Song of the Week #13

When An American Werewolf in London came out in theaters in 1981, Michael Jackson was so impressed with the effects in the film that he said get me in touch with the makers of this movie. So John Landis, Rick Baker, and most of the original crew from the movie, came to make the Thriller video for Michael Jackson. When this video was released, no one had ever seen a merging of film-making and music like this before. It has since been called the most successful music video of all time. The first music video to have entered into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. The most watch video of all time, see by more that 4 billion people across the world. And at the time was the most expensive music video ever made, at $1,000,000.

Trilogy Week #48 - Best Makeup Effects

It's the last week of October so now I've saved the best for last. To watch three movies with the best makeup effects. What can make or break a good horror movie is the effects, they are the touchstone of the genre. Going back to the birth of cinema. But recently makeup effects have started to take a back seat to CG effects. Which is sad, when you see a CG effects used that could have made a convincing makeup effect instead, it's very disappointing. To me it almost feels like cheating. Don't get me wrong CG effects are cool, and they have their place. But when they are used instead of props or prosthetic, it shows they laziness of the film makers. So let's this week celebrate the fantastic work of Rick Baker, Rob Bottin, and Chris Walas.

Trilogy Week #47 - The Evil Dead Trilogy

This is going to be a quick one, this is the first actual true trilogy that I have posted. Usually it's three movies that have nothing to do with each other, but all have a similarity to them that makes the trilogy interesting. This time how ever I had to move some stuff around and wasn't able to get the post I was going to make. That's not to take away from the Evil Dead, because it's totally awesome. It's just a last minute, but good replacement.

Halloween Cartoon For Oct. 24th

Here's a classic Looney Tunes short with everyone's favorite orange monster.

Halloween Cartoon for Oct. 23rd

A little short about a dead soldier trying to comes with terms with his recent death. "Fifty Percent Grey" By Ruairi Robinson

Halloween Cartoon for Oct. 22nd

Here's a stop-motion short by Christopher Gordon titled "Ward 13". This short was featured on volume 2 of the Animation Show. By far the most horrible hospital experience ever. Very creepy, with a great action sequence that rivals a lot of action movies.

Halloween Cartoon for Oct. 21st

Here's another short done by the same team that made Mysterious Mose. In this one they try to make it look like a very old film reel. I would've fell for it if I hadn't recognized their names in the credits. Very awesome.

Halloween Cartoon for Oct. 20th

Scary badass demon rising from the depths of hell from inside a volcano mountain, summoning his minions to play. Pure awesome sauce. 

Halloween Cartoon For Oct. 19th

This is a great cartoon that gets over looked. Mainly because the Dracula character only appears in this one cartoon. But this is a Chuck Jones cartoon, so you know it's gonna be awesome. Abracapocus!

Halloween Cartoon for Oct. 18th

Death By Lemonade is a cute little short directed by Kyu-bum Lee, of a stubborn little girl trying not to get ripped off by the grim reaper. With hilarious consequences.

Song of the Week #12

Here's a Halloween-ish song of the week for ya. It's not really the song, more the music video that is Halloweeny. It's about the band making a home made french zombie movie. From Phantom Planets third album (self titled) for the song "Big Brat", directed by Spike Jones.

Halloween Cartoon for Oct. 17th

Here's a whiny depressing emo special from 1979. "Called The Pumpkin Who Couldn't Smile." Because some inconsiderate jerk carved a frown in his face, instead of a smile. Boo Hoo!

Trilogy Week #46 - Slasher Flicks (re-makes)

Re-makes have been entering cinema more and more frequently these days. They're made to bring classic stories to a new audience. But is that a good idea, or should new audiences just watch the originals. Some work, some don't. The ones that I think work are the ones that take out dated subject matter, or concepts that aren't just pulled off very well (The Fly, The Thing, etc.). But a movie with a good story should not be re-made, because the re-make just shows how well the original was made (Planet of the Apes, Clash of the Titans, etc.) But how do these re-makes hold up to there original classic counterparts? Well read on, and find out. And on a side note, I can't quit put my finger on it, but there's something very similar about these posters...

Halloween Cartoon For Oct. 16th

Here is the original short of Frankenweenie that Tim Burton made while still working at Disney. Of course it's a classic homage to the movie Frankenstein. Starring Barret Oliver, from the Neverending Story and D.A.R.Y.L. They showed this all the time on the Disney Channel. Which is a little weird because Burton was fired from Disney after making this short. They said that he wasted company time, and that it was too scary for kids. Oh but after he branched out on his own, and started making other successful films like Beetlejuice and Batman, Disney couldn't wait to show off Burton's Disney work.

Halloween Cartoon For Oct. 15th

Here's a golden oldie for ya. This is the first Silly Symphony short from 1929. Directed By Walt Disney, and animated by Ub Iwerks. in 1994, 1,000 animators decided what the 50 greatest cartoons of all time were. This was made #18. The animation, and choreography are still very impressive.

Halloween Cartoon For Oct. 14th

When I was a kid I would watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It's one of my favorite specials of all time. So when I found out there was also a Halloween special call "Halloween is Grinch Night" I had to see it. And what I got was one of the weirdest psychedelic trips I've ever seen out of the pink elephant scene from Dumbo. But that's Dr. Seuss for you.

Halloween Cartoon For Oct. 13th

Here's another live action one called Suckablood, by BloodyCuts in the UK. This one is very creepy, and I think could give some kiddies nightmares. But I thought this a was very clever and original modern fairtale.

Halloween Cartoon For Oct. 12th

Now this one is't a cartoon, it's a live action special that I grew up watching. It's a 1979 telefilm that aired regularly on the Disney Channel until the late 90's called "The Halloween That Almost Wasn't". It stars Judd Hirsch as Dracula (from Taxi, and Independence Day), Mariette Hartley as The Witch, and Henry Gibson as Igor (from The 'Burbs, and  Innerspace). It's a very stupid and cheesy special, but I can't help at laugh at how dumb it is, mostly for the nostalgia factor.
 

Halloween Cartoon for Oct. 11th

This is an awesome cartoon. But for me I think Bugs is out shined by Hansel and Gretel. It shows Chuck Jones' brilliant comedic timing, and the voice work is flawless from Mel Blanc and June Foray. No matter how many times that I watch this short it always makes me giggle uncontrollably.

Halloween Cartoon for Oct. 10th

Here is a music video for the band Primus doing a cover of "the devil went down to Georgia. Directed by Mike Johnson who has worked on The Nightmare Before Christmas, and The Corpse Bride. The animation is very well done, with some great action in the figures, and I didn't even notice until multiple viewings that the characters mouths don't move. I was just fixated on the animation.

Song of the Week #11

One of my favorite bands of all time, off the Ramones eleventh studio album Brain Drain. Written for the Stephen King adaptation of Pet Sematary. Which became one the Ramones most popular hits. The song out shines the movie in every way possible. Just listen to the song, and ignore the movie.

Trilogy Week #45 - Slasher Flicks (the originals)

A big part of the horror genre that started the ball rolling was Halloween's Michael Myers, that took off with a murderous fever in the 80's. So this week we are focusing on the three biggest names in slasher horror. Just a hint, if you are a horny teen, you will be killed by a masked serial killer.

Halloween Cartoon for Oct. 9th

One of my favorite halloween shorts from Disney. This cartoon is a lot of fun. Old school Disney had a way with magic and whimsy that was signature to them in a way that will stick with me forever. Plus I like to see Donald get the crap beat out of him.

Halloween Cartoon for Oct. 8th

A weird bloody violent stop-motion short, from Japanese animator Takena Nagao. What I really like by this bare bones homemade animation, is how well it's animated, and edited. As well as limiting clay is, he gives the characters great expressions. This might be a little too gory for the littler kiddies, but enjoy just the same.

Halloween Cartoon for Oct. 7th

This is a stop-motion short written and directed by Tim Burton, while he was still an animator at Disney. He had it narrated by one of his idols Vincent Price, you later went on to appear as the inventor in Edward Scissorhands. And just like his other short Frankenweenie, (which will also make an appearance on this countdown) there is talks that Vincent will also be made into a full length feature.

Halloween Cartoon for Oct. 6th

A creepy cute stop-motion french Canadian short called The Country Heads. Enjoy!

Halloween Cartoon for Oct. 5th

This is a cool one from the French company Gobelins. It mixes creepy and cute really well, and thinks it is very well made, and the animation is very smooth, with great comedic timing. I love shorts that can give you a good story with no dialogue. See the awesomeness for yourself.

Halloween Cartoon for Oct. 4th

This is a cool one where the animators took the audio from an old black and white cartoon, and did their own animation on top of it. What makes this really cool, is that they mix animation mediums. With puppets, stop-motion, and 2D animation. Very fun to watch.

Halloween Cartoon for Oct. 3rd

This is an oldie but a goodie all the way from 1978. My mom used to always record VHS tapes off of TV, when ever there was holiday specials. And this was a weird one that I grew up watching since I was very little, I used to call it the Halloween cartoon with the naked crossed eyed people. This has a giant nostalgic factor for me, and I will continue to enjoy this short for years to come.

Halloween Cartoon for Oct. 2nd

This is a weird one I found on a animation collection DVD years ago, and couldn't remember where I saw it, so I was excited to find it on youtube, for me and all of you to enjoy.

Halloween Cartoon for Oct. 1st.

For the month of October I'm going to feature a Halloween cartoon everyday. I know i'm 4 days behind, but well, now you can start with 4 cartoons instead of one, so here we go. For the first one we are going to watch one of my favorites, these ghosts from this classic Disney cartoon always pissed me off, and thought that they were to mean to Mickey, Donald, and especially Goofy. But now I find it very cute, and I'm happy to watch it every year.

Song of the Week #10

I'm changing music video of the week to song of the week. Because I think that doing just a music video of the week is limiting to a lot of great songs, that I would like to feature on my blog. So now it's song of the week.

Today's song of the week is from the Groovie Ghoulies, with the song Bye Bye Brain, off the album Travels with my Amp. A very simple and punchy song about being brainless in love. I think this song works perfectly with this weeks reviews of zombie movies. It only takes a couple of listens and you can start singing along to it, as you carve pumpkins for the Halloween season. Enjoy!

Trilogy Week #44 - Zombies!

It's now October, so now it's horror month. This week we're talking zombies. With three different types of zombies. The classic slow moving, lumbering zombie, the talking brain eating zombie, and the modern running zombie. Each with their own strengths and weaknesses. But which one is your favorite. Well if you are undecided, maybe these will help your decision.