It is always great fun to see what the good folks at Big Biting Pig Productions have unleashed upon the world with each of their annual horror productions. This year's release is their tenth movie to date. Written, directed and staring Steve Hudgins, it is titled "It Lives In The Attic" and perhaps the scariest thing about this film is that it ever lived in the mind of Steve Hudgins. You know what they say... better out than in. Oh, really?
The pre-release trailers for this film did little to reveal any more about what to expect than does the film's title; this signaled to me that the actual story line was being held close to the vest. Wishing not to take away from that spirit of mystery, a thorough review of this film is going to be little tough to do. I will say however, that it was fantastic to see Michael Coon in a leading role, all grown up and enjoying life as happy-go-lucky Andy. It was also good to see that Jessica Leonard was none the worse for wear; coming from her starring role in last years Big Biting Pig monster hit, to figure voluptuously into this tapestry of madness as Ellie, the girl next door. Steve Hudgins channeled his inner "Aqualung" in a masterful "perv"formance as the standoffish Barney.
I really don't think it is much of a stretch to say this production has crossed the line into a soft-porn classification but you may rest assured the horror is there in ample quantity to spoil the mood. Many familiar Big Biting Pig performers contribute admirably to the film and a good many of these seemed just a little too convincing when letting their freak flags fly.
Disturbing? Yes. Uncomfortable? Yes. Horrific? Oh, yeah! Honestly, I came away from this film with much the same feeling as after having first viewed Stanley Kubrick's classic "A Clockwork Orange." In fact, to my mind, I think of this as Big Biting Pig's "A Cuckoo-Clockwork Orange" (I mean this in a good way.) Steve Hudgins and the Big Biting Pig crew always seems to bring us smart, thinking-person's horror, so you will want to bring your brain; of course it will be of no great help with this one, but you will still want to refer back to it as the closing credits begin to roll.
"I grew up making home movies and text adventures that no one ever saw or played, so it was really exciting when I got web access in 1995 and started Newgrounds. My first games were point and click adventures, followed by some more interactive javascript concoctions. In 1998, I picked up Flash and my life changed forever. By 1999, Newgrounds was so popular that other Flash artists wanted to showcase their movies and games here too. There were so many submissions that we automated the process in 2000, being the first website to offer real-time publishing for games and movies. It was like a big party."
And so the party continues...
While on Newground.com I saw a link to a video titled "4 Ways YOU'VE been Clickbaited?!" I pride myself in not falling for the "Clickbait" since that generally leads to the busier (if not seedier) side of the internet and - as I am sure you are aware - I prefer to travel the "roads less traveled" as they typically lead to fantastic discoveries like Newgrounds and ApexxWolf. ApexxWolf is a self-proclaimed "amature animator that makes short gaming cartoons from time to time." This entire post has been created mainly to present his video discussing clickbait on the internet.
In the words posted by ApexxWolf on YouTube:
Clickbait......Clickbait for Everyone!
Thought I'd try a new style of social commentary video talking about the use of clickbait on the internet. In the video I go over 4 popular methods used (including a bonus method) and try to answer whether or not clickbait is bad.
Inspired to create this after being clickbaited myself by a fake girl gamer live streaming on twitch :P
I'm sure we all have memories of when the "black sheep" of the family took our Holiday celebration off-course, giving us one more reason to continue to look upon them in a less than ideal light. Now imagine a family where every single member is eminently qualified for the "black sheep of the family" designation. If you can do that, then you can begin to imagine Christmas with the Earlys.
Bethlehem (the title derived from the fact that this "dramedy" takes place in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) brings together several elements - any one of which would point to a dysfunctional family - in what you might think would seem like piling-on for comedic effect but in practice paints the situation as sad and reminds us that behind every house decked-out with Christmas decorations is a story of a family struggling to keep it together in a world more conducive to its falling apart. A cautionary tale of the evils of addiction and poor choices and the enduring patience and strength of the matriarch who - to spite the many shortcomings of this brood of bad-eggs - is hell-bent on hosting this family get together regardless of the inevitable consequences.
There is only one thing that could possibly bring this dysfunctional family together this year and that has to be love. Not the "heart on your sleeve", "god bless us every one", sappy, happy love but that deep, deep, down in your gut, unconditional "family" love that you can never escape no matter how hard you try.
Michael Malone weaves a grungy tapestry of hurt and hormones in the story of this family gone very very wrong. Those of us familiar with the wit and wisdom and the irreverent comedic stylings of Michael Malone have been eagerly anticipating the release of Bethlehem. This is certainly one of the more talked about independent films of the year and with this cast of characters is it any wonder? In addition to writing (along with Joshua Hull) and directing, Michael Malone plays eldest son Michael Early who earns the crown of "most level headed," an honor which is often debatable chiefly due to his penchant for getting stoned.
"Homemaker" and Mother, Carolyn Early is portrayed marvelously by Cindy Maples in a role that stretches from doting, motherly heart-to-hearts to sternly shouted expletives as her character overtly struggles with how little control she actually has over her family beyond extending the invitations to this hopeful event.
The baby of the family is in his late 20s, still living at home and - by all indications, most likely - not still breastfeeding. Bobby Early is played by Mike Dobrzelecki who tries his very best to steal the show by delivering carefully measured aspects of Elvis, Meatloaf, Baby Huey and just enough Karate Kid to win favor with his overtly absent, mistress toting, father Jack (played admirably by Raymond Kester.)
Melissa Revels delivers a delightful portrayal of middle-child Bridgett who could almost qualify as normal, but rest assured this is only what passes for normal in a family where "smoke-screen" seems to be the order of the day.
Uncle Raymond (endearingly characterized by Rich Ragains) lets his flaming love light shine and shows that he takes seriously his obligation to the family that dearly loves him in spite of his taste in sweaters.
JoAnn King White brings the character of Grandma to life as one who happily exists in her own little world and playfully invites all around her to join in the simpler pleasures reserved for those teetering on the verge of dementia. Grandma may well be the only guest in attendance truly happy to be there.
Of course this Christmas gathering would not be complete without their recently released, teardrop-tattooed, ex-con cousin Bryan (a role nailed by actor Derik Zooashkiyani) and his female companion.
The film does a masterful job of introducing the viewer to each member of this gathering, making us feel welcome among the madness. Once we begin to realize the volatile nature of this mixture of personalities the true magic of Christmas rears its ugly head. Just as you can mend a fraying rope by singeing its ends, so too can a family bond together at Christmas time.
This film is humorous without resorting to high-voltage lighting displays or ridiculously lubricated snow sleds. It delivers a profound message of love and family togetherness without resorting to angels getting wings or miracles 4 blocks north of 30th Street. Perhaps the most notable quality of Bethlehem is how relatable this messed up family is likely to be to everyone fortunate enough to watch this film. Destined to become a Christmas classic; one you should only watch with your children after they leave home or reach the age of 18 (whichever comes first.) [Officailly Rated R13 Offensive Language and Sexual Content]
Expertly lensed by David M. Brewer this feature packs amazing, big-time production value; a credit to all involved. Check out the complete list of cast and crew on IMDB and help spread the word about what is surely the unlikeliest connection ever between Bethlehem and Christmas.
Enjoy this Official Trailer with the knowledge it is not safe for work.
Big Biting Pig is set to premier their latest annual horror flickthis weekend. And if the trailers are any indication, it looks like we are all in for a shockingly good time...
The film is called "Frances Stein" and (as you can well imagine) it promises to put a feminine spin on a familiar genre. For a look at the official trailers, a peek at the official synopsis, to order the DVD and/or view the streaming video you should visit The Big Biting Pig Productions "Frances Stein" Movie page. While you are there explore the site for many fright inducing opportunities for fun.
Followers of BlogDogIt will remember that I created animated GIF files for each of the BBPP releases to date (shortly after the release of last year's monster hit "The Caretakers.") In case you missed them, be sure to check out "The Complete BBPP GIFs Collection" for my tribute to the Big Biting Pig Horror Collection.
Continuing in that tradition, I present the following GIF creations built with frames extracted from the official trailers - These are offered in the spirit of "fan-art" and in no way are these efforts endorsed by PJ Woodside, Steve Hudgens, or Pig Biting Pig Productions (but I hope they like them.)
Stereoscopic vision is one of those miracles of the human condition that is all too often taken for granted. If you are fortunate enough to have two functioning eyes then you posses the ability to view the world in three dimensions and thereby have the tools required for depth perception.
When you look at a single object with two eyes you are actually presenting your brain with two separate images that it must meld into one. The average difference in eyeball separation is only 2-1/2" to 3" but that is all it takes to discern depth in three dimensional space.
Not very long after the invention of photography it was realized that if two photographs were taken of a single object with the same separation as the human eyes, these two images could be used to relay a three dimensional view to an individual via the use of a device known as a stereo-graph or stereoscope. The stereoscope would accept precisely mounted images (or view cards) on one end and the user of the device would peer through a couple of magnifying lenses (one for each eye) and would be treated to a picture set that would trick the mind into melding and interpreting as if the viewer were standing at the original camera location. The result was so awe inspiring and entertaining that "Stereopticons" (as these viewers were sometimes called) became a sensation. As a result of their popularity a grand industry arose whereby anything worth photographing was photographed in stereo and marketed to the connoisseurs of this fascinating pastime.
To this day there continues a very active community of Stereoview enthusiast. An internet image search using the word "stereoview" will send you into an incredible World of 3D photography to an extent that borders on the unbelievable.
To those of us that have mastered the art of freeviewing stereo pairs the internet now offers the ability to see back in time and far away places. You too can enjoy this hidden treasure trove by learning the technique known as freeviewing, which is the ability to render stereo pairs in glorious 3D in your minds eye without the use of a stereo-graph device of any sort.
It is the purpose of this article to help impart the skill of freeviewing to the uninitiated in the hopes that you too will use this simple technique and enjoy this remarkable pastime - this window on the world of long ago - this time machine available at your fingertips.
I have been having fun with the BlogDogIt "Friends - Link Exchange" (over to the right there - in case you missed it.)[smiley:;)] I have made several friends and have hopefully generated some traffic for them. I also have them to thank for bringing visitors to BlogDogIt by virtue of their display of the "BlogDogIt Tag" on their site, as part of the "Throw BlogDogIt A Bone" initiative.
I was facing a delima in that I had several links posted in the link exchange simply because they contained links back to BlogDogIt while not actually displaying the "BlogDogItTag." I still want to promote those sites but I really feel that the "Friends - Link Exchange" needs to stay true to its intended purpose.
Today I completed what I think to be a fine solution: I call it "Friendly Ad Roller" and right now it is displayed in the upper left corner of every page. This feature displays a randomly selected link-back graphic to one of our friend's websites. The pool of ads contains the official link exchange participants as well as other folks that I would like to bring to your attention.
Scroll this Box for the full "Rotation" of available Ads.
Shining the spotlight on friends of BlogDogIt.com
If you would like your site in this spotlight - just ask.
If you wish to be removed - same deal.
In the last couple of weeks the nogoodniks have taught their robot armies to defeat the Geeklog® Capcha system and as a result BlogDogIt has seen an explosion in new members. I hope that the robot's feelings were not hurt when I deleted their shiny metal asses.
::Ben over at Geeklog.fr wasted little time devising a foil for our Cracking Nemessi. He chose to utilize the slider control in place of the vision test to determine your humanity. Geeklog operators (V1.8.0 and up) will want to pick up Capcha plugin 3.5.2 from Geeklog.fr.
It will be interesting to see how long this little brain storm will hold the spammers at bay.
This device replaces all instances of the old-school Capcha around the site here. Please let us know if it causes you any problems (unless you are a robot in which case you can choke on it.) [smiley:;)]
The convention that North is at the top on most modern maps was established by the Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy (90-168 AD) and was adopted by other cartographers.
Sometimes when playing pool it really helps to have a bridge stick around for those hard to reach, across the table cue shots. No self respecting billiard parlor would be complete without one. A while back I picked up a couple of shorty pool cues with the intention of fitting one with a bridge head while keeping the other one for the "why is there a bookcase here?" shot.
Today I finally decided I would take care of my "lack of bridge head" problem. I do have a scroll saw and figured if I couldn't use it to cut out a bridge head, what's the point? So I hop on the friendly interwebs and search for "billiards bridge head template" (thinking surely I can not be the only scroll sawyer with this idea.) I turned up some pictures but not a template per se.
I found a head-on shot of a bridge head with the shape I am most accustomed to and PhotoShopped it into a two-color image and printed it to size. Click on the image below for a PDF template - ready to print out.
I cut out the printed shape and headed out to the workshop to find a piece of quarter-inch plywood to impart this shape unto. The scraps I had on hand were slightly too narrow (and I would not waste anything larger on this project.) A glance in the right direction revealed a "drop" of quarter-inch plexiglass that would be just the ticket. This plexi had its protective paper covering still attached. I laid the template shape on the plexiglass blank and spray painted over it to transfer the outline.
A slow and steady pass through the scroll saw, a stop at the drill press and some judicious sanding resulted in the handy-dandy bridge-headed shorty pictured above. For the record, the first shot taken with this device in a real game resulted in the successful pocketing of the desired ball - what more do you want?
<a href="http://BlogDogIt.com/" title="BlogDogIt - Bloggin’ It While Doggin’ It" target="_blank"><img src="http://BlogDogIt.com/images/buttons/BlogDogItTag.png" alt="BlogDogIt - Bloggin’ It While Doggin’ It" /></a>Join The Link Exchange Today! Display the BlogDogIt Tag on your site and we will reciprocate by displaying your 200X50px or 100X100px link. Custom buttons made on request. Contact webmaster@BlogDogIt.com
It is always great fun to see what the good folks at Big Biting Pig Productions have unleashed upon the world with each of their annual horror productions. This year's release is their tenth movie to date. Written, directed and staring Steve Hudgins, it is titled "It Lives In The Attic" and perhaps the scariest thing about this film is that it ever lived in the mind of Steve Hudgins. You know what they say... better out than in. Oh, really?
The pre-release trailers for this film did little to reveal any more about what to expect than does the film's title; this signaled to me that the actual story line was being held close to the vest. Wishing not to take away from that spirit of mystery, a thorough review of this film is going to be little tough to do. I will say however, that it was fantastic to see Michael Coon in a leading role, all grown up and enjoying life as happy-go-lucky Andy. It was also good to see that Jessica Leonard was none the worse for wear; coming from her starring role in last years Big Biting Pig monster hit, to figure voluptuously into this tapestry of madness as Ellie, the girl next door. Steve Hudgins channeled his inner "Aqualung" in a masterful "perv"formance as the standoffish Barney.
I really don't think it is much of a stretch to say this production has crossed the line into a soft-porn classification but you may rest assured the horror is there in ample quantity to spoil the mood. Many familiar Big Biting Pig performers contribute admirably to the film and a good many of these seemed just a little too convincing when letting their freak flags fly.
Disturbing? Yes. Uncomfortable? Yes. Horrific? Oh, yeah! Honestly, I came away from this film with much the same feeling as after having first viewed Stanley Kubrick's classic "A Clockwork Orange." In fact, to my mind, I think of this as Big Biting Pig's "A Cuckoo-Clockwork Orange" (I mean this in a good way.) Steve Hudgins and the Big Biting Pig crew always seems to bring us smart, thinking-person's horror, so you will want to bring your brain; of course it will be of no great help with this one, but you will still want to refer back to it as the closing credits begin to roll. 
;)
Them All!
