Here’s the deal. Every day here at the Metro Times, our mail delivery includes CDs, books and all sorts of other promotional items. A lot of it we can use and review – local-interest music, DVDs, etc. But we also get a lot of weird and whacky items that just kinda build up. So that’s where this idea came from. Each week (or at least most weeks) I’ll gather up some of the more interesting, freaky and brow-furrowing promo pieces and offer them up here for you. I could be about to show you anything.
On that note, feel free to send us anything to Brett Callwood, 1200 Woodward Heights, Ferndale MI 48220.
We’re fast-becoming huge fans of entertainment company Blue Underground, which released the all new and deluxe edition of Snuff last month and has films like Bad Girl Behind Bars, The Blood Spattered Bride, and Cannibal Man in its cannon. As you might guess, the company specializes in sleazy, trashy, cult exploitation flicks. Honestly, we want to see everything that they have. This month, Blue Underground sent us snazzy blu-ray re-releases of Maniac Cop 2 and Maniac Cop 3, both with some awesome extra features.
Maniac Cop 2 picks up where the original left off, and very early on we see homeboy Bruce Campbell, the hero in the first film, bite the dust. Carnage ensues. To be fair, we feel kinda bad for Officer Matt Cordell, the maniac cop himself. The guy was framed by his bosses and sent to prison, where he was murdered by the other prisoners. Who wouldn’t be pissed? We’re on his side. Go, Cordell. Slice and dice at will. Director William Lustig, the man responsible for the first film as well as the original Maniac, returns here, and he provides an awesome audio commentary. There’s also a great “making of” feature. The movie tag line is, “You have the right to remain silent forever.” Apparently not, because there’s another sequel.
Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence is directed by Alan Smithee, and this time Cordell is raised from the dead by a voodoo priest, despite the fact that (SPOILER ALERT) his name was cleared in the last film and he was supposedly laid to rest. Why did the voodoo priest do that? It’s never really explained but, hey, even voodoo priests have to get their kicks somehow. But anyway, Cordell’s back, and this time he’s trying to clear the name of Officer Kate Sullivan, who is being wrongly accused of killing someone. See, even maniac cops have a conscience. We get another “making of” feature on the disc, plus deleted scenes, the theatrical trailer and stuff like that. Cool beans.
Dallas Clayton’s It’s Never Too Late (Penguin) is a self-proclaimed “kid’s book for adults.” In other words, Clayton has so far written and illustrated books for children, and he had the unusual and inspired idea to use the same template to write a lifestyle guide for grown-ups. It’s nice too. The basic gist is that we should live each day like it’s our last. Do something new, and say nice things just in case they are the last things you say. True dat.
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