Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from October, 2011

FEAR AND LOATHING AT ROCK AND SHOCK

Once again I found myself in good old Worcester, MA for the Rock and Shock Festival. Held every October this combination rock/metal show and horror convention is one of the most fun times you can have. I certainly was in all of my glory with the combination of two things I love dearly. I was really only interested in the Friday night lineup of bands and I saw a bunch of great ones. From THE OCEAN, EARTH CRISIS, OTEP, THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY and the headliner MUSHROOMHEAD; everyone put on a good show. I especially loved seeing Otep Shamaya, Devin Townsend and Max Cavalera; three of my musical and lyrical heroes back to back to back on the same stage. Mind blowing! As I said I had no interest in the other musical acts although a funny thing happened to me the next night when I bumped into some ICP fans. You can read about the loathing part here. You can read about the loathing part here . Max Cavalera leads the way! I spent the rest of my time at the con

FILM REVIEW: RED STATE

Written and Directed by Kevin Smith (Harvey Boys/Smodcast Pictures) Right in time for Halloween is one of the most suspenseful movies I have ever seen in the form of Kevin Smith's new movie, RED STATE. Earlier this year Smith (CLERKS, CHASING AMY, DOGMA) caused an uproar at The Sundance Film Festival when he announced he was going to stop making films entirely. He took his finished film on a D.I.Y. tour across the country, holding his now familiar Q&A sessions to raise money to release it himself. I took in the film some months back at a screening At The Wilbur Theater hosted by Smith. Between the tour, pre-release paid VOD viewers and special packages , he has already made back his money in time for a limited wide-release. Michael Parks as Rev. Abin Cooper Based on the controversial Westboro Baptist Church and their leader Fred Phelps , Coopers Dell is set in the rural Middle America and is home to the Five Points Church. Led by fanatical Rev. Abin Cooper whose view

OCTOBER MEANS HALLOWEEN

Next to Thanksgiving, Halloween has always been my favorite time of the year. I celebrate the entire month long in some form or another. Decorating the house, watching horror movies, costume parties, various parades, haunted houses and of course candy too. Halloween in the hood was a bit of a mixed bag for a me growing up as a kid. My family always decorated the house. My mom made individual candy bags to give out. For a costume I often wore a homemade get up, like being a clown or a cat. One year I got a “fancy” Spider-Man costume from Woolworth's . Oh those suffocating plastic masks with strangulating rubber bands and costumes made of sweaty plastic. My costume was torture, but I was so happy. Growing up in the “ Summer of Sam ” my dad had to take us around for candy. Older kids would go “bag snatching” “egg bombing” or other forms of mischief to terrorize little ones. Halloween also means horror films! I grew up on the classic Universal Monster movies , from there it was