Monday, October 31, 2005

Have a spooky day!



Everyone have a wonderful, great day today! I'll be going to a co-worker's apartment after work. She and her husband are having a horror movie marathon and I'll be bringing Night Of The Living Dead, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), and the always awesome cult classic '80s horror-comedy (only available on out-of-print VHS currently) The Monster Squad. So hopefully it'll be a ghoulish time for all involved. Sorry. But when else can one use these adjectives, except on Halloween?

In any case, have fun and stay safe whatever you do today and tonight!

Friday, October 28, 2005

Some disappointing news but oh well...

I will be unable to attend the Savannah Film Festival as I am broke. But at least Good Night, And Good Luck will start playing at Wynnsong next Friday.

Also, The Horror Channel was due to launch on DISH Network and various other cable outlets at midnight this morning, on The Men's Channel. It didn't. They've posted a response to the delay on their website, HorrorChannel.com

Dear Fans,

It is with regret that we were not able to bring you our special first night of on-air programming. We were notified by our host, The Men's Channel, late yesterday that there was a technical issue that would result in the delay of our much-anticipated launch. We are currently working overtime with our partners to overcome this delay and bring you the successful launch of the first ever dedicated horror programming at the soonest possible time.

For those of you that may have subscribed to DISH recently on the basis that The Horror Channel was debuting but now wish to cancel your installation, you may contact DISH and notify them that you would elect to re-subscribe once The Horror Channel debuts. We continue to urge all horror fans to call their local cable or satellite provider and "Scream for The Horror Channel!"

In the meantime, consistent with our "No Fan Left Behind" campaign, please tune in to our website (www.HorrorChannel.com) on November 11th to watch the launch show, A Tribute to George A. Romero in its entirety. You will be able to view it on your PC, and if you are a broadband subscriber, you may be able to view the program in full screen with little or no buffering time. We will be making additional public announcements regarding The Horror Channel Online broadband channel in the near future.

Despite the technical difficulties in airing our launch, we nonetheless were able to unveil the show to a packed private reception at the Chiller Theatre Convention last night. Among the attendees was none other than George A. Romero himself. The show was a huge hit, and the crowd went wild!

Please be patient as we work through our growing pains. We are diligent and steadfast in our quest to bring to you, our dedicated fans, the first 24-hour cable television horror channel. Stay tuned!!

--Nick Psaltos, Founder, and John Giunti, Co-Founder


I just want this damn thing on the air! Hopefully all of the legal red tape will get sorted out soon. It's a shame that different variables and roadblocks keep popping up but I wish them the best.

Today, we called DIRECTV and ordered Showtime. For tonight, they'll be unleashing...

Masters Of Horror

Pop some popcorn, turn off the lights, and get ready, fellow horror fans!

Showtime's Official Masters Of Horror website

The Official Masters Of Horror website

A Yahoo! News Article About The Series

Masters Of Horror brings together the creative minds of horror's greatest nightmares, including John Carpenter (Halloween), Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Poltergeist), Joe Dante (The Howling), John Landis (An American Werewolf In London), Dario Argento (Suspiria), Don Coscarelli (Phantasm), and many more, for an anthology of 13 all-new one-hour horror films. Upcoming installments will be helmed by other genre faves including John McNaughton (Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer), Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator), and Japan's famed horror auteur Takashi Miike (Audition).

The directors could bring a story of their own or use one already published.

The series will replay on Comcast ON DEMAND and each weekend at 10PM after it debuts that Friday.

Tonight's installment is "Incident On And Off A Mountain Road", based on a short story by Joe R. Lansdale. It was directed by Don Coscarelli and co-stars Angus Scrimm, otherwise known as The Tall Man from the Phantasm films.

Synopsis:

A woman seemingly at the mercy of the serial killer who has kidnapped her turns out to be more resourceful and cunning than expected.

Upcoming films in the series include...

"Dreams In The Witch House" - Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator) returns to the work of horror novelist H.P. Lovecraft for this story about a physics student experiencing visions of another dimension where sinister forces conspire to kill his neighbor's baby.

"Dance Of The Dead" - Director Tobe Hooper and writer Richard Christian Matheson (son of novelist and Twilight Zone writer Richard Matheson) adapt this classic short story about a naive young woman who discovers the horrifying secret behind her survival of a nuclear holocaust.

"Jenifer" - Dario Argento directs this version of the classic comic book about a girl with eerie powers who destroys the life of a police officer (Steven Weber, who also adapted the script).

"Chocolate" - Writer/director Mick Garris's story of a divorced young man (Henry Thomas, best known as Elliot from E.T.) who creates artificial food flavors for a living and starts to experience sensual psychic flashes from a woman with whom he falls in love.

"Homecoming" - Directed by Joe Dante, "Homecoming" depicts terror and scandal when the media discovers that the living dead has swayed the Presidential election. This adaptation of Dale Bailey's award-winning short story "Death & Suffrage" blends zombie horror and contemporary political satire with chilling results.

"Deer Woman" - A series of bizarre murders lead a cynical detective (Brian Benben, HBO's Dream On) to suspect that an ancient Native American mythological creature is real in this sexually-charged horror comedy, directed by John Landis and written by Landis and his son Max.

"Cigarette Burns" - John Carpenter directs this script by Drew McWeeny (also known as Moriarty at entertainment website Ain't It Cool News) and Scott Swan. Kirby Sweetman knows how to find rare film prints. However, nothing could prepare him for the daunting search of 'Le Fin Absolue du Monde', a film allegedly shown only once and rumored to have driven its audience into a murderous frenzy before the theater mysteriously erupted into flames. Working for a shadowy patron, Jimmy's increasingly obsessive investigation becomes nightmarish and deadly. Finally he discovers 'Le Fin Asbolue du Monde''s infamy is well deserved. This supernatural Chinatown is a chilling look at the power of cinema and the lengths to which we will go to satiate our private demons.

"Fair-Haired Child" - From the director of House On Haunted Hill (1999). Tara, a lonely 13-year old outcast, is kidnapped and locked in a basement with their 13-year old child Johnny. Despite the fact that he is kind and sensitive, Johnny keeps a terrible secret. These two children form a special bond to find a way to battle a curse and survive the night. The film stars Lori Petty.

"Pick Me Up" - From the writer of The Crow comes this tale, directed by Larry Cohen (writer of Phone Booth, writer/director of the It's Alive! trilogy). Two urban legends collide on a desolate roadside when Wheeler, a serial killer who slays hitchhikers, offers a ride to Walker, a hitchhiker who slays any individual unlucky enough to offer him a ride. Caught between these two bearers of death and destruction is our heroine, a 25 year old woman who will need to choose her ally carefully or become another bloody notch on a belt in this deadly game of cat & mouse.

"Haeckel's Tale" - When Ernst Haeckel seeks shelter from the wilderness in a secluded cabin in the New England countryside, he is given one explicit instruction: No matter what he hears, he cannot go outside. As the cries of an unseen baby intermix with horrifying guttural moans, Haeckel disobeys his host and becomes embroiled in an orgy of the undead. Based on Clive Barker's short story, "Haeckel's Tale" is a sexually-charged campfire story with a terrifying twist.

"Imprint" - Japanese horror master Takashi Miike searches the corpse-strewn riverbanks of 19th-century Japan in this tale of an American journalist escaping a dark secret. Hoping to find the love he left behind, the journalist's hunt leads to a dark island where the only refuge is a brothel. Spending the night with a unique woman, he learns the danger of dredging up old ghosts. Based on an acclaimed Japanese novel.

"Sick Girl" - Lucky McKee (May) directs this gender-bending lesbian love story about two women and the bug that got between them.

So I'm very excited for this! Plus, hopefully there'll be some good horror movies on the Showtime networks in the coming days. I also have TiVo to wade through. More posting will follow soon. I plan to review the Masters Of Horror episodes as they air, and will hopefully have a movie review or two to post in the very near future.

HBO & The Creator of Six Feet Under To Reunite For New Vampire Series

I've always debated whether or not to read the 'Southern Vampire' novels. Now I have a good reason to.

And here's the teaser trailer for Final Destination 3.

FD3Movie.com

I can't wait! Plus it's good to see Glenn Morgan and James Wong returning to the franchise they created.

Friday, October 14, 2005

I *WILL*, dammit!



OCTOBER 29th - NOVEMBER 5th

Yes, it's that time again. Time to shake off the shackles of tyranny and oppression that mainstream cinema usually foists upon us year in and year out.

The institution that owns this city's lifeblood whether or not the city wants to admit it or not, SCAD (Savannah College Of Art And Design) is putting on the annual film festival. It's been going strong since 1998, I do believe. Click the logo to see this year's screening schedule.


As much as I bitch about SCAD not coming through with an indie/arthouse theater downtown, they've really come through with this year's lineup. Time permitting (and it better!), I'll be seeing George Clooney's directorial debut good night, and good luck.



That'll be preceded by a tribute to director Sidney Lumet. I hope his new movie Find Me Guilty is good.

Then there's a conflict: do I see Noah Baumbach's (co-screenwriter of The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou) The Squid And The Whale or the "Project Greenlight"-birthed horror film Feast? I know Feast will be on alot of screens whenever the Weinsteins decide to release it so maybe I'll skip that in favor of the indie film, since Savannah's never too kind on arthouse films.



The Squid And The Whale
will have one of its stars, Jeff Daniels, in attendance. It's getting really good reviews, raves even. I think that will be my choice, between Feast and this.

On Wednesday, November 2nd at 7PM there'll be a "Special Screening" of a highly anticipated film due out this holiday season from a major studio. I don't care what it is; that's intriguing.

Earlier that day, a customer from work has a film of hers screening at 3PM, Red Thread. The website's at www.redthreadthemovie.com

I'll try to go but I might be working at 3PM that day. I just hope that my schedule is somewhat normal (i.e. back to its original format) so that I can see these screenings, as most are in the evening.

Thursday, November 3rd at 7PM is the screening of the Pierce Brosnan-Greg Kinnear starrer The Matador.

www.miramax.com/matador is the official site, BTW. It's a joint distribution between the new Miramax films and The Weinstein Company, the Weinstein brothers new shingle. Wow, a nice website for the film when the Weinstein guys don't even have one for their new movie company yet!

But I digress.

Friday, November 4th sees the enchanting Ellen Burstyn honored for her remarkable body of work. She was cruelly robbed of the Oscar she deserved for Requiem For A Dream, in favor of the boring offal known as Erin Brockovich and Mrs. Horse Teeth.

Anyway, after her well-deserved honor, the much-buzzed about Capote will unspool. It's about Truman Capote during the time when he was writing In Cold Blood. I will be there for this!

And closing night sees animation giants Don Bluth and Gary Goldman honored for their works. I was a big fan of An American Tail so I'm happy for Bluth and Goldman. Following this, the closing night film will be the first incarnation of Pride And Prejudice in 65 years. It stars my future wife, Keira Knightley. Yeah, I know I'm dreaming.

Come hell or water high, I will attend this. I'm through talking. I keep meaning to attend. But meaning isn't doing and I'm going to put my money where my mouth is. So if you're in the area and want to see some cool new movies that don't turn your brain into nacho cheese or want to attend filmmaking workshops, stroll into our fair city for a fun time.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

oh yeah...

There's a brand spanking new episode of

Night Stalker=
Click the Night Stalker logo for more info.

tonight at 9PM on ABC. I've still got the second episode to watch. I'm lukewarm on it so far. I'm a fan of Stuart Townsend, Gabrielle Union is a marvelous actress, and Frank Spotnitz is proven but I don't know yet. My work schedule is all out of sorts so until I'm back on mornings, I may have to sacrifice this for FOX's Reunion when it returns in November. The only other option is if ABC does the smart thing and posts podcasts on ABC.com to catch up viewers who may have missed an episode, like FOX is doing.



When I get paid (or if I can trade in 11 or so DVDs at work..hell I don't know if I have that many to trade), I need to pick up Veronica Mars: The Complete First Season. No extras to speak of, besides an extended version of the pilot episode and some deleted scenes. Oh well. We got a voicemail Tuesday at work saying that they'd sent the show to the stores as rental-ready but then realized that it wasn't bought for the stores for rental. So if stores want Veronica Mars for rent, they'll have to use the allocated store funds to bring it in. But guess what? That little treasure has been suspended until further notice because we don't know how to make money for our store? WTF? Like it's our fault?! So I think when cooler corporate heads prevail (perhaps mid-November), I may just buy Veronica Mars and then trade it in so we can get rent it. It's the best damn show on television and more eyeballs need to see it.

It was also nice to see Related's audience fall 30% last night from its debut last week. I love Lizzy Caplan (she was spot-on in Mean Girls) and I'm happy she has a show, but I'm ecstatic that Veronica Mars got the ratings win for Wednesday. I hope Veronica and the entire gang of 09ers and non-09ers is around for a very, very long time. And Joss Whedon's cameo as a rental car company manager will be in episode six, which is titled Rats Saw God.

tremendous thoughts...

Well, well, well...I've casually wasted my two days off. I was off yesterday and today; I work tomorrow and Saturday 4-close. And TiVo is patiently waiting for me, like a sad and forlorn puppy. It's because I'm addicted to...

98.3 JACK FM - playing what we want
and have sadly been forsaking my TV-watching duties. I'll also add in there DVD screener-watching duties. I may rectify that tonight, or stay up late and watch alot of stuff.

Here's a recent music log of the new station.

98.3 JACK FM Music Log

I'm trying to correct my blogging lack thereof. I will try harder, I promise.

Pink Is The New Blog
Click the candles.

Pink Is The New Blog has quickly become a daily read of mine. It's a great pop-culture treat, with webmaster Trent gathering up all of the movie, celebrity, music, and television news and gossip, hitting puree' on the blender and serving up a very witty and entertaining website. Check it out; you'll be bookmarking it before you're done reading it.

More later if the mood compells me and thoughts strike me.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

The before bed post...

Well to recap I've now seen Serenity 5 times. It just keeps getting better and better, folks.

I have a review of that film to post as well as the one I saw tonight (and really enjoyed) A History Of Violence. Let's just say that Cronenberg is back...not that he went anywhere.

I purchased Fiona Apple's new CD Extraordinary Machine. I'm mulling it over. I think this one will be a slow burn so I'm going to spin it several more times.

Stephen King's new crime novella The Colorado Kid is out. It's a throwback to the old pulp detective novels of the '40s. Yes, I bought it. New Stephen King for only $5.99? You know I'm there.

And in really good news...

Our main Oldies station here in Savannah, Triad Broadcasting's WGCO-FM (formerly Oldies 98.3) has been around for more than eleven years. It's always had a very loyal audience. But after what happened today at 10AM, I imagine they'll all be flocking to Cumulus Broadcasting's less-than-a-year-old Oldies station WTYB-FM, Cool 103.9...



That's right, ladies and gentlemen! We now have an official JACK FM station in Savannah! ABC Radio Networks distributes JACK FM and that's what WGCO is using. I was just bemoaning the fact the other day that I was tired of Freedom 104.7, the lame imitator of JACK FM locally.

JACK FM is all about the presentation. Plus the playlist is killer.

Clueless as to what the hell I'm talking about? Click the following link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_FM

No new website or logo has been released yet. I hope that will change very soon.

So this new radio station was a rather nice discovery today.

I'll try to blog some more this weekend but TiVo is filled to overflowing presently and I have several DVD screeners from work to watch, chief among them High Tension, Happy Endings and The Mangler Reborn which I've heard is excellent.