I am just a bit too young to have watched "Dark Shadows" on TV. Savannah and I watched a few episodes on Netflix and decided we'd check out the Tim Burton-directed flick over the holiday weekend.

I have a tendency to laugh very loudly at things I think are funny, even when the rest of the audience doesn't. I laughed quite a bit. I hesitate to call "Dark Shadows" a comedy, though. It's funny--and funny on purpose, unlike what I've seen and heard of the gothic soap opera that spawned it--but just being funny doesn't mean your movie is a comedy. And just because your movie has vampires, witches, werewolves, and ghosts doesn't mean it's a horror movie.

So what, exactly, is "Dark Shadows"?  I refuse to use the label "gothic-lite." The phrase sickens me. But I can't think of anything else. The majority of Burton's films could fall under that category. So maybe I should bite the bullet and accept the label. Or maybe it is sufficient to say. "Tim Burton makes this kind of movie," and move on.

There is a lot to like in this movie and my wife and I are proof that you don't have to have been in love with the series to enjoy it. Johnny Depp's Barnabas Collins is not unlike many of his other characters: a quirky gentleman out of his time/place. He's funny but not cheesy. He's debonair but a vicious killer. The real gems, however, are in the cast around him.

This is the part where things get weird for me. Playing 15-year-old Caroline, Chloe Grace Moretz shines in her limited screen time. She radiates teen angst and come-hither jailbait hotness. She's perfectly cast as daughter to Michelle Pfieffer's Elizabeth. If Moretz ages half as well and Pfieffer, she's going to have another 30 years or more of A-list acting.

There isn't a weak point in the cast, actually. Everyone does his or her job, even Johnny Lee Miller.

My favorites bits of the film were the glass/egg crackling effect used as the witch Angelique meets her demise, a joke about McDonald's being the devil and a performance by Alice Cooper. 

Without giving it away, the last shot of the film screams for a sequel. Burton has only directed one sequel ("Batman Returns"), so it would be an anomaly for him to do another "Dark Shadows." Who knows? If the box office numbers allow for it, don't be surprised if it happens.

Props to Seth Grahame-Smith, too. He wrote the screenplay and still has the Burton-produced adaptation of "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" coming out this summer.

Threat level: ORANGE. It's a good time. Take a date.

"Dark Shadows," rated PG-13 is in theaters now.

Report: Miami officer shoots, kills naked attacker
MIAMI (AP) — Miami police and witnesses say that an officer on Saturday fatally shot a naked man who was chewing on the face of another man on a downtown causeway off-ramp.
The Miami Herald reports (http://hrld.us/KiMC2Y ) that gunshots were heard at about 2 p.m. on the MacArthur Causeway off-ramp, which is near the newspaper’s offices. Witnesses said that a woman saw two men fighting and flagged down a police officer, who came upon a naked man mauling the other man. The newspaper quoted witnesses as saying that the officer ordered the naked man to back away, and when he ignored the demand, the officer shot him. Witnesses said that the naked man continued his attack after being shot once, and the officer then shot him several more times.
Police said the other man was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital Ryder Trauma Center, reportedly for treatment of critical injuries.
The police department confirmed in a news release that there was an officer-related shooting, but did not include many details provided by witnesses to the newspaper.
A police spokesman couldn’t be reached for comment by The Associated Press on Saturday evening.
The police news release said the identities of the two men were not known.
A photograph posted on The Herald’s website shows an officer standing watch on the ramp next to two police cruisers, with a body lying on a pedestrian walkway. Police requested the newspaper’s video surveillance tapes.
The shooting and investigation tied up causeway traffic as crowds were arriving at South Beach for an annual hip-hop festival.
Javier Ortiz, a spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police in Miami, said that based on information he’s received, the officer who fired the shots “is a hero and saved a life.”

I've been so busy with work and classes that I haven't done much here this month. I'm sorry.

Let me make it up to you, OK?

Tonight, 7 p.m., Friday, May 18 at the SURC Ballroom on the campus of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Wash., the one and only MAX BROOKS will be speaking.

For those of you in my local area, it'll cost you $5 to see him. Unless you are a CWU student (like me!), then it is free.

http://www.cwu.edu/max-brooks-author-world-war-z

For those of you not in the local area, I'm trying to get a few minutes with the man and I will bring that to you. If I can't get the time, I'll get you some photos and a wrap-up of his talk.

Deal?

June will be better, I promise. I'm taking online courses and Warning Signs will celebrate its first anniversary.

Warning Signs headquarters will be hosting a "Ghostbusters" party for a few select friends Monday night. If you've been reading, you'll know how much I LOVE this movie (and the sequel, although not as much).

The purpose of the party, however, is the true highlight. We'll be hosting a young friend who HAS NEVER SEEN GHOSTBUSTERS. It's not entirely her fault. She celebrated her 23rd birthday last week. She wasn't even alive when the movie came out in 1984. (This is also my wife's excuse for having never seen "E.T." but only so much slack can be given.)

If I remember to go grocery shopping, I'm going to make a batch of Ecto Cooler. I should get some marshmallows, too.

My question for you, friends, is what else do we need for a "Ghostbusters" party? Twinkies? A cat and dog couple? Best ideas get an imaginary Crunch bar from yours truly.