By the 1970s, leading roles in major Hollywood studio movies had dried up for the most part for Henry Fonda. So he took whatever projects he could get, from made-for-television movies to roles in foreign movies. So you might think that being cast in the drive-in flick The Great Smokey Roadblock, with its premise of a trucker with a truckload of prostitutes, was a career low. Surprisingly, the movie turns out to be quite entertaining.
Archive for March, 2011
Keep on truckin'
Mar 30
B-Fest 2011
Mar 27
Yes, it’s a bit behind my usual schedule, but here’s the review roundup for this year’s B-Fest. The 2011 lineup was heavy on films I’d already covered, so as a special bonus, I’ve also reviewed a film from the 2009 schedule, which slipped through the cracks due to my being too busy with band business to do B-Fest reviews at all that year.
Mama Dracula (1980), in which hematologists get into more crap…
Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966), in which the roster of terrible B-movie vacation spots expands to include the El Paso hinterland…
Megaforce (1982), in which the good guys always win– even in the 80’s…
and…
The Pumaman (1980), in which flying like a moron is the least of our hero’s sub-standard qualities.
Gives Me Chills, Pt. XII.
Mar 23
Betcha can’t guess what the secret is!
A Dram for Japan
Mar 22
First, the details. Then, the waxing poetic.
NYCWhisky.com, Teleport City, and Ward III, with oversight from the Japan Society, are holding
A DRAM FOR JAPAN
A whisky tasting and auction for Japanese quake and tsunami relief
April 2, 2011, 5pm – 8pm
Ward III in Tribeca, NYC (111 Reade Street)
Tickets are $30, available through EventBrite: http://nycwhisky-japanbenefit.eventbrite.com/
Even if you can’t make it, you can still donate through that link.
100% of the money we collect goes to the Japan Society’s relief fund.
The event includes food, cocktails created specifically for the event, whisky tastings, and an auction of whisky, artwork, and other collectibles.
Updates on who’s pouring and what’s up for auction are here:
http://teleport-city.com/wordpress/?page_id=20342
If you can’t make it or don’t have the spare cash for a donation, no worries. You can still help out by spreading the word among friends and colleagues. Please circulate the teleport-city.com/wordpress/?page_id=20342 link as much as you want.
We also have a QR Code that points to the ticket and donation page, because sometimes technology is awesome. Folks can scan it with their phone and get pointed in the right direction without having to write down URLs and event details.
So I doubt I need to explain to anyone here how huge a role Japan and Japanese pop culture plays in the lives of us Teleport City lads. When the quake and tsunami hit, I was in Austin (Stomp Tokyo says hi, by the way) with a group of friends who’d just flown in from Japan that same day. I may be a cynic — at this point, make that nihilist — about American politics and politicians, but in regards to almost all other things, I am still a fervent idealist. Within hours of the news breaking, people mobilized via Skype, Twitter, Facebook, and various other methods to track down friends and loved ones, gather and disseminate news, and begin collecting money for relief effort. By the next morning, the Japan Nite contingent and SXSW organizers had a website, booth, and online donation mechanism in full swing.
An it struck me how quick, smart, and passionate us film nerds, music nerds, tech nerds, and assorted other freaks and geeks can be. Teleport City is no juggernaut of pop culture, but we have our friends. And I am a big believer in the notion that what we’re doing here, as curators of thoughts regarding strange and sometimes baffling films from all over the world, is a lot more than just goofing off. I also believe that this amazing network of fans of cult films, anime, weird music, travel, whiskey, toys, technology, what have you can mobilize and make a difference, if you’ll pardon the cliche.
This is the first time Teleport City has had the capacity and the professional network of friends to host an event like this, so we are admittedly rough around the edges and stumbling our way through. Japan’s Society’s willingness to vouch for us (after we signed some legal forms, of course) means a lot, and in general, the fact that we have so many friends in Japan affected directly by the disaster is going to make me feel totally cool with being a bit pushy when it comes to promoting this event.
So that’s that. Sorry if it’s rambling. I had a wisdom tooth pulled today, and for the first time in my life, I am on a prescription medicine.
If you want to do me big favor, spread the word.
Its rating is in its title
Mar 16
Several weeks ago I reviewed a Travolta movie, and I’m doing the same again today. No, I am not reviewing another John Travolta movie. I’m reviewing a movie directed by his older brother, Joey Travolta. Never heard of him before? Well, if you sit down to watch Earth Minus Zero, it won’t take you long to discover the reason why.
Runnin' Romans
Mar 15
I’m stuffed full (but never tired) of tacos, BBQ, beer, and fun as a result of SXSW, plus Stomp Tokyo bought me an awesome hot dog and drink at Frank, but we still managed to churn out a semi-coherent review thanks largely to my desire to have more pics of Olga Kurylenko ion the site.
Neil Marshall has basically been making the same movie his entire career, tweaking the formula here and there, refining the process, but ultimately still turning in survival horror about a group of well-trained individuals who find themselves facing overwhelming odds behind enemy lines. Dog Soldiers saw British special forces troops besieged by werewolves in a remote farmhouse. The Descent pitted cavers against subterranean beasts in the wilds of Appalachia. Doomsday threw a crack military squad into a post-apocalyptic Scotland. And now comes Centurion, a movie that is basically “what if it was Doomsday, but in Roman times?” Lucky for me and Marshall, I’ve enjoyed all his films. I liked Dog Soldiers a lot, absolutely loved The Descent, thought Doomsday was fucking wonderful, and was pretty damn happy with Centurion.
But before the winner, the runners-up! Because you all should see what we saw.
In no particular order:
Birdemic: Shock & Terror, the original:
…and two entries, from Christopher Swindell and Doctor Mabuse:
With a Mouse (to Your Mouth), the original…
…and an entry from Christopher Swindell:
And now the winner, remaking the cover of what was the first DVD featured in “Gives Me Chills,” Grave Danger. The original…
…and the redesign by David Foster:
Congratulations, David! You win… a free ebook copy of my novel The Demon Cross! Yes, I’ve been giving out free copies recently, but this one comes without the obligation to review it! (Though you can if you want to, of course.) Let me know what format you’d like it in.
Thanks for playing, everybody!
03/14/11 Update: I’m no longer giving away free review copies, but you can still buy your own — CHEAP! — at several outlets and in several formats, all listed here.
At long last! The Kindle version of The Demon Cross is being processed by Amazon as we speak, and should be available for sale in a couple of days; other ereader formats will follow shortly, and the paperback edition will be available in a week or two.
And with as much as you’d enjoy buying The Demon Cross, think how much more you’d enjoy reading it for free! To generate word-of-mouth and reviews, I’d like email you a FREE COPY of the novel. Here’s all you have to do:
1. Send me an email at nshumate@gmail.com with the subject “Free Demon Cross”. Give me your name, the format you prefer (epub, PDF, HTML) and the address of your website or blog if you have one.
2. Agree to post a review — positive, negative or indifferent — on your blog or website, your Goodreads page, your Facebook page, or the Amazon listing for The Demon Cross in the next 60 days. (You don’t have to buy the book on Amazon to review it there, you only need to have an account).
3. Email me a copy of the review or a link to the post.
I’m only going to honor the first 50 requests — gotta leave SOMEBODY out there to buy it, after all — so get your licks in early!
Also, Teleport City’s first video game review, and Timur Bekmambetov gets more use out of that special effect of a car driving up a building he used in Daywatch.
| SEXY KILLER
As well as legendary martial arts epics, the brothers Shaw also produced comedies, thrillers, musicals, Peking operas, sci-fi and horror flicks. Slightly less well-known is the studio’s extensive back catalogues of more adult fare, of which 1976′s The Sexy Killer is a pretty characteristic example. From the title you probably already have a good idea of what the film is like, and when I reveal that in some territories the movie was released as The Drug Connection your mental picture should be further reinforced. Yes, it’s those old exploitation favourites: sex and drugs, so on that note, let’s rock & roll! |
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| MIRROR’S EDGE
There were three games in particular that initially made me decide I wanted to get a slightly more up to date game system: Resident Evil 5, Mass Effect, and Mirror’s Edge. Of the three, two were runaway hits; one is considered one of the greatest video games of all time. And one was a total flop that, despite boasting numerous flaws and poor financial performance, garnered a small but dedicated cult following. Guess which one I chose to review for our first video game article? |
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| BLACK LIGHTNING
I assume you’re familiar with Sam Raimi’s excellent 2002 adaptation of Spider-Man. But in case you’re not or just need reminding, here’s a quick recap of the plot. Peter Parker sees the girl of his dreams being wooed by a wealthy jock with a flash car. Deciding what he needs is a cool set of wheels, he uses his recently acquired spider powers to enter a wrestling contest for money, only to see through his inaction, his beloved Uncle Ben shot and killed. The 2009 Russian film Black Lightning (produced as all Russian movies apparently are by Night Watch’s Timur Bekmambetov) uses the same plot, but asks the one important question Spider-Man left dangling; ‘what about the car? What about the car??’ |
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Just a reminder: The “Gives Me Chills” re-covering contest ends in one week. Full details here.