Summertimes Blues

With summer coming on fast it's time to say goodbye to all my TV friends. Normally this wouldn't be the case as summer replacement shows would kick in. The writers strike screwed all that up and some shows have been canceled (4400, Dead Zone etc.) and some like FX's The Shield and Rescue Me have been delayed. So what's a media whore Geek like myself to do?
Fortunately, there are so many movies I want to catch up on that I shouldn't be hurting too much.
As most of you know, DVD's come out on Tuesday. Yesterday saw the release of a couple of things I'm excited for, and one I'm slightly curious about.

Right out of the gate, probably one of my more anticipated releases. George Romeros Diary of the Dead. If you've been following my ongoing manifesto, you'll know I braved the crushing traffic of Northern Va., and endured the most interminable wait on a movie theater snack line ever to see this film. If you haven't read my NorVa adventure go here. True, I had some issues with the movie, but I still sported a zombie stiffy for this reboot of my favorite franchise and of course I highly recommend it.
Here is my review.
The disc is packed with extras so I'm excited for that as well and will probably watch at least once with the commentary on. There are also featurettes, Romero talking about his inspiration and many others. I know I should wait for the eventual Bluray release, but I'm all about the instant gratification.

Tying in with Diary of the Dead is the 40th Anniversary release of the one and only Night of the Living Dead. I know most of us have this film in several different forms. My understanding is this is the one with Romeros seal of approval. Personally, I own pretty decent copies of this movie, but I will still rent this for any extras I may have missed. Romeros name on this edition leads me to believe he may actually make some money from this one after letting the film slip into public domain. If you don't own this film, pick it up. If you do, now might be a good time to rewatch it. We can all stand around the pyre and blow out the birthday zombies together.


Finally, while it's true I was born in the 60's. I consider myself a product of the 80's and was just entering adulthood in 1982 (still in my teens) and had no idea how a degenerate angry punk rocker was going to fit in...anywhere. Fortunately someone took a chance on a little show called Square Pegs which was the Freaks and Geeks of my time with a much better soundtrack. This show gave us our first glimpse at the fashion icon that is Sarah Jessica Parker, the much much cuter Amy Linker (god I feel like such a perv right now), Jami Gertz (Star from Lost Boys - tell me you didn't have a crush, I dare you!) and valley speaking New Wavers (totally, totally). The show only ran for one season, but it was all we needed. I don't think I could have taken Square Pegs: the College Years where Muffy develops an 80's style coke habit. Does it hold up today? I for one plan to find out. I don't think I'll break down and buy the set, though Amazon is listing it for a budget friendly 25 bucks, but I'll definitely put it on my Netflix list.

You know, maybe the summers not looking so bad after all.

Home Again, Home Again.....

Hey All,

I had a great time visiting the family this past weekend. Grandmas health isn't the greatest and that worries me, but I'm trying not to focus on that.
After running all over the city on Saturday, we hit everyplace from Forbidden Planet to Toy Tokyo, I went with my brother and his son to see Forbidden Kingdom the new Jackie Chan/Jet Li joint. It wasn't what I expected, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Sunday, I got about two hours to run around the show floor of the New York Comic Con. The place was sensory overload, and that's an understatement.
I didn't get to catch any big announcements or check out any panels, but I did get to see plenty of toy prototypes from Watchmen to The Spirit to Stargate. There is a ton of stuff hitting the shelves this summer and fall. I fear for my paycheck.

I was really excited to see the Night of the Living Dead figures. The film recently reached it's 40th anniversary and we will see a Graveyard Zombie (Bill Heinzman) from the beginning of the film, (the one that walks like Elvis Costello) Ben, (Duane Jones) Barbara, (Judith O'Dea) and Karen Cooper (Kyra Schon) complete with garden spade. The figures look great and I'm definitely pre-ordering.



Another thrill was catching the beta of Metal Gear Solid online. I didn't get any time to actually play since the line was pretty long, but what I saw looked great and gives me high hopes for the game when it is released later this year.

Of course, I couldn't walk out of there without at least one purchase. I couldn't resist this little guy. His name is Nate and he was sculpted by the incredibly talented Clayburn Moore. In case you couldn't tell he's based on Charlie Adlards art for Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead series. Clayburn himself was there and he signed the back of the pedestal for me. If you're not familiar with his work, go check his site out.
I can maybe make a ball with Sculpty, but it goes downhill from there.


I just want to shout out a thanks to my pals Spencer and Matt from Team 8 Press for finding space for me, and Patrick of Velocity Comics and Jesse Bausch of Strange Detective Tales (Oddgod Press) for helping to get me in, otherwise I would have never seen this: