Date Archives October 2011

Monster Movie Madness: Michael Jackson’s Ghosts

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Less a movie than a 38 minute long music video, Michael Jackson’s Ghosts portrays Michael Jackson as a loner living on the outskirts of town who enjoys entertaining the local children and who is about to be run out of town by a lynch mob. This was in no way inspired by real life events, right? Said angry mob is lead by the town’s mayor, who bears a striking resemblance to the lead prosecutor in the child abuse case against Jackson in 1993. In fact, if you watch it with a thought toward Jackson’s history and public opinion about him, it’s actually quite sad, as he was no doubt aware of all of the people who thought he was a freak, and it comes through crystal clear in Ghosts*. For maximum entertainment value, it’s probably best to enjoy it on a superficial level.

On a superficial level, this “movie” features: the worst angry mob I’ve ever seen, pretty great makeup effects, decent CG, MJ shooting ectoplasm out of his hands, and a moonwalking skeleton. Worth the watch for the moonwalking skeleton alone!

*However, if Michael Jackson entertained his guests by screaming “HOOOOO!” every few seconds, I’m glad I was never invited to Neverland.

Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Mysterious Bones

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A couple of months ago, Napoleon found a bone in our backyard. I wrested it out of his mouth and got a nip on the hand for my efforts–he really wanted to keep it and I was adamant about not letting him have it. I left it out on the patio to show Jason when he got home, but when I took him outside, the bone was gone. Whatever picked it up and moved it was not the dog, as he had been shooed indoors immediately after the bone incident and had not been out of my sight since. Whatever took the bone moved pretty fast, too–this whole scene took place over the course of no more than half an hour, from appearance to bite to banishment to disappearing act.

A few weeks later, Napoleon found another similar bone in the backyard. This time, I bribed out of his mouth with a treat, picked it up, and threw it away.

This afternoon, a different, larger bone appeared on the patio. Where are these bones coming from? What is moving them around? And what in the hell is buried in my backyard?