Freaks of Nature

Freaks of Nature ~ You ever have one of those moments where you're watching a movie on cable you really like, it ends, and then as another movie starts you realize you can't find the TV remote? Yeah, that's how I found Freaks of Nature, and I'm kinda glad I did.

We're asked to accept a lot in this movie about the teenagers and citizens of the town of Dilford. Here, humans, vampires, and zombies semi-peacefully co-exist. That is until the aliens show up and paranoia turns them all against each other. The vampires are evil and manipulating, the zombies are brain-obsessed eating machines, and the teenagers are, well, teenagers.

At its core, Freaks of Nature is a good old fashioned 1980s teen sex comedy in the mode of Fast Times at Ridgemont High or Better Off Dead, more about the kids and high school than any of its supernatural and science fiction trappings. No matter what camp you fall into, it's all about fitting in and dealing with parents and growing up.

As the aliens make their demands known and the factions in this weird town must come together, things get even weirder, but it was cool.  I actually enjoyed this a lot more than I ever would have suspected. And the supporting cast is full of great comedic actors including Patton Oswalt, Keegan-Michael Key, Joan Cusack, and Denis Leary. Recommended, if you can catch it on cable (or if you lose your remote), check it out.

Promtrash Sweet 16!

"PROMTRASH SWEET 16"
Wednesday, April 18th, doors open at 10 PM, show time is 11 PM sharp!
…at Bob and Barbara's, 1509 South Street, Philadelphia PA. 215-545-4511
$1.99 to get in, must be age 21 and up!

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the trashiest Prom Queen of all? That's right, folks, time again to pick America's Trashiest Prom Queen!

The Dumpsta Players celebrate their 16th Annual stag, drag, come-as-you-were/are/is "PROMTRASH SWEET 16" at Bob and Barbara's in Philadelphia!

Join rich, middle-age bitches, Alaya Richman and Holly Lefkowitz-Hawthorne, as they outspend each other celebrating their sixteen year-old daughters' birthdays, attempting to upstage "PromTrash!"

Aborto The Clown defends her 2011 Prom Trash Crown against last year's runner up, K & A's finest, Margaret Orthodox!

It's revenge of the dreadful prom, so join in the ffffun! We invite all to put on a prom dress, don a tux and compete with the gender bending drag kings, queens, straight up females and males, faghags, pretty princesses and assorted other freaks!

Come enjoy the sensational crowning in… "PROMTRASH 16"!!!!

You can also check out The Dumpsta Players on YouTube and Facebook, as well as on PhillyCAM television.

Lost Hits of the New Wave #14

"Can't Stand Losing You" by The Police



Back in the days before MTV, or before everyone except me had cable television and MTV, I would seek out every possible avenue to see music videos. Long about 1980, 1981, those avenues were few.

There was a program called "Rockworld" that aired on the pre-Fox channel 29, on the UHF dial for all the old folks reading, and that was one outlet for pre-MTV music videos. It was an hour long and would feature one or two artists or bands per episode, and there really weren't that many episodes, and they repeated them often. This was where I saw many of the early videos by Adam and the Ants, DEVO, Van Halen, the Pretenders, and The Police.

The Police videos all looked they had been filmed on the same day, and quite possibly with a single budget. Besides "Can't Stand Losing You," one of my all-time favorites, there was also "Walking on the Moon," "Message in a Bottle," and of course, "Roxanne."