Sunday, October 31, 2004

To recap from yesterday: pumpkin carving went well - that’s a lot of work, but well worth it. ECD took pictures, so when I get the one of my pumpkin I’ll post it. And she ordered a really nice chair with a plaid that will coordinate well with ther sofa and chair-&-a-half - Nee zoomed right in on the fabric when we told her what were were looking for. She’s got an eye for design - it was a little spooky in an 8 year old.

When I got home, I crashed on the sofa and started to watch Van Helsing. I was about an hour into it when I started nodding off, so I saved the rest for this morning. Unfortunately, Annie’s body clock doesn’t understand the time change twice a year, so she was raring to go at 4:30am. And I forgot to set the clocks, so I didn’t realize it wasn’t 5:30am until I turned on the TV after walking her. *sigh* Since I was up and wide awake, I restarted and finished the movie. Here’s my quick review.

The notorious monster hunter is sent to Transylvania to stop Count Dracula who is using Dr. Frankenstein’s research and a werewolf for some sinister purpose.

The visuals were well done - the sets were straight out of gothica with dark, pointy, and lofty castles, cliffs, and cloudy moonlit skies. The transformation of “humans” to creatures, be they vampires or werewolves or whatever were seemless. Movie CGI has come a long, long way.

I liked this movie a lot and regret not seeing it in the theater. I bet it was amazing on the big screen. My only complaint is that we didn’t get the fuller story on Van Helsing that was hinted at throughout the movie. I don’t know if that’s because they’re planning a sequel or they just wanted to leave us hanging.

It’s rated PG-13 “for nonstop creature action violence and frightening images, and for sensuality.”