...and I delurk for a quick second to chime in on a couple of topics. BLAIR WITCH: I'm going to have to go along with the naysayers on this one. I wanted to feel real horror, really I did. For two weeks, I made a concerted effort to avoid ANY discussion of this film so I could go in fresh -- and believe me, that wasn't easy if you spend any time on the internet. What can I say? Good idea, OK execution, and an ending that gets more chilling as I piece it together...but scary? Terrifying? Sorry, I can't say that I felt anything more than the mildest case of jitters. Scott wrote: << To me, the best of what is frightening ("Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer," "Repulsion," even "Taxi Driver" or "Night of the Hunter" and many more) is so because it is based, in part or whole, in a world that any of us could inhabit or stumble into. >> True. I find myself far more terrified by certain news stories than any obviously-fictitious film (which was another problem I had with Blair Witch -- it was impossible to suspend reality, so obvious it was that "it's only a movie"). Here in America, it is currently a fad to shoot up schools, office buildings, post offices. The Columbine shootings left me shaken for days afterward PRECISELY because, let's face it, there's not a whole lot of difference between the shooters and any other bitter outcasts in American schools. In my most alienated high school moments, I could almost imagine doing the same thing myself. In comparison, a made-up film about witches failed to do much for me. ERIC WEISBARD/B&S So he was condescending toward B&S, the Bowlie Weekender, and everything else that doesn't obviously "rock" a la such trailblazers as Eminem and Kid Rock. Is any regular reader of his work surprised? I'm offended that it's somehow "upper-middle-class" or "highbrow" to turn away from rock & roll for more challenging/subtle pop music forms. But this is the guy who, five years ago, blamed the alternative rock scene for not letting Kurt Cobain be happy as a rock star, thus precipitating his death. (Funny, Billie Joe and Billy Corgan somehow managed to survive...) This is also the guy who, in a fanzine interview, suggested that he judges his personal tastes by the masses -- if lots of people don't share his viewpoints, there must be something suspect. It's not as if Weisbard doesn't know a lot about music -- he and I used to work at the same college radio station in the 1980s, and I know that he once was on the ball. It's a shame he's turned into just another clueless rock critic. I'm just happy seeing B&S in a major newspaper myself... mike ciflux@aol.com +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the reborn Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail "sinister@majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo@majordomo.net". WWW: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "jelly-filled danishes" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+