Got My Tickets

While not quite the insane San Diego ComicCon, the Philly burbs have hosted a more genre-specific Fan Con called Monster-Mania Con for nearly 30 years, at a convention center in the South Jersey Upper-Middle-Class Philly burb known as Cherry Hill, NJ.

When Uncle P was a kid, the Cherry Hill Mall* was the largest and first of its kind. A trip there with Auntie and Grandmom meant coin-operated and ticketed kiddie rides; endless exploration of the late-60's and early-70's version of Pier One Imports; a new pair of something and maybe a toy (if we were exceptionally well-behaved). After the NJ State Fairgrounds in Trenton closed down, the NJ State Fair was moved to the Cherry Hill Race Track, though these days it is held in North Jersey at The Meadowlands and the old Fairgrounds are now the rather amazing Grounds for Sculpture, which I highly recommend visiting once every few years. But, I digress.

It has been nearly 30 years since Uncle P attended a fan convention. It was 1985 and my sister and I went up to Manhattan (can't remember f I drove or we took the train) to attend Fangoria Magazine's first ever Weekend of Horrors. It was... well, you can imagine. This was early on in Fan Cons and most of the space was taken up by vendors. We made sure we attended George Romero's Day of the Dead panel, where we caught a sneak preview that wasn't immediately shared on an internet which didn't quite exist, yet. And it was amazing. We met and spoke with Horror Icons Tom Savini and Michael Berryman (both of whom were lovely and appreciative of their fans); I bought books and a t-shirt. We got lots of free buttons (including a Back to the Future button I probably should have hung onto) and generally had a good time. Though we found ourselves to be... well... the least nerdy duo in attendance, that day. And while there were maybe a dozen or so cosplayers there, the term had yet to be coined and they stuck out like sore thumbs. 

On Saturday, August 16th, I will be attending Monster-Mania Con with two co-workers: My sweetly and identically insane Mia (creator of Teddy-Z) and the newest addition to our department, Chris B. Chris is a sports guy (go Phillies!); a far less-obsessive movie fan than Uncle P (honestly - his lack of the Essentials is appalling - but I'm going to take care of that) and a fellow performer. I think the three of us will have ourselves a grand time and cannot wait to attend my first modern Fan Con! I'll make sure my phone is charged and will take lots of pics!

If you haven't figured it out by now, yes, I am a HUGE Horror geek and can't wait until we go! I'll also be asking my compatriots to restrain myself when it comes to shopping...

More, anon.
Prospero

*Uncle P started my 20 years of purgatorial retail life at Bamberger's, in my local Oxford Valley Mall.

The Gayest Things You'll See This Week

Probably Not Gay but Very Cute

The Steampunk Cyberman Cosplayer on your left is probably not gay, but he sure is cute. I'd even go so far as to say he's adorable. The fact that he's a Steampunk aficionado only makes him that much more adorable in Uncle P's book. Of course, very long time readers will remember that Caliban's Revenge started as a journal about my Steampunk-inspired production of Thorten Wilder's "The Skin of Our Teeth," way back in 2008.

Atlanta once again hosted the annual DragonCon this past weekend. Unlike many fan conventions across the country, DragonCon is less about the major studios and more about the fanboys (and fangirls) and cosplayers. Epbot, where this image came from, has loads of copslayer pics from this year's event. I wish I had the time and money to devote to creating the kinds amazing costumes on display at DragonCon. You know I'd put some of these folks to shame.

The delightfully attractive young man in the elaborate 'Dr. Who'-inspired costume on the left actually has nothing to do with the rest of the post, other than to cement Uncle P's authority in determining what is or isn't gay (or at least of interest to other gay geeks). And trust me, the videos I am about to share, are VERY gay.

Mod Carousel is a Seattle-based 'boylesque" troupe made of three performance artists who go by the names of Luminous Pariah, Paris Original and Trojan Original. Their most recent video is a cover of Miley Cyrus' song "Can't Be Tamed." I suppose it's meant to be a statement on the powers of gay unicorns when it comes to LGBT civil rights. I just think it's wildly amusing (via):

Of course, Mod Carousel first made a splash with their gay response to Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" (link definitely NSFW) video, which features naked women dancing and prancing about the Canadian singer (may be NSFW):

I imagine that this summer's unintentionally funniest exercise video also had just a little influence on the boys from Mod Carousel:

I don't know whether it's deliberate or just an ironic coincidence that the two videos just happen to coincide with Miley's and Robin's controversial VMA performance (though music videos - like movies - are usually shot well in advance of release), but it seems like Mod Carousel have managed to take advantage of the still-talked about controversy to its fullest effect. In the end, all that matters to me is how gay they are. And man-oh-man, are they GAY!

More, anon.
Prospero

Dead: Part 3

In the fall of 1984, my sister and I attended our one and only fan convention, the Fangoria Horror Convention in NYC. It's there that we met horror icons Tom Savini and the very sweet Michael Berryman. And it is also where we saw a sneak preview of George A. Romero's third entry in his "...of the Dead" series, Day of the Dead. We were freaking out over what we saw and what promised to be the best "dead" movie, yet.

The movie was released the following summer and we went, anticipating nothing less than an amazing horror experience. We got... well, we got a decent zombie movie that, truth be told, could have been better.

In an underground military facility, a group of soldiers and scientists try to find a cure for the zombie apocalypse which has taken out most of the world's population. There's Sarah (Lori Cordille); John (Terry Alexander); Bill (Jariath Conroy) and Miguel (Anthony Dileo, Jr); Captain Rhodes (Joe Pilato) and Dr. Logan (Richard Liberty). Rhodes and his team have been rounding up zombies for Logan's experiments, which are kept in pens far from the group's living quarters. Logan, known as "Dr. Frankenstein" by Rhodes and his team, is ostensibly working on a cure, but is actually working on domestication of the zombies. His 'star pupil,' a former soldier Logan has named 'Bub' (Howard Sherman) can speak; remembers how to use a phone and even salutes a C.O. 

You have to love the inclusion of Stephen King's "Salem's Lot" in that scene. I'm sure he did.

While gathering more 'specimens' for Logan's experiment, one of the zombies breaks free and bites both Private Miller and Miguel, causing Rhodes to call an official halt to Logan's experiments. Sarah amputates Miguel's bitten arm and cauterizes the wound in an effort to prevent him from becoming a zombie. While searching for painkillers for Miguel, Sarah and Bill discover Logan's private recordings along with the head of the recently bitten Pvt. Miller. Sure that both Logan and Rhodes have gone insane, they begin to plot their escape. Rhodes discovers their plan and sends them to the zombie pen. Eventually, all hell breaks lose and the facility is attacked by zombies from both above and below. Bub gets a hold of a pistol and shoots Rhodes in the back and as the zombies tear Rhodes in half and make off with his legs, he croaks "Choke on em!" as Bub salutes (language and gore may be NSFW):

After fighting their way through hundreds of zombies, Sarah, Bill and John make their escape in the helicopter. We next find them on a beach of a secluded island where John and Bill fish in the surf as Sarah crosses off another day on a calendar.

From those clips, one might think Day of the Dead is an exciting and relentless thriller but in reality, it's a talky treatise on morality, interspersed with scenes of zombie mayhem. Romero had begun to take himself, and his genre, too seriously for his own good. While better than the three "Dead" films he would make later, Day... is a rather disappointing entry in the series. Muddled by philosophical questions which one might think would add gravitas to the concept, Romero's dialog heavy script actually gets bogged down over-serious concepts and Act II simply drags by as the characters debate, argue and complain about their situation. It doesn't help that most of the movie is confined to a single location. A mere six years after his brilliant Dawn of the Dead, Romero gets too caught up with social commentary, forgetting what made the first two movies so compelling - the smart balance between horror and commentary.

While certainly a worthy entry in the series, Day of the Dead lacks both the terror and the intelligence that makes his first two entries so horrifying. And even though both Night and Dawn are both primarily set in a single location, the claustrophobic underground facility in Day comes off as rather stagnant. And while that may well be what Romero was going for, it just doesn't work as well as it does in the first two films. And I'm not sure why. If you have any insight, I'd be glad to hear it. Still, Day of the Dead is certainly worth seeing, especially for the sub-genre's fans. 

More, anon.
Prospero

Nerdgasm: Superma'am, Batma'am, Elvira and The Hulk Walk Into a Bar

It's Fan Convention season and it kicks off with ComiCon's younger, gayer brother, the Bay Area's WonderCon. If you've ever spent time in the San Francisco area (or probably even if you haven't), you know it's the kind of place where folks let their their freak flags fly high and proud. Now imagine those folks are also comic book, anime and movie fans. I know I've talked about the one Fan-vention I attended in NYC with my sister in the 80's. Such events were still in their fledgling stages back then, basing their formats on the Star Trek conventions that really started the whole thing in the 1970's. This was specifically a Horror convention and while we both really enjoyed ourselves (honestly one of the best days I ever spent with my sister -- and believe me when I tell you that she and I have had many awesome days together), we made sure we stayed close to one another at all times, because there were some damned scary people in that crowd.

Such events have evolved into Events over the years and while there are always a few really scary folks, most fans are just there to have a good time. And there ain't nothin' wrong with that. Here (via) are some very amusing crowd shots from WonderCon 2011, which closed yesterday:

I think I like the gender-bending Supergals just slightly less than the half-naked Superguys (of which there weren't nearly enough for Uncle P's liking...). Still, it looked like everyone was having a good time and that's what really important when you spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to look like a fictional character for three days... I really want to go to one of these, again. I just hope I'd be able to leave my snark at home.

My review of Insidious, next.

More, anon.

Prospero

Confessions of a Steampunk Nerd

If you have been following from the beginning, you will undoubtedly know of my affection for Steampunk aesthetics. I started this blog last fall, and posted an on-going commentary about my production of Thorton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth, which I imagined as a Steampunk odyssey through time. Wilder, probably best known for the groundbreaking play Our Town, broke theatrical conventions over and over; something I hoped to emulate in my production.

I suppose my fascination with the Steampunk movement really begins before the movement itself, with the "Father of Science Fiction," Jules Verne. In fact, many Steampunk aficionados refer to themselves as "Vernian." Verne foresaw nuclear submarines, calculators, glass skyscrapers, space travel and the Internet, among other scientific advances. His novels Journey to the Center of the Earth; 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Mysterious Island were all later adapted into films which figured prominently in my youth, no doubt inspiring my love of Victoriana and the fantastic.

So, what does any of this have to do with anything? Only my desire to have the time and means to attend Seattle's SteamCon in October (though I will likely be in Chicago on a business trip).

SteamCon is to Steampunks as ComicCon is to modern Sci-Fi fanboys; a phantasmagoria of all things Steampunk. And how I wish I could attend.

Call me a nerd, geek or weirdo. I don't care. I just want to be there. I already have a costume and a raygun I made myself. Maybe I'll be able to teleport myself to Seattle. Or not. I hear it rains there, a lot.

More, anon.

Prospero

ComicCon Nonsense

As much as I think I would love to someday attend the San Diego ComicCon, I am brought back to Earth by clips like the one below, and am reminded of the one fan convention my sister and I attended in New York in the 80's. It was the Fangoria Horror Convention, and while we were certainly entertained and enthralled to meet some of our horror icons (make-up FX genius Tom Savini and actor Michael Berryman among them), we were truly dismayed by the number of real weirdos in attendance.

Sci-Fi blog i09 posted this clip of the ComicCon fan costume contest "Project Geek Runway." As much as I love Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror movies, I just don't see myself spending the time, energy and money that these folks spend for a few minutes of glory in front of their fellow geeks.

That's not to say that everyone in attendance is a geek or a whacko (though Johnny Depp did reportedly attend, dressed as a squirrel). And I would love the chance to sit in on some of the discussion panels, if only to get a sneak peek at the many upcoming movies and TV shows that get previewed there. But I am happy to sit at my desk and watch from afar, without having to put up with some nerd in a lame Batman costume shoving his way past me to get to the DC Comics booth. Instead, I get to watch the "Heroes" Season 4 trailer from the comfort of my home all while avoiding the expense of traveling to CA and putting up with a bunch of freaks.*

*No offence intended toward those attending ComicCon or any actual circus freaks.

More, anon.
Prospero

Transcendental Vampires?

I know I have posted about VampireCon before. It seems the allure of eternal youth and sex without consequence is just too delicious for some people to ignore. This actually worries me.

Vampirism is the ultimate form of bodily fluid transmission. The "vampire" drinks your blood and thus consumes whatever viruses, bacteria and diseases which lurk there. Supposedly in return, the vampire imparts eternal youth and extraordinary powers to his/her victim.

In Anne Rice's "Vampire Chronicles," the 'gift' also imparts a sense of soulessness, doom and regret. Who the hell wants that?

Worst of all, there are real folks out there who can't seem to be able to seperate reality from fanstay, and fancy themselves as "real" vampires. They sleep in coffins, wear nothing but black and and sometimes actually consume human blood. I dated two guys who thought they were vampires, and while it was a little sexy at first, it turned creepy real fast (especially when one actually bit my thigh and drew blood - Yes, I immediatley got tested).

So why is this ancient mythos still so prominent amid modern scientfic proof that there really is no such thing? Well, there are folks out there who actually suffer from a mental disorder called Clinical Vampirism. Cinical vampires believe that by ingesting the blood of other humans, they are imbued with power, youth and eternal life. It also makes me so glad that I live in the real world where I know such things are impossible.

Still, "vampires" have carved a niche for themsleves in modern society, and are finally getting the convention they so rightly deserve. Here are four ads for the up-coming VampireCon in San Diego. I can only hope that when the pics from this convention are posted, I don't see anyone I know there.

Transcendental Vampire (get it Dental?):


Skin Deep:


Costume Party:


And the one that started it all... Tight Squeeze:

All the more reason to love Zombies. At least they have no passion for anything but flesh.

More, anon.
Prospero