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The Beta Posh #3: Friday the 13th Issue (Oct 2017)
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Michi
  • Regional Stability Squad
  • Level 167 Caticorn God of Destruction

  • A jolly good time for a jolly good scare, eh what?



    The Monarch's Fear Revealed!
    Wintermoot's nightmare comes to light!


    An actual shot of Wintermoot cowering.

    Like most of us here on Wintreath, I've always wondered what it was that our Monarch, Wintermoot was always afraid of.  Was it snakes? Spiders? Skeletons? Zombies? Over the top flamboyant guys?  This was an intriguing subject to say the least, and one I was very keen to answer.  So after a bit of research and asking people who wished to stay anonymous (as their own fears were retaliation from the Monarch), I've finally discovered the answer.  And I must warn you ahead of time folks...it's one that's quite frightening to say the least.  So if you or your loved ones reading this have a weak stomach or a faint heart, then I urge to you please skip this article and move on.

    Still reading?  Excellent.  After much deliberation, I've discovered that our Monarch's fear is none other than the vile, evil, and manipulative marketing tool known as Pumpkin Spice.



    That's right.  I'm sure you've all seen it in some form or another.  Some of you have indulged in it, others have passed it by in disgust, contempt, or some other form of negative emotion.  But Wintermoot fears it, and rightly so.  My first tip off to this unusual nature was his hesitancy to change his avatar and signature to fit our current theme of the month, which happens to be Skeleton Wars, and Pumpkin Spice.  Now, you might be thinking "But surely he's afraid of skeletons?" And I thought at first that might be true, but sources proved me wrong.  "It's pumpkin spice." Says one anonymous source known as Tatte.  "Definitely pumpkin spice, I once saw him cower in a corner when I brought him a pumpkin spice latte.  He pointed in my direction and shouted "Leave here, devil!"  I thought he was talking to me since I was wearing a devil costume, but then he clarified that he was talking to the latte I brought for him." notes anonymous source Laurentus.  "Oh, it's definitely pumpkin spice.  I remember mentioning it once in the chat room, and he threatened to ban me for using "offensive language,"  I asked him what he meant, and he said he couldn't repeat it in polite company, but that I knew what I had said." noted anonymous tipper Daylen Phoenix.

    So there you have it, folks.  Clearly our monarch is terrified of the evils known as Pumpkin Spice...and rightly so.  Every day it seems that this trend is affecting things such as cereal, lipstick, perfumes, hot dogs, and other foods, drinks, and everyday items.  When will this madness end? Hopefully soon, is what I imagine the Monarch would be saying right now.  Perhaps we'll move on soon to the Peppermint craze when Christmas gets closer.



    Fancy Pumkins
    Some Halloween favorites

    One particular favorite of mine, coming straight from one of my favorite stories as a kid.


    Another favorite, simply because of the sheer detail.  Speaking of detail...


    Now, the Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorite Halloween movies, along with Halloweentown.  So seeing a pumpkin with such beautiful detail depicting a scene from tNbC makes me happy.  And continuing on that...


    This is possibly my absolute favorite that I've seen so far.  It's a mix of two awesome scenes from the masterpiece known as Fantasia, and it's done exceptionally well.



    PICTURE OF THE MONTH

    Examples of some exceptional Halloween makeup



    QUOTE OF THE MONTH




    INTERVIEW WITH THE REAPER

    An artist's depiction of the Grim Reaper
    Quote
    Pengu: Hello there folks, today I'm joined by none other than the Grim Reaper!
    Grim Reaper: What the? How is it I have come to be summoned here, and for what purpose?
    Pengu: Oh, sorry.  I had one of my crew members summon you so that I could ask you some questions.
    Grim Reaper: Foolish mortal! I have more important things to do than answer your questions!
    Pengu: More important than the interview of the century? More important than the world getting to know the real man behind the Cloak?
    Grim Reaper: There is no man, nor living creature.  I simply just am.
    Pengu: Fascinating, and what is it you do Mr. Reaper?
    Grim Reaper: I just said I am no man nor living creature, therefore not "Mr." And I hunt down the souls of the dead, obviously.  Sometimes I guide the living to their deaths for this purpose.  Right now, I'm wondering why I haven't guided you to yours for wasting time away from my schedule.
    Pengu: Clearly you want this interview.
    Grim Reaper: Hmm...it must be so.
    Pengu: So who was next on your list?
    Grim Reaper: I...I can't give away such information! That knowledge is for Reaper hands only.  If it were to get out who would be next to die, the universe would fly into chaos!  I wouldn't be able to keep up with such lengths of death that would occur.
    Pengu: True.  So do you have any special powers? Can you stop time, or slow it, or cast any fun spells?
    Grim Reaper: You must read too many of those human things known as "Books." As I said, I simply am.  The world slows when I need it to, and I can normally only be seen by the dead.  I can guide a mortal to their death by a whisper that only they can hear, but to them it'll be as if they're hearing their own thoughts.
    Pengu: Interesting, and how often do you guide people to their deaths?
    Grim Reaper: Only in cases of dire need for souls, normally.  Because of constant fighting and disease, the need for souls is usually steady.  But as these cures appear and as wars die down, the need arises.  So either myself or my brother War puts ideas into mortals' heads to get them to do what we want to keep the balance.  Admittedly I've also led people to their deaths out of boredom, but that's normally just once in a millenia.  Though during the time of the Black Plague, I was REALLY bored.
    Pengu: Well that's fascinating.  Who was your favorite soul to claim?
    Grim Reaper: Hitler's.  He was one that greatly disrupted the balance, and it was a nightmare collecting the souls from everyone that he'd claimed in such a short time.  It was an unusual satisfaction claiming the soul of such a human.
    Pengu: Interesting.  Well thank you for your time, Reaper.  It's been a very enlightening interview to say the least.
    Grim Reaper:  Yes, and maybe now I can go back to collecting the souls of the dead.  And I'm sure I'll be seeing you again soon.
    The Grim Reaper disappears
    Pengu: Wonder what they meant by that.  Well that's the interview, folks.  Hope you enjoyed it, and have a happy and safe Halloween!



    WHICH IT WAS BETTER? (Major Spoilers Inside)
    Old Vs. New: Which wore it best?


    New Pennywise (Left) versus Old Pennywise (Right)

    Spoiler
    One of the most talked about things this year since its release has been the new adaption of Stephen King's IT.  But was it really as good as the hype train has been making it? Or was it another cinematic adaption that was talked up highly, only to fall flat on its face in the cinema?  Well, that's what I'm here to answer for you today.  And what better way to answer it than to compare it to the original TV miniseries of old?

    First off, let me get this out of the way: Unlike the original adaption which was a mix of present day moments and flashbacks, the new adaption is simply them as children.  There are no moments that show the cast as adults, and thus any of the deaths that happened in the original adaption in those moments (such as the opening death) haven't been introduced yet.

    In many ways, the flashbacks in the original adaption as well as the overall plot of the new adaption are similar.  The kids each experience moments with the clown, come together as a group, find a way to confront their fears and face him, and make a vow to come back to town if IT isn't truly dead.

    Likewise, in those same many ways, the moments in between as well as some of the smaller details are completely different.  This movie is set in the 80s (as is evident by Ben's love for New Kids on the Block) instead of the 50s.  Instead of Mike being the fountain of knowledge on Derry's history, Ben was given that backstory (and Mike was given very little).  Stan is no longer a scout, but instead was given a Jewish background (with little backstory as well).  Bev's relationship with her dad plays much more like the book in the new adaption (to where he's more pedophile than abuser).  Some of the encounters are different as well, such as Eddy encountering a Leper (like the book), Stan encountering an unusual creepy portrait lady, and Richie not encountering Pennywise until they go to the house near his lair.

    Some moments, such as the Beverly bathroom encounter scene have been heightened (she's held above the drain by wet hair, as blood pours out incredibly and covers the entire room), and some such as the rock throwing scene have been downgraded (which is made more silly than serious, complete with an odd slow camera moment), and even Georgie's scene had a comedic moment of him hitting a sign during his boat chase. 


    I know you’re chasing your boat and all, and I’ll let you get back to that, but let me tell you about Derry Public Works first.  No? Bad time? Alright...well just watch out for creepy clowns in storm drains.

    Likewise, some moments were beautifully added (such as a small backstory for Henry Bowers, complete with him killing his dad in one of my favorite scenes), and some were altered (the photo album scene with Pennywise terrorizing the group was switched to a slideshow scene of a similar nature).  But in many ways, it still kept on balance with the nature of the original miniseries.

    One of the highlights of the film is, for the most part, the acting.  The kids in this one have much more attitude to them, and Richie is far less annoying and much more of my favorite characters in this.  The adults are wonderfully detached, but act as more than just set pieces for the main actors.  And despite the direction he was given to go in this movie, Bill Skarsgard actually did a pretty decent job as the main antagonist Pennywise.

    However, Pennywise is also probably one of the two big problems with this movie.  In the way he was described, the direction they were going for with him was to be a scary clown rather than a comedic one like the Tim Curry adaption.  But there's really nothing about him that's really incredibly scary.  In the Georgie death scene, he still has the comedic dialogue complete with the addition of him going "pop pop pop!" when he talks about popcorn and doing little comedic things in that degree.  When he's encountered in his lair, he dances (for once as his name implies), but it's an awkwardly amusing dance with an odd camera movement rather than something that would make me be afraid. 


    Why did anyone think this would be scary?

    Really, his only "scary" moments are his sudden shift in facial expression (such as immediately after his "pop pop pop!" moment), or his "ARARARARARARARA" (aka the running schizo moments, or flying at Richie) moments.


    BE AFRAID, HE RUNS LIKE A CLOWN!

    Although this made Henry's scene much nicer, and was a genuinely neat moment:


    Can we see more of THIS Pennywise?

    However, I will concede that he at least LOOKS scary in his costume, and the creepy smile that Bill Skarsgard can do does translate wonderfully in his makeup to make him more terrifying. 


    Funny looking in the promos, but creepy-looking enough in the movie when the mannerisms are thrown in.

    But then that itself contradicts the type of character that Pennywise is, in a way.  In the book, he had the power to hypnotize kids to lure them to him...but there was nothing in the movie that indicated he had that power, so why would the kids trust a clown that looks so terrifying?

    Whereas in the original adaption, Pennywise looked and acted like a normal silly clown: 


    There’s nothing more evil than a clown that tries to make you laugh before he kills you.

    Kids would be more likely to trust him, because he looked and acted like the genuine thing.  And it certainly helped that Tim Curry was playing the part of a clown that just happened to have an evil killer side to him.  When he was meant to be a killer, the switch was sudden.  When he was meant to be a clown telling jokes, being overly annoying to the characters, or playing tricks, he did it beautifully.  Sure, the role was a bit cheesy, but he also KNEW it was cheesy and relished it.  Whereas the new adaption's Pennywise was trying to be multiple things, and didn't succeed in the same capacity.

    And that's actually the other big issue with the new movie: It tries to be multiple things.  It tries to be a comedy, horror, 80's film, timeless masterpiece, and coming of age story.  It tries to go in too many directions, so it instead becomes confusing on what type of movie it is.  It wanted to be a cinematic wonder, but it instead felt like a B movie with A+ movie budget.  Whereas on the flipside, the TV miniseries merely meant to be a B grade horror, and it did well.  Was it scary? No, but watching it, you knew that it was aware it wasn't scary, and relished in its cheesiness and B grade mentality.  As Nostalgia Critic put it, the miniseries had much more personality as well as a main actor that gave it his all in his performance of Pennywise.  Whereas on the flipside, the new cinematic adaption felt confused and almost empty if it wasn't for the performances by the cast, and even Bill's Pennywise didn't have the magic or even the creepiness as Tim Curry's version did, even though the former was going for a "darker" and "grittier" version of the character.

    It also doesn't help that so much CG was thrown into it.  One reason I didn't particularly care for the Slideshow scene in this movie was the moment that Pennywise comes out and attacks the kids: You KNOW it's CG, and you know he's not in that scene.  He looks completely disconnected from the set and the kids, and this happens again when they first encounter him in the haunted house.  But there were some CG moments that actually looked decent, such as that before-mentioned creepy portrait lady that Stan finds, as well as all of the floating victims in Pennywise's lair (yes, there are ACTUALLY floating people in this one!), so again despite the amount of CG, there's at least a balance of good moments and bad.

    But overall, sure the two versions balance each other out for the most part.  But for the areas that really matter, the miniseries is still better than the cinematic version (which is sad to say).  But we'll wait until Part 2 comes out to really decide which was really the better version.
    3 people like this post: taulover, Aethelia, Vroendal
    « Last Edit: October 17, 2021, 06:25:18 AM by Michi »
    My Wintreath Resumé
    Michi
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