five questions: southern tier.

during each of the past two pumpktoberfests, southern tier's pumking, an imperial ale brewed with pumpkins, has made its way into the rotation (2009 & 2010), becoming what i'd consider my favorite out of all the pumpkin beers i've tried. if you haven't tried it yet, i seriously don't know what you're waiting for. since i'm all in love with it & shizz, this year i reached out to the folks at the lakewood, NY brewery to ask them a few questions about the pumking & horror films. nathan arnone, southern tier's "communications liaison," was kind enough to respond.

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pumpktoberfest #31 - shock the pumpky.

film: shocker
beer: shock top pumpkin wheat

i swear that pumpktoberfest 2011 isn't going to be comprised solely of wes craven films but if there's a horror film that pairs better with today's pumpkin beer than his 1989 gem shocker, i haven't seen it. does anybody out there make a serial killer-themed pumpkin beer? as far as i know, the answer is no, so back-to-back wes craven films it is. personally, this was one of the first films i saw by craven & somewhere in my parents' house there's a poster from the film, so it's always held a special place in my heart. though it's not the best horror film ever made, it's filled with just the right combo of horror, hilarity and late 80's nostalgia & music for my tastes. "no more mr nice guy" performed by megadeth? yes yes double yes!

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interview! matt barclay, bierkraft.

logo via bierkraft's facebook page

over the last two pumpktoberfests, i've bought a good portion of my pumpkin beers at bierkraft in park slope, brooklyn. during pumpktoberfest, they always seem to have around a dozen different pumpkin beers on hand, so if you're looking to get your pumpkin on this holiday season, they've got you covered.

last week, i sat down with matt barclay of bierkraft to get his thoughts on the pumpkin beer phenomenon, what makes a good pumpkin beer & which horror films rule.

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pumpktoberfest #30 - robot overlords.

film: deadly friend
beer: sixpoint autumnation

the 80's were a pretty sweet time for horror director wes craven. during the decade, craven launched the nightmare on elm street franchise & directed a total of nine films including such classics as swamp thing (1982) & the serpent and the rainbow (1988). amongst that success, he directed a few questionable films, including halloween of '86's deadly friend, which was based on the novel friend by diana henstell. the plot's pretty simple. paul, a college student studying neurology, moves to a new town with his mom & his remote-controlled robot named "BB" (voiced by comedian charles fleischer). eventually, things take a turn for the EVIL. coincidentally, what other robot-centric film came out five months before deadly friend? that's right...the KING of all robot films, short circuit.

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the devil made me do it.

i am absolutely the WORST at going to bed at a reasonable, adult-like hour. oh! it's 2am? well that's the perfect time for popping on a movie & flaring up the oven! take this past weekend. on friday night, although it was well after midnight, i decided it was in my best interest to scroll through my on-demand options & see what film was best suited to keep me up past 3am. i ended up watching the 2010 film devil. it's produced by & based on a story by m. night shyamalanadingdong & features chris from the most recent season of damages & a dude who i totally thought was lafayette from true blood but totally isn't & that sorta-young mexican dude who seems to be in everything.

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