No Surfing (Black Sheep, Lost, Plain Janes)

- The official website is up for the New Zealand Horror/Comedy, Black Sheep (If you haven't watched the trailer, treat yourself)
via

- USA Today has a small interview with some Lost cast members. (Am I the only one who is weirded out by the thought of Naveen Andrews and Barbara Hershey?)
via

- DC has a 17 page preview of Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg's Plain Janes from their new Minx young adult imprint.
via

The Office Heroes Mashup

Thanks to Televisionary for providing a link to this great mash-up of Heroes and The Office.

Tuesday Tube The Bermuda Triangle: Beneath the Waves

Today's Tuesday Tube is a little more educational than usual, but very entertaining to anyone interested in the unexplained. I have always found the Bermuda Triangle to be an mind boggling mystery and this BBC production has some interesting theories and nice re-enactments.

For more information and links to other documentaries on the triangle check out this post from Interesting Science.

Wes Craven Interview for The Hills Have Eyes 2

HorrorMovies.ca has a nice interview with Wes Craven and a few of the other people involved in The Hills Have Eyes 2.
via

The Straightheads trailer

Gillian Anderson (X-Files) stars in this intense revenge thriller from the UK.

No US release date yet, but the website says that it should be this year.

Monster Squad finally getting DVD release

Rejoice all you Monster Squad members! Fangoria is reporting that the 20th Anniversary dvd will be out this year. Fangoria also details some of the special features,

an audio commentary with Fred and three members of the Monster Squad, Andre Gower, Ashley Bank and Ryan Lambert.” Fango was privileged to sit in on the recording, a highly entertaining trip down memory lane for the grown-up SQUAD-ers; a panel discussion with the quartet and creature actors Duncan Regehr (Dracula), Tom Noonan (Frankenstein’s monster) and Tom Woodruff Jr. (Gillman) was also taped for the disc. “I’m shooting a series of featurettes here that will be on the DVD as well,

Finally, I'll get to relive my youthful fantasies of monster hunting and weirdo Germans!
via

Fruity Oaty Bar T-shirt

Make U Smile Tees has a great new Fruity Oaty Bar T-shirt sporting the cute but deadly commercial characters from Serenity!
via

Tuesday Tube Terminator VS. Robocop

Mash-ups are a mixed lot. Either they work really well or their total crap. Terminator VS. Robocop owes how well it works to the wonderful editing of youtube member AMDSFILMS.

There are actually three parts. If you enjoy the first one, go HERE and HERE for the other two.

Movie Review - Pan's Labyrinth

Hey look! Another fantasy movie about a young girl with a sick mother who must go into a fantasy world to make things right in the real world! Where have I seen that before? Oh, yeah, Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s Mirrormask. At the time I thought it was just a “pretty good” movie, but after watching Pan’s Labirnyth I have come to the conclusion that it was a very good movie indeed.

It’s not that Pan’s Labyrinth was a bad movie, not by any means. It just lacks the delicate intricacies that makes Mirrormask so wonderful.

For one thing, much of the tension in the viewer is built by two “cheap” ways. One, we are shown characters doing gruesome things to others or to their selves. Director Guillermo Del Toro really did his best to make his audience wince. Repeatedly!

Secondly, our heroes make deeply stupid, pointless mistakes. This really annoyed me when I was watching the movie. How could I feel bad for our hero when she did something that she was specifically warned not to do, and, while she was doing it, there was a horrible monster in the room that was clearly going to wake up by her action?

The movie is saved by the truly touching end, but even then I feel the audience was cheated. Although this point is debatable, I believe that the very last few scenes really made it obvious to the audience that there was no fantasy world. In a movie of this type, ambiguity is a better choice.

Anna's rating: C+ (Wait for the DVD, or rent Mirrormask instead)

THE SECRET SATURDAYS looks like another great Cartoon network show!

Jay Stephens talks about his new Cartoon Network show, The Secret Saturdays over at his blog. The show will run 26 half-hour episodes and revolves around

Doc, Drew and Zak Saturday - a family of world-saving adventure scientists called The Secret Saturdays. Living in a hidden base, they are part of a network of scientists who protect against all the hidden and terrifying things in this world. To The Saturdays, ordinary folktales aren’t just legends -- they are real-life mysteries and adventures. Traveling from the hot Gobi Desert to the icy Marianas Trench, they explore ancient temples and bottomless caves and tangle with twisted villains like the masked madman V.V. Argost and his half-human/half-giant spider.

It sounds like another Cartoon Network hit that I can't wait to check it out!

The B List - Movies to Freeze the Blood

In honor of how freezing cold it is outside I decided put together a list of some of my favorite winter movies. So, snuggle up under a blanket and check these out:

Ravenous (1999)
A chilly cannibal tale that takes place during the Mid-Nineteenth Century in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Guy Pierce stars as a dishonored soldier who shows up at the fort just in time to fight a stranger hellbent on killing and eating everyone . This dark comedy that is one of my favorites,



John Carpenter's The Thing (1982)
Taking place in Antarctica, John Carpenter's The Thing is a brilliant Sci-fi/horror where anyone could be the monster. From beginning to end, this film is a suspense thrill ride that is full of surprises.




Groundhog Day (1993)
Some argue that this film is not sci-fi, but Bill Murray's "stuck in time" antics are both unexplained and hilarious. One of my favorite comedies of all time has everything you need to weather any blizzard.








Lady Snowblood (1973)
Taking place during Japan's Meiji era, Lady Snowblood tells the tale of a child born to revenge her family's murders. A classic revenge movie that influenced Kill Bill and others.




Others:
The Shining
The Empire Strikes Back

Anybody else have some recommendations? Drop us a comment.

Donnie Darko and the Bunnyman!

If you have been checking in for awhile (and thanks for that), you know that one of my favorite blogs to link to is Cryptomundo.

Well, today the good folks at Cryptomundo have out did themselves with a very strange and interesting piece on the similarities between the scary bunny from the wonderful Donnie Darko and the Bunnyman legend of Clifton, Virginia.

Check it out along with their links to other insights into the Bunnyman legend.

Tuesday Tube - "Housewares Employee" from Evil Dead: The Musical

Earlier in the week I came across this video from Evil Dead: The Musical.

All the reviews of the show have been great, but leaving in the mid-west will keep me from ever seeing it.

Their website has other songs and a way to order the soundtrack. That might be the next best thing to being there, though I would love to see a dvd.

Ray Harryhausen is bringing his visions to comics

Blue Water Productions has announced that they are working with the greatest monster maker of all time, Ray Harryhausen to create comic sequels to some of his greatest movies. Clash of the Titans, the Sinbad films, and 20 Million Miles to Earth are all getting the treatment.
via

Only Fools are Enslaved by Time and Space (spoilers)

Newbrain
Uploaded by DarkUFO

Magic Lamp is rocking my world today. This clip from last weeks killer Lost episode, “Not In Portland,” is frying my brain.

There was backward messaging during the strange torture scene. So genius, so scary, so everything we watch Lost to see! What the hell is going on?

Interview with Lost executive producers

mediaVillage has an interesting 2 part interview with Lost executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.

They discuss Season 3, the critics reaction, and many other things. My favorite being their observation that the fans want to go so far with the theories that it is hard to see them ever satisfied,

Like Kate's toy plane, Lindelof explains,

We basically said we're going to tell a subsequent flashback story that [connects] the plane to a time capsule that Kate and a childhood sweetheart buried together and that will be the end of the mystery. But when we revealed it the audience was still saying, "What's up with Kate's plane?" as if maybe there's microfilm inside it or something. So we had to continue and in the finale [of the flashback] the marshal gives this big speech before Kate gets on the plane. You want to know the story of the [little] plane? He breaks it entirely down. But there it is on that list of 50 unanswered mysteries!

Check out the interview and give the writers a break. Lost is having a great 3rd season, last weeks episode kicked serious butt.

via

The Hills have Eyes 2 Trailer

Yahoo has the full trailer for The Hills have Eyes 2.

I love the spooky song from both the trailer and the earlier teaser trailer. It is "Insect Eyes" by Devendra Banhart.

Hannibal Rising

Hannibal Rising is the first Thomas Harris movie I have ever seen without reading the book first. I thought about waiting, but the novel, Hannibal read so much like a screenplay that I decided not to spend the cash on the prequel.

I went in expecting it would be middle of the road entertaining and I was pleasantly surprised. Harris has shaped the early years of Hannibal Lecter into an interesting revenge piece. I found myself both rooting for Hannibal and being disgusted by his actions. Sure, the movie was a mere shadow of Silence of the Lambs when it comes to intelligent ideas and portrayals, but it was no worse than the other movies in the franchise.

In Hannibal Rising, instead of a the calm and manipulating madman that Anthony Hopkins portrayed so well, we get a teenager struggling to come to grips with his past through revenge. This movie would have been good even if it wasn't tied to the series, but the origin of Hannibal's cannibalism and his early years in war torn Europe were revealing and interesting character development.

Peter Webber (Girl with a Pearl Earring) also did a wonderful job making the movie both beautiful and haunting. He never falls too far into gore, but keeps the most disturbing parts on the edge of our minds.

I also thought, unlike many of the other reviews I've seen, that Gaspard Ulliel played the young Hannibal well. He might have been a little over the top at times, yet he could never be the calm collected Anthony Hopkins because the character would then have no where to go.

Overall, Hannibal Rising is a decent addition to a series that will never live up to the first feature. As revenge films go, it was not the best I have seen, but it was certainly not the worst either.

Firefly: Old Wounds radio drama

It's no Season 2, but I have made it through the first podcast of the Firefly: Old Wounds brought to us by the Sonic Cinema and it's worth a listen.

via

Rucka's Whiteout lands a director

One of my favorite comic collections, Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber's Whiteout, about a federal marshal named Carrie Stetko on the trail of a killer in the frozen Antarctic wilderness, is heading to the big screen.

Kate Beckinsale was attached to play the lead a few weeks ago, a role that was once in the hands of Reese Witherspoon. Either one would be great as Stetko, but I was really looking forward to seeing Witherspoon in as a bad ass role.

Variety reports Dominic Sena (Kalifornia, Swordfish)will direct. That step makes the production a definite.

The movie could be pretty good, but what you really need to do is buy the Trade Paperback and its sequel Melt from Oni Press

via

No Surfing (Wolfman, George Takei, Geek Movies)

Director Mark Romanek is on board to direct the Wolfman remake with Benicio Del Toro (I'm glad to see the movie moving forward.)
via

Comic Book Resources has a nice feature on Hiro's father and Star Trek alum,George Takei.
via

The Houston Chronicle Tech Blog lists 15 Geek Movies to See Before You Die. I guess my card is clear. I've seen everyone of them.
via

New Spider-Man 3 footage

The more I see of Spider-man 3, the more excited I get.

via

Supernatural prequel coming to comics

I was just telling one of my friends about Supernatural and how it is the most underrated show of the season. A great premise, strong cast, great stories, and a killer soundtrack have me rocking along every Thursday. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out.

If you have, the good news is the creator, Eric Kripke, is bringing a prequel to comics through DC/Wildstorm. According to an interview at iFMagazine the plot,

starts when mom is burnt on the ceiling, but instead of flashing forward twenty-two years, it stays with John Winchester and it details how he became a demon hunter and how he met characters like Missouri, and Ellen, and Bobby for the first time. It’s the story about a demon hunter with two children and how does he find the demon that killed his wife? So, it’s not about the boys at all, it just fills in the blanks in the boys’ childhood. We’re starting with a six-issue series, and if it sells well then the sky’s the limit. We have twenty-two years worth of stories to tell.

Sounds like one to pick up as a collection and place next to you Supernatural DVD set.

via

Texas Strangers preview and creator interview

My love for westerns and magic mix in Texas Strangers, a new monthly from writers Antony Johnston and Dan Evans III, with artist Mario Boon.

Newsarama has a nice interview the the creators and Johnston has a 13 page preview on his ComicSpace .

Whedon, movies, and Buffy

If you have been living under a rock or too caught up in Super Bowl fever, you might not have read the news that Whedon has removed himself from Warner Bros' Wonder Woman movie citing creative differences. Have they not learned to just let Whedon do what he wants!

At least we still have Buffy Season 8 in comic form. Here is an interview about the comic over at MTV.com and some new images from the book.