Halloween Horrors: Miles Fisher's Horror Parody Videos

Here's a repost of a Halloween Horrors post I did last year. For the last few years since Final Destination 5 came out, I've been expecting the actor/singer in these clips to get really famous. Not yet, apparently. But he's very talented. Take a look.

ORIGINAL POST:

Miles Fisher is a very attractive young man, looking like a cross between Tom Cruise and Christian Bale. Not surprisingly, he has impersonated both on film. Perhaps his most notable role so far has been in the horror film Final Destination 5, in which he has not one but two death scenes. Apparently, Fisher got on well with his cast from that film, since he got them to participate in one of his music videos, a gore extravaganza that melds Final Destination with--of all things--Saved by the Bell.

So, Halloween is the perfect time to feature both his New Romance video, described above, along with his American Psycho homage, This Must Be the Place. Both are very inventive, and enjoyable, and demented. Plus, he's ridiculously handsome. How can you go wrong?
 

Halloween Horrors: Miles Fisher's Horror Parody Videos

Miles Fisher is a very attractive young man, looking like a cross between Tom Cruise and Christian Bale. Not surprisingly, he has impersonated both on film. Perhaps his most notable role so far has been in the horror film Final Destination 5, in which he has not one but two death scenes. Apparently, Fisher got on well with his cast from that film, since he got them to participate in one of his music videos, a gore extravaganza that melds Final Destination with--of all things--Saved by the Bell.

So, Halloween is the perfect time to feature both his New Romance video, described above, along with his American Psycho homage, This Must Be the Place. Both are very inventive, and enjoyable, and demented. Plus, he's ridiculously handsome. How can you go wrong?
 

The Glass Closet

Image from source, New York Observer

There is a new phenomenon in the world of gay celebrities: The Glass Closet, and the eventual anti-climactic outing. There have always been those who are rumored to be gay, but nobody seems to really know. For years, that has included Kevin Spacey, Tom Cruise and John Travolta. All have at one time or another outright denied it, the final two vigorously. Cruise has seemingly been on a quest to be portrayed as manly as possible, and rumors be damned, there sure doesn't seem to be evidence. The older Travolta is less successful, and has seen a rash of allegations lately that makes the rumors seem true. And while I'll admit to playing this gossipy guessing game, I have no idea.

Of course I missed the one about Doogie. I had no idea that Neil Patrick Harris was gay before he came out. My gaydar is good, but that one didn't register. But right now, we've got a whole list of openly gay celebrities who surprised very few people when they acknowledged it, because we kinda already knew. Ricky Martin, Sean Hayes, Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer. . .I already "knew" before I knew. But there are the ones still in The Glass Closet that are vexing.

Travolta of course--if he is gay--has constructed an elaborate fiction of a straight life. So, revelation would be embarrassing, and for his religion, forbidden. Anderson Cooper seems unlikely to lose much of anything, other than perhaps his own safety in certain places in the world he reports from. But Queen Latifah? I can't imagine she'd lose much of her following. She's talented and funny. Like Wanda Sykes before her, there would be very little downside.

There's another kind of glass closet, though. It's got one way mirrors, and everyone can see that the person inside is gay, but they're oblivious that we can see them. I'm thinking of a certain Barry Man. . .ilow. A Rich. . .ard Simmons. Perhaps a Marcus Bach. . .mann? I don't know what their problems are.

[Excerpt]


Outward Bound: Celebs Struggle To Keep Sexuality Secret(ish), But Media Make Mischief

At a crowded movie premiere in Midtown recently, The Observer witnessed a young movie and TV star—a dashing young man who’s been involved with several starlets despite whispers about his close relationships with other men—sitting for the entire party in close conversation with a well-groomed gent, even as his co-stars circulated. As we passed, the plus-one stared us down, as if to say, “Step off,” or perhaps, “Don’t you dare write about this. . .”

Read more at: New York Observer

Quickie Movie Run-down

Okay, I know I usually name my movie reviews "mini" ones, because I don't usually write feature-length reviews. Well, we're going micro for this one. Here is my take on a variety of recently watched (or re-watched) movies.


Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol - The fourth MI movie is good for what it is. It's the best one I've seen, actually. But I'm still irritated that they took the popular series--which has an established format--and basically chucked most of it in favor of Tom Cruise action/adventure. I'll never forgive them for what they did to Jim Phelps. But this installment almost redeems them. I dug it. **** (of 5)

Piranha (2010) - This sequel/remake is pure schlock, but doesn't pretend to be much else. It was very obviously originally in 3D, which may have obscured the fakey effects a bit. The blood is hyper-red, and the gore is plentiful and extreme. Many recognizable faces appear, including Elizabeth Shue, Jerry O'Connell (whose makeup effects are mondo grody), Christopher Lloyd, Richard Dreyfus and Adam Scott (Parks & Recreation). There is no redeeming value in this one, but it does entertain. * (But as a guilty pleasure? ****)

Lots of skin--and lack of it--for boys and girls to
ogle in Piranha

Fright Night (1985) - I rewatched this one after having reviewed the remake. It is still very entertaining, but is a product of the eighties. Stephen Geoffreys' acting as "Evil Ed" is really amazing, which I'm not sure I noticed before. Cheesy, but fun. ***

Paranormal Activity 2 - I'm one of the few people who found the original PA to be kind of lame. I mean, I liked the actors, particularly Micah Sloat, but it just didn't scare me. The conceit of the original was that it allegedly really happened. Part 2 continues that, and even includes the original actors characters before they "died." There are a few good scenes, but far too many static shots of home surveillance video, with the viewer combing the image for something unusual happening. Sometimes it's a billowing curtain, sometimes a door creaking open, sometimes a pot falling off a pot rack. Thrilling. Not. **

Santa Cruz Cops Experimenting with "Pre-Crime?"

"Sir, were you thinking about committing a crime?"
Image from source, TPM

Minority Report was one of the better Tom Cruise movies, probably because it was written by sci-fi great Phillip K. Dick. The movie had a lot of nifty futuristic computers and vehicles that probably don't look as nifty a few years later. I'll have to watch again to be sure. But the main thrust of the plot was "pre-crime," and the practice of arresting people for crimes before they commit them.  Ethically dicey to say the least.  In the case of the Santa Cruz police, they're not using "precog" mutant people to do it, they've got a computer doing the job. And they're not arresting people before they commit a crime. Yet. 


[Excerpt]


Santa Cruz Cops Experiment With 'Predictive Policing'

The police department in Santa Cruz, California, has begun an experiment that uses a mathematical algorithm to predict when and where certain crimes will be committed, and puts police on the scene before they happen. . .

Read more at: Talking Points Memo

Miles Fisher Teases Final Destination 5 with Gory Music Video

I didn't remember how I found Miles Fisher on Facebook. A while back, I just noticed a picture of a man who looked like Tom Cruise holding a flag in my news feed. The other day, I clicked it, and instantly remembered: he's the guy who did the Tom Cruise impression in the otherwise only marginal Superhero Movie. In addition to the wicked Cruise impression, Fisher did a music video a while back that covered a David Byrne song, but as an homage to Christian Bale's American Psycho.

So, Fisher is apparently a talented impressionist, a good singer, a bit warped (in a good way), and amazingly good looking (hello, he looks like a combination of Cruise and Bale).  I decided to check IMDB to see if Fisher was in anything else I was familiar with, and there was the listing for Final Destination 5. I'm a fan of the whole FD series, and I doubt I'd have skipped this one in any case. But I'll definitely watch it now. Especially when Fisher has tapped into my love of pop culture and gory movies with a Saved by the Bell/Final Destination parody for his latest music video.

The video for New Romance manages to parody the already near-comedic deaths in the FD series, and skewer Saved--one of the worst sitcoms ever--at the same time.



And because I can, here is the stellar This Must be the Place (warning: somewhat NSFW).






UPDATED TO ADD: Oddly enough (see the Rick Perry post immediately upthread), I think Miles Fisher could impersonate the Governor of Texas. Look at those arched eyebrows!

Lazy Weekend; 2012 Mini Movie Review

While we got a few chores and errands done, I've been largely off line and lazy. I did watch three of four (five?) of the Sunday politics shows. Yawn. Can we not go a single freakin' week without Mitch (Shelley the turtle) McConnell? Really? Anyway, nothing noteworthy there.

We picked up the movie 2012 on Blu-ray, and watched that this afternoon. As Hollywood blockbusters go, it does not disappoint. You must turn off your brain, just as you must in movies like Speed, Independence Day (a Mac-compatible space ship? Really?) or The Day After Tomorrow.

We're following a family from the beginning, just as the world starts to crumble. So it wouldn't make any sense if they got wiped out in the first reel. But the number of times this family (and star John Cusack) nearly meet their doom and survive by a hair's breadth stretches credulity. I lost count after four.

The film is action packed, to be sure. It has stunning special effects--literally the destruction of just about everything on the planet--which is what I bought the movie for. But the plot does hang together better than most movies of the type. It is head-and-shoulders above the nearly as eye-popping but brain dead War of the Worlds (Tom Cruise version), for instance. If you want sci-fi with a story you can sink your teeth and brain into, get District 9. If you just want to have fun, you could do a lot worse than 2012. Just don't think about it too hard.

Recommended.

Stephen Colbert & David Ippolito: "Special Kind of Friendship"

You already know who Stephen Colbert is. But have you heard of David Ippolito? He's "That Guitar Man from Central Park." He's a barefoot (sometimes bare chested) guitar playing singer, and he's apparently got quite a following. I first heard of him on The Thom Hartmann Show, singing "Tom Cruise Scares Me," which also took on Dick Cheney and Ann Coulter.

This video teams him up with Colbert (OK, probably not).

Greta Van Susteren's Palin Connection?

So, what's the deal with this whole Scientology-FOX "News"-Greta Van Whatsername-Sarah Palin thingy? I've heard some buzz about it, but just "reared my head" to see what it's all about. Also.

I don't know if there's really anything to it. And I find "the Palin brand" as a concept to be absolutely hilarious. But not as hilarious as Scientology. Or as hilarious as the fundamentalist, right-winger, Sarah-lovin' people's potential reaction to a connection between Scientology and Ms. Palin.

[Excerpt]

The Husband Of Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren Is A ‘Protector Of The Palin Brand’

During the presidential campaign, Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren had perhaps the best access to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin of any journalist. In September, she hosted a one-hour “documentary” on the GOP vice presidential candidate, titled “Governor Sarah Palin — An American Woman.” She also scored an exclusive interview with Todd Palin, in which she grilled him “on everything from the story behind the name ‘First Dude’ to how he feels about the name ‘First Dude. . .’”

Read more at: Think Progress

And more here: The Protecters of the Palin Brand

Editor's Note: To be fair, all of the Scientology stuff is relegated to the comments of these two links. But the interwebs are rife with the connection, and as an anti-religionist, I simply cannot resist the connection.

New Favorite Song: Ann Coulter Scares Me!

I was listening to The Thomm Hartman Show on Air America Radio today, and he played a bit of a song that immediately had me looking for a link. I found it on YouTube. Recorded by David Ippolito, it's a fun, folksy song, with lyrics about the various people who scare the singer. People like Tom Cruise, Oprah Winfrey, Ann Coulter and Dick Cheney.

You can listen to an earlier version of the song here: "Tom Cruise Scares Me". Or you can watch the live performance below. It's cute (and the singer ain't bad either). Check it out.