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Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Chunk

Before you make that big purchase...

If you are going to add an extra head to your head, take some time to make the following considerations:

1. Be sure you have the headspace. Some of you may have sloping shallow foreheads that cannot accommodate an entirely separate entity. You may have to take the modular approach, adding blocks to the skull cap to provide enough room to comfortably root your new copilot. Best to meet the extra expense rather then cramming the number two into too little a space. Nothing says amateur more then two big faces on a tiny little head..

2. More importantly, be sure the new addition has a complementary temperance. If you find yourself a compulsive panicker, frought with anxiety, then to get one of the same grafted to your head will only compound the problem. On the other hand, if you are sedate and meditative, your new addition may be constantly competing for your subconscious. In the world of duel operating systems, opposites attract.

Thank you for your time, and happy shopping!

SD

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Ten Thoughts on Swiss Army Man (2016)


1. Radcliffe to self, “If this doesn't get Harry Potter out of their heads, nothing will.”

2. Paul Dano is such a odd ball. He must come from the same planet Willem Dafoe is from.

3. Just when you think this movie is out of tricks, a magic boner appears.

4. The emphasis that this movie places on flatulence is truly wondrous. Whenever the story paints itself into a corner, a magical fart comes and gets the characters out of trouble. It’s the oddest deus ex machina ever.

5.. I was about to turn this off, thinking that it would be fart jokes in the woods with this guy and a corpse. Luckily, the filmmakers keep it interesting by diving deep into the leads psyche and giving the character a real arc. They make this premise more interesting then you think would be possible. In the end, it is inventive, gross, weird, and funny,

6.The ending goes to a dark place I was not expecting, showing how sad and desperate the lead is. The final hurrah ends on a high note, gives you some relief, and stays with you afterwards. The reactions of the characters was so perfect, mirroring what I was thinking at that moment.

7. What kept me engaged first was the music, and how the soundtrack is integrated in what the characters are thinking.

8. The way the lead protagonist talks about his childhood, I could relate to it, and now raising an autistic child I was wondering if the directors are on the spectrum. The singing to the lead so he doesn’t over think things was very on the money. The innocent inquisitiveness of the corpse sounded like conversations I’ve had with my kid, how he understands things in a different but logical way. This movie is totally on the spectrum.

9. The navel gazing gets annoying in the middle section, but then something looney happens and gets you back into a weirdo mood. The best stretch ends up being with the two recreating their lives in the woods, like a mumblecore Gilligan’s Island.

10. I really enjoyed this, but not how you enjoy a typical movie. I admire its guts and how they went with a concept that could not have seemed like a good idea at any point in the process. To believe in it, and to go for it, and to actually get an audience to get emotionally involved in such a weirdo story, that is a real accomplishment. However, I can’t imagine me recommending this though to a “normie” and them ever speaking to me again. That is a complement.

FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Friday, December 16, 2016

About Star Wars Rogue One - SPOILERS







At Star Wars Rogue One. Kept kids out of school, Cameron and Sarah, I stayed out of work.  Abby went to pre-K because she wanted to go to her Christmas pajama party. Also show and share. 

Got to theater an hour early. Thought there would be a big line but no one was here. Just me and the kids and Stephanie.

My initial take on Rogue One.

- Boring. Bland characters in generic action set ups. The plot meanders and lacks focus. I kept wanting to check the time and my kids were nodding off.

- The Easter eggs leading into Episode Four are well done and fun, but constantly remind you of the big shadow this movie lives in.

- The exception is a doozy. Peter Cushing back on the screen was amazing. Only in extreme close-up does the illusion crack. How great to see that character and that actor on the big screen again.

- The bright spot of this movie is Donnie Yen, the IP Man. His character, and the likability he brings to it, is the one thing in the movie that I could get behind. Seeing IP Man beating up storm troopers was awesome. His character, not a Jedi, but a disciple to the force was something new in the Star Wars universe.

- Darth Vader, back on the scene, kicking ass. Very cool scene, glad they gave him something to do.

- Why did we not get Admiral Akbar in the ending battle sequence? It it was weird that it wasn't him but some look-alike stand in character.

- There has to be an easier way to send files in the universe. Don't they have cloud storage or a network or email. Seems like this world is pre-internet.

- The effects are good with some neat highlights like the land tidal wave and two star destroyers crashing into each other. But no dramatic weight to anything. Just pretty pictures.

- Liked that the Death Star's weakness was put there on purpose by a an Oppenheimer like figure. The one thing I was looking to get out of the movie was the scene where they decided to ignore the fact that the exhaust port was exposed and could cause trouble later. I thought we would get a flustered bureaucrat who pushes it through because the Death Star is behind schedule and over budget.

- The biggest problem with the movie is the Rogue One mission doesn't start until 90 minutes into the movie. Had it just been about that mission and the people in it and the sacrifices they make this could have been really good and I felt myself waking up once their mission began but it is a long hall to get there. And once things go wrong you have nothing invested in any of the team. They are faceless fodder.

- Forest Whitaker is a kook and whatever he was doing did not fit into any universe.

- The robot sidekick was needed as the two leads were so lifeless. His witty little remarks, though forced, at least gave you something to chuckle at. 

Over all, 4 out of 10

Sam Drog



Tuesday, December 06, 2016

Coloring Books for Adults



Messing around with this new app. I lets you zap in your own designs and easily color them. And then it slaps its logo on it! Arrgh! But it is a fun app, you should all try it.


FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

The shelf


The US and UK Editions, at long last!


FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

CVM status

Hi!

384 steps until the movie is done.

FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Monday, August 08, 2016

Clown Versus Monkey: Monday morning status.




FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Sunday, August 07, 2016

Clown Versus Monkey: Spread Sheet Status



Those last two columns with all the white, don't sweat it. Mostly rendering and adding dissolves. It's those scattered whites in the middle that take a while; clown keying and adding their punchout patterns. There are a lot of props still to move around, but that puts me in a zen state, so no sweat. One of those columns is blood splatter, that might take a hot second, so we will see if I have time before the screening this Saturday.


FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Friday, August 05, 2016

Clown Versus Monkey: Status Friday Night




FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Monday, August 01, 2016

Clown Versus Monkey: Status on the Spreadsheet

So the black is done, the white is to do. The screening is on August 13th.





FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Clown Versus Monkey: There are No Monkeys in this Dojo!

The movie is raging forward as we push to get it ready for the 13th of August.

Here's a new location I haven't posted before.




FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Clown Versus Monkey: captain's log

Last night's log. Progress is progressing.

The plot to CvM revealed!

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Clown Versus Monkey Chunk#5 Stills




















FIGHT EVIL

Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Clown Versus Monkey: When Bonzo Met Preston



FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Monday, July 04, 2016

H4J!

41 days/ 936 pieces.

Zombeak! will be released stateside tomorrow on the They Crawl compilation from Echo Bridge Entertainment.

Happy Forth!


FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Clown Versus Monkey: 45



I did not get further with pieces last night, but got the computer to cool down and did some clean up.

Computer running better, need to get some more space. The RAM cannot be increased.4G is as big as it can get on this machine. Will improvise.

Right now, the score is 981/45.

FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Clown Versus Monkey: RAM

Knock Knock

- Who's There?

RAM

- RAM Who?

4 gigs of RAM is not enough to finish this movie. Maybe when it was a little guy, but now, no. Buy some RAM.

- Who are you?



FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Monday, June 27, 2016

Clown Versus Monkey: Into the Abyss

So here's some math.

I have 988 steps left to finish Clown Versus Monkey.

A friend wants to show it at a festival coming up.

He will show it as a work in progress.

I have 1152 hours before the fest.

I can do about 3 steps in an hour, baring computer glitches and obsessive tweaking.

That is 3/988 = 329 hours.

329/48 = 6.85 hours a day.

Let's say 7 hours a day, until August.

Let's say 3.5 before work and 3.5 after work.

Is it possible? Can I live 48 days in that CvM zone?

FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Cameron Conkle's Mars Rover Life Cycle




Cameron spent five hours drawing 100 pictures of the Mars Rover's life cycle.

I put some sound effects on it and there you go. Cameron's obsessive personality is perfect for animation. We actually had some creative differences over how many "pops" to use.

FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Friday, February 19, 2016

Ten Reasons You Should See The Church (1989)




1. A big event in high school was when a group of buddies and I took the subway to the one theater in Atlanta that was showing Cemetery Man. It was a horror geek pilgrimage to see a bonafide Italian Zombie Movie. A great movie, a great memory. Cemetery Man became a reference point in our marathon movie conversations. The director Michele Soavi did this movie before Cemetery Man, and you can see the same style here, especially when winged lizard man shows up.



2. This movie is all about the atmosphere. Nothing scary happens, but it’s so beautifully shot, staged, and lit that you don’t care. Great atmosphere and takes full advantage of the huge gothic cathedral they shot in. If you get to shoot in an ancient gothic cathedral, it can only help your movie. You got Cathedral? Movie makes itself.

3. Asia Argento is here as a gawky preteen who loves to go out to cheesy Italian discos and dance with preppy little dweebs in Member’s Only jackets. This was way before I met Asia at a Fango convention, married her, only to have the  relationship fall apart under the microscope of public scrutiny. It was nobody’s fault. Somethings aren’t built to last.

4. Hey, it has the degenerate from Gates of Hell, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, all grown up and bald, this time playing a priest. Even in the white collar, this guy is a greasy mess.




5. Speaking of greasy messes, everyone in this movie ends up coated in baby oil. I liked that, lots of greasy hair and greasy, grimy skin, and an alter made of muddy, writhing bodies. I guess that was an alter. Maybe an animal head? Not sure what they were going for, but it looked cool. Bottomline: There are no wet wipes in this world.

6. I liked that they didn’t go Evil Dead make up in depicting  the possessed people. People just start acting crazy. You don’t know who’s possessed, or if everyone is possessed. Is anyone sane in this movie?!? The over the top acting and dubbing adds to this confusion. Are they crazy and possessed, or is this just bad acting? It’s great.

7.  The greatest dubbing comes when someone gets possessed and starts retching and gagging. I can picture the actor in the sound booth making all these noises, the director trying to guide his gacks and groans. Hilarious.

8. Philip Glass on the soundtrack, if that’s your kind of thing, kind of thing, kind of thing, kind of thing, kind of thing, kind of thing, kind of thing. You also get Goblin. So it’s legit.




9.  Goat Head Man was fantastic. Imagine the love scene in Rosemary’s Baby, but with a big rubber goat head.

10. I missed this when it came out in the 80s. I love the homemade feel. All done in camera. I didn’t see one optical.  Feels like theater and photography, not like Home Video with CG monsters thrown on top.

Pairs well with: Prince of Darkness (1987) – It’s Carpenter, so you know it’s awesome, and the two movies share a lot of plot similarities.


Show Stopper! Two words: Subway Train


FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!