RIP Peter Cullen

 

I had something completely different set for today, but for obvious reasons, this won out. Damn. What a fucking week. The really eerie thing was, I received the news of Cullen's death about an hour after I finally bought tickets for the 40th anniversary screening of Transformers: The Movie on September 17th. Something tells me that screening is going to take on a whole new meaning after this news. 

---

---

---

Watch:

I FINALLY got to see Jane Schoenbrun's new film, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma! This was a long, hard road folks.

After waiting weeks to see if any theaters around me would get this, my Clarksville Regal picked it up last Thursday. I grabbed a ticket and sat my ass in the seat at 9:20 PM, only to have a sudden, horrible realization as the trailers played and I found I could not understand nor barely hear the dialogue.

Do you remember me talking about the crappy sound on that 20th Anniversary remaster release of Neil Marshall's The Descent two weeks ago? Well, it wasn't the film. Both of that and my first attempt a seeing Miasma were on screen 10 at my Regal. When I walked out to talk to an employee about this, I was told this was a "known issue."

A known issue, and they kept using that theatre for screenings? Total bullshit. 

I ended up walking out without seeing the film. I filed a complaint with Regal, and perhaps because of that, Tuesday night I noticed they had moved the film to a different screen for one time slot on one night - 10:45 PM last night. So, despite the fact that I've been asleep by 11:00 a couple times already this week, I trudged out at 10:35 PM last night, drove ten minutes to my theatre and put my arse in yet another seat.

Speechless. I would not have guessed in a million years that the fact that the fictitious slasher's name "Little Death" is actually a reference to one of the underlying concepts of the Illuminates of Thanateros; "Little Death" or "La Petite Mort" as a euphemism for the orgasm, which is kind of the hub of the entire film.

I'd have to say I still like I Saw the TV Glow the best of Schoenbrun's work, but goddamn are they on a roll. I am onboard for anything they do. Which includes their first novel, which I pre-ordered earlier today.

---

---

---

Read:

After just discussing it on Drinking with Comics this week, I received my copy of Humanoids Press' English language translation for the classic Metal Hurlant. 

This is volume 5 - I only just became aware of this. 

I have been wanting to read this magazine for years! There was a time when I would just google the covers and artwork and state at it. So many of the Sci Fi flicks I grew up with were inspired by this - chief among them Blade Runner and Alien - so I think it's great Humanoids is translating and re-releasing these. 

Hurlant was a magazine back in the 70s/80s, but here they're collecting them in pretty nice soft or hardcover editions that must compile stories from multiple issues, though I'm not sure yet what the grouping strategy is. Apparently there are new stories mixed in as well, but for someone reading these the first time through, I can't tell what's what (or at least not yet).

---

---

---

Playlist:

Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest

The Ocean - Fluxion

Final - 3

The Ocean - Aeolian

Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full

Holy Fawn - Death Spells

Spotlights - Love & Decay

Mountain Realm - Beastbane

Chelsea Wolfe - The Dark

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Shapes of Midnight (pre-release singles)

Judas Priest - Firepower

Judas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance 

The Afghan Whigs - Soft Control

The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium

Chris Isaac - Forever Blue

The Damned - Darkedelic

Canadian Rifle - Peaceful Death

Russian Circles - Gnosis

---

---

---

Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Eight of Pentacles

• Nine of Swords

• King of Pentacles

• Two of Swords

I had it in my head to try a new layout. Not sure if there is a pre-existing name for this one or not, it just presented itself to me. Let's dig into it!

The work I'm putting into 'work' has gotten a bit uneven. It follows me into my weekends and off hours, and I need to back the fuck up or I'm going to end up stuck in a creative stalemate. The Two of Swords as the final card indicates resolution is on its way, but the King of Pentacles suggests it may take a while...

Seven Days of The Reverend Horton Heat - Day 7: Nurture My Pig

 

This one here... this had to wait until the weekend (technically, I'm posting this on Monday, but I penned the post itself between Saturday and Sunday). This is a hard-drinking song right here. I LOVE this track - easily in my top 3 from these guys.

 

---

---

---

Watch:

I rewatched Jennifer Reeder's Knives and Skin this past Saturday night. Man, one of the most insanely original films I've seen in years. 

 

I may have mentioned this here before, but I feel like Reeder and Jane Schoenbrun are kind of helping fill in the gaping maw that David Lynch's death left in my life. These two Directors are so original, their work so breathtaking and of the twenty-first century, they help me contextualize the last twenty years in ways Lynch helped me contextualize the first thirty of my time here. Also, Knives and Skin was filmed not far from where I grew up, so that's pretty awesome to see here as well. 

---

---

---

Read:

Although I picked up and started reading Absolute Wonder Woman Volume 2 back when it hit stands in... November? I shelved it until I knew we were going to cover it 

Possibly even better than the first volume, this pretty much cements Hayden Sherman as my favorite working comic book artist. 

Possibly even better than the first volume, this pretty much cements Hayden Sherman as my favorite working comic book artist. The story evolves in a very natural way from the events in the first volume, with a recording of the Teratryde's death sound falling into the wrong hands, and Diana seeking out information that another Amazon is being held in a government Black Site called Area 41. Said site is built atop an ancient maze, and we get all manner of wonderfully odd and horrific maze denizens from Thompson and Sherman. 

Also, an interesting take on Zatana, a character the Absolute Universe introduces in a decidedly more horrific manner than the regular DCU does. 

---

---

---

Playlist:

Dean Hurley - Anthology Resource Vol. II: Philosophy of Beyond

John Carpenter w/ Alan Howarth - Prince of Darkness OST

Perturbator - Dangerous Days

Melvins/Helms Alee - Controlling Data for a Better Feeling Future

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments

Ruin of Romantics - Velvet Dawn

Marilyn Manson - Exit Wounds (pre-release single)

Mastodon - Your Ghost Again (single)

Metallica - Garage Days Re-Revisited

Mascara - Hla-11Tf (single)

Double Life - Indifferent Stars (single)

King Woman - Doubt EP

Flying Lotus - 1983

Massive Attack - 100th Window

Phantom G.D.L. - Tyrants of Wrath

Deftones - private music

Beak> - Eponymous

Belbury Poly - From an Ancient Star

The Smiths - Eponymous

---

---

---

Card:

Back to my tried-and-true Thoth Deck for today's spread:

• Knight of Swords

• XIII: Death

• Prince of Wands

Use intelligence to guide changes ahead into fuel creativity.

New Music from Low Cut Connie!!!

More new music from Low Cut Connie ahead of their new album, Livin in the USA, out July 3rd. You can pre-order a copy directly from the band HERE.

---

---

---

Watch:

Tuesday night, I rewatched Marcus Nispel's 2003 Platinum Dunes remake of Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel's seminal Horror film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. For context, I actually owned this movie when it first came out on video. I didn't buy it - an ex bought me a two-pack DVD set of the original film and this. I no longer remember if that was how I first saw Nispel's film, a blind gift given to me. I will say, back then, before my feelings about Michael Bay had solidified, I still regarded this film as a mixed bag. It's also important to note that 2003 was also before we'd become completely inundated with remakes. So take all that into consideration, and I find that, despite ranting and raving about how bad this film is for years, my feelings remain pretty much the same today. 

A mixed bag.

First, you have to ask, right? Why would anyone remake a classic like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a film that, by its very mangled, outsider nature, you'd have no hope of repeating its cultural impact? Well, because, like the proverbial mountain, it's there. Hollywood has something of a 'pave the world' ethos; they can and will remake everything. 

My reaction to this film over the intervening 20+ years has been one of general disdain, primarily for two reasons: Final Girl Jessica Biel's performance, which, true to form, starts and stops at looking great in a pair of low-rise jeans, and the melodramatic fashion flavor to much of the violence is off-putting at best and downright laughable at worst. Biel stabbing Mike Vogel's Andy through the chest is among the most melodramatic Horror deaths I've witnessed this side of Hammer. 

And yet, I saw this pop up on Shudder recently and something moved me to give it another go. This is something I do quite often with films I don't like. Because I can and often am wrong. So I reevaluate. 

This time, I felt a little better about Nispel's film. Honestly, I've realized that part of my issue with Jessica Biel isn't about this film at all, but more a combination of disdain for her performance in this film and in another, Pascal Laugier's bafflingly bad The Tall Man from 2012, a film that, to this day, I still cannot believe came from the same man as Martyrs 2008 and 2018's Incident in a Ghostland. I'm not going to eat crow and say I think Biel's performance in TCM is good, but it's certainly not nearly as bad as some others I've witnessed in Horror from the 00s (Prom Night remake, I'm looking at you). 

Biel is adequate, and so is pretty much everyone else. I've been a fan of Eric Balfour since his role on Six Feet Under as Clair's troubled boyfriend Gabe, and I've always thought he should have lived a lot longer than most of the cast. Also, after roles on Justified and Hannibal, Jonathan Tucker has become a recent favorite character actor of mine, and he shows a bit more range outside of 'deluded psychopath' here. 

The elements to really love about this film are the lighting and the camerawork. There are something like five or six wide shots of the Hewitt house during various parts of the day/night, and each one is a thing of majestic beauty. 

Now, that's not really enough to hang a movie on, but there are some other things about this one that work for me. I like the structure of the family and the town, which appear to be one and the same. Like the original, we meet various people in various places that seem like they might help, only to find out they're in on it, too. Here, though, those tendrils of malevolence feel like they stretch farther. Maybe it's the inclusion of R. Lee Ermey as the Sheriff, a position that makes the Hewitts' reach feel more omnipotent, or maybe it's the trailer with the two women, a scene that might pack the most creep factor in the whole movie. Either way, the conspiracy - and it has always been a conspiracy in this franchise, hence why Henkel goes so far as to add the Men in Black to part four - feels way deeper and, ultimately, perfect for a Horror film: inescapable.

---

*That probably didn't happen until around the time the first of his Transformers movies came out; I had not seen any of his 90s films, so M.B. was basically unknown to me when I saw this TCM

---

---

---

Read:

l Jane Schoebrun has a novel up for pre-order! Public Access Afterworld will be released by Penguin-Random House on October 27! You can pre-order this now wherever you get your books.

The "visionary director" moniker gets bandied about pretty loosely these days, so I'm usually hesitant to add to that quagmire. Schoenbrun is one where the term is appropriate. No one else has been able to translate the weird flavors of the post-millennial liminal space occupied by Hauntology in the early-to-mid 2000s the way Schoenbrun has, and it speaks to my soul. Those were weird, dark years - hilarious by comparison to now - and something We Are All Going to the World's Fair and I Saw The TV Glow have both helped me process and even reconnect with. 

Wow. It occurs to me more of my life has been lived in 'dark times' now than light. But I digress. Here's the solicitation, which thankfully tells us gloriously little, but just enough to stoke the flames of my anticipation:

"A mysterious realm on the other side of our screens. A dark force that draws victims into its static. The unlikely hero called to save them and herself from this electric hell." 

Can't wait.

---

---

---

Playlist:

John Carpenter w/ Alan Howarth - Prince of Darkness OST

Steeve Moore - Bliss OST

White Reaper - Only Slightly Expanded

Grotus - Mass

Flogging Molly - Live at the Greek

Me and That Man - New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 1 

Carter Burwell - Blood Simple OST

Atticus Derrickson - The Black Phone 2 OST

Meat Puppets - Dusty Notes

Tossers - In the Valley of the Shadow of Death

Tar - Roundhouse

Grotus - Slow Motion Apocalypse

PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love

Poe - Hello

---

---

---

Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Two of Pentacles

• King of Wands

• Queen of Swords

The Two of Disks, followed by the King of Wands, might suggest imbalance.  The Queen of Swords reminds me that intellect, not emotion, will serve as the appropriate antidote.

I'm thinking this is a direct nod to an imbalance in my life regarding creative pursuits. I.E., too many podcasts, not enough writing.

Teenage Sex and Death At Camp Miasma

When Faster Pussycat's House of Pain came out in 1989, I was thirteen. My friend Zak bought (or stole) the cassette single. I remember it vividly, even though I couldn't tell you what the B-side was. We weren't really FP fans - despite listening to some other pretty hokey bands, something about the name turned us off. I don't remember if I had an opinion on this song either way back then. Let's just say I tolerated it.

K and I have been watching HOBOMAX's Peacemaker series - it's fantastic - and in season one, episode four, this song is used to fabulous effect. Hearing it, I had an immediate, almost unbelievably strong emotional reaction. I chewed on it multiple times over the next week, listened to the Wake Me When It's Over album, and, although that was pretty lackluster, the song stands. 

There's a definite Stephen Tyler element to Singer Taime Downe's approach, but where it comes off unabashed in other songs on the album, for House of Pain it really works. The guitar glitters in forlorn opulence, and the harmonica just seals the deal. It sounds like crying. Which is essentially what the song is about. A little boy waiting for a father that will never show. 

Damn. 

---

---

---

Watch:

I'm rounding the final stretch on a two-week "no drinking" interval. The context is that K had a minor injury to her foot (she's fine), and the doctor prescribed a two-week course of an antibiotic that they warned "is tough on the liver." Because of this, I suggested she should abstain from wine, and I would support her by leaving my beers in the fridge for the duration of her treatment. We started Monday, 2/16 and both feel great, so we're thinking of instituting a loose, "only on the weekends" policy. I'll have one beer Monday night for the taping of DwC, but aside from that, we'll abstain until the weekends. 

I set all this up to set the mood for last Friday, 2/20, when I fired up Jane Schoenbrun's "I Saw The TV Glow." I talked about the profound effect this film had on me in Monday's post. I'm still thinking about it, over and over. A lovely feeling that was made even more acute when I saw Fango's post about Schoenbrun's new film this morning. I've vetted the trailer: it gives nothing away, other than this is now my most anticipated film of the year. Before you hit play, I strongly suggest watching this for the first time with earphones. 

I LOVE falling in love with a Director and then almost immediately discovering they have a new film coming out. Teenage Sex and Death At Camp Miasma lands in theatres on August 7th, and you can bet the farm I'll be seeing this on the big screen, whether I have to drive to Nashville, Chicago, or Berwin. (Berrr-winn!).

I am so excited for this!!!

---

---

---

Playlist:

Sumerlands - Dreamkiller

Mastodon - Emperor of Sand

Slayer - Decade of Aggression

Soviet Soviet - Endless

Tomahawk - Mit Gas

Deftones - Around the Fur

High on Fire - Snakes of the Divine

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F♯ A♯ ∞ 

Deftones - Gore

---

---

---

Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Page of Pentacles

• X: Wheel of Fortune

• IV: The Emerpor

"Getting a revolving policy going on Earthly matters that feel important but ultimately might not be so is the name of the game. Instead of trying to control everything and everyone, focus on what matters that you can control."

Me and That Monday

I'm not sure how I never posted this track before, because I can see I liked it and I recognize it. Regardless, I could not find it in a search on this site. Regardless of whether it appeared in these pages previously, I've really felt an affinity toward this band, this album, and this song lately, so here it is again and HERE is Me and That Man's Bandcamp.

If you're unfamiliar, this is Nergal from Behemoth's 'other' band, and it kind of sounds like if Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds hailed from Norway and sold their souls to the Dark One. Which is to say, they are AWESOME!

---

---

---

Watch:

Friday night, I finally got around to watching Jane Schoenbrun's I Saw The TV Glow.

To say this film had a deeply profound effect on me would be an understatement. I know relatively little about Schoenbrun's; last year, I watched their We Are All Going to the World's Fair and was pretty blown away by that, as well. But TV... this one is so much more accomplished. Part of that is, I'd guess, that Schoenbrun had a bigger budget the second time around, but also, they have obviously honed their craft. 

There's so much 00s Hauntology in this film that it's almost unbelievable to me. I mean, that entire movement was so liminal and audio-based that I find the effectiveness of this filmmaker's ability to 'put it on screen' fascinating and deeply endearing. The blurred pre and post-millennium transition from a still mostly analog cultural paradigm to a fully digital one created a wave of interesting cultural artifacts; people repurposing analog alongside the digital and really projecting the past out into the future to create what was, at the time, a movement so rooted in uncertainty and change that it didn't last long and kind of ate its own tail on the way out, so it almost feels like it didn't exist at all. But Schoenbrun proves it did, with a movie whose plot is pretty much what I just described, verbatim. 

Also, have to say. I was a little more than halfway through and already spellbound when King Woman showed up and performed a stunning version of Psychic Wound. 

I mean, how could I not LOVE this film? 

---

---

---

Playlist:

The Police - Outlandos D'Amour

Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool

Converge - Love Is Not Enough

Jerry Reed - East Bound and Down

Megadeth - Rust in Peace

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F♯ A♯ ∞ 

Faster Pussycat - Wake Me When It's Over

King Woman - Celestial Blues

Drug Church - Prude

Brand New - The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me

Nihill - Krach

Massive Attack - Mezzanine

Napalm Death - Resentment Is Always Seismic (A Final Throw of Throes)

Napalm Death - Suffer the Children (single)

---

---

---

Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• King of Pentacles

• Ace of Cups

• Two of Pentacles

"A connection of mind and spirit creates opportunity for lucrative partnership."

Some of my recent readings have really had a 'fortune teller' feel. I hate that. It makes it hard to take things seriously. 

Witchfinder - Approaching

 

Let's start Wednesday with some heavy slabs of pot-choked doom. The opening track from Witchfinder's 2022 album Forgotten Mansion. This one plods with a satisfying heft until it breaks out and starts to chase you, Clément's voice haunting the darkening skies behind you as you try to get away...

Love this f**king band.

---

---

---

NCBD:

Another week brings another NCBD. Let's get into this week's pull list:

Loving these Energon Universe books, and especially love seeing the evolution of Cobra from the ground up as a merger between Cobra Commander and his, eh, backers, and Destro's MARS, which has a considerably heavier hand in this from the beginning. 

One more issue after this and Newburn concludes. Man, I do not think things are going to go well for almost anyone in the cast. 

Jeff Lemire and Gabriel H. Walta's Phantom Road just gets weirder by the issue. Let's see where we go this month. 

Another book I retained absolutely zero from after reading the first issue. I think my fascination with the X-Books that began near the end of Hickman's run is coming to an end. We'll always have the highlights of this era.

Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows' The Ribbon Queen comes to an end. Thus far I only have half of these in my possession, but those are four of the bloodiest, most compelling Horror comics I've read in years. I won't have the remainder of the series in my hand until early April. Can't wait to read the entire series straight through from beginning to end.

---

---

---

Watch:

I only had to watch 17 seconds of this trailer to know I'm in:

In theatres May 3rd, from Writer/Director Jane Schoenbrun, whose previous film We're All Going to the World's Fair has been on my list for some time. 

---

---

---

Playlist:

Witchfinder - Forgotten Mansion

Judas Priest - Invincible Shield (pre-release singles)

Slayer - South of Heaven

Double Life - Indifferent Stars

Vince Pope - True Detective: Night Country OST

Justin Hamline - The House With Dead Leaves

Various - Return of the Living Dead OST

---

---

---

Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Ace of Swords

• Six of Swords

• V: The Hierophant

Swift decisiveness will balance a shaky situation and provide guidance.