I just got back from San Diego! It was 5 insane days of pure comic and cartoon crazitude! For a full report follow the link over to the blog at The Concrete World Site.
But just special for all you undead and ghastly fiends… how about my favorite genre tattoos spotted at this years convention…
Classic Frankie and the Bride!
And a gal with a Doctor Who theme… A Dalek
And… an Adipose
Finally. How could I walk through the very halls of the convention center and not bring you a picture of the zombie from the kick ass WALKING DEAD booth…
I know what you’re thinking… where they hell is my Motor City update?!
I’ve been super busy… Just competed a script for Iron Man: Armored Adventures. Been hard at work on The Concrete World, and am getting prepped for Comic Con 2010!
But just to show all you fine monster chasing members of the 133rd are always on my mind, I took a couple pics of a fantastic hotrod for you while in Long Beach a couple weeks ago.
I also just attended Anime Expo 2010, you can find coverage on that here.
I am sad to hear the news today of the passing of Dennis Hopper. A super talented renaissance man. From his acting, producing, writing, photography and participation as a patron in the world of art. He was an art rebel! He gave a proper voice to the outsider of multiple generations. He put a human face on the outsider. RIP Mr. Hopper.
Dennis Hopper with John Lurie for the fantastic TV Show Fishing With John
Dennis from his role in the legendary Rebel Without A Cause
Hey Everyone, thanks so much for continuing to be a fan of MOTOR CITY! We’ll have a little treat (starring Frank, Lexi and the rest of the 133rd) for you on the site soon! In the meantime don’t forget we are also producing The Concrete World monthly, which is a free webcomic about the dark future of Virtual Reality.
While everyone in the Los Angeles area vacated the city in favor of Cochella, I wandered the silent streets of Echo Park alone. Okay, it wasn’t that silent, and I wasn’t that alone, it was record store day yesterday and the shop in my neighborhood was well crowded having its own little Cochella… anyway, while I wandered in my neighborhood I found myself at Stories Books (and cafe) on Sunset Blvd.
While in the back getting my quaint little Chai Latte I made a fantastic discovery on their counter. An impulse item waiting to be sprung on me… ZOMBIE FINGER PUPPETS!
Quickly I dug through the box, looking for how many variations I could find. 1… 2… 3 different zombies to wear on my fingertips and attack all my other living toys with! Yes!
Needless to say 3 dollars later, and I was walking out the door, zombies on three of five fingers.
Speaking of awesome items I came across this on EBAY a few months ago, and continue to drool over it’s awesomeness! Yes… Boris Karloff had his own board-game! I don’t know much about it, other than its amazing and I must one day play it.
Maybe the world needs a Motor City board-game… build your hotrod, fight some monsters, and look good the whole way to victory!
I can remember it well to this day. It was early evening on a Friday in the dealers room of a star trek convention in Denver Colorado. A day and time of year more holy to me than Christmas. It was the first day of my favorite weekend of the year.
My friend Tony and I were making our rounds, scurrying through the dealers room as fast as possible, looking for all the rare and awesome toys we never seemed to find elsewhere (this is pre-ebay and internet mind you…). And then I saw it. An action figure that actually turned into Freddy Krueger. A horror action figure of a modern day fiend. Not a Dracula, not a Mummy, but Freddy! I knew I wanted it!
I also knew I couldn’t afford it. It was out of my price range at the time… what wasn’t… I think I was 14. I looked at that thing forever. What a cool toy! A makeup effects guy, that can wear the costume and turn into Freddy or the Alien or a Wolfman or Frankenstein?! Wow, at the time the only Alien Toy that was rumored to exist was the original doll that got pulled from shelves after one airing of the commercial during Saturday morning cartoons.
This was a pre-McFarlane era as well. Horror related toys were rare in the 80s. There were some classic 3 3/4 Universal Monsters in the late 70s early 80s, but for items like Freddy or Aliens it was just too soon.
Now there is too much available. And figures that even offend me… ha ha, not easy to do.
But those were more simple times… and alas, Maxx Fx and his Freddy Krueger costume didn’t make it. It was the only toy in the line to ever make it out. All the gory glorious others lost to Child Activist groups and their protesting, etc…
Well… I’m writing this very post simply to brag. Thanks to Ebay I finally nabbed a Maxx FX Freddy Krueger!!! Yes!
For an awesome Maxx FX experience, and to truly understand how cool this toyline could have been you have to visit THE LIFE AND DEATH OF MAXX FX
You won’t regret it!
Also, for further “research” check out the awesome commercial. Love the jingle!
Anyone who’s followed this blog the past few years knows I love me some good old time radio shows. Love em! But what happens when you’ve exhausted your back catalog of golden oldies from yesteryear? What happens when you can’t listen to those classic serials a 4th and 5th time?
Well… the good people at Decoder Ring Theater are creating modern, new stories, told in that same classic format. All wrapped up in the guise of a podcast.
And as if that’s not enough… Now they want to help you get a super villain on the airwaves! They are doing this contest right now, where you can submit a super villain of your creation, and he will take on their hero! Sounds awesome right? That’s because it is.
It’s a dangerous world out there. It’s bad enough we’re being stalked by vampires, werewolves, ghouls, demons and flesh eating zombies. As if all that isn’t enough, how about we start tinkering with germs and viruses, why don’t we make some microscopic super weapons? What’s the worst that could happen?
Well, thanks to George A Romero you get that answer in two forms, or rather in two different decades.
I love the original The Crazies, because it shows early on that Romero saw the need to tell an anti zombie movie. It’s a raw independent film filled with scares and the human drama that only Romero seems to get in the horror genre. It’s a fantastic time capsule or reflection on what might happen if a small town in the early 70s had an outbreak of chemically engineered illness and madness.
Now, three decades later, we see a remake. Ugh. I know, I know, dear Hollywood, stop remaking classic flix that don’t remakes. Well, the original The Crazies was awesome for its own reasons, but due to the budget it had, and the advances in filmmaking technology today, I’m glad to say I feel this is a remake works. A solid vision of what if… but for this day and age.
Both of the films work for different reasons. but one thing they both have in common is smart writing, smart concept, and good characters.
If you haven’t seen the original go put it on your netflix right now! Then go see the remake. They compliment each other nicely.
