2019: July 8th - El Gigante is coming to Shudder!

A couple of years ago at Beyondfest, my good friend Missi and I went to a free screening of Jaron Henrie-McCrea's wonderful film The Gateway (previously titled Curtains), we were treated to not only the main feature - which I've just discovered is included with Prime and is definitely worth your time - but also a short feature titled El Gigante by Luchagore Productions. I believe I've posted about El Gigante here before, but I wanted to again because in their latest email update, Shudder announced El Gigante is coming to their platform this month!

Also, the latest in the Hulu/Blumhouse Into the Dark series, Culture Shock, is a Luchagore release, so congratulations to them for scoring so high profile a gig. Here's the trailer:



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Finished Stranger Things 3 and it is by far my favorite season of the series. Loved the ending, loved the new additions to the cast, and absolutely loved the monster - probably my favorite monster ever. Well done, Duffer Brothers and crew, can't wait for Season 4!

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Playlist from yesterday:

John Carpenter - Lost Themes II

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Card of the day:

Lots of sixes, which implies stability. Which feels accurate. Lots of work ahead of me though, so now  I have to kick it into hyperdrive.

2019: July 7th Drinking w/ Comics Memorial Episode for The Walking Dead

Mike Wellman and I were joined by writer/director Adam Marcus this past Friday for a Drinking with Comics Memorial to Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard's 15 year comic book epic, The Walking Dead. Losing my tentpole title after the thirteen years it's been my favorite comic comes at a strange time in my relationship with the medium, and although we won't really touch on that, Adam, Mike, and I look at the industry ramifications as well as our personal reactions.  I had a lot of fun doing this one, so if you're a fan of The Walking Dead, check it out.

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Despite or perhaps because of lofty expectations, I had a hard time with the first two episodes of Stranger Things 3. Then, halfway through episode three, the story really got going and things clicked for me. Currently about to start episode six, I think this is definitely the best season of the show so far. I'm perhaps a bit biased because something about underground tunnels always wins me over, but here there's so much more. Without going into spoilers, the plot is great, the editing and pacing punchy and engrossing, and the way the Duffer Brothers continue to weave homages to the works they love into new and, frankly, inspiring genre idea off-shoots blows me away. And I love the way they add to the cast of characters on this show. Might be spending the rest of my day finishing this, although that's a huge hit to my timeframe. We'll see.

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Playlist from 7/06:

Blur - 13
Paramore - All We Know is Falling
Nothing - Guilty of Everything
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
Frank Black and the Catholics - Pistolero

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Card of the day:

Seems to be a nod toward sitting in and binging Stranger Things. I don't really see how that's a plus though, other than it's obviously what I want to do. Which means I shouldn't do it. The body and the mind can err on the side of inactivity because, as we know, a body at rest tends to stay at rest. Let's fuck with some science and climb right up and over that inertia.

2019: July 6th

Short post today. I Really felt like opening this morning's post with some Frank Black, or Black Francis, in this case. From 2010's NonStopErotik, an EP that, despite rabidly collecting this man's material since the 90s - thank you to Mr. Brown for passing the obsession - I don't know all that well. This record kind of fell into the cracks for me, coming out shortly after Grand Douchy's 2009 Petit Fours, Black's collaboration with his wife, Violet Clarke, an album I was obsessed with and listened to near constantly for years after its release. I pulled NonStopErotik out recently, and have been reacquainting myself with it. Oh My Tidy Sum is probably the stand-out for me.

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Via the might Bloodydisgusting. That scene with the buck is gnarly! I had not heard of this one before, but it looks great, so I'll keep my eyes out for release.

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Playlist for 7/05:

Black Francis - NonStopErotik

Orville Peck - Pony

The Pixies - Bossonova

Preoccupations - Eponymous

Battle Tapes - Sweatshop Boys

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Strong card, strong start to the day. Lots of work for me today, so I need to get one it.

2019: July 4th - The Soska Sisters Share Rabid Trailer!

RABID from FrightFest on Vimeo.

Big awesome surprise to wake up yesterday and see the Soska Sisters had released the trailer for their upcoming remake of David Cronenberg's Rabid. I'm a fan of the Cronenberg film, but definitely feel there's room to remake it. And who better than the body horror twins who gave us American Mary? Can NOT wait!

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Wednesday night we saw Midsommar, Ari Aster's brilliant and crippling follow-up to last year's Hereditary. I loved it, probably consider it a modern masterpiece, a film in the ranks of an Apocalypse Now or The Shining. Aster is a visionary.

Before the show, the newest issue of Fangoria arrived on my doorstep. I took one look at the cover and knew I'd be waiting until after seeing Midsommar to crack this 40th Anniversary issue open.

When I did open the issue, I found a stunning article that consists of Jordan Peele interviewing Aster about Midsommar. Jesus, what the hell more could a horror fan ask for? Totally worth the price of subscribing, which you can do HERE.

Immediately after our Midsommar viewing, my co-host Anthony Guerra from The Horror Vision and I did a reaction episode. We split it into a non-spoiler and spoiler section, very clearly delineating it for anyone that wants to listen but hasn't seen the film yet. My advice is go in as blind as possible, then listen, but either way, here are those links:

The Horror Vision on Apple

The Horror Vision on Spotify

The Horror Vision on Google Play


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By now, hopefully everyone reading this who cares about the spoiler will have heard that Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard's The Walking Dead came to a surprise end with this week's issue #193. For the price of a regular issue, 193 delivered a triple-sized issue that was everything I could have wanted from the series finale for one of my all-time favorite comics, plus there's a long letter in the back of the book from Kirkman, talking about the reasons for ending the series here, the emotional tribulations of doing so, and a bit of a peek behind the curtain on his writing process over the years.

I can't even begin to describe the void losing this series creates in my life, but I will attempt to tonight at 9:00 PM Pacific Standard Time, when Mike Wellman and I do a surprise Drinking with Comics Memorial to The Walking Dead. We'll be streaming live on the Drinking with Comics Facebook Page, so stop by - you might just see me cry.

Funny thing, that this happened just after my existential crisis a few weeks back, the one about collecting comics and a life's worth of accumulated stuff. By my calculation, with all the books I read that are either definitively ending or are on indefinite hiatus, I'm going to be down to about six or seven monthlies by the fall, and that suits me just fine at the moment.

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Playlist from the last two days:

Uniform and The Body - Mental Wounds Not Healing
The Body - No One Deserved Happiness
Black Polygons - Lobélia
Willie Nelson - My Way
The Go Gos - Beauty and the Beat
Calexico - The Black Light
The Beatles - Abbey Road

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No card today.

2019: July 3rd Uniform and The Body - In My Skin

Yesterday's drop of a new Uniform and The Body track, a track that heralds a new collaborative album by the bands, sent me scurrying back to 2018's Mental Wounds Not Healing. It'd been a minute since I listened to this one, and in the course of several rotations in my headphones, I definitely gravitated toward track 5, In My Skin, as my favorite on the album. I spent the morning listening to this, and a sizable portion of my evening listening to that new track Penance, which I absolutely love.

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BIG spoiler news in the world of comics hit me pretty hard yesterday. I won't go into it here, but suffice it to say this Friday night, Mike Wellman and I are planning, "A very special episode" of Drinking with Comics as a kind of memorial to something I love very much.

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NCBD:

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Playlist from 7/02:

Uniform and The Body - Mental Wounds Not Healing
The Body - I Have Fought Against It, But I Can't Any Longer
Bob Mould - Sunshine Rock
Black Polygons - Lobélia
Motorhead - Ace of Spades
Minsk - The Crash and the Draw
Uniform and The Body - Penance (Pre-release Single)
Uniform - Wake in Fright

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No Card today.

2019: July 2nd - New Collaboration from Uniform and The Body!

The Body is clearly the Brian Michael Bendis of bands, as they are more prolific than anyone I've encountered maybe ever. The new album - which is another collaboration with Uniform (see last year's Mental Wounds Not Healing) - is titled Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back and is available for pre-order from Sacred Bones HERE.

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New episode of The Horror Vision is up! Topics of discussion include but are not limited to Godzilla: King of Monsters, The Perfection, The Dark Backward, and our movie of the week, Josh Lobo's I Trapped the Devil! Check it out:

The Horror Vision on Apple

The Horror Vision on Spotify

The Horror Vision on Google Play

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K and I watched the first episode of Nicolas Winding Refn's Too Old To Die Young last night. Wow. I've been excited for this for a while, not only because it's Refn doing long form, but Criminal scribe Ed Brubaker is involved with the writing! What a collaboration, eh? Anyway, the first episode is eerie as hell in a completely down to Earth, Neo Noir way, which was exactly what I'd hoped for this series. Can't wait to dive back in!



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Playlist from 7/01:

Godflesh - Songs of Love and Hate
Black Polygons - Lobélia
The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Gilded Palace of Sin
Thom Yorke - Anima

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Card of the day:

Balance in a time of crisis. Unexpected Symmetry. Hmm... I'm reading this more about the little swords at the top and bottom, the small details you can overlook when focused on the major plot points.

2019: July 1st (Sweet) Mental Revenge

This song got me through some shit a few years back, and it came up in my mind last night. I hadn't realized it's actually a Waylon Jennings cover, so here's that version, too:



Gram Parsons and the Burrito Bros. have been drifting back into my thoughts, so I think I'm easing into a bit of a country jag. Been a while, and I'll welcome it. Also, my first pilgrimage to Joshua Tree National Park in about five years is coming up in August, so that's probably what's pushing me back to this music. Might even dust off the acoustic.

Might.

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Playlist from 6/30:

Godflesh - Love and Hate in Dub
Godflesh - Songs of Love and Hate
Thom Yorke - Anima
Black Polygons - Lobélia
Orville Peck - Pony
The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Gilded Palace of Sin
Roy Orbison - Sings Lonely and Blue

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Card of the day:

A storm's a brewing...