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"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" Forgotten Horrors: Bad Ronald Kokkuri Death and Redemption of the Message Board I'm Calling It Par 69 .... Baseball Notes .... Hey Were Frosted.....hey I'm Dead .... The Nominees Are .... Happy Birthday .... .... .... .... Mike's Record Shelf ' Assistant Editor / Co-moderator: Terence Nuzum Established A.D. 2000, March 19. Now in our eleventh calendar year! Number 511  (Vol. 11, No. 2). This edition is for the week of January 4--10, 2010. Old Year / New Year Crazed Fanboy Now On Facebook A Decade of Crazed Fanboy's Most Memorable Moments Old Year / New Year A Year-Old Misspelling Readers' Comments CRAZED FANBOY NOW ON FACEBOOK POSTED BY NOLAN B. CANOVA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 7. 2010 Long-time Facebook members who are also fans of Crazed Fanboy are already aware of this development, but just to illuminate some behind-the-scenes stuff: as of last Sunday, Crazed Fanboy is now a member of Facebook. This was an initiative taken by CF's co-editor/co-manager Terence Nuzum for the goal of enhancing our web presence and, hopefully, will result in increased traffic from new readers. And maybe even remind older readers who've fallen away that we're still here. -- THE FIRST DECADE -- Crazed Fanboy's Most Memorable Moments, 2000--2009 As submitted by PCR writers, compiled by Chris Woods MEGACON 2004 A look back at Megacon 2004 featuring the cast of Lost in Space. Also featured in this issue, Megaconned Too! by ED Tucker. Long-time PCR readers may recall my ambivalence to networking sites after a two-year run on MySpace turned rather sour. At the time, Facebook was gaining ground, but was nowhere near the omnipresent behemoth it would become. Looking at new ways to promote PCR recently prompted us to look at Facebook as a potentially powerful way to accomplish that. I am indebted to Terence for organizing and managing our Facebook site and we encourage everyone with a Facebook account to check it out. Unlike MySpace, there is no specific link that I can publish here, one must log into their account, do a search, and become a "friend" (that part's similar to MySpace). Of course, if we have similar friends, messages have already alerted you to our presence. A DECADE OF CRAZED FANBOY'S MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS POSTED BY NOLAN B. CANOVA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 7. 2010 Appearing as a new feature last week, but unannounced by Ye Olde Editor (mea culpa--too much holiday excitement, haha), is Chris Woods' new project for us, "Crazed Fanboy's Most Memorable Moments, 2000--2009" celebrating our first decade on the web. In an "office" emailing, Chris asked all current PCR writers to send him a list of their favorite PCR issues and/or special website features, their links and a brief summary, to be included in a once-a-week alert shown in the light blue box featured just under the main banner, top left. This is totally Chris's baby and I appreciate the initiative he took in suggesting and managing this undertaking. We hope everyone enjoys this year-long retrospective! OLD YEAR / NEW YEAR POSTED BY NOLAN B. CANOVA, TUESDAY, JANUARY 5. 2010 In the last two issues of PCR a few of us covered what was the best and worst of 2009, what the year meant to us, etc., etc.. While talking to my co-worker and PCR staff writer Chris Munger (Sports Talk) during our most recent shift together, we tossed a few thoughts around about what may have been the most over-rated movies of 2009. We weren't in agreement on all things, but we had a few worth mentioning. Paranormal Activity. I never saw it, but read tons of "buzz" feedback, both pro and con about this quasi-documentary-feeling dramatization of a haunting. Most people either loved it or were indifferent/bored by it. Chris rented it a few nights ago and absolutely hated it, pronouncing it the worst movie in memory. He said the few scenes even close to being scary, and a lame ending, were not worth the two hours in time and one dollar(!) rental fee. I suggested maybe the viewing experience was better in a darkened theater with a crowd. He poo-pooed the notion and dissed the flick entirely. District 9. Chris was a fan of this, but not Ye Olde Editor. I pronounced this the most over-rated flick of summer '09 months ago, and still feel that way. The original 6-minute indie short about alien-refugees-among-us-living-in-squalor that the film was based on was marvelous. But the two extra hours of padding and a boring first half that drove many viewers to walk out of the theater (myself and co-viewer Corey Castellano very nearly among them) relegates this to the short-term memory file. Avatar. Chris hasn't seen it yet, but I have. Dare I say it. James Cameron's high-profile pet project about a soldier sent to live among an alien race in the hopes of displacing them for military and corporate gain is long on techno and short on originality. The 3-D and CGI effects are certainly stellar, but it's a story most sci-fi/fantasy fans have seen many times before. Nevertheless, the sheer momentum of buzz surrounding "Avatar" has catapluted the film into the record books as being one of only five films to gross over a billion dollars worldwide---and "Avatar" has only been out three weeks! (Cameron's previous record-shatterer, 1997's "Titanic," is close to two billion at this writing.) While Hollywood's promotional efforts have evolved, its actual output tended to fall behind the hype in 2009. Let's hope 2010's fare matches up a little more evenly. Interesting side-note: last week's Top 10 Box office and this week's are exactly the same titles! Only two switched up or down a notch. A YEAR-OLD MISSPELLING POSTED BY NOLAN B. CANOVA, TUESDAY, JANUARY 5. 2010 HAHA! Oh my god, this is embarrassing. It wasn't until I was creating the new graphic for this year's PCR Archives page that I noticed a misspelling on last year's graphic: the huge word "Archives" was spelled "Archvies" and had been that way for a day short of a year! And nobody caught it!! Don't bother looking now, the 2009 Archives graphics has been corrected, but I thought that was funny enough to mention. Readers' Comments The Readers' Comment section for this issue of PCR is now closed. To continue to interact, please use the Message Board or write a Letter to the Editor! The comments below are listed starting with the most recent. Thank you. Crazed FanComments -- We Welcome Reader Feedback on any article(s) on this page. ED [12-01-2010 06:25]   I will see what I can do Mike, I am still looking for Desiree Cousteau myself! Michael [12-01-2010 06:00]   Steve, I share your pain. My son and I were at the game in St. Louis when Mac hit #62. Now it's just another roid-aided home run. ED, indeed she was a classic. If you ever track down Dorothy LeMay, let me know........my all time porn crush! ED [12-01-2010 05:32]   R.I.P. Adult film star Juliet "Aunt Peg" Anderson, dead at 71. She was a star back when porn rally meant something! Steve - former baseball fan - Beasley [11-01-2010 21:18]   Mark McGwire admits steroid use while chasing Hank Aaron's HR record. DAMMIT! Happy Young Man [11-01-2010 09:46]   And prayers go out to Artie Lange following his suicide attempt. Deserved a mention on the front page. Simon Lynx [11-01-2010 04:28]   R.I.P. Ludvig Borga/Tony Halme ED [10-01-2010 09:20]   True that Joel. It's amazing how much impact films like this had on us back in the 70's as kids. I doubt anyone now would be the least bit scared seeing Bad Ronald for the first time but I got a kind of creepy feeling watching it again. It was like a subconscious feeling that I should be scared because I remember being scared by this 35 years ago. Joel D. Wynkoop [10-01-2010 08:32]   Ed, Cool write up on BAD RONALD. I think I was in the ninth grade when I saw that on TV. I remember telling my buddy about it at school, in fact I think I may have been at his house when we watched it. Anyway, thanks for the memories like the song says. Cool that it is on DVD. Next time I see it I'll have to pick it up and take a trip back to the seventies. Movies are our own personal time machines, sort of. ED [10-01-2010 07:23]   Thanks John, Donovan and I still laugh about that story all the time. Haig has been to many shows in the Central Florida area since that time and I also got a Devil's Rejects poster from him that is now signed by most of the cast. J.MILLER [10-01-2010 06:16]   This weeks memorable moments was a great selection...I am really jealous of Ed's House Of A 1k Corpses poster signed by Sid Haig Jason Fetters [09-01-2010 02:49]   saw Avatar 3D last night and to me it had pretty visuals with a weak plot. I probably liked it more then I hated it. Only enjoyable to a causal Sci Fi movie goer. Chris Woods [07-01-2010 16:30]   Joel - Thanks, glad you liked the review of Class of 1984. I always liked the film when I first saw it on TBS back in the day. Chris Woods [07-01-2010 16:16]   The 70's had a lot of great TV movies. The horror films were always creepy and just as scary as ones that were out in the theater. I remember some when I was a kid and then saw most of them when they were shown on TBS or TNT in the 80's and 90's. There were also some cool mini-series during that time. Helter Skelter comes to mind. That was a good film. ED [07-01-2010 10:48]   Glad you enjoyed it Petrey. I am going to try to get to more columns on lessor known films and DVD reviews this year. We will see how I do. Petrey [07-01-2010 10:19]   Never believe the page when it says you have 5 charcters left. I meant to say Good Article Ed, Very Detailed. And yes, Crowhaven does have atmosphere but not as good as the other 2. Petrey [07-01-2010 10:15]   Ed- That's why I wrote "bought the rights" in my message. You see, I used to sell these very titles and I checked with the copyright website on every title I sold before doing so. Those titles had not been picked up by Warner at the time. It was only until they saw a huge market in old TV movies that they bought the rights. U.S.A. Home Video had the rights for a while and Warner was nowhere on their log at the government copyright center. But being the pricks they are who apparently didn't make enough money off a dead actor in "THE DARK KNIGHT" they would rather present you with a cease and desist order, throw big numbers around like they are going to get it out of you to intimidate you. The cool thing was I was getting ready to shut the site down due to fatigue and hit the road for 3 weeks. I even laid into them about a 35mmforum where hundreds of guys 'collect' 35MM prints to see what the legality of that was. The fallout from that is going quite nicely, ha ha! Good article B ED [07-01-2010 09:11]   Ter - there is very little from that time period that is on par with Dark. I mainly just want to see Crowhaven Farm again for the nostalgia fix. Terence [07-01-2010 08:44]   Ed- saw Crowhaven Farm this Halloween. it wasn't all that great. it was ok but not up to par with Don't Be Afraid of the Dark by any stretch of the imagination. ED [07-01-2010 07:57]   Petrey - Warner obviously owns the rights to Bad Ronald and other Lorimar titles now or they would not be releasing them. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark was also originally produced by Lorimar for television and is available through Warner. I am hoping they put Crowhaven Farm out sometime soon as well. I haven't seen that movie in 20 years and as I recall it had a lot of atmoshpere too. Petrey [07-01-2010 01:09]   A funny note that involves Warner is there is a film I hadn't seen in 30 yrs. called RABBIT RUN with James Caan. Well the Warner Archive site doesn't sell the DVD-R BUT they do offer the 24hr. rental for 2.99 downloadable or streamed. I prefer dl because there is no chance of pauses, etc. Anyway I downloaded it and it had to install Roxio player as well. Here's a funny thing about the Cinema Now player by Roxio. Once your playback starts, the clock starts. You can watch it as many times ina 24hr, period. Well, if you add 7 hrs. onto your computer clock the movie adds the time back as well, ha ha! Also, Warner tells me I can't own this because the file will disappear in 24 hrs. and no hope to burn to disc or portable devices. I simply went to CompUSA, bought a PC TO TV box. Plugged the VGA cable into the box and it has an s-video out that I run into my DVD recorder so I CAN RECORD ANYTHING OFF THE WEB I WANT, LOL!!! Only drawback is movie starts out in SCOPE and goes to FLAT ratio : Petrey [07-01-2010 00:56]   The Warner Archive DVDs are actually DVD-Rs and there is a reason there are no extras. They have to stay under the 4.7GB amount allocated for the media to achieve the quality you would expect. They are burned on demand discs that you should back up immediately (if you know how) because they silkscreen their artwork onto the top which makes the life of a burned DVD-R even shorter, according to the techs at videohelp.com. This is why I always prefer sharpie written labeling as opposed to coloring the top side. FYI the first burned disc I made was in 2002. Although I have made a back-up of said disc, it still plays fine. Verbatim with sharpie marker. Also Warner never owned the rights to RONALD. Lorimar did. They studied which films were in demand, which films the bootleggers sold the hell out of and bought the rights and sent threatening letters to the bootleggers to remove it. BTW if you back up RONALD onto a DVD-R your quality will match Warner's disc. CONTINUED Joel D. Wynkoop [06-01-2010 20:23]   Chris CLASS OF 1984 ruled!! I loved that flick man. Cool write up. I also remember BAD RONALD, I thought that was cool too. KILL THE DAMN PUNKS!!!!! Chris Woods [06-01-2010 19:34]   NEW SCHLOCK REVIEW: Class of 1984 Chris Woods [06-01-2010 19:33]   ED - I've always wanted to see Bad Ronald. It's good that it's on DVD. I always see it at bootleg tables at conventions. Simon - The new Monday Night Wars sucked. I started a message board thread on it under Your Call. ED [06-01-2010 16:40]   That is cool Lonnie. I remember watching it as a movie of the week at least once or twice and in syndication a few years after that. The Warner Achives DVD is no frills but it is a decent transfer and it was fun to see this little oddity again. Lonnie Dohlen [06-01-2010 13:35]   Ed,BAD RONALD was a made for TV Movie for ABC when first broadcst on Oct 23,1974.I managed to catch this Movie in Early 1976 when ABC Broadcast it on their Late Night Tuesday Movie of the Week.The last time I saw it was in the summer of 1979. Michael [06-01-2010 13:06]   Everything's Archvies! Simon Lynx [05-01-2010 15:20]   Thought I'd add something to the "Pop Culture" that hardly gets mentioned here. MNW's sucked. both show's were nothing special. It was nice to see some old faces again, but it added nothing to the show's really. It's hard to have a war when you don't have the money to hang and when 90% of the world backs the other guy. Plus when both sides use old names that have already run there course and are just a shell of their former selfs. And one of your future stars is going to jail for drugs. Sounds like a great start.... It's not a WAR and shouldn't be compared to the original. It'll never be the same or have the same effect. Proove me wrong and make me believe...... Steve Beasley [05-01-2010 13:16]   Not that it's my job to check spelling and typos in general...but usually I cant help myself. Steve Beasley [05-01-2010 13:15]   Archvies? How could I have missed that! I'm better than that! Damn...old age must me setting in...the hewmin brayn's spel chekar must be the furst ta go! ED [05-01-2010 10:54]   Nolan, I did not see any of the three films you mentioned in the theaters and don't plan to. I did rent District 9 and it seemed to me like someone crossed The Office with a sci-fi flick. The story was OK but the delivery failed miserably. Jason Fetters [05-01-2010 10:11]   I saw Paranormal Activities at the theater and it is one of the worst horror movies of all time. I want those hours of my life back. Having an audience didn't help it. Brandon [05-01-2010 08:41]   Happy New Year to all!!! [31-12-1969 16:00]   End of Comments

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