Thursday, March 19, 2009

Miscellanous News and Plugs

I'm currently hard at work on the next issue of SHOCK CINEMA -- digging up more obscure flicks to review and filling up the first few interviews slots -- but wanted to take a moment to give you a heads-up on a few unrelated tidbits...

First off, it's JERRY LEWIS WEEK at Chris Poggiali's terrific TEMPLE OF SCHLOCK Blog. In celebration of Jer's recent 83rd birthday -- March 16 -- Chris is running plenty of cool articles and pics devoted to the life and legacy of Le Imbecile Magnifique, including a lengthy review contributed by yours truly -- a look back at Lewis' unforgettable 1976 appearance on the live morning-talk-show A.M. NEW YORK, which culminated in a segment on 'new gadgets' and a visit from Screw Magazine magnate Al Goldstein to show off the latest high-tech toys -- with Jerry at his side!



You can check out my review at:
http://templeofschlock.blogspot.com/2009/03/jerry-live-and-unleashed.html

If you enjoyed Steve Ryfle's interview with the delightful Ms. Linda Haynes in the current issue of SHOCK CINEMA, you might want to stop by the SciFi Japan website for their much-appreciated plug for that Q&A -- which also includes several rare LATITUDE ZERO photos from Ms. Haynes personal collection (which we, unfortunately, didn't have room to run in the magazine):

http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/02/26/latitude-zero%e2%80%99s-linda-haynes-interviewed/


Also, Troma just announced a new 2-disc Special Edition of one of my all-time favorite films, Buddy Giovinazzo's Staten Island masterpiece COMBAT SHOCK, which hits store on 7/28/09. The set includes loads of new material, including Buddy's 100-minute, AMERICAN NIGHTMARES-cut of the film; a new 40-minute documentary on its underground following, including interviews with Bill Lustig, Jim Van Bebber, John McNaughton, and even THE GORE GAZETTE's Rick Sullivan (who came out of hiding for the occasion!); Buddy's short-film MR. ROBBIE, a.k.a. MANIAC 2, starring Joe Spinnell, plus liner notes written by Steven Puchalski (yesiree, li'l ol' me).

On that note, it's back to work... And my sincere thanks to everyone who shelled out their hard-earned cash to purchase the latest SC and help keep indie print media alive.