House of a Reasonable Amount of Horrors

Face Time

September was really, really interesting even though nothing much changed in my "outside the internet" life, which I'm guessing is the norm for huge swaths of people right now.

I did two video things! I hate being recorded in any way, but when the opportunities are so fun I kinda just got over myself. First, I had the pleasure to be a guest along with Kelli Maroney HERSELF with the fine gents from In Search of Tomorrow to do a live commentary over Night of the Comet, which is from the same people who did the In Search of Darkness documentary (soon to be documentaries) and I really appreciate them inviting me and being such terrific hosts. (See, it's 80s' movies, so I can trot out "terrific" again.) Be sure to check out its Kickstarter campaign here.

I think I look grumpy there, but I was actually swooning. RBF is a real thing, kids.

Next, I participated in the Fantastic Feud! If you're not familiar, every year, the Austin-based film festival Fantastic Fest has a trivia fight. Yes, FIGHT. Oh wait, that's the Fantastic Debates. Still, it can get heated! Critic Scott Weinberg created and originally hosted it, and it grew, because really, who can resist obnoxious film critics and writers facing off with talented filmmakers about film minutiae? I attended last year's and it was a boozy blast, so I was really curious to see how it'd play out on Zoom and Fantastic Fest's Screner account. Thankfully, it was a lot of fun even though I was one of the very few actually drinking (like, you're SUPPOSED to okay) so I think that put me at a disadvantage, but still! I got to be on a team with Jill Gevargizian the day after her premiere of the (wonderful) The Stylist, so I have zero complaints. Big thanks to Maxim Pozderac for making it seamless on our end and to my movie podcast brother Brad Henderson for recommending me. 

Gigi eventually showed up with the cutest dog ever, and I'm mad I didn't capture it here.

I showed up on another episode of Good Times, Great movies! This is one of my favorite podcasts to do because it's fun, funny, and genuinely just enjoying the process of talking about movies with other people who dig them a whole lot. I did Cherry 2000 and Motel Hell in the past, and this round it was Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night 2. We actually had video chat on during this recording, but thankfully it's just my voice here.

Good Times, Great Movies: Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night 2

I also appeared on... well not exactly on one of my favorite podcasts, but a spin-off for its patrons. If you're a Junkion or would like to be one, head on over to Junkfood Cinema's Patreon page to hear Brian Salisbury and me talk some Elvira: Mistress of the Dark! 

 

"Oh, God. She just... keeps... talking!"

More podcasts! Here's the round-up! Yee haw!

Alright, it's Friday, I have a headache, and this is all I got in me. But I still love you. Have a great weekend!

Oh! If you're free on Sunday at 12:30 PM PST, I'll be joining a watch party starring Kelli Maroney herself for the masterpiece NIGHT OF THE COMET thanks to In Search of Tomorrow! You can find more information over at their Twitter page.

 

Movies From Hell: Ozgust Part 3: Dead End Drive-In

Just the Discs: Underrated Kino

Monsters Never Die: The Jaws Rip-Off Special 

In 2020, the Film Festival Comes to YOU

I was lucky enough to get press accreditation for my very first Fantasia Festival this year⁠—the first one that had to be held online, natch. Of course, nothing can compete with the actual elbow-rubbing movies-all-the-time vibe of a traditional film festival, but they did about as great a job as you can within the circumstances. Seriously, all my issues were due to my recently shit WiFi connection. The interface was great, emails were answered promptly, everything streamed beautifully, and the Discord chat was very helpful. The entire crew has a lot to be proud of.

My round-up of several films is currently behind Daily Grindhouse's Patreon page (a reasonable $3 a month to support a cadre of passionate writers and editors!) but I'll add the link here once it hits the main page as well. Here's to all the filmmakers who had to adjust their dreams and goals this year: You still killed it, and you deserve the best luck in the world after this.

 

[FANTASIA FEST 2020] ‘HAIL TO THE DEADITES’ GIVES US SOME SUGAR, BABY

[FANTASIA FEST 2020] ‘LUCKY’: TROUBLE EVERY DAY

Scream Factory, Blu-rays, and Collecting

My first Blu-ray was from Scream Factory, and I didn't even have a Blu-ray player yet. However, I heard about the director's cut finally becoming available, and as a DVD was included with the release, I made my first pre-order for a film on disc in years.

For how much I write and podcast about Blu-rays, I'm pretty new to collecting them (I started in earnest in 2016!) However, I jumped on the DVD bandwagon starting as a teenager in 1999 and was hardcore into the collecting life for years. After much of my collection was stolen during a move, I gathered what I had left and then lost all interest in procuring new titles. I was just heartbroken and embarrassed.

Finally, after getting a PS4 and realizing it could play Blu-rays, I decided to grab a few cheap titles from Target. (If you're curious, the titles were Terminator 2 so I could compare the quality to my DVD, Romancing the Stone because I had never seen it and was $5 worth of curious, and Highlander because I had never owned it for some reason.) Next thing you know, I'm getting things from the Barnes and Noble Criterion sale two weeks later and I knew I was back in the game. Doomed. I thought I was out and they pull me back in etc etc. Soon I was grabbing titles I had missed on DVD or was craving a special edition for (Society and Street Trash were early discs I had to have) and seeing lush horror releases from Scream Factory just sent me. Also, it seemed that Blu-ray had largely dodged the kind of multi-release quagmire that collecting things like Anchor Bay discs would often get you into, so I appreciated the lack of a learning curve when I was getting back into it.

I'm incredibly happy about having the fixation kicked back in, though: I didn't like not being completely passionate about film, and for me, that includes ownership. I don't expect that of others, though, and I know I'm definitely more unusual for having that outlook. But being without that aspect made me feel somehow dimmed.

I love my collection, and it helped give me confidence back in my writing and also offered me opportunities both in that field and in podcasting, which is so strange and wonderful. I've also made some great friends and colleagues, which includes Brian Saur. This is my 21st episode of his show, and I was just a mutual on Twitter that he gave a chance to. I now consider him a really good friend and one of my favorite movie talking people, and recording these episodes are always a joy. Thank you for listening. 

Just the Discs: Underrated Scream Factory 

You gotta let boys come to Vegas to die if they have a mind too

I've now paired the absolutely intriguing, weird ride This Is Not A Movie with Pecker into the corner of my heart labeled "Proof that Ed Furlong didn't get a full, fair shake."

‘Tubi Or Not To Be’ Day 8: Stephanie Crawford On ‘This Is Not A Movie’

 

 

 

Podcasts seem to flourish during the pandemic

I was recently on the hilarious Ken Reid's super fun TV Guidance Counselor podcast, and he was cool enough to pick a Halloween week for me! If you're not familiar, Ken goes over an issue of TV Guide with different guests. They pick their ideal timeslot schedule and the conversation can go anywhere from there. It was a lot of fun to talk TV shows and things from my childhood/teenage years that I still love today, and I still get a kick out of how weirded out people are about the fact that I live in Las Vegas. Ken's a great host, and he gets actual famous and/or talented people on here (I'm the one outlier) so be sure to check out the past episodes!

 

I'm back on Just the Discs! I'm sorry if you're sick of me! This time we return to our "to watch" piles, and I absolutely love the diversity of titles that pop up with this segment.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 418: Stephanie Crawford 

Just the Discs: The To Watch Pile Vol. 5

It's All Over For You Guys Now: I Got My Bonafides

A few months ago, Rotten Tomatoes had an open application period, and even though their guidelines mentioned needing to write far more reviews than I have, I figured I'd apply just in case. Shockingly, I was accepted, and I'm now an official Rotten Tomatoes approved critic! You can check out my profile here. Yes, I do plan on selling out. Shamelessly. We're talking Malcolm McDowell doing Lunchables commercials here.

Full Disclosure: Everything I do is to eventually angle myself into the Criterion Collection closet

I return to Just the Discs with Brian Saur to talk about a small stack of Criterion Collection discs we both recommend listeners check out during their current (and future!) sale, going on at Barnes & Noble right now! I've noticed a lot of people seem to really enjoy label-specific episodes, so we may have some more of that coming to you soon. But may, I mean we will! The scoops you can get only here, I'm telling you. 

Just the Discs: Criterion Sale Suggestions!

More podcast round-up!

I hate not updating with writing, but that well's been a bit dry lately, and most of my non-work time and energy has been going into my own podcast! That I'm starting myself! Where I have all the responsibilities! Did you know that learning audio software has a steep learning curve! Anyway, here are some qualified and talented podcasters who were gracious enough to have me as a returning guest. Thank Godzilla for charity, eh?

Kill by Kill: Bride of Chucky Vol. 1 - My third time on this wonderful podcast is to talk about the fourth (and best) Child's Play/Chucky movie. I try out a Jennifer Tilly accent and I promise it's out of love, and my lack of talent doing it wasn't meant as an insult. Why do people enable me to talk? I'll never know. I'll just never know.

Just the Discs: Criterion Sale Suggestions! Since we're in the end times, I have no idea if we'll even have the Criterion sale this round, but suggestions are always in style! Right? Eh?

Podcast Round-Up

Some (hopefully) fun stuff to listen to while the world's on fire.

Corpse Club: Celebrating Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, and Christopher Lee - I've been on Corpse Club (Daily Dead's fantastic podcast) a few times before, but it's always been an all ladies affair! This time I jawed with some dudes about some legendary dudes. Scott and I have talked about recording together for years, so this was pretty exciting for me.

Just the Discs: The To-Watch Pile Vol. 3 - Can you believe I've done almost 20 of these episodes? We do another round of Blu-ray discs we bought but still need to watch, which is a fun way to cover a lot of ground with releases.