Entertainment Earth

3/28/2022

Big Apple Con 2022


The weekend of March 26 & 27, 2022 marked the latest edition of the Big Apple Con. I hadn't attended one of their shows since October 2010. But, with the awesome guest list that they had booked, I simply had to go!

The person I was most looking forward to meeting was the beautiful Shantel VanSanten. She starred in The Final Destination, The Flash, and more. On The Flash, she played Detective Patty Spivot, my favorite of all of the Flash's love interests on that show. She was a great character, as well as looking stunning and playing her role excellently. Anyway, she looks absolutely amazing in person!

Next up was Katie Barberi, another star that I was pumped up to meet. She's starred in many projects, but I know her best from playing Tangerine in the infamous cult favorite The Garbage Pail Kids Movie. I loved that movie, as a kid. I haven't watched since, though, and have no clue what I would think about it today. Anyway, I had a big childhood crush on her, and, as such, I was stocked to meet her! She still looks drop-dead gorgeous and was very sweet in person. Barberi was all smiles and had her adorable and sweet little doggy with her. I'm glad that she also was in the pic with us! 

Last, but most certainly. not least was the beautiful Michelle Harrison, who among her many roles, played Nora Allen/ the Speed Force on The Flash. She was so sweet and down to earth in person, that it was a complete pleasure to meet her. That and I absolutely love the way this pic came out. The lighting the photographer used was so good!

There was also a ton of cosplay on this day. I am sure that this is, at least in part, due to the fact that that they were having a cosplay contest later that day. I didn't cosplay, this time around cause I knew I was leaving early. Anyway, here are some of my favorite cosplays that I saw:
















Finally, I didn't really get a lot of swag this time around, but I did, at least , pick up the new Punisher #1 (Alex Ross variant cover) and a Blu-ray of Ozzfest, which I scored for $10!

I had a good time, even if I did end up leaving by the afternoon. I plan on returning to this con and next time, hopefully, in cosplay. Did any of you guys go? If so what did you like the most? Did you meet any celebs? Let me know in the comments section below. 

3/22/2022

Horror Crush: Penelope Ann Miller

It's time for another induction into Horror Crushes! This time we are adding a beauty who has been one of my favorite lovely ladies since at least my early teen years, the absolutely gorgeous and immensely talented Penelope Ann Miller!


Penelope Ann Miller was born Penelope Andrea Miller on January 13, 1964 in Los Angeles, California. She is the eldest of three daughters. Miller is probably best known by mainstream fans for movies like Kindergarten Cop (probably the movie where I first really crushed on her) and Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way. But, as always, we will be focusing on her genre work.


She actually began her acting career in the genre, as her first acting role was in a 1985 episode of Tales from the Darkside, named "Ring Around the Redhead". She plays the titular redhead. Now, I am sure I saw this episode, as I am sure I've watched every episode of this classic show. And, I am pretty sure that I crushed on her in this episode. After all, she was a redhead in it, and I always loved redheads! Plus, I crushed on a girls all the time, on this show, as a kid. That being said, I don't remember this one at all. Any thoughts on this episode? Let me know in the comments section below!

Her first horror film came in 1997 with the excellent The Relic. This kick ass monster movie has amazing practical FX by Stan Winston. The CGI is a little more uneven, but the movie remains a frightening and suspenseful creature feature. Based on the best selling book by the same name by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, it is directed expertly by Peter (Outland, End of Days, Universal Solider: Regeneration) Hyams. 

In it, an ancient monster begins to slaughter people in a museum. Miller plays an evolutionary biologist, Margo Green, who tries to figure out what is doing the killing. Also investigating the murders is a toigh but superstitious cop, Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta,  played wonderfully by Tom Sizemore. Miller is awesome as the smart and resourceful Margo. Also, she looks drop-dead gorgeous, especially when she gets all made-up for the gala opening of the museum's new superstition display.  

I have loved The Relic since I first saw it in the theatres. And, while I had not seen it since the days of when I owned it on laserdisc, I can say that it still fucking rocks! The Relic is truly one of the best horror movies of the 90s and honestly needs to get talked about a lot more be genre devotes and experts.





A decade later, in 2007, came her return to horror with The Messengers. Despite, being a long time fan of hers, I had forgotten that she was in this. Mostly, cause it was such an awful and generic PG-13 ghost flick from the Pang (The Eye) Brothers. It didn't really offer anything worthwhile to stick in my mind. I mean, fuck the only thing that I recall is, (well other than the fact that it fucking sucks) Kristen Stewart played her daughter. Definitely a waste of Miller's talent. But, hey she looks gorgeous in it, of course!




The closest she came to returning to horror was Riverdale in 2018, but I don't recall that episode, to be honest. Regardless, Miller is a great actress, who I am always am happy to see in a project. Her appearance in the awesome The Relic is alone worthy of praise and love within the genre. And, with that I am honored to add this still absolutely ravishing actress to this site's Horror Crushes!

3/17/2022

WinterCon 2022

The weekend of March 12 & 13, 2022 marked the return of WinterCon to Resorts World NYC in Queens, New York. The last time the event had been held was way back in December of 2019. Thanks to COVID it wasn't held the following year. Then, in 2021, it was set to take place in December, but Omicron changed those plans. And, it was postponed till this month. But, the end result was more than worth the wait! 

The guest list was awesome! With the main appeal, to me, being the Aliens cast reunion. That James Cameron sci-fi/ horror/ action classic is my second favorite movie of all time. I had been wanting to meet the cast forever, with Jennette Goldstein being at the very top of the list. She played the badass and tough as nails Private Vasquez, one of my favorite characters in a film filled with incredible characters. She was super sweet in person. 

The other person I was looking forward to meeting was the original Michael Myers from John Carpenter's Halloween, himself, Nick Castle! He also played him in parts of the last two entries in the franchise, Halloween (2018) and Halloween Kills. While, I had seen him at various horror cons, I never did go up to him till now. He was really nice in person.

Basically this means that I got autographs for two of my favorite movies of all time! You can see them in the pic below.

The Aliens cast was reunited onstage for a really cool and informative panel.

As you may have noticed, I was in my Captain America, Avengers: Infinity War cosplay. And, as always I was really excited to see other people's cosplays. While there wasn't a whole lot of them on Sunday, there were some cool ones on hand. Was there more on Saturday? If you know this to be the case let me know in the comments section below. Anyway, here are some of my favorite cosplays that I saw on Sunday:





I also got to run into my friend and all around awesome cosplayer, Miss. Cheng. We chatted for a bit catching up since the last time I saw her, coincidently was at the last WinterCon. As always, her cosplay was cool as hell! She was D.Va from Overwatch, this time around.



Finally, I got to buy some cool toys and got some killer deals on them! I picked up Funko Pops of Fantastic Four's H.E.R.B.I.E. and a Walmart exclusive of Chatterer from Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (even though he isn't in that movie, but I digress) and an Ultimate Macready from John Carpenter's The Thing by NECA (which I actually scored for $25!).


I had an absolute blast at WinterCon, which remains one of my favorite conventions around. I hope this upward trend continues, and we will have more cons. Were you at WinterCon, and if so what did you enjoy the most? Let me know in the comments section.

3/12/2022

Horror Crush: Olga Karlatos

It has been a long time since I have picked a Horror Crush induction or, to be honest, written much of anything. A big part of that is that I have and am going through a very rough time. The passing of my six year old terrier mix, Zoey, who was my absolute everything, has devastated me. I am finding it very hard to cope, but have been feeling the inkling to slowly start writing again has been itching me. A recent revisit of one of my favorite movies, Lucio Fulci's Zombie further cemented this in mind. Or more so, this piece that you are about to read. And, so I wanted to show some love and induct one of that masterpiece's beautiful stars, the stunning Olga Karlatos and make her the next official Horror Crush inductee! 

  

Olga Karlatos was born in Athens, Greece on April 20, 1945. Between the 60s and 70s, she had a short lived music career, in which she sang in both French and Italian. Her acting career began in 1975 in the movie My Friends

Her first horror flick came in 1978's Italian movie, Damned in Venice.  Like most of her movies, I haven't seen or really heard about this one before. It's about a kid getting warned about the birth of the Antichrist. In it, she plays a character named Madeline Winters. If you have seen it let me know your thoughts on it and her performance in it, in the comments section below.






Later that same year came Mexican horror movie, Cyclone. This one, I have heard in name but, regardless, never saw it. It is apparently about a crashed plane, and its survivors resorting to cannibalism. Karlatos plays a character named Monica. Again, if you've seen it tell me your thoughts on it in the comments section.





Then in 1979, came her most famous role, Lucio Fulci's classic Zombie (AKA Zombi 2, Zombie Flesh Eaters). After a zombie appears on a boat in New York City and cops shoot into the water, a daughter (Tisa Farrow) and reporter (Ian MacCulloch) go to a island to look for her missing father. There they discover the dead are rising. 


One of Fulci's finest movies, this atmospheric and ultra- gory splatter film fucking rocks. While, essentially a Dawn of the Dead rip-off, it sets itself apart, as it embraces a more supernatural element and feel. It also features explicit gore with excellent make-up FX by Giannetto De Rossi. The flick is drenched in atmosphere with an exciting and rousing climax, thanks to Fulci's excellent directing.



Karlatos plays the wife, Paola, of a Dr. David Menard (Richard Johnson) who was friends with the missing father. Karlatos does a fine job here, as a beautiful wife who knows the horrors that are going and doesn't wanna be there anymore. She also takes a shower, to allow for some nudity, which I assure was absolutely necessary to the plot! This leads to her famous demise, which is the movie's most infamous splatter moment. As a zombie chases her, he grabs her by the hair, and drives her beautiful eye into a large splinter. The scene is audacious, harrowing, and never loses its power, not even in the many  repeated viewings that I have given this classic! She is later devoured, showing us that zombies don't let food go to waste!


In 1984, Karlatos did her final horror film, Murder Rock, which suitably enough was also for Fulci. I have not seen this Giallo, but as a fan of Fulci, and hers, I do want. It deals with the owner of a prestigious New York ballet school teaming up with a male model, as they try solve who is killing students. Karlatos plays a character named Candice and gets top billing in this. That alone make me want to see it even more! Are any of you fans of this Fulci flick? 


 


Also, that year she appeared in what might be her most famous role for mainstream audiences, Purple Rain, in which she played Prince's mom. Her last acting role was in 1986 for an episode of Miami Vice. In 2007, she graduated from Kent University with a law degree, and in 2010 was allowed in the Bermuda Bar Association. Karlatos may long have left the acting world, but she will always be remembered and loved by horror fans. Her role alone in Zombie will forever hold as a part of genre history. And, so with that having been said, it is my honor to official induct the absolutely gorgeous Olga Karlatos into this site's Horror Crushes!