AUGUST ABOVE GROUND

Q&A

Just added a new Q&A with filmmaker Keith Mosher. Click here to find out all about the mailman’s debut movie “One Long Day,” a Las Vegas indie action film that is taking the internet by storm.

UNDER REVIEW

The Dark Knight - We weren’t going to review “The Dark Knight” here at PollyStaffle.com. We actually, weren’t even going to see it, but when we tried to use a pass to see “Journey to the Center of the Earth” in 3D and we were turned away, we didn’t have too many options. So we grinned and bared our way through the latest Batman film. I truthfully went in with an open mind and decided to give “The Dark Knight” a fair chance. “Maybe it is as good as people are say,” I thought. “Could people spend $400 million on a film when gas prices and house foreclosures are at a all-time high and it not pass the Polly Staffle hype test?” It failed miserably. Somebody had to knock this giant off its high house and tell Batman his latest movie is a piece of garbage. Click here to read as PollyStaffle.com deconstructs “The Dark Knight” and exposes it for what it is – another bad Batman film and a miserable entry in the super hero genre.

The Hood Has Eyez - When filmmaker Terrence Williams tried to sell his latest movie on CreateSpace.com, he was turned down. “Unfortunately, we are unable to accept ‘The Hood Has Eyez’ due to its extremely disturbing graphic nature,” he was told. The rape/revenge film starring Cyd Schulte, Jesselynn Desmond and Jamielyn Kane was also originally called “just too strong” by Sub Rosa Studios, although they later released the film on DVD. Greg Stania, who composed the film’s score, went as far as saying the movie “makes ‘Last House on the Left’ look like an episode of ‘Sesame Street.’” Just a bunch of hype? Find out what PollyStaffle.com has to say about it here.

PINUP OF THE MONTH

Who is that in the police car, getting attacked by Michael Myers? The PollyStaffle.com pinup of the month, that’s who. Yeah, we hated Rob Zombie’s “Halloween.” But we have come to respect and adore the actress Scout Taylor-Compton. That’s why we are proud to have her as our Miss August 2008. So click here to read our interview with the little Scream Queen.

HEADING FORTH IN JULY

JUNE-O-RAMA

UNDER REVIEW

Déficit - Click here for a review of Gael García Bernal’s directorial debut “Déficit,” which was screened at the 10th Annual CineVegas Film Festival as one of their “La Próxima Ola” entries highlighting Mexican filmmakers. The film looks at the deficits of morals, direction, love, empathy, respect and unselfishness.

Go Go Tales - CineVegas reviews keep poring in with lots more to come, including the absolutely wonderful documentary “Beautiful Losers,” Gael García Bernal’s directorial debut “Defecit,” which was quite good, and the insane feature “Schoof” from the always entertaining Giuseppe Andrews. For the time being, check out our write up on Abel Ferrara’s “Go Go Tales,” which boasts a top notch cast of Willem Dafoe, Bob Hoskins, Matthew Modine, Asia Argento, Pras and Burt Young. Any good? Click here and find out.

Dark Streets - Check out our new review here of the entertaining and highly admirable work of art “Dark Streets.” It is a musical film noir that stars Gabriel Mann, Bijou Phillips, Izabella Miko and Elias Koteas. To see coverage by Markowitz the Amazing Thug Armadillo, click here.

Your Name Here - Bill Pullman’s latest film got its world premiere at CineVegas. Click here to see why we say: “This film feels like the aborted bastard love child of David Cronenberg, David Lynch, Terry Gilliam and Alex Cox; only its not nearly as entertaining as anything those four directors have created.”

The Rocker - Click here for thr review of the film that opened the 10th annual CineVegas Film Festival at the Palms. “The Rocker,” starring Rainn Wilson as a failed drummer who joins his nephew's high school rock band, had its world premiere June 12 and opens nationwide August 1.

Dark Walker - What “Dark Walker” does offer, however, are a lot of trippy haunted attraction visuals and a pretty cool villain. Dark Walker, who was featured on a collectable Terror Cards trading card, is part Leatherface (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”), part Gill Man (“Creature from the Black Lagoon”) and part Creeper (“Jeepers Creepers”). He’s a swampy, ugly creature that is dancing around and killing people with a chainsaw one minute, smashing up doors, ripping hearts out of chests, snapping necks and slashing people up with a sickle the next.

PINUP OF THE MONTH

PollyStaffle.com is hapy to have Inga Kaboom as our pinup for the month of June. Her bar the Surly Wench Pub celebrates its fouth year in business this week. Congrats Inga. Click here for all the ultra sexy photos and our interview with the lovely entrepreneur.

MAY MAYHEM

FANGORIA UPDATES

Click here for the Temple of Lew aka our Q&A with Lew Temple, otherwise known as Adam Banjo. We talk Rob Zombie and Lew’s new film “Trailer Park of Terror.”

Click here for our writeup on the “100 Feet” panel at Fango. Filmmaker Eric Red and actor Michael Paré talked about the upcoming movie and more.

Check out our quick Q&A with actress Emily Hardy here. We caught up with her at Fangoria and she gives us the scoop on the upcoming film “XII” about a mad man that carves up foreheads and cuts off faces. We are so there.

We finally put a roundup for Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors in Los Angeles up. Click here for that. The event was a blast and we plan to provide you with lots and lots of updates over the next few weeks from all the individuals we talked to and photographed.

You can also check WhatUpThug.com here for photos and reports from Markowitz the Amazing Thug Armadillo on the event. And yes, the ladies, especially the Babysitter Twins of “Grindhouse” - Electra and Elise Avellan (pictured above) - really love Marko.

ROAD RAGE

Charles Band, founder of sci fi/horror movie studio Full Moon Features and whose 270 plus films has established him as one of Hollywood’s most successful and prolific cult movie impresarios, will stage the third incarnation of his Full Moon Horror Road Show starting this week. Click here to get the details on the event and find out if its coming to a city near you.

PINUP OF THE MONTH

PollyStaffle.com is proud to announce Jaime Winters as this month’s pinup. The Suicide Girl talks, among other things, rapping and stripping:

“Stripping is fine as long as you don’t make it a lifestyle, either as a stripper or client,” Jaime said. “Every stripper stereotype is true. I don’t care what anyone says. I’ve seen it all right in front of me. I’ll tell you one thing, it’s awful when you’re the only girl that doesn’t do cocaine or prostitute themselves.”

APRIL SHOWERS

WEEKEND OF HORRORS

The big week is here. Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors in Los Angeles is just a few days away. Our coverage of the fun continues with a Top 10 List of Frights and a preview of “Amateur Porn Star Killer 2.” Check out our list of must-see horrors here and our look at Shane Ryan’s experimental sequel here.

UNDER REVIEW

Amateur Porn Star Killer 2 - Shane Ryan’s sequel to his cult classic gets its world theatrical premiere later this month. We hope to have more details for you soon. In the meantime, check out our review of the film here and find out why we say it’s“a riveting kaleidoscope of in-your-face sex and violence.” The film stars Ryan and his co-writer Kai Lanette, pictured above.

Previously, we reviewed the snuff version of the sequel here. Both versions will be featured on the 2-disc DVD release in May. For those that are unfamiliar with the film series, check out the review of the original film here.

Manda Bala (Send a Bullet) - This is “an engrossing cinematic experience that literally unfolds before us. Part dark comedy and shockumentary, and part educational and true crime documentary, Kohn’s film is like a nonfiction version of ‘Babel’ or ‘Crash’ that will blow you away with its subject matter. If that isn’t enough, it also has visual and audio styles galore, looking and sounding like a fiction film as opposed to a stuffy movie you’d only see at school or in an arthouse theater.”

PINUP OF THE MONTH

PollyStaffle.com is proud to announce Kai Lanette as this month’s pinup. Kai talks about her role as the victim in Ryan’s film“Amateur Porn Star Killer 2.”

“I tried not to laugh, or make any noise,” Kai said laughing. “(Playing dead while Shane had sex with me) was the hardest part of the movie! I mean, how do you sit still with a blank expression while someone is having sex with you?”

MARCH MADNESS

UNDER REVIEW

Quantum Hoops - This documentary about the Caltech Beavers basketball team is coming off a successful run in California with screenings in Pasadena and Berkeley. “Quantum Hoops” now opens in Cambridge, Massachusetts and will shortly screen in Chicago, Seattle, Dallas and New York.

Caltech is the “West Coast version” of MIT and the schools have a long history of pranking each other. Ironically, starting March 28 “Quantum Hoops” will be playing at the Kendall Square Cinema, which is right across the street from MIT.

Check out our review and see why we say this underdog story, “isn’t about winning; it’s about the journey of trying to win. It’s about passion. It’s about drive. It’s about giving your all mentally, physically and emotionally when you know your all isn’t going to be quite good enough.”

PREVIEWS

Shutter - Check out the Polly Staffle preview of the Thai supernatural thriller remake starring Joshua Jackson and Rachael Taylor. “I had nightmares about the difficulties that would come with working with actors whose language I don’t know,” director Masayuki Ochiai said. “But my fears went away at our first rehearsal, when I realized we had a wonderful interpreter (Chiho Asada) and that everyone was moving toward the same goal. It was so seamless that I always felt like I was talking directly with the actors.”

Fangoria Convention - The Creation Entertainment event is bigger than ever. It runs April 25-27 in Los Angeles and will feature over 100 celebrity guests, including George Romero, Clive Barker and a singing and autograph signing Shawnee Smith, pictured above. “For us, this is the big one,” Creation Entertainment Co-CEO Adam Malin said. “We’ve been building up to this flagship event for a long time.”

PINUP OF THE MONTH

Click here to view the March pinup of the month - Patrícia Mota. The Dominican Republic immigrant starred in and co-produced the 4-star indie film “G.I. Jesus,” which hits DVD this month via Westlake Entertainment.

THE POLLIES

The 2008 Polished Apple awards were announced February 24. Click here to see who won what, who was named Pinup of the Year and who was inducted into the PollyStaffle Hall of Fame.

RECENT REVIEWS

Peter & the Wolf - “This is a wonderful remake of Prokofiev’s 1936 story.”

There Will Be Blood - “This is the great Paul Thomas Anderson masterpiece everyone has been praising? Am I the only one that doesn’t get what the hype is about? A better name for this film is ‘May Cause Drowsiness.’ I was bored with this movie. I had to fight myself from falling asleep.”

Sunshine - A“beautiful looking and sounding work of art.”

Pistoleros - This “is a cool movie. So much so that ‘Pistoleros’ is way too short of a name for it. Most of the movies ‘Pistoleros’ reminded me of have lengthy titles like Guy Ritchie’s ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,’ Sergio Leone’s ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,’ Robert Rodriguez’s ‘Once Upon a Time in Mexico’ and last but not least Stanley Kramer’s ‘It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.’”

Rambo - “Here’s a play-by-play of the film’s final moments: Some stuff blows up. Lots of people get shot. Blood and mud splashes across the screen. Guts spill. Heads and arms fly off. Bullets blaze. More blood spills. The missionary sweetheart Sarah’s virginity stays intact. Yay!”

DEDICATION

This website is dedicated to the 60’s iconic actress Polly Staffle. Read the About The Site section for more information.