Alamo Drafthouse and AGFA

Well Kiddies it has been a crazy couple of weeks here and I admit that I am still standing strong.

We have been hard at work on the upcoming HauntShooter project and in early preparations on this year's Texas Frightmare Weekend. There are also some other projects that I am Hard at work on but I choose to keep them on the down low for now at least.

What I really want to talk about here is The Alamo Drafthouse.

Founded by Tim League, The Alamo Drafthouse was one of the original Dine-In Theatres featuring a wide assortment of Beers of all types and Genre films. The Alamo is greatly respected by both fans and filmmakers.

 The Drafthouse has experienced Premieres and Festivals and sneak previews for upcoming releases and has attracted headlines for the enforcement of its No Talking rule as well as its Banning of Texting in theaters. 

The Drafthouse attracted the attention for this in 2011 when I young woman was ejected from the establishment after using her phone in the theatre and called the front office to complain leaving a voicemail.

As many of you will know when I was in Austin the Alamo was where I found my sanctuary. I enjoyed Terror Tuesday's, Weird Wednesdays, Master Pancakes, and Horror Remixes among other special events. 

 These along with Rolling Roadshows and Fantastic Fest.

When I returned to the Dallas area in 2013 it was not long until a Alamo Drafthouse was built and opened it's doors in Richardson Texas and naturally I became a regular at the establishment and James Wallace was the programmer bringing us events like Master Pancake and the Horror Remixes as well as introducing us to the monthly AGFA Secret Screenings and the Dismember the Alamo event in October.

While I am an advocate for the Angelica as well as it is a great place to view Arthouse and Indeflicks, The Alamo is the place for Genre film screenings.

The opening Night of Star Wars was a blast.

Now I know that I have in the past been quite critical of the cuisine of the Alamo but that was in fact in Austin where the places were far more of the Vegan friendly but the DFW locations don't fall for this because when you order a burger you actually get a decent burger and fries and I had the pleasure of attending some of the feasts there are some great items on the Menu.

Now we can't forget the Beer with the events and the utilization of local breweries The Alamo still lives up to it's name as the Drafthouse even utilizing events such as special screenings utilizing the beers and seasonal Ale.

Dallas has received the opening of its second Drafthouse in the Dallas area just off Lamar next to the Southside and Gilley's...Trust Me you can't miss it. Naturally I was going to be there for the Soft opening that they have had this Week to check the place out.

This theatre is awesome! They have 2 stories for movie lovers and social types alike. 

With the first floor being the cinema intended like many of the Drafthouses is from Genre fans where we are shown posters ranging from Dallas produced films like Robocop and the Phantom of the Paradise to more cult titles like Barbaraella and Dementia 13.

I personally like the fact that there is a poster of the Amicus classic Anthology flick Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors which is one of my favorites featuring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

The Auditoriums feature more personal seats for the moviegoers and is far friendlier for couples but the seats are far more comfortable and recline and I was able to watch both The Martian and Mad Max without pain in my back. The tables feature holes for your cup on the table thus preventing the table from getting wet from the sweat from the glass with the menus are placed under the tables for you to place your orders and still have the flags with pens to do such.

Above the Theatre is the Vetted Well pub where you can kill time before the flick in the bar or grab a bite with some of its own individual eats or just hang out in the Patio.  My friend Beth works there and can always recommend the best cocktails.

You can even sing Karaoke with your friends win individual rooms similar to the Highball in Austin.

Needless to say check it out.

James Wallace told me that the new place will feature many new events which we discussed potential ideas for screenings but don’t fret AGFA will stay at the Richardson location.

Last Week I headed out to Richardson for this Month’s AGFA and sadly Bri could not join me due to some issues where she worked and I met up with my Alamo gang Chris and Alan to check out the flick.

James Wallace soon took the stage and caused Alan to have a fit when he announced that the print was none other than 1985’s Demons.

This now considered Classic Italian Horror Film directed by Lamberto Bava and produced by Horror Master Dario Argento Demons is a flick about a group of people attending a free screening of a film about Demons who end up turning the moviegoers into Demons.

The Demons are malformed homicidal zombies that can in fact be killed with a shot to the head but anyone they attack will soon become a Demon themselves after being scratched in a Dawn of the Dead meets Evil Dead sort of Way.

Needless to say nice flick for AGFA with its 1980’s Gore and Effects as well as it’s soundtrack featuring Musicians like Billy Idol, Rick Springfield and Mötley Crüe.

Now this Flick spawned 9 Sequels but not all are canon I personally recommend Demons 2 and apparently Cemetery Man is considered canon to this flick.

23 Dead Bodies

1 Breast

19 Demons

Eyeball Gouging

Tongue Ripping

Brain Eating

Samuari Bikers  

Crashing Helicopter

  

Playboy: I Read the Articles

Now as many of you may know I have made no bones about my love of the famous Men’s Magazine and I have never tried to cover it up when people come to my home and this has been met by various reactions though not as many as you may think.

I am reminded of a Decade and a half ago when I was 20 hanging out with The Gang and my girl and she was giving me a hard time when she saw the stack of Playboys sitting on my desk to which I stated “I Read the Articles”. This fact was soon verified by my friend Slick who stated it as an almost annoying part of my personality. 

Yes I read the Articles. I’ve been saying it for years now…it has had its fair share of controversies. The truth is that many who see the Brand of Playboy or the iconic Bunny find themselves unable to see past the fact that there are pictures of women without their clothes inside the magazine.

The Lifestyle is what appeals to me. Great Times Beautiful women and intelligent conversations and views on life and freedoms. I like the music and the movie recommendations and the leisure.  

I remember getting my first Playboy in the mid-1990s and like many young boys you think it is going to be cover to cover naked ladies and then you open the pages and after sifting through the many advertisements there are far more articles on politics, relationships, life and the pursuit of the good materials. 

Not too long after this when I would flip through the pages some articles would catch my attention and I would stop and read them and eventually I was buying the magazine more for the articles rather than the pictures especially after the internet came along and you can get much better nudie pics there.

Founded in 1953 by Hugh Hefner, Playboy became the magazine for upwardly mobile young men who lived hard and partied hard as well. Leading to television shows like Playboy after Dark, a TV channel and Clubs and Casinos all across the earth.

The Lifestyle presented within it’s pages was that of the Jet Setting bachelor that lived well had a great time and the ladies adored. Jazz music was loved and Literature abounded.

Playboy’s articles range from the in-depth interviews with various personalities to drink recipes utilizing which liquor is sponsored by the magazine. 

The Magazine would also feature Adult cartoons and illustrations such as Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder's Little Annie Fanny and The works of Dean Yeagle and many more artists.

I personally like the work of Doug Sneyd

I like the interviews due to the fact that sometimes the subject goes off on topics from their work or politics and anything goes in them.   Many will claim that Jimmy Carter was cost reelection due to his interview in Playboy. Jesse Ventura’s interview stirred up much controversy as did recently Gary Oldman.  My favorite was Pierce Brosnan's interview from 2005 

The fiction in the magazine featured many of the best writers of our time Many of Ray Bradbury’s works were published in the magazine as Arthur C. Clarke, Chuck Palahniuk, Ian Flemming’s 007 stories and many other fictional greats of the modern age.  

I have always held the pictures to a different Standard. There was a day when being selected to be a Playmate was a honor and it looked great on the resume for a young model and took your career to a different level.

I personally prefer the artistic direction of the pictures such as the fact that many of them tell a story for the subjects and their personality and the camera itself is a character and the object of the model’s affections.

I mostly like the work of Arny Freytag as I have always wanted to shoot in his style and lately I have become a fan of Cassandra Keyes.

The truth is that admitting that you were a reader  has not always simple because at some point the powers that be deemed playboy to be pornography and I have never considered this to be true and at one point I had a “friend” threaten my life because I would not adhere to his views on the subject.

There was even an article in the September 1997 Issue where in the Forum there is an article where the writer logs his experiences while publicly reading the magazine with the reactions of those around him. While many simply ignored him he seemed to take more angry looks from men that were with their women than the ones that you would expect to have these problems.

All that I have encountered with  reading the magazine in public are various snickers and comments from various males and it is also the experience with buying it in stores as when you were younger there was always the funny exchange in trying to be nonchalant. Granted I never had this problem as I was never embarrassed when buying an issue. As a matter of fact there was a memorable occasion where I had a funny exchange with the checkout girl at Barnes and Noble where I was buying an issue, She agreed that there were better pictures on the Internet.

Now in the past couple of years it has gotten easier with the use of an IPad or Tablet of your choosing with the IPlayboy as you can read any issue including the current issue and the back issues all for the monthly price of $8.99 which is the price of a single issue which I will recommend to all of you 

In recent years there have been quite a few changes in the company. In 2009 Hugh Hefner’s daughter resigned from the company which she had worked as CEO for decades and the current CEO Scott Flanders has stated to the Wallstreet Journal that the company was quickly becoming a primarily a branding company.

This would explain why you are often seeing the logo pop up on many products from Cologne,  Energy Drinks, Tobacco Products, Barware and ,mostly women’s clothes and accessories.

Playboy Magazine’s primary compeditor is none other than Maxim which has gained ground in the past two decades and is able to expand it’s distribution due to the fact more newsstands are willing to carry them, Where Playboy’s distribution has gone down in recent years due to the opposite effect as many news vendors consider this as adult content. Also let us face it the newsstand is quite frankly going the way of the Dodo.

There also had been some recent changes to the website. The creation of the Playboy Now App and Smoking Jacket.com which has now become Playboy.com featuring articles, games, etc. The Website has also dropped nudity with the exception of PlayboyPlus.com.

It was recently announced that Playboy Magazine will no longer be publishing nudity in the magazine and while I understand this direction I have to say that I am not too happy with it.  Not just due to the lack of nude playmates but I like the nude cartoons as well. I honestly like the more adult magazine that I can read without Standards and Practices.

Now that PlayboyPlus has openly stated that it will keep the nudes ,it isn’t that too big of a deal and will be a great way to sell memberships to the site.

What I will miss is the cartoons and illustrations and the Adult Humor in the magazine. I hope that this aspect of the magazine remains but I will miss the nudity there.

Playboy now has the chance to prove that it is the articles and the lifestyle that carries it and not the nudity and I am curious in the direction that this will take.

Another Year in the Twilight Zone

Well Another Holiday season has come and Gone and I have to say that it was not a bad one This year. Usually I am in quite a mood during this time of year but I am feeling in a mood to celebrate this past year. There are many plans that I have and small successes and wins that I am quite proud of

I have Goals that I mean to accomplish and a new business plan to work and a series of projects to bring you in the coming year.

Let us face It I have had some rough ones lately and it is no time to dwell in the past but to look forward to the future.

Now it is ironic that I make that statement considering that I am looking forward to one of my favorate traditions.

For the Past two decades the Sci-Fi Channel now known simply as SyFy has been showcasing their annual marathon of another world created by Rod Serling, the 5^th dimension known as The Twilight Zone.

The Zone has been a pioneer in the Sci-Fi/Horror Genre for half a century and has showcased works from the greatest writers and actors in the industry featuring established stars as well as up and comers who are now industry leaders The Twilight Zone is often imitated but despite two attempts at revival has never been duplicated.

A former Boxer and WWII Soldier himself before becoming a pioneer in television writing, Rod Serling has taken us to a universe with tales of an Airman searching a town where he is the only living being wondering “Where is Everybody” to a Bewitching Pool that is the portal for children feeling unloved can find a place to belong and thrilling us with tales of passengers seeing monsters on the sides of planes in a Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, and beauty in a world of ugliness which is all in the “Eye of the Beholder”.

This year the marathon is changing as it goes to a new format covering four days and all episodes of the zone in the order of airing. Granted I admit I prefer the older format with the shuffling of episodes but this is a treat for fans of the zone.

I feel the need to give you my Top 10 Favorites of Zone episodes Submitted for your approval. I know that there will be some shocking picks in my list as these are my episodes that I love the most and I am sure that many of you have your own.

I am not going to go into too much detail in theses episodes as I will recommend the Twilight Zone Companion by Marc Scott Zicree for your reading pleasures.

I will begin with the second episode in the series One for the Angels starring Ed Wynn and Murray Hamilton where a street pitchman meets Death himself and takes on the task of saving the life of an 8 year old girl.

My next pick is Mr Bevis also from the 1^st season. Following Henry Bevis the local “Oddball” after a bad day in his life he meets his guardian angel who seeks to give him a better life and adventages by molding him into someone that he does not want to be.

Walking Distance takes on a theme that Serling often visits is the nostalgia of the past where an Add executive running from his life in the city walks to his hometown and transports back intime to a summer of his childhood.

What you Need where a man that can see the future is bullied by a man who wants to exploit his abilities for his own gain.

Another pick is Two where Charles Bronson and Elizabeth Montgomery are two wartime rivals who are the last man and woman on earth after the fallout of a war.

The Masks where a wealthy Dying man puts his greedy family in their place by showing them their real faces.

The Hunt where a man and his loving dog die while on a coon hunt and while reacting to their families and friends have to go on Eternity Road to meet their destination.

The Shelter which features no Science Fiction element just the primal instincts of human nature at it’s worst where a Doctor and his family have to face their friends and neighbors inside their bomb shelter.

Passage on the Lady Ann which also feature no Science Fiction element where a Married couple find romance once again onboard a cruise ship and their elderly passangers who seem to not want them there.

Finally No Time like the Past starring Dana Andrews as a time traveling scientist who after failing to stop events in history resides himself to a small town in the past but can’t avoid history.

Do you agree with my choices please feel free to comment with your picks. 

Krampus

I am getting pretty tired of this damn so-called "War on Christmas"!

If I want to say Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, or Happy Life Day it is my right. I feel the need to point out that when people say Merry Christmas no one says anything but if you say Happy Holidays to someone who even slightly resembles your stereotypical Right Winger I get yelled at where they say “NO, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!”  Then I say Get a Life.

Just when you think it can’t get any lower then comes this recent deal with Starbucks where people are complaining that because there are no Snowflakes or Reindeer on the Red cups that it is an Attack on Christmas.  This actually gets on my nerves because are they that desperate to find an excuse to complain that they have to just complain that something isn’t Christmas Enough to appease these Bullies.

Now I am a firm believer in something that Bill Maher said last year that the best way to save Christmas is to make it something that we don’t have to endure but just enjoy.

That is why I have made the decision to give my best effort to enjoy this season.

I have my Mondo Friday the 13^th Christmas sweater that I won at a Friday the 13^th Screening and I have been keeping busy shooting for HauntShooter and The Video Creep among others.

Bri, Anjanette, and I have been shooting for The Krampus Sociaty as well as some videos for The Dark Hour Haunted House in Plano.

The Dark Hour is a Year-Round Haunt that opens occasionally for special Holiday Events such as the Creepy Christmas themed Wreck The Halls that I will be shooting.

Naturally with all the Krampus themed events that I have been doing I decided to keep up the theme as well as my decision to enjoy the holidays I decided to check out the new film that has been released in theatres.

So I called up Alan and we headed over to The Alamo Drafthouse to catch the flick.

Krampus is helmed by none other than Trick R Treat’s  Michael Dougherty creating yet another yearly tradition for me to enjoy Krampus takes a look at what the Christmas holiday has deteriorated to for many of us with the shopping Savages, the corporate commercialism and the ignoring of traditions.

Following a family in their holiday misery with an awkward reunion the young son frustrated with the events tears up his letter to Santa which attracts the attention of Krampus.

Soon the family finds themselves trapped in a Blizzard that has them cut off from the rest of the world with the beast outside hunting them.

Now for those of you that are unaware Krampus is the henchman of Santa Clause who punishes the naughty children and drags them to hell.

 Well Krampus is not alone as he has an assortment of Demonic Toys, Impish Gingerbread Men and Elves aiding him in the torment of his victims which adds an element of creepiness to the flick.

The cast is great ranging from Toni Collette to comedians Adam Scott and David Koechner with character actress Conchata Ferrell providing much of the comic relief for the film.

I have often stated that Horror and Comedy if properly used can go together like Peanut Butter and Chocolate and this flick is a great example with the use of comedy and the creepiness of the effects for a great 1-2 Punch.

The Effects are a combined use of Practical Effects and animation to add to its factors and I particularly like the use of one simple location to give us a claustrophobic feel and the coldness of the situation.

The movie keeps you entertained however it does fall to one of the standard pitfalls of the horror film which is when the characters do the opposite of what they should but if they do…Well there would not be too much of a Movie.

13 Dead Bodies

0 Breasts (PG-13)

9 Beasts

Creepy Gingerbread Men

Child Eating Toys

Flames of Hell

Killer Elves

Christmas Fu

Child Fu

4 Stars

Check It Out as it is a New Holiday Tradition.