Happy Halloween to all, and to all a good fright

Aaahh, one of my favorite days of the year; Halloween! Often the only day of the year when we can dress up as anything we like and indulge ourselves with the mystical, the supernatural and the frightening. Yippeee!

Halloween is an odd time of year. If you were to put up a graveyard in your front yard in, say June, people would think you were crazy. In October though, it's a perfecty acceptable practice. Halloween has existed in one form or another for almost 3 000 years, and what may help explain it's staying power through religious and conservative attacks is because it speaks to a part of ourselves we don't really acknowledge at any other time, but we need to let out every now and then. What part of ourselves that is, I'll let you decide.

I've always been a fan of the supernatural and fantasy, no matter what time of year...ghosts, vampires, magic, etc. Anything along those lines I tend to gobble up. And on Halloween it's practically required that you watch scary movies and TV specials, tell spooky stories and be a little spooky yourself. Pure joy!

Some of the Halloween related movies I would recommend...

The Evil Dead trilogy: Gore, laughs and screams. Plus my man Bruce Campbell.

Sleepy Hollow: I loved this story as a kid, as well as the Disney cartoon that brought the legend to life. This Johnny Depp starring-Tim Burton directed movie is the classic tale for grown-ups.

The Shining: A damn scary movie that's also quiet, artful and interesting.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Just so much fun. Catchy tunes, too.

But in the midst of all these good scares and the effort of putting great costumes together, lets not forget the candy! Oh, the candy, in all shapes and sizes, all varieties and levels of sweetness. Mini chocolate bars are my favorite, but there are lots of different kinds to choose from. I'm sure you have your favorites too.

So happy haunting. Whatever this odd holiday means to you I hope you have fun and a few good scares along the way.

Monsters Vs Aliens joins Dreamworks holiday specials

Dreamworks seems to be adding to their repertoire of holiday specials lately, based I'm sure in large part to the success of Shrek the Halls a few Christmas' ago. In a few weeks we'll have a Madagascar Christmas special to look forward to. But for right now it's still Halloween, damn it!

And what better movie to draw a Halloween special from than last summer's hit Monsters vs Aliens? This past Wednesday NBC debuted Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space, which featured the original cast from the big screen version - Reese Witherspoon, Will Arnette, Hugh Laurie, Seth Rogen - in an all new adventure where alien slime creates mutant pumpkins that run amok on Halloween night in Susan's hometown of Modesto.

Will this be a classic? Time will have to tell on that. But it was definitely fun. The monsters consider Halloween their holiday, so they take it personally when these pumpkins start spoiling the fun. One of my favorite scenes was when The Missing Link, Doctor Cockroach and B.O.B. went trick or treating to do some reconnaissance, each with different results.

Chances are good this will be released on DVD next Halloween, or at the very least broadcast again. Check it out when it comes around next year. It's a great treat for the season.

Movie Review: Zombieland

I don't know if you've noticed, but in the entertainment world it seems it's all about vampires and zombies these days.

Not that I'm complaining, mind you.

One of the latest additions to the trend is Zombieland, a new zombie apocalypse movie that, like Shaun of the Dead, also adds a lot of humor to the franchise. I had the pleasure of catching

it this afternoon, and found myself laughing as much as cringing or jumping.

The story centers around Columbus (played by Jesse Eisenberg), a nerdy, phobia-ridden little undergrad whose managed to survive the zombie mayhem by coming up with a list of rules to live by when evading the undead. He is soon joined on his cross country expidition by Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a cocky, take-no-prisoners zombie killing machine. Things are further complicated by the arrival of the sister team of Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). While laughs, blood and gore aboud, there's also a nice dose of heart as the four survivors tackle the zombies and each other. Plus there's a great celebrity cameo during all of this. I'm not going to say who; you'll have to see for yourself.

Another thing to keep an eye out for that I'm not going to explain here: Twinkies. I had to go pick up a box of Twinkies after seeing this. Trust me, by movie's end you'll want them to.

My Verdict: A potential replacement for Shaun of the Dead as my favorite zombie movie.

Mash-ups from Heaven!

Some good news in entertainment this week. Brace yourselves...

Joss Whedon is directing an episode of Glee!

Adam Lambert just recorded a song written by Lady Gaga!

All is right with the world, my friends; all is right with the world.

True Blood: Love at First Bite!

Last week I finished the first season of True Blood, the hit HBO show inspired by Charlene Harrís' Southern Vampires series of books, on DVDs I borrowed from my library. I have two words for you...me likey!

For those of you unfamiliar with the show, allow me to paint a picture for you. Imagine if you would, that vampires are real. Got that image in your head? Okay, now how would you react if they wanted to live out in the open? How would you feel about them having equal rights? Or if they interacted with your family and friends? Would you be able to accept that on any kind of level; intellectual, personal, moral or spiritual? Even if they had synthetic blood to drink would you really trust them not to eat you?

If you take those issues and package them in a sex, violence and drama filled soap opera, you essentially come up with True Blood. Set in Louisiana, the show centers around Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic bar waitress who falls in love with Bill Compton, a vampire trying to 'mainstream' (live and interact with humans). Behind the religious and political issues surrounding vampires 'coming out of the coffin', the show gets a lot of soapy story lines from Sookie's friends and family. A show about intolerance and the supernatural with lots of sex and drama? So it would seem.

Plenty of action from the undead in question too. We get a privileged look at a vampire bar, Fangtasia (yes, bad pun, I know). We hear from some vamps who feel that coming out was a bad idea...mostly because they like drinking human blood. There's even a vampire trial. You see, these vampires come in all shapes and sizes, have their own system of government, their own rules, and their own law enforcement. Which, by that way, is where my man Eric comes in, the Nordic Adonis I've been dreaming of for some time now. And while I'm still on team Eric, I have to admit that Bill has his moments too. Watch the show and you'll know what I'm talking about.

From what I hear the second season is even crazier...and even better. Can't wait, but a very promising start in the meantime. I think this is how vampires should be portrayed, not all that sparkle nonsense. No offense to Twilight fans, but seriously, real vampires DON'T SPARKLE! Anyone agree with me?

Twenty Years of 'Treehouse of Horror'

A rather momentous event occurred tonight. The 20th installment of The Simpsons annual Halloween special, affectionately known as the Treehouse of Horror (a term which stems from the very first Halloween episode where Bart and Lisa tell scary stories in their treehouse). For me, Treehouse episodes are as much a part of Halloween as jack o' lanterns and chocolate chip pumpkin cookies.

You want to know the most momentous thing about this year's edition? This episode actually aired BEFORE HALLOWEEN! WOW! So many episodes make it to air the first Sunday in November, a fact that was lampooned in the 14th year when resident aliens Kang and Kodos pointed out that no one airs a Halloween episode in November, and that they already had their Christmas decorations up (don't get me started on people who put Christmas decorations up too early; it drives me crazy!)

Treehouse episodes are always hit and miss. Some episodes are better than others. Some segments are better than others. I'm not a huge fan of the very first episode but I loved their take on Poe's "The Raven". That was actually my first exposure to that poem, and it's since become one of my favorites. Other episodes have referenced Twilight Zone episodes, horror and suspense movies, classic Halloween specials or events, political elections, and much more. Some of the episodes I'm particularly fond of include Volume III, which has some of my most often quoted exchanges of dialogue (Homer buying a cursed doll, Smithers on women and seamen, Bart and Lisa raising the dead). Also, volumes IV (Bart Simpson's Dracula), V (The Shinning), XV (Lisa as Sherlock Holmes) and XVII (Dr. Phil intervenes when Homer becomes the Blob and Springfied reacts to Orson Welles' War of the Worlds).

Tonight's episode was enjoyable, if not overly memorable. An opening segment of Turner Classic Movie monsters at the Simpson's Halloween party was fun. The first story, a take on Dial M for Murder, had some great Hitchcock references. The second story was a nice poke at zombie movies. The last story was a Broadway musical in the same vein as Sweeney Todd. Again, a lot of fun, but not too much that stood out for me.

Regardless I am always happy to see a new Simpson's Halloween special, and if they can air it before November all the better. What do you think readers? Do you have any favorite episodes, or is Treehouse even on your radar for Halloween? And keep your eyes peeled for more posts on the spookiest time of the year.

Happy Thanksgiving Fizzers!

Ah, Thanksgiving (the real second-Monday-in-October Thanksgiving, not this phony baloney fourth-Thursday-in-November one ;). A time of family togetherness, a celebration of the fall season (0ne of my favorites) and counting our blessings.

Oh, who are we kidding? It's about the food! Turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, etc. You know I speak the truth.

What am I thankful for? So many things. The people in my life first and foremost, family and friends who love me and whom I love (awww, mushy). I'm thankful for my job, the roof over my head, my old car that still runs, my cat. To summarize, let me quote an old hippie song "Thank you Lord for thinking about me. I'm alive and doing fine." Amen.

But to keep in the same vein as this blog, I'm also thankful for TV shows with rich plots, great laughs and endearingly flawed characters. For movies with scope, vision and gravitas...and for digital 3D, which is just cool. For songs that can make you shake your booty and make you shed a tear. For books that keep you reading no matter how many pages long they are. For theatre that creates a shared experience with the audience. I could go on.

What are you thankful for dear readers? Feel free to post your thoughts. In the mean time, enjoy the turkey, and check out some of my favorite Thanksgiving TV specials (there aren't many I'm afraid, you'd think there'd be more).

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving: Peanuts specials almost always give me the warm fuzzies. In this installment you get a very unique Thanksgiving dinner with toast, pretzels and popcorn. Only Charlie Brown and Snoopy could come up with that.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer "Pangs": Buffy tries to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with her nearest and dearest while fending off angry Native American spirits. One particular snippet of dialogue summarizes the holiday nicely.

Anya: I love a ritual sacrifice.

Buffy: It's not really one of those.

Anya: To commemorate a past event, you kill and eat an animal. It's a ritual sacrifice. With pie.

How I Met Your Mother "Slapsgiving": After a whole episode of anticipation, Barney gets slapped by Marshall. Points for adding non-supernatural violence to the holiday.

The Simpsons "Bart vs. Thanksgiving": This one always sticks in my mind, I think mainly for the realistic portrayal of Bart and Lisa, and the relationship between brothers and sisters...something I can relate to first hand.

Family Guy and changing times

Here's a little observation to mull around the old noodle.

Way back in 2000 Fox was set to air an episode of Family Guy entitled "When You Wish Upon A Weinstein", which contained a storyline about Peter wanting to convert Chris to Judaism so he'd be better at school. However, Fox decided in the end not to air the episode, due to fears that it would be construed as anti-Semitic. It first aired on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim in 2003 and then finally on Fox in 2004. It was included in the Volume 2 DVD set as well. I've seen the episode and I don't think it's overly offensive, as they make it very clear that Peter's point of view is the wrong one.

Tonight, nine years later, a new episode of Family Guy aired on Fox - "Family Goy". Basically it was a second chance for Peter to embrace Judaism when it's uncovered that Lois' mother is Jewish. Peter quickly changes his tune when the ghost of his step-father convinces him that he'll go to hell if he abandons Catholicism. I'll spare you, gentle reader, the gory details but some of the gags include Carter trying to lure his wife with a dollar bill on a string, Lois being tied to a cross made from a crib, shots fired at Mort (a Jewish neighbor), and Jesus himself making an appearance at the end.

My point is that this episode could be considered way more offensive then "Weinstein", yet not only has fox aired it, it did so without any fuss or uproar. Maybe we need to wait until tomorrow for the uproar, but this could show just how much things have changed in nine years, or that we've all become accustomed to Family Guy's antics, that this will just fly under the radar. Time will tell.

P.S. Loved the Super Friends opening.

Toy Story is out in 3D, and I revert to childhood for 3 hours.

Today was the first day of a two week limited engagement of movie theatres screening both Toy Story movies in Disney Digital 3D. Guess where I was this afternoon.

I loved Toy Story when it came out in 1995. Even though I was 14 at the time and it was considered a kids movie, it became an instant favorite with me. Not only was it groundbreaking as the first fully computer animated feature-length movie but it was a funny, smart and touching buddy-comedy, with a great cast and Joss Whedon as one of it's writers; it was just...marvelous (contented sigh inserted here) It made you look at toys in a different way. The sequel came out in 1999, when I was 18, and some argue it was even better than the first one. I'm not going to weigh in on that, but personally I loved Toy Story 2 just as much as the first (plus in that movie there were Barbie dolls!).

And I really enjoyed revisiting both films today. It was great spending time again with Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Hamm, Bullseye, Bo Peep, Slinky, Mr. Potato Head, Rex, and all the other lovable characters. Plus, the 3D was eye-poppingly amazing. It made the footage look crisp and new again.

One woman a few rows down from me laughed far more often than her kids. You gotta love a movie that grown-ups and kids can both appreciate. Or, if you're like me, an adult who's just a big kid inside.

Don't forget: Toy Story 3 is out in 2010.