Thursday, October 31, 2019

Happy Halloween: Here's What You Can Do!


WeHo Halloween Carnaval
Happy Halloween! 
Well, boils and ghouls, this is the end for another year of all things spooky and scary...until forty-five horror films premiere next month in the city. It's been a real scare, but alas it's time we ended things. So, grab a costume, grab some candy and get out there!

Check out our Halloween Guide or here's the main events going on tonight for Halloween! Maybe try that new Jackbox Party Pack 6 we reviewed as a Halloween party game.

West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval
Thurs, Oct 31, 6pm-10:30pm
Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood
FREE

The biggest Halloween get together in the city. This crazy big event take place on street cut-off from traffic with thousands of people in costume. Live music along hte path lets you walk around and see some of LA's craziest costumes.

*Safety is a huge priority. We saw tons of cops cover every way in or out of the street.
*Parking sucks, take a Lyft or Uber and prepare to walk. A lot of the free shuttle did not work last year. 



-Discover Los Angeles' Halloween Party Guide
A long list of Halloween parties happening in LA.

-Don't forget the theme park haunts and our local haunts too





35mm Halloween night double feature of 
NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREETS 1 & 3
Thu, October 31, 8:15 PM
Vista Theatre
4473 Sunset Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90027
$11 – $144

"Join us Halloween night for two of the greatest horror movies that the 1980’s produced: the original Nightmare on Elm Street and its miraculously genius sequel Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors."



Halloween Organ & Film:
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Haunting images and live organ will tingle your spine.


THE HOST / MOTHER
Thu, Oct 31, 7:30pm
Egyptian Theatre 6712 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, CA 90028





George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead in 3D

Dawn of the Dead in 3-D: The Halloween Night 40th Anniversary Screenings
Ahrya Fine Arts
$

10/30 & 10/31: New Amsterdam Entertainment presents the 40th Anniversary screening of George A Romero’s iconic film. The critique on American consumerism was the first to bring the zombie to a worldwide audience.

Murder Balloon


As we do every year, here is our annual posting of oour community college film, Murder Balloon. It's about a plucky young balloon...out for MURDER! Enjoy and remember it's pretty bad, but great to leave on in the background with sound low during a party. Because people will go, "WTF is that? Some sort of MURDER BALLOON?!"

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

He's Almost Back



Dismember & The All Night Horrorthon

Special horror-thon screening events have been taking place throughout the month for Halloween. We got Drafthouse LA's first Dismember, the annual All Night Horrorthon at The Aero, REELS FROM THE CRYPT: A 16mm Horror Movie Marathon and New Bev's All Night Horror Show. You had plenty of choices to fit your horror needs. We're just showing of some Tweets from the first two events mentioned. Sadly, as Halloween is on a Thursday night, no marathons are taking place. We'll have to just look back at what happened.

Dismember sold out before we could post on it and the Aero-thon sold out this year as well.

Dismember had

1. Cube (1997)
2. Beyond the Seventh Door (1987)
3. House on Haunted Hill (1999)
4. Murder Party (2007)

All Night Horrorthon had
1. CRITTERS 2. HALLOWEEN II 3. RUBY 4. LISA AND THE DEVIL/ HOUSE OF EXORCISM 5. BUTCHER BAKER NIGHTMARE MAKER 6. DEMONOID 7. THE CRAZIES

And with 14 years of it going on there's a whole culture and special in-jokes you learn along the way. You have newcomers who want to give it a try and old-timers who have made it to each one. It's a true horror fan experience and a great night to just watch some scary movies and make fun of internet memes stolen from years back that make little to no sense at this point.



AFI Fest 2019 Tickets Are Live + Top Picks

AFI Fest, the annual free movie festival is happening Nov 14-21st in LA. You can snag tickets for screenings starting today. It's a great chance to see films from around the world, locally and for some reason this year flaunting the fact that 51% of them were directed by women. Oh, and the Midnight section that we love is practically dead with only two movies this year. What happened to horror? Yeeesh.

Here's our top picks, watch out for that weird French sex forest movie that didn't make the list and if someone says that want to see it it because it's art, they're just a perv. Remember, women can be pervs too.

Deerskin
Chinese 4
November 16, 11:15 p.m.
Chinese 6
November 17, 1:00 p.m.

From the ever strange and very meta Quentin Dupieux of Rubber fame, comes his latest work Deerskin. A men gets a Deerskin jacket which makes him bold enough to start killing people. It'll be some kooky fun and we kind of wish would have been in the Midnight section;say la vie.


SON-MOTHER (PESAR-MADAR)
Chinese 2
November 19, 8:00 p.m.
Chinese 4
November 20, 3:45 p.m.

Time to cry and this drama. It's gonna be waterworks at this depressing piece.
Synopsis: When Leila, a single working mother of two, is laid off from her factory job, she faces a choice: marry bus driver Kazem, a single father who is ardently pursuing her, or live with her children on the streets. The marriage proposal comes with a catch — due to Iranian custom, it is deemed improper for Leila’s twelve-year-old son Amir to share the house with a young step sister. Leila is convinced to marry Kazem and have her son temporarily boarded at a school for deaf children. At the school, Amir pretends to be deaf and unable to speak, awaiting his mother to retrieve him.

THE WHISTLERS
Chinese 6
November 15, 7:30 p.m.
Chinese 6
November 16, 2:45 p.m.
 
*Heist Movie!
 
Romanian auteur Corneliu Porumboiu returns to AFI FEST with his latest, a tremendously entertaining and inventive crime thriller. When corrupt police officer Cristi is drawn into an elaborate money laundering scheme, ubiquitous hidden cameras threaten to expose him. At once instigator and accomplice, the beautiful, calculating Gilda, arranges for him to travel to the Canary Island of La Gomera to learn an indigenous whistling language long used by criminals and gangsters to evade authorities. Constructing a preposterously complicated network of deception, an epically proportioned heist plot unravels into a true ensemble piece, one brimming with captivating personalities, each sheltering unknowable motives. THE WHISTLERS may herald a fascinating departure for Porumboiu, but flashes of a droll sense of humor flicker under a stone-faced seriousness. –Malin Kan

Weekly What To Do: Let's Hope The Fires Don't Ruin Halloween & The Protests

For all Halloween activities this week, check out our Halloween guide. What else is going on this week is here.

Fantastic Planet by Amanda Parer
October 30 to November 10
11am-11pm Daily
Figat7th
735 S Figueroa St
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Plaza Level
FREE & Open to the Public

Four giant, glowing, humanoids are invading FIGat7th! These quiet and gentle, yet curious giants are here on our fantastic planet to observe its inhabitants. Be sure to stop by, say hello, and welcome them to our City of Angels. *Yes, it's art based on that weird French movie with the giant blue aliens.

A GENRE OF ONE: THE CINEMA OF BONG JOON HO
Wed, Oct 30, 2019 - Sat, Nov 2, 2019
Egyptian and Aero Theatres
Hollywood & Santa Monica 
$

See all the bad stuff he did before Parasite, because all the stuff we've seen from so far...not so great

10 Years of Blumhouse Presents: HAPPY DEATH DAY
Wed, October 30, 2019, 6:00 P.M.
10 Years of Blumhouse Presents: UPGRADE
8pm
The Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108, George Lucas Building, USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Free, Must RSVP

Yeti Believes You
Thursday, October 31, 8:00pm
GHOST Contacts GHOSTS!
Thursday, October 31, 9:30pm
UCB Franklin
5919 Franklin Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028
$10.50

 Harold Hallows Eve!!
The ghouls and ghosts have come out to play
And only Harold Teams from UCBTLA
Can put spirits to rest for one more year
So come on out for laughter and fear*




Storm Blizzcon, They Can’t Censor All Of Us
Protesting Blizzard Censorship (at Blizzcon)
Gamers for Freedom at Blizzcon
Fri, Nov 1
Anaheim Convention Center
800 W Katella Ave, Anaheim, California 92802
Free
 
Go to one of the many protests of Blizzard at Blizzcon this weekend. Bring an umbrella to pop open to show your support. Remember, you're not there to be violent, just annoying, really annoying. It's because Blizzard is okay censoring people who aren't happy with the Chinese government's lack of freedom.
 
Fri, November 1, 2019
12:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Los Angeles City Hall
200 North Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Free
 
If you like that Swedish teenager who hates climate change enjoy this other protest in the city. This one is specifically about oil production here in California. She's an annoying brat, but she has a message.

Nov 1-3
TCL Chinese 6 Theatres
6925 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028
$
We thought it was over..., but we have a new Japanese film festival set for Hollywood this year. This November. Right after Halloween. Who knew?
Now the selection is...not stellar, but there's still some strange ones to catch. Check the full schedule here. We really don't have any recommendations, so, check out if anything floats your boat.
 
Acid-Free Los Angeles Art Book Market @ BLUM & POE
November 1st – 3rd, 2019
BLUM & POE
2727 La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA
90034
Free

*An artsy fartsy book fair to d*ck around in

Join us November 1–3 for the 2019 Acid-Free Los Angeles Art Book Market. A–F ⅠⅠ provides a platform for 80+ West Coast and international exhibitors presenting new publications and projects alongside film programming by Now Instant Image Hall and La Collectionneuse, an archival exhibition curated by Guadalupe Rosales, and a full schedule of ongoing discursive programming.

First Fridays at the Museum - Dia de los Muertos 2019
Friday, November 1, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Ofrenda/Altar & Art Judging from 6 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Winners Announced at 7:30 p.m.
Ada Blanche Wrigley Schreiner Building
Catalina Island Museum, 217 Metropole Avenue, Avalon, CA 90704
Members: $12
Non-Members: $17
Children (ages 3-15): $5, all children must be accompanied by an adult.

Catalina Island Museum is excited to host a unique celebration for November’s First Fridays at the Museum with a lively evening of events highlighting the traditional Mexican cultural celebration of Día de los Muertos. Join the museum in Avalon’s newest tradition bringing Mexican cultural elements, dancing, music and other activities for the entire family to enjoy.

ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW Hollywood
Fri, Nov 1, 2019, 11:30 PM
Los Feliz 3
1822 N. Vermont
Los Angeles, CA 90027
$13

KEEP HALLOWEEN GOING! How hardcore are you? Don't let the 31st be the end of the costumed fun! THE QUEEN of midnight movies is back in Hollywood, playing at Los Feliz 3 Theatre for the first time ever! KEEP HALLOWEEN GOING! How hardcore are you? Don't let the 31st be the end of the costumed fun! THE QUEEN of midnight movies is back in Hollywood, playing at Los Feliz 3 Theatre for the first time ever!

Stuffed
Starts Nov 1st
Music Hall 
$

Told through the eyes and hands of acclaimed artists across the world, STUFFED explores the surprising world of taxidermy, where sculptors must also be scientists. From a studio in Los Angeles that has elevated taxidermy to the forefront of fashion, to fine artists in the Netherlands, these passionate experts push creative boundaries while revealing the importance of preserving nature.

Grand Avenue Arts: All Access
Saturday, Nov 2, 11:00 am-4:00 pm
135 N Grand Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Free

Los Angeles is a playground for arts and culture, and Grand Avenue is its epicenter. For the fifth year in a row, Grand Avenue Arts invites all to explore, be curious, pop in and choose their own adventures with more than 10 participating cultural institutions along Grand Avenue.

Metro Blue Line (A) Line Reopens
Nov 2-4
Free rides

Free rides on the Blue line on Nov 2-4th. It's finally reopen! Metro will hold three sequential community celebrations on Saturday, Nov. 2 beginning at 10 a.m.-1pm at 7th St/Metro Center at The Bloc, followed by the Watts Celebration at 103rd St & Graham Av, near the 103rd/Watts Towers Station and the Downtown Long Beach Station.

Saturday, November 2nd from 7:00pm-11:00pm
Corey Helford Gallery  
571 S. Anderson St. Los Angeles, CA 90033
Free 

Handiedan’s work involves a complex cut and paste mixture of digital and highly detailed sculptural hand cut collages, complimented by conscientiously collected antique ornamental frames. Featuring 33 new works, including pieces that utilize augmented reality, Torus is a breathtaking body of work and Handiedan’s biggest show to date.

Plus, attendees will be able to interact with various works in the show that feature an augmented reality component. Premiering the same night at CHG is a solo show from Nicole Gordon in Gallery 2 and mini-solo shows from Miho Hirano and Nicoletta Ceccoli in Gallery 3. 

Exploring Your Universe
Sunday, November 3, 2019
UCLA Campus, Court of Sciences
Noon – 5 PM - Booths and speakers
Nighttime Activities: 5 PM – 8 PM
Free Admission!
UCLA Parking: $13

Exploring Your Universe (EYU) is one of UCLA’s biggest annual events, drawing in thousands of children, parents, and friends from the Los Angeles community to our campus on the first Sunday in November.

One More Day Until 10/31


Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Halloween Update: More Classic Horror To See



All at various Laemmle's

George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead in 3D
Dawn of the Dead in 3-D: The Halloween Night 40th Anniversary Screenings
Ahrya Fine Arts
$

10/30 & 10/31: New Amsterdam Entertainment presents the 40th Anniversary screening of George A Romero’s iconic film. The critique on American consumerism was the first to bring the zombie to a worldwide audience. 




Them & Tingler
NoHo 7 on Oct 30th
 
Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present our annual scary October program of classic fright films with a double bill of 1950s black-and-white hits: the 65th anniversary of THEM! (1954), paired with the 60th anniversary of THE TINGLER (1959). The vintage horror entries will show in a retro double feature (two movies for the price of one) on Halloween Eve, Wednesday, October 30 at the Laemmle NoHo.
 
Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson
Monica Film Center on Nov 1st
 
Horror Film Director Found Slain, Buried Under Floor,’ screamed the August 1995 headline in the Los Angeles Times. But the whole truth behind Al Adamson’s strange life and gruesome death reveals perhaps the most bizarre career in Hollywood history.

It's Almost Halloween 10/31

Check our Halloween Guide for everything To Do In LA

Monday, October 28, 2019

Halloween Is Almost Here, It's Thursday!

Check out our Halloween Guide, if you haven't already, for any events you may have missed or haunts you want to try. We have many haunts staying open until November 2nd. But, Halloween is Halloween!

Check out the guides different sections

Haunts & Parties

Check out our review of  the haunt, Haus of Creep

Film Guide

Events & Exhibits



Here's some reminders and posts from the season

Halloween Organ & Film:
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Haunting images and live organ will tingle your spine.
 
 
 

Jackbox Party Pack 6 Review: All New Games To Make Frenemies With

By Jonathan B


The Jackbox Party Pack 6 has just docked. Toot-toot! Thanks, Joke Boat, one of the games in the new pack. And it has some brand new games that made me want to eviscerate my friends. Good, there's a games with murder in the title in this pack.

My friendly hate was with my initial play at the office Halloween party. When I tried with other friends quite recently, we really got into the groove, so what I'm saying is, "It depends on who you play with on how much you'll enjoy it.

We had fun, we laughed and then Eric won Trivia Murder Party 2 at the office Halloween party?!! That should have been me! What the hey-hey? Makes me want to play again, right now. That's what Jackbox 6 does, it makes you want to keep playing. And we did. So, I'm gonna take you through the games in this newest numbered sequel.

*For those who haven't played any of these in the last 6 years. It's pretty neat. You use your smart phone or tablet as the controller. And then compete in games with your friends, business associates or in my case the people I will no longer talk to and are dead to me.

There's different games in every pack, Jackbox Party Pack 6 consisted of 4 new ones and a sequel.

Trivia Murder Party 2

Let's starts with the sequel. Perfect for upcoming Halloween or any group that gets together to watch horror movies, it's Trivia Murder Party 2. The game has a simple premise: you and your friends have been kidnapped by a serial killer and only one of you can escape alive by answering trivia.

Now, the look of the new game has you in a hotel with a carpet resembling one from a famous horror movie, also set in a hotel. At least, it starts off like that on the first floor, minus two twins saying you'll be staying here forever and ever. The creepy look is only made better with your host and killer, the Trivia Murder Killer. He seems to have low self-esteem and jokes ready to go with what he's asking. Without him, it's like just being held hostage by a mime.

You and your cohorts will answer trivia questions until one of you dies visualized by a stuffed voodoo like figure being exploded or destroyed in some manner. It's just another great visual to entice you to try and not die or happily grin upon your enemies demise. Die stuffed version of Sky, just die! If you answer a question wrong you play deadly mini-games. And that means more than one person may be joining you. Some new ones have been added for this sequel of the game. All, pretty annoying, but playful. They give you a thin chance to live and many times have the other players battling against you.

Oh, and you're still playing if you're dead, you're just a ghost, but you can still come back to life in the final round by simply being in the lead. So, you have a chance to win even in untimely death.

Let's not forget Presents. In this sequel, a mini game can give you a present. So far, I've seen a wig, taken from another classic Hitchcock film and a knife. Sometimes, the presents give you a bonus or take away from how you play. These added goodies change the story if the person with the gift wins. Suddenly, just like movies now, you get a bonus scene after the credits. Another question will be asked of you. So, even if you win, present on your person, you might wake up in the hospital and have to answer something else or your dead too. Because in this game, there can only be one winner! Oh, and they need to be alive!

In the final round of the game, it's once again trying to reach the way out. It's a race to get outside the door. All players in the game are trying to reach the door out, sort of like a race with horses at the fair. Except, instead of filling up a balloon by shooting water into a clown's mouth to propel a horse forward (that's a weird concept, isn't it), you're guessing yea or nay to what's on screen. So your given the answer and selecting if their true or not. Ghosts get one extra answer.

Then the sequel hits you with another horror movies reference, a la Cabin in the Woods with a freaky electronic sci-fi gate before getting out. You have to get all answers right if you wanna leave.

Great sequel for a fun game from about three years back. And the spooky setting will just make it to enticing for horror fans.

*For those who hate US history or just aren't from around here, there's an new option for this game. US-centric questions can be turned off, so, questions related to America can be turned off. So, commies and players in Canada can rejoice, slightly, there still not in America.

Role Models

Who are you, based on what others think of you. Let the game begin and the fighting over what you meant about making me Sheriff Woody, I'm Buzz Lightyear, dammit! In this game a mad scientist wants to know whose who in your group, because people can only be one dimensional sitcom characters...at least with three personality traits that can fit on a shirt. And yes, you can buy the shirt of your personality traits in real life after the game via your phone or tablet.

The game is played by choosing categories and then placing your friends as a person from said franchise movie, cartoon or whatever. Like, whose Garfield, John Arbuckle, Odie and Nermal. And their can be disagreements of what people are in the group which causes a vote, so your role is more defined. I know, I hate Mondays.

Thee winner of the game is who matches what others say about their role and the role of others in the group. The more people agree with you, the better you do. So, you gotta choose what best fits the person you're voting on.

The point system in this one is science pellets, because if you're playing you're essentially a guinea pig. A solid visual, making the game it's own weird looking science lesson.

Once again, this is a colorful and fun new game, but you have to know a little something, something about the people playing or it makes little to no sense. So Trivia Murder for people you don't know and for new frenemies this game.

Oh, and this is maybe the only Jackbox Party Pack game that let's you take a picture of yourself to use as your avatar. If camera shy, you can just draw a face, but hey, now your cat can play as you.

Lots of fun to put someone in their place and with a stylized game that could only come from Jackbox.

Push The Button

I wanted a drawing and got this sci-fi adventure game instead. Oh, and it takes a least four people to play. I'm not hating on it, I just want to play it a bit more. In this ambitious title you and your friends are in a spaceship and one of you is an alien. And you've got to shove that alien out the airlock into the cold void of outer-space. This is before said alien those it to you. Someone's gotta go, so, Push The Button!

This is the least played game in the pack by me, but I'll update this and probably post a reminder to try it out after more plays.

You have to figure out who the alien is in a series of mini-games. Those game can be drawing, but other games can come into play. How you can spot said alien is because the alien's prompts different from human. To draw and answer questions will be slightly off from what humans were asked to do. After mini-game is played you can push the button on your phone to accuse someone, but everyone else who isn't accused has to agree to toss the person in question out. Oh, and there's a time limit of ten minutes, but I think you can take it off if you like.

All I know is that we did not succeed in killing the fake human among us and so all of us perished in space. Fun.

I want to get more into this, but as of now it's not as fun as fast paced drawing games of the past in the pack, but it's not really a drawing game it's a mystery game.

Joke Boat

Hi Mateys, are ya ready for some nautical hi-jinks and humor. No? Well, too bad. Because you're a two-bit comedian on a very unworthy sea vessel. Welcome to Joke Boat! This is where you'll come up with jokes and present them to your friends. Let the hilarity ensue. And that hilarity might be how bad you're jokes are.

Two rounds before the boat cap-sizes and in the third your underwater and about to drown. But before all that you've got to craft jokes. How, pray tell? First, you'll be asked for prompts for words and places.
*Plural noun is an indication of more than one of something. So, example zebra would be zebras or piano would be pianos.

Then you'll choose the start of jokes. Then you'll have to choose those prompts form you and your friends and they'll be placed in the start of the jokes. Now, now you've got to finish the joke on your own. Good luck!

Oh, and you have to say your catchphrase. It's from a prompt and random words. Say it at the end of every joke with feeling. It's your catchphrase, my last one was, "Baby diaper, much!"

That's the first round. Second round is the same from what I can remember. Third round you've got to remix previous jokes;try and pull them off better. If you beat the original writer it earns you way more points and hurts those comedians that came before you. It's all voted by the group, so do your best to be funny.

As said, all this is on board a bad cruise, so the visuals pop again. Your avatar is a random dummy selected for you. The boat looks dilapidated and the captain looks sketchy. Hopefully, your the funniest comedian in the group or your sunk. By which I mean you'll literally drown.

Fun on many levels as you can just take time to ask your friends if they understand what words are or are they really mice running an advanced android mecha of a human. What's with all these pleads for cheese during the game and why were they so afraid of the cat that night. Wait...

Said cat

Dictionarium
-A fun new game, creating words with friends.

This one has you opening up the funkiest dictionary on Earth. You and your friends are given a random word and then get to define it any way you want. I've had a lot of fun with this seeing into the minds of probably the mice running the bodies of my friends. Where people or mice minds go is kind of fun based on what random definition they come up with.

After the word is defined, you have to come up with a synonym in the next round
*synonym (Not, what you put in your Christmas hot cocoa) -A synonym is a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word.

What better way to define something than creating a new word for it and yes, it can be a dirty or have as many ooooooo's as you want in it.

Then, finally, you use the synonym in a sentence, creating a new hurtful or silly word, which honestly should be a real thing that society should do with our time. We need new curse words or ways to be specific on certain subjects.

Easily the fastest game to pick-up and play. It's like the appetizer of the pack. And you can do a number of new definitions in no time. It's currently my favorite of the pack.

Overall and extras

All games have some way of posting that you played them on Twitter, signifying that you've done something with your time with friends and not those losers outside on a cruise ship or at the Grand Canyon.

It's a strange new pack for a strange new world, but we'll be playing into 2020 and throughout the holidays season with friends, family and strangers. And those mice that might be living in the heads of the skulls of my best buds...or maybe their living quarters are in the torso. I'll have to ask.

Anyway, grab this new collection now!

Jackbox Party Pack 6 is out on PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Windows PC, Mac and other major digital platforms for $29.99, but random sales on different platforms happen quite often for the game.

Publisher provided game for review purposes

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Random Halloween Images

 Random Halloween art we found online and recently on Twitter.