Metalliance Tour Review 03/22/11

Being a fan of Crowbar I was aware of the Metalliance Tour for some time now.  It started off as a tour featuring a band I love and one I'm not too familiar with at all, Helmet.  Later, Saint Vitus and Kylesa sweetened the pot even more, not to mention some other bands that I was less familiar with but had heard good things about.  I had just assumed that this tour was some time away and would probably only be on the west coast anyway.  Needless to say I was pretty pumped when I saw a post on Crowbar's Facebook page that said they were going to be in Greensboro, North Carolina that night.  Not only was that in my area but it was actually closer than the last Crowbar show I went to.

Plan 9 From Outer Space at The Lewis Theater

For as long as I can remember I have wished that The Lewis Theater, a small theater in downtown Lewisburg, WV (voted the "coolest small town" in America by somebody, somewhere recently), would show cult/horror films.  It's a small theater, one screen, that usually gets the artier, less mainstream films that the other theater in town (with it's whopping TWO screens) won't touch.  Being a fan of films that don't always get much of a release in this area, The Lewis Theater is a godsend from time to time.  It's obvious that they are catering to a niche film crowd, so I always wondered why they didn't show classic midnight movies as well.  Imagine my surprise when I went to see True Grit there (finally!) and saw a cut-out of Elvira holding a coming attraction notice of Plan 9 From Outer Space.

Movie Blog '11

01/02/11-Aliens+
01/02/11-Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics*
01/02/11-Pirates of Silicon Valley*
01/04/11-The Forty Year Old Virgin
01/06/11-Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*
01/07/11-Black Christmas '06*
01/07/11-Cronos*
01/08/11-Scott Pilgrim Versus the World+
01/09/11-Tron: Legacy*+
01/11/11-Tron*
01/13/11-Hollow Man*
01/14/11-Zombieland+
---------------------------------------------
01/15/11-Heathers+
01/17/11-The Social Network
01/19/11-Blade II 
01/21/11-The Frighteners+
01/22/11-Cyrus*
01/23/11-The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia
01/23/11- Mimic
01/23/11-Inception
01/25/11-Best Worst Movie
01/27/11-Knocked Up
01/30/11-Robocop+
01/30/11-True Grit*
01/30/11-Backdraft*
01/30/11-Ernest Goes to Jail
02/04/11-Robocop 2
02/04/11-The Matrix
02/07/11-Under Siege
02/07/11-Deadgirl*
02/08/11-Maximum Overdrive
02/10/11-Hatchet 2*
02/12/11-Plan 9 From Outer Space+
02/13/11-Ed Wood+
02/13/11-Beyond the Mat
02/20/11-Street Dreams*
02/21/11-Easy A*+
02/23/11-The Rise and Fall of E.C.W.
02/27/11-Ernest Goes to Camp
03/01/11-Exit Through the Gift Shop*
03/03/11-Hype!*
03/05/11-Ferris Bueller's Day Off+
03/06/11-Exit Through the Gift Shop
03/07/11-Pontypool*
03/08/11-Idle Hands
03/09/11-Before Sunrise*
03/12/11-American Movie+
03/13/11-Tombstone
03/14/11-Before Sunset*
03/17/11-sex, lies, and videotape*
03/18/11-Grown Ups*
03/20/11-Kill Bill Vol. 1+
03/21/11-Desperado
03/23/11-Anger Management*
03/25/11-Back to School
03/28/11- Kill Bill Vol. 2+
03/29/11-Waking Sleeping Beauty*
03/30/11-Matrix Revolutions
04/03/11-Cemetery Man
04/06/11-Monday Night War*
04/09/11-Insidious*+
04/09/11-The Town
04/13/11-Kick Ass
04/13/11-Ghostbusters+
04/14/11-Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
04/15/11-Hellraiser 3: Hell on Earth
04/17/11-Scream 4*+
04/17/11-Mean Streets
04/19/11-The Shawshank Redemption
04/23/11-True Romance+
04/25/11-Toy Story 3
05/01/11-Scream
05/16/11-Back to the Future 2
05/17/11-Back to the Future 3
05/18/11-Back to the Future
05/19/11-Superbad
05/19/11-National Lampoon's Senior Trip
05/19/11-Private Parts
05/21/11-Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
05/22/11-The Forty Year Old Virgin
05/22/11-
05/23/11-Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides*
05/24/11-Scream 2
05/24/11-Super*
05/25/11-Jackie Brown+
05/25/11-The Social Network+
05/30/11-The Faculty
06/02/11-Kingpin
06/07/11-Demolition Man
06/07/11-Street Trash*
06/09/11-Bloodstained Memoirs*
06/10/11-Super 8*+
06/11/11-Castle Freak*
06/12/11-Total Recall+
06/13/11-The Hangover Part 2*+
06/16/11-Batman
06/18/11- Slam Dunk Ernest
06/21/11-Batman Begins
06/24/11-Batman Forever
06/29/11-Batman and Robin
07/03/11-Casino+
07/04/11-The Baxter*
07/04/11-Capturing the Friedmans*
07/04/11-The Last Boy Scout*
07/06/11-Teen Wolf*
07/07/11-My Soul to Take*
07/09/11-Friday the 13th Part 5: A New Beginning
07/09/11-Arcade*
07/10/11-The Rock*
07/11/11-Return of the Living Dead Part 2
07/12/11-Subspecies*
07/16/11-Up in Smoke+
07/17/11-Tyson*
07/18/11-The Fighter*
07/19/11-Don't Go in the House*
07/20/11-Fight Club
07/25/11-Crazy Heart*
07/25/11-25th Hour*
07/26/11-American History X+
07/31/11-Nixon and Hogan Smoke Christmas*
08/10/11-Platoon
08/14/11-
08/1-/11-Detroit Rock City
08/19/11-Born on the Fourth of July*
08/25/11-Frankenhooker*
09/03/11-Red State*+
09/04/11-Red State
09/09/11-Dogma
09/10/11-Final Destination 3*+
09/15/11-Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
09/17/11-Thor*
09/18/11-Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers
09/18/11-Sleepaway Camp 3: Teenage Wasteland
09/18/11-Sleepaway Camp
09/20/11-The Lion King 3-D+
09/21/11-The Devil's Rejects+
09/22/11-Hesher*
09/23/11-Return of the Living Dead (in the Theater)
09/25/11-Red Dawn*
09/25/11-Return to Sleepaway Camp
09/28/11-Still Waiting...*
09/28/11-Tango and Cash
09/30/11-Troll Hunter*
10/01/11-Puppet Master
10/02/11-Puppet Master 2*
10/02/11-Puppet Master 3: Toulon's Revenge*
10/02/11-Puppet Master 4*
10/02/11-Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter*
10/02/11-Curse of the Puppet Master*
10/04/11-Phantasm
10/05/11-Phatasm 2
10/05/11-Ernest Scared Stupid
10/06/11-Hellraiser: Bloodline
10/07/11-Idiocracy
10/09/11-Night of the Living Dead '90
10/11/11-Popcorn
10/12/11-John Carpenter Presents Body Bags
10/15/11-More Brains! A Return to the Living Dead*
10/16/11-The Fog
10/16/11-Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II
10/16/11-Prom Night III: The Last Kiss
10/16/11-Night of the Demons 2
10/16/11-Leprechaun 3
10/16/11-Leprechaun 210/19/11-Leprechaun 4: In Space*
10/20/11-The Thing '11*+
10/22/11-Prom Night 4: Deliver Us From Evil*
10/23/11-The Thing
10/23/11-Slither
10/24/11-Leprechaun in the Hood*
10/26/11-The Chaperone*
10/26/11-Idle Hands+
10/27/11-Bubba Ho-Tep
10/27/11-Army of Darkness
10/30/11-Trick 'r Treat+
10/30/11-Halloween+
11/03/11-Beyond the Mat
11/05/11-Conan O'Brien Can't Stop*
11/05/11-A Very Harold and Kumar 3-D Christmas*+
11/07/11-Friday After Next*
11/11/11-Friday+
11/13/11-Punisher: War Zone
11/18/11-Paul*
11/19/11-Captain America: The First Avenger*
11/23/11-Ferris Bueller's Day Off
12/04/11-Beverly Hills Cop*
12/07/11-Amelie*
12/08/11-Take Home Tonight*
12/13/11-Cedar Rapids*
12/15/11-Man on the Moon
12/18/11-Edward Scissorhands
12/18/11-The Long Kiss Goodnight
12/19/11-Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2*
12/22/11-Tucker and Dale vs Evil*
12/22/11-Home Alone+
12/23/11-Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
12/26/11-Delicatessan*
12/29/11-Source Code*
12/29/11-Hell Comes to Frogtown*

First time viewings marked with *
Viewings with Jessica marked with +

Southern Flame: Whiskey Metal

Southern Flame are a metal band from southern West Virginia that combine elements of doom, sludge, and thrash into their sound.  This is a review of their 2007 album Whiskey Metal.  The disc itself actually comprises two separate recording sessions with two different line-ups not unlike Napalm Death's Scum.  Tracks one through eight are the newest songs with an at that time new drummer, nine through sixteen a previously recorded album titled Alcoholocaust with the original drummer, and the final two songs bonus tracks.  The shift in quality brought about by this could be seen as a problem, but when you view all tracks after number 8 as bonus as was intended it clears that up.

Creepshow Region 2 DVD

It pains me that a film as classic as Creepshow doesn't have a special edition DVD available in the United States.  That's not to say that there isn't one available else where, it's just that for whatever reason Warner Brothers refuses to release the awesome special edition that Universal released in the region 2 markets.  I'm not sure if it's because Universal wants to charge too much for WB to get the rights or what but the fact that WB put out a bare-bones Blu-Ray of George Romero's Creepshow when this wealth of material is available makes no sense to me.  I picked this up at the 2010 Scarefest in Kentucky for around 23 bucks.  I had heard about it for a while and it really delivers on the special features front.  The film is awesome, of course, but the main attraction is the feature-length documentary on the second disc.  While Leslie Nielsen, Ted Danson, and most disappointingly Stephen King are no where to be found, the folks you expect to be here (read: the convention heads) really deliver interesting stories.  George Romero, Tom Savini, Tom Atkins, Adrienne Barbeau, and surprisingly Ed Harris all have tons of screen time recalling the making of the film.  Put together by Red Shirt pictures, the fellas behind the special editions of Night of the Creeps, The Monster Squad, The Stepfather, and numerous others, this doc is quality.  Add to this a commentary with Romero and Savini, deleted scenes and Savini's on-set footage and this really is the solid treatment a film like this deserves.
The good news here is that this is obtainable.  If you have a region 2 DVD player, or if you know how to make your player region free I highly recommend picking this up.  The easiest place I could imagine finding it is ebay, and though I don't know what you would have to pay for it, if you're a fan of the film it would be worth it.

Eyehategod/Crowbar/Black Tusk/Phobia 12/2/10

The Tremont Music Hall in Charlotte North Carolina hosted one of the heaviest shows I could imagine on December 2nd, 2010. NOLA legends Crowbar and Eyehategod are both on tour at the moment and their paths converged for one night of sludge destruction. Supporting this crusher of a dual headliner were Phobia, grindcore legends from California and Black Tusk, a sludge-esque band very much in keeping with their Georgia brothers in Mastodon, Kylesa, and Baroness.

Q: The Winged Serpent

I've been aware of this movie for years, but for some reason I had it in my head that it was some artsy film along the lines of something that Criterion would release. Don't get me wrong, Criterion releases are awesome, but they do release a lot of boring, pretentious stuff too. It seems I was way off on that point as this is actually a Larry Cohen film, the fella behind such genre films as the Maniac Cop films and Uncle Sam. The tone is definitely set when in the first ten minutes of the film there is a decapitation, a flayed human body, and a topless gal picked from the roof she is sunbathing on.
The story concerns a giant half-reptile, half-bird that is terrorizing New York City by going around biting off peoples heads and snatching people from rooftops. Amidst this is someone committing sacrifices to the creature which may or may not be a reincarnated Aztec god, a pathetic criminal using his knowledge of the location of the creature's nest to his advantage, and David Carradine (aka Bill, aka Caine from Kung Fu, aka the actor that died quite embarrassingly not too long ago) who plays a cop that is attempting to figure the whole thing out. Shaft is in there somewhere too.
I found the film itself to be very entertaining. I had no qualms with any of the actors, and actually thought they did a really good job for the type of film it was. It definitely has a late '70s/early '80s New York feel to it and there a lot of helicopter shots of the city meant to be the creature's POV that are fun to look at. When the creature is shown on-screen it's pure cheese, but if you are of the age or mind of someone that appreciate the old school of monster effects you will probably find it charming. If you were ever on the fence about whether to check this one out or not like I was, I recommend you do.