I had fallen asleep on the couch in my parents home in Hampton watching Rhonda Shear on USA’s Up All Night, when I awoke it was around 2 AM and on the television was something that I had never ever seen before.  A stop motion, decapitated corpse dancing in the woods to the bewilderment of the man inside the cabin.  I was but a teenager when I saw this and it forever changed my life.  This is the actual moment I remember going from “what am I going to do with the rest of my life” to “I want to make horror movies for the rest of my life”.

I had just witnessed one of the manic scenes from Sam Raimi’s sophomore follow up to his first Evil Dead film Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn.  And boy howdy was I hooked.  Yesterday I mentioned that Romero changed the game with his first film, well Raimi took it one step further with his.  Like Romero, Raimi had very little budget to work with so he needed to get inventive with the way he filmed things.  I read a great book on the films called The Evil Dead Companion that goes into great detail on how Raimi shot the whole film and the environments they worked in.  And like Romero the critics made a big deal out of the excessive blood and gore in the film, but it became a cult classic and is probably my second favorite film of all time.

So much so that I have a ringtone on my phone that is Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) saying the magic words from the book of the Necronomicon Klaatu Barada Nikto (which is actually the magic words from the original The Day the Earth Stood Still and homage by Raimi to another classic piece of cinema that inspired him) and my son shares a common surname with the hero of these films (but don’t tell my wife that).

Sam has made three Evil Dead films so far and each one connects.  While many people including myself believe that Evil Dead 2 is a remake of the first Evil Dead both can stand on their own as separate movies.  Had I seen the first Evil Dead film first it might have been my favorite but since I saw this one first it stands.  The third film in the series is Army of Darkness and I won’t talk a whole lot about that right now since it’s going to show up a little later on in this blog.

Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn is much more a straight up horror film than most of Raimi’s other genre films.  Raimi has a professed love for the Three Stooges and often incorporates slap stick humor in his movies, in Evil Dead 2 the slap stick humor only heightens that actual horror that happens on camera.  It’s a masterpiece of highs and lows and in all actuality there are some real sick moments in this film.

Sam has gone on to do great things in Hollywood including bringing my all time favorite comic book character to the big screen as the director of all three (and the fourth one in development) Spider-Man films.  He’s also working as a successful studio head with Ghost House Pictures and producer.

If you haven’t seen Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn you should find yourself a copy this Halloween season and have some fun with it.  You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll SREAM!

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The next two books on my list to review are Transmetropolitan #1 and Preacher #1.  Again along with the release of the Watchman movie DC is re-releasing these landmark first issues in new special editions.  While I’ve never seen the original printings of these so I can’t comment on the “special” part of the edition apart from re-introducing this comics to new fans I can tell you what I read about.

Transmetropolitan is written by Warren Ellis a name who people in comics have come to understand means good stuff.  I had heard about this book from a friend of mine and was anxious to get into it and see what it had in store for me.  The first thing that struck me was our main character here who goes by the name of Spider Jerusalem, is the spitting image of Alan Moore and I think that this is probably Ellis’ homage to Moore and the work he had done laying the ground work for other writers in the industry.  Also Spider is a recluse much like Moore is as well, but Spider is reminded of a commitment he must keep or wind up getting sued.  You see Spider is an investigative reporter that owes his publisher two more books for the advances that he was given five years ago.  So Spider heads back into the despised world of humanity to get a job, find a place to live and finish his two books so he can return to his life of isolation.

I like this book, but it is very much intended for mature readers so parents reading that keep this in mind.   Most of the comic books I’ve read in my life have a clear cut protagonist or the person you are pulling for, here Ellis tests us to see if we can find any empathy in our hearts at all for a man that despises every human being on the planet.  Interesting stuff here, I would like to eventually pick up the graphic novel and read the whole thing, but I’m afraid that will have to wait a little while yet.  So if your looking for something new (well new to you at least) I do recommend picking this book up.  I have a lot to learn yet about Warren Ellis and his style, but what I’ve read so far I’ve liked.

Next up on my list was Preacher by Garth Ennis.  I have read a lot of things about this series through the years and was hoping to have my socks blown away.  Unfortunately I wasn’t floored, but my interest was definitely upped a bit.  Preacher is the story of a Preacher who gets a little sight of the world of angels.  I’d rather not explain too much about it cause it will ruin some of the surprises in the first book here, and honestly the less you know about what happens the better.  Again like the other DC Vertigo stuff this is for mature audiences only, there is even more cussing in this book than the others I’ve read before, and if you are easily offended you’re best to just stay clear of this.

A big difference with this book than the other one I just read is that our protagonist is someone that you are pulling for.  He seems like a decent guy that got handed a raw deal.  It also involves more of the supernatural which is more interesting to me than an investigative reporter.  What I wasn’t blown away with so far was the story.  Another buddy told me that the book picks up steam in later issues and does eventually find it’s legs so I’ll probably give it a shot and see what happens with it eventually.

Both of these books were a good read, but I wasn’t floored by them like I was Swamp Thing #21 or even reading Spawn for the first time.  That’s too bad too cause both have a lot of great images and tons of potential.  I will read some more of them, but right now it’s tough to beat The Walking Dead for me.

So if any of these books interest you, or you’d like to get back in touch with your love of comic books stop down and visit Mike at The Core, tell him I sent ya.

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Ah Watchman, the good, the bad and the ugly of the most celebrated graphic novel of all time.  What has it done for us in the comic book world?  It originaly defined a new generation in comics.  It wrote new rules and changed the world of the comic book forever.  It brought comics into the realm of the adult universe.  It also launched the career of Alan Moore into the stratosphere.  DC Comics has decided to finally capitalize on the exposure of Watchmen and re-release some first issues of siminal titles on their Vertigo line.

A little bit of history here before I dive into acutally talking about the re-release of Swamp Thing #21.  For generations comics lived by a code, an ethics code similar to the MPAA and their ratings system for movies.  Most comics didn’t have to worry about censorship because they stayed with in the code.  After awhile more and more artists and writers wanted to get outside the box and start pushing stories and ideas.  Taking things to new levels.  The big publishers, like Marvel and DC, didn’t want to have anything to do with that.  Afraid of what parents and sponsors might say so they kept their artists and writers on a very short leash.  Then in the early 90′s something magic happened.  Small upstart comic companies started showing up and actually getting stuff published and into readers hands.  Probably the most well known and commercially successful was Image Comics run by former Spider-man alum Todd McFarlane.  Thus began a new era of creator owned and distributed comics, and this was all paved by Alan Moore and his Watchman graphic novel.

So DC and Marvel started to catch up.  Marvel working with the likes of Clive Barker for their Razorline label and DC working with the likes of Garth Ennis, Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman to create their Vertigo line.  And that leads us up to today.

So on Saturday my son and I had to grab some milk and we decided to swing by The Core and see what was new and interesting.  I found myself drawn to the new Swamp Thing graphic novels that DC has been putting out that collect the comics that Alan Moore wrote.  They are beautiful, but we weren’t on a shopping trip persay, more of a let’s just kill some time trip.  As I was getting ready to head out the door Mike, the prorietor of said establishment, and I struck up a conversation about the newly released Universal Monsters statutes.  Next thing you know I’m walking out with seven comics in my hand!

So I’ve always been a big fan of the ole Swamp Thing.  I even love the Wes Craven movie version of it, but in all of my life I had never read a single issue of the comic, and I’m glad I didn’t cause my first time should be reading something by Alan Moore.  This book struck me right away as something special.  Our favorite moss hero is already dead when the book begins.  In fact, you don’t know much about what’s going on at all since the book is actually a conclusion to the story line previous to Moore taking over when DC had decided to kill the series but wanted one Moore (pun intended) chance at it.  Automatically I was struck by the writing.  It felt right.  It was told in somewhat third person from a super human who was doing an autopsy on our fallen hero.  The art is pretty darn good too with art done by Stephen Bissette and John Totleben as well as colors by Tatjana Wood.  Well it doesn’t posses the gloss of todays comics, it is visually striking and you can see them breaking away from the traditional linear frame by frame of other comics.

As I read on, I was blown away by the ending and the realization the ole Swampy is coming back, and coming back angry.  In it our “protagonist”, I use that word losely here since he is sprung from prision to autopsy Swamp Thing, deals with his findings and the antagonist in a very cool way.  Making sure that the audience knows that ole Swampy never killed a human until now.

Swamp Thing #21 is an amazing read and I highly recommend it to any one who enjoys comics.  I do recommend that this comic be for a bit older readers, early teens probably, but it blew me away and now those graphic novels look even more appealing.  Stop by The Core today to pick up your reissue of Swamp Thing #21 or one of the Swamp Thing graphic Novels.

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Man where does the time go?  So I’ve finally squirreled away a couple of minutes to write a new blog about some stuff that’s been floating around in my head for the last couple of weeks.  I got a couple of DVDs I wanted to talk about and a couple of new albums I wanted to run past ya’ll as well.  So with out further ado, here we go, keep in mind they are going to be short sweet and to the point!

So I caught this last weekend and wanted to write up a bit about it right quick.  I got a kick out of it and laughed out loud several times, but this is squarely in the new realm of R rated comedy and isn’t for every one.  Role Models stars Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott as our two protagonist as well as Elizabeth Banks and Christopher Mintz-Plasse who we all know and love as McLovin’ from Super Bad.  If you’ve seen any of the new wave of R comedy coming out these days from the Judd Apatow camp then you pretty much know what your in for on this movie as well.  Lots of swearing, some nudity and a little left of center comedy.  This stuff works for me and I got quite a kick out of it.  The best stuff is the stuff with the kids and the best of that is the stuff with Sean William Scott and his “little” Bobb’e J Thompson.  My jaw hit the floor a couple of times with their bantor.  Unfortunately, also like most of these new comedies, it’s about a half hour to 45 mintues too long.  If they cut some of the extra goo and tightened up the story this stuff would be totally killer and a laugh riot from beginning to end, but instead I think they tend to overindulge their egos a bit and let the actors (who are often the writers which is the case on this with Paul Rudd) ad lib and are too afraid to cut anything they thought was funny while shooting.   Despite that flaw the film was a lot of fun and I had a great time watching it.  Just keep in mind folks that this is an R rated movie as you pop it into your DVD player.

3 1/2 Stars out of 5

Let the Right One In.  I caught this one last weekend too and was blown away by this forigen film.  Again, it’s probably not for everyone, it’s a vampire story, but more at it’s heart it’s a coming of age story of a young boy who is harrassed and picked on by some bullies in his school with the vampire stuff being a device for moving the story along.  Sparse, extremely slow pacing, and absolutely wonderful cinematography as well as some of the best performances by child actors I’ve seen in some time.  This film is beautiful and haunting at the same time.  Again I feel I must warn you though, this film is not in English so subtitles are a must if that bothers you you may want to skip this one, second, it is extremely graphic with the gore.  Not ridiculous in a cheesy way, but it’s affecting.  The blood flows and it flows freely so if you have a weak stomach you may want to wait for the American remake that is in the works.  But if you want to challenge your movie tastes then rent this one and get ready to get spell bound.

4 1/2 out of 5 Stars

Punisher: War Zone.  Alright folks, I think you and I have both forgotten the Dolph Lundgren abomination that happened in the late 80′s or early 90′s.  And you may have seen the Thomas Jane and John Travolta version of this one (which I can honestly say that I liked) but this one folks, wow, just wow.  Easily one of the most gory and violent movies I’ve seen in a long time and definitely the goriest and most violent comic book movie that Marvel has produced.  For those of you that know me, I’m a huge Marvel Comics fan, and The Punisher has always been a book that I enjoyed, but just never followed all that much.  If you saw the first Punisher movie you know the story and this movie basically assumes that you know his origin story.  Lets see, what did they get right this time.  First they got the setting right.  Put Frank Castle back in New York where he belongs.  Second they got Frank Castle right.  He is a psychopath vigilante.  In the recent Marvel Civil War even Captain America wanted Frank Castle off of his team, and that’s saying something (I just totally geeked myself out there didn’t I?).  Any way, this was one heck of a movie.  Did I like it?  That’s a tough call.  I just wish they could nail this one right.  Just like the Hulk movies, they seem to keep missing the heart of the story or what makes these characters so endearing to the readers.  I liked it I guess, but I don’t think I could recommend it to anyone who doesn’t like violent horror movies.

3 out of 5 Stars

Mastodon – Crack the Skye.  I just discovered these guys over the last year or so and got most of their back catalog.  I enjoy it but something never clicked with me.  It was the vocals.  The music is very good, very musical and very dense.  All the stuff I like, but it was the vocals holding these guys back for me.  Then I get Crack the Skye and OH MY GOSH!  I don’t know if it was working with Brendan O’Brien or what but this band has grown leaps and bounds since their last record.  I’m telling you this is the best Pink Floyd record since Dark Side of the Moon.  You may be asking yourself at this very moment “Pink Floyd?  I thought Mastodon was a metal band?”  And well you’d be right on both counts, but you see this album takes everything that has been so amazing about Mastodon and then brings in clean melodic vocals and a very very keen sense of prog rock.  I’m not kidding you, prog (progressive rock as the term was coined many moons ago for such bands as Pink Floyd and King Crimson among others).  This album is a band at it’s pinnacle.  Both staying true to their roots, some of the heaviest riffs I’ve ever heard in my life and still some growled vocals, but also moving forward to expand their influences and audience.  If these guys keep moving at the speed they are moving at now Brent Hinds will be a household name in five years.  A wonderful wonderful record that I can’t get enough of lately but I’m holding off on it a bit.  I don’t want to burn out on it all at once.  I highly recommend this to fans of Pink Floyd, Tool and Good Music.

5 out of 5

Prince – LotusFlow3r & MlpSound.  On Sunday my son and I ran out to Target to pick up the new Prince record being distributed exclusively through Target.  I’ve only had a chance to get through both discs once, but upon first listen I’m OK with LotusFlow3r and I’m really digging MlpSound.  LotusFlow3r is more in tone to his recent output, which despite the critics cries that his new stuff echos his classic albums, is more rock oriented and a step away from the 80′s vibe of Purple Rain, Under the Cherry Moon, 1999 and others.  The last few albums have had some great tracks, but a little bit of filler as well and LotusFlow3r in my opinion falls victim to this again too.  I need to give it a few more spins before I lay the final hammer of judgement down on this one, but I do dig it, just not as much as I’m digging on MlpSound.  I don’t know if it’s a connection to my beloved Minneapolis ( I tend to be drawn to any song that Prince sings about my favorite city in our great union) but this record definitely feels like Prince trying to capture the magic of Purple Rain era Prince.  Programmed drums, even some of the exact same samples used in those classic records.  More reliance on the posturing that made the Purple One so endearing to begin with.  I’m thinking that a few more listens and this could be at the top of my favorite Prince records list which also includes the mammoth three disc set Emancipation, The Gold Experience and Under the Cherry Moon (which could be easily my most favorite Prince record ever).  The third disc in this set is the debut of Prince’s new protege Bria Valente which right now, I’m just not feeling it.  I told a friend the other day that I feel like I have to be 16 to get the lyrics and 29 to get the music.  If you like CrazySexyCool era TLC then this album by Bria is probably right up your alley.  Me on the other hand, meh not my cup of tea.

Bria Valente – Elixer - 2 out of 5 Stars

Prince – LotusFlow3r – 3 out of 5 Stars

Prince – MlpSound – 3 1/2 out of 5 Stars

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So for Valentine’s Day my wife and I decided to take in the new remake of Friday the 13^th and hopefully get a good scare.  While we were sitting in the seats we were reminded that the last time we saw a movie together she was quite pregnant and the movie was Children of Men, which is one of the best movies released this decade, so you can figure out how long it’s been since we sat in the theatre seats together.

As we sat there waiting for the show to start members from the Heart of Darkness haunted attraction where there to ask trivia questions and give away some cool prizes.  My wife kept encouraging me to speak up, but unfortunately I didn’t really know the answers to their questions.  I was never a big fan of the Friday the 13^th franchise from the 80’s.  Honestly I was never a big fan of any of the 80’s franchises (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Child’s Play), the slasher genre has just never hit home for me.  I’m much more of zombie fan and I think that Clive Barker’s Hellraiser was the pinnacle of scary movie making in the 80’s.  So I went into this remake without my heart on my sleeve and honestly with very low expectations, despite there being no reason to have said low expectations.  This film was produced by Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes who are also responsible for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake that was better than I expected it to be, far better especially when you consider I hold a special place in my heart for the original Tobe Hooper directed film.  So, other than the name Michael Bay I shouldn’t have had these low expectations but…  the director of this remake was the same director of the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Marcus Nispel.  He did a great job with that as I said before so why not expect the same from him on this one?  Well did anyone else see his original film Pathfinder?  It was visually interesting but a weak movie as a whole.  Ok, so he’s fifty fifty right?  Well he delivered on this remake too.  So now he’s two out of three and as Meatloaf once said “two out of three ain’t bad.”

What makes this film good is that it doesn’t try to be anything other than what it is, one hour and forty minutes of mindless good fun and a rustic throw back to the good ole 80’s slasher movies.  While the movie is set in our present day with cell phones and iPods not a lot has changed since the 80’s with our young protagonist’s modus operandi, they still want their sex, drugs and rock and roll.  It was fun to see this with a lively Friday night audience as well.  After the first couple hook up you can hear the audience quietly murmuring to each other “they’re gonna get it!” in fact my wife leaned over and whispered in my ear “first”, with her knowing grin.  The audience and my wife were not disappointed with what happened next.  After about the first half hour a plot twist happens that I can not mention but believe me when I tell you, you’ve never seen anything like it and it was pretty amazing.  The only other director I’ve seen work with this same plot device with the same intended reaction is Quentin Tarantino, it was actually quite brilliant.

As far as upping the ante on gore and scares, well both of those are much higher here than in the original movie.  The gore is much more believable which requires me to swallow an immense amount of pride since the one and only Tom Savini worked on the original Friday the 13^th’s FX crew, but things have changed a lot since Savini’s hey day and the grue just looked better this time around.  The scares were a little more intense too, I don’t know if people have gotten better with their sound cues and stingers or if seeing this with a rather jumpy audience helped me out a bit, but I jumped several times and really let myself suspend my disbelief.  That may be the key to this movie too, suspension of disbelief.  That’s something we all have to do to an extent when watching any kind of entertainment, we allow ourselves to be swept up into the world of the characters.  Some people can do it better than others, I for one can do it very easily too, it allows me to enjoy some of the worst cinema out there.  Believe me when I say you need to suspend your disbelief on this one too. There are some huge plot holes and several times I rolled my eyes at the stupidity of our protagonists, but I could let those things slip to the side and just enjoy the movie.

Jason is far more physical in this one, and while most of us that have seen the original know the story of Jason, his origin is barely skimmed over in the beginning.  This movie is really more of another installment in the franchise than a remake.  I think they chose to do that, instead of calling it Friday the 13^th Part 135, they just started over.  And since this movie ruled the box office we are bound to see more sequels, and I say bring em on.  If they are going to be this much fun then I welcome the new Friday the 13^th to the Cineplex’s!

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