Reasons to Survive This Week 10/10/11
Welcome, boys and ghouls (not girls, ghouls. Certain exceptions will apply to lady-ghouls, though) to our latest spooktacular edition of Reasons to Survive this Week, where our Shriekscape Staff tell you what they’re screaming with excitement for this eek! As you can tell, perhaps we’ve gone a little batty with the Halloween spirits; or perhaps I’m having a stroke. I think smell toast.
Or do I smell GHOST?
Monday
Russell Sherman- Token Canadian
Thanksgiving Day Actual! All you yanks will disagree but September is the harvest and Thanksgiving is in October! So today’s the day you spend with family, and if your family is as dysfunctional as mine then it’s sure to be a good time.
(Editor’s Note: Guys, just let him have this one. It’s so cold up there.)
Tuesday
William Bibbiani- Master of the Hyphenate
Maniac Cop finally arrives on Blu-Ray. William Lustig didn’t direct enough movies, but this 1988 genre-defying, supernatural-Hitchcockian-police-drama-horror-action-movie-Terminator-knockoff from 1988 is one of the best. Bruce Campbell stars in a rare straight man role as a cop wrongly accused of a series of brutal murders. No one believes Bruce when he says that the real killer is an undead police officer played by Robert Z’Dar, in what can only be called Robert Z’Dar’s best performance (because he doesn’t have to do much). Watch out for appearances by Tom Atkins (Night of the Creeps), Richard Roundtree (Shaft) and Sam Raimi (you know damned well who he is). If you willingly read the articles on Geekscape, you’re going to love it.
Josh Jackson- Is Convinced Psychonauts Could Actually Happen
It’s all about video games this week. I’m tempted to go with the HD release of Guardian Heroes or the new Rune Factory, but my final pick would be…
“Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster”. Why? Because the nerd rage over Tim Schafer working on this game was hilarious. And let’s be real, gamers never supported his work enough to pull it out of obscurity. Maybe families and the so called “casual” gamers that I hear are ruining gaming can help.
Matt Kelly- Has Been, Never Was
William Shatner’s “Has Been” was one of the most impressive albums of the last decade. Blending Shatner’s strange speak/singing and the musical production of Ben Folds lead to a match made in heaven. His newest album, Seeking Major Tom, is coming out this Tuesday. The album is all cover songs related to space including Space Oddity, She Blinded Me With Science and Rocket Man. I can almost promise it will be worth the money.
Russell Sherman- Seems to Have Forgotten a Little Film Called Galaxy Quest
Does Tim Allen have a chance of becoming someone other than Tim “the Tool Man” Taylor (kids read Buzz Lightyear) with Last Man Standing (ABC, 8 PM EST), or will he be like Bob Saget and be forced to try and shed that image from our minds for the rest of his career? The one ad I saw (wait sorry the only ad I keep seeing) makes it look a little funny but that could be the only funny part in the entire show.
(Editor’s Note: NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER SURRENDER.)
Frank Angones- Horrible Managing Editor
Of all the R-rated comedies that came out this summer, Horrible Bosses (out on Blu and DVD) was my surprising favorite. An incredibly tight script buoyed by a remarkable chemistry amongst the leads, particularly SNL‘s Jason Sudeikis and It’s Always Sunny’s Charlie Day. Granted, some of the bosses seem under-utilized, but if that means more riffing between some of my favorite new comedy stars, I’m all for it. A bit of trivia: Jamie Foxx plays a hustler named “Motherfucker Jones”, which was the original title for Ray.
Wednesday
Joe Starr- Jarvis Enthusiast
FF #10! I never thought I’d be very interested in the Fantastic Four. It turns out that all it took to hook me for 10 issues was removing the Antastic and the Our. This one has Ronan the Accuser and a bunch of Kree. I’m in.
AND THE AVENGERS TRAILER. I might have to call in sick for the day.
Frank Angones- Might Solve a Mystery or Rewrite History
I’ve gone on the record as saying that Boom!’s Darkwing Duck comic has some of the finest cartooning available on the stands today. Sadly, it looks like this week’s mega-Disney Afternoon-crossover, Ducktales/Darkwing Duck “Dangerous Currency,” proves an end to that era, with Boom! losing the rights to publish based on Disney licenses and with Marvel announcing no plans to continue either series. But what a way to go out: a mega-event seeing Darkwing Duck and Uncle Scrooge teaming up to face down Magica DeSpell, the Beagle Boys, and the Fearsome Five in the hunt for the missing Fenton Crackshell, aka Gizmoduck, all brought to you by Deus Ex’s Warren Spector, for some insane reason. Seriously, these books have proven remarkably satisfying and dense for so-called all-ages readers. If you have fond memories of the Richest Duck in Duckburg and the Terror That Flaps In The Night, you owe it to yourself to check this book out.
Friday
Frank Angones- Saw Footloose: The Musical…Twice
I have a shockingly unabashed love for the original Footloose, and even more love for that movie’s soundtrack: “Holding Out For A Hero,” “Let’s Hear It For the Boy,” “Somebody’s Eyes,” “The Girl Gets Around,” “Almost Paradise,” and, of course, the Kenny Loggins’ title track. It’s a perfect 80s soundtrack! Why, then, am I excited for a “Step Up”-style reboot of Footloose with a countrified track for track remake of the soundtrack and the unmitigated gall to replace my beloved John Lithgow with General Hawk from G.I. Joe? The answer is simply: Craig Brewer. The writer/director of such impossibly stylish, surprisingly character-driven music movies like Hustle and Flow and Black Snake Moan has decided to take a crack at the morality play centered on a tiny town where dancing is forbidden. Positive buzz may prove my excitement justified.
(ADDENDUM: I have just been informed that Footloose is also the name of an infantry trooper in G.I. Joe. He holds a degree in Physical Education and served as the Joes’ basketball coach. I am willing to take this pointless coincidence as proof that Dennis Quaid appears in this film as an undercover prequel to the next G.I. Joe film. Which is being directed by Jon Chu, DIRECTOR OF STEP UP 2: THE STREETS!! CONSPIRACY PROVEN!)
Jonathan London- Refuses to Apologize for Being a Green Lantern Apologist
I’m the only person I know who enjoyed Green Lantern (Out on Blu and DVD). After seeing Hollywood go gritty and real with every comic book movie, finally I got one that stuck pretty close to a Geoff Johns comic book. It really was a movie version of Johns and Gary Frank’s “Secret Origins” run and I will be watching the Extended Edition, hoping that we see more Lantern Corp members or Oa (the two things I wanted to see more of). I’m sad that Warners thinks that the only way to do the sequel right is to go gritty with it instead of go Star Wars with it, in the complete opposite direction. We’ll see if a sequel even happens at all. Also, if you pick this up at Best Buy, you get a Sinestro Corp skin for your copy of Batman: Arkham City, which I think everyone on this list will be listing as their Reason to Survive next week.
Saturday
Joe Starr- Raises His Geek Gavel High
The Golden Goblin Painting Competition is being held at 2:00 PM this Saturday at the Games Workshop store in Thousand Oaks, CA and I get to be a judge! I’m gonna make fun of everyone that paints Eldar. Stupid Space Elves.
Sunday
Russell Sherman- Will Be Asked to Leave Midseason Due to “Creative Differences”
The Walking Dead (AMC, 9 PM EST) is one of those shows that started off well but then started to go down hill, now it wasn’t a steep hill so they can still come around and just wait to kill yourself until after Sunday because you don’t want to die in a world where the Walking Dead series was at a low point, do you?
