Category Archives: THE INTERWEBS

Clown Terrifies British Town…In A Good Way

It is like something out of a horror movie, but in the town of Northampton, it’s a reality.

Yes, a hauntingly ghostly clown has been seen around the area, putting the jitters on everyone he comes in contact with. He seems harmless enough, but the sheer fact that a clown is randomly hanging around the area has certainly caused a stir with the locals.  Facebook has gone crazy for him and below are a few of the photos that have emerged of this mysterious entertainer.

 Clown  Clown

It seems however that the clown means us no harm. In an exclusive interview with The Northampton Chronicle he spoke a little about why he has taken to the streets in clown makeup.

[box_light]“I just want to amuse people” said the clown who wants to remain anonymous. He went on to say that “Most people enjoy being a bit freaked out and then they can laugh about it afterwards. It’s like watching a horror movie, when people get scared they usually start laughing.” That was certainly what the public have thought about the clown so far with even the Chief Constable Adrian Lee saying “If I met the clown, I would shake his hands to thank him for what he’s doing. I think it’s something to be enjoyed by us all.”[/box_light]

Anyone looking at the clown could certainly see a Stephen King influence, but this clown is not interested in making things float as his final comment reveals:

[box_light] “Naturally, some people would have been extremely frightened by what they saw, but I hope many are starting to see it as a bit of harmless fun,”[/box_light]

He has even inspired others to take to the streets, one person naming himself Boris The Clown Catcher has said via Facebook that “I am the official clown catcher. I am not here to scare anyone. I am not here to hurt anyone. I come in peace!”

 Clown

Most people seeing it as a bit of a giggle, it seems Northampton is quite the fun place to be at the moment. Maybe not the place to go if you have heart trouble though. It is just a bit of fun, but that clown can still give you a Hell of a scare. Better hope Boris and his friends are there to protect you!

The Daily Mirror has revealed that the clown is using his new-found stardom to sell his own merchandise. He has plans to become the number one clown in the UK and fair play to him is what this reviewer has to say. The money he raises will be partly used to help him tour the country improving his profile and the rest will go to charity. To help you keep up to speed on his antics, check out his Facebook page for more details.

 Clown

Unknown Fan Films – The Incredible Hulk Meets The Ever Lovin’ Blue Eyed Thing

The Incredible Hulk

In the late 70’s one superhero had a tight grip on the television industry and that show is fondly remembered even now by most people for numerous reasons. Even the most casual of TV viewer will have seen a shot of Lou Ferringo in his green makeup with only his purple pants on at some stage in their life. Of course I am talking about The Incredible Hulk series which blazed brightly through Television screens. But by 1982 the show had been cancelled and viewers had moved onto other things. But the green paint look was not forgotten by Bob Shreck, Bob Karwoski and Larry Ruggiero (And lets not forget editor Marc Harwood) who had that look in mind when they made their 16mm movie The Incredible Hulk vs. The Ever Lovin’ Blue Eyed Thing.

The Incredible Hulk

If you’re interested in watching a funny (And messed up, in certain places) short film then you have come to the right place. The basic plot revolves around a very strange bar/nightclub where the Fantastic Four’s Thing is trying to relax with a pint or two but just cannot get his happy face on (Due in part to being a grumpy bugger, as well as the interesting array of characters that reside there. But I’ll talk about that later). It is not until his old sparring partner, The Incredible Hulk, turns up that he truly starts to chill out. But enough talk, here is the short film for your viewing pleasure:

The whole thing has a Rocky Horror Show patch-work vibe to it, with colorful costumes and a real sense of fun. Aside from the various monsters, aliens and just general weirdos who pop up in this short, there is a list of well-known characters that pop up. Here are some of the ones I managed to spot: Superman, Spider-man, X-Men’s Angel and Nightcrawler, Chewbacca, Darth Vader (who struts his funky stuff), The Blues Brothers, a Tuscan raider, Dragon Man and Doc Savage (Still not sure about this one but I double checked the credits and it says he is there somewhere!). Truth be told there are probably even more!

The Incredible Hulk

Yes sir, this movie is a continuity fan’s nightmare with different universes all sharing the same space together, but least they are all dressed in the right attire. This brings us to the costumes, which vary greatly in quality. Some of them are obviously bargain basement stuff but others have had some real effort put into them. The Hulk makeup is straight from the TV show and fits in nicely. The Thing’s costume is incredible and as controversial as it sounds, this is the best live-action version of The Thing I have seen. It’s obviously not as realistic as the recent movie franchise’s version but it certainly keeps more in line with the character’s comic book roots. This Ben Grimm gets the moody, mardy look down to a tee but also does not come off as to depressing and melancholy, more just really uptight. And as bad as it is I cannot help but laugh whenever I hear Ben Grimm shout “Back off bitch” to a lady of the night (Though it’s not so funny to watch him get a laugh out of almost killing same said woman with a beer glass thrown at her head).

The Incredible Hulk

For the most part it’s all just a bit of harmless 70’s fun, but there is some nice skill on show for such a short feature, and the cracking soft punk soundtrack is also worth noting. It might not to everyone’s tastes but I certainly got a buzz out of it and there is a weird pleasure to be found watching The Thing lamp Darth Vader in the gut while The Hulk smacks Chewbacca so hard he whelps like a dog (Though it kind of sucks that the two never actually fight against each other). It certainly is amateurish but still fun. If you like the movie there is a great interview with Gerry Giovinco the genius behind the actual costume.

Unknown Fan Films – Aquaman: The Cast of the Angler

Comic books have appeared in most people’s lives at some time, whether it be the cheeky antics of comedy comic characters like Dennis the Menace, superhero exploits with titles like Superman or even the funny pages in your local newspaper. Somewhere, somehow, you will have come across this medium. With comic book movies becoming a huge draw at the box office as of late, interest in comic books has never been higher. But there was a time before this when the comic book moviegoer was starved for attention when it came to movies about their favorite superhero teams. So what did these fans do? They just made the movies themselves.

With the introduction of YouTube, it became even easier to make your own superhero movie and be able share it with the world. Now, I am a huge fan of these fan films and have seen quite a few. While browsing through the internet, I decided to do a series of articles highlighting some of these movies. So for your viewing pleasure, here is part one of this series and today we focus on a DC character who never seems to get a fair deal, the lord of the DC Universe oceans, Aquaman.

aquaman dc

Aquaman is a hero that has gone through various character changes to try to make him more relatable to an audience but for the most part, he always seems to get slammed by fans who for some reason see him as a kind of joke. The recent DC Comics New 52 version of Aquaman has helped to change perception of this hero, even making jokes about how people see him as a fishy loser. Gone is the messed up 90s hero with a trident for a hand and a crazy beard and long gone is the campy hero who used to ride a sea-horse to work.

But in 1984, the campy version of the hero was definitely still alive and kicking and made his heroic entrance to the world of entertainment via this film The Cast of the Angler. This has to be one of the greatest attempts so far to put Aquaman onto the small screen (yes, even better than Smallville). Shot for $10,000 by students Thomas Farr and Jeff Klein, with very little crew to help, they were able to create something which when viewed, came off as unique if nothing else. They were also able to secure DC Comics permission to film, something which they may not have been able to pull together in this day and age. It is certainly an amazing achievement to make something like this under the restrictions the team had. Look below to see a quote from Thomas Farr’s YouTube page just to see what they were up against.

Jeff Klein and I (Thomas Farr) produced Aquaman while attending film school at CSUN. Permission was granted by DC COMICS to make the film after we send our script to Jenette Kahn President of DC COMICS at that time. The film won several awards. 

While I was attending a comic book convention in the 90’s, I came across our film inside the Super Hero video bins. It had been pirated and turned into a double feature with a WB pilot of Justice League of America. It was touted as a WB Pilot that was not picked up for series (which I found funny). Most of the crew have gone on to careers in the industry.

aquaman cast of angler aquaman

The Adam West Batman influence shows and is the driving force behind this show. Much like Batman, the reason The Cast of the Angler works so well is because Aquaman plays it so straight. Showing its influences even more, it goes so far as to have its own animated intro. You thought Batman was a campy classic? Well, Aquaman managed to fill a whole 20 minutes with camptastic events. The acting is either over-the-top or not there at all with Aquaman being quite a dullard throughout, but still managing to be strangely entertaining. Here we have an Aquaman who uses his fishy friends for more sinister purposes, the main sufferer being the starfish that Aquaman uses as a flying death star. You heard it right, this Aquaman does not take prisoners.

 aquaman cast of angler aquaman swims

If this was not enough to keep you going the main villain of the piece is The Angler, a guy with a fishing hat and mask on his face (similar to The Weather Man in the awful yet amazing JLA TV movie) and needs a daily dose of potassium to keep him going. You read correctly, he is addicted to bananas and they pop up all over this little short. Why they did not attempt to use a more established baddie for this, like say Black Manta, I do not know. For this however, this new villain works perfectly. There is not much more plot than Aquaman going out find The Angler and he gets to kick his goons’ backsides before taking on the big guy himself. To say too much would spoil the fun of watching the events unravel but I will say that it is hilarious. Whether it was meant to be or hardly matters at all. It is a must see for fans of over-the-top superhero action.

http://youtu.be/flWDxkK5kKc

First Impressions: Fantastic Short Film Featuring A Long-Awaited DC Character

While DC languishes about 10 miles behind Marvel Studios in their film department, with nothing to really hang their hat on other than Nolan’s The Dark Kight Trilogy, a little ingenuity from choreographer Leo Kei Angelos and writer George Ruiz has really injected some life into a famous DC property. This is definitely needed after disappointing forays into what should have been blockbuster properties. First we dealt with the miserable excuse for a Green Lantern film, and a Man of Steel movie that was so dark and full of unnecessary CGI that it can’t be classified as anything other then 2013’s Most Disappointing Film. Granted, Superman expectations were raised to unattainable heights by that epic last trailer, but the Boy Scouts origin was just way too dark.

Continue reading First Impressions: Fantastic Short Film Featuring A Long-Awaited DC Character

SDCC 2013: Best of Instagram, Preview Night, & First Look at ‘Days of Future Past’ Sentinel!

Well Comic-Con is upon us, finally! While not all of us can go to San Diego, thanks to social media platforms like Instagram we can live vicariously through those that do. I’ve gathered up some of my favorite Instagram photos from yesterday’s Preview Night (and day). If you want to keep up with Grizzly Bomb’s Comic-Con coverage, be sure to follow us on Instagram as well as Twitter.

Continue reading SDCC 2013: Best of Instagram, Preview Night, & First Look at ‘Days of Future Past’ Sentinel!

Jason Mewes Could Be the Star of the ‘Vigilante Diaries’ with Your Help

With KickStarter really coming into its own in the last few years, it seems any creative talent now has the chance to show the fans what they want to see. But with so many projects out there it can be tricky to actually pick one to worth fund, hell you cannot funding. So what makes this new hopefully ongoing series called The Vigilante Diaries different from any other project out there? Well it has Jason Mewes in it for a start! The lovable, cartoon faced simpleton we love from the View Askewniverse is back, and this time he is running the show playing Mike Hanover, a film maker who ends up meeting and videotaping the vigilante of the title while he does what he does best. This mostly consists of killing lots of bad guys. Below is the synopsis from the official funding page.

[box_light]“Welcome—Just being here, you are a part of something new, something never before done on the internet (as far as we can tell.) We had a vision to create a series that breaks rules and pushes the limits of where an online series can go. Vigilante Diaries was born out of our combined frustration with the model of compromising creative due to the restrictions of third parties—advertisers and networks—instead of what matters, the audience.

This is a chance to prove that an audience can actually sustain a series without worrying about whether it was brand-safe or appealed to a specific advertising demographic. It’s about taking control of what entertainment you want to see made, not just accepting what studios think you want.

Vigilante Diaries is a high energy, fast-paced ride into the dark world of vigilante justice, following a pair of vigilantes who take justice into their own hands. Mike Hanover (Jason Mewes) is our storyteller bringing us right into the action through his documentary cameras mounted right in the middle of the carnage that ensues. It’s in many ways like a live-action first-person shooter game but with a gripping story that is just beginning to unfold.” [/box_light]

 vigilante diaries 1

Now plans are one thing, but does this series actually deliver in the goods department? I am happy to inform you that it does. The first episode has been kindly uploaded onto YouTube (which you can watch below) thanks to Jason and the entire team behind the project. At 10 minutes long we really only get a taste of what this show could offer, and it’s certainly not dull. The story line itself plays out like a modern-day A-Team in a way. The end credits list the team as ‘current whereabouts unknown’ and the story jumps from one drug bust to another at a fast pace. The Vigilante himself, and his partner are great fun. Anti heroes from the Clint Eastwood school of acting, only speaking when they have to, instead letting their actions do the talking.

As far as influences, to say there is a hint of ‘The Punisher’ in all of this would not be untrue. Jason Mewes ‘Mike’ plays a more hyperactive version of Frank Castle’s ex associate Microchip (only with more swearing and comedic gestures). It seems that if The Vigilante ever met Castle they would probably get along, you know, as much as Frank can get along with anyone.

While the font seems to have been inspired by Sin City, this is nothing like that movie. Style-wise it reminded me of the Gerald Butler movie Gamer as the episode is mixed between first person POV, over the shoulder shaky cam shots and static camera shots. It gives the episode a very kinetic and fast paced feel, but be warned – anyone that suffers from motion sickness may need to watch this in small bursts as it is not kind on your senses! The main driving force behind this is Jason himself who manages to juggle his unique brand of humor, and progresses the plot lines at the same time. He is a lot of fun to watch with his hyper active nature only calming down slightly when he thinks he is going to die. The idea of the Vigilante really not liking Mike either makes for fun viewing, and if this ever does get off the ground as a series, that relationship will be fun to watch.

http://youtu.be/o63Tv1RbJEw

So this is where you folks at home come in. If you watched the first episode and liked what you saw then hop over to Chill.com and help sponsor this series so they can get more episodes produced. If you donate you get the first 2 episodes as downloadable content, so that’s 20 minutes of Jason Mewes in action. Here is hoping that we get to see more of this gruesome threesome and their extended family very soon.