Baby Babble: Chopping the LAMB and Other Random Nonsense

 

*Burp* I seriously cannot believe it's been an entire month since I've posted anything. It's not like I don't have anything I could post, it's just that I'm weird, so stop looking at me like that, okay! I will be posting some shit soon, I promise, but for this moment in time I have a few things to go over with you, so sit back, relax and allow me to take you on a journey to the other side… of your mind!

First up, Jason of Invasion of the B-Movies and Nolahn of Barging Bin Review were kind enough to once again allow me to join them for an episode of The Lair of the Unwanted. In this awesome episode, we talk about the '80s killer robot masterpiece, Chopping Mall, and I also play The Game of the Unwanted, in which I had to put up my trivia dukes and show my knowledge of Mall stores as well as Wes Craven's Scream. We also did an off-the-cuff version of Ask the LAMB (which I will go over in a little more detail in just a sec.), so make sure you tune in, drop out and turn it up! Or however that saying goes.  

 

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Alright, as I mentioned in the last paragraph, there is this thing called Ask the LAMB, a somewhat new feature over at The Large Association of Movie Blogs that gives readers the opportunity to ask a handpicked ragtag group of LAMB members (myself included) a question. Generally the questions are movie related, and so far we've been hit up with some pretty interesting (and sometimes strange) inquiries, and the result is some even more interesting and often hysterical answers.

Here's the question I was lucky enough to tackle this time around: 

Yahoo! User #9 Asks:
I'm an aspiring director. I'm looking to shoot my own short film. I
have actors & a hotel room. Any ideas?

If you'd like to read my answer or submit a question of your own, head over to The LAMB for more!

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Last things last, though this is a case where last is certainly not least, I went an entire month without even mentioning Halloween on this blog, and I sort of did that on propose. You see, I kind of killed Halloween last year with getting way into it way too soon, and by the time the actual day had arrived, I was a little worn out. This is something that I thought could never happen. Now, there were other factors that played into this fatigue, but I didn't want to take the risk of letting something like that happen again, so I figured I'd take it nice and smooth, just the way you like it. 

Anyway, I cannot go on any longer without mentioning that Halloween is indeed on it's way, and with it comes the fourth annual celebration known as Chucktober! And while I have been keeping my Halloween and Chucktober excitement bottled up for the most part, don't think that it hasn't been on my mind for the past month, because it certainly has, and I am extremely excited! I've already begun putting some stuff together for what I hope will be the finest Chucktober yet, with some returning features, a handful of movie reviews and whatever other random shit pops up between now and "the big day." I know I'm looking forward to it, and I hope you do, too!  

Alrighty, I've already taken enough of your time up, so for now I shall leave you with this…

Baby Babble: The LAMB Shot Cyrus' Wolf Dork!

No Hangover today, obviously – the line-up was weak but I gots me some other shit to go over with you while you're here.

• First up is this Teen Wolf MTV series that's been recently announced. While I loved the first film when I was a kid, I have no real interest in anything Teen Wolf related in my life again, but I am interested in what this show is going to be like for some reason. Is it going to have some sort of an influence from the Twilight Werewolves? Will Stiles be part of the show, and will he once again be someone I yearn to be just like? Will this extra show up to once again show everyone his dick?

These are all burning questions that must be answered.

• The 2010 LAMMY nominations were recently announced, and as I fully expected, Chuck Norris Ate My Baby was nominated for best blog name! Thanks to anyone and everyone that voted for my blog and please feel free to do so once again to make sure I win that shit!! Though, I did not receive nominations in any other category, I was super pleased to see votes for almost every one of the categories, so that was nice to see.

• Speaking of nominated for best blog name, elgringo from He Shot Cyrus is hosting an interesting little blog thingy titled My Best Blog Post Blog-A-Thon, where a handful of bloggers submitted their best or most underrated post. I was asked to participate, and I gladly submitted a review I did for a film that I truly loved. Like, I made babies with it and got it's name tattooed on my lower back, loved. I won't say what it is because you will have to find out for yourself. I don't think it's my best post, necessarily, but it is one of my best reviews and it went completely ignored, unfortunately. Can you read the bitterness in my words damn it! Great idea on elgringo's part, and while no one will probably still read it, I like the idea of giving a post a second chance for love. 

• Oh yeah and the Chuck Norris Ate My Blog Contest begins…like wicked soon and shit. Badass.   

That's all I got for now…I was planning on doing a post on a bunch of VHS purchases via tag sales that I made as of late, but my internet connection has been nothing short of horrible, so it may take longer than I had planned. Until that time, see you on the flip side, shun!

Baby Babble: Trancing to the Oldies

It's that time of the month again folks, and no, I'm not talking about that time of the month, I mean the time has come for the newest issue of BThroughZ to be unleashed onto the interwebs! There just so happens to be a party going on over at BThroughZ and it's being thrown by B-movie legend Charles Band with Tim Thomerson on the tables and Helen Hunt working the strobe. What's the name of this party you ask? It's called Trancers and no, Trancers is not the transvestite version of MANswers, but a 1985 sci-fi action film of the low budget variety as well as the focus for my review this month over at BThroughZ. So if you feel like dancing (and who doesn't?), then clickity click away and all your dreams will come true. Well, if your dreams are to read a review of Trancers written by me that is.  

ATTENTION!!! This is future Matt-suzaka, and sadly BThroughZ no longer exists, so here is a link to my review of Trancers which is now located on the very blog you are reading! Enjoy! CLICK HERE!

 

Before I let you all go, if any of you are LAMB members, you may be aware that it is time for the 2010 LAMMY Awards. Now, while the thought of being nominated for something like Best Blog, Best Horror/Sci-Fi blog, or something along those lines, would be super duper, I would doubt that a possibility. Maybe Funniest Writer is a possibility, but I have read plenty of blogs that are funnier than mine are and my humor isn't for everyone ('cause not everyone is awesome!). However, there is one award that this here blog totally deserves and actually may have a chance to win, and that is for Best Blog Name! I mean, I know the name Chuck Norris Ate My Baby is pure gold, but even if I didn't, enough people have told me so, so it must be true! So, if you are a LAMB member, vote for me and I'll cook you some bomb ass fettuccini alfredo.

Click that banner down thuuur to learn all that needs to be learned.

That's all the pathetic self promotion I got for you this time around. Thanks for your time and remember, whether or not Jesus loves you, I always will and that is something you can count on. Onward Baby Eating soldier.

A Strapped Shoplifter, a Pirate on Cassette

The LAMB does this fun little blogathon thingy called the LAMBs in the Director’s Chair, in which a specific director is put under the spotlight and any LAMB member can contribute in any way they see fit as long is it has to do with the directors overall work in film or a specific movie helmed. When they announced that the fifth director for the Directors Chair event was going to be Clint Eastwood, I was very ecstatic to say the least. Eastwood is a director that I adore and his filmography is filled with so many great movies, but there is only one that came immediately to mind when I thought about my own contribution.

1973’s High Plains Drifter is set in the town of Lago, and the townsfolk have a whole lot to worry about. They suffer from a dark past that haunts them for their greedy ways, and there’s a trio of gunslingers that are to be released from prison and will be looking to take revenge on the town that betrayed them and had them sent to jail. In rides a mysterious gunslinger only known as The Stranger (Eastwood), who seems to be just stopping by for a drink and some R&R.

The Stranger immediately makes his presences known when he is confronted by a couple of would be tough guys, whom he turns into human targets after they try to attack him. Seeing an opportunity to keep the three imprisoned gunslingers from coming back to seek vengeance on the town that did them wrong, the people of Lago talk The Stranger into helping them out with the issue. The Stranger, claiming not to be a gunfighter, only agrees when the townsfolk offer him anything he wants during his stay in Lago – all the food, drink, room and board, anything he wants and all for free.

Eastwood’s character is the definition of anti-hero and it comes across as clear as day in the matter of a few minutes. You root for him right from the get go when he is confronted by the men in the opening moments, but in the blink of an eye, he has his way with a woman in a way that shows he isn’t necessarily a good guy at all and he clearly has no concern for rules. His character goes much deeper than that though - the town does have a history involving a Marshal that was whipped to death by the three imprisoned gunslingers due to the people of Lago and their greed. For some reason The Stranger seems to be plagued, or connected to this tragic event, but why exactly is this?

High Plains Drifter is certainly a Western…on the surface, but it also has many elements of a supernatural Thriller in many ways. Eastwood was unsurprisingly influenced by Sergio Leone and Don Siegel, two directors he famously worked with on films very different from one another. The influence shows greatly in High Plains in that it is a Western in the classic sense, but the epic presence found in a Leone film is traded for what I would consider a gritty urban styled thriller more along the lines of Dirty Harry in how it is shot and the feel of the film. It is almost a meeting of the two genres and it makes for an interesting combination and one that works very well.

One big stand out that shows the two genre styles come together, is the superb music in the film done by Dee Barton. Right as the movie opens, you get a great and almost traditional Western tune that steers you to think that the movie will be a straight up Western. As the movie goes along and especially when the whipped to death Marshal first shows up (in the form of a dream via The Stranger), the music becomes very ominous and eerie. Even as High Plains movies along, the music gets even more dark and brooding, as does the movie itself and it almost reminds me of something that you might hear from Goblin even.

Eastwood still being somewhat green as a filmmaker at this time does a fantastic job with High Plains Drifter and the film looks great on all technical levels. Some of the best stuff in the film is the long panning shots of The Stranger as he’s walking or on horseback, going slowly from one place to another as the camera follows him patiently. As the inhabitants of Lago look on in curiosity, the only sound you hear is that of his spurs. Fantastic stuff. The entire ending is great looking too, with the set design and the how the town of Lago is turned into the town of Hell with a fresh coat of red paint – just for the purpose of putting fear into the hearts of the three bandits on their way to torture the townsfolk.

Eastwood is perfect as The Stranger and he does a great job portraying a character that would seem to be just another gunslinger, to his transformation to something more supernatural. In whatever form it is, whether it is a brother, the soul of the Marshal that was killed, The Crow, or whatever, The Stranger is clearly one that is sent to take vengeance on more than the three gunslingers that murdered the Marshal. He is awful and  despicable to the people of Lago, but they deserve it and if he were sent to avenge the death of the slain Marshal, then he would have to make the townsfolk suffer as well since they are the ones responsible in the first place. And that plays into the end of the film heavily as he lets things unfold in a certain way, instead of taking care of it right away…he wants the town to pay for what they have done before he steps in.

High Plains Drifter is one of the best and most original takes on the Western genre and Eastwood really shows his mastery early in this one by going with something that is a little different stylistically. The ambiguity of what The Stranger is makes this a fascinating film and giving it a supernatural feel is a bold choice that pays off. I can only highly recommend this film and the slight supernatural aspect, mixed with the grittiness of the movie, makes it something that may be enjoyed by fans of horror as well  as fans of Westerns. 

Chuck Norris on the LAMB Leaderboard!

About a month ago, this magical little blog that you are reading right this very moment became old enough (three months to be exact) for LAMB consideration. For those who do not know, The LAMB stands for The Large Association of Movie Blogs and is the premier movie blog directory (well, now it is!), a one-stop shop for readers and blogger's alike. So CNAMB became a member of The LAMB and after the first month of membership, CNAMB made it on The LAMB leaderboard! The leaderboard works from click-through's from this site to The LAMB's site and apparently my 9 readers have clicked enough to get me on the leaderboard! This made me extremely happy and I don't know if it means anything outside of making me feel warm and fuzzy, but it does and that is all that matters.

So thanks to the LAMB for letting an asshole like me be down with their cause and thanks to all of you who read and comment and follow and get some sort of enjoyment out of reading posts where all I talk about is boobs. I truly appreciate it and the comments have been nothing short of spectacular and they are a big reason for my enjoyment in doing this blog. The interaction with, meeting, and befriending some quality horror fans, many with crazy dope blogs themselves, makes all of this worth it. Now go and click on that LAMB thing up on the left side of the page and while you're at it, why not click on that HS Top 100 thingy too. You should have known there'd be a catch when I was being so sweet!