Lloyd Kaufman, president of Troma Entertainment, is one of the pioneers of the B-movie subculture, responsible for countless hit cult movies such as The Toxic Avenger, Class of Nuke ‘Em High and Sgt. Kabukiman, NYPD.
His newest film, “Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead” is perhaps his best yet, embodying the freedom of independent cinema as only Troma can.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Troma Entertainment, they are the longest running independent film studio in the history of cinema, with over 30 years of experience. Troma has been responsible for launching the careers of such notable entertainers as Matt Stone and Trey Parker, Kevin Costner, Samuel L. Jackson, and countless other actors, directors and musicians.
In our exclusive interview with Lloyd, he talks about the making of Poultrygeist, a film described by critics as “The Citizen Kane of undead fast food revenge comedy scat porn musical horror movies”:
Psychedelic dirty puppets and Beaver Boys, anyone?
By Jeremy Azevedo
Of all the silly things in this world that beg to be mocked, few are as untapped as public television. Where else can you see the batshit crazy musings of people that have no business being on television (or even the radio, for that matter) than public access?
And who better to capture this raw, unfiltered awkwardness than Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, perhaps two of the most uncomfortable performers on regular TV?
Tim and Eric are already (sort of) well known for their (sort of) animated show, “Tom Goes to the Mayor”. Their new show, “Tim and Eric, Awesome Show, Great Job!” transfers that same kind of humor into a live setting, sprinkles in a few amazing guest stars (John C. Rielly, Michael Cera, Jeff Goldblum, etc.) and cranks the weirdo dial up to 11. Season 1 is available now, so if you haven’t yet been acquainted with Tim and Eric, now is as good a time as any.
It took me quite awhile to get around to hooking up the Scandyna Micropod speakers, as they are a bit of a pain in the ass to put together. The docking device comes with several different iPod connectors, each of them numbered 1 through 7. Unfortunately, the manual informs me that the proper connecter for a Nano is number 8.
Um, okay… Speaker wires are not included, and even if they were, the method of connecting them is bizarre, at best. Maybe they have different cables in Sweden or wherever the hell these are from, but it’s just not what I’m used to.
Once I got them hooked up, I had to admit that these speakers are some great looking units. The dock is small and unassuming, but the speakers themselves are very stylish, and fit in nicely with my aggressively modern Ikea home furnishings. Why every electronics company doesn’t make some effort to put a little more thought into visual design like this, I cannot even begin to imagine
The first song I tested on the Scandyna Micropod speakers was “I Can’t Go For That” by the magnificent Hall & Oates. The clarity was so great that I could almost feel John Oates’ mustache bristling gently against my ears as I shut my eyes in sonic ecstasy. Each and every note on the keytar was like a magical arrow of purity shot directly into my third eye. My obvious next move was to turn that shit up, but alas, the volume was already at it’s maximum.
Friday Night Midnight Movies is an irregularly occurring feature whose purpose is to showcase little-to-no budget films that play at late night theaters in the slums of America and the bombed-out megaplexes of the former Soviet Republic Eastern Bloc!
This week’s film is “Zombie Strippers”, a movie that artfully combines two of every man’s favorite things: tits and zombies. Both as dumb as it sounds and infinitely more intelligent than you might expect, Zombie Strippers is exactly the kind of self-referential horror-comedy that pleases hardcore fans and casual enthusiasts of the genre equally.
Robert Englund about to get a lap dance from Marilyn Manson?
Awesome sophomore album from British indie rock band
By Jeremy Azevedo
The Kooks’ 2006 album, “Inside In/Inside Out” was one of my favorite releases of that year, and despite the fact that they are kind of lame live performers, I’ve been eagerly awaiting new material from these talented young rockers for quite some time.
“Konk” doesn’t disappoint at all, delivering more of the same vintage-y rock and roll that made the Kooks popular in the first place. Say what you will about these dudes, they’re admittedly kinda pussy, but I’ll be damned if they’re not some catchy songwriters. This is the kind of music that radio was made for; “Always Where I Need To Be” is obviously the hot single, but “Love It All” is going to be the one that drops more panties than a wash and fold clerk with hooks for hands.
Either an ad for Supercuts or a picture of The Kooks, not sure which…
Are you sick to death of hippies telling you how long your showers can be, telling you when to turn your lights off and trying to guilt you into driving those gay little electric cars around? I know I am. I don’t care how many soldiers have to kick the bucket so I can fill up my Escalade with liquefied dinosaur bones, I will never be caught dead in a “Prius”.
Despite what John Q. Patchouli Oil has been telling you, global warming is not the apocalyptic disaster that Al Gore and his fellow recycling plant shareholders have been telling you it is. In fact, there are many ways in which we can all benefit form “Global Warming”!
A polar bear enjoying a relaxing dip in his new tropical home.
Jackets are expensive. Do you really want to spend hundreds of dollars every year on new jackets? Maybe you’re not as fashionable as I am, and you only buy one every other year. But even then, the cost of a new leather jacket, for instance, can range anywhere from $250-$1000! Not to mention the senseless slaughter of so many delicious cows.
Think of all the solar power! All that sunshine could all but eliminate our dependency on foreign oil, coal, wind power or whatever the hell it is that makes my 61-inch plasma screen TV with 7.1 surround sound turn on every night. The only downside is that we might have too much energy, and would then be forced to design newer, better ways to be wasteful. Who has time for that?
Let’s face it: Alaska is useless! What a gyp, all that land and we have to pay people to move there. All that oil and we can’t drill for it because of all the goddamn penguins or whatever. Well, thanks to global warming, Alaska might actually become useful! If you’re not a total idiot, you’ll start buying up property right now, because once the thaw sets in, Alaska will be our new Hawaii!
Hell F’ing yeah, Alaska!
Dune buggies are rad. Everybody knows that. When the whole Midwest becomes a desert, imagine the fun you’ll have traveling everywhere by dune buggy! We can all expect a 500% increase in sweet jumps and massive air in our near future, and I for one think that’s great news.
Tom Oatmeal’s uplifting, court appointed message to teens
By Tom Oatmeal
I’ll bet a lot of you kids are looking at me and thinking, “Who is this guy?” or “Why is he so great?” and “How is he not sick from eating all of that garbage earlier? He really ate a lot of it. I mean, towards the end it didn’t even look like he was enjoying himself. It’s like he was eating because he was mad at something.”
Well, let me tell you this: You can forget what you think is “cool” because I’ve got some news for you, YOU’RE WRONG!
What I’m doing here is simple. I’m here to tell you kids about some dangers of growing up and then I’m going to have this gentleman here (point to principal) sign this little slip of paper that will help me get closer to operating an automobile again and then I’m going to leave. So you better listen up because I’m not coming back for at least a couple of months!
Topic #1: Sex
When you lose your virginity, it’s gone. (Say that in a scary tone that hammers home the finality. Let them be scared for a moment and then continue) although if there IS a way to get your virginity back, it probably starts with a t-shirt like that! (Point to kid with Star Trek t-shirt. Let auditorium laugh, faculty included) Well now I’m sure everyone is thinking, “Hey! Is this guy going to tell me how to get laid?” The answer to that is yes and no. (Avoid eye contact with principal here.) To be honest, there are just no guarantees for sex. One minute you’re talking to a gorgeous woman about how your Uncle has the best racist jokes or how you chew gum at work even though you probably shouldn’t because you use the phone so much and the next minute, the girl is leaving the party with some asshole who investigates art thefts from museums throughout Europe.
I know you guys probably think sex is the greatest thing in the world, but as a guy whose had it, basically it goes like this: You go out and drink someplace sleazy and you think you’re talking to that (point to attractive girl) when really she’s probably closer to THAT (point to obese, homely girl or, for comedy, the shop teacher. *Remember to shake his hook hand after the presentation to show there’s no hard feelings). So then you go back to your place, have incredibly awkward sex and pass out. Ten minutes later, you wake up to your stepdad Glenn punching you and telling you to get the f*** out of his house until you finish rehab. Then you tell him that just because he’s nailing your mom, he’s not your real dad and he says, “Jesus Christ! You’re thirty-two years old!” Then the girl in the bed says, “Thirty-two! You said you were twenty-three!” And then it’s like, “F*****g thanks a lot Glenn! I hate you!”
Nerve and IFC have joined forces to take on the daunting task of reviewing and compiling the 50 greatest comedy sketches to ever air on television. Ranging from the obvious Saturday Night Live and Monty Python skits to the mostly forgotten earlier shows from the 50s and 60s, some of the best stuff ever is collected here, with video evidence to back it up. Fans of “The State” (a show that is notoriously late to arrive on DVD and often commands retarded amounts of money for VHS copies on ebay) will be happy to see that their favorite show is well represented here! And there’s no Mad TV, which is great, because that show sucks. But no “Laugh In”? What the hell is that?
I personally would have like to see a little bit more Upright Citizens Brigade, maybe some Stankervision or Wondershowzen, more Kids in the Hall… This list eschews a lot of the new, really far out stuff in order to make 20 (!) spaces for SNL and SCTV skits (which are pretty much the same thing) that we’ve seen a bajillion times already. I’m also not a fan of how The Chappelle Show has a 3 to 1 ratio vs. In Living Color, which did the “racial humor” thing not only better, but at a time that it was quite a bit more relevant and edgy. Whether or not you agree, you should have a look at this list, it’s a great time waster and there’s a lot of funny stuff here for virtually anyone’s taste.
On his first solo album, “Keep Telling Myself It’s Alright”, Billy Howerdel has an uphill battle facing him. The problem facing Billy’s new band, “Ashes Divide”, has nothing to do with lack of musical talent and everything to do with the public’s perception of “A Perfect Circle”.
Few people that are not intimately aware of A Perfect Circle know that Howerdel was the chief songwriter and founder, not Maynard James Keenan, lead singer of “Tool”.
Ashes Divide is Howerdel’s show all the way, with him singing and playing nearly all the instruments on the album. While his voice doesn’t have nearly the range of Maynard’s, it doesn’t need to, as “Keep Telling Myself It’s Alright” is not the hard rock album one might expect, but more reminiscent of early dark wave albums by the likes of Bauhaus and Depeche Mode.
If ninjas are the new pirates, what’s the new ninja?
By Ted Hucklebuck
When you spend as much time on “teh internetz” as I do, then you tend to see a lot of the same things after awhile. No matter how hard people try to be “random” (as in “OMG Pirates? How random! lol!”), eventually even the most unusual topics will become commonplace.
Which is what happened to pirates at least 100 years ago. Even so, people that are new to the intertubes persist in making pirate themed references even to this day.
Yeah, and that fat ginger bastard didn’t pay them to be there either, right?
This is why I have decided to create this handy guide to acceptable referencing on the interwebz. As I have previously stated, pirates are out. So what, you may be wondering, is the new pirate? Well obviously ninjas are the new pirates, I would inform you. “But Mr. Huckelbuck, aren’t ninjas kinda played out too?” you might ask. After smiting you with my +15 sword of Grondor for speaking out of turn, I would inform you that you are correct, and in actuality, lolcatz are the new ninjas.
The buck obviously doesn’t stop there though people. Everyone knows that the moment your aunt Debbie in Montana emails you an lolcat, the fad is now officially dead. Thankfully zombies have have risen from their graves stepped (or skulked, or dragged, or loped, or whatever the hell you wanna call it) in to take their place.
