Avery Highlight of the day

Throwback slasher:Maniac(1980)

Something so wrong about this film yet I still watch it numerous times a year. I must have some problems cause this is a disgusting movie. It reeks of realism and it is so gritty so feel like you need to shower after watching this.

The Plot is simple,a crazed and obsessed killer goes on a muderous rampage in New York City.Sounds like your typical slasher movie but its much more than that.

Frank Zito(played by Joe Spinell brillantly) is a deranged man who suffers from childhood problems of abuse from his mom. He resents all woman yet somehow is still obsessed with his own mother and keeps her photo in his pocket and talks to her as if she's still alive. Despite being a killer you somehow ended up feeling for him for being so fucked up. He befriends a beautiful photographer and asks her why she takes pictures only to tell her she should just preserve all of them cause they capture a particular moment.Despite that he actually seems quite normal with her until he snaps completely. Another uncomfortable part of this movie is his apartment. He keeps Mannequins all through his apartment and puts the scalps of his victims on these mannequins to remember AND preserve his victims.At a closer look we see all of these mannequins have dry blood dripped on them also. He has dolls in bird cages or something. His apartment is like a character in this movie also.Spinells performance is gold,he plays this maniac to a tee.He just makes the character feel so real and so gritty and authentic. He's sweaty ,greasy and disgusting.He makes you pray that you never ever come in contact with a person like this in your life and believe me there are some sick people out there just like him. I shiver thinking about that.

The kills in this movie are phenomenal and the way he stalks his one victim through the subway is so filled with tension that you just want to scene to end already.It's genuinely realsitic.The trademark scene in this movie is the Tom Savini head explosion. Yes Tom Savini is in this movie,on a date with a women about to get some in his car when BAM!Frank jumps up on the hood with a shotgun and blows Toms head off.It is done is slow motion and looks absolutely amazing,head blown apart,blood and brains splattered everywhere. I wonder if Tom made this look extra good because he was the one getting killed. The other notable scene is the finale in which Frank has a dream that all the mannequins come to life and rip him apart head to limb. Reminds me very much of dawn of the dead and many zombie films.

Spinell had a huge part in this film,from the production to even the way he prepared. He supposedly would go days without sleep to get more into this Frank Zito character which probably wasn't too far off what he was like in real life,minus the muders,joking.. Truly an amazing performance.

Captain Spaulding

How awesome does that look,looks so authentic!

baby Freddy

found this on fangoria
Awesome!

Rangers fire Renney!

After a dismal stretch,Renney is gone.It was time and I think the team definitely tuned him out and weren't listening to him anymore.John Tortorella is rumored to be his replacement.He is a fiery guy that will get in the players faces and hopefully get some of the big names to start producing or else.Hopefully torts is hired and Avery is bought up,there is instant fire to your lineup

Heath Ledger

Wins best supporting actor,so Happy he won this as I thought he was amazing as the Joker.He added something to it that was so unique I can't put a finger on it.Every scene he was in he stole. A breathtaking performance.Hats off to him as well as Jack Nicholsons.I love Jack Nicholsons portrayal of the joker also and Heaths was different in tone mostly because of the film.Jack's was more comical while Heath's was more evil and menacing. Kudos to both as I love both Batman films.

A Nightmare on elm street remake

Is the next classic to be remade.It is one of my alltime favs and a movie that terrified me as a kid.I have mixed feelings on this as I usually try to go into remakes with an open mind and I'm not ashamed to admit I loved the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake and I thought the Hills Have Eyes remake to be better than the original. Having said that I really think there is some room for some new and refreshing ideas into this series. I'd like to see them try to go back to the earlier NOES entries and make Freddy much more menacing and scary and less humorous and I'd love to see more backstory on how Freddy murdered all those little kids and how he became to way he is. Now if the director can find a way to incorporate all this and still stay somewhat true to the original I think it could be good. It's also up to the writers and director if they want to go the same route and have Freddy hunting his victims in their dreams and having them try to bring him back into the real world.

Official word is Samuel Bayer will direct,he directed Nirvana's Smells like Teen spirit video.It's also being made by Platinum dunes.

Movie Review:Quarantine

Before starting I must say that no I haven't seen the spanish movie [rec] which is the original version. But as we know everything from overseas gets remade these days and most end of failing. Since I haven't see [rec] I really can't compare but I must say Quarantine is a scary and suspense filled ride with some genuinely creepy moments.




The movie follows Angela(Dexter's Jennifer Carpenter) who is a reality TV reporter and her camera man Scott(Steve Harris) as they do a show on firemen and their extreme hours of work.We meet Jake(Jay Hernandez) and Fletcher(Jonathan Schaech).Halfway through and uneventful night they get a call that takes them to an apartment building where the police are already there. They enter the building learning that the call was because of an old women who has apparently started screaming and going crazy. Upon entering her room they find her bloodied and in somewhat of a trance.This a real effective scene in that you know something is going to happen but you don't know how. Something does happen and then a few minutes later another scene that involves someone else becoming seriously injured really throws the viewer for a ride. Eventually the residents learn the cdc(center for disease control)has closed the building off and none of them are allowed to leave.They have learned something the residents don't know.




This movie follows the handheld craze featured earlier in cloverfield,diary of the dead and a bunch of others.I would say this movie in particular made very good use of the handheld cam. Its shakey at some points but you never really lose anything from it. At other points you see a lot of close-ups that work well cause after all it is scarier when you don't see every single thing going on around you. A good portion also takes place in the dark and they also do a good job of showing just enough of a glimpse of the infected and just enough flashes of carnage. And yes these victims do become infected with some kind of virus.It makes them foam at the mouth and become very violent.Thye are not zombies though.The makeup effects on the infected are top notch. Some of the gore is also very good with skin being ripped apart and bones sticking out.






In terms of scares and tension this film is nicely done. There is also no musical score in this so there is no buildup to a scary moment.There are lots of holy shit moments and sudden jumps and sudden noises that very easily startle you.And I must note that the end scene in this movie is so filled with tension that you could cut it with a knife.
The acting in this movie is pretty good also. Jennifer Carpenter really turned in a good performance. Her screams are genuine and her heavy breathing both are very believeable. She shows what its like to potray fear.Also an honorable mension to Jay Hernandez as the somewhat calm and collected fireman,I was rooting for him.I also liked him in Hostel.
In closing this was a lot better than I expected and now I hope to be able to view [rec] sometime soon.This might be a movie where both versions are equally enjoyable.

The Clown from Amusement

Freaky,I hate clowns
It's also a good flick

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still waiting

I heard they were doing a sequel for waiting which is a hilarious movie but no Ryan Reynolds,no justin long,no anna farris,no dane cook,and so on.Don't know if i'll even bother with this one.

Avery watch continues Game 2

Pack lose and Sean doesn't get a point but was in rare form,a pest all night,popped a player in the face and got into a little altercation with the Bridgeport goalie.HAHA!Avery is the man,we need him back desperately!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZEL-ErqRWQ

Alltime favs:The shining

the shining....so many things I love aout this moviet but probably the main thing I love is the camera work .Some of the amazing shots and how they pulled them off are quite remarkable.Kubrick truley had a vision of how he wanted every single shot to be.Sometimes it took 40-50 takes before he saw one he'd use even if the first take was good.This pushed the actors to their limit particulary the scene where Jack is trying to chop through the door.Overall its said the film took 200 days to shoot.Anyways here is a list of many others things I loved about the shining.

-The opening shots of the car driving through the huge mountains with the loud ominous music playing along with it..incredible visuals done via helicopter
-The first shot of the overlook hotel with the huge moutains behind it..surreal
-The first scene showing Danny talking to his imaginary friend tony that lives in his mouth
-Jack's expression when told of the past tragedy of the overlook hotel
-The maze and the amazing camera shot from a up high that shows wendy and danny walking in it.To achieve this shot, a model of the maze was shot from 6 feet above the small central part of the maze was built to scale next to an apartment complex. Actors Shelley Duvall and Danny Lloyd then walked about in the central section while the camera crew filmed it from the roof of the apartment building. The two shots were then composited together
-The maze effect,the maze itself was only 8 feet high but cause of the extremely long camera lens they used made it seem about 13 feet high
-The drive up where Danny says he heard about cannibalism on tv and Jack says "see its okay,he saw it on the television"
-The visuals of the blood filling the hallways(absolutely chilling)
-The visions of the 2 girls than Danny sees (very creepy)
-The amazing shots of Danny riding through the overlook on his little bike.They used a steady cam and attached it to a wheelchair that Kubrick had specially made for him.The result is you feel like you are riding the bike and makes the hotel seem 10x bigger than it is and makes the space in each passing shot look incredible.Also the carpet,floor,carpet,floor sound is amazing.
-The scene where Wendy interrupts Jack while working on his novel and Jack says good " why don't you start right now and get the fuck outta here". First time we see something isn't right with him in my opinion
-Scatman Crothers,enough said
-The incredibly weird random image of the bear going down on someone as seen by Wendy.
-The scene where Jack is just kind of blankly staring out of the window with that emotionless expression
-The scene where Jack has Danny on his lap and tells him he'd never hurt him while just looking like he's not all there and his mind is somewhere else
-The scene in the purple and green colored room (237) where Jack see's the naked young woman in the bath tub and after hugging her see's she all old and rotted.
-the scene where Jack had the nightmare of him killing Wendy and Danny.He has the same gift as Danny in seeing the future but he doesn't make use of it
-The scene where Jack is walking through the halls mumbling to himself while making weird gestures
-The scene where Wendy discovers the hundreds of pages typed by Jack with "All work and no play makes Jack a Dull boy" and Jack asks her from the background "What do you think?"followed by Jack stalking her up the stairs.She's says she needs time to think thinks over and Jack goes "you've had your whole fucking life to think things over,whats another day gonna do" followed by "Wendy im not going to kill you" I'm just gonna bash your brains in,bash them right the fuck in"
-The scene where Jack is talking from inside the storage area where he tells wendy "you got a bug surprise coming for you".They way he says this while laughing hysterically is surreal.The shot of Jack trying pounding on the door was filmed with the cameraman laying beneath him and shooting up.
-When Danny shouts REDRUM! repeatdedly with a knife in his hand besides Wendy's bed
-Jack before he uses the ax to pound through the door saying "Little pigs little pegs let me in,not by the hair of my chinny chin chin...well then i'll huff and i'll puff and I'll blow your house in".Jacks facial expression as he's saying this are just amazing.He looks completely unraveled.And of course the "Here's Johnny" line which was all Jack idea and ad-libbed.
-Jack killing Dick Hallorann with his ax
-Jack trudging through the snow looking for Danny while raving and mumbling "Danny"
-the shot of Jack frozen in the maze covered by snow
All in all this is one of my favorite movies and horror movies of all time.It's a perfect example of a director getting everything out of a movie and his actors and not settling for anything less. It's a shame they don't make movies like this anymore.I wish they did.
The blu-ray is quite impressive in terms of the picture.The detail is amazing and the colors look so crisp that its hard to believe this film is almost 30 years old.What stood at most to me in terms of blu-ray quality was the blood filling the hallway,the blue and greens of room 237 and the bluish ting of final maze chase outisde.

Avery watch continues

Played his first game in the AHL with the Hartford Wolfpack last night. Thye lost 4-1 but overall Avery had a very good game,skated well and made some very good passes.He easily could have had 3 assists. He also still was in some scrums and trash talking though he said he toned it down a bit. Hopefully this is the second step in him returning to the Rangers.

Movie Review:The Uninvited

I had some doubts seeing this for a few reasons

1.pg-13 doesn't work for me in the most part

2.seems like the story had been done many times before

3.Its an american remake of a semi popular asian film

The story is about Anna who returns home after a stint in the mental hospital following the death of her mom in a fire. Upon returning she's see's that her dad has hooked up with their mothers caretaker Rachel(Elizabeth Banks) . She reunites with her sister Alex(Arielle Kebbel) and soon after starts having nightmares and visions of the night her mom died. She see's her mom and creepy kids in her visions.She just can't remember the whole night,only parts of it. Of course being pg-13 it has to rely on jumps and loud noises and so on. Maybe a couple of them worked but for the most part it's not that scray at all. For a pg-13 movie that works well and is creepy I say look at the ring.

Eventually Anna believes that her fathers new flame Rachel was respnsible for her moms death. She starts digging up her past and going through all her belongings determined to find something on her. She eventually finds something but not what you think. The ending of this movie sports a big twist that I didn't expect cause I actually have not caught the asian version just yet. I liked the twist a decent amount and think it worked somewhat well.

Overall it was about average,I think Elizabeth Banks did a decent job as the evil step mom(or isn't she evil?).I like Arielle Kebbel a lot also,she is easy to look at and easy to root for. Anna played by Emily Browning also turned in a believable performance. For the most part I think if this relied a litte more on atmosphere instead of cheap jumps it would have worked better. I do rate it above one missed call,shutter and the eye though in terms of remakes.

Friday the 13th

Out tonight at midnight,excited to check this out in the next week or so.

Avery has cleared waivers

Step 1 towards a Rangers return is complete,though the re-entry phase may be tricky and you never know if some team may come out of the blue to claim him for half his salary. I just pray the Rangers get him,we need someone with emotion and a personality.He instantly makes the Rangers harder to play against. After a 10-2 loss the other night,what do we have to lose?

Friday the 13th 3D Review

The 3d actually looks somewhat decent,i was so excited for this one thinking damn I want to see a knife pop out at me or an ax swung at me. It didn't let down,though not as effective as seeing it in the movies or watching the new realD effect, it still worked. It was nothing spectacular but I don't think I'll ever be watching the 2d version of this entry again. The film itself is somewhat of a guilty pleasure of mine since for some reason I have seen this one the least out of all the fridays. This of course is also the movie where Jason gets his hockey mask.
The plot is nothing new,a clan of teenagers holed up at a cabin for a fun weekend. Only Jason is still alive and has some other plans for them.There are some annoying characters though,just a warning.Shelly the prankster fat kid got on my nerves all movie long and the whole biker gang were hilarious in a bad way.Not bad ass at all.
Actually the main reason to get this is for the paper old-school 80s 3d glasses. Doesn't get any better cause the only special feature on this dvd is a trailer.

Friday the 13th Blu-ray Review

There really is no point in going over the story,I think almost everyone has seen this movie or knows the story. But a quick recap,a bunch of couselors go to Camp Crystal Lake to work on it and eventually end up getting offed one by one. Little do they know that the cap has supposedly been jinxed since 1958 when a bunch of murders occurred and years later when someone started a fire there.
This edition is uncut and all in all has 14 seconds of added footage.You see a bit more in a couple deaths including Kevin Bacons but this is a very tame movie compared to today's slashers. The blu-ray is a mixed bag.It definitely looks better than the standard dvd issue and the daytime scenes are very sharp and detailed and very colorful. But the nightime scenes look really grainy and at a few junctions out of focus.One of the average blu-ray releases but like i said still better than the standard dvd.The extras include

Friday the 13th Reunion and Fresh Cuts:A Q&A with the cast from a convention along with Cunningham and Savini
The Man Behind the Legacy: Sean S. Cunningham:Pretty much his thoughts on the franchise,in particular this one
Lost Tales from Camp Blood:a short movie of some random people at camp blood
The Friday the 13th Chronicles: cast and crew insights
Secrets Galore Behind the Gore:the magic of Tom Savini
Some screenshots from the blu-ray

Avery to return to the Rangers!!

This would make my day and season. He belongs in NY and would instantly add some excitement to a dull,vanilla team. Its still a rumor but there appears to be a lot of truth to it.I pray it happens. The most hated player in the game is loved by Rangers fans and his ablity is often overlooked.

Adam Graves

One of my favorite Rangers of all time got his number retired tuesday night.One of the classiest and nicest person off the ice to ever play for the Rangers. The amount of work he does for charity and all the donations he does is truly amazing. I'll never forget when I went to his autograph signing and he ended up being late,well cause he was late he ended up staying until 3 in the morning.

Hellraiser to blu-RAY!!!!!

Fuck yes and there will be 2 editions including a puzzle box one!!

APRIL 21st!!!

Christian Bale

Goes off,I find it hilarious.He exploded and to me that makes him seem more human cause we all have tirades at some point in a week,or month and however long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnlKBDRPkzA