CD Review: Warm Ghost “Narrows”

Warm Ghost
“Narrows”
Partisan Records
Producer: Abe Seiferth
Tracks: 9

Our Score: 2 out of 5 stars

Warm Ghost are a two piece Brooklyn, NY group made up of Oliver Chapoy and Paul Duncan. Together the two fuse the sounds of Experimental Pop and something they call Psychedelic John Hughes. “Narrows” is the duo first release which is being released via Partisan Records on September 27th.

“Narrows” is an interesting blend of stylistic synth blends and slow droning vocals which are then combined together making up the 9 tracks found on Warm Ghost’s debut release. At times the group has somewhat of a Modest Mouse sound however it is a little less accesable to the casual listener. The band describes their sound as Psychedelic John Hughes and rightfully so. Tracks like “I Will Return” and “Inside Out” almost sound as though they came right out of one of Hughes movies however with a few updated touches. I was a fan of the track “Myths on Rotting Ships”. With such an interesting I was instantly drawn to it. The song is full of some really cool and interesting sound layers which makes it enjoyable to listen to.

Warm Ghost’s debut release “Narrows” may not be something you can listen to all the time or if you are a casual experimental music listen as it might be a little too much. However for those seasoned listeners and fans of the genre you may enjoy this release.

Track Listing:
1.) G.T.W.S.
2.) I Will Return
3.) Once One
4.) Myths on Rotting Ships
5.) Ply7
6.) Inside and Out
7.) Mariana
8.) Splay of Road
9.) An Absolute Light

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Filed Under: CD Reviews Tagged With: cd, ghost, narrows, review, warm

CD Review: Halcyon Way “Indoctrination”

Halcyon Way
“Indoctrination”
Nightmare Records
Producer: Lasse Lammert
Tracks: 8

Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars

“Indoctrination” is the newest release from one of Atlanta, Georgia’s premier metal bands Halcyon Way. “Indoctrination” is the follow up to the bands 2010 release titled “Building Towers”. The new album features 7 news tracks from the band as well a cover version of “Stand Up” a song which was featured in the film “Rockstar” starring Mark Wahlberg. The album also features a remixed version of the bands song “The System” which was remixed by Karbon Black. “Indoctrination” is slated for release on October 27th via Nightmare Records.

I am always interested in listening to the newest releases by bands that are handled by Freeman Promotions. John Freeman has a roster of metal bands that never ceases to amaze me and Halcyon Way is one of those bands. “Indoctrination” is an awesome blend of classic and new school metal. Indoctrination’s” opening track “On Black Wings” is a stunning example of the bands blend of classic and new metal tones. At times the band can come off a little campy however once Kris Malteniek’s brutal vocals kick in all that campiness is erased. The track “Revolution is Now” was another track that stuck out as a favorite of mine as I am a big fan of the heavy choruses and melodic verses.

If you are fan of bands like Queensryche and Dream Theater pick up Halcyon Way’s newest release “Indoctrination” and expand you progressive metal collection a bit further as this album is a real stand out in the genre.

Track Listing:
1.) On Black Wings
2.) Our Finest Hour
3.) IndoctriNation
4.) Revolution Is Now
5.) The Wages of War
6.) Stand Up
7.) The Age of Betrayal
8.) The System (Karbon Black RMX)

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Filed Under: CD Reviews Tagged With: cd, halcyon, indoctrination, review

Interview with Steven R. Monroe

Steven R. Monroe is the director of the new SyFy Original, “Jabberwock”.  Steven is no stranger to SyFy films, as this is his fifth film for them.  Steven also directed the 2010 remake of “I Spit On Your Grave”. Last year, Media Mikes got a chance to chat with Steven about “I Spit On Your Grave”, read here, but this year we got to chat about “Jabberwock” and his new film “MoniKa”.

Mike Gencarelli: Last time we spoke you couldn’t talk about “Jabberwock”, so give us the scoop about the film?
Steven R. Monroe: Yes, actually I did not have a contract yet so sorry about that.  “Jabberwock” is the tale of one small village in the 15th century where two brothers live. One a blacksmith and one a warrior, their relationship and lives are tested when a newly born creature that appears to be possibly the mythical Jabberwocky invades and terrorizes their lives and people. Tahmoh Penikett who is just a bad ass actor plays the older brother and Michael Worth plays the younger warrior. They end up banding together of course to slay the creature but I love that there is not only a period element to the film but a human one along with the action and suspense of the story.

MG: How much does this film reference “Alice in Wonderland”?
SM: There is some but not a whole lot. The poem is referenced by the character played by Steve Waddington, “John”, who is the village wireman. It comes to him that the flying creature that is terrorizing their village sounds a lot like the one in the poem.

MG: How was the production compared to your other SyFy Original Movies?
SM: It was definitely different because we shot in Bulgaria. Most of the other ones I have directed have been shot in Canada. Also it was my first time working with American World Pictures. What was still similar to me was that I was directing a SyFy Original and this was my 5th one for them. I enjoy working with everyone there although we have never all sat in the same room, we have had a 6 year conference call relationship. They are in New York and I am either in L.A. during script development or another country for production. Outside of that, for production you deal with a lot of the same things, same shooting schedules, and close to the same budgets.

MG: You have directed numerous SyFy Original Movies, what do you like most about working with them?
SM: Well I do get criticized a lot from mostly internet media and genre fans because I do both feature films and television movies but that is exactly what I like about it and who would not want to be able to do a film like “Jabberwock” where you get to go to eastern Europe and film with swords and horses and bows and arrows and live that dream I had as a young boy of making movies. Playing with Dragons and Ogres or Death Worms or Tornados,  Shooting up or blowing things up…come on it’s a dream come true for me. And then I also get to go do films with Drama or Horror or action for the screen. I think the exact thing these people are making fun of is probably envied by some in my profession by people that only get to do one thing, one format, one genre. So I let people do their goofing on me in print because really they just keep pointing out something I think is lucky for me. I think it just gives people something they think is funny to goof on “how did the guy who directed “Ogre” and “Ice Twisters” get to direct “I Spit on Your Grave”? Well do your homework because I also have directed 7 other feature films and I like doing SyFy movies, Oooo is that so horrible? Apparently, People always seem to have this warped idea that filmmakers should just sit around and only do the perfect projects, it’s not that simple and most of us are no different than anyone else, this is our job and we need to work, we have bills and families just like everyone else You do your best to do the best, but if life was that easy my name would be Terrence Malick.

MG: You tend to work with similar people on your films like Cerina Vincent, Elisa Donovan, Michael Worth and Tim Thomerson; tell us about this?
SM: Yea I do. It’s another thing that I feel lucky about in my career. I am not the only director that does that. I do the same with crew also, before he passed away after we did “I Spit On Your Grave” my Cinematographer and close friend Neil Lisk had done 5 films with me, my Composer Corey Allen Jackson (who also did the music for Jabberwock) has done 7 with me and my editor Kristina Hamilton-Grobler has done 5 or 6 I think. So I like to find people that I not only trust or respect but that understand me as a director and how I think and work. Also for me when you doing a low budget film and you have people you know you can rely on to deliver it is invaluable. I love Cerina we have done 4 films together now, Thomerson is awesome and just makes me laugh all day and we have done I think 4 now also, Michael Worth and I go back really far and on the film  we hit it off. Michael and I think the same and we want the same things with our careers. He is also a very talented writer and director and I have all the respect in the world for him. He is like a brother and this film “Jabberwock” would have suffered without him. He is an amazing fight guy and he choreographed the sword fights for us and he and Tahmoh just knocked it out of the park. I could not have gotten those scenes shot if it were not for them and Michael’s experience.

MG: Going back to the early years, you worked on “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse”; any fun stories?
SM: You don’t have the time, it was all fun stories. Every day and Paul Reubens is a genius and a great person. I never had so much fun in my 27 years so far in the business for that year of my life. I was only 25 I think at the time. It was a blast.

MG: What can you tell us about your upcoming project “MoniKa”?
SM: It’s an Action/Thriller about a guy who goes to visit his actor friend in Las Vegas and meets the perfect woman, they have the perfect night, and then he finds out that she was actually killed the night before they met. He has visions and premonitions that help him piece the puzzle together but he gets caught up in her vengeance for the death of her little sister on some local crazy drug dealers when Monika comes back, kind of like an undead to finish her revenge. It’s a really edgy, violent, good guys/girl vs. the bad guys’ kind of rollercoaster film. Cerina Vincent plays Monika who a gun slinging bad ass, and Jason Wiles plays Reagan the guy who tangled up in everything with her. I also have some of my I “Spit” cast being different kinds of bad guys in this one. I wrote and produced it too so it was really different for me to be able to be the final say in everything which does not happen too much anymore these days probably much to the surprise of film fans. It will be finished the end of September and everyone is really excited.

 

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Filed Under: Film Interviews Tagged With: interview, monroe, steven

Interview with Danielle Rayne

Danielle Rayne is the star of the short film “Portal: No Escape”. The short film based on the hit video game series and is directed by Dan Trachtenberg. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Danielle about the short film and it’s overnight success.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about how you got involved with “Portal: No Escape”?
Danielle Rayne: The first of our 2 stunt coordinators, Keith Adams, and I had worked at Universal Studios T2:3D together. Keith is a huge “Portal” fan. When Dan Trachtenberg was casting “Portal: No Escape”, Keith introduced him to some actresses and stunt women he thought could do the job. So I owe all this to Keith.

MG: How aware were you of the video game series “Portal” prior to working on the short?
DR: No, I wasn’t. I must live in a bubble…

MG: The short has over 5 million hits already, are you surprised by the response?
DR: I thought it would do well, especially as Dan would send me clips of the VFX in stages and I could see the high production values. The Comic Con debut was another indicator. But nothing really prepares you for 5 million hits and #1 for the week on YouTube. The speed with which “P:NE” went viral floored me.

MG: Tell us about the production, how long did it take to shoot?
DR: We shot for three days in downtown L.A. in some abandoned buildings that have been turned into studios. The cell was shot in a studio that was formerly a meat packing plant. You did not want to go wandering around by yourself! I took a couple wrong turns going to and from set and I’d get a chill up my spine.

MG: Tell us about working with Dan Trachtenberg?
Working with Dan was one of the best experiences in my career. He’s keyed into drawing the best performance out of his actors. Portal:No Escape and More Than You Can Chew really show that. There’s a couple up-and-coming directors who are going to make a huge mark on Hollywood–Dan is one of them.

MG: Do you think there is a chance for this to become a feature film?
DR: A chance, sure. That being said, the movie business is so hard to pin down. Might as well go to Vegas and bet it all on black.

MG: Tell us about the film “Broken Down”?
DR: Trevor White directed it, Miles Warner wrote and stars in it. I have a great part but I can’t say much about Mary without giving away the good stuff! I can tell you I have dialogue this time. Like Dan, Trevor is another soon-to-be-breakout director and this is the second film I’ve done with him.

MG: Do you have anything else planned upcoming?
DR: I’ve recently begun working with 4 Horsemen Films and their management division. Clearly, the character I play in “P:NE” hit home for a lot of viewers–even ones who had never played “Portal”. A lot of reviews appreciated that my character was strong, smart and sexy without being a sex object. We’ve got a few things we’re looking at with all that in mind. So if anyone wants to pitch a badass female driven spec–Zack at 4 Horsemen Films is my go-to guy. 😉

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Ethan Hawke and William Hurt Lead “Moby Dick” Sails Onto Blu-ray And DVD October 4th

ETHAN HAWKE AND WILLIAM HURT LEAD ALL-STAR CAST IN NEW THRILLING ADAPTATION OF THE GREAT AMERICAN CLASSIC

MOBY DICK

Co-Starring Gillian Anderson And Donald Sutherland, The Timeless Epic Tale Sails Onto Blu-ray And DVD October 4

UNIVERSAL CITY, CA – With the famous words, “Call me Ishmael,” begins the spectacular adaptation of Herman Melville’s novel, considered the greatest work of American literature, MOBY DICK, arriving in brilliant Blu-ray and DVD October 4 from RHI Entertainment and Vivendi Entertainment. A two-part original miniseries event that premiered August 1 & 2 on Encore, the New York Times calls it “an ambitious, beautifully made adventure tale that seeks to be respectful of the book while still making the characters and story accessible to modern viewers,” and the Wall Street Journal adds, “there is much to marvel at in this production.”

Led by a “persuasive and compelling” (New York Times) performance from Academy Award® winner William Hurt (Children Of A Lesser God), the miniseries features powerful dramatic performances by a cast of celebrated actors including Golden Globe® winner Donald Sutherland (Citizen X), Academy Award® nominee Ethan Hawke (Daybreakers), Gillian Anderson (“The X-Files”), Eddie Marsan (Sherlock Holmes) and Billy Boyd (The Lord Of The Rings).

A psychological thriller of one man’s decent into madness, the story begins when inexperienced sailor Ishmael (Charlie Cox, Stardust) joins the crew of the whaling ship Pequod helmed by the mysterious and tortured Captain Ahab (Hurt). Though the journey at first appears to be a routine whaling quest, the crew soon is unwittingly forced to join Ahab in his singular purpose – to hunt and kill the enigmatic white whale, which nearly killed him years before. As they sail across the desolate ocean, Ahab’s obsession to seek the deadly whale they call Moby Dick, no matter the cost, soon proves fatal. Never straying from his quest to hunt and kill the monstrous whale, the crew realizes that their captain is so blinded by vengeance that he may soon lead them all to an ultimate peril.

From the rocky shores of Nantucket to the deepest depths of the Atlantic Ocean, enthralling special effects also highlight the two-part original miniseries that is “lavish, exciting, well-acted and admirably thorough” (Washington Post). The MOBY DICK Blu-ray will be available for the suggested retail price of $29.95, while the DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $19.97.

Synopsis:
Ishmael sees his dream of a whaling voyage come true when he joins the crew of the Pequod, a sailing vessel leaving port in Nantucket. Unbeknownst to Ishmael and the mates, the Pequod’s megalomaniacal Captain Ahab is taking them all on a mad and personal mission to slay the great whale Moby Dick—an obsession that will open their eyes to the wonder and spectacle of man, of beast, and the inescapable nature of both in this epic retelling of Herman Melville’s masterpiece.

 

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Filed Under: Film Headlines Tagged With: 4th, bluray, dick, dvd, ethan, hawke, ...

“The Office: Season Seven” DVD Giveaway [ENDED]

THANK YOU FOR ENTERING, THE CONTEST HAS ENDED. WINNERS HAVE BEEN CHOSEN AND NOTIFIED VIA EMAIL. PLEASE CHECK BACK EVERY WEEK FOR NEW GIVEAWAYS!

To celebrate the release of “THE OFFICE: SEASON SEVEN”, Media Mikes would like to giveaway 8 copies of Season Seven on DVD. If you would like to win one of these great prizes, please leave us a comment below or send us an email and let us know your favorite character from the show. This giveaway will be open until Tuesday Sept.13th at Noon, Eastern Time and is only open to residents of the United States. Only one entry per person, per household; all other entries will be considered invalid. Once the giveaway ends, Media Mikes will randomly pick out winners and alert the winners via email.

In the seventh season of this Primetime Emmy® Award-winning series inappropriate behavior is business as usual but big surprises are in store! Dwight is now the owner of the building and he may be letting this power go to his head; Andy is courting Erin who is dating Gabe; Jim and Pam are struggling with being new parents; and a parade of ghosts of girlfriends past haunt Michael leading to his final days at Dunder Mifflin. Catch the antics of all 24 laugh-out-loud Season Seven episodes of”…TV’s funniest half-hour” (Rick Kissell Variety) developed for American television by Primetime Emmy® Award Winner Greg Daniels. This memorable season features guest appearances from Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) a cameo from Ricky Gervais (The Invention of Lying) and an unforgettable hour-long season finale with Jim Carrey (Bruce Almighty) Will Arnett (Arrested Development) Ray Romano (Everybody Love Raymond) James Spader (Boston Legal) and Catherine Tate (Doctor Who) all vying for Michael Scott’s old post. Plus see hours of bonus features including extended episodes deleted scenes bloopers webisodes and more in this must-own five-disc collection.Starring: Steve Carell, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Ed Helms and Rainn Wilson.

Special features included are over an hour of deleted footage, as well as extra footage that will include the extended version of Threat Level Midnight, a film by Michael Scott. The set will also include three webisodes, along with a blooper reel. Five of the episodes will include commentary: “Nepotism,” “PDA,” “Threat Level Midnight,” “Goodbye Michael,” and “Dwight K. Schrute, (Acting) Manager.” The commentary comes from much of The Office cast, sans John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer, and some of the production crew.

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Interview with Jan Rabson

Jan Rabson is a voice actor known for his working with Pixar and Disney. He has worked on “Toy Story 3”, “Up”, “Cars Toons” and “Finding Nemo”. Jan also voiced Tetsuo in American dub of Japanese cult classic “Akira”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Jan about his voice work and his films.

Mike Gencarelli: Can you give us some background as to how you got involved with Disney and Pixar?
Jan Rabson: Basically I got involved originally through Mickey McGowan and went in with a loop group doing background voices for the original “Toy Story”. After I got back from that session I told my now wife that I had just worked on what “Steam Boat Willie” was to 1920’s this film was animation for the 90’s. I could tell that this was going to be fantastic and it was really exciting. We worked with John Lasseter himself. With Pixar we don’t just act like a normal loop group – we get to do real individual characters (Axel, great death scene in “A Bug’s Life”, Sparks in “Toy Story 3”, etc) We improvise and they choose what they like in the editing room. It’s a fun creative process. It was a fantastic time. They are great people to work for.

MG: What is the process for being brought on a set to provide additional voices?
JR: Usually it happens through a wonderful woman by the name of Mickey McGowan. They call her and generally will ask for a certain person. I have been lucky that Pixar has chosen to bring me back each time. I have done most of their films with the exception of 2. Those couple films were shot out of the country and they needed specific voices for those shoots. I also have been lucky to do a lot of their shorts as well such as the ones with Mater from “Cars” and those for “Toy Story 3”. I have just been very lucky. I have been riding this wonderful train and having a ball until it stops.

MG: How did your involvement in “Akira” come about and what was that experience like?
JR: “Akira” was interesting. It was so long ago that I don’t remember it 100 percent but I do remember I had worked with Wally Burr once or twice before and he had this reputation for being a real man eater. Frankly I thought he was wonderful and it was great working with him. When I got cast I had no idea how big of a film it was or it was going to be. It was the biggest film in Japanese anime at the time and was like 60,000 frames per film which was unusual at the time. It was just myself, Wally and the engineer in the studio. We worked about three or four days and on one of those days a group of Japanese business men came in and sat stoned faced watching me. We had taken a break and if you saw what happened in a film you would think it was phony but all of a sudden these guys just started smiling and busting out cameras to take pictures. Wally said breaks over and the guys went right back to the way they were before. (Laughs) I also remember we were working on the big metamorphosis scene and it ended up being like 20 takes of me screaming and begging for tea and honey.

MG: Can you tell us about being credited sometimes under a different name?
JR: That’s my pseudonym. I once got a Los Angeles public library card under the name Stanley Gurd, Jr. because my card had run out and they wouldn’t give me a new one so I made up a name. Years ago a lot of anime was done under the table so people used different names. Stanley is actually the name of a nerd character I created similar to Pee-Wee Herman. I love doing the character of Stanley Gurd, Jr

MG: What is your inspiration when doing multiple voices on a project and how do you distinguish each one?
JR: It really depends on the character and what kind of personality he has. I grew up in East Meadow, Long Island and my father worked in Brooklyn so I had a wide variety of characters to choose from. My dad owned a small business and a lot of different types of people would call him some who were really weird. I also have relatives from all over the world so I borrow a lot from them and from people who I grew up with.

MG: How did you get the role of Larry Laffer in the “Leisure Suit Larry” video game?
JJR: That was another one that I auditioned for and had no clue really what it was. People told me it was a big gig and I guess it was in the fact that the game was well known but I was getting paid in those days scale or a little bit above so I didn’t make much off those cd-roms at all. I had a ball working with Al Lowe and he and I are still good friends. Al would let you ad-lib and I would just go crazy! Al would have to tether me down to stop me because you would just adlib your ass off! My wife likes to say she’s married to “Leisure Suit Larry” (Laughs)

MG: What was your involvement with “Jaws: The Revenge”?
JR: I was in the only “Jaws” film that didn’t make more than $10 at the box office! (Laughs) That was a looping gig. I don’t really remember what I did on it but, you look at a film after you have finished and you can tell if it’s going to be good or not. You could tell that one was going to tank. (Laughs) Another one I did which was actually my last gig in front of the camera was on “Baywatch”. They had a fake shark in that and they had a fake shark on that and it didn’t work half the time. They would say “ah it’s no big deal it’s just Baywatch.” (Laughs)

MG: Can you tell us about any current projects you are working on?
JR: I still go down and do work for Pixar and DreamWorks here in Los Angeles. I do a lot of commercial stuff lately. I also do a lot of work in Vancouver where I just did “My Little Pony”.

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Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: interview, jan, rabson

CD Review: Elephant Mountain “The Last Days of Planet Earth”

Elephant Mountain
“The Last Days of Planet Earth”
Producer: Brian Azzoto, Jeff Moleski
Tracks: 9

Our Score: 5 out of 5 stars

“The Last Days of Planet Earth” is the first release by the Syracuse NY, based band Elephant Mountain. The band consisting of Joe Altier – Vocals, Brian “Slider” Azzoto – Guitars, Lewk Detor – Drums, John Hanus – Guitars, Dave Hoyt – Bass and Lou Segreti – B3 Organ. Elephant Mountain is the newest band to feature former Century Media artist Brand New Sin members Joe Altier and Brian “Slider “Azzoto.

Being a huge fan of Brand New Sin I was really excited to hear that Joe and Slider were back together in a new band Elephant Mountain. Since receiving this news I have been waiting to hear what kind of tunes they would come up with but, mainly how were the new songs going to compare to their previous Brand New Sin songs/albums. Well first off “The Last Days of Planet Earth” was well worth the wait! Songs like the albums opener “North of Nowhere” and “I’m Done” are spot on.  “The Last Days of Planet Earth” is one of those albums you can throw in your player and just listen to it over and over and not get bored.

Elephant Mountain’s “The Last Days of Planet Earth” is a great blend of Lynyrd Skynyrd meets Led Zeppelin infused tunes. “The Last Days of Planet Earth” really has something for everyone be it straight forward rock tunes to scaled back soulful ballads. Hands down “The Last Days of Planet Earth” is a great album!

Track Listing:
1.)    North of Nowhere
2.)    No Other
3.)    Pray
4.)    Out of my Head
5.)    Heaven’s Bleed
6.)    Words With Friends
7.)    Missin’ You
8.)    I’m Done
9.)    The Last Days of Planet Earth

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CD Review: Anthrax “Worship Music”

Anthrax
“Worship Music”
Megaforce
Producer: Anthrax, Jay Ruston
Tracks: 11

Our Score: 4 out of 5

“Worship Music” produced by Anthrax, Scrap 60 and Jay Ruston is the legendary thrash/metal bands 10th studio album. “Worship Music” is the first release of new music by the band since their 2003 release “We’ve Come For You All”. “Worship Music” is also the first album to feature singer Joey Belladonna since Anthrax’s 1990 release of “Persistence of Time”.

When I read that Joey Belladonna had been tapped to sing vocals on the new Anthrax album my inner thrash fan about exploded out of my chest! I like many other Anthrax fans have been waiting 20 years for Joey’s next album with the band and now its hear. “Worship Music’s” first single “Fight ‘Em Til You Can’t” kicks the album right off and is packed full of both classic and more modern Anthrax sounds. Joey Belladonnas voice is like an ageless wonder and in my opinion has never sounded better. Tracks like “The Devil You Know”, “I’m Alive” and “The Constant” were instant favorites of mine. However all 11 tracks included on “Worship Music” had great arrangements that I felt really showcased each member of the bands talent.

Anthrax’s “Worship Music” is classic Anthrax. For those hardcore Anthrax fans that have been waiting for a new album featuring Joey Belladonna your wait is over. Joey’s vocals are dead on reminiscent of the classic Anthrax albums we all grew up listening to. As a whole the band is extremely tight making “Worship Music” a great album to mosh and head bang to!

Track Listing:
1.) Worship (Intro)
2.) Fight ‘Em Til You Can’t
3.) The Devil You Know
4.) Earth on Hell
5.) Crawl
6.) I’m Alive
7.) In the End
8.) Revolution Screams
9.) The Giant
10.) The Constant
11.) Judas Priest

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Filed Under: CD Reviews Tagged With: anthrax, cd, music, review, worship

GWAR’s Michael Derks aka “Balsac the Jaws of Death” Talks “Blood Vomits”

Michael Derks aka “Balsac the Jaws of Death” guitarist for the rock group Gwar has a new project coming out titled “Blood Vomits” which is a puppet based adventure series that was fully funded through the internet donation site Kickstarter.com. Mediamikes.com had a chance to catch up with Michael to talk about the project and how he came about using Kickstarter.com

Adam Lawton: How did you first become involved with the “Blood Vomits”?
Michael Derks: I didn’t really know too much about it at first and I don’t really know why. I knew about the idea as Davis Bradley who basically came up with the idea and built the puppets used to tour with Gwar and was one of our Gwar slaves. After he left the band he was working on some other weird little projects and one of them was these puppets. A friend of Davis’s by the name of John Brennan had written a script about three Mexican banditos with one being a priest and the other two being completely evil. Davis took that script and adapted it to the puppets he was building and then had Dave Brockie and Todd Evans do the voices. I hadn’t really heard about it until I found it on YouTube. This was a couple years later as nothing had really been done with it except for the skit being put up on YouTube. I went to Davis and asked him what he was doing with the puppets and Davis told me nothing really become of the project so I asked why not? As I thought it was really awesome. I asked him if he had a problem with me using the puppets and writing some more stuff. The only problem was Davis didn’t have any money for the project and couldn’t really afford to do the project just for fun. A short time later I saw Chris Gethard from “Upright Citizens Brigade” on his comedy tour and I got a chance to talk with him and he told me about how he had funded the tour he was on through a website called kickstarter.com. I thought that sounded perfect for what I wanted to do so I asked Davis and he said sure and we just ran with it from there. We had a budget of $5,000 which is nothing but we were able to save a lot of money due to all the in house talent we had with the band.

AL: Other than writing you also did some of the voice work as well correct?
MD:  I added some writing and a few additional voices but not a whole lot. I decided that since Todd Evans wasn’t around anymore we had to recast other than Dave Brockie’s character. I thought it would be a cool idea to get a super group of Richmond, VA metal bands together and have them do something other than play music. I was able to get Randy Blythe from Lamb of God as well as Tony Foresta from Municipal Waste. It’s kind of become a collaboration between the three of us.

AL: What were your first thoughts when you reached your budget goal on kickstarter?
MD: We put it up there as kind of a test. The original idea was to do more episodes so us reaching the goal kind of gave us hope that once we have the first episode done there will be interest to do more and keep funding those episodes.

AL: What are the release plans for the project?
MD: It’s almost edited. Davis had thought it would take around a month to have everything edited but unfortunately it has taken closer to 3 months. It’s almost done we just have to get together and do the final tweaks on everything and make sure everyone is happy. I’m guessing within a few weeks we will have it out.

AL: This being just the first film/episode what are the future plans for the project?
MD: We are hoping to do a full 12 episode television season. We want to release it on YouTube for people to watch for free and just see how it goes. We want to get the funding before we make the next episode so if people like it and want more they have to help us. (Laughs) As we go along we want to get more celebrities involved doing different voices and such. When we are on the road with Gwar we run into a lot of our rock star friends so the idea is to give them the lines and record them right on the bus.

AL: Do you have any other projects your working on right now?
MD:  I have a couple things that I am sort of working on. I am thinking about another puppet based series but that’s still in the development stages.
For more info on “Blood Vomits” you can go to www.gwar.net for all the latest info.

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Filed Under: Music Interviews Tagged With: aka, balsac, blood, death, derks, gwars, ...

GWAR’s Dave Brockie aka “Oderus Urungus” Talks “Blood Vomits”

Dave Brockie aka Oderus Urungus has a role in the upcoming kickstarter.com funded puppet adventure “Blood Vomits” Mediamikes.com caught up with Dave to talk about the project as well as some of the other things he has been working on lately.

Adam Lawton: Can you tell us about your role in the “Blood Vomits” project?
Dave Brockie: I didn’t really do a whole lot. I offered some moral support as well as doing the voice of Mad Dog who is one of the lead characters. Pretty much Davis Bradley and Michael Derks were responsible for getting all of the elements of the story together. I just came in and did my voice. For once I wasn’t running the show. I really enjoyed the hell out of coming in and just being a supporting player! There just is so much talent in the Gwar camp that it was nice to sit back for a change. I have been doing a lot of the publicity and informing the fans about the project which has been great.

AL: Had you heard of Kickstarter.com prior to this project?
DB: No I hadn’t. Mike brought that idea to everyone and it’s really an amazing thing. We were very surprised with how well we did. Originally the guys were going to only ask for $2,500. I told them to just go for it and ask for $5,000 and we ended up with $7,000 so we were really happy with it. I’m sure we will be using it again in the future as it’s a really awesome tool for artists.

AL: Can you tell us about your book that was released recently titled “Whargoul”?
DB: “Whargoul” came out on Dead Eye press which is a division of Eraser Head press. I had written the book about 10 years ago and had it up on my website for quite awhile. This company got in touch with me and was interested in putting out the story in a real book form. I said “Hell Yeah” they set everything up and it has been doing pretty good. It’s also available in a Kindle version as well. They have asked me to write a sequel but I don’t know if I can write a sequel to “Whargoul”. I did leave the character in spot to where a sequel could happen but I don’t know. “Whargoul” took a really long time to write and it was a struggle. I want to write another novel but I’m not sure I want to write a sequel just yet. At some point I think I could though. People have been really supportive of this and the other side projects I am involved in which has made me work harder. Gwar fans are tremendous and support us in everything we do. I just finished a short story for a zombie anthology which is titled “Bone Manner Revisited”. I had written this story for one of my creative writing classes in college and similar to “Whargoul” it sat around for a few years. I was contacted by a publisher about doing a zombie type story and I remembered that short story from college. I did a re-write on it and some buffing up and it should be coming out pretty soon.  I also have my blog on rvanews.com which continues to tell the story of Gwar’s inception. I definitely plan to compile that for a novel one day as well. When I finally get into my last days of decrepitude I can totally see myself writing a lot more.

AL: There has been a lot going on in the Gwar world lately with the news of the Gwar B-B-Q line up and a fall 2011 tour. There also has been gossip of a new band member. Can you tell us anything about that?
DB:  It’s getting out now that Casey Orr has left the band. Casey has played Beefcake a few different times over the years. The split was something that didn’t come as a surprise as we knew that he would eventually be moving on. Basically the economy right now is really rough and Gwar is not the easiest band to be in. It’s especially difficult for guys who don’t live in the Richmond area. All of Casey’s family and projects are in Texas so the strain of holding those two different lives together got to the point where he had to make a decision. The split is completely amicable and we love Casey. It wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t end up working for us again at some point. I know for a fact next time we are in Dallas he will be back stage drinking all of our beer. We all play characters in Gwar and there have been 3 different Beefcakes with Casey playing the role twice. The characters are defiantly bigger than the musicians who play them. The new Beef Cake the Mighty will be debuting at this year’s Gwar B-B-Q but we do wish Casey all the best and we will miss him.

AL: The Fall tour is being dubbed “Return of the World Maggot Tour” correct?
DB: Yes! We recently moved into a new slave pit and when we were moving we went through all the old costumes. We came across the World Maggot and it was still in pretty good shape. We are always getting asked when we are going to bring that prop back. Because we didn’t have time to build a whole new show and we don’t have a new album out we decided to bring out a bunch of the old characters. It’s going to be a cool tour as we will be out with Every Time I Die as well as playing a few shows with Ghoul and Warbeast. We are really looking forward to get back out there!

AL: Are you involved at all with the Gwar “Dim Time” book which is being compiled by former Slave Pit/Gwar members Don Drakulich and Chuck Varga?
DB: They have asked me my opinion about stuff but it’s been Don and Chuck who have been sorting that stuff out. Everyone is really starting to get their own side project niche now and this is one of those times. I trust that they are going to do a great job. Don was with us from the very beginning and he has a lot of really amazing footage. It a story that needs to be told however I don’t really need to contribute that much because I lived it! (Laughs) Anything about the “Dim Time” is going to have my mug all over it.

For more info on all things Gwar you can head over to Gwar.net and you can follow Dave on twitter @therealoderus and also read his blog at rvanews.com.

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Filed Under: Music Interviews Tagged With: aka, blood, brockie, dave, gwars, oderus, ...

Film Review “Shark Night 3D”

Starring: Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan and Chris Carmack
Directed by: David R. Ellis
Rated: PG 13
Running time: 1 hour 31 mins
Rogue Entertainment

Our Score: 0 out of 5 stars

A young woman is swimming alone, left in the water by her boyfriend. Suddenly she is pulled violently back in forth until she disappears. Sound familiar? This is the opening scene from “Shark Night 3D,” a film that tries, on several occasions, to steal from “Jaws”…a feat it fails at miserably.

The story: a group of college students from Tulane decide to spend the weekend at the home of rich girl Sara (Paxton). While stopping for booze they meet some of the unsavory characters that Sara grew up with. Why has it been three years since she’s come home? And really, who cares? Once at the house they begin to disappear, one by one, in a series of shark attacks. Scared yet?

What a horrible film. The plot, as it is, is lame enough without all of the inconsistencies the story holds. When the teens decide to call for help we are told that there is no cell phone reception. But surely that won’t affect the land line based telephones in the house?

Besides the opening “Jaws” rip-off scene, the film also steals from “Jaws 2” (waterskier), “Jaws 3” (horrible 3D) and even pulls a “flying” shark out of “Jaws the Revenge.” We learn that there are 46 different kinds of sharks in the lake yet apparently no one has ever been attacked until now. Trying to tie the attacks into an attempt to make money off the people who enjoy “Shark Week” on the Discovery Channel each year is equally absurd. More unbelievable are the various sharks. They come off as cartoony rubber toys. And to my understanding, most of the lakes I’ve come across are fresh water, which would not be conducive to sharks. But when this fact is brought up on screen we are informed that this is a salt water lake. Whatever.

The direction is pedestrian at best. Director Ellis seems keen on two things: speeding up the film to make everyone travel around fast and bikini clad back sides. The scares, if you want to call them that, are telegraphed minutes ahead. And the 3D is almost non-existent. Apparently Hollywood thought they would ass-rape the movie going public one more time before the summer ended and charge an extra three dollars! My advice is to take that money and go rent “Jaws.”

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Filed Under: Film Reviews Tagged With: 3d, film, night, review, shark

Interview with Colin Egglesfield

Colin Egglesfield recently co-starred in “Something Borrowed” with Kate Hudson, John Krasinski and Ginnifer Goodwin.  He also currently guest starring as Tommy in TNT’s hit show “Rizzoli & Isles”.  Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Colin about his working on “Rizzoli & Isles” and “Something Borrowed”.

Mike Gencarelli: Can you give us some background about your work on TNT’s “Rizzoli & Isles”?
Colin Egglesfield: My first episode was called ““Don’t Hate the Player” and my character Tommy is just getting out of prison after hitting a priest with his car while drinking and driving. My mom played by Lorraine Bracco and my sister played by Angie Harmon were attempting to have a welcome home party for me. However prior to my release my character gets into a fight and has to stay a few weeks longer. When I finally get out I don’t tell anyone that I am coming. Dr. Isles lets me stay at her place as I had no other place to live. This comes as a shock to my sister and makes her a little suspicious of what I am up to. We see very quickly in the vet’s office as I am screaming about Dr. Isle’s dog needing to put on Prozac. My character is a bit of a loose cannon. The next episode I will be in is called “Gone Daddy Gone” and it airs Sept. 5th and we start see some sexual chemistry begin between my character and Dr. Isles. My third episode will air this winter and we might be seeing Tommy getting into some more trouble.

MG: Have you enjoyed the role so far?
CE: The role has been a lot of fun! To play someone who is kind of unpredictable and mischievous has been a lot of fun.

MG: How has it been working with such a great cast?
CE: It’s has been one of the best shows I have worked on. There is never a dull moment as Angie Harmon is like a cheer leader always clapping and hyping everyone up. She is like a big cheerleader! Sasha Alexander is also great as the two kind of balance each other out. When Angie gets too amped up Sasha is there to calm everything down. To also work with Lorraine Bracco and to play her son has been awesome and funny. It’s almost hard to work sometimes because prior to takes we are always sitting around cracking jokes. Jordan Bridges is another person that is a lot of fun to be around.

MG: How was your experience working on “Something Borrowed”?
CE: It was awesome and such an amazing experience. It is one of those dream roles that when I started acting 12 years ago you would dream about having one day. Working with people like Kate Hudson, John Krasinski and Ginnifer Goodwin was just an absolute dream come true. It’s definitely helped me with getting some other jobs. I just finished a movie with Andy Garcia and Juliette Lewis called “Open Road” which we hope to submit to Sundance.

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Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews, TV Interviews Tagged With: colin, egglesfield, interview

Interview with Ian Glaubinger

Ian Glaubinger is the man behind Doodles from My Noodle. He mixes his cartoons with pop culture. He has created some really fun and interesting pieces from various films, video games, etc and even specific characters, including “Willy Wonka”, “The Big Lebowski” and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Ian about this art and what he calls his “Doodles from My Noodle”.

Mike Gencarelli: What is your process when you start working on a project aka doodle?
Ian Glaubinger: I would actually say my process has been pretty much the same for a long time now. First, I come up with the idea and as of late I like to have some kind of ‘catch’ or ‘gimmick’ rather than just drawing the character or subject matter ‘as is’. After I have my idea, it’s always the same. I start with traditional pencil and paper just like when I was drawing dinosaurs in kindergarten! However, my sketches typically aren’t a complete illustration but actually just separate elements that I combine digitally later on the computer. I draw most elements by hand but there are some that I draw directly on the computer. After I scan my image(s) I redraw (or for lack of a better word; trace) my pencil sketches in Adobe Illustrator. After I have redrawn everything I create all of the elements that I didn’t draw by hand such as text, background elements, etc. After all of this is done I start to move all of them around until I am satisfied with the layout. After the layout is set I then start to color everything and add any special effects like rough edges, patterns, etc. Oh and for anyone who cared to know, I am strictly a PC guy!

MG: What are some of your favorites films and cartoons?
IG: Favorite movies… oh boy. Too many to count but my all time favorite is definitely Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Some others are the Back to the Future trilogy, The Shawshank Redemption and anything Pixar except Cars. I love the old Looney Tunes and Hanna Barbera cartoons, the old Simpsons seasons, Mission Hill (all time favorite) and my current favorite one is a show called “Dan Vs.”.

MG: When you attend conventions, what are some of the requests you have received?
IG: I always get the typical Batman, Spiderman, Wolverine, etc. But sometimes I get more obscure ones like Steve Zissou from Life Aquatic, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Green Lantern wearing a NY Rangers jersey making the Stanley Cup from his ring and one time Johnny Depp playing a piano with a candelabra.

MG: Have you ever done any doodles for celebrities?
IG: My one claim to fame is I drew Captain Nemo (from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) for Scott Adsit from the show “30 Rock”.

MG: Which do you prefer digital or hand drawn?
IG: I will say, for me, you cannot have one without the other. Some days I prefer the look of a good hand drawn illustration, guidelines, imperfections and all. And some days I prefer the look of completed digital piece. So I really do not have a preference.

MG: What is your favorite doodle that you have done?
IG: Hmmm… that’s a tough one. As most artists will tell you, they almost can’t stand the look of any artwork that is old which I tend to agree with. So currently I have a couple of favorites until I don’t like them anymore. My current favorites are a Pee Wee Herman piece titled “Prehistoric Pee Wee” for an upcoming show at Gallery 1988 in Venice, CA and a Back to the Future piece from my “Part of This Complete Breakfast” series.

MG: What is the coolest commission project that you have received?
IG: That would actually have to be the piece mentioned above; the Back to the Future piece from my “Part of This Complete Breakfast” series. I did a set of 3 pieces for a show a while back called 3G where we had to create 3 unique pieces of art for Goonies, Ghostbusters and Gremlins. I created 3 pieces that all had fictional breakfast cereals on them and a gentleman bought the whole series and later commissioned me to do a 4th for his (and one of mine too) favorite movies, Back to the Future in the same style. I had a blast doing it and may end up doing more in the future.

MG: Can I beg you to do a “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and “Jaws” doodle?
IG: I’ve had a hankering to do a “Jaws” piece for a while but the thought of “Fear and Loathing” never crossed my mind. Make me an offer I can’t refuse *wink wink*. There are so many characters and movies I have in my head that I want to do I just haven’t had the chance to start them yet.

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Filed Under: Film Headlines Tagged With: glaubinger, ian, interview
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