Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 31

Wow. We've reached the end of this Maniacal countdown, and I have to say, it's been fun! Maybe I'll try something similar come Christmastime....

So, tonight is Halloween, and it's impossible to list just one thing. So many channels are having horror marathons. You can basically turn on Turner Classic Movies at any point today and be met with something worth watching. Here's their schedule. If you were to only watch one thing on the channel all day, though, I'd say make it the original "The Haunting" at 3:00pm. Here's the trailer.



Another good bet is "The Old Dark House" at 9:30pm. It's quite spooky and hilarious. Here's a clip!



I don't think any Halloween should pass without a viewing of the original "Halloween." Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be airing on any channel in an uncut or widescreen format. So watch a trailer instead.



Lastly, here's something that could be fun: Joe Dante directed tonight's "Amityville Horror"-inspired episode of "CSI: New York," which is on tonight at 10pm on CBS. Here's a little promo clip featuring Dante.



Have a great Halloween everybody!

Oh...Oh no. OH NO. Oh boy. OOOOOOHHHH BOY. OK. OK....OK

That was my reaction to this:

Look at the size of that red square!!!

The sad thing is every time these things happen I realize how unprepared I am. Most of the above reaction was exclaimed while I stood frozen with fear in the middle of my living room.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 30

While I can deny it all I want, I know the holiday season is coming at me at full force once "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" airs, as it officially starts off the Holiday TV Special Season. I've also got to admit that most of the Halloweens I've spent in my lifetime have resembled Linus's night in the pumpkin patch in more ways than I'd care to admit.

Watch it tonight at 8:00pm on ABC, or half of it down below, (for as long as it's allowed up on YouTube).

Falling for the Guy

This week's reality TV locals post is now up on SFist!

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 29

There's really nothing I can say about "Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster" that isn't better illustrated by its trailer. So watch that here.



And then watch the movie this morning at 6:00am on AMC.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 28

I recently re-watched Philip Kaufman's "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and it was better than I had remembered it being. I would even venture to say, probably blasphemously to some, that it's better than Don Siegel's 1956 version. In any event, it is, as "Repo-Man" director Alex Cox says in the clip below, one of those rarest of rarities: A good remake of a good movie. It's on KICU channel 36 today at 7:30pm, but if you want to see the naked bits, you had better just go ahead and rent it.

September Round-Up

Remember September? Wasn't it awesome?

OK. Maybe not. But I know I did some stuff. Let's see what it was, aside from spending a LOT of time watching TV pilots and writing about them, that is.

Movies Seen: Eight. Which is a lot less than my usual total, and none were in a theater. I guess it was all that TV. The best was "Away From Her," although I probably watched half of the movie through tears. Not a happy movie.

Books Read: Three and they were all humor related. The first was a very light look at brain surgery called "I've Had Brain Surgery, What's Your Excuse?," which, being partially illustrated, was a quick read. The second was a collection of essays and such by Roy Blount, Jr. called "Long Time Leaving: Dispatches From Up South." I enjoyed a lot of it, but it's long, and covers a lot of his career, and it was a little annoying to find him repeating the same jokes in many, many pieces. I understand a good joke shouldn't just be told once and then placed into a vault never to be used again, so the fault is probably in reading all these pieces all at once. It would be less annoying if I'd read his, "Do you believe in infant baptism?" "Believe in it? Hell, I've seen it done!" joke once ten years ago, and then again this year, instead of reading it three or four times in the same book. Is all I'm saying.

The last book was "Dark at the Roots" by Sarah Thyre, who, if you have never heard of her, you might know best as the actress who played the gym teacher on "Strangers With Candy." (She's also married to Andy Richter, which puts them in the running for coolest Hollywood couple up there with Amy Poehler and Will Arnett.) The book was a(nother) memoir about a wacky childhood, and was pretty funny. I've got to give her props for being brutally honest about some of the incredibly embarrassing things she did as a kid, some of which I had never heard anyone admit to doing before. And no, I'm not going to tell you what those things are. Get the book. It's at the library!

Fancy Dinners Out: Two. One at Two (for two at six. Ha!), and the other at Street. It was prime rib night when I went to Street, and you can't really go wrong with that. And at Two I had a salad that came with both a poached egg and some steak. And I can't for the life of me remember what the dessert I had was. I guess it wasn't that good.

Live Shows Seen: One! Morrissey at the Filmore. It was kind of a rocky show. His mic cord kept getting stuck in some flowers that were on stage (he does like to whip that cord around) and during the very dramatic "How Soon Is Now?" his mic cut out a few times, and he was not pleased. Some fans also yelled something like, "Thanks for showing up this time!" at him because of his cancelled tour earlier this year. Which caused some other fans to scream apologies about his awful fans.

But he did take his shirt off. Twice! At first it was disturbing, but then I learned to love it. He's pushing 50, and taking that into consideration, he doesn't look that bad shirtless. (His pants, however, were all kinds of horrible.) If you'd like to see what I'm talking about, here's some grainy footage from a show in Bakersfield.



Shoes Bought: None! Wow! I need to work on that!

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 27

Does channel nine run uncensored movies anymore? PBS stations seem to be getting more and more skittish about all that stuff these days, so I am a little wary of recommending you watch "Carrie" tonight on channel nine at 10:00pm, because if it's cut up, it's not worth it. Basically, if the girls in the opening locker room scene are all wearing at least some articles of clothing, you know you're about to watch a censored version of the only Brian DePalma movie that doesn't annoy the hell out of me.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 26

Oh man. There's just too much on today. First off, it's Zombie Day on Turner Classic Movies, and I can't choose just one, so here's the line-up:

"Voodoo Island" starring Boris Karloff, at 9:15am.

"King of the Zombies" featuring Mantan Moreland, at noon.

"Revenge of the Zombies" starring John Carradine and, again, Mantan Moreland, at 1:15pm.

"Zombies of Mora Tau," about underwater zombies, at 2:30pm.

And "White Zombie," one of the first zombie movies ever, starring Bela Lugosi, at 3:45pm.

If zombies aren't your bag, man, then watch Roger Corman's "Bucket of Blood" starring Dick Miller in his first role as Walter Paisley at 5:00pm. Here's the trailer, dig?



Finally, perhaps the creepiest movie ever to be filmed in Lawrence, Kansas, and Salt Lake City, "Carnival of Souls" is on TCM at 11:00pm.

Uh-Oh. Jin's In Trouble!

What is up with "Lost" cast members and their uncontrollable need to drink and drive?