BOO!

Did I scare you? If not, perhaps some torture is in order.....

-"What does a ghost do when he goes for a drive?

-He fastens his SHEET-belt!

-"Why didn't the skeleton go to the party?"

-Because he had no BODY to go with!

-"What do you call some one who poisons people's corn flakes?"

-A CEREAL killer!

Had enough? Boy, Halloween is just filled with jokes so corny they would make Chip Caray blush. Unfortunately, I won't be able to launch those babies (or hundreds others) at any sweet Halloween parties tonight, because I won't be going to any Halloween parties tonight.

Now, I'm not looking for sympathy (paging the world's smallest violin.....), but it is a little disappointing. Just between the lack of sleep and this being the first weekend of shooting, even though we aren't going til Sunday, I thought it best to stay home, get organized, watch a movie, and maybe do a little "blogging".

It's been weird, b/c usually I get so pumped for Halloween, but between the busyness for "Sunshine" and living in LA, I almost forgot about it. I mean, the leaves don't change color, there's no cold wind blowing or eerie tingle in the air, just a bunch of very out of place looking pumpkins.

It's a shame I'm not going out, because I do get the sense that despite its meteorological and geographic shortcomings, Los Angeles can do this fright night right. I mean, people out here are already pretty weird, so think about how weird they'd be on (arguably) the weirdest day of the year. Plus the whole movie industry. Part of the great fun of Halloween is the suspension of reality for a day, which is pretty much what making movies is all about. Not to mention there's all the hot women dressing even sluttier than usual. (Course, that's pretty much the case everywhere. I especially love the girls who, on a 35 degree night with wind in CHI, will still go out in their extra-skimpy Playboy bunny outfit.)

The little Halloween fun I did have was listening to Indie 103.1's Halloween-themed lineup. (Indie 103.1 is one of my top stations out here, and has helped me expand my musical horizons, which was nice, because I got SO MUCH HELP from you all.) Apparently, a bunch of artists covered all the music from "A Nightmare Before Christmas"--an awesome flick, and one of my favorites, as we'll discuss later--with an especially sweet version of This Is Halloween.

So much is fun about Halloween, and I'd love to go forward and list its many great and ghoulish aspects, but nothing I could say compares to the musings of the one and only Jerry Seinfeld.

Going back to "Nightmare", I must that it is definitely my top Halloween movie. Burton is amazing, and no matter what live action or computer animated things come along, nothing beats the fantastical yet realistic look of that crazy claymation. (Speaking of clay, remember ClayFighter, the video game for Super Nintendo and later N64? No Mortal Kombat, but I always enjoyed it).

Anyway, to wrap up, I humbly offer up my personal top Halloween movies of all time.....

5. Casper (1995)
-Hey, I know its a kids movie, but when it came out I was a kid. Just good fun: the 3 uncles have their moments, Bill Pullman is in it (that's worth something, right?), and a ridiculous cameo by Dan Akroyd remembering his Ghostbuster roots.



4. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
-I'm not a big fan of most horror movies, but I've always liked zombies and this is THE first and (in my opinion) best of them all. Next time we're at a bar, ask me about the societal critiques that lie beneath the surface... (Other zombie faves include "28 Days Later" and "Shaun of the Dead").



3. Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstien (1948)
- I really enjoy all the old 1930's Universal monster movies and this one's got all your favorite monsters plus the comedy routine of Abbot and Costello. What more do you need?



2. Halloween (1978)
-One of the first. One of the best. It doesn't get any more Halloween-y than this film.


1. Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
-Mentioned before, just amazing. The songs are great, the look is so eerie, and what a brilliant concept! The opening is just perfect and you gotta love when the kids all get freaked out by the Halloween shit under their Xmas trees.



Wow, why do I suddenly feel like a newspaper writer who was told by his editor to "fill page 5 with some Halloween movie crap"? Whatever.

Keep it creepy, Chi-town.