ParanormalPopCulture.com

Nick Cave to rewrite 'Crow' reboot

2010-07-27T16:20:00.000-04:00

Screen Rant (via The Wrap) is reporting that Bad Seeds musician Nick Cave will be rewriting the reincarnation of The Crow, the 1994 gothic action film starring Brandon Lee.

Based on James O'Barr's comic book series, the original film revolves around murdered musician Eric Draven who is resurrected as a spirit of vengeance. The reboot, which is supposed to be more realistic but mysterious than the Alex Proyas-directed original, is slated to begin filming this summer for a 2011 release date, but that's looking unlikely. Last word on the project came from producer Ed Pressman, who told MTV director Edward Norrington (Blade, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) had completed a "terrific" screenplay set in either the southwest or an urban city. But Pressman is now saying Cave will work his magic on the script.

Cave, already considered an iconic musician, has earned much respect as a screenwriter over the last few years. Cave wrote Australian Western The Proposition in 2005 after getting his feet wet with his first screenwriting foray, 1988's Ghosts ... of the Civil Dead. Among a few other projects, Cave has also written The Promised Land, an adaptation of the bootlegging novel The Wettest County in the World. His talents as a writer even earned him the honor of being one to watch in 2006 by Variety.

So can Cave pull off a good Crow script? The guy can certainly operate across several musical genres, and The Proposition is an excellent flick, so he has my ticket money. In other Nick Cave news, his "solo" quartet Grinderman is releasing their new album on Sept. 14. Check out the album trailers below (directed by Proposition director John Hillcoat).

Indie band Fake Problems has 'Real Ghosts Caught on Tape'

2010-07-27T14:57:00.001-04:00

Naples, Fla., indie-pop/country-tinged/punk band Fake Problems is getting into the paranormal pop culture mindset for their new album, Real Ghosts Caught on Tape. Hitting Sept. 21, this is the band's third studio outing after It's Great to Be Alive and How Far Our Bodies Go.

CMJ reports that the album was recorded last spring in Los Angeles and is produced by Ted Hutt (Flogging Molly, Gaslight Anthem). "It features guest appearances from friends of the band and, randomly, stars of the classic television show Arrested Development Mae Whitman and Alia Shawkat."

The band is known for it's energetic tunes with catchy hooks, and it sounds like they'll be staying true to that based on the new paranormalesque single off Ghosts called "Soulless". which you can listen to on their MySpace page or download for free through their site.

'Tara Normal' gets graphic: Making of a comic book series

2010-07-27T13:41:00.001-04:00

Each week artist Howie Noel, creator of online comic heroine and savvy paranormal pop-culture investigator Tara Normal, checks in with a "making-of" blog entry about his upcoming graphic novel, Tara Normal and the Case of the Boyfriend Robbers From Outer Space. Howie uses this space to give a first look at artwork and to update readers on the pain and suffering of writing a full-length comic book. When not blogging, Howie also contributes a special edition of the Tara Normal strip to TAPS Paramagazine and spends way too much time on Twitter @hcnoel.

'Tara Normal' gets graphic: The cover

(ahem, in best Troy McClure voice) Hi, I'm H.C. Noel (Howie Noel). You may remember me from such sneak previews as the Tara Normal One-Panel Preview...

So, I recently became represented by the awesome literary agent Bree Ogden of Martin Literary Management. She's currently helping me bring my creation Tara Normal to the literary world in the form of a cool series of paranormal graphic novels. Right now Tara investigates with TAPS, the stars of SyFy's Ghost Hunters, in her own comic in their Paramagazine.

But my graphic novel series will explore how she became a professional paranormal investigator in the first place. I'm really excited to share her backstory and all of her supernatural adventures with you. Along the way, I'm going to offer some behind-the-drawing desk information about my journey in making my paranormal comics, and I"ll give you a sneak peek on how I create my art.

So the best place to start with the artwork of the first book is the cover. I had several thumbnail sketches and my wife Shelley helped me choose the one that had the most exciting composition. From there I penciled and inked it. The coloring stage, which I do in Photoshop, is always an exciting step in creating my comic art. I get to do cool effects and lighting and in this series, I'm really going to try and push the moodiness factor more than I have in other artwork.

The cover for Book 1: Tara Normal & The Case of the Boyfriend Robbers From Outer Space features my version of aliens, and on this cover, they have red eyes to make them appear creepier and help them stand out on the blue background. I went with a more painterly approach when I colored Tara than I usually do when I work on the webcomic.

I'm really happy with the result and I'm looking forward to continuing to color the rest of the book this way.

My wife helped me revamp the Tara Normal logo for the cover. I wanted it to be more slimy and realistic so an actual photographic of slime makes up the 3D effect on the logo. I also reworked the shiny highlights. She also worked on the placement and design of the subtitle text creating a very cool lightning graphic to go behind the words to add an extra element to the cover.

I really hope you enjoy this look behind-the-scenes and I can't wait to share more art of Tara Normal next week! In the meantime, please check me out tonight (Tues, July 27) at 8 p.m., ET, as I join Jeff Belanger on his show, 30 Odd Minutes to discuss all things Tara.

'True Blood' recap: 'I Got a Right to Sing the Blues'

2010-07-26T11:34:00.021-04:00

At-home critic (and Rental Reviewer) Denise Purvis reviews HBO's vampire soap True Blood each week.

True Blood, S3, ep. 6: 'I Got a Right to Sing the Blues'

Like last week, a lot of tonight’s action took place at King Russell’s Mississippi mansion. This was a week for bloodletting and cowboying up. Many of the characters channeled their pathos into a kickass strength.

But it all began with Sookie and Bill being hauled into Russell’s house. Russell notes he’s finally found out Bill’s true character, and Mr. Compton responds by finally growing a pair and staking one of Russell’s goons. The pile of goo the vampire is reduced to looked like a pile of organs and gristle. Delish!

I don’t know, but the whole exchange where Russell and Eric referred to Sookie as “it” made me more than giggle. Eric said, “I wouldn’t let go of this. I don’t know what it is, but it’s quite valuable.” But I’m not buying Eric’s unaffected attitude towards Sook as has to pretend he doesn’t care for her to exact revenge on Russell (for probably killing Eric’s Viking fam).

Lorena, Lorena, Lorena. This was her week for emoting. Russell commands Lo to kill Bill and Sook threatens to kill her if she touches him. "Oh please, please try,” says Lorena. “Without that sanctimonious little prick Godric to save you, I would just love to rip you open and wear your ribcage as a hat."

Hey, that’s not nice, Lorena. I love(d) Godric.

Russ, trying to get answers about her blammo-light powers, indulges Sook in a game of 20 questions. He asks, “What are you?” She asks about Bill. Sookie wasn’t asking very good questions (Are you the king od all vampires? Do you have a crown?), and Russell got bored with it. He tells her “there’s a fine line between feisty and delusional.” But Russell does reveal Bill has been keeping a file on Sookie’s family.

Relocated to some slave’s quarters on the king’s property, Lorena whips out an assortment of surgical tools and goes to work torturing Bill. Some really good dialogue (and a lot of blood) flowed between them as they spoke about their history together and how it all went wrong. I wasn’t sure if Bill was trying to sweet talk Lorena or if he genuinely meant that he hates how there’s only darkness in her eyes now, but man, she’s one twisted bitty. In the end, Bill told Lorena so and accused her of being just liker her maker (you’ve become your parents?). To get back at him, she lets the white trash were-couple Coot and Deb feed on Bill until he’s nearly bled dry.

On the Franklin front, the psychotic vampire detective throws a hissy fit when his soon-to-be vampire bride Tara doesn’t notice he shaved for her. Tara continues manipulating Frankie by acting into him while she hatches a plot. She gets him riled up for some crazy sex and convinces him to share his blood with her while she’s still human. The catch? Franklin makes her tear into him with her own teeth (cue bloody, gory flesheating).

Words exchanged between Tara and Franklin in the sexcapade: Kinky. F----d up. Crazy. Taste me. Drink me. Feed on me. Kill me.

Yeah, that’s some weird stuff.

During the hook-up, Tara instant-brain messages Sookie (she found out they were in the house earlier) and tells her they’re getting the hell out of dodge in the A.M. Tara’s good for her word and bashes Franklin’s head in with a mace while he naps after sex.

Tara’s transformation into a badass progresses as she and Sookie tag team Patrick Swayze’s were-brother. On their way out of the mansion, in the daylight now, Sook decides to hunt for Bill. And let me tell you, Tara is right that Sookie is an idiot to go back for Bill. But Sookie has never been the brightest crayon.

On their way off the property, Tara meets good guy werewolf Alcide, who is on a rescue mission for Sookie. Speaking of Sookie, she finds half-dead Billy boy and promises him she’ll get him well. She doesn’t quite get a chance to deliver on the promise since stupid Sookie gets caught and bitten by Lorena. And from the looks of next week’s episode, she’s going to be on death’s door.

Back in Bon Temps, Jason is rolling around in the grass with Crystal. She gets a whiff of the air and senses some sort of danger and leaves Jason alone in the woods. My question is: Why doesn’t Jason see a bullet hole in Crystal’s head? Maybe they’re finally over the whole bullet hole bit. A bit later in the show we find out she’s engaged with a skanky meth head. She pretends not to know Jason and sends him packing from her shack. Straight from the meth head’s mouth: Naughty word rhymes with witch “already said she ain’t know you.” Now, go on Jason.

At Merlotte’s, Arlene accidentally cuts her finger and Jessica’s fangs come out. Arlene provides comedic relief to the other redhead and says, “Please don’t kill me. I’m pregnant … That probably just makes you want to eat me even more!”

Arlene later reveals to Jessica she’s been stiffed by her customers all night and you can’t help but giggle as we remember the young vamp glamoured all of them last week to do exactly that. Well, this week they’re dealing with a difficult customer in curlers keeping them open after hours. Jessica, who hasn’t eaten yet, feels good old-fashioned human sympathy for Arlene and decides to kill two birds with one stone. She glamours curlers and instructs her to stop eating, leave all her money on the table for Arlene and then retire to the bathroom – where Jess can then have a little snack.

But the real point of the scene: To re-affirm Merlotte’s isn’t a classy joint like Red Lobster.

Smaller bites:

Eric cozies up to Russ, and flirts shamelessly with him (still in that powder-blue v-neck), to earn his trust. Eric will likely use Russ long enough to save Pam, kill the magister – then find a way to take him out.
Russell finally convinces Sophie Anne to marry him in exchange for settling her IRS problems. I guess being married to a gay king is better than scratching off Deuce’s Wild lotto tickets for the rest of your life.
Ohhhh Eric, PLEASE choke slam Sophie Ann again. I love his threat: “I will rip your head off and throw it in the pool. And I will have fun doing it.” He doesn’t do it, but instead opts for renouncing her as his queen (between Bill and now Eric, Russ has been racking up subjects lately).
Mama Mickens cooks up some corn fritters fried in bacon grease for Sam so she could get Tommy alone. We finally find out what Joe Lee is doing with Tommy … dog fighting? Doesn’t Joe Lee watch the news? He’s going to turn out like Michael Vick.
Jesus bails from their make-out session and date after he finds out Lafayette deals V.
Talbot gets pissy at Russell for never taking him anywhere, and for stealing his new playmate Eric away. A character that initially appeared to be a comedic stereotype is really evolving into the vamp to watch.

The FauX-Files

2010-07-26T01:50:00.000-04:00

Just as Agent Mulder believed, the truth is out there, but one often has to see through falsehoods to get to that truth. In that spirit, The FauX-Files is a collection of intentionally faked (or debunked but convincing) paranormal "evidence." The purpose of The FauX-Files is to serve as a tutorial of how to spot doctored images, videos, etc. so everyone is less likely to get suckered by them. If you'd like to be submit your own FauX-File, email TheFauXFiles AT gmail DOT com with a description of the "evidence" and under what circumstances it was captured/created. Please be as specific as possible (camera models, software, lighting conditions, location).

This image comes courtesy of parapsychology researcher Sarah Harmon taken at the Old South Pittsburg "haunted hospital" in Tennessee. Harmon shot the image using a Canon Rebel Xti with a 5-second shutter speed in natural light. She had a guest stay still the entire five seconds and an assistant stand still for three seconds before running towards her. As Harmon shows, it's quite easy to show a "shadow person" cast as a see through image without post-edited layers or fake lighting. Thanks for the fake Sarah!

Chip Coffey on 'Awakenings' psychic extravaganza event

2010-07-25T11:43:00.000-04:00

We caught up with psychic/medium Chip Coffey, currently filming the next season of Psychic Kids, to weigh in on the "Awakenings" event happening in Minneapolis next month. Last week we reported on the event which boasts three days of seminars and meet-and-greets with celebrity psychics.

Coffey is the headliner of the event and says, "What I love about this sort of gathering is the chance to see old friends, and meet new ones and share ideas or theories."

He says he's excited by this event because of the size and scale of it.

"It’s like having access to a giant braintrust in a very positive environment," he adds.

In other Coffey news, the Australian Today show just interviewed him at the fabulous Fox Theatre in Atlanta. Sadly, we can't embed the video, but check it out here to watch Chip playing around with a very enthusiastic reporter.

Space for "Awakenings" is extremely limited and tickets can be purchased at www.darknessevents.com.

The Night Shift: Ghosts sightings, trailer madness

2010-07-23T11:02:00.001-04:00

The Night Shift is the on-set diary of Fighting Owl Film's new independent supernatural-adventure-comedy of the same name currently in pre-production in Mobile, AL. Over the course of the next several weeks and months, you'll get an insider's peek at what it's like for filmmakers to craft a new entry of paranormal pop culture from Erin Lilley, a producer and actress on the film.

Ghost sightings and Trailer madness

"Seen any ghosts?"

That's probably my number one most-asked question. Considering we shot The Night Shift in two cemeteries, at night, over the course of two months, it's also a completely understandable question. Of course, we're not ghost hunters. We didn't have K2 meters or night vision goggles, or any of that other high-tech, fancy equipment Jason and Grant have at their disposal. We just had our eyes and ears, so anything out of the ordinary could only be chalked up to personal experience, and nothing scientific or definite.

So, did we see any ghosts?

Well...maybe. There were some oddities, that's for sure. One night we were setting up lights, and one rig was set a tad too close to a headstone. Just as I started to tell the crew member who had placed the rig that maybe he should move it - just to make sure we didn't get in any trouble with the cemetery - all of our lights went out. All of them.

The crew member moved the rig, and everything came right back on. Now, it's possible a circuit was tripped, or maybe a wire was loose somewhere, but it was awfully coincidental, and it didn't happen anymore after that instance. There were also times I was sure I'd seen an actor standing in the cemetery - once, so positive I'd actually started to walk over to them - only to be distracted for a second, then turn around and find that area empty, and the actor in question on the other side of the cemetery. That will make you think you're well on the road to crazy.

No one ever mentioned anything during filming, but I thought I'd ask around and see if anyone had any stories to share. I was a little surprised, to be honest, when a couple popped up.

Here's a story from Production Assistant Genna Hebert:

Late at night during shooting, all the extras had left for home, and it was just the core group there and the caretaker. All the lights were focused on the next scene being shot and I happened to look behind me for something. I saw a figure in the distance, a bulky male figure just standing in the back of the next plot of headstones - just standing there, arms loose at his sides. I thought at first it might have been the caretaker, since the rest of the people there were all next to me, but I looked further down the road between the plots and there was the last member of our human group. I looked back where I saw the figure and it was gone. Out of all the nights in the cemeteries, that is the only time I ever saw anything, but never once did I feel spooked or unwelcome.

From Director Thomas Smith:

After filming in a cemetery for several weeks, you start to forget you're actually in a cemetery and get used to your surroundings, even at night. On the last night of filming in our main cemetery location, I was pretty well adjusted to being there at night - not terribly creepy or scary. I've kept my eyes open the whole time we've been in the cemetery for anything ... unusual. The whole time we were filming, I never saw anything that fit into the criteria, possibly because I was so darn busy and concentrating on other pressing matters.

Until the final night of shooting.

Around 11 p.m., things were beginning to wind down. We had a couple of shots left and I needed something, can't recall what exactly, from my car which was parked a hundred feet away. I ventured across the darkened cemetery, somewhat relaxed, and noticed something unusual out of the corner of my left eye. In between two headstones, there appeared to be a woman sitting with her back to me. She was dressed nicely, as best I could tell, and appeared to have her hair in a bun.

We hung around this area the most during filming - it was essentially our base camp because of a pavillion and trashcan a few feet away that made our lives a little easier - so I knew the area pretty well and was sure what I was seeing wasn't a headstone. I looked behind me to make sure everyone was in the filming area and they were.

That's when I got a cold chill down my spine and realized something wasn't quite right. I hurried to my car, constantly glancing out of the corner of my eye at the headstone and possible figure. It never seemed to move and I didn't say a word. As soon as I pulled whatever I needed from my car, I walked very quickly back to the filming locale. Later that night, when we were packing up, I walked back to the area, this time with people, and looked the area over. Whatever was there earlier was gone, and the place I saw the "figure" was an empty space between two headstones. It was a little weird.

So, did we see any ghosts?

In other news, we have a trailer! It's online at http://www.thenightshiftmovie.com/sizzle.html, but also embedded below. We're really thrilled with how it looks. The footage is raw - no color correcting or special effects - and the music is just a temporary track, but it should still give you an idea of what's in store for the finished product.

For now, Thomas is furiously editing away, and our effects and sound editors are anxiously awaiting the footage. Kyle is painting away on the poster. Soren, our composer, is working on an ambitious and frankly, freaking cool score, and I'm embossing folders and putting together press kits. It's all so excit ... er, stressful. Yeah, that's the word I was looking for. Stressful.

On that note, I'm off to pick out pictures (such as this one?) to go in the press kits. If Thomas finds anything "interesting" caught on film, you'll be the first to hear. You never know who (or what!) might make a cameo.

Next Week: Still putting it together. That is, after all, the art of making art (thank you, Mr. Sondheim). Follow Fighting Owl Films on Facebook. New friends are always welcome. And please visit the official movie site, www.thenightshiftmovie.com (where you can also pick up some neat-o merch). You can also check out Fighting Owl Films' other work at www.fightingowlfilms.com and keep up with the movie's progress on Twitter at @NightShiftMovie. Yes, we're very social

'Being Human' season two sneak peek

2010-07-23T10:41:00.000-04:00

A ghost, werewolf and vampire sharing an apartment does sound like the setup for a joke, but the actual funny part about the scenario is that the trio on BBC America's supernatural soap opera Being Human exhibits some of the most believable interactions amongst friends on television.

While I am still making my way through the Season One Blu-Ray, it has already sold itself to me as a charming, witty and sometimes freaky paranormal pop culture that is, well, really human. As if I wasn't already excited for the stateside premiere of the second season on June 24 at 10 p.m., ET, now the fine folks at BBC America have provided me with this cast interview and sneak peek. Take a gander and tune in on Sat. to see how the season plays out.

Bill Murray on 'Ghost Busters 3' on-again, off-again news

2010-07-21T16:52:00.001-04:00

In its recent August "Comedy Issue," GQ lands an interview with Bill Murray to discuss his approach to comedy, his place in the movie business and his new indie film, Get Low. But no good features writer can interview Murray without getting the latest news on the ever-evolving Ghost Busters 3 story. Thankfully, Dan Fierman is a good writer and gets some nice quotes out of Murray in a piece accompanied by a Daniel Clowes (of the non-paranormal, but excellent, Ghost World) illustration.

To recap on the GB3 drama, Dan Aykroyd told me the movie was on. Harold Ramis said the same thing, and that the film would be out in Dec. 2012. However, it was Murray who said it was a no-go (to David Letterman), then said, "maybe."

So where does the third movie stand now?

Is the third Ghostbusters movie happening? What's the story with that?

It's all a bunch of crock. It's a crock. There was a story—and I gotta be careful here, I don't want to hurt someone's feelings. When I hurt someone's feelings, I really want to hurt them. [laughs] Harold Ramis said, Oh, I've got these guys, they write on The Office, and they're really funny. They're going to write the next Ghostbusters. And they had just written this movie that he had directed.

Year One.

Year One. Well, I never went to see Year One, but people who did, including other Ghostbusters, said it was one of the worst things they had ever seen in their lives. So that dream just vaporized. That was gone. But it's the studio that really wants this thing. It's a franchise. It's a franchise, and they made a whole lot of money on Ghostbusters.

Oh, sure, I remember. The soundtrack. The lunchboxes. The action figures.

Right. And it's still one of the biggest movies of all time. And ever since that story broke, everywhere I go people are like, "So are you gonna make that movie?" I was down in Austin at South by Southwest, and you go at it hard down there—fun but, man, you need to sleep for days afterwards. Anyhow, I got into it one night with a bunch of younger people who were like, Oh, I love Peter Venkman! I grew up with Peter Venkman! We got to talking, and the more we talked about it, the more I thought, Oh Christ, I should just do this thing.

A generation awaits, for sure. You weren't even supposed to play that role, right?

Yeah. Originally it was Belushi. Like a lot of my movies. [beat] God, John died, what was it, twenty-five years ago?

It was '82, right?

Yeah, I think it was '82. I dunno. That part of life is getting fuzzy.

I read that you wanted to play a ghost in the movie. That's kind of brilliant.

Well, I hadn't wanted to do the movie. They kept asking, and I kept saying no. So once upon a time I said, just joking: "If you kill me off in the first reel, then fine, I'll do it." And then supposedly they came up with an idea where they kill me off and I was a ghost in the movie. Kinda clever, really.

But has the Zombieland cameo stolen that gag?

[genuinely confused] But that was a zombie. Not a ghost.

Later on in the interview, Murray tells Fierman he remains friends with Aykroyd, and that it was the Ghost Busters creator who got him studio backing for his first dramatic film, The Razor's Edge.

Everyone says Danny is the nicest guy on the planet.

Danny is…Canadian. [laughs] No, he's the only one I see much of. He's great. And I owe him. Back when I wanted to make The Razor's Edge, he sent me the first twenty-nine pages of Ghostbusters to read. And you know, they were great, even better than what we filmed, so I said, "Okay, okay, gotta do it." And Danny said, [pitch-perfect, like crazily eerily perfect Aykroyd impression] "Uummm, okay. Where should we, uh, er, do it?" And I said, "Well, I'm trying to get this movie made over at Columbia [Pictures]." And he said, "All right, well, you tell 'em that they do your movie there and they'll have the GBs." We had a caterer for Razor's Edge in forty-five minutes. Hell of a guy.

Call me delusional, but I'm one of those kids who "grew up with Peter Venkman," and I read Murray's comments about Ghost Busters 3 in a positive light. He maintains good relationships with most of his old costars, and he seems up for doing it for a laugh. If anything, Murray just sounds like he has no faith that everyone will get their act together enough to do it, so let's hope he's wrong.

Zac Efron, 'Charlie St. Cloud' cast talk ghost stories

2010-07-21T16:07:00.002-04:00

Zac "oh so dreamy" Efron's supernatural-tinged flick Charlie St. Cloud opened in L.A. last night and MTV was there for red carpet duty. Based on Ben Sherwood's 2004 novel (The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud), the film is about - can you guess? - Charlie (Efron), who makes a promise to his brother, who then dies in an accident. So Charlie is faced with the dilemma of moving on with his life and pursuing a relationship with a girl, or keeping his promise to his ghost bro.

Because of the paranormal subject matter, MTV asked the movie's principles about their own ghostly experiences.Video is below, and just 'cause we like you, we threw in the St. Cloud trailer down there as well.

As far as the film goes, the theme of keeping a promise to the dead is a classic one that goes back to folk tales like "Sweet William's Ghost" and "The Unquiet Grave" - but it's not exactly the first trip to that well.

Best thing to see today: 'The Goon' teaser trailer

2010-07-20T14:57:00.000-04:00

Fanboys know The Goon as creator Eric Powell's comic book about a retro-pop gangster who keeps his 'hood clean from paranormal trash like zombies, vampires, ghosts, giant squids, cannibal hobos, bog monsters, skunk apes and more.

Protagonist Goon is a tough, nearly-indestructible mook who smashes like the Hulk but is smarter with better one-liners. He's accompanied on his adventures by his loud-mouthed partner Frankie, a squirrely little guy with the moxy of Joe Pesci from Goodfellas. The Goon is published by Dark Horse Comics, which also publishes Mike Mignola's Hellboy, and excellent companion comic.

He may be a lesser-known comic book character - albeit one with a cult following - but The Goon is about to hit big with a new animated feature produced by David Fincher and featuring the voices of Paul Giamatti as Frankie and Clancy Brown as the big guy.

MTV unveiled this teaser trailer for the Comic Con panel on the new movie, and it looks sweet. If you're at the Con, make sure to visit the panel and send us a report - otherwise, soak up the glorious zombie action below.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Mel Gibson an earthbound demon?

2010-07-20T13:21:00.001-04:00

With all the news surrounding Mel Gibson as of late, you just might come to the conclusion that he's a slightly unstable bigoted celebrity with serious anger management issues. Well good news, everyone! It turns out the passion of Mel is directly linked to him being an inhuman entity trapped on Earth.

Maybe.

The folks over at BestWeekEver.tv are making a scholarly, well thought-out argument that Mel is an earthbound demon who can only escape this realm by making movies ... aaaand perhaps by receiving as much fellatio as possible. I know, pretty sound reasoning, eh?

Read it for yourself, but I'm on board with the theory. After all, a dude with this kind of facial is clearly either a spawn of Satan or just really good at making fried chicken.

'True Blood' recap: 'Trouble'

2010-07-19T13:29:00.004-04:00

At-home critic (and Rental Reviewer) Denise Purvis reviews HBO's vampire soap True Blood each week.

True Blood, S3, ep. 5: 'Trouble'

Ahhhh, Sookie. This week’s episode was not full of action, but it was full of one-liners. In the opening scene, Alcide and Sookie are fleeing from Deb’s engagement party. As Alcide recklessly drives away, Sookie urges him to slow down: “I know that if you don’t slow down, you’re going to kill us. And I am not going to die because of your shitty girlfriend and a Mississippi pothole.”

Later on with the Sookie/Alcide subplot, Deb shows up looking fresh out of a White Snake video ready to brawl with Sookie. As Sookie tries to pick Deb’s head for info, she realizes Deb has no idea who Bill Compton is.

Meanwhile, as Tara is tied up in the King’s house (huge hub of activities this week), Bill, Lorena and King Russell stroll in. Tara pleads for help from Bill to which he responds with a curt, “No.” Besides the fact that Franklin has Tara tied up, it becomes evident that he’s a bit unhinged.

Franklin was the highlight of this week’s episode. As best said by the King, “Franklin, you’re a huge freak. I like your work.” He gets quite menacing when he sees that Tara gets a text from Lafayette. Then, he tries to look for the right words to respond. In a very human moment, he shows off a bit with his texting skillz: “Hey, Tara, watch how fast I type motherf----r.” Ha!

Later, during the day, as Tara is tied up next to Franklin, she uses her teeth to escape (Girl, don’t you know that house is overrun with weird creatures?). As she’s sprinting across the yard - when you think she just may make it - she’s tackled by Coot in wolf form. When she's brought back, Tara turns on the manipulative charm and tell Frankie she's afraid of the other vamps - not him. In her next scene, she's crying at the dinner table because evidently vampires aren’t too hip to the human diet and they try to feed her daylilies.

Once again, Tara pulls out a survival tactic and tries to explain she's into Franklin but needs to eat human food. The scene seems to be going her way until a major WTF moment when Frank tells her he understands and wants to take her out somewhere real nice (a Shoney’s in Vicksburg. Cheap date) - to celebrate her last night as a human before he turns her into his vampire bride. WTF indeed.

So, have I mentioned everyone seems to be showing up at Russell’s house? After Franklin gets there, he shows the king the Stackhouse family documents he nabbed from Bill's house. This leads to Russ insinuating that Bill has been following Sookie's family for some time at Queen Sophie's behest to determine the source of her telepathy. And Bill denies it vehemently.

Then Eric pops in looking for his missing vampire (Bill) and tries to place the blame for the V sales on Mr. Compton. Russ shoots down Eric's lie by bringing in Billy Boy (and Talbot says it best about Bill: “He’s not missing and he’s way too square to deal V”). Eric fesses up about the Magister, and the King expresses disdain for the relic and tells Eric that he may be able to help save Pam.

BTW, Talbot’s so got a crussssssssssh on Eric, which makes me think he'll eventually turn on Russell to aide Eric. Anyhow, as Talbot is showing Eric (in a V-neck, natch) around the King’s home, they too are acting all flirty and looking at antiques, such as ancient Japanese vampire erotica (you don't have any?). Amongst all the artifacts, I exclaimed, “This is the perfect time for an Eric flashback!” And right on cue, Talbot shows Eric a Viking crown and we’re taken back on a trip down memory lane with Eric. It turns out Eric (hornball then, hornball now) was the son of the Viking king.

During a "grow up, son" chat over Viking dinner, Eric's pop tells blondie, "You can’t spend your life between a woman’s legs,” to which Eric replies, “I can try.” They fight and he promptly trots off to bang the maiden. Good time for a quickie, Eric, because werewolves (with the same branding we've seen on Coot's gange) show up to kill his whole family. But wait, there's more: The shrouded boss of the werewolves, hanging out in the shadows, takes the Viking crown and warns Eric from following. Who is the boss? Darth Sidious, Emperor Palpatine...no, it's probably just Russell. Either way, Eric vows revenge, and in the next scene, a moment of clarity dons on the modern-day blonde.

On the "were" side of things, Alcide and Sookie visit Al's pack leader, who apparently knows about the V-drinking wolves. Sook digs out of his mind that he's scared scatless of the other wolfpack. She also picks up that the vamp she saw at the lupine bar last episode was Russell, the King of Mississippi. Later on, likely based on the Al and Sook's interaction with Deb, Coot shows up to hassle Bill with news that Sookie is shacking up with a werewolf. Bill gets nasty and kicks Coot's butt, and breaks out of the house.

At the end of the episode, Bill shows up at Alcide’s apartment. They share a brief hug and he urges her to leave when … right on time, the King and his goons burst in. Sookie does her fancy, secret light maneuver to blast a henchman which the King exclaims (knowingly?) “Fantastic!”

Smaller bites:

Arlene & Terry. They’re moving in together. Great…who cares?
Jason is too dumb for words. His first day at the Sheriff’s office had me so bored I was playing games on my phone. I did perk up when Jason met mystery blonde Crystal. So, what’s going with her…hmmm?
Lafayette & Jesus are cute, but I think they spent a little too much time on that.
Sam’s family. Am I the only one tired of them? And what’s the deal with Joe Lee & Tommy?
Speaking of Tommy, he's macking on Jessica, who happens to see Hoyt on a date with a dullard.

The Night Shift: Not dead finished yet

2010-07-16T17:18:00.002-04:00

Principal photography for The Night Shift has officially wrapped. There was no champagne, no fireworks. The small crew and one actor quietly loaded lights and props into Thomas' car, while I quickly made up the director's hand to look like a zombie's. We needed one shot of a hand coming out of tomb for our sizzle reel.

And once we had the shot, there were hugs and handshakes and promises to keep in touch - then we exited the cemetery one last time.

We still weren't completely done shooting. We had one more day scheduled in July, but it was just for a few close-ups of Herbie, a couple of special effects shot and little things like that. It'll only took a few hours, and a lot of it was done in our backyard. Obviously, we didn't trouble most of the crew with this and we only needed one or two actors.

For all intents and purposes, the movie is in the can - and it has been a bittersweet experience. I'm a little sad filming is over and that I have to say goodbye to a character I've grown to love over the past two years. It's also going to be weird not seeing Soren, Khristian, Genna, Stacey, Jonathan, Jordan, Hilary, Brendon, Andrew, the rest of the cast and crew, and especially our wonderful caretaker every day. I've grown accustomed to their faces.

That said, it's nice to have a car that doesn't have a body in the trunk. Or the backseat. Or the front seat. Or all three.

I still have a mountain of laundry but all the makeup and hair supplies have been organized into a little box, in the event we need any for pick-up shots (hands grabbing things or coming out of the ground or that sort of thing), another movie in the future or if my tween-aged brother decides he wants to be a zombie for Halloween. That's a very distinct possibility.

As it happens, we finished up at precisely the right time. It's just getting hotter. In the 20 minutes it took to clean out our cars, Thomas and I managed to both sweat completely through our clothes. I can't even imagine what it would be like to spend hours in wool, or fur or even long sleeves.

So, the movie has been shot. Now what? Well, now is when the real work begins.

Thomas has begun the editing process, and I have started to work on marketing, and we both start really going crazy. As I mentioned earlier, he's working on the "sizzle reel." That's the psuedo trailer we'll send to press and distributors. It consists of raw footage and showcases characters, more exciting scenes and the overall tone of the movie. Basically, it needs to be about two minutes of awesome.

I've also been working on editing the photos I took during the shoot. They'll be compiled into albums to be included with press kits (lovingly embossed with the movie's title), along with bios, reviews of the short, articles (and blogs!) on the production and anything else we can think.

And we're now working with Kyle Henry, a very talented artist - and super nice guy - who is designing our poster for us. Kyle has given us our first good problem of the production - he sent three concepts for us to choose from and they're all fantastic. He totally gets the characters and tone of the movie, as well as the audience we're making this for, and has translated all of that in to designs that are pulpy, quirky and a little bit action-hero cool. I am so excited right now, I can barely stand it.

It's not been easy, but we've settled on one of the designs, and it's here for you to see. If you want to see anymore of Kyle's work, you can go to www.kylehenry.com.

So to sum up, we are nowhere near done with this thing. We may be "in the can," but we're far from on the projector. We are well on our way, though.

Next Week: Putting It Together. That is, after all, the art of making art (thank you, Mr. Sondheim). Follow Fighting Owl Films on Facebook (and check out the new, improved logo shown here) or by going to the official movie site, www.thenightshiftmovie.com (where you can also pick up some neat-o merch). You can also keep up with the movie's progress on Twitter at @NightShiftMovie.

First 'Walking Dead' full cast photo

2010-07-16T15:49:00.000-04:00

This here is the first full cast photo of AMC's upcoming series, The Walking Dead, based on Robert Kirkman's acclaimed comic book series about survivors of the zombie apocalypse. For fans of Kirkman's work, this image just feels right. If you're not a fan, you should become one before October, when the Frank Darabont-directed pilot (with Greg Nicotero zombie makeup!) premieres.
(via io9)

New deep sea creatures found

2010-07-16T14:50:00.000-04:00

AOL News is hosting a gallery of startling images of new, mysterious creatures living 4,600 feet underwater. The photos were taken by the Queensland Brain Institute at the Osprey Reef using special lowlight cameras and instrument platforms built by the Harbour Branch Oceanographic Institute in Florida which sits on the sea floor.

The institute picked up images of "prehistoric six-gilled sharks, giant oil fish, swarms of crustaceans and many unidentified fish"

Team leader Professor Justin Marshall explains the reef is an area of high conservation importance. He adds, "As well as understanding life at the surface, we need to plunge off the walls of Osprey to describe the deep-sea life that lives down to 2000m [approx. 6,600 feet], beyond the reach of sunlight. We simply do not know what life is down there and our cameras can now record the behaviour and life in Australia’s largest biosphere, the deep-sea."

At the moment, many of these creatures cannot be explained by science, but give it time ...

'Awakenings' celebrity psychic event with Chip Coffey

2010-07-16T14:00:00.003-04:00

Stop me if you’ve heard this, but a bunch of celebrity psychics are having a conference at a hotel in Minneapolis …

Wait, it’s not a joke. It’s actually happening less than a month from now, Aug. 13-15, in Minnesota at the Sheraton Bloomington (Mpls South) Hotel. Called “Awakenings,” the convention looks to be the foremost psychic event on the radar with the aim of helping attendees unlock their “psychic potential.” Also intriguing about the event is that it gathers together several well-known psychics from television and other mediums (pun intended).

Over the course of three days, the event offers the chance to not just socialize, but study with, respected individuals in the field such as Chip Coffey (shown here of Psychic Kids, Paranormal State), Chris Fleming (Dead Famous, Psychic Kids), John J. Oliver (Haunting Evidence, Door to the Dead), Michael and Marti Parry (Psychic Investigators) and several others.

“What makes this one so cool is that all these gifted people are hanging out in one place,” says Dave Schrader, the event organizer and host of Minneapolis' K-TALK 100.3 paranormal radio show “The Darkness on the Edge of Town.”

“And they’re there to just educate and pass along what they know … This [type of gathering] is pretty rare”

“What they know,” as Schrader says, will be delivered in the form of three gallery readings – including one with Coffey – as well as through eight workshops and Q&A panels. The topics of the workshops are as varied as “Psychic Defense & Protection,” “Developing Psychic Kids” and “Animal Communication: Tuning into your Pets.” There will also be access to multiple vendors, booksellers, etc. and attendees have the opportunity to schedule private readings with their favorite celebrity.

For the type of programming involved, the tickets that range from $65-$196 offer a lot of bang for the buck. Space is extremely limited and tickets should be purchased immediately at www.darknessevents.com.

Paranormal Pop Art: Easter Island Eclipse

2010-07-16T13:38:00.001-04:00

Paranormal Pop Art is a new feature showcasing the gorgeous, wondrous, creepy or cool artwork involving the paranormal (which you probably ascertained by the name, eh?). If you're a sculptor, painter, photographer, designer, videographer or musician and would like to share your work - or even if you just capture an awesome image connected to the paranormal - submit it to ParanormalPopArt AT gmail DOT com.

Easter Island Eclipse
by Stéphane Guisard
(Copyright Stéphane Guisard, TWAN)

This photo of the Moai statues on Easter Island was taken on July 11, 2010, during the total solar eclipse. (via BoingBoing, NASA)

Syfy's 'Fact or Fake: Paranormal Files' team speaks

2010-07-15T15:21:00.001-04:00

There was a time when you’d gather around the campfire and everyone had a ghost story to tell. Now, thanks in large part to the reality-TV paranormal genre, it seems everyone has a story with accompanying video.

When Ghost Hunters premiered on the Syfy network in 2004 it popularized the notion anyone could pick up a video camera and possibly find evidence of the paranormal - and so they did. Along with the dozen other similar programs that dominate cable, seemingly thousands of amateur ghost busters and monster hunters launched Web sites and YouTube channels to show off their proof of the supernatural. And it would seem just as many set out to spoof or goof those serious-minded investigators with hoaxes.

That’s where former FBI agent Ben Hansen and his team (above and right) on Syfy’s new show Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files comes in. Premiering tonight at 10 EST, the show is a paranormal MythBusters; as opposed to other programs in the genre that looks into claims, this one switches it up slightly and essentially investigates the investigators.

Instead of seeking their own evidence or taking on clients, per se, Hansen’s crew of supposedly three years – which includes scientist Bill Murphy and journalist/Destination Truth alum Jael De Pardo along with an effects specialist, photography expert and stunt expert – explores video submissions and famous paranormal footage to determine which can be validated or debunked through experimentation.

For instance, in the first episode, the team tears through a few appetizer videos before selecting on two to investigate: The viral “ghost car” video from Georgia that shows a motorist evading police at “supernatural speeds” before phasing through a solid fence, and a collection of extraterrestrial lights over Phoenix, Az. The team travels to the spots where the events happened to interview eyewitnesses and recreate the video events.

In a recent interview, team leader Ben Hansen, scientist Bill Murphy and Executive Producer John Brenkus spoke about Paranormal Files (after the preview below):

Q: When did you know that you wanted to investigate ... was it when you were with the FBI or earlier in your life?

Ben Hansen: Okay, well I actually was about 10 years-old, my father got me kind of interested in this. We used to watch sci fi movies, we used to watch like The Thing and The Fly and those types of things late at night. And he got me interested in UFOs, he started bringing me books to read on it.

I wasn’t really aware at the time but he had a connection with his father, my grandfather. He worked actually at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, I don’t know if you know about that base, it’s where supposedly some of the wreckage from Roswell was sent.

Well my grandfather worked there as a civil engineer and throughout the years of talking with him he always kept his oath of secrecy that he made with the projects he was working on. But in so many words he let my father know that we’re not alone. So this kind of piqued an interest in my father and in turn he and I kind of bonded on this level where we became just tremendously interested in mostly UFOs.

I remember seeing E.T. when I was younger and really becoming interested in the possibility of life on other planets. So to kind of go back, no, I was not, per se, investigating the subject in any professional or official sense when I was working with the Bureau or with any other agency. But I always kept it as kind of a hobby until I developed a group and we kind of got into the ghost hunting and other aspects of it.

Bill Murphy: I’m just going to comment quickly about what really attracted me to the show. First off I should state that Ben and I had been operating in the same circles for years ... and so when Ben and I met we developed a very quick rapport and we realized we’re on the same page but maybe taking it from different angles.

Ben’s formal experience has been in law enforcement. Myself, I’ve been involved in the paranormal for a couple of decades, it kind of goes way back with my family.

And with my family and growing up as a child with it was very skeptical. It was almost like I’m listening to the older folks talk about the tales and just about sort of skipped through it without necessarily putting a whole lot of weight into it. Until I got old enough to see that these things were kind of going on around us but I wasn’t satisfied with just hearing the tales nor was I satisfied with what I thought my own perceptions were.

I thought I needed to be able to validate these experiences through technology. And so I set about to begin the documentation process. So when Ben and I met and we spoke it was just like instant connection. And so I felt that this opportunity for me was a really good fit because I had been the skeptical believer, if you will.

... And sometimes that isn’t a popular position to take when you’re entrenched in the paranormal community. The community looks for gratification from evidence but is it the evidence of the paranormal? Is it misidentification? Is there an explanation that science more readily accepts? Well this show takes a look at all those things and all those possibilities and we come up with the best possible answer.

Q: What is the most convincing evidence that you’ve picked up off the show that viewers will not see. Also, have you had a moment where you or any of your team, has encountered something that really couldn’t be proven through evidence but you just had to believe it; you just bought into it even though you couldn’t support it?

Ben Hansen: That’s a good question. Two questions. Bill do you have something off the bat, I’ve got a few.

John Brenkus: Let me actually just jump in first ... I think that one of the first things is in the debut show you’ll see that we investigate some mysterious lights in Arizona and we genuinely - I was there on the shoot - we were all there on the shoot and genuinely we caught something that we simply can’t explain.

We all witnessed it and we were extraordinarily fortunate to capture it on tape and you know it’s one of those things that we caught that we can’t say for absolutely certain that it is something paranormal but it’s certainly something that’s unexplainable as of today.

I’m really excited to share it with the audience, that was definitely one of the highlights of the series so far.

Ben Hansen: And that’s really big for John to say that. John is actually one of the biggest skeptics ever. I could bring him a UFO on his lawn and he’d say it was fake.

Bill Murphy: You know, I have to agree with John. John, that was an amazing moment to have happen and it was ... to be there while it occurred, it’s one of things where you know can you believe your own eyes? Because seeing is supposed to be believing and in that case we had to believe our eyes. But what I’ve learned since then ... is that sometimes seeing is not believing.

Sometimes you can’t believe what you’re seeing and there’s an alternate explanation but in the case of what happened in Arizona, that was a truly phenomenal occurrence to have happen. And I’m glad it did, to that point it was early in the morning, we were all damp and cold and I think nobody was aware of the environment once our eyes were on the sky and we saw what we saw.

It was quite a sight for us.

Ben Hansen: Talk about something that maybe that you’ve seen not on the show, something the best evidence of something you’ve experienced that wasn’t on the show.

Bill Murphy: Yeah, that was one of the questions. Well something that has happened - and again, I think everybody here on the show is focused on looking for an explanation that you can personally accept easier as opposed to moving it into the category of being paranormal. But with that being said, I went to a location in Colorado where there were reports of some sort of - it wasn’t necessarily TK (telekinesis) what was happening there, it was people were being - reporting being touched and shoved by an unseen force. And I found that to be interesting because I kept hearing thing from a lot of people. So when I was there, I was going through the location and yeah, it’s a beautiful historic place.

Although I was enjoying the architecture, I walked through this area of the hall and it was like I had dozens of vibrating cell phones in every pocket. It felt like all the sudden everything vibrated on my body. And I stopped, I was like, "Hey, what was that?"

And I backed up, took a couple steps back and I felt it a second time but wasn’t as strong as the first time. And I had to sort of just not laugh but I shook my head in disbelief in going these reports have a validity. There is something here but what is it? As it turned out, there could be an explanation for what people described as being touched by an unseen force and it has its roots in hard science. It has its roots in the geology of a location and sometimes there are enough characteristics of a locale that when they come together they can cause a phenomena that can be perceived as being paranormal.

If you took an interdisciplinary approach to it and combined sciences, then you can come up with a rational explanation that can be considered paranormal because it’s hard to duplicate that and that is one of the requirements for something to move from theory to fact. Can you replicate it? Can you replicate this effect?

Paranormal phenomena isn’t always repeatable even in a lab and that’s what makes it confounding. Because you can’t deny the existence of these events but they don’t adhere to the protocols that are in place for something to move out of the theory range. But you have to look at people trend setting of this thing to happen. If something happens over and over and over, you know there’s a certain credibility that comes from the accumulation of witnesses.

And if you can sort of demonstrate how it can happen scientifically then voila, we’ve done our job from a science perspective.

For me, having the experience of an unseen force seeming to press against you, was quite astounding but it wasn’t what we thought it was. You weren’t being touched by an external force, it was a shape change to the skeleton and to the skull as a result of piezoelectric activities of the minerals in the location. So you feel your skin moving but it’s happening under the skin as opposed to on top of the skin.

Q: That still leaves the question of something that you just really had to believe even though you couldn’t back it up with any evidence or any science.

Ben Hansen: Let me give you an example of something well my two examples. The first one was when I was recently out of college, this is actually the very first time I tried doing an EVP session. I had seen there’s a local ghost hunter group that would play their clips on the radio and things, and you kind of take it with a grain of salt, just as everyone else who listens to these things. And you may even somewhat believe, but you just put it in the back of your minds because you get up and go to work the next day ... it doesn’t really change the impact of your life until you actually hear one of these things yourself.

I was in a memorial - a war memorial park with my sisters and a couple of friends - and we were kind of doing the Halloween thing and going there and doing some recordings. And we’re standing next to this war memorial and I’ve got two recorders going and I was telling my friend I really wish I could have brought them there before they had cleared out a lot of the trees because it looked a lot more spooky and I could have showed them something that would really scare them. Well nothing really happened during the whole investigation until I got home and played the set.

And this was one of the old analog recorders and I played it back and I didn’t even need to slow it down the first time; very clearly I heard the voice of either a small child or a woman. It sounded like it was whispering right against the microphone which really creeped me out because you’re thinking if this is like a person they would have to have been right at my hip.

That’s where the recorder was and it says, “Get brother.” I knew where the females were in the group and my sister was about 15 feet away; we went through every elimination, it couldn’t have been this person, couldn’t have been that person. It gave us the chills.

I played it back for my family over and over and I had to face the realization that quite possibly I had captured something that was not a living person ... there are many theories on to what EVPs are, but the phenomena is real in the same sense I’ve witnessed objects in the sky that - I myself am a licensed pilot, I love going to air shows and things - I’ve seen aircraft that have done things that conventional crafts do not do. And beyond that, I can’t say what it is but the phenomena is real.

So I think I forgot the original question!

Q: Just what would make you a believer even though you couldn’t back it up with evidence.

Ben Hansen: Not just in a paranormal sense, but there’s a lot of things like Bill was starting to say. You know there’s this dichotomy of seeing and believing. Can we believe everything that we see, and if we don’t see something does that mean we shouldn’t believe in it? So I think a lot of people, especially the viewing audience may never have had an experience of their own but there’s a lot of people who believe. And kind of, by proxy or vicariously, you’re able to see through the eyes of what these people are seeing and that’s the great thing about our show.

Many people would not be able to go out to the places we’ve been to. And by bringing them our experience through our eyes I think there is a way that you can believe without actually seeing yourself.

Q: So it’s the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence scenario then.

Ben Hansen: Correct. I think all discoveries, major discoveries started out with a phenomena that they couldn’t quite explain. Look at electricity and how it was discovered, well you saw the effects of it but did you actually see electricity - what it was doing? And so people started setting up controlled experiments to find out well how can we test that. And I think that’s where we’re at in the paranormal field a lot of times.

We believe it because we know something has happened, has affected one of our senses. Whether we’re able to capture it on film or audio or some other way to demonstrate it to somebody else may be another question.

Q: So what’s the challenge with the tools you have in the field to spot something that could be faked?

Bill Murphy: Okay, well one of the criteria that we have ... is a strong eyewitness. And so if there are multiple witnesses ... that makes for a really strong case because you’re talking about something that is not just a piece of video ... where they shot it but something that physically is there that other witnesses have come forth and said they’ve seen.

And there could be 911 calls or news reports or whatever it takes, reporting an object or a sighting or some sort of event that’s happened. Those are strong cases, so the video is bolstered by multiple eyewitnesses or if there are limited eyewitnesses then there’s a credibility you have to look at.

What are the motivations for this video being posted? And if we get there we really don’t pull any punches to try to replicate the video. So the challenges are something that I don’t think we’ve had stop us. Generally we try to stop at nothing once we’re there to demystify the video. I mean we stop at nothing. Really extreme stuff and it’s a lot of fun.

Ben Hansen: When we do come up against those cases that are very difficult, either they’re done very well in CG, we’re just not sure, that’s where I like to use my experience and focus on the poster or the witness who shot this video or provided this photo. For me, it’s a lot easier sometimes to find the signs of deception through the person themselves, and with my experience, I’ve conducted thousands of forensic interviews. On the show, it’s no exception. I like to isolate the witness and use the neutral questions and everything that I would do in a real criminal investigation and try to see if there’s deception there. More likely than not, when people are pinned down and asked if they faked something, most people are not good liars.

So I rely more on that. Bill usually heads up the clarification of images and things like that. I focus on the human aspect. When you finally encounter someone that is faking and you pin them down, I mean you kind of need these people to do your job, they make you sharper and they help put the truth out there.

Q: So are you kind of happy when you find the fakes? Are you happy when you encounter the people that are trying to pull off fake fraud because you need them? And have you examined other paranormal shows and looked at what they consider evidence? Have you made judgments based on that?

Ben Hansen: That’s a really good question ... I’ve seen on blogs, I’ve read people saying you guys should investigate this show or this show, kind of funny.

No, we’re not in the business of telling other people how to investigate or what to do. And as far as being happy about catching a hoaxer, I think sometimes the initial discussions I’ve had with people and the title of the show, sometimes they’re a little confused that we are just trying to evaluate hoaxes or not.

And that’s not the case. When we say fact or faked, faked could also be not that they purposely faked it but that it was a phenomena that is naturally occurring that they captured. In fact ... I’m not going to throw a percentage out there but there’s a great amount of cases we’ve gone out on where I find that the witness is very credible. Even from the start I’m not out trying to prove that they faked this video. Moreso, I’m trying to find out what it was they captured on video. Does that make sense?

So it’s not always was the video hoaxed or not, it’s was the situation a fake situation in that was it natural or other explanation or not.

But yes, if you do find someone who’s purposely gone out of their way to try to pull the wool over your eyes and you’re able to show them that it’s not real, it is kind of satisfying because I think in the professional community of people who really give their whole professional life to investigate the paranormal, it’s disheartening. It really detracts from the real work that’s going on when someone wastes someone else’s time doing this.

I love the fakes if people add a disclaimer: "Look what I was able to produce!" But that’s where the responsibility and accountability comes in so I think it is kind of fun to maybe catch someone every now and then if they really had that intention.

John Brenkus: I think when you see the structure of the show we have this situation room where we sit around and discuss clips. That’s really where you find a lot of the blatant fakes ... When we go out to investigate it we have the cooperation of everybody involved with that case from the people that shot the tape to the eye witnesses to everybody.

So I think that unearthing something that was intentionally faked is probably going to be the rarity because we have the cooperation of everybody involved with the case. It won’t rise to the level of being a case that we’re going to investigate if we can determine that it’s fake before we ever go out in the field.

There are just too many cases out there that meet our criteria that we wouldn’t really waste our time going out into the field and investigating it if we already know that it’s fake. So the cases that wind up being the meat of the show are the ones that we feel are compelling footage with a credible eyewitness and something that is testable.

Bill Murphy: Many occasions evidence of paranormal activity is recorded by accident. Somebody is out there shooting the birthday party in the backyard for example and then something happens and the camera was rolling. They capture that, so those people, they’re looking for either validation of their material or they’re looking for an explanation. So there are many times, just as curious as we are ... it’s not like a lot of people that are out there just trying to fool the team.

I mean I’m sure the Internet is full of that but we do use that filtering process that John mentioned and those are kind of fun to look at but they’re easily dismissible.

Q: You’re not necessarily going to set out to investigate other shows, but on the flip side, are there either shows or investigators doing things you respect?

John Brenkus: Not just because it’s on Syfy, but Ghost Hunters does a great job of bringing a scientific approach to the ghost hunting world and really looking at it. And I think Syfy is doing a great job of covering this topic in a way that an intelligent audience can really enjoy. I think they’ve been very intelligent about not just pandering to an audience and saying, "Look, this must be a ghost." They really like to explore and get into it and I think that that whole group has done some really good work. And we’re really looking to build on the success that Syfy has had and take it to the next level.

Ben Hansen: For me, I just watched an excellent documentary last night, and it was on Syfy, but the one about inside the secret government warehouses. I think it was really well done. They got as far as I think they could in researching that. I like the work that George Knapp in Las Vegas has done breaking the Area 51 story and the Skinwalker Ranch - The book that he co-authored about Skinwalkers. I love reading those things because, especially in books, you have a lot more time to get in depths of the details and see their methodology and what they do.

I try to build on that and I would love to be able to - we’re kind of constrained in some senses. We can’t go out for months to a location and set up an experiment. But those pioneers of the field are those that I really try to follow and respect.

Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files airs Thursdays, 10 p.m., EST on Syfy.

Playing advocate for M. Night Shyamalan's 'Devil'

2010-07-14T13:22:00.000-04:00

M. Night Shyamalan is a friend to paranormal pop culture after The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs - all spooky, solid outings. Then he seriously tested my patience as an audience member when he delivered the incrementally disappointing films The Village, Lady in the Water and The Happening.

And then The Last Airbender was released, based on a popular animated series, which received only an eight percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie has a lot of vision executed incredibly poorly. In the scheme of things, it probably isn't as odious as some suggest, but it is a failure for the director.

Yet I still want to give this guy another chance to make a good movie.

Maybe the best hope for him is Devil, a film produced by M. Night based on his idea, but not directed by him. Say what you will about his direction, but Shyamalan has cool ideas so I'm willing to play, ahem, Devil's advocate (and yes, I was itching for that particular bit of cheap wordplay).

Not much is known about the film aside from its supernatural themes, but the new trailer (embedded below) suggests it involves strangers tormented by an entity while stuck on an elevator betwixt floors - and worlds?

I'm not quite excited for this film yet, but I'm paying attention.

League of STEAM: Steampunk paranormal investigators

2010-07-14T12:47:00.001-04:00

Thanks to the ShadowManor site, I was sucked into a wormhole of steampunk paranormal investigations - and I liked it.

The extraordinary gentlemen, and women, of the League of STEAM (Supernatural and Troublesome Ectoplasmic Apparition Management) are a collection of "inventors, scientists, adventurers, craftsmen, monster and creature hunters, and paranormal researchers" out to protect humanity using retro-futuristic Victorian-influenced tech.

And they seem pretty rad. I just discovered them, but check out their "talkie" advertisement below and videograph channel full of adventure serials.

Trashed unicorn appears in NYC

2010-07-14T12:16:00.000-04:00

Despite the headline, this is not a tale of a mythical creature imbibing too much in SoHo. Instead, it's about a friggin' skinned unicorn unceremoniously dumped in a NYC rubbish bin. It is a true shame that proof of unicorns comes in the form of its discarded corpse.

On the upside, if someone is murdering magical beings in the Big Apple, it might give the hookers a break (Except for those that cater to furries, of course).

The pic comes courtesy BoingBoing (via AndIAmNotLying) from a photo by Cindy Freeman. See theories as to the paranormal pop culture creature's tragic demise there.

Paranormal Pop Passion: 'Eclipse'

2010-07-14T11:47:00.001-04:00

Each week paranormal romance author Caden Leigh gives her take on love and sex in both mainstream and supernatural entertainment. The Florida-based scribe of The Silver Septagram, published by Captiva Press, always has an opinion on what's hot - or not.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

After it has made a bundle of money after two weeks in theaters (released June 30), what more is there to be said about Eclipse. Well in one word, the movie can be summed up as: Teasing. But since my editor won't settle for one word, I'll give you a few more.

When we last left the town of Forks, Wash., in New Moon, Bella (Kristen Stewart ) was “technically” with vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson). She went to Italy and back for her man, so you’d think shapeshifter Jacob (Taylor Lautner) would take the hint, right? Nope, and he’s not entirely to blame. Bella does love him, and in Eclipse, the boundaries of that love are tested.

Meanwhile, bad girl vampire Victoria is bent on revenge for the murder of her mate James. Scheming for months she finally puts her plan into action, and begins stalking her prey in nearby Seattle. Her first victim (or more likely, coerced enlistee) is Riley Biers, a former residence of Forks. Victoria convinces Riley of her love for him and he joins her in plan to create a vampire army to destroy Bella and the Cullens. Unfortunately for the pair, their actions don’t go unnoticed. Both the Cullens and the Volturi have begun to track the vicious murders and rise in missing person reports.

Oddly, neither act on their hunches - which sums up much of the movie. There is a lot of promise of action, but nothing quite moves when you want it to.

Now what are Edward and Bella doing? Living the dream of two love stricken teenagers: dating, planning for their future and debating on how, or if, Edward should turn Bella into the glistening undead. Bella is blissfully unaware of Victoria’s plan for her demise. Jacob decides to tell Bella of all the recent activities that have occurred. And as any smart woman would do, she confronts the man she loves.

This is where her torture begins. Does she stay with the man who thinks she is weak and needs to be protected or go with the one who has never lied to her and has confidence in her strength?

I have read the entire series, so I know how it ends. But in Eclipse, everyone is wearing their emotions on their sleeves.

The love triangle creates an unnerving torment for the three. Bella is definitely torn; she confesses several times to Edward that he is the one. But in the back of her mind, you gotta know she isn’t ready to give up on how Jacob makes her feel.

The actors do a marvelous job portraying the characters. Edward has lightened up. Bella comes across calm and more mature - in other words less nail biting and ticks. Jacob is a bit bitter and afflicted. The entire cast has evolved as do their eccentric counterparts.

Two newcomers steal every scene they are in. Xavier Samuel (Riley) and Jodelle Ferland (Bree). Both give captivating performances. Xavier snared me with his distaste for the new army's vicious hunger and Jodelle for her portrayal of innocents and refusal to give in to her new cannibalistic hunger.

The pop passion level for this one is simmering. We have passionate kisses between Bella and Edward, and Bella and Jacob - but as anyone familiar with the Stephenie Meyer's books know, the series is about delaying gratification.

Celebrity Cephalopod & paranormal pop star Paul the Octopus retires

2010-07-13T16:06:00.001-04:00

We try not to spend a lot of time talking about sports stars here since they receive so much attention elsewhere, but it is with a heavy heart we announce Paul the Psychic Octopus is retiring.

Paul, of course, is the celebrity cephalopod mollusk and paranormal pop culture sensation who accurately predicted the outcome of eight World Cup matches - that's one for each of his little legs - and in the process, became a star and suction-cupped his way into our hearts. Now, he's going out on top.

During the World Cup, Paul was offered "two mussel-filled acrylic boxes labeled with a team's flag were lowered into his tank. Whichever box he chose conveyed the winning team."

Now the Associated Press, CNN and every media outlet that matters, says the two-year-old Paul, who was born in England and lives at the Oberhausen Sea Life Center in Germany, will be hanging up his prediction hat (which we're guessing is a cute, cartoony fedora) to enjoy the rest of his days.

Of course, once the fame bug bites, it's hard to escape it. Plus, Paul is an international star, so offers will be pouring in to bring him out of retirement. However, in a statement to the press, Sea Life says all offers "will be carefully vetted in the coming days to see if there are opportunities to spread Paul's fame even further."

The Sea Life Center is also considering opening a psychic octopus school "so that Paul has the opportunity to pass on some of his skills to younger cousins before his short but memorable life reaches its natural conclusion."

Paul's spokesman Mark Oakley say the superstar deserves a quiet retirement as "the most famous sea creature there has ever been."

Was Paul truly psychic? Was his gift paranormal? The world may never know, but one thing is certain: The true power of Paul the Psychic Octopus was to accurately predict our capacity for love.

That deserves a high-eight from us.

Ghost head of headless horseman scribe Washington Irving?

2010-07-13T15:16:00.007-04:00

Washington Irving, 19th century American author, celebrated short story author, diplomat, historian - inspiring ghost? So it would seem, if the Tarrytown-Sleepy Hollow Patch of Tarrytown, NY, is to be believed.

The local news site reported on July 9 the story of 14-year-old Rachel Lambert, a paranormal enthusiast and aspiring writer, who visited Irving's famous Sunnyside estate (shown here) in late June and possibly caught the ghost scribbling away in an upstairs window.

According to the article, "after seeing Tim Burton's film, Sleepy Hollow, Rachel pursued her interest in the paranormal and convinced her family to take a trip from Rotterdam, NY, to see what the town of the horseman is really like." During her tour of the property, the girl quickly snapped a photo of the window, but didn't catch the image of a head and torso with a quill pen until she returned home - which she believes to be Irving himself.

Local legends do claim the estate and the Sleepy Hollow cemetery are reliable hotspots for ghost sightings of Irving, but Rachel's father thinks the author's potential appearance is less a coincidence and more of a sign from the dead man.

Says the article:

Just before the family stopped outside the cottage, they were having a conversation with the guide about Rachel's achievements as an English honors student and her dream of becoming a writer. They additionally spoke about her interest in Sleepy Hollow and how she had planned out sights to see and goals for the trip, which included stopping at Washington Irving's grave in the Sleepy Hollow cemetery beforehand. The family thinks that Irving's spirit may have overheard this conversation and acted. Perhaps Irving's thoughts were, "I'm gonna let her see this and do this for an aspiring author," as Rachel's father put it.

Rachel put together a video (embedded below) to show off her pic, and while we're not really convinced the photo is paranormal, we're not going to crush the young girl's haunted hopes - instead, we'll let GhostTheory do the honors