I have been so extremely excited about this release since it was first announced back in the summer and the time has finally come. I’ve seen a few of the other MST3K boxes released so upon review, it ocurred to me that I wasn’t entirely sure why I was so excited about this release. The only thing that really sets this apart from, say, Swamp Diamonds/Giant Gila Monster/Teenage Strangler is that it features clips of the San Diego Comic Con panel and a documentary. There’s also a cheesy figurine of Crow if you’re into that sort of thing. But I digress.
This set takes me back to a stranger time in my life. Those fresh post-high school years marked by a brief but disastrous experience in the sound recording program at UMASS Lowell. Where my chief occupation was fishing stuck tokens out of Skee Ball machines and a long relationship came to a bitter, acrimonious end. Mystery Science Theater 3000 marked the one shinging point in my day where I could pretty much forget about all that shit and have a much needed laugh and a beer. Sweet, sweet stolen beer.
Sometimes I bring you news that I so badly wish weren’t true (and this still might not be), but rest assured, there isn’t a chance in hell that this show would ever be picked up. Not even by Sci-Fi. Bloody Disgusting reports that Transition Entertainment is shooting a pilot for a show with the hefty and tentative title of Herbert West: Re-Animator The Series which portrays Jeffrey Combs’ iconic role as the titular Herbert West as “a teenage Dr. Frankenstein for the new millenium”. Their words, not mine. The pilot script is being written by Meredith Red and William Butler, the latter of whom is credited with the Return of the Living Dead 4 & 5 and the Gingerdead Man, so you know it will be good.
Even though Bloody Disgusting is an otherwise reputable outfit for news, they’re not above being duped and this bit of news comes from an unnamed reader who may or may not have some kind of history as a trusted source with them. Until I see an official press release, I’m calling bullshit because I can’t conceive a show like this without the Yuzna/Gordon touch and plotting late adolescence romance amidst morbid humor, the walking dead and dismemberment just doesn’t seem to be the kind of mix to make a TV show out of.
What you see to the left there is an actual vampire slaying kit, recently sold at Auction through Stevens at the estate auction for Jimmy Pippen noted designer and antique dealer. The kit fetched a handsome $14,850. I’d kill to know what the background of an item like this is. Who made it? Who bought it? Where was it sold? Experts place its creation somewhere in the early 1800’s while experts for Sotheby’s suggest that similar items sold through their auctions were made in the early 1900’s and sold as mementos to travelers in Eastern Europe around that time. A sort of cash-in on the popularity of Bram Stoker’s novel, ‘Dracula’.
Here’s a genuinely weird twist on the usually neglected state of horror movies, particularly zombie flicks. The J. Michael Straczynski script for Brad Pitt’s Plan B production company has been in limbo for some time and I was pretty certain that this movie would never be made. Looks like I was wrong.
Variety reports that the adaptation of Max Brooks’ stellar “oral history” of a global zombie outbreak has signed a director. A good one, at that. Marc Forster, director of Finding Neverland, Monster’s Ball and most recently, the latest Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, has been signed to direct.
It’s important that World War Z get a quality production crew behind it. Where the zombie movies of the last decade have been lacking the impact of the films from the height of the concept, Zombie fiction has been taking flight, going in unique directions that manage to avoid the gun fantasy that most contemporary zombie movies become. If you haven’t read it, you really should at this point. World War Z is a hybrid between your typical novel and a short story anthology. One world, one continuity, short stories taking place in that continuity. It’s an anthology of survivor tales from all over the world as Zombies become a real problem. It’s a remarkably grim and straight faced protrayal of the end of the world.
Where before I was pretty tired of zombie movies, I’m pretty pumped about this news. If there is one adaptation I want to see and see done right, it’s this baby.
Hollywood, we need to talk. I know that you’re having difficulties in the creativity department lately what with all these comic book adaptations and remakes of old horror movies, but this has got to stop. You’ve gone too far this time. Consider this your intervention.
I’m not at all kidding when I report to you that Ridley Scott of Scott brothers fame, the better Scott brother, director of Blade Runner (i.e. the coolest sci fi movie ever) has been signed to direct a big-screen adaptation of Monopoly. Yes, that Monopoly. The one with the dog and the boot vying for real estate supremacy in Atlantic City. Your favorite and mine, popularized by the once mighty Parker Brothers. But wait, this gets even weirder. Apparently, Scott is looking to give it:
an eye toward giving it a futuristic sheen along the lines of his iconic “Blade Runner.”
But here’s the best part. This says it all.
“Monopoly” marks the latest Hasbro property to look to pass go and head to the big screen. Board games and branded properties have become more attractive as studios look to mitigate risk by finding built-in audiences.
Universal is working with Hasbro on several projects as part of a long-term development deal. Platinum Dunes is producing its feature adaptation of “Ouija Board,” while the maritime classic “Battleship” is also in development. Elsewhere at Hasbro, Paramount this summer is set to release Stephen Sommers’ feature based on its “G.I. Joe” character. And “Trivial Pursuit: America Plays” is now airing as a syndicated television program.
Built in audiences. Adaptations of board games. Minimizing risk at the box office by offering people a structured narrative by way of an open ended board game with no real story to tell. Thanks, Hollywood. You really suck.
I’m not into comics like I used to be. As I got older, the medium failed to mature with me in a mainstream sense and I wound up leaving most of my old favorite titles behind. Briefly at the end of the 90’s, I experienced a period of renewed interest in the capes books again thanks to people like Grant Morrison being involved but I fell out again, mostly because those god damn things cost so much these days. I still have a few contemporary favorites but the medium’s most revolutionary creators are still at the top of my list with books that they published in the 80’s. Among them, Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore.
For my money, Alan Moore is one of the most fascinating minds in the entire world and if I could spend a half hour picking his brain and analyzing the timeless qualities of his comics, even the ones deeply rooted in British domestic policy in the 1980’s, I could then die happy. He’s the prototype of the contemporary insane British comic book personality exemplified by people today such as Warren Ellis and the aforementioned Grant Morrison. Even his most mainstream books were on the edge, flirting with seriously subversive ideas about what constitutes a hero in these modern times. But there’s a lot more to Moore, ahem, than you might think and this excellent documentary lets the enigmatic writer tell you all about it in his own words.
Back in the day, during the advent of the internet message board, I once had the balls to jump into a culty horror discussion about “director” Jess Franco and declare the man a hack and some kind of grifter. Those who didn’t outright flame me out of the forum calmly explained that the man has scores of movies under his belt and I just hadn’t seen the right ones. Well here it is 14 years later and I’m still looking for the right movie. After all these years, the only thing I can definitively say about the films of Jess Franco is that I am in favor of Lina Romay over Soledad Miranda as controversial as that may be among fans of euro-trash, but I think the real issue is that I’ve never really been a fan of trashy sexploitation movies. I just don’t get the appeal. As far as I’m concerned, the only guy who could ever really cross soft-porn and the genres and come out with a quality product is Jean Rollin and that’s being generous.
Severin recently released two of Franco’s flicks, formerly occupying the UK Video Nasties list and in the spirit of second chances, I decided to give both a fair shake and some press on Cinema Suicide. My mind still hasn’t changed about Franco but I’m hoping that one of these days, I’ll find that movie that the dudes on that message board talked about. Maybe I need to see Sadomania.
Let me tell you something. We love Rhode Island filmmakers up in the place and when writer/director Tony Nunes hit me up with the link to his Zombie Allegiance trailer, all he had to do was drop the name Richard Griffin, who is director of photography on this flick to generate a little Cinema Suicide interest. Back when we first started covering Beyond The Dunwich Horror, news came down that Griffin was contributing to this piece as well, a post-nuke zombie movie with the proper dose of Romero style social criticism.
Every indie filmmaker is making a zombie movie these days, it’s the easiest thing to do on no cash and the fanboys come running at the mere mention of the walking dead but few indies even attempt the informed social approach that Romero pioneered. So color me interested in Nunes’ flick.
The film takes place in a post nuclear WWIII America, where
those who were not killed in the attacks, were turned to zombies by a second biological attack. The world is mostly dead, and those who survived are either vigilantes, or desperate survivalists. One such group of survivalists find themselves defending their lives from much more than zombies and vigilantes, when strange disappearances start to occur. Religion, politics, and the fundamental struggle of right and wrong construct a backdrop to what is much more than a zombie/slasher flick, but a true account of American values. Zombie Allegiance is a unique take on what George Romero, and George Miller have constructed as a bleak future. In a wasteland of death and decay, selfish pride is the greatest villain of all.
Look, I know some of you reading this are in Israel and The UK but for those of you reading this in the United States, get off your ass and get out to the polls. Vote. Now. It is absolutely vital that you do this. Not registered? Check your local laws and see how it goes down but right here in New Hampshire you can just show up, register and then get in line to cast your vote.
And for the record, Cinema Suicide wholeheartedly endorses Senator Barack Obama for president. I’ve already cast my vote this morning. Now it’s your turn.
Also, if you’re voting in the state of California: Vote NO on Proposition 8.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program of depravity.
This is some sad news to report but a unique opportunity to send a heartfelt goodbye to a legend of the genre. If you’re someone like me, you run a website, you have a collection, you obsessively catalog data about horror, fantasy and science fiction, then you owe something to Forrest J. Ackerman. For generations, Ackerman has been writing and archiving the details of our genre’s achievements. From 1958 into the 80’s he published the template for the horror fan magazine, Famous Monsters of Filmland. He maintains his now scaled-down Ackermansion, filled with his amazing collection of science fiction memorabilia. The man is a walking encyclopedia of all things sci-fi, horror and fantasy, the original insider… and he’s about to pass on.
Uncle Forry has been dealing with health issues for many years and now, and at the age of 91, time is running out. But you have a chance to express your appreciation. I snatched this off of Ain’t It Cool News this morning, so spread the word and drop Uncle Forry a line. Give him a proper send-off.
I talked to Joe Moe, Forry’s caregiver and best friend. He told me to spread the word about Forry. Forry is leaving us quickly. If youre going to write or call, do it now before it’s too late. He’s in good spirits and not in any pain or taking any meds. He did not have any heart attack or stroke. He is home resting comfortably, but his body is starting to shut down and he’s sleeping alot now, hes very weak.
Even if you do what I did, just write “I love you” on a piece of paper and mail it, please do something if he touched your life in some way…………….joey OBrien
FORREST J ACKERMAN
4511 Russell Avenue
Los Angeles, CA
90027
Think back to when you were a kid and you discovered horror movies. How old were you? What was your first exposure to the genre? According to my parents, I was a thrill-junkie from day one, at four years old pining for roller coasters and loud music but a year later I would see something that captured my imagination like nothing else. My dad took me to see The Empire Strikes Back at a theater in Binghamton, New York and at the same theater, Friday the 13th was still playing. He didn’t take me to see the movie but the poster was compelling and fascinated me. I couldn’t read and my dad only told me that I didn’t need to know about it so I knew nothing about the movie but you’ve seen that poster. It speaks volumes. It probably explains my undying devotion to that tired franchise. Needless to say that come hell or high water I was determined to see Friday the 13th, whatever it was. A couple of years later we would move from New York to Marblehead, Massachusetts, a town without cable and only a handful of UHF TV stations, all of whom ran a robust menu of cheap exploitation movies and sitcom reruns. WLVI, now a CW affiliate, was my particular favorite due in part to their saturday afternoon Creature Double Feature. By the time I caught up to it, the show was on last legs having been on the air since the 70’s and facing ratings in decline but it was an important stepping stone for me. Their rotation of movies prominently featured three of my enduring favorite production houses, Hammer Films, Toho and American International Pictures, all of whom are represented on the following list.
I bring this to your attention for a couple of reasons. Kids love this stuff and while I’m sure that few of these movies will hold their attention for lack of Hannah Montana or the cast of High School Musical, the cool kids are going to get it and with luck, will launch them on a journey into a rich genre of cheap thrills and grossly under appreciated genius. The other reason is that horror movies directed at kids are hardly horror movies at all. Typically, they’re goofy adventures without a real scare or hint of danger. Since they’re so heavily marketed, the dangerous scary stuff has to be kept to a minimum if parents are to approve and buy all the companion merchandise. Where’s the fun in that? The movies on this list are genuine horror movies. They were not necessarily made with kids in mind but are appropriate, at a parent’s discretion, for most children who want to get a taste of the real deal before they’re old enough to dive into the genre headfirst. So read on, the list begins after the jump.
Yeah, I know. It’s been nearly a week since I’ve posted anything up this piece and my favorite month of the year has practically blown by without me even knowing, but if you had any idea what kind of week this has been, you’d understand my grotesque excesses in slackage.
But here’s something fun. Today, Thursday the 30th, I’m going to be on New Hampshire Public Radio’s noon-time show, Word of Mouth talking about horror movies and a certain top ten list that will be posted a little later on here closer to the actual show’s broadcast, so keep an eye out. How’s this for achievement? Yesterday, the show featured, at length, Madeleine ‘freakin’ Albright and today they’re talking to me. How sweet is that?
So tune in if you’re local or drop by the NHPR website where you stream the show live as it airs. That’s Thursday, October 30th at 12:00 PM Eastern. I’m told my segment lands somewhere in the middle of the show.
The total wife, Nise and I love us some Ghost Hunters. We’ve been with these guys since the beginnings. Through their spotty broadcast schedules and their not terribly interesting foray into the rest of the world, Ghost Hunters International, we’ve been with them, squinting at way dark IR footage, straining to hear faint EVPs through cracks and pops in the digital audio. As a matter of fact, just last night we ventured out to the University of New Hampshire and sat among the other paranormal dorks to see Grant and Jason get down and lecture about the paranormal and their experience. It was a good time. Their chemistry is the real deal. It’s no wonder that they’re one of the biggest shows on Sci-Fi. They showed a lot of footage from the show and played some of the bigger EVPs from the show, so the real money came in the form of stuff from before their TV ghost hunting days, namely a clip of Grant getting slammed comically out of frame by a chain link fence gate swung by an unseen hand. It was hilarious. The clip of the night. We love these guys.
The Hollywood Reporter is, um, reporting that Sci-Fi still can’t get enough and that a new spinoff pilot is in the wings, getting ready to roll out, tentatively titled Ghost Hunters: College Edition. I’ve made my opinion of that other college themed paranormal show pretty well known in that I think that Ryan Buell is a fucking sensationalist asshole, so it’s nice to see that the paranormal TV yardstick is putting their hat in the ring to show everyone how it’s done.
One experienced investigator is to lead college students around the country, much like Ghost Hunters, checking out this haunt or that. You can expect nothing new except some new locations and what sounds like an almost entirely new cast of players. It’s probably a safe assumption that the show will fill in any gaps left by Ghost Hunters and International in order to keep the paranormal rotation going without end since the show is so incredibly affordable and massively popular. Through four seasons, it continues to grow in popularity and maintains its number two position in the network’s ratings after Sanctuary.
So the Friday trailer is running in front of Saw 5 tomorrow. But if you, like me, don’t really plan on taking in that flick and want to see what we can expect next year with this Friday the 13th business, here’s the trailer.
Quite frankly, of all the clips we’ve seen hit the intertrons, this is the weakest. The Comic Con footage, by way of camera phone was blurry and dark but violent as hell and a lot of fun. The Spike Scream Awards clip was like a stripped down version of the comic con footage and this one, the actual trailer, is little more than some b-roll of lakes and forest with that lunging Jason bit that was in all the other leaked clips. I know it’s still early and they’re trying to maintain the buzz until the release but give us some real meat, people.
The Muscles has been on hard times for years it would seem but he’s on reinvention road these days and I’ve been hearing about and dying to see JCVD since the first time I spotted it over at Twitch. Plot details play out like a foreign version of Being John Malkovich or My Name Is Bruce where this character, Jean Claude Van Damme is played by Jean Claude Van Damme and their on-screen and real life circumstances cross over quite a bit. He’s on skid row, burnt out, not the guy he used to be, suddenly thrust into a situation (a bank robbery) where he experiences this cathartic moment that separates the two parts of his personality, the real-life dude from the action hero movie star. It’s like existential crisis wrapped up in a kickboxer’s comeback film. Here’s the synopsis:
When the life of Jean-Claude Van Damme collides with the reality of a hold-up in Brussels, Belgium, suddenly the huge movie star turns into an ordinary guy, filled with fears, contradictions and hopes. How can he be up to the legend he has built? What can a film hero do when the gun pointed to his temple isn’t charged with blanks? JCVD finds himself at the turning point of his “hero” life.
Interested? I certainly am. If you live near any of these theaters you, too, can get a look and see what everyone at the film festivals have been talking about. Word out of Fantastic was that this seriously delivers.
11/7 : NYC , AMC’s Empire 25 & Angelika Film Center NYC
11/14 : Los Angeles, Landmark’s Nuart theatre
11/14: Irvine, Regal/Edwards University 6 - (Regalcinemas.com)
11/14: Cambridge , Landmark’s Kendall Theater
11/14: Washington D.C. Landmark’s E street cinema
11/14: Chicago - AMC Pipers Alley
11/14: SF , Landmark’s Bridge theatre
11/14: Berkeley, Ca., Landmark’s Shattuck
11/14: Philadelphia Ritz @ the Bourse, Landmark
11/14: Landmarks Detroit, Main Art
11/2: Palo Alta, Landmark’s Aquaris theatre
11/2: San Diego, Landmarks Hillcrest theatre
11/2: Seattle, Landmark’s Harvard Exit
11/21: Denver , Landmark’s Mayan Theater
11/21: Houston , Angelika film center
11/21: Austin , TX, Alamo draft house - (ww.drafthouse.com)
*11/21: Tentative Dallas , Angelika film center date must be confirmed (as of last night we just lost our Landmark Magnolia theatre date because they could not accomodate an open 11/21, run )
11/21: Plano, Tx - Angelika film center
11/21: Sacramento, the Crest theatre - Thecrestcinema.com
I don’t really know what the official status of FEARnet is as a cable network, I only know that I get it with the On Demand portion of my cable package and only recently have they been ramping up and becoming an actual genre force for cable where The Horror Channel originally intended to go. They’re not bad but their movie line up is still lacking in large places. This, however, is pretty good stuff.
The 66.6 Second Film Festival, hosted at their website by Powerman 5000 frontman (and Rob Zombie sibling) Spider, takes your favorite flicks (and some real horror movie dogs) and sums them up in 66.6 seconds. Already simplistic plots are oversimplified and the end result is often pretty funny, pretty much stripping bare just how crappy Friday the 13th Part 6 actually is. I’d give you a taste right here on the ol’ blog but it would seem that you can’t embed the player, so head over to their website and see all of them.
Zombies are the reason for the season, it would seem and today there is no shortage of cool zombie related shit for sale.
First up is this awesome wall decal up on Ebay. It measures 63″ high by 90″ wide and is available in a variety of colors to match whatever paint scheme you have going on in your particula steez.
You can also hook up with this Intramural Zombie Hunter shirt from Seibei. It sports custom name and number so that you can represent yourself in the intramural zombie hunting games and also allows you to customize the level of gore that gets splattered on it. Could this shirt possibly be any cooler? The answer is no. Buy one now for $24.
This footage looks a lot like the clip that leaked from the San Diego Comic Con a couple of months back without the sweet montage at the end. Of course, it looks a lot better and you get a good look at Jason.
I don’t typically cover the whole super hero thing up in here because it’s such a mainstream machine these days, but one of the last Capes books that I read and actually liked was Umbrella Academy, out on Dark Horse written by My Chemical Romance frontman, Gerard Way. Most Marvel and DC heroes only flirt with the true dark side, they stay comfortably in the black and white confines of their world where bad guys are clearly bad guys and good guys are always good guys even when they gnash their teeth and brood. Umbrella Academy didn’t seem to care about any of that and dove into the Alan Moore world of deeply flawed characters trying to do right while struggling with some seriously heavy character flaws. It was surprisingly well written by a guy from a freakin’ rock band (and a background in comics) and the art was great in that kind of modern comic strip style that you see creeping into comic books everywhere. It was genuinely good stuff.
Gerard Way was up in that Spike TV Scream 2008 awards show spilling the beans to just about anyone who would listen about Universal optioning the series for a feature film and the crew to drop the news was IESB who also reveal that Universal suggested Juno (a feature I wasn’t particularly feeling) pen, Diablo Cody and that Way is pushing for Children of Men/City of God director, Alfonso Cuaron as a possible director. Is any of this in stone? Are the wheels actually turning? According to io9, the answer is no. As a matter of fact, the option is out there but nothing is in writing. Way just seems to be really excited about the prospect and is going crazy on the press about it. Way has allegedly spoken with wardrobe consultant, Colleen Atwood (Sweeney Todd) about hooking up the Umbrella members with duds.
So Gerard Way sounds like he’s putting the cart before the horse on this matter, but I have high hopes that this series come to screen. It was the perfect length and efficiently told in a way that would suit theaters well.
Sad news on sunday. The disco godfather, human tornado, standup comic, blaxploitation legend and underground sensation, Rudy Ray Moore died from complications related to diabetes.
Moore is a man who needs no introduction. As Dolemite he was the flyest pimp the world had ever seen. A comic with a staggering degree of self-assurance and a man that I’m sure could rhyme any combination of words to craft genuinely obscene sex raps. I’m rather quite surprised that he was better known for Dolemite than he was Petey Wheatstraw, his flagship character, a real bad ass.
According to Moore, he developed his style by hanging out and listening to dudes sit around, drinking and talking some heavy shit about strings of women that they may or may not have actually nailed. There were many like hiim but none so perfect. Rudy will be missed.
I have been so extremely excited about this release since it was first announced back in the summer and the time has finally come. I’ve seen a few of the other MST3K boxes released so upon review, it ocurred to me that I wasn’t entirely sure why I was so excited about this release. The only thing that really sets this apart from, say, Swamp Diamonds/Giant Gila Monster/Teenage Strangler is that it features clips of the San Diego Comic Con panel and a documentary. There’s also a cheesy figurine of Crow if you’re into that sort of thing. But I digress.
Sometimes I bring you news that I so badly wish weren’t true (and this still might not be), but rest assured, there isn’t a chance in hell that this show would ever be picked up. Not even by Sci-Fi. 
Here’s a genuinely weird twist on the usually neglected state of horror movies, particularly zombie flicks. The J. Michael Straczynski script for Brad Pitt’s Plan B production company has been in limbo for some time and I was pretty certain that this movie would never be made. Looks like I was wrong.
Hollywood, we need to talk. I know that you’re having difficulties in the creativity department lately what with all these comic book adaptations and remakes of old horror movies, but this has got to stop. You’ve gone too far this time. Consider this your intervention.
I’m not into comics like I used to be. As I got older, the medium failed to mature with me in a mainstream sense and I wound up leaving most of my old favorite titles behind. Briefly at the end of the 90’s, I experienced a period of renewed interest in the capes books again thanks to people like Grant Morrison being involved but I fell out again, mostly because those god damn things cost so much these days. I still have a few contemporary favorites but the medium’s most revolutionary creators are still at the top of my list with books that they published in the 80’s. Among them, Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore.
Back in the day, during the advent of the internet message board, I once had the balls to jump into a culty horror discussion about “director” Jess Franco and declare the man a hack and some kind of grifter. Those who didn’t outright flame me out of the forum calmly explained that the man has scores of movies under his belt and I just hadn’t seen the right ones. Well here it is 14 years later and I’m still looking for the right movie. After all these years, the only thing I can definitively say about the films of Jess Franco is that I am in favor of Lina Romay over Soledad Miranda as controversial as that may be among fans of euro-trash, but I think the real issue is that I’ve never really been a fan of trashy sexploitation movies. I just don’t get the appeal. As far as I’m concerned, the only guy who could ever really cross soft-porn and the genres and come out with a quality product is Jean Rollin and that’s being generous.
Let me tell you something. We love Rhode Island filmmakers up in the place and when writer/director Tony Nunes hit me up with the link to his Zombie Allegiance trailer, all he had to do was drop the name Richard Griffin, who is director of photography on this flick to generate a little Cinema Suicide interest. Back when we first started covering Beyond The Dunwich Horror, news came down that Griffin was contributing to this piece as well, a post-nuke zombie movie with the proper dose of Romero style social criticism.
Look, I know some of you reading this are in Israel and The UK but for those of you reading this in the United States, get off your ass and get out to the polls. Vote. Now. It is absolutely vital that you do this. Not registered? Check your local laws and see how it goes down but right here in New Hampshire you can just show up, register and then get in line to cast your vote.
This is some sad news to report but a unique opportunity to send a heartfelt goodbye to a legend of the genre. If you’re someone like me, you run a website, you have a collection, you obsessively catalog data about horror, fantasy and science fiction, then you owe something to Forrest J. Ackerman. For generations, Ackerman has been writing and archiving the details of our genre’s achievements. From 1958 into the 80’s he published the template for the horror fan magazine, Famous Monsters of Filmland. He maintains his now scaled-down Ackermansion, filled with his amazing collection of science fiction memorabilia. The man is a walking encyclopedia of all things sci-fi, horror and fantasy, the original insider… and he’s about to pass on.
Yeah, I know. It’s been nearly a week since I’ve posted anything up this piece and my favorite month of the year has practically blown by without me even knowing, but if you had any idea what kind of week this has been, you’d understand my grotesque excesses in slackage.
The total wife, Nise and I love us some Ghost Hunters. We’ve been with these guys since the beginnings. Through their spotty broadcast schedules and their not terribly interesting foray into the rest of the world, Ghost Hunters International, we’ve been with them, squinting at way dark IR footage, straining to hear faint EVPs through cracks and pops in the digital audio. As a matter of fact, just last night we ventured out to the University of New Hampshire and sat among the other paranormal dorks to see Grant and Jason get down and lecture about the paranormal and their experience. It was a good time. Their chemistry is the real deal. It’s no wonder that they’re one of the biggest shows on Sci-Fi. They showed a lot of footage from the show and played some of the bigger EVPs from the show, so the real money came in the form of stuff from before their TV ghost hunting days, namely a clip of Grant getting slammed comically out of frame by a chain link fence gate swung by an unseen hand. It was hilarious. The clip of the night. We love these guys.
The Muscles has been on hard times for years it would seem but he’s on reinvention road these days and I’ve been hearing about and dying to see JCVD since the first time I spotted it over at Twitch. Plot details play out like a foreign version of Being John Malkovich or My Name Is Bruce where this character, Jean Claude Van Damme is played by Jean Claude Van Damme and their on-screen and real life circumstances cross over quite a bit. He’s on skid row, burnt out, not the guy he used to be, suddenly thrust into a situation (a bank robbery) where he experiences this cathartic moment that separates the two parts of his personality, the real-life dude from the action hero movie star. It’s like existential crisis wrapped up in a kickboxer’s comeback film. Here’s the synopsis:
I don’t typically cover the whole super hero thing up in here because it’s such a mainstream machine these days, but one of the last Capes books that I read and actually liked was Umbrella Academy, out on Dark Horse written by My Chemical Romance frontman, Gerard Way. Most Marvel and DC heroes only flirt with the true dark side, they stay comfortably in the black and white confines of their world where bad guys are clearly bad guys and good guys are always good guys even when they gnash their teeth and brood. Umbrella Academy didn’t seem to care about any of that and dove into the Alan Moore world of deeply flawed characters trying to do right while struggling with some seriously heavy character flaws. It was surprisingly well written by a guy from a freakin’ rock band (and a background in comics) and the art was great in that kind of modern comic strip style that you see creeping into comic books everywhere. It was genuinely good stuff.
Sad news on sunday. The disco godfather, human tornado, standup comic, blaxploitation legend and underground sensation, Rudy Ray Moore died from complications related to diabetes.
