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Tron digs on Stuff - Volume 1

Cool Stuff You Should Know About, brought to you by a cool Monkey you should listen to.

Since Fantastic Fest this year I have been inundated with so much cool stuff that I would love to review, yet the demands of my real life job constantly find time to interfere with my doing so. It is nice to do things without reviewing them as well, like Halo 3, that also suck up time but my dedication to the cybermonkey readership demands I still make known the coolest products for those of discerning taste and discriminating values. Now this is not an effort to not review a bunch of stuff, as proven by my Last Man on Earth review (listed here: Last Man On Earth) - I indeed have more reviews on the way; these are just some more items that bear scrutiny by the elite that may or may not receive my usual poignant analysis and breadth of understanding in full-on reviews. Yet all items listed here deserve that treatment and your views so you may yet see longer nods but you cannot go another day without knowledge of the following tasty morsels:

Brandon Small's hardcore cartoon hits dvd containing all 24 episodes with tons of hidden extra features (including 20 minutes of Nathan Explosion reading Shakespeare!) that are totally worth the money and time investment. Prepare to get chuffed.

An interesting blend of documentary footage, interviews and live performances from the likes of Napalm Death, Godflesh, Entombed, Morbid Angel, Carcass, Bolt Thrower and more. A great one-stop example of the appeal of Metal. Kudos as well to Monsters of Metal Vol.4 as well for providing 2000 or so metal videos from people I've never heard of as well as industry standards like the aforementioned lot. Guaranteed to make you want to burn a church or kill old ladies.

I've been sitting on this for over 2 years and it's finally hit US shores. A combination of Tomb Raider-esque archeology and Ran style historical flashbacks, it's just great to see Jackie Chan back in China making good movies again. This gets me even more excited for Forbidden Kingdom starring Jackie and Jet Li! It looks aimed at a younger audience yet a potential showdown (or two) between these action legends keeps my eyes locked on this one.

Probably the greatest of the 80s B-Movies and still unavailable on commercial dvd (though if Monster Squad does well...). I have managed to obtain a copy on dvd (which is obviously a special edition vhs conversion in all it's fullscreen glory) that features 2 different versions of the film with different endings. I will be trying hard to do a full write-up on this bad boy but you need to know now that this movie has it all: aliens, serial killers, brain eating slugs, nudity, zombies, you name it! A certifiable classic everyone should own, yet for 10 years ignored on dvd. Make it happen.

Probably the second greatest 80s B-Movie ever, finally available on dvd. Delinquent teens break into a mall and accidentally free a demon from a bowling trophy who offers to grant their every wish. Highly recommended for anyone who loves a head-exploding good time and people who laugh at Chopping Mall, another stellar example of 80s excess.

Amando de Ossorio's classic zombie quadrology, hailed by critics as "one of the most startling series in horror history" (back of the box). Definitely the crème of the Italian zombie movement and the last two in the series, Ghost Galleon and Night of the Seagulls have been difficult to obtain. Now available in one handy, and well-worth it, box.

It's only taken ten years but the last of the major Karloff films are starting to be released. This set contains the excellent Tower of London and The Black Castle along with The Climax, Night Key, and The Strange Door. Along with the recent MGM Legends of Horror set this provides a stellar representation of horror's roots and features one of the best actors of the genre.

Not much to say that this line from the back of the box doesn't: "Armed with an AK47, an endless supply of bullets and a spectacular bod, this lust fueled killing machine takes to the streets on a revenge driven rampage." Fuck Yeah!

These are the collected shorts of Don Hertzfeldt from 1995-2005 including a preview of Everything Will Be OK which Magnificent Bastard and I saw at this year's Fantastic Fest in Austin, Tx. Available from bitterfilms.com, this dvd collects all the Spike & Mike favorites from Billy's Balloon to Lily and Jim and packages them with three million extras ranging from early unseen cartoons to abandoned experiments. Hertzfeldt is a fresh visionary in the realm of short cartooning and any purchase of this dvd allows him more freedom to create so check this out!

11 minutes of live action GI Joe done by a fanboy director, Sean Olson, which I also screened at Fantastic Fest that, sadly, no one else will get to see due to a cease and desist from Hasbro. If you can obtain a view (and you can. You are cybermonkeys. You have ways) I again highly recommend it. Olson's love for the show is obvious, the movie is well shot, the actors who play Major Bludd and the Baroness are exceptional and it's fun as hell. I was able to chat with Mr. Olson and his now-scrapped sequel ideas were awesome! Someone needs to sign this guy. Here's a little sample of what I'm talkin' about:


I'm a huge mark for this stuff. Blue Planet, Life of Mammals, Planet Earth. Everything you could want to know about the planet we live on and the things we share it with in tremendously engaging 50 minute episodes narrated with wit and style by David Attenborough. Very highly recommended and utterly jaw-dropping.

2 disc set which discuss advancements in space sciences by an examination of the pioneers who gave us the tools and the knowledge and the new pioneers working today.

The last 3 weeks of this program have been hugely entertaining. Kurt Angle took the title from Sting on television in the first hour, The Dudly Boys are murdering the X Division, a tournament for the #1 contender is in progress, rumors abound that Booker T (see rant on 10/26/07) will be Sting's tag partner at Genesis and Scott Hall made his re-debut, fresh off a stint in Puerto Rico. Unlike the Y2J fiasco in recent weeks (he is coming, but only when you don't care) TNA promised Scott Hall and delivered Scott Hall. Jay Lethal continues to kill as "Black Machismo," and Angles attempts to discover who Sting's tag partner is are some of the most entertaining moments I've seen on tv this year. As my pal Nate Hamilton puts it, TNA has a long way to go yet but for MY money it continues to pick up steam every week and the XBOX360 allows me to download it and I think you should too.

$12 for a great selection of the one man who voluntarily turned down big-time WWE money to get a better push and boy did he run with it. Much like Ric Flair, Jericho, and Angle, Christian combines solid mat skills with damn solid mic skills. Any interview or commentary he gives, especially when he's on, is guaranteed to entertain. The dvd, though worth the scratch, leaves a lot off which lead mr. Hamilton and I to believe there will be another.

James Garner. I could just say that and it should be enough. Or regular appearances by Lou Gossit Jr. and Isaac Hayes. Or that this set features a bonus Season 5 episode that would become the template for Magnum P.I. If I did have to say more it would be simply that it's one of the legendary tv series of all time produced back when making good tv meant something. Oh, and the other 3 box sets rule too and Season 5 really needs to come out now.




So much more than this as well, like The Pinky Violence Collection, Soap Seasons 1-4, Venture Brothers, the list goes on. Sigh. Only so much time in a day. Special thanks to Leo Alberti, Robert Lambert, Chad Drozd, the aforementioned Mr. Hamilton, Tim League and Sean Olson for hooking a brother up with too much stuff (and where the hell is Joe Lynch?)