The trailer for the prequel to "THE THING" doesn't make me want to kill myself

Kiiiiind of a sick poster/tagline

In fact, it looks surprisingly awesome. Or, at least, as good as it can look for being a follow-up to one of the best horror/sci-fi movies ever made. From the looks of it, Norwegian director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. just might have gotten the memo on how to not completely botch a remake/prequel/reboot/whatever the fuck they call them these days.

I just watched the trailer and I'm kinda flippin' out a little bit here. Before I say more, go ahead and check it out:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2011/watch-first-full-trailer-for-universals-the-thing-prequel-emerges/

Here are your "MAC WANTS THE FLAMETHROWER!" bullet points:

• Using hints of the original Ennio Morricone score is BRILLIANT because it instantly gave me goosebumps. That is one of my favorite movie scores ever because it fits the desolate, isolated and paranoia-inducing vibe of the movie so well. So, bravo for that.
• The chick who played Ramona in "Scott Pilgrim" seems to have the Kurt Russell role, which is cool and modern and stuff, I guess. Next thing you know they'll give 'em the right to vote and own land! Hiyooo!
• I wish they'd give it a different title just because having to put (2011) after the title will juust annoy movie nerds and video store workers until the end of time.
• Flamethrowers, someone yelling "BURN IT!", that same husky dog, similar wardrobes to the original....all killer.
• Looks like there might be a lilllll' bit too much CGI for my liking, but I'll hold judgment on that until I see it. The brilliant practical effects of the original will probably never be matched or duplicated in this era, but hopefully there's a good amount of real gore.
• The only thing more annoying than remakes of classic movies is complaining and getting all righteously indignant about remakes of classic movies. Hollywood is going to keep shitting on your memories whether you dorks fucking like it or not. So, as someone who holds John Carpenter's original film close to his heart and was dreading this prequel, this trailer is a breath of relief. It could still totally fucking suck (some of the dialogue in that trailer is pretty stilted), but at least it looks like they stayed true to the look and feel of the original.
• October 2011. The annual horror-a-thon plus seeing this flick in theaters. Bring it the fuck on.

"The years they passed and so did we."

Oh, my poor neglected blog. I'm like a kid who ditches an old toy when given a new one. Except that new toy was working full-time again. Whattayagonnado?

It will never cease to amaze me how seasonal and memory-flashback inducing music can be for me. I put on "Dookie" by Green Day and I'm in fifth grade again driving down Ruston Way with my mom on an impossibly warm Northwest summer evening. I hear the Green Album by Weezer, which I just now realized is 10 years old (fuck!), and I'm instantly back in high school in Spring of 2001, driving around Puyallup just blasting that record. I throw on "The Only Reason I Feel Secure" by Pedro The Lion and I remember what a mopey little depressed dipshit I was during my freshman year of college. I put on "Panopticon" by Isis and I suddenly miss stroking my gigantic and gross red beard I used to have and have flashbacks to filing used CDs at Everyday Music. I hear "The Eye of Every Storm" by Neurosis and I feel a chill in my bones as I recall trudging through various snowstorms in 2008.

Anyways, Summer is finally here in the Northwest and I just wanna listen to upbeat music, hang out with friends, go swimming, drink good beer, watch baseball and feel content.

And I want to say rest in peace to one of the kindest people I've ever known, my Aunt Joy Christine Barnes. She lost her battle with lung cancer last week after fighting it for 4 years past the initial diagnosis. She made the most of those 4 years, that's for damn sure. I just returned from her funeral in Southern Maryland, which was one of the saddest, yet profoundly uplifting experiences I've ever had. A lot of people are missing Joy right now and I'm one of them.