SLICE OF SCI FI - PODCAST - INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR PAUL W. S. ANDERSON

SLICE OF SCI FI - PODCAST

INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR PAUL W. S. ANDERSON

One of my favorite podcasts that I still listen to on a regular basis is Slice of SciFi.

Here is their About Us from their web site:

Slice of SciFi originally began as the voice of the SAVE ENTERPRISE campaign of Spring 2005, when loyal Star Trek fans rallied to the cause of saving a cancelled “Star Trek: Enterprise” series, and garner it a previously highly-anticipated 5th season. When that campaign fell on deaf Paramount ears, despite its success in generating fan support and unprecedented fan funding, Slice of SciFi continued to support the Star Trek fan base that had provided its starting point, but branched out into the wider arena of science fiction, fantasy and horror media: television, film, comics, and new media such as fan films, audio dramas, online animated comics and more.

The show was so popular, and garnered so much fan feedback that eventually, it was necessary to spin off the Voicemail Show, dedicated just to fan feedback, in order to keep the original show from consistently hitting running times of 90 minutes or more! Both Slice of SciFi and its companion Voicemail Show are fan favorites, and appeal to SF media geeks of all ages.

The funny, irreverent but always relevant discussion from show hosts Michael R. Mennenga, Summer Brooks and Brian Brown always make for lively entertainment. Interviews with today’s top stars and genre production professionals, such as Ira Steven Behr, Walter Koenig, Jim Butcher, Samuel L. Jackson, Katee Sackhoff and an array of other top names in show business, are always on the cutting edge and timely.

In December 2005, Slice of SciFi made the jump to broadcast, finding an additional home on XM Satellite Radio, Channel 163, and bringing the show to a broad new fan base at the same time. In December 2007 Slice of SciFi became part of the growing Sirius Satellite Radio family of programming, and can now also be heard on Sirius Channel 117.

The Slice of SciFi website doubles as an online news magazine (ezine), lead for nearly 4 years by the now retired Samuel K. Sloan, and currently headed up by Michael Hickerson who continues to manage a team of reporters dedicated to bringing fans the latest news and developments in SF television and film, in science, technology, space exploration, and more, while the shows themselves focus on featured news from that week, plus interviews with actors, producers, directors and others who create the shows we love to watch and the technology that we marvel at.

The reason I wanted to share Slice of SciFi with you,, is that the September 11 podcast featured an interview with the director of Resident Evil: Afterlife - Paul W. S. Anderson. In the interview, he gives some very good reasons for why he shot the new Resident Evil movie in 3D and why he (like James Cameron) thinks that 3D is the "next step" in the evolution of film. In my review of Resident Evil: Afterlife, I attempted to explain why my experiencing the new 3D process was important and I think Mr. Anderson does a wicked good job of explaining this as well.

If you don't want to listen to the entire Slice of SciFi podcast, the Anderson interview comes in at about 31 minutes into the podcast.

http://www.sliceofscifi.com/2010/09/11/slice-of-scifi-282/

ELVIRA - MISSING IN THE DARK!

ELVIRA - MISSING IN THE DARK!

I've looked and searched my Comcast channels up and down and I couldn't find Elvira's Movie Macabre anywhere. According to the listing on Elvira's official website, http://www.elvira.com/ , her new show was supposed to be broadcast on here in the Boston area on channel 7 WHDH at 2 AM Friday (I assume that means Saturday morning) and Sunday 1 AM. The listings on both my cable and WHDH's web site both have the usual late-night drek running at that time.

Supposedly, THIS TV is also running Elvira's new show, but they don't have it listed either. The closest I could find was Night of the Living Dead was running on THIS TV on Monday morning at 1AM on October 11. I've set to record this and will let you freaks know if it is her new show or not.

Meanwhile, I did find a clip on YouTube of her full opening to the new show. It's cleverly written and Cassandra still looks pretty good as Elvira even at her mature age. According to her IMDB entry, Cassandra Peterson turned 59 just ten days ago! BTW: Check out the comments under the video at YouTube and you'll see I'm not the only freak having a hard time trying to find this show.

ELVIRA'S MOVIE MACABRE PREMIERS TONIGHT!

ELVIRA'S MOVIE MACABRE PREMIERS TONIGHT!

Elvira's first film will be Night of the Living Dead. Yes, we horror freaks have seen this one too many times to count, but it will be worth it to see the old gal strut her stuff once again on TV.

The following are the listings for her syndicated affiliates:

Albany-Schenectady WNYA SAT 12:30 AM
Albuquerque KWBQ/KASY SAT 12:30 AM

Anchorage KYES SAT 10:00 PM

Atlanta WATL SAT 12:00 AM
Augusta WRDW/WRDW-DT2 TBA TBA

Austin KNVA SAT 12:00 AM

Austin KCWX.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM

Bakersfield KUVI SAT 12:00 AM

Baltimore WBFF.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM

Baton Rouge WVLA.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM

Birmingham WVUA FRI 1:00 AM

Boise KNIN/KIVI SAT 3:00 AM

Boston WHDH FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM

Burlington-Plattsburgh WPTZ.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM

Cedar Rapids KWKB TBA TBA

Champaign WBVI.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM

Charleston - Huntington WSAZ.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM

Charlotte WMYT SAT 12:30 AM

Chattanooga WTVC.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM

Chicago WCIU SAT 3:00 AM

Cincinnati WKRC SAT 3:00 AM

Cleveland WUAB.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM

Colorado Springs KKTV/KKTV-DT2 SUN 1:00 PM

Columbia, SC WZRB SAT 12:00 AM

Columbus, OH WWHO FRI 3:00 AM

Corpus Christi KTOV SAT 9:00 PM

Dallas KDAF SAT TBA

Dallas WFFA.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM

Davenport WBQD SAT 10:00 PM

Dayton WRGT.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM

Des Moines KDMI.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM

Detroit WDIV FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM

Dothan WDFX SAT 2:00 AM

El Paso KDBC.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM

Elmira WETM/EETM SAT 10:00 PM

Eugene KEVU SUN 8:00 PM

Evansville WAZE SAT 12:00 AM
Fargo KCPM TBA TBA
Flint WNEM-DT2 SAT 12:00 AM
Fresno KMPH.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Ft. Myers - Naples WFTX SAT 12:30 AM
Ft. Smith KFDF.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Green Bay WIWB SAT 3:00 AM
Greensboro - H. Point WGHP SAT 3:00 AM
Greenville - N. Bern WCTI.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
GSA WNEG.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Harlingen - Weslaco XHRIO/KSFE SUN 2:00 AM
Harrisburg-Lancaster WGAL.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Hartford & New Haven WTIC.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Honolulu NHON SUN 2:00 AM
Houston KIAH SAT 2:00 AM
Huntsville - Decatur WTZT SAT 9:00 PM
Idaho Falls KIDK/KXPI TBA TBA
Indianapolis WTTV/WXIN.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Jackson, MS WRBJ SAT 10:00 PM
Jacksonville WCWJ WED 2:00 AM SAT 2:00 AM (OPT)
Kansas City WDAF SAT 2:00 AM
Knoxville WVLT/WVLT-DT2
Lansing WSYM SAT 2:00 AM
Las Vegas KVVU SAT 2:30 AM
Lexington WTVQ-DT2 SAT 11:00 PM
Little Rock KARZ SAT 12:00 AM
Los Angeles KDOC SAT 12:00 AM
Louisville WYCS SAT 1:00 AM
Macon WPGA SAT 5:00 PM
Madison ETVW SUN 1:00 AM
Memphis WMC.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Milwaukee WMLW SAT 12:00 AM
Minneapolis KSTC.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Mobile WFNA SAT 12:00 AM
Montgomery WCOV.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Myrtle Beach-Florence WMBF.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Nashville WTVF.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
New Orleans WUPL SAT 12:00 AM
New York WPIX.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Norfolk - Portsmouth WSKY SUN 2:00 AM
Omaha KXVO SAT 7:00 PM
Orlando - Daytona WKCF/WESH SAT 12:00 AM
Panama City WJHG TBA TBA
Parkersburg WTAP TBA TBA
Peoria WAOE SAT 1:00 AM
Philadelphia WPHL.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Phoenix KAZT SAT 3:00 AM
Pittsburgh WTAE.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Portland, OR KPTV/KPDX VARIOUS VARIOUS
Providence WPRI/WNAC/WNAC.2 SAT OR SUN 2:00 PM
Raleigh-Durham WRAC.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Rapid City KCPL TBA TBA
Reno KRNV.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Richmond-Petersburg WUPV SUN 1:00 AM
Rochester NY WHAM/EHAM SAT 10:00 PM
Rochester- Mason-Austin KIMT-DT2 SAT 11:00 PM
Sacramento KQCA SAT 2:00 AM
Salt Lake City KCSG SAT 12:00 AM
San Antonio KCWX SAT 1:00 AM
San Diego XETV SAT 11:00 PM
San Francisco KFTY SUN 2:00 PM
San Francisco KOFY SAT 1:00 AM
Savannah WGSA SAT 11:00 PM
Seattle KVOS SAT 10:00 PM
Shreveport KSLA
Sioux Falls KCPO TBA TBA
South Bend WCWW SAT 12:00 AM
Spokane KAYU.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Springfield, MO KRBK
St. Louis WRBU SAT 12:00 AM
Syracuse WSYR SAT 12:00 AM
Tampa WTTA SAT 9:00 PM
Toledo WMNT SAT 10:00 PM SUN 12:00 AM
Tucson KTTU SAT 12:00 AM
Tulsa KOTV.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Twin Falls KSAW FRI 3:00 AM
Tyler-Longview KYTX-DT2 SAT 11:00 PM
Waco-Temple KWTX/KBTX FRI 3:00 AM
Washington, DC WDCW.2 FRI 2:00 AM SUN 1:00 AM
Wilmington WMYW SAT 12:00 AM

Here is the opening of her new show!

RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE - 2010 - 3D AND ME!

RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE
AN ADDED DIMENSION BRINGS ADDED LIFE!
or
3D AND ME!

by Fritz "Doc" Freakenstein

Way back in February of this year, when Avatar was still raking in millions of mega-bucks at the box office, I wrote a short post about 3D: http://guardiansofthegenre.blogspot.com/2010/02/to-3-d-or-not-to-3-d-that-is-question.html. The gist of the article was that I didn't understand why someone would pay almost twice as much for a ticket to see a film in 3D, which I thought was just a gimmick to make more money. My fellow blogger at Guardians of the Genre had experienced the new 3D technology first-hand and convinced me that I should try it before criticizing it. Over half-a- year later, Professor Photon and I attended a 3D screening of Resident Evil : Afterlife. I'm a wicked big fan of the Resident Evil films and have seen all three of them at the theater, so I felt seeing a film that I had every expectation of enjoying would be the best way to try the new 3D gimmick... er, sorry... technique out.

Before I assess the 3D process, I want to review the film itself. Resident Evil: Afterlife takes place almost immediately after the events of Resident Evil: Extinction. The film begins with an visual feast of a scene of Alice and her army of clones attacking the Umbrella Corporation facility in Tokyo, in an attempt to kill Albert Wesker, who was the villain behind the experiments on her clones in RE:E. The facility is destroyed - and all of Alice's clones with it - but Wesker escapes in an aircraft, which Alice prime has hidden in. This prologue to the film sets  the rest of the film up perfectly and demonstrates just how dedicated Alice is to bringing the hurt on the UC and the corporate baddie that represents it. Wesker averts death at Alice's hands by doing something to Alice which I don't want to go all spoiler here, because it changes her character significantly from the previous film. Alice wakes up alone in the wrecked craft, but eventually finds an old prop-plane which she flies in an attempt to rejoin Claire and the others who flew to Alaska in search of Arcadia. Alice finds Claire wandering a desolate beach in Alaska, but she is alone and has no memory of how she got there or where the rest of the refugees are. This is the one point in the film where you question Alice's course of action, but not enough to spoil the film. Alice flies south with Claire, seeking out more refugees. They spot a few survivors from the air, on the roof of an abandoned prison in Los Angles, but they are trapped there because it is surrounded by hundreds of hungry zombies! Another boffo scene shows Alice landing the plane on the roof of the prison, nearly crashing on impact! The rest of Resident Evil: Extinction involves Alice helping the small group of survivors escape the prison, fighting off hoards of zombies, and eventually trying to the find the elusive sanctuary of Arcadia.

I thought Resident Evil: Afterlife was the best film since the original! Like most film series, the first film is usually the best and Resident Evil (2002) I still consider to be the best of the RE trinity. Not to take anything away from RE: Extinction or RE: Apocalypse, but the first film had a visual style and a building of tension that the other two somewhat lacked. Despite the fact the Paul W. S. Anderson wrote the screenplay for all four RE films, his direction of the first and now the latest film shows that he can use the camera to pace the action and drama of his scripts better than others. I guess I'm a fan of directors who use a stylised form of story telling, which is why I like Anderson's RE helmed films the best. Anderson has directed many other genre films as well; my favorites being Deathrace and Alien vs. Predator (which shares similar claustrophobic settings to RE). Because Anderson wrote the scripts for all four Resident Evil films, this explains the careful continuity between each film, as well as the feeling of one long continuous story over the four film cycle. The Resident Evil films get a bum rap from critics and even some fans, I suspect primarily because they are based on a video game. Most video game films have been dreadful, but the Resident Evil films use the basic premise of the game (which is a good solid sf premise) and some of the characters (which are rudimentary archetypes) as a springboard for a richer world and slightly more nuanced characters. Yes, the Resident Evil films are primarily a series of violent action scenes, but there is enough care given to the characterization, so that their actions are understood, and -- more importantly -- their peril is more greatly felt. If there is any detraction at all from the series thus far, it is a lack of a certain finality to the plot. Like many long running prose fiction series, as long as the point-of-view character (in the case if RE - Alice) is alive, then his/her quest/goal/journey/purpose will continue indefinitely. If you like long running series -- which I do -- this is not a problem. However, I can see how a more casual fan of RE might appreciate more of a definite conclusion at the end of each film and Resident Evil: Afterlife specifically.

Now to get down to the nitty gritty of  this new (okay, new to me) 3D tech! The use of the new "REAL 3D" process on Resident Evil: Afterlife did, I can honestly say, add to my enjoyment of the film. How much did it add? I'd say perhaps 20% more. The action scenes were obviously the segments of the film that benefited the most from the 3D effect. When Alice leaps toward the camera, or throws objects at the camera, these things literally jump off the screen at you! The 3D also helped add depth to the long shots in the film; especially during the flying sequences over the desolate and ravaged cityscapes and landscapes. One thing the 3D process had trouble with were translucent objects. The plums of smoke rising from the ground in many of the scenes looked as though they were floating on their own plane and seemed out of sync with their surroundings. The only scene ruined by the 3D was the (thankfully) brief underwater scenes, where Alice and a few other are swimming through murky water-filled hallways beneath the prison. This scene was so blurry I briefly took off my glassed to see if it looked any better without them (it didn't). Speaking of the glasses: They had been a big concern of mine, because I do wear corrective glasses and I was worried that the 3D glasses wouldn't fit comfortably over them. Fortunately, the black plastic glasses are slightly over-sized and did fit easily over my corrective specks. Overall, the 3D experience was a good one and I would try it again in the future. But -- you knew there was a but coming -- the price for the 3D show was $11.00, which is nearly double what I pay for the matinee showing of the traditional 2D films. I think that if there was only a dollar or two difference in price, I might see even more films in 3D. However, until that time, I'll be seeing 3D only on special films that I think will benefit the most from the process.

There you have it! I give a wicked high recommendation to Resident Evil: Afterlife and a moderate, but still positive review of the new "Real 3D".

ZOMBIE STRIPPERS! - A STEALTH REVIEW BY BILL E. BONES

A STEALTH REVIEW BY BILL E. BONES

ZOMBIE STRIPPERS!
A STRIPOFF OR A ZOMBASTIC SATIRE?

Doc self medicated himself tonight, so that he could get enough zzzs and be plenty rested for Resident Evil: Afterlife, which he is planning on seeing in 3D tomorrow. I don't know if even 24 hours of sleep is enough to energise Freak for viewing Milla Jovovich in 3D and just in case I have his portable cardiac stimulator charged on stanby in the lab. The upside of a doped up Doc is that I, Bill E. Bones, have complete control of Freak's multimedia center tonight! I've taken full advantage of this and watched a flick that even Freak, with his low standards, would be reluctant to watch. Thanks to the high-minded folks at Fearnet, which Comcast provides us with their OnDemand content, I was able to watch Zombie Strippers in HD tonight!

Zombie Strippers, which had a very limited theatrical release in 2008 and then went straight to DVD, is the sort of movie that only a lonely zombie skeleton, such as myself could enjoy. I'd like to say that the zombie chicks in this flick were Bones-worthy, but I'd be lying. What I will say is that this flick has some of the most outrageous zombie action of any film I've seen -- and I've seen a lot of 'em! What passed for a plot in this film is that the government, led by a fourth term George Bush, has developed a serum to reanimate dead soldiers to help America's fight in its war against terror. The experiment backfires, as the reanimated male soldiers become mindless flesh eating zombies. However, at least for a time, the female zombies remain intelligent and coherent. While attempting to control a zombie outbreak, a soldier is bitten and after escaping, he seeks shelter at an underground strip club. After he dies, his zombie hunger strikes and he bits and infects the club's star stripper, Kat. When Kat becomes a zombie, her stripping prowess is increased ten-fold and she quickly converts most of the rest of the strippers into zombies as well. The only drawback to this is that the girls all now need to feed on human flesh in order to sustain their zombie strength. Ian, the club owner, is making so much more money with his undead strippers, that he locks the undead male victims up in the club's cellar. Just as his basement is almost filled to overflowing, the girls go out of control and begin slaughtering the male patrons outright.

Zombie Strippers is smarter than it has a right to be. All I wanted was hot zombie chicks who strip and eat people. I got that, but I also got me some satire aimed at politics, the military and philosophy. Still, what really got my bones jangling were the over-the-top zombie gore sequences! The zomibies are in all states of decay and they are beheaded, dismembered, eviscerated and shot to pieces by every fire-arm imaginable! The zombies get their licks in too, as they bite people in the neck, stomach and every other imaginable extremity -- yes, the male strip club patrons get a lap dance that they won't soon forget. All in all, Zombie Strippers is the ultimate death and sexploitation movie of this decadent decade! I gottta get back to my dirt-rack pronto, because Doc Freak's drug induced nap is gonna wear off soon and I don't want to be here before he's injected himself with some caffeinated stimulant.

WOLFMAN MAC'S CHILLER DRIVE-IN - SEASON 3 STARTS HOWLING ON SEPTEMBER 4TH!

Hey, horror fiends! If you are lucky enough to have RTV - the Retro Television Network on cable [http://www.myretrotv.com/affiliates.html], you should tune in this Saturday night at 10pm EST/PT or 9pm TC/MT to Wolfman Mac's Chiller Drive-In for the start of his third season of horror flicks and horror host fun! This (along with all sorts of other news) was posted on Wolfman Mac's website:

Yes, the wait is finally over! Season 3 of Chiller Drive-In begins this week on RTV! And we’re expanding to 2 HOURS! That means more Wolfman Mac, Boney Bob and the rest of the weirdos, more movie and whatever else we can cram in.

Saturday night at 10pm Eastern & Pacific - 9pm Central & Mountain on RTV – Kick off the new season with a vampire movie that, well... Seems to be missing a vampire; "Atom Age Vampire."

I've watched every episode of Wolfman Mac and I can tell you that it is a howling good time!

 

Below is an early behind-the-scenes video of with Wolfman Mac, when his show was called Nightmare Sinema.