October 2008
This is a list of posts published in October 2008.
Trick r’ Treat
You want to see something really scary?
Last weekend, Saw V crept from the shadows and reaped over $30 million dollars from those insatiable gore hounds who turn out year after year for another heaping helping of torture porn. Of course, for the first Halloween in half a decade, that boffo box-office wasn’t enough to allow Saw to slice its competition. Not with the combined purchasing power of a legion of tweens and their scary obsession for Zak Efron and High School Musical 3, a film that bent Saw with its own box-office take of $45 million. Now, that’s terrifying.
While I may not be in HSM’s target demographic (which is girls age 12 – 16, Drag Queens age 26 – 52), I am happy to see it dethrone Saw V however that tired retread still managed to scare up enough box office to guar... Continue reading »
My Favorite Things – ‘Top 5 Scary Movies’
(*Editor’s Note – This is a reprint from a piece I posted two years ago today. I’ll have a Halloween post up next week with pics of the kids Trick r’ Treating. Also, that creepy cool pumpkin shot in the header is not from a film. It is courtesy of my main man Sean O’Brien who really has the eye.)
This past summer, I blew away the pesky summer doldrums with a few entries in my continuing series – My Favorite Things. As a movie lover, I am often asked to name my favorite flick. That is a feat on equal standing with choosing your favorite child. If you love movies, it’s impossible to pick just one. My quick fix to this conundrum was to skinny the question down to particular genres. Therefore, we had The Top 5 Guilty Pleasure Flicks, The Top 5 Film Endings, The Top 5 Movies that Made... Continue reading »
Behind the Curtain: The Completely Unauthorized, Mostly 100% True, Shocking Expose of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’
Show’s over folks. There’s nothing more to see here.
That is unless you’ve been left lingering for some truly titillating tales from back stage. If that’s your bent than you came to the right place. Now that I’m off contract, I have no qualms about letting y’all in on the back stage secrets behind South Central Massachusetts’ hottest show since Local Apple Pickers #321 staged The Full Monty. Yes, I know I’m likely to burn bridges but let’s be honest here. You saw my performance as Aide Warren. In his review in the New Yorker, David Denby said “if this rage were bottled it would be seventeen years past its Born on Date’. I think that’s what the lay-men call, “the suck”. Knowing I’ll never work in this town again, I’ve go... Continue reading »
My Top 10 Posts of All Time – #9. Along Came a Ryder
9. Along Came A Ryder (originally published June 13, 2007)
Frequent readers of this site are accustomed to the little mini-series I like to launch. Essentially, I like to wrap similarly themed posts under one common umbrella (hence the My Favorite Things series, In Ed’s Head, etc…) At the end of the day, they all fall into one common category – the insane ramblings of a mad man. Along Came a Ryder is an installment in my Adventures of Gutt & Pole series. These are all true tales ripped from my life that I just so happened to wrap in that comic aesthetic. The thing is, I think casual readers bought the illusion as readership tended to dwindle whenever that fake comic cover was spotted. I promise you – there is nothing comic-book about these posts aside... Continue reading »
My Top 10 Posts of All Time – #10. Kicking and Screaming
As promised, I am going to begin running My Top 10 Favorite Posts of All Time, culled from the 300 I’ve published since January 2006. Yes, this smacks of narcissism but believe me when I say this is the only damned thing I’m good at. I can’t walk. I can’t talk. I can’t chew gum. Suprisingly, I can do all three at the same time.
Anyway, my plan is to run an installment every other post. So today you get #10, then I’ll run a normal post, then #9 and so on.
If you’ve read this one before, I forgive you for skipping it today. But if you haven’t, drop in for a look and remember to Comment Away!!!
10. Kicking and Screaming (originally published March 23... Continue reading »
‘Nest’ Nuts Net 5 Ed Heads
As that Variety-esque headline screams, the reviews are in.
“I hope you take this as a compliment… I really HATED you!!!”
- Random Audience Member #1
“You’re a complete bastard!!!”
- Random Audience Member #2
“As your mother, the woman who played a major role in your conception, I can only wonder – where did all that RAGE come from?”
- My Mom
Oh, and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette gave the Gateway Players’ Production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest a rave review. Their highest in fact.
300
Aaaaaaannnnnnndddddd CUT!!!
Fade to Black.
I did it. I made it to the top. 300 posts in less than 3 years serves as my own personal Everest even if there were days (make that weeks), when the tempest of thoughts raging in my head yielded to an unsettling calm and the endeavor proved Sisyphusian as I toyed with shutting it all down. This has been a labor of love and I have long clung to the belief that I am writing for one reader – ME – and if anyone else happened to amble along and page through a few volumes, well, then I’d welcome them with open arms.
Of course, that’s just what I tell myself so I can sleep better at night. At heart, I yearn for readers. I cry for attention. I don’t need to make dollar one at this gig but I do want to make some kind of imp... Continue reading »
Eight is Never Enough
Eight years ago today, on a brilliant blue swatch of Indian Summer, Andi and I were married.
Eight years later, we’re on our second home, raising our two children, caring for our two pups and realizing that we make a might fine dynamic duo ourselves. Having just returned from our annual Columbus Day weekend sojourn in the woods of Maine (where Andi’s Dad and his extended family meet each year for a long weekend of family gathering, apple picking and Playoff Baseball) – we realize that we’ve laid the threads to a pretty grand tapestry. One that we can’t wait to someday take a step back and soak in all its splendor.
In fact, having returned yesterday afternoon, I had to head off to rehearsal and Andi was called to join the chorus in tribute to a beloved church member w... Continue reading »
Two Roads Diverged
This hallowed month of October has proven more haunting than most as we’re merely six days in and I have already been visited by numerous specters from my past. Much of this has to do with my recent initiation into the Facebook community – where the mere mention of your name calls old high school friends, college drinking buddies and illegitmate offspring from the shadows in droves. After getting acquainted with my long lost progeny (Stay frosty, Surie!!!) – I spent time bridging the multi-year (and decade) gap that’s been erected between some of these relationships.
Then, last Thursday evening, I engaged in a little playful banter with Andi – letting her know that I felt pretty damned sure that should I unexpectedly kick it, she’d probably despair for a day before that insurance check would... Continue reading »
Netflix Notes – ‘The Need for Speed’ Edition
Reading through Part 1, I see I strayed a bit off course. I promised they wouldn’t take the form of traditional reviews but you can take the Ebert out of the Guy but you can’t take the Guy out of Ebert. (I’d like to say that sounded better in my head but now that I’m visualizing every sick connotation all I can say is, No – No it doesn’t.)
Anyway, I hit y’all with a rambling manifesto to kick this off last time, so today I’m just going to dive into the deep end and try my hardest not to officially review these flicks. Remember, this is just supposed to be my reactions and observations of the whole laundry list of films that I somehow missed on first run and am now parsing through in the comforts of my own home.
One last programming note. I’ll probably do this as a recurring monthly featu... Continue reading »
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