2019: July 31st El Gigante now on Shudder!!!

Super psyched for Luchagore Productions' short film El Gigante to hit Shudder! This one needs to be seen by more people. If you dig it, check out Luchagore's website, youtube channel, as well as Culture Shock, their entry into the Blumhouse/Hulu anthology series Into the Dark. And if you have Shudder, El Gigante is live now, so brace yourself.

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NCBD this week sees the release of the final issue of Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang's mind-bending, hellofagoodtime Paper Girls. I can't wait to see how this one resolves...

And if you haven't already heard, we're apparently getting a pretty big surprise in the fourth part of TMNT: City at War. I don't want to spoil anything, but it's kind of a big thing for long-time fans of the four:

NCBD has been light for me of late, as like Paper Girls, quite a few series I've read for years have ended (some rather unexpectedly), and I've eliminated others that had, for whatever reason, grown stale for me. It's weird, not having a bunch of books to look forward to every month, but I'm trying like hell to resist adding new ones after that existential crisis a month or so back. In most cases, comic chastity has become easy. In others, however, restraint takes work. Case in point; two weeks ago in his weekly newsletter, Warren Ellis announced that he and Bryan Hitch are doing a year-long, monthly Batman series, Batman's Grave.

I know, right?

Batman's Grave #1 drops October 9th, and it will be oh so difficult not to buy it monthly. I may end up doing just that, except, Ellis reads much better as a trade. Not to say the issues are bad, however if trying to read his Wildstorm monthly and eventually switching to trade (one left that's out November 9th) reminded me just how awesome Ellis reads in collected volumes. Night and day. Plus, no fucking ads. I will try to keep this in mind come October 9th, "Wait for trade Wait for trade Wait for trade..." my mantra...

Here's the only real image DC has released so far, aside from what look like some unfinished B&W stuff floating around out there on the comic news sites.

Playlist from 7/30:

Frank Black - Teenager of the Year
Soundgarden - Superunknown
The Jesus Lizard - Liar
The Jesus Lizard - Lash EP
Revolting Cocks - Big Sexy Land
Cibo Mato - Stereotype A
Zeal and Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Tinderbox

Card of the day:

This looks like good news to me. After a five or six day streak last week working on Ciazarn, building momentum that seemed to really help me crack into the tone of the story, I had to take Sunday off to attend a benefit for a friend. That break in the inertia that had begun to bring things on the project together was a set-back. This is how it is, especially when writing in the early stages of something not yet fully developed. Monday was another wash, and then yesterday I started over. And of course, that first day back on is anything but productive; it's really just breaking fresh ground to begin building momentum again. So seeing the "Breakthrough" card, well, it makes me feel good about what's coming.

2019: July 30th - The Lighthouse Trailer

I know a lot of folks hated Robert Eggers debut film The Witch. I love it, and I am very much looking forward to Egger's follow-up The Lighthouse. And after what feels like forever, we now have a trailer. With a New York and Los Angeles release date of October 18/19th, I'm expecting this to be at this year's Beyondfest, and it will definitely be one of the major screenings I attempt to get tickets for.

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Rick Remender's Black Science is ending in September with issue #43, and that means it's time for me to re-read this reality-shattering opus from the beginning. I've loved this series, however at some point I coasted a few months without reading a few issues and when I came back, I realized I was lost. It happens when you have a story with so many different dimensions. Thus, I figured I'd wait until we were a month or two out from the end, and then re-read. Starting from the beginning again really re-triggered everything I love about the series: Matteo Scalera and Dean White's art; Grant McKay's narration and dialogue; and the 70s-ish deep fantasy overtones. The creatures/world building in this one are INSANE. Case in point:

Black Science is available from Rick Remender's Giant Generator via Image Comics in a variety of formats. If you love deep, non-Tolkien derivative fantasy, give it a try.

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Playlist from the last few days:

Zeal and Ardor - Stranger Fruit
The Streets - Original Pirate Material
Ministy - Psalm 69
Shellac - The End of Radio
Lightning Born - Eponymous
Golden - Eponymous
TV on the Radio - Staring at the Sun EP
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes
Revolting Cocks - Big Sexy Land
Revolting Cocks - Cocked and Loaded
Gibby Haynes and His Problem - Eponymous
Tamaryn - The Waves

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No card today.

2019: July 27th - Shellac The End of Radio Live 2004

It's been a few weeks since Shellac dropped The End of Radio, a really nice collection of live tracks culled from Peel Sessions in 1994 and 2004. Being that the band's 2007 album Excellent Italian Greyhound just might be my favorite of Shellac's records (or it's tied with 2000's 1000 Hurts), and I think Greyhound has one of the best opening tracks of all time, this is my favorite on this new album. The Martina Navratilova aside near the end of this performance makes me so happy I can often hardly stand it.

You can order The End of Radio on Vinyl - as it was meant to be heard - from Touch and Go Records HERE.

I really need to see Shellac live again. It's been a while.

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I'll admit that I fully expected to hate Amazon's adaptation of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's The Boys, but after watching one and a half episodes last night, I can tell you that is most definitely not the case. In fact, so far, I LOVE it. Karl Urban remains a perfect actor, in my book.


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Playlist from 7/26:

Primus - Frizzle Fry
Motörhead - Ace of Spades
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - The Night Creeper
Grand Duchy - Let the People Speak
Zeal and Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Numenorean - Adore

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Card of the day:

Being that I've ended up working Tarot into Ciazarn considerably more than I expected, I'm going to continue interpreting these draws that occur while I'm on a writing streak with it as direct influences on the story and/or characters. In this case, I have two 'set pieces,' but I believe I need two more in order to have a solid first act.

2019: July 26th Spegetti Western Live '90

One of my all-time favorite Primus tracks. The sound on this one is HUGE. I've always loved the way Frizzle Fry ends: Sathington Willoughby into Spegetti Western into Harold of the Rocks. Hard to snip one of those tracks out and place it here, removed from that beautifully odd context, but I'd never seen this live version before and it's fantastic to see a camera on Ler and Herb for this long. Looks like NewWaveVault has some other cool old school stuff on their channel as well, so check it out and maybe subscribe. I did.

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Last night I watched Hobo with a Shotgun for the first time since its original release. Man, I dig the flick, but it seriously reminds me of Robocop, which I have some problems with. My micro review - which contains my thoughts on Robocop - is up on my Letterbxd account HERE.



Also, I still really like the original trailer that writer/director Jason Eisener made in 2007:



The Blu Ray has a really cool "Shotgun Feature" where gun sights appear on the screen at times where you can click them and segue from the movie into behind the scenes stuff. Lots of detailed video of the practical FX and performances.

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Playlist from 7/25:

PJ Harvey - Uh Huh Her
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Motörhead - 1916
Aerosmith - Permanent Vacation
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Wasteland
Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Revolting Cocks - Big Sexy Land

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Card of the day:

Two days in a row. Taking this as another nod toward my progress on Ciazarn and my basing one of the most enigmatic characters in it after the King of Swords. Perhaps he needs a Queen?

2019: July 25th Zombieland: Double Tap Trailer

I almost didn't post this. For one, I usually do not post entries this late in the afternoon (it's 5:30 PM as I edit this). Second, I don't love this trailer, and I absolutely adore the first Zombieland. I'm hoping this long-overdue sequel is better than it looks; Harrelson is about as close as I come to a big-name actor who can do no wrong with me, so I really want to like this. We'll see.

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So Rutger Hauer passed away yesterday. I can't say I know a lot of his films, however, like so many other men my age, Blade Runner is near and dear to me, and a lot of that is Hauer. I know everyone is posting this scene as a memorial, but my upkeep on this site is primarily for myself, as a sort of diary or historical record, and I'd regret it if I didn't follow suit with "Tears in Rain" speech:



And let's chase that with a favorite musical reference to the film:



I've not been in a Blade Runner mood of late, but I have a Hobo With a Shotgun viewing coming real soon.

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I've watched SO much Friday the 13th lately, and while I found The Final Chapter (IV) a chore, Five went down pretty smoothly. Not Sierra Nevada smooth, but, say, Coors Light. Which is to say not very, but at least I got through it in one sitting. Part Six though, I remember watching Friday the 13th Six: Jason Lives a couple years ago with a friend and both of us realizing, A) if we'd ever seen it before the details were completely lost to the fog of time, and B) it's a marginally self-aware comedy. Which means, thus far, it's my favorite of these first six Friday flicks. I'll be continuing with the viewings soon - this is all research for something I'm going to write, and, a bit of a self-dare, as I've never watched the Fridays in chronological order before.

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Playlist from 7/24:

Sausage - Riddles are Abound Tonight
Ghost - Prequelle
Zeal and Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Telekinetic Yeti
Spotlights - Love and Decay
Sleep - The Sciences

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Card of the day was

Interesting, in that I just referenced the King of Swords yesterday in Ciazarn. Modeling a character after that Court Card's attributes.

2019: July 24th Telekinetic Yeti - Colossus

Just discovered Telekinetic Yeti via photographer FlowerfromStatic's IG page, which you can link to and check out from her website HERE. Telekinetic Yeti's album Abominable is available on their Bandcamp HERE. I've been listening to it for several days straight - it's fantastic!

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NCBD - yet another title on my already trimmed-down pull list ends this week with A Walk Through Hell #12. And the return of the now-quarterly Lazarus, a book that packs so much extra material in this format I would NEVER even think of giving it up:

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Watchlist continued over the last few days as K and I continue to plow through Veronica Mars Season One; it's been so long since I've seen this, I forgot how good it is. I mean, I knew it was good, but really, the writing on this show is kind of ridiculous. Can't wait to get through to the new season on Hulu.

Other than that, I've been taking spare time here and there over the last month or so to re-watch/watch all of the Friday the 13th flicks in order. I've seen a bunch, not seen a few, and can never remember which is which, other than part one (for obvious reasons) and Jason Goes to Hell, which I stand by as my favorite of the series.

RE: the rest of the series, there are highs and lows. I'm a bit stuck at the moment on number IV, The Final Chapter. This one's rough, and I'm really only picking at it in ten minute chunks. That said, Part IV does contain the single greatest scene in motion picture history:



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Playlist from the last few days:

Sausage - Riddles Are Abound Tonight
The Dandy Warhols - Welcome to the Monkey House
The Dandy Warhols - Essentials
Aerosmith - Pump
The Soft Moon - Criminal
Telekinetic Yeti - Abominable
Willie Nelson - My Way
Fast Romantics - American Love
Lightning Born - Eponymous
Class Actress - Journal of Ardency EP
Deafheaven - From the Kettle Onto the Coil
Deafheaven - Sunbather
U2 - War
Motörhead - Ace of Spades
Ghost - Prequelle
The Jesus Lizard - Liar

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Card of the day:

Hmmm.. I don't have time to decipher this at the moment, but interesting that it keeps coming up lately.

2019: July 22nd - The Dandy Warhols Used to Be Friends

It's not surprise that once K and I began Veronica Mars (from season 1 because she's never seen it and I haven't seen it in a long time), I'd gravitate back toward The Dandy Warhols. These guys helped define my early 2000s, and although it's not exactly where my head is at the moment, it's great to get back into the mood for these guys in the height of summer. Fits.

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Saturday morning I caught Peter Ricq's horror comedy Dead Shack on Shudder TV. Fun little flick; parts of it irritated me initially, but I've grown a bit fonder of it in hindsight. And it has a fantastic concept. You can check out my brief review on my new Letterboxd account HERE.

Yeah, just what any of us need - more social media. But it's movies... anyway, here's the Dead Shack teaser trailer the director uploaded to his youtube account:



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Sunday, K and I went to the theatre and saw Crawl. Absolutely fantastic, fun flick to see in a theatre. The storm effects are amazing. And there is zero fat on this one - as Anthony from The Horror Vision said in his review, it is a tight 87 minutes that does not mess around.



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Playlist from the last few days:

Black Polygons - Lobélia
Public Image Ltd. - This is What You Want...
Sigur Rós - Variations on Darkness
Aerosmith - Pump
The Soft Moon - Criminal
Zombi - Shape Shift
The Soft Moon - Zeros
Drab Majesty - Moder Mirror

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Card of the day:

A little troublesome; I finished that final read-through/edit on Shadow Play the other night, but advice from a friend in the biz is making me reconsider releasing it myself. This is a highly respected, published horror author who advised me once a book is published, no publisher will touch it, unless, like Hugh Howey, you sell a million copies on your own. I hadn't really considered seeking a publisher that seriously, but it was never out of the question. I find myself reflecting on whether this card is warning of trouble if I do self-publish, or if I don't.