I'm Back! + "It : Chapter Two"

I'm back. I hope you enjoyed reading "Dear Ann", though "enjoyed" is not the proper word. I guess I should say that if you read it - "you" being the General You - I hope you found it informative and enlightening, I hope you got something positive out of it. I spent a lot of time each night really thinking about what I wanted to say, and then transferring those thoughts into precise sentences, because I didn't want to ramble on or repeat myself. I also went back and edited each night's work the following day, to ensure that everything was articulated in the way I intended. Writing is so much different than speaking, and with writing, the author's meaning can be misconstrued if each sentence isn't properly constructed. I wanted "Dear Ann" to read as if it had been written down on paper and sent to Ann as a real letter, and in reading it back myself, I was very pleased with the results. I said everything I wanted to say, and who knows, maybe one day Ann will read it herself, if not in the near future then maybe at least in my lifetime.

Because the writing process went so well, I have thought about continuing the story, and it must be kept in mind that it is a true story and one that is very important for me to resolve. Were I to continue, the next segment would be very graphic and unpleasant - far worse than anything you read in "Dear Ann - and so that factor is something I will really have to consider before making a decision on whether or not to write it down online. I am talking about the Rappaport kidnapping incident, which occurred on the night of September 2nd 1989, and while I wrote about it once before, in 2006 on Myspace, I feel that my writing ability has advanced enough that I could now give it the descriptive quality it deserves. I have also recollected a few details since 2006 that are very important to the story, but it would in no way be easy reading material, because Mr. Rappaport was (and I assume still is) a sick son-of-a-bitch.

I will think about it for a couple of days, and if suddenly you see a blog continuing the story, then there it will be.  :)

For now, I'll just tell you what's been going on in the meantime, since I began "Dear Ann". Today was Friday the 13th, and because I had the day off I figured it was the perfect time to go see "It : Chapter Two". I drove up to the Granada Hills Regency at 3pm, and to my surprise and good fortune I had the theater almost to myself. I sat up close and settled in; "It" Part One had blown me off the map when it was released two years ago, and I was plenty pumped up for this movie, which is not a sequel but rather the second half of the whole story. Stephen King's book is 1100 pages long, which is why it took two movies totaling over five hours in length to properly depict it on screen. Anyhow, I was ready, because "It" is not only my favorite SK book, but one of my favorite books period. There is so much feeling and truth in it, about childhood and friendship and our transition into adulthood and the way in which our secrets and fears both bond us and keep us apart. 

Sound familiar?

Yeah, well anyway, King wrote "It" in 1986, before anything happened to me, and when I read it, it resonated so deeply that I must have stored it away someplace inside my emotional center. SK touched a nerve in so many of us with that book, not just because of the horror but because of the understanding and the love. King understood childhood in a way that has rarely been captured, including the horrors kids face when thrust into the adult world.

I was very much looking forward to the first movie when it was announced, because the first version of "It", which was made for television in 1990 or thereabouts, was okay and even good in places but fell far short overall in delivering the goods from King's book.

And as we all know, director Andy Muschietti knocked "It : Chapter One" so far out of the park that it became the biggest grossing horror film of all time.

And I am pleased to report that "It : Chapter Two" is also a masterpiece. The movie runs nearly three hours, which seems to be challenging for some fans according to the reviews I've seen, but trust me, there is no way the story could have been completed in a shorter format, and - despite a couple of slowdowns caused by breaks in continuity - nearly every moment of the film is filled with so much story and action and mindblowing set pieces that I hardly know where to start because I am still absorbing what I saw. What stood out above all, however, was the acting. You normally don't expect great acting from a horror movie, right? But you get it here, especially from James McAvoy and Bill Hader, but also the rest of the actors that make up the adult Losers from the story. The other thing that makes this movie a "10" in my opinion is it's heart. The message behind all the horror - which continues almost non-stop - is that it is love and loyalty to one another that get us through life. This is portrayed in brief moments that are powerful enough to leave a tear in your eye. The end of the movie, and of the "It" saga, will resonate with you for a long time.

I call "It" - both movies put together - one of the greatest achievements in horror history, in addition to being humanistic and beautiful. Gigantic kudos to director Muschietti and his team.

"It : Chapter Two"" is a must see, and because I spent more time describing the movie than I thought I would, I must now postpone the other stuff I was gonna add about the movies I've watched in the past two weeks, and the books I've been reading. But I'll catch you up, so don't worry. I am off work tomorrow, too, and for the next several days.

See you in the morning. Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)