Errata is a web journal written by Robert Davis who has neither spent a night in a ghost town nor pulled a turnip from the earth. He doesn't even know if turnips grow in the ground. Perhaps on trees, like candy corn. Therefore, Errata is a non-commercial project.

Observation #1: It may be appropriate, when leaving a movie theater, to say "mysterious."

Observation #2: It may be appropriate, when leaving a movie theater, to say "mysterious" at the top of your lungs. Bring your eyebrows together before you say it. Effective!

Observation #3: Same for books. Even at libraries.

There is a prize for people who correctly guess the thing about Metropolis, Nevada.

Except where the text specifically states otherwise, Errata's vagaries are indicated vaguely and its authors are indistinct in the traditional way of the Internet, except where the authors lay claim to their work. In some cases Robert Davis lays claim to work that is not his own but has been abandoned like so many ghost towns. Except where held presently, fistfuls of dirt are suspended via dispersal, or dispersed via suspension (in the air), and thus their dissolution is their transcendence, or their transcendence is their dissolution. And yet our eyes tear, and our vision is impaired, demonstrating for the umpteenth time that one entity's gain is another's fit of sneezes. Except where indicated, storms shall outlive the clay upon which they rain, unless storms are improperly delimited by their clouds, which dissolve, rather than by their inevitable return. Thus the clay loses, unless the clay is said to own the storm, to use it to make itself heavy, to make itself cling to white garments, refuse dispersal, cake upon the facades of abandoned buildings, and sit like Man [sic] upon the earth where it is pelted by a storm that it owns. In which case the clay still loses, if you ask us.

Some of the above is legally binding and should be considered a mental contract between Errata and those upon whom it acts. The bit about the prize should be considered an overstatement insofar as prizes differ from dirt and prize dispersal differs from dirt dispersal. Please recall that ownership is a weight and, therefore, hope that you do not win the prize.

One day Errata or its representatives will call upon you for a favor. It is expected that you will hop-to without delay.

You may contact Robert Davis by email unless it's about the rock that was thrown in anger. The rock is more properly called a clod. Why do you continue to raise the topic?

25 August 2003

28 Days Later...

2002, UK

director: Danny Boyle

Fast editing is popular these days among movies that are trying to be energetic or scary, but they often seem to be using a barrage of images to make up for a lack of those qualities. The fast editing of 28 Days Later... by contrast is used for streamlined storytelling. Director Danny Boyle uses quick visuals to set up the premise in a matter of minutes without robbing the story of any of its mystery. The movie is more eerie than scary, but its somber mood covers up the basic zombie movie at its core. It's far too serious to have zombies that say "Brains, brains." Instead, they move in herky-jerky style, as if they were edited from stills. Their eyes bulge and they vomit blood, but if you blink you'll miss them. The people running from the zombies end up in a military compound that they hope will be their salvation, but it turns out to be run by Tyler Durden and Col. Kurtz. Most of the good stuff in the movie is in the first third, and the story doesn't so much veer off track as gradually drift. It's shot on harsh digital video, but it makes good use of digital effects to create a spooky London without any people. The alternate ending that plays after the closing credits is a bit of a let-down. You can probably imagine your own third ending that's more satisfying than either of the ones on the screen.

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