Friday Festivus!

Palavr!

Say it loud and there's music playing. Say it soft and it's like quieter music playing. But type it in your browser and it's a kickass party so epic, the police were called...to bring more beer.

Many of you remember the virtual hangout that was Pop Syndicate, home to popping podcasts, my Friday column, and some of the best forum discussions on the 'net (ouch. sorry, I just watched Survival of the Dead and my lingo may be a little...old). Due to some unpleasantness, The Powers That Be have since launched Palavr, a new virtual playground now open all day and night.


What you'll find at this jumpin' joint:

-Podcasts, podcasts, and more podcasts, including Outside the Cinema, the Gentlemen's Guide to Midnite Cinema, ShowShow, Night of the Living Podcast, Chinstroker vs. Punter, the me-visiting Girls On Film Radio, and the me co-hosted GleeKast, plus oodles more audio pleasure


-Forums, forums, and more forums, both for above listed podcasts and general topics. I don't lie when I say the people at Palavr are some of the funnest, sharpest, and welcoming Internet identities out there and trading movie recommendations, America's Next Top Model predictions and sandwich recipes with them is truly a joy. Best of all, you get email notifications when your posts are responded to, meaning you can stay current without all the work involved in favoriting a page. Yes, I'm normally that lazy


-More stuff coming, including more polls and blogs and frogs and dogs and bears and chickens and...whatever (yes, direct quote from The Muppets Take Manhattan) so sign up and stay in the loop!

Also new this week:

The September issue of Rogue Cinema , an indie-filmcentric webzine that features my latest reviews of four films:


-Aliens vs. homeless vs. archeologists vs.Tom Savini in the action/sci-fi/horror Unearthed 

-Evil twin/sleazy science teacher slashing in Sage Bannick's The Absent 

and two shorts:


-Davide Melini's visually striking The Sweet Hand of the White Rose 

-Todd Miro's effective little haunted house yarn, Enter the Dark 

Did I forget something? I DID.


Before you head to the beach to fight piranhas, Eli Roth and the heat on this holiday weekend, allow me to announce the winner of my way-back contest. To start, I loved reading each and every recommendation. I can't thank my contributors enough for insisting--all with great reason--I watch some classic and not-so-classic (Alone In the Dark, here we come!) films immediately. As promised, I will be reviewing every film recommended, complete with publishing your responses. Some may take a little longer to find, but rest assured, September and October will see them all viewed and reviewed!


As for the winner(s), I can honestly say I've never had to do anything harder in my life. Sure, crossing over a roller coaster track in a closing Korean amusement park when the exit was locked was intimidating, but this was just cruel. How could I choose when all these responses made me smile, laugh, and feel terribly inadequate for not watching more movies?


Hence, I'm declaring two winners, a pair that made me feel as though I was missing out on one of the true genre classics. 

To Shiftless Jeff and Ghoul Friday (writer/artist of http://www.ghoulfriday.com/ )  I salute you. A care package will be sent your way once I find the appropriate goodies and figure out what days the nearest post office is open after my work hours.


And as for a preview of upcoming reviews, the following films are coming up:


House By the Cemetery
Psycho II
Terror Train
The Eye AND The Eye 2 (thanks Barb)
Street Trash
The Omega Man
Sugar Hill
Silent Running
Riki-Oh
Tenebrae
Alone In the Dark (the Tara Reid with a bun one)
The Abominable Dr. Phibes
Blood Feast
The Wolfman
Ringu
Wrong Turn 2
Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance


Deep breath folks! We've a long road ahead of us.