Oliver Stone: "I'm ashamed for my country" from CNN

Hi, I'm sorry I've been slow on posts lately - I'm working on two very important video/TV projects and these things take up my free time. I thought I'd forward this link to an article about Oliver Stone who was recently praised by conservatives (they won't like this) for his non-partisan World Trade Center movie, though it was not universally loved by the critics.

Stone has some of the same harsh words for foreigners as well. "There is something in the human heart, the international human heart, that is evil."

Why important people don't give a fuck about us. Us bloggers and movie websites I mean...

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Blood Freak interviews splatter artist Putrid!

What can I say? This artist talks about his influences, the movies he likes, and shows off a tape collection that kinda looks like mine - link here.

what if they built a glory hole and nobody came?

Talked to my investors about the glory hole construction and they are concerned. Out talent scout has not checked out the theater men's room yet. What if it only has one stall? That could put the person on the outside in some pretty awkward situations. Most of my friends have not been in this bathroom either and I do all my cruising behind the Santa Monica Boulevard Del Taco.

In any case, we now have the founds to buy the drill required for construction. The theater manager said he would let us in during a matinee of the new John Lennon movie and will gives us some free soft drinks to cool us down on the job.

doing our part for Los Angeles film buffs

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phallic symbols on a colossal scale!! Idiocracy tops Romero's Dawn of the Dead on the subject of consumerism in America!

In case you missed it, I had a lot of good things to say about Idiocracy in my review, all without giving away and actual details about what happens on screen in the film. If you want it spoiled for you, too bad, because there is no trailer. What made me happy here was that the plot never got in the way of the jokes or the message of the film, instead it facilitated more jokes instead of running us through feel good motions that we could give a fuck about. That is my major problem with most comedies. I say keep the jokes coming, fuck the climax and resolution, just good characters and jokes, that is what I need.

Idiocracy: the movie vs. real life - this movie tells the truths about life, this time I mean it!

I know I say it all the time, most recently about New York Ripper, but this is the movie that tells it like it is when it comes to the world today. We are headed for the Idiocracy and 150 Days of Sodom will bring you there, but at least I fuckin; know I'm doing it!

This movie could have been huge. It has the potential to create a new language - think of the marketing potential in t-shirts alone. Yes, this movie creates a whole world, a horrible world, and a world that is made up of many large elaborate sets, props, and tons of CGI dropped on top of that. It's a big budget film and most people won't see it until the DVD drops. I expect cult success in the future because it is so damn funny. I was almost rolling around on the floor. Funnier than Office Space, the movie I would compare this to in spirit would be Team America, but Idiocracy is far superior.

Everything is ruined for us wannabe film makers. Everything we wanted to satirize or poke fun at has been skewered in Idiocracy in a very heavy-handed way. Even more discrete attempts at subversion in the future will remind audiences how much more brutal a beating the nonsense and stupidity of the world got at the hands of Mike Judge in Idiocracy. Yes, I expect the movie to get recognition as I mentioned above. Mike Judge is a beaten man now - read the Esquire article about how he just wanders around suburban Austin and talk only to the Starbucks barista each day - but perhaps he will have the last laugh. I can't believe it, there was room for this movie at the box office last weekend with The Covenant at number 1, it makes no sense - as everyone and their mother has already commented in this blogging world.

Let me give you some real example of the Idiocracy - a special treat. In between classes at Orange Coast College this week I took in some sights, well I mean I sat down and watched kids auditioning in front of a camera and MTV interns to be on the NEXT! bus. You might have heard about Dr. Drew's scientific studies that are legit and prove reality show TV stars to be the biggest narcissists or our day, well how does that explain why when you put the boys on camera they start talking all G and shit? Ok, so G's do think they are pimpin' or something, but I want to quote the girls. One rather attractive girl rolled her shirt up to expose her midriff during the quick taping. She did her Shakira inspired dance and stated that "even her gay friends say they cream a little when she does it". This line slayed. Motherfuckers were cracking up. "That's a good one, we like that". She is a TV natural. Did the 19 year old girl whose big scandal was the photo of her "twins" being posted around myspace measure up? Sure, why the fuck not?!? Give them shows, record deals, put them in a Robert Altman film. Oscars are on the way!

Thor vs. Odin, Bitch, out-of-print tapes from the mom & pop era, more...

Ok, we are all familiar with movie/metal star Thor, but are you are fan of Odin? You might remember them from Penelope Spheeris' Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years. Anyway, I saw these forgotten legends last night at a bar in Tarzana. Finding an Odin CD or record is unfortunately next to impossible. I would say I was the youngest one at the whole sold out show (at age 28!?), but the kid that drove me there is not even 21. He is the most dedicated metal head you will ever meet who was not around during metal's glory years. He dropped $30 to get permission from the venue to videotape Odin because this performance, their third in the last five years, needed to be documented for historical reasons. Of course doing things like this pays, as now the Odin band members want to see the tape. The kid has no fear of going up to any band member, or for that matter calling them at home after researching them on the internet. Same goes for directors and stars of forgotten B-movies of the 80's. The people he tracks down are often shocked that anyone cares about them or wants to interview them. This band Odin, pretty much unknown to the outside world, are rebuilding their following, selling out this bar in the Valley is a step in the right direction. They fuckin' rock, no doubt.

I would also like to mention that the early Metal Blade band Bitch opened and played to a half-empty room. This band had like a thousand videos, I don't get it.

movies:

Over at the Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Boulevard, a 3-D film festival is in progress. What did I learn? A faded 3-D print is a very unfortunate thing as the blues and reds fade and the 3-D effect is muted. The movie I saw, Gog, had a newly made print for the right eye (from a master), but was using the only print left in existence to project the image for the left eye. No master exists for that side any longer, which means that if the left print is destroyed or wrecked accidentally, Gog can never be viewed in 3-D again! Many other 3-D films are in danger of disappearing forever, not on DVD - digitized versions are of course fine - but there is a possibility that if not preserved it will be impossible to view these movie as they were meant to be seen, in a theater and in 3-D.

On to the subject of out-of-print vhs, here is what the new company Screamatorium DVD has to say:

The section of American copyright law known as "The Berne Act" states: films unreleased in the United States, including original version of films altered and/or edited for release in the United States, are not protected by American copyright; thus, they are considered public domain. All of our films have either never been released in the USA or are long out of print and have not come out on DVD yet. Once one of our films comes back into print it will be removed from our stock and not be sold anymore.

You know I like that! These guys will be making a DVD of Terror on Tour.

Recently, Lloyd Kaufman's outrageous writing on the subject of celebrities, the media, and the 9-11 disaster, has come to our attention again. Found via thehorrorblog.

I will see Idiocracy tonight at the expensive, Arclight Theater in Hollywood and intend to review it - so stay tuned.

Shit, I have more to say, but I forget what. I recently turned 28 and now am older, grubbier, gayer, and less successful than before - these things of course based on other people's observations.

this generation of hipster (or subculture) girls digs guy-on-guy action - so explains the gayness of The Covenant

I thought I was the only serious horror fan who would see The Covenant. I thought I would be the only blog-writer to bother giving it a review. No, here thehorrorblog and Damaged 2.0 sound off about this movie being gay, and I don't mean "gay" with the word being used in the way that immature Trenchcoat Mafia graduates use it in my review to describe the film's flying SUV. These guys mean "gay" in that the movie is full of homosexual overtones. Yet, locker room shower scene and all, is this film really aimed at homosexuals? Teenage girls watch horror movies too. But then again what about this one scene where the teenage boy villain pins down the teenage boy hero on the bathroom floor? "Are they going to french?" I asked Cub. They did not french, but the villain did give the male lead a kiss on the cheek. Sure this was meant to be a kiss of death, like the sort of thing a mob boss would give to someone on his hit list, but it WAS gay. Why?

Well you know how guys like to see girls with each other? Now the pendulum has swung the other way - that's what we get for years, and I mean many years, of forcing straight women to be lesbians. See one time I was sitting in my place and my roommate had two girls over. They remarked that it would be "hot" if me and him were to make out. This was the first time I'd heard girls say such a thing. It was 2002, the girls I'm speaking were in their early twenties, so ahead of their time, not part of the current teen generation - perhaps role modes for them. Of course he and I would not get sexual together, but I have met guys who have taken the bait. They claim to not be gay themselves... yeah - look, I like my gays loud and proud, not making excuses for their gayness. But anyway, the girls today are hyper-sexual (not afraid to express their desires) and the hipster guys are so girly that maybe going down on one of their guy buddies is not such a stretch for them. There is one problem with my theory. If guy on guy "hotness" is new and cutting edge, then what is it doing in The Covenant, a movie that is very 1996. Observe the music in The Covenant, 90's style industrial metal from a (should be) dead subculture. The fashion in The Covenant? It's pretty preppy and preppy fashion does not change much, but I will say that there is not much new presented here. I guess my theory is full of holes. I just can't see why The Covenant would not be aimed at teenage girls. There can be no doubt it is aimed at teenagers. There lies my logic combined with the fact that there is a gay market for horror, yes, but is it big enough to carry a number one film, no. It would have been commercial suicide.

One other possibility remains, that Renny Harlin (he is straight) or some one else involved with the film had a consciously or unconsciously had a gay influence on the film, like people claimed Bryan Singer did on Superman Returns. I have not heard any speculation on this being the case and I'm willing to rule it out.

Not sure what my next review will be. In between naps and sleep I've been very busy with school work and long commutes, but there are still a number of movies I've seen in the past few weeks that I could comment on. We shall see.

Who gives a fuck about Lonleygirl15? also - Renny Harlin's Covenant

Not me, I won't even read the articles about that shit. The creators came clean today. Time to bask in the glory of their "hoax". Even idiots were in on this all along - they just kept on watching cause they have no reason to live.

Maybe I'm just bitter because the sound on my PC won't work.

Sorry, I've been busy, I should be posting more this week.

In the theaters, it was the worst box office weekend of the past 3 years and number one was The Covenant. I saw it, but I was not alone in the theater. The retired Trenchcoat Mafia members of Columbine High School got back together for a reunion in honor of the release of this film. They said that it was probably the best film made since 1996, but had to admit that four male witches using their powers to make an SUV fly was gay. They thought it was really cool how the kids at Spencer Academy could crouch and shoot energy balls like in Mortal Kombat and said that this would have been a way more convenient way to kill their classmates than rounding up guns and ammo and constructing all those homemade bombs. Then they continued on saying that they did not know why the Sons of Ipswich were not gonna wear any cool face paint or carve upside-down crosses into their foreheads. I said "uhhh.. maybe in Covenant 2" and slowly walked away to sit on the far side of the theater near the emergency exit.

Tommorow I'm going to see Idiocracy, the Mike Judge movie that came out September 1st in very limited release. For reasons unknown - seriously no one knows why - Fox did not promote this movie at all.

stupid world, stupid posts

So this waking up at 5:30 in the morning really kills me, it's tough, but fortunately I don't get tired until I'm back at home safe in Hollywood. I'm trying to limit my caffeine intake, so I say "no afternoon coffee allowed" and wait for the evening injection. Unfortunately the byproduct of this plan is me usually taking a nap and waking up after all the stores are closed. Oh well - today as I lay in my afternoon stupor I remembered that Cub wanted me to run my face through this site's process in order to find my celebrity look-alike - 83% match to Kirsten Dunst - no bullshit, see it here. I guess I do look like a girl which is probably why a man in a big gold Cadillac tried to pic me up on Santa Monica Boulevard the other night. Don't worry guys, I was just going to Target.

Anyway, one dumb thing leads to another and I bring to you all, the stupidest thing I have ever posted in this blog - as if you wouldn't have tried something similar... as if you are not headed to the site to do something just as dumb right now.

Left in Darkness

Hey guys, I though I'd throw you this press release for Left in Darkness, an Anchor Bay DVD hitting the streets September 19th. Three out of four of the most recent horror DVDs they have put out have been good, so I'm optimistic.

Poets have written about it. Painters have tried to imagine it. But exactly what does happen after we die? Is there a Heaven? Or perhaps the question to ask is: Is there a Hell? From the fertile mind of legendary television producer Stephen J. Cannell ( Demon Hunter , “21 Jump Street”) and Steven R. Monroe, the director of It Waits , comes the provocative new horror film Left In Darkness , materializing on DVD September 19 th from Anchor Bay Entertainment, an IDT Entertainment company. SRP is $19.98 and the DVD features enough value-added supplements to occupy this life – and the next!

Starring Monica Keena ( Freddy Vs. Jason, “Entourage”), David Anders (“Alias”) and veteran horror actor Tim Thomerson ( Trancers, Dollman ), Left In Darkness illuminates the story of Celia (Keena), a troubled girl whose tortured past places her in spiritual and physical limbo. Her mother died in childbirth, and she always felt responsible for the tragedy. When her father disappeared, her grandparents raised her. As she got older, her sense of guilt grew deeper. And on the night of her 21 st birthday, Celia is drugged, raped and dies of an accidental overdose at a wild college frat party. But for her, it's just the beginning: Trapped in a netherworld between sanctuary and damnation, Celia must now battle the demons – including hordes of horrific Soul Eaters – that prowl the Afterlife. Is the spirit of her recently deceased grandfather ( Thomerson ) trying to lure her to an eternity of suffering? Can her guardian angel ( Anders ) safely lead her to the other side? Is there any way to go towards the light when your soul is Left In Darkness ?

"I drink coca-cola for breakfast" - post about me - not too long of a post, well maybe...

I go down twice a week to Orange County for film classes. It's quite a drive. I go before the rush hour traffic starts - through downtown, through long beach, it's pretty far. I thought Fridays at Santa Monica College would be a breeze by comparison, but no. College Algebra? Oh shit.

Funny how things go. In English class we had to introduce classmates, who we were paired up with, to the rest of the class. Kid next to me begins by saying I am vegan - as I have the "vegan" tattooed on my arm. "Do you eat just sprouts?" a girl asked.

"Well I used to eat Chinese food", I say, "but this guy right here told me that at Panda Express they put all the food in a chicken broth base, including the eggplant and tofu". It's true, I had just learned that from my in class partner, a former Panda Express worker. Everyone wanted to know if ever ate animal products and what I told them was "not intentionally". I think that is a fair way to represent vegans. No one is perfect, but today's lesson is that even after ten years of veganism, you can't guess what is vegan and what is not. You gotta ask. I ate Panda Express last week.

Why do I write about movies here? I am ANOTHER VOICE that goes on the record, forever, about the quality of the movies that I review. Sure, I put my two cents in where it don't belong, but I have lots of horror viewing experience and even a little bit of industry and movie-making knowledge. Sometimes I wanna shed light on a movie that has been forgotten or was never noticed. Sometimes I post about a movie that I can find little information about on the internet - everything here is searchable and contributes to any future dialogue about the movie. Other times I have comments on a movie that lots of people are speaking about - perhaps writing about these movies is less crucial, but I try to bring about a point of view that is unique and not represented by anyone else. If I have nothing fresh to bring to the table, I try to keep the review quick cause I don't want to waste anyone's time. Chances are I'm not the first source that comes up when searching for a movie, so google readers will already be familiar with the basics before they get here.

Of course I have my loyal readers who read everything I write. You guys are my favorites and sometimes I write to you and say stuff that would be uninteresting to a random searching reader. This is because you all are more important.

You guys, I am seriously mentally ill and that may have something to do with me hoarding tons of rare horror tapes and DVDs. Ask Cub what she thinks, it is excessive. I have all sorts of rules that no one knows about, rules about collecting and shelving and watching. Don't get me wrong, I don't care about the condition of the tapes. They are all trashed and I only buy shit dirt cheap. It's criminal how little I've paid for my collection, but that is cause I'm obsessive and very eccentric. I'm like a character from a movie and you might be glad you do not know me, though I am friendly in person and talk to strangers if I please.

One recent discovery, an ok horror forum on the internet - hard to believe that one exists. Forum trolls (not using "troll" in the form of the word that means someone instigating or pulling a prank, just saying "trolls" cause these people are probably ugly little fucks) are a fuckin downer. They are so stupid it is best not to expose yourself to them, but, at this place Toxic Tomb seems devoid of 14 year olds. Make sure you register though, I did not read the fine print and got banned.

New York Ripper - horror film of the millennium -it showcases the inevitable truth - plus, finally my 2 cents on The Descent

I must say I am turning into to one of those people who is an example of everything that is wrong with America. When it comes to movies in the theater, I just can't wait for opening weekend, but then, if I somehow miss it, I forget about that movie and get excited for the next big thing. What is this? Am I addicted to hype? Well the good news is that I did get myself down to the Chinese Theater to see The Descent even though I'm a few weeks too late. What a movie! Scary as hell, I was literally twitching in my seat! I think it nailed the essence of horror in several ways, but what I really want to talk about today is how Lucio Fulci's 1982 New York Ripper nails the meaning of horror perfectly, and is one of the greatest films of all time.

Spoilers... I'm not talking about the realism of the violence, which is spectacular in it's own way, but rather the extremely harsh and depressing end to the film. When the amputee, the dying child, calls up his father to call for more violence against the able-bodied, and no longer gets an answer - we know that the child is left alone forever, to die alone in the hospital without love. I don't think any filmed scenario in horror history has shown us the true meaning of horror in such a heavy way before. If the child were innocent, and not in part responsible for his father's crimes, then this scenario would be so tragic that it would probably not succeed it moving us - it would be overkill. However, the child is seriously flawed, like us, and we know that this fate which is to befall him is somewhat fair, and therefor scary. Bad things, even unfair and uncontrollable bad things, like illness, bring forth more bad things and evils. Coincidentally The Descent showed us the same phenomenon. Sarah's troubles should have ended when her husband and daughter died in an accident, but she was destined for much worse and in the end her own actions were questionable. How many horror movies feature characters who grew up without families, or with handicaps, or other insane hardships? Many. These characters are sometimes the heroes, but they can be the villains too. It would be just so nice if they were all heroes. That would feel good, but no, horror - and life - is not like that.

17 seconds slower - whatever that means - fuck you Adelphia

So Adelphia promised to squeeze a tube of glue into my cable modem, ensuring that service will be made slower since we refuse to pay an additional forty dollars a month. What do you expect for a company whose founder is in jail for bank fraud? Well I can only take solace in knowing that no matter how much cement Adelphia packs into my computer to make it slow down, it can't possibly equal the volume of liquid semen John Rigas gets pumped into his orifices monthly at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester - yes that is a jail - sounds like a cushy jail. What the fuck? Does he not deserve the worst?

I've been watching a lot of movies, most recently New York Ripper on the Vidmark vhs label. Also picked up a bunch of rare stuff. Ulli Lommel's Olivia on VCII, The Harrad Experiment (vhs is the only uncut version) on Wizard, something called P.O.W.: Prisoners of War, The Car, Stoner, and much more including a whole box of weird early 90's horror I got on ebay. Not sure what I have time to review. Maybe the The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Starmaker) TV movie with Jeff Goldblum or the Video Nasty Madhouse (Virgin), both of which I sort of enjoyed... sort of.

the new populist politics of 150 Days of Sodom

In the past this blog has put forth controversial views. Abortion is bad, meat eating is bad, etc, but now the views expressed will be of the sort that no one can disagree with as you may have noticed in my last entry. Today we are sticking up for the little guy and saying to hell with the elite. Bush is now unpopular in the polls. Well this is clearly because he does not give a damn about the people. Fire the bastard!

The troops. They are the average Joe, just like you and me, sent over to do a dangerous job by politicians safe in their Washington mansions! "Support the troops, bring them home", well I had my own controversial twist on this saying changing it to "Support the troops, bring them home, before they do something horrible and damned to burn in hell forever". Maybe I should have spread that saying around because not too long ago we had that incident where in Iraq some troops raped and underage girl and then killed her and her family. They did everything but fuck a dead chick! No seriously people, I understand now, it is not the troops fault, but George Bush's fault for putting the troops under stress. Who can be blamed for acting irrationally in a time of stress? These troops saw some of their friends die and this war is supposed to be set up so that only Iraqis die. Bush obviously screwed it up and it is only logical that this fucked up situation would drive a man to rape and murder and possibly to ponder necrophilia. That is the only rational response.

If you find yourself disagreeing with me, you ought to look at who's side you are on. Are you a tool of the wealthy Hollywood leftist cause? Just because I live in Hollywood does not mean that I'm out of touch with the good Americans in the midwest.

I have not forgotten about horror movies. The last couple of posts have been about industry matters and I do believe these stories are relevant to horror and film fans in general.

I don't like the sound of this My Name is Bruce movie. Bruce Campbell playing himself in a horror comedy where he is forced to act like Ash? Sounds like it's going to be full of insider jokes to make the horror fans feel smart. Nothing brings people together like a joke that you feel you are gonna get, but others won't understand. Well guess what. Everybody knows fucking everything about Evil Dead. You all ain't special. Fuck you.

tax the filthy rich bastards!

These guys at Film Rot don't like me or this blog (as seen here), particularly because of this post and maybe couple posts preceding it.

Also I should mention I went to the record release show for Captain Ahab's "Snakes on the Brain", the ep, at the Smell in downtown L.A. of course. The video played to an enthusiastic response, projected on the big screen. Turnout was great even though Fuck Yeah Fest was the same day and also, on the way theirI saw about 1000 grubby critical mass riders that are probably at The Smell on any other given night. Well, they were not needed, the place was full.

Ok, I'd like to share this article found in the L.A. Times. I'm posting the full text in maroon with my commentary in ordinary black. I got excited about this article because it bugs me that those who can afford everything are the only ones who are eligable to get it for free. Plus are these excesses appropriate in a time of war? Let's read.

Hollywood Gets the Freebie-Jeebies

The IRS wants its cut of the swag, which might make celebrities think twice.
By Rachel Abramowitz and John Horn, Times Staff Writers
August 19, 2006

Next week, nominees for this year's Emmy awards can expect the usual "gift basket" full of award season freebies: lavish jewelry, plasma TVs, Celine Dion backstage passes, gold-plated cellphones. But there will be a lump of coal at the bottom of each one: an IRS tax form.

Tax forms will be available at the Emmy "swag suites" too. "We'll be giving them the necessary paperwork for what it's valued at," said Gavin Keilly of GBK Productions, who put together a suite at the Sofitel Los Angeles hotel where, starting Wednesday, selected celebrities can "shop" for free stuff, including special goggles for watching movies on an iPod, Lasik eye surgery and a $22,000 Caribbean cruise.

But after Thursday's announcement by the IRS that it will seek out taxes on the swag that increasingly rains down on celebrities during awards season and at film festivals, merchandise valued at $100,000 will cost an A-list actor in the top tax bracket some $40,000 in taxes.

That's a lot of change, even for multimillionaires.

Though marketers like Keilly are jumping to make compliance as easy as possible for their celebrity beneficiaries, the industry's chattering class was split on whether the development would deal a fatal blow to Hollywood's freebie mania. Many in Hollywood, meanwhile, expressed relief that a practice seen as part of an unsavory culture of greed would, if not fade out, at least diminish.

The swag machine works this way: High-end companies press free goods and services on stars with the hope of creating buzz, and ideally generating pictures in magazines such as Us Weekly or People, which will in turn spark sales. It's hard to tell how many millions of dollars' worth of product corporations actually shell out on celebrities, but one company estimates that the value of its gift bags for this year's Emmy's nominees will total $2 million — and that's just one purveyor at one awards show.

Giving out gifts to celebrities isn't new in Hollywood, but competitive swag — in which marketers compete to create increasingly outlandish gift baskets — is a product of the last five years, as corporations desperately try to ride the public's all-consuming interest in all things celebrity.

"I think it's going to have a cataclysmic effect on a certain segment of the entertainment industry," said veteran publicist Ken Sunshine, who represents Leonardo DiCaprio and Ben Affleck. Sunshine is advising all his clients to confer with their tax attorneys before accepting any more free gifts from marketers.

Already, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that it is canceling the ultra-luxurious gift bags for Oscar presenters that have been a staple since the 1970s. Without saying whether money exchanged hands, the academy acknowledged that it settled any tax obligations its membership might have owed the government for bags received through 2005.

At the Sundance Institute, which puts on the annual Sundance Film Festival in Utah, Elizabeth Daly, the director of strategic development, was heartened by the news.

"People here are all happy," she said. The festival in recent years has become a mecca for corporations looking to deck out young stars in their jeans and sunglasses, and swag suites are often assumed to be "part of the institute and part of the festival," Daly said. "They are not."

She said the IRS campaign "is one element in helping to change the tide." A more difficult tipping point will come when celebrities are too ashamed to be seen making off with so much free merchandise.

"It's become a joke already," Daly said. "If celebrities become embarrassed by this, and it's perceived to be not good for their careers, it will go away."

One of Sundance's main sponsors, Volkswagen, already has decided not to host a swag suite at the 2007 festival, Daly said. "They think it's gotten to the point where it's disgusting," she said.

Corporate sponsors often outnumber films at the festival, and their logos dominate Main Street in Park City. Some celebrities skip the films altogether and just trek from swag suite to swag suite on special corporate shuttles.

Flacks often joke about the rich-and-famous swag-aholics, and part of the game is to make sure the media know who's been shopping in the suites. In news accounts from 2005, "Desperate Housewife" Nicolette Sheridan took her dog, Oliver, browsing for diamonds at an Oscar gifting suite sponsored by the Platinum Guild, had a diamond healing massage performed at the Diamond Aquifer Oscar suite, and got her hair done at the Biolage/Glamour Golden Globes suite.

Of course, there are those in the industry who have begun to say no to the ostentatious gifting of the already rich. This year, George Clooney created a splash when he gave his Oscar presenter gift bag, often the most valuable booty of all, to charity.

I can't believe Clooney is the first celebrity to do this. If I was an A-lister I would grab as much as possible, liquidate it on ebay, and make a donation. But then again, along the way from normal civilian to bag-worthy celeb, I probably would have become corrupted. I would be, in my own eyes, bigger than God!

Though the efficacy of such gifting is often debated (especially because so much usually ends up in the hands of the entourage rather than the celebrity), the vendors often claim satisfaction with the outcome.

Kenneth Loo, marketing director for the premium men's sportswear line Blue Marlin, recalled that Paris Hilton grabbed a boatload of garments at the firm's 2006 Sundance giveaway suite. A few days later, her then-boyfriend Stavros Niarchos became a veritable walking billboard for the company, wearing Blue Marlin garb wherever he went. "You want people to become fans of your brand," Loo said. In that light, Loo added, the Sundance suite "was extremely successful."

But in light of Thursday's announcement, Loo isn't so sure how much — if any — Blue Marlin loot he'll be able to dole out.

"I am completely afraid of doing anything right now," Loo said Friday. "I think most brands are looking at the tax consequences — it's a big concern."

Others, particularly those whose business is swag, are optimistic that there's no such thing as shame in Hollywood.

Lash Fary runs Distinctive Assets with partner Todd West, and has just finished putting the finishing touches on consolation gift bags for the 50 top Emmy Award nominees who don't win a trophy.

He is "deeply saddened" that the lavish gift baskets his firm puts together will be threatened by tax collectors, but notes that no suppliers of merchandise or certificates for his Emmy bags or gift packages for November's American Music Awards have withdrawn items. "No one wants to back out. They just want to know how it will impact them," he said. "And the way it impacts them is that now there's a lot more press. We've gotten 20 new media bookings in the last two days," Fary said.

The press about the taxing these gifts will cease after a while, but the tax itself will remain. Nice try with that positive spin on the matter.

Besides, he said, the tax push will affect celebrities most directly, not the producers and aggregators of giveaways. "It's like going into a restaurant and saying to a waiter after you give him a $20 tip, 'You know that's fully taxable, don't you?' Whether or not he reports it is anyone's guess."

I knew it! The celebs will try and cheat the government by not reporting these bags. I was counting on them to pay for my state school education here in California, but more importantly, these celebs will be clinging to money that could go towards armor for Hummers in Iraq! The celebs don't care if the troops die! Of course Bush probably beleives that this wealty aristocracy should not be taxed any more than your minumum wage earning nobody. It may be fashionable for Hollywood to criticize Bush, but they benefit from his rule.

Publicist Stan Rosenfield, whose clients include Emmy nominee Charlie Sheen, Robert De Niro, Hank Azaria and Clooney, said the IRS announcement hasn't concerned any of his clients and, as far as he's concerned, it shouldn't. In fact, he said, on Wednesday night, he collected a sizable gift basket from an InStyle magazine party and handed it over to his daughter.

Many insisted that the IRS campaign may make things a little awkward for some celebrities, and it might even change the way the music, film and TV academies handle their gift giving, but it won't slow the celebrity-dependent marketing juggernaut.

"It's not going to stop anything," Rosenfield said. "If you have a product, you've got to get your product out there. It's called Marketing 101. There's nothing wrong with promoting your product. Are these really taxable items? I don't think they should be."

Manager Joan Hyler, who represents Alfred Molina and others, said that, no matter how it looked from the outside, the intersection of celebrity and advertising was here to stay. "People will figure out another way," she said, "to get their luxury brands into the hands of stars."

I say gift bags for the troops! If we don't see Blue Marlin Kevlar vests for the troops then shame on Kenneth Loo. Lasik surgery for the stars? How about Lasik for the troops so that they can see the enemy better and kill with more efficiency? Now that is the kind of publicity these brands need! Watch the profits rocket in the midwest.

Incubus (1965) The Devil's Rain (1975) yeah right, I don't really talk about those movies, this is just a long rant...

Tonight I watched Anti-Flag play in the Jimmy Kimmel parking lot as it is right down the street. It was awful experience, beginning with the Blue Blockers rapper bugging me in line and ending with Anti-Flag being as shitty as ever. A recent MRR poll asked punks what band shirts they would be most embarrassed to wear. Anti-Flag were near the top along with Against Me and Leftover Crack. The kids at this TV taping obviously don't read Maximum Rock n' Roll. Hillary Duff was on hand. I saw her in the parking lot, but she did not come out to watch Anti-Flag from the side of the stage. What gives? She's on the Warped Tour, right?

There was a time when a band would have to take a pick. Stay in the underground and get respect from the punks. Or you take off and make some videos and play some stadium, yet you can never go back home, the punks - having felt betrayed - now hate your guts. That was the way it was for some time, but not anymore. Anti-Flag can have their cake and eat it too. Everybody loves them but me and some MRR readers who are stuck in the 90's. These "punks" lucked out.. for now...

I was out of town this weekend, visiting the California central coast. We were gonna go to Big Sur, but did not have time. It would have been nice because I just watched the 1965 occult picture, Incubus, the other night. It was filmed at Big Sur. Speaking of Incubus, it was mentioned on that Roast of William Shatner I attended last Sunday and saw on TV in my hotel room this Sunday. The roast was funnier live, though they saved Andy Dick's Vulcan act with the editing. It was a trainwreck live. I was disappointed that they cut the Clint Howard clip a bit, they showed us more footage at the taping. All the talk about the Tribble was gone, probably because Jason Alexander made a tasteless joke about it involving a deceased Star Trek actor. That one did not go over too well live and I particularly did not like it.

Also cut was a bit with one of the comedians, I forget who, making fun of the young man in the front row with the cowboy hat, calling him a "Brokeback Mountainer" and what not. Jason Alexander's joke about Incubus aired, but I know that another comedian, again I forget who, had said it was an awful movie, but this was cut from the broadcast. I think Incubus is awesome by the way. It blows away The Devil's Rain (1975), which was featured in quick clips in a montage along with Incubus and other Shatner movies.

I had a great weekend, or Sunday and Monday rather, you know those nights are cheaper in hotels. I will admit that we watched a lot of TV including the practically the whole season of Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency. One episode was extremely funny, the one with the Virgin Megastore fashion show. This episode showed that you really should not try to be cool when your coolness is in question, as you might fall flat on your face. Virgin has been trying to get into the clothes business as far as retail goes, since they just plain suck at selling CDs. I know, I worked there. The corporate aim is to go with an Urban Outfitter's vibe, selling a lifestyle, not an album or a movie. It ain't working - cause they don't know what the fuck they are doing, maybe their buyers are too old, but whatever, this Janice episode showed the rest of the world what I already know, Virgin ain't cool. First they pick this girl Niki, who I met before when managing a small Boutique in Hollywood, to put together the "fashion show". One time, when Niki come into my store (she was a particularly annoying stylist), she mentioned doing a pilot for the style network. I thought "yeah right, she is too dumb and unattractive to be in TV", yet obviously I was wrong. She did end up on TV... as cannon fodder for Janice Dickenson! I found it super funny to see Janice read her the riot act and tell her she was not competent. I don't think I've ever seen someone so humiliated on a reality show... no really. Her ideas were crap too, the "kiss my ass" move on the runway, how corny is that? But, to be fair, she was just delivering the kind of tacky "rock n' roll" crap that Virgin embodies. Maybe she was doing her job just right. The real chump is that Virgin corporate guy who was with her. Man you think you are a rocker working in the record industry? Your a corporate pussy and you sell crap clothes to yuppies. I've seen this guy around in the real world too. He's too chicken to talk to anyone.

Yeah, the Virgin fashion sucks. Take a band shirt, make it one color ink and all distressed, screen it on a hot pink shirt, and slap a $40 price tag on it. Put it on, get your ass laughed at when you go to "rawk out" you stupid dick.

Biting the hand the fed - another one: Tower Records, I read this today, filed for bankruptcy again. Some analysts say this might mean closing the stores and liquidation. Hell yes!

I realize I did not write about horror movies much this post, but I did write about the industry - you know, store and sluts and shit. I am going to post another mostly non-horror entry about stars' gift bags at film festivals and the like. I think it is relevant, so look forward to that.

could Visitor Q have saved JonBenet Ramsey's family?

Family life in America is a mess. Family life in Japan, as shown by Takashi Miike's Visitor Q, is far more nurturing. Sure it has it's rough spots, the first 3/4 of this movie plays out like part of Katsuya Matsumura's All Night Long series, but in the end the family comes together. The members show compassion for each other. The son plans to resume his studies. Such is not the case for the family of the late JonBenet Ramsey. She is dead, and whether or not John Mark Karr in Bangkok did the deed or not, it is her family who killed her. Their American ideals were perverted as they paraded the little girl about on the stage. Their family home videos are more sickening than the any video in Visitor Q, (the movie is shot on video - and contains lots of video footage taken by the father in the family - it may be the best shot-on-video movie ever made) yet some people think that those dress-up pageants are magical. Patsy Ramsey is dead and it is no surprise. Murderers always get theirs in the end. John Ramsey lives. Will he find a way to kill his surviving son Burke? My prediction - there will be another dead Ramsey soon. Visitor Q never visited to "destroy" their family. They could have been saved, but maybe not in America.

If my thoughts on Visitor Q seem incomplete it is only because my Netflix DVD was scratched and I missed a few scenes. Speaking of missing, some of the "Snakes on the Brain" video was supposed to show on CBS news tonight, but it was bumped due to Ramsey family news. Was the truth spoken during the broadcast? Not likely. John Mark Karr takes the focus of off the real issues. Americans, look to the Yamazaki family in Visitor Q to find the ways to turn your home life around.

Mausoleum (1983) was at Grindhouse, Snakes reminder, and The Tooth Fairy DVD from Anchor Bay

1. Grindhouse was last night in L.A., Mausoleum and Lamberto Bava's Demons - I skipped out before Demons, I've watched it too many times. Mausoleum (only on DVD in Europe) was pretty funny. Star Bobbie Bresee was there and her husband brought the print which was being shown for the second time ever. She was surprised there was any interest in the film, but of course there was - show was close to sold out. Bresee still looks great and gave out FREE signed photos. We appreciated that kind of generosity and admire her principles as she told us she does not ever charge for autographs.

The movies features John Carl Buechler make-up. The movie most famous for it's creature with small biting monster heads for boobs.

Before the movie Adam Trash prepared a trailer real with some real sleaze like Scavengers and This Stuff'll Kill Ya!, as well as the Pussycat Theater intro to the feature film from the now defunct porno theater chain.

2. Snakes on a Plane - remember the "Snakes on the Brain" video.

3. On TV Sunday night, the William Shatner roast that I just reviewed.

4. The Tooth Fairy (2006)

Ok, remember the crap fest Darkness Falls (2003) that was in the theaters a few years ago. What a piece of shit. Similarities between that movie and this one? Well the new Tooth Fairy runs by and chops off a guy's dick and balls with one quick swing of the hatchet - then we see these organs lying in the grass. Wait... that is a difference between the two movies. I don't think the Tooth Fairy in Darkness Falls even had a hatchet - and she flew or some shit.

This new direct-to-DVD Tooth Fairy film has got a little bit of everything for everyone. Sometimes it's for the kids, or so it seems. Friendly ghosts pop-on screen and off, with a "ping" sound. There is much dialogue about Harry Potter. I don't know why that stuff is in there, but it's kind of amusing in a "you just don't that in a movie these days" way. There are some night scenes that are obviously filmed in the day. I thought that technique had not been used for 20 years! But don't get me wrong, this movie is not amateur hour. The picture is sharp as shit and production values are high. The special effects, mostly make-up and heavy gore, as well as the silly ghost pop-ons I mentioned earlier, all look respectable. It's the script that I had trouble with. Not the overall story, but little bits here and there that are minor, but significant enough to explain why this movie is not playing in a theater near you.

I was frustrated by an early scene where the female leads complains about the state of the recently renovated bed and breakfast. The male lead says something to the extent of "In a week it will look great". Problem? It already looks beautiful and immaculate. If I was the director I'd have changed those lines write there on the set. I'd have fixed things on the fly when the the lines didn't match up with the scenery.

Two fake-out scares in this movie really don't work. I don't like these kind of scares ever, but these two are delivered in an especially poor manor. One is when a girl turns a corner on the porch and comes across - shock - another character lifting weights. The other is when we see someone creeping in the yard and our male protagonist asleep. Boom, he turns around... and his girlfriend is getting into bed with him. These sound like ordinary examples of lame fake-out scares, but no. They fail in ways that I can't describe completely, but are ways that have to do with pacing and camera placement problems. These scares fall flat due to awful execution, not just bad ideas.

Yet on the whole, veteran TV director Chuck Bowman paints a beautiful picture. Aesthetically this movie is often impressive and on the whole enjoyable. Cub and I argued about whether the plot and characters were intentionally cheesy. Initially I though not, but towards the end I got the impression that this movie is intended to be all about fun. Recommended.