She Likes to Watch

’80s mania spawns a DVD series

Paramount Pictures loves the 1980s. Paramount also loves making a quick buck.

By now, you may have noticed the covers of your favorite ’80s movies peeking out of grocery store checkout lanes and video kiosks. Was that “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” wedged between People and O magazine? “Some Kind of Wonderful” squeezed between the chewing gum and sunflower seeds?
Here’s why: Paramount is releasing 40 of your favorites from the era, all tarted up in a series titled (what else?) “I Love the ’80s.”

Repackaging the decade’s hits in pastel slip-covers , the studio doesn’t exactly splurge on the extras. In fact, few of these titles offer little more than a theatrical trailer and French subtitles.

Each “’80s Edition” comes with a “Music of the ’80s” CD featuring songs by Echo and the Bunnymen, Erasure and INXS and a-ha.

Most of the movie choices make sense.

What DVD collection, after all, is complete without a copy of “Airplane!”, “Top Gun” or “Pretty in Pink”? The same goes for “Friday the 13th,” “Footloose,” “Ferris Bueller.” All fun. All classics.

Other, more serious titles such as “Reds” and “Witness” also have their place.

“Grease 2,” on the other hand, seems like a peculiar choice. And there are other odd additions: “Rustler’s Rhapsody.” “Summer School.” “Hot Pursuit.” There must be “King David” fans out there, but I’m not sure everyone would enjoy watching the infamous “Richard Gere in a diaper” scene.

Movie buffs should skip this series in favor of superior special special editions. There are far better versions out there, with much better making-of documentaries, directors’ commentaries and other extras. Most of them probably carry the same sticker price, too.

Still, if you can’t resist buying that copy of “Beverly Hills Cop” along with your bread and milk, well, I can hardly blame you.

“Shaun of the Dead” delivers plenty of gore, giggles

Legend has it that “Shaun of the Dead,” the brilliant feature-film debut of director Edgar Wright, was the first “rom zom com.”

That is, a romantic zombie comedy. The holy triumvirate of heartfelt personal growth, buddy-movie style laughs, and hordes of undead corpses hungry for human flesh.

Simon Pegg plays Shaun, an affable young man going through life in a deadened daze. He schleps household appliances at his dead-end job, plays video games with his best mate Ed and ends every evening at The Winchester pub, pounding pints as Ed (Nick Frost) does his best “Every Which Way But Loose” impression.

Shaun sees nothing wrong with this routine lifestyle, but his long-time girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield), does. She dumps him.

After another long, drunken night at the Winchester, Shaun realizes she’s right.

Unfortunately our hero comes to this realization at the very moment that armies of the undead are swarming England. As he struggles to win back his woman and reconcile his relationship with his remarried mom, he and Ed are forced to battle a zombie outbreak armed only with a shovel, a cricket bat and their own ingenuity.

“Shaun of the Dead” mixes genres with a cheerful abandon, blending the best of tongue-in-cheek British comedy and American horror classics like George Romero’s immortal “Dead” trilogy. It’s daringly funny, with all the gleeful gore of a “Dead Alive” or an “Evil Dead.”

At the same time, “Shaun” seems to improve on Judd Apatow’s patented formula of tempering sass with sweetness. These characters — played by a uniformly excellent cast — actually grow and change. Self-realization? In a zombie movie? Who’da thunk it?!?

See “Shaun of the Dead” tonight at The Palm Theatre, 817 Palm St. in San Luis Obispo. Showtimes are 7 and 9:15 p.m.

Tickets are $7.50.

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Photo courtesy of MovieWeb.com.

It’s a month of screams at one local movie theater

Movies inspire. Movies thrill. And sometimes, movies scare the freakin’ pants off of you.

The Palm Theatre in San Luis Obispo celebrates Halloween throughout the month of October with a series of scary, creepy and downright terrifying films. It starts tonight with “The Lost Boys.”

When the Emersons move to the sunny beachside town of Santa Carla, Calif., it looks like a brand-new start for the family.

Michael (Jason Patric) meets a beautiful girl, Star, on the boardwalk and befriends the pack of teens she hangs with. His younger brother, Sam (Corey Haim), meets a couple of juvenile vampire hunters.

Meanwhile, Mom (Dianne Wiest) is falling for her new boss at the local video store.

Everything seems sunny, but this California beach town has a dark secret. Santa Carla is positively crawling with vampires.

“The Lost Boys” features many of the ingredients that made ’80s movies great: bloodsuckers, the Coreys (Haim and Feldman), beautiful misunderstood youth, and, of course,”Cry Little Sister.”

The movie also delivers plenty of thrills and darkly comic moments — doubled with a dose of nostalgia for those of us who grew up in or around the 1980s.

Ignore the straight-to-video sequel, “Lost Boys: The Tribe.” Watch this wickedly good classic instead.

“The Lost Boys” will be screened at 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. Wednesday at The Palm Theatre, 817 Palm St. in San Luis Obispo. Tickets are $7.50.

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What else is in store for October? I’m so glad you asked.

• “From Dusk Until Dawn” (Oct. 3)
• “Shaun of the Dead” (Oct. 8 )
• “28 Days Later” (Oct. 10)
• “Event Horizon” (Oct. 15)
• “Mars Attacks” (Oct. 17)
• “The Evil Dead” (Oct. 22)
• “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (Oct. 24)
• “Scream” (Oct. 29)
• “The Crow” (Oct. 30)

Ya shoulda been at Comic-Con, bub.

Comic-Con 2008 is over.

From all reports, it was a mixed year for the pop culture convention. There were the usual celebrity appearances, glimpses of upcoming blockbusters and major geekouts over popular franchises.

Still, nobody came out with a huge, ultra-secret, blow-the-top-off-your skull surprise.

This year, the big buzz surrounded comic-book projects like “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” Frank Miller’s “The Spirit,” the highly anticipated “Watchmen” movie and “The Dark Knight,” still kicking butt at the box office.

We also saw sequels aplenty, including “Terminator: Salvation” and TV’s “Terminator: The Sarah Chronicle Files,” “The Lost Boys: The Tribe” and and “Tron 2″ (that’s right, “Tron 2″!!). Not to mention several remakes, such as “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” “Death Race” and “Land of the Lost.”

For more details, I turn to the professionals. Click on the links below.

Science fiction fans got the scoop via io9.com, which reported on hits like “Lost,” “Chuck,” “Dr. Who” and “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.”

Meanwhile, Kotaku.com kept the score for video game fans, posting updates on such titles as “Ghostbusters: The Video Game,” “Afro Samurai” and the latest in the “Resident Evil,” “Street Fighter,” “Mortal Kombat” and “Spider-Man” franchises.

Film-centric sites MovieWeb.com, RottenTomatoes.com and IGN.com also hit the convention floor.

It’s a lot to take in, so read slowly and rest often.

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Thanks to reader Robot Downey Jr. for the tip.

Comic-Con International: Where the nerds come out to play

I’m feeling a little mopey this week, and it’s got nothing to do with the morning fog or the fact that the guys who set fire to their friend’s crotch are behind bars.

No, the real reason I’m down in the dumps is this: Comic-Con International.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people converge on San Diego for the biggest geekfest known to mankind. They meet iconic comic book artists and writers, get the scoop on upcoming movies and television shows, check out cool gadgets and video games, and score bags upon bags of free swag.

They shop. They cosplay. They squeal with uncontrollable excitement whenever George Takei strolls buy.

Comic-Con, which runs today through Sunday, is easily the Dorkiest Place on Earth. The beauty is that everyone — from fans to professionals — is just as dorky as you are. Probably more.

That’s right. It’s a place where I appear almost … shudder … normal.

The economy and gas prices being what they are, however, I’ve decided to skip Comic-Con this year.

That means that I’m missing out on sneak previews and panel discussions for some of the hottest upcoming titles.

Never fear, readers. Just as Tribune blogger Justin did with E3, I’m going to be monitoring the Interwebs and airwaves for juicy Comic-Con tidbits.

Here’s a sampling of today’s events. Scheduling info comes courtesy of MovieWeb.com; the quips and comments are my own.

• Who knew that Click and Clack, hosts of the popular radio show “Car Talk,” were destined for greater things? A new PBS cartoon is coming to primetime.

• “Freakazoid!”, the hilarious animated series from “Batman: The Animated Series” wizard Bruce Timm, is going to be released on DVD. So is “Tiny Toon Adventures.”

• Happy 30th anniversary, “Battlestar Galactica”!

• Hasbro’s bid for world domination (”Transformers 2,” anyone?) continues with the upcoming blockbuster “G.I. Joe.”

• Does 20th Century Fox hate humanity? They took a classic science fiction movie — “The Day the Earth Stood Still” — and remade it with Keanu Reeves as alien ambassador Klaatu. Then they cast Mark Wahlberg as video game hero “Max Payne.” Jerks.

• So we’re getting a new “Knight Rider” series after all?! Thanks for jerking us around for six months, NBC.

• Two scrumptious panels about “Doctor Who” AND “Torchwood.” Or, why I love British sci-fi.

• “Twilight” — based on the best-selling novel about a vampire and a mortal teenager falling in love — is hitting the big screen. How they plan to get author Stephenie Meyer, director Catherine Hardwicke and six cast members seated around one table is anyone’s guess.

• Why do I love Robert Rodriguez? Oh yeah, because he remakes silly, silly movies like “Red Sonja.”

• The Incredible Hulk squares off with Wolverine in a keen animated tale. Neato!

• So, you’ve never heard of Dark Castle Entertainment? Neither have I. All I care about is the fact that they’re releasing Guy Ritchie’s latest, “RocknRolla,” as well as “Ninja Assassin” starring Korean pop sensation Rain.

• Indie animator Bill Plympton wants you to see his just-completed feature “Idiots and Angels.” Why not sit through “Hot Dog” while you’re at it?

• If at first you don’t succeed … A first look at “Punisher: War Zone.”

• Guaranteed to make you gag: Lionsgate brings us the latest installment in the so-called torture porn genre, “Saw V,” as well as “Repo! The Genetic Opera!”, a goth rock musical from the director of the first three “Saw” movies.

• Welcome back, Corey Feldman. It’s the world premiere of “The Lost Boys 2: The Tribe.”

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Above photo by Chris Daly. Taken last year during Comic-Con International.