Do I only talk about ZOMBIES?

No, but I do support a few zombie-related fan events. As I related a while back, nobody knows what will become of Seattle's ZomBcon at this point. They are still low on funding to keep planning events.


I am trying to remain hopeful for Ryan Reiter (Head Zombie) and his crew of undead event organizers. With everything they've been through (from low sponsorships to a lawsuit) this past year, it's been terribly tough to keep shufflin' along. I'm solidly behind anything they plan for 2012, even if it's just a cocktail event, a zombie concert or a pub crawl. Anything to keep moving forward... and as long as there are more events, there's a chance that it'll once again reach the level it was at these past two years.


I don't get to Seattle nearly often enough as I live about 1 1/2 hours from Seattle, even if it is just across Puget Sound. My options are fighting the ferry schedule or driving around and dealing with a toll booth and Tacoma traffic. With my finances in a bit of a bind, it's hard to justify an extra trip.


That said, if ZomBcon decides to go ahead with a fundraising event, I'm going to find a way to get there! Maybe a Zombie Walk with volunteer makeup artists on site for a fee to be donated to the con? Would a club get behind having a Zombie Night with bands and part of the proceeds going to help with future ZomBcon branded events?


These cons cost a lot of money to put on. In fact, I had a little bit of sticker shock. But at least I know my ticket fees were a total bargain!


Names keep getting thrown around for celebrity guests at ZomBcon, but they need to have sponsorships to pay these people. Celebrities are not cheap! If I said I'd be okay if ZomBcon didn't have at least one celebrity or B-celebrity guest this year, I might be lying, but just a little. It's more important to preserve the hopes of future events than it is for me to get my fangirl thrills.

Please check out ZomBcon's Facebook and "like" them to show your support! Also, they are @ZomBcon on Twitter and their official website is HERE.

Why I'm a Farmhand and not a Filmmaker...

My fellow farmhand MGX and I had a lively text conversation this afternoon, which degenerated into a brainstorm on farm-related book and movie titles... mostly horror. You may have to be a farmhand to get the true horror of these, but then again, you might not.


Farm horror stories:
The Garden of Shame (ok, this is an actual location on the farm, though it's no longer shameful)
The Land of the Foresaken Brassicas (MGX)
I Can't Get Up After Kneeling On The Cold Ground So Long (a drama)
Corpse of a Thousand Cabbages (MGX)
Revenge of the Runty Potatoes (MGX... might be a comedy)
The Fields Have Eyes! (MGX... recommends Rob Zombie for director)
The Clutching Fingers of Angry Zombie Housewives (MGX... Vincent Price as lead... nobody will get the Angry Housewife reference)
Compost Pile of the Dead
I Think the Ducks Are Stealing My Sanity...
Man With The Screaming Sorrel (this has to have Bruce Campbell in it!)
I Know You Dusted the Beets Last Summer
Cock (Rooster) of the Damned
Satan's Chicken Flock
The Birds (MGX... remake of the Hitchcock film with the Muppet chickens)
He Who Picks the Beans (MGX... based on a Stephen King novel)
The Chickweed Has Eyes (must have tentacles per MGX)
Can't Sleep, The Cows Will Eat Me

New additions (thanks MGX!):
The Turnips That Time Forgot
The Root Maggot That Ate New York


I hope these made you laugh. They made my day totally awesome!


I leave you with the Homicidal Squash, farm mascot and friend to all...

These messages brought to you by...

Six degrees of what the crap is that...?

I was intending to do a post on one of the bands that lives in my Mp3 player. Somehow that morphed to "What was that Syfy film with the big, evil snake?"
Which, in turn, lead to a long, winding road of fangirl connections. So I give you the first installment of...
"Six Degrees of What The Crap is That???"

One of the bands that has a permanent home in my Mp3 player is a group called Underground Moon. I doubt you've heard of them. I found them by somewhat of a lucky coincidence while looking up a band that I like from my pre-teen years. Here's some Underground Moon samples, courtesy of amazon.com: Scroll down for samples.

Underground Moon has a song on a Syfy network film. It was a trip to be watching this film and recognize a song. The song is called "Shed The Skin." You can check it out at the previous link. The film is Mega Snake.
Mega Snake IMDB. 

Mega Snake features Michael Shanks of Stargate SG-1 fame. Michael Shanks also played Victor in Burn Notice.

Michael Shanks...

From the Burn Notice connection, you can go with Bruce Campbell (Sam Axe)...

Or you can go with Tim Matheson (Dead Larry)...

From there, the possibilities are endless. I think I only went five degrees with this, but hey, it was an interesting trip down fangirl lane. I could write for 20 hours easy connecting every band I've ever liked with one another, but that'll have to wait for another day.

Sometimes They Come Back...

I watched Sometimes They Come Back earlier this week and have been meaning to give a short review... however, it seems that I got stuck posting about... *gasp* ... meaningful things like duck emergencies. So back to some happy fangirl fluff for a while.

Sometimes They Come Back is based on a Stephen King story, which makes it safe viewing because I know what to expect out of King. In viewing the film, it seemed to ring a bell with me which means either I've read the story (probably) or that King's stories tend to have common themes (also likely). For a while, I kept mixing up the storyline of this with the storyline of a few other of King's works, which made it interesting because I was expecting something totally different to happen.

I watched this while being the only one awake in the house. I don't normally get alone-time when watching movies, so that was a bonus. Was I scared? Not necessarily... but I was on the edge of my seat for this. Not much gets my attention that well, so I'm going to give this film a 4.5 out of 5 on the obscurefilm-o-meter.

Now for the screencaps and Tim Matheson fangirling...

A teacher and his family return to his old hometown...

In which a terrible tragedy happened...

Struggling with nightmares and bad memories, Matheson's character has to deal with obnoxious high school students...

While he probably wants to kill whoever chose his clothing for the film...

And then... the requisite weird shit starts to happen...

Are his students methodically being murdered and replaced... or has Matheson's character gone off the deep end? And who are these new students?

Can this mild-mannered schoolteacher save his family when nobody will believe him?

Sometimes They Come Back IMDB.

Phantoms

I figured now would be a good time to share one of my favorite films: Phantoms. I adore Liev Schreiber and Dean Koontz, so this film is right up my alley. Any fan of Koontz knows that no movie ever made from one of his novels has ever done the book justice. Phantoms comes pretty darn close.

This film also has Rose McGowan in it. She almost seems out of place in the film, but then again, her character is supposed to be a little out of place.

The basic premise is this...

Big sister takes little sister to live with her in a small mountain town...

They arrive and all hell breaks loose...

Is it a disease, or... ?

"It's just a bundt cake... it's just a bundt cake..."

Ben Affleck... before he was well-known:

Liev Schreiber is delightfully creepy...

With Peter O'Toole, they try to unravel the mystery of who or what has decimated the town...

Phantoms IMDB here.

Phantoms has some of the best lines in it. "Heyyyy, ya wanna see something?" And I'll never think of the song, "I Fall To Pieces" the same.

This is one of those films that I've seen so much that I curl up and go to sleep with it playing. That may seem like a negative to some, but I consider this to be a "comfort movie." Other movies that I use to lull myself to sleep if I have insomnia: Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness (ok, I see a trend), Alien Apocalypse, Safe House, Star Trek: First Contact, and Star Trek: Insurrection. There are more, but those are the ones I watch most often late at night when I should be asleep.

Intruder

Happy Monday, everyone!

Today's selection from the awesome obscure movie vault is Intruder. This film features some of my favorite people: Danny Hicks, Ted Raimi and Sam Raimi, with a Bruce Campbell cameo for good measure. Don't blink, you'll miss him!

The premise behind this one is...

Creepy douchebag is harassing the employees of a local grocery store...

Starts a huge scuffle...

And may still be lurking in the store...

That's when people start dying...

This film really has it all. Not only is this one of the very few examples of Sam Raimi (above, on the meat hook) acting, but Danny Hicks is amazing! It's got plenty of suspense and an equal dose of gratuitous gore. This film will keep you watching as you try to determine who's killing who. Intruder rates a 5 out of 5 on the obscurefilm-o-meter.

More Sam Raimi:

More Sam Raimi:

Ted Raimi eating watermelon:

Danny Hicks, one of the nicest actors I've met:

I'm not going to give away where the Bruce Campbell appearance is. You'll have to look for him yourself.
Intruder IMDB here.

Weekend viewing...

I promised a couple folks that I would share my obscure movie choices from the weekend, so here they are. I've been working my way through a short list of Tim Matheson's movies... I don't think I'm going to try and see everything the man has been in, because IMDB says he's been in everything (and I think it may hurt my hipster persona to actually see A Very Brady Sequel). Either way, I usually start working through an actor's catalog by viewing: 1) Films of theirs I have seen before but may have forgotten, then: 2) Horror or suspense films by said actor, then: 3) Comedies or other types of films that seem to fit my interests.

Up first: Deadly Game, which is listed as Catch Me If You Can (not to be confused by that mainstream film by that kid from the sinking ship movie which I shall not name as to not cause at least one online friend to go into severe fits) on IMDB.

Deadly Game IMDB here.

I had hoped this would be more action/suspense than comedy, but I was wrong. Forgiveable being that I think I paid $2 for the DVD online. My first reaction was that this film reminded me entirely too much of Home Alone, only with a slightly different storyline. It was fairly predictable, which I can react either way to, but it was funny. And heartwarming, though I hate to admit I like anything cutesy or heartwarming, I'd give this a 3 out of 5 star rating on the obscurefilm-o-meter.

Tim Matheson wakes up with pizza stuck to his face:

Considers the implications...

And eats it anyway:

The basic jist of the film is this: Down and out cop has to protect the world's most obnoxious kid from the mob and himself.
The kid in question is addressed simply as "kid" for most of the movie. Sometimes I wonder if "kid" is actually pure evil incarnate as he...

Handcuffs Tim Matheson to a table...

Locks him in a dumpster...

And basically runs amok.

Meanwhile "kid" is being searched for by the mob, intent on eliminating a murder witness.

I'll leave it at that. It's worth a watch if you like films like Home Alone or anything in the action comedy genre.

Next up: Bay Cove, released on television in 1987 as Bay Coven. I vaguely remembered this film from when it was shown originally. Being fairly poor, we didn't have a lot of money for video rentals, so I would tape stuff off the television. In fact, I would scour the TV Guide for listings of late-night horror movies to tape. I had an old Betamax VCR that had been handed down to me (at that time, a 13-year old kid), to keep in my room. So I taped obscure horror movies. This was one of them.

Basic premise, a young married couple move onto a small island and then all hell breaks loose. Woody Harrelson and Barbara Billingsley also have parts in this film, which I give a 4 out of 5 on the obscurefilm-o-meter.

Tim Matheson and his wife live in a city loft...

Woody Harrelson is their friend, who apparently lets himself in whenever he feels like...

They decide to move to an island...

They move in and weird shit happens...

Barbara Billingsley gets props for being perfectly creepy...

Gratuitous screencap of Tim Matheson in just a towel...

My only complaint about this film is that it is very hard to watch due to conversion issues. It's grainy and jumpy and somewhat headache-inducing. Made for tv movies from the 80's apparently don't transfer well to DVD and even on an upconverting 1080p DVD player, it kinda sucks. I wouldn't buy it for that reason... just Netflix it. The storyline is somewhat predictable as well, but I can't be a good judge of that being that I had seen this movie before, even though it didn't look familiar until about halfway through.
You can IMDB it here.

Next up: Sometimes They Come Back. Films made from Stephen King's works are not usually blockbusters, but they are usually tolerable.

Why Bruce Campbell is my favorite actor...

In re-reading my older posts, I seem to have neglected pointing out what people who know me know to be the obvious. I adore Bruce Campbell. I'll watch him in anything, even if it is a pile of crap. Luckily, most Bruce Campbell films have enough redeeming qualities for me to overlook poor plots, poor writing, terrible effects, poor production, a overload of lame humor or anything else that I would point out as a flaw in a non-BC film.

I met Bruce Campbell. It was awesome. For being very brief and very rushed and considering that I was terribly tongue-tied. I went in with a plan. I was going to buy several autograph tickets so I could buy a few minutes in the hopes of attempting a real conversation with the man, whom I admire for more than his acting skills. In arriving, my friend and I were pretty annoyed to find out that it was a one autograph per person deal. There would be no bribery and no quick conversation with Bruce in my future.

Photos of Bruce from ZomBcon 2010:

How I partied down at ZomBcon 2010:

Closer...

There was also the awesome Evil Dead Wedding...

But even for all of the above awesomeness, none of those are the reason that Bruce is my favorite actor. Not as Ash...

Not as Sam Axe...

Or Chuck Finley...

Or even as Bruce Campbell...

The biggest reason I love Bruce Campbell is because he's real. I used to state that actors aren't real people; that their jobs are based in unreality and therefore, they don't even know who they really are. Therefore, actors aren't real people. Bruce proved me wrong.

1) Bruce doesn't browbeat his fans with his politcal opinions. Thank you, Bruce, for not being guilty of my number one pet peeve with celebrities. I'll probably end up ranting about this very subject at a later time, as I try so very hard to not unfollow peeps on Twitter for posting political crapfest after political crapfest.

2) Bruce treats his fans with respect. You might question that if you've seen some of his Q&A's, but it's pretty obvious that any shit-flipping he does in that setting is just in fun... even if he does seem like a douche at the time. Having had all of six seconds to speak with the man, I can say that he really appreciates his fans. And he doesn't have one of those overboard egos where all he can talk about is himself.

3) Bruce made his own success. He stuck his neck out there and did the thing that he loved. And he succeeded. The man is an inspiration for up and coming artists and business people. It's nice to look at an example of someone who stuck his neck out and didn't get it cut off.

4) He can laugh at himself. Watch My Name Is Bruce sometime. I'm pretty sure that "real" Bruce doesn't drink liquor out of a dog bowl, but he can make it pretty convincing... in a side-splitting, I-just-hurt-myself kind of way.

I love this quote he gave Starbucks for their cups...

If the print is too small to read, it says:
"If you're worried about getting a job - or keeping one - start a company of your own. By doing so, you'll reap the rewards of your hard work and you'll only get fired if you fail. This is the land of opportunity. Live in it."