Category: Film Focus

  • Shudder’s Creek Short Story for Halloween [PODCAST]

    Shudder’s Creek Short Story for Halloween [PODCAST]
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    Hey there, Halloween fans. I’m bringing to you today my first short story podcast. I wrote this on a whim out of a desire to create the kind atmosphere that I really enjoy around Halloween. I tend to gravitate towards ghost stories, spooky stories, and haunted house stories when it comes to Halloween ambience. I… Read more

  • Bye-bye, Summer Movies

    Bye-bye, Summer Movies
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    Vox recently ran an article by Todd VanDerWerff announcing the death of the summer movie season. It’s an insightful read. The summer movie season has been dying for years. Tom Cruise had his first non-holiday movie release in decades with Oblivion in 2013, and continued the trend with Jack Reacher: Never Go Back in October of… Read more

  • Horrible Imaginings Film Festival [PODCAST]

    Horrible Imaginings Film Festival [PODCAST]
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    I sat down with Miguel Rodriguez to discuss the 6th Annual Horrible Imaginings Film Festival. To order tickets, visit the website at http://www.hifilmfest.com. Read more

  • Remakes and Reboots and Sequels, oh my! [PODCAST]

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    The Off Topic gang is back with a takedown on movie remakes, reboots and sequels in disguise. Listen in as Dante, Miguel, Beth and I unleash our frustration, rage, and appreciation for the films that stood on the shoulders of giants, either to fall and shatter, or stand triumphant. Don’t forget to follow them at:… Read more

  • The Name Game [PODCAST]

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    Beth, Dante, Miguel and I continue our assault on the absurdity of the medium we love, hate, and love to hate. In this podcast we tackle the bizarre, infuriating, and hilarious practice of creating titles for movie sequels. Have a listen. Don’t forget to follow them at: Beth Accommando: Cinema Junkie Miguel Rodriguez: Owl &… Read more

  • Off Topic: Armond White, Professionalism and the Amateur Film Critic [PODCAST]

    Off Topic: Armond White, Professionalism and the Amateur Film Critic [PODCAST]
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    So I conned a group of friends to get together and discuss the rise of amateur film criticism and the fall of Armond White from the New York Film Critics Circle. Please visit them at their respective websites: Beth Accommando: Cinema Junkie Miguel Rodriguez: Owl & Bear, Monster Island Resort Dante Moran: Inferno Productionz Also… Read more

  • Are the Holidays Over for 80s Action Heroes?

    Are the Holidays Over for 80s Action Heroes?

    There’s a saying that in Hollywood there are only two seasons: summer and not summer. This is only partially true. While summer is still the brass ring every budding film production aspires to, of equal importance has always been the Christmas holiday season. Since Star Wars premiered the Wednesday before Memorial Day in 1977, in… Read more

  • The Curse of 31 Nights, 31 Frights wrap-up

    The Curse of 31 Nights, 31 Frights wrap-up
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    Yet another All Hallow’s Eve has come and gone. I hope you enjoyed this year’s run of diabolical dread and devilish distress. This year we revisited some old favorites, conjured up some new scares, and assailed our ears with terrifying music. Join us next year as we return with some spooky spirits for The Ghost… Read more

  • Score Card: Halloween

    Score Card: Halloween

    I find it difficult not to give the number one spot over to that classic slasher film that birthed the infamous killer known as Michael Myers, and tonight is no exception. The rightly-celebrated Halloween theme is as iconic as Bernard Hermann’s Psycho or John Williams’s Jaws. If Alfred Hitchcock can credit Hermann for 33% of… Read more

  • Serial Thriller: The Brides of Dracula

    Serial Thriller: The Brides of Dracula
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    Hammer Studios didn’t always produce the best scripts for their classic horror series, but when it came to timeless icons Dracula and Frankenstein, they perfectly captured the spooky, haunting atmosphere. In this follow-up to their adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel, the thunder claps, the wind howls, the townsfolk fret and the beautiful young sex-kitten is…… Read more