BAD BLOOD

Why is it that the newer a vampire movie is, the more it seems to suck?

We’re still thinking about Halloween around here, and no Halloween is complete without vampires. Thanks to Hollywood, every generation gets its own sexy vampire movies, and each group of offerings inevitably gets worse. Which means whatever we look back at seems better and better when compared with the present dreck. Such is the case with 1987’s The Lost Boys and Near Dark. The former featured beautifully vacuous bloodsuckers that could have gone clubbing on Melrose Avenue and fit right in, whereas Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark was violent, grimy and loaded with desolate cool. But neither film was completely successful. Lost Boys was occasionally funny, but dismayingly lightweight and never scary. Near Dark went full bore on gore and its vampires were truly dangerous, but the film was damaged by internal logic that came totally undone. Near Dark is the superior flick, in our view, because its style is impossible to resist, but frankly both movies look like masterpieces next to the new vampire franchise Twilight. We recommend going back and watching both The Lost Boys and Near Dark. We did and we realized we never knew how good we had it.

The Lost Boys, Near Dark, Twilight, Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric, Kathryn Bigelow, poster art, cinema, movie review

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

February 18

1954—First Church of Scientology Established

The first Scientology church, based on the writings of science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, is established in Los Angeles, California. Since then, the city has become home to the largest concentration of Scientologists in the world, and its ranks include high-profile adherents such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

February 17

1933—Blaine Act Passes

The Blaine Act, a congressional bill sponsored by Wisconsin senator John J. Blaine, is passed by the U.S. Senate and officially repeals the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, aka the Volstead Act, aka Prohibition. The repeal is formally adopted as the 21st Amendment to the Constitution on December 5, 1933.

February 17

1947—Voice of America Begins Broadcasting into U.S.S.R.

The state radio channel known as Voice of America and controlled by the U.S. State Department, begins broadcasting into the Soviet Union in Russian with the intent of countering Soviet radio programming directed against American leaders and policies. The Soviet Union responds by initiating electronic jamming of VOA broadcasts.

February 16

1937—Carothers Patents Nylon

Wallace H. Carothers, an American chemist, inventor and the leader of organic chemistry at DuPont Corporation, receives a patent for a silk substitute fabric called nylon. Carothers was a depressive who for years carried a cyanide capsule on a watch chain in case he wanted to commit suicide, but his genius helped produce other polymers such as neoprene and polyester. He eventually did take cyanideâ€”not in pill form, but dissolved in lemon juiceâ€”resulting in his death in late 1937.

February 15

1933—Franklin Roosevelt Survives Assassination Attempt

In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to shoot President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but is restrained by a crowd and, in the course of firing five wild shots, hits five people, including Chicago, Illinois Mayor Anton J. Cermak, who dies of his wounds three weeks later. Zangara is quickly tried and sentenced to eighty years in jail for attempted murder, but is later convicted of murder when Cermak dies. Zangara is sentenced to death and executed in Florida’s electric chair.