Liebster Award

Michele, of The Girl Who Loves Horror, handed me another award a little while back--sorry for not getting around to this post until now, Michele!

So this one, like the other, has a few requirements:

Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
Answer the questions the tagger has set for you.
Create 11 questions for the people you have tagged to answer.
Choose 11 people and link them in your post.
Go to their page and tell them.
No tag backs.

To be honest, I don't read 11 different blogs--at least that I think would do anything with the award--and I already called out most of the ones I would call out in my earlier award post (though I will add Ryan Macklin's awesome blog about RPGs to that list). I also don't have 11 interesting things to tell about myself. :-P So, I'm just going to accept the award and answer Michele's more specific questions.

How did you come up with the name for your blog and are you still happy with it now?

I was writing, at the time, a blog entirely about character/quest creation in video games...and "Creative Gamer" was, if I recall, taken (admittedly by a very old blog that I don't think was active anymore), so I went with Gaming Creatively. Honestly...no, I'm not happy with it. It's ironically not that creative, and I've somewhat expanded my scope beyond the initial posts so it doesn't fully apply anymore. :-P

You decide on where you're going to go for a 3 week vacation by throwing a dart on a map. Where do you hope the dart doesn't land?

Anyplace that would unquestionably require me to fly. Beyond that, anyplace that would be particularly dangerous. Beyond that...probably just Antarctica. I'm a real history buff so I can find something interesting to do for three weeks almost anywhere that has an actual civilization. O_O

Can you trill, or "roll your r's"?

Not very well. One thing that's always stopped me from considering trying to get into voice acting, despite having an interest in it, is that I'm awful at accents in general.

What is your favorite breakfast food?

Depends. I don't actually eat breakfast much...if you're asking about what food I might actually eat for breakfast, probably a bowl of cereal and milk--mixed Raisin Bran and Frosted Flakes, probably with some Froot Loops. That's what I usually get at hotels. If you're talking about food that is technically "breakfast food" but that I tend to eat at other times...pecan pancakes with syrup. I love pecan pancakes, and I really love maple syrup, and both of them would be horrendously bad to have if I want to keep losing weight but now I really, really want them. O_O

What celebrity of the same sex do you think is totally hot?

Chris Hemsworth (Thor).

Have you ever had a horror-movie related dream? If so (and if you can remember), describe!

Not one related to a horror movie, but I had a rather horrible dream after playing the game Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. I dreamed that the lead villain, a Roman centurion turned into a lich, had infested me with some magical curse that was slowly causing me to be devoured by maggots. That dream is why, despite the fact that I consider that game one of the best ever made and very much love the story, I will never ever ever play it again. O_O

I'm getting my new Poltergeist movie poster framed and I have limited wall space. Which poster should I take down to make room for the new one: Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Resident Evil, The Evil Dead, or Saw?

Saw. I can't stand those films.

What was Robert DeNiro's best movie role?

Holy crap, how could I pick? Robert DeNiro is one of the best actors in the world. He's a great comic actor, he's a great serious actor...he has an exceptional understanding of how to portray a character and how to be tough but still have some vulnerability...there's no way I can choose. O_O It doesn't help that to be honest there's a number of films of his widely regarded as masterpieces that I actually haven't seen, so anything I pick here would unquestionably be outclassed by something else. :-P

Do you think children should be allowed to watch horror movies and why?

I think children should be allowed to watch horror movies their parents--thinking things through clearly--regard as appropriate. I'm unquestionably against censorship and don't think the government should step in to say what's appropriate for a kid to watch...but I think the parents need to be responsible about what they allow their kid to see. There are some things that are way, way too intense for a child and as a parent, you need to know what your kid is watching and make an honest evaluation of whether that's appropriate. I think there are certainly horror films I wouldn't mind my kid seeing if I had one, but the more scary content and especially the more gore there is, the older the kid would have to be before I let him watch it. I wouldn't want to give a kid nightmares.

What is the most visually stunning film you have ever seen?

Guh. This is like the DeNiro question...there's so many films that do amazing things visually. I love the recent The Adventures of Tintin, which does a terrific job of using CG to represent an art style somewhere between reality and Herge's original art. Wonderful. I was also seriously impressed by Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, which featured astoundingly realistic characters (and honestly, I'm one of the few who rather liked the film as well--I think it's one of those that gets a bad rap). The Matrix films feature incredible visuals and blend Hong Kong martial arts influence with modern effects and some more openly superhero influences. Jet Li's Hero features a brilliant use of color that has to be seen to be believed. Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke also features an outstanding world design with some thrilling creatures and one heck of an ending battle. The Lord of the Rings films directed by Peter Jackson are just amazing in every way, and feature flat-out amazing representations of Tolkien's wondrous creatures and locations, and did terrific work in portraying some truly massive battles, besides being some of the greatest films ever made. If we get into TV shows, Eureka often featured some very creative visual concepts (particularly in the "computer world" plot in the final season) and the anime Dusk Maiden of Amnesia shows off some stunningly beautiful color choices that really emphasize the supernatural elements of the story. As with so many things, I think it depends what you're actually looking for.