That Evening Sun

Take a break from the 3D, special effects, cotton candy movies and go see That Evening Sun. Opens in Little Rock April 9th, already playing around the country.

Abner Meecham, an aging Tennessee farmer discarded to a nursing facility by his lawyer son, flees the old folks' home and catches a ride back to his country farm to live out his days in peace.

Upon his return, he discovers that his son has leased the farm to Abner's old enemy and his white trash family. Not one to suffer fools or go down easy, Abner moves into the old tenant shack on the property and declares that he won't leave until the farm is returned to his possession. But Lonzo Choat, the new tenant, has no intention to move out or give in to the old man's demands.

This sets up a ruthless grudge match between Abner and Choat, each man right in his own eyes, each too stubborn to give an inch. Angered by his son's betrayal, and haunted by recurring dreams of his long‐dead wife, Abner sets about his own path toward reclaiming his life. Lines are drawn, threats are made, and the simmering tension under the Southern sun erupts, inevitably, into savagery.




To find screenings in your area visit the official movie site.

A Decade of Music, Movies and TV

Here's a short list of my favorites from the past decade.

Movies (I didn't include any horror movies since I've already listed my 13 favorite from the past 10 years in an earlier post)
Memento (2000)
Snatch (2000)
Lord of the Rings (2001,2002,2003) - All three should be seen together
Training Day (2001) - favorite Denzel Washington movie.
Kill Bill 1 & 2 (2003,2004)
Serenity (2005)
Homemade Hillbilly Jam (2005) - Documentary featuring Big Smith
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Juno (2007)
That Evening Sun (2009)

Music - these are the cd's that I find myself going back to over and over again.
Origin Story - Idgy Vaughn (2006)
The Wind - Warren Zevon (2003)
Taking the Long Way Home - The Dixie Chicks (2006)
Sky Blue Sky - Wilco (2007)
Once More With Feeling - Cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2002) - oops slipped away for a bit reading about this episode, I'm back now. This gets played on any road trip I go on especially with family (everybody sings, Stephen hums).
Swagger - Flogging Molly (2000)
Sacred - Los Lonely Boys (2006)
Big Rock - Big Smith (2000) - Thanks to my Uncle David for introducing me to their music
Dragon - John Flynn (2004)
Life, Death, Love and Freedom - John Mellancamp (2008)

Television (No matter what anyone says, it was a great decade of tv. There are a number of shows that might have made my list that I haven't seen since I don't have HBO or Showtime plus a number of others that I just didn't have the time to watch, hopefully I'll catch some of them on dvd eventually)
Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997 - 2003) - Even though only the last few seasons were in this decade it was still the best series of the decade. Actually it's the best tv series that has ever been on.
Angel (1999 - 2004) - Buffy's darker more existentialist spinoff. Probably my favorite series ending episode.
Firefly (2002-2003) - The third Joss Whedon show on my list.
Joan of Arcadia (2003 - 2005) - at least the first season
How I Met Your Mother (2005 - )
Big Bang Theory (2005 - )
Bones (2005 - )
Veronica Mars (2004 - 2007) - I still miss Wallace, Logan, Weevil and the gang.
Gilmore Girls (2000 2007)
King of the Hill (1997 - 2009) - I tell you what. Nobody loved propane and propane accessories like Hank Hill.

What were some of your favorites from the past 10 years.

Movies I Should Like But Don't

With the opening of New Moon this past weekend ( a movie Dianna and Latisha tell me that I will like a lot better than Twilight, which won't be hard since Twilight set the bar so low) and the release of the remastered classic Gone With the Wind, I thought it would be a good time to do this post. Since I've already mentioned it, let's start with a classic:

Gone With the Wind - Some old movies are classics and some are just old. This one is just old. It's way too long and who cares about any of these characters, I don't. But mainly it's just boring.

E.T. : The Extra-Terrestrial - Sentimental and heartwarming, whatever. I'm a sucker for sentimental and heartwarming this one just left me irritated for wasting my time and money.

Star Wars - Sorry, I've just never understood the love for these. I don't hate them, I just don't like them that much. I appreciated the advancement in special effects and it did start my life long man crush on Harrison Ford (he still has a great smile), but I always enjoyed the Star Trek movies more, even the horrible ones directed by Shatner.

The Big Lebowski - What you don't like The Big Lebowski? I'm as surprised as you. This seems like it would be one of my favorites. I love the Coen brothers and have absolutely loved everything else done by them. I don't know why I don't like this one, but it just didn't do anything for me.

There you go 4 movies (ok actually 9 since there were 6 Star Wars movies) that people love that I don't like, so let me here some of yours.

Horror Movies

October is my month to focus on horror, I try to watch as many horror movies as I can and I usually try to pick up a horror anthology or two to read. So far this month I've watched 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, 30 Days of Night: Blood Trails, 30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust (both of these online at fear.net), Let The Right One In and Trick R Treat (twice). We still have our annual viewings of Nightmare Before Christmas, Night of the Living Dead and Dianna's favorite Halloween movie Hocus Pocus to get to before November. I'd also like to make it to the Theater and see Zombieland, Paranormal Activities and Saw VI.

Since I like doing lists, this seems like a good time for a list of my favorite horror movies.

13 Favorite Horror Movies of the Last 10 Years.

Session 9 (2001) - Danvers Lunatic Asylum. Opened in 1855. Condemned in 1984. And for the men of the Hazmat Inc., it may become a nightmare come to life



28 Days Later/28 Weeks Later (2002) (2007) - Ok, I'm cheating a little by listing the original and sequel as one, so what it's my list. Fast Zombies are scary.

The Ring (2002) - The film focuses on a mysterious cursed videotape which contains a seemingly random series of disturbing, black and white images. After watching the tape, the viewer receives a phone call which a voice of a girl named Samara Morgan, condemns the viewer to death in seven days.

Saw (2004) - The first and best of the apparently neverending series. Exploitative graphic violence and gore.

Shaun of the Dead (2004) - British romantic zombie comedy starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Shaun attempts to get some kind of focus in his life as he tries to reconcile with his ex-girlfriend and settle various issues with his mother and stepfather. At the same time coping with an uprising of zombies.

Slither (2006) - An asteriod crash-lands in a sleepy backwater American town, unleashing a breed of extra-terrestrial slugs that turn the town's people in to flesh eating zombies.
Hilarious.



The Descent (2005) - The reason you should never go spelunking.

Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) - Murder, Revenge, Cannibalism, Singing. What more could you want?

1408 (2007) - Nice adaptation of a Stephen King short story. Loved the ending.

30 Days of Night (2007) - Based on the graphic novel series of the same name. Alaskan town of Barrow invaded by vampires as it enters into a thirty day long period without sunshine. These are not your pretty sparkling vampires or even dark brooding romantic vampires.

Let The Right One In (2008) - A lonely boy’s wish for a friend seems to come true when he meets Eli, also 12, who moves in next door to him. Sad tragic movie. Swedish with english subtitles.

Coraline (2009) - A fairytale nightmare based on the award-winning childrens book by Neil Gaiman.


Trick R Treat (2009) - Halloween traditions exist for a reason, don't ignore them. One of my new all time favorites.

Did I leave off one of your favorites? Let me know, I'm always looking for good horror movies.

Movies, Music and More

Ok, I think I'm ready to start blogging again, I've got ideas for a number of posts that I'll try to get written in the next few weeks. Before I get started with today's, here's a few of the topics I'll be covering: Church and Community - A Dream (yes, Allison I promise that I'm going to get this one done.), Summer of TV on DVD - I know everyone can't wait to know what we watched this summer (hey, it's my blog so I'll write about whatever I like), The Arkansas Lottery - An Experment - just some thoughts on the new Arkansas Lottery, and Movies I'm Supposed to Like but Don't - why I don't like some of your favorite movies. I'm also planning on making an announcement soon about a new project I've been working on.

But for know we're going to look at a few of the upcoming movies that I'd like to see,some local music you should check out and a comic book that I'm looking forward too.

Movies:

9 - 9 takes place in a world parallel to our own, in which the very legacy of humanity is threatened. A group of sapient rag dolls, living a post-apocalyptic existence find one of their own, 9 (Elijah Wood), who displays leadership qualities that may help them to survive. Watch Trailer

Where the Wild Things Are - Directed by Spike Jonze this is an adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's story, where Max, a disobedient little boy sent to bed without his supper, creates his own world. Teared up watching the trailer.



ZombieLand - Hey It's got Zombies, what more needs to be said. Watch Trailer.


Saw VI - The "torture porn" genre seems to have run it course except for Saw, and it just keeps on hacking off body parts on the way to the bank.



Wizard of Oz - NCM Fathom, Warner Home Video and Turner Classic Movies present The Wizard of Oz 70th Anniversary Hi-Def Event featuring the first ever High Definition presentation in movie theatres nationwide of The Wizard of Oz. Watch Trailer.

Local Music - There's been some good show's come thru town (great Robert Earl Keen show last Saturday) and some good ones coming up - Drive By Truckers/James McMurty, Cross Canadian Ragweed/John D Hale Band, Wilco over in Memphis but here are 4 local bands that you should go see.

The Salty Dogs - saw them for the first time at Riverfest, check out their myspace page to listen to a couple of songs and find out where they're playing.

Lucious Spiller - Lucious has been playing around Little Rock for years, You can usually see him playing at Sticky Fingerz on Wednesday nights. Take a listen.

The Good Time Ramblers - I've got one of their cd's and I like it but you really need to see them live. Here's a video, you can also check them out here.



Chris Denny - Words are inadequate to describe Chris Denny's music, you just need to experience it. Visit his website for more info.

You can't go wrong seeing any of these groups, go see them, support local live music!

Comics - This isn't supposed to come until early 2010, but it's so cool I wanted to let you know about it now. A friend from High School, Sam Park is involved in the project and they've lined up an amazing array of talent for this horror Anthology. Check out the press release for Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave.

Til Next time.

What a Stupid Idea!

Studio thinking of remaking Buffy the Vampire Slayer without Whedon.

This from the studio that butchered Whedon's original movie. Do they think any Buffy fans will actually go see this?

Twilight - Revisited

Dianna's copy of Twilight on dvd arrived Tuesday, so being the good husband that I am I watched it again with her Tuesday night. I still agree with my original review but as I watched it this time I saw some potential for a decent vampire movie with just a few minor changes. I would take everything after Bella confronts Edward in the woods and tells him that she knows he's a vampire and throw it away. Then I would take the script that's left, box it up and send it to my friend Sam asking him to finish the screenplay based upon the following guidelines and short synopsis.

Keep all the main characters and their personalities based on the book, I also like the Quileute indian mythology, other than that you can ignore the source material especially the sparkling vampire part and the goofy baseball game.

Instead of Edward taking Bella up into the sunlight to show her that vampires sparkle, he realizes how lonely he is without a mate, gives in to that desire and turns Bella into a vampire.

Bella now has to hide what she has become from her Dad and her friends, she also has to fight the urge to give in to her true nature and feed on humans instead of being a "vegetarian vampire" like Edward and the rest of the Cullens family. Complicating matters are the vampire clan of Laurent, James and Victoria. One night Bella observes them as they hunt, she's thrilled by the chase, intoxicated by the smell of fear and need to feed. This becomes a nightly ritual that draws her closer and closer to join in the hunt.

As Bella's dad (Charlie) continues to investigate the growing number of grisly murders (including one of Bella's friends, a murder that oddly doesn't seem to bother Bella) he slowly comes to the realization that the killer or killers are not human, the legends told by his Quileute friends about the "cold ones" are true. He also has to deal with growing distance between himself and Bella, and the nagging fear that she's involved in the murders.

Charlie has received a tip and is tracking Laurent's group as they hunt only to realize to late that it's himself that is actually being hunted by the group (including Bella). Edward and the family have also realized what is going on and are tracking both groups hoping to save Charlie and to pull Bella back into the family.
This leads to the climatic fight scene where Bella must choose between her love of Edward and the self imposed restrictions that that love brings or the freedom, power and tasty human food that accepting her true nature as a vampire brings.

I don't really care which way she decides, either way can be a satisfactory ending to a movie that I would enjoy.

I've also already have an idea for the sequel and it will fit whatever the outcome of this first movie unless everyone dies. I'll post it next week, maybe.

Dr Horribles Sing-Along Blog

Dr Horribles Sing-Along Blog is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com. It becomes available Friday the 19th. Go immediately and order it, (order one for me if you like) and if you're lucky enough to be in New York you should go to the Paley Center for a Dr Horrible sing along. You get the normal extra's (making of, behind the scenes, a commentary, etc) but Joss being Joss you get Commentary the Musical - 42 minutes of original songs. You can hear a clip of the musical commentary here (profanity warning). If I was going to do a top ten list of things I liked from this past year Dr Horrible would rank near the top.

Twilight

Went to see Twilight with Dianna and Latisha tonight. Thought I'd write a quick little review. If you've read the books (I haven't) and are a Stephanie Meyer fanatic (Being a Joss Whedon fan I understand fanaticism) then you'll probably love the movie even if some things are out of order or missing from the book. Dianna and Latisha loved it and the rest of the audience seemed to also (there was applause at the end). Me, I found it to be a fairly pleasant movie experience, not great, not horrible, a nice way to spend a couple of hours with the family. For a vampire movie not much action, I would've liked to have seen more of the bad vamps (but I'm not really the target audience). Some of it I just found goofy, the baseball game in a thunderstorm (apparently vampires are a cross between The Flash and Superman), and really the reason vampires avoid sunlight is because they sparkle like diamonds?????. I also didn't really buy the love story between Edward and Bella, felt like a poorly done ripoff of Buffy and Angel. But, like I said at the beginning if you've read the books you'll probably love it, so enjoy.

Ain't nothing Scarier than a Clown

A little video of the scariest clown ever. Happy Halloween.

5 Things I like.

I like horror movies, from the classic monster movies from Universal to some of today's so called torture porn. October is going to be the month for me to list numerous horror movies that I like. So here is first 5 horror movies that I like.

Night of the Living Dead - George Romero's classic 1968 zombie movie. The scene in the cemetary at the beginning of the movie with the lone zombie shuffling toward Barbara still gives me goosebumps. It is the perfect horror scene.



The Exorcist - 1973 movie about a little girl possessed by demons. With the advancements in special effects and the goryness of today's horror, it's hard to explain just how disturbingly shocking and scary this movie was back in 73. I still wouldn't watch alone at home today.



The Blair Witch Project - 1999 low budget horror movie presented as a documentary pieced together from amateur footage shot by 3 students filmakers who go into the Black Hills of Burkittsville, Maryland to film a documentary about the eponymous local legend known as the Blair Witch. The three students never come back. Neither the students nor their bodies are ever found, although their video and sound equipment is discovered a year later. This was one of those movies you either loved or hated. I loved it, found it very creepy and the final scene was great.


Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things - (1972) Actors led by Alan Ormsby go to graveyard on remote island to act out necromantic ritual. The ritual works, and soon the dead are walking about and chowing down on human flesh. First flesh-eating zombie movie I ever watched. I saw it at the old Liberty Theater in Malden.


C.H.U.D - (1984) - Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers - I don't really remember much about this movie except that I let my then 3 or 4 year old daughter Latisha watch it with me. I don't think I let her watch it with me, I think it was more like I was watching it and she was in the same room. I've never heard the end of it. It was years before she would take a shower with the door closed (this is actually her sisters fault for telling her that chud was going to come up out of the shower drain and get her) but I'm the one who gets blamed.