Critical End!

Eyes on the monitor, sir.

Not for you, but for some lucky Muppeteer.  /Film has posted some new pics (via The Daily Mail) from the set of The Muppets, including this one of Amy Adams with new Muppet Walter.  Now, we know Paul Rudd will provide Walter’s voice, but as a Muppet fan, I’ve been wondering who’ll be on puppet duty.

The only suspect who came to mind based on the long hair was Steve Whitmire himself, the man behind Kermit.  But this guy looked too young to be Whitmire, so I hit up Muppet Wiki which identifies the puppeteer as Peter Linz.  I’d seen his name in Muppet credits before, but I couldn’t think of any major roles he’d performed, until I discovered that he was the voice of Tutter from Bear in the Big Blue House.  You may not know who that is, but the memory of Linz squeaking I GOTTA BIG BLOCK OF CHEESE HERE, BEAR! still brings a smile to my face.  I couldn’t ask for a better hand for Paul Rudd’s voice to come out of.

No time to talk, folks! I have to get back to remaking "Rushmore" again!

Hey kids, did you hear?  Wes Anderson has announced his next film!  It’s called Moon Rise Kingdom and *yawn*.  Oh my.  Excuse me.  How unprofessional.  I apologize.  Where was I?  Oh yeah.  Deadline is reporting that the cast is shaping up to look like Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, and *yawns and nods off*

What?  Oh, hey.  Sorry.  Just got sleepy all of the sudden.  What was I talking about?  Oh, yeah.  Wes Anderson.  I- *ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ*.

In all seriousness, this is a real film that’s happening and it’s just as boring as it sounds.  If anybody needs me I’ll be sleeping on the Z key.

…ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzz…

Yoinked from /Film

/Film, famous for being the site I steal most of my posts from, has scored some awesome pictures from the set of the new Jason Segel Muppet movie.  Gotta say, I like what I see.  Check out the link for pics of Henson Studios converted to the rundown Muppet Studios, as well as the Electric Mayhem bus, and puppeteers performing Walter, Segel’s best pal.

And if you haven’t heard, Amy Adams has been cast as Segel’s girlfriend, and the evil-faced Chris Cooper has signed on for the villain.  No new ground broken for either actor, but I can watch Adams be a girlfriend and Cooper be a dick all day.  Fingers crossed, folks.

His record speaks for itself, but I’ll always know him best as the man who helped bring us this:

Godspeed, sir.

Hi. I'm Joe Dante and I approve of this message. Now if you'll excuse me, I must get back to being amazing.

The Howling is the best werewolf movie of all time.  Don’t think so?  Let’s look at the the facts: Joe Dante directed.  Robert Picardo is creepy as all get out.  The effects by Rob Bottin and Rick Baker still amaze.  Dick Miller chases off a bunch of nuns.  Hell, even Roger Corman shows up to parody himself.  The only other werewolf film that even comes close to this amount of awesomeness is John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London.  So, yes, when a film is this strikingly magnificent it’s only a matter of time before Hollywood remakes it.

Which is not happening.

Instead somebody at Anchor Bay thinks we want another Howling sequel.  I kid you not.  It’s been 15 years since The Howling VII: New Moon Rising hit video shelves, and even longer since anybody cared, yet Moonstone Entertainment/Anchor Bay thinks that there’s still enough interest in the series to now warrant The Howling Reborn.  I guess they’re also ignoring the fact that most of us stopped watching the Howling sequels about five minutes into The Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (actual title, I swear to God).

Head over to CHUD for the full story.  I’ll plan to see this film only if Dick Miller shows up in the middle of the first act and chases the cast and crew off.  Good riddance.

Short answer?  We’ll see.

Logan and I have talked about it before, and his prediction has so far turned out to be correct: Conan’s new show is no different than either of his old shows.  It’s a talk show with some funny bits, some not-so-funny bits, and some guests.  The question is whether he’ll use the comparative freedom of cable to innovate as he becomes more confident in his new home.  Right now, my guess is no.  Not because he’s incapable of it, or because he’s lazy.  Because the man seems to legitimately love the traditional talk show format.

Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  The first show was strong overall.  There was a pretty great cold open with a few laugh-out-loud moments (see above), and some excellent banter with Andy who I’m glad to see return to the role of proper sidekick.  (Side note: he’ll also be handling the role of “wacky priest” in the TBS comedy Glory Daze according to a well-placed ad.)  And I hope they continue to give each episode a cheesy 70’s detective show title (the premiere’s was Baa Baa Blackmail).  Not a new gag, but one of my favorites.

I’ll continue to watch (or my DVR will) for the time being, with the confidence that even if Conan’s new show isn’t quite the revolution it might have been, at least it’s a hell of a lot harder to get cancelled on cable.  What did you, the unwashed masses think?

Remember the ’90’s?  I sure do.  Saturday night.  Me and my skeleton crew would get together, walk to the abandoned drive- in, hook-up my Super Nintendo, and play “F-Zero” and “Zelda” until dawn.  Sure, time’s were tough, but back then we were playing with power.  Super power. 

Oh, and Paul Rudd was there.  Did I mention that?

I post this mainly because it’s awesome and I love it.  I also love Paul Rudd’s hair in it.  That is all.

The final ingredient to this podcast…is YOU! …And cumen.  REVIEWED: Saw 3D. PLUS: BevCast.  ALSO: If you missed our Critical Hit of the first six Saw movies, check it out here.

Download it.

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Under the new plan, Netflix will only get the movie after at least one lead actor has died.

So, Warner Bros. (and other studios) have been experimenting with a month-long wait before new DVD releases hit Netflix. Apparently, that’s been a success because Gizmodo says that the company is thinking of making the wait even longer.

Obviously, the idea is that if you have to wait for a movie to show up on Netflix, you may break down and just go buy it.  Which, in my mind, makes absolutely no sense.  Maybe I don’t consume movies in the same way others do, but if you were really chomping at the bit to see a movie, so much so that you can’t wait four weeks to get it for (essentially) free from Netflix, then why did you wait four months for the DVD instead of just going to the theater?

The wait period may be convincing some folks who were on the fence to just bite the bullet and buy.  I admit I’ve done it when I wanted to see a movie at a very specific time (like for a Halloween party.)  But I can’t imagine that’s a huge number of people.  In fact, I’m more inclined to believe that the planned increase is an attempt to save a bad idea, rather than make a good one more profitable.  Am I wrong?  Anyone out there ever bought a DVD because they couldn’t rent it yet?

It’s a slow news day, so I’m going to be a little more self-indulgent than usual today… 

Seeing that we’re still celebrating the 20th anniversary of Twin Peaks, I thought I’d post one of my favorite blasts from the pasts.  People tend to forget that during it’s first season, Twin Peaks was not only the highest rated show on television, but a cultural phenomenon.  A quick YouTube search will find you all sorts of wonderful parodies, both new and old, but my personal favorite is still Sesame Street‘s “MonsterpieceTheater” episode with Alistair Cookie.  Not only is it a riot for Peaks freaks (and mostly confusing for everybody else), but it’ll also lead you to spend an entire lunch hour watching old episodes of “Monsterpiece Theater”.*  Enjoy!

*Ryan reccomeneds “The 39 Stairs”, made by guy named Alfred.

Okay, it’s not that funny in execution. But it’s a funny idea, it’s short, and it reminds me to watch Conan in a week. Mission accomplished?

It appears that some movie nerd (that wasn’t us) made a great map of the United States marked with which movie best represents each state.  This is one of those things that is so streets ahead that I really wish I had come up with it.  Drat.

Click pic to see your state

I’m really digging how many of these are the exact same films I would have chosen.  So…any disagreements?  Proud of your state film?

via CHUD

This list isn't for you, Li'l Eeyore!

Happy Halloween, folks!  If you’re like me, Halloween has transformed over the years from an excuse to dress up and bug people for candy to an excuse to sit at home and watch scary movies.  And eat candy.

Recently, some friends asked me to put together a list of thriller/horror movies that I recommended.  I was pretty happy with what I came up with, so I’m sharing it with you, in case you needed some inspiration for your own All Hallows’ Eve celebration.  Feel free to disagree in the comments.

SOME REALLY GREAT AND PRETTY GOOD THRILLER/HORROR MOVIES IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER EXCEPT THE LAST ONE!

• Psycho (thriller/slasher) Obviously.  First and best slasher.
• Three…Extremes (Saam gaang yi – subtitled) – Watch Instantly from Netflix – This one’s great for a party because it’s composed of three short stories, all creepy.  None of them are blow-you-away-awesome but they’re each fun and disgusting in their own way.  Gets very gross.
• The Evil Dead Trilogy (horror/horror comedy/action adventure) – Watch Instantly from Netflix - Obviously a must see.  The second one’s the best, but they’re all great and better as a marathon.
• Psycho Beach Party (horror comedy) My favorite horror comedy of all time.  Gidget meets Hitchcock.
• Re-Animator (horror/dark comedy) – Crazy college student discovers Frankenstein serum, creates super disturbing zombies.  Jeffrey Combs is amazing in this.
• Dead Alive – (horror comedy-ish) aka Braindead.  Early Peter Jackson does Evil Dead.
• The Frighteners (horror comedy-ish) later Peter Jackson does Ghostbusters
• The Mist (thriller) – Most of the movie is an awesome and faithful adaptation of the Stephen King novella.  Then the end…oh man, the end.  Different from the book but AMAZING.
• Undead (horror comedy)  Probably my second favorite horror comedy.  Australian zombie flick with kickass action and a really weird plot twist.  Succeeds both in the comedy and the horror which is rare.
• Infection (Kansen – subtitled) – Watch Instantly from Netflix - Some weird infection makes people kill people in gruesome and awesome ways.  The story’s not stellar, but the suspense and effects are pretty great.
• Identity – Remember this?  John Cusack….anyone?  I liked it.
• Dawn of the Dead (the 2004 remake)  I wasn’t a fan of Romero’s original but this remake is pretty good.
• Premonition (Yogen – subtitled) – Watch Instantly from Netflix - NOT the Sandra Bullock version.  Very cool film.
• The Omen (the original)- Watch Instantly from Netflix - Awesome suspense film made even better by giving you the opportunity to do Gregory Peck impression’s the whole time.  I’ll get you started:
  • “I remember when my daddy gave me that gun. He told me that I should never point it at anything in the house; and that he’d rather I’d shoot at tin cans in the backyard. But he said that sooner or later he supposed the temptation to go after birds would be too much, and that I could shoot all the blue jays I wanted – if I could hit ’em; but to remember it was a sin to kill a mockingbird…”
• The Howling (horror/dark comedy) – Early Joe Dante’s take on werewolves mixed with some weird social commentary.  If you watch this, you must PROMISE me that you’ll be deathly quiet when the female lead is searching the dark office.  Because the best thing ever is about to happen.
• The Descent – Spooky thangs in a cave.
• Creepshow (cheese factor) – Watch Instantly from Netflix - Adaptation of several Stephen King short stories.  The one King himself stars in is hilarious.
• Final Destination (cheese factor)  Though I secretly like this movie on a non-ironic level.  Avoid all the sequels.
• Gremlins and/or Gremlins 2 – Again, an obvious one.
• The Thing (John Carpenter)
• Black Sheep (horror comedy)
• The Eye (Gin gwai – subtitled) NOT the Jessica Alba version.
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original) – It’s not stellar but it did invent the chainsaw maniac as well as the documentary style horror movie.
• The ‘burbs – Watch Instantly from Netflix - (horror/comedy)
• Silent Night, Deadly Night (cheese factor) Got to get a Christmas one on the list.  See Logan’s detailed review here.
• Killer Klowns from Outer Space (cheese factor/horror comedy)- Watch Instantly from Netflix
• The Wickerman (original)  Two words: Christopher Lee.
• Child’s Play (slasher) – Watch Instantly from Netflix - The series is really hit or miss but the first one is pretty solid.
• A Nightmare on Elm Street Series (slasher) – Most of these movies aren’t “good” per se, but they’re kind of required viewing of the genre.  The worthwhile entries are:
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street- Watch Instantly from Netflix
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
  • New Nightmare- Watch Instantly from Netflix
  • Freddy vs. Jason
• Friday the 13th Series (slasher) – Most are even worse than the Elm Street movies.  The first Friday the 13th is reasonably good and has a nice twist that everyone already knows.  And Freddy vs. Jason is actually pretty awesome (a highlight for both characters).  Also, despite Logan’s protests, I thought the Michael Bay produced remake was surprisingly good.  The others are only good for their comedic value.  Particularly…
  • Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter – Funny for not being the final chapter, and containing the antics of both Corey Feldman and Crispin Glover.
  • Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan – Hilarious for NOT taking place in Manhattan.
  • Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday – Watch Instantly from Netflix - Jason is killed when the FBI sets up a “sting” for him that consists of a naked chick in a cabin.  Then his demon possesses the black guy from X-Files.
  • Jason X – Jason IN SPACE!
• Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (horror comedy) – Now you’re ready for this one.  The horror comedy that becomes an actual horror movie as it goes along.

Folks, this has been a very confusing week for your old pal Logan.  First, the Cars 2 teaser leaves me scratching my head, and then just today a seemingly normal trip to my local comic book store erupted into chaos and mass confusion on my part when I noticed this sitting on the shelf:

At first I was just happy to see that they haven’t run out of obvious situations to place The Evil Dead’s Ash in yet.  Intrigued, I begin to flip through.  Not to give anything away, but it appears that Ash heads to a comic book convention which is also frequented by Barack Obama (and not some other black guy in a suit as the cover seems to imply).  Then the evil dead attacks or something.  Typical.  Ash and his old college pal President Obama can’t go anywhere these days.  Especially during an election season.  

In the end I decided to pass.  I love America.  Just not this much.