The Night Caller Short Film

Sometimes with parents, a promise is a promise: No matter what.

The Night Caller from Peter and Donna on Vimeo.

New DVD Haul

This week I finally received my DVD haul from DVD Empire after spending months battling with them over a check. They sent the DVD's over last week but my post office really sucks so they never sent me a notification. Thanks to the services of my dear old dad, I finally got them today. Here's my latest haul:

• A Nightmare on Elm Street Movie Collection: This is arguably one of the most lauded series in horror history and I finally have it. For some reason I've been on a real Freddy Kreuger kick this year, so it's a thrill to finally own the horror films I grew up with. I'm not crazy about "Freddy's Revenge," but it's a thrill to own "Dream Child" and "Dream Master," two films I spent years watching over and over. Thankfully the remake is omitted.
• Citizen Kane 70th Anniversary Edition: Regardless of whether you enjoy this film or not, this is one of the most important cinematic inputs ever. It's a film that's been studied, dissected, and analyzed time and time again and I'm glad to own it. I own the Jazz Singer box set, a film I'm not particularly fond of and I'll be happy to include this one in my collection.
• Hobo with a Shotgun: This movie is excellent, and I mean excellent. I had such a good time watching it and re-watching it. Rutger Hauer is as great as ever in this grindhouse outing that managed to be much more entertaining than the original "Grindhouse" film from Rodriguez and Tarantino. It's also better than "Machete." Yuk. I look forward to going over this again.
• Frat House Massacre: I'm glad to own this as it's one of the best indie slasher films I've ever seen. Starring the gorgeous Niki Rubin, this is part revenge flick, part whodunit, and part slasher flick. I re-watched it at the beginning of October and it still holds up perfectly.
• 4 Film Favorites: Critters Collection: I used to watch Critters and Critters 2 when I was a kid during the good old days of antenna television and now they're finally mine for the watching! I prefer this series over Gremlins. I know that's sacrilege, but I don't care.
• Insidious: One of the the best films of 2011 and sure to go on my top 10, this is one of the scariest movies I've seen all year, a bonafide successor to the Paranormal Activity legacy. I love it.
• Diabolique Criterion Edition: This is the very first Criterion Release I've ever owned and I'm happy it's for a film I love and respect. The ending always gets me. Did the boy really get the ball from the dead wife? Or did she scam the scammers? Hmmmm...

That's all folks.

Friday Throwdown

It's Friday which means I'm in a good mood. Normally Fridays are a lot of fun for me. There's good programming on my favorite channels and I'm generally happy the week is over. To boot, this Sunday "The Walking Dead" premieres so as you can guess, I'm counting the days and I'm anxiously awaiting Sunday like you wouldn't believe. "Breaking Bad" really kept me distracted over my frenzy for more Robert Kirkman genius, and I thank my pals at Movie Fan Central for that. They introduced me to "Breaking Bad" and I zoomed through the first three seasons in a matter of days! I also watched the entire fourth season this summer, and it was not a disappointment. That season finale was incredible.

Next year is the final season of "Breaking Bad" and I'm disappointed, but all good things must come to an end. Regardless while the show entertained me a great deal, I'm honestly looking forward to "The Walking Dead" much more, so thanks "Breaking Bad" but it's time to let the noobie shine for a while.

In either case here is some random crap to sift through that I found today.

• In case you didn't see it on my site Cinema Crazed's facebook page, I was interviewed by writer Josef Henry Rodriguez for his movie Blog "Shameless Self Advertising": http://drunkentaxicabsofabsolutereality.blogspot.com/2011/10/cinema-crazed-you-ask-of-course-i-am.html
• The trailer for Justice League: Doom. It looks to be on par with the other DC animated films and most of them are fantastic. I look forward to seeing more of Superman as always:
  
• The Soup + The Walking Dead = Brilliance
  
• My favorite thing in the world "30 Second Bunnies" most recently spoofed one of my favorite films of the first decade "Trick r Treat." Bask in the comedic glory:
  

 

That's about all for Friday. I have a new DVD Haul coming up soon.

Darth Maul I presume?

 

I'll just say it. Darth Maul as a character makes no sense. His character made no sense, his plot line made zero sense and his showdown with Qui Gonn and Obi-Wan at the end of "The Phantom Menace" makes no sense when you think about it. Of course if you pull back everything about "The Phantom Menace" made no sense, while the entire trilogy was pointless.

I mean sure the character looked great and Ray Park is immense as a presence in the film, but Maul is another in a line of cool looking but fairly useless side characters in the Star Wars canon. Which will come as a shock now that, by way of Topless Robot, news has it that George Lucas himself has requested Maul be brought back to the canon guest starring as the villain in the critically acclaimed "The Clone Wars."

Last we saw of Maul he was falling down an exhaust pit after being sliced in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber. How Lucas's brain trust plans to bring him back logically is currently on fan boys' minds. Currently many people are suspecting, per extended universe, Maul will return as the half man half cyborg hybrid to wreak unholy vengeance but let's face it, the extended universe doesn't count.

Most of it is horse shit and widely contradicted by Lucas himself. It's all glorified fan fiction in the end. So there's no indicator Lucas will for once pay attention to the expanded universe and allow Maul to return as a half cyborg. For all we know we get the explanation that his breed can magically pull their own body parts together and can only die when their heads are removed a la a cockroach.

Whatever stupid excuse they use, a lot of fans are suspecting this has to do with the re-release of "The Phantom Menace" in theaters coming soon, and this will be a perfect way to refresh some memories. Let's face it, Lucas fan boys will swallow whatever he shoves in their mouths, so I expect big ratings for the premiere of "The Clone Wars" once Maul is re-introduced, and I expect a lot of apologists to excuse Lucas for killing off a character with potential so soon in the series.

Like an abusive relationship, Lucas can exploit, disrespect, and hurt his fans, but at the end of the day they keep coming back to him giving him chance after chance. I won't be there. Like every other bit of Star Wars info, I'll merely hear about it on news sites and take it from there.

I mean the animated series is pretty good, but I'm done feeding the pig that is Lucas.

My Halloween Haul

Every year I take a trip to my local stores to see what they have in the way of Halloween merchandise. A few years ago I bought a giant cloaked skull and currently have it hanging above my desk, and I found a foam skull I keep tucked away with my geek collection. This year was no different. Sure, I bought some candy. I bought a lot of candy, but this year there is a Halloween shop that's opened up in my neighborhood and my mom and I went ballistic inside, perusing all of the merchandise and came out with about 93 dollars worth of stuff. Here is the haul I came out with:

• For mom: Handcuff earrings: She has very unusual outfits and she loves to follow a motif, so they were fairly cheap and she loved them.
• For mom: Cop Hat: Don't ask me why she wanted it so badly, but she just did. At 15 bucks, it wasn't bad.
• For mom: Arm covers: It's one of those long arm covers the emo kids wear with the stripes. Again, not sure the appeal.
• Superman S trick or treat case: It's sectional and splits at the bottom to pour the candy, and I love it. I have it sitting on my desk as we speak.
• For sister: Zombie make up and cat ears
• Skull decorations: I bought this at my local Rite Aide and I'm hanging it up on my horror DVD shelf.
• Skull cup: It's a plastic transparent cup with a skull etched in to it. I love it.
• Pez Dispensers! I cleared the shelf of pez dispensers Halloween themed. I hope one day I come across the Superman pez dispenser DC just licensed. I'd kill for that.

Overall it was a great haul. I bought a bag of bones too, but I had to leave it behind at the store since I was way over my budget, but I will return. Oh yes.

Happy Halloween!

I'm Excited For: The Walking Dead

In three days "The Walking Dead" premieres its second season on AMC TV in America and this fan couldn't be more stoked. I've waited all year for a word on season two and when I finally did get word, I got ahold of the sweet extended season two trailer featured at Comic Con.

Thankfully this year AMC avoided the bootlegging and released the official trailer shortly after comic con, and I couldn't be more thankful. I must have seen the trailer thirteen times before finally counting down the days until October 16th.

I'm one of the most protective fans and arguable apologists for The Walking Dead, and I've defended the first season to just about everyone who complains that it's strayed far from the comics. I spent four months wearing out my DVD set for season one, and now I'm wearing out the special edition I received a few weeks ago.

Listening to the commentaries on the six episodes, it really gives you an insight in to the production and I tend to agree with Frank Darabont and Robert Kirkman that liberties had to be made. And let's face it, the series has improved on a lot of things. There is much more emphasis on Shane Walsh, and much more emphasis on Duane and Morgan, the father and son whom help Rick discover how to survive in this new world he's awoken to.

I love season one of the Walking Dead, and I feel a special connection toward it, mainly because I'm such a big fan of the comic books. I've read them since the very beginning, and I've formed a real attachment to the characters and situations. And the same goes for the TV series.

Season two promises to be quite excellent as Rick and the survivors stumble upon a farm house run by Herschel and his daughter Maggie. Suffice it to say things will go down. I know how this storyline runs in the comic books so I know how the season will likely develop, but I won't ruin it for you. Not at all. For the folks who have read the comics, they know where this is all leading up to.

 "The Walking Dead" is that show I've dreamed of. That horror drama with a stellar cast and I'm so happy it's become a smash television hit. A show like this is a gamble and AMC gambled hard on the success of this series. Now that we're playing with thirteen episodes this year, odds are great that we'll see the series delve in to the comic books much more.

People have to understand that the first season had only six episodes to work with, so ending it on that note was necessary. It was a cliffhanger and an ending just in case AMC didn't renew the show for a second season. But now with the confidence this series can last, I'm loving the coverage we're getting for it. Comics, encyclopedias, TV specials, and a new novel about "The Rise of the Governor."

This novel will play an important role in any fan's knowledge, so I intend to read it and pick it up as soon as humanly possible. I even loved the webisodes "Torn Apart." For those who missed the fun, it was a six episode webisode series chronicling the last days of the bicycle girl zombie. She's the iconic zombie from the first episode of the first season who Rick sees, paving the fate of the world in his eyes. We learn her name is Hannah and she was a family woman.

In the series, Lilli Birdsell plays the titiular zombie who struggles to face off against the walking dead as they begin littering the streets of her city. She fights through hordes to get to her children, both of whom have found their dad and are hiding in his house. There we get to see what happened to his new wife, how she turned, and how the kids deal with the walking dead.

Hannah's role in this is as the survivor struggling to get her kids to safety, but ultimately she falls under the tooth and nail of the walking dead, being torn limb from limb. Though short, Gregory Nicotero does a fine job of telling this story and accentuating the terror of this new world through Hannah's eyes and Birdsell plays the role to perfection. The shorts have their numerous moments of sheer terror and suspense and they're a wonderful lead in to the first episode of the series where Rick awakens in the hospital.

I'm a huge fan of Robert Kirkman's creation, I continue to be through the fan ballyhoo, and I anxiously await Sunday's premiere. I'm centering my whole day, nay, weekend on the premiere in hopes of being introduced to yet another chapter in this new world. I expect a lot of straying from the source material, since you have to stretch out the comic book to fill a show, but I am looking forward to a horrific and intense experience with fine performances in spite of Frank Darabont's departure.

The show is not doomed. Sure Frank Darabont's departure was a hit, but we gained Gregory Nicotero. The man has experience with the zombie sub-genre for crying out loud. Regardless, I'm counting down the days! Only three left until season two of "The Walking Dead"!

Trick r Treat!

By way of my favorite website Bad Ass Digest, comes this new short from Trick r Treat director Michael Dougherty. It's no secret that I am a humongous fan of Michael Dougherty's horror anthology film "Trick r Treat," and watching this short film gives me goosebumps for Halloween. For people unaware, "Trick r Treat" is an anthology horror film focusing on various tales of Halloween horror that includes werewolves, vampires, monsters, and ghosts and introduces Sam, the creepy narrator behind the film. It's become a favorite of mine and a Halloween staple ever since it was released on DVD. I watch it every single year in October (and only October), and it's taken the place of John Carpenter's "Halloween" as my favorite Halloween film.

Without further ado:

New Addiction: Jessie

I'm not doing myself any favors by admitting I'm a Disney whore, am I? I wouldn't think so. But suffice it to say I'm a real Disney whore. I'll watch anything they put on the Disney Channel here in America, no matter what it is. I've sat through fun shows like "Shake it Up!" and real shit like "Pair of Kings" and I really do appreciate the programming they've been enlisting since "Hannah Montana" mercifully bowed out of the channel.

We're seeing a lot less shows about kids trying to become fame whores and much more family oriented shows. Which I'm all for. "Good Luck Charlie" gets heavy play on the channel and that's a family show if I've ever seen one.

"Jessie" is a new addiction because, simply put, I loved "Charles in Charge." They're basically the same premise when you think about it. A college student comes to live with an upper class family filled with mischievous children and takes care of them, handling their nonsense with patience and good humor. "Jessie" has a more varied cast this time as title character Jessie takes care of a family filled with adopted children. This is a good excuse to feature a very diverse cast of characters so all the bases are covered.

"Jessie" two episodes in is fairly addictive mainly because the show is so darn cute it's hard to find flaws with it. As with most Disney shows the mom and dad are basically MIA, appearing every so often while the young cast basically comes and goes as they please. Jessie follows after making sure they don't inflict any harm on themselves and that's the basic premise.

Okay, and there's Debby Ryan who went from gawky cute in "The Suite Life on Deck," to damn good looking on "Jessie." The rest of the characters are all pretty basic archetypes. My favorite so far is Skai Jackson who plays the baby of the family Zuri. While she's there to mainly spout one liners and look adorable, she pulls it off very well quite often.

Ryan as Jessie is likable. She's basically a branch off of Bailey Picket from her previous show as a small town Southern gal who is mysteriously very street wise. I like to think of "Jessie" as a modern "Charles in Charge" with a twist of "Mary Poppins" and I appreciate the simple stories and limitless character arcs it gives the audience. There's no end to the possibilities of sub-plots with the kids.

One is an adopted Indian boy, one is an adopted African girl, one is an adopted Brooklyn kid, and the oldest is the biological daughter of the celebrity couple featured. There has yet to be a lot of talk about the adoption process and whatnot, and I hope it stays that way. Last thing we need is a PSA about the benefits of adoption on a family show.

Nevertheless I remain a tried and true Disney whore and I'll be watching "Jessie" with most interest. Mainly for Debby Ryan.

Rocky Time

Yes, I know many people consider this song to be cheesy, but I personally consider it to be one of the best songs of the eighties. While I'm not a huge Survivor fan, there's no doubt this song will get you pumped up and excited. I think "Rocky" is one of the finest films of all time. The series is... okay. But the first film? Brilliance. I only saw it for the first time five years ago and loved it immediately. In either case this was on the radio today and it's been on my mind ever since.

I'm Excited For: Halloween

I take Halloween very seriously.

I've literally been counting down the days since July and I've followed a strict ritual since I was about fifteen. August I prepare for October. In the past I used to merely begin collecting horror films, but once the web became a priority, August became mainly about preparing the annual Halloween Horror Month on my website Cinema Crazed. Then as the site became more a priority, I found most of my August devoted to that.

September is when I watch movies of the horror genre to prepare for October. Again, this became a ritual once my website became more and more a priority and I had to think ahead of time. Then October is the month when I finally got to work and began watching horror movies non-stop. I know, it sounds like work but mainly it's a lot of fun if exhausting.

2010 was a good year for Halloween but I basically burned myself out by the time October 31st rolled around. This year is not as strenuous but I'm enjoying it. Simply put, I take this holiday very seriously. It's the one month a year I can celebrate the occult and feel the change in the atmosphere.

When I was a kid it was primarily a time to kick back and wait for Halloween day. That would be the time I could trick or treat, eat a lot of candy, and hopefully have a party in my class room. On rare occasions we even visited our grandparents. One year we visited them during October and we got to spend the entire day at a pumpkin patch looking for the right pumpkin to take home. It's a memory I hold dear.

That's me in the center with my family and it's every bit as fun as it looks. I can still remember going up and down the farm looking at the different size pumpkins with the other kids. Of course my dad allowed us to pick big ones which we took home that day and carved at home.

Halloween is that time of year where people can be bad and where I'm allowed to simply stop pretending to be the eclectic movie geek and merely show that deep down I'm all about the horror genre. There's rarely a year where I don't initiate some ritual, and they've all changed. I even kept up the tradition that one year where Halloween was practically banned around the country.

I used to trick or treat, and plan my costumes as early as December, and I loved dressing as Jason Voorhes. I got to dress as him three times in a row and it rarely got old. As I get older the holiday retains a lot of its magic and I find myself appreciating the month as a whole rather than linger on to a 24 hour day that's often very fleeting and goes by like a blur.

This year I have my rituals. I'm waiting anxiously for "The Walking Dead" season two which has become a Halloween tradition thanks to AMC Networks in America, I'm watching more and more programming on cable that's family oriented and I'm always finding a hidden gem that surprises me. "Dead Set" shocked me to the core in 2010, and in 2011, I got to see "The Dead" which kept me up for a few days.

And as always I devote one day where I go to my local Rite Aide and my local party place and look at the Halloween stuff. I love it every year. I buy a ton of candy and wait for the 31st where I can pig out and indulge in some nostalgia. This year I found "The Last Halloween," a TV special from the early nineties that brings me back to my childhood, and I'm watching "Trick r Treat," my new go to film every year when I want to get in the mood for All Hallow's Eve.

I literally put everything on hold for this month and holiday. It's the one time where you don't have to have parties with family members you barely see. You don't have to buy anyone a gift. You don't have to have commercials shoved down your throat to BUY BUY BUY! It's just a fun time of year that I love for its supernatural elements.

I hope this month slows down and doesn't let up for a while. I'm not ready for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve quite yet. They're fun holidays, but exhausting and unpleasant. I was raised a horror fanatic by my mom and I've upheld that love for horror well in to my twenties. I hope to expose that love to my own kids some day soon.

I'm ranting, but it's only because I waited all year for this time anxiously and I'm glad it's finally here. On with the show.