Shaun of the Dead

Loved it. Part Dawn of the Dead, part romantic comedy, this weird British hybrid had just enough of each to appeal to me. And the splatter movie fan in me was delighted by the fact that the gore was not toned down to appeal to the chicks in the audience. Come to think of it, I don't think I saw any chicks in the audience.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Excellent flick. Enjoyable sci-fi in the tradition of the old movie serials, Star Wars and Indiana Jones. The entire movie is steeped in a sepia-tone haze that gives it a really cool antiquated look. Great fun from beginning to end.

End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones

The Ramones, alas, are gone. With the recent death of Johnny Ramone, most of the original members of the band are now dead. The Ramones were the first punk rock band and were true originals. I loved the band then and I still think their music is pure genius. End of the Century chronicles the band from the beginning up to right before Johnny's death. We get lots of interviews with the people who knew the band members the best. If you have any interest in the band, rush out and see this documentary before it disappears from theatres. I adored every minute of it. Didn't want it to end. While you are at it, go out and buy the new Ramones Raw DVD for lots and lots of home movie footage of the band and cool stuff like Joey and Marky on The (Channel 9) Howard Stern Summer Show. Great stuff.

KongIsKing.net

Peter Jackson is one of my favorite movie directors. Jackson helmed the Lord of the Rings feature films as well as Bad Taste, Beautiful Creatures and Dead Alive, amongst others. If you are a Jackson fan like me, you probably already know that he is currently shooting his next film, a big budget remake of King Kong. Video production diaries are being posted to a fan site called KongIsKing.net. These diaries contain footage of scenes as they are being shot with glimpses of Jack Black, Adrian Brody and Naomi Watts, as well as Jackson directing. You should check these out, since the site and the video diaries are authorized by the man himself!

Survivor: Vanuatu Begins

Survivor: Vanuatu is off to a rousing start. It premiered Thursday, September 16th on CBS. It's pretty much what we've come to expect from the previous 8 seasons: great fun!! It will be great to continue to follow this season over the coming months. Still, I miss the wonderful previous All-Stars season. That was so much fun. However, I fully expect Vanuatu to be just as much fun.

The Amazing Race 5

I have been following The Amazing Race all summer and it has my vote for best summer 2004 TV series. I'm brand new to this series and I was blown away after I watched the first episode. "How could I have voluntarily missed this?" I asked myself. Well, the season finale is this coming Tuesday, September 21st and all I have to say is that it's a good thing that Survivor: Vanuatu has begun, because I am gonna miss the hell out of good old Amazing Race. Who will be the winning team? Tune in Tuesday and find out!

Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned

Prodigy's Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned was finally released Tuesday, September 14, 2004, effectively ending the controversial seven years that have passed since the group's previous release, the landscape-flattening Fat of the Land. As I alluded to back last month, Prodigy's sound has changed considerably. Gone completely are Keith Flint's raging vocals that made the singles Firestarter, Smack My Bitch Up and Breathe such distinctive and striking songs. Instead, the central core of Prodigy, Liam Howlett, has gone back to the electronic origins of Prodigy and created an entirely new, if flashed-back, beast. The result is an enjoyable, heavy, big beat electronic album that is not going to please everyone, but is enjoyable in its own special way. I have always been a big fan of the 1994 Prodigy album Music for the Jilted Generation and if Outnumbered resembles any previous Prodigy release, it's Jilted. I really, really like Outnumbered. Sure, I would have liked to have seen more of Keith in the band (I must be one of the few who liked last year's Baby's Got a Temper) but it's OK to have Prodigy still be true to its own roots rather than to be a pale imitation of itself. And it's wonderful to have them back since, for a while there, I thought they were goners.