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Head on over to DreadCentral.com for really lively discussion of all things horror. You see those astute readers out there may remember my geeky ramblings about The Horror Channel. Click here to revisit them.
Well last weekend, the entire writing staff and tech team from horrorchannel.com bolted, in a sign of no confidence to the CEO, Nicholas Psaltos. They'd been strung along under false pretenses about where the channel was going. The CEO wants the "channel" to be broadband, online only, and freaked out when rumors started swirling. He fired a gentleman who goes by the board name Uncle Creepy and with that firing, the entire web staff resigned in a show of solidarity. So the news, review, and message board section of the site is back in the hands of Dread Central, the site that merged with THC a while back. It's a really nice atmosphere, with really cool people with wicked senses of humor.
I also have a Myspace page now -- http://www.myspace.com/blackmarketwit
Don't worry the eleven nobodies that read this site -- my blog's not going anywhere.
I saw The Hills Have Eyes, Kairo (Pulse), Night Watch, and Transamerica recently. All were very good. Kairo will be released as an American remake by The Weinstein Company this September, starring Kristen Bell of Veronica Mars fame.
Up next on the 'ol Netflix queue: Intruder, a slasher flick from 1988 co-starring Sam Raimi, Ted Raimi and Bruce Campbell, I, Madman, about a girl who loves pulp novels and then her life starts mirroring the latest one she's read, and Alone In The Dark, a Jack Sholder-directed horror film about inmates in an asylum and their doctor. The lights go out and mayhem ensues...it stars Donald Pleasance, Martin Landau, and Jack Palance.
As usual, TiVo is stuffed to the gills....*really stuffed*
Alright, well make that yesterday, by now.....
(In a move that really makes me applaud and give kudos to them, Warner Independent Pictures has made it known on their official website for the film version of A Scanner Darkly that Savannah WILL be getting the movie on August 4th! Now if only *other* arthouse distributors - Focus Features, Sony Pictures Classics, Paramount Classics/Paramount Vantage, Fox Searchlight, et al, I'm looking at you - would take the same initiative. Al Gore's global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth is supposed to go wide next Friday; we'd BETTER get it. There's simply no reason why ten and eleven screen theaters need to only be playing FIVE FUCKING MOVIES. I don't care how good Nacho Libre or Cars is; open up one or two screens for other, smaller films. Yes, I know they don't rake in the big $$$ but throw us film cineastes a bone once in a while, for crying out loud!)
But I digress. Back to the list of today's/yesterday's procurements...
and...
and...
I've very much been looking forward to reading the aforementioned item; the albums are icing on the cake. I mulled over either getting A Scanner Darkly or Chuck Klosterman's Sex, Drugs, & Cocoa Puffs: A Low-Culture Manifesto. I was uncertain but after seeing the other pop-culture laden tomes he's written and remembering the witty anecdotes I read from the offering I mentioned just now, I think I'll be picking up everything he's ever written. I still have to finish Joe R. Lansdale's Sunset and Sawdust.
It's a really good read and Lansdale artfully embues the setting with the sad, wistful feelings of early 20th-century Texas living and the rampant racism and sexism that went along with it; sadly alot of that is still prevalent in this century.
Today Netflix will bestow upon me the 1996 Reb Brown film about a Hispanic maid who gets a thrill out of cleaning crime scenes. A serial killer is on the loose in Miami (played by Stephen Baldwin) and she may just get too close for comfort. I'll also get Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic, the film version of the comedy show she did last year.
I saw Kiss Kiss Bang Bang last night. Shane Black deftly blended film noir with impeccable comic timing to provide a very funny yet very dark tale of intrigue, violence, corpses, and a severed finger. It's a really cool film with really smart banter and good dialogue. Give it a spin if you get the chance. Firewall was good, with Paul Bettany making a really slimy villain. I really hope Netflix receives Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in a manner that allows my next title to be The Hills Have Eyes (2006). Everything that I've read touts that it's miles above the remake and that French director Alexander Aja (the amazing High Tension) really made a terrifying horror film.
Last Sunday I got a haircut. A major haircut. Buzz cut. It's quite disconcerting, as as long as I can remember I've never had my hair this short. It's taken some getting used to (and many of our regular customers at work can't believe it).
TiVo beckons. But first, some bedtime reading. Bed will most certainly soon follow. I went to bed about 6:15 Friday morning and didn't wake up until 3:30PM. I really don't feel like sleeping Saturday away.
I was very excited to receive this channel. I'm mainly viewing it for Knight Rider and they're replaying the cancelled-before-its-time Karen Sisco. I may also sample The Equalizer as well. They've also been running several decent movies but, as the channel is in its infancy, the schedule repeats itself each day. I sincerely hope NBC Universal doesn't start throwing any of the Law & Order franchise onto Sleuth. There's enough of that damn show elsewhere.
SLEUTH, an NBC Universal Cable digital suite of networks launched in first quarter 2006, is the premier entertainment cable channel dedicated to the popular crime/mystery/suspense genre, 24/7. SLEUTH features exclusive crime and mystery programming from NBC Universal's extensive collection of feature films, classic television shows, reality series and documentaries, from Miami Vice and Homicide: Life On The Streets to Scarface and Casino. The unique Sleuth digital suite will include video on demand (VOD) content and a high-definition (HD) simulcast. To uncover more, visit: www.sleuthchannel.com.
Our local NBC affiliate here in Savannah, WSAV has been doing something really cool. In honor of their 50th anniversary, they're airing "Golden Anniversary Theater" in which personalities from the station intro classic series that have run on the station in the past. Since the shows they've featured so far have been in black and white, so are the intros. They'd been airing Abbott and Costello but last night I was very happy to see them air The Addams Family! Since TV Land just stopped airing the series, I've been jonesing for an Addams Family fix. They're also holding a voting contest at WSAV.com for which episode they should play next. Apparently The Addams Family aired Saturdays at 6PM in 1964 on WSAV, as back then Savannah did not have a true ABC affiliate so WSAV took up the slack in that department.
Of all of the series not yet available on DVD, The Addams Family would be my #1 pick to put out on DVD. They should load it with any deleted scenes, screen tests, making-of anecdotes, hell they could even throw in the Halloween movie if the rights allow it. And a John Astin commentary is a must; Lisa Loring & Ken Weatherwax should also be allowed to record a commentary. Sony would make a mint on this thing if it was properly promoted and loaded with special features.
Wow...it appears that the official DVD release will be happening in October; conveniently October 31st falls on a Tuesday this year, the normal street date for all DVDs. Cool!
I was up earlier this morning and realized that Boomerang is airing the 1992 animated series The Addams Family weekday mornings at 7AM. I set a Season Pass for that. It only lasted 21 episodes. It's funny but as a child, we always assume there were 300 episodes of the animated series we loved when the opposite is usually the case.
Nap time is coming around the corner.
After tendering a partial payment of my balance at work, I procured the screener DVD of this...
Reviews were lukewarm at best when it was released to arthouse theatres earlier this year but with that cast involved, I figure it's worth a look. A co-worker of mine said it was excellent.
Now, sleep and then perhaps I'll finally screen Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.
I can safely say that I'll be setting a Season Pass on the good old TiVo for this!!! I am so excited! :)
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Press Release:
Pee-wee's Playhouse Makes TV Return on Adult Swim July 10
By Matthew Williams
06-05-2006, 10:34 AM
Pee-wee's Playhouse Makes TV Return on Adult Swim July 10
Emmy-Winning Series Returns to Air Monday-Thursday at 11 p.m. (ET, PT) 20 Years after its Debut
Pee-wee's Playhouse, the winner of an astounding 22 Emmy Awards and a pop culture touchstone nearly 20 years after its debut, returns to TV, joining the [adult swim] lineup beginning Monday, July 10. The acclaimed series, which has been largely absent from the airwaves for nearly 15 years, stars Paul Reubens as his alter-ego Pee-wee Herman, and features a rich cast of characters who drop by "the place where anything can happen."
[adult swim], Cartoon Network's late night sister network featuring animation and other programming aimed at adults 18-34, will air the groundbreaking series Monday-Thursday at 11 p.m. (ET, PT), airing all 45 original half-hour episodes of the series and the rarely-seen Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special. Many of the episodes have not been seen on TV since the original Saturday-morning run of Pee-wee's Playhouse.
In the series, Pee-wee, dressed in his too-small gray suit and red bowtie, welcomes a cavalcade of characters to his playhouse, including the King of Cartoons, Cowboy Curtis, Miss Yvonne, Pteri the Pterodactyl, Randy (the resident trouble-starter), Captain Carl, Jambi the genie, nosey neighbor Mrs. Rene, and Reba the mail lady. Other inhabitants of Pee-wee's Playhouse include Pee-wee's talking chair, Chairry, Globey the Globe, Magic Screen, Conky the Robot, hipster-beatniks Chickie Baby, Cool Cat and Dirty Dog, Cowntess the cow and the family of miniature dinosaurs that live in a mouse hole inside a wall. Each fast-paced episode blends live-action, puppets and all different types of animation including vintage cartoons, stop-motion Penny segments and Spanish superhero El Hombre. Plus there's always a lesson or two.
Pee-wee's Playhouse originally aired Saturday mornings on CBS, beginning on Sept. 13, 1986. The cast includes Phil Hartman, Laurence Fishburne, S. Epatha Merkerson and Natasha Lyonne. The series won a remarkable 22 Emmy Awards during its original run. Since then, Pee-wee's Playhouse has attained iconic status. In 2004, TV Guide named the show one of the top-ten cult classics of all time. A hugely successful 2004 DVD release brought all 45 original Saturday morning episodes, including eight "lost" episodes, plus the classic Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special, to new generations of fans. Gary Panter, famed painter, punk rock illustrator and comic book artist won three Emmys for his work as the show's production designer. Musicians who scored episodes of Pee-wee's Playhouse include Mark Mothersbaugh, Dweezil Zappa, George Clinton, Stanley Clark and Danny Elfman.
"I'd say this was a dream come true," said Paul Reubens in Hollywood, California, "but I never dared to dream The Playhouse would join [adult swim]'s amazing line-up of cool shows! Well, maybe I did dream of it a couple of times. OK, it's a dream come true!"
"We're all huge fans of Pee-wee's Playhouse and we're really happy that it will be a part of [adult swim]," said Mike Lazzo, Cartoon Network senior vice president of programming and production, responsible for [adult swim].
Paul Reubens created the Pee-wee Herman character in 1978 while a member of the famed L.A.-based improv group The Groundlings. It rapidly grew into a cultural phenomenon. In 1981, he sold out five consecutive months of performances of "The Pee-we Herman Show" at the Roxy Theatre in L.A. HBO taped the show for its On Location series and Pee-wee was introduced to a national audience. His sold-out 22-city national tour in 1984 included Carnegie Hall. The 1985 movie Pee-wee's Big Adventure, co-written by Reubens and directed by Tim Burton, was a commercial and critical success, which led to the series Pee-wee's Playhouse and the 1988 movie Big Top Pee-wee.
Since that time, Reubens has acted in film and television, earning an Emmy nomination for his recurring role on TV's Murphy Brown and garnering critical acclaim in Ted Demme's Blow, where he joined a cast including Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz and Franka Potente. He stars with Lukas Haas, James King and Thomas Jane in David Arquette's directorial-debut slasher film, The Tripper, and next can be seen in the upcoming feature Reno 911! Miami. His voice can be heard in many films, including Dr. Dolittle, Teacher's Pet- The Movie, Rugrats and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Pee-wee's Playhouse joins the [adult swim] lineup that already includes top-rated original comedies such as Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Boondocks, Robot Chicken and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law; acquired series Family Guy, Futurama and American Dad; and action/animé series like InuYasha, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Samurai Champloo. [adult swim] remains the #1 ad-supported basic cable network among young adult viewers, ranking in April 2006 as the top cable network in delivery of its target demos, adults 18-34, adults 18-24, men 18-34 and men 18-24, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.
[adult swim] (AdultSwim.com), launched in 2001, is Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.'s network offering original and acquired animated comedy and action series for young adults. Airing overnights six days a week for a total of 45 hours weekly, [adult swim] shares channel space with Cartoon Network, home to the best in original, classic and acquired programming for children and families, and is seen in 89 million U.S. homes.
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, is a major producer of news and entertainment product around the world and the leading provider of programming for the basic cable industry.
And so begins my week-long PAID vacation. I meant to sleep...however I owe an exorbitant amount of moolah at work so I'll be dropping off a payment at work today (boss lady said I had to pay *her*). I was afraid I'd sleep too late, as her time leaving work varies sometimes.
I'm sort of mega pissed. I was all excited to see Underworld: Evolution and Firewall via Netflix. Yet they decided to let me know Saturday they'd be shipping Bad Dreams and the Maria Bello horror film The Dark (from Ginger Snaps director John Fawcett). I mean, I wanted to see these films, no doubt about it. Yet it irked me. Plus, I was checking out scheduling on TiVo when lo and behold...guess what's on one of the HBO channels in about a week or so? Bad Dreams! Oh well. I still have the film Yes and I'll probably drop that at the post office later today.
And in potentially incredible news, [adult swim] dropped what may be a big bombshell late last night...
Last night during [adult swim] several bumps showed a black screen, then a blurry phrase that slowly came into focus as...
REMEMBER THIS?
Then hula-sounding music and sounds of nature could be heard., followed by the words...
COMING JULY 10TH
To the discerning ear, one could immediately recognize the beginning of Pee-Wee's Playhouse.
Could the gang at Williams Street be joking? Or does this signal the return of one of the best shows ever created to television? It's been so long since I've seen the show so it'd be cool to revisit it again.
And hell, if Family Guy and Futurama can return, I'd love to see Paul Reubens have a career resurgence once the show starts airing again.
Then again only time will tell. I know I'll be waiting with baited breath.
___________________________________________________________
I plan to do the aforementioned things then come home and sleep, sleep, sleep. Then I'll get up, clean my room, eat, and watch Mr. Smith Goes To Washington which I TiVoed off of Turner Classic Movies yesterday.
More awesomely excellent news follows...
From HalloweenMovies.com
DIMENSION FILMS TO MAKE NEW HALLOWEEN FILM;
AUTEUR FILMMAKER ROB ZOMBIE TO WRITE AND DIRECT
Trancas International Films to Produce
Along With Rob Zombie and Andy Gould
NEW YORK, NEW YORK (June 4, 2006) Dimension Films is proud to announce that they will make a new Halloween movie with Rob Zombie (The Devil's Rejects, House of 1000 Corpses) writing, directing and serving as a producer. Malek Akkad of Trancas International Films (Halloween H20: 20 Years Later) will produce the feature along with Andy Gould of Vision Entertainment Group (The Devil's Rejects, House of 1000 Corpses). Zombie will also serve as music supervisor on the film. Miramax Films will co-finance the development with Dimension Films. The announcement was made today by The Weinstein Company co-chairman, Bob Weinstein.
Zombie's vision of this film is an entirely new take on the legend and will satisfy fans of the classic Halloween legacy while beginning a new chapter in the Michael Myers saga. This new movie will not only appeal to horror fans, but to a wider movie-going audience as well. It will not be a copycat of any prior films in the Halloween franchise. The film is set for an October 2007 theatrical release.
Bob Weinstein stated, "Rob Zombie is a gifted musician and performer as well as a talented filmmaker. His vision for this new Halloween is spectacular and I am thrilled to be collaborating with him and to work closely with Malek Akkad to continue the legacy built by his father, the late Moustapha Akkad."
Zombie said, "I have been a huge, huge fan of John Carpenter's original film since its release. So when Bob Weinstein approached me about this, I jumped at the chance to join forces with Dimension Films on this amazing project."
The Halloween story began with the 1978 release of John Carpenter's Halloween executive produced by the late Moustapha Akkad, founder of Trancas International Films and became the highest grossing independent film of the time. Moustapha Akkad's son, Malek, is now taking some of the reigns on this new Halloween project to continue the outstanding work begun by his father. Malek Akkad stated, "Trancas is very excited to be working with Rob Zombie and producing another Halloween with Bob Weinstein and Dimension, the home of the franchise for the last three installments. It will be a fitting and worthy tribute to my late father."
"I am thrilled to be working again with Rob and with Dimension Films on such an iconic project that will reinvigorate Halloween and Michael Myers in a truly terrifying new way," stated Andy Gould, Rob Zombie's long time manager and producer of Zombie's two previous films.
Richard Saperstein, president of production, Matthew Stein, senior vice president of production and Alex Franklin, director of development and production will oversee the project on behalf of Dimension. Bret McCartney of Trancas International will oversee production on behalf of Trancas.
Andrew Kramer, executive vice president of business and legal affairs, and Lumumba Mosquera, senior vice president of business and legal affairs, negotiated on behalf of Dimension Films. Attorneys David Fox and Jeffrey Light of Myman Abell Fineman Greenspan & Light negotiated on behalf of Rob Zombie. Attorney Wayne Kazan of Weissmann Wolff Bergman Coleman & Silverman negotiated on behalf of Akkad. Rob Zombie is represented by Paradigm.
ABOUT ROB ZOMBIE
An auteur filmmaker and music artist with shrewd insight and creative vision, Rob Zombie challenges audiences as he stretches the boundaries of film, music and publishing.
Zombie is the longest active artist on Geffen Records and has sold in excess of fifteen million records. He is currently on a sold-out nationwide tour for his latest gold-selling album, "Educated Horses." which debuted at number five on the Billboard Top 200.
In 2000, Zombie jumped from music to film with his directorial debut and cult smash hit, House of 1000 Corpses. Due to the film success Zombie returned in 2004 to helm its follow up the critically acclaimed, The Devil's Rejects. Zombie was hailed by critics and fans alike as a visionary filmmaker due to the film's uncompromising and wildly inventive exploitive throw-back style.
Prior to House of 1000 Corpses, Zombie directed dozens of high profile music videos. In 1995 Zombie won an MTV Music Video Award for "More Human Than Human," becoming the first self-directed artist to win such an award.
Let me just say that I'm really excited about this. Zombie's first film wasn't great but he knocked it out of the park with The Devil's Rejects. Now if he can return The Shape to his quiet, brooding evil stalking self and return the Halloween franchise to a respectable place that marries suspense and terror to create a truly great horror film, it'll be really cool.
More later...
Well, let's face facts.
I could post the Fall 2006 TV schedules. But I'd just be regurgitating the various press releases available on numerous entertainment websites. Suffice it to say, I'll be sampling all of this fall's television offerings and offering my opinion as always.
This summer, there's a small amount of stuff to watch. USA Network will bring back its original series The 4400, SCI FI will debut Eureka, a new original series about a secret town, hidden by the government, that houses the most brilliant among us. Other new series include TNT's new offerings, Nightmares & Dreamscapes - From The Stories Of Stephen King and Saved
(about paramedics).
USA Network adds another notch in its "Characters Welcome" positioning statement with
Psych about a guy who pretends to be a psychic while working for a police department.
NBC's offering up the drama Windfall about a large group of friends who play the lottery and realize they must share the prize money.
NBC will also offer "webisodes" of The Office on NBC.com.
But what I'm most excited about this summer is...
Yep, Blade: The Series. It will debut with a two-hour pilot on June 28th at 10PM. The channel is SPIKE.
David S. Goyer, writer of all three Blade films and director of Blade: Trinity, serves as head writer and an executive producer of Blade: The Series. Kirk Jones, best known as "Sticky Fingaz" from the rap group Onyx, takes the role of Blade over from Wesley Snipes. I have faith in Goyer, as I'm a huge fan of his (hey, he co-wrote Dark City and co-wrote Batman Begins) and I'm quite anxious to see what he does with the material. Plus, I love the angle of one of the characters (Krista Starr played by Jill Wagner) - her brother was killed by the leader of a particular clan of vampires. Krista seeks vengeance but the vamp leader captures her and has her turned. Now, although she's become the very thing she hates, she teams up with Blade to help him fight the vampires.
The series has been sending out cryptic messages, in character, from one of the vampire clans - the House of Chthon. Their website is at http://www.houseofchthon.com and it's pretty cool the way they're treating the viral marketing so far. The official website for Blade: The Series is at http://blade.spiketv.com. Nothing's there just yet, save for a trailer for the series.
The old post I promised is on hold presently. I worked from 11:23-3:45 this morning. The reason? Inventory. Only rental and sell-thru so it was not too bad. I have to be in at 5 tomorrow so I'm going to hit the hay. More blogging goodness to follow...maybe if I can drag my lazy ass out of bed I may post before work. The promised post will have to follow after work tomorrow.
And now...sleep.
