hit the original Hill musical next, possibly followed up by some movies, because I think we all need a change of pace (and by "we all", I mean "me").  La dee da, look at me go!

Holy gravycakes.

Some of you may recall the recent, extremely snarky, and overabundantly capitalized review I posted of Gary Alan Ruse's "Dark Angel".  Those of you who read it know that I completely laid into that story. I was profane; I was critical; I was sarcastic; I was ranty. In short, I was a total bitch, as I often am when reviewing. Then, this evening, to my vast and eternal surprise, the author actually responded to my review.

Mr. Ruse left a very polite, informative comment on my review, which I have added at the end of the article for anyone interested in reading it. Not only was he far more cordial than I suspect I would be if someone was so unabashedly critical of my work, but he had some very interesting points to make about his story, and some background information to boot. I feel enlightened, not to mention incredibly flattered that he took the time out of his busy schedule of being way more productive and published than I am to comment on an amateur reviewer's opinion of his story.

Whatever I might think about the story, Ruse is one classy dude. If you've got the time, check out his website, or maybe even his books. I know I will.

(A professional writer randomly found and commented on my review. This might be the most awesome thing ever to happen to me.)

Millstead review is up!

One more short story!  Onnnnnnne morrrrrrrre!

The Tem review is up.  Go me!

Sadly, I have to send back my mistaken copy of Leroux tomorrow and cry into my beer or something because I still don't have the graphic novel.  Alas.  However, with the refund I can grab some new texts--so hooray!

The good news: the Ruse review is up, and I never have to read the Ruse again.

The bad news: my copy of the Leroux graphic novel arrived today, but upon opening it turned out to be another copy of Leroux's original novel text.  I emailed the seller and await appeasement, but I am sad and disappointed.  I hate it when my presents turn out to be wrong.

Hmm.  Now, this is interesting.

I'm hearing some scuttlebutt that the Julian/Chaney film that we've all seen may not, in fact, be the original.  According to sources (unconfirmed and on the internet, so take it all with a grain of salt, yeah?), the widely released version of the film is a recut and redited version of the 1929 "talkie" re-release.  The original silent movie from 1925 supposedly includes several more scenes, including the scene in the graveyard and some flashbacks to flesh out the relationship between Erik and Christine a little more.  I'm not entirely sure if this is true, but if it is... goddammit, I'll have to buy another DVD, won't I?  Like I don't have enough of them yet.

I know that Amazon is selling a collector's edition with two versions of the film, so I'll have to investigate.  If this is true, I'd be really interested to see how that changes the film's impact (and who can resist the chance to watch a carriage chase again?  Not me!).

Not a new review today, but an addition to an old one.  I just added an important note to the end of the Malzberg review, after being hit by the hammer of realization this morning.  If you missed it (yeah, you, one person who read that review), check out the change.  I feel so much less like a complete idiot now.

Holy socks in the dryer, Batman.  Two reviews in two days?  This is madness!  (No!  But it is probably not Sparta, either.)  The Malzberg review is up in all its glorious overexcitement.

And speaking of overexcitement--only four stories left in this anthology!  Everybody shout with me--YAHOO!

Oh, snap, look.  I'm getting faster!  The Haber review is up with its many boatloads of hateration.  Go me!

The Kisner review is up and I didn't even have to kill anybody to finish it.  On to conquer the world!

Seriously, I'm getting so tired of these short stories... I don't even know how to tell you.

But on the positive side, my copy of the Hill musical arrived!  Stay tuned for further developments.

I'm not even apologizing for my inability to do anything on deadline.  It's just getting repetitive, you know?

Instead, look--the Ramsland review is up!  Laud me.

Yeah, so, things are busy around here.  I've gotten the next short story read and notated, and I just need to sit down and write the darn thing out so I can move on with my life.

However!  I ordered the Hill musical today, so that's positive!  Can't wait for it to show up so I can dig in.

Williamson review is up!  Booyah!

I also discovered a new novel coming out in... uh, the near future 2008 some time, and added it to the progress page.  I would challenge people to guess which it was, but since A) no one is paying nearly that much attention to my internet shenanigans and B) it's not hard to figure out from the chronological order page, I won't bother.

So, yeah.  Go me!

You know what I suck at?  Updating this here blog.  Yeah, I do.  No, really.  It's pathetic.  Improvements in future.

However, the Ransom review is up, and I'm one story closer to making it through my morass of short stories!

The de Palma/Finley review is up!  No, really.  I swear, it is.  I did it!  It seems like every movie I watch sees its review take longer and longer in the processing.  I'll try to improve.

Back to short story land, and you know what that means... it means I can do them faster and feel more like I'm accomplishing something.  Go me!

Yeah, so it's been a little while since any reviews have gone up.  This is because I pulled some ninjary and, instead of reading the next short story in the Greenberg compilation, I sneaked in a viewing of the de Palma/Finley film.  I needed the break from all the mediocrity.  That review should, theoretically, be up tomorrow--in the meantime, feel free to continue to think I am the world's biggest slacker.  I pretty much am.

You know what entertains me even more than dancing Danish monkeys in yellow bikinis?

Industry scandal.

Yes, I'm a bit of a controversy whore, at least when it comes to things I find interesting (feuds between people I don't know or in, say, most of politics or the movie industry just make me yawn). And what's more fun than a musical theatre scandal involving one composer biting on another's "turf"?

As everyone (meaning me and the other ten people who care, plus probably most of Britain) knows, Andrew Lloyd Webber is working on a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, supposedly tentatively titled The Phantom of Manhattan and based on the Frederick Forsyth novel of the same name. However, my powers of internet research have today uncovered that respected German composer Peer Raben, who has a list of musicals and movie music credits almost as impressive as Webber's (though less well known in the U.S.) has ALREADY written one. No, really. It's called The Phantom of Paris and was completed shortly before his death last January (as far as I can tell, it bears no relation to the Gwenith M. Vehlow novel with the same title). A Portuguese theatre company is even now putting it on, and states that it has plans to take it all the way up to London's West End (there to, I surmise, thumb their noses at Webber and laugh themselves silly).

I even saw this excellently surreal trailer for the production (sorry, folks, but it's in German, as is the show... nevertheless, check it out to hear a snatch or two of the music and giggle at the chubbytastic Raoul).

Webber so far has no comment.

Is this not fabulous? I imagine even if Webber is annoyed, there is A) pretty much nothing he can do about it, and B) little chance his legions of fans won't make his version just as successful if not more so. But still, my evil little mind thinks it's hilarious to posit how cranky he might be over the whole thing. Can you guys imagine his little old self jumping up and down in a fit of pique with me? It's great.

I must find a soundtrack to this show the instant it is produced.

Life is a complicated thing that likes to keep me inordinately busy.  Despite that and surmounting all odds, the Hoch review is now up.

Aren't you proud of me?  No no, just throw money.

More to come, as always.  I'll try to maybe hit a movie this weekend.

You would think this would go faster, with all short stories, but it does not, let me tell you.  These short stories have so far been seriously brutal, kind of a chore just to finish much less write about.  I'm on it, and will probably bust off another review tomorrow or the next day, but for the moment... just know that I'm trying, people, I promise I'm trying.

And beating my head on the wall every now and then.

First of all, I need to stop accidentally typing 07 on everything.  Stupid new year confusing my hardwired little brain.

Second of all, the Slesar review is up.  I would be proud of myself, except the story has left me sad and without faith in literature.  Hopefully the next one will be better, and I will cry less.

(Also, it's 60 degrees in New York City in January!  I bring the spring with me!)

The Wellen review is finally up.  Huzzah, go me, prosit, etc.  It would have been up faster, except that I kept trying to fall asleep every time I started work on it.  It was like a soporific drug.  It's easy to write reviews on good material, and easier on bad, but mediocre material?  It feels like slogging through snow.

On to the next short story, which hopefully will not activate my yawn sensors quite so much.