Paranormal Pop Culture

'American Horror Story' house gets treated like 'Hollywood Treasure'

2012-05-25T10:05:00.000-04:00

Hollywood Treasure, Syfy's pop-culture memorabilia show, is about to get into the real estate business.

Having just premiered its second season, the show follows Joe Maddalena and his Profiles in History auction team as they scour the country hunting down (and authenticating) the coolest props/costumes/vehicles/etc that we love from movies, TV and more. But their newest acquisition, the house from American Horror Story, isn't hard to find.

The first season of the bizarro FX network cult hit centered around the house, and became as much of a character on the show as the actors. Now on the market, the episode of Hollywood Treasure featuring the house will air Tuesday, May 29 at 10 PM ET/PT on Syfy.

Profiles in History says that construction of the house began in 1904 and was completed in 1908 befoe the Catholic Church added a chapel addition in 1954. The house sits on approximately 3/4 an acre and is around 12,000 square feet. The home was built by renowned architect Alfred Rosenheim and is currently a designated historic monument. The house will be going on the market for $12 million. Maddalena and his Profiles staff will help market the property around the world with Brad Downs of Rodeo Realty Inc. of Beverly Hills, California.

Maddalena showing off his ruby
slippers, courtesy Syfy

Says Maddalena about the house:

“We’re trying to expand our reach into all areas of things that have to do with television and motion pictures and this opportunity came along. We got a phone call from a guy, and he said, ‘Hey, I have some things from American Horror Story.’ I’m like, ‘Well great. It’d be cool to get some props.’ And lo and behold, we met this man and we ended up at the American Horror Story house. The actual house is here in Los Angeles and it was surreal because I had no idea. And I’m walking up to it and it was really eerie, because you’re in the house. You’re in the rooms. You’re in the basement. You’re thinking of people hanging themselves and all this crazy stuff going on. And it’s really cool because this was like a 17,000 square foot mansion. It’s just another side of our business that we’re pursuing, is we’re going after these properties now, because they have such a value besides being a house. So for an American Horror Story fan, it was the coolest thing I’ve ever walked through in my entire life, to go through that house. And it was scary. Being in the basement, they turned the lights off. You wanted to run out of there!”

Scariest haunted highways of summer travel

2012-05-24T16:06:00.001-04:00

The impending Memorial Day weekend is traditionally considered the kick-off to summer. That means a few sunny months of cookouts, movies, beaches - and road trips. Millions of drivers (AAA says about 35 million this weekend, in fact) pack up their jalopies during the summer season to hit the open road and drive off to exciting destinations.

But as those drivers rack up mileage on their cars, they might also have a run-in with the paranormal. All across the country, and even the world, there are dozens of haunted highways, spooky streets and possessed pavement.

Kelly Robbins of TravelInsurance.org has compiled just a few of the scariest, which we've listed here. And remember, if you find yourself on any of these late at night during your summer travels, whatever you do, don't stop for hitchhikers ...

Dead Man's Curve, Ohio
Nearly a 90-degree turn on Interstate 90, Dead Man’s Curve is the most dangerous turning intersection in Clermont County. Built in 1831, it has a long list of victims, and only one survivor named Rick. Rick claims that he has seen on many occasions, a pitch black silhouette of a man, who has been nicknamed “The Faceless Hitchhiker.” Other people have claimed that there is just an eerie feeling about Dead Man’s Curve, and they tend to avoid it at night, if possible. Today, the actual location of Dead Man’s Curve is a bit grey and less specific, but as you head east on 125 and the 222 intersection, take even more caution with your driving.

Witches Hollow Road, New Jersey
Fittingly named Witches Hollow Road, this road is adjacent to a place called Witches Hollow, which also happens to be a cemetery. The images you see while on this road are enough to scare the living daylights out of you: grey tombstones, grassy hills, dark swaying trees, and even brooding vultures that are commonly found in countryside of New Jersey. It doesn’t get any creepier than that.

U.S. Route 491 (formerly U.S. Route 666), Colorado & New Mexico
The number “666″ suggests that U.S. Route 491, nicknamed “The Devil’s Highway,” is filled with bad luck. The high fatality rate along the New Mexico border has convinced many people that this highway is cursed. Since improvement projects were made, the fatality rate has lowered, but even renumbering the highway cannot shed its negative reputation for being cursed.

Kelly Road, Pennsylvania
There have been many strange occurrences reported on Kelly Road, which connects Engle Road with Route 68 in Ohioville, Pennsylvania. Some people claim to see animals that have turned rabid upon entering into the fog, bizarre apparitions, and noises that simply cannot be explained. No one can say for sure what the cause of all the paranormal activity is, but according to history, the area was near cult activity, and curses may have been placed on the land.

Bloods Point Road, Illinois
Full of terrifying legends, Bloods Point Road owes its name to Arthur Blood, one of the first settlers to lay his roots in Boone County, Illinois. Local hauntings have been given nicknames – Wheeler, Flora Church, Sweeney, Pearl, and Pool are just a few examples. A number of past tragic events, including a fatal school bus crash, could be connected to all these bizarre happenings. Though residents who live along Bloods Point Road don’t like the tales that portray their town as a Halloween hot spot, visitors in the area can’t help but slow down to attempt to experience the unexplainable.

A75 Kinmont Straight, Scotland
Numerous hauntings have occurred on this road during the past 50 years, giving it the nickname “The Ghost Road.” It’s thought to be Scotland’s most haunted road, after receiving hundreds of reports of simple, unexplainable sightings and apparitions.

M6 Motorway, England
Sometimes, size does matter when it comes to creepy roads. In England, many people will agree that the longest road in the country, the M6 Motorway, is also the most haunted. Not only are singular apparitions known to appear out of thin air, but entire parades of Roman soldiers have supposedly appeared as well. Hitchhiking ghosts along the side of the road and ghost cars that look like they’ve just been in a serious collision have also been reported.

Tuen Mun Road, Honk Kong
Hong Kong’s most heavily used road just so happens to be notorious for its frequent traffic jam collisions. Many people have claimed that while stuck in traffic, they have seen ghosts that appear in the middle of the road, causing drivers to avoid hitting the “person” before them and crashing into surrounding vehicles. Surprisingly, legend of this road being haunted goes back hundreds of years, and even in its modern state, renovations have not been made to improve the driving conditions.

'The Apparition' trailer summons ghost of the Philip Experiment

2012-05-24T13:05:00.000-04:00

The new trailer for Aug. 24 film The Apparition centers around a group of young researchers who set out to create a supernatural entity. Starring Tom Felton (Malfoy from the Harry Potter flicks), Sebastian Stan (Bucky from Captain America: The First Avenger), Ashley Greene (Alice from the Twilight movies), the trio postulate that ghosts only exist because humans believe in them - and that those beliefs and thoughts can actually create thought-form "hauntings."

Based on what we see in the short clip, the film doesn't look very original. With the tagline, "Once you believe, you die," there seems to be a lot of leaning on The Ring, The Grudge (good to see the Yurei is still getting jobs) and Paranormal Activity. And there's a weird paranormal fungus that looks kind of out of place - and is it threatening New York City and the world, as well?

But what makes The Apparition interesting is that it looks to be (very) loosely based on a true story, which we'll explore after the jump...

In the 1970s, a group called Toronto Society for Psychical Research (TSPR) gathered eight of its members and set out to create a ghost. Led by Dr. A.R.G. Owen and his wife (a former MENSA chairperson), the group crafted a fake biography for a 17th century nobleman they named Philip Aylesford. They sketched a portrait of Philip (right), surrounded themselves with images of castles a noble man from that time might have live in, and set out to summon Philip in the manner of an old-school Spiritualist seance.

By visualizing Philip, they would ask him questions and received answers in the form of raps on a table. Philip seemed to have a personality in his communications, and the team experienced a mist forming over them and reported that the table would move a significant amount on its own. Philip could also supposedly control a breeze in the room and dim lights on command. Interestingly, none of Philip's "answers" revealed substantial facts about himself or his time that the team wouldn't have already known - which suggests the answers were emerging from the team's subconscious minds.

Eventually, the so-called "Philip Experiment" was performed in front of an audience of 50 people and filmed by a television crew, and the rappings were caught on tape (some of which you can watch here).

The experiment was recreated using new ghostly creations. And while some point to it as evidence of the mind's power - and the power of suggestions - others say the groups unwittingly summoned a real entity who just answered when they were trying to conjure Philip.

However, there were no reported encounters with evil mold, ghostly Ring girls or citywide threats. So The Apparition might have just slightly tweaked the story!

For more info on the Philip Experiment, check out Stephen Wagner's story on About.com.

-Aaron Sagers

New 'Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter' trailer earns its red-band

2012-05-24T13:03:00.000-04:00

Courtesy of IGN, we get a new peek at Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter and if you were just somewhat excited about this film before, you can reset your anticipation levels to "stoked." In the gory, appropriately named red-band trailer for the June 22 movie, Honest Abe honestly kicks bloodsucking ass.

First look at Michonne of 'Walking Dead'

2012-05-23T13:49:00.000-04:00

Gurira as Michonne, courtesy EW

Now this is just badass. Entertainment Weekly has unveiled a first look at Michonne, the katana-wielding fan favorite from The Walking Dead comic, who was unofficially introduced in the AMC show's Season Two finale.

Played by Danai Gurira, the essence of Michonne's character will remain intact, says comic creator (and exec-producer on the show) Robert Kirkman. But Kirkman tells EW "there will be little tweaks and differences here and there" in Michonne's TV character.

"We saw that her introduction is slightly different from how it was in the comic, and her interaction with Andrea is really going to be a really cool addition to the character that I think will get television viewers up to speed, and they’ll get to know her a lot faster than comic book readers did," he adds.

Kirkman also mentions that her physicality and spark makes Gurira perfect for the role. In other Walking Dead news, Kirkman told EW that the prison turned zombie-proof HQ of Season Three - also teased in the S2 finale - is "really creepy, really moody and it’s just gonna be really awesome."

And in an AMC behind-the-scenes video of Season Three (embedded below), Andrew Lincoln promises a "darker, harder, faster, deeper" season.

On the comics front, to celebrate issue #100 - hitting stands July 11 - Image Comics and Kirkman's Skybound imprint will be holding a zombie obstacle course during San Diego Comic Con. Called The Walking Dead Escape, Kirkman says, "We are literally transforming Petco Park into the early days of society’s collapse and San Diego is just the first city to fall." Participants will receive a special edition of issue #100 and can register to run as a Survivor (that has to climb, crawl, hide and slide their way to safety), be a Walker or just act as a spectator.

-Aaron Sagers

'Game of Thrones' recap: 'The Prince of Winterfell'

2012-05-21T16:02:00.000-04:00

Bronn: Not a fan of gold cloaks.
Courtesy HBO

BY LARISSA MRYKALO

Who else thinks this episode should have been titled “The Calm Before the Storm” or “Love is in the Air,” instead of paying homage to the evil Theon? With only two episodes of GOT left, epic developments are on the horizon so brace yourselves!

In chilly Winterfell, we discover Theon has made sure there are no ravens to deliver news to Robb Stark (Richard Madden) about Theon’s (Alfie Allen) takeover. Little does he know that Maester Luwin (Donald Sumpter) may be old but he’s a step ahead in the game and already sent that message. Theon’s sister, Yara Greyjoy (Gemma Whelan), pays him a visit but it’s not to assist him with the 500 men he wanted; it’s to bring him safely back to the Iron Islands where he belongs. Boy, is she good at snarky condescension, right? Ironically, Yara shows her softer side and they share a tender sibling scene which sets the mood for this lovefest episode. Theon refuses to run home to daddy and makes it clear that he has taken Winterfell and intends to keep it. Yara pleads with him “Don’t die so far from the sea.” A Greyjoy with a heart? Really?

In the even chillier Frost Fangs, Jon Snow (Kit Harington) is being dragged across a frozen lake to meet Skeletor ... I mean, Lord of Bones (Edward Dogliani), and he wants him gutted since he already has fellow crow, Qhorin Halfhand (Simon Armstrong) as his hostage. Ygritte (Rose Leslie) conveys to him that Jon Snow could have killed her several times and that this bastard son of Ned Stark could be a valuable source of information for wildling leader, Mance Rayder (who is planning on marching on The Wall). Damn, that redhead is convincing! This man adorned in bones listened to a woman? Later, Sam (John Bradley-West) and his fellow crows are doing some shoveling in the snow and come across an exceedingly old Night Watch’s cloak filled with “dragon glass” aka obsidian. Why is it there? Because someone wanted them to find it ... duh! I’m sure we’ll find out eventually.

Robb Stark is crushing big time on sexy nurse Talisa (Oona Chaplin) ... if that indeed is her real name. They’re walking and talking about Papa Stark and how much he would have liked her and how he’s bethrothed to some Frey girl because of a bridge and how he just wants to go home to Winterfell, and that no one will be safe until the Lannisters are defeated. Heavy stuff! It figures that news of Jaime’s (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) escape would interrupt their date and that it’s all the fault of Mama Catelyn (Michelle Fairley). She let Jaime escape to save her girls. Robb wanted him as a playing piece in his game. He’s super pissed and now mom is under constant guard. Can’t blame him at all. Catelyn ordered her gal pal, Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie), to take Jaime back to King’s Landing. He tries to challenge her to a fight so she can unchain him but she ain’t no dumb blonde! They get into a painfully small row boat and row away. That should be a fun little cruise.

Over at haunted Harrenhal, Tywin (Charles Dance) is discussing how Stannis (Stephen Dillane) will be taking over King’s Landing and will execute his kin but he seems more concerned right now about defeating Rob Stark. Arya (Maisie Williams) overhears this plan whilst performing her duties and she panics. She learns that Tywin will ride that evening so she runs to find wishmaster, Jaqen H’ghar (Tom Wlaschiha). Eventually, he turns up but for some reason, a man cannot kill Tywin, the girl needs to choose another name. Can we agree that this dude can pull off speaking in the third person? Must be his cool hair. So we sit and wonder which name Arya will blurt out and, uh oh, she chooses Jaqen H’ghar! Smart girl. We watch as Jaqen squirms and pleads with her to unname him but she has a plan. She’ll unname him if she, Gendry (Joseph Dempsie) and Hot Pie (Ben Hawkey) can escape Harrenhal. This means more than one kill, but when a man is faced with his own death, I guess genie rules could be broken? He manages to kill the guards and make them look like they’re still alive. Arya and the gang walk effortlessly out of Harrenhal. This should go smoothly, right?

Back in King’s Landing, Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) is studying “The Great Sieges of Westeros” whilst Commander of the City Watch, Bronn (Jerome Flynn) cleans his nails and talks fashion with him. He doesn’t want to wear a goldcloak ... apparently it’s too flashy for him. Gossipy Varys the eunuch (Conleth Hill) comes in and compliments him on the drop in thievery since he’s taken over. However, Tyrion is quite concerned about Stannis’s knowledge about the weak spots in the city and assumes that he’ll attack at Mudgate. Over a family dinner, Cersei (Lena Headey) expresses her motherly concern to Tyrion. She is worried about her too-young son Joffrey’s (Jack Gleeson) plan to fight side-by-side with the other soldiers. Tyrion tries to show her the benefits of his plan but she’s having nothing of it. She is not happy with Tyrion trying to take her children away but IS smirking about having captured Tyrion’s secret whore. The expression on Tyrion’s face told the whole story (Dinklage is amazing). Cersei gets annoyingly cocky and when she presents Tyrion with the evidence that it’s the wrong whore, we secretly cheer that it’s not Shae (Sibel Kekill). Poor Ros (Esme Bianco) will be in quite a bit of pain if Joffrey is harmed though and if he is killed, well, she’s pretty much going to be screwed harder than she’s ever been. In a later scene overlooking the sea, Joff gets all cocky about meeting his Uncle Stannis and giving him a big, red smile. Such an ass!

If the scene when Tyrion runs frantically to Shae to proclaim that he would kill for her doesn’t touch you in some way, you have no soul. The vulnerability Tyrion shows here was heart-breaking as he begs Shae to proclaim that she is his and how they need to be more careful with their relationship. He earlier proclaimed that you don’t buy whores, you rent them. I think this one is a rent-to-own!

MORE romance? The ladies got a bonus in this episode. Robb is discussing with one of his men how he hasn’t heard back from the ravens he’s sent to Winterfell (Theon had them destroyed) when Talisa walks in and asks how he’s doing. Really? How about, “things are really quite sucky right now, I could use a good screw”? Anyway, we get Talisa’s backstory about why this highborn girl came to want to chop the feet off of the wounded. As a 12 year-old girl, she watched as a slave saved her little brother from drowning and vowed that she would dedicate her life to healing, not throwing stupid parties. This was Robb’s breaking point and he proclaimed that he doesn’t want to marry the Frey girl and takes her right there. Damn medieval garb takes too long to get off! This was actually a great “love” scene in that we know they genuinely like each other. Plus, did you notice that she was on top? He’s the King in the North but she’s the Queen in the bed (or on the floor).

In a brief scene on Stannis’s ship as it’s sailing to conquer King’s Landing, we learn another backstory. Ser Davos Seaworth’s (Liam Cunningham) story about being the Onion Knight and how he doesn’t hide from this menial title. Stannis is impressed with him and proclaims “I am the rightful king and when I sit on the throne, you’ll be my Hand.” Can we agree that Ser Davos is a cross between Obi Wan Kenobi (looks) and Sean Connery (voice)?

We briefly go back to Qarth where worried dragon mommy, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) wants her babies back. Her faithful protector, Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen), tells her that he has found a ship and captain so that they could get the hell out of there and be safe. She stands firm and will not leave the only children she’ll ever have. This scene gets touching too when she places her hand on Jorah’s face lovingly. Don’t you just wish they’d kiss and get is over with already?

The episode ends where it began: in Winterfell. Theon suggests to his First Mate that the BBQ’d boys be cut down and buried and that the point has been made. We’re still unsure if these are actually the Stark boys but Maester Luwin spies Osha the wildling (Natalia Tena) smuggling some bread around a corner. Deep breath! He enters the hiding place that is right under Theon’s nose, and we learn that those boys were probably the farmer’s children because Theon didn’t want to come back empty-handed. Poor little Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) overhears them talking and by the look in his eyes, realizes that two friends were sacrificed. Little Rickon (Art Parkinson) is safely sleeping in giant Hodor’s (Kristian Nairn) arms. We all knew those weren’t the Stark boys hanging there, right?

War is coming so prepare yourselves for “Blackwater”, next Sunday at 9pm ET/PT on HBO.

'True Blood' promo brings tears to our eyes

2012-05-21T15:47:00.003-04:00

Backed by some guitar strumming that sounds a tad bit familiar, the clever folks at HBO released a promo using the vampire soaps many, many crying scenes to letting fans know not to shed tears over True Blood - because it's almost time for Season Five.

And if you're disappointed that the promo doesn't reveal anything new about the season, remember it's no use crying over spilt plasma. - Aaron Sagers

Peter Weir to helm 'The Keep' haunted castle movie

2012-05-21T14:44:00.000-04:00

According to Variety, Peter Weir (Master and Commander, The Truman Show) will direct the film adaptation of Jennifer Egan's 2006 book "set in a mysterious medieval castle somewhere in Central Europe."

Set to shoot next spring, the film is Weir's first since 2010's The Way Back and will have a relatively modest budget of $30 million through Paris-based SBS Productions. Says Variety, The Keep "turns on two estranged American cousins who reunite to set up an alternative resort, stirring childhood traumas and phobias in a haunted castle."

The Australian-born Weir is one of those directors who doesn't work very often, but when he does, the result is always a memorable character study of unique individuals. So the thought of him applying those talents to a spooky movie is promising indeed.

Obama talks aliens with Will Smith, son Jaden

2012-05-21T14:19:00.000-04:00

Smith alongside MIB3 costars Josh Brolin,
Tommy Lee Jones. Courtesy Sony Pictures

Last week, during a routine publicity stop at the BBC for his upcoming movie Men In Black 3, Will Smith opened up about perhaps the closest thing to an admission about aliens we'll likely ever get from a president.

In the interview, Smith tells of a visit he had with President Obama and a tour the Smith family took of the Situation Room. Smith said 13-year-old son Jaden (The Karate Kid 2010) - who is a lover of all conspiracy theories - planned on asking the prez about the existence of aliens, despite his fatherly warning not to do so. So what did Obama say when Jaden asked?

"He said, 'OK, I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of extraterrestrials, but I can tell you, if there had been a top secret meeting - and if there would have had to been a discussion about it - it would have taken place in this room."

Smith joked that his son was floored by the response - and that he still has eight or nine more months of being grounded for "embarrassing me in front of the president."

-Aaron Sagers

Shedding light on my 'Total Blackout' experience

2012-05-17T15:27:00.000-04:00

Jaleel White, courtesy Syfy

I am quite the fan of Syfy's competition series Total Blackout, hosted by Jaleel White (Family Matters, Dancing with the Stars). The half-hour show, which premiered April 25, involves contestants tackling their anxieties in a series of challenges - all of which take place in complete, impenetrable darkness.

So far the show, which airs each Wednesday at 10 p.m., has been garnering some great responses (including 1.4 million viewers for the May 9 telecast). I genuinely enjoy watching people get freaked out (and love the YouTube vids when a monster pops out of nowhere). It's cathartic to let your fears take over within a controlled environment, and just plain funny to watch others get scared by the same things that scare us.

But my fondness for Total Blackout might also be slightly subjective. Back in October 2011, I was selected as a member of the press to take part in a special dry-run of the show concept in front of an audience of reporters watching via closed-circuit TV in another room. Along with a couple other reporters, Colin Ferguson of Eureka took part in the segment right before me. None of us had ever heard the name of the show before and didn't know what we were getting into. We had no contact with other contestants after they took part, and weren't even warned that we'd be thrust into the darkness. In fact, it wasn't until I went into the light that all was reveled.

Anyhow, I wanted to share Colin's and my experience as part of Total Blackout. Perhaps after you watch, you'll understand why one Syfy executive humorously said that watching me was "disturbing" and that I'd "never be a contestant on this show."

-Aaron Sagers

And here's a clip from the May 23 episode of Total Blackout:

Paranormal Pop Comics May 16

2012-05-16T12:20:00.000-04:00

BY ERIN WOLF

Kids are makin’ trouble in the neighborhood of Lovecraft in Clockworks #6 but there is no Aunt Viv and Uncle Phil to come to the rescue, little bunny foo-foos are hopping through the universe in Saucer Country #3 with their little beady eyes set on invading American politics and Truman finally learns how to change his own Free Mason diaper in The Manhattan Projects #3 while FDR undergoes a Frankenstein treatment and learns to stop worrying and love the bomb in this week’s Paranormal Pop Comics rundown:

Clockworks: Locke & Key #6 (of 6)
IDW
Written by Joe Hill; Art and Cover Art by Gabriel Rodriguez

In this stunning conclusion of Clockworks, we find Joe Hill’s gang of misfit teens at it again and this time there will be blood. There is civil unrest amongst the adolescents of Lovecraft as the hunt for the Omega Key continues…and ends. Powers from previously discovered keys come into play resulting in a gender bending, bone crushing, deliciously murderous good time as the final good kid vs. bad kid showdown unravels in the bowels of The Drowning Cave. Not to be missed, Joe Hill should hang up another key on his magical chain…the key to my heart. Okay, that was corny but this storyline is great, “key”-ep reading!

Saucer Country #3
Vertigo
Written by Paul Cornell; Art and cover by Ryan Kelly

As if it weren’t bad enough that books like It have made us afraid of Clowns and movies like Child’s Play have instilled a fear of dolls into the American psyche, but now we are being attacked by a malicious gang of bunnies? BUNNIES? Well, that’s what Governor Alvarado’s ex-husband claims the aliens that abducted him and his ex-wife/Governor looked during one of his hypno-regression therapy sessions. As for Presidential hopeful Arcadia Alvarado? Well, she’s employed her cracker jack team of advisers to figure out what the hell is going on in outer space these days and finally answer the question of whether or not Earth is about to be invaded. The team in turn employs Harvard professor Joshua Kidd who, coincidentally, is having his own visions of alien life-forms. Little glowing people and green men with oversized craniums I can handle…but please Paul Cornell, say it ain’t so, anything but bunnies!

The Manhattan Projects: The Bomb! #3
Image
Written by Jonathan Hickman; Art by Nick Pitarra and Cris Peter

I hate history but I love twisted historical fiction. FDR is dead and therefore so are the Manhattan Projects, right? RIGHT? Nope, in this “what if” series Jonathan Hickman explores several scenarios in which the alternately devious and righteous progression of technology can either improve or destroy the human race. Was there a third bomb developed by Oppenheimer, and if so, when launched will it be ridden by a rodeo cowboy who will whoop and holler waving his hat toward impact? I resent the implication that Truman ever wore a diaper to Free Mason meetings but don’t doubt for a second that a dead body can be brought back to life in some capacity. I’m still waiting for the day when MCA can be brought back in a head jar like on Futurama, RIP Adam Yauch and long live the brain of FDR.

Also released this week:
Avengers vs. X-Men #4
Marvel
B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth – Devil’s Engine #1 (of 3)
Darkhorse
The Darkness #103
Top Cow
Saga #3
Image

Dark Horse Presents #12 - To be released May 23
Dark Horse is releasing the twelfth installment of the critically acclaimed Dark Horse Presents series on May 23rd. This most recent issue of DH's anthology of comics greatness will feature a brand-new Aliens story by Chew’s John Layman and legendary artist Sam Kieth, Dean Motter’s Mister X, and last but not least, the reemergence of Mike Baron and Steve Rude’s intergalactic fighting force, Nexus. I am also happy to mention there will be a Steve Niles favorite Criminal Macabre making an appearance along with the popular Black Beetle series and L.A. Book Prize awardee Carla Speed McNeil’s Finder.

'Ghostbusters' NYC tour: Better than Philadelphia mass turbulence of 1947

2012-05-15T16:34:00.000-04:00

Have you ever wanted to hop in Ecto-1 and leave the firehouse headquarters in TriBeCa to check out paranormal activity in the New York Public Library in Midtown and at an Upper West Side apartment - and perhaps pop into Columbia University in Washington Heights to harass Dean Yeager?

If you're a) A fan of one of the best movies ever, and b) a paranormal pop culture junkie, then clearly the answer is yes, and you already knew I was talking about locations from the classic 1984 movie Ghostbusters.

Well, as it happens, a lot of Big Apple ground is covered in the movie, and the boys over at Bleeding Cool have put together a pretty awesome video tour guide (and with electric guitar accompaniment) which includes location, according to appearance in the movie, that allows you to relive the best lines all in one day.

This is super cool, and as a fellow New Yorker, I'm pleased to say it's also accurate. Although, since you won't likely have a 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor combo car to drive around in, you'll have to settle for a Metrocard and a subway line - but anyone who lives in NYC knows a ride on the trains can sometimes be a more haunting experienc more frightening than the Tunguska blast of 1909. And we think Dr. Raymond Stantz would approve.

-Aaron Sagers

(Via BuzzFeed)

Syfy announces dates for a paranormal summer

2012-05-15T14:52:00.000-04:00

Looks like Syfy can't get enough of the unexplained this summer. According to a new press release, the network is rolling out a slew of paranormal-themed movies and shows - including two new ones - to give you chills during the warmer months. Let's dive in and see what they are so you can mark your calendars and set your DVRs now.

JUNE

HAUNTED COLLECTOR
(Season two premiere)
Wednesday, June 6, 9 p.m.
Haunted Collector features eminent paranormal collector John Zaffis, who searches for objects that have become home to paranormal spirits and/or energy. Each week Zaffis and his family help someone who’s terrorized by something strange in their own home, using the latest technology to identify the source of the paranormal activity. On the season 2 premiere of Haunted Collector, the team heads to Warsaw, Kentucky, where a woman’s home is suffering hauntings, possibly from two steamboats which crashed in a fiery collision, killing more than 60 people in 1868. Next, they travel to Huron, Ohio, in a race against the clock to remove the dangerous energy from an abandoned silo, scheduled to be destroyed in 48 hours.

SCHOOL SPIRITS
Wednesday, June 20 at 10 p.m.
From executive producer Mark Burnett, School Spirits travels to schools and universities all across the country to recount the true ghost stories experienced on these academic campuses. The stories will be told in first person narratives through the testimonials of real students, teachers, parents and staff that have encountered the paranormal activity, blended with bone-chilling cinematic reenactments to further bring the haunting experiences to life. Executive producers: Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Voice) and Seth Jarrett & Julie Insogna Jarrett (Celebrity Ghost Stories).

JERSEY SHORE SHARK ATTACK
Saturday, June 9 at 9 p.m.
Led by an all-star cast of Tony Sirico (The Sopranos), Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas), Jack Scalia (Dallas), Joey Fatone (‘N Sync), William Atherton (Die Hard) and Vinny Guadagnino (Jersey Shore) the movie unfolds during the July Fourth weekend at the Jersey Shore, where angry sharks are on a rampage, devouring residents, leaving it to the local Guidos to save the day. The movie also stars Jeremy Luke as The Complication, Melissa Molinaro as Nooki, Joey Russo as Donnie, Daniel Booko as Balzac, Audi Resendez as B.J., and Alex Mauriello as J-Moni.

PIRANHACONDA
Saturday, June 16 at 9 p.m.
Part fish! Part snake! All killer! In B-movie icon Roger Corman’s latest, a hybrid creature – half piranha and half anaconda - attacks a movie crew on location near her nest when her egg is stolen. Now they must outrun and kill the deadly piranhaconda as well as stop the mad scientist who stole the egg - before they all become dinner. Stars Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill: I & II) and Rachel Hunter (The Benchwarmers).

ARACHNOQUAKE
Saturday, June 23 at 9 p.m.
In Arachnoquake, starring Tracey Gold (Growing Pains), massive earthquakes unleash giant albino spiders. Freed from their ancient subterranean prison, the spiders go on a murderous rampage through New Orleans. Joining Gold will be Bug Hall (The Little Rascals), Ethan Phillips (Star Trek: Voyager) and Edward Furlong (Terminator 2: Judgment Day).

BIGFOOT
Saturday, June 30 at 9 p.m.
Television legends Danny Bonaduce (The Partridge Family) and Barry Williams (The Brady Bunch) star as life-long rivals battling over Bigfoot. Howard Hesseman (Head of the Class), Sherilyn Fenn (Twin Peaks), Andre Royo (The Wire) and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Alice Cooper (School’s Out) co-star in the movie, which is directed by Oscar and Emmy nominee Bruce Davison (X-Men).

JULY

DESTINATION TRUTH
(Season 5 premiere)
Tuesday, July 10 at 8 p.m.
Season 5 opens with two special back-to-back episodes, as Josh Gates and his team lead viewers on a chase into one of the world’s biggest caves in the jungles of Vietnam to search for Bigfoot. Then, at the overwhelming request of fans, they’ll travel to Romania for a return visit to the haunted Hoia Bachu Forest, the site of their most terrifying investigation to date, and then explore the reportedly haunted Mayan ruins of Tikal in pursuit of a monster known as the Belize Goblin. They'll also lead viewers into a remote Transylvanian village on a hunt for vampires and journey to Kazakhstan (a Destination Truth first) to search for the legendary Kazakh monster. Josh Gates and Erin Ryder serve as co-executive producers.

PARANORMAL HIGHWAY
Premieres Tuesday, July 10 at 10 p.m.
Paranormal Highway puts the pedal to the metal as Jack Osbourne and his friend Dana Workman do their own first-person investigations of the most frightening claims of paranormal activity along America’s remote back roads. Fueled by eyewitness interviews and evidence collected by Jack’s state-of-the-art equipment, he and Dana will travel alone, self-documenting their harrowing face-to-face encounters with the paranormal.

AUGUST

PARANORMAL WITNESS
(Season two premiere)
Premieres Wednesday, Aug. 8 at 10 p.m.
Using a mixture of intimate first-hand testimony, actual home video and gritty realistic drama, the hit series Paranormal Witness returns to transport viewers into a world turned upside-down by extraordinary, terrifying and sometimes life-threatening paranormal events.

-Aaron Sagers

'Battleship' dead in the water, doesn't stay afloat

2012-05-15T12:03:00.000-04:00

An alien ship emerges. Courtesy Universal

BY AARON SAGERS

It is fitting that the new alien invasion movie Battleship is based on a popular Hasbro game since it follows so many rules.

The “not living up to his potential” likable protagonist, outgunned soldiers, demolished cities, enormous explosions, fast-moving action sequences, montages and even AC/DC songs. The tropes in the Peter Berg-directed sci-fi effort are so familiar to Michael Bay's work that Battleship could just as easily be titled Transformers on the Water - starring robots with less personality.

Starring Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgard, Rihanna and Liam Neeson, the movie adapts the naval guessing-game on a grid (which existed long before toy company Milton Bradley introduced its version in the 1940s) into an alien vs. humans flick. The premise is that NASA has been trying to make a phone call to outer space from a Hawaiian satellite post, and Earth gets a rather nasty return call from humanoid E.T.s at the same time an international “war games” is taking place off Hawaii’s coast. After the aliens put a force field around the islands and start trashing the joint, it’s up to a small band of sailors – led by Kitsch’s character Hopper - sealed off from the rest of the Navy to fight back and save the day. There’s also a subplot about Hopper’s hot girlfriend Sam (Brooklyn Decker) - conveniently the daughter of the gruff, Hopper-hating Admiral Shane (Liam Neeson) – who must disable a communications array, along with a scientist and a soldier with prosthetic legs.

Before the aliens ever show up, there’s a too-long sequence highlighting the character failings of Hopper. Once they do, however, a lot of stuff blows up, people die, characters mature and audiences are treated to a few Easter Eggs from the board game.

But over the course of 131 minutes, the movie is never exciting enough to make you care.

Sure, the plot is pretty weak, as is the dialogue, but that is sometimes excusable if a filmmaker can convince the viewer the villains are really “eee-vil” evil and the stakes are high. The best viewers can hope for here is a key death and a wide-eyed little kid watching the destruction (but this kid does it so well he must have a future in other disaster flicks - watching an asteroid hurtle to the Earth, watching a monster emerge from the oceans, etc.)

There are other attempts to make us feel like puny humans about to lose our planet, but since most of the action takes place on the seas against alien ships - and against exo-suited humanoids - we never get a sense of them as bad guys. Through the wizardy of CGI effects (cool but no more impressive than even the last Transformers movie), we learn they are obviously technologically superior, but who are they? For all the characters know, they may just be pissed off that Earth has been crank calling their planet. Even though their ships are very cool and I'd like to purchase one of their suits with Trap Jaw accessories, there is never a showdown where one alien strokes his mustache (or, in this case, porcupine goatee), reveals his plan and makes us really, really fear them.

The movie also leans so heavily on the proud tradition of armed service and troop support that it sometimes feels like a very long, big budget Navy recruitment video. While there is certainly nothing wrong with honoring service in movies, it smacks of a cheap, heavy-handed shortcut for character development and emotional reaction here. The greatest generation is reduced to a great Hollywood cop out. There is even a sequence (and montage) towards the end of the movie so schmaltzy with its attempt to get viewers rooting for sailors and alien ass-kicking that it elicited an audible laughter in the theater.

Battleship also significantly suffers by being released just a couple weeks after The Avengers. Audiences have already seen aliens destroy a city this summer movie season, and those guys were led by a convincingly evil demi-god and repelled by a better set of developed heroes - and the spectacle was more fun. Even though Kitsch played Gambit once, he's no Hulk.

The appropriate movie critical kicker for this movie would be to suggest Battleship should be sunk, or that it likely won’t stay afloat at the box office. But instead, it is enough to say the movie is so weighed down with formulas that it’s dead in the water and rudderless; it takes a long time to get out to sea and then goes nowhere.

So you say you want a 'Revolution'?

2012-05-15T11:36:00.000-04:00

Who turned out the lights? Apparently NBC and Iron Man director Jon Favreau will, along with help from J.J. Abrams, this fall when the new show Revolution debuts. Set in a world 15 years after humanity loses electricity and power, the show is a post-apocalyptic saga where rebels must fight against martial law and ... well, you get the idea.

As our colleague, CNN.com's Henry Hanks put it, it's The Walking Dead, Terra Nova and Falling Skies without zombies, dinos or aliens.

What do you think of the first look? The swordplay looks sweet, and it's always a pleasure to see Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), but will you tune in to see a world thrust into the dark?

James Franco blogs about haunted New Orleans tour

2012-05-14T13:42:00.003-04:00

Franco in 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes'

Over at Huffington Post, actor James Franco goes into detail about a nighttime field trip on a haunted New Orleans tour while taking a break from filming The End of the World (the Seth Rogen-directed meta movie where celebs Franco, Rogen, Emma Watson, Jason Segel, Mindy Kaling play themselves when the apocalypse happens).

After hearing some real facts about the city ("the dead buried in New Orleans outnumber the living 10-to-1") and likely less-real ("the French Quarter is cursed because it was built on top of a Native burial ground"), Franco compares New Orleans to "amusement park where you can get killed."

Of the few ghost stories Franco heard about on his tour, there was the haunting of the Andrew Jackson Hotel, a few vampire legends and the tale of the LaLaurie Mansion - previously owned by Nicolas Cage. Perhaps the most infamous (and supposedly most famous) location in New Orleans, the LaLaurie Mansion was the site of slave torture, although some of the more gory details Franco relates (a [secret chamber held "living and dead victims of a variety of mutilations: amputations, limbs exchanged between people, sexes switched ... skin flayed in designs to turn the victims into 'human caterpillars' and other grotesque monstrosities") is the stuff of folklore and fiction.

However, while Franco does not explicitly admit to a belief in ghosts, he does relay a ghostly story that took place in New Orleans while filming Sonny (which was, interestingly, directed by Cage):

Bourbon Orleans Hotel

"Nic Cage and I purposely took the two haunted rooms in the Bourbon Orleans Hotel, itself a former convent. My room was said to house the spirit of a nun who had leapt from the window. After unpacking my bags, I heard the sound of rushing water and realized that the sink in the bathroom was running full blast. It hadn't been on when I entered the room, and its knob wasn't the least bit loose. I spoke to the empty room and assured whatever spirits resided there that I was on their side. At first I thought it was a gag for tourists, but when I asked the maid, she knew nothing about it. Instead, she told me about the ghost of a Confederate soldier who chased female guests with blond hair. People in New Orleans believe in ghosts."

-Aaron Sagers

'True Blood' Season 5: Bad times in Bon Temps?

2012-05-14T11:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, HBO unveiled a trailer for the June 10 return of True Blood (less than a month away!) and it looks like all-out war is coming to Bon Temps.

The Season 5 peek shows Christopher Meloni of Law & Order fame (as well as Oz and Wet Hot American Summer) settling in nicely as vampire Roman of The Authority. As if he isn't threatening enough, a vamped Rev. Steve Newlin (Michael McMillian) and Russell Edgington (the excellent Denis O'Hare) are back as well. We also get glimpses of demonoid Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) and a teamed-up Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) and Bill (Stephen Moyer).

Other hints suggest at more of a look at the hierarchy (and religion?) of the vampire world. And we can guess that we've not seen the last of Tara (Rutina Wesley), but the season appears to pick up right where we left off, with Tara taking a bullet from Debbie and bleeding out on Sookie's (Anna Paquin) floor.

What else did you notice from the teaser? Any other characters or supernatural elements you hope to see show up in Bon Temps? Are you even excited for Season 5 or are you over TB?

-Aaron Sagers

'Games of Thrones' recap: 'A Man Without Honor'

2012-05-14T09:27:00.000-04:00

Bran & Hodor on the move, courtesy HBO

BY LARISSA MRYKALO

With only three more episodes remaining of Season Two of Game of Thrones, the building tension is becoming as uncomfortable as Jon Snow is when he’s discussing his private parts with Ygritte. This episode brought us even more twists and surprises, and we could just sense that a large battle is brewing in the near future.

Theon wakes alone in his bed and goes to find that his guard has been murdered and imprisoned brothers Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) and Rickon Stark (Art Parkinson) have escaped with their wildling protector Osha (Natalia Tena) and gentle giant Hodor (Kristian Nairn). Theon is super pissed and beats the crap out of a man for accusing him of being at fault because of his evening romp with Osha. He assembles a search party, including Maester Luwin (Donald Sumpter), to whom he promises that he will hurt but not kill Bran and Rickon. The escapees come upon a familiar farm house but Bran is concerned that the family will be tortured for information if they are discovered to have been there. Theon later comes upon the farm and finds evidence that they were there. He is furious and sends Maester Luwin back to Winterfell.

Back in the Frost Fangs, Ygritte (Rose Leslie) and Jon Snow (Kit Harington) wake from their slumber and Jon finds his hand on her breast prompting him to speculate about what may have gone on during the night. Ygritte goes on to harass Jon about being a virgin and wonders how the men of the Night Watch handle their sexual urges. Damn, she’s persistent and is hell-bent on getting Jon to get savage with her. Jon defends himself and the oath he has taken regarding sex and even shows anger towards her queries. He claims to know what to do during sex but Ygritte utters the well-known line from the book: “You know nothing, Jon Snow.”

Ygritte also questions why they are fighting against her and her people and makes it clear that they are free and were the original settlers of the lands. She even proposes that she join the tribe and play house with her or even another, “You’re a pretty lad. Girls would claw each other’s eyes out to get naked with you.” Way to sound civil, Ygritte! She continues to be sexually relentless and also reminds him of how far from his men he probably is. She then escapes and Jon finds himself surrounded by wildlings. Good thing he didn’t accept her warm and wet invitation ... he would have had quite an audience!

The scenes between Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance) and Arya (Maisie Williams) in Harrenhal are short, but so engaging. Don’t you agree? Tywin believed that the poisoned dart that killed Ary’s second victim was intended for him and he watches as suspects are executed on the grounds below. Tywin offers Arya his dinner because clearly he’s not a big fan of mutton. Or is he starting to feel fatherly towards her and thinks she needs nourishment? He tells her that, “This will be my last war, win or lose.” and that this is the war he’ll be remembered for. Arya continues to try to keep up her game but impresses him with her knowledge of history and even prompts him to compare her to his daughter, Cersei (Lena Headey). Methinks that Tywin is starting to suspect that Arya is not a stone mason’s daughter, especially when she makes the medieval “m’lord” versus “my lord” error. No doubt, Arya has smarts, but she’s still a naive young girl who needs to keep quiet or else her life with be in danger.

In a brief scene between Lady Sansa (Sophie Turner) and The Hound (Rory McCann), she thanks him for saving her from being raped. He proclaims that “killing is the sweetest thing there is” and portends that one day, she’ll be thankful for his penchant for killing. Later, Sansa wakes from a nightmare where she is about to be raped and stabbed. Her nightmare doesn’t end when she discovers that she has started bleeding. This means she is ready to bear King Joffrey’s (Jack Gleeson) evil baby princes or princesses. Her handmaiden - and Tyrion's gal pal - Shae (Sibel Kekill) walks in and tries to help her cover it up but is discovered by another girl. Shae chases her down and threatens her not to tell. It’s too late though ... apparently the Hound picked up the scent.

In a strangely touching scene with Cersei, Sansa is reminded how she is a woman now and how painful and long her labor with Joffrey was. She also mentions how King Robert (Mark Addy) used to go out hunting when she bore his children, but her dear brother Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) remained by her side. Cersei gets all sentimental and tells Sansa that Joffrey won’t be as devoted as Jaime was. Sansa proclaims that she loves Joffey with all her heart which prompts an epic quote of season two, “The more people you love, the weaker you are” and “Love no one but your children.”

Perfect for an episode that aired on Mother’s Day, right?

Cersei later has a hug-worthy scene with brother, Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) when they discuss how Stannis Baratheon’s (Stephen Dillane) ships will be arriving soon. Tyrion feels that Joffrey needs to “step-up” but Cersei feels shame that he doesn’t listen to her and that she wished he would have turned out like his uncle/father, Jaime. Tyrion actually compliments her on how well her other two children turned out and shows his softer side. Did we almost feel sorry for Cersei tonight?

Poor Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) is still missing her three baby dragons and even though Xaro Xhoan Daxos (Nonso Anozie) offers her his help because he made a pledge to her, she doesn’t seem to want his intervention. She dubs the dragons “the most valuable thing in the world” and as we see later on, Xaro is very well aware of this fact.

Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) returns to Dany when he hears of the slaughter of “her people” and they have a nice chat about trust. Dany appears vulnerable and defeated and frankly, she’s kind of acting like a brat. Jorah reminds her that “no one can survive without help” and all Dany wants is for him to “find my dragons.” Jorah then gets some insider info at the “Masked Lady Naked Body Painting Emporium” when she reveals not only that she knows he is in love with Dany but that Dany is currently with the dragon thief. He rushes to find her but, oh well, she’s with the entire “Thirteen”!

Fancy Spice Merchant dude reminds Dany that her dragons will only bring death and she is better off without them but then, Qarth’s Sexiest Warlock Alive, Pyat Pree (Ian Hanmore), reveals his and Xaro’s arrangement. So clever! Pyat Pree magically appears behind 11 of the 13 and slits their throats, turning the Thirteen into the two power-hungry Qarthians. Pree wants Dany to come with he and Xaro to the House of the Undying to help raise the dragons and they could all be in power together. Never trust a warlock with blue lips.

Back at Camp Stark in the Riverlands, Alton Lannister (Karl Davies) delivers news to Robb Stark (Richard Madden) that even though Cersei “admired your spirit,” she tore up the “peace” treaty he sent her. Robb puts Alton up for the night with his cousin Jaime while new lodgings are built for him. Then Robb’s nurse-crush Talisa (Oona Chaplin), informs him that she needs more medical supplies to tend to his men. He walks up nice and close to her and offers his help. She wants to go to the Crag with him when he goes to negotiate a surrender ... the Maester keeps a nice first aid kit there apparently. That should be a fun road trip!

Alton seems to enjoy his time with cousin Jaime (whose handsome face is hardly recognizable) and they talk about the good old days and how Alton once squired for Jaime. It’s actually kind of nice but since Jaime is an a-hole, we suspect he has an ulterior motive. He inches closer to his enamoured kin and reveals that he is not good at being constrained and to be free, Alton must die. He beats him to death and then strangles the guard who comes upon the scene. Jaime briefly escapes but is retrieved and brought to Lady Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley). Poor Catelyn wants nothing more than to have the angered father of the strangled guard kill Jaime but she knows that he is the key to getting her daughters back from the Lannisters in King’s Landing. Jaime is put in the stockade and Catelyn and her loyal sidekick, Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) pay him a visit. Jaime is detestable when he brings up her late husband’s whoring around days and how much Catelyn must have hated having Jon Snow around as a reminder. She demands Brienne’s sword and ...

In a heart-wrenching final scene, Theon says to the people of Winterfell that he warned them what would happen if they were not loyal to him. Maester Luwin is dragged out and it is revealed to him and the townsfolk, what appears to be two charred and hanged children. It is implied that it is the Stark boys when the Maester lets out a blood-curdling “noooo!”

Is Theon bluffing? Will Jon Snow regret not knocking Uggs with Ygritte? Will Tyrion and Cersei finally get along and maybe even hug it out? Will Dany align for Xaro and Pyat Pree and become one big happy family?

Watch episode 8 of Season 2, “The Prince of Winterfell”, next Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.

'ParaNorman' and the top paranormal kid's flicks

2012-05-11T11:37:00.002-04:00

BY ERIN WOLF

ParaNorman is an upcoming 3D stop-motion animated comedy thriller adventure film set to be released on Aug. 17, 2012.

The movie is about a misunderstood local boy named Norman Babcock who has the unique ability to speak with the dead. Once he finds his hometown of Blithe Hollow under siege from a centuries old witch's curse, he'll have to take on ghosts, witches and zombies to save his home.

The paranormal has been present in American pop culture cinema for years, but its impact on the demographic of children viewers is often overlooked. To celebrate the long anticipated cinematic return of the Paranormal genre to children's films with ParaNorman, here is a list of the top paranormal kid's movies of all time.

Welcome back to your freaky childhood (after the jump).

Top 10 Kid's Movies:

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Boy meets alien in a bread crumb skittle hunt in boy's backyard. Boy and alien bond but alien gets homesick. Boy defies his mom, the authorities and lots of creepy men in white space suits to help his alien friend get back to his home planet. Starring Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore. Shot from the prospective of a child, E.T. is probably one of the most honest, emotional and exciting paranormal themed kids movie of all time. Other alien themed movies from the late seventies/early eighties designed for kids include The Last Starfighter (1984), Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) and Flight of the Navigator (1986).

Teen Wolf (1985)
As if high school wasn’t hard enough, now Michael J. Fox has to deal with the fact that he’s a werewolf. At least being a werewolf totally improved his basketball skills, go team! Starring Michael J. Fox. Other wish-fulfillment paranormal comedies include Weird Science (1985), Mannequin (1987) and Teen Witch (1989) … top that!

Harry and the Hendersons (1987)
Harry and the Hendersons is hands down the best Bigfoot movie ever made. Starring John Lithgow as the worrisome father, this movie is a family film at heart and great fun for the kiddies, just imagine Beethoven only with a bigger pet. If we do ever find Bigfoot, I hope he’s as sweet as Harry. Starring John Lithgow.

The Monster Squad (1987)
A couple of neighborhood kids form a club devoted to monsters only to find themselves face to face with the real Count Dracula accompanied by a posse that includes Frankenstein’s Monster, Wolfman and the Mummy. It’s a great movie starring no one you’ve ever really heard of.

Little Monsters (1989)
At the height of popularity for his coming-of-age television show The Wonder Years, child actor Fred Savage and comedian Howie Mandel teamed up to star in a wacky coming-of-age monster movie for kids. There are definitely some touching Full House-esque learning moments, which were unavoidable in the late eighties, but you can’t beat the pranks Howie and Fred pull on the other kids, especially the pee in the jar trick. Classic. Starring Fred Savage and Howie Mandel.

Ghost Dad (1990)
America’s favorite dad Bill Cosby dies and then comes back as a ghost to make sure that his kids are properly taken care of. It’s Ghost without all the gunplay and pottery wheel kissing scenes. If Tyler Perry wasn’t so busy doing a million and a half projects, I would say a modernized remake of this '90s paranormal feel good family flick would be cute. Starring Bill Cosby and directed by Sidney Poitier.

The Addams Family (1991)
This movie was a classic long before it was even released. Focusing on the ever popular Addams Family, this film was viewed by a wide variety of audiences that included both adults and kids alike. Plus, its paranormal theme sent a message to dysfunctional families all across the United States that it’s okay to be weird. Starring Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christina Ricci and Christopher Lloyd.

Hocus Pocus (1993)
Hocus Pocus is hands down my favorite witch themed kids movie. The movie stars the glorious triumvirate of divas Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as the three sister witches who find themselves resurrected into modern day Salem Massachusetts on Halloween night. It’s kids vs evil witches as two teenagers, a young girl, and an immortal cat race to put an end to the witches reign of terror once and for all. The Witches, based on the Roald Dahl book, is another great witch themed film released in 1990 but it's a little too scary for the younger kids.

Casper (1995)
Casper, the friendly ghost meets a paranormal expert played by Bill Pullman when he and his daughter, played by Christina Ricci, move into a haunted abandoned house.

Monsters VS Aliens (2009)
A woman is struck by a meteorite and turned into a giant on her wedding day, talk about a wedding day jinx. Now heads, shoulders and skyscrapers taller than her fiancee, the lady-giant decides to use her powers for good and befriends a team of government sanctioned monsters in an effort to defeat an alien mastermind attempting take over the planet. Starring Reese Witherspoon, Rainn Wilson and Stephen Colbert. Kid audiences saw the release of many alien and monster themed films in the early/mid 2000s such as Planet 51 (2009), Aliens in the Attic (2009) and Monsters, Inc (2001)

What did we miss? Any paranormal kid's movies that should be added to the list? Any that should be struck due to awful '80s sensibilities?

Paranormal Pop Comics May 9

2012-05-09T11:27:00.000-04:00

BY ERIN WOLF

Lonely teenage witch Courtney Crumrin finally finds a new frenemy to pal around with, crackerjack monster killer Dancy Flammarius does a touching Beatles tribute in Alabaster Wolves and Frankenstein is back, alive and terribly moody in a super duper Niles/Wrightson team up that has nerds across the world on their feet with applause, all this and more in this week’s Paranormal Pop Comic Rundown:

Courtney Crumrin #2
Oni Press
Written by and Art by Ted Naifeh

There’s a new witch in town and Courtney Crumrin can’t decide if she’s a friend or foe. No stranger to the dangers of magic and Night Things, Courtney takes the new girl under her wing sharing spells and advice with her like any friend would. But, the budding friendship is quickly quashed when witchy wannabe Holly starts using Courtney’s spells for personal gain. Didn’t this girl ever see Teen Witch or Charmed or Sabrina the Teenage Witch? That is rule #1 is adolescent magic, no personal gain spells, sheesh! After a passive aggressive highschool girl argument, Holly later tries to get back at Courtney by luring her into Goblin Town. But, when her “genius” plan backfires, she gets them both captured for good. Now it’s up to the two girls to decide if they can put their petty differences aside long enough to figure out how to get the heck out of Goblin Town alive.

Alabaster Wolves #2 (of 5)
Darkhorse
Written by Caitlin R. Kiernan; Art by Steve Lieber

Dancy is hurt and her wound is starting to fester. With only a bird for help and companionship, our fair skinned heroine rummages through an abandoned drugstore to gather medication for her wound. In search of a safe place to heal, Dancy heads over to the local church despite the warnings to stay away voiced by her snarky feathered friend. Turns out birdy was right and once inside, Dancy is forced to fight for her life against a whole gaggle of wolves and monsters amongst the pews and crosses of the formerly hallowed chapel. While in the throws of battle, the young woman warrior fights to the tune of the popular Beatles song ‘Blackbird’ which is appropriate as Dancy herself has a “broken wing.” Another testament to the artful narrative by Caitlin R. Kiernan, I’m sure John, Paul, George and Ringo would approve.

Frankenstein Alive, Alive! #1
IDW
Written by Steve Niles; Art by Bernie Wrightson

Bernie Wrightson and Steve Niles have teamed up to bring back old school Frankenstein’s monster. Not the flat top green guy with bolts in his neck, but the deformed super tall gaunt skeletal monster based on Wrightson’s original illustrations from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in 1983. Bernie’s back and so is Frankie but you’d think that all that time off would have lightened the alienated monster’s mood a little. Nope. Even though we find the big guy in a new line of work, the circus, and surrounded by loving friends, carnies, he still suffers from feelings of shame and abandonment from his creator, Dr. Frankenstein. This comic is moody, introspective and downright poetic…I can’t wait until issue #2!

Also released this week:
The Walking Dead #97
IDW
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9 - Freefall #9
Darkhorse
Ferals #5
Avatar
Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #9
DC
i, Zombie #25
Vertigo

'Avengers' vindicates geek community

2012-05-08T09:48:00.000-04:00

BY AARON SAGERS

So yeah, I loved The Avengers.

Let’s simmer on that word for a few: love. Love for a movie is a pretty significant emotion, and yet I stand by it. While not perfect (the gripes are ridiculously minor), the film was a pure joy. It delivered on the promise of a Marvel-ous adventure with Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and (finally) an awesome, Incredible Hulk.

But this isn’t a movie review.

Instead, it’s more of an “I told you so,” to Hollywood power brokers locked into the philosophy that audiences crave dark heroes and sober plot lines, and that the geeks who grew up loving the source material could not be trusted to make a blockbuster.

Nerd favorite writer and producer Joss Whedon assembled The Avengers, who stormed the box office last Friday. There was a sense by Sunday that everything had changed for superhero movies.

On Sunday night, Walt Disney Co., which owns the Marvel Comics characters, announced the new flick had debuted to $200.3 million (later updated to $207.4 million) – the largest all-time opening weekend for a movie (and yes, a sequel is coming). But for fanboys and comic geeks like me who had been tracking the super-group superhero movie, this was no big surprise.

OK, so it was a little bit of a surprise - a pleasant one - but we geeks had been waiting for this.

In fact, we’ve been debating, discussing and having fantasy casting sessions for the movie for years. Geeks have been so patient, waiting for a movie that could pit Earth's (and Asgard's) mightiest heroes against themselves before teaming them up to battle a common, villainous threat.

(Read more ...)

'Games of Thrones' recap: 'The Old Gods and the New'

2012-05-07T11:50:00.000-04:00

Rose Leslie as Ygritte, courtesy HBO

BY LARISSA MRYKALO

Events in Westeros are starting to unravel like a favorite sweater. In an episode where what could go wrong did, we found some powerful people with “pie” on their face, a slow and tortuous beheading and a dragon-less princess.

Dreams do come true ... at least if you’re Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright). Poor, sweet, little Lord Stark was roused from his slumber by ungrateful former Stark ward, Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen). Theon announced his take-over of Winterfell and coaxed Bran to tell residents that he has yielded to Theon.

Luckily, Maester Luwin (Donald Sumpter) wrote a quick note about what Theon did and sent it to the Robb Stark (Richard Madden) camp via Raven Express. In a heartbreaking scene where you could almost feel the cold and rain, Bran instructs his subjects to serve Theon. Theon starts barking orders straightaway and tells Maeter Luwin to have his sister send more men.

Osha the wildling (Natalia Tena) then addresses Theon and asks to serve him. She wants her freedom but we find out later that she is pretty cunning in her plan. Remember last week when Bran dreamt that Ser Rodrik Cassel (Ron Donachie) met his demise? Well, he gets captured and starts to reprimand Theon, saying how Ned Stark (Sean Bean) raised him, blah, blah, blah ... and Rodrik eventually spits in Theon’s face. That didn’t go over too well, and in a scene reminiscent, of Ned Stark’s final moments, Theon’s first mate encourages him to make him pay the Iron Price or he will lose the respect of his new subjects. The crowd pleads for Rodrik’s life and he bravely turns to Bran to reassure him that, “I’m off to see your father.” He utters his final words to Theon, “Gods help you Theon Greyjoy, now you are truly lost.” In one of the most cringe-worthy scenes (and there’s a lot of them in this show), Theon uses his sword to incrementally decapitate the loyal servant to the Stark house. He can’t do anything right the first time, can he?

The scenes in the Frost Fangs with Jon Snow (Kit Harington) should come with a complimentary blanket. Qhorin Halfhand (Simon Armstrong) is a higher-ranking ranger for the Nightwatch and kind of a know-it-all. He, Jon Snow and three other men are still out looking for the wildlings camp. They eventually come upon a small group and immediately attack them. Snow is faced with a kill and discovers that his victim is a hot red-head with remarkably shiny hair and flawless skin, considering the harsh conditions. Her name is Ygritte (Rose Leslie) and she’s feisty. Jon is left by his men to kill her but he just can’t cut off her pretty little head. She escapes and gives him chase through the snowy hills and valleys and he eventually catches up with her. Ygritte reminds him that it is getting dark and that he is lost and questions that his men will even look for him. In true red-head fashion, she encourages a cuddle session so they could keep warmer. She then gives meaning to the term “Horizontal Mambo” by grinding her hips against his. He makes her stop. Like he could even feel anything through those multiple layers of animal fur. We later discover that wildlings are well-versed at “savage” things so Jon really missed out!

Back in gloomtastic Harrenhal, Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) continues to dutifully serve Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance), now as his book fetcher. He is pretty pissed off at his illterate cousin for mis-delivering a note about Robb Stark and even says that literate Arya should devise his next battle plan. Arya then experiences an “uh oh” moment when Lord Baelish (Aidan Gillen) enters and we stressfully watch as she tries to dodge his sight. She knows that he has seen her back in King’s Landing. Baelish discusses Renly’s mysterious death with Tywin and how prosperous, yet rebellious, the Tyrell family is and how Renly’s widow Margaery wants to be Queen. But we were more concerned with how he suspiciously looked at Arya, right? In a later, oddly touching, scene, Tywin asks Arya about how she knows how to read and she spins a yarn about her late stonemason father and how “loyalty killed him”. Tywin tells her about his father who nearly destroyed the Lannister house and name. He also tells her how he taught his son Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) to read. As he is telling her his story, Arya steals the undelivered note about defeating her brother Robb and leaves.

Unfortunately, she gets caught by Tywin’s illiterate cousin and he discovers the note. She flees and runs to find Jaqen H’ghar (Tom Wlaschiha) so she could name this man as her second victim so she is safe from Tywin’s obvious retaliation. The man drops dead as he enters to tell Tywin. Damn that dreamy genie is impressive!

Poor Queen Cersei (Lena Headey) stands on the shore of King’s Landing and watches as her young daughter is rowed away to Dorn at the command of her brother, Tyrion (Peter Dinklage). He assures her that it is for her own good and safety but Cersei is not comforted. Compassionate King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) starts busting his little brother for crying over losing his sister. Sansa (Sophie Turner) reminds Joffrey that he has cried before and this puts him in yet another pissy mood. He leaves with his bodyguard (and brother of Harrenhal’s famous torturer, The Mountain), The Hound (Rory McCann). He and the rest of the family make their way through the town. The townsfolk say a couple of nice things about Joffrey but then Tyrion senses that the crowd is getting all worked-up. Joffrey literally gets shit-faced and proclaims "kill them all." This prompts a Walking Dead-like scene that probably had a few viewers checking to see what show they were watching. Tyrion jumps into action to keep his family safe but Joffrey doesn’t seem to care about the whereabouts of his Lady Sansa. In an epic smackdown between Joffrey and Tyrion, Tyrion points out the absurd and reckless stupidity of his "viscious idiot king," slaps his face and demands that they safely find Sansa. Without her, getting Jaime back is a lost cause. (If Dinklage doesn’t win the Emmy again, it’s a shame.) Poor Sansa is about to get gang-raped in another super unnerving scene but the Hound comes to the rescue and disembowels the men in a weirdly calm manner. “Alright Little Bird, you’re alright.” Impressive moves, Hound!

Party on Qarth! Sorry, couldn’t resist. Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) is impatiently waiting to talk to the fancy-pants Spice Merchant for use of his ships so she could take back her Iron Throne. She says that she’ll pay him back three-fold but he questions that she has no back-up and he can’t make an investment on "wishes and dreams." She brags about how she is special and became the “mother of dragons” and that she is "no ordinary women ... my dreams come true." Sorry Little Princess, you’re not getting your boats from Mr. Spice.

Back at camp Robb Stark, he spots the object of his affection, nurse Talisa (Oona Chaplin) and starts flirting by telling her she’s a lady, accusing her of being a spy ... typical pick-up lines in Westeros. Unfortunately, in walks Lady Cockblocker ... I mean Lady Catelyn (Michelle Fairley), and they get introduced. She then reminds Robb that he is bethrothed to another on a deal she had made. Then, Lord Roose Bolton (Michael McElhatton) presents them with the ominous news from Winterfell. Robb is furious and wants to get and essentially kill Theon for what he has done. Lord Bolton offers to have his son go because Robb needs to take care of business here and win the war.

Speaking of Theon, we haven’t seen him get any action for a while now, have we? Well thanks to wildling Osha and her willingness to show him her savage ways for her freedom, he gets some. Oh and we get to see some nudity this week. She’s impressively well-groomed for a wildling though, isn’t she? Anyway, in the afterglow, she leaves Theon’s bed, and encounters one of the guards who is keeping watch for Theon. She starts to seduce him and then slits his throat. This allows the Stark brothers to escape. Thanks for taking one for the team Osha!

The final scene starts off calmly enough with Xaro Xhoan Daxos (Nonso Anozie) telling rejected and humbled Daenerys about how he came to Qarth broke, and amassed his riches gradually and unhonorably. This conversation gets cut short when Daenerys finds her people slaughtered and, OH NO!, her three baby dragons stolen from their cages! She turns into a frantic momma and screams, “WHERE ARE MY DRAGONS!” They are being mysteriously carried off to a high tower by a shrouded person, that’s where.

Where are Daenerys’ dragons being taken? Will the relationship between Jon Snow and the beautifully-named red-head, heat up a little more? Will Tyrion’s hand indeed fall off from slapping King Joffrey? Until next week Thronies...

“A Man Without Honor” airs next Sunday on HBO at 9pm ET/PT.

'Good Morning America' takes on haunted house lawsuit

2012-05-05T10:05:00.000-04:00

Disney's Haunted Mansion in Orlando is not
the rental property in question

(First reported on April 16, 2012)

Any old haunted house story shown in the local news isn't quite our beat, but when that story makes its way to Good Morning America - which overtook the 16-year ratings streak of competitor morning show Today - it becomes the territory of Paranormal Pop Culture.

The story, as reported by GMA (and the Asbury Park Press), is that a New Jersey couple rented a "haunted house" from their orthodontist landlord and now want out of the lease because he never told them about the spooks. Apparently the majority of the haunting manifests itself in tapping on a TV, taps on a shoulder, sheets being tugged on and flickering lights. Not exactly bleeding walls and a vortex to hell, but the couple still claims they did record an EVP that said "let it burn."

When the couple brought in the Shore Paranormal Research Society (GMA said they "hired" them), the team caught footage of a bowling pin falling down in the basement. That's right, a bowling pin! How that immediately translates into "residual and paranormal activity" isn't quite clear, however.

UPDATE: NJ.com has reported that the couple, Jose Chinchilla and his fiancee Michele Callan, will appear with the landlord in an episode of The People's Court. Filmed in New York City, the episode could air within a few weeks.

The big bad god: Tom Hiddleston brings mischief to 'The Avengers' as Loki

2012-05-03T12:36:00.000-04:00

Hiddleston as Loki, Courtesy Marvel Studios

BY AARON SAGERS

Tom Hiddleston aims to misbehave. Unless you’ve been living under a rock in Asgard – or frozen in suspended animation – you know the English actor is reprising his role as villainous Loki in the biggest super hero flick ever, The Avengers.

Directed by Joss Whedon (who incidentally coined the “misbehave” line for Serenity), the new blockbuster pits four of the most iconic Marvel Comics heroes, along with help from three other well-known characters, against one god of mischief. Sure, Loki does get help from a few lackies, but in Hiddleston’s words, Avengers is a “solo villain” movie – and Hiddleston is more than ready to relish the fight.

So who is the man who can take on the superpowered supergroup of his half-brother Thor, Captain America, Hulk and Iron Man, as well as Nick Fury, Black Widow and Hawkeye? Born in Westminster, England, the 31-year-old actor is known more for chewing scenery in theatrical productions and dramas than for chewing up (and spitting out?) comic book legends.

Still, after director and Shakespearean buff Kenneth Branagh hired him as fallen prince Loki in the 2011 sci-fi/fantasy flick Thor, Hiddleston showed he could transform a two-dimensional funny page antagonist into a believable, sympathetic and just plain menacing three-dimensional baddie. The Thor performance was enough to convince fanboy favorite Whedon – who also penned The Avengers – that Loki was enough to support an entire movie’s worth of conflict.

In a recent interview at the Disney offices in New York, Hiddleston spoke with Paranormal Pop Culture about the challenges of being the big bad in The Avengers, as well as the evolution of his character, his work with Whedon and the giant group hug that was the Hollywood superstar cast. And in case he ever does need a super-villain group, Hiddleston reveals who he’d assemble for his own legion of doom. (after the jump)

Q: This is the second time you’re playing the god of mischief. What are the differences between working with Kenneth Branagh and now Joss Whedon?

Whedon on set, Courtesy Marvel Studios

A: The thing about the two of them is they actually share more than you might at first imagine, weirdly. Joss is a huge Shakespeare buff, and Ken’s actually a closet comic book fanboy. True story. But also they both have a kind of pan-literacy about storytelling and mythology and literature and comics. They understand classic tropes of storytelling and narrative arcs. They are both immensely passionate people, and really good at leading; really good at inspiring actors. But everyone has a different artistic fingerprint and, of course, whatever that is – whatever that fingerprint is – it changes as you grow older anyway. Ken has a very classical warmth about him, I think. Thor is both warm and classical, in turn. Joss is really interested in comedy, as well, within a sci-fi context. He has this huge canvas where eight super heroes are teaming up to save the world and he’s brave enough to make it funny.

Q: How does that affect your performance as Loki?

A: He changes in that he’s definitively more menacing. A lot more. Loki, in Thor, is a lost prince and there’s a degree of vulnerability and confusion about his identity. In The Avengers, he knows exactly who he is. He’s fully self-possessed, and he’s here with a particular mission.

Q: Why does Loki need to take out vengeance on Earth?

A: Like all delusional autocrats, he doesn’t see it as vengeance. He sees it as a good thing. Essentially he’s come down to Earth to subjugate it; to rule the human race as their king. His primary argument is: This planet is rife and populated by people constantly fighting each other; if they’re all united together in their reverence of one king, there will be no war. I’m not sure he’s right about that! [laughs]

But that’s his reasoning. There’s also a motivation about him … To bring Hemsworth into it, there’s still a jealousy that Thor gets to have a kingdom … Thor gets a kingdom, Thor gets Asgard and Loki has nothing. So he’s going to come and make his own kingdom.

Q: You mentioned Joss Whedon’s comedy. Do you get any comedy or are you all hellfire and brimstone.

A: Literally a lot of hellfire and brimstone, but also Joss had two notes for me: One was “more feral,” and the other was “enjoy yourself.” I think there’s a kind of relish that Loki takes in just being who he is. I hope the audience will enjoy it as well.

Q: You had some awesome physicality at the end of Thor. Will we see more of that in The Avengers?

A: Definitively.

Q: And are you working alone or do you maybe have some cronies?

A: There’s a lot of working alone and a little bit of support as well.

Q: How do you handle taking on eight super heroes as only one bad guy?

Avengers assembled, Courtesy Marvel Studios

A: It’s all in a day’s work, man. [laughs]. There’s something about Loki that’s been expanded. He is an enormously powerful being. He’s the god of mischief, and between the end of Thor and the beginning of Avengers, he’s evolved. It is as if he’s been on three years’ worth of military training; like he knows a few extra things - tricks up his sleeve. It’s really fun. It’s hugely physically demanding for me because there’s a kind of lethal, yet sinewy strength he has. Sometimes it is about magic and sort of a supernatural power he has, and other times a raw physicality – which is just me and my body, day in, day out.

Q: Either before or during shooting, did you and Chris [Hemsworth] discuss what interactions you’d have, or how you want to contrast it with what you did in the first movie – or did you purposefully try to separate yourself?

A: We sat down with Joss individually, and then we talked about it together. But Joss had such good ideas that it was just sort of following his lead. Because it’s not a sequel to the Thor film – it’s a sequel to the Iron Man films and the Captain America film, as well – and his idea was just so smart. It is a huge compliment that Joss thought what I did in Thor was okay enough to warrant putting me in the next one. And I think Joss has soft spot for Loki; he kind of likes him as a character and thought he could take both Thor and Loki further down that path, and make the sibling rivalry a really interesting element of the clash of egos in The Avengers.

Q: So there was no amiable critiquing between you and Chris … in terms of how you guys interacted without Joss?

A: I’m so blessed to have such a great relationship with Chris as an actor. I remember our first scene together in The Avengers and Joss was like, “you really make each other better; that’s a really amazing thing to watch…” We just bring some extra baggage that’s good because we’ve played brothers for so long. It is not an intellectual thing. It’s like when you play tennis with someone and you’re just evenly matched.

Q: Loki doesn’t traditionally have as cool of a signature weapon as some of the heroes, so what prop or weapon are you jealous of from The Avengers, and did you get to play with any of those?

A: Those Avengers are very protective of their props. There was one day where I managed to slightly mischievously steal Captain America’s shield and Thor’s hammer. I was parading around the subterranean tunnel with the shield – and one of the producers saw me and was like, “What are you doing with those?” [laughs]. Also, because you know nobody can lift Thor’s hammer. But you know, I’m not particularly jealous of them, I wouldn’t say. I’ve got quite a good one in this.

Q: You’ve got this team of super heroes, a super-friend group. Who would be your evil super friends?

A: My evil super friends? From like, Marvel?

Q: Anywhere: Literature, Marvel, movies. Put them together.

Vader super friend? Courtesy Marvel Studios

A: My evil super friends. Um, that’s an amazing question. This is going to take me some time. A little bit of help from Darth Vader if I might want to do this. Hans Gruber from Die Hard. Maybe Scar from The Lion King. Robert Patrick from Terminator 2 – the T-1000. Probably Schwarzenegger from Terminator one.

Q: Any Shakespearean villians?

A: Iago, absolutely. That’s a pretty awesome group of people.

Q: I think you’ve given the Avengers a run for their money and probably better lines … What is that fun little toy you’re playing with in the trailer?

A: It’s kind of an evolution of the staff that he played with at the end of “Thor.” But that’s Odin’s spear. At the end of “Thor” it’s Odin’s spear, but this is his own makeshift staff of destruction.

Q: How versed were you in Marvel mythology before the movies?

A: In England we have this game called Top Trumps, and it’s a really simple game for kids where you have them for racing cars or fighting planes. I had the Marvel super hero Top Trumps and you literally – each super hero is on each card with their vital statistics – and we’d split the deck. You’d have Thor and I’d have Loki, and you’d say, “height: 7-foot 2,” and I’d say, “seven foot,” which means you’d win Loki from me. So my acquaintance with Marvel super heroes came from the game.

Q: Did you have a favorite?

A: Galactus. He’s the Top Trump in super villains.

Q: How deep into Norse mythology did you go? And how difficult is it to create a character based off a comic, based off a myth?

A: In many ways I had to defer to canon, to Marvel. They already had a very clear take on the world they wanted to make. But I really sort of borrowed from both. In Marvel mythology, initial incarnations have him just cackling on the rooftops. He’s very much a two-dimensional villain. Really, it was only in the Norse myths, when I went back and read some of them how psychologically complex Loki seemed to be. He’s the god of lies, the god of deception.

Every religion seems to have an agent of chaos. In Greek mythology, it’s Dionysus. In Roman mythology, it’s Bacchus. In Norse myths, it’s Loki and back in the day, many strange things were going down and people would go, “Loki’s around.” So I took the fraternal stuff, the family rivalries – which seemed really based in Norse mythology too … ultimately those stories are quite similar to other stories in all mythologies of different religions. He’s a kind of Lucifer, in a way. There’s an image of Loki who’s condemned eternally to the Underworld, and there’s a snake with a terrible poisonous venom – and Loki’s mouth is forced open – and it drips its venom into his mouth for eternity. The goddess of death, I think Hela, is trying to protect him from the venom with a bowl but she occasionally must empty the bowl, which means the snake’s venom goes into his mouth. That seems to me to be a kind of archetypal image from any religion about damnation. You get your comeuppance in the end.

Q: Can you talk about the camaraderie on the set? Did anyone say you’re a villain and keep you at arm’s length?

A: No, they didn’t. All the Marvel films have a code name to keep things secret. Thor was called “Frost Bite” or something. The Avengers code name was “Group Hug.” There was huge camaraderie on set. Probably because none of us could quite believe we were there making that film – in the beginning. Also, we were shooting in Albuquerque and Cleveland.

Of course, nobody is from Albuquerque or Cleveland and no one has got anywhere else to go. So you finish up at work and it’s like, “Does anyone want to have a beer or something?” And we had some fun houses. Chris Hemsworth had a good tennis-table table. I have to say that Loki beats the crap out of both Thor and Captain America at table tennis.

Q: Did you guys actually go out to bars?

A: We did, yeah. We actually did. It was surreal and really fun. There was one night where Chris sent a round robin text message saying, “Avengers assemble!” We ended up at a bar in Albuquerque and it’s just the place where everyone goes to hang out on a Saturday night. What was quite interesting was your regular Albuquerque bargoer sort of looking around going, “Is that Jeremy Renner doing a lunge on the dance floor? I think it is.” Or like, “Why are Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson in this bar dancing together? I don’t know what’s going on.” But yeah, it was really fun.

Made to be rule? Courtesy Marvel Studios

Q: Did Samuel L. Jackson go with the patch to the bar?

A: No, he didn’t. He might not have been at that bar; he might have had a big round of golf the next morning.

Q: What is Loki’s relationship with Stellan Skarsgard in this movie?

A: This is where I can sense the dot forming on my forehead from the Marvel sniper in the corner of the roof over there. He’s got his eye on me ... He plays the same character in The Avengers, Erik Selvig, who is a scientist. He’s employed by SHIELD after his encounters with them in Thor to do some work with them.

Q: How will The Avengers avoid the pitfalls of the multiple villain adventure?

A: I wouldn’t really say there’s multiple villains. I would say it’s solo villain. It’s really like Loki. Loki is the bad guy; that doesn’t mean he doesn’t commandeer help. But everyone’s aware that you have eight super heroes. If you had eight villains as well in a two-hour picture, that’s a lot of people to care about and get behind. We don’t have that time … I think Joss’ great genius, in the way he put the film together, is that these guys don’t find it easy to share the space. It’s not an easily functioning team. You see a bit in the trailer of Steve Rogers and Tony Stark sort of bickering about “take the suit away, what are you?” I think a lot of the strength and uniqueness of the film comes in the fact there’s a lot of square peg/round hole fitting going on between them.

Q: A lot of actors, when they’re prepping for a role, lock onto one line that sort of charges them for the character. With Loki being the big bad of The Avengers, what was that line? When you said it, you felt, “Damn straight, I am Loki.”

A: Oh god, um … There’s so many. There’s one in the first scene that I’m trying to remember now. I’m playing it back in my mind … I don’t know if I can tell you because it’s a bit of a spoiler.

Q: I think you can tell us.

A: [laughs] Um … it’s connected to the one in the trailer, which is [in character of Loki]: “You were made to be ruled.” And I think that smacks of entitlement and arrogance – and a sort of menace, in way, that sums Loki up. There’s more where that came from!

Paranormal Pop Comics May 2nd

2012-05-02T11:14:00.000-04:00

BY ERIN WOLF

It was a week of rare optimism as a fat dude with a nasty nicotine habit miraculously finds the only remaining phone booth in North America while Swamp Thing finally learns to love again and the war brides of Meta Legion stop getting their nails done long enough to pitch in and help the team in this overly joyous, happy happy good times Paranormal Pop Comics Rundown:

Dial H #1
DC
Written by China Miéville; Art by Mateus Santolouco

Nelson is overweight, unemployed and smokes too damn much. Normally a guy like that would not be considered the superhero type but when he stumbles upon his friend Darren getting his face pounded at a nearby alley, Nelson rushes to a phone booth to call for help only to be instantly transformed into Chimney Boy. It’s not until later that our anti-hero discovers that anytime he needs a little help all he has to do is dial h-e-r-o and he will be instantly transformed into a butt kicking supernatural badass. Too bad Verizon doesn’t offer “hero” service…

Swamp Thing #9
DC
Written by Scott Snyder; Art by Yanick Paquette and Marco Rudy

Swamp Thing finally faces his former girlfriend turned giant evil dentally-challenged ant monster in this week's Rot vs Green showdown. If only Swampy can remind her of her former self then when she turns back into a purple orchid lady everything will be resolved with a quick hug and walk into the swamp-set, right? Wrong. Even the newly formed super supernatural duo of the green man and his recently reunited fierce orchid skin gal pal isn't enough to broker peace in the midst of environmental turmoil. Together they still have to face the evil manchild and whomever it is that is seen bubbling out of the swamp in the next issue. Boy, I’m glad that I don’t live near water…

Supurbia #3 (of 4)
Boom!
Written by Grace Randolph; Art by Russell Dauterman

While the Meta Legion is off fighting a robotic alien invasion, the families of the superheroes stay at home wringing their hands hoping their loved ones will make it out alive. Supurbia seamlessly blends the inertia of home life with the death-defying acrobats of caped crusaders in this Desperate Housewives meets The Incredibles storytelling hybrid. Talk of broken marriages and explanations of why mommy fights bad guys for a living is mixed with the classic monologue ramblings of an evil Fabio looking villain and superhero-esque battle scenes. I just wonder what kind of detergent they use to wash the Meta Legion’s uniforms...or are they dry clean only?

Also released this week:
30 Days of Night #7
IDW
Animal Man #9
DC
Avengers vs. X-Men #3 (of 12)
Marvel
Fanboys vs. Zombies #2
Boom!
Grimm Fairy Tales: Myths & Legends #16
Zenescope
X-O Manowar #1
Valiant

Paranormal Pop Comics News:

The Avengers open the New York Stock Exchange
On Tuesday, May 1st, executives and guests of Marvel Studios, along with actors Tom Hiddleston (Loki) and Clark Gregg (Agent Phil Coulson), visited the New York Stock Exchange and rang The Opening Bell to highlight the May 4th premiere of the highly anticipated Super Hero film, “Marvel’s The Avengers.”

It's true that Marvel has been advertising the hell out of this movie but does anyone else find the headline “The Avengers Open the NYSE” to be especially cool because it infers that the Avengers really do exist? Just for a moment, when I first saw the headline, I got goosebumps imagining a world in which superheroes were real. Well done Marvel, now if there were only a publicity stunt where you could actually create real superheroes...

The Avengers at the NYSE (Marvel.com)