Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Music Video Nasties, Continued

December 8, 2006

Today’s scary video: “Believe” by the Chemical Brothers, directed by Dom and Nick. Imagine the video for “Owner of a Lonely Heart” crossed with a version of “Jurassic Park” that replaced the dinosaurs with industrial machinery and you’re pretty much there.

Sean is busting out all over

December 8, 2006

Feeling underserviced in terms of your Sean T. Collins bloviation needs? Fear not!

This week at Wizard’s Thursday Morning Quarterback comics review roundtable, I’ve got some things to say about this week’s issues of Justice Society of America, 52, Spider-Man: Reign, Detective Comics, Doctor Strange: The Oath, The Exterminators, Invincible, Ultimate Vision, and The Walking Dead.

And at The Horror Blog’s Horror Roundtable, I describe my least favorite horror experience of 2006. Sadly, it involves Udo Kier.

Just a closer walk with Sasquatch

December 7, 2006

Over at Cryptomundo, Loren Coleman has posted a pretty freaking incredible-looking image-stabilization animated gif of the famous Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot footage–you know, the one where the big ape turns and looks at the camera as it walks through the woods. Created by M.K. Davis, the gif arranges each frame of the film so that the creature (or special-effects guy in a suit, if John Landis is to be believed) stays oriented in the same vertical and horizontal plane and can actually be seen to walk across the woods as he walks across your screen. (I’d host it here, but the damn thing would bust my template wide open.) Just click already!

Thought of the day

December 6, 2006

The other day I realized that horror cognoscenti will invariably inveigh against whatever is the dominant mode of horror at the time: slasher flicks, self-reflexive WB Stars in Peril movies, Sixth Sense-style creepy-kid or I-see-dead-people pictures, J-horror remakes/knockoffs, meat movies, whatever. I’m not sure if this means we’re too quick to turn on whatever’s popular or if whatever’s popular is too quick to turn crappy. Probably a bit of both.

Horror music videos: more gore

December 5, 2006

Well, I might as well make a full-fledged continuing series out of this, huh?

The first thing I thought of when I saw yesterday’s bloody good CSS clip was Kings of Leon’s similar video for their song “Four Kicks.” I’ve blogged about the video before: “The video’s innovation is to freeze the action whenever the lead singer is singing, allowing the viewer to see brightly lit close-ups on a woman’s face just before it’s about to be pounded with the butt of a fire extinguisher, or an exploded lamp the second after it’s been smashed over a man’s head.” How’s that for the hard sell?

Your horror-tinged music video of the day

December 4, 2006

This is becoming a regular thing, isn’t it? That’s a wonderful turn of events if you ask me. Anyway, here’s a really rather shockingly gory video for CSS’s “Alala,” directed by Cat Solen. Funky and frightening.

Descent Rising

December 2, 2006

This week’s Horror Roundtable over at The Horror Blog asked its respondents to name their favorite horror experience of 2006, and fully 50% (including me) named seeing Neil Marshall’s The Descent. Over at my day job, the film was also our selection for Movie of the Year–a controversial choice if our message board filled with people who haven’t seen the movie is to be believed.

Day job follies

December 1, 2006

Because the show must go on.

This week’s Thursday Morning Quarterback comics review roundtable sees me sound off on The Immortal Iron Fist, Captain America, 52, American Virgin, Ultimate Power, What If? Featuring Wolverine: Enemy of the State, and X-Men. If I’d been more on the ball, Acme Novelty Library #17 could have gotten in there. Blame me, Chris Ware.

And from the sublime to the ridiculous: Check out “Bad Guys Wear Pink,” an original art piece I edited featuring comicdom’s nastiest pink-hued villains. If you’ve ever wanted to see Parasite eat Barbie dolls or wondered how Sinestro feels about the recording artist behind “Get This Party Started,” now’s your chance…

More music-video monstrousness

November 30, 2006

Sasquatch, Hedorah, Frankenstein–shades of all these famous monsters can be found in this pretty enthralling clip for Menomena’s “Cough Coughing,” directed by Jonnie Ross. Just when you think you know where this little creature-feature music video is going, it goes someplace else.

A hi-res version can be found here.

She used to just be a punk rocker, but things have gone downhill

November 28, 2006

Now here’s a great horror video. It’s for the song “Sheena Is a Parasite” by UK outfit the Horrors (love the name, love the look, pretty sweet song too), and it’s directed by Chris Cunningham, whom horror fans will likely remember for his insanely harrowing clip for Aphex Twin’s “Come to Daddy,” or a longer collaboration with Aphex called “Rubber Johnny.” I’ve been putting off watching this thing for a month or so. Boy, do I regret it.

Damn.

Sentence of the day

November 27, 2006

I have no dog in this race, but Jason Adams wrote the following in his latest post in praise of Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain, and it’s a doozy:

Yes, Weisz’ character is written in the well-worn shorthand of The Perfect Gal, with big loving doe-eyes and a wicked laugh, who once ran ahead in a sexy dress and who now needs to be rescued.

“Who once ran ahead in a sexy dress”–pow.

Frak

November 11, 2006

I have now ordered Season One of Battlestar Galactica on DVD for the third time. The first time, a month went by before the seller informed me they were out of stock and refunded my money. The second time, I received some weird bare-bones version with different packaging and next to no extras. Let’s hope the third time’s the charm. So say we all.

Can you read my mind?

November 10, 2006

I’ve returned to my seat at Horror Blog Steven’s Horror Roundtable this week, talking about a movie that scared the crap out of me as a kid. Here’s a clue:

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Still kinda scares me now, actually.

More reviews than you can shake a Jesus Stick at

November 9, 2006

Feast your eyes, glut your soul on the final Lost TVQB roundtable until, like, Valentine’s Day or something. I’ll miss you, fish biscuits.

Meanwhile, watch me jabber on about Dr. Strange: The Oath, Batman, Stormwatch: Post Human Division, 52, Gen 13, Punisher MAX, Superman, Tales of the Unexpected, and Ultimate X-Men in this week’s Thursday Morning Quarterback comic-book roundtable.

Cases in point

November 7, 2006

Lame

Lame

Lame

Gawker in particular should be ashamed of itself. This meme was cheesy and overplayed by Friday evening.

Two observations

November 5, 2006

1) I’ve actually seen more people saying/writing “you’re gonna be sick of Borat catchphrases by next Tuesday” than I’ve seen saying/writing Borat catchphrases themselves.

2) The commentary on VH1’s Top 100 Songs of the ’80s is awfully perfunctory: They didn’t bother to say that “Just Can’t Get Enough” was written by Vince Clarke, who went on to form Yazoo and Erasure; they didn’t bother to say that “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” was a cover, etc. If all you’re going to do is have Godfrey sing the first line in the chorus and have the narrator say “the crowds thinned out in the ’90s, but such-and-such is still going strong,” is it even worth doing?

The usual

November 2, 2006

My day-job adventures continue:

Behold, the longest Lost roundtable review EVER.

And hear me sound off on Superman Confidential, 52, Justice League of America, Criminal, Ex Machina, The Exterminators, Midnighter, Tales Designed to Thrizzle, and X-Men: Phoenix–Warsong in our Thursday Morning Quarteback comics-review colloquy.

Have a Happy Halloween, you son of a bitches

October 31, 2006

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The only thing they put in me was doubt

October 27, 2006

For my uncharacteristically unenthusiastic take on this week’s Lost episode, check out Wizard’s weekly TVQB roundtable.