Hail to the Chief

Once again I was going to blog about ROCKY BALBOA and what a good movie it is, and how I'm glad Philly's being used in Hollywood;but alas, another death overshadows the pop culture topics of this blog, and I can't in good conscience not mention the passing of the 38th President of the United States, Gerald Ford.

Quite simply he was the first US President I ever saw live and in living color as he addressed my High School way back in 1987, at the time being 16, I casually dismissed the viewing not realizing how priviliged it was to be in the presence of even one ex-President of the US. He wasn't an overbearing or really charismatic presence, but he did command a sense of calm, which coincidentally reflected the main purpose of his Post Watergate Administration. He did pop the auditorium as a student asked him what he thought of the current crop of Jingoistic action films, most notibly "Rambo"...He paused, and said directly that the only show he liked watching was the sitcom "Kate and Alley" which provoked warm laughter in the room. As for the rest of the powerhouse questioning that most of the eggheads at my school kept asking him in regards to Foreign affairs, the Nixon Pardon and other events during his administration i don't remember, but of course the TV one always stuck.

The only other I saw live was his successor, President Jimmy Carter whom I saw as I was working on the Tonight Show about ten years later. That show was pretty cool to be working at live and yeah,also being ten years older and a little wiser I have to admit feeling somewhat patriotic to be in Carter's presence.

I also think that was the same year The Simpsons aired an episode where at the end of it Gerald Ford moves in next door to Homer. The joke being that Ford was a klutz. Furthermore, President Ford's clumsiness did provide the fodder for all of Chevy Chase's pratfalls on his only season on Saturday Night Live, the irony being that Ford was a total jock in his youth. I bet that Ford had the CIA (he was on the Warren Commisson for the JFK assassination) tamper, and destroy Chevy Chase's film career in retaliation. Now that's funny.

Rest in peace, Mr.President.

HEEEYYYY OWWWW! Keep it Funky Forever now....

This started off as a very positve review of ROCKY BALBOA, but after a searching the web for pix, I saw on CNN that The Godfather of Soul James Brown had passed away at 73 years of age.

The dude changed R&B, Funk and Soul.

I remember buying his "Greatest Hits" as a kid and "Slaughter's Big Rip Off" with the hit "The Big Payback" later on when I noticed how cool the Blaxsploitation genre was, however it was the "Live at The Apollo" album that really got me hooked.

Let's not forget his performance in THE BLUES BROTHERS and ROCKY IV. Classics

I guess he's getting funky now with Sid Barrett, Hendrix, JohnDenver and Jerry Goldsmith somewhere.....with John Bonham on Drums.

Keeping it rrreal....and rrrepresenting....a true BLACK musician who worked his ass off and used real instruments.

God bless you James, The Hardest Working Man in Show Business!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS !

Wishing everyone health, happiness, and well....watch....

VIVA LA SNAKE!

Kurt's back playing a psycho stunt driver who runs over hot women in "DEATH PROOF" directed by Tarantino....

Thank god someone's gonna kick Snake's ass into high gear ! Now the taste of yesterday's post has finally left my mouth.

WTF?

Underdog- THE MOVIE (2007) Thurs.8pm on TBS. Starring Snoopy, MacGruff the crime fighting “Take a Bite Outta Crime” Dog, Jet Li as a Martial Artist with a Dog Collar, and Nicole Ritchie as a Bitch. Underdog fucks a bunch of Pound Puppies (doggie style) while trying to save the day, and spawns a litter of superpowered dogs who shit all over New York City. Jet Li plays a Dog sensei who teaches the superpowered pups martial arts, while Bob Hoskins screams at him from outside a cage. Look for the classic finale where Snoopy final kills that goose stepping asshole the Red Baron!

Featuring the hit single “Dog Wienniez” by Snoop Doggie Dog

Directed by the Spawn of Satan, Michael Bay. 88mins.

PLAYDATE

I did this short in 1992. Quite honestly it was one of the best shooting experiences I ever had. Plus I improvised most of it while shooting.

Practicing the same "deal goes down wrong" in just about most of my shorts makes it really easy.

Thanks again Keegs and Lori, and kudos to Kenny and Stephanie!

The original YOUTUBE link is right here:

PLAYDATE

SCARY MOVIE

I bought MONSTER HOUSE on a whim, while shopping for more important items like food and baby stuff, and even tried to cover it up with the missus by saying that it belonged to the customer ahead of me and somehow ended up with our stuff.

MONSTER HOUSE creeped me out, and that's not easy to do. The story's simple enough- a kid JD sees that the neighbor's house does some creepy things, goes to investigate it with his best buddy Chowder, and a spunky red headed girl (who reminds me of my wife) named Jenny. Without over hyping this thing, this is as good as it gets, and I found a Halloween movie for my family that'll never get stale. It's the sort of movie like ELF, or Moulin Rouge that I went to with a gut feeling, and thankfully got rewarded with some geniune good old fashioned Hollywood magic.

Kudos to Zemeckis and Spielberg who seem to still have small doses of genius in them.




Shelley got animated.

Frank Miller's "300"

Read the story as a kid.* Reread the Comic book. Saw the trailer at Comicon. For a movie starring "The Phantom of the Opera" and wickedly directed by the Zack Synder who kicked ass with the "Dawn of the Dead" remake, this shouldn't disappoint.


*300 Spartans (and 700 Thespians) fought the Persian army at the Battle of Thermapylae over four days and took out 50,000 men, before dying in battle themselves.

What a bunch of badasses!

$27.1 MILLION DOLLARS

Willem De Kooning's Untitled XXV sold for $27.1 Million Dollars a week and a half ago. I don't pretend to love most post modern art, being a Comic book fan boy I really liked Roy Lichenstein's work and Jack Kirby's 1960's pencil renderings of Marvel Superheroes were really my style. But $27.1 for that? C'mon... I understand he's a post modern "action" painter who's contemporaries include Jackson Pollock, Larry Rivers and Mark Rothko (I actually did like art history) but this particular piece I don't think merits the money. Untitled XXV was sold at a Sotheby's/ Christie's auction along with Warhol's Mao which fetched $17.1 million. No wonder art thefts are on the rise... Remember "The Scream" was stolen 21/2 years ago, and Tom Hanks ripped off the Mona Lisa recently too.

I mean if this = $27.1 Million, then I think that a large canvas Roger Deacons' 1970's Yes Album cover from the RELAYER album should = $5 million. Or a Frank Frazetta "Berzerker" (on the Molly Hatchet album) should = $10 million. I could really never figure out how to judge the modern art market at all, because so much of it is subjective. Renaissance Art I understand. Rembrandt I understand. Picasso's Pre Cubist era I like mucho.

But artists like Mondrian (the Partridge family bus pattern dude) make me want to puke.

I will admit that I do get a kick out of Jackson Pollock's work though, as he threw that paintbrush on the canvas while listening to Jazz, which explains a lot of his work. Furthermore he threw a lot of his cigarette butts into the canvas tells me he seems a lot like Denis Leary if he was a painter. So I think I'd get along with the guy. But even Pollock would tell you that you were full of shit if someone offered you $27.1 Million for his work.

So why the hell am I writing about a painting? Because it's on my desktop here at work and it reminds me of what my head feels like a this job somedays.... and the 27.1 million reasons I wouldn't mind finger painting for a living.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2006

"...dogs and cats living together......MASS HYSTERIA!" - Dr.Peter Venkman, Ghostbuster.

LOCK AND LOAD

Denis Leary rules -

From THE NEW YORK POST :

November 20, 2006 -- DENIS Leary had the crowd howling the other night at a New York Comedy Festival performance at Avery Fisher Hall. Leary sang "The Mel Gibson Blues" with such lyrics as, "I like to drink, I like to drive / I like to think that all the Jews got out of the Holocaust alive / My name is Mel, and can't you tell / I like tequila/I like a bagel, and I like lox / I've worked with Jews all over Hollywood, from Paramount to Fox / They kinda smell, they're goin' to hell / I like tequila."


PS- Dane Cook is overhyped, and sucks.

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

I really shouldn't be into this. I should throw in the towel, and cynically call Stallone a sellout and wonder why he's reviving Rocky for a Sixth time. However Rocky's not an easy film character to easily dismiss and throw out. He's got heart, and decency. So I welcome him back into my life 30 years after meeting him with open arms hoping the films have finally come full circle and some of the essence of the beloved first one show itself in this one.

You have to suspend disbelief to acknowledge that a 60 year old man can get in the ring 1 last time, but once that bell rings and Bill Conti's famous score swells, I get goosebumps and pumped up. Plus that line in the preview, "..let's make some hurtin' bombs" I especially like.

The series obviously is not without it's flaws, but even Rocky 5 had it's moments, "My ring is Outside..." the ghost of Mickey telling him to get up,and the training montage in Rocky IV I still think are cool in their Philly Cheese glory.

So this X-mas I'm going back to the Philly Art Museum steps to raise my hands with an icon, one last time....GO FOR IT!

Easy Reader had it Easy...

Children's programming sure got edgy lately....I used to remember when it was all about counting to "12" or learning about the letter "U", or singing about "T-I-O-N"....

From The Chappelle show....

GET LOST

Admittedly I've only watched 1/2 the first season and some sporadic episodes of Season 02 /03 of LOST, while keeping a pulse on what happens through various media, and fans of the show. I was hooked for most of the first season as the stories were kept simple, keeping in mind how a cool show like this could end up like the X-Files where original questions are buried by introducing new ones, and answering those with newer questions; while introducing newer characters. So I kept an interest, at a distance...

So, not to sound elitist, but I generally shake my head when I talk to genuine fans of the show. This is not to put a damper on their enthousiasm, but rather a nodding grimace to the machinations of overstylized writing that grifts its audience into thinking it's better and more complex than it is.

Or simply put: pretentious writing. TV writing for that matter.

LOST started out with a simple premise - survivors of a crashed airliner on an uncharted island.
Now the first season had flashbacks of each established character, and some genuiune surprises with a Polar Bear, and a Dinosaur making their presence known. Wow. An Ex Iraqi soldier, a fat guy, an ex-Hobbit, a black dude and a Korean couple living in harmony? Interesting. Bring on the cannibals.

But alas poor Yourik, conspiracies, a hatch and a bunch of ass clowns named The OTHERs make themselves known, so like the X-Files, nothing gets resolved with the first batch of questions. At which point I give them the finger.

Also now there are 2 islands with one with "The Others" having a submarine and access to civilization.....I thought they were F**kin' LOST!

When Rod Serling created the Twlight Zone back in 1959, that show had a budget that paled in comparison with the 1-2 million Lost costs per episode. In fairness TZ was a 1/2 hour show, but the storytelling element of the paranormal was simple and straightforward. It's twist endings left the viewer bewildered, and amazed due to the magic just shown their way, but never frustrated for not understanding the story. Furthermore shows like Land of the Lost, Danger Island, The Planet of the Apes Tv Show although seemingly dated by visuals, are still fresh due to the simplicty of the stories they tell. I'm not saying that Sci-Fi has to be dumbed down, but even Star Trek (the 1967 / 1990's) had generally one mission to complete per episode.

So LOST gets lost until next year. I hope for their sake the writers get some direction.

Election Day 2006

Just do it.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2006!

Special Thanks to Davey Boy Ryan for keeping this on a quicktime file because I couldn't find it. Happy Halloween Everyone. (Happy B'day Missus Ryan)

Yo' Joey - you're a sissy!

Alan Parson's "Don't Answer Me"

Well, The Mets didn't make it to the World Series, but to cheer myself up I found this video of Alan Parson's "Don't Answer Me" that I always thought was among the great treasures of animation. It looks a little dated now, but at the time (1985?) it blew me away.

Thanks YouTube!

THE BIG ONE

Sorry for the lack of blogging /and or responses. October + Playoff Baseball x The Mets = Devo not here.

GRINDHOUSE -TRAILER

I don't normally Post twice in the same day, but X-mas cometh early for me with this homage to the stuff I used to watch with my dad and brother on 42nd st.

This is what I've been waiting for. This is what it's about. A Man, a motorcycle and a machine gun. A Stripper Whore with a machine gun leg. Tom Savini in another Zombie Flick.

This is the Robert Rodriguez part, and the others may be just some of the phony trailers thrown into this movie.

Rodriguez and Tarantino are officially GODS in my book.

PS- Fuck Ang Lee.

Let's GET IT ON!

This is why Yankee fans can't stand us....Let's go Mets!

Knight Rider - 3000

I was never much of a car enthousiast, since most of the cars in the 1980's sucked but here's a poster for the new Knight Rider movie (I think). This is the role Ben Affleck was born to play. I guess the Riptide movie's only a stone's throw away.

MLB PLAYOFFS

Down to the nitty gritty. The A's @ The Twins today. Later Tonight the Detroit Tigers dust off 19 seasons without a playoff berth against the stupid Yankees.

Weds. I got the LA Dodgers against the team they spawned when the left NYC in 1957, THE AMAZIN' METS.

Lets get it on!

Off The Top Rope

What a wild week .

We got stupid ass psychos shootin up our schools; as off today some asshole shot up an Amish school. Amish. What a dick. I hope he gets raped by 70 virgins with pitchforks in hell.

Moving on-

My brother Jeff who was out here earlier finally met his niece, gave me his other Sirius Satelite radio Receiver so I've been catching up with the King of All Media himself, Howard Stern.

It's nice to hear him again unadulterated whenever I feel like it -as his show repeats daily. I also like the fact that Mr. Sulu himself is now on the show from time to time, as he adds a really cool vocal dimension to the broadcast, as well as just being funny. Sulu's got a whole new audience out there now.

I can't wait for Beetlejuice to make an appearance.


Go Phillies go came up short by a game, but they'll be back again next year. I got to move on and watch my Mets play the Dodgers in a five game series this week. I'll take the Mets in 5 games and they'll play The San Diego Padres in the NLCS series after San Diego makes quick work of the Cardinals.

As for the American League I just hope the mid market overachievers, the" Little Piranaha's" The Minnesota Twins (a team I've followed since 1991's Cinderella World Series against The Braves, where both were in last place the season before only to both get to a 7 game WS) can make quick work of the stupid Yankees.

The picture above was a fan poster for a non-existent DIE HARD sequel. I hear it's titled "Live Free or Die Hard". I'm kind of on the fence about it.

They came out with "ROCKY" figures and they even made a "figure" package of the Meat he spars with a Paulies' work. Weird. Just for the record the Adrian figure's kinda ugly.

I've seen the newest Bond trailer for "Casino Royale" (w/ Cheese) and as trailers go, it doesn't look that bad. I'm actually rooting for this guy as the "underdog" Bond. Quick note about the details that all the Bond Net nerds are bitchin about him not having Brown hair like the Connery Prototype- Roger Moore didn't have it either- and even his worst movie (Moonraker) is still more entertaining than most of Pierce Brosnan's.

Got The Godfather Boxed set at Costco for $35.00. Nice transfer. Paramount actually did justice to Gordon Willis's cinematography - I never saw a print that was lightly sepia toned. Haven't got to watch GDIII yet, but I'm sure it's better than most crummy stuff out now.

I want to see Jackass 2. Looks classic. The first one had me rolling. Except for the paper cuts between the toes segment. That one had me squeezing my schpincter so hard I could taste it.

Saw Jayden "Tiki" Milagros Amalura Beanfield de la Vega wan Kenobi Jolie Pitt Ryan yesterday. What a cute kid. Someone get her a top hat, a clarinet and call Craig Chernov in 15 years. Congrats Ryans!

Been reading too many comics lately- My favorties being JONAH HEX and RED SONJA.
Nothing like a rip off man with no name character from the 70's, and a Barbarian Red Head who wears a chain mail bikini while killing her foes.

PS - Fuck James Joyce.

LETS GO METS!

YOUTUBE

Back on.


Well as most of you know I've taken a long break from blogging with my newest obsession: Uploading video on YOUTUBE, which is probably the best distribution system for my kind of content. Plus it free.

As of this typing I've had 6900 viewings of videos I've created and re editited with more on the way. Plus I'm uploading movie trailers for film no one cares about from the 1970's and early 80's that I've had on a VHS tape for more than 10 years.

I'm actually quite amazed that PULP FICTION - Jedi Edition has moved as fast as it did; but after viewing some of the other trailers using the same idea and soundtrack I have to admit the one I recreated is pretty damn good, makes sense.

So sit back and subscribe friends because I've got a lot more footage to upload....

Stay Tuned....

Writer's Block

We'll return after these messages

How SUPERMAN Should've REALLY ENDED

First we had the Bunnies at Angry Alien .com and they're :30 sec renderings of Movies. Now these guys and they're alternate Flash animated endings for some classic flicks.

Funny stuff.

The Death Mobile

As I borrowed the image from an AICN posting; this is the car that Kurt "Snake" Russell will drive in his auto- homocidal rampage in the Quentin Tarantino opus, "DEATH PROOF" part of the double bill on the film called "GRINDHOUSE".

Not too many cars get my attention - the 1978 Trans Am from "Smokey and the Bandit", The Rocket car from "Hooper", The V-8 interceptor from Mad Max 1&2 and now this.

Can't wait for GRINDHOUSE which opens next April. Makes me want to find my copy of "CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST" an Italian Splatterfest that was banned in 62 countries!

PS- Fuck Nu-Arthouse Cinema!

THE PLAY

I don't generally care about college football, but this game's final seconds between Cal State and Stanford in 1982 (who had John Elway at QB) is one of the greatest sport endings I 've ever seen.

Stanford is leading Cal State 20-19 and if they win this game they go to the HALL OF FAME Bowl; and it was to be John Elway's last game as a College Senior. All Stanford had to do is tackle the ball carrier and they win the game. What happens next is 5 flea flickers amoungst the Cal State players towards the end zone, capped off by a touchdown on the head of a Saxaphone player from Stanford's band.

The Marching Band stupidly entered the field prematurely thinking they were going to win. It's probably the most famous play in football.



The broken Saxaphone incindentally is in the College Football Hall of Fame

ALL HAIL THE CHIEF !

Our college buddy Matthew "Chief" Flesher dropped in for the week for his buddy Corbin's wedding last Sunday. We had dinner with him last Thursday and I finally got the pix outta my camera. I was disappointed as I was still expecting him to maintain the beard. Ironically Josh has one now, to hide him from the scary Snakes on a Plane he was too much of a wuss to watch.



Nonetheless it was great to see him since he left LA back in 1999. I hadn't seen him since DP Somar's Wedding in 2003.
We all met at President Clinton's favorite restaurant right here in the heart of Burbank, BJ's.





I've added Chief's Sculpting site on the side bar links. He's actually sculpted a few action figures that I actually own. I guess he's like Dave Deneen who's Buddy Christ I own as well.



Happy trails Chief buddy! Hopefully we'll see you soon!

Also - congrats to the Ryan's and their new spawn Jayden Ryan!

Fightin' Phillies are DANGEROUS

That's picture of The Phillies future - RYAN HOWARD who just passed MIKE SCHMIDT with the most Home Runs by a Phillie in one season. He currently has 48, (Schmidt had 47, with 536 total) as the Phillies suddenly have gotten hot, and are 1/2 game out of the Wild Card in the National League.

The Mets still have the best record in the National League, lead the Eastern Division, and second place Philly by 15 1/2 games.

Do they have a shot in the playoffs? Everyone does as the hottest team going into the playoffs has won THE WORLD SERIES in the 4 out of the last 5 played (Diamondbacks, Angels, Red Sox and Marlins). In September they'll play mostly crummy teams that'll give them an edge to hopefully make a playoff push in the Wild Card. But then The Mets will have to kick their asses.

I still have a lot of love for the 1993 Wild Bunch team that came up short; and for the record the first baseball glove I ever had was a Rawlings, "signed" by MIKE SCHMIDT.

INCREDIBLE

So far this August I'm 2 for 2. I've never heard of Vince Papale before; being from NYC I had the luxury and curse of having 2 teams for every major sport, so if one's stinking up the joint hopefully the other wasn't. Except for the Yankees who just suck.

When I went to College in Philadelphia, in 1989 I knew that I was in unfamiliar ground. I was a Mets / Rangers / Knicks / Giants & Jets Fan. But I was warned about the Philadelphia fans (the ones who made throwing snowballs at Santa Claus and opposing NFL teams fashionable) so the one time I went to a Phillies game in Sept. of 1989 at Vets stadium I didn't wear any METS regallia or open my mouth, especially since I went by myself.

As for the Eagles, I always had a healthy respect for them; even as a kid I thought their helmets looked cool with the wings on them, and the Randall Cunningham team of the late '80's early '90's were always exciting to watch.

How times have changed- Sports now is 1000% an Business and I feel that most of the millionaire players with their questionable character off the field makes watching football cold and lifeless for me, because of the mercenary way players move from team to team, only really caring about themselves.

Which is why INVINCIBLE is a lightning shot of confidence that makes you want to believe in sports figures and to bigger degree yourself again. Nothing is out of reach for anybody.

Mark Wahlberg's impressive performance rivals that of his star making turn in Boogie Nights, and dare I say it, Oscar Worthy. I don't believe that with the more "Serious, Cynical and Darker " films that end off each year he'll recieve one , but if Tom Hanks can win for "Forrest Gump" I don't feel that it's out of reach.

They captured the feel and essence of the 1970's Philadelphia real well, from the clothes, music, the location shooting, and even adding a dead ringer for Joe Lampone - the actor who play's Papale's best friend. According to Keegs this was a close to 1970's Philly as we're gonna get today.

Papale hits rock bottom before making each painstaking step closer to achieving his dream of playing for his hometown team, however it's his HUMILTY that makes him so special. I actually got choked up when at one point he causes a fumble on a kickoff, and ends up with touchdown- and stands with his arms outstretched, acknowledging the hometown fans and allowing all of them to live the dream with him. I really also liked the added real footage of the real Papale added at the end of the film. On the 30th anniversary of ROCKY I couldn't think of a better film to hand the torch to.

Invincible is OUTSTANDING.

FANGTASTIC !!!

Christmas cometh early my friends. After months of hype and chuckles, SNAKES ON A PLANE delivered. Big time. This was the first Hollywood movie that really lived up to all the publicity and hoopla surrounding it; I feel completely satisfied from wire to wire with this movie- because it didn't lie to the public about what it was - it did what it set out to do and give you and your $$ and rocking time at the movies. The Great American B movie might yet have a future my friends.

Yesterday's fun fiesta started with Cheesesteaks at the South Philly Steaks restaurant on Victory and Olive Blvds in Burbank @ 6pm. We had great debates about pop culture and the TRANSFORMERS, and - after gourging ourselves with greasy cuisine we set out to find our friend Russ waiting on line for us at the AMC 16 theater at 7:10pm. He was the second guy on line so everything was going to plan. The Crew for the night were Jon Gebhart, Keegs, Jay Warnesky, my buddy Eugene Abano from work at FOX, Kim Le, her boyfriend Ed, and about 10-11 of Gebahart's buddies at the Simpsons.

My Friend, Joshua Taback, I will note was a BIG PUSSY and didn't show up. Rrrrrarrrh!

ON WITH THE SHOW:

So we're let in at about 8:15pm for a 8:50pm show and had two split rows of people. At this point I was a little concerned about the movie as the theater wasn't full yet, but by showtime it was at 90% capacity. After the crummy "Pre Show" Countdowns and a few shitty trailers (Note: I will see "JACKASS 2"; and "Tenatious D and the Pick of Destiny") Sam and his friends were about to start.

The lights dimmed and the energy level rose as I, and the rest of the audience started to cheer and clap because SNAKES ON A PLANE was finally here. I'm not going to go on a detailed account of the movie as to not spoil it for everyone, but I will note a few great audience "POPS" that happened throughout the movie.

POP # 1 - The Villian screaming "whooo" Ric Flair style as his smacks his victim with a baseball bat.

POP # 2 - Sam Jackson's first appearance in the film the house went nuts.

POP # 3 - The Plane takes off from Hawaii / and then they show the cargo hold with the snakes.

POP # 4 - The snakes are released and all hell breaks loose on the plane, there are ways of killing people with snakes
I never thought of. The audience goes nuts for 40 mins straight.

POP # 5- Sam says the line "We gotta get these Muthafuckin' Snakes off this Muthafuckin' plane!" -It was great to hear but
a little anti climactic as we were all expecting it - there was an earlier line about the snakes that was just as funny.

POP #6 - A surprise "Pilot" causes the audience to cheer his name...

As movies with creatures go this one's at the top eschelon with ANACONDA, TREMORS, and LAKE PLACID. There were some genuine "scares" that made me jump out of my seat.

You'll have to hand it to Sam Jackson for not taking himself too seriously to make this movie; and the audience participation on this one was on par when I saw "There's Something About Mary" back in the late '90's. It was refreshing to see a movie and have fun again from beginning to end; and not complain about anything (plot,shot selection,editing etc.) because with a title like SNAKES ON A PLANE you honestly know what you're getting.

Maybe next time they'll re-name a movie like ARMAGEDDON- "OIL DRILLERS IN SPACE" and I'll actually enjoy it.


http://www.snakesonaplane.com

Saturday Snake Fever !

It's finally here. I'll be there with the crew Saturday night @ 8:50pm at the World Famous Burbank AMC 16...

I'm gonna cry tears of joy....

Just Gimme a Cocaine Addicted Donkey Already!

I got Snakes later on this week. Today I get Midgets who work at Target. The Mets are in first place. This week could only get better if George Lucas would CGI a puppet Yoda riding a Coke addicted Donkey in the first 3 Star Wars movies....

http://www.midgetswhoworkattarget.com.html


DOUBLE PRIZES !!!!! DOUBLE PRIZES, YEAH !!!!




The TRON GUY- I forgot who orignally sent me this link but this dude loves Tron (calling Joe Lampone)

Check out this guy's site here:

http://www.tronguy.net.html

I also got some free posters of Star Wars Episodes II and III that I'll be wiping my ass with later today. What a way to start a week!

P.S. I Love my Wife Shelley, and my baby girl Emily!

Seven Days...and counting....

Captain America is Cool again

There's a Civil War brewing in the Marvel Universe currently, and taking a cue from Brad Bird's "Incredibles", the American Government is making Superheroes register to become civil servants of America. This is after a bunch of "C" type Heroes with their own reality show get in over their heads; fight it out with some powerful supervillians, and end up tragically blowing up an entire school killing most of the children in it. The backlash becomes intense, and this creates a rift between a lot of the super powered community and a fierce debate turns into a battle royal between allies.

Iron Man, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and others see this a natural progression and line up to reveal their secret identites and enlist with the Government, with the Pro Registration act. But the Hero that suprised me was CAPTAIN AMERICA who gives the Government the finger, kicks the crap out of 50 government agents, goes AWOL, all to defend the privacy and civil liberties of other superheroes who don't want to give up their identities...

So currently Cap's underground with a rag tag bunch of heroes who usually patrol the streets (Daredevil, Luke Cage) fighting a battle on two fronts- 1) Supervillans/Crime and the Government sanctioned heroes who now have to bring these renegade heroes in.

Not a bad way to revamp your character after 65 years....I'm also exicited because ULTIMATE AVENGERS 2 comes out tomorrow; and hopefully this will be better than the first one

GO CAP GO!!!!

Swayze, Mullets, and Kung Fu

I love this movie. I remember first seeing it in the theater in the late '80's and not knowing what to make of it.
I dug the action, was confused by the bad guy who lived across the river and started noticing a disturbing trend in action movies at that time, that lead had to show off their butts.

What makes ROADHOUSE so special? It's that guilty pleasure that most men have seen, and like a strange slow burn realize the greatness in it because of all it's flaws...A movie with mullets,kung-fu, monster trucks, and a Polar bear that falls on a fat guy? sign me up!

Recently a new DVD (the one in the picture above is the older release) was released with Commentary by the director Rowdy Harrington and a second commentary by filmmaker Kevin Smith who's a huge Roadhouse fan... I heard that he contacted MGM and begged them to do it even for free. The DVD even has a "What would Dalton do? " Feature and a Retrospective on the Cult fan base of this American B movie classic.

Furthermore an Off-Off Broadway play was done in honor of Swayze and CO



...his name is DALTON!

Stay Cool !

With the crazy heatwave I want to remind myself that winter can really suck as well.

Here's one for all you Philly folks- I forgot how peaceful and nice Center City was compared to NYC....

Well at least Football season's about a month and change away.

Steely Dan vs. Owen Wilson

Steely Dan (my favorite band) has taken action against Owen Wilson and the movie "Me and Dupree" which if you have the album "Two Against Nature" you'll recognize was lifted from the song "Cousin Dupree". The song, Cousin Dupree's is about a loser who moves back in with his Aunt , and the movie's about a loser who moves in with his married newlywed buddies, and shennanegans ensue on both fronts...

Ironically Steely Dan is named after a dildo in William Burrough's beat/sci fi novel "The Naked Lunch" and "Me and Dupree" I've heard just sucks dick.

Anyway I've got your back Don and Walt; and please show H'wood what a real Royal Scam really is.

Check out Steely Dan's Letter here:

http://www.steelydan.com/heyluke.html

GRINDHOUSE an RIP release

Keegs forwarded me the information that Snake Plissken himself is now taken over the role from Mickey Rourke in "DEATH PROOF" making this even more exciting for me. If you don't know Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez have teamed up to make next year's GRINDHOUSE, a celebration of all the B movie sholock horror-sexploitation action genre movies my dad used to take me and my brother to in 42nd Street and the multiplex in Jamaica Queens.

To say I'm pumped is an understatement- QT's movie "Death Proof" is about a Stunt man and a killer car of some sort (Fans of THE CAR and MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE rejoice!) and Rodriguez's film "PLANET TERROR" is a movie about a chick (Rose McGowan) with a machine gun for a leg. I F**KING LOVE IT !!!!

Here's the rub: In LA QT's will be shown first, and in Texas Rodriguez's movie will be shown first. In between they're creating phoney trailers (complete with scratches and film pops) of Swedish Sexploitation films, the Roger Corman Pom Pom girl teensploitation and some horror stuff. The rumor I heard is that the rest of the country the Projectionist in each theater can decide which film goes first.

God Bless these guys....

HULK WRITE! HULK BLOG !!!!

Unlike the CRUMMY Ang Lee movie- HULK THINKS! HULK BLOG! HULK ENTERTAIN!!! RRRRAARRGHRRR!!!!

HULK WANT TO SMASH ANG LEE !!!!!


http://incrediblehulk.blogspot.com/


Thanks to Kathy Keegan for the link a long time ago.

World Gone WILD!!!!

Just random off the cuff notes -


Kim Il Jong's got some balls shooting off missles on the 4th of July...Isn't that our thing? Our worldwide Credit's shot, we can't get out of the Semi Final round in the World Baseball Classic (finishing 3rd in games played with Mexico and Canada) we royally suck at soccer, the dollar's worth nill, and this wacko's shooting off rockets on OUR HOLIDAY? WTF?


I think Voltron would kick the shit out of The Transformers, and all you sickos who looked at Cheetara from Thundercats funny need help.


In one of my earlier posts I raved about ROB VAN DAM - recently he was given the World Heavyweight title to both the WWF and the redux version of ECW, but in a wacky chain of events he was busted en route to an arena for speeding and was found to have possession of a small amount of Marijuana. Needless to say he had to drop the WWF belt 1st on Monday Night RAW, then the ECW belt to an irate fan base in Philly at the ECW taping the next day...Needless to say he's ROB VAN DUMB


The Spider-Man 3 trailer looks spectacular, I just hope they have enough time for all the new villians they're adding in.

Roadhouse finally will get the Special Edition treatment... I just hope they explain why Dalton didn't bring Wade Garrett (I'm not going to explain you'll need to watch) who's half dead to the HOSPITAL where his girlfriend's a DOCTOR only to return to find him dead...

I have to admit that POINT BREAK is also having the same effect on me that Road House did


I love the NY POST :









I gotta find headline of the Puerto Rican kid who got eaten by the polar bears in the Bronx Zoo 20 years ago...I remember the inside caption "Bears play tug a Juan" Bwhahahahahahaha! Dumb ass kid...

I looked at Joey Rocco's site recently and he's starting to rant like a junior mafia version of GPD.

Only a month and change until SNAKES ON A PLANE !!!!

I loved the head butt that French Soccer Star ZIDANE did on the Italian Player with 10 minutes left in DOUBLE OVERTIME - thereby making it easier for the Italians (who were playing for a shoot out to win that trophy that's SMALLER than the Stanley Cup) If I were Zidane I would of pulled the guy's pants down and kicked him in the nuts, because that's showmanship. Especially with a billion people watching.

Speaking of Ass kicking the UFC (or as I call it the Ultimate FAG Championship) aired last Saturday and I heard that it sucked, and like a $3.00 whore in Tijuana. Admittedly I love pro wrestling but it's like dumbed down superheroes to me. The UFC's a bunch of hard hitting, HUMP happy sweaty dudes who like to roll around with one another playing rough house. Eeeyuck. When it first started it was mixed martial arts and was BANNED in 50 states except the one it was broadcasting from, which changed all the time. So you'd have Sumo against Boxing or Kung Fu vs. Wrestling, etc...Now it's just gay porn.

LONG LIVE BEAST BOY!!!

The Madcap Laughs and dies...RIP Syd Barrett

This is what happens when you fry your brain on acid 24/7 in the late 1960's: you create one of the greatest bands in history, PINK FLOYD. Syd Barrett died today at age 60 and was the original founders of the band. He was instrumental in their tripped out acid rock, with such classics as "See Emily Play" and one of my favorites "Interstellar Overdrive". I heard his solo album back in High School "The Madcap Laughs" but quite honestly was too young to appreciate it's experimental sonic quality. Ironically, I did get into Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground's stuff though.

While I'm on the Pink Floyd - I don't really listen to any of their stuff much now as I burned out on them between 1984 - 1987. That's 3 years of f-up adolescence listening to great music that's quite frankly, depressing. I can still listen to "Animals" and "Wish You Were Here" but knowing "Dark Side" verbatim doesn't make it enjoyable anymore. "The Wall" I can't even get to side 2 anymore, but they're still some of the best albums ever made. As for the "Final Cut" I listened to my CASSETTE of it 2 months ago after a 10 year layoff and still knew every depressing note. (Good album though) I will still champion "Meddle" with one of my faves "One of These Days".

So my point? It's a good thing Barrett left the band and Gilmour took over because they were a better band...Kudos to Alan Parsons producing on Dark Side of the Moon, although you should sue Coldplay's ass for stealing your stuff.

So rest in peace you fried up "crazy diamond" they'll never another like you again.

GAMECOCK - The Superhero

*****UPDATED : 6/08/06 ******

GAMECOCK LIVE AND IN LIVING COLOR:




Long story short, has anyone ever heard of a superhero named the GAMECOCK? Apparently a good friend of mine thinks there is one. (They'll be referred to hereforth as Dembugs.

While me and my college buddies were waiting on line to go see Superman Returns, my friend Dembugs turns to me and says "Hey Devo, have you heard of a new superhero named The GAMECOCK?" Puzzled, I retort, "Uh no, I haven't and I never thought that I hear the words GAMECOCK ever uttered out of your mouth." Ironically enough I've got a toilet mouth, but I never put those two word together ever in my life.

Needless to say everyone started asking her what the hell a GAMECOCK Superhero was, much to our amusement- which also brought on quizzical stares from other moviegoers on the line, and making her amusingly, and embarassingly redder in the process.

Like pretending that Joe Rocco's Gay, in the '90's will be like asking Dembugs what the hell a GAMECOCK is in the Aught's...

What the hell do we call this decade anyway?

Our President

Red States. Blue States. I think they both are crappy extremes. I'm starting the PURPLE STATE.

AMERICA F-YEAH !!!!!


PHOTO CREDIT: Alex Ross