John Landis knows a thing or two about movie monsters. He's written & directed creature classics An American Werewolf in London & Michael Jackson's Thriller, and distilled decades of knowledge into a new book, Monsters in the Movies. more ›

I'd be remiss to my Lord Samhain if I put off the Halloween coverage a second longer. But before plunging into the depths of hell, take a moment to plumb the depths of heaven at the Aero. Counterculture cartoonist Bill Plympton appears in support of his latest work, Idiots and Angels. The hand-crafted dark comedy finds a drunken curmudgeon sprouting a pair of wings that compel him to do good deeds. The only problem is - he wants to be bad, and will stop at nothing to sour his spirits. If you can't make it on Thursday, it's also playing for one week only at Laemmle's Sunset starting Friday. more ›

I can't tell you where or how I first learned of Damon Packard, but his experimental-nostalgic-acid-horror-collage Reflections of Evil melted my brain forever. Packard excels at melding "borrowed" footage from '70s TV, science fiction & God knows what else with his own paranoid fantasies for pure cinematic psychosis. more ›

By now, everyone's sick of hearing about how the economy's in the toilet. But hey, sometimes it nets you cheap dinner and a free movie. If you're unemployed, that is. Then you'll want to be heading over to the old Aero, for the uncanny Boris Karloff's spookiest performances, the highly flappable combination of Laurel & Hardy & Fields, and more Ginger than a Shirley Temple - all on their dime (simply present your ID & EDD). For more current freebies, you could always set aside some time to learn something - how about the plight of women in Iran at The Hammer? Or the plight of our descendants stalked by cannibalistic humanoids at The Skirball? Suddenly the recession's a tad easier to bear. more ›

Weeks ago, we warned that Forrest Ackerman, coiner of the phrase sci-fi, adventurer and keeper of the science-fiction flame, was ailing. more ›

Forrest "Forrey" Ackerman, the nearly 92 year old coiner of the term "sci-fi" and honorary lesbian (for his work as "Laurajean Ermayne") is said to be ailing. "He wasn't sounding very strong," Harry Knowles said in an entry on Ain't It Cool News, "It hurt to hear his voice." Ackerman helped to bolster the burgeoning sci-fi community by publishing the inspirational journal, Famous Monsters of Filmland. more ›

I'm hoping that no one had time for TV last night and if they did they had the class to watch the Boris Karloff marathon on TCM. 8:00pm Ugly Betty ABC - The Halloween Episode. TV Junkie 8:00pm Pick. 9:00pm To Die In Jerusalem HBO - Have heard enough about this documentary on NPR and elsewhere to know it's a good thing. TV Junkie Pick-O-The-Night 9:00pm The Office NBC - If you don't feel like... more ›

I love this movie! How can you resist Boris Karloff and Phyllis Diller? At a young age, Francesca became my ideal of beauty and I have spent my entire life trying to look exactly like her. This scene features Francesca (Gale Garnett) teaching me my first lessons in vamping. more ›

It's October and you want to do something spooky and cool but, cheap, and not too scary? Or maybe you're a crazy sci-fi horror fan? Well, you know, all the cool kids go to Ackermansion, where owner, waxwork and proprietor, Forrest Ackerman -- coiner of the term "sci-fi" -- will show you his peerless collection of memorabilia of that genre including Bela Lugosi's cape from the Dracula films, the girl robot (you know the one we mean) from Metropolis, and the man-eating Brontasaurus from 1933's King Kong while he regales you with stories from working with such famous actors as Boris Karloff, or how he was made an "honorary lesbian" for his work under the pseudonym, "Laurajean Ermayne" or perhaps how his work as a literary agent and writer helped nurture science fiction -- maybe you prefer to hear his stories in Esperanto, (the language that combines all languages) because he's an expert. Remarkably, he does all this without leaving his Laz-E-Boy (give him a break, he's 8 million years old!) more ›