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Foreign Horror Movie: The Orphanage (El Orfanato, 2007)

horror movie the orphanage, 2007 - el orfanato

My cousin Brett and I rented The Orphanage for our non-conformist Saturday the 14th horror viewing needs. (On Friday the 13th, we watched South Park’s ImaginationLand - funny.) I had heard smatterings of praise here and there for El Orfanato, but that was a while back and I’d largely forgotten about The Orphanage until Brett and I ran across it at Blockbuster in Green Hills.

We looked up The Orphanage on Rotten Tomatoes before we watched it, just out of curiosity, and the review summaries caused me to really look forward to watching it.

  • Rotten Tomatoes: 85%
  • Yahoo Users: B+
  • Rated PG-13
  • 1:45

Among the compliments received from Rotten Tomatoes movie reviewers:

• As horror films go, this sits firmly at the classy end of the spectrum.
• The Orphanage proves the haunted house genre is alive and well - in the right hands.
• Not only is the story spooky…there are several good shocks along the way that will knock you out of your seat.
horror movie the orphanage, 2007 - el orfanato
• A good old-fashioned horror in the best possible way, this is a beautifully told, terrifying ghost story that lingers with you long after the shivers have stopped.
• The Orphanage is a visceral and well-crafted horror film that goes for the heart as well as the mind.
• Haunting and heartbreaking, The Orphanage delivers a double whammy of chills both real and supernatural.
• The Orphanage goes beyond the superficialities of the average horror movie to delve into more important themes, such as grief and guilt.

Once seen, it might come as no surprise that the producer of the Spanish supernatural thriller The Orphanage is none other than talented Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, The Devil’s Backbone), whose influence is felt greatly throughout the picture.

Made by an entire crew of newcomers, The Orphanage is an extremely accomplished work. The story concerns Laura (Belen Rueda), who has returned with her husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) and adopted child Simon (Roger Princep) to the large manor where she was raised in an orphanage as a child. Laura is determined to fix up the abandoned house and open it as a refuge for ill children.

horror movie the orphanage, 2007 - el orfanato

From the moment she returns, the past begins to haunt her. It isn’t long before she begins to see the children who she used to play with as a seven-year-old. And when Simon goes missing one afternoon, she’s convinced that they have taken him hostage. What follows is a murky descent into Laura’s mind, where she doesn’t know what is real and what is a figment of her tortured imagination.

Bayona brings Sanchez’s complex script to life with the help of Faura’s haunting imagery and Valazquez’s atmospheric score. But what makes The Orphanage an even greater achievement is its insistence on being more than standard horror-fare. Bayona and Sanchez are more interested in deeper themes of memory, loss, and grief, establishing Laura as a mother who feels guilt over not being able to protect her child from outside forces. The result is a film that is both unsettling and moving.

Posted 15 June 2008 † Stephen § horror § movies ‡ Comments (0)

Roger Waters, The Last Mimzy

Sunday morning, sunny and beautiful; it’s already June 1. Holy s!

Hello I Love You (by Roger Waters) is the theme song for a fantastic, feel-good family movie called The Last Mimzy, and what a nice song it is. Listening to it takes me back to the days when I’d lose myself in Pink Floyd music; back in college and extending into my post-college accounting era.

I remember being disappointed about the riff between Roger Waters and David Gilmour, and what a loss this really was and is to the world of music. I sampled some post-Waters Pink Floyd, and I did not like it a bit: it did not possess any of the qualities that made Pink Floyd music so wonderful.

And now I am reminded of my conclusion that Roger Waters, not David Gilmour, represented the essence of Pink Floyd, and the song Hello I Love You is a very good example of that.

Posted 01 June 2008 † Stephen § music § movies ‡ Comments (0)

Something in the Empty Chair

Perhaps I have been watching too many horror movies.

the horrifying, creaking wooden wheelchair from horror movie, The Changeling

I was just now lounging on the couch, about to finish a great book, basically enjoying some reading in a very quiet room. Do you know those popping sounds a wooden chair might make, after someone has gotten up from sitting in it just a few seconds before? Sort of a slow creaking sound, but just one creak or pop at a time….?

Well, as I was reading, that sound came from where the table and chairs are. It was a fairly loud pop. Normally, dwelling on that sound — and the ethereal things that could have caused such a sound –might creep me out a little, so I usually try to ignore such sounds and get back to what I was doing before, you know, and just forget about it.

the horrifying, creaking wooden wheelchair from horror movie, The Changeling

Well, for some reason I decided to face it this time. I set the book down and looked over at the empty table and chairs, opening my mind to whatever invisible things might lurk there, staring for a while. It was not a comfortable thing for me to do. I did not speak out loud, but in my mind I was asking, “Anyone or anything there?” Then another popping creak came from the chairs. I left the room and typed this.

Posted 28 May 2008 † Stephen § horror ‡ Comments (0)

Rebuilding after Robbery

storm at sunset

Wow. There has been quite a lot going on and I have posted virtually nothing on any of my blogs in a while. This silence, this pause in writing, is really starting to bug me; you’ll see more blog posts and other activity in the near future.

For now, however, there will be a loud pause in almost ALL activity related to BestWeb Nashville, Hiking Nature, Nature of Spirit, Assorted Enthrallments, Let It Happen, and so on.

For some strange reason, I have been targeted by a clever identity thief, and it is taking a great deal of my time, effort, and funds to get things back into order. Some things are permanently lost, including some BW clients, all email history and attachments for the last couple of years, some money, a lot of work, and so on. Most of the losses occurred around May 20, but I continue to discover additional challenges.

above the clouds

Until further notice, I will be using my BestWeb Nashville email address, which is Stephen (at) BestWeb Nashville (dot) com – no spaces in that, naturally.

I am resilient these days – relatively speaking, anyway; therefore, some semblance of normalcy will return. I am rebuilding. Thanks for your patience. Any donations will be very much appreciated and should be mailed to my home address:

Stephen Frasier
1608 North Observatory Dr.
Nashville, TN 37215

Posted 26 May 2008 † Stephen § money § miscellany § work § blogging ‡ Comments (0)

A Liddle Run-in: Panera Bread in Brentwood

daytime skyline - Nashville, Tennessee

The most recent unanticipated Panera run-in with old friend Bart Liddle was indeed a pleasure! These run-ins, essentially blasts from the past, are one of the greatest perks of working out of places like Panera Bread and Starbucks on weekday mornings. I have reconnected with a dozen or so old friends and acquaintances in this manner since I started working away from the house in January or February of this year.

Bart was sitting at the large table in the middle of the main dining room at Panera Bread in Brentwood with a few other white collars. It had been years since we have seen each other, and I had been wondering about Bart and his family of late. More serendipity! What a great thing.

what a nice sky - Nashville or elsewhere, photo by Stephen or someone

I tried to think of a humorous way to approach Bart at Panera that fateful morn – you know, get his attention in some sort of embarrassing way — but I tempered it lest I risk embarrassing him too badly in front of the six or so companions who were also apparently Bart’s work associates. I merely walked up behind him and put my hands on his shoulders. He was indeed surprised.

A few minutes later when his party disbanded, he came over and exchanged a couple more pleasantries. I gave him my contact information – my standard set of four business cards (a web design card, a writing card, the Radnor Lake hiking journal card, and another one). He said he’d get in touch before too long and invite me to his home.

He emailed me last week, and I’m really looking forward to visiting the Liddle home and seeing his wife Christiana for the first time in ages, and also getting my first look at any little Liddles that might be waddling around messing their diapers. There’s just no telling how many there might be, how old they are, how good looking they must be, or how far off the charts their IQ may be.

Now for the important stuff: I let him know that I have a preference for filet mignon, wild salmon, or tataki tuna salad; acceptable sides include a fresh salad made with young organic greens, bleu cheese crumbles, and a splash of basalmic vinaigrette and olive oil, steamed or sautéed asparagus, and small red potato with skins.

I told him my schedule is quite flexible, and that I am generally getting my exercise and nature communion somewhere between 4 and 8pm on weekdays, so 7pm or so might be ideal.

I also caught Bart up a little bit as to what my priorities are these days, about how my chief passions include writing and nature, which I have combined into a hiking blog, and how it seems to be narrowing into a Radnor Lake blog website, since that is where I almost always take my hikes and hug my trees. In case he had the time or interest for more details, I sent him links to a few fairly recent posts:

Turkey Nest at Radnor Lake - 13 Eggs

Radnor Lake - Is This a Mink or a River Otter?

Retail Therapy Provides No Lasting Peace (to Frasier, anyway)

Canada Goose Building a Nest at Radnor Lake

Bart Liddle will soon let me know what day(s) might be good for a visit, and I will be looking forward to it. Of course, I am trusting that he will be able to distinguish the sarcasm and attempts at humor herein from the true grit, lest he think I’ve become somewhat more of an ass.

Posted 19 May 2008 † Stephen § Friends ‡ Comments (0)

Another Panera Bread-Related Blast from the Past

nebula - where stars are born

There I was at Panera Bread – Brentwood, getting some things done: image editing for the Broderick Builders website, journaling about yesterday’s interesting goings on, and engaged in the ADHD-fueled juggling of three or four other activities, when I recognized the large, well-dressed fellow who strolled past, breakfast in hand. It was none other than Jamon Martin.

He was as surprised as I was, for we’ve not run into each other in years. I believe the last time I saw him was during a visit to Otter Creek Church, at least two or three years ago, and probably more.

The Martins have been very close friends of the Frasiers for over 30 years, with both families having roots at Brentwood Hills, another local church where my folks remain very active.

We did not get to talk for long, but it was really good to see him. One of my favorite things these days is the happenstance “run-intos” which occur with some regularity at various local WiFi hotspots where I go most weekday mornings in an attempt to get some work done. Ironically, it wasn’t too long ago when I’d have dreaded seeing anyone I knew. Yes, life is much better these days.

Posted 13 May 2008 † Stephen § work § Friends ‡ Comments (0)

Reaction to Morning News: Monday, April 7

I'm not really having a bad day; I just really like these pics

I should not be wasting my time with these news items, having so much work for clients that needs to be completed this week; but for whatever reason, I felt compelled to express my opinion on a couple of apparently newsworthy items being discussed on CNN this morning.

Wrong to Call John McCain a Warmonger?

The level of political correctness in the U.S today, as everyone knows, has reached preposterous proportions.

A radio talk show host Ed Schultz is being singled out for calling John McCain a warmonger at a North Dakota Democratic Party event. Why is this newsworthy? Have we reached a point where using a policy-based label is perceived as wrong? It’s not as though this were an indictment on John McCain’s heritage (to any degree) or character (to a large degree).

I'm not really having a bad day; I just really like these pics

What are we going to be allowed to call a “spade” next year? Anything but a spade, I suspect, if PC continues its rapid devolvement.

Retrieving a Cigarette Butt Tossed onto the Ground

Police are said by some to be invading the privacy of a suspect by retrieving a cigarette butt he flung into the street after finishing a refreshing smoke. We are protected against unreasonable search and seizure, and this is anything but an unreasonable search and seizure.

The suspect is of course protesting this: the DNA has revealed his guilt in a murder case! Not fair! Not fair! Good grief.

Torch Riot: Olympic Flame Almost Extinguished by China Protesters

Of course the torch is under attack today: be default, it symbolizes Chinese policy to a large degree. The manner in which Chinese authorities treat the Tibetans is abhorrent.

French Police Use Rollerblades

Hey, it’s a great idea, as long as the cop wearing them can rollerblade!

Posted 07 April 2008 † Stephen § news ‡ Comments (1)

Feeling Queasy

dark water seems somehow appropriate
I got sick this morning. That makes two mornings in a row I have gotten sick to my stomach. After the purging, the bad feeling passed, almost completely.

But now — 3:15pm on Friday, April 4 — starting to feel a little queasy again, so I am about to pack up my things that are scattered about here at Panera Bread - Brentwood location and push off. Yuck: queasy…

Using that word reminds me of the excellent Denzel Washington movie Man on Fire; his name in that flick was Creasy. Man on Fire is one of the better revenge movies, IMHO.

Oh, but I have so much work to get done. It’s not been a productive few hours here at Panera Bread today, at least from a billable hours standpoint — because I was unable to connect to their WiFi for a period of time when I really needed to.  I shut that work down and concentrated on editing images. Oh well, at least I got a lot of image work done.

I need to get out of here, pick up a few things at Target, and go home. My workday is nowhere near done, but I’ll be more comfortable working from home, especially if this queasy feeling persists.

I love Jennifer Connelly.

Posted 04 April 2008 † Stephen § Panera Bread § work § movies ‡ Comments (1)

Run-In With a Woodring

Don’t Come Back Without These Exact Envelopes

2nd Avenue in Nashville, Tennessee

After a noon meeting in the 100 Oaks area, I realized how close I was to Staples and I decided to feed my latest addiction. (I’ve found I am hooked on pens. Yes, pens.)

A thorough — very thorough — examination of the pen section was fruitful. Too fruitful. I found five or six packages of pens that met my rigorous new pen quality demands. I left the pen aisle and walked toward the back of the large office supply store when I noticed a redheaded woman carefully inspecting the envelope offerings, basically in my peripheral vision.

skyline at night in Nashville, Tennessee - downtown lit up in the evening

I turned my head for another look and instantly recognized the face: it was BJ Woodring, mother of Tucker and wife of another Tucker Woodring. Wow! It’d been years. Cool. But I decided to see if she would recognize me. So rather than walking up to her with a giant smile and arms extended, I kept a straight face and took a couple of steps toward her and just said “Hey.” She looked up and for a brief second had a WTF look, and split second later she recognized me.

We chatted for a few minutes about all sorts of things — work, birds, religion… She works with Tucker at their trendy accounting and financial services office at Dallas and Belmont. After April 15th, I’ll swing by for a visit and catch up more with them. I look forward to it.

Posted 29 March 2008 † Stephen § Friends ‡ Comments (0)

No Lasting Peace Through Retail Therapy

simplicity, not consumerism

Consumerism is economically manifested in the chronic purchasing of new goods and services, with little attention to their true need, durability, product origin or the environmental consequences of manufacture and disposal. Consumerism is driven by huge sums spent on advertising designed to create both a desire to follow trends, and the resultant personal self-reward system based on acquisition. Materialism is one of the end results of consumerism.

…I watch and I wonder and I think. I think of the old slavery, and of the way The Economy has now improved upon it. The new slavery has improved upon the old by giving the new slaves the illusion that they are free. The Economy does not take people’s freedom by force, which would be against its principles, for it is very humane. It buys their their freedom, pays for it, and then persuades its money back again with shoddy goods and the promise of freedom. “Buy a car,” it says, “and be free. Buy a boat and be free. Buy a beer and be free.” Is this not the raw material of bad dreams? Or is it maybe the very nightmare itself? (Jayber Crow, by Wendell Barry)

simplicity, not consumerism

Consumerism interferes with the workings of society by replacing the normal common-sense desire for an adequate supply of life’s necessities, community life, a stable family and healthy relationships with an artificial ongoing and insatiable quest for things and the money to buy them with little regard for the true utility of what is bought. An intended consequence of this, promoted by those who profit from consumerism, is to accelerate the discarding of the old, either because of lack of durability or a change in fashion.

“…Socrates, who lived a very frugal and simple life, loved to go to the market. When his students asked about this, he replied, ‘I love to go and see all the things I am happy without.’”

— After the Ecstasy, the Laundry, by Jack Kornfield

simplicity, not consumerism

Is it better to follow a path of conformity, or is it better to wholeheartedly embrace one’s eccentricities?

“To be nobody but yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting.”

— e.e. cummings

Consumerism is a pattern of behavior that helps to destroy our environment, personal financial health, the common good of individuals and human institutions.

“Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself. Being true to anyone else or anything else is not only impossible, but the mark of a false messiah.”

— Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, by Richard Bach“

Consumerism, as in people purchasing goods or consuming materials excessively, is as old as the first civilization (see history of Egypt and Babylon, for example). Although commonly linked to capitalism and the Western world, consumerism is apolitical, as seen today in China and Saudi Arabia. Since consumerism began various individuals and groups have consciously sought an alternative lifestyle through simple living.

…Realizing your power to choose and to change your directions at any moment, without regard to external pressures or ideals, is like rising up toward the surface of the sea after a long submersion. This power may intoxicate you as you see attractive alternatives to your present situation. You may feel tempted to change your relationship, your career, or any area of your life that feels difficult or frustrating. Soem new choices may be appropriate or even overdue, but the heroic choice often means taking responsibility for where you are now and participating fully and intentionally, with greater presence and passion than ever before. (from the chapter ‘Reclaiming Our Power’, Laws of Spirit, by Dan Millman)

Consumerism Defined

Attachment to materialistic values or possessions: as in …deplored the rampant consumerism of contemporary society. Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Posted 24 March 2008 † Stephen § simplicity § greenism ‡ Comments (1)