Author: Saintmort

Host of Horror Movie Night and Christmas 365 Producer of One Hit Thunder and My Favorite Episode Of

The Saint Mort Show Episode 28: Canadian Invasion featuring Charlie Chan and Josh Ireson of With Life in Mind

by Saintmort

This week I got to sit down with guests Charlie Chan and Josh Ireson. I’ve known both of these guys for a couple years so it was fun to discuss past shows, hang outs and urban legends. It’s a more personal episode, I hope y’all don’t mind!

SHOW NOTES:
Team Goldie’s Website
With Life In Mind’s Facebook
Charlie Chan Entertainment
Roots in Stereo Facebook
Fowl Play Website

Be sure to check out my twitter, Facebook group and blog!

Find Us on iTunes

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()

Guilty Pleasures: Mother’s Day (1980)

by Saintmort

I love Troma. This is not an unknown fact. I’ve always loved Troma, since I was a young kid and watched Toxic Crusaders. The first thing that truly scared the shit out of me was when I was a little kid at my uncle’s house and I saw the cover of Toxic Avenger and immediately recognized Toxie. I put it on and was terrified by the mutation sequence as well as a scene where Toxie pokes someone’s eyeballs out.

In Junior High I rediscovered Troma when I borrowed my friend’s copy of the movie and watched the entire film. It was great. Tits, Gore… really nothing to not love. I began collecting all the Troma titles I could, buying all the Lloyd Kaufman books and on a couple occasions met Lloyd (I even had him as a guest on my podcast The Saint Mort Show).

That being said even I can say that their films aren’t all winners. Kaufman has a pretty flawless career, but most of the films that they acquire don’t reach the bar of excellence that Lloyd is able to achieve. For every Cannibal the Musical there’s a ten Newlydeads.

However one of the most impressive films in their collection is Mother’s Day, directed by Kaufman’s brother Charlie.  The film is a demented backwoods slasher film made in 1980 talks about a road trip from hell.

Three college friends take their yearly trip together. This year their trip is a camping trip, however it’s quickly ruined when they’re kidnapped by two boys and their demented mother. The rest of the film is the two brothers beating and raping the women based on their mother’s demands and guidance.

While the film was released after rape revenge films like Last House on the Left and I Spit on Your Grave, it was released the same year as Friday the 13th (ironically filmed at the same time and at the same location). Both films pushed the limits of slasher film gore at the time, however Friday the 13th’s wider release has lead to it being hailed as a masterpiece while the far more disturbing Mother’s Day has become nothing more than a unknown masterpiece in the Troma Library.

It’s definitely not for everybody, but if horror is for you, this is a must-see. Lloyd and the rest of the Troma team have also been praising the remake which comes to DVD tomorrow.

MCA Dead at 47; but the Right to Party Continues…

by Saintmort

Today is a sad day for the world of hip-hop. 1/3 of the one of the greatest (if not the greatest) hip-hop groups ever has passed. While the details on Adam “MCA” Yauch’s death are scarce we think it’s safe to assume that his long battle with cancer is the culprit.

What does this mean for music or hip-hop? Right now. It means nothing. MCA (with Mike D and King Ad Rock) fought for our right to party, and succeeded. While the group admittedly hated their most known song and refused to play it live, it was a game changer (much like everything else in the bands decade spanning career).

What started off as hardcore punk band between Adam and Mike Diamond (Mike D) eventually involved into one of the most influencial and important hip-hop groups ever (Only comparable to Run DMC and N.W.A.).

The Beastie Boys exploded in 1986 with their ground-breaking debut Licensed to Ill which took the Run DMC’s mix of rock and rap found on Raising Hell to the next level. The album even featured guitar playing from Slayer’s Kerry King on their single “No Sleep Til Brooklyn”.

Three years later the trio made a dangerous decision. Instead of making their follow-up album a carbon copy of their massive debut they crafted the greatest rap record in history. Paul’s Boutique was a flop by all standards when it was released, but now the weird sample heavy album has even been called the Sgt. Pepper of Hip Hop (which makes sense since The Beatles were sampled a few times on it).

After a three year break the Boys exploded in popularity throughout the 90’s with Check Your Head, Ill Communications and Hello Nasty. The group was never one to repeat themselves. They’d pick up their instruments and record their own beats for Check Your Head, they’re record straight hardcore punk songs and release them as singles (Sabatoge) and they’d experiment with all types of different styles with Hello Nasty.

In the 2000’s their experimentation continued to grew with the release of The Mix-Up (an all instrumental jam album) and the Concert movie Awesome, I Fucking Shot That! where 50 audience members received camcorders at their 2004 Madison Square Garden Concert and became the ‘directors’ of the concert film.

In 2009 they planned to release the album Hot Sauce Committee Part 1, however when Adam Yauch was diagnosed with cancer the album was pushed back multiple times until finally getting it’s release last year (with the name changed to Hot Sauce Committee Part 2). The album proved that the Beasties were still relevant and the most energetic performers out there.

So what does the death of MCA mean for the group? I love the Beastie Boys but to me this is the end of the band. The three piece will never find a new MCA and touring and recording as a duo won’t work. Run DMC hung up their microphones after the Death of their DJ Jam Master Jay. I can almost guarantee that the surviving Beasties will take a note from their hip-hop mentors.

It is a sad for the hip-hop community and the music world. The Beastie Boys allowed people like Eminem and Atmosphere to exist in today’s music. The best story of the group I read in a Rolling Stone magazine about the 500 greatest groups in music. Reverend Run told a story about the Beastie Boys touring with DMC and Public Enemy. He described the first show of the tour as being in the deep south and the whole tour thinking “This crowd is going to kill these three white boys.” Instead they stole the show.

“Real respects Real” said the Reverend. “They weren’t white guys acting black, they were white guys rapping about their lives. They rapped about White Castle burgers, Beer and Chicks.” Plus they were pretty damn good at doing it.

Below is a live performance they group did on Letterman in 2004 to promote To the 5 Boroughs. I think it best shows (a) why 3 Jewish White guys showed the world what Rap can sound like and (b) the level of imaginative and creative performances that will be sorely missed.

The Saint Mort Show Episode 27: Tromatized featuring Lily Bee and Fabien Matorell

by Saintmort

Episode 27 Matt interviews Fabien Matorell about his Lloyd Kaufman documentary Tromatized and musician Lily Bee.

I was tired while recording the ‘between segments’ so I apologize to the audience for the hushed talking and special apologies to Lily Bee for setting up the audio incorrectly so it sounds like us talking in two separate rooms with a single microphone sitting in the middle of the hallway.

SHOW NOTES:

TEAM GOLDIE’S WEBSITE
TROMATIZED SITE
FOWL PLAY’S WEBSITE
HARLEY POE’S WEBSITE
LILY BEE’S WEBSITE
PUNCHY’S PILOTS’ SITE
JOE WHITEFORD OF HARLEY POE’S EPISODE OF SAINT MORT SHOW

Read some fun stories about the recording of this episode at my blog – PureMattitude.com

Find Us on iTunes

Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()

New Amazing Spiderman Trailer Released

by Saintmort

Today a new trailer for Amazing Spiderman was released. I’m excited for this movie and refuse to watch any trailers to keep my excitement high and “what I know” low. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch the trailer… JUST DON’T TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS!


LA LA LA LA LA LA I’M NOT LISTENING

Guilty Pleasures: Comic Book The Movie

by Saintmort

This weekend we will see the release of The Avengers. It’s a great time to be a geek right now. Just ten years ago no one would have guessed we’d live in a world where superhero films were acceptable to the point that not only was there an Avengers film but Thor, Iron Man and discussions on Dr. Strange and Antman.

Bizarrely enough, Mark Hamill predicted these changes back in 2004. In his direct-to-DVD mockumentry Comic Book: The Movie Mark plays Donald Swan, a history teacher/comic shop owner and in charge of the official fan club for Commander Courage. Due to the popularity of the Spider-Man movie a major studio is making a film on Commander Courage (inspired obviously by Captain America) and have hired Donald as a creative consultant.

However since September 11th they’ve decided to update Commander Courage from a Nazi fighting patriot into a Terrorist killing soldier named Codename Courage. Donald hates this change where they’ve made Courage more modern, edgy, took away his secret Identity and changed his sidekick Liberty Lad into the sexy Liberty Lass.

The studio gives Donald an opportunity to film a documentary about the Codename: Commander announcement at Comic Con, while Donald tries to use this opportunity to prove to the studio that they should make a Commander Courage film that’s a period piece with him fighting nazis.

The film is amusing enough to kill an hour and a half but what’s far more impressive is how Hamill nailed the future of Comic Con before it occurred. The movie executive going with Donald to the Con could careless about the comics or the fans of the character. He just wants to show up, make an announcement and leave.

Mark also takes this opportunity to write a true love letter to fandom. He captures the entire comic con experience with plenty of cos-players, screaming Troma characters, lots of free stuff and the parents keeping their kids awake to ensure they don’t miss any panels. Donald gives a passionate speech about how his favorite aspect of fandom is the passionate arguments between trivial things like “How’s better Gray or Green Hulk”.

The film doesn’t always hit but it does have it’s moments. The cast is basically made up of voice actors and celebrity cameos (including Stan Lee, Hugh Hefner and Kevin Smith). Kevin Smith parodies his infamous Superman Script incident discussing how his first draft of Commander Courage the studio demanded a Giant Mechanical Spider and also has the line “Nazis are better than terrorists, they have an easier to make fun of accent”.

Donald Swan even discusses how much better Pearl Harbor would be had it been a Commander Courage film. But the funniest character in the film and scene stealer is Ricky the Camera Guy played by Jess Harnell (Animaniacs). Ricky is a rocker/stoner who just wants to meet the Hulk while at comic con. Donald takes him under his wing to try to teach him how beautiful the world of Comic Con truly is.

The film didn’t get much critical review due to being a Direct-To-DVD film, however the fan ratings on rottentomatoes averaged out to a pitiful 38%. The fact is the film is made for a very specific person (a comic book fan), you need to understand this world to appreciate this world. With that in mind, watch this before seeing the Avengers.

Comic Book: The Movie is currently available on Netflix Instant Watch

When he’s not watching straight to DVD movies Matt can be found tweeting, writing in his blog Pure Mattitude and hosting is podcast The Saint Mort Show.

The Saint Mort Show: Oh Shit featuring Todd Edwards and Wordburglar

by Saintmort

Episode 26 Matt interviews Todd Edwards who co-wrote and directed the animated film Hoodwinked and Canadian rapper Wordburglar. He also plays music from The World, Lily Bee, June Divided and premieres and song from listener Raja

SHOW NOTES:
– Saint Mort Show Episode 25

– Todd Edwards IMDb Page

– Wordburglar’s site

– Link To Raja’s Youtube

– June Divided Site

– Link to Beyonce by The World

– Lily Bee’s Music Page

 

Find Us on iTunes

Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()

Guilty Pleasures: The Incredible Mr. Limpet

by Saintmort

There is no actor left quite like Don Knotts. Where most actors are willing to occasionally play the lovable wimp in a film or two, Don Knotts dedicated his entire career to it. The Incredible Mr. Limpet was my first introduction to this creative and unique comedic mind. Much like Captain America, the film tells the story of a weakling who wants to help his country in the war. The difference is Steve Rogers became a strong super solider and Mr. Limpet became a talking fish.

During the war Henry Limpet wants to join the navy and fight for his country but his eyesight and weak body disqualifies him. The only thing Henry loves more than his country is fish. Henry has hundreds of pet fish which drives his wife Bessie crazy and his friend George thinks is just plain weird.

One day when he’s feeling at his worse he stares into the lake and wishing he was a fish. Suddenly he falls in the water and is transformed… for no explainable reason. There wasn’t toxic waste, or blue fairy… just Limpet’s heart’s desire.

The US navy quickly decides that a talking and patriotic fish is exactly what they need to stop the nazis.

Limpet falls in love with a female fish (creatively named Lady-Fish) and we can only assume Fish sex occurs in the future. This is a weird aspect of semi-beastality, but that’s not unseen for this movie. The film makes quite a few logic leaps and is constantly just barely scraping the belly of being entertaining or interesting.

I think if you were reading this it’s easy for you to assume that I hate this movie, but I don’t. I’m sure nostalgia is part of it there’s something charming about the sincerity to the ridiculousness of the movie. Sure there’s plenty of goofy double takes throughout but there’s also straight faced discussions of the importance of this fish’s contribution to the war. Regardless of the film’s faults it remains a nostalgic favorite of mine and apparently for many others as well.

Since the 90’s they considered remaking it. The first attempt had Jim Carrey in mind (which is as good of a casting choice as you could hope for you). That film never happened but it recently was discussed as Zach Galifianakis vehicle (which seems more like a joke than a sincere casting decision) although with Kevin Lima (A Goofy Movie) directing it might have been decent. Both Lima and Galifianakis dropped out and now it’s currently being discussed with Richard Linklater as the director which makes absolutely no sense.

Despite it’s very average 50% rating on rotten tomatoes the film helped to launch Don Knotts’ career from a TV star to a movie star. It also lead to him acting in far superior films including my personal favorite Knotts film The Ghost & Mr. Chicken.

The Incredible Mr. Limpet is currently on Instant Watch, go rediscover it!

 

When Matt Kelly isn’t defending animated fish comedies of the 60’s he’s blogging, tweeting and producing his podcast the Saint Mort Show (check out this week’s episode with Joe Whiteford and Chad Neidt)

The Muppets 2 will be a Caper!

by Saintmort

In an interview with Movieline Nicholas Stoller said that the next Muppet film will be a Caper in a similar vein of The Great Muppet Caper.  He was quoted saying “I think it’s similar to the first one in that the first one certainly had dramatic connections to the first Muppet movie, but it was a whole new thing, hopefully… This is the same thing. We love The Great Muppet Caper and we love Muppets Take Manhattan and whatnot. So this has some elements of that, but it’s different because it’s in the tone of what James and I like to do.”

I am particularly excited because this means that they read the article I wrote last month.

The Saint Mort Show Episode 25: Hit Me With Your Rickshaw featuring Joe Whiteford of Harley Poe and Chad Neidt

by Saintmort

Episode 25 Matt introduces a new format, discusses his elementary school bullying, interviews Joe Whiteford of Calibretto 13 and Harley Poe, Chad Neidt of one minute mash ups and Molly Mahan performs a song about her San Diego Comic Con trip

SHOW NOTES:

Fowl Play’s Facebook
Facts Facebook
Wordburglar Facebook
Harley Poe’s Facebook
Joe’s Blog
Chad’s Youtube Page

Find Us on iTunes

Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()

First Look at Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock

by Saintmort

I guess I’m out of the loop because until this picture of Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock today I had no clue there was a bio-pic in the works. Having seen the impressive transformation I’m very excited for this film now! From Fox Searchlight’s blog:

Hitchcock is planned for a 2013 release and also stars Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh, Jessica Biel as Vera Miles as well as Helen Mirren, Danny Huston, Toni Collette and Kurtwood Smith. James D’Arcy plays Psycho star Anthony Perkins.

Guilty Pleasures: Bunny Whipped

by Saintmort

How was everyone’s Easter? Did the bunny give you quality eggs and chocolates and marshmallow peeps? In honor of that big fluffy guy I decided that the newest Guilty Pleasure should be on a film that’s hard to find in stores but available on DVD for $0.25 new. 2007’s Bunny Whipped starring Joey Lauren Adams and Esteban Powell (whoever he is).

I heard of this movie when the mom and pops video store I worked at received a copy in the mail. I’m pretty sure I was the only person to ever rent it and most likely the only person that would have enjoyed it anyway.

Released straight to DVD a year before Marvel released Kick-Ass and three years before James Gunn made the brilliant Super (but 13 years after Blankman) comes Bunny Whipped, your typical everyday man becomes superhero movie. While Kick-Ass and Super try to show the realistic aspects of becoming a superhero, Bunny Whipped just uses it as an excuse to show off some weird side-characters.

This is not a good movie. I’ll admit it, but here at Guilty Pleasures we take the good with the bad (not unlike the facts of life). Bob Whipple is a sportswriter (never shown writing a column or going to an office building) who decides to become a super hero after white rapper Cracker Jack is murdered under mysterious circumstances. He becomes The Whip. Not only is his superhero name not creative but he goes on TV repeatedly as ‘Bob Whipple AKA the Whip – Superhero/Sportswriter’. It kind of defeats the purpose of an alias.

Bob is played by Esteban Powell who is so painfully bad in this role there are points I wondered if he wrote and directed the movie as well (it’s clearly an indie film so that wouldn’t be the least bit shocking). He did not however, those titles both belong to Rafael Riera who has yet to make a follow up film.

While the filmmaking and acting is shabby and rough at best, the movie is actually entertaining and better than it had any right to be. The best humor being all the rap related battles whether it’s Cracker Jack (who is murdered in concert while singing his song I’ve Been Shot so the audience doesn’t realize he’s killed til later), the Rick James look-a-like Kenny Kent (who’s song Lonely at the Top (the wah wah wah wah song) is getting terrible reviews) or Cracker Jack’s best friend Dirty old Skank’s tribute song to Cracker’s memory ‘Tap Dat Ass’ the jokes are better than the actor’s rap skills (which admittedly isn’t hard).

Elements of the movie are trying too hard to be quirky (like the beauty model ‘Miss Most Awesomely Awesome’) it mostly hits more than it flops.

Finally much like Chasing Amy the film manages to make you fall in love with Joey Lauren Adams even though her face looks 30 years older than the rest of her and she sounds like an 80’s cartoon character. However when Joey Lauren Adams is the biggest name you have in your movie, you know you’re working on a tight budget.

P5YCH A Movie Horror Fans Should Be Supporting

by Saintmort

On the most recent episode of The Saint Mort Show I got to sit down with Matthew Currie Holmes and Tracy Morse who co-wrote the film P5YCH. After talking to these guys I immediately was impressed by their fandom and never-ending fountain of knowledge of horror films.

In a period of cinema where almost all of the horror movies are either sequels and reboots, Matthew and Tracy have found a way to create the most unique way to ‘reboot’ a film. P5YCH tells the story of five survivors, they’ve each experienced a truly traumatic event that was later turned into a hit horror film (Halloween, Friday the 13th Part 3, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Sleepaway Camp).

Now these survivors have to face the ghosts of their past. With Matthew and Tracy writing and past guest Rebekah McKendry acting as producer this film seem like a can’t lose product.

Check out the trailer, visit their website and donate to their Kickstarter! This is the unique film horror fans have been waiting for.

The Saint Mort Show BONUS EPISODE 24: Matthew Currie Holmes and Tracy Morse from P5YCH

by Saintmort

Episode 24 is a bonus episode in which I talk to Matthew Currie Holmes and Tracy Morse of the upcoming horror film P5YCH. The film seems like a really awesome idea, so donate to their Kickstarter so I can see the movie.

Also at the end of the episode is a live cover of Train’s “Hey Soul Sister” performed by Meg and Matt (my band with past guest Meg Moyer). You can hear the full live show here.

 

*Apologies for the rough audio in the first minute, I’m getting a new board this week*

Find Us on iTunes

Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()

Jim Henson’s Original Muppet Show Pitch

by Saintmort

I’m not sure who first posted this video today, but I discovered it through Liquid Squid and the Muppets subreddit. Regardless of who shared it first, it’d be a travesty for us here at Geekscape to not also share it with you guys!

Now for people in their 20’s/30’s it’s hard to even imagine that there was a time where Jim Henson couldn’t just say ‘I want to do this’ and people would hand him money, felt and cameras. But in the 70’s Henson was seen as only marketable to small children. He had a dream of making the Muppets a household name that was accessible to all ages. Thus the Muppet Show was born. This was the pitch video he sent out.

There is so much that works in this video. The patriotic music, the increasing excitement of the host, the fourth wall breaking. Regardless CBS (among other studios) turned the project down. It wasn’t until Lew Grade (head of British Commercial Station ATV) offered Henson money to make the project a reality and giving us the Muppet Show we know and love today!

Guilty Pleasures: American Pie – Naked Mile

by Saintmort

American Reunion is coming out this weekend and I couldn’t be more excited. I love the American Pie movies. This is nothing new. Most people love the American Pie Trilogy (or at the very least the groundbreaking original). I can already hear Shane O’hare going… “oh man his newest guilty pleasure is American Pie? What’s next Star Wars?” (Suck my dick Shane). You see, my love of AP surpasses most. Most people don’t own all seven American Pie movies.

Yes that’s right seven.

Now I can’t defend them all. Band Camp (part 4) and Book of Love (part 7) are pretty terrible while Beta House (Part 6) is enjoyable enough but Naked Mile (Part 5) is a legitimately fun movie.

Erik Stifler has a difficult life. He’s a senior in High School, he’s a virgin and he’s a Stifler. The name gives him a reputation to uphold. Erik has been dating Tracey for two years but she’s not ready for sex.

Erik’s best friends Cooze and Ryan decide to make a trip up to his cousin Dwight’s in Michigan for his college’s Naked Mile event. Tracey gives Erik a ‘Guilt Free Pass’ to get sex out of his system and his friends have ever intention of making him follow through on it.

At it’s heart Naked MIle is a good teen sex comedy (which typically doesn’t have a very high standard anyway). In fact if it has any fault at all it’s that it tries too hard to be part of the American Pie canon. You could easily have created the same movie without calling him Erik Stifler and in 5-10 minutes establish a family history of bizarre and plentiful sexual history. But let’s face it you don’t watch a sex comedy for the story lines (which has a hall pass plot line 4 years before the movie Hall Pass came out), you watch it for the nudity.

Naked Mile has without a doubt the most nudity of any American Pie film (not surprising since Naked is in the title). So in that respect it’s cheaper than buying a porno and it’ll remind you of your junior high years of jerking off to Fast Times At Ridgemont High (or maybe that was just me).

Eugene Levy appears in the film (because let’s face it, he’ll do anything for a paycheck) and he’s hilarious (when isn’t he). His character (as he has been throughout the whole Direct-To-DVD series) continues to drop us little pieces of info about Jim and Michele, in this film he says that he’s now a grandfather (and the trailers for American Reunion show Jim and Michele with their kids).

Do jokes fail? Sure plenty of them do. But many of them are quite funny. Some of the performances are pretty rough but Steve Talley’s performance of Dwight Stifler is pretty solid and the reason why the decided to follow these characters a second time in Beta House.

The movie had Eugene Levy, Midgets, shit tons of nudity and a drinking game that killed a guy you get exactly what you pay for with American Pie Presents: Naked Mile.Suck in the films gloriousness.

APRIL FOOLS! Michael Bay to Direct Bucky O’Hare Movie

by Saintmort

This was an April Fools joke… but it will still probably happen one day exactly as written!

Sunbow Productions has officially announced their plans to work with Michael Bay on a live action Bucky O’Hare film. Bucky O’Hare was created in 1978 by Larry Harna and Michael Golden. The comic and TV series told of a parallel universe (the Aniverse) and a war between the United Animals Federation and the Toad Empire. However Michael Bay has a different idea:

“The Aliens that are talking earth animals is becoming a played out idea,” said the director/producer/explosion enthusiast. “What we’re thinking is that perhaps it’s possible that ordinary animals like toads, bunnies and duckies could be mutated by some type of toxic waste.”

How’s that for irony? Oh, Michael. You’ll never learn… What do you guys think?

Guilty Pleasures: Afroman

by Saintmort

There are plenty of songs that were number one hits that are beyond confusing. For starters you’re not going to see me defending Los Del Rio or Right Said Fred anytime soon. The fact is there are two types of one hit wonders, ones that deserve the title (Baha Men, Gerardo) and once’s that don’t (Harvey Danger, The New Radicals) despite what 99.9% of the music world will have you believe Afroman belongs in the latter group.

In the summer of 2001 you couldn’t avoid the hit single Because I Got High. The comedic song about a man who’s life has crumbled do to his marijuana abuse was easily the hit of the summer. It started as an independent release that got big thanks to Napster. It caught the ear of Howard Stern who made the song a huge hit and got Afroman signed to Universal Records. The song was featured in multiple films (most popularly in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back).

The song was ‘released’ on Afroman’s “debut” album The Good Times. The album was actually a compilation of the best songs off Afroman’s first three independent albums. The follow up single Crazy Rap didn’t chart as well as Universal had anticipated and Afroman was quickly dropped. However he still records and releases independent albums to this day (most recently 2009’s Frobama: Head of State his 13th album).

So why am I defending Afroman? What possible reason could I give to support his music?

Well for starters it’s fucking hilarious. Because I Got High was a funny novelty song sure but the real gold is on the rest of the album. Songs like Crazy Rap (where Afroman raps about every girl he’s had sex with for 6 minutes) or She Won’t Let Me Fuck have a delightfully perverted sense of humor. What makes the whole album extra ridiculous is that when he’s rapping (Palmdale) or singing (Hush) he’s above average at both.

Admittedly the subject matter never extends from either Drugs (Tumbleweed), Sex (Crazy Rap) or Alcohol (Let’s All Get Drunk), but that is part of the appeal. I remember when the album first came out reading an interview with Afroman (aka Joseph Foreman) and he said that the persona of Afroman was a satirical version of all the stereotypes of black culture. THis is most clear in the song Tall Cans where he repeatedly talks about ‘Walking down the street with some chicken and forty’.

So if Afroman is so great? Why haven’t I heard of him (or his 13 albums) in years? After the success of The Good Times, Afroman got out of his six record contact with Universal Records. And in 2004 began releasing his independent records starting with Afroholic…The Even Better Times. Afroholic is a double disc album packed with parodies of songs like the Cheers Theme (Nobody Knows Your Name) and Jack and Diana (Jackin Afroman) which tell various reasons why he left Universal as well as original new songs.

There’s multiple reason Afroman gives for leaving the label (He didn’t like the fame, Universal took all of his money) but I think the song Whack Rappers shows that his biggest issue was with hip-hop himself.

Despite the obscurity the rapper continues to be popular in Underground hip-hop. He has appeared at the Gathering of the Juggalos and even performed guitar with one of my favorite bands Eels. Turns out he’s also a good guitarist.

Tell us about your guilty pleasures in the official guilty pleasures thread.

I write blogs, I podcast, I tweet, I Make Music I am Matt Kelly.

Who’s The Animal Now? Travis Barker Vs. Animal Drum Battle on Jimmy Kimmel

by Saintmort

As Jimmy Kimmel has continually proved, his talk show is one of the most bizarre and interesting late night experiences. This is a man who did full episodes dressed (and acting) like Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien. Most recently he had Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem as musical guests to promote the newly released DVD/Blu-Ray of The Muppets. Joining everything’s favorite felt funk rock group is Travis Barker (drummer of about 10 bands but mostly known for his work with Blink 182). Barker and Electric Teeth Drummer Animal break into a pretty fantastic drum battle in the middle of their hit 1979 song “Can You Picture That?”

Five Things We Want to See in the Muppets Sequel

by Saintmort

Let’s face it, regardless of the weak ending and occasional plot holes, The Muppets was the most fun you probably had watching a movie last year. With an almost unheard of Rotten Tomatoes rating of 96%, it’s safe to say that more people enjoyed the movie than disliked it. For some people it was their first Muppet experience while others it was a breath of fresh air to hardcore Muppet fans who had to deal with 10 years of terrible made-for-TV movies. I loved the film so much I even wrote an open letter to Jason Segel thanking him.

That being said, the film is far from perfect. The DVD came out today and when you re-watch it you are going to see random things that don’t hold up well a second time. But I still love the Muppets, as has been evident multiple times on this site.

A few weeks ago it was announced that cowriter and star Jason Segel won’t be returning for this film. While it saddens me, it made me excited that a sequel was in the works. Hopefully Disney puts it in the right hands and I can only hope that those people read this article because here’s what we want to see in the next Muppet movie.

1. PAUL WILLIAMS AND BRET MACKENZIE

Paul Williams Still AliveBret McKenzie did a fantastic job writing songs for The Muppets, although a few of them (Me Party for example) sound more like a Flight of the Conchords than the Muppets. Regardless he’s one of the best muppet songwriters since Jeff Moss and Paul Williams. While Jeff Moss is deceased, Paul Williams is Still Alive. It would be a Muppet fans dream for Williams to write a new song for our favorite pieces of felt. Williams wrote all the songs for The Muppet Movie one of the greatest cinema soundtracks ever and Paul WIlliams was robbed an Oscar at the 52nd Academy Awards. Perhaps Bret McKenzie can use his magic to give him his well-deserved Muppet-Themed award.

2. NO STAR (BESIDES THE MUPPETS AND YOUR VILLAIN)

As much as I love Jason Segel, there was too much of him in the Muppets. I understand the importance of having big named stars like Jason Segel and Amy Adams in this movie was to bring people into the theater to make the Muppets stars again. Well mission accomplished. The Muppets are stars again. Let’s treat them as such. I’m a Muppets purist and I’m a firm believer that at the end of the day The Muppets are the star. The only other star needs to be the villain.

3. THE MUPPETS NEED TO BE ACTORS, NOT THEMSELVES

The Muppets was very similar to 1977’s The Muppet Movie. For starters they both have Rainbow Connection in them, but more so than that they both follow the Muppets rise. The Muppet Movie tells of how they all met and The Muppets tells how they all reunite. Well now it’s time for us to get a Great Muppet Caper or a Muppets Take Manhattan out of them. This film needs to be a Muppet movie, not a movie about the Muppets. Make Fozzie and Kermit twin brothers again that work for a newspaper company like in Great Muppet Caper. Perhaps have them fresh out of college like Muppets Take Manhattan. Whatever it is, don’t make another The Muppets.

4. GET BETTER USE OUT OF THE CAMEOS

While The Muppets brought us back the time honored tradition of Muppet films being filled with cameos, most of them left something to be desired. Most of the cameos in the film are quick and don’t use the actor/actress to it’s fullest level. As much as I love the movie, the cameos added as much comedy to the movie as ‘random flashbacks’ add plot line to an episode of Family Guy.

Let’s take a look at 1977’s The Muppet Movie. We have a brilliant sequence with Steven Martin

That’s Steve Martin playing a very Steve Martin type character and interacting with the Muppets. In the new film we see people like Neil Patrick Harris, Mickey Rooney, Sarah Silverman and Feist but not only are they in the film for microseconds… they don’t interact with the muppets or even say or do anything funny or memorable, they’re treated like famous extras more than celebrity cameos.

For this next film we need to see big names like John Hamm, Conan O’Brien and Adele playing parodies of themselves, weird characters and more importantly interacting with the Muppets (be it selling a car or serving them food).

5. MORE 80’S ROBOT

Nuff Said

 

When he’s not Talking Muppets, Matt Kelly is writing in his blog Pure Mattitude, Tweeting and hosting his podcast The Saint Mort Show.

Guilty Pleasures: 17 Again

by Saintmort

Every once and a while a movie gets a bad rep strictly do to an actor’s past career. I mean after Batman & Robin did anyone really trust George Clooney? Not really but his career since has been paved in great performances and memorable movies. Zac Efron at this point was only known as the kid from High School Musical. So before this film even came out, the demographic who’d probably laugh the hardest already had turned their back on this film. None of this actually mattered as the film grossed 136 million dollars and only cost 20 million to make.

Most of the movies I pick for Guilty Pleasures tend to have awful rotten tomatoes ratings, 17 Again rests at a 55%, not great but not terrible. The reason I’m defending this one is that as I already said most of the people who would laugh the hardest at this movie have already written it off.

17 Again DVD

The movie begins in 1989 (you know because they’re playing Bust a Move by Young MC) as Mike O’Donnell prepares for the big basketball game. Mike is the star player and there are some talent scouts in attendance. However when he finds out that his girlfriend Scarlett is pregnant he leaves the game in order to be with her. The movie begins like a typical 80’s comedy ends.

We just two twenty years later. Scarlett is preparing to divorce him and Mike is forced to live with his nerdy best friend Ned Gold. He then loses his job and the respect of his children Maggie and Alex. When he’s life seems at it’s worse a mysterious janitor turns him into his 17 year old self.

Mike takes advantage of this chance to restart his life and attends his kid’s high school under the alias Mark Gold (posing as Ned’s son). Mike befriends his kids in order to be near Scarlett. Maggie begins to fall in love with him which creates some of the strangest potential incest in recent history.

This all seems like cliche’ high school teen flick/fantasy, and for the most part it is. In fact the film should be mediocre at best, but it’s not and it’s not because of one man, Thomas Lennon. The former member of The State plays Ned Gold, Mike O’Donnell rich but nerdy best friend.

Thomas_Lennon_Landspeeder_17_Again
Thomas Lennon Sleeps in Style

His character is everything that we wish to be as nerds. A Landspeeder bed, every video game system and well… loaded. Any second he’s on film is absolutely hilarious and thankfully they packed the film with him. Unlike a show like Big Bang Theory there’s never a point where he feels like a mocking of geekdom, his character is smart and successful (though slightly socially awkward).

If you’ve been avoiding this movie assuming it’s High School Musical 4 then you’re wrong and need to give this movie a chance.

Tell use about your guilty pleasure in the official thread

When he’s not watching Zac Efron movies Matt Kelly is writing in his blog Pure Mattitude, Tweeting and hosting his podcast The Saint Mort Show.

Saint Mort Show Episode 23: Does Anyone Want Some Coffee? Featuring Dave Traverso, Leah Cevoli (Robot Chicken) and Eric Violette (FreeCreditReport.com Band)

by Saintmort

Episode 23 sees Matt sitting down with blogger and film critic Dave Traverso and interviewing Leah Cevoli (Robot Chicken) and Eric Violette (FreeCreditReport.com Band)

Find Us on iTunes

Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()

Guilty Pleasures: Leprechaun 2

by Saintmort

This week we will be celebrating Saint Paddy’s day. So it’s not like I had a choice to NOT do a Leprechaun film this year. It’d be like not doing a Silent Night, Deadly Night film come Christmas Time. However the question is each film should I pick?

Let’s go back to how I define a guilty pleasure. For me the best definition was in Chuck Klosterman’s book Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs when it was defined as ‘something you say you like ironically when you legitimately enjoy it’. Furthermore we have to remember  that everything I cover comes from my massive collection of DVDs and CDs (most of which would embarrass the average person). So right off the bat I must remove Leprechaun, Leprechaun in the Hood and Leprechaun Back 2 the Hood as they managed to get 28% and higher freshness on rottentomatoes. No I must dig deeper to Leprechaun in Space or Leprechaun 2… both with a 0% rating. Most people enjoy Leprechaun in Space since it’s just ridiculous enough to be entertaining, so that leaves Leprechaun 2 which is personally my favorite of the entire film series.

Leprechaun 2
A Classy DVD Cover if I ever saw one

Leprechaun 2 (also known as One Wedding and Lots of Funerals… I can’t make this shit up) begins on St. Patrick’s day 1094, on our titular character’s one thousandth birthday. On this day he can pick any woman to be his bride, he chooses the daughter of his slave. In an act of fatherly love he stops the Leprechaun from completing his spell. The Leprechaun declares that in 1000 more years he will enslave the next child in the blood line before killing his slave.

Well it seems the Leprechaun was one hundred years early in this declaration as the film takes to 1994. The Leprechaun immediately finds the youngest in his old slaves bloodline Bridget Callum and kidnaps her. It’s up to her boyfriend Cody and his alcoholic uncle Morty to rescue her.

The movie is packed with plot holes, bad acting and stupid twists. So why is it my favorite Leprechaun movie? Two Words. Death Scenes. When it comes to horror the more interesting, innovative and sometimes funny the death scenes are, the better the movie.

Two of my favorite death scenes in any film appear in this b-level sequel. The first one involves a boy coming to seduce Bridget. Using his magical powers the Leprechaun creates the illusion of Bridget naked begging the boy to kiss her breasts (and what lovely breasts they are, kudos to the stand-in). As he leans in to kiss them the breasts turn into a pair of lawnmower blades that promptly tear his face to shreds.

Later in the film drunk uncle Morty makes a deal with Leprechaun where he’ll set him free if he grants him a wish. For his wish he asks for the Leprechaun’s Pot of Gold, and he gets it. The pot of gold begins to grow inside of his stomach. It’s a pretty interesting special effect where you see his stomach grow like the Octomom. He begs the Leprechaun to take the Gold out of him, so he slices open his chest and removes it.

Leprechaun 2 Stomach
It's like straight out of Wishmaster

The Leprechaun films should always be taken with a grain of salt. It’s hard to sit down and watch one of these films with high expectations, you pretty much either get what you expected and enjoy yourself, or you find yourself extremely bored.

Leprechaun 2 hits the right horror notes (which is rare for a Leprechaun film) and hits the right comedy notes (which is rare for early 90’s horror movies).  Unlike the previous film it plays up the gore and the comedy, however the future films focused too much both of these elements that the films lose some of it’s appeal. Due to the the fact that film just barely broke even box office wise, this was the last of the Leprechaun films to get a theatric release.

With cameo’s from Tony Curtis and Clint Howard and a sequence involving a bar full of midgets dressed like Leprechauns you know this is a worth at least one viewing.

Tell us about your favorite Guilty Pleasure in the official Guilty Pleasures Thread.

When he’s not watching some of the worst sequels of all time Matt Kelly can be found tweeting, hosting his podcast The Saint Mort Show and writing in his blog Pure Mattitude.

Last Second Instant Watch: Mystery Team

by Saintmort

Alright Geekscapists. Thursday is a big day on Netflix Instant Watch so clear your schedules. Before this week is over Netflix will be pulling some classic movies like Escape from New York, Swamp Thing &  Zapped!, 2 stand up specials by Bill Hicks (Sane Man & Bill Hicks Live), Last Week’s Guilty Pleasure Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever and what was almost the topic of this weeks Last Second Instant Watch Wristcutters: A Love Story (which honestly if you’ve never seen now is the time to check it out). However what I want to shine the spotlight on is the new cult classic Mystery Team

Much like Lonely Island, Derrick Comedy is a youtube sketch group that grew in popularity when one of the members hit it big on television. Lonely Island has Andy Samberg, Derrick Comedy has Donald Glover.

Mystery Team follows a group of young junior detectives. They solve mysteries like “who’s been eating the neighbor’s pie”. Suddenly they get hired on a real case, discovering who murdered a little girl’s parents. It’s like Brick meets the Three Amigos.

It’s a delightfully dumb comedy made on a shoestring budget that I can’t recommend enough.

Paul Williams Is Still Alive Documentary Trailer

by Saintmort

Paul Williams is someone who has probably written one of your favorite songs and you most likely don’t know who he is. In the 70’s Paul Williams was a singer/songwriter and while his originals where never huge hits when they were sung by The Carpenters, Three Dog Night or Kermit the Frog they went straight to number one.

This Sunday at SXSW Fest is the premiere of the documentary Paul Williams: Still Alive. The film unlike most documentaries seems more like an obsessive fan’s stalker tape based on the trailer (Think My Date With Drew meets Winnebago Man). When Stephen Kessler discovered his favorite deceased singer/songwriter and Tonight Show guest Paul Williams was actually alive and well, he made it his mission to find out what happened to this once adored renaissance man.

 

I’m bummed that I won’t be at SXSW to see this one so if you’re there, you should put this on your to do list.

Guilty Pleasures: Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever

by Saintmort

Eli Roth is an asshole. No, not because he blew smoke in Gilmore’s face a few Comic Cons ago. If you’ve met Gilmore, you’d also want to blow smoke in his face. No, Eli Roth is an asshole because for a split second he gave me hope in horror and then became the leader of what was wrong with it.

In 6th grade I became a big horror movie buff. By my freshmen year of high school I had lost all respect for horror. The new films coming out refused to be scary or fun. They were boring films that took themselves entirely too seriously movies like Jeepers Creepers and Valentine. Then I saw Cabin Fever. It was everything I’d been missing in the post Scream days: just good clean stupid fun. I thought “truly, this director Eli Roth will bring horror back into its gory, humorous and scary roots.” Ultimately this didn’t happen. Instead, he made the Hostel sequels and became Quentin Tarantino’s favorite pet project. Thankfully, people like Adam Greene and James Gunn have since stood up and proved that there are still directors out there making good fun horror movies.

Cabin Fever 2

When I saw the direct-to-DVD release of Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever in my local Best Buy I was immediately apprehensive about it. Then I saw a good sign. Eli Roth had nothing to do with it, no producer credit, writer credit or director credit. Instead it was written and directed by Ti West, a man who’s career has been on the rise since directing The House of the Devil and The Innkeepers. Ti West has disowned this movie, which I think is a little harsh. The movie is far better than he seems to want to give it credit for.

The movie picks up where the original Cabin Fever left off. Our ‘hero’ Paul is disfigured and dying. He crawls out of the creek where we last saw him and wanders out into the middle of street where he’s hit by a school bus. These first 3 minutes of film already set up that you are in for a gore-filled laugh-fest.

Through a fun animated sequence, we see how the creek Paul was lying in was connected to a bottled-water company and the water bottles with Paul’s virus are being distributed to the local high school.

The Senior Prom is coming up and John wants to go with his long time crush Cassie or not at all. Meanwhile his best friend Alex has a random hook-up with Liz who promises that she might show up to the prom if she can get off work.

The prom begins and everything you’d want in a horror movie is present: sex, blood and hilarious one-liners. The movie could have easily failed but it doesn’t for multiple reasons. For starters the cast is great. The actress who plays Cassie is quite adorable. She reminds me of a Riki Lindhome/Felicia Day type. Meanwhile, the actors playing our leads Alex and John are charming and believable.

Cabin Fever 2 Main characters
Our Main Characters Realize that Prom Sucks

My favorite aspect of the movie is its depictions of sex. Unlike most horror movies, the sex is never played for sexiness for a single second. Between Liz giving Alex a very awkward blowjob and then spitting his semen into the sink or two characters having sex in a pool before dying of the infection, it’s never even slightly sexy.

The movie currently has no Rotten Tomatoes critical score but the user score is a pathetic 16%. That’s just unfair. I mean, Hostel: Part 2 has a 45% user rating and it doesn’t nearly have the likeable characters, good one-liners and general sense of fun that Cabin Fever 2 has.

Despite what critics and Ti West say Cabin Fever 2: Spring Break is a good way to waste 86 minutes.

Tell us some of your favorite guilty pleasures in the Guilty Pleasures Thread!

When he’s not watching movies that almost everyone involved in the making of has all but abandoned you can find Matt Kelly tweeting, hosting his podcast The Saint Mort Show and posting in his blog Pure Mattitude

Mancation (starring N*Sync’s Joey Fatone) Gets a Trailer

by Saintmort

Geekscape friend (and former Saint Mort Show guest) Tommy Avallone has sent us the trailer for his production company Double Windsor’s newest film Mancation. The company has previously released Community College and Calendar Girl but this looks like their best film yet.

It follows a young man who discovers his wife is a lesbian. His best friends (including Joe Fatone of N*Sync) take it upon themselves to take him to Atlantic city to get laid. While there he meets the beautiful Danica McKellar (Winnie Cooper from Wonder Years). It also stars Mike Starr (Ed Wood, Dumb and Dumber) as a parent to either our main character or his estranged lesbian wife.

Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie Remake Has a Trailer

by Saintmort

When I was a kid Tim Burton was my favorite director. I didn’t know who he was but based on the fact that four of my favorite movies as a kid (Frankenweenie, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Beetlejuice and Batman) were all directed by him it’s obvious I was a fan of his style. Frankenweenie I caught on the Disney channel one day and I assumed it was an old film being that it was black & white. And now Burton is remaking the film in the stop-motion animation style he’s become known for.

The trailer looks great, full of the same energy and fun as the original. I find it funny that this film is being put out by Disney since the original Frankenweenie led to Burton being fired by Disney for ‘wasting company resources’ on something ‘too scary for kids’.

Troma Entertainment’s Lloyd Kaufman Reminds Us, It Gets Better

by Saintmort

The fine people at Troma Entertainment have released a video of Lloyd Kaufman’s (as seen/heard on Geekscape and Saint Mort Show) failed addition to the It Gets Better movement. Proving once again that Troma does comedy better than anyone else they manage to satirize the It Gets Better Movement, make fun of Christian Bale’s T4 freak out  and say that Lloyd Kaufman is a celebrity. Enjoy!

Piranha 3DD Gets a New Trailer

by Saintmort

I couldn’t be more excited for this movie. Piranha 3D was one of the best horror remakes in the last few years and definitely the best usage of 3D since that awful awful fad came back. This trailer is packed with everything we want to see. Double D’s, Ving Rhames, Piranha attacks during a sex scene and of course David Hasselhoff. There’s no way I’m missing this one in theaters.