Review: APE

Now playing on the iPod - "Summoning of the Muse" - Dead Can Dance

My review of the ultra-cheap, ultra-bad South Korean ripoff of King Kong, imaginatively titled APE, is up at Horrorview. Enjoy.

Listen up: Dead Can Dance

I heard the song "Summoning of the Muse" the other day and was enthralled. And it turns out we have Dead Can Dance's album Within the Realm of a Dying Sun and I'd never listened to it. Why didn't anyone tell me how awesome this band is???

I predict this song will make it onto a future Soundtrack to an Imaginary Movie. Or at least be in an Imaginary Trailer (if you have a video editor and time to spare, let me know - I'll give you a plot synopsis and a dream cast, and you can make the trailer, and I'll pay you in cookies).

Fun at the Weekend of Horror

Well, I finally made it out of the house for something besides (a) work, (b) doctor appointment, or (c) grocery store, because I went to the Weekend of Horror con.

This was a fun time, not just because I got to get over my mild case of cabin fever, but because I got to meet up with my buddy (and fellow Horrorview reviewer) AJ. We met up with my other buddies, Erik and Gerry, and had a good time.

Highlights included fun panels with FX maestro Greg Nicotero (talking about his work on the upcoming series The Walking Dead) and veteran actor Sid Haig. But the undoubted highlight was a photo op and panel with that paragon of big-chinned awesomeness, Bruce Campbell! (During our photo op he said I was "lovely"! I'm still in fangirl bliss over that!)

I also got to meet "drive-in reviewer" Joe Bob Briggs, whose reviews I've been reading for years and who has always been a great inspiration in my own movie and book reviews. He signed my copy of Joe Bob Goes Back to the Drive-In and I bought a DVD of The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-up Zombies with his commentary. Visit Mr. Briggs' website to learn more about him.

All this and dinner at the Daily Grill with AJ, Erik, and Gerry. Good times!

Can this be true?

Is George R. R. Martin close to finishing A Dance With Dragons? Maybe...

Harlan Ellison's saying farewell

Now playing on the iPod - "Equinoxe" - Jean-Michel Jarre

I didn't even know about the recent MadCon in Wisconsin, but now I wish I'd been there. Because it looks like it's going to be Harlan Ellison's last convention appearance, ever. It seems that Ellison knows his health is failing, and that this con would be his last, and the book he's working on will be his last. Full details here, and thanks to the SomethingAwful forum for bringing this news to my attention.

I've never considered myself a science fiction fan, yet I'm a huge fan of Ellison - probably because, like Ray Bradbury, his work has transcended the silly limitations of "genre". They are damn good stories. (And a damn good novel, too - Ellison's Spider Kiss is a great rock and roll novel.)

Those of you unfamiliar with Ellison's work would do well to seek out the Essential Ellison retrospective, which includes many of his best-known and most highly regarded works.

My own favorites of Ellison's work include:

• Spider Kiss
• "Djinn, No Chaser"
• "Night of Black Glass"
• "Croatoan"
• "The New York Review of Bird"
• "Seeing"
• "The Deathbird"
• "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs"
• "The Hour That Stretches"
• "Alive and Well on a Friendless Voyage"
• "The Function of Dream Sleep"
• "Mefisto in Onyx"
• "Broken Glass"
• "Soft Monkey"
• "A Prayer for No One's Enemy"
• "All the Birds Come Home to Roost"
• "Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes"
• "A Boy and His Dog"
• "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman"

And there's many more where those came from.

Ellison's work used to be quite difficult to find, but much has been reprinted in recent years, and thanks to online bookstores it is much easier to track down. Do yourself a favor and read his work (his nonfiction, including his movie review collection Harlan Ellison's Watching is very good as well).