Penance Stare!
Movies
Mercy! With a weak selection of movies opening up this weekend, it makes sense that Ghost Rider could take first place. What’s a little more surprising is that it now has the best opening weekend of 2007 so far, with a take of 44.5 million dollars. That practically guarantees that we’ll see a Ghost Rider 2 in the near future. The only other horror movies holding onto a top ten spot are Hannibal Rising at #7 and The Messengers at #9. Pan’s Labryinth finally gives up its hold on #8 and slips down to #11. Not bad at all for a subtitled film.
I took a bit of a break last week. Not that you’d notice. So quite a few things flew under my radar and is probably old news to the rest of you. One of those items is the story that Robert Rodriguez composed a couple of action cues for Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz, as well as scoring the hilarious Director’s Cut trailer. It’s interesting to see this group of filmmakers all collaborating and assisting one another.
Jay C. of the Documentary Blog brings us the news on The Boy From Out of this World, a new documentary being produced that takes a look at the making of legendary B-Movie Teenagers from Outer Space (thanks, Paul!). It seems that the creators are taking a respectful stance towards the film, though I have my doubts about the involvement of Mike J. Nelson.
Interviews
The Washington Times conducts a short interview with horror comic artist legend Bernie Wrightson.
I’ve read great things about Bob Fingerman’s vampire novel Bottomfeeder, and plan on picking it up in the near future despite my distaste for the sub-genre. But it wasn’t until I read this interview with the author over at Skull Ring that I realized this is the same man who brought us such comics as Minimum Wage and Recess Pieces.
Literature
The Cuny Graduate Center Advocate takes an in-depth look at three of the top-selling horror novels of 2006, Stephen King’s Cell, Scott Smith’s The Ruins and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.
Music
The University Chronicle delves into the world of Horrorcore, hip-hop with a horror twist.
Gaming
A zombie-based MMORPG might work, but I’m not entirely sure this is the way to go.
Real World
It was Valentine’s Day of the Dead in Eugene, Oregon, as hordes of drunken zombies made their way through hospitals, pubs and Starbucks.
February 19th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
I think you mean “Teenagers from Outer Space” rather than “Out of Space.” The film actually has a really fascinating story behind it–I reviewed it for Rue Morgue a little while back and ran across this excelent site while researching the film: http://www.tomgraeff.com/
February 19th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Thanks for the tip, Paul. I’ve noticed that you seem to be Rue Morgue go-to guy for 50’s and 60’s B-movies.
I caught Teenagers from Outer Space on Off Beat Cinema ages ago. After reading some of the behind-the-scene anecdotes I can see why someone would want to make a documentary. It’ll probably be better than the movie itself.
February 20th, 2007 at 2:26 am
Hi, I just wanted to allay your fears about Mike Nelson’s involvement in the project. Many young people today were introduced to B films through MST, and we’re strictly interviewing him about how his show helped to rediscover these films, and why he thinks people are so drawn to them.
I’d also urge you to check out our project blog at http://teenagersfromouterspace.blogspot.com, and coming soon, http://tomgraeff.org, a place where we’re putting up all the information we discover during the project.
tomgraeff.com is a good basic site about the director of the film, but a lot of information is vague due to its affiliation with a book that has yet to be published.
Thanks for your interest in the project!
February 20th, 2007 at 2:29 am
I’d also like to urge you to visit the Wikipedia articles on Teenagers, Tom Graeff, Dawn Bender, and Ursula Pearson!
February 20th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Tomgraeff.com is rather basic, but it certainly rekindled my interest in TFOS, and I’m looking forward to your documentary. Thanks for those links!