I've never considered myself an egg-head, but I rather like the term 'Destroyer." That's cool!
The thrust of Gary's passionate piece seems to be, "It's bad to apply serious criticism to genre movies." It also seems to be, "Either you like what we like, and look at it the way we look at it, or you're against us." I strongly disagree, and everyone approaches movies, music, literature, and even drugs from different subjective points of view.
My own feeling is that if you support big budget tits-and-blood fests like HOSTEL you get more of the same. And that's why there was a HOSTEL 2. From what I hear, 2 was better than 1; whatever, I don't care. But do the fans of these films really need another one? What kind of message are yous ending when you tell people to support more of the same, or when Gary says that people shouldn't criticize these things?
What the horror genre needs is more original films and fewer remakes and sequels. Again, Gary and I disagree on that point. I like to see serious criticism of these films; it's why my favorite SF mag was CINEFANTASTIQUE, back when it was really snooty, even though I always felt insulted when I read their reviews of my favorite movies and TV shows. That magazine used to really piss me off, but it served a much greater purpose than promotional pablum like STARLOG, and it taught me to view films with a critical eye. Then it morphed into a much more conventional thing, concentrating on episode guides and nonsense like that, and the revival a couple of years ago was just lame.
I don't know what any of this has to do with Jevonka. I've already gone on record as saying that I think RUE MORGUE is the best horror magazine ever, and that I think it's editorial outlook has flourished under her direction. I've met her and Rod briefly once or twice, and I know Monica somewhat socially. I wouldn't say I'm really friends with any of them, but with the short distance between Buffalo and Toronto, I'm happy to run into them from time to time. I've also been upfront that their support is pretty important to my projects from a marketing perspective, so you can dismiss my statements as those of an ass kisser, but that ain't the case; I had a fanboy letter printed on their letters page even before I had a publishing deal for PERSONAL DEMONS or a DVD for SLIME CITY, and I don't write fanboy letters often.
Wil, I'm a big fan of HYB, and I think all of you do a great job here. I love that you guys support my stuff, which few people have even heard of, and that you've given me a little section here where I can spam all of my stuff and people can ignore my posts, and you post all of my press releases with great fanfare, etc. In fact, I consider y'all my biggest supporters. Hell, I'm going all the way to San Jose for Silicon on my own dime, and plan to get toasted with all of you! I enjoy the irreverent attitude here more than the other boards I frequent, and I always feel iike a left out doofus whenever I miss a big flame war. You crazy kids! I think your mission statement is a great one (and certainly beneficial to me). There's room for the serious approach of RM and the approach here. In fact, the genre is better served by having a wide spectrum of coverage. I don't see how attacking other forums/mags helps anyone; I feel like that little kid in KRAMER VS. KRAMER, and what happened to his career after that movie?
Now, who do I have to fuck to get the membership here to watch GRUESOME?
