With Halloween growing nearer we're planning a host of spooktacular events including screenings of the best the horror film industry has to offer. While you're checking out our events calendar for more information, it is only fitting to discuss the absolute must have of any Halloween celebration -- the covetted scary movie. The hope that we can be scared to tears and love it sends people in droves to theaters and perpetuates these money makers from the film industry. Like dealers, the industry supplies us junkies with our fix and each year they increase the potency or introduce us to a different hysteria inducing psychotropic drug. The industry pioneers these nail biting genres with reality-based themes being the most terrifying. Films that mirror our innermost fears or characters we emotionally connect to carry us away from the safety of our theater seats. The movies that affected me the most were Child's Play 3 (when I was a kid I saw the poster in a movie rental store and it haunted me for an entire week) and The Decent (the scene where a character becomes stuck between the rock walls send me into a fist clenching, teeth grinding, panic inducing fit).

 

I love laughing, as I think we all do. I love reading the Sunday comics, watching cartoons, catching every new comedy movie that comes out, renting classic funny films, watching an old favorite comedian or discovering a new one and hearing a funny joke. Life is serious enough with work, school, family, friends and the world’s problems so I take every opportunity I get to giggle. Anytime someone asks me, “What kind of movie should we watch?”, my answer will always be “A funny one!” Some of my favorite movies of all time are comedies that can make me laugh over and over again. They are like baby blankets or old stuffies from childhood. They whisk me away from real life drama and into a light-hearted mood with a new perspective on things and if anything else, just make me smile.

Personally, sometimes I want to watch a movie where some blue collar guy or gal knocks somebody’s lights out. I’m not a violent person. I detest violence in real life, but, sometimes, when life gets me down and there’s no one to blame, it’s hard not to want to watch a good sport fight. Anyone familiar with the history of boxing, or sport of fighting of any kind (think gladiators!) knows that it’s historically the poor man who is willing to fight for a living.

Wow, I can’t believe that Movie Madness has almost come and gone. Not without a bang though. We finish out this weekend with [REC] 2, the sequel to the Spanish horror flick [REC].

Now you may not have heard of these films, but you most likely have heard of its American remake Quarentine. [REC] 2 picks up in the same infested apartment with the signature hand-held camera techniques and indie gore and splatter. It’s a true delight for genre fans who revel in blood and mayhem!

Howdy! Since Bookmans is celebrating Movie Madness Month all of August, I thought I'd step in and share some of my own Movie Madness, courtesy of the Midnite Movie Mamacita at MADCAP Theaters.

The Art of a Bad Movie...what makes a movie so bad that it's good as opposed to just being plain bad? Many factors contribute, but take some of these weekends’ selections that we are showcasing at MADCAP Theaters. We have The Room, now a cult sensation and ambassador for bad movies. What makes THE ROOM so bad, but good that people come month after month to see it on the big screen? Sincerity is the key. Tommy Wiseau didn't set out to make a bad movie, he spent $5-7 million on his epic masterpiece (the source of the funding remains a mystery). But it was made with a whole-hearted sincerity and intent to make a good movie that only after its release took on a whole new life.

The Room

 

Six months have passed since Bella Swan ran off to Italy to rescue her vampire soulmate Edward, forsaking her best friend and newly turned werewolf, Jacob. There she met the Volturi, the governing law of vampire society, who ruled that Bella was to be turned immediately. Eclipse opens in a sunlit field of wildflowers with Bella's voice reciting Robert Frost's Fire and Ice. It's this poem that foreshadows the entire events of the film defining both the love triangle between Bella, Edward, and Jacob and how vampires are dispatched.

Last month Bookmans Mesa was proud to highlight the Twilight series written by Stephanie Meyer. We hosted a remarkable giveaway where customers entered to win an assortment of shwag from the upcoming "Twilight: Eclipse" movie. With over 1,350 total entries (WOW), winners were randomly drawn and notified to come down and sink their teeth into such great prizes as life sized stand ups of the lead cast, a gift basket featuring all three Twilight movie soundtracks, a set of the Twilight saga books, and a chance to win one of 60 IMAX movie posters. Thanks to everyone who entered this amazing contest.

Last Saturday brought The Phoenix Fear Film Festival to Madcap Theaters in Tempe, and Bookmans was there with our very own spooky setup! Thirteen hours of short and feature films were the center focus while we celebrated the Nightmare After Christmas with local artists, vendors, and musicians, showing off the spooky side of Phoenix.

Year round, the Arizona Browncoats are hard at work giving back to their community. What's a Browncoat? A Browncoat is a term applied to fans of the short-lived television series Firefly. The name is based on a nickname for the Independent Faction from the series.

The Phoenix cult film and music community is pulling together to help one of their own after a devastating house fire. Danny Marianino, frontman of hardcore band North Side Kings and one of the minds behind cult movie website/podcast ICanSmellYourBrains.com, lost everything on Wednesday night and his friends will be holding a last-minute benefit at Chandler Cinemas this Saturday, June 6th, at 7 p.m.

If you're planning to catch Cloverfield in the theater, here's a few pointers: don't sit too close to the screen (seriously, people are puking all across America), and don't go in with inflated expectations. While aware of the viral marketing campaign still raging its way across the internet, I only had a vague idea of what was in store and managed to be pleasantly surprised by the final product - a simple survival story encased in a monster movie candy shell. It's quick, it's brutal, and it's a fun cinematic ride if you're into wanton destruction and mayhem.

Fox studios drained the blood from Buffy the Vampire Slayer sing-a-longs in October when it slapped a cease-and-desist order on theatrical screenings of the show’s Emmy-nominated musical episode.

“I'd hate to think that it's out and out greed - but I'm probably being optimistic there,” said Heather Cordova, who has worked with the Arizona Browncoats, an organization for fans of the TV show Firefly and its spin-off movie Serenity, another franchise created by Joss Whedon of Buffy fame.

“If that's the case, it's another example of a loyal fan base being screwed for the sake of lining some bigwig's pockets,” she said.

SAMMY HAIN: Welcome to another Cinema Of The Forsaken. Unfortunately Angela couldn’t be with us this week. There was a minor accident…involves zombies…can’t really go into it…legal reasons, y’know? Never fear, she’ll be back soon, and in the meantime, please welcome our guest reviewer: Ash!

ASH: Poor, poor Angela. Until her return I hope you enjoy me as your guest reviewer, the infamous Ash!

SAMMY HAIN: Well, it's been a long time my fellow aficiones of the abysmal, connoisseurs of the kitschy, devotees of déclassé. Finally Cinema of the Forsaken is back to bring you the very best of all the movies that never should have been. Speaking of abysmal, kitschy and déclassé, let's welcome back my accomplice, Angela!

ANGELA: I'm not sure its been long enough; it takes a lot out of a person to sit through hours of dull, boring, normal movies in search of the truly terrible, but if there is one movie that can make the epic quest for B-movie cheese worth it, it's this one!