Balls of Fury: A Movie Review

First of all let me state that this is not a porno. The tagline is: A huge comedy with tiny balls. It's not that bad. You will laugh at least once. I would watch it again. It's worth watching just to see the cameo's. Review over.

My New Favorite Podcasts

I listen to a lot of podcasts at work and I’m always on the prowl for new ones. After getting up to speed on a number of new ones and giving up on others I have a new list of my favorite podcasts. So… here they are.

Drunken Zombie Podcast: Dedicated to all things horror, or so they say, they often will get off topic and talk about comics, blumpkins, pop culture and basically whatever pops into their drunken zombie minds. It’s a bunch of guys getting drunk and talking about shit that I want to hear about. They also will occasionally do video podcasts, which are really good as well. Check these guys out; they are always entertaining and sort of informative.

Mail Order Zombie: Mail Order Zombie is a weekly podcast dedicated to the straight-to-video zombie subgenre and market. Hosted by Brother D and occasionally the sexy-voiced Bren (Sister B). They have a more traditionally structured show with segments, features, and special segments. This podcast won me over gradually, the production and overall quality of the show and it’s content keeps getting better, it was off to a rough start and almost lost me. Luckily for me I stuck around, I just hope they do.

CD Baby DIY Musician Podcast: Still one of my favorite podcasts.

Dark Gate Horror Podcast: This show doesn’t come out regularly or often enough, Ellen does a great job at deconstructing horror movies on a much more intelligent level than most podcasts. She does plenty of research on elements that may have initially inspired the film and is very thorough on all the aspects of whatever movie she happens to be reviewing. I hope she puts more out and continues to do her thing. Check it out.

If you’ve found a good podcast or hate the ones I’ve mentioned drop me a comment.

The Invasion: A Movie Review

Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig star in this thriller about an alien epidemic, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel. The Invasion is the fourth film (3rd remake) of Finney's novel, the first of which debuted in 1956. I enjoyed this movie, but didn’t really see why it was necessary to be made at all, but I was intrigued, so, I gave it a whirl. I didn’t care so much for the sound design or how it was edited, it was too formulaic, the cinematography was great, the colors are vivid and fitted to each scene, especially the scene in the pharmacy. Nicole Kidman is excellent--I like pretty much anything she’s in. The story was kind of slow in the beginning, but picked up about half way through. I really liked how Kidman’s character not only had to fight off the Invaders but also had to prevent her self from falling asleep. I have no qualms with the story or its conclusion. I just didn’t see the need for this movie, if you haven’t seen any of the prior films related to this one, I’m sure it comes across as a more original movie. That being said I liked it and I would watch it again.

Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon: A Movie Review

Directed by Scott Glosserman, Starring Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, and Horror legend Robert Englund. To sum it up briefly this film delivers! Probably only for horror fans however, it had laughs, blood, substance abuse, sex, and death. The film managed to break down modern horror archetypes in a lighthearted and easy to digest manner, many of which I felt to be very funny and very original. The filming itself was done documentary-like, but kept a cinematic quality throughout. The cast of characters was so-so and Robert Englund delivered a short but sweet role, he should definitely do more work like this. All in all I say this was a good flick and worth watching, grab a few cold ones and watch this one with a group of fun-lovin’ chums.

Cloverfield: A Movie Review

After a long awaited viewing of the very hyped up Cloverfield I walked away totally satisfied. I have a few minor quibbles with the flick but as an overall movie I dug it. The thing that bothered me the most was the size of the statue of Liberty's head, I didn't feel convinced that it was to proper scale, especially in contrast to the folks standing next to it. I liked the style of the movie and the inventive cinematography, I didn't find it to be nauseating as some reviews have said. I felt the actors all had a certain charisma and they all felt real. However, I don't believe any woman, even wonder woman, is capable of climbing a leaning building in heels however. The creature itself was very cool and well designed, although a bit too typical. The shots of the creature on the news stations were really cool, they added a lot to the tension in the film. Not totally convinced on the ending, but I went along with it anyway. If you suspend disbelief and ignore the hype you will find a very enjoyable movie viewing experience.

The Comp 2/News/Upcoming AR project

As promised, here is the colored line art for use in the The Comp 2. This is not the final cover, just a piece of the puzzle.

The Comp 2/News/Upcoming AR project

As some of you may or may not know, I run a small design studio/record label, and we've put out a handful of releases so far. One of them was The Comp, a compilation of some bands i know and some i didn't. It was a lot of fun and all the bands responded really positively about it. So now, about two years later, we're doing a sequel and this time I'm showing more of the monster (from the cover of the first Comp) and here is the low res black and white artwork of the monster. I'll be posting all the stages of the project and links to where it will be available. In the meantime, the original Comp is available at many places, one of them being iTunes, so go pick it up!

The Omega Man(1971): A Movie Review

Being a huge fan of The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price, I had to check out The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston. It even came highly recommended from the Monkey Buzzz’s head monkey himself, whom I simply call Pat. I must say I was not disappointed, sure it’s goofy and dated, and corny and the mutants/vampires were silly as balls on a wall but I really enjoyed it, it was right up my alley. The vacant city looked great and the story was solid, I believed that Hestons’ character Neville was borderline bat-shit crazy and something about “The Family” just seemed to draw from the media’s perception of Charles Mansion and his “Family”(being that the movie came out around the end of all that hoopla), whether or not that was intended or not. The only thing I can say is that I think the movie would’ve come across darker if it was in black in white. Either way, go see it, rent it, buy it, whatever.

Penny Dreadful: A Movie Review

Even if I only paid a penny for this movie it would still be dreadful. The story is terrible, the acting mediocre, and I honestly couldn’t tell you the end--because I didn’t make it that far. Don’t waste your time on this steamer; the only good thing about this is that Michael Berryman plays a gas station attendant.

Undead or Alive: A Movie Review

I’ve always thought that a zombie western could be pure gold, and sure enough, it wasn’t. It was watch-able, and sort of fun, it had laughs, but not a hole lot of action or scares, the movie seemed to suffer from a lack of direction. The story itself was fairly solid and as original as any could hope for as were the performances of the actors, I can’t really recommend watching this movie, nor could I say not to, so, if you’re a zombie nut like myself than go for it, if not, than view at your own risk.

The Hills Have Eyes: Pluto Ink Drawing

Here's an ink drawing of Michael Berryman's character Pluto from the original Hills Have Eyes movie from 1977. If you've never seen this movie, you should go watch it, don't bother with the sequel--it's just plain terrible.

Creature From the Black Lagoon: Ink Drawing

Here's an ink drawing of the Creature, from the old horror classic Creature From the Black Lagoon, one of my all time favorite horror movies. Hope you like it as much as I do.

Lost Boys: A Sketch of David

After lettering the new Lost Boys comic i was inspired to draw David from the original film, Keifer Sutherland's character. It's just a quick pencil sketch on bristol, the scan isn't that great, but you get the idea.

Dead and Deader: A Movie Review

Considering this was a Sci-Fi channel movie I must say, it wasn’t that bad, it certainly wasn’t good, it was better than Room 6 but it’s no Flight of the Living Dead either. It has a pretty decent story but it falls apart in the end, it’s a funny movie and full of corny scenes and references to other movies, which I found hurt the movie, at least for me. The sets and wardrobes and vehicles were way too squeaky clean and the colors of the movie are just plain garish, that being said, I enjoyed the first 45 minutes of the movie and then just lost interest. It’s worth a watch, if you have nothing better to do and a few beers to keep you company, oh and it’s got zombies in it, but don’t expect much.

Room 6: A Movie Review

I didn’t really have high hopes for this movie, and for good reason, but even still I expected better than this. Especially with names like Kane Hodder and Christine Taylor attached. Everything about this movie is just mediocre, from story to make-up and everything in between, the characters are either over the top or cardboard cut outs, the special effects are just plain pitiful. I could go on and on about everything that is wrong with this movie, but honestly it’s not worth my time or yours, the only redeeming things about this movie are a scene where 4 nurses get nude and bloody and the title, and that’s about it.

Toxic: Upcoming Project, First Look

I've been putting this together in my spare time for quite awhile, and decided it was time to post something about it. Basically, it's a sketchbook of "Toxic" themed creatures and writing, concept art as well as full out pin-up style pieces. So, here's an ink sketch of some eye birds from yours truly. Anyone interested in being a part of this project drop me a line. Enjoy.