The Weigh In 75

'Twas the week before Halloween…

Halloween is coming up on us next week and while this weekend will be filled with our crew attending a local convention, hocking our wares; along with a rare opportunity for yours truly to bounce around the DFW area dressed as a fully functioning keg, the true treat of Halloween this year is the chance to get all of the usual staying out late and waking up in a dumpster with a broke tap out of the way before the actual holiday.

Since Wednesday morning promises nothing more exciting than an alarm clock that will go off way too early and sitting through traffic, it only makes sense to stay in and relax. So this Halloween why not turn out the lights, curl up on the couch with a big bowl of popcorn and your favorite gal, and scare the pants off each other. While I can’t exactly help you with the popcorn or gal, this week I might help be able to help you get into the Halloween spirit with a little scare or two.

	Alien While considered by most a science fiction film, Ridley Scott’s use of lighting and cramped spaces, not to mention his ability to build tension around every corner in this film, will surely send a shiver up your spine.		The Thing This chapter of John Carpenter’s “end of the world” trilogy is a tale of paranoia set in a world of solitude and hopelessness and will likely leave you more than a little creeped out after the credits have finished rolling.
	What Ever Happened to Baby Jane A classic film starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford about two sisters that really don’t get along. Doesn’t sound like the kind of film that should be on this list? You’ve never met a vindictive redhead.		The Omen  Nothing is creepier than the antichrist as a small boy. Complete with the perfect mood music.
	Halloween Still the standard bearer for the slasher flick.		Saw  Violence, gore, tension, and an ending that will give you the willies.
	Night of the Living Dead The movie that all zombie movies are and will be compared to. Absolutely chilling and arguably the perfect zombie movie.		The Shining Jack Nicholson’s slow descent into madness is both fascinating and deeply disturbing.
	Henry-Portrait of a Serial Killer An intimate look at the life of a serial killer; both chilling and haunting and guaranteed stay with you longer than you will care to admit to anyone.		The Abominable Dr. Phibes An absolutely creepy film and probably Vincent Price’s best.

I hope this list gives you an idea of some old favorites, and maybe a few new ones, to help you get into the Halloween spirit.

All the news that is fit to forget (real news, not so real commentary)

Harrison Ford announced this week that he is fit enough to star as the iconic character Indian Jones in the much anticipated fourth installment of the George Lucas/Steven Spielberg franchise. Ok, we kinda have to use the penis rule here. If you have to talk about it, most women know it’s probably nothing to talk about.

Matthew McConaughey and Lance Armstrong came out of the closet this week and announced that although they are both single men that spend a lot of time together, they are in fact not gay. McConaughey then challenged a female reporter to have sex with him in public while Lance Armstrong would tea bag her cameraman to prove their claim.

Clive Barker is currently working on a “reimagining” of the original film Hellraiser, the film based on his novella, The Hellbound Heart. He hasn’t announced what these changes will be or when he might complete the project, but promised to give more details as soon as he could find where his soul and dignity ran off to.

It is rumored that Naomi Watts has been approached to star in the role made famous by Tippi Hedorn in the Hitchcock classic “The Birds”. In related news, Gus Van Zandt is suing the production company responsible for the remake claiming he had the original idea, only shot from the birds’ point of view. The estate of Alfred Hitchcock refused to comment on either announcement but is reportedly having his palatial estate redecorated with modern “tacky”.

This weekend at you local multiplex (9/27/2006)

Catch a Fire: Thriller
Tim Robbins, Derek Luke, Bonnie Henna
Plot: A South African oil refinery executive gets indicted for sabotage against the plant and gets mixed up in a plot with the ANC, an activist organization against apartheid.
Buzz: (please come back this weekend and see my review of the film here).

Saw III: Horror
Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Angus McFayden, Bahar Soomekh
Plot: With Jigsaw and his apprentice from the first two films on the loose, the police are in a race against time to save Jigsaw’s latest victims.
Buzz: More violence, more gore, more Jigsaw. The latest in the series that promises to continue until the studio has drawn ever drop of blood from this stone. Usually not the sign of a great film.

This week on DVD (10/24/2006)

Nacho Libre
Slither
An American Haunting
Reservoir Dogs (se)
Saw II (se)
Total Recall (se)
MacGyver (season 7)
The L Word (season 3)
Looking For Kitty
The King of New York (se)
That Addams Family (vol 1)
The Facts of Life (season 3)
Wings (season 3)
Voyage at the Bottom of the Sea (season 2)
The Swan (series)
Bewitched (season 4)
The Road to Guantanamo
That’s My Bush!
Beavis and Butthead: The Mike Judge Collection (vol 1-3)


As always, you can send you hate mail and you loving adoration to DPlace76@yahoo.com.  You can also check out my innermost thoughts at http://bigdpimpin.livejournal.com/. Come at be an Old buddy of Stumblebum and keep track of the crew at www.myspace.com/stumblebumstudios.