bubba ho-tep Tagged Articles at Cinematical

If you haven't seen Bubba Ho-Tep, then stop reading this post immediately and go to your movie renting outlet of choice. If you have (and I imagine everyone on Cinematical has) then you may continue.

There has been talk of a sequel to Bubba Ho-Tep for I don't know how long. I would venture to say that we were all pretty favorable to the idea, because more Bruce Campbell is always a good thing. But then came word that Campbell wouldn't be reprising his role as Elvis Presely in Bubba Nosferatu ... and well, who wants that?

Everyone associated with Bubba Nosferatu, apparently. Last year, director Don Coscarelli said he would replace Campbell with someone equally lovable. Word has it, according to an interview Ain't It Cool News held with Paul Giamatti, that the new Elvis is none other than Ron Perlman. Says Giamatti: "Our thinking was kind of like, "Well who the hell do we find who is a really good actor and a guy who is going to fit right?" You know what I mean? It was sort of like, for a while we let the thing sit and then all of a sudden we were like 'Well, maybe we should go to Ron Perlman,' which just seemed like a great idea and he was up for it." The plan is to start shooting Bubba Nosferatu in the spring, with Giamatti still attached as Col. Parker.

Call me a Debbie Downer, but my interest in Bubba Nosferatu died when Campbell dropped out. It kills me to say it, because the plot sounds terrific and I'd love to see Giamatti as Col. Parker. But I can't see Perlman, talented as he is, as this particular Elvis. It might just be me, though, and everyone else will be happy enough to see Elvis ride again.

Okay. Deep breath. Today I am just going to go all-out fangirl, unabashedly, unashamedly. Next week you can ask me to discuss the Bechdel rule or the future of the term "mumblecore." But on Sunday, My Name is Bruce comes to Austin as part of a tour around the country, with its filmmaker-star Bruce Campbell in attendance, and my goofy inner fan is taking the upper hand over the professional film critic.

I realize that My Name is Bruce is unlikely to be one of the great films of the century, or even as fun as Army of Darkness. I'm fine with that. Look, I paid to see Man with the Screaming Brain in a theater (also with Campbell in attendance). I don't care. All of you who would go see anything touched by Joss Whedon, even if he remade an Oscar-Meyer Wiener commercial, can have your sweet revenge on me now. And I know I'm not alone -- in Austin, tickets for the My Name is Bruce screening sold out in five minutes, and they had to add two more screenings, which also sold out speedily. I talked my husband into watching the first Burn Notice episode with me on Hulu, and now we've watched all of them and he's coming with me this weekend, threatening to bring a yogurt container for Mr. Campbell to sign. We do have our limits -- you can watch the entire series of Jack of All Trades on Hulu too, but I figured once was way more than enough for me.

I keep hoping Campbell will appear in something as good as Bubba Ho-Tep again. In the meantime, I'm finding my favorite Bruce Campbell moments in film (and TV) to enjoy while keeping my fingers crossed about My Name is Bruce. So for the rest of you die hard Campbell fans out there, here are seven of my favorite moments. (I wish I had YouTube clips but the studios can be such spoilsports about copyright.) I don't need to tell you to feel free to point out what I missed, or where I'm wrong, in the comments. I'm hoping someone will let me know if I missed anything worthwhile in Serving Sara, The Love Bug, or McHale's Navy.

You should know by now that Bruce Campbell is one heck of a guy. Even if you disregard all of his other work, he is the one dude to name and defeat Spider-Man. It takes a special guy to stand up to superheroes and win with ease and snarky grace. But that's Campbell's undeniable strength. His words are his special power, and whether he's strapping a chainsaw to his bloody stump, blocking a theater door, or bringing down undead zombies while suffering penis boils, he gets the job done without any super strength, agility, or wild, physical powers. I'm leaving Ash off the list for now, as he might get his own love sometime in the future, so for now -- just grab your popcorn, sit back, watch some films, and try to answer the question: Who stands supreme? Spidey and the tough usher, or a sassy, aged Elvis?

First, you need the obligatory commercials that start movies these days, but it doesn't have to be something time-wasting and annoying. Before sitting down to these films, take a clue from Campbell, and delight in some Old Spice.

It can be hard to pick scary movies for a group of adults to enjoy -- unless you go the family film route, and who wants that? Some people can watch an eye be plucked form a skull, or a slow, terrifying scene scored with creepy music and be in heaven; others will squeeze their eyes shut and plug their ears to escape what they consider hell. While brainstorming ideas for Cinematical's month-long tribute to all things creepy, scary, and gory, I had the bright idea to cover scary flicks for the wimpy -- those people who squeeze, plug, and hate to be scared.

I didn't quite think about how antithetical this idea was. If it's scary, the wimpy won't like it, and if it is too watered down, it isn't scary any more. To make things even more difficult, everyone has different ideas about what is scary. For example, I consider Psycho to be scary for its time and not-so-scary now. Chilling, yes. Nail-biting or hair-raising? No. My friend, however, just looked at me like I was insane for including it on this list. Where in the heck do you go from there?

Comedy always works. The funnier the gore, the less scary it is. But this isn't a comedy list, so there has to be some sort of variety, and this is how it will work: the following is a list of movies you can watch with your more wimpy friends, but still have those ever-loved Halloween themes, and at least a little gore or a few jumps. They are listed from wimpiest to least-wimpy -- all of which should fall well below the truly scary films out there. If anyone finds the lower-rated ones too much to bear, you should probably stay away from anything scary, the evening news, and the absolutely frightening Showgirls.

I'm sad to say that some truly disappointing news was posted over at AICN this weekend. One of the site's readers sent in a review of Bruce Campbell's My Name is Bruce, as well as info from the post-feature discussion. It seems that during the Q&A, Campbell said that he is not involved in Bubba Nosferatu and the Curse of the She-Vampires, which Scott Weinberg posted about last year, and knows nothing about what is happening with it. Bubba Nosferatu without the man as Elvis. It sounds as ridiculous as saying Indiana Jones will be done without Harrison Ford, or Die Hard without Bruce Willis. But heck, at least with those movies, there's an entertaining story behind it. I'm not sure Bubba Ho-tep would be half as loved as it is now if it wasn't for Campbell and Ossie Davis.

Since Davis has passed away, the sequel is already one star short, but without Campbell... Who on earth could replace him? IMDb says the film will be a prequel that has Elvis running into a coven of she-vamps while filming a movie in Louisiana. Now, don't get me wrong. I loved Bubba. I went to see it the first moment I could once it finally got released. But I loved it because of the men who were in it -- Campbell and Davis made the movie with their immobile deterioration and wanna-be hero scheming. I can only hope that this means doom for the feature, or that it won't go forward unless Bruce does jump on-board. Because really, is there anything to the film once you take away the pecker boils, a black JFK and Bruce Campbell?

I'm sure this fact is not surprising, but Bruce Campbell is a personal hero of mine, as he is for many, many members of the geek community. A guy named Josh Look attended a Q&A with the B-movie kingpin on Friday in Cambridge, MA, and sent a report over to SuperheroHype. Naturally, somebody asked Campbell about his involvement with the Spider-Man 3 flick, and he responded the he "shouldn't say to much," but did say he and Spider-Man will "team-up." Campbell also bragged that his doorman character in the second Spider-Man film is the only Spidey movie franchise character ever to defeat Spider-Man. Later, after a screening of Bubba Ho-Tep, he joked his role in Spider-Man 3 was "pivotal" to the film. Sadly, SuperheroHype's scooper made no mention of any Bubba Nosferatu news.

You have to respect the relationship between Campbell and Sam Raimi. Raimi is captain big-shot these days in Hollywood, but it's very clear he hasn't forgotten about his early friends. Campbell is certainly not a large character in any of the films, but Raimi continues to put his long-time friend in the franchise. I personally feel that any decision which brings me more Bruce Campbell is a wise one, and applaud Raimi for casting him yet again.