cleolinda | (no subject)

NO ONE WILL GO SEE The Omen WITH ME, WOE.

I so need to get the original on DVD, too. The first time I saw it was--surprisingly late in life, actually; it was about five years ago, in college, and there were like five or six of us crammed into someone's tiny dorm room between the bed and the wall, where the TV was, in pitch dark, about three feet from the TV. It's an excellent DVD, by the way. And since I didn't know anything about it except that there's a demon boy named Damien, I was pretty much riveted. And while some of the effects are a bit dated (poor David Warner), it's still creepy as all hell. And then you watch the extras, and I can't remember who said what, but someone (the writer?) approached the story as if Damien really was the Antichrist, and the director said he approached it as if he wasn't, and it was just a terrible case of religious hysteria. Which I thought was brilliant and fascinating (like this would surprise you after yesterday's entry). Even though it seems fairly obvious to me that Damien's the Antichrist, as far as the finished product stands, I love the idea of just never being sure.

(Of course, the sequels then blow that idea all to hell. I saw most of the second one on AMC, the one where Damien goes to, like, a boys' military school, and I think a young Lance Henrikson was there as a teacher or military aide or something, and... well, clearly evil. Like, Damien force-choking people and shit.)

Anyhoo, the other reason to get the DVD is the documentary wherein you discover that the production was cursed. Quoth IMDB's trivia page, "Having changed its title from The Antichrist to The Birthmark [although you would think this would appease the Forces of Evil, rather than the other way around], the film seemed to fall victim to a sinister curse. Star Gregory Peck and screenwriter David Seltzer took separate planes to the UK...yet BOTH planes were struck by lightning. While producer 'Harvey Bernard' [this so-called, alleged 'Harvey Bernard' ] was in Rome, lightning just missed him. Rottweilers hired for the film attacked their trainers. [Look, call me when the Jack Russells snap.] A hotel at which director Richard Donner was staying got bombed by the IRA; he was also struck by a car. After Peck canceled another flight, to Israel, the plane he would have chartered crashed...killing all on board. On day one of the shoot, several principal members of the crew survived a head-on car crash. The jinx appeared to persist well into post-production... when special effects artist John Richardson was injured and his girlfriend beheaded [ACK] in an accident on the set of A Bridge Too Far (1977)."

I seem to remember some story on that documentary about a plane that crashed and fell on a car, inside which were the pilot's wife and children, although my memory may be playing tricks on me again.

In other, more relevant-to-reality news, I have actually broken into my closet and cleared a path to the wall inside. Unfortunately, this means that several boxes of miscellaneous crap are now strewn about my room, but c'est la vie. We also hit Let's Get Organized again and bought a CD rack and a rolling cart with runners for hanging file folders and baskets that slide in and out underneath. It's very mailroom chic. In fact, my mother wants one for herself now. I'm sort of horrified by the amount of money we've been spending at this store, but she keeps saying, "You SAID the only thing that kept you from cleaning was that you didn't have anywhere to put things. LOOK OVER HERE, FILE CABINETS!"

Oh! Before I forget, I should give y'all the contact information for our roofers. They ended up finishing in two and a half days and even brought a magnetic roller thing out to pick up stray nails. Neighbors are already complimenting us on the finished product, too. So if you're in the Birmingham area and need a roof or roof repairs, you're going to want to talk to Danny Bassett at D&G Roofing Contractors. If you want the phone number on his card, which is slightly different, let me know. And if you end up using them, tell 'em Anne G. (or "Anne G.'s daughter" or some variation thereof) sent you. This is in an effort to not give away my mother's real last name to the internet at large. It's not the same as mine, but even so. You know. Safety first and all that.

Bonus linkspam, from akathorne: Why you should never, ever eat Mentos and drink a Diet Coke. particle_person then endeavors to discover the secret behind the sticky, sticky magic. (ETA: Nooooo! The video's gone away! There's a different link at p_p's entry, but it's not as much fun. I wanted you to see the giant multi-bottle diet soda fountain! ETA2: Ah, here we go!)