Toei Kyoto Studio Park | Kyoto, Japan | 3 of 4

Warning, the next two installments of the Toei Kyoto Studio Park are going to be super geeky. If you are uninterested, take a moment to peruse my other offerings from our Japan trip. Maybe a glance at the stunning Arashiyama Bamboo Groves or the magnificent Fushimi Inari Shrine? If you are a super geek like Markus and I, get ready to fulfill your otaku dreams with some Super Sentai.

If you were anything like us as kids, you devoted some of your television time to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I have to admit that I was clueless to it's original Japanese counterpart, but not Markus. He knew all about the original predecessors. As a kid from the early 80s, he spent afternoons watching Spectreman, Ultraman and Godzilla. That's why spent an obscene amount of time in this part of the theme park. I didn't mind though, anything to make the boy happy!

Twelve Days of Christmas Cinema | Week One

This first week of Twelve Days of Christmas was exactly what I needed. Around Christmas time, I get really homesick. Christmas in Korea is nothing like back home. It's more of a holiday for couples and no one else celebrates it. There are so many things I miss about Christmas in America. I miss drinking and eating peppermint infused treats. I miss hearing Christmas songs everywhere. Most of all, I miss spending time with my family and friends. Watching these movies really put me in the Christmas mood and reminded me of home. They were the perfect antidote for my homesickness.

1. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1983) 
This movie was my first taste of the National Lampoon films. I’ve seen Van Wilder, but I don’t think it really counts. I expected a lot from this movie, and I am sad to report that I was a bit disappointed. I know that everyone loves this movie, but I wasn’t that keen on it. I think that’s the problem with these kinds of movies. People have such fond memories of them from their childhood and they build them up. I've often heard it’s the best movie they’ve ever seen or the perfect representation of Christmas. For me, it was just okay.  

First, the length of the movie is too long. It just kept going and going. Every time they showed the Advent calendar, I kept wishing it Dec. 25. The main character, played by Chevy Chase, is just awful and really annoying. I know that he wants the perfect Christmas, but come on man. Why can’t he just relax? He makes ridiculous choices and most of the time they aren’t even that funny. I think that if I watched this as a child, I would’ve enjoyed it, but as an adult, I just wanted it to end. 

2, The Shop Around the Corner (1946) 
When I was in middle school, I would spend Friday evenings with my mom. We would lay in her bed with a bowl of popcorn and watch classic movies. I’m so thankful for having a mother who exposed me to old movies.  I learned a lot about relationships and love. I also learned how to be a lady and about style and fashion.

On one of those nights, we watched The Shop Around the Corner and I immediately fell in love. It truly is a timeless classic and stars Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan. It’s a simple story about two people who argue constantly and end up falling in love on Christmas Eve. The film is executed perfectly. It’s funny and serious when it needs to be. The acting is amazing and it’s a real gem. I wish they still made movies like this; there isn’t a lot of flash or complicated story lines. It gets to the point and focuses on what matters, the relationship between the main characters. It's one of my favorite movies and one that will always leave me feeling warm and happy. 

3. Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) 
As a child, this was my favorite movie. When I think back on my childhood, I have a lot of memories connected with this movie. I watched it constantly. I knew all the words to every song and sang them much to the annoyance of my parents and older brothers. My mother even made me a Jack Skellington outfit to wear for Christmas. I was obsessed.

I think I loved it so much because it perfectly combined two of my favorite holidays, Halloween and Christmas. It’s not entirely a Christmas movie, but also not completely a Halloween movie. It’s a great combination of both holidays and it’s a fun seeing how they interact. The story of this film is quite unique and unlike anything I’ve seen. I remember being in awe of Halloween Town. I wanted to live in that weird and kooky place. It seemed like a kid's dream living in a place where it was Halloween everyday, who wouldn't want that?
 

4. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) 
I have to admit that in my childhood I had a considerable lack of Muppets. I never watched Sesame Street or saw a Charlie Brown film. I think it’s because my siblings were 11 and 12 years older than me and I was left to my own devices. I watched a lot of I Love Lucy, Gilligan's Island and I Dream of Jeannie. What can I say? I was an odd kid. 

When we watched this film, it was like I found  a missing piece of my childhood. I absolutely loved this movie. There was so many amazing things about The Muppet Christmas Carol. To be honest, I was expecting to dislike this movie, but it was fantastic. It’s heartwarming, funny and poignant.  Michael Caine was also a pleasant surprise. He makes a great Scrooge. The acting was quite good and the puppetry was incredible.  While watching, I found myself laughing and crying. Yes, crying. I don’t know if it was the wine I was drinking, but there was one part that really got me. Judge me all you want, but watching a disabled frog singing about being thankful was touching. It’s always good to be reminded to be thankful, even in a kids movie.

 

Creepy Cinema 2012 | Hotties

While devoting the entire month of October to Creepy Cinema, I noticed something about some of the films. In many of them, there is a distinct and obvious hottie. I know this is something that I shouldn't be focusing on while watching scary movies, but it definitley helped keep me interested. It was much easier coping with the help of these hotties.

1. Steve McQueen as Steve Andrews in The Blob
The one and only reason I wanted to watch this movie was because of this beautiful man. As I said in my review of The Blob, I adore Steve McQueen. He's not my normal type but I saw him in another movie with Natalie Wood, Love with the Proper Stranger and it was game over. There's something so rugged and charming about him, he's such a stud. 

2. Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates in Psycho
This was one of the most surprising hotties on the list. I knew the character Norman Bates, but I had no idea he was like this. I loved his character because he was so innocent and unsuspecting. Norman is such an intricate character with so many facets. One minute he's innocent and sweet, and the next he's dressed like a crazy lady. It's an amazing performance to watch. 

3. Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow
I'm sure it comes as no surprise that this gorgeous man is on this list. Johnny Depp is the my epitome. I've always loved him and always thought he was an amazing actor. His performance in this movie is one of his stand out roles and one that I will always enjoy. Also, the 19th century garb isn't too shabby. Something about this era always gets to me. 

4. Michael J. Fox as Frank Bannister in The Frighteners
Michael J. Fox is one of those actors that everyone loves. This kid is a legend in the industry and I really miss seeing him in films. At least he's made some real winners during his career. That being said, I now have the sudden urge to watch Back to the Future. Oh, who am I kidding, I always have the urge to watch Back to the Future.

5. Daniel Radcliffe as Arthur Kipps in The Woman in Black 
This was another huge surprise for me. I'm 100% a Ron Weasley fan. Ronald is so much better than Harry. I know that Harry is the chosen one and all that, but how can you resist an adorable ginger? I've always been a bit hard on Daniel Radcliffe, but in this movie he really impressed me. He was pretty good and he really broke away from his well known role.

6. Justin Long as Darry Jenner in Jeepers Creepers
Who knew that's what he looked like under all the clothes? I mean, wow. I never would've thought it. His character in this movie was annoying, but he's still nice to look at. Justin Long you are a bonafide hottie. 

7. Peter Cushing as John Banning in The Mummy
Even though he's a bit older, he's a distinguished hottie. Look at that face. It's so expressive and intense. He's every bit what I imagine a 19th century English aristocrat would look like. Plus, check out those baby blues. My golly, they are piercing. 

8. Casper Van Dien as Brom Van Brunt in Sleepy Hollow 
Oh Casper Van Dien, how I used to love you. He was so hot in Starship Troopers. I was so excited to see him in Sleepy Hollow. He looked good in the 19th century clothing, weird mullet cut and all. I wonder whatever happened to him. 

9. Harold Ramis as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters 
Another surprise hottie. Wow, Egon Spengler you are a geeky girls dream. He looks like a really nerdy Adrien Brody, who is also freaking attractive by the way. All the science jargon just added to his hotness. There's nothing sexier than intelligence. 

10. Eduardo Noriega as Jacinto in The Devil's Backbone 
Man, this guy was such a villain and a douche, but he was so cute. The minute he appeared, I knew he was bad news. He just seemed like a creeper. So I guess he's a creepy hottie. Wow, that just sounds really strange. Forget I said that. 

Honorable Mention - Johnny Depp as Edward in Edward Scissorhands
Oh Edward, how I love thee. This is where my love of Johnny Depp began. Yes, I thought he was a hottie even with multiple scars, a pale face and scissors for hands. I told you guys I was a weird kid. Edward will always have a special place in my heart. 

Introduction, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5

The John Rylands Library | Manchester, England

After we left Chetham's Library, we walked across town to The John Rylands Library. This library was built in the 1890s and is absolutely gorgeous. I felt like I was walking in the halls of Hogwarts, which I actually did later in our trip! Unlike Chetham's library, this is a working library that is associated with the University of Manchester. I can't even imagine attending a school like this. I wouldn't be able to concentrate on studying, I would wander about admiring every nook and cranny. I was so overcome by the look of the place that I had to stop and take a photo of everything, it was so hauntingly beautiful.

Creepy Cinema 2012 | Week 3

I was right, Markus saved the scary movies for the end of this month. This week, I saw quite possibly one of the best movies I've ever seen and some of the scariest. It was definitely a week of ups and downs, but still exciting nonetheless.

1. The House on Haunted Hill (1959)
When I was in high school, I went to see the remake of this movie. I don't know what I was thinking, I must've been mad. I think it was because some of the popular girls asked me to go with them and I wanted to look cool. The stupid things we do to impress people. So, I distinctly remember going, watching the opening and freaking out. I was horrified. The remake took place in an insane asylum and was scary as heck. I was so freaked out that I pretended that my mom called me to come home and left 20 minutes into the movie. I just couldn't handle it. 

When Markus told me he put this movie on the list, I was terrified to watch it because of the remake. The star of the original version is Vincent Price, who is quite amazing. Thankfully this 1959 classic was a lot less frightening than the remake, and actually quite good. The sets were really beautiful, the acting was fantastic and I loved the vintage feel of it. I screamed at a lot of the jump scares of a creepy old hag, but there were also a lot of laughs at some of the cheap special effects. My favorite bit was the walking skeleton. I mean how many times do you see that?

2. Psycho(1960)
There are so many reasons why I love Psycho. It's such an iconic movie and it's impossible to be oblivious to the ending. Going into this movie, I literally knew everything there was to know. I knew all the major plot points, I knew the twist, but it did not stop me from loving it. Alfred Hitchcock was a fantastic filmmaker. I love many of his other films like North by Northwest and To Catch a Thief. It's no wonder that he's known as one of the best filmmakers in Hollywood history.

Psycho is my favorite film we've watched so far. It wasn't what I was expecting and I think that made me love it even more. This film is beautiful and well made. The sets and costumes are so iconic of the 60s. All the actors in this film were superb, and really made me feel for their characters. The lack of distinction between good and bad among the protagonists delivers a fantastic humanizing effect that makes you sympathize with all of them. Anthony Perkins, who plays Norman Bates, surprised me the most. Who knew that behind the innocent face of Norman Bates lay one of the greatest "monsters" in cinema history? It was the last thing I expected and made the film even more amazing. I expected to be bored and hate the film, but the complete opposite happened. Psycho is probably one of my favorite films of all time. 

3. Jaws (1975)
As I stated before, when we watched The Creature from the Black Lagoon, I have a huge fear of water. That being said I never thought that I would have something in common with Chief Brody, the main protagonist of Jaws. His water phobia, exactly like mine, stems from a traumatic childhood experience of almost drowning. As the years have gone by, I've gotten over it, but I still don't like large bodies of water. They freak me out. I thought watching the girl swim in the lagoon was bad, but this was much worse.

Everyone knows the deep, menacing notes of the Jaws theme. It practically evokes images of a bloody shark attack, and being attacked by a shark is another one of my biggest fears. So as soon as the first two notes of this theme sounded, I lost it. I really didn't enjoy this movie as much as I thought I would, and I think it just had a lot to do with my phobias. Also the pacing was slow, and I couldn't understand 80% of what Quinn, the boat captain, was saying. Maybe it's just me, but this just didn't float my boat.

4. Monster Squad (1987) 
I've never heard of this movie before, and I'm kinda sad I never watched it as a kid. It's a mix of The Goonies and all the classic Universal Monster Films. I'm surprised at how much these 80s movies got away with. The Witches had some terrifying makeup, but this movie had actual monsters being killed, and the kids did the killing. I guess that's why it's a cult classic.

There's a lot to like about this movie. It had everything that you could ask for in an 80s movie: an interesting, kid-friendly plot, a rag tag group of misfits that cause a lot of trouble, an awesome montage that doesn't make much sense and a sweet rap theme song. It reminded me of my childhood, when adventure could happen right in your own neighborhood. It was like stepping into a time machine and reliving the good ol' days.

5. Alien (1979)
This freaking movie. Of all the movies we've watched so far, this iconic sci-fi horror was the scariest. I spent half of the movie screaming, even when nothing scary was happening. Just knowing that something horrible could happen put my nerves on end. I kept screaming even when people were just running onto screen. Not cool, Alien. Not cool at all. 

This was my first taste of the Alien franchise. This is another movie where it is impossible to avoid knowing plot points. I've never seen any of the movies in this quadrilogy, and my limited knowledge all came from popular culture. Despite this, it still managed to scare the heck out of me. This summer I watched Prometheus and even though, it's not an official prequel, it was the perfect set-up for Alien. There were so many connections, and I could finally see the consequences of people's actions in Prometheus.  I think Alien was a great scary movie. I don't ever want to watch it again, and it's not my favorite movie, but it gets the job done. Markus best described it when he said, "It's basically a haunted house in space." He's absolutely correct, and Alien was terrifying.

6. Sleepy Hollow (1999) 
As I've said before, I'm a fan of many of Tim Burton's films and I love Sleepy Hollow. I do feel like this film is Tim Burton at his best. There's enough macabre and gore, but the story is also tightly written and keeps you guessing til the end. Often, I've re-watched this film over the years and even though I know the story and how it ends, it always sucks me in. I always stop whatever I'm doing and watch it in it's entirety. Not many films do that for me.

The look of the film is amazing and is to be expected of Tim Burton. No matter how horrible the story or plot line, you can be guaranteed the movie will look completely stylized and eerie. The acting in this film is also great. I forgot how awesome Johnny Depp is in this movie. Lately, he's been cast in some mediocre movies, but in Sleepy Hollow he's so fantastic. He's uptight, pragmatic, romantic, and silly. I'm glad I was able to talk Markus into putting this on the list, because after Alien, I needed a bit of Johnny Depp in my life.

7. Trick 'r Treat (2008)
I didn't expect to like this movie at all, but I did. I'd never even heard about it before this month, and knew nothing about it. Markus explained that it's basically an anthology of creepy Halloween stories. The film takes place on Halloween night in a small American town, where we follow 4 different plot lines. I thought they would be cute little tongue in cheek stories, nothing too scary or gory. I was wrong.

This movie was surprisingly suspenseful and quite bloody. Markus and I also thought the stories would be told in succession, but all the stories were told at once, intertwining into one another. I think this was a great way to make it feel like a movie and not a bunch of self-contained short stories. Also, the stories were very interesting and unpredictable. Every single story had a bit of a twist and didn't end exactly the way you would think. It was great finally watching a movie that I couldn't predict. 

Introduction, Week 1, Week 2, Week 4, Week 5, Hotties of Creepy Cinema

Chetham's Library | Manchester, England

While I was doing research for our trip to Manchester, I found Chetham's Library. It's the oldest free public reference library in the United Kingdom. I was sold when I read the words oldest and library.

The library itself is quite small and you can't look at any of the books. They're all locked up and fenced in on shelves. It's a  bit sad, but I can understand the concern. We have to conserve the old tomes of years past. There wasn't much to do in the library itself, but it was still lovely to be able to spend a few moments with such beautiful old books.