The House on the Goddamn Rock

Not being a true Midwesterner (thank fucking Cthulhu for that), I have been pretty oblivious of what the fuck there is to do out here. Obviously there’s bullshit to do here in Chicago, but other than this one major metropolitan area, where can you go on a daytrip? NOWHERE. I always look for places that Rampaige and I can visit when we both happen to have the day off, but since that doesn’t happen that frequently, going on these daytrips can be quite risky. When I visited L.A. a few years ago, I went to one of the weirdest/coolest/creepiest places I’ve ever been. It’s called “The Museum of Jurassic Technology“, and no, I don’t really know what that means. What I DO know is that anytime I tried to describe it to someone, I told them it was like hanging out alone at your grandfather’s house, because he went out to the grocery store, so you decide to snoop around at his stuff, but are nervous because he might be home any second. And you have to pretend you’re grandfather was Vincent Price to try to explain why he had so many crazy things. Whether it be a room filled with oil paintings of Russian Cosmodogs, the dogs Russia sent to space, or a collection of “microtures”, which were miniatures that were so small that they could fit inside the eye of a needle. Pretty crazy, right? I described this place to a coworker in Chicago and they told me about this place called “The House on the Rock“, and since looking at pictures of it made it look insane, that’s where Rampaige went last week. We had to drive four hours to get there, and cost $30 to get in, but was so totally insane that it was worth every penny. I’m not going to get into all of the details of who the guy was and why he built a weirdo place in the middle of Wisconsin, but that’s mostly because I don’t remember the details. However, I will show you pictures of what this place looks like on the inside, and I hope it’ll give you some idea of how insane this place is.

 

Pretty cool, right? Just your average garden and fountain thing.

Hmmm, kind of strange to have a monk chilling with a deer. Whatever!

Cool fountain! What is that, a dragon? Not weird at all!

Wait, why the fuck are all the ceilings so low? Why is there carpet on everything?

AND WHY ARE THERE INSTRUMENTS PLAYING ON THEIR OWN ACCORD EVERY TIME YOU ROUND A CORNER? There were probably 30 of these instrument arrangements scattered throughout the whole compound. I didn’t take too many pictures of them, because you couldn’t tell that they were acting independently, so just picture a lot.

This was the “Infinity Room”. No, there’s nothing underneath this room to support the weight.

This was the view when you got to the end of the Infinity Room. The whole room creaked and swayed with every breeze. Fucking terrifying.

Don’t worry, this is just the beginning of the dolls.

This diorama isn’t that scary, is it?

HOW ABOUT NOW?

This guy also collected lots of maritime memorabilia. Some pretty neat, relatively normal things.

Cool chair! But what’s it made out of?

Oh. Thanks!

Oh you know, just a giant whale vs. squid battle. It was hard to get a picture of just how big this thing was, but hopefully this helps.

Different whale angle. Help at all?

Nightmares foreverrrrrrrrrr.

Might not seem too creepy, but you had to put a token into this machine to make this little bird demon pop out from behind that gravestone. So kvlt.

To the right is the human sized carousel that had absolutely no horses on it. Instead, it was crazy shit like this:

Towards the end, there was no escape from the circus music. It…was…EVERYWHERE.

Who needs radios when you can just buy a full-sized robot orchestra?

And here’s the doll carousel…for dolls.

But what do you put on top of the doll carousel? Hmmm, maybe I’ll put:

And what carousel is complete without the four horsemen of the apocalypse looking over you?

Too scary?  Then let’s just put some fucking angels up there! It’ll be fine!

On the way home, and since it was Wisconsin, we saw this deer farm and Rampaige decided to feed a goat.

And then Rampaige fed a deer!

Then she tried to feed the bison! This bison? NOT INTO IT.

I can’t wait for this baby pig to grow up and turn into bacon so I can eat it.

And finally, the reindeer that gives ZERO FUCKS ABOUT EVERYTHING.

SEND MORE COPS Episode #7 – C2E2 recap

 

Where’ve I been?! Nowhere good, just fucking around. Rather than type out the things that happened at C2E2, I figured it’d be easier to tell everyone. Hopefully this sparks my podcasting bug and I can go back to recording more frequently. In the meantime, download this episode through iTunes or through the direct page. Enjoy!

 

Episode 7

After a long, LONG hiatus (which some would argue should have been longer), the Wolfman is back. What’s happened in the last few months? Nothing that exciting. In this episode, however, the Wolfman recounts his experiences from the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, casually known as “C2E2″. He may or may not have commented on other movies, but that’s the most important subject at hand!

Hey, everybody, CHILL OUT!

I guess I have to be honest with you guys, and admit that everyone is already pretty chilled. I haven’t had much time for posting reviews for the past few weeks and I thought someone might complain about it, BUT NOBODY DID! WHAT THE FUCK!? The biggest reason for the lapse in posting is because Rampaige and I recently moved and we’ve not really had the time to sit around and watch movies. Also, my movie collection/Blu-ray/XBox/internet have yet to be set up, which means I haven’t really had access to these things, even if there was time for them. Additionally, I’ve gone through and added EVERY movie review to the appropriate page for external reviews on IMDb, as well as added the word “REVIEW” to the title of every post so that people who are Googling might stop by and say hello. I’ve even gone back to the beginning, to my very first posts, and am revising them so that they have the appropriate formatting that you’ve all come to know and love, as well as editing them for errors I was too lazy to correct. I’m hoping this project of mine will pay off and I can find a few of my favorite reviews to then share as writing samples for other websites. This takes time, and I hate hearing myself talk or reading what I write and I realize now how big of an idiot I sound like. And yes, the rumors are true, I DID record a new episode of Send More Cops, but have yet to find the appropriate cable to upload it on the internet, and remember, I still don’t have the internet at home! Once all this shit is squared away, I’ll be posting with more frequency, as our new apartment had room for me to have an “office” to work on this shit. When I say “office”, I mean one room has been designated by Rampaige for me to stuff all my shitty posters and toys into so she doesn’t have to look at them. BUT THAT REMINDS ME…does anyone have any particular favorite post that I’ve made? A review you thought made good points or mindless rant you found particularly entertaining? Leave a comment if you can think of any so I can feel better about how much time I’ve poured into this fucker. Thanks!

The Walking Dead: Season 2 recap, featuring an interview with Steven Yeun! Glenn! [INTERVIEW]

 

Okay guys, I know the season ended weeks ago, but hopefully by now you all know what happened and I don’t have to worry about spoiling everything. Even though there were complaints that there wasn’t enough going on in this season, there were plenty of behind the scenes drama to make up for it. In July of last year, it was announced that Frank Darabont, who had helped write, direct, and produce the first season. That scared the shit out of most people, knowing he had filmed some of the second season and not knowing the impact it would have on the show. The show had its premiere in October, and it went on a scheduled hiatus, with the other half to debut in February. While it was on hiatus, news outlets started saying that a main cast member asked to be written out of the show when Darabont left, and this cast member had their wish granted. Supposedly that actor changed their mind, but it was too late and they were already written out. Considering that Laurie Holden, who plays Andrea, and Jeffrey DeMunn, who plays Dale, had worked with Darabont on a few movies, my money was on one of them leaving the show prematurely. With a main character leaving and a new director, what hope was there for season two?

 

 

Without going over every single detail, I’ll try to summarize the major events of season two. When we last saw the gang, they had just left the Center for Disease Control because it was blown up by an employee. When the group made a pit stop, the little girl known as “Sophia”, got lost in the woods. While trying to find her, poor little Carl was accidentally shot. The shooter brought Carl and the gang to a farm where people were staying, and where everyone ended up staying. Over their time at the farm, we learned that Lori was pregnant, despite not knowing whether the baby was Rick’s or Shane’s, from one of their forbidden love sessions when they thought Rick was dead. We also learned that Shane was an even bigger asshole who had killed an innocent man so he wouldn’t be slowed down while retrieving medical supplies from a nearby high school. The first half of the season focused on finding little Sophia, but that search ended when she was revealed to have become a zombie and the owner of the farm, Hershel, had been keeping zombie in a barn. The gang also met other survivors and after a violent altercation, saw Rick and Shane take one hostage. We saw the depths that both Rick and Shane were willing to go to in order to protect the group, while Dale understood how much deeper Shane’s depths were than Rick’s. The season ended with Dale getting surprise attacked and killed by a zombie, Shane killing the hostage in cold blood, and Shane trying to take Rick’s life. Rick got the upper hand (ha ha, that’s a good pun if you read the comics) and killed Shane, and unfortunately the zombies overran the farm. The last few moments of the season showed the group realizing that they were living in a Rick-tatorship, if you will, while also introducing us to a woman with a katana and two zombies on leashes and zoomed out to show a prison looming near the group.

 

 

I have to agree that I thought the events of the first half of the season were pretty dull, since it was a lot of just hanging out at the farm and meeting a lot of new characters. Some people completely lost interest with the show at that point, but when Sophia was discovered to be a zombie and no one was willing to shoot her but Rick, I was totally on board. Once the show started up again, I thought things were getting more and more exciting and that the slow pace in the first half was worth it for the events of the second half. Considering Shane was killed very early on in the comics, nobody was really surprised to see him go. In fact, I think some people were even disappointed to see a character who challenged Rick to such a degree get killed off. On the other hand, Dale’s death seemed to come out of nowhere and really solidified my theory about predicting he would be the one who wanted to leave with Darabont. When I thought about Dale getting killed off, I was pretty bummed, because he really brought in a human element to the show. I felt a little bit of comfort when I realized the whole second half of this season was him whining about Shane being a jerk, and that TV Dale wasn’t necessarily the same person as comic book Dale. I think all the comic book fans also predicted the cloaked figure or the introduction of the prison, considering that person and location all play pretty heavy roles in the comics, but I know I didn’t expect BOTH things to happen. I figured it’d be either one or the other, but those last five minutes got me even more excited for the places they’ll go with season three. Considering that the role of the “Governor” has already been cast, all the readers are both excited and terrified to watch the show unfold, and I think all the viewers will be surprised at just how fucked up Robert Kirkman is and what he’ll put his characters through. Even though there are going to be plenty of new characters to meet next season and that we might have a slow start, I’m sure that Kirkman and new showrunner Glenn Mazzara will give us plenty of reasons to make any sort of waiting worth it.

 

 

As some of you probably know, I recently attended the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Exposition. One cool thing the C2E2 website did was highlight who were Chicago residents or who had a career in Chicago, and it was highlighted that Steven Yeun, who plays Glenn on The Walking Dead, was attending. I would say one big difference between the TV Glenn and the comic book Glenn is that we’re able to see a much more emotional side of him. In the comics, the driving force of everything is Rick, and it’s not often we see extended sequences of what’s going on outside of Rick’s world. It happens, but only when it directly pertains to him. Although Rick is the driving force of the show, the nature of the medium forces us to explore more of the characters and Glenn’s is a lot more developed, I feel, than his character in the books. It was this season where we met Hershel’s daughter Maggie, played by Lauren Cohan, who we all knew would strike up a romantic relationship with Glenn. The reaction from Glenn on the show had him scared to get involved with her because he was afraid he would lose her, causing what could best be described an emotional ambivalence. He didn’t seem to care whether she liked him or hated him, and didn’t want to further any of those feelings because it might just make saying goodbye hurt more. Glenn eventually left that emotional state as everyone was leaving Hershel’s farm, but I think we all connected with Glenn in a way that was different from how we connect with him in the books, and Steven did a great job portraying that emotional state. I also couldn’t help but wonder if he took that emotional ambivalence towards his cast members as to save himself the heartache.

 

 

WolfMan: I think season two of The Walking Dead proved that anybody could die, anyone could go away at any moment. Who was the hardest, either actor or character, to say goodbye to this season? Do you know find yourself putting distance between you and other cast members, knowing they could leave at any moment?

Steven Yeun: Every death was hard. I took Jeff (DeMunn) and Jon’s (Bernthal, who played Shane) the hardest. Jon, I knew was coming, but he was someone I spent a lot of time with. And Jeff I spent a lot of time with, too. They were both pretty difficult. As far as keeping distance, no, we know the nature of the beast and I think it’s better to spend quality time and enjoy each other’s company.

 

 

WM: Clearly the show is going in a slightly different direction from the comics. Some things are similar but they are different versions of the same universe. How difficult do you find it to be to portray the television version of a character that’s already ingrained in comic books?

SY: I think our show has found a life of its own and we’re on that trajectory to become its own thing, not to insult the original material. We don’t think about the comic, we think about how things work in this life and all the writers and producers and actors are so great that we all convene and come to a consensus about how things play out.

 

 

WM: To me, the most surreal moment of the show’s success was the fact that it was referenced in The Amazing Spider-Man a few weeks ago. Not the comic book Walking Dead, but when Johnny Storm had come back from the dead and was catching up on all his TV, Spider-Man had mentioned that “they were still on the farm”. It was kind of crazy to see the success of the show bleeding into other publishers. Was there one surreal moment for you where the success of the show?

SY: Marvel does that, don’t they? That this world is part of their world, right? Every day when you walk around and someone might recognize you from the show, it’s really great. I think we were on an episode of Entourage. Ari said “Tell that guy he won’t be able to get a job as a zombie…”, and he said a lot worse than that. It’s just so cool to be apart of something that people really dig and are really interested in.

 

WM: One last quick question, do you happen to know what Robert Kirkman’s beard feels like?

SY: It feels like a lotioned porcupine. Ya know, like a really solidly lotioned porcupine with a little bit of ambrosia.

 

John Cusack talks The Raven and being on an 8 week vampiric bender [INTERVIEW]

The fact that there are people who are alive and haven’t seen One Crazy Summer is an insane concept to wrap your head around. This was a reality I had to face when I started talking to my girlfriend about the movie and she had no goddamned idea what I was talking about. Luckily, I was immediately able to show her how good it was through the power of Netflix and I am now able to sleep easy. Some people might associate John Cusack and the 80′s with movies like Say Anything or Sixteen Candles, but I haven’t seen either of those movies, so he’s always either “Hoops” McCann or Lane Meyer from Better Off Dead… . Once you start naming movies from the 80′s that an actor has been in, you do that because they haven’t done anything else since then that was worth mentioning. Despite his early success with those light-hearted movies in the 80′s, John Cusack never stopped making movies we all wanted to see. I mean seriously, have you seen his filmography? From Eight Men Out to Grosse Point Blank to The Thin Red Line to High Fidelity to Being John Malkovich to 1408 to Hot Tub Time Machine, he’s constantly reminding us how good of an actor is and how there is no genre he won’t tackle. In his latest film, The Raven, he plays Edgar Allen Poe, who is involved in a cat and mouse game with a killer who is replicating Poe’s stories. At the recent Chicago Comic and Entertainment Exposition, I was lucky enough to be included in a press conference to promote the film.

WolfMan: Clearly Poe is ingrained in pop culture; movies, music, TV, he’s everywhere. Everyone knows at least some of his stories, even if they don’t know it’s specifically Poe. Since Vincent Price in the 60′s, this is the first time we’ve seen Poe in theaters. This is Poe, this is his work. Did you feel pressure, that you were the one to bring him to life theatrically?

John Cusack: It wasn’t as much of a pressure as much as it was an opportunity. If you read about him, you know that he started so many different genres, the seeds he planted just grew in so many different directions. From science fiction and Jules Verne to hoaxes and being punked and pranked, to gothic horror and to this mystical stuff to great poetry. There’s so much to take from. Once he gets caught up in his own genre, you can always go back to his letters and pull language and it was such a great thing to do. It’s not like you’re ever going to have a definitive version of a person. This is one dream of Poe. Someone else will do another. If you can feel the underworld in the movie, or if you can feel it coming out of my performance, then that’s great.

He then went on to compare the process of interpreting someone like Poe to the different interpretations on stage and screen of the composers Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:

Salieri and Mozart…there was nothing (to work from). You get an insight into Mozart, you get a version of him, but then you get to understand classical music in a way that you probably wouldn’t if it was just a strict biopic, where he did this here and then he was really depressed and stumbling around drunk. It’s a weird blend of fantasy and fiction and legend. Some of the legends around Poe are played with a little bit, and that’s sort of what he did in some of his writings, so I thought it was a cool conceit. I thought it just seemed like a really good version, a good pop-pulp version of him. I just kind of went all in. I didn’t feel pressure, I just gave everything I had into it, and that’s the best I can do.

WM: You mentioned that this isn’t a straight biography about Poe, it blends legends and myth and his stories, but there are still some direct biographical nods to Poe, such as a rival writer being the victim in the pit and the pendulum sequence and the pet raccoon, which alludes to the rumors of Poe dying of rabies. Were there specific poems or stories that you took to heart to incorporate into your personification of Poe, that you used as the most direct references?

JC: I just read him all day and all night when I was making the movie. You could sort of take proxy characters and use then things that he’d said. For example, you could say things that he had said to Emily, the new girl, who’s a fictional girl. After his wife died, he had some romances with some other girls, and she was a proxy for that. His relationship to male authority figures, you could take things he had said to other writers or editors , which is on record, and put it into the stuff I said to Brendan Gleeson (who plays Captain Hamilton) or (Detective) Fields. He didn’t have a relationship with a guy Fields, but he still had a relationship to other people that he thought were inferior to him and he would say certain things to challenge them or push them, so I could take those things. When he says “I have often thought I could distinctly hear the sound of the darkness as it stole over the horizon”, he sort of says that in the movie to Fields, but he actually said it in another context. You have a lot of historically accurate Poe stuff in there, like he did go to West Point and he was athletic, he was a swimmer, that people didn’t know about, but it’s still in a fictional setting. There’s always stuff we could pull, it was amazing. Nobody talked on the phone, people wrote letters, so it’s all there. Amazingly there’s a lot preserved.

WM: I feel like other actors would have had trepidation approaching such a dark character and not knowing how to get out of that headspace, but you said this role is one you’d have fought for, but you had it offered to you. Are there any other historical icons or literary icons that you would fight for the opportunity to put up on screen?

JC: Anything good or anything that can really challenge you and get you frightened and make you think “how do you do this?” but I don’t have anything specific in mind. I’d love to do The Master & Margarita, which is a great Russian book that I think is very cool. I’d love to play Professor Woland but I think someone else has the rights. That’s a great book, I always thought it’d be a great movie.

In regards to the “darkness” surround Poe, he said:

It was helpful that it was winter and it was Serbia and Hungary and we were shooting nights, so I just kind of felt like a vampire anyway. I didn’t sleep much, I felt like I was on a bender for 8 weeks. I just sort of stayed in that headspace of it and then when I got back, I came back for Christmas, and I scared my family. They asked, “What happened!? You need to eat! You look sick.”

I think one reason people are fans of Mr. Cusack are his ability to appear as the every man, or rather, a man who everyone sees parts of themselves in. It’s this endearing quality that makes us always want to root for him and want him to succeed, whether it be as a person or the characters he plays. One big difference with his role in The Raven is that I’m not sure anyone wants to be in his position, and when you see some of yourself in Poe, it might be time to either write some poetry or schedule an appointment with a psychiatrist. Make sure to check out The Raven when it comes to theaters April 27th.
Official Site

Evan Glodell talks Bellflower, autobiographical movies, and the time he went missing for two weeks [INTERVIEW]

Any time that I hear a director or an actor or pretty much anyone being described as “having potential”, it almost seems like a really sneaky insult. I’m sure most people take the idea of having potential as a compliment, but I hear it as “that thing you didn’t wasn’t completely awful, but I’m sure you’ll make something better in the future”. With his first feature film “Bellflower”, writer/director/actor Evan Glodell has been described by a few critics as “having potential”. I say “fuck you” to those people. Not because I think they are wrong, but because he has already capitalized on that “potential” in his debut film. It was through multiple mentions of the movie on the podcast “Doug Loves Movies” that drove me to check out Bellflower, and you can read my review for it here. After watching that movie, I can understand where these critics were coming from by saying they’d be on the lookout for what comes from Mr. Glodell next, because I know I will be. To label him as a filmmaker “with potential” doesn’t give him nearly enough credit, because even if he never makes another movie after Bellflower, he’s already turned that potential talent into realized, kinetic talent.

WolfMan: Considering that the character of “Aiden” is based on a real friend of yours, and considering your personal background of building flamethrowers, clearly there were a lot of personal experiences that you put into Bellflower. I read that the first draft you wrote was a very angry script, and you set it aside for a few years before rewriting it. Without going into explicit detail, how much of the relationship between Woodrow and Milly and the movie as a whole do you consider biographical? Was it difficult, as an actor or a director, to recreate scenes from personal experiences?

Evan Glodell: Oh, wow. That’s a tricky one. I guess I’d have to really look at the movie to answer 100 percent accurately, if you’re looking at emotionally, it’s autobiographical, 100 percent. As far as the events and the way things played out…each event in the movie I could tie to an event that was significant in a relationship, but they’re not the same. As far as the actual events, they’re obviously all fabricated or maybe a little bit taken from here or there with relationships in my life or relationships I’ve seen friends go through.

WM: I guess the bigger question was how autobiographical the movie was, but it sounded like you kind of answered that question, in that it was based on emotional experience, and the specific course of events weren’t really grounded in reality.

EG: Exactly. Off of my head, I remember one of my first girlfriends in high school, when we met, we got so wrapped up in how exciting it was that we disappeared on a road trip for two weeks. It was unplanned and we were only 16 years old and we were so oblivious because we were having so much fun that we didn’t think to call our parents. When I got back, I saw my friends before I saw my mom, and everybody was like “Where the fuck have you been? The police have been here and everybody’s looking for you.” When I think of the roadtrip (in Bellflower), I think about that time period. There’s probably some connection like that with everything, especially in the first half of the movie.

WM: I’ve tried recommending the movie to a lot of people but I have a hard time describing what it’s about. The closest I’ve come is from a poster I saw using some sort of tagline like “John Hughes plus Mad Max plus Fight Club”, which I felt was somewhat accurate with some scenes in the movie. While you were writing the movie, were you intentionally trying to surprise the audience by delving into all these different thematic elements?

EG: As far as the specific references…when I saw that quote, I had to look up who John Hughes was. I should know who he is and I’ve seen his movies before. For the story, I realized that the experiences I had and the idea that got me excited was how extremely intense a breakup can be, especially when you’re younger and you don’t really understand how things work. I realized the only way to show that was…well, there’s been lots of movies that show the intricacies of how things play out in reality, but that’s not really what it feels like when you’re the person going through it. It feels much more extreme. Using that idea of the two halves of the movies, the first half to really build the relationships and the world and the characters and let people settle into it, and pray that when it switched into a very different style that people would go with it, and that was the hope. That the people who did go with it, it would be more of an experience than just watching the relationship play out in a breakup.

WM: Going along with the genre constraints that you broke, did anyone ever try to tell you your movie was too ambitious? Obviously there wasn’t a large studio behind the movie to interfere with what you were trying to do, but when you were trying to sell the movie did people ask for more of “this” or less of “that”? How would you describe your movie to people?

EG: That’s definitely the thing I’ve been the worst at. I remember, before we started shooting,  I’d try to explain the movie and the only way I could do it was play-by-play and then I quickly realized it was kind of pointless. It never got much better afterwards. It’s funny, one of the things I was most excited about was when this movie got the funding and people were gonna see it, I thought, “Someone else is going to write a synopsis for the movie that’s going to make sense, someone who’s good at that.” The synopsis that ended up getting used, the main one, was one that I wrote and I hated. I wrote it just because I needed one at some point, and apparently no one ever came up with a better one. For me, I don’t know how I would pitch the movie to get someone to watch it. To me, what it’s about is the experience of going through a relationship and a break-up, and something to do with friendship as well…which is pretty vague (laughs).

WM: I do the same thing, where I say, “There’s a relationship and things go bad and he goes cra–” and then I realize I’m saying far too much because I’m trying to sell it. It’s hard to believe that’s an actual movie and a movie that’s being recommended to other people.

EG: Yeah, you’re saying that’s good. I know a lot of us were worried, at first, that the car and the flamethrower being pushed so much, if that was misleading. But so many times, someone sees the movie and they like it and they want to tell their friends, and they don’t want to describe the movie as “there’s a relationship or there’s a this or that…” because it all sounds lame, but instead “there’s a cool car”. I guess in the end, that was how the people watching it chose to represent it.

WM: At one point in the movie, my girlfriend started shouting “This is why! This is why!”, and I had no goddamned idea what she was talking about, and then when we got to the credits, I realized she was talking about the band “Why”. Considering what the budget was for the movie, how difficult was it for you to put the soundtrack together and what was that process like? 

EG: That was the most difficult part…aside from just the making of the movie, once we had actually made the movie, none of us had ever made one before so we didn’t know about all the legal stuff so we were just making it and we put in music that we thought fit and we were going to figure out the next step when we got there. After the movie got to Sundance and we started getting help from some people to get ready to bring it to Sundance, the music thing came up, they said there were people saying there was no way in Hell we were going to get all that music. It was the better part of, how long was it…well, it’s still going on right now. I think we have three music licenses that are still coming in, but we have the agreements, we didn’t release the movie without getting the “OK”. It ended up being a very long, intense process, because our choice was either to go through and remove most of the music and just put in stuff we didn’t really want, or just make stuff from scratch, which would also end up not being as good as what was int here. We decided to go on the journey of contacting every band and sending out packages to people and begging them with “This is our budget, we can do this, is there any way you could work with us?” That’s what took so long, and eventually almost everybody worked out…it was a long journey.

WM: One of the things I was most surprised by was reading about how many of the gags or the effects, like the flamethrower and Medusa, were all real. Obviously your engineering background was helpful with those things, but how much of the movie’s budget went right into Medusa? Was this movie just an excuse to build Medusa?

EG: I get asked that a lot, but it’s definitely quite the opposite. The script that I first wrote didn’t have a car or even a flamethrower. The flamethrower came pretty early on, but it was literally just relationships between people. The car and the flamethrower and all of that stuff came in over time of working on it as a way of telling the story better. I worked things in that I thought that we could figure out a way to make because we didn’t have any money. For example, the Medusa car cost more than the movie. We totaled up everything we had spent after three years and it was around $17,000 and more than $10,000 was just Medusa which…drove everybody insane. I was crazy adamant about, “No, the car has to be awesome! It’s going to help the movie! It’s what this needs!”, and we got through it.

WM: Without giving anything away, the end of the movie kind of blends fantasy with reality, and we’re not quite sure what happens to all the different characters. As the writer, do you personally know what happened to Woodrow and Aiden and Milly in the movie and chose not to show it, or did you end the story there because that was all you wanted to invest in these characters?

EG: The real answer to that question is that all of these people are heavily based on people I know, and obviously my character is very heavily based on me. In my mind, what happened to those characters, I know those people so I know where they are. The end of the movie was, I guess, the end of the particular story.

WM: You wrote, directed, and starred in your own movie, is this going to be a regular thing going forward, where you take on multiple responsibilities, or from here on out are you going to focus on just directing or trying to write more?

EG: Definitely going to be writing and directing. I’ve been writing something, which will be my next project. As far as acting…I have no idea. I kind of hope that it doesn’t work out that way, because it was so insanely stressful on Bellflower to do all that stuff and add more on top of it. I guess those answers will be found when I cast the next movie. I never had access to really good actors, it was kind of the luck of the draw of who you could come across or find through casting, but it was only people who were just starting out who’d reply to you. In a movie that you’re writing, even if it’s not supposed to be you, it feels like it’s you and you’re writing from your perspective. I’m hoping to find someone to play the lead in the next movie that I’m really excited about.

Bellflower Official Site
Coatwolf Productions Official Site

Things I felt after watching The Guild’s “I’m The One That’s Cool”

BEFORE WE GO ANY FURTHER, WATCH THIS VIDEO TO THE END SO YOU CAN HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE CONTEXT TO WHAT THE FUCK I’M ABOUT TO RAMBLE ABOUT.

 

My immediate response to seeing this video was to post it on Twitter, or Retweet it, whatever would have made me look cooler. After listening to the song and watching the video, I realized that both are kind of lame. Despite not being all that good for a wacky song (I direct your attention towards Garfunkel and Oates for that), I wanted to post it for the message it was getting across: NERDS ARE COOL, THINGS THAT AREN’T NERDS ARE NOT COOL. It’s something I’ve been concerned with and interested by for a few years now and it’s a topic I enjoy discussing with people. I think the initial response would be “duh”, but I think the topic deserves more discussion than that.

 

 

Before I had ever heard of “The Guild”, I had heard of Felicia Day. I didn’t know why I knew her, but I saw lots of people retweeting her messages. Considering I follow a lot of people who could be described as “nerdy”, I figured I’d do some investigating. Ms. Day is the mastermind behind the webseries “The Guild”, which follows the trials and tribulations of a group of online gamers. The series was initially written, filmed, and starred the person responsible for the finances of the series, which was Ms. Day. After a few episodes, there was some fundraising, and more episodes were made. More people saw more episodes, and, well, I think they are on their fifth season. I watched the first season or two, and although I understood why people find it funny and enjoying the concept behind it, I wasn’t really interested in pursuing it further. However, I’m very impressed that for an authentic “geek”, Felicia Day has been able to build a huge following (close to two million Twitter followers) and turn her videogame addiction into something productive and financially productive.

 

 

If I didn’t really like the song and I am not a huge fan of The Guild, then why the fuck was I going to post this? I feel like this song and video, which is also marks the debut of the Geek & Sundry YouTube channel dedicated to nerd culture, marks the defining point in “nerds” being ostracized by the majority of people. It wasn’t really until junior high that I realized I was much more interested in things like Star Wars or videogames than I cared about sports, but was lucky enough to never really suffer ridicule or torment from people who considered those things to be “nerdy”. All of my friends were into the same kinds of things, and I was able to quell my true passions long enough in school that the more popular kids never really bothered me for what I liked. I don’t think it was until I was an adult that I realized how many people thought it was most appropriate by starting conversations with “Did you catch the game the other night?”, and actually expect an answer. I don’t really know shit about dick when it comes to sports. I know they exist, and lots of people enjoy watching them, but as far as what teams are good and what time of the year things happen, really no idea. Yet the further and further I get into my adult life, the more I get nervous to tell these people I have no fucking clue what they’re talking about.

 

 

Maybe I should get to the point. The point is, that there was a point where people who might describe themselves as “geeks” or “nerds” or “dorks” might be described by other people as “losers”. It wasn’t cool to like things that weren’t part of popular culture. I don’t need to go into detail about the the different ways our current society looks towards counter-culture to figure out what the next trend will be so it can be exploited. Think of how many movies based on comic books have come out in the past ten years, or the huge successes of things like Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, or Game of Thrones. I have complete faith in the belief that at a different time in American culture, were you to say you love reading about knights and swords and dragons, you’d be mocked. Instead, you get to talk about how big of shitheads the Lannisters are. I remember the first time I saw an Affliction t-shirt, as it was only four years ago. My first thought was that it was some sort of nu-metal band who wanted as many skulls and swords and tribal designs as possible on their merchandise, but unfortunately, things weren’t that simple. Instead, this was a clothing company who were somehow convincing people that THIS style would make you cool. Add in that Ed Hardy bullshit and you’ve got yourself a magical potion of douchebaggery. Despite the nausea this “fashion” trend created, there seemed to be a market for it. I thought I was an outsider in thinking only assholes wore this shit, but appears the tides are turning. Ed Hardy is quickly becoming synonymous with the term, dare I say, “loser”. On the other end of the spectrum, at least in regards to fashion, I remember a few years ago really wanting a Star Wars shirt and having to find one online that wasn’t for kids. Compare that to what you’ll see if you go to any Target or Kohl’s or other department store, the amount of graphic t-shirts that have been able to combine stereotypical nerdy imagery with some sort of ironic slogan. I’m pretty sure you’re all picturing Darth Vader with the slogan “Who’s Your Daddy?” underneath him. It wasn’t really until this video that I have come to the realization that the tides have turned, and given enough time, being a nerd will no longer be cool.

 

 

And now to tie it all together in one big, sappy message. I know that some purist nerds would argue how the saturation of this nerdy things in popular culture will cause more and more poseurs to pretend to be interested in things because it’s cool. Ya know what? I COMPLETELY AGREE. Tons of people will buy glasses that don’t have frames or pick up a shirt with a superhero logo on it and yes, you can hate people that rape and molest things you’re truly passionate about for cashing in on something you used to be mocked for liking. HOWEVER, what I hope this video, this message, this idea, will help teach the impressionable young kids who are all over the internet and get bullied that you really need to be yourself, do what you want, like what you want, and anyone who gives you shit for it can fuck right off. I’m sure there will be people to argue that every example of nerdy things I listed aren’t truly nerdy, and they are all pop culture, which can of course be argued. If I say Star Wars is nerdy, someone could say Star Trek is nerdier. Someone could then say Babylon 5 is nerdier. Some would then say that Battlefield Earth is nerdier, and we call those people Scientologists. Whether you agree with the examples or not, whether you like sports, whether you hate nerds, whether you’re into cosplay, if you juggle, if you go to raves, if you’re a furry, FUCK WHATEVER ANYONE ELSE THINKS, BE YOURSELF, AND MAYBE THAT THING YOU LIKE WILL ONE DAY WHAT GETS YOU A SHIT TON OF FRIENDS BECAUSE IT’S BECOME WHAT’S COOL.

Yup, I’m Seeing That (Volume 2)

One post that I did last year that was really helpful for me was a post where I listed all the movies I wanted to see that were coming out between March and September. Once I hit September I was running out of movies, which was why I arbitrarily stopped finding movies. I ended up seeing all the movies on that list, with the exception of Cowboys & Aliens because I heard it was kind of poopy. Haha, I called a movie “poopy”. Anyways, these are the movies I want to see, and I encourage you guys to share your thoughts on what I might have left out!

 

DISCLAIMER: I know there are plenty of movies that are going to come out in this time that I haven’t seen the trailer for yet and I did not include it on this list. I did that on purpose. I try to avoid trailers as much as possible, because it turns into an endless spiral of watching more and more bits from the movie that are edited together by someone trying to coax you into watching it. In other words, you don’t need to sell me on a movie that’s coming out then, because if it comes out and I hear good things, I might still check it out.

 

The Cabin in the Woods – April 13th

I know that this is a Joss Whedon movie and is supposedly a tribute film to movies that involve cabins being in the woods. I’m trying to avoid the trailer because I’ve heard this movie has a similar tone as Drag Me to Hell? I think? I don’t know, I hope it’s good. Then there’s that OTHER Joss Whedon movie…

 

The Avengers – May 4th

WELL OF COURSE I’M GOING TO SEE THIS! I think the most difficult part about the whole thing will be who the movie focuses on. Iron Man already has two movies under his belt, so the obvious choice would be to have his character driving the story. Then again, you have Captain America getting involved, who most would agree is THE leader of the Avengers, were you to pick only one person. Thor will most likely just show up out of nowhere and fuck things up, but that’s okay, because his movie last year didn’t impress many people. Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Hulk will probably all just poop around in the background, and then Samuel L. Jackson will say something very Samuel L. Jackson-y, and everyone in the audience will giggle. I can pretty much guarantee that this movie will be a lot of fun, but might not necessarily be all that good.

 

Chernobyl Diaries – May 25th

Something from some guy who apparently had something to do with Paranormal Activity? Okay, maybe not the biggest selling point (just ask that TV show The River), but shit going down at Chernobyl is something I can get behind.

 

Piranha 3DD – June 1st

The first one was a lot of fun, and what this movie lacks in Adam Scott I hope it makes up for with Katrina Bowden. It’s possible that this installment will get TOO wacky, considering the addition of David Hasselhoff, but I guess wackiness isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Alexandre Aja isn’t directing this time, and directing duties have been passed over to John Gulager, who I feel was kind of hit and miss with his Feast movies. I guess as long as there are boobs in 3D, this should be worth price of admission.

 

Prometheus – June 8th

I really, really, really, really, really don’t want to consider this the best movie of the year after only having seen a trailer, but how can I not? The confusion over whether this is or isn’t a prequel to Alien or if it just takes place in the same universe or whatever doesn’t really matter, because it’s Ridley Scott coming back to sci-fi with the help of Damon Lindelof. I am also glad that no one really has any goddamn idea what this is about, and since it’s a prequel, it’s hard to have any preconceived notion of what might happen. It just….looks so….awesome.

 

The Amazing Spider-Man – July 6th

I wish I could be more excited for this than I am, but I’m not. Did that make sense? Shut up. At its best, I’m pretty sure this movie will only be considered “pretty good”. At its worst, it will probably be considered “bad”. Some of the footage from the trailers looks kind of cool, but there wasn’t one sequence or bit of casting that made you sit there and think “WOW” the way the trailer for Raimi’s version did in 2002.  I mentioned last summer how I did get chills when I watched the video of Andrew Garfield at SDCC going up in front of an audience to proclaim how proud he was to be Peter Parker, so I’m happy for him, but I guess we all just have to wait and see.

 

The Dark Knight Rises – July 20th

The way I feel about Prometheus might just  be my way of taking the pressure off of this movie. Everyone knows that at its worst, this movie will still be good, and at  its best, it will be fucking incredible. Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight is one of the best superhero movies of all time, and I don’t there is any way he can fuck this up. This is another one that I don’t want to look too much into, because the more I see now, the less stuff there will be to blow my fucking mind when I see it in theaters. I guess I just wonder if Nolan will have the balls to permanently cripple Bruce Wayne so someone needs to take over forever, or if Bane will hurt him just enough to take a nap or something. AHHHHH I SHOULD JUST STOP THINKING ABOUT IT NOW!!!!

 

HOLY SHIT, IS THAT IT?! Last year I had a bunch of movies and I was totally stoked. I thought this summer was going to be just as good, but clearly it won’t. I guess last year there were a lot of movies I kind of wanted to see, but between Avengers, Prometheus, and Dark Knight Rises, there are a few films that I really want to see. And next thing you know, it’ll be the summer of 2013 and we’ll all get to watch Anchorman 2! Yay!

Alan Bagh talks about Birdemic, killer animals, and future projects [INTERVIEW]

If you haven’t seen the movie “Birdemic”, which is currently available on Netflix Instant, then you need to stop everything that you’re doing and watch it…before…this…sentence…is…over…period. If you’re into that whole “so bad that it’s good” style of cinema, then this one is for you. I can’t remember how I first heard about Birdemic, probably around the time it was trying to get into Sundance a few years ago, but I will never forget my first viewing of it. Some people say that Troll 2 or maybe The Room might be the most entertaining terrible movies ever made, but I submit Birdemic: Shock and Terror (its full name) to accept that prize. After watching it, I tracked everything and anything to do with Birdemic, whether it be checking out a screening in a theater with director James Nguyen doing a Q & A to following everyone involved with it on Twitter to recommending it to everyone I knew. Through following the film’s star, Alan Bagh, and interacting with him on Twitter a few times, I was able to get in touch with him to ask him a few of my burning questions. Some emails were exchanged, and the answers to those questions can be found below. Reminder, this “interview” took place over email.

 

WolfMan: What Birdemic might have lacked in budget, it clearly made up for in dedication from the entire cast and crew. Between production spanning multiple years and having to defend yourself from animals that weren’t there, what were some of the more difficult aspects of filming the movie?

Alan Bagh: Well we didn’t have a crew so we had to be the crew. Some days I would have to hold a boom between my legs when we were filming. Also, I had to carry all the equipment around to different locations. Furthermore, I did a lot of driving. So I was very exhausted every day that we filmed.

 

WM: Were you ever nervous that it might not pay off?

AB: No, I was happy just to have a movie under my belt.

 

WM: At the Sundance Film Festival in 2009, writer/director James Nguyen took a more guerrilla approach to marketing the film. He might not have gotten the kind of attention most people expect from attending Sundance, but it wasn’t long before Birdemic was all over the internet and TV. How did you find out about how popular Birdemic was getting?

AB: I think the way I found out was one of friends telling me that Birdemic was the clip of the week on the show “The Soup”  and I think it was featured on the G4 channel as well.

 

 

WM: Did you in any way anticipate this kind of reaction to such an overwhelming amount of people?

AB: No, I thought this movie was gonna be locked up forever in a vault and never seen again. I was shocked on how much people actually enjoyed the film.

 

WM: Being one of the lead roles, you are the face of Birdemic to millions of people. There are sold out screenings of this movie across the country where people can recite the movie line for line. You’ve done interviews and talk shows, but is there one experience that really stands out in your mind as your favorite or still find hard to believe you ever had the opportunity to do?

AB: I would say that being flown out to New York for a screening of Birdemic at the IFC (Center). I thought that was really awesome and the audience was great.

 

WM:  I heard about your involvement in “Ghost Shark 2: Urban Jaws”, a self-proclaimed sharksploitation movie whose predecessor is nothing more than a trailer. I’m sensing a trend here, and can’t help but ask: do you have any projects coming up that don’t involve killer animals?

AB: LOL, I do have a couple projects that I’m attached to which don’t have killer animals.

 

 

WM: What are you most excited for?

AB: I can’t really talk about them yet but I will keep my fans updated on my Facebook and Twitter.

 

WM: With the huge success and popularity of Birdemic, it seems like you are a hot commodity these days with plenty of projects making themselves available. What are some of your dream projects that you’d love to get involved in, or some directors you’d love to work with?

AB: I would love to do an action film like Bourne (Identity) or Mission: Impossible, but I also like comedy. I would love to do a film with (Martin) Scorsese. I love all his films.

 

WM: Lastly, and I don’t want you to give too much away, but how is production on Birdemic II: The Resurrection going?

AB: It’s going great, much smoother sailing this time around.

 

 

WM: What are Rod and Nathalie up to these days?

AB: Well I’m living in L.A. and just auditioning for films, and Whitney (Moore, who plays Nathalie) is pretty much doing the same.

Steve O’ Brien from Team Submarine [SHITTY INTERVIEW]

I already interviewed Nate from Team Submarine, but since there are two members, I didn’t think it would be fair to leave out Steve. As far as his nickname is concerned, I’m pretty sure it started because he included my first and last name into some sort of sing-song rhymey limerick thing, and I tried to do the same, just not as successfully. Did you guys know that Steve knows Dan Berry? Not Dave Berry, the funny guy who writes down silly observations, I mean Dan Berry, the pirate. If you want to meet Dan Berry, just play Bruce Springsteen’s “Born To Run” and start smashing things while wearing a black and white striped tank top, and he will appear. BUT ENOUGH ABOUT DAN BERRY, BACK TO STEVE O’ BEEVO!

 

WolfMan: Beevo, can I call you Beevo? Beevo, I heard a rumor that you are the original member of Team Submarine? You weren’t even a team back then, you were just one player. What was the tryout process like to allow Lazer onto the team? Layup drills, passing plays, LEGO building?

Steve: If there’s anyone who can call me Beevo, it’s you.  The history of Team Submarine is a little murky.  I am actually the third person to portray “Steve” in the group.  The group started in the 60′s as a two-man comedy/jug band act.  Over the years the material has changed to fit the times and as performers get older they are replaced by younger ones.  Nate Fernald is actually the fourth “Nate” but the first performer to portray “Nate”  with a beard.  It’s a lot like Dr. Who or the Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride.

 

WM: As of this moment, you have commented on my blog a grand total of 1 time. The comment was in regards to the Marvel comic book character, and went a little something like “DD’s got dot double D’s!  No has made that joke before, right?” I made fun of your grammatical error of leaving out the “one” from “no one”, and didn’t even address what the hell “got dot” means. After my harassment, you have never returned. If I apologize to you, publicly, will you come back and maybe post a comment or two again?

S: If you make a public apology on all of the major social networking sites then I would be happy to return to your site with my hilarious and thought provoking quips.

 

WM: On the topic of Daredevil, have you read any of the new ongoing series that started over the summer? It’s a lot of fun. I think one of the reviews I read for it that really summed it up well referred to it as a “swashbuckling” series. There’s also one issue where Matt Murdock is trying to convince people he’s not Daredevil so he wears a red shirt that says “I’M NOT DAREDEVIL” on it and I really want it. Will you make me one?

S: I have not read any of this new series you speak of.  I really lost interest after Brubaker’s run.  I’d be glad to make you an “I’M NOT DAREDEVIL” t-shirt.  I’ll have to read some of those back issues to see what this shirt looks like which means everybody wins:  I’m reading Daredevil again and you get a t-shirt out of it!  Excelsior!

 

WM: Some people might not realize that if they listen to the “hidden” track on your debut album “Correctamundo!” that they can hear a voicemail I left for you about how you fucked up the tag to the end of your entire show, which was also the end of your entire album. What has the aftermath of that event been like for you? Have you developed PTSD  because of it? Are people heckling you during your shows because of it? Will you ever forgive yourself?

S: I’m sensing a theme here: You really enjoy picking apart my mistakes.  It has been a few years since “the incident” as my family calls it.  I am over it now. The best thing to do is just pick myself up and try to move on.  But late at night it still haunts me.  Sometimes my girlfriend will wake me up and tell me I’ve just been repeating “Gay Radar” over and over again in my sleep.  I am a living Edgar Allen Poe story now thanks to you.

 

WM: The Team Submarine website (http://www.teamsubmarine.net/) tells me that you’re a comedy duo from New York, but I thought you were from New Hampshire. What do you have to say to these accusations? What do you think Bo-Bus would say to these accusations? Assuming that none of my readers know who Bo-Bus is, just make sure you say something really funny.

S: What is this, an interrogation?!  You’re right, okay.  We should say that we currently reside in NY but are both originally from New England.  Nate and I were both actually born in Massachusetts.  Bo-Bus would probably think someone’s bedroom door was actually the front door if he heard about this.

 

WM: When it comes to fashion sense, we have come to expect both sweatshirts and ties to be worn by you and/or your partner Nate Fernald. What brought you two to this decision in activewear? Did you just both show up at your first gig wearing these items and are nervous to bring up any other wardrobe possibilities?

S: The first year of Team Submarine we wore shirts and ties with hoodies over them.  I think we liked the idea of having a uniform that set us apart a little.  It made it special and was kind of a nod to the old fashioned two-man acts.  We dropped it after the first year mostly out of convenience.  It was just easier to perform in whatever clothes we were wearing at the time rather than always going home to change into our “costumes.”   Those were the good old days.

 

WM: On the subject of fashion, did you ever own a Starter jacket that had a sports team on it? I know the Charlotte Hornets were very popular when it comes to Starter jackets. And completely off the subject of Starter jackets, who are some of your own personal comedic influences? Not just influences for Team Submarine, but also influences for your stand-up?

S: I never owned a Starter jacket.  My brother had one I think but he was really into sports.  I do remember begging my mom for a Champion sweatshirt because everyone had one of those.  I also wore nothing but denim on my first day of 5th grade.  Denim pants, denim shirt, denim jacket, denim hat.  Still might be the coolest I have ever felt.  There are so many  people and groups that I love in comedy.  I grew up in sort of a strict household when it came to what I was allowed to watch but for some reason Bill Murray movies were always okay.  It didn’t matter if they were rated R or not, Bill Murray got a pass.  I also have a distinct memory of watching David Letterman when I was pretty young.   My folks had friends over so I was just flipping through channels upstairs by myself and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.  I loved it.  When I was 12 my parents got divorced  and all of sudden there were no rules so I became obsessed with comedy and gobbled up everything I could find: Kids in the Hall, Mr. Show, Seinfeld.  All of those things shaped my sense of humor.

 

WM: I know you’re a big fan of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. How sad were you when I texted you to tell you Clarence Clemons was dead? Also, I know you are mostly a fan of his more commercial songs from the 80′s, so is it true that your dream setlist would be Dancing in the Dark, Glory Days, and Hungry Heart being played for 3 hours? With a 30 minute encore of nothing but Radio Nowhere?

S: I was very sad.  I remember getting that text back stage at a show right before going on.  When I was younger I thought Bruce was cheesy but then I realized the power of the Boss!  I love it all now.  That is a dream set but I don’t think I could take it.  Those are all big time crowd participation songs and I think I’d pass out.  Better throw a Tunnel of Love in there somewhere so we can all get a breather.

 

WM: Lastly, is there any shit you’d like to talk on me for a second? Jokes that I’ve screwed up that you’d like to mock me for, Bruce Springsteen references that fell flat, or my blindness? Have anything else you’d like to plug or call attention to?

S: I would love to call you out on some shit but I’ve got nothing on you man.  You really grossed out my girlfriend when we all went for breakfast and you put four sausages in your mouth at the same time and never broke eye contact with her.  But that wasn’t a mistake, that was inspired!  I’d like to quickly plug my favorite soft drink: Mountain Dew.  It has always been there for me.

 

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