Yearly Podcast Report!

I have always had a fickle relationship with the podcasts I listen to. I find it difficult to stay loyal and then again there is a wide range of quality in podcasting so its easy to be disappointed. Just because I did not stick with a podcast don't let that necessarily reflect on the quality, I am after all fickle and sometimes drop podcasts just for a change of pace. Sometimes the advertising or soliciting for money that annoys me. I can say though that if I listened to it all year it probably is really good. Last year I tried a lot of new things but here is the list of ones that survived and below some notes on the ones that didn't. Anyone reading this can feel free to make suggestions for next year at movies@edhovey.com

I know at least one I will be listening to. My friends at All Things Horror have started a genre podcast, the Film Thrills Podcast  (you can subscribe on iTunes) They are great lovers of horrors, scifi and genre film. Their site is great reading and the events they put on in the Boston area are great, so listen and support them!

MY PODCASTS

Best of the Left - Still the best!  Collecting the best Left leaning pieces and building shows based on different "in the news" subjects this show is well produced and and executed.  The feedback section is often as thought provoking as the show, with well thought out opinion that adds to the conversation.

Black Astronauts - The mix is good although the show meanders way too much for my liking. When they are talking about current themes in the news I find it very interesting but the pop culture is unfortunately not stuff I know. Listened most of the year off and on and may bring this one back for another year.

Bloody Good Horror - Eric and the gang sometimes piss me off with what they like and don't like but it is always entertaining and the friendships these men have comes through in their banter. We may have different movie tastes at times but the dry humor and delicious beer recommendations should make this a "go to" horror podcast.

Boys and Ghouls  - A once a month podcast (if they even stick to that schedule) where over the year the repartee improved a lot between the hosts. Marshall and Kat may not be the most experience horror fans but they seem to be having fun. They are getting better and I for one am continuing the journey with them.

Dead Lantern Splattercast - Adding Rachel to their cast was a great move, she keeps the men honest even if they rib her about it. I listened back when they seemed to be giving up and I have to say they have energized themselves with new cast members.  Noirvember and in general getting back to being friends talking about movies and life has really made this a show to listen to. The Dead Lantern site

The Doctor Who Podcast - I am a Doctor Who fan and love this particular fan podcast. With a large cast of characters interacting all year long and not just during the season it is a perfect companion to the show. I appreciate the love of classic Who that is part of this show.

Faculty of Horror A smart look at horror that is too infrequent for my tastes but that I enjoy each time it shows up in my feed. Andrea Subissati and Alexandra West are fine, intelligent journalist and they take the time to structure the podcast in a way that it covers a subject fully.

Ice-T: Final Level Ice -T is a straight talking professional entertainer with opinions you may not always agree with but are stated with such certainty you gotta respect them. As the year went on the rapport between Ice and his guest improved as he figured out the interview thing. Nick and Ice are obviously great friends and as a pair they are uniquely entertaining. Okay maybe I listen for Nick Benzo moments like "The Soap Opera Thug" fucking excellent.

Killer POV -  For a while this podcast was so slow to download that I was a bit annoyed with it. Based in LA there is a penchant to love everyone but still you do get some frank opinions about the latest in horror as well as re-released classics.Having great people to interview like Lance Fucking Hendrickson makes the podcast worth your time.Not afraid to have a few beers while recording loosens the opinions in a good way.

The Monday Morning Podcast - Comedian Bill Burr tries to be interesting and funny for an hour once a week. Unscripted and entertaining Burr riffs about life and schedules and relationships. There is also a often very funny bit where he gives advice ( that he is totally unqualified to give) to people who write in.

On the Page: A screenwriting podcast that I enjoy quite a bit. Pilar Alessandra obviously loves her work as a profession script consultant and teacher and she gets some very accomplished writers to talk about the process of screenwriting. Always entertaining and such a nice look into the profession so many are trying to make it in that so few do.

Pseudopod - A very enjoyable horror fiction show with short stories professionally read. I can't say I love all the stories but many are dark and disturbing in a way that you think about them for hours after. Very good quality relying on donations to pay the writers and new this year the readers.

Totally Laime - Had dropped this for a while but brought it back only to learn it was ending. A fun interview podcast. It will be missed. They seem to want to put energy into their other podcasts that I don't find as interesting, like Totally married where the give advice to listeners who write in. Having been married for 28 years I don't find this one as intriguing. 

Ones that did not make the cut this year for whatever reason:

B3 - The Boston Bastard Brigade - 2/1 Asian rock and pop is not so bad. 3/21 Still listen although I have yet to purchase a single song heard . Since I just don't have the time to learn Pop culture for yet another music scene, (I already do spanish language music) R.I.P 3/27/14

The Bloodcast - 3/27 Some really good conversation lately about what it takes to be a horror writer. Not sure about these vertical content communications companies though, Are they going to squeeze out a lot of the independents, or is there room for all? 4/11 Interesting reading I have been doing about vertical content companies. Smart thinking connecting content production to advertising firms, you create a audience demographics and then sell that audience. 7/22 Again a podcast by paid professionals from what I can tell. I like it well enough but wonder what the end game is. Horror writers and promoters a professional podcast. Can't really drop this podcast since the company producing it ended it. RIP 11/15/14

Freakonomics Radio - For the 2nd time dumped them because lets face it the narrow scope of an economist is inappropriate for some subject. When they start doing those subject I get turned off. R.I.P. 5/23/14

Horrorshow Hot Dog 3/24 Oh sometime people are so into making themselves seem clever that they come off like jerkoffs. Still I can't disagree with the panning of Argento's Dracula. 4/21 Starting to think these guys are just too young for me to listen too. Its not that they don't talk about movies well but sometime there is this impulsive rejection of films that bothers me. 5/23 Grrr, they talk about movies in the right way but just not feeling it a lot of the time, is it wrong that they sound too geeky?
Tired of these guys so R.I.P. 7/16/14

The Jagaloons Podcast - First ten minutes on their misconception of what net neutrality is and then 20 minutes on how much they love fast food. WTF! They certainly as advertised "Jagaloon: Someone who clearly demonstrates a lack of commitment to maturity and the responsibilities that comes with it."  Moving on to the asshole that thinks his neighbors should just tolerate his dogs that bark all day while he is at work. Then on to WWE channel, not sure these guys will ever be something I find interesting. Fucking movies and these nimrods like stupid shit. 2nd was not much better, just does not connect with me. DONE WITH THIS PODCAST AFTER TWO EPISODE. R.I.P. 2/7/14

Knifepoint Horror - Just not into it. R.I.P. 3/31/14

Moment of Clarity
2/7 Lee Camp is good but will I be able to listen for hours at a time? 4/21 Lee is a good liberal so no problem there. 5/23 less podcasts because of a t show could doom this one. 7/22 The new show "Redacted" is okay but it is more comedy than commentary so I am not as excited by it.  Change in format is not something like so ..R.I.P. 10/19/14

The No Sleep Podcast -  Just could not get past the overproduced sounds of horror and the campy scary voice intro, Psuedopod does it so much better and more sincerely. R.I.P. 3/21/14

The 80s Picture House podcast -
2/1 Content may be the issue with this one. First listen is about the Girls and G-strings box set which is complete garbage.
2/7 Interview with Tommy 'Tiny' Lister was pretty decent even with the poor sound quality of the connection.
4/11 Wow they really love their 80s poor cinema, its not that I like the movings but there is a genuine love coming from the hosts that is very engaging.
7/22 Tired of the 80's subjects that I just don't care about R.I.P. 7/22/14

Screamqueenz - The Boogens episode was all over the place to the point it was almost too hard to listen to. On hiatus so I am dropping it R.I.P. 3/24/14

Point of Inquiry - Dropped the podcast, it just isn't the same as it once was. R.I.P. 2/12/14

The Left Show - 4/3 Well again I feel the show is a personal diatribe by the lead guy and it just gets old. 4/13/14 Had enough I think, the show needs to be less local and personal. Although they seem like nice enough guys stories of adventures in local Dem politics of Utah wear thin after a while. R.I.P. 4/13/14

New Podcast Time!

  Each year I make an attempt to try a bunch of new podcasts always looking for new and delightful things to listen to at work. I have to admit I discard them somewhat callously for any number of irrational reasons. Still each January I start with a large group and keep the ones that hold my interest through the year. Last year the following podcasts made it through to 2014. Now if you want to make suggestions to me about podcasts to add this coming year write to me at [eddie][at][edhovey][dot][com]

Alternative Cinema Podcast - It seemed to have died in November or so but I did enjoy it while it lasted. Hopefully those folks will resurrect it.
http://www.alternativecinema.com/

Best of the Left - Progressive leaning media clips organized into subjects. One of the Best podcast out there.
http://www.bestoftheleft.com/

Black Astronauts Podcast - Guys and girls hanging out shooting the shit and in general having some good positive fun. I think I am white guy #2 listening to the show.
http://blackastronauts.com/

Bloody Good Horror -  Like all horror podcasts its about the personalities, this is a fine group of guys and although I don't always agree with their opinions who really expects that. Still interesting horror themed banter.
http://www.bloodygoodhorror.com/bgh/

Common Sense with Dan Carlin - Sometimes a bit libertarian for my tastes but always well thought out positions on a wide range of topics.
http://www.dancarlin.com/

Dan Carlin's Hardcore History -  A great in depth history podcast. If you like history or even if you don't want to continue to be a dumb as a rock.
http://www.dancarlin.com/

Feakonomics Radio - Sometime the narrowness of looking at things from an economic viewpoint can be annoying but mostly it is an interesting show.
http://freakonomics.com/radio/

The Left Show -  I have to admit I have come close to dropping this one several times. It gets a little local politics for my liking and since those politics are Dems in Utah they really don't always connect with my Massachusetts thinking.
http://theleftshow.com/

Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast - Comedian Bill Burr puts aside and hour a week to talk to you about what he is up to, plugging his gigs and giving advice to people who write in. Always amusing and sometime hilarious it's a pleasure to listen to a fellow Boston guy about my age riff.
http://www.billburr.com/podcast

The Moth podcast - Although they have yet to feature the best storyteller I know, My wife Elisa Pearmain, they do have some really great tellers.
http://themoth.org/about/programs/the-moth-podcast

Point Of Inquiry - Again a podcast that barely made it through to this year. Originally the Center for Inquiry did a much better job at this but recently the shorter less personal approach has been bothering me.
http://www.pointofinquiry.org/

ScreamQueenz Horror Podcast - Often funny and entertaining definitely unique it is one Queenz take on horror. "Take your host Patrick (aka. “The Angriest Redhead in New York City”). Mix in his nearly rabid love for (and encyclopedic knowledge of) horror movies. Add his notoriously wicked sense of offbeat humor. Sprinkle on some sparkling gay repartee. Serve with a heaping portion of jaw-dropping potty mouth, and what have you got? A deliciously unpredictable horror podcast with a decidedly BENT point of view with a host who always knows which fork to use to stick in your eye."
http://screamqueenz.com/

Now the couple that I had dropped but recently brought back are:

Dead Lantern's Splattercast - Infused with new life with the addition of the Original Zombiegrrlz Rachel they seem to be hitting a nice stride. I like the Explodey Files from this group also but unforunately those poccasts have been few and far between.
http://www.deadlantern.com/splattercast/

Totally Laime - Getting a bit annoyed when I started listening to the Totally Married spin off of this often very funny interview podcast I dropped both. Well somewhere in November though I started missing the original and am glad to be back.  Elizabeth and Andy are very funny and I missed their easy humor with each other.
http://www.totallylaime.com/

Outpost Doom (2009) - Horror Monster

Outpost Doom (2009) - There are two guys running through the woods with bad rain effects, accentuated by poor lightning effects while being chased by a cameraman wiggling his fingers in front of the camera. It is a creative idea making due with what is available. This is the beginning of Outpost Doom, the micro budget film from the guys at Dead Lantern, and the world famous Splattercast (podcast). Before starting this review let me say that I love the Splattercast podcast, I listen to every episode and so I am a fan. I appreciate that these guys not only share a love of the horror genre, but get off their asses and put time and creativity into creating their own flick and podcast. There should be credit given to small film makers for the effort and energy they put into these projects. Eh... its sounding like I am apologizing before ripping their movie apart, not really my intention but since I already know I did not really like the movie but like the guys so it is hard. Okay I will approach it as a viewer who loves horror movies and let the cards fall where they fall.
The two guys, convicts Curt (Steve Eaton) and Rick (Jeremy Cech) from the first scene, make it to a barn and then for some unknown reason the pass out like synchronized swimmers. When Kurt wakes up again he sees a headless body then Rick comes and beats the shit out of him. Kurt is tied to a beam and Rick who has a glowing pentagram on his hand beats him a bit and says "You can't fool me, I know what you are." We don't! Tell us damn it what is Kurt? Apparently Kurt was somewhere and a lot of people ended up dead. Kurt denies killing anyone. Rick turns from the window, of course he should not be standing by the window, door or whatever since there is a finger monster outside. He does anyway and is grabbed from behind through the window slots by the finger monster. It really is a decent effect and works for the movie. He is saved but now he sees they are not alone in the barn there is a group of people and one has a gun. So we have a setup and I have to give some credit here, instead of having an acute crisis that brought everyone to the barn. There has been a "darkness" in the world for some time and people have ended up there from unconnected places. The body on the inside means that there is also a killer inside the barn too. Still I don't understand how they all sort of just got there and have not explored the place. I like the idea that the world is going through some kind of invasion.
The Group of players are
Convict Rick - The best actor of the bunch and very distrustful of Curt. His story about guys on the chain gang ending up dead around Curt lends to the surprise twist at the end of the story.
Convict Curt - Casually talks about being in prison for murder, excellent in that nobody batted an eye when he reveals this in fact Leon is friendly with him after this.
Leon (Jeff Gustafson) A local bar owner who knows Curt from the past. He is wonderfully animated in his line delivery compared to many of the other actors.
David (Braden Johnson) the diabetic for the purpose of getting someone to try to get to the house nearby.
Mathew Kister - I take it he was Mathew and since he does not have a character name on imdb he must have been living the movie thinking it was really happening.
Harry (Jeff Schmidt) - Has the gun at the beginning and is caring for the blind woman Helen.
Helen (Who played Helen?) My wife pegged her right away as the obvious killer and then she says to to Curt in the middle of the flick. "Why are you always looking out the window?" She is blind right?
Stu (Deejay Scharton) Should never have went out into the dark barn. He roughs up the prisoners pretty good in the beginning of the film. He has a short fuse.
Jenny (Rhyann Crooks) Our other female lead.
The guy upstairs Herb?
After establishing how much nobody trusts the two guys in prison clothes, the lights in the barn start failing. The group decides to investigate the barn, and of course they split up and of course this is not going to end well. Stu send the fainty David back to the main area of the barn, he says he can handle it but then says "Trust Me" so we will know he is about to die. When the killing starts it creates a chain reaction of distrust as the group starts getting killed off. Now we have "Ten Little Indians" and we all get to guess which person in the group is the killer.
Onward it goes with each time the groups separates someone dies. About this time my wife told me who the killer was and she was right. It seems inevitable in horror movies that this is going to happen and I always get a sinking feeling for the film when it does. Then we reconfigure the groups and send them out again for a new cast member to kick it. Shot in Black and white made the monster effect as well as the wound effect work pretty well.
The acting is well like a bunch of friends got together to act. The story by Mathew Kister was okay if a bit predictable. How much can you do in a one location shoot though? The idea that there is a outside force that has forced them all into the barn gets established pretty well. The idea of the killer among us is not very well established and the ending twist really doesn't fit in the film at all. Sticking to developing the idea of the internal killers reason for being and motivation would have benefited the overall story. It is pretty limiting and even though the barn seemed to have several rooms it seemed a limited space. Thus the dialog and actors needed to carry the story and they fell short. Glad to see the twist at the end and if my wife and daughter got their wish I would not have. At one point my wife said, "Why are you watching this?" I of course defended my boys at Dead Lantern and told her there is value in all film and each has to be judged on its... who am I kidding I shrugged my shoulder and waited for the exploding head effect.

David has a great idea in saying maybe they should not be wandering around in the dark when somebody is killing them. That doesn't happen though so they talk themselves into dying and so it goes.

"Jenny will you stop being a whiny bitch."
I liked the CGI effect of the killers face in the climax and then the final twist is just a bit too much. Overall although the movie was not... um... good I applaud the guys at Dead Lantern for the effort. So what was with Rick's glowing Pentagram, did I miss something or did that never get resolved? Why yes it was but you have to know you classic horror movie monsters to get it.
Rating (3.5) 5.0 and up are recommended, In the Zombiegrrlz rating system I say BUY IT! although I don't recommend it as a film I support low budget horror film, so throw these guys $10 bucks at http://www.deadlantern.com/It came with a wonderful hand written note from Deejay that you can take to a writing specialist for analysis, or re-gift in the pipe bomb you are sending to your boss.

The Soresport likes...

Here at Soresport movies coverage is almost always about horror movies, but life is so much more than that. Here are some other things the Soresport is currently digging.

PODCASTS

The Zombiegrrlz Podcast - This is currently my favorite podcast, Rachel aka "Zombiegrrl" has a great style, insightful in her reviews, she smoothly leads the rest of the grrlz, Summer aka "Lady Succubus", Ariel aka "The Last Grrl", Brianne aka "The Reanimatress", into the latest but sometimes not the greatest movies out today. These girls have fun and love horror and spend the time to thoroughly review there features. You can get them through itunes or at their website.

WTF with Marc Maron - Great comedy from a great comedian, Marc Maron who I first saw iin the Boston Comedy scene in the 80s, who was excellent in his short stint on Air America and who now has this hilarious pocast. Bringing in comedians from his extensive Rolodex (do those exist anymore) this is the best podcast for hearing the experience of the comedian while also hearing some great comedy.website.

Best of the Left Podcast - Jay Tomlinson picks a subject and then collects the best of current progressive talk and shows on the subject then splices them together into just the best political show out there. Whether you are a lefty, centrist or insane and need to educate yourself, you can get the best talk happening on the latest news and issues today in a convenient well produced show.

The Scare-ening - Journalists Stacie Ponder (Final Girl) and Heidi Martinuzzi (Pretty-Scary.net) are great and I wish I could stay up later to hear this live but instead I get it on podcast. I love the little bit of bitterness that mixes into conversation, they may be near my age.

The Nerdist Podcast - Chris Hardwick hosts this funny comedy show, with stand up comedians, TV personalities, tech news, and lots of stuff geeks will love this great show.

The Dead Lantern Splattercast - The Guys at Dead Lantern have a ball while reviewing the latest in horror. Not only that they don't just watch horror but make it, their latest film "Outpost Doom" is available at their website. I recently watched it and a review is forthcoming. Very enjoyable the group is about the right size for a podcast and they build off each other nicely. You can get them at itunes, I should just say you can get all podcasts here through itunes.

Blogs

The Horror Digest - Andre Dumas covers alot of horror related maaterial and I love her first person reviews. She watches so many things that I have not thought about in years and reviews them with the insights of youth and a styles that is so Andre, enjoy every entry. Currently she is having a contest to win tickets to the Horror Marathon coming up at the Coolidge Corner theater midnight on Oct 30th get over there and enter!

Finalgirl - Stacie Ponder makes a second appearance with her excellent horror blog. Currently she is slowly revealing the results of her poll for the greatest horror movies of all time. Read it!

All Things Horror - A locally based horror site with great reviews and horror movie related news. Mike Snoonian and Chris Hallock have put together a great site. They also host independent horror movies and shorts about once a month at the Somerville Theater, the next coming Oct 26th.


Television -
Caprica,
Stargate Universe,
Supernatural,
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia,
Eureka, and I am totally psyched for "The Walking Dead" coming to AMC starting Halloween night.

Discgolf - Love the sport and with more and more free to play courses around the area there is no reason you should not try it. Sometimes you have to get off your ass and get your body moving this is a great way to do it. Check out nefa.com for a list of courses.

Well those are some things I am liking right now. How about you?