Normally I'd give a individual review for the films I watch but those things barely get any hits so fuck'em.
Instead I am just going to give some mini reviews and a few thoughts...
Worm Eaters - I fell asleep a few minutes after I popped this sucker in the VHS player but then I woke up. Before I was fully conscious my head turned towards the TV and was startled by the site of half man / half worm people slithering across the screen. That alone was convencing enough for me to give this flick a second chance the next day. Very poorly made with a pitiful script the movie had just enough charm to keep me entertained and the eye candy wasn't bad either (ok one actress in particular). The lead actor (who also directed) is hilarious and the gross out scenes especially the ones with worms mixed with food will churn even the most iron belly fan of gross out flicks stomach.
Halloween 3: Season Of The Witch - Ok, not that rare of a movie. But a classic none the less, atleast in my opinion. Besides the score and producing duties handled by John Carpenter I really have no idea why this is associated with the Halloween franchise at all. This may get me hung from the cross but I think this is the best film in the franchise. The story is a little incomprehensible but I like the way they attempted to keep the movie entertaining rather then scary.
Hellmaster - This is just a deplorable film from start to finish. Features appearances from John Saxon and David Emge (Flyboy from Dawn Of The Dead dummies!) but they are pretty much useless. The movie has atleast 20 different endings and the charectors are all intertwinable. I think one was a cripple, another was a psychic that could read the minds of computers or something, who the hell knows. The movie isn't without a few bright spots, ok it has no bright spots but I did sort of like the part where the reporter is going into the basement and finds the freaks, the cross painted on the door was a nice touch. The bus these freaks ride around in is also pretty cool, although I am not sure who is driving the damn thing. The freaks themselves are a mixture of zombies, demons and hell they might as well just be a bunch of dead Leatherfaces possessed by the devil. Not very good and nearly unwatchable.
Tape Heads - Back when Tim Robbins and John Cusack were kind of cool they starred in this movie about a couple of slackers that dream of making music videos. The flick is highly entertaining, so much so that I am wondering why I never heard about it until I found it at a damn yard sale! This is a classic as far as I am concerned.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Luther "Luke" Campbell Speaks Out Against NYC Mosque
This one is completely mind boggling. Hip Hop smut peddler and one time champion for free speech Luther "Luke" Campbell has come out in opposition of the New York City "Ground Zero" Mosque because in his opinion Muslims are exploiting our kindness and no different then the KKK.
I'm confused over this for alot of reasons. First and foremost isn't this the same guy who released the song "Banned In The USA"? That is one of my all time favorite records and if memory serves the theme was that here in the United States regardless of ones race, religion or political beliefs we are all protected under the first amendment to enjoy whatever sort of language we choose regardless of how inflamatory it is.
It also seems to me that Luke is big on opinion and short on facts. Not only is the mosque nearly six blocks away from ground zero, there is another mosque already five blocks away and the World Trade Center itself had a mosque inside of it. Is he saying that the Muslim population that works and lives in this region have no right to freely worship in a location that is convenient to them? Give me a break, maybe Luke is also opposed to the street vendors selling hot dogs next to Ground Zero because they may be undercover terrorist.
I wonder how Luke feels about islams influence over hip hop music itself. One could certainly make the arguement that it was muslims who laid the foundation for the culture Luke would eventually get rich from. Not to mention Luke came up when most artist were affiliated or influenced by organizations like The Five Percenters and NOI. Islams relationship to the black community is something that goes back to pre-slavery. I guess what I am wondering is if this has something to do with Islam as a whole or is Luke singling out muslims from the middle east in particular.
Im not hating on Luke but i have to wonder why a guy who made his living off of sexually charged rap lyrics and strip clubs is taking sides in a controversy that really has nothing to do with him or his business. Especially when the same people bashing the mosque are the same ones who would like to see him put out of business.
Craziest thing is, the biggest supporter of the ground zero mosque may be none other then Luke himself. Lyrics from Banned In The USA.
Luke's speech:
What is this?? Is this not America? This is not China! This is not Russia! This is not the place where they brought down the wall, this is America!
We have the right to say what we want to say, we have the right To do what we want to do, and what I do in my house, You might not do in your house! So what I do in my house is my business! And the simple fact Of it all is that we are BONDED by the First Amendment! We have the Freedom of EXPRESSION! We have the freedom of CHOICE!
And you, Chinese, black, green, purple, Jew, YOU have the right to listen to whoever You want to, and even the 2 Live Crew! So all you right-wingers, left- Wingers, bigots, Communists, there IS a place for you in this world! Because this is the land of the FREE, the home of the BRAVE! And 2 Live Is what we are!
I'm confused over this for alot of reasons. First and foremost isn't this the same guy who released the song "Banned In The USA"? That is one of my all time favorite records and if memory serves the theme was that here in the United States regardless of ones race, religion or political beliefs we are all protected under the first amendment to enjoy whatever sort of language we choose regardless of how inflamatory it is.
It also seems to me that Luke is big on opinion and short on facts. Not only is the mosque nearly six blocks away from ground zero, there is another mosque already five blocks away and the World Trade Center itself had a mosque inside of it. Is he saying that the Muslim population that works and lives in this region have no right to freely worship in a location that is convenient to them? Give me a break, maybe Luke is also opposed to the street vendors selling hot dogs next to Ground Zero because they may be undercover terrorist.
I wonder how Luke feels about islams influence over hip hop music itself. One could certainly make the arguement that it was muslims who laid the foundation for the culture Luke would eventually get rich from. Not to mention Luke came up when most artist were affiliated or influenced by organizations like The Five Percenters and NOI. Islams relationship to the black community is something that goes back to pre-slavery. I guess what I am wondering is if this has something to do with Islam as a whole or is Luke singling out muslims from the middle east in particular.
Im not hating on Luke but i have to wonder why a guy who made his living off of sexually charged rap lyrics and strip clubs is taking sides in a controversy that really has nothing to do with him or his business. Especially when the same people bashing the mosque are the same ones who would like to see him put out of business.
Craziest thing is, the biggest supporter of the ground zero mosque may be none other then Luke himself. Lyrics from Banned In The USA.
Luke's speech:
What is this?? Is this not America? This is not China! This is not Russia! This is not the place where they brought down the wall, this is America!
We have the right to say what we want to say, we have the right To do what we want to do, and what I do in my house, You might not do in your house! So what I do in my house is my business! And the simple fact Of it all is that we are BONDED by the First Amendment! We have the Freedom of EXPRESSION! We have the freedom of CHOICE!
And you, Chinese, black, green, purple, Jew, YOU have the right to listen to whoever You want to, and even the 2 Live Crew! So all you right-wingers, left- Wingers, bigots, Communists, there IS a place for you in this world! Because this is the land of the FREE, the home of the BRAVE! And 2 Live Is what we are!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
I love St. Pete @ ARTpool
A couple of weeks back while loitering around the streets of downtown I stumbled across several advertisements for an event called I Love St. Pete. A showcase of local artistic talents and all around cool show featuring live music, held at the ARTpool gallery / vintage boutique on First Ave. Because of transportation issues and a lack of cultured friends I had all but counted out the event as something I could realistically attend.
As the Saturday of the event arrived, I had surrendered all hope and accepted the fact that my evening would be spent munching on stale store brand potato chips and flattened Jolt Cola. Thankfully at the very last second a moment of clarity shined down upon me in the form a instant message from none other then long time friend / high school chum Mindy Van Devin. We managed to arrange plans on short notice and before I knew it we were on our way downtown.
Being that I am a virgin to the ARTpool experience I was really unsure of what to expect and went in with very few expectations. With that said, ARTpool is simply amazing. Sort of a glorified thrift store that feels more like a nostalgic playground filled with retro clothing and knick knacks. Also available are hand crafted jewelry and artwork from local artist. There is so much going on inside of the store that the building itself begins to take on a life of its own.
I must say, ARTpool sure knows how to throw a shin-dig. Everyone in attendance seemed to be having a blast roaming the cramped isles of the store and snapping personal photos to commemorate the experience. The DJ, located above the main entrance, was a nice touch as were the creepy mannequins that seemed to be dressed up flamboyantly around every corner. Outside of the building in the neighboring parking lot a second party was taking place featuring live bands and various vendors.
Next month the folks at ARTpool will be throwing another event just in time for Valentines Day, for more info on that or anything else I highly recommend swinging by their website, http://www.artpoolrules.com/.
Interview With The Projectionist Part 2
If you missed out on Part 1 it is available in the archives of this blog.
John Miller: When I was in high school I used to occupy my time by hooking two VCR's together and bootlegging anime tapes for my friends. I'm curious what inspired you to become a bootlegger and the type of equipment you were using in the early days?
John Petrey: My inspiration came from different levels. First and foremost my earliest equipment used for bootlegging were two 4-Head JVC linear stereo VHS VCRs. I worked for Honeywell in those days and word got around that a guy in another department was selling some pornographic bootlegs and that his quality was terrible. I then rushed out and bought the two very expensive machines ($600 a piece back then) and immediately got me a membership at Todd Theatre's Video Rental. Copyguard didn't exist so that wasn't an issue and the picture was crystal clear! Needless to say I stole all of his business by renting the tapes for $4 and selling the copies for $25. It was easy to pocket $200 some nights, that on top of your paycheck. The other main reason was that I simply was an avid film lover and movies on videotape back then were anywhere from $29 to $79 on VHS. So copying was my only solution since I wanted a library and was getting married with a child in the picture and another on the way. Let's just call it prioritizing, ha!
Here's a funny one. The kids wanted to watch WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY so I put it in and we laid down to watch it. The kids and I dozed off while the film ran. WELL, I had recorded WW over an old porno tape SO imagine the shock I had after I had woke up with an angry wife shaking me pointing at the bumping and grinding on the TV! Thank goodness the kids were still asleep, ha ha!
JM: I always found it offensive to pay close to $9 a ticket for a movie then be forced to sit through a lecture about the harmful impact piracy has had on the film industry. Come to find out the statistics being used to make us feel guilty were completely bogus. What are your thoughts on this and as someone who has earned most of their living in the theater business how do you feel piracy has impacted the industry?
JP: Tackling what you said first about hearing the lecture after paying $9 for a ticket to me is a GREAT way to keep your customers at home. Why are they preaching to a PAYING audience to begin with? The Movie studios are just like every other profitable business. They cry poor mouth and then contradict themselves with James Cameron raking in over 2 billion dollars worldwide with AVATAR. My question is how much money do they need? I will say this however in their defense. Uploading screeners and CAM versions of films that have not even hit the theatre yet is flat out wrong, IF it's mainstream. Where uploading a Theatrical film IS justified (IMO) is when an import is uploaded that didn't get a large distributor and it would be impossible to see it here in the states any other way.These guys that download a film that's new (like Avatar) and sell them for $5 on a street corner are just asking to get busted. The irony here is how Piracy has sometimes HELPED the theatre industry is when someone buys a $5 crappy quality DVD or download the same version but it's enough to convince them that "HEY, THAT WAS A GREAT FILM. I WANT TO BUY THE DVD OR BLU-RAY WHEN IT COMES OUT!" Yeah, the studios say they lost that person's Box Office sale BUT they gained the disc sale! People DO NOT realize the revenue gained by the studios after a film has 'flopped' at the theatre. A movie may have done $22 million on opening weekend but then go on to do $50 million in rentals and sometimes over $100 million in sales!! But there are people in this world who are disabled, extremely poor or live 75 miles from a theatre that it would seem to me justified or not so important for an ocassional download.
It seems now days every street entrepreneur in America is hustling quality bootlegs of new releases. I was at a flea market and a kid had a booth set up handing out fliers, which I felt was a little bold. With the market so heavily flooded with product, why should I ever consider paying outrageous prices to go watch a crappy movie in a sterile theater ever again? This depends on the individual. I've seen people that are so fearful of the law and would never consider purchasing a bootleg disc where others wouldn't mind or not have any problems. But the reason you SHOULD consider seeing a film at the theatre depends on what kind of presentation you're looking for. When you say a 'crappy' movie for the ticket prices they want nowadays I would say no, you shoudn't have to or even want to. But if it's something you seem really interested in then MAYBE you could splurge on the ticket price and see it for the big screen, surround and all that. The theatre industry, mainly the studios are out of control. The ticket prices are what drives people to piracy in a lot of cases. I saw a movie last year in 3D and it was $12 a ticket. I didn't even receive a coupon for a reach around redeemable at the concession stand after getting f*cked at the Box Office. I wonder how the 'pirates' will survive in a digital world. Especially trying to CAM a 3D theatre screen. What are they going to do, pay $24 for the camera and themselves and set the glasses over the lense so the picture would come out, heh. I think from now on I will refer to the 'pirates' as 'Robin Hoods' since they rob the rich and give to the poor, ha ha!.
JM: I'd like to switch the conversation to collecting since I know you have an awesome collection. How many films do you think you own?
JP: I am right at 4,000 DVDs and 1,500 VHS. The disc numbers grow slower than they used to while the tape numbers have come to a halt, unless it's something extremely rare. It's a variety of films, TV Shows and Theatrical Trailers. Shamefully, I probably haven't watched 10% of my collection.
JM: If your anything like me I know you probably check every DVD rack, every box of old dusty yard sale VHS tapes etc. for potential discoveries. Where or were your some of your favorite spots to conduct your searches? Mine are Bananas (because they used to have amazing racks full of rare VHS!) and the Wagon Wheel Flea Market just because I know I'll always leave with something good.
JP: Having amassed so many I have actually slowed down to a crawl when it comes to getting out of the house to collect more titles. Bananas was my home away from home for a while! They eventually ran out of affordable, rare VHS tapes and I bought whatever LaserDiscs I wanted from them. I have not been to the Wagon Wheel in Years. The video store in Louisville Ky. called Wild and Woolly contributed quite nicely. If I do venture out for the rare hunt, I'll check Flea Markets, Pawns and last year I was buying the sellout at Video Exchange. 'The' tape to look for is "THE LITTLE MERMAID" and not just any copy. It has to be the first edition that says CLASSIC on it AND has.. ahem...a Penis head on top of one of the Gold castle towers in the artwork! Rumor was a disgruntled Disney employee drew it after a rift with the studio. I sold those first editions for $100 a piece. Imagaine, a VHS worth a hundred cash! Those were the days.
JM: What was the craziest discovery you have ever made, the one find that made you step back and say wow I can't believe I just found that?
JP: For years I looked for GALAXY EXPRESS, the American Version distributed by Corman that was a very short cut AND dubbed version of an Anime feature film titled GALAXY 999 which is twice as long. I started in the 80's since I used to rent it for the kids. It became a favorite of mine too. I wanted to purchase a copy and the years and search went on and on until I just stopped looking for it. Well, I was at a video store on Columbus here in Tampa that was selling out and I was looking at the tops of boxes and the Gold Embassy logo stood out. I plucked it out of the bin and gladly paid the man the $5 he was asking. Beautiful quality tape as well. How many times does that happen to us all? We kill ourselves looking for something and then it just drops in to our hands. BTW, if anyone ever finds or has a copy of "DEBBIE DOES DISHES", please let me know *wink*.
JM: Man, what happened to your website Cultrararevideos.com? It was the mom and pop video shop of the internet!
JP: The website became so popular that I became so burned out cranking out DVD orders and taking requests that I was getting near the end of my rope. THEN Warner Bros. leaned on me by saying I had infringed on 13 titles of theirs and sent me their form letter with the $250,000 fines and 5 years imprisonment. What a joke. What happened was I had checked out the titles on the gov. copyright website to check ownership. Warner snuck in and purchased the rights to 13 of my titles and then threatened me when they could have just requested that I remove the infringing titles. I just said the hell with it, emailed them that the site was being taken down and took a month off for vacation.
JM: Better yet, what inspired you to create Cultrararevideos.com?
JP: Cultrarare was created out of frustration from trying to find rare motion pictures. A bulk of these rare films are from the non politically correct era. Studios it seems from the early 90's on stopped putting out certain titles out from their catalogue that they deemed damaging to their reputation. For instance, many films you found releeased by the studios in the 80's on videotape never made it to DVD because minority groups or homosexuals were called a derogatory term. Why do you think I purchase a lot of titles on Warner Bros. Archive DVD? Most of these older films have so much non p.c. material that our thin skinned society would have a shit fit over if these titles were released in bulk on to DVDs today. At least they are releasing these titles to a select audience now. Probably found out the gold mine that was wasting away in their 'vaults'. Then there are the films that get lost because of music rights issues, etc. So I wanted to start a website that contained some of the rarest, hard to find movies that the studios were keeping from general population so to speak.
JM: You have been known to do some charity work to brighten the lives of sick children locally. Can you tell us about that?
JP: It was the fall of 2006 and Christmas was approaching. Well, anyone who has broken up after a marriage or been together with someone for 14 yrs and it ends, let's say it can take a while to get over especially if you've sworn to stay single since. I was depressed and wanted something to dig me out of my rut. Then I dug deep and thought 'who deserves to be really happy this season'? It hit me like a lightning bolt! The sick children at the All Childrens hospital in St. Petersburg! I then thought that since DVD creation was my strong point I would choose a theme park like Disney World, make the menus where these kids could experience rides they may never get to see. There are terminally ill kids of all ages that will see a fraction of your's or my lifetime and I wanted to let them experience what we see and hear. It's all about prioritizing. We as adults get mad when a trip to Disney or some other place gets moved around. A lot of these kids never get to see Disney. But it's not just Disney. I've since every Christmas picked a different theme park, Busch Gardens, Sea World, etc. So every Christmas I crank up the burners to produce 50 to 100 discs for the little angels.
JM: Can we expect a return to the Britton Cinema? Maybe after the current ownership folds we can sneak back in there and have a marathon of nothing but bigfoot exploitation films?
JP: Ha! I hope not. Just kidding. It would give me nothing but pleasure to sneak back in and run some late night Yeti material on the big screen. I think the ownership of Britton Plaza is missing out big time! There is empty office space upstairs above the BBQ place and a Bordello or mini-Mons with Joe involved attached to the theatre would make a lot of people happy, heh!
JM: What's next for John Petrey?
JP: After 8 car accidents it was time to file for disability so I am in the midst of 'temporary' retirement. It's a frustrating process but it's necessary when your spine is wrenched. I'll continue to collect discs at a slower pace and just enjoy the huge, private video store I've created. Who knew it would work out to my advantage since I'm home most of the time already at 46 yrs. of age!
John Miller: When I was in high school I used to occupy my time by hooking two VCR's together and bootlegging anime tapes for my friends. I'm curious what inspired you to become a bootlegger and the type of equipment you were using in the early days?
John Petrey: My inspiration came from different levels. First and foremost my earliest equipment used for bootlegging were two 4-Head JVC linear stereo VHS VCRs. I worked for Honeywell in those days and word got around that a guy in another department was selling some pornographic bootlegs and that his quality was terrible. I then rushed out and bought the two very expensive machines ($600 a piece back then) and immediately got me a membership at Todd Theatre's Video Rental. Copyguard didn't exist so that wasn't an issue and the picture was crystal clear! Needless to say I stole all of his business by renting the tapes for $4 and selling the copies for $25. It was easy to pocket $200 some nights, that on top of your paycheck. The other main reason was that I simply was an avid film lover and movies on videotape back then were anywhere from $29 to $79 on VHS. So copying was my only solution since I wanted a library and was getting married with a child in the picture and another on the way. Let's just call it prioritizing, ha!
Here's a funny one. The kids wanted to watch WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY so I put it in and we laid down to watch it. The kids and I dozed off while the film ran. WELL, I had recorded WW over an old porno tape SO imagine the shock I had after I had woke up with an angry wife shaking me pointing at the bumping and grinding on the TV! Thank goodness the kids were still asleep, ha ha!
JM: I always found it offensive to pay close to $9 a ticket for a movie then be forced to sit through a lecture about the harmful impact piracy has had on the film industry. Come to find out the statistics being used to make us feel guilty were completely bogus. What are your thoughts on this and as someone who has earned most of their living in the theater business how do you feel piracy has impacted the industry?
JP: Tackling what you said first about hearing the lecture after paying $9 for a ticket to me is a GREAT way to keep your customers at home. Why are they preaching to a PAYING audience to begin with? The Movie studios are just like every other profitable business. They cry poor mouth and then contradict themselves with James Cameron raking in over 2 billion dollars worldwide with AVATAR. My question is how much money do they need? I will say this however in their defense. Uploading screeners and CAM versions of films that have not even hit the theatre yet is flat out wrong, IF it's mainstream. Where uploading a Theatrical film IS justified (IMO) is when an import is uploaded that didn't get a large distributor and it would be impossible to see it here in the states any other way.These guys that download a film that's new (like Avatar) and sell them for $5 on a street corner are just asking to get busted. The irony here is how Piracy has sometimes HELPED the theatre industry is when someone buys a $5 crappy quality DVD or download the same version but it's enough to convince them that "HEY, THAT WAS A GREAT FILM. I WANT TO BUY THE DVD OR BLU-RAY WHEN IT COMES OUT!" Yeah, the studios say they lost that person's Box Office sale BUT they gained the disc sale! People DO NOT realize the revenue gained by the studios after a film has 'flopped' at the theatre. A movie may have done $22 million on opening weekend but then go on to do $50 million in rentals and sometimes over $100 million in sales!! But there are people in this world who are disabled, extremely poor or live 75 miles from a theatre that it would seem to me justified or not so important for an ocassional download.
It seems now days every street entrepreneur in America is hustling quality bootlegs of new releases. I was at a flea market and a kid had a booth set up handing out fliers, which I felt was a little bold. With the market so heavily flooded with product, why should I ever consider paying outrageous prices to go watch a crappy movie in a sterile theater ever again? This depends on the individual. I've seen people that are so fearful of the law and would never consider purchasing a bootleg disc where others wouldn't mind or not have any problems. But the reason you SHOULD consider seeing a film at the theatre depends on what kind of presentation you're looking for. When you say a 'crappy' movie for the ticket prices they want nowadays I would say no, you shoudn't have to or even want to. But if it's something you seem really interested in then MAYBE you could splurge on the ticket price and see it for the big screen, surround and all that. The theatre industry, mainly the studios are out of control. The ticket prices are what drives people to piracy in a lot of cases. I saw a movie last year in 3D and it was $12 a ticket. I didn't even receive a coupon for a reach around redeemable at the concession stand after getting f*cked at the Box Office. I wonder how the 'pirates' will survive in a digital world. Especially trying to CAM a 3D theatre screen. What are they going to do, pay $24 for the camera and themselves and set the glasses over the lense so the picture would come out, heh. I think from now on I will refer to the 'pirates' as 'Robin Hoods' since they rob the rich and give to the poor, ha ha!.
JM: I'd like to switch the conversation to collecting since I know you have an awesome collection. How many films do you think you own?
JP: I am right at 4,000 DVDs and 1,500 VHS. The disc numbers grow slower than they used to while the tape numbers have come to a halt, unless it's something extremely rare. It's a variety of films, TV Shows and Theatrical Trailers. Shamefully, I probably haven't watched 10% of my collection.
JM: If your anything like me I know you probably check every DVD rack, every box of old dusty yard sale VHS tapes etc. for potential discoveries. Where or were your some of your favorite spots to conduct your searches? Mine are Bananas (because they used to have amazing racks full of rare VHS!) and the Wagon Wheel Flea Market just because I know I'll always leave with something good.
JP: Having amassed so many I have actually slowed down to a crawl when it comes to getting out of the house to collect more titles. Bananas was my home away from home for a while! They eventually ran out of affordable, rare VHS tapes and I bought whatever LaserDiscs I wanted from them. I have not been to the Wagon Wheel in Years. The video store in Louisville Ky. called Wild and Woolly contributed quite nicely. If I do venture out for the rare hunt, I'll check Flea Markets, Pawns and last year I was buying the sellout at Video Exchange. 'The' tape to look for is "THE LITTLE MERMAID" and not just any copy. It has to be the first edition that says CLASSIC on it AND has.. ahem...a Penis head on top of one of the Gold castle towers in the artwork! Rumor was a disgruntled Disney employee drew it after a rift with the studio. I sold those first editions for $100 a piece. Imagaine, a VHS worth a hundred cash! Those were the days.
JM: What was the craziest discovery you have ever made, the one find that made you step back and say wow I can't believe I just found that?
JP: For years I looked for GALAXY EXPRESS, the American Version distributed by Corman that was a very short cut AND dubbed version of an Anime feature film titled GALAXY 999 which is twice as long. I started in the 80's since I used to rent it for the kids. It became a favorite of mine too. I wanted to purchase a copy and the years and search went on and on until I just stopped looking for it. Well, I was at a video store on Columbus here in Tampa that was selling out and I was looking at the tops of boxes and the Gold Embassy logo stood out. I plucked it out of the bin and gladly paid the man the $5 he was asking. Beautiful quality tape as well. How many times does that happen to us all? We kill ourselves looking for something and then it just drops in to our hands. BTW, if anyone ever finds or has a copy of "DEBBIE DOES DISHES", please let me know *wink*.
JM: Man, what happened to your website Cultrararevideos.com? It was the mom and pop video shop of the internet!
JP: The website became so popular that I became so burned out cranking out DVD orders and taking requests that I was getting near the end of my rope. THEN Warner Bros. leaned on me by saying I had infringed on 13 titles of theirs and sent me their form letter with the $250,000 fines and 5 years imprisonment. What a joke. What happened was I had checked out the titles on the gov. copyright website to check ownership. Warner snuck in and purchased the rights to 13 of my titles and then threatened me when they could have just requested that I remove the infringing titles. I just said the hell with it, emailed them that the site was being taken down and took a month off for vacation.
JM: Better yet, what inspired you to create Cultrararevideos.com?
JP: Cultrarare was created out of frustration from trying to find rare motion pictures. A bulk of these rare films are from the non politically correct era. Studios it seems from the early 90's on stopped putting out certain titles out from their catalogue that they deemed damaging to their reputation. For instance, many films you found releeased by the studios in the 80's on videotape never made it to DVD because minority groups or homosexuals were called a derogatory term. Why do you think I purchase a lot of titles on Warner Bros. Archive DVD? Most of these older films have so much non p.c. material that our thin skinned society would have a shit fit over if these titles were released in bulk on to DVDs today. At least they are releasing these titles to a select audience now. Probably found out the gold mine that was wasting away in their 'vaults'. Then there are the films that get lost because of music rights issues, etc. So I wanted to start a website that contained some of the rarest, hard to find movies that the studios were keeping from general population so to speak.
JM: You have been known to do some charity work to brighten the lives of sick children locally. Can you tell us about that?
JP: It was the fall of 2006 and Christmas was approaching. Well, anyone who has broken up after a marriage or been together with someone for 14 yrs and it ends, let's say it can take a while to get over especially if you've sworn to stay single since. I was depressed and wanted something to dig me out of my rut. Then I dug deep and thought 'who deserves to be really happy this season'? It hit me like a lightning bolt! The sick children at the All Childrens hospital in St. Petersburg! I then thought that since DVD creation was my strong point I would choose a theme park like Disney World, make the menus where these kids could experience rides they may never get to see. There are terminally ill kids of all ages that will see a fraction of your's or my lifetime and I wanted to let them experience what we see and hear. It's all about prioritizing. We as adults get mad when a trip to Disney or some other place gets moved around. A lot of these kids never get to see Disney. But it's not just Disney. I've since every Christmas picked a different theme park, Busch Gardens, Sea World, etc. So every Christmas I crank up the burners to produce 50 to 100 discs for the little angels.
JM: Can we expect a return to the Britton Cinema? Maybe after the current ownership folds we can sneak back in there and have a marathon of nothing but bigfoot exploitation films?
JP: Ha! I hope not. Just kidding. It would give me nothing but pleasure to sneak back in and run some late night Yeti material on the big screen. I think the ownership of Britton Plaza is missing out big time! There is empty office space upstairs above the BBQ place and a Bordello or mini-Mons with Joe involved attached to the theatre would make a lot of people happy, heh!
JM: What's next for John Petrey?
JP: After 8 car accidents it was time to file for disability so I am in the midst of 'temporary' retirement. It's a frustrating process but it's necessary when your spine is wrenched. I'll continue to collect discs at a slower pace and just enjoy the huge, private video store I've created. Who knew it would work out to my advantage since I'm home most of the time already at 46 yrs. of age!
Poor Flyboy
Heralded as one of the greatest horror films of all time and a staple amongst fans' top ten lists, George Romero's Dawn Of The Dead is scary for any number of reasons. But as I watched this film for the 5000th time this past weekend, it occurred to me that there is another, more subconscious feeling of terror that this film lays upon me, as I am sure it does other men.
I'll cut to the chase. Flyboy (no need for explanation, fans already know characters, plot, etc), this skinny little twerp who has problems firing even the smallest gun correctly is trapped inside of a mall with his baby mama and a black guy. Not just some black guy either, this isn't Urkel. PETER! (played by Ken Foree) is a big pro-wrestler looking son of a bitch who has no trouble firing a huge gun and never missing his target. Following me? I mean the guy's name is Flyboy for crying out loud, obviously nobody respects him or his abilities, even his tramp of a girlfriend who appears sexually frustrated.
If this were me, somebody would be zombie chow. There's no way I could survive the apocalypse trapped between a broad who thinks I'm a lame and a gigantic black penis, it just couldn't work. This is one horror film where it should have been obvious that the black guy die first. If for nothing more than peace of mind. It's like, at that point Flyboy's high-maintenance girlfriend would have no choice but to put up with his unsatisfying swerve techniques. Next time she is lying in bed next to him with that cold-ass look making him feel insecure, he can just say, "Oh you can do better?" And since it is the end of the world and he is the only warm body left with a working man member, she really can't.
Not that any of this is Peter's fault, he basically spends the whole movie looking bored at the prospect of having to smash another snow bunny. By the end of the movie he is so disturbed over the idea, that he even contemplates blowing his brains out and having his body gnarled on by zombies before eventually coming to accept that in a society void of living females, having a white woman who is obviously in heat at his disposal isn't all that bad of a thing. We all know
what happened inside of that helicopter after they flew off of that building.
I know horror fans and Dawn Of The Dead purists will cringe at everything I just wrote, but I am just saying. Romero is a smart guy and a socially conscious one at that. Maybe he was trying to pull on some internal strings that we would be too insecure to say out loud but knew awkwardly we'd be thinking about. The scariest thing inside of that mall wasn't the zombies.
I'll cut to the chase. Flyboy (no need for explanation, fans already know characters, plot, etc), this skinny little twerp who has problems firing even the smallest gun correctly is trapped inside of a mall with his baby mama and a black guy. Not just some black guy either, this isn't Urkel. PETER! (played by Ken Foree) is a big pro-wrestler looking son of a bitch who has no trouble firing a huge gun and never missing his target. Following me? I mean the guy's name is Flyboy for crying out loud, obviously nobody respects him or his abilities, even his tramp of a girlfriend who appears sexually frustrated.
If this were me, somebody would be zombie chow. There's no way I could survive the apocalypse trapped between a broad who thinks I'm a lame and a gigantic black penis, it just couldn't work. This is one horror film where it should have been obvious that the black guy die first. If for nothing more than peace of mind. It's like, at that point Flyboy's high-maintenance girlfriend would have no choice but to put up with his unsatisfying swerve techniques. Next time she is lying in bed next to him with that cold-ass look making him feel insecure, he can just say, "Oh you can do better?" And since it is the end of the world and he is the only warm body left with a working man member, she really can't.
Not that any of this is Peter's fault, he basically spends the whole movie looking bored at the prospect of having to smash another snow bunny. By the end of the movie he is so disturbed over the idea, that he even contemplates blowing his brains out and having his body gnarled on by zombies before eventually coming to accept that in a society void of living females, having a white woman who is obviously in heat at his disposal isn't all that bad of a thing. We all know
what happened inside of that helicopter after they flew off of that building.
I know horror fans and Dawn Of The Dead purists will cringe at everything I just wrote, but I am just saying. Romero is a smart guy and a socially conscious one at that. Maybe he was trying to pull on some internal strings that we would be too insecure to say out loud but knew awkwardly we'd be thinking about. The scariest thing inside of that mall wasn't the zombies.
Top 10 Penis Castrations!
***Updated*** After re-watching Dolemite I realized that one of his she-goons may not have castrated a guy. So I added an eleventh film.
If you're anything like me (and I'm sure you are), your penis is primarily responsible for every bad decision you have ever made. Whether it was buying something you couldn't afford to impress a chick or thrusting yourself between the gutter thighs of some prehistoric she-beast, your man-stick was there to convince you it was a good idea even though your common sense scolded you otherwise.
In honor of the worst holiday our penises ever invented, I have taken the liberty of assembling a list of ten films that liberate a man from his crotch-demon by the most savage means possible. Enjoy.
Pulp Fiction - There is probably nothing scarier then being locked inside of a basement getting anally jammed by two rednecks. That is, unless you're the two rednecks and you're anally banging Ving Rhames who has just gotten loose and wielding a shotgun. Seeing a man have his crotch replaced by a giant empty hole is one thing, but not as scary as what we know is going to happen when the camera cuts away. What really makes this scene effective is the mental visual of two hard pipe hitting brothers getting medieval on that hole with a pair of pliers and blowtorch.
Dolemite - This scene isn't necessarily great because of its graphic nature, it's just great because it's great. Dolemite shoots at a man's feet to make him dance, calls him a honkey, then allows one of his hookers to finish the man off with a razor blade cutting off his pecker. The whole time Dolemite just laughs as if it is another day at the office. Classic.
Last House On The Left - Biting off your lover's manhood at the moment he is most vulnerable to you is the ultimate revenge for any female. Honestly, I am surprised this doesn't happen more often. I know I am not the only guy who has ever worried about this happening, or am I?
6ixtynin9 - This movie was actually the inspiration for this list. I can't seem to find the clip anywhere online nor can I find any information about this particular scene so I am going to have to go from memory. If I recall correctly, what happens is this girl's nosey neighbor believes that she is banging her boyfriend (who I think was a cop). When the neighbors' paranoia reaches capacity, she drifts off into a fantasy about castrating her boyfriend's ding-dong and then proceeds to chop it up and feed it to another woman in her salad. Gross!
Street Trash - Playing keep away with the severed dick of a hobo. It doesn't get any classier than this.
Hostel 2 - I really could have lived my whole life and been perfectly content with not seeing this guy have his jimmy chopped off and have it fed to dogs. But like a dummy, I threw down my money knowing I was gonna watch people get hacked, maimed and tortured. Guess I got what I paid for.
True Romance - I suppose there is some irony in watching a pimp get shot in the balls.
I Spit On Your Grave - The sound this guy makes after having it sliced off is priceless.
Cannibal Ferox - I'm pretty sure there is a castration scene in Cannibal Holocaust as well, but oh well, watch both of them. This movie is so beautifully repugnant that a penis castration isn't even the highlight of the film in terms of nastiness. Keep an eye out for the senseless real-life animal killings and the scene where a chick is hung by her nipples.
Teeth - This broad's snatch is made out of teeth, self-explanatory.
The Serpent And The Rainbow - This is great because there is already a slow build up with Bill Pullman tied down and tormented. Then the camera cuts to his underwear and the floor and the next thing you know his tormenter is hammering a sharp object into his penis. OUCH!!!
If you're anything like me (and I'm sure you are), your penis is primarily responsible for every bad decision you have ever made. Whether it was buying something you couldn't afford to impress a chick or thrusting yourself between the gutter thighs of some prehistoric she-beast, your man-stick was there to convince you it was a good idea even though your common sense scolded you otherwise.
In honor of the worst holiday our penises ever invented, I have taken the liberty of assembling a list of ten films that liberate a man from his crotch-demon by the most savage means possible. Enjoy.
Pulp Fiction - There is probably nothing scarier then being locked inside of a basement getting anally jammed by two rednecks. That is, unless you're the two rednecks and you're anally banging Ving Rhames who has just gotten loose and wielding a shotgun. Seeing a man have his crotch replaced by a giant empty hole is one thing, but not as scary as what we know is going to happen when the camera cuts away. What really makes this scene effective is the mental visual of two hard pipe hitting brothers getting medieval on that hole with a pair of pliers and blowtorch.
Dolemite - This scene isn't necessarily great because of its graphic nature, it's just great because it's great. Dolemite shoots at a man's feet to make him dance, calls him a honkey, then allows one of his hookers to finish the man off with a razor blade cutting off his pecker. The whole time Dolemite just laughs as if it is another day at the office. Classic.
Last House On The Left - Biting off your lover's manhood at the moment he is most vulnerable to you is the ultimate revenge for any female. Honestly, I am surprised this doesn't happen more often. I know I am not the only guy who has ever worried about this happening, or am I?
6ixtynin9 - This movie was actually the inspiration for this list. I can't seem to find the clip anywhere online nor can I find any information about this particular scene so I am going to have to go from memory. If I recall correctly, what happens is this girl's nosey neighbor believes that she is banging her boyfriend (who I think was a cop). When the neighbors' paranoia reaches capacity, she drifts off into a fantasy about castrating her boyfriend's ding-dong and then proceeds to chop it up and feed it to another woman in her salad. Gross!
Street Trash - Playing keep away with the severed dick of a hobo. It doesn't get any classier than this.
Hostel 2 - I really could have lived my whole life and been perfectly content with not seeing this guy have his jimmy chopped off and have it fed to dogs. But like a dummy, I threw down my money knowing I was gonna watch people get hacked, maimed and tortured. Guess I got what I paid for.
True Romance - I suppose there is some irony in watching a pimp get shot in the balls.
I Spit On Your Grave - The sound this guy makes after having it sliced off is priceless.
Cannibal Ferox - I'm pretty sure there is a castration scene in Cannibal Holocaust as well, but oh well, watch both of them. This movie is so beautifully repugnant that a penis castration isn't even the highlight of the film in terms of nastiness. Keep an eye out for the senseless real-life animal killings and the scene where a chick is hung by her nipples.
Teeth - This broad's snatch is made out of teeth, self-explanatory.
The Serpent And The Rainbow - This is great because there is already a slow build up with Bill Pullman tied down and tormented. Then the camera cuts to his underwear and the floor and the next thing you know his tormenter is hammering a sharp object into his penis. OUCH!!!
Damn Blogspot
Everytime I publish something the structure comes out all fucked up!!! Sorry to my readers
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)