CNR

"Weird Al" Yankovic's tribute to the great Charles Nelson Reilly - from the "Internet Leaks" EP. Video directed by JibJab.

March is Mike White Month

It's official... March is Mike White Month.

March 5 brings the premiere of Larry Withers's David Goodis: To A Pulp to Philadelphia. I've not seen the final cut yet but I've been assured that I'm in it, pontificating about the film adaptations of Goodis's work. For details on the premiere screening check out DavidGoodis.com. And, if you can't make the premiere, the documentary is (available on DVD).

The SXSW Film Festival of March 12-21 brings the premiere of The People Vs. George Lucas by Alexandre O. Philippe. The documentary plays as part of the Spotlight Premieres and I've been told that I'm also in this film, ranting about the criminal treatment of Star Wars by its creator. For more information about the film visit PeopleVsGeorge.com.

Please be sure to support these projects!

David Goodis: To A Pulp

Readers may recall that I went down to Philadelphia back in 2007 for an interview about David Goodis. It was for Larry Wither's documentary, David Goodis: To A Pulp.

Now, I'm happy to announce that the project is complete. It's going to be premiered in March, 2010 in Goodis's native Philadelphia.

Here are the details from "The Writer In The Gutter":

What:
David Goodis: To A Pulp
Produced and Directed by Larry Withers

When:
Friday, March 5th, 2010 @ 8:30 PM

Where:
Society Hill Playhouse
507 South 8th Street Philadelphia, PA
215-923-0210

How Much:
Tickets are $10.00 at the door
Seating is LIMITED!
Q & A Session will follow the screening of this one-of-a-kind David Goodis Documentary!
DO NOT MISS THE STORY OF PHILADELPHIA'S UNSUNG NOIR WRITER AS IT HAS NEVER BEEN TOLD BEFORE!
http://www.thewriterinthegutter.com

If you can't make it to the premiere, be sure to check it out on DVD.

The Second Coolest Batman Thing

On Saturday I got rid of a portion of my youth -- purging all of my comic books, collectible cards, and more.

I took three big crates and one smaller box of comix down to Wonder World Comics in Taylor, MI where the guy that runs the store and one of his employees sorted and rated everything in a matter of a half hour. I would occasionally sneak a peak at what books they were going through. Luckily, most of the time, I had no memory of the books or having even bought them. Only rarely would I feel the need to reminisce to Andrea about a particular item.

The comic book guys were nice -- not showing any of the attitude that makes The Simpsons's "Comic Book Guy" such a true stereotype. On the other hand, it was one of the customers that gave me the willies.

A man maybe five or six years older than me came in and his first question to the store's owner was, "What's the coolest Bat Man thing you sell?"

Without missing a beat the owner said, "That has to be our neon Bat symbol which retails for $500."

"What's the second coolest?"

"The smaller version for $100."

The customer didn't bat an eye (pun intended) and asked for one. Rather than paying and leaving, he had quite a few questions for the guys at the store. He started going on about a "rare" version of Death of Superman that was "signed and numbered by the artist." The owner shut him down pretty quickly on that one, "That was the most overproduced comic ever. Did you buy that off QVC?" Sure enough, he had. "Maybe you can get $20 for that on eBay but it's not rare by any means."

Rebuffed only slightly the customer then launched into a one-sided discussion about GI Joe figures and his collection.

He needed validation in the worst way.

I was sad to see him leave, wondering what other topics he might have broached had he stayed a little longer.

In all, I know I didn't get the "true worth" of my books and that I could have sold them for more on eBay or even Half.com but I got some cash and I got rid of a lot of stuff that I'd been carrying around for years (some since 7th Grade). It's strange, yes, but also liberating.

The purge continues...

Coming to NYC to Get Kinky!

I'll be taking a bite of the Big Apple in the middle of February when I'm in town for the Cinekink Film Festival. If you're not familiar with the kinkiest film fest in the U.S. be sure to check 'em out:

Facebook	http://www.facebook.com/cinekink
FetLife	http://fetlife.com/groups/4288
Flickr	http://www.flickr.com/photos/cinekink
Twitter	http://twitter.com/cinekink
YouTube	http://youtube.com/user/cinekink

I'll be blogging about the films while I'm in town. If you can't make the event itself be sure to check out http://impossiblefunky.blogspot.com for reviews!

Prestigious Award!

Kimberly Lindbergs over at Cinebeats has awarded ImpossibleFunky Productions with a pair of prestigious awards (really memes pretending to be something their not). I'm honored and thrilled! Rather than go with the "Kreativ Blogger" award or the "Zombie Chicken" award, I've combined the two into the Kreativ Zombie Award.

Here are the rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Zombies.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

Seven Things About Me:

1. I'm very petty and vindictive.
2. I was once accused of plagiarism in college... the paper was something I wrote in high school.
3. I can type at 72 wpm.
4. My alter ego gets far more attention than I do.
5. My "to kill" list has gone down significantly in the last three years.
6. I once got busy in a Burger King bathroom. And by "busy" I don't mean "having sex."
7. I own thousands of VHS tapes and DVDs and have only watched a fraction (.001%).

Seven Award-Worthy Blogs:

1. Nate's Plate - He eats things so you won't have to.
2. Paracinema Blog - The online arm of one of my favorite magazines.
3. Look At His Butt - It's Shatneriffic.
4. The Plot Hole - Offbeat cinema.
5. BadLit - Underground films explored
6. GoMetric - Or go home!
7. Mondo Heather - Cinema weirdness

The World Needs Another Cannonball Run

The world needs another Cannonball Run. Back in the '70s audiences could regularly visit the local movie theater (or drive in) for a coast-to-coast race film. Among others there was Gumball Rally, Cannonball and the two Cannonball Run films. American cinema just hasn't been the same without these completely mindless romps. Sure, we got Rat Race in 2001. It was similar in that "through a bunch of D-list celebs into a movie" like Scavenger Hunt but there was no coast-to-coast race there (just from Las Vegas to Silver City, NM).

I propose a reboot of the Cannonball Run series utilizing characters from other film series. Let's have it star Vin Diesel and Paul Walker from the Fast & Furious series. They can ride their cute little souped-up cars from that series. And we'll have to have Jason Statham driving his Transporter BMW. He'll break down halfway through and have to hitch a ride with Seth Green in a Mini a la The Italian Job. The way his career is going, we could nab Robert DeNiro to reprise his role from Ronin.

Who else?

One Step Away...

The more I watch A&E's "Hoarders", the more I realize how perilously close I am to being a hoarder. I've always had collections and have always felt better the more I had of something but it was tape trading/collecting that really got out of control over the last ten years.

For a while it was a point of pride mixed with a bit of a joke. I'd laugh when I talked about the thousands of VHS tapes and DVDs that had taken over my basement. Watching "Hoarders" and hearing the psychologists on the show talk about the gratification of acquisition has really hit home (literally). I've gone from a "cute collection" to a mess of epic proportions.

I'm trying to change my ways.

I gave up tape trading/collecting in 2008. I vowed to not buy any DVDs in 2009 and with the exception of the colorized Forbidden Zone and Stingray Sam, I've held true to that.

I'm not doing so good when it comes to books but seeing the hundreds of unread books in my basement has helped slow me down there.

Now it's time to get rid of the clutter. I've gone through my bookshelves and pulled out nearly 300 books that I will never read or will not read another time. I've started converting VHS tapes to DVDr and throwing away the "home made" ones while setting aside the pre-records. Soon I'll crack open the bins of DVDs.

I'm putting everything up on three sites: Half.com, Amazon.com, and Ebay.com in that order. I'm a big fan of Half as you can combine shipping on orders. Amazon doesn't allow that but they do allow selling to other countries. Ebay is a pain in the ass.

Whatever doesn't sell over these next few months I'm going to gather up and put them on a few tables in my driveway and hold a garage sale. What doesn't sell will be tossed or donated to whoever is willing to take it. I'll definitely announce when that garage sale is happening. Wish me luck on overcoming my addiction!

---

These are some of the tapes I haven't listed on Half.com or Amazon.com.

Through the Looking Glass	XXX
Dark Garden	XXX
Fade to Blue	XXX
Sex	XXX
Sex 2	XXX
Shayla's Web	XXX
Skin 9	XXX
Climax of Blue Power (XXX)	Alpha
Darker Than Amber	Bootleg
La Puritana	Bootleg
Rumble on the Docks	Bootleg
Die Flambierte Frau	Bootleg
Skidoo	Bootleg
She & He	Bootleg
Le Carne	Bootleg
The Sicilian Clan	Bootleg
Hamlet Goes Business / I Married a Contract Killer	Bootleg
Le Vice & Le Vertu	Bootleg
The Girls of Kamare	Bootleg
The Jazz Singer starring Jerry Lewis	Bootleg
Sweet Revenge	Bootleg
Deseos	Bootleg
Produgal Son	Bootleg
Tai Chi Master	Bootleg
Django Kill!	Bootleg
The Wicker Man	Bootleg
Abba: The Movie	Bootleg
Brigade Criminelle	Bootleg
Running	Bootleg
The Colossus of Rhodes	Bootleg
Cornman	Homemade
Gubbi Gubbi	Homemade
When Television Attacks	Homemade
Lucky	Homemade
The Animal	Homemade
The Green Goblin's Last Stand	Homemade
Brawlin' Broads	Homemade
Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter	Homemade
Godass	Homemade
Andre the Giant has a Posse	Homemade
Plaster Caster	Homemade
Atomic TV Volume 1	Homemade
The Kibbles and Bits of Hellorama	Homemade
Jungle Monkey	Homemade
Ed Wood's The Venus Flytrap	Homemade
Chic-A-Go-Go	Homemade
Memorial Day 2000	Homemade
American Job	Homemade
Springtime in Greenland	Homemade
Acid Freaks	Homemade
Wild Goose Chronicles	Homemade
Post No Bills	Homemade
Filthy Rich & Catflap	PAL
Tout Vie Biem	PAL
Good Hands	PAL
Trip to Kill	PAL
Concorde 820	PAL
That Night in Varennes	PAL
Jak Utopit Dr. Mracka	PAL
La Vie de Chateau	PAL
Abelard	PAL
Danish Girls Show Everything	PAL
Cold Light of Day (1950s)	PAL
The Unseen	PAL
Espelho De Carne	PAL
King Lear	PAL
Playtime	PAL
Divka Na Kosteti	PAL
Fists in the pocket	PAL
Na Samote U Lesa	PAL
The Warrior	PAL
Dreams that Money can Buy	PAL
Mr. Hulot's Holiday	PAL
Der Grit Grad (The Weak Spot)	PAL
The Warning	PAL
Man from the First Century	PAL
Tudo Bem	PAL
GDR Underground Films	PAL
Beat Generation: War	PAL
Hercules Returns	PAL
Il Petomane	PAL
Edvard Munch	PAL
Flic Story	PAL
Temmink: The Ultimate Fight	Screener / PAL
Pleasures of the Flesh	Secam
Fantasy of the Idiots	Secam
The Bodyguard (Sonny Chiba)
Firecracker (Kung fu)
Jaws of the Dragon
Tough Guy
A Choice of Weapons
Small Gauge Shotgun
Spylarks
Karate Warriors
Fraternity Vacation
Tennis Ball Killings 3
The Thrill Killers
City of the Walking Dead
Blood Feast
The Black House
Brigitt Haas Must Be Killed
Apple
El Hobre Sin Rostro
White Lions
Bombay to Nagoya
Alice or la dernier fugue
Incubus
La Commune (2 Tape Set)	PAL
The Universal Clock	Screener

EUROCRIME! cinema documentary needs your help!

YOU can help us complete the highly-anticipated feature-length documentary about the last great action subgenre to be rediscovered! EUROCRIME! THE ITALIAN COP AND GANGSTER FILMS THAT RULED THE '70s has already pulled together a roster of the top actors and directors in the Italian crime genre in order to get their perspectives on these tough, brutal, and occasionally dangerous films.

The film is currently in post-production, but even with the bevy of euro-superstars who have offered up their time and support for the film, the biggest challenge still lies ahead – licensing all the great film clips that really showcase the genre and demonstrate why it was such a dynamic and prolific part of cinematic history! Hundreds of dangerous stunts, chases and explosions – not to mention some of the most inspired dialogue you will hear in ANY genre – are integral to illustrate the film's numerous anecdotes, and YOU can help make it happen!

As a backer of this project, you will be the recipient of numerous perks, many of which are unique to the world of EUROCRIME! and ensure that you are acknowledged and kept in the loop as a key part of the process.

Click here for more information!