Blog of Round Things

Big Mania merger

(Sun 04/01/2007 10:52am)
Well, as you may have heard by now, all those rumors turned out to be true: as of this week, Mania Entertainment will be the new owners of Google.

We don't have the exact figures, but all sources point to the fact that the multibillion dollar merger was anything but consentual. What really matters is that for the month of April, both Mania and Google.com will shut down, and be "under construction" until May's launch of the new GoogleMania.com, which we feel will be the top pop culture and search engine website in the world.

So good luck to all involved, and please come back to check out our new look ad features next month!

Cheers!

B-fest aftermath

(Sun 01/28/2007 11:21am)
I was going to add this entry right after the 'fest ended, but was a bit drowsy and decided to take a nap. So here I am at 10:52 on Sunday morning.

This year's B-fest ended with some controversy, and perhaps a look to the future. As an experiment, KING KONG VS. GODZILLA was shown on DVD via video projector. As B-fest organizer Wyatt Ollestad pointed out, the availablility of film prints, especially for obscure genre titles, is beginning to dry up, and a lot of the available prints are falling apart. The show opener THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE was nearly unwatchable - and not because of its reprehensible content and acting. The print is so warped and brittle that it was impossible to keep it in focus. B-fest is famous for its technical problems, but these are more often caused by poor print condition than damaged equipment or sleepy projectionists.

That said, KKvG started with a fumbling attempt to get both picture and sound. Once righted, we were treated with one of the most flawless presentations the 'fest has ever offered. The widescreen image - overmatted at the bottom on DVD, but that's Universal's fault - could have been bigger, but they would',ve had to set up the projector a few rows into the crowd. I found myself nodding off through most of the movie, but that's more due to the fact that I've seen this one 50 times. Despite fatigue, I watched all of Roger Corman's TEENAGE DOLL (presented from a TV print with the YOUNG REBELS title) a bit earlier, as I'd never seen it before.

With plans in place to upgrade equipment, we're looking to a future when spots in the program will be filled more ad more via video, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It might prevent the projectionist from being able to show THE WIZARD OF SPEED AND TIME backwards, but there are plenty of B-fest-worthy titles available on DVD, and the event has never relied on format for enjoyment. Sure, it was great when they were able to secure a gorgeous 35mm widescreen print of KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS one year, but the crowd stilled loved it a couple of years later when all they had was a16mm TV print.

This was a great year for B-fest, and it will go on to have more great years. Even in the year 2048, when it moves out of the Norris Center (BTW, named after Chuck Norris) to a specially constructed space station, we'll be slinging paper plates across the theater in zero gravity, every time we spot a flyig saucer, whether it's in a scene in PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, or just out the window.

B-fest 11:51 AM

(Sat 01/27/2007 11:54am)
Okay, now they're not only juggling the schedule of movies, but also the movies themselves, as reel 2 of KRULL ended up going thru the projector toward the end of the film.       Caught a short nap during TARANTULA, just had some breakfast, and I'm all revved for the home stretch!

B-fest 8:03 AM

(Sat 01/27/2007 08:06am)
STREET TRASH got us past the midway point, and now folks are feeling a bit invigorated by the experience and looking for refreshments during a break. Unfortunately, nothing in the Norris Center is open yet except vending machines.     Heading on into a great following feature: THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN.   Yecch!

B-fest 4:50 AM

(Sat 01/27/2007 04:56am)
Oh, lord. INVASION OF THE STAR CREATURES near did me in. A combination of its numb comedy and the splicy print made me think I was falling asleep, tho I'm not sure.                Mystery Shorts added turned out  to be an Inkwell Imps cartoon with a hypnotism theme, after which the imposed the "subject to change" policy in the schedule and moved back STREET TRASH in favor of THE HYPNOTIC EYE.      Fine with me, but the Norman MacLaren short about a crazy chair actually did put me to sleep briefly, so I'm taking this break to walk around a bit and reassemble my marbles.