#197 - the end of the world as we know it.

way way back round the end of march, i received a film in the mail via netflix--the 2011 indie film bellflower. i discovered it after reading roger ebert's review & learning of its nomination for an independent spirit award and a full seventy-seven days after its arrival in my home, that same film is still here, preventing all the other films in my queue from coming my way. sorry, cedar rapids. i'll get to you soon! usually, when i hold onto a film for such a ridiculous amount of time, it's because i'm too busy to set aside two hours or because i'm a lazy ass & can't be bothered to press the "eject" button on my dvd player & watch it. in this case, other than the laziness, it's a whole other thing...

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#181 - oh carlos!

last saturday, i spent the afternoon with a friend in chelsea, where we wandered from gallery to gallery in the rain. it ruled & here's why this is significant...i've lived in nyc for just under a decade now & in that time, i've never, like ever, just gone to chelsea & walked around looking at mostly-cool art for FREE. seriously, i don't know what my problem is. i've learned my lesson though & plan on doing a lot more gallery wandering this summer. maybe i'll even walk the high line for the first time while i'm in the neighborhood.

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pumpktoberfest #29 - every time i turn around.

film: invitation to hell
beer: sixpoint pumpkin brewster

wow. how time flies when you're spending your days drinking copious amounts of pumpkin beer & watching horror films. with this here entry, we've come to the end of another pumpktoberfest season. frowny face. to close out the season, we're bringing you a film from a genre that i like to describe as "suburban horror," wes craven's invitation to hell. it's a 1984 made-for-tv movie that came out a few months before he hit the jackpot with a nightmare on elm street & stars robert urich as matt winslow & susan lucci as jessica jones, the head of a mysterious country club in a matt's housing development. when matt moves there for a job with his wife (joanna cassidy), son (barret oliver, bastian from the neverending story) & daughter (soleil moon-frye/punky brewster), he discovers that something's not quite right about the place.

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pumpktoberfest #28 - jolly.

film: santa's slay
beer: jolly pumpkin la parcela no 1 pumpkin ale

are you ready for more pumpktoberfest? you better be, cause it's coming at you fast & furious, this time with a heaping helping of holiday horror in the form of the kinda-hilarious 2005 film santa's slay. former professional wrestler bill goldberg plays santa claus with a twist--he's actually a child of satan who's decided to "spread some christmas fear" during the holiday season. it turns out that back in the day, christmas was the time of year when santa would wreak havoc on the world. then, a thousand years ago an angel challenged him to a game of curling that he lost. as a result, he had to be nice for the next thousand years. OBVIOUSLY. 2005 is when that agreement finally came to an end.

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pumpktoberfest #27 - the pursuit of hoppiness.

film: frogs
beer: hoppin' frog frog's hollow double pumpkin ale

please note: due to thorny life circumstances that came my way this week, over the past few days i haven't been in a frame of mind that'd make me pay much attention to this here blog. sorry bout that. the good news? today, on the final day of the pumpktoberfest season, we've got a monumental THREE PAIRINGS OF HORROR FILMS & PUMPKIN BEERS lined up for you. can you feel the pumpktoberfest excitement coursing through your veins? i sure as hell feel it in mine...at least i hope that's what it is. i'd hate to discover i had a tapeworm or something.

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