One of the things about genre studies is the difficulty of defining your less obvious genres because of the degree of subjectivity. I'd say that horror definitely needs a touch of that great German word, "unheimlich", which translates as something like eerie, sinister, uncanny.

To an extent, "The Arrival of the Train..." would have qualified for contemporary audiences, but it's still a smart-alec choice.

People's reaction to the film was already being parodied just a couple of years later, so I guess that makes "The Countryman and the Cinematograph" the 1900s equivalent of "Scary Movie":

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Bob and I went to Twilight last night with a theatre full of girls and their moms and long-suffering boyfriends and we both enjoyed the experience. The movie is not terrible, and the audience made it fun -- there was an audible sound of one girl hitting puberty when Tyler Lautner took off his shirt for the first time -- like a strangled shriek. (The whole audience tittered in appreciative relief when she did that.) But I can't really complain about the ridiculousness of having Lautner unnecessarily shirtless throughout the movie.

I just saw Edward Scissorhands for the first time (I know, I know). I loved it.

But I can't really complain about the ridiculousness of having Lautner unnecessarily shirtless throughout the movie.

IIRC he's unnecessarily shirtless through much of the book as well.

Finally got around to Men Who Stare At Goats last night - what a giant steaming pile of horseshit.

I tried my best to separate it from the book, but turning the journalist into a believer at the end? WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK, MOVIE???!?!!!! I can't believe Jon Ronson is being so polite about this film in interviews. It's just so fucking insulting.

My in-laws who hadn't read any of Ronson's stuff were also not impressed, but they weren't actively angry at it like I was.

[edit: Jon Ronson, not Ron Jonson.]

From Yahoo News: Top 10 movie flops of the decade

Some I'd forgotten about, and some I've never heard of. There was a 2007 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers?

here's a question: how many of those top 10 movies have y'all seen?

My number: 0

I saw part of Battlefield Earth on cable, but it doesn't count, as it was an accident.

So my number is 0 as well (although I did want to see Grindhouse - maybe I still will).

I enjoyed Grindhouse. Never saw any of the rest. Actually I've seen bits of Catwoman. It was that bad.

Has anyone seen "The Cove?" It is about the politics (and history) of dolphin slaughter.

I'm watching it now and it isn't graphic at all (so far) and I'm about 20-30 minutes and I am horrified - only by the statistics presented by the people on screen. What a crime this is. I just can't get over it.