It’s been quite some time since we’ve posted anything here, busy as we’ve been chasing hedge funders to invest in our next flick (were you guys aware that there’s some kind of money crisis going on? Since we have none, we hadn’t noticed, just seemed like business as usual), so we’re delighted that our first Halloween season missive is about something as cool as this…

The Murder Party Matinee & Soiree!

If any of you are going to be in the NYC area on the early evening of October 19th, you have to be there….I absolutely insist upon it!

It’s a pre-Halloween movie n’ music benefit show for  Child’s Play, a fantastic international charity that provides games and toys and books to children in hospitals. Check out their page…

http://www.childsplaycharity.org/

Coco66 (66 Greenpoint Ave, Brooklyn, http://www.coco66.com/) is the excellent venue that’s graciously hosting this event, which will consist of a screening of everyone’s favorite Halloween-time screwball bloodbath movie (rhymes with ‘blurder farty’) and performances by three bands associated with it in one way or another.

 So, it’s doors at 5pm…

At 5:30, Murder Party celebrates its one-year birthday with its first public screening in…well, in some time.

At 7pm, East Hundred plays, featuring Brooke & Will Blair who wrote the movie’s score, not to mention Beril Guceri who played the tragic Unfortunate Photo Assistant. Catchy sexy pop from Philadelphia. (They’s gonna be huge in ‘09.)easthundred.com

Next, at 8pm, Stacy Rock, Brooklyn singer/songwriter extraordinaire, performing with her full band. Since she won’t be dressed in a filthy unitard or cackling like a crazy bitch, you may not recognize her as having played Lexi in the movie.(And pssst…it was Stacy who conceived and organized this whole thing…she’s good people!)    http://www.myspace.com/stacyrockmusic  

And wrapping it up at 9pm (hey, it’s a school night), we have Ain’t Rights. No “the”, no bass, no bullshit….just gits & drums & wailing ass vocals rock featuring Bill Lacey who played William, the Baseball Fury maniac supreme. (There’s no Ain’t Rights web page as of now…you’ll have to take my word for it they’re fucking ferocious.)

Plus there’s gonna be a raffle, a snack special (bucket o’ fries and a baby Bud for $5!) and other not-yet-determined fun stuff…

So with all this goodness it’s probably a pretty expensive ticket, right?

Nope. It’s on the “suggested donation” tip: $10 or a new video game (rated E10 or less) or video game console or children’s book. It’s whatever you can (and want) to pay and all proceeds go to Child’s Play!

Rock n’ roll and Murder Party and cheap fries annnnnd it’s all for a good cause? What’s better than that?!

(Answer: nothing.)

Check this link for further details and updates and an advance donation thingy:

www.murderpartymatinee.com

Hope to see you all there!

I am a big fan of today. Today has a lot going for it.

For starters, check out this photo that was sent to us by M.P. fan Jason Copeland of Portage, Indiana…but beware: your face might possibly be melted off of your skull by the sheer concentration of cuteness.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=131298914&albumID=0&imageID=26312664

Isn’t that amazing? The lil’ fella nails it! Befuddled expression and all…

Also, THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who cast a vote for my brothers’ band in that Open-For-Coldplay Contest. (Lookin’ at you, Rock Immortals.) Thanks to your efforts they did indeed make it to the final round! They’ve now got a one-in-three chance at winning the whole thing (I guess Coldplay themselves picks the winner now) and I think they’ve got a pretty good shot: they got a cute singer (Beril played the Unfortunate Photo Assistant in M.P.!), a cute keyboard player, a buncha dudes with well defined chins and eyes that aren’t too badly crossed, and their tunes are pretty catchy, too. I’m proud of ‘em.

And as if all that ain’t enough to delcare this Friday a solid winner, I’m gonna sneak out of work early to have a margarita or two (or ten) in the sunny courtyard with my special lady friend and then we’re going to see Hellboy 2 with my good friends William the Baseball Fury and Chris the Brown Knight and all this with the knowledge that tomorrow we’re gonna have a huge cookout and the only thing I gotta do all day is buy ice and steaks and beer!

So you can see why I’m delighted.

Have a beautiful weekend er’body!

xo

Heya people!

I hope your Fourth of July Weekend was a great one! Where I’m at, nobody fell off the roof or blew up their hand and my meat sweats and beer farts are starting to lose some power by this afternoon- much to the delight of my office mates- so I call the whole thing a success.

Hey–check out our new best friends Jason and Tim pulling a Brown Knight double-team! (Hmm…possible title for Murder Party porno spinoff?)

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=131298914&albumID=0&imageID=26066301

And check out this awesome page from a backup story in an upcoming issue of  Fear Agent (“the sci-fi comic with balls”), drawn by the crazy talented Antonio Fuso and written by Macon from Murder Party. We’ll letcha know when it hits the stands!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3147/2630383219_69a0685dc4_o.jpg

As we chew our nails and hold our breath waiting for some good news about the funding on our next movie (some potentially cool shit is in the works–hopefully we’ll have an announcement soon!), we’re keeping busy with shorts (that’s ’shorts’ like short films as well as short summery pants, which we’re really really into) and music videos and one such video will be shot next month and it’s for a band from Philly called East Hundred. (And yes, my little brothers are in it and yes they also did the score for M.P. and I know I covered this already a million times but, y’know, for the new folks here…)

Anyways, the guys have gotten themselves in a contest where the winner gets to open for Coldplay (big opportunity for these kids) and if you’d like to help ‘em along, I know they’d appreciate it. Just click this link and vote high for the ninth video down, the one with the bluish-purple shot of a band on stage that opens with the title card ‘South Philadelphia.’ (Not sure why Mssrs. Coldplay didn’t simply name each video clip with each band’s name but hey, that ain’t my bro’s fault…)

http://coldplayontour.com/wmmr/

Closer, ever closer now to the Boner Vortex of 2008. Wall*E kept things rolling beautifully– to be so thoroughly unmanned by that goggle-eyed robot was not only self-illuminating but also terribly cathartic,…just sobbing in the aisles with all the children staring at me– and I have every reason to assume that Hellboy will maintain the momentum until the ultimate piece of amazement arrives with…well, you know.

Despite being diapered by Indiana Jones, it’s one of the best movie summers in a while.

Welp…back to work! (And by that, I do of course mean making believe that I am in Mad Men.)

xoxo

First Tim Russert. Then Stan Winston. Now George Carlin. Sheesh…

Yes yes yes, we’re all gonna die and I know that probably at least dozens of non-famous but equally righteous folks have passed away as well lately but still…hearing about those three in such a rapid succession was a serious sad-maker. I raise a glass to them, knowing they’re smart-talking and monster-making and joke-telling at the big commentary show/effects studio/mic & a stage in the sky.

So…The Incredible Hulk anyone? Damned if that shit wasn’t way better than I expected. And this whole “common universe” approach that Marvel Studios is going with is the best thing about it. I’m not sure how they’ll balance the gods-and-trolls-fantasy world of Thor with the this-is-some-true-science-shit world of Iron Man and Hulk, let alone how they’ll pull off Captain America in the er’body-hates-America 21st century but I’m confident it can all be fixed with heaping portions of CGI and therefore cannot fucking wait for the inevitable Avengers movie. And what would be truly spectacular would be if Marvel Studios could wrangle back the rights for X-Men, Spider Man, FF and all the other properties that got broom-handled to greater or lesser degrees at outside shops so that we could get into some heavy Secret Wars type shit.

My best friend, he’s fretting about saving for his daughter’s college. Me, I’m all jammed up over a possible Kree-Skrull movie. Different strokes, y’know?

And speaking of unhealthy misguided anticipation: I got mah tickets to Dark Knight! Said I got mah tix to Dark Knight! (back flip-hitch kick-jazz hands) Ohh yes I got my motherfucking tickets to The Darrrrrk….Kniiiight! (thunderous applause)

Hey, here’s a groovy review Murder Party got on FilmCritic.com…

Murder Party

A film review by Brian Chen – Copyright © 2008 Filmcritic.com

While watching Murder Party you can just imagine Jeremy Saulnier chuckling to himself while writing the script, and you can’t help but chuckle along. It’s the pretentiousness of a lot of independent movies that makes them so bad. And it’s Saulnier’s humble, self-deprecating charm that makes this satiric Halloween movie so hilariously good.

Speaking of self-deprecating, the movie’s “hero” is kind of an endearing loser. Imagine if Jon Arbuckle were a parking enforcement officer living in Brooklyn. That’s the best way to describe Chris (Chris Sharp), who’s such a pushover he can’t even get his cat to get off his chair. Like Arbuckle, Chris is a loner; he’s so lonesome, in fact, that when he finds a random “murder party” invitation, he looks up directions, slaps together a costume, and shows up right on time — at a shady looking warehouse.

Little does he know this isn’t an ordinary Halloween party. This is literally a party for his murder. The party hosts knock him out and tie him to a chair. Apparently this is a collective of art students whose project is to videotape a murder. They’re eagerly trying to impress a rich man named Alexander, who promises the collective a large grant once he’s thoroughly wowed.

With a premise as silly as this one, Saulnier delivers a surprisingly sharp and witty script. And as over-the-top as the movie gets, there’s an element of realism in the dialogue — a sheer frustration over the uncertainty of the future and the constant need to impress someone, which many art students can relate with. (It’s no wonder: In an interview, Saulnier admits much of the script is based on his own pent-up frustration from years of trying to break into the movie biz.)

The beauty of a good independent film is the raw innocence of every element. There’s a very quirky, self-needling, tongue-in-cheek humor running through Party — which probably wouldn’t make it past major studios. Most of the actors use their real names in the movie, and they’re so natural they feel organic, presumably because they can identify with their characters (i.e., struggling artists) so easily. Saulnier’s passion for ’80s films clearly inspires the costumes, which give a nod to Blade Runner and The Warriors. In short, Party is an inside joke that somehow everybody gets.

Whether or not Saulnier has wowed whomever Alexander represents in the film industry, he’s at least managed to entertain his viewers, winning two audience awards and other festival recognitions. Party is a rare gem that glistened in theaters very briefly before it went straight to DVD. Hopefully the director has more for us soon.

..

Pris would tell you: Time to die.

http://www.filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/reviews/Murder-Party

Thanks so much, Brian! I love that you likened Chris to Jon Arbuckle. I’m not sure which one of the cast would be Garfield but I’m pretty sure that Alexander would be both ferns and Mondays.

And now, here’s another rave from the Netflix customer comments section!

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Cleva Queenpen

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This movie sucks on so many levels. The “panning” camera shots, the dumb dialogue, the obvious blood squids from the gun shots, the crappy set, and the list goes on. It looks like a student film, which I can understand, but for 80 minutes? It was just ridiculous. I agree with the other reviewers..pass on this one, or you’ll wish you had.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Thank you, Cleva! You ain’t kidding: that was one crappy set, no two ways about it. Crappy as in “C” for freezing cold and…um…”rappy” like rap music, which also sucks. So yes, I totally agree with you there. However, the blood squids we used were rhomboids (also known as diamond squids) and they are universally regarded at the premiere special effects cephalopods in the business. You simply cannot do better than these babies and that’s why we committed so much of our already limited budget to having a two-ton  filtered saltwater tank on set, not to mention the hundreds of pounds of feeder fish necessary to keep the noble creatures well-fed and happy until it came time for their scenes with the guns and whatnot. So on that point, I respectfully disagree with you. Otherwise, straight shootin’!

Hey, here’s a fun little game. An enterprising gent (or perhaps a lady, I ought not jump to conclusions) going by FD Fantic has posted this on the Murder Party IMDB message boards, wherein you do some sort of mysterious math type thing that eventually determines the best character in the movie. Drop by if you wanna kill a little bit of time!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0878695/board/thread/109837097

And check this mastermind out:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastham/1795525123/

His name is Chris Hudson and here he is in a perfectly recreated Brown Knight costume along with his pals, Scarlett Johansson and my father at age 30. Well done, Mr. Hudson!

And on that high note, I’ll end this boobery…have a great week everybody!

xoxo

Hey folks! Hope you all had a great week. Me? I tried to download the Lindsay Lohan sex video and got a virus that essentially destroyed my computer, so it’s been pretty much business as usual over here. Wanna do some recent reviews? Fuck it, why not!

Here’s one from Netflix…

ER 291793

seriously how high are the other reviewers?? I am constantly accused of liking every crappy movie out there. I suspend belief easily and can just enjoy movies. This however was a rare exception. Just a complete waste of time. Boring, super low budget, horrible acting by the entire cast. My wife and I both were pissed that we sat through this piece of crap!

Ouch! Sorry, ER, and sorry to the wife as well. I can’t speak for the other reviewers but my answer to the initial question, had you asked me, is this: “I am very, very high.”

Here’s another one that ran on IndieTalk.com…

MURDER PARTY
Now don’t be confused, this is not exactly what they mean when they say “art film” although “Murder Party” is undeniably an artistic achievement of sorts, that rare film that can be excessively gory, frequently hilarious and often, perish the thought, intelligent. While the initial feature offering from a collective known as The Lab Of Madness, “Murder Party” gives Jeremy Saulnier writing/directing credit it becomes apparent from the special features that the film is a real collaborative effort, the result of years and years of backyard filmmaking with childhood friend, producer/star Chris Sharp amongst others who wear many caps in this production.

The story involves Chris, a lonely sad sack who literally stumbles upon an invitation to a party on Halloween and, apparently lacking anything better to do, dresses up, decides to go and shows up at a grungy warehouse, greeted by a gaggle of eccentric young struggling artists, all in costume and waiting for/wondering if, anyone would accept their invitation. It is not long before it emerges that all is not as it initially seems and that the party is less a celebration of Halloween as much as it is an elaborate stunt to impress the anticipated guest honor, Alexander, a smarmy patron of the arts who comes, dangling the promise of much sought-after grant money. Now Chris has unwittingly placed himself smack dab in the middle of a multi-media collaboration/competition between desperate aesthetes willing to die for their modes of expression — but much more interested in having someone else die for them. Naturally, plans go awry and bloody, wacky hi-jinx ensues resulting in an odd mix that recalls elements of Hitchcock’s “Rope” and Scorsese’s “After Hours.”

As described by one of the creators, “‘Murder Party” is ‘The Breakfast Club’ with chainsaws” and while that is not completely accurate it does sum up the essential premise of a group of misfits thrown together into a confined space when conflict and chaos erupt. Most though, the film is good cheesy, gory fun with a healthy dose of scathing with directed at or coming from the pretentious art scene with lines like “Cause of death: Art” and “Art isn’t worth anything until you’re dead.”

For all the emphasis on gore and edgy humor, the filmmakers do not cut corners technically. Gorehounds will be pleased with the slicing and dicing but there is also some lovely, fluid camera work throughout. The film is definitely not for everyone because the sometimes subtle dark humor might escape those looking for a comedy and the knowing art scene in jokes might detract from the pure horror qualities sought by audiences hoping for something that faithfully adheres to genre conventions. However, open-minded audiences who can appreciate both of best world’s hybrids might find themselves pleasantly amused.

http://www. indietalk. com/showthread. php?t=13250

Woo! Thanks, Indietalk! And speaking of Indy talk, I’m afraid that I have to give Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull a…I dunno…a bemused shrug. Which is sad for me because I so badly wanted to give it a rollicking high five that then “accidentally” becomes an open mouthed kiss, awakward at first until we realized how much we missed each  other and- oh my God- how right this feels. But then computer monkeys and the computer groundhogs show up and spoil the moment.

I’ll tell you what I did see lately that was totally fucking awesome was a documentary called Crawford. It played at the Brooklyn International Film Festival and it’s about, well,  Crawford, Texas, which is where President George W. Bush was born and raised. (Except that he wasn’t.) It’s an exceptionally warm and engaging look at the people of this small town and what happens to their lives when W moves in. It’s sharp and hysterical and heartbreaking and I highly recommend it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1183666/

Ooh! This is a fun little nugget: Pixellite.Com named Murder Party  their Number One Weirdest Movie! “Even weirder than Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla?” you would ask, and rightfully so, but apparently…yes!

http://www.pixellite.com/2008/05/review/top-10-extremely-weird-movies/

And here’s a podcast called Play It Loud which had some exceptionally nice things to say about us. Now, the Murder Party part is right at the start but stick around for the rest of their show…it’s good stuff!

http://downloads.advancedmn.com/~media/podcast/episodes/PlayItLoud/PIL603.mp3

Thanks, Play It Loud! If this sonofabitchin’  fatalLindsayWorm.exe hadn’t already vaporized my entire hard drive, I would totally download all of your other shows!

Welp, I guess that’s about it for today. I hope everybody has a fantastic weekend. I’ve got the Blast of Silence Criterion DVD at home and The Strangers is playing at the neighborhood theater soooo, yeah, I’m pretty well covered.

xoxo

Ihmeellinen!!! Hullu!!!  Ilahduttava!!!

Click this here link to our pics and check out the new cover of Finland’s premiere horror magazine, BLOOD CEREMONY….

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=131298914&albumID=0&imageID=22982766

The managing editor over there is Sami Haavisto (which means ’shamer of trolls and darkness‘ in Finnish) and he has done us an incredible honor not only by putting our screwy little Yankee flick on the cover of his esteemed mag but also writing a nice long article about the making of said screwy flick. Sami extensively interviewed Director Jeremy and most of the cast and assuming all of our sarcasm, half-truths, colloquialisms and cross-eyed grammar survive the English-to-Finnish translation, it’s certain to be a fun read. (Also assuming you can read Finnish with some degree of comprehension….otherwise it will look like nonsense.)

Thank you so much to Sami and everyone at BLOOD CEREMONY! We love you dudes…

ttp://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=324679151

Finland fucking rules.

I guess it’s no big thing to report (or, more accurately, to agree with everyone else) that Iron Man is one hell of an awesome flick. But, man….it really is. Thrilling, funny, immensely faithful to the source with great action and first-rate effects and a whatever-is-better-than-first-rate lead performance. The supporting cast is fantastic too, and I think Director/Cameoist Favreau probably would’ve made a pretty fine movie no matter what, but RDJ is what really makes the thing fly (no pun int–okay, yeah, pun intended.) I’m afraid that I have to insist that Mr. Downey Jr. put the entire rest of his career on hold until he’s made at least two more Iron Man movies and  an Avengers spinoff. And this needs to happen immediately. I know he’s reading this so, fair warning: I am insisting.

And yet, as fun a time as I was having with Iron Man…I was troubled in that theater last night. I suppose it’s a bit like stuffing your hand into a roaring fire and coming away surprised that you were burned…you’d think that I’d know better by now, that I’d grown some thicker skin, that I’d lowered my expectations of my fellow man down abouts to gutter level where they might not be dashed so consistently…

But I am a slow learner. And after ten years in New York I am still astonished by the way you  yowling pack of bastards behave in public….specifically, in movie theaters….specifically, sitting next to me….always, alllwaaays, next to me.

Lookit. I adore the collective energy of a receptive movie audience. We’re all there to laugh together, to gasp together, to cheer together, that’s part of the experience. So when Rhodey drops a hint about his future in the Iron Man franchise, we have a duty as nerds to acknowledge this, ‘Woooo! Fuck yeah! War Machine!”  When Nick Fury appears out of nowhere to mention the Avengers, you can bet it’s a moment for thunderous applause.

That’s not what I’m talking about.

There were four, maybe five of them, to my right. I sensed that I was in for it the instant the movie started: Back in Black is playing and the one just next to me stands up…to play air guitar. Banging his head and playing air guitar. Okay, hmm, enthusiastic fella, I guess that’s okay, but…

Then came the dreaded commentary, which began at frame one and went until the house lights were up, at a perfectly conversational (if not competitive) volume, coming from the whole goddamned gang: Tony Stark got a drink in his hand. Tony Stark say ‘Don’t put it on MySpace.’ Damn, he got shot. Damn, that thing blew the fuck up. Uh-oh, bad guys got him. He building a Iron Man suit now, watch. See? Built the Iron Man suit. Flying like a motherfucker. They gonna kiss now. Oh wait, they didn’t kiss. She wanted to kiss him, though. Yeah, she did. Tony Stark a super genius. Now they gonna have a fight. Now they fighting. Now they done fighting. Iron Man!

One of them answers their cell phone, has a little chat. His buddy shouts “Silence your phone!” and it’s like it’s the funniest thing any of them has ever heard. I turn to my right and hiss “Silence. Everything.” (which is a big deal for me, as I am a confrontation-avoiding coward) and that, apparently, is even funnier. Big, big laughs all around. Tony Stark a genius.

Ugh.

Naturally, when I suggest that New York movie audiences should stab themselves in the throat, I don’t mean that allllllll of them should stab themselves in the throat. I’m sure a very high percentage of folks can watch movies like reasonable people. But you trogs incapable of keeping your cocksuckers closed would do well to stay away from The Dark Knight when it comes out. Because if you end up sitting next to me (and I have no reason to believe that you won’t) and you run your mouth through that one…?

THERE WILL BE BLOOD.

(Or urine.)

(Or a strongly worded complaint to theater management.)

(Whatever the case….it will be ugly.)

…and crashing hard, too. This Monday’s a rough one, coming quick on the heels of the massive geek bender that is the New York Comic Con. How can I be expected to keep my mind on these videotapes that need dubbing when it was only hours ago I was hanging out with Batman and Mr. T and Dark Phoenix and an officer from “V” and however many dozens of Stormtroopers? And by “hanging out with”, I do mean taking staged photographs with a disposable instamatic, and by “Batman et al.”, I do mean highly motivated folks in elaborate homemade costumes. I envy them and live vicariously through them: the Pure Nerds.

It was like a medieval market bazaar mixed with Halloween for adults. I was like a raccoon in a trash can over at the dollar bins and came away with pounds upon pounds of old yellowed issues of The ‘Nam and Moon Knight and Vault of Horror and all sorts of shit….oh man, do I love the way old comic books smell.

Ivan Brandon– the editor of the sci-fi anthology 24Seven (vol. 2), which was recently nominated for an (*ahem*) EISNER AWARD!!!– gave me a robot gorilla t-shirt so that was pretty cool, if I do say so. Two of the stories in that particular collection were indeed written by Macon from Murder Party (hey, that’s me!) which is probably why I rated such a radical gift.

http://www.amazon.com/24seven-2-Ivan-Brandon/dp/1582408467/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208795270&sr=8-1

Rick Spears, who directed some of the Lab’s earliest efforts back in the day (what do you mean you’ve never heard of Hot Trash or Hot Trash 2?) and is now a big indie comic name residing in Richmond, Va., crashed at my place for the weekend. Rather, he crashed there after he passed out on the Q train and looped twice in and out of Brooklyn and only crawled his raggedy ass inside as the sun was coming up….but it was great to see my old pal again. Check out his company, Gigantic Graphic Novels: he’s doing exciting work over there, the least of which is probably the noir/horror/comedy Hellcity, penned by yours truly.

http://www.giganticgraphicnovels.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Hellcity-Macon-Blair/dp/0976303833/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208795712&sr=1-1

Now, of all the costumed characters I saw strolling the floor, there was not a single Brown Knight amongst them. (And I was not the slightest bit surprised: Murder Party has a long ways to go before its hero is as recognized and beloved as, say,  any single one of the Drednoks.) But wait– what’s this over here at the 2008 Horror Hound Weekend? Why that’s our new best friend Ed, from Lafayette, Indiana, dressed as poor ol’ Christopher S. Hawley and he even went so far as to carry around a load of pumpkin bread…brilliant! (I hope he used organic raisins.)

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.editAlbumPhoto&albumID=471611&imageID=21900815&MyToken=5e0de7c8-cc97-4344-b787-47e56f96b028

Thank you, Ed! You’re a true master and you’ve swollen our heads another notch. And speaking of swollen heads, check out this review from Rock Immortals…high praise indeed!

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=231135696&blogID=381599942

Rock Immortals, as always, you are too kind! (And I think ”cherubic” is code for “needs to eat less bread”.)

Well shit…I guess these tapes aren’t gonna dub themselves. (grumble) Back to work now. I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend as much as I did…and I hope you all have a great week coming up…

Take it easy!

So William and I went to the movies this weekend for a long overdue man-date. The one and only choice, of course, was Street Kings. The anticipation had been building all week, so much so that it seemed like we had already seen the movie in our heads long before we actually entered the theater. And while I felt that our version– the one in which all the characters constantly describe themselves as “Street Kangs!” who do “street thangs!”– was better than the one that we actually watched, it was still a fun Saturday diversion. Dumb and obvious maybe (and what isn’t these days?) but Johnny Utah got his butch on real good and the Last King of Scotland can yell like a motherfucker.

But because I am apparently magnetized to barn-raised morons whenever I go to the movies, we sat directly in front of the infamous Talkalot Crew from down abouts Mouthbreathin’ Way. Their signature move was ‘The Replay’, wherein they would loudly repeat to each other exactly what was just revealed on screen. For example, when one of the Street Kings lifts his head in horrified realization and hisses into the camera ”It was a set up!“, then our scalpel-keen neighbors to the rear make the cognitive leap, clap their hands and bellow “Ohhhhh shit–it was a set up!”

So it’s like we got two movies for the price of one. Three if you count the imaginary version we’d already seen. We win.

Anyways, let’s do some Murder Party reviews!

Here’s one from Enemy2Fashion, which applies a refreshing  less-is-more approach.

http://enemy2fashion.blogspot.com/2008/04/murder-party.html

Just the facts. Good. Thank you, E2F!

And here’s another one from GhostLikeSwayze, which will have to take a little medicine after the link….

http://ghostlikeswayze.wordpress.com/2008/04/07/murder-party-review/

In the spirit of “all press is good press”, your review is very much appreciated but there are a few points I have to make here…

1. “Check out the IMDB boards for Murder Party and the director gets on there every once in a while to discuss the film. They will not hesitate to write shit back to you if you bash the movie.”  It’s true that Jeremy (the Director) checks the message boards every now and then to answer specific questions or give thanks if he’s received a compliment, but only ONCE has he responded to someone who had bashed the movie. Here’s what he said in that case:

“I’m sorry you thought the film was a turd. We’ll try better next time. Just out of curiosity, what were some films you DID enjoy this year?  -Jeremy S (directurd of MURDER PARTY)”

Self-effacing, humorous, graceful. I hardly think that qualifies as “writing shit back”, do you? My point is that Jeremy (as well as the producers Chris and Skei) are far too adult and  well-mannered (not to mention busy) to engage in any contretemps with the online critics.

Not me though! Which leads me to my second point…

2. You might want to proofread your work before you characterize the people you’re writing about as “amateurs”, else you could have a pot calling the kettle black type situation.

All playful scrapping aside, thanks very much to GhostLikeSwayze!

And now….I’m off to do my street thangs.

Happy Monday, everybody!

We here at the Murder Party offices (a.k.a. my day job at the videotape dubbing center where I am an astonishingly bad employee) were thrilled to learn that we had been given a shout of support on F That Movie, a  fun-as-hell podcast in which a couple of wise-assy movie lovin’ guys (and gal) talk about the good shit they’ve seen lately (with occasional blasts of Tourettes karaoke, it’s uh….well, you’ll see.) We get the honor tap in Episode 56…here’s the link:

www. fthatmovie. com

Or you could friend ’em on this here MySpace situation…they’ve got hours of groovy content for your enjoyment. Thanks a billion (that’s up from our previous ’thanks a million’, Mr. Bernake, *ahem*) to Jake and Dylan and Brooke over at F That Movie!!

www. myspace. com/fthatmovie

Now, if you’re a regular reader here, you’ll know that Beryl Guceri (who played the Unfortunate Photo Assistant in Murder Party) and the younger Blair brothers, Brooke & Will, (who wrote the score) play in East Hundred, a genuinely fantastic band outta  Philly. (Honestly, they’re awesome: no nepotism here, we wouldn’t stand for it.) It seems they’re finally about to get some long overdue television exposure on an upcoming travel & music show called “On The Road Again” (or perhaps it’s not actually a full show, maybe just a segment on a show–I’m not really certain because my brothers write me incomplete emails with news like this.) Anyways, hooray for them and check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHzN_LzI9Ak

And finally, let me just address the elephant in the room, that singular bit of news buzzing on everybody’s lips this week, the earth-shaking development that has turned the entire entertainment industry on it’s collective ear: 5.9 on IMDB, baby!!

Yes, yes: after many long months languishing under a 5.8 user review rating, we saw our prestige jump a tenth of a point this week and let me tell ya, it’s like living in a coal mine and finally coming to the surface for a breath of sweet, fresh air. And I’ll tell you another thing: six-flat is right around the corner! Fuck yeah!

To all the folks who voted us a positive on IMDB: you absolutely rule. If we knew who you were, you’d each get a personal thanky but since we don’t, I hope this blanket virtual hug that I’m now sending out will sufficiently convey our gratitude. Mmm-wah.

Annnnd that’s it for now, friends. Apparently there are some fun folks out in Seattle who are having a Murder Party Drinking Party later this week (take a shot of bloody tequila every time you hear the word ’dildo!’) so if we hear any details about that and if the people involved are not dead of alcohol poisoning afterwards, we’ll share that with you next time.

Take care.

UPDATE!

Damn. Me and my big mouth. We’re already back down to 5.8. Oh well….it was glorious while it lasted, a little slice of heaven up there at 5.9. The haters must have been threatened by our phoenix-like ascendancy.

But hey, check it out: Stacy Rock posted an new IMDB headshot and she looks freakin’ fantastic so it’s like we already broke even!