Saturday, February 26, 2022

Movie Review: STUDIO 666...

The theatrical poster for STUDIO 666.

Earlier today, I went to my local AMC theater to watch Studio 666—the campy horror flick created by and starring the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl.

I've been a huge fan of the Foo Fighters for over 15 years, so I was curious to see how members Rami Jaffee, Taylor Hawkins, Chris Shiflett, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear and Grohl would portray themselves in this movie. I didn't expect Oscar-caliber performances by these Grammy Award-winning musicians; I just wanted to see how gnarly their (SPOILER ALERT) death scenes were going to be in this flick!

Needless to say, Studio 666 didn't disappoint in being as gruesome as possible in depicting the demonic demise of one of my favorite rock bands. And if there was ever a song that actually lasted for 40+ minutes, chances are it would probably be featured on KLOS 95.5 FM here in Los Angeles. That radio station, which is one of my favorites, plays lots of 1980s classic rock songs that seemingly go on forever...

Along with the Foo Fighters, Studio 666 also stars Whitney Cummings, Will Forte, Jeff Garlin, Leslie Grossman and Jenna Ortega...who doesn't seem to mind being typecast as the injured girl who's crawling along the kitchen floor about to be whacked by the main killer at the beginning of a horror film. (Watch the latest Scream movie.) That is all.

The Foo Fighters set up shop at a house in Encino, California, to record their 10th music album in STUDIO 666.

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

THE BROKEN TABLE Update: The Haunted House FearFest is Less than Four Weeks Away!

THE BROKEN TABLE is an Award Nominee at this year's Haunted House FearFest!

Happy Twosday, everyone! Just thought I'd mention that my short film The Broken Table will begin showing at the Haunted House FearFest (HHFF) in the United Kingdom 24 days from now!

As mentioned in this earlier entry, tickets are now available to purchase for HHFF's online screening program—which will run from March 18 to 27. Check out my previous post for more info!

The Broken Table is an Award Nominee at HHFF, which is a huge honor! Even if it doesn't receive any more accolades at this exciting event, I'm just happy that other people around the world will have the opportunity to watch the short psychological thriller that my amazing cast and crew brought to life almost three years ago.

Have a nice day...and buy passes for HHFF now!

A poster for THE BROKEN TABLE.

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

The 94th Annual Academy Award Nominations...

Molly Cahill (Rooney Mara) and Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) share a moment in NIGHTMARE ALLEY.

Here are some notes on today's announcement:

- As mentioned in my review for the film last month, Nightmare Alley rightfully received a nomination for Best Cinematography. It is also up for Best Picture, Production Design and Costume Design.

- Dune: Part One is up for 10 awards: Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Production Design, Costume Design, Cinematography, Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound, Visual Effects and Original Score.

- Free Guy, No Time to Die, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Spider-Man: No Way Home are all up for Best Visual Effects...though it will most likely be Dune that wins the award.

- Billie Eilish received a Best Original Song nomination for No Time to Die. Adele's Skyfall is still my favorite Bond song.

- Licorice Pizza is up for Best Picture...which means I just might finally watch it since all of those radio and TV commercials for this movie didn't convince me to do so.

- I still watch the classic sitcom I Love Lucy on TV, so I just might see Being the Ricardos since Javier Bardem (who plays Desi Arnaz) and Nicole Kidman (who portrays Lucille Ball) are up for Best Actor and Actress, respectively.

- I might also watch West Side Story (even though I never viewed the 1961 original) since Steven Spielberg is nominated for Best Director... We'll see.

Click here for the full list of Academy Award nominations. Happy Tuesday!

A giant sandworm confronts Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother Jessica Atreides (Rebecca Ferguson) on Arrakis, in DUNE: Part One.

Molotov Girl (Jodie Comer) and Guy (Ryan Reynolds) leap into action in FREE GUY.

James Bond (Daniel Craig) and undercover agent Paloma (Ana de Armas) have a drink in NO TIME TO DIE.

Shaun (Simu Liu) welds the power of the rings in SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS.

Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire), Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) leap into action in SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME.

Saturday, February 5, 2022

Images of the Day: Ghostface Artwork #2...

My second drawing of Ghostface from SCREAM.

As promised in this entry from earlier this week, I worked on a second illustration of Ghostface from Scream and finished it yesterday! I nearly used up three black Crayola markers for the background of this drawing...and then utilized Adobe Photoshop to adjust the brightness and contrast afterwards. That is why my final image looks much crisper than how it appears on a sheet of paper (shown at the very bottom of this entry).

Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) is on the hunt for a baby mask-wearing killer in 2019's HAPPY DEATH DAY 2U.

So which other horror movie villains should I draw next? Michael Myers from Halloween? Leatherface from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre? The psycho with the baby mask (above) from the two Happy Death Day films? That last one sounds intriguing!
Work-in-progress photos of my second Ghostface drawing. Click on this image to enlarge

Friday, February 4, 2022

THE BROKEN TABLE Will Be Screened at the Haunted House FearFest Next Month!

Adam (Nicholas Mariano) stares down at a broken table in THE BROKEN TABLE.

Here are some updates regarding next month's screening of The Broken Table at the Haunted House FearFest! The event takes place in the UK's West Yorkshire from March 18 to 27.

PREVIEW SHOW FULL URL:

https://xerb.tv/channel/hauntedhousefearfest/virtual-events/2952

XERB DOWNLOADABLE PROGRAM HERE:

https://www.hauntedhousefearfest.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/HHFF-Program-2022.pdf

TICKET PRICES:

12 SESSIONS – $36$
6 SESSIONS – $24$
Plus a 3 For 2 – $12

TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE HERE:

https://xerb.tv/channel/hauntedhousefearfest/virtual-events

MERCHANDISE:

If you fancy, there are some horribly delicious merchandise in the form of Official Selection - Beer & Fear - Logo & Poster T-shirts at TEEPUBLIC

https://www.teepublic.com/user/haunted-house-fearfest

I hope that you partake in the festival and enjoy the screenings next month! Happy Friday.

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Images of the Day: How My Drawing of Ghostface Came to be...

Happy 2-2-22! Just thought I'd share these work-in-progress photos that I took of the Ghostface artwork I drew last weekend. As mentioned in my previous entry, I plan on drawing a second illustration of the Scream movies' iconic villain...though I probably won't start on it till this weekend or most likely next week.

Stay tuned!
Work-in-progress photos of my Ghostface drawing. Click on the image to enlarge