Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Tonight's Viewing: Chillerama (2011)


I've been wanting to check out this anthology written and directed by Adam Rifkin (DETROIT ROCK CITY), Tim Sullivan (2001 MANIACS), Adam Green (FROZEN), and Joe Lynch (WRONG TURN 2) for a while now and tonight is the night! I'm curling up on the couch and planning on getting grossed out by this campy tongue-in-cheek horror collection!

Check out the synopsis:

It’s the closing night at the last drive-in theater in America and Cecil B. Kaufman (OFFICE SPACE’s Richard Riehle) has planned the ultimate marathon of lost film prints to unleash upon his faithful cinephile patrons.  Four films so rare that they have never been exhibited publicly on American soil until this very night!  What could possibly go wrong?

In the spirit of classic anthology films like CREEPSHOW and TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE and containing films that not only celebrate the golden age of drive-in B horror shlock but also span over five decades of cinema, CHILLERAMA offers something for every bad taste.  With titles like WADZILLA, I WAS A TEENAGE WEREBEAR, THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANKENSTEIN, and ZOM-B-MOVIE and featuring appearances by Joel David Moore (AVATAR), Lin Shaye (INSIDIOUS), Ray Wise (X-MEN: FIRST CLASS), Kane Hodder (HATCHET), and more cameos than you can count, CHILLERAMA is the ultimate midnight movie that critics call “a late night classic for the new millennium” (Killer Film), and “the most offensively nostalgic fun time I’ve experienced in theaters in I don’t know how long” (Dread Central).

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Sunday Funday: Favorite Photos of the Week

I hope everyone enjoyed themselves this Thanksgiving...I know I sure did! I've been enjoying the loooong weekend by watching marathons of holiday horror movies (a huuuge top 20 list will be revealed during Creepmas next week!), eating leftovers and just being lazy. It's also been quite warm these past few days here in SoCal, so that gives me even more reason to stay inside!

However, the holiday is coming to a close and tomorrow it's back to work. Boo. To put me (and hopefully you!) in better spirits for the coming week, I figured I would do another Sunday Funday photo post! Last week's was so well-received that this will more than likely turn into a regular post. 

Without further ado, here are some photos from around the web (lots from Tumblr) that have caught my fancy this week. Disclaimer: Most photos did not have an original source listed. I do not claim ownership of any of these photos and they are merely reposted for your enjoyment.

Much love, Vampira

 
 I pinch!

 Big Bang Theory...one of my fave TV shows!

 Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas re-imagined as 
Mary Poppins' characters!




 Haha! This is so true!

Beautiful Dita von Teese

 Um, this is me, like everyday!

I do this ALL the time!

 Loved this movie as a kid!!  Such an amazing poster!

 Tim Burton, I love you!

I dunno what this is from, but it sure is creepily beautiful!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Giving Thanks


I've been busy cooking/stuffing my face/napping all day and haven't had a chance to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoyed the holiday with good food and spent it surrounded by the ones you love. I had a wonderful day that started with a massive cooking frenzy around 9 AM. I had baked two pumpkin pies on Wednesday night (for those interested, I used this recipe, which turned out AMAZING by the way!), but this morning I set out making two Tofurkys, oven-roasted potatoes, green bean casserole (check out the delicious recipe) and herb seasoned stuffing (all vegan, of course!). I hadn't planned on cooking so much, as Mister Spooky and I had been invited to my uncle and aunt's house for Thanksgiving, but I guess the cooking bug bit me hard this morning!


After cooking up a storm, we headed over to my aunt and uncle's house, where I had the opportunity to introduce them to Tofurky! My cousins even tried it and said it was tasty! Woo hoo! It was a fun afternoon and I got to see some relatives I haven't seen in far too long. Ah, and my once little cousins are growing up so fast!


After feasting with the fam, Mister Spooky and I headed home for some much needed "couch time"...we kinda just zonked out on the couch for a while as I caught up on American Horror Story (FYI...I've been meaning to do a post on this show but for now I'll just say: LOVE IT!). And then we pretty much spent the entire night on the couch...where I'm currently writing from haha!

Couldn't resist posting Eli Roth's faux Thanksgiving!

Anywho, Thanksgiving always gets me all introspective and inspires me to think about what I am thankful for, and I have many, many blessings to count! Among them is my fantastic boyfriend Mister Spooky, my loving family, my stellar friends, my black kitty-cat Havoc, the roof over my head, the food on my table, groundbreaking vegan/animal rights organizations that make a positive change in the world, the vibrant vegan world and the unique horror community! Sheesh, a hundred other things come to mind,, but I could spend days listing everything I'm thankful for!

What are YOU thankful for?

There's always Roth's faux Thanksgiving trailer to be thankful for! 

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Vintage Thanksgiving Postcards

I hope you are enjoying this Thanksgiving week, spooks! I am thankful it is a short work week and I only have to work through Wednesday. And I am definitely ready for a Tofurky feast this Thursday! The rest of the week I'll be hibernating and trying to recover from the inevitable food coma I'll slip into come Thursday night!

In the meantime, please enjoy the following vintage Thanksgiving postcards (I simply adore vintage postcards!) for a bit more holiday cheer!



 Pretty turkey!

I love the melancholy feel of this one!

 I love pumpkin-y postcards!


This one is my favorite! 

If you want to spare a turkey's life this Thanksgiving, please consider "adopting" one through Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-a-Turkey project!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Thankskilling (2009)


Horror fans don’t have many options when it comes to horror-themed Thanksgiving holiday movies. When Eli Roth’s faux Thanksgiving trailer was seen during the Grindhouse double-feature in 2007, interest in a feature-length Thanksgiving-themed movie only grew (hmmm...whatever happened to making a full-length feature out of the trailer, Roth?).

Well, now horror fans have another option with Thankskilling, and independent production from In Broad Daylight Pictures that was released in 2009. Thankskilling comes off as a wacky Troma film, filled with bad acting, ridiculous situations, silly one-liners and hell, a talking turkey! You definitely need a sense of humor to get through Thankskilling, just like you need one to get through seeing your relatives during the holidays.

Thankskilling is about a group of friends that drive home for Thanksgiving, but inadvertently find themselves and their community terrorized by a talking, killer turkey. The turkey was resurrected 510 years after a Native American placed a curse on the pilgrims after the very first Thanksgiving.

This is a campy, over-the-top film that is completely silly and isn’t to be taken seriously. The best parts are when the turkey is on screen…he is completely hilarious! There is even a part where he skins and wears someone’s face a la Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre that’s pretty awesome! And take a look at some of the gut-busting lines he utters: “I’m gonna drink your blood like cranberry sauce” after threatening one of the characters or “You just got stuffed!” after raping a character or the infamous “gobble, gobble motherf*cker!”

The rest of the characters are all basically brain dead and are intended to poke fun at all the stereotypical horror situations. There’s the slob of a redneck, the nerdy bookworm, the jock, the slutty airhead and the Final Girl. The characters’ parents all play minor parts in the film as well, and I really enjoyed the silly Sheriff’s character! Of course, some of the acting is pretty bad, but most of the actors are decent. I really enjoyed Chuck Lamb as Sheriff Roud and Aaron Ringhiser-Carlson as the redneck Billy. And whoever voiced the turkey was just brilliant!

Some situations are so unbearably stupid, though, that my disbelief was wayyy too suspended. For example, a dog peeing on the turkey’s grave resurrects him. Really? Writers Kevin Stewart and Jordan Downey couldn’t think of anything more creative than that to bring back the killer turkey? Or how unbelievably dumb the characters are in certain situations (hmmm if a turkey was wearing my dad’s face you’d think I’d notice!). I understand that this was the tone for the film and part of its appeal, but if you don’t enjoy horror-comedy hybrids that are this outrageous, you probably won’t enjoy Thankskilling.

For a low budget film, I really was impressed with the look of the killer turkey. Besides being hilarious, he also looked pretty awesome. I believe they used a puppet, and whenever he spoke it did indeed look realistic. The gory effects were pretty good too…I especially enjoyed when one of the characters ate the turkey and the turkey ate its way out through his stomach! The skinned face of one of the characters looked pretty realistic as well. And the turkey used an electric carver, a meat thermometer and other Thanksgiving utensils as killing tools! Unfortunately, there were some instances of CGI that were noticeable, but luckily these weren’t too numerous or distracting.

If you enjoy campy horror-comedies in the vein of over-the-top Troma releases, you just may count Thankskilling as one of your blessings this Thanksgiving. If those aren’t your thing, though, you way want to steer as clear of Thankskilling as you would dry turkey and nosy relatives!

Order it on Amazon!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Sunday Funday: Favorite Photos of the Week

Happy Sunday, fiends! I am enjoying a rare rainy Sunday bundled up in blankets on the couch watching Fringe and drinking some espresso. Mmmmm it's heavenly!

However, since I always have to be doing at least two things at once (I'm a chronic multi-tasker), I am also browsing the web (especially Tumblr) and looking up pretty pictures while I lounge around on the couch (which I do on a daily basis). I figured, hey, why don't I share some of my favorite photos from the week on here? I adore photo posts, plus I thought sharing some of my faves would also give you a glimpse into what makes me ME!

Be forewarned, though, I don't have sources for a lot of these since I pulled them from various spots on the web, including Tumblr, which is notorious for not listing the original source. Grrrrr I hate not listing sources! Please note that I DO NOT claim ownership of any of the photos below, and they are posted merely for your enjoyment!

 LOL...I swear this is me nearly every weekend 
(and I wouldn't have it any other way)

  Going batty!

 Mmmmm...::sigh::

 Tee hee!

 Eye see you!

 This is SOOOO Mister Spooky and me!

 Maleficent by Arnaud de Vallois - source

 Truth

 Trouble Breathing lyrics - Alkaline Trio

 ::Just like me::

 I <3 The Smiths

 Damn straight!

 Truth x2

 Me on Sunday nights!!

This Sunday Funday photo post MAY turn into a weekly post...let me know if you enjoy these kind of posts!

Friday, November 18, 2011

I Adopted a Turkey for Thanksgiving!

The adorable Payton

This year I solidified a new Thanksgiving tradition for myself...adopting a turkey for the season from Farm Sanctuary! I've been meaning to do this for YEARS now, but for one reason or another (finances, running out of time, etc.) I never got a chance to donate to this very worthy cause.


I'm not a big fan of Thanksgiving (or as I call it, Thankskilling, which is also the name a pretty hilarious horror movie where a badass turkey turns the tables and massacres humans!), which seems like a silly holiday since we Americans have lost sight of what it really represents, instead treating it like a free-for-all glutton fest. And of course, it puts me in a very fowl (mwahaha...couldn't resist a poultry joke) mood to see turkey carcasses littering grocery stores. You can learn more about Thanksgiving’s toll on turkeys here.

This year is different, though, since donating to Farm Sanctuary and adopting the cute Payton (seen above) has put me back in good holiday spirits! I saved a life this Thanksgiving and realized I can and do make a difference for turkeys. I plan on adopting a turkey every year from now on and joining many others in making the compassionate choice this holiday season.


Adopt your turkey this Thanksgiving instead of eating one! Save a life instead of senselessly ending one!

Learn more about the Adopt-a-Turkey project (the rad Ellen DeGeneres is the spokesperson for the cause!) by reading the official press release below:

Who can resist the adorable faces of turkeys gobbling for compassion at Thanksgiving? Not Ellen DeGeneres. That’s why she’s back for the second year in a row to serve as Farm Sanctuary’s Adopt-A-Turkey Project spokesperson, inviting everyone to save, not eat, a turkey this holiday season.


Says DeGeneres: "Did you know that every year between 250 and 300 million turkeys are bred for slaughter in the United States? More than 46 million for Thanksgiving alone. So, this Thanksgiving instead of eating a turkey, please join me in adopting one from Farm Sanctuary’s Adopt-A-Turkey Project and you can give a turkey something to be thankful for."

For 25 years, the Adopt-A-Turkey Project has put smiles on the faces of both carnivores and vegetarians alike, while providing support for the care of more than 1,000 rescued turkeys and inspiring people everywhere to make more compassionate choices. For a one-time donation of just $30, adopters or a recipient of their choice will receive a special Adopt-A-Turkey certificate complete with color photo of a rescued turkey who resides at one of Farm Sanctuary’s shelters and fun details about their adopted turkey.


This year’s irresistible flock of “adoptable” turkeys include Skip, who advises prospective adopters “When preparing Thanksgiving dinner, skip the turkey!;” Antoinette, who declares ”Let them eat squash!;” Elizabeth, who demurs “This Thanksgiving, give a turkey the royal treatment;” Victoria, who proclaims ”A holiday feast that’s cruelty-free is one fit for a queen;” Payton, who counsels “In a ton of ways, compassion pays;” Amelinda, who reveals “I’ll be having a happy Thanksgiving, thanks to kind people like you;” and Raphael, who pleads “Picture a more compassionate world. Start with Thanksgiving.”

“We’re thrilled to have Ellen’s support again this year,” says Farm Sanctuary President and Co-Founder Gene Baur. “Here at Farm Sanctuary, we live with turkeys, so we know they are interesting and intelligent and have complex emotional lives like dogs, cats and other animals. Sadly, the meat industry subjects turkeys to intolerable cruelty and treats them like inanimate objects with no feelings or personalities. Fortunately, each one of us can choose not to support this cruelty by adopting a turkey at Thanksgiving instead of eating one.”

You can learn more about Thanksgiving’s toll on turkeys here.

To join Ellen DeGeneres in starting a new tradition by adopting a turkey instead of eating one and to view this year’s “adoptable” turkeys, visit adoptaturkey.org or call the Turkey Adoption Hotline at 1-888-SPONSOR.

About Farm Sanctuary
Farm Sanctuary, the nation's leading farm animal protection organization, promotes legislative, policy, and individual lifestyle changes to help farm animals. Farm Sanctuary’s shelters in New York and California provide lifelong care for nearly 1,000 rescued farm animals. For more information, please visit farmsanctuary.org.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Restaurant Review: Freesoulcaffe in Tustin, CA

Freesoulcaffe

I recently learned of Freesoulcaffe from the awesome Vegan Vagrant, a fellow OC vegan, and couldn't wait to try this all-vegan, organic Old Town Tustin eatery! This past rainy Saturday, Mister Spooky and I made the quick drive over to the quaint Old Town restaurant. The first thing I noticed was how beautiful the place was. There is a cute patio with a bubbling fountain outside and inside was very modern and chic-looking. It was also larger than I imagined with ample seating (though it filled up fast!).

 My breakfast - strong coffee and sweet muffin

We arrived in time for breakfast, but were told lunch wouldn't be served until 11 AM. No worries, though, since we decided to try some light breakfast items then come back an hour later for lunch. I had originally intended to order the pumpkin waffles, but the friendly staff had to apologetically tell me those were temporarily discontinued. Oh well, perhaps next time!

 Just look at all those berries ready to burst in my mouth!

Since I needed something light for breakfast anyway, I ordered a Sweet Berry Muffin and a Rude Awakening coffee (I needed something besides the brisk morning air to wake me up). Mister Spooky got a Caffé Mocha Granita. My muffin tasted really fresh and the luscious berries just popped in my mouth! And my coffee was robust and strong...just the way I like it! I tried the granita (when I finally wrangled it away from the boyfriend) and it was quite tasty as well! So far, so good!

 Our big BLT and plentiful salad!

After killing time by walking around Old Town Tustin (cute, but not much to see besides antique stores), we returned to Freesoulcaffe just in time for lunch! I had heard good things about their BLT sandwich, so Mister Spooky and I ordered a "whole" size of it to share. The all-vegan BLT was served on yummy sourdough bread with organic greens and tomatoes. The sandwich came with a large salad on the side too, seasoned expertly with vinaigrette. Both sandwich and salad were satisfying and delicious. The sandwich could have used a bit more "wow" factor, but overall Mister Spooky and I were pleased with lunch. 

 I'm ready for my close-up!

Since they had a bakery case filled with all sorts of delicious-sounding vegan desserts, I couldn't resist ordering a Pumpkin Pecan Cake with Sour Cream Ganache for dessert. I could barely contain my drool! The cake was richly decadent. The chocolate ganache on the outside was divine and the pecans on top added a nice crunch. The pumpkin cake on the inside was soft, dense and "mmmmmmmm"-inducing upon the first bite! 

 OMG...look at all that vegan goodness!
I was sooooo tempted to order one of each...

Freesoulcaffe was a nice treat and I definitely want to go back to try more desserts (pumpkin cheesecake, you are so next on my list!)  and to try their waffles! Their Atlantic sandwich (a vegan "tuna" sandwich) sounds intriguing as well. 

NOM! Pumpkin Pecan Cake with Sour Cream Ganache

I commend the restaurant for using fresh, organic ingredients that make the dishes there all the more unique and delectable. I also applaud them for making everything plant-based and vegan, but also making it so everyone, not just veggies, can enjoy their food! 

Whether you are looking for artisan tea or coffee, some sweet treats or a full-sit down breakfast or lunch, look no further than Freesoulcaffe for good-for-you and good-for-the-planet food!
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