The All Things Fun! New Comics Vidcast

The All Things Fun! New Comics Vidcast is shot live every week at All Things Fun! - the South Jersey/Philadelphia area's best comics and gaming store, located in West Berlin, NJ. The store celebrates its Eighth Anniversary this Saturday (the 8th of September), so come on down, there will be free stuff, prizes, Batman will be there, and everything will be on sale!

Co-hosts Ed Evans, Allison Eckel, and Glenn Walker discuss the new comics out this week in wicked high definition video, and also available on the YouTube. See it here!

Discussion featured in this week's Special 8th Anniversary Sale Episode includes: The 8th Anniversary Sale, obscene hand gestures, Action Comics #0, two from the Batcave, two from Earth 2, Green Arrow #0, Green Lantern #0, Rotworld comics, Phantom Stranger #0, Smallville #5, Matt Fraction goes Marvel Method, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #14, Avengers Academy #36, Dark Avengers #180, First X-Men #2, Thanos Quest, Road to Oz #1 (of 6), Spawn of the Dead, Bronies unite, New Crusaders Rise of the Heroes #1, The Boys #70, Army of Darkness #5, Archer and Armstrong #2, Zenescope comics of the week, Flash Gordon Zeitgeist #6, Ed's trades, Star Wars hats, and manga.



Also this week we have this year's last installment of our special kids comics segment, featuring Thomas giving us the ten year old's perspective. The discussion included: Thomas is not a Brony, the Snarked trade and The Muppets #3 by Roger Langridge, Scooby-Doo at MonsterCon, Garfield superheroes, Phineas and Ferb Magazine #12, Amelia Rules, Winx Club, the 8th Anniversary Sale, and hats galore.



Be sure to check out the fantastic All Things Fun! website, and the All Things Fun! Blogs, by Allison and Glenn, and ATF! on YouTube (don't forget to subscribe to the channel while you're there, and leave a comment or two on the Vidcast as well!).

And be back here every Wednesday (or Tuesdays at midnight) to watch the new broadcast, and thereafter throughout the week!

Don't forget the All Things Fun! 8th Anniversary Sale Saturday!

I Saw What You Did

I Saw What You Did ~ Back in the old days, before video rentals, before OnDemand, even before cable television, there was only one way to see a particular film - you waited and waited for it to finally show up on standard six channel television. When it was a movie you'd never seen and only heard about, it became sort of an event, and a special memory. I saw The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon this way, and also Mothra and the Matt Helm films. There was a certain mystique to the movies you had to watch and wait for each week by scouring the TV Guide.

The original 1965 (it was later a terrible telemovie in the late 1980s that is best forgotten) version of I Saw What You Did was one of those movies, and in recent times it has been made even rarer by its on-again-off-again video and DVD releasing. In an age where almost everything is available, this is indeed a rare film. It's a lucky thing that occasionally TCM gives it a run, usually when honoring its star Joan Crawford, or its genius director William Castle.

Its full title gives a bit of a hint what it is really about. Two teenage girls on a sleepover amuse themselves by making random prank phone calls and saying to the answerer, "I Saw What You Did! And I Know Who You Are!" You can imagine the bedlam that ensues when they call the man who has just murdered his wife. There's the set-up and trademark William Castle hilarity and horror follow. You can understand how the plot of this one can become whispered legend among those watching the TV Guide every week.

In a role originally meant to be only a cameo (although she got top billing and pay) and originally offered to Grayson Hall, later to be known as Dr. Julia Hoffman on "Dark Shadows," Joan Crawford eats up the screen like the film goddess she was in every scene. Her appearance, dressed for flash in the middle of the night, is kinda odd, but then again she's Joan Crawford after all. She proves without a doubt she could easily be the kooky neighbor in a sitcom from any age, and do it with pizzazz.

The two girls, and one's little sister, are terrible, but their kids, so give them a break. John Ireland as the killer is stone-faced and fierce, his looks alone inspiring scares. Some of the shocks and the violence are a bit over the top for the time, and surprising when you think about it in hindsight. It's not Friday the 13th, but it's a bit much for 1965. The initial killing is an ironic turn on the shower scene from Psycho and actually quite well done.

This is, despite what others may tell you, William Castle at his best. I love this flick, and watch it whenever it presents itself. Must see for horror fans, movie fans, and camp fans - funny, scary, quirky, what more could you want? So keep a lookout, just like in the old days, for the next time I Saw What You Did airs, it's worth it.

Lost Hits of the New Wave #17

"Shelter" by Lone Justice

Lone Justice, fronted by Maria McKee, was formed in 1982 as part of the Los Angeles cowpunk (I bet there's a word y'all haven't heard in ages) scene. With help at different times from Tom Petty and Steven Van Zandt, they managed to chart with "Shelter," but were unable to have any higher charting singles.

Maria McKee went on to have a solo singing career but has been much more successful as a songwriter, penning hits for Bette Midler, Feargal Sharkey, and the Dixie Chicks.




Special thanks to my Twitter buddy Cathi for reminding me of this one. Sadly, I had forgotten.

RIP Michael Clarke Duncan

This one hit me kinda hard because I always liked this guy. Actor Michael Clarke Duncan has passed away from complications of a heart attack suffered almost two months back. He was way too young at 54.

Whether you know him as Bear from Armageddon, or his classic role as John Coffy in Stephen King's The Green Mile, or my favorite, crossing color lines as the villainous Kingpin in Daredevil, Michael Clarke Duncan was a phenomenal actor whose talent and presence was hard to match. A sad passing, the man will be missed.

The Barrens: Thoughts on the Trailer

There's never been a really good movie about the Jersey Devil, and there are damned few good books. "The Pines" by Robert Dunbar is really the only fiction one that springs to mind. "The Jersey Devil" by James F. McCloy and Ray Miller is probably the best among the non-fiction books on the legend. And as far as movies go, there have been a few, all awful, the worst of the bunch about a decade ago was called 13th Child and struck a new low in cinema.

This one, The Barrens features "True Blood" star Stephen Moyer playing a man who takes his family camping and finds himself convinced he's being stalked by the Jersey Devil. Even the trailer, just a few seconds over two minutes long, is already full of inaccuracies about the legend. I'm a South Jersey boy, I should know.

The worst mistake of all is in the title itself. The Barrens referred to are the Pine Barrens, so called because of the short stunted trees in the region, not at all like the ones we see in the trailer depicting the Ontario, Canada location. As yet, the film has no release date.