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FM TRADEMARK UPDATE
Wow. That's pretty cool some of my articles were spied by the legal secretary of the firm selling the "Famous Monsters of Filmland" trademark. (Re: Announcement of auction of the trademark, last issue. --N) Equally as cool as it is, once again, being correct in past posts on the matter.

From what I understand via message boards, this "sale" is for the terminology Famous Monsters of Filmland only. The actual physical shape of the title, or LOGO, as we know it on the cover of the mag, is still soley owned by one man, Jim Warren, and was being used without permission by the scoundrel of FM lore, Ray Ferry.

Must confess that this is news to me. I didn't know two people could own the same trademark, but I guess the law sees a difference between the written title and a physical logo. One can only surmise Warren didn't push the issue because Forry was involved, or maybe he just didn't care. Who knows.

One thing's for sure, though.....you need mucho dinero if you have any thoughts of getting this famed trademark. According to Nolan in an IM, the starting bid is 200K. (Revealed to me in a follow-up email from the law firm, and a heretofore unpublished fact.--N) Certainly nothing beyond the Spielbergs and Lucases of our day, but for the Joe Schmoes and Matthew Drinnenbergs of the world, it's just a tad steep.

Of course, I will be submitting a bid anyway, just so I can say I did.

MOVIE MADNESS
A long time ago, in a lifetime far, far away, there was literally nothing that could keep me away from the joy of going to the movies. Every part of the experience was awesome, from buying the ticket, to getting the junk food, to waltzing into the theater itself.

During summer months, my parents took a direct hit in the wallet/pocket book as their blond-haired son incessantly pestered them for dinero to catch his daily flick at the Britton. But there was one movie more than all others that I just "had" to see. Once my dad found out what it was about, he wasn't so sure I should see it. But you can't keep a good Horrorhead down.

And now we have a day of new discovery. March 14th, 2003. The day WILLARD hits the big screen. The prospect of how good this could be has me feeling downright giddy. I feel like that kid years ago, once I learned of the movie and its premise, who simply can't wait to buy his ticket and be scared to death.

I can't remember the last time I was chomping at the bit to see a movie. "Rings" and "Spider-Man", for some reason, didn't get me to stand in line in breathless anticipation. "Godzilla" came close, and I enjoyed it immensely, but the pre-movie excitement still greatly paled in comparrison to what I felt then, and to what I feel now, at this moment in time.

The original version, with Bruce Davidson and Ernest Borgnine, was everything I could have hoped for. Scared the hell out of me so much I had to go out and buy a rat. I'll give you one guess what his name was.....and no....it wasn't Ben.

The Willard site is pretty impressive with tons of links to investigate. The real coup in all this, though, is Crispin Glover. Possibly the best casting decision since that of Charleton Heston in The Ten Commandments. Can't see anyone else parting the Red Sea, can't see anyone else being Willard.

Of course, if it sucks, it would rank as one of the greatest disappointments in my movie-going history. Depending on where it hits the scale, it could....COULD....overtake Phantom Menace as the greatest letdown I've ever experienced. Especially if the CGI sucks, which you know they're using.

Fortunately, this is all conjecture as it isn't released yet, but I'll let you know.

No word yet on whether or not Michael Jackson will do the love song.

Till next time, take care and God bless,
Matthew