Josh,

Liked your article about the Sabbath boxed set. I can share in the "Holy shit what is THIS?" emotion from ninth grade.

Two things:

1) Are you from Denver?
2) Did you really have to say "SLASH of GUNS N ROSES"?

Keep it up and in,
James Kiehl

Josh Jabcuga responds: Hey James, aren’t you the cat that wrote in once before and slammed Squib Central and my love for the Legendary Shack Shakers, comparing them to “bullshit indie punk bands”? The same guy that ripped me a new one because I wrote a piece on Robert Randolph and the Family Band without even staying for the whole concert? Maybe it was a different James Kiehl. There’s no way anyone would be into Sabbath and slam the Legendary Shack Shakers, unless of course, they never even heard the Shakers in the first place. Go figure. As far as the questions go 1). Hell no. Buffalo ’66 born and bred (make that Buffalo ’77). 2) Only because I knew it would bother you.

Not so Darkly

Thoughts about the recent movie developments?

Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jr., and Woody Harrelson in an animated film directed by Richard Linklater? I'd venture to say this is the mostt bizarre feature ever made, destined to become classic or infamous. Whatever happens, it's probably without saying it'll bomb.

David R. Kinzer

JJ: David, Linklater is behind this film. At the very least, we know it’ll be different with him attached. And call me a fool, but I am in the (vast) majority who don’t think Keanu is such a bad choice for the role. Not exactly my pick. Depp was born for this role (Well, everyone says Depp is ideal for any role these days). Keanu can do this, though, have faith. Besides, how many potentially great movies can one guy ruin during the course of his career, anyway? The rest of the cast is stellar in my book. And they even have some…uh, experience in the subject matter. But yeah, this one has train wreck written all over it.

Blockhead

Paulus, “living large in Bangkok,” writes:

“Ivan Drago, as played by DOLPH LUNDGREN in ROCKY IV (1985).

Credibility of the actor as an ass-kicker: 3/10.”

Check out the credentials on the man.... I am not a fan by a long way but respect where respect is due. I remember European karate and martial arts shows with him chopping through blocks of ice and shit! (JJ: Wow, he chopped through blocks of shit? Pretty intimidating. I can barely manage to scrape shit off my ClimaCool ADIDAS on the curb, let alone chop through blocks of it.)

great column.... now that it's back to it's roots (I was getting to skip over it when it was nothing but obscure music reviews every week)

JJ: Paulus, you’re breaking my heart here. You didn’t dig the obscure music reviews each week? Can you score me a good bootleg of Spider-Man 2? I’ll trade you a Legendary Shack Shakers CD. Did I mention the Legendary Shack Shakers are badass?

Apparently avoiding spellcheck was only part of the problem

Kevin Mjurewicz writes:

Just read your column about sequals (Goonies II could be good if done right, but never as good as the original) and there is one movie that I always wanted to see a second part of. Big Trouble in Little China! The character of Jack Burton could have had a dozen movies made about his explioits across the country with his truck. But, I had a good idea for a direct sequal called "Son of Jack" that delt with a backstory that Jack went back for Gracy Law then ended up married and had a son, Jack Jr., but Lo Pan reaped his revenge from beyond the grave..... Blah blah, anyway. If they made a sequal to Escape from New York, Big Trouble in Little China should have been next on the list.

POOPSHOOT RULES!

JJ: So Kevin, I take it you’re a fan of Kurt Russell? Myself, I was always quite bitter that the studios passed on the Captain Ron sequel.

Bobblehead

“jojoebelownormal” writes:

Hey guy,
Interesting and funny article, as usual. Just a quick question though, what do you think the chances are of GHOSTBUSTERS 3 getting made? Is it permanently on the back burner...or is there a chance that we might to see the boys in gray kicking it with slimer one last time....

JJ responds: Dear Mr. Belownormal, the sequel to Ghostbusters was about as much fun as hemorrhoid surgery, but that’s all relative. It represented everything I hate about sequels. The original is one of those golden geek memories that I have from my childhood. I remember seeing Ghostbusters at a now torn-down drive-in in the back of my sister’s boyfriend’s pickup truck. I caught the sequel on opening night with my mother. Needless to say, we were both extremely disappointed. A living, breathing Statue of Liberty walking down the middle of downtown NYC has got to be the single most all-time groan-inducing sequence in cinematic history.

Given that Bill Murray is about one role removed from a waltz with his own statue—that being the Oscar – you know he wouldn’t be too keen on zippering up the ol’ jumpsuit. So then, what would be the point?

In retrospect, GB2 had all the elements of a great horror/comedy, minus the fact that, well, it really wasn’t all that funny. I think the film could have benefited from a trim, that’s for sure. And I could have done without the ectoplasm-bukakkied Statue of Liberty. Regardless, by no means does it even come close to measuring up with the original.

Any story ideas for a third? Personally, I’d love to see Dan Akroyd train a new generation of Ghostbusters…maybe with Jimmy Fallon in the lead? And with all this “I love the 80s” bullshit going down (you can’t walk into a Hot Topic without seeing some Morrissey-loving Robert Smith-wannabe freak peddling Rainbow Brite T-shirts or Karate Kid trucker hats), doesn’t it seem like somebody is missing the whole nostalgia boat by not getting the Ghostbusters license out there more? Neca recently released two really cool Ghostbuster bobbleheads, one of the Staypuft Marshmallow Man and one of Slimer, and I have both sitting on my stereo right now. There will be another DVD release commemorating the movie’s 20th anniversary soon, so maybe the merchandising onslaught is just beginning.

When the Thunder Rolls…

Scotty writes:

Dearest Josh,

Gigli was bad, Jersey Girl was pandering sentimental tripe. What's so difficult about that to understand?

JJ writes: I thought Jersey Girl was a love letter from Kevin Smith to his family, in particular, his daughter. Maybe that’s not your cup of tea. I dug it. My girlfriend enjoyed it. Hell, everybody in the theater seemed to enjoy it. Kinda sad that audiences will typecast an artist and only support what they deem to be familiar ground (not that you’re one of them…at least you gave the film a chance). I’m all for artistic growth, except when it came to Garth Brooks’ alter ego Chris Gaines. Did you ever think that shit could get any worse? But I digress….

Getting Serious…and now a word from our sponsor

Bryan Irrera writes:

re: #48...

fuck XM. Get Sirius.

XM is one third owned by Clear Channel. You are paying the devil to have their cake and eat it too.

(It's just like buying pay-per-view movies on DirecTV...since the PPV channels are partially owned by Blockbuster).

JJ writes: So ends the wet dream. Does anyone have any info on this? I spent just a few minutes digging around www.ClearChannelSucks.org but I couldn’t find anything. For Chrissakes, Bryan, tell me you’re wrong. Tell me it’s not true. Even if this is true, the smack is too good to pass up, Clear Channel-hustled or not.

Not one to shy away from a good stroke now and then

Angryduck2 writes:

Just wanted to write and say that I really enjoyed the Palahniuk article, it makes me want to go out and read the new book. Very inventive and interesting writing as well, very cool.

JJ writes: Thanks, man. If you dig Palahniuk, this book is a no-brainer. It’s out this week, too. Support him, folks. Writers need all the love they can get. Nearly all of his books are in some stage of film production, especially Invisible Monsters and Survivor. Still, I can’t imagine any adaptation being as complementary to a novel than Fincher’s work. It’ll be tough to match.

Jason Goodling writes:

GREAT FREAKING PIECE!!!I I don’t think I have ever read a better description of my favorite author. Keep up the good work.

JJ gushes: Cool!

Electric Youth…and the Killer

Nick writes:

Hi

I saw your article about having Jerry Lee Lewis back in the spotlights on this site:
http://www.moviepoopshoot.com/squib/32.html

well: his new album will be released at the end of the summer, produced by Jimmy Rip (who worked a lot with the rolling stones too). On this album a lot of guest artists play with Killer, Bruce Springsteen, BB King, Keith Richard, Willie Nelson, Kid Rock and many more. I think they use all those big names to bring Jerry Lee back in public, so they can do a solo album after this one.

The Killer had a great tour in febr. in the UK, and will be back in the UK in june/july. And again comes back to Europe in october.

On may the 5th he played with Kid Rock, Keith Richard, Eric Clapton and many more at the Willie Nelson and Friends special.

Last year Rick Rubin was at Jerry Lee's show at the Viper Room, so maybe he is interested in working with the Killer.

The Killer is back!
Just would like to let you know....

JJ writes: Nick, thanks for sharing that. (Weird too, because that particular article I wrote came out months ago…glad to see people are still stumbling over it.) One of the first concerts I went to as a kid was Jerry Lee Lewis co-headlining with Bo Diddley, back when I was in the seventh grade. (It was a welcome and fortunate rebound from my first ever concert the previous year…Debbie Gibson with ColorMeBadd opening.)

I can’t even begin to tell you how elated I am hearing this news. If you’re reading this, and you’re only familiar with the “hits” that are played on oldies stations like Great Balls of Fire and Whole Lotta Shakin’, you don’t know what you’re missing. It’s funny how all the hipsters got into Johnny Cash after he died. Let’s hope Jerry Lee gets the credit he’s due before it’s too late. Still, somehow, I don’t think the Killer gives a rat’s ass what anybody ever thought of him. And that’s what makes him the Killer.

Josh Jabcuga is still irked over the fact that he missed last night’s Van Halen concert. When not sobbing like a miserable bastard, Josh can be found writing Squib Central, published every Thursday, exclusively at www.moviepoopshoot.com.

E-MAIL THE AUTHOR | ARCHIVES