Tales of Times Square: The Tapes (podcast)...

Recently I came across a new podcast called Tales of Times Square: The Tapes, which details the sleazy world of New York's old Broadway before the Disneyfication of the area occurred in the 1990s. The podcast takes the form of old cassette tape interviews with various figures from the era, from big time adult stars to well-known denizens - colourful characters and behind-the-scenes raconteurs - all of whom were interviewed for Josh Alan Friedman's superb book Tales of Times Square (available from all good stockists - I highly recommend reading it).

Punctuated by music, reminiscences, and background details from Friedman himself - along with some new tales that were never published in the book (on account of the statute of limitations, you can't help but wonder) - each episode is a brisk and fascinating detour to a version of New York's theatre district that once was. The release schedule seems to be weekly on Wednesday/Thursday. Find more info on the podcast HERE.

"Nightmare Factory" - the KNB Effects Documentary...

I was watching the round-up of Fright Fest the 13th (a UK horror film festival that reached its thirteenth anniversary this year) on The Horror Channel, and amidst the films glimpsed at was a documentary about the talented folks over at KNB Effects - the go-to-guys for practical make-up effects, whose fingerprints are all over all of the best gore and creature effects of the last twenty years - titled Nightmare Factory (written & directed by Donna Davies) From their humble beginnings on Evil Dead II, the documentary covers what brought these guys together to bring frightful sights to the silver screen, and for any horror nerd (such as myself), this will surely be a must-watch when it is released.

In the meantime, have a glimpse at some clips - I for one am chomping at the bit to get my mits on this documentary. A visit to KNB Effects would be my personal equivalent of Charlie going to the Chocolate Factory.

Nightmare Factory trailer from Ruby Tree Films on Vimeo.

Click "READ MORE" below to view a few clips from the documentary...

YouTube Finds: "Blood & Guts with Scott Ian"...

A new show to the Nerdist Channel all about gore and special make-up effects, and the first port of call is of course the legend that is Gregg Nicotero!

In this series premiere episode, join host Scott Ian (Anthrax) as he spends a day with Legendary FX Artist Greg Nicotero in his KNB EFX's studio. See Nicotero's vast prop collection from throughout his career and also experience an awe inspiring bit of Blood and Guts.

 As a big horror fan, and a keen follower of KNB's work, this was a real joy to watch. Just nerding out over the various props and replicas was satisfying enough, but then they 'kill' three zombies to finish the video off, haha!

YouTube Finds: All Star Celebrity Bowling...

I've been a fan of this web show since it first started, and recently I re-watched all the episodes, and I figured it was about time I flagged them up to anyone not in-the-know about them yet. Created by the Nerdist crowd, who have their own podcast network, Nerdist-in-Chief Christ Hardwick started All Star Celebrity Bowling in which teams of bowlers (e.g. musical comedians, cast & crew of TV shows, etc) would face off against Team Nerdist (featuring Hardwick, son of professional bowler Billy Hardwick) in a tournament to try and win $10,000 for charity. Taking part would get them $1,000, beating Team Nerdist in a game would get them a further $1,000, and whoever would come out victorious over all other teams would win the big money for their chosen charity.

I do rather enjoy bowling - although I'm rubbish at it as I never go regularly (not even remotely so) - and I found these to be bloody entertaining, even the episodes featuring people I either didn't know or barely knew who they were. There's a really fun and relaxed atmosphere to these videos too, so the show is doubly enjoyable to watch. Below are the three episodes that I enjoyed the most (and have re-watched several times a-piece)...

1) Team Nerdist vs. Team Mad Men

2) Team Nerdist vs. Team Walking Dead

3) Team Nerdist vs. Team Breaking Bad

YouTube Finds: Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee...

Surfing around YouTube last week, I stumbled upon this brilliant little web series featuring Jerry Seinfeld talking to his comedian friends as he takes them out for coffee and chit-chat in different cars every week - Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is a ruddy fun way to spend some YouTube time, so check it out.

Below are a couple of my favourite episodes so far:

1) Larry David, 2) Alec Baldwin, and 3) Joel Hodgson.

Evil Dead II, in clay, the Lee Hardcastle way!

Evil Dead II ... in clay ... with cats ... from Lee Hardcastle. Nuff said, now ruddy well watch this!

Trailer Fest: "I Know That Voice"...

John DiMaggio - better known as the voice of Bender from Futurama, and Marcus Fenix from the Gears of War franchise, to the masses - is currently working on a new documentary called "I Know That Voice", which is all about the amazing voice talent behind some of our favourite shows (and, increasingly-so nowadays, videogames) from decades past to the present day. It looks ruddy good if you ask me, and this is a definite must-see in my opinion - I can't wait to see it!



The doc was brought to my attention when listening to the latest episode of Rob 'Pinky from Pinky & The Brain' Paulsen's excellent podcast "Talkin' Toons", which brings members of the voice acting community in to discuss their life and work, and is a merry old time indeed.

You can also listen to more DiMaggio (with Billy 'Fry from Futurama' West) on the latest Nerdist podcast too - check that out here.

All In The Game (Gary Ugarek, 2011) - Review

Gary Ugarek, who has previously given us indie zombie flicks Deadlands: The Rising, and Deadlands 2: Trapped, switches gears entirely with his third outing as Writer/Director/Producer: moving from the undead to the mean streets of Baltimore’s drug-pushing gangs. As a fan of HBO’s The Wire, Ugarek’s inspiration is clear, and indeed he pulls an Ace out of his sleeve by snagging members of that cast for this truly independent feature – where the extremely tight budget works triple overtime in delivering a sense of scale and scope that is usually missing from similarly low budget flicks.

Once upon a time in charm city, we’re introduced to our main cast: Vince (Chris Clanton), Ontario (Nelson Irizarry), Littles (Kelvin Page) and Lucky (a terrifyingly charming Micaiah Jones), and they’re all looking to climb the ladder. As the gritty narration informs us, you’ve got 5 to 8 years ‘in the game’ with many falling foul of the law sooner or later – it’s a tough business, but evidently in the toughest areas of Baltimore there’s little in the way of options. However all is not well in the present day, as Ontario mocks “I have a dream: money, ho’s, and clothes” – the young up-and-coming ‘welfare babies’ are in need of a reality check – they’re not invincible and they aren’t worth a damn if they’re not willing to push back against the tide.

 

Sick of getting screwed over when plying their criminal trade, Vince, Ontario, Littles, and Lucky hit the pavement to find out who is cramping their style and stealing their business. Working their way up the chain, we come to one of the high points for the film – a brutal interrogation of Raymond, a lowly money launderer, who lays out the list of guys who’ll soon be entering the crosshairs of our boys. Clouded by smoke, step forward Lucky (the scene-stealing Micaiah Jones), who makes exceptionally dark comedy from beating the truth out of rivals.

 

So begins an audacious and bloody ascent up the business ladder for these guys as they set their sights on the Caprisci crew, which feels like a meeting of worlds – The Wire versus The Sopranos. It is in these later stages of the film that we really get to see the fierce determination of Irizarry’s Ontario, the considered calculations of Clanton’s Vince, and the ever-ready eagerness of Page’s Littles … and of course, more of Lucky’s dangerous magnetism.

 

Being an indie production, naturally there are some technical issues – the audio needs work in places, and there’s a few rough edges and slow focus pulls here and there – but the ‘deep shadows and brilliant highlights’ look to the stark black & white cinematography (presented in 2.35:1) blends well with the chosen documentary aesthetic.

 

Bolstered by a hip hop soundtrack and an efficient running time (74 minutes, including credits), Ugarek’s latest outing proves to be a fresh change of direction that offers new opportunities both in the looks (thanks to Habib Awan and Seann Ikon) and the substance (thanks to a dramatic genre shift). There may be a few points in the script that don’t quite convince, but with a gritty and determined approach, and an arresting cast, fans of indie productions and The Wire should be well served here.

For more information, please visit the film's Facebook page.

YouTube finds - G.I. Joe meets The Thing...

From time-to-time, from now on, when I come across a YouTube video that really impresses me - I'll share it here. First up, a music video for the French duo Zombie Zombie (and their track "Driving This Road Until Death Sets You Free"): while I've only just discovered it (via Lee Hardcastle's blog), this video was made in 2008 for a G.I. Joe filmmaking competition.



Superbly directed by Simon Gesrel and Xavier Ehretsmann, the production design is tip-top, and the animation is amazing - for fans of the eponymous action figures, or John Carpenter's unbeatable sci-fi/horror film from 1982, this is a must-watch!

Get In There: Marvin E. Quasniki for 2012...

Do you like puppets? Do you like political satire? Would you like to smush those two hands together in a delicious dose of puppet politics? Then step over here and watch the hilariously good videos of Marvin E. Quasniki!

Over the last couple of months - as the long-winded process of America deciding on who's going to run for the next election (just before they begin to focus on figuring out who'll run for the one after that) crawls forth - the Nerdist have been uploading some hilarious campaign spoof videos with Marvin E. Quasniki ... who just so happens to be a puppet.

View Marvin E. Quasniki's videos here.

View his first video below:



He proclaims that there should "be no more bullshit" and uses "How Much Worse Can It Get?" as his campaign slogan. Among his policies are agreeing with everyone no matter what they say, wherever they are - retrieving stuff from the Moon to sell on eBay - and using puppies as aids in settling international disputes.

I'm enjoying the hell out of these videos from the Nerdist channel and The Miskreant Puppets (part of Henson Alternative), and I hope you do too.

Get In There: Gary Ugarek's films...

I'm going to start a new series of posts called "Get In There" where I share things that I'm into around the interwebtubes and think you might like - first port of call...

Gary Ugarek is a buddy of mine who has produced indie zombie flicks Deadlands: The Rising and Deadlands 2: Trapped, and most recently the gangster pic All In The Game (which features members of the cast of The Wire). You'll perhaps have already read me talking about him as he's very much a champion of other indie filmmakers - indeed he very kindly supported the I Am Zombie Man short films I made a while back by showing them as supporting features during the theatrical exhibitions of the two Deadlands flicks, and included them on some of the home video releases. Furthermore Gary even helped produce some of the music for the second two IAZM shorts with Brian Wright (a fellow musician, and co-star from the first Deadlands movie).

You can purchase All In The Game through his website - www.wetnwildradio.com - and his other flicks elsewhere on the web (including Amazon), but Gary has also uploaded all three films (workprint versions of the two Deadlands movies) to YouTube. So if you're into indie cinema, then you'll do well to check out his YouTube Channel.

"Pingu's The Thing" - Lee Hardcastle claymation...

UPDATE: Click here to view the re-upload on YouTube.

What with my review, and twenty-point gripe-list, for the 2011 version of The Thing, it was a nice little co-incidence that Lee Hardcastle's latest YouTube video was his take on the 1982 version of The Thing.

If you're not familiar with Lee Hardcastle's clay animations, then you're in for a treat. I first discovered his work through Edgar Wright's blog when he was in-competition with "The Evil Dead in 60 Seconds" - it was an excellent, gore-filled clay animation, and from that point on I was hooked.

The above video is his latest - a typically humorous combination of Pingu (a claymation childhood favourite) and John Carpenter's 1982 sci-fi chiller The Thing.

Check out Lee Hardcastle's website HERE and view many more of his fantastically gory claymations on his YouTube Channel.