HELPING LBP TO REACH THE NEXT LEVEL

For those of you not in the know, LBP stands for Low Budget Pictures. Chris Seaver is the head of LBP and responsible for the insane filmic buffoonery that I have enjoyed for years. It all started with my addiction to Mulva Zombie Ass Kicker and has spiraled out of control ever sense. With a keen wit and a penchant for offensiveness, I would have to mark Low Budget Pictures as my favorite micro budget studio.
Now, Chris Seaver wants to up the ante and I'm here to proclaim it to the world. He's got a plan for a movie with a bigger budget. Approximately 75 grand. Hell, that wouldn't cover the catering on any of the recent Hollywood releases. And you know that he will make it fantastic.
In addition to that he and the LBPers are looking to go to Sundance this year and pimp the film to potential investors there.
So, it's time to put up or shut up. If you need to contact Chris about this you can do so either here;
lowbudgetpictures@gmail.com
or here
1-585-301-6911
That's right. He's so crazy serious about this that he's giving out his phone number. Don't have the cash? Have an event where the proceeds go to LBP for making the flick and sending their narrow asses to Sundance.
He has a paypal account over at
swanky_c@yahoo.com
IF you want his address contact him and he will accept buckets of money as well. It doesn't matter and with the genius of one of the funniest film makers out there today, we can make this happen at a fan based level and Mr. Seaver can go on to bigger, better things. Hell, we might even get that long awaited John Stamos cameo. The idea of that makes me a little dizzy.
I'll be posting this regularly. Want me to stop? Send Chris Seaver enough cash and I will.
Now, I gotta go brainstorm an idea to raise some cash.
Seeya

SHE'S A WONDER, WONDER WOMAN!!

So, as March approaches I now have two things to look forward to. One is the release of the Watchmen. And then there is the continuation of the DC Comics releases of excellent, direct to video super hero flicks. This time we get the Amazonian princess, Wonder Woman and from what I have seen so far it looks amazing.So, the street date is March 3, 2009. As the date gets closer we here at Penguin will have more info for yo and maybe even a contest or three. Hard to tell. In the meantime, here are a couple of snippets of art, one rough, one finished to whet your appetite.

"America isn't yet ready to accept a gay, Mexican Chicken Sandwich!"

POULTRYGEIST! (Troma {like you had to ask} 2008)

When Lloyd Kaufman decides to sink his TALONS into some new, fresh WHITE MEAT, he absolutely pulls out every conceivable stop -even those stops more, shall we say, tasteful directors would otherwise leave in tact- and that, good folks, is what makes this CLUCKIN'-good masterpiece so damn much fun to watch! Troma has stuck it's NECK out to allow you, the viewer, the ability to GOBBLE up the FLAVOR! Ok, no more puns (unless they're part of the review) I promise. I'll stop being a PECKER. Ok, now I mean it...

Realize right away that each of the main characters names are based in and around restaurant chains, so, once you see said names, you'll go, "Oh, yeah, now I see!" Ok? Cool. So Arbie and Wendy (Jason Yachamin and Kate Graham, respectively) are celebrating their graduation from high school smack in the middle of the Tromaville Indian Burial ground when, suddenly, hands from Hell are all over them. Literally. Unfortunately, though they promise to remain true once in college and even run off together after witnessing the groping possessed limbs and a crazy pervert handling himself to Arbie's undies, the future holds new lifestyles for at least one of them.

A semester later, we find Wendy in full-fledged protest of the newest local fast-food franchise to saunter into town and trample all over the consecrated ground that was, quite recently, the very burial ground from the intro. American Chicken Bunker is merely the most recent in the long line of blamed quickie eat joints for their questionable food preparation and ethics. Oh, and much to the chagrin of Arbie, who hasn't changed an iota, Wendy has done a complete 180 and become a lesbian. Arbie still remembers that fateful night from a few months ago and holds to the promise that Wendy swore to: always being the same. Well, Arbie lapses quite hilariously into the funniest of the handful of show tunes called "Revenge is a Dish Best Served Fried", and decides to pay back his ex by getting employed at the very restaurant she's picketing against. Well, once within the ranks of the ACB, along with fellow employees Carl Jr. (Caleb Emerson), boss Denny (Joshua Olatunde), fry cook, Paco Bell (Khalid Rivera),  and mysterious mid-eastern, Humus (Rose Ghauami), strange things begin to happen with and to the chicken thanks, in part, to the Poltergeist-esqe placement of the eatery atop the grave yard. Oops! Right off the bat we are treated to a hysterical Ron Jeremy appearance as he busts in the door and warns everyone of their impending doom just before ordering, quite calmly and all Jeremy-ly, some food. 

Well, all begins to slowly erode into splat-stick Troma debauchery as folks begin to drop like, well, dead chickens. Lloyd Kaufman shows up, absolutely perfectly, as a what-could-be glimpse into someone's future (sorry, no spoilers here) and performs a beautiful jig with Arbie. The Lloyd can sing ad (unfortunately, trust me) dance! Not since the beautifully ridiculous and blood-drenched lawn mower scene in Dead Alive have I seen something even remotely as messy as the chicken demon zombies meeting the human populous within the confines of the building! Thanks to the resident Colonel-type character, General Lee Roy (Robin L. Watkins) serving buckets of his tainted product to the mass of angry town's folk, we get a scene featuring every conceivable way a person might use and cook a chicken done to those very humans. Outstanding with a capital 'OW!'

The story remains solid, the ultra-gory effects remain perverse and yucky throughout, and the true beauty of a Troma film has been meticulously and lovingly maintained. This is a fun, funny movie that really pulls you in with both great characterization, hysterically impossible story, and a gore-lovers feast of spilled, sprayed, and splattered blood. Get this flick and you'll see EGG-sactly what I mean. I'm so sorry. Ha!

WARNERBLU.COM IS HERE!

I thought that this press release from Warner Bros. was something that all Penguin-ites would want to know about. Especially the chance to win a home Blu Ray theater of your very own. Check it out!

WARNER HOME VIDEO LAUNCHES
WARNERBLU.COM WITH
100 DAYS OF BLU-RAY SWEEPSTAKES

Beginning November 13, Visitors to WarnerBlu.com Can Enter to Win a Blu-ray Home Theater System and 100-disc Blu-ray Library

Burbank, Calif., November 13, 2008 – To promote WarnerBlu.com, a new web site that showcases Warner Bros. extensive catalog of movies available on Blu-ray Disc, Warner Home Video is launching the 100 Days of Blu-ray sweepstakes, featuring a grand prize Blu-ray home theater system and 100-disc Blu-ray library.

Designed by Warner Bros. Advanced Digital Services, the 100 Days of Blu-ray sweepstakes will run from November 13, 2008 through February 20, 2009 on www.wb.com. This innovative sweepstakes offers players the chance to win multiple bonus entries in addition to their daily entry in their quest for the grand prize. Bonus entries can be scored by participating in a trivia game related to Warner Bros.’ featured Blu-ray title of the day. Also, Warner Bros. will award the featured title of the day to one lucky winner each day.

WarnerBlu.com is a one stop destination for consumers who want to learn more about Blu-ray, browse the expansive number of Warner titles available on Blu-ray Disc, see what titles are coming soon, look for special offers, and make purchases to build their home library.

To see what this new site has to offer and for more information on the 100 Days of Blu-ray sweepstakes, check out WarnerBlu.com.

A NEW TOME TO KILL FOR...

Hey there, kiddies! It's your friendly Uncle Stew again doing what I do best: combining several strings of words together to make coherent and elaborate sentences! And this time, rather than give you folks a little taste of specific movies that have hit the scene, I am going to ramble on about a sweet new book I just picked up this very day! From the very author who brought us the original 'The Book of Lists', Amy Wallace, comes 'The Book Of Lists: HORROR'. How incredibly cool is that? Well, I'll tell you: Rather.

The same basic structure that we've come to know and love from our Books Of Lists, Wallace has gone above and beyond scouring every available surface of a subject not only near and dear to many people's hearts (mine included), but also quite immense, even going so far as to interview Stephen King, Eli Roth, Ray Bradbury, C. Courtney Joyner, Mikita Brottman, and a slew of others for their respective inputs on varying subjects as lists. This book appeals to me a great deal as I do a little site of my own dedicated to lists, often times delving into the beloved horror genre right HERE , so this book was a must-have and I am so glad I did. I love reading what other greats of the Horror umbrella love about film, books, and various media and the myriad things they list within them such as: Richard Stanley's Ten Favorite Italian Horror Movies, Vince Churchill's Top Ten List of Films in Which The Black Guy Lives, Lisa Tuttle's Ten Favorite Scary Short Stories, and many many more. This book goes out of its way to locate, living or dead, each and every significant contributor to Horror over the past 50 years and finds a way to list something they love. Wonderful.

Lest you think this book is just page after page of lists, think again. The comments are intelligent, the author's insights as to why each enjoys specific things is witty and informative, and each page is a treasure trove of fun reading in an otherwise bleak genre. All horror fans need to check this out and have fun answering such questions as: 'I wonder what horror author, Thomas Ligotti would list as his ten classic pieces of horror poetry?' Well, now you'll know. A great read and nice and thick for the relatively low cover price of $14.99. Enjoy!

THREE FROM THE VAULT

I am a little behind with this report, but I blame many things. The election, my new novel, but they are all just excuses. Let's get on with the show.
Being a huge fan of Looney Tunes the newest set, Volume 6, is a little bittersweet because it's the last of the huge collections. That's a shame because all of these are stellar. I am especially proud of Warner Brothers for all the wartime cartoons regardless of their political incorrectness. I feel that these things are more representative of our real American history than anything you will read in books. This is what the average joe was thinking about when it came to the war. History classes are never this much fun.
Just to be a nice guy I'm going to list the cartoons in this set. Well almost:)
Disc One: Looney Tunes All Stars
1. Hare Trigger
2. To Duck or Not to Duck
3. Birth of a Notion
4. My Little Duckaroo
5. Crowing Pains
6. Raw! Raw! Rooster!
7. Heaven Scent
8. My Favorite Duck
9. Jumpin' Jupiter
10. Satan's Waitin'
11. Hook Line and Stinker
12. Bear Feat
13. Dog Gone South
14. A Ham in a Role
15. Often an Orphan

Disc Two: Patriotic Pals
1. Herr Meets Hare
2. Russian Rhapsody
3. Daffy the Commando
4. Bosko the Doughboy
5. Rookie Revue
6. The Draft Horse
7. Wacky Blackout
8. The Ducktators
9. The Wekaly Reporter
10. Fifth Column Mouse
11. Meet John Doughboy
12. Hollywood Canine Canteen
13. By Word of Mouse
14. Heir Conditioned
15. Yankee Dood it


Disc Three: Bosko Buddie and Merrie Melodies
1. Congo Jazz
2. Smile Dam Ya, Smile!
3. The Booze Hangs High
4. One More Time
5. Bosko's Picture Show
6. You Don't Know What You're Doin'!
7. We're in the Money!
8. Ride 'em Bosko
9. Shuffle Off to Buffalo
10. Bosko in Person
11. The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon
12. Buddie's Day Out
13. Buddie's Beer Garden
14. Buddie's Circus
15. A Cartoonist's Nightmare

Disc Four: Most Requested Assorted Nuts
1. Horton Hatches the Egg
2. Lights Fantastic
3. Fresh Airedale
4. Chow Hound
5. The Oily American
6. It's Hummer Time
7. Rocket Bye Baby
8. Goo Goo Goliath
9. Wild Wife
10. Much Ado About Nutting
11. The Hole idea
12. Now Hear This
13. Martian Through Georgia
14. Page Miss Glory
15. Norman Normal

That's a lot of cartoons! Plus there are fifteen more shorts that I haven't even given away. This set is probably the most packed, the most dense of any of these Golden Collection releases and worth every penny.



And if that wasn't enough, Warner Brothers has another series called Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection and this time we get the final installment in that one as well. What's next? Complete box sets? Maybe, but I wouldn't hold my breath. You'll want to pick up these two classics on animation. They make the perfect Christmas gift for that crazy cartoon guy on your list.



And, I saved the best for last. That's right, it's the third DVD set of Popeye covering the wartime years of 1941 to 1943 and if you thought that there was some political incorrectness going on in Looney Tunes, wait until you catch this one. As a service to you, the fans, I give you the list of toons in this set;

Disc 1 (all Fleischer produced)
Problem Pappy (1941) w/ Poopdeck Pappy
Quiet! Pleeze (1941) w/ Poopdeck Pappy
Olive's Sweepstakes Ticket (1941) w/ Olive, Swee'pea, Bluto & Poopdeck Pappy (1941)
Flies Ain't Human (1941)
Popeye Meets Rip Van Winkle (1941) w/ Rip Van Winkle & Chico Marx.
Olive's Boithday Presink (1941) w/ Olive Oyl
Child Psykolojiky (1941)w/ Swee'pea & Poopdeck Pappy.
Pest Pilot (1941) w/ Poopdeck Pappy
I'll Never Crow Again (1941) w/ Olive Oyl
The Mighty Navy (1941) - First true wartime themed Popeye.
Nix on Hypnotricks (1941) w/ Olive Oyl & Professor I. Stare.
Kickin' the Conga 'Round (1942) w/ Olive Oyl & Bluto.
Blunder Below (1942) - Wartime themed.
Fleets Of Stren'th (1942) - Wartime themed.
Pip-eye, Pup-eye, Poop-eye and Peep-eye (1942) w/ Nephews
Olive Oyl And Water Don't Mix (1942) w/ Olive Oyl & Bluto.

Disc 2
Many Tanks (Fleischer) (1942) Wartime themed
Baby Wants a Bottleship (Flesicher)(1942) w/ Olive & Swee'pea - wartime themed.
You're a Sap, Mr. Jap (Dan Gordon)(1942) - first Famous Studio cartoon. Wartime themed, BANNED FROM TELEVISION.
Alona on the Sarong Seas (Isadore Sparber)(1942) w/ Olive as Princess Alona & Bluto.
A Hull of a Mess (Sparber)(1942) - Wartime themed
Scrap The Japs (Seymour Kneitel)(1942)- Wartime themed, BANNED FROM TELEVISION.
Me Musical Nephews (Kneitel)(1942) w/ nephews
Spinach Fer Britain (Sparber)(1943) - Wartime themed
Seein' Red, White 'N' Blue (1943) - Wartime themed, BANNED FROM TELEVISION
Too Weak to Work (Sparber)(1943) w/ Bluto
A Jolly Good Furlough (Gordon)(1943) w/Olive, Bluto, Twinkletoes & Nephews. - Wartime Themed.
Ration Fer The Duration (Kneitel)(1943) w/ Nephews. - Wartime themed.
The Hungry Goat (Gordon)(1943) - Wartime themed
Happy Birthdaze (Gordon)(1943) w/ Olive Oyl & Shorty.
Wood-Peckin' (Sparber)(1943)
Cartoons Ain't Human (Kneitel)(1943) w/ Olive Oyl & Nephews. Popeye makes an animated movie using stick figures.

And I always like to whet your whistle so click HERE for a fantastic Popeye clip from the set.

There you go, three fantastic sets for the true collector. Now, it you'll excuse me I gotta go watch Popeye and Bluto duking it out. I loves me some Popeye.

ANOTHER FORRY STORY

After writing yesterdays post I realized how much influence this one man had over my formative years. I remmeber the lists of movies that were going to be released. Forry had the inside track on hundreds of coming attractions, some that never got made, but sounded fascinating. And he would have those name that picture contest. This was before the internet or VHS or DVD's. We didn't have these comprehensive libraries of film in our homes or the net. We had to hope that it was on the late show or that we had already seen it.
I was probably the most sleep deprived kid on the block on the weekends. Especially Saturday. WUHQ, the local ABC affiliate had Shock Theater and then, because we lived so close to the Michigan/Indiana border, I was able to pick up Channel 28 which had Double Creature Feature that started immediately after Shock Theater. I remember one night I watched Invasion Of The Saucer Men three times in a night because I got lucky and found a Channel 43 that had something called Insomnia Theater. It was like winning the jackpot.
I also remmeber watching this murder mystery/haunted house flick where at the end of the flick there's this room and this misshappen man comes through the window and tells us that he's the killer and that if we tell anyone who he is that he would come into our room in the night and strangle us in our sleep. Needless to say I ran off to my Mom and immediately told her what I had seen. She smiled and blew it off and I felt quite brave; until that night when I spent the whole time staring at the single window in my room, waiting for this misshapen man to come in and throttle the life out of me.
Great stuff and it is all due to Forrest J. Ackerman.
Thankfully, both of my parents are movie buffs and encouraged this sort of behavior.
Now, I would like to run a little contest;
It consists of two parts and the rules must be followed to the letter. Any suspicion of cheating and you are disqualified .
Here we go.
It consists of two parts. The first part is to find out the name of the film I mentioned previously. You know th eone where the guy was gonna climb through my window and choke me to death. For this part you may use all your resources. Internet, steel trap for a brain, whatever.
The second part is a little trickier. There are five pictures below. They are all from horror movies from the past. You have to correctly identify the film they were taken from and you are not allowed to use the internet in this endeavor. Any suspicion of cheating and you are done.
What's the prize? You'll have to wait and see. First one to complete all these tasks is the winner.
Oh, and Forry? Yeah, I still love you.











Remember to have fun. Maybe pick up some newsprint and smell it while trying to figure these things out. It might bring back some Famous Monsters Of Filmland memories.

Stay Twisted!

FORREST J. ACKERMAN

It seems that, from a reliable news source, that our beloved founder of Famous Monsters Of Filmland is not much longer for this mortal coil. This crushes me in more ways than I can state. But, instead of wallowing on this I have decided to post a little ditty concerning my most memorable Famous Monsters Of Filmland memory;

When I was a young lad of twelve or so my mother was into ceramics. It may have been younger, but I think that this is a pretty good guess. Downtown Vicksburg had a few shops, but this one huge building housed the local ceramics shop. I would go with her and help clean flash off of ceramics, glaze a few tings and maybe paint something if the mood struck me. It was fun, but not an all consuming kind of thing to a kid.
Anyway, it was a cool, summer night and very few street lights were on. At the time Vicksburg was not all that populated and there wasn't much business in town with the exception of a few factories on the outskirts.
So, I had tired quickly of the ceramics scene so I went outside to sit on the huge front steps and pull a magazine out of my back pocket. It was an issue of Famous Monsters. In particular the article that grabbed my attention was one about the Boris Karloff film, The Ghoul. Now, remember that this was around 1970 or so so there wasn't a lot of the blood filled gore flicks that we have today. Add to that the black and white pictures had more of an impact on my young mind. I think they seemed more real to me somehow. And the monstrous make up that Boris had coupled with a pretty terrifying storyline that the magazine went into great detail and I was pretty wound up. I ended up going back into the ceramics place and see how much longer my mom was going to be. The light filled building helped to chase the heebie jeebies away, but when I looked out the huge windows of the front of the store I could see that the night was still out there, waiting for me. And, who knows, maybe The Ghoul was waiting as well.

Ever since then I always think on that night and it brings me a nostalgic sense of peace and makes me realize why I love a good horror movie. I know that you have to go, Forry, but I'm a selfish person and would rather you didn't. The world will seem so much emptier without the one great Forry Ackerman to remind us of why we love fantastic cinema.

I love you Forry.