People of all ages and backgrounds pay billions to see movies, watch cable/satellite TV shows, or buy books having to do with murder or instances of violence. Whether they be fictional tales or re-imaginings of historical events, morbid curiosity is hard to deny.
It is worth asking then why the Dearly Departed Tour Line in Los Angeles, situated in Hollywood, gets some flak, as well as their fans, known as Death Hags. An atypical tour of Tinsel Town, the company focuses on the dark history of the film industry’s birth place. From murder to controversy and all in between, the tour’s namesake is a once-a-month Helter Skelter tour, exploring the history and locations of the Tate-LaBianca murders, or the Manson Family Murders, of 1969 (save for the Polanski-Tate house, which was torn down in the 1990′s).
Professor Mathieu Deflem is a great example of the American dream. He came from overseas to live and be an educator in America. Deflem definitely knows his stuff, as he gets to teach a lot of courses focused on his interests. And like any American, he is passionate about pop culture.
In the vast landscape of podcasting available to internet users, there is no doubt many of the these feeds are devoted to aspects and opinions on the many channels of pop culture. Standing high above all of them when it comes to the point of view of what it means to be a fanatic is Team Jack, part of the Smodco Broadcasting family brought to you by Kevin Smith.
Jack Morrissey, the namesake of Team Jack, was approached by film maker Smith to podcast due not only to his knowledge of pop culture, but for his radio voice, as he dubs it. Instead of focusing directly on the mediums of film or otherwise that Jack and his co-hosts Matt Cohen and Greg Yolen are interested in, his podcast became focused on the voice of, the analyzation of, and the sense of community in being a fanatic.
The sun is beginning to set on a Sunday evening in Rhode Island, but the
temperature is dropping faster than the light. Despite the cold, a small
group of fans waits outside the stage exit of Edwards Hall of URI.
Fan-Culture.org showed up at the scene first around 4 p.m., three hours
before Norman Reedus (“The Walking Dead”, “Boondock Saints”) was to show
up for a speaking engagement at the University. The fans slowly began to
trickle in, with one wearing a homemade shirt that said “go Norm go” and
another wearing a shirt that said “Keep Calm and Kill Zombies”. Everyone
was in great spirits and the quiet chattering exploded into excitement
when Norman pulled in around 5:50 p.m.
Edward vs R: Why ‘Warm Bodies’ is not ‘Twlight’. Photo from ScreenCrush.com
Here we are again, dear readers. Another blog where I truly do not want to get personal, but this article is about more than the namesakes it features. This is about hopefully distinguishing some large arguments in regards to film comparisons by taking a fanatic point of view and applying it with facts as well as reasoning. Looking beyond aesthetics and dissecting the subjects at hand. Basically, in layman’s terms, I really hope after reading this, people stop whining about why “Warm Bodies”is the same thing as “Twilight”.
Meet Fong Sam. Fong runs Haxbee, which is the Headquarters of Blacksparrow Auctions. Wait, what in the heck is a “Haxbee”?
“Haxbee is a made up name, I’ll be honest with you,” he says. “But what I’d like for it to stand for is, if I do my job right, is to stand for honesty and excellence.”
Okay but seriously, what does Haxbee do? “We are primarily a company that deals with collectibles, pop culture and entertainment related. I’ve been doing this for 14 years, and this is me going out on my own, doing what I enjoy doing.”
If Fong looks familiar to you, then you might have seen him on Syfy’s Hollywood Treasure. The reality show was based on the inner workings of Profiles in History, which Fong parted ways with on good terms to start this new venture.
Fong has recently taken in an expansive collection of hero costumes from The Hunger Games starring Jennifer Lawrence, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, and more powerhouse actors. Worthwhile pieces to mention are the leather hunting boots of Katniss Everdeen from the beginning of the film, colorful pieces from the character Effie Trinket, and wonderfully flamboyant outfits belonging to the charismatic Caesar Flickerman.
“What I really want to do is take this [the collection] out on the road and get engaged with fans,” “Do things where I can interact more with fans.”
“I’m just trying to live in the moment,” Fong says humbly, despite a bright and involved year ahead of him of tours and more. May the odds be ever in his favor!
Once you have hit a niche, is it a worthwhile risk to venture outside of your comfort zone? Dakota Laden sure thinks so.
A teenaged YouTuber with over 5 million views and over 55k subs, Laden is famous for his spoofs of the Travel Channel show “Ghost Adventures” and it’s charismatic lead men Zak, Nick and Aaron. His lampooning of the trio with his friends has even landed him on the show as a guest investigator after winning a music video contest.
Though he had made different videos before this outside of the spoof category, it seemed that the “GA” bits were a sure bet. Taking a leap of faith with his following over the last couple of years, Laden with help from his creative friends has continued to produce original content and more spoofs. Some pieces to check out would be his “Iron Man” spoof, his spoof of “Jersey Shore” called “Teenage TV”, and his “Dark Knight Rises” spoof.
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