We welcome your feedback.MIKE SMITH RESPONDS TO ANDY LALINO Hey boss!
You know I try to stay out of the political fray, but I must rush to the defense of Matt, who's comments I think were misconstrued by Andy in last week's letter column.I honestly don't believe that Matt is attacking President Bush in his reply. I'll be up front right here and tell you I didn't vote for the man. But as a citizen of the greatest nation in the world I have the right to disagree with his actions. I fully supported "W" after 9/11. You say it's ok to attack "W" on other issues.............but not the War on Terrorism. Sadly, I feel that the entire situation in Iraq has put the war on terrorism on the back burner. I find it almost impossible to believe that bin Laden has eluded our countries best efforts for almost 2 years! I've seen nothing to point to Saddam Hussein as the mastermind behind 9/11. The man was an evil dictator. His son's got what they deserved and, if our intelligence is to be believed, so soon will Saddam. Do I believe that Iraq has the infamous Weapons of Mass Destruction? Sure I do. You don't get to be a dictator by being stupid. You roll the dice and you take your chances. Am I glad we got rid of Saddam. You betcha! But now we've put ourselves in a corner by having to stay in Iraq for the next 4 YEARS! And with our troops being killed at a rate of 2 or more a day, the situation and morale are only going to get worse. I think I can speak for Matt when I say that I never even entertained the THOUGHT of picking up a weapon in a time of war the entire time I was in the Army. But I know that we believed in and supported our president then (hello Mr. Reagan) and that we do now.
Michael Smith
ANDY LALINO ON PCR #174! The New Look
Ah, change. The '70s to the '00s. Woolco to Target. "Star Wars" to "Attack of the Clones". Change can sometimes be good, but more often than not it sux. Gotta say, though, No...I do like the new PCR! I've always been partial to the U.F.O./Area 51 look of Crazed Fanboy, but at the same time digging the 'zine layout of PCR - now I get the best of both worlds!Some suggestions:
1. Love the "Last Outpost" illustration. It would be cool to incorporate it on the home page.
2. The beloved "Shlockarama" needs a cool-looking retro graphic on the home page (the one that's on the Schlock page, perhaps).
3. I already miss the cool graphics for each contributor on the home page. Bring 'em back if you have the room.I think the new CF will do a lot better than New Coke. Congrats!
Thank you Andy! The Last Outpost illustration still lives on on the store's homepage. I moved it off the CF homepage because it's too large for the new layout and besides, people were getting confused about "where to click" on it (answer: nowhere--it's just a picture). Similarly, I'm purposely avoiding lots of graphics on the homepage, and in fact dropping some old ones (like the rollover menu buttons, The Last Outpost illio as mentioned, and the writer's column's blocks) to facilitate faster loading and less hanging around the homepage and more surfing CF (after reading the headlines, of course!). The big graphics are always going on be on the writer's main pages, the main Lettercol, and any featured places around Crazed Fanboy. And, believe me, I am very happy you like the graphics, especially coming from you, a graphics man yourself! I work very hard on them and it's good to know they're working.
Also keep in mind I'm trying to make room for the upcoming internet TV show (yes, it's coming after an upgrade) which is a bandwidth hog, and any Flash animations I may be working on (woops, did I just say "Flash"?). ---NolanLa Floridiana - "Webb's City"
I was one of the last generations to enjoy the spectacle that was Webb's City. Mr. Moriaty did an excelsior job in chronicling the lost drug store. One would be remiss, however, not to mention the tic-tac-toe playing chickens (who always won!) in the vending machines. Something like that - a chicken cooped up in a small space playing games for the entertainment of humans - would never fly in this day and age. Again, that's a perfect example of how gloriously naive life was back in the '70s. Few rules, which made for great memories and lots of freedom.I also distinctly remember Webb City's famous Mermaid Chamber. There was a section that was styled to look like an underwater fantasyland complete with glittering seaweed clusters and of course the sexy mermannequins with half shells hiding their nipples. I remember the way the room was lit with green and blue lights. The mermaids would "talk" to the kids (via microphones and speakers) and even answer questions! Unforgettable.
Ashley...Is There No Hope?
By this time, Ashley, I don't think anything we all write will convince you that horror films of the '80s/cheap horror films are worthy of comparison to "Too Fast, Too Furious". Like sci-fi and fantasy, horror films appeal to that kid inside all of us. As my 30-something generation ages, they lose the inner delight of being a kid. Guess that's why I like PCR so much; I'm communicating with (mostly) people my own age who have not forgotten what it's like to be young.I'm not saying that "Evil Dead" be compared to "On Golden Pond" in terms of popularly perceived cinematic excellence (you could pit "The Exorcist", "Jaws", and "The Sixth Sense" against it, though), but I am going to stand up for "older" films that constantly get knocked for being just that - an older film without the benefit of "modern" SPFX. As I said before, and mark my words, Ashley, 15 years from now you're going to be feeling the same way about your favorite films of the '00s...kids are going to laugh at them and wonder how you sat through them. Pity. It would all be simpler and better if we all appreciated the grandeur of the past. We have to be honest though; the '80s were a platinum year for horror - the '90s were not and do not deserve to be recognized as such.
...and speaking as a once-teenage boy, I couldn't get enough naked femmes and gore in '80s horror films. Gimme more!
You make the repetitive mistake of comparing films like "Jaws" to "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things". True, they are not on par with each other in terms of cinematic excellence, but CSPWDT has a huge cult following (deservedly so) and was a remarkable debut by director Bob Clark, who has since done modern classics such as "Porky's" and "A Christmas Story". I do believe CSPWDT will be remembered years from now. It already has been remembered; it was made in 1972 and was released on a popular DVD a few years back.
Steven Spielberg was at the top of his game in the late '70s and early '80s, not now. "Minority Report" and "A.I." were pretty good films, but I feel they won't stand the test of time compared to "Jaws", "Raiders", "E.T." and "CE3K". Most of his recent dramas were bloody bores. "Empire of the Sun"? "The Color Purple"? "Always"? Come on! I think his only worthy drama was "Saving Private Ryan". You may kick me, but I dozed off during "Schindler's List".
You wrote: "When critiquing/making films you have to look at the general public and not small groups of people." Heh? It was "cults" of hardcore fans that gave rise to the most beloved genre movies of all time: "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", "Heavy Metal", "Eraserhead", I can go on and on...No one is going to remember Ah-Nold in a big-budget extravaganza like "Eraser" no matter how much money they threw at it. That was the most false statement I ever read.
Too bad you don't dig stop-motion. I guess it's a guy thing. Hope Harryhausen didn't read your article!
"The Ring" was one of the better horror films of last year (it's actually a remake of a Japanese horror film, so don't give Hollywood that much credit), but I didn't think it combined the two "ideas" very skillfully, one being the videotape lore, the other a fairly ordinary ghost story. It was entertaining nonetheless.
2 Rouges
1973, baby!!! Is that a young Luke Skywalker & Han Solo? How 'bout some Disco pics? I'm sure Nolan was a classic rocker with a death wish for Disco...You better believe it!!---Nolan
- Andy Lalino
Director / Producer / Screenwriter "Filthy"
President, Metropol Productions, Inc.
www.filthythemovie.com
To send an email to Letters to the Editor write to: Crazedfanboy1@aol.com. Any emails sent to this address will be assumed intended for publication unless you specifically instruct me not to. I can and do respond privately, if that is your preference. Frequently, it's both ways.---Nolan