"Fright Night" gets a makeover...

From the minute the reboot was announced, most were a bit taken aback. A reboot for the 1985 classic “Fright Night” starring Chris Sarandon and Roddy McDowell, really? But stranger things have happened. I mean for god sakes, the reboot of “Conan the Barbarian” is also in theaters this weekend too.
In general, the new movie is a stylized update of the original, which believe me if you have tried to go back and watch the original, it NEEDED it. Not a movie that held up well to the test of time. A few things have changed and the changes make sense. This time around the story moves from small town to Las Vegas, a town where blacking out ones windows and being nocturnal are completely normal. Plus, add to the fact that the housing market is in ruins, which this is addressed in the movie, and leaves plenty of vacant homes and families moving on.

One of the other major updates to the story is the changing of the character of Peter Vincent. In the original, Roddy McDowell played the former actor turned late night horror movie host, and the updated version gives us David Tennant, better known to most as the 10th Doctor on the British television show “Doctor Who”, and this time Peter Vincent is the stylized Vegas act called “Fright Night” which is akin to a Criss Angel type of show. And Tennant is brilliant as the drunken, cowardly jackass who eventually comes to the aid of the story’s main hero, Charlie Brewster.
Charlie, played by Anton Yelchin (also a reboot veteran since starring in “Star Trek” last year) as the teen trying desperately to leave behind the geeky image of his past. Imogene Poots plays Charlie’s hottie girlfriend Amy and Charlie’s mom is played by Toni Collette, who really doesn’t get a lot of screen time. Then again, the mom wasn’t really a major character in the first one either.
And that brings us to Jerry. Yes, the vampire next door, Jerry. A name that is made fun of several times and really it was always part of the joke. Colin Farrell was perfect. Dark, devious, sexy, gorgeous, brooding, violent and yet has excellent comedic timing for the funny moments in the script
And yes, the comedy of the first movie still stays put. It embraces what it was, a slasher horror flick, gratuitous gore, and quirky humor. Plus if you do remember the original, there’s a cameo in it that will have you laughing your ass off.
So, while there are movies that have no business being remade (like “The Crow”….can someone stop that one before it’s made, PLEASE?) this one is a refreshing update and a fun ride.
And yes, it looks like they did embrace the 3D aspect of the film, but we saw it in 2D, because, it really doesn’t change much. In short, great performances from the entire cast and a really awesome vampire movie that didn’t come close to the flaming pile of poo that I was worried it may turn into.

"Just another reason looking for the next because..."

“Just another has been wishing that she never was.” Okay, so that’s simply a lyric from a Birthday Massacre song that was written about Elizabeth Short, but believe me there are some days those lines ring so true to me.

Okay, so for a little back story, I didn’t have the easiest childhood, both parents are now deceased and the only sibling is an adopted brother who blames the wreckage of his alcoholic life on the fact that Mom and Dad had me and ruined his life. But I digress. I don’t regret the way I was raised, my parents did their best, but you don’t come through that life without being a bit f**cked up around the edges.

Now keep in mind as a kid, I was a painfully shy kid. Most barely remember me, and those who have known me long enough wonder what the hell happened to me. As I made it through high school I began to take an interest in writing, and shortly after high school I finally had the guts to audition for my first show.

I spent the better part of my life trying to hide, reading books, keeping to myself and such, but now I found that it was much easier to hide in plain sight, on a stage, with an audience. Never in my life did I think that I could pull that off, but not only did I (sometimes in little more than underwear, earning me the runner up title “bimbo of the ‘belt” Jenny was the first…it was term of endearment for us both, I SWEAR), and I also got some pretty good reviews from the press. But more importantly for me, I met a wonderful and motley crew of friends and discovered a major part of myself. I discovered that one of the best ways to hide in plain sight was to become someone else.

No, I am not talking about identity theft or something like that, but if you ever ready the Kurt Vonnegut short story, “Who Am I This Time”, you know what I am talking about. What I am speaking of is the ability to become someone other than you for a few hours, may sound weird, but it’s oddly relaxing. I stayed involved for several years when I managed to stumble my way into a job at a radio station on air.

And so ended the acting a career of Christina Frans, and so came the birth of the radio dj known as Christina Cooper. First starting as a side kick on the Tainted 80’s on 93.3 The Point, then onto a few overnight/early am voice tracking shifts and even made it through a format change from Hot A/C to Alternative Rock and K-Rock 93.3 (for those Omaha folks keeping track, that was second coming of K-rock, not ‘Ranch Bowl’ K-Rock). I spent the better part of my mid to late 20’s throwing everything I had at my career, except the inevitable moving to another city to further it.

See, when you have a raging alcoholic for a sibling, who while is 10 years your senior, mentally he’s about 15 years my junior and a mother who while didn’t need constant care, did need a sober kid to take care of her sometimes. And then there was me, I may use my Mother’s paralysis as an excuse, but really my panic and fear kept me here in Omaha, too frightened to spread my wings and fly, too frightened to be alone.

So, I pushed many things aside, relationships for one, for many years and before I knew it I was on a collision course with the big 3-0, which is a horridly dismal and frightening number until it’s in your review mirror and you realize the REALLY scary numbers are still ahead, but enough about that, back to approaching 30, and being alone. Well I finally gave in, met a guy who at first was nice, then not so much, then a real drunken asshole who was starting to remind me of a certain sibling, and that’s what told me it was time to leave.

I would have thought that would have been the most terrible time in my life leaving a relationship of almost five years behind, but instead it was one of the greatest. To feel free, to feel in control, to feel truly independent and to love what I did for a living and have a beautiful sanctuary of an apartment to show for it. But, somehow….some way, I let that one slip by. I regret that I have now, but we all have regrets don’t we?

After twelve years in radio, I had made it to a very cushy position. Working five or six hours a day, voice tracking for some 45 stations across the country and making a very good living at it, and then the bottom fell out. First, we knew the company would be moving to Denver, and I knew that I didn’t want to live there for my own reasons, and then managed to get laid off in one of the many “waves” of downsizing prior to the move.

You’d think with a resume that has over twelve years of experience on it another radio job would be easy to find, yeah….not so much. See the fun thing is, while Sirius and XM didn’t kill the radio game, it was companies like the one I used to work for and the rise of the internet and personal music devices that have slayed the job market I once called home. So, everyone is running a skeleton crew, a hodgepodge of part time employees and a few lucky people still managing full time employment and most everyone is on a hiring freeze with no end in sight.

So, I don’t get paid to be creative at work anymore, I don’t have the theater as an outlet anymore and am searching for a new outlet. A friend suggested a blog, so here I am, pouring out my life to random strangers on the internet.

Hopefully you enjoy it, or it may bore you. Either way, I guess it’s something to keep me busy.