Sunday, April 26, 2009

Saturday, April 25, 2009

BEA ARTHUR: 1922-2009

Sad news in entertainment today, as beloved Golden Girl and Broadway star Bea Arthur (born Bernice Frankel on May 13th, 1922) passed away this morning in her Los Angeles home from a long bout with lung cancer. Best known for her breakout role as Maude Findley, Edith Bunker's feminist cousin on All in the Family, which led to her own very successful spin-off Maude. Years later Bea endeared herself to a whole new generation playing Dorothy Zbornak, the no-nonsense voice of reason to a group of gals known as the Golden Girls (Arthur won a 'Best Actress' Emmy for both series). But what many of you may not know is that aside from being an Emmy-winning actress and a Tony-winning Broadway performer, Bea Arthur still found the time to make her mark in geekdom, infamously performing a song and dance in the Mos Eisley Cantina as Ackmena in the rarely seen Star Wars Holiday Special (1978), she also had a brief cameo in Mel Brook's History of the World: Part I, later she would lend her voice to the Femputer in the hilarious Futurama episode 'Amazon Women in the Mood' (2001). She has made such an impact, in fact, that for years she has been an object of affection for Marvel's Deadpool, who has made no qualms about his serious infatuation with the white-haired vixen. Unless the current writers have no idea what they're doing, I would expect a story dealing with Wade (Deadpool) coming to terms with Bea Arthur's passing. Fanboys love them some Bea Arthur, that's for sure. On April 28th, the marquees on Broadway will be dimmed for one minute in memory of Ms. Arthur. When asked about her dear friend's passing, Golden Girls co-star Betty White simply said, "I knew it would hurt. I just didn't know it would hurt this much." Rest in peace, Bea and thanks for making us smile...

Monday, April 20, 2009

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Details emerge about Romero's ...Of The Dead

Devonshire Productions has released the official synopsis for the film which inexplicably will not be called Island of the Dead even though that would have made perfect sense.

“On a small island off North America’s coast, the dead rise to menace the living. Yet…the islanders can’t bring themselves to exterminate their loved ones, despite the growing danger from those the once held dear. A rebel among them hunts down all the zombies he can find, only to be banished from the island for assassinating his neighbors and friends. On the mainland, bent on revenge, he encounters a small band of survivors in search of an oasis on which to build a new life. Barely surviving an attack from a mass of ravenous flesh-eaters. They commandeer a zombie-infested ferry and sail to the island. There, to their horror, they discover that the locals have chained the dead inside their homes, pretending to live ‘normal’ lives…with bloody consequences. What ensues is a desperate struggle for survival and the answer to a question never posed in Romero’s Dead films: Can the living ever live in peace with the dead?”


Apparently, the movie is a direct sequel to Diary of the Dead, Romero's one misstep in the series (yeah, I said it). I love the dead films and Romero but I have to admit that this is the first that I'm not truly excited about. My hope is that the documentary gimmick of the last film works better this time around. I've seen the promo trailer (which has since disappeared from the net) and it looks a little bit better. The quality was pretty rough and this is definitely another low budget affair (a good thing).

...Of The Dead is due sometime in 2009

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Movie v2.0




Showbiz Spy is reporting that Sarah Michelle Gellar is in talks to reprise her role as Buffy the Vampire Slayer for a feature film with creator-director Josh Whedon.

Gellar ended her run on the super awesome series in 2003. An "insider" reports, "There is an idea for a script and to pick the story up with Buffy older and maybe even a mother". Wow, Buffy would be older. What a scoop!

As you may know, the continuation of the series has been taking place in a fabulously geeky comic book run "Season 8". Why aren't you reading those?

Stay tuned for more details. This could be friggin' awesome. Kinda makes me wish they'd just cancel "Dollhouse" and get it done.

Friday, April 3, 2009

"Blood Diner- First they greet you, then they eat you!"

Ahhh, the 80's. When horror movies weren't just a bunch of creepy kids and uninspired remakes. Sure, John Carpenter's "The Thing" was a remake, but that was one of the best movies ever made, Carpenter went to the original source material and made it his own. In the 80's, horror movies could be anything they wanted to be, in some cases a comedy, and in some cases, some of the craziest $#&! I have ever seen. Which brings me to 1987's "Blood Diner".
Having grown up in the 80's, and loving horror movies, I thought I had seen it all. I used to scour my local video store, (until Blockbuster put them out of business, then I went there) watching each and every one. From "Last House on the Left", to "House", to "The Stuff", I thought there were no surprises left until I was checking out my On Demand and saw "Blood Diner".
The description said it was a tribute to Herschell Gordon Lewis' "Blood Feast", and it featured "Naked Kung Fu", and that was all I needed to hear, so I sat back and gave it a look.
It's really difficult to describe this film because it's just so bat poop crazy, but it basically tells the story of two brothers- Michael and George who own a vegetarian restaurant. When they're not working, they're resurrecting their dead, serial killer Uncle Anwar and putting his brain in a jar. They also saved his penis for some reason. Also, it's not vegetarian dishes they're serving, nope, it's human flesh. Really, if you're going to set up a front for serving dead people to people would a vegetarian restaurant be you first choice? Those people are gonna know, man!
Turns out Uncle Anwar needs his nephews' help resurrecting a 2 million year old Goddess named "Sheetar" for a "Blood Buffet". The loyal nephews set out killing women and using the various parts to construct a body for Sheetar. This leads to a naked aerobic massacre, dismemberment, and yes, some naked kung fu.
There is just so much going on in this movie, I don't want to say anymore because you really should see it for yourself. A woman gets her head pushed into a deep fryer, and she's running around and bumping into things with her head looking like a giant jalapeno popper! Sorry, I had to share that one.
Directed by Jackie Kong, who also helmed "The Underachievers" and "Night Patrol", (which looks to be a shameless, sexed up rip-off of "Police Academy"), and starring no one you ever heard of, "Blood Diner" is a classic. Yes, it is seriously one of the most entertaining movies I have seen in a long time. You just can't take your eyes off it, wondering what's going to happen next.
Now for the bad news, this little gem is not available on DVD in the U.S. You can only get it from a company in Germany called Dragon, and it's rare. I just checked, and there is only one copy on ebay and it's up to almost $30. So buy it, or get the VHS copy, check On Demand, write your congressman, do whatever it takes because "Blood Diner" is worth it.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Internet Rumor Alert: The Three Stooges

Variety is reporting that the Farrelly Brothers are set to direct "The Three Stooges" starring Jim Carrey, Benecio Del Toro (!) and Sean Penn (!!). Del Toro will star as Moe, Penn will star as Larry and Carrey will gain 40 lbs to star as Curly. Early April Fool's Day joke? We'll see.

Supposedly, Penn is studying with voiceman Billy West. The movie won't be a biopic, rather it will be an actual Three Stooges comedy. This is going to be a disaster.

Monday, March 30, 2009

ANIMATION MONDAY

FREAKY ROBOTS: THE GREAT DEBATE


TEEN GIRL SQUAD: EPISODE 1


SETH MCFARLANE'S 'THE BARTENDER SAYS...'

Sunday, March 29, 2009

GUITAR HERO GREATEST HITS

I know there are plenty of you out there who wish that the creators of Guitar Hero: World Tour had gotten on the ball a lot sooner with the whole four person ensemble format, so that you could have enjoyed all the classic songs from the first releases the same way. Well, don't fret (get it?) because Activision is hard at work to bring you Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits -a compilation of the all of all the fan favorites from Guitar Hero 1-3 and Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80's.

On the downside there is no doubt that there will be a handful of great songs that will slip through the cracks of this 'best of' offering, but I'm sure that the final playlist (of 48 songs) will have more than enough to keep you sated, plus whatever downloadable content may come later.
All of the modes from World Tour will be in the package, including eight player online battle of the bands, the Guitar Hero music studio, the rockstar creator and, of course, career mode. As an added incentive Greatest Hits will be turning away from the 'cover tracks' they used the first time out and utilizing master tracks for the new game. This, along with the newer features from WT (improved hammer-ons, pull-off mechanics, sustained notes, three-note chords, the touch-sensitive slide bar, the addition of Bass Guitar tracks) means that the note play for each song will play differently than in the first offerings. So, if you think you've already mastered all the songs, think again.
Though no official playlist has been released at this time, eight songs have been confirmed: "Them Bones" by Alice in Chains, Queen's "Killer Queen," "Nothin' But A Good Time" by Poison, Rage Against The Machine's "Killing in the Name," "I Wanna Rock" by Twisted Sister, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts's "I Love Rock N Roll," Heart's "Barracuda." and Dragonforce's "Through the Fire and Flames!" (The monster track from GH3). Expect Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits (or GH:GH) to be available for Wii, Xbox 360, PS3 and PS2 this June.