{"id":23692,"date":"2021-10-05T03:00:47","date_gmt":"2021-10-05T09:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=23692"},"modified":"2021-11-18T18:59:00","modified_gmt":"2021-11-19T00:59:00","slug":"an-october-viewing-and-reading-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2021\/10\/an-october-viewing-and-reading-challenge.html","title":{"rendered":"An October Viewing and Reading Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

October is the best month and it\u2019s not even close.<\/p>\n

The days are shorter<\/a> and the temperatures are cooler. All four major team sports are in action. Samhain and Halloween are this month, and the Winter Holidays (with their days off from work) are getting close. And the movies on TV get a lot better\u2026 most years, anyway.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve done October movie posts before. In 2016 I wrote 31 Movies for Halloween<\/a>, where I listed my favorite horror movies from what I consider the four major eras of supernatural filmmaking. In 2019 I wrote 13 Horror Movies I\u2019m Watching This October<\/a>, where I scanned the schedule of TCM (Turner Classic Movies) and pulled out the ones I really wanted to see. I think I actually watched them all, except for A Bucket of Blood<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I was going to do something similar this year. But when I looked at the schedules I was rather disappointed. None of the streaming services (that I have) have much I\u2019m excited about. The basic cable channels seem geared toward kids. I like The Addams Family<\/em> movies too, but that\u2019s not what I\u2019m looking for right now.<\/p>\n

Even TCM\u2019s schedule is disappointing. They have a very good lineup for Halloween weekend<\/a>, but the rest of the month is rather sparse. I could only come up with nine movies to recommend, and I\u2019ve already written about six of those.<\/p>\n

And that brings us to the point of this post.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been binging comfort movies<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve been comfort-watching ever since the pandemic began. I\u2019ve been watching the same movies over and over and over again.<\/p>\n

As I write this, Bram Stoker\u2019s Dracula<\/em> (1992) is in my Blu-ray player. Before that, it was Van Helsing<\/em> (2004), the Underworld<\/em> movies (except Rise of the Lycans<\/em> \u2013 I can\u2019t handle the werewolf abuse even though I\u2019m not a werewolf fan), and the two Mummy<\/em> movies with Rachel Weisz and Brendan Fraser. Before it left Netflix, I was watching Penny Dreadful<\/a><\/em> pretty much on a loop.<\/p>\n

The psychological websites and articles I found say this is a common thing. The familiar is comfortable, particularly at a time when so much is unfamiliar and uncomfortable. We already know the stories, so they take less energy to watch. We know how they end, so we know we won\u2019t be disappointed even if we don\u2019t like the ending (like Penny Dreadful<\/em>). And we watch them simply because we like them \u2013 while I like to experiment with food, I never get tired of a good pizza.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing wrong with binging comfort movies. But I was expecting to binge old favorites all month, and there\u2019s not much for me this year.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been avoiding new movies and shows<\/h2>\n

Enjoying your old favorites is fine. But at some point, you turn into the video equivalent of the people who only listen to the music that was popular when they were in high school. You miss out on a lot of good stuff.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t watched a new TV show since The Nevers<\/a><\/em> in April. I watched the new The Suicide Squad<\/a><\/em> movie in August, but I watched it on my computer where I could play games in the slow spots \u2013 and it was a sequel. I\u2019ve been unwilling to risk any time on something new.<\/p>\n

And while I\u2019ve managed to work my to-be-read pile down in recent months<\/a>, I haven\u2019t read much fiction.<\/p>\n

Solution: a viewing and reading challenge<\/h2>\n

Writing a classic horror movie post this year would just be more of the same. I need something different. I need something new.<\/p>\n

I need an October viewing and reading challenge.<\/p>\n

I really am busy. I\u2019m teaching an on-line class, I\u2019m blogging, and my local groups are trying to do more in-person stuff. My paying job just got busier, and likely will remain so for the rest of the year. I can\u2019t commit to something huge.<\/p>\n

But I don\u2019t need something huge. I just need enough to break me out of this comfort movie routine.<\/p>\n

So here\u2019s the challenge. During the month of October I want to watch one new movie and one new series. I want to read one new book. And I want to watch one old movie that either I haven\u2019t seen, or I haven\u2019t seen in so long I don\u2019t remember anything about it.<\/p>\n

Here are my choices.<\/p>\n

A new movie: A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night<\/em><\/h2>\n

This was the hardest choice to make, because I don\u2019t like most contemporary horror movies. I don\u2019t like gore and I don\u2019t like jump scares \u2013 if I want realistic horror I\u2019ll watch the news. I want supernatural fantasy \u2013 the more gothic (or just goth) the better. And nobody\u2019s made a good Dracula<\/em> movie<\/a> since 1992.<\/p>\n

Horror movie reviews are next to useless, whether professional or amateur. Everybody wants something different from a horror movie and too many reviewers are quick to bash anything that doesn\u2019t satisfy their particular desires.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the problem of a million streaming services, all wanting a separate monthly fee [insert rant here].<\/p>\n

But after a bit of googling, watching some trailers, and reading enough reviews to find common themes, I settled on A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night<\/em>. From IMDb<\/a>:<\/p>\n

In the Iranian ghost-town Bad City, a place that reeks of death and loneliness, the townspeople are unaware they are being stalked by a lonesome vampire.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s black and white, in Persian with English subtitles (although it was filmed in California). That\u2019s a bit artsy for my tastes. But I\u2019ve heard good things about it since it came out in 2014. And how can you argue with a movie billed as \u201cthe first Iranian vampire Western\u201d? I\u2019ve been waiting for it to show up on cable, but it\u2019s available to rent on Amazon Prime for $3.99 \u2013 that\u2019s not much of a risk.<\/p>\n

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A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Second choices:<\/strong> Bloodthirsty<\/em> (a werewolf movie on Amazon) and Blood Red Sky<\/em> (vampires vs. terrorists on Netflix). I\u2019ll probably watch them both eventually.<\/p>\n

A new series: Brand New Cherry Flavor<\/em><\/h2>\n

This was an easy choice. Actually, pushing myself to watch this series was one of the reasons behind this post. Here\u2019s the IMDb blurb<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Lisa Nova, an aspiring film director in the sun-drenched but seamy world of 1990 Los Angeles, embarks on a mind-altering journey of supernatural revenge that gets nightmarishly out of control.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Every witch or otherwise magical friend who\u2019s mentioned this show has had good things to say about it. I found this very positive Teen Vogue <\/a><\/em>review<\/a> by Lisa Stardust, who\u2019s a magical practitioner herself.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019ve been unwilling to invest the time in something new, preferring to watch my comfort movies over and over again. Thus this challenge.<\/p>\n

Brand New Cherry Flavor<\/em> is available on Netflix. There are eight episodes that average 43 minutes each \u2013 that\u2019s a weekend with plenty of time for something else.<\/p>\n

Time to get watching.<\/p>\n

Second choice:<\/strong> Motherland: Fort Salem<\/em>. I\u2019m hearing good things from witches about this one too, but the military context isn\u2019t particularly appealing to me. And it\u2019s really intended for a younger audience. I\u2019m unlikely to watch it, but maybe.<\/p>\n

A new book: The Historian<\/em><\/h2>\n

I asked my Facebook friends for recommendations and I got a ton. The post is public<\/a> \u2013 you can read through them if you like. Many of them didn\u2019t meet the specifications I listed (supernatural fiction, fairly new, etc.) but plenty did.<\/p>\n

I think A Discovery of Witches<\/em> by Deborah Harkness got the most recommendations. It also got the most negative comments.<\/p>\n

I picked The Historian<\/a><\/em> by Elizabeth Kostova. It\u2019s a Dracula story that mixes the historical Vlad the Impaler with contemporary vampire lore, not entirely unlike what Bram Stoker did in 1897.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a little older than what I wanted (published in 2005). But I bought it when it first came out based on reviews and recommendations \u2013 it\u2019s been sitting on my shelves ever since. It\u2019s not a short book: 642 pages. With everything else going on, it may be a real challenge to get it finished this month.<\/p>\n

But following the principle of \u201cread what you\u2019ve got before you buy more\u201d it\u2019s the right choice.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Second choice:<\/strong> The Once and Future Witches<\/em> by Alix E. Harrow. Of all the recommendations on Facebook, this is the one that most grabbed my interest. It\u2019s not a short book either (528 pages) but if I get back into the habit of reading regularly I\u2019ll pick it up before too long.<\/p>\n

An old movie that\u2019s new to me: Count Dracula<\/em><\/h2>\n

This 1977 BBC film with Louis Jourdan as the Count is generally considered the most faithful adaptation of Bram Stoker\u2019s novel ever made. I remember watching it on PBS as a teenager. I remember being vaguely disappointed, but I don\u2019t remember why. I had read the book by then, so I knew the story would be different from the 1931 Lugosi film. It may have been the 1970s TV production quality. Or my expectations may have been so high nothing could have lived up to them.<\/p>\n

In any case, it\u2019s time to watch it again. And it\u2019s available on Amazon Prime.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Louis Jourdan as Count Dracula \u2013 BBC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Second choice:<\/strong> Taste the Blood of Dracula<\/em>. This 1970 Hammer Film was the fourth starring Christopher Lee as Dracula. I\u2019m sure I\u2019ve seen it, but the IMDb summary doesn\u2019t ring a bell. TCM is showing it the afternoon of October 21, and Amazon has it to rent for $1.99.<\/p>\n

Want to take the challenge?<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m sure I\u2019m not the only one who\u2019s been watching my old favorites to the exclusion of new material. If your movies and books have gotten stale \u2013 if you\u2019re missing out on new stuff \u2013 take the October Viewing and Reading Challenge.<\/p>\n