Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Weekly What To Do: See Ya Later 2020

 
From the super cheap Poop On 2020 Simulator
 
 It's been a pretty strange and terrible year and we wish we could comfort you with some amazing events, but almost all of them are online. Make the most of it thought, go all out over Zoom, over Discord, Google Meet any program. Just join together with friends and family and celebrate saying goodbye to 2020 and some other things. We'll keep sharing what's happening in LA and we're sure they'll be more in 2021. See ya, next year!
 

The party kicks off at 11PM PT / 2AM ET on Thursday, December 31, 2020

Fuse on YouTube

Grand Park on YouTube

The Music Center Offstage

LA’s official New Year’s Eve party is going global! Grand Park’s NYELA 2020 makes its national broadcast debut on Fuse. Count down to 2021 by tuning into the biggest virtual NYE dance party on the west coast!


Dec 31, Jan 2 ONLY*
751 S. Santa Anita Ave., South El Monte
$99 per car
 
The adventure begins with a hilarious 'sno-ball' fight where you take aim with your complimentary bag of cotton plush 'sno-balls' and exchange fire with some frosty snowmen. Next, journey through a psychedelic Gnome Village and meet the Winkles! Then enjoy the Stocking Stuffer Sweets Crawl where each ticket comes with a complimentary stocking and 8

scrumptious sweets delivered to you by elaborately costumed characters (Vegan and GF options available). Your final stop is at the virtual stage for a Rockin’ New Year's Eve Show where you'll enjoy a sparkling cider toast and devour your 8 festive sweets!
 
THURSDAY, Dec 31 AT 12 PM PST
on Twitch
Free
 
Let’s send off this $h%#tbag year with an epic session to separate you from reality. SIX FEATURE FILMS exploding with fine nonsense, inexplicable intentions, energetically abrupt shifts, salty dialogue and choice interiors—in short, total madness.

Two Bit Circus REMOTE: New Years Eve Edition
Thursday Dec 31 at 7pm PT*
Free

We will take a fun look back at all the crazy whacky wtf moments of 2020 and put them to a close. 





Dec 31 at 11 PM ET/8 PM PT
Free, Must RSVP
 
Live Performances. Crazy Stunts. Epic Countdown.
 
Here's some more New Year's Eve online events from LAist
 

VIRTUAL OSHOGATSU 

Friday, January 1, 2021
Available from 12 am
View on JCCSC website, Youtube, Facebook, and Instagram


KOTOHAJIME

Sunday, January 3, 2021 at 1 PM
Free with RSVP
Click here to learn more and RSVP.


Every January, Little Tokyo becomes the center for celebrating the Japanese New Year in Southern California. The annual Kotohajime is a signature JACCC performance that greets the New Year with a unique blend of Western and Japanese performances, arranged by JACCC Master Artist in Residence, Hirokazu Kosaka.


 


OSHOGATSU VIRTUAL FAMILY FESTIVAL
January 3–8, 2021
Join JANM for a week of virtual, kid-friendly activities to celebrate the New Year.

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Saturday, December 26, 2020

Rapsittie Street Kids: Believe in Santa Is A Festive Fun Mess

 

 

Holy...night, after watching a movie about Nazi elves and incest, you'd think nothing could have us laughing more. BTW, check out Elves 1989, if you haven't already. For Christmas, the TTDILA crew watched the aforementioned hobo Santa solve the Fourth Reich Christmas mystery. Then we watched this mess of well-known voice actors and fugly looking CGI called Rapsittie Street Kids: Believe in Santa. It's in full above, we suggest sharing it with those who can laugh at graphics so bad they make you want to cry. Considered the new worst Christmas special; you still have time to watch it this holiday season.

Check out how it came to be with this article from Polygon:

The making of the worst Christmas special of all time

 Keep having a messed-up Christmas with this...film?

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CRUEL JAWS: A Live Screening of Bruno Mattei's Sharksploitation Saga Mon Dec 28

 

Dec 28, 2020 07:00 PM
Free
Online
 
He defied all laws of good taste and international copyright with SHOCKING DARK and ROBOWAR. He reset the bar for batsh*t crazy ItaloHorror with RATS: NIGHT OF TERROR and HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD. And in 1995, legendary director Bruno Mattei – here as ‘William Snyder’ – stunned the civilized world with this ultimate sharksploitation saga that liberally borrows characters, plot and footage from Joe D’Amato’s DEEP BLOOD and Enzo G. Castellari’s THE LAST SHARK (and that’s just the tip of a very litigious fin). Filmed in South Florida with a cast of now-ashamed unknowns that includes a Hulk Hogan lookalike, experience “the epitome of outrageous thievery cinema” (All Movie) – actually released in some countries as JAWS 5 – now remastered uncut in HD for the first time ever.

Followed by a Live Discussion with
Dr. Rebekah McKendry & Elric Kane
Hosts of Fangoria's
Colors of the Dark Podcast
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Wednesday, December 23, 2020

What We Found On The Net Today: Tom & Jerry Sets Back Everything We Gained From Roger Rabbit

 
Yeesh.
 
One last, What We Found On The Net Today in 2020.
 

 Evil Dead: The Game comes out in 2021.




  

-L.A. signs off on $1-billion ‘mini-city’ in the west San Fernando Valley

 A developer won approval to build a mixed-use project in Warner Center with hotels, a sports arena, an office tower and more than 1,400 homes.

-How a city-funded homeless housing project became a sink hole for public money

This was pathetic.

 
Looking forward to this one, Radio the Universe
 
 

 Superliminal is part of the Steam Winter sale, grab it!


-More for Halloween, the Galaxy of Horrors are some scary posters made for NASA to explain the creepy stuff out there in the stars.


There is a more friendly Exoplanet Travel Bureau to check out, also from NASA.
 

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WWTD: WW84

 

 retro fan poster by MessyPandas 
 
We suggest streaming it as most drive-ins seem sold out.
 
It's the usual no go of nadda happening this week around Christmas time in LA, even before " all this". Stay inside, enjoy the Steam Sale (grab Hades or Jackbox), stream some stuff & stay safe. Maybe bake?



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Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Insert Coin Review: A Bunch Of Jerks Ran Midway, Ed Boon Not Included

By Jonathan B
 
At the end, hidden in the credits, Tony Hawk tells the camera how he was told how dumb a skating game would be. That he had never been to a meeting where he was so bitterly laughed at or met with contempt. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater would go on to be one of the best selling console games of all time, and was just re-released for newer consoles.

Ugh, this should have been split into two movies. How The Games Were Made and These A-holes Think They're Cool Sh*t.

What a missed chance to make fun of these jerks. Director Tsui just misses the mark with the people he worked with -he's a voice actor for them- not putting them in the bad light they deserve to be in. This long dip into the arcade side of Midway, shows a company that probably had no HR department. And the violence in the games the company is known for is just in the background by the squealing of the "I'm so great, look at me,' garbage talk these old dudes say.

The meat, the hard work put into games, how they made those games, is in their, but, it's covered in a bravado of bro that's insane. I couldn't care less about these jerks. And they are full of themselves jerks. Humble isn't a word in their vocabulary. As I was watching it I could tell why Ed Boon, co-creator of Mortal Kombat didn't want to be a part of this. And he isn't but, in past footage or mentions.

The doc takes you through some of their big titles and how they were made like NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat. These parts shine, they teach you about what it took to make the characters fight in the original Mortal Kombat or get the right heads on the NBA Jam players.

Sigh, then you get a history lesson from people so full of themselves I'm amazed that don't gag on their sh*t. It's not shot in a bad way, well it is, Tsui doesn't know how to give some head room in a close-up. But, what I mean is, these interviews aren't shot like their condemning. They should.

Which part pissed me off more: when they screwed their employees with unfair contracts, pitted teams against each other or just the messy Baily takeover? All of those are pretty bad. I'm not sure, what company took over the other, the doc didn't clearly explain it, once again showing bad decisions by the director.

We stay with Midway when it makes arcade machines and after that we don't get how it failed, that was just y'know left out. How about showing what everyone who worked on it does know? Their so full of themselves, but couldn't include that?

I don't even think the title is fitting as it encompasses way too many other arcade machines.

Skip through it or witness how truly dumb it is.
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Monday, December 21, 2020

In Praise Of Deadly Games

 

With so little to do around LA, I want to suggest what is now streaming, Deadly Games, it's up on Shudder. They're a pretty cheap horror streaming service and they have a 7 day free trial.
 

You can also grab it from Amazon, but I doubt it'll come by Christmas and it's at a high price of $50 for a 4k Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo. It's from Vinegar Syndrome, whose site is closed right now to catch up on direct orders.

After re-watching the perfect 80's X-mas horror film (made in the 90's) where a psychotic Santa goes after Richie Rich/ Kevin McCallister with a mullet and his grandpa in their mansion/castle...it's hard to come down and recommend anything as ridiculous in premise or as awesome as a little boy avenging a pet like Rambo. And I mean really like Rambo, he dresses like him.
 
Christmas horror has so many choices; here'd Bloody Disgusting’s Massive Guide to Over 120 Christmas Horror Films. 
 
And yet, I can't say there are many Christmas horror films I want to see again anytime soon. Deathcember was a let down  and the rest of new batch just doesn't cut it this year.
 
Watching the time and effort put into Deadly Games, in comparison to the sad small budgets of the other films. It's immediately noticeable someone wanted to spend time on this and make it a night you won't forget. A little boy fending off a killer Claus, it's just a magical evening of insane moments and WTF's. There's so many WTF's because of the mansion/castle.




Here's some notes from when I told you to Stream or buy it last year:
 
*You'll see France's early Internet and computer system that existed long before AOL called Minitel, which sort of starts the whole crazy thing off.
 
*The makers of the film unsuccessfully sued the makers of Home Alone. I say watch them back to back and you decide, they came out the same year.
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Friday, December 18, 2020

Friday Posters: Hunter Hunter

 

Hunter Hunter is not an anime, at least not this version. This is about a big bad wolf in the woods and maybe something shady going on with a husband and Dad that he didn't tell his family about.
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Thursday, December 17, 2020

AC Holiday Drive-In: SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT / BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) Dec 23

 

Wed, December 23, 2020 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Mission Tiki Drive-In Theatre
10798 Ramona Ave.
Montclair, CA 91763
$17 – $42
 
Better grab tickets for this while you can!

 
A Real Life Little Nero’s Pizza From Home Alone Is Coming to LA This Weekend
via Eater LA
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Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Anime Architecture Book Review: Worlds Are Built

 

We'll, you need this for your coffee table or in the background of your Zoom call.
 
Currently sold out as of writing this 
Back in October, I was lucky enough to get a copy of Anime Architecture for review , but it's such a popular item it's out of stock. I wonder if they'll have to do a 2nd print run, but, maybe, it's just hard right now to get more copies? Who knows?
I told you to grab it in the gift guide, back in November and now, sadly, it looks like it's too late. And you missed out, because this classy looking book does an in-depth dive in to the architecture of some of the most popular anime movies. We step into the production designs of a lot of classics like Akira and Patalabor and almost two decades old already Evangelion 1.0. What we get is all the work and time it takes to build the cities in those films. These animes capture are attention so much, because of all the intricate work that goes into them and this book shows us.
 

It's one of those books you just want to read when you have the day off or can come back to when you have free time. Take a long look at the art and wonder why so many Japanese animators have a fetish for cities that look like their ghettos or need to be gentrified. Because a lot of these cities look like crumbling infrastructure made into a place people are forced to live.

You don't look at the giant robots or the character design here. You look at the meticulous undertaking of building a city, making real places that sprawls back into your mind when your thinking about visiting Tokyo, fighting giant monsters or just where fights unfold in video games.


Of course, I wanted more entry's, but there can always can be a volume II. There's so many iconic cities from anime and this book only captured a few.
 
For as thick as it is, it feels short, because there's just so many iconic anime cities to visit and you just a glimpse of what's holding them up.

Grab it if you want to make it seem like anime is for adults.
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Grandpa Lundquist’s Christmas Soda – Scandinavian Julmust

 


A part of me really wants to try Grandpa Lundquist’s Christmas Soda – Scandinavian Julmust, only at Galco's. I also really want all the other sodas, good for stocking stuffers

A sweet and flavorful winter soft drink, Julmust is Scandinavia’s favorite winter soda. A drink reminiscent of spiced cider and cola, the refreshing yet warming flavor is perfect for the holiday season. 12 fl. oz botttles.

5702 York Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90042, United States
9am-6:30pm, except Sunday close at 4pm

 


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GoNNER 2 Give It A Shot

 

I think it fell through the cracks when it was release back in October, but this run-n-gun adventure game seems to have you traverse Hell or at least a fun version of the underworld with friends. You can play with up to four friends and with times like these, traversing Hell seems like a blast.

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Weekly What To Do: It's Almost Christmas, So There's Even Less To Do, Oy!



HOLIDAY SOUND TRACKS
Thursday, December 17, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. on Facebook and YouTube
Free
 
Acclaimed LA band Las Cafeteras and fan favorites Mostly Kosher bring their diverse and quintessentially So Cal sounds to Union Station’s virtual performance experience Holiday Sound Tracks this season.
 

Fri, Dec 18, 7:15 PM
Sat, Dec 19, 7:00 PM 
Glendale Sears Parking Lot
$23
 
-For the Christmas Classic fan
 

 
BURIAL GROUND: A Live Screening of the ‘80s Italian Zombie Sleaze Classic
On Zoom
Sat, Dec 18, 7:00 PM
 
-For the horror fan 

Presented courtesy of Severin Films. Followed by a Live Discussion with Dr. Rebekah McKendry and Elric Kane, Hosts of Fangoria's COLORS OF THE DARK Podcast.
 
For his only foray into the zombie genre, psychosexual sleaze maestro Andrea Bianchi (MALABIMBA: THE MALICIOUS WHORE) unleashes enough flesh-ripping, gut-chomping and depraved oedipal mayhem to set insane new standards in Italian horror: Mariangela Giordano (of SATAN’S BABY DOLL and MALABIMBA fame) stars in the splatter classic about a cursed country estate besieged by horny houseguests, undead Etruscans and the unusual relationship between a mother (Giordano) and her mega-creepy young son (disturbingly portrayed by diminutive adult actor Peter Bark) that will trigger perhaps the most jaw-dropping scenes in grindhouse history. Severin Films is improbably proud to present the definitive version of this gorehound/sex-fiend favorite, now packed with all-new Extras and featuring a 2k scan and restoration from an immaculate 35mm print recently discovered beneath the floorboards of a Trastevere church rectory.

 

Museum Town
Laemmle Virtual Cinema on Dec 18th
$
 
-For the geeky art nerd
 
In 2017, MASS MoCA became the largest museum for contemporary art in the world—but just three decades before, its vast brick buildings were the abandoned relics of a massive shuttered factory. How did such a wildly improbable transformation come to be? A testament to tenacity and imagination, MUSEUM TOWN traces the remarkable story of how a rural Massachusetts town went from economic collapse to art mecca. 
 

Rogue Artists Ensemble’s ‘Storage Run’

Part One Drops: Friday, Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. PT / 10 p.m. ET
Part Two Drops: Friday, Dec. 25 at 7 p.m. PT / 10 p.m. ET
Part Three Drops: Friday, Jan. 1 at 7 p.m. PT / 10 p.m. ET.

Tickets are pay-what-you-can, with a suggested price of $20.

Pee-Wee’s Playhouse meets Choose Your Own Adventure meets classic holiday fare in Storage Run, a new, interactive holiday experience from Rogue Artists Ensemble. 
 
Boot up and plug in to a story of computer age connection and holiday whimsy, and help Mike on a quest to send a message to the world. Your choices build a singular and unlikely friendship and unlock a “holiday-tastic” adventure, all from the safety of your computer. Using an interactive video platform, you will face multiple branching paths with hundreds of unique combinations and puzzles, and receive virtual downloadable gifts along the way.
 

Moth Virtual StorySLAM: After-hours—Alex Prager: Farewell, Work Holiday Parties
On Zoom
Sat, Dec 19,  7:30 pm–9 pm
Members $8; General public $10
 
-For the storyteller
 
 Join us for an evening of art and storytelling in this StorySLAM co-produced with The Moth, the acclaimed storytelling non-profit. The theme for the night is “After-hours,” inspired by Los Angeles-based artist Alex Prager's installation Farewell, Work Holiday Parties on view at LACMA. Sign up as a storyteller for a chance to tell your tale on the virtual stage. Or purchase tickets to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!
 

12th Annual SANTA Monica Pub Crawl - Virtual Edition
Sat, December 19, 2020 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Online
$20-$55
 
-For alcoholic
 
Dust off your Santa hats and ugly sweaters, the 12th Annual SANTA Monica Pub Crawl returns with a fun, new virtual BAR BINGO game night to support local bars and restaurants and raise funds for the Westside Food Bank! This is not your grandma’s BINGO party! It’s time to get your game faces on for some competitive bingo for a cause, live on ZOOM on Saturday, December 19 from 6-8pm. Join hosts Brian Thomas Smith from the “Big Bang Theory” (a.k.a. MC BS) and DJ Kooleo of FREE SPACE for a 2-hour, holiday party with cocktails, music, interactive games, bingo, costume contests, trivia, home scavenger hunts and a ton of prizes. All winners and will get to choose from the Funky Fresh Prize Board!
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Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Cyberpunk 2077 Doritos Fuel Cells

 
I don't even really care about the game, but I want these. Damn, do I want these.
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Monday, December 14, 2020

Mega 64 Neon Genesis Evangelion In Five Minutes & Long Gone Gulch Headed Your Way

Right after ChristmasCast airs, the Mega 64 Christmas Special where everyone throws up from eating bad food, we get their take on Evangelion on Dec 21st.


And we're finally getting the premiere of Long Gone Gulch, which has taken quite along time to come out. Finally, coming out Jan 11th.

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Sunday, December 13, 2020

Phantasy Arcade Gallery Online

 
Cubicle Kombat by Michael Bear

Ahhhaaahh, oh, jeez, I'm filled with delight over these. Nucleus has made a real special show here. Phantasy Arcade, their latest exhibit, had some of their best artists creating fictional arcade machines and the results are just perfect. I want these games to be real, but for now they can just be fake mini arcade machines in my house.

Each of these tiny arcade machines will set you back $280 + an optional $20 for a mini Bluetooth speaker to pipe tunes from. I can't find it yet, but there's suppose to be cheaper $20 cardboard print outs of all the arcade units.

Pure Trance by Junko Mizuno

This Battle of Midway by Brandon Bird one making fun of Wings, which I remember growing up on reruns on USA Network is hilarious, thought I'm marking points down for not putting the entire cast on the unit.

I'd take some time and check each of these arcade machines out. Check out the gallery of them here.




Ultra Melon Arcade
Babs Tarr
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A Covid Christmas Album

 
For a mere $2 you can get some great Christmas tunes making fun of the dumpster fire of the year 2020 has been. Songs like Santa Claus Spreads Covid Around and All I Want For Christmas (Is Death) are in A Covid Christmas by Paul Shapera. Don't worry though, it's not just one guy doing vocals, there's a lady in there too, to help sing Baby There's Covid Inside.
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Friday, December 11, 2020

More Christmas Cards Yo & A Terrible Christmas Special

 

Wow, Glorp Gum is shutting down until March 2021. You only have today, Friday, Dec 11th to buy any merch including these last minute Crappy Holidays! Cards.

Here's some other greeting cards you can still buy to make you stand out this holiday season. 

$12




3 for $15
 

$3.99

AGFA’S SPECIAL CHRISTMAS SPECIAL is a brand new, feature-length mixtape culled from the tinsel-strewn video vaults of the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA). Beaming with deranged holiday cheer, this compilation wouldn’t feel out of place on a broadcast from the TV station in VIDEODROME.

This is perfect to put in the background of your stream or watch with friends while drinking,

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Letters to Satan Claus Looks Hallmark Terrible, But It's On SyFY

 

I thought Santa Jaws looked bad, but this looks truly put together in 5 minutes.
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Wednesday, December 9, 2020

ChristmasCast Dec 20th & It's F***ing Chrsitmas Tee

 So happy to see the Mega 64 gang and friends eat the absolute worst food for our amusement each year. And somehow, someway Rocco will keep wearing a Santa jacket that's never been cleaned since they started doing it.

 Here's lasts years and it can be vomit inducing.



We can't think of a more inappropriate t-shirt to have on while zooming with the family this year.

 


Update: Mondo just got in some great Christmas cards to send out



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