Looking at the Past, Focusing on the Future

So another year has gone by, and full of interesting and unexpected things. I will say that to me, 2013 will always be remembered as the year of the weddings, as I had a TON of friends get married this year. It was like every other week was somebody’s wedding.

Anyways, so this is a time to reflect what the past year held for us, the big posts, the planned posts, and what you all seemed to like the most. 😀

1) The Views

According to WordPress I had 9,542 views this year. That’s 7542 more than last year. I would like to thank all of you for being a part of this and giving me your time and attention.

2) #1 Post

Surprisingly, the top post of the year was my Happy Anniversary post in which I celebrated six months of blogging. I have to say I never saw that one coming. Runner ups were Snakes on a Post: Chinese New Year, Fulfilling the List: A Walk to Remember, Grimwood Ghouls’ Gym Teacher: Scooby–Doo and the Ghoul School, A Monster Race: Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant  Werewolf, and Save the Last Dance for Me: Dirty Dancing. 

3) The Followers

I now have 42 followers, that is 28 more than last January. Thank you all who follow and make my blog a part of your life. You are all awesome! 😀

Now for the success and failures of the year.

4) My Favorite Movie Lines Lists

This all started when I did a post on one of the best movie lines ever. I then decided to do my own countdowns and post them once a month. I only did two; My Favorite Movie Lines and It’s BACK!: The Sequel. I planned up to 10 lists but never finished looking for videos to include, so they are just backlogged waiting to be published. I will have to look through them and post them this year.

5) Musical Musings

I also started my musical posts, writing about some of my favorite songs. This year I covered Nothing But a Good Time, Eye of the Tiger, In Rhapsody Over Clint Eastwood,  Jump (For My Love), I’ll Be Alright Without You, and The End which reviewed a bunch of different songs. Look for more of these as I already have a few ideas for more.

6) Romance is in the Air

Fourteen posts about some of my favorite romantic moments in film in honor of Valentines’ Day. I covered Say Anything, He’s Just NOT That Into You, A Walk to Remember, An Officer and a Gentleman, The Wedding Singer, Shrek 2, Enchanted, Runaway Bride, 10 Things I Hate About You, An Affair to Remember, Music and Lyrics, It’s a Wonderful Life. Dirty Dancing, and Northanger Abbey.

7) One Day Holiday Posts

 Instead of doing a post everyday like with Romance is in the Air or Horrorfest, I did a couple of holiday posts in which I reviewed the films or books that applied in one post on one day. This is can be easier and fit for the holidays chosen; Snakes on a Post: Chinese New Year, Pot O’ Gold: Saint Patrick’s Day, and the 25 Films of Christmas. 

8) Painted Portrayals

For Easter I did something a little different from my other holiday posts. I discussed art that featured Christ, discussing the history and advancements of the pieces.  These posts were The Last Supper, The Betrayal of Christ, and Good Friday. I mean I have to use my Art History skills for something.

9) Pride and Prejudice Summer

So this was a failure. I had planned to spend a majority of my summer posting about Pride and Prejudice as it had just turned 200, but unfortunately my plans went awry. However, I did get a few done and I am going to complete this quest this year, so I can move on to another book. The posts that I completed as part of this goal are the following: Happy Birthday Pride & Prejudice, It is a Truth Universally Acknowledged, The 12 Men of Christmas, Parental Favoritism, and Definitely Not Mr. Darcy.

10) Horrorfest II

Now Horrorfest II wasn’t a complete failure, but it didn’t turn out how I originally planned. I wanted to do 31 days, but it was far too much work and only did 16. I didn’t get everything I wished to accomplish, but I think it turned out well. I covered the films; The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Warm Bodies, The Mummy (1932), The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Crucible, Ringu, The Beast of Yucca Flats, Double, Double, Toil, and Trouble, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Jurassic Park III, and Children of the Corn. I also did the episodes “A River of Candy Corn Runs Through It” from Sabrina the Teenage Witch, “Night of the Day of the Dead” from Lizzie McGuire, and “Midnight Madness” from Are You Afraid of the Dark. I also discussed an artist who mixed horror films with Disney, Disnified Horror.

Of course there are plenty of other things that went on this year, but this finishes our review of the year.

On ending note I found this on Pinterest in the spring:

and wanted to do it, but I thought it would be better if I waited for the new year to partake in this. I think that it is a fun idea and I encourage everyone of you to do it as well.

So Happy New Year, I hope it is the better than last year! And I can’t wait to see what posts come up this year. 😀

Candy, Candy, Candy!

CANDY!

So this year we went Trick or Treating and then to a haunted house. We didn’t spend as much time getting candy but we still had a pretty good haul.

3 Double Bubble Gum, 2 Packets of Swedish Fish, 2 Whopper packs, 2 Three Musketeer Bars, 2 Boxes of Nerds, 2 Crunch Bars, 3 Butterfingers, 2 Packs of Gobstoppers, 9 Sweettarts Packs, 6 Snickers, 1 Snicker Almond Bar, 4 Milky Way Bars, 1 Pack of Bottle Caps, 2 Baby Ruth Bars, 2 Jolly Rancher Pops, 7 Hershey Kisses, 7 Tootsie Roll Pops, 4 Kit Kat Bars, 5 Reese’s Cups, 1 Tiger Pop, 1 Blow Pop, 1 Dum Dum, 6 Packs of Chocolate M&Ms, 2 Packs of Peanut M&Ms, 1 Pack of Peanut Butter M&Ms, 1 Twizzler, 5 Laffy Taffys, 1 Box of Milk Duds, and 1 Pack of Fruit Snacks.

So like last time, I just want to do a little poll and see what posts you all enjoyed this year so I can make it even better next year. Sadly, I didn’t get to finish everything I wanted to complete from last year. I planned to finish the posts for all the Universal Monster Movies ;  but only got to The Mummy and The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Wolfman will have to wait ’till next year. I also really wanted to do posts on Alfred Hitchcock’s movies, like The Birds, Psycho, Rebecca, and Strangers on a Train; but also wasn’t able to get to them. I really, really, really wanted to do Vincent Price films; like House on Haunted Hill. The Tomb of Ligeia, The Pit and the Pendulum, but those didn’t get a chance either. 😦

I’d like to know which were your faves are so vote, vote, vote! If you are unsure which to pick then why don’t you pop over and start at the beginning. Also I’d like to know what you wish I had posted on. Just leave a comment at the bottom of the page! 

Midnight Madness: Are You Afraid of the Dark (1993)

I’m not going to Midnight Madness again

Are You Afraid of the Dark was such a big part of my childhood. It used to come on Nick and I remember watching the creepy stories with my sisters. I think its funny how my mom hated Goosebumps and wouldn’t let me watch the movies or read the books; but let me watch this.

In Are You Afraid of the Dark, there are a group of kids who form The Midnight Society and meet late at night telling scary stories. This story is told by Frank.

So there is this old Rialto theater that is doing badly. Nobody seems to care about old movies or want to see anything. If they keep doing this bad they are going to be shut down forever.

Pete is heartbroken as he not only loves theaters but old movies. (Why are these guys always named Pete?) He tries everything he can, but no luck. Soon the doors will be shutting forever.

One day everything changes.

Dr. Vink comes on the scene (this is the first episode that introduces this character). He offers the manager a bargain. He will give them the film Nosferatu, and he assures the they will soon be rolling in dough. All he asks is for one night a week to show his other films. They agree and the film is put upstairs and forgotten.

One day the reel they were playing breaks, and they have no choice but to play Nosferatu. They do and it becomes a sucess. They start raking in the dough. Soon they are showing it all the time and even opening a special time, Midnight Madness.

Dr. Vink returns for his part of the bargain, but the manager won’t listen. He promises that they will regret making that choice.

Pete is watching the movie again, to try and figure out why it is becoming so popoular. He looks at the screen and starts to notice that Nosferatu is looking toward him.

In a style of Last Action Hero, Nosferatu comes out of the screen and starts wrecking horror on others. It’s a great episode that you must watch for yourself. I haven’t been able to find a link, besides Amazon Instant watch. Let me know if you do.