Movie Review: Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013)

My favorite slasher franchise has always been Friday the 13th. For me, it started with seeing Parts 2 and 3 late at night on channel 32 in Chicago. Jason was terrifying, and the kills were gory. I really liked the character, and I eventually became a fan of the entire series. Crystal Lake Memories is an extensive documentary that focuses on every film in the franchise. They start it off right by having a campfire surrounded by young people. At the center is series alum Corey Feldman telling the tale of Camp Crystal Lake. Feldman narrates the documentary, which starts off just before the creation of the iconic first film.

The beginnings of the story are very interesting. Sean Cunningham flat out admits that he took the idea from Halloween. I thought that was great, but he didn't steal the masked killer idea. Instead, he took the shell of a slasher film and made the killer someone you could sympathize with. Yes, I'm talking about Pamela Voorhees, whose first name we don't even learn until it's written on a headstone in the fourth movie, but let's take a quick sidestep to compare Jason to Michael. Michael was evil from minute one. Cold blooded killers get no sympathy, and they shouldn't. Jason was a scared kid who drowned because of the negligence of some camp counselors. You feel for him, and you definitely feel for Pamela. Try to stop me from going on a murderous rampage if anything happens to my kid. Go ahead, try.

The First Annual Cheesies - The Best of 2011

While many sites are running down their lists of best films of the year, as we did, we also thought it would be a great idea to acknowledge some specific accomplishments that we saw in 2011. For an explanation of the awards listed, please check out Podcast #29. Our complete list of Cheesies is below. First off, we get to the top blu-rays, DVDs and short films this year.

Best Blu-ray Releases in 2011

In A Glass Cage (Cult Epics)

The Blood Trilogy  (Something Weird Video/Image Entertainment)

Intruder (Synapse Films)

The Women in Cages Collection (Shout! Factory)

Deep Red (Blue Underground)

Funhouse (Arrow)

Zombie (Blue Underground)

The Exterminator (Synapse Films)

Battle Beyond The Stars (Shout! Factory)

Holy Mountain (Anchor Bay)

Movie Review: X-Men: First Class (2011)

Hey, look. We're sorry about that whole The Last Stand thing. Oh, and Wolverine? Yeah, we really don't know what happened there. Just, please, let us make it up to you. We'd like to extend a goodwill gesture. It has an origin story, and uh, oh, just to make sure it's good, we let the guy who made Kick-Ass direct it. I know, right? So, we really hope you'll accept our apology, and just for kicks, we'll throw in Kevin Bacon. We cool?

Buy X-Men: First Class [Blu-ray] or DVD

That's basically what it felt like the people at Marvel were saying when they served up X-Men: First Class. As for me, apology accepted. Origin stories can be great, or they can be ham-fisted attempts at explaining every detail of a character's being. This was very smooth and organic. Several origin questions are answered, and it all stays true to the preceding trilogy. This is not a reboot or remake. This is a prequel in the same line of films. This movie actually fits into the X-Men series quite well.

Six Degrees of Cheese: Best and Worst Kevins

As a Kevin, I share one of the most popular baby names of the seventies with many people my age. I have known a few, and one is even a friend since we were ten. After hearing something about Kevin Garnett, I had the strange idea that there weren't many Kevins in the public eye. I really struggled to name many. Of course, thinking of one Celtic led me to Kevin McHale, and the Boston connection to Kevin Faulk. I thought of Kevin Johnson and Kevin Kolb. All athletes. Well, what about the actors, comics and musicians? All I could think of was Kevin Arnold, but he's just a fictional character. This sent me off on a stupid search. I had to find the best and worst Kevins in entertainment history and post them here. I truly am an idiot for this one.