HUMANZEES

Let me tell you something about my friend Stevie Blackehart. When Stevie was young, being raised by nuns in Hell's Kitchen, he would get in trouble very often. This meant countless hours of detention in the school library. So how did Stevie amuse himself? He would read the encyclopedias. A to Z, cover to cover, the World Book, the Britannica, etc, over and over. You would think this would make Stevie an especially interesting individual, full of fun facts about our world which he could throw into a conversation at any time.

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Cheap Trick

I recently read the book SHAKE SOME ACTION, by John M. Borack, which listed the "Top 200 Power Pop Albums of All Time." Although Borack's list was quite a bit different from what mine would be, I enjoyed it immensely, and it inspired me to write a list of my favorite 100 power pop songs... which quickly became my favorite 150 power pop songs... and then my favorite 200... But I couldn't leave "Fox on the Run" or Skycyle off my list... so I finally settled on a nice, round 250 songs. My obsessive compulsion has its advantages. Well, at least if you're a power pop fan reading this blog...
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What happens in Vegas... shoulda definitely never fucking happened in Vegas.

So I took my buddy Stevie Blackehart on a birthday trip to Vegas, and it JUST SO HAPPENED that the trip coincided with the AVN Adult Awards and convention, and it JUST SO HAPPENED that my pals Aiden Kelly and Belladonna offered Stevie and I free trade passes...
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My 8 Favorite Movies

1) No Country for Old Men
2) Once
3) The King of Kong
4) Superbad
5) Juno
6) Bourne Ultimatum
7) Breach
8) Planet Terror
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As a member of the Writers Guild of America, I have been on strike since 12 am last night.

The only reason for the strike - and don't believe anything to the contrary - is that the studios have refused to pay writers (and screen actors, and directors) residuals on new media. When you download a movie from Amazon or a TV show on iTunes, the people who created that content, who devised it, wrote it, acted in it, and directed it, get exactly 0% of the profits. And the studios want it to stay that way.

The WGA was asking for an increase in the residuals made on DVD sales (unlike new media, creators make a small percentage off of DVD and VHS sales, pay-per-view showings, TV sales, etc). For months now the studios have said that this was the reason the contract couldn't be closed. However, at the 11th hour - last night - the WGA took that off the table. It came down to new media and only new media. And the studios refused to budge.
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This is probably going to be my last blog on demo derbies for a while. Not because I'm going to quit attending them, and not because I've lost my excitement for them in any way, but simply because I'm running out of jokes about how demo derby drivers have extra scrotums for all their testosterone, and how they like to make sodomites out of football players.

And, although I'll tell you about turtle races below, it's a one shot deal. Frightened reptiles just don't inspire as much passion as people smashing the fuck out of each other... So...

A week ago Sunday the whole demo crew and I drove an hour and a half to the Lake Perris Fair to take in the latest demolition derby. This was an especially important derby because my online supporters -- the James Gunn Appreciation Society (www.jgas.org) -- were sponsoring a car.
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What's better than this video? Not much. It's beautiful, and it teaches me something special about life. Thank you, Jesus, for making it. You didn't know? This is the one and only directorial effort of Jesus Christ himself.

THE DEMO DERBY

The whole crew is revving up for the Demo Derby this Sunday, October Motherfucking 14, at the Lake Perris Fair, at 1:30 in the afternoon.
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Want to check out my interview on theStream.tv? Then click here --

www.theStream.tv

More importantly, however --

MY DAY AT THE DEMO DERBY AND THE LA COUNTY FAIR, IN PICTURES

Linda Derbellini, JP Car-brera (I just made those up!) and I were the first of the crew to arrive.
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ALIEN. ROSEMARY'S BABY. INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. THE THING. We've had a few great horror films over the past fifty years, but not a one of them is scary as this shit. These are all professionally retouched photos of little girls by real companies on the web.

"Martha."

"Yes, Bob."

"I thought we'd send out a picture of our little Mindy with this year's Christmas cards."
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Firstly,

Jenna and I were touched by people's responses to our statement last week. We have always done our best to treat our fans, the MySpace community, and the media with respect - the support and affection we received in return was unexpected and deeply appreciated. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

So,

What better way to follow up a heartfelt blog about separation and difficult choices, than one about a MOTHERFUCKING DEMOLITION DERBY?

Over labor day weekend I attended the Antelope Valley Fair in Palmdale, California, and was able to attend my first ever CAWKSUCKING DEMOLITION DERBY. It is now officially my favorite fucking sport. Do you know what the demolition derby likes to do to baseball, basketball, and football? It dresses them up in Japanese schoolgirl outfits with some of those pacifier-lollipop things in their mouths and makes them his little bitch. While all those other sports stars leap gracefully and hug at high speed and toss balls in hoops, demolition derby drivers SMASH THE FUCK OUT OF EACH OTHER.
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Our Statement
We (James and Jenna) need to announce that we have chosen to separate. We are sorry for any pain this causes family and friends. The enthusiasm we have expressed for each other's lives, spirits, and careers is real - we have been each other's cheerleader and friend during the past six years and continue to be so now and in the future.

We aren't taking questions or doing interviews about this particular aspect of our lives. We're also avoiding reading any press on the subject, so don't send us any clippings or links about the split. Thank you in advance for respecting our privacy.

HOMER ISN'T SO FUNNY ANYMORE

I got a lot of protests about my new Simpsonized profile pic this week --

You can get your own photo freakily Simpsonized or giddily zombified by the good folks at www.zombieme.com. However, it seems the majority of you were disturbed by this part funny-cartoon-boy part pathetically-deformed-an staring at you from your Top Friends every time you clicked on MySpace.
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Hey guys --

A few quick things --

ON THE RADIO TONIGHT

I'm going to be on FANGORIA RADIO on Sirius tonight at 9 pm Central Midnight Eastern. It's just a quick check in with Debbie Rochon and the gang, so I won't be on for long.

THANKS, FUCKERS

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. You guys are awesome.

THE BELCOO EXPERIMENT

So I've gotten a lot of emails about THE BELCOO EXPERIMENT after word on the project somehow leaked at Comic-Con (I wasn't there). THE BELCOO EXPERIMENT is a script I wrote on spec. It's an ultra-violent thriller with a lot of action. It has to do with a group of 83 American expatriates who work in a building in Sao Paulo, Brazil. At the beginning of what is at first a regular, boring day, walls close up around the building, trapping them inside. A voice emits over the speaker system, forcing them through a series of murderous moral decisions. Upon finishing the script, I set it up with Gold Circle financing and Universal/Rogue distributing, with me directing, and Eric Newman and Paul Brooks, my great producers on SLiTHER, again producing. Some of my favorite crew from SLiTHER are also part of the team -- composer Tyler Bates, editor John Axelrad, and production designer Andrew Neskoromny.
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By James Gunn

1. You are the best cocksucker in the world.

2. Hey, cocksucker, hand me a beer... Wow, thanks! You did a really great job of handing that to me, cocksucker.

3. You know what a cocksucker like you is good for? Everything. I fucking love you so much.

4. Hey, cocksucker, you RAWK!

5. Cocksucker, come here for a minute. Look at this picture I drew. It's you. Look how handsome you are.

6. You are a sneaky little thieving cocksucker, which is a trait I find appealing in a person.
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Click here to read the more Updates.

Speaking of JGAS, there will be a LIVE CHAT with me this Friday, July 13, at 6 p.m. Pacific time. Just become a member at www.jgas.org and then log in to the chat on time at www.jgas.org.chat.html.

I'll be doing a Q&A with "Peep Show" cartoonist JOE MATT (www.myspace.com/josephmatt) this Friday night at Skylight Books in L.A. Here's the info:

Friday, June 15 - 7:30 pm

1818 N. Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Tel: (323) 660-1175

I had so much fun with the Upright Citizen's Brigade a couple weeks ago, I'm going to do the same thing again with IO and the Armando Show. Working off of suggestions from the audience, I'll tell true stories about my life (perhaps as perfectly disgusting as the Twisticle story from UCB), and then the wonderful performers at IO will perform improv around them.

Here's where iO is:
6366 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA - map
More info: www.iowest.com

The American Cinematheque will be screening THE SPECIALS. There was a screw-up earlier in terms of the date it was showing, but it is on the 22nd. Unfortunately, this is the day before Thanksgiving and I won't be around. Actually, I'm not sure WHO is going to be there on the day before Thanksgiving. But you might have a nice empty theater to yourself.

7:30 pm 1328 Montana Avenue at 14th Street in Santa Monica

For more info, check out here.

This Wednesday, November 15, Jenna and I are going to be the guest hosts on LoveLine with Dr. Drew. Out here it's on K-ROQ from 10 to Midnight, but you can check out your local listings at www.lovelineshow.com/ for where and when it will be playing in your area. Jenna and I will be giving all of yous sexual advice, which means get ready to be fucked-in-the-head. Because, and I'm just telling you because you're my closest friends, but Jenna really digs Hot Carls. She'll be recommending a good Hot Carl to anyone who calls in to cure their penile dysfunction, sexual gender confusion, etc.

And this part is important: Call in with questions about LolliLove and SLiTHER. Otherwise it's just going to be Office, Office, Office all night long. The Office, of course, is marvelous. But I'm counting on you wonderful fucks to provide the variety.

If you're in Los Angeles this Tuesday, come to the Manhattan Monologue Slam where Jenna and I will both be judges in a monologue competition, along with Lacy Chabert (from PARTY OF MOTHERFUCKING FIVE, bitch!), Ileana Douglas, and Debra Wilson (from MadTV). Here's more info:

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14
DOORS OPEN 8:00PM, SHOW STARTS 8:30PM sharp
IVAR, 6356 HOLLYWOOD BLVD. (enter on Ivar)
FREE ADMISSION * _ OFF BUDWEISER ALL NIGHT

Oh yeah, and don't be afraid to come up and introduce yourself. Maybe Lacy Chabert will freak if you come up and take physical liberties with her, but I'm cool with it. I'm always bummed when you guys write me messages after these events saying you were there and were too shy/scared/lame/sexually excited to come up and introduce yourself. That means you, Nathan Fillion.

Do you guys know the Upright Citizens Brigade? They're this hilarious group of improvisers here in L.A. and in New York. The fine-as-wine Amy Poehler (who is about to star with my wife in BLADES OF GLORY) is a member.

Anyway, they asked me to do a special Halloween show this Sunday night in L.A. The deal is I'll go up there, get thrown ideas from the audience, and tell stories about my life. The Upright Citizens Brigade will, in turn, do improvisational scenes based upon my life. It should be a lot of fun, and if you're in L.A., or near here, you should come check it out. Oh yeah, and it's free! (But, due to the freeness, you should get there early - supposedly a line starts forming around 6:30.) I'll try to hang out afterwards and meet people.

INFO:
ASSSSCAT
Sunday, Oct. 29th @ 7:30pm FREE
UCB Theatre
5919 Franklin Ave.
Hollywood, CA
90028

A couple years ago, SD2 and DAWN OF THE DEAD opened a week apart and both opened to number one - and now they're having their TV premieres a day apart. Freaky.

The great thing is DAWN OF THE DEAD will be premiering in the UNCENSORED EXTENDED DIRECTOR'S CUT (!) - this Sunday, October 22 at 9/8 c on the USA Network.

SD2 will be airing on ABC Family this Saturday, October 21, at 8/7c and 10/9c.

Special New York Screening to celebrate the 10th Anniversary DVD release.

Monday, August 14 at 7 p.m.
Pioneer Theater
East 3rd Street on the corner of Avenue A
For more info check out:
www.twoboots.com/pioneer

As part of the NewFilmakers Series
Wendesday, July 5 at 8:50 p.m.
Anthology Film Archives
32 Second Ave (at 2nd St.)
New York, NY 10009
Only 5 bucks!!
For more info:
http://newfilmmakers.com/NewFilmmakers Schedule 0607.htm

11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. - Wrap up Q &A with all the panelists.

12 p.m. - Wrap party brunch for everyone.

2:35 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. - I'll be doing a panel on "Tricks I Know about Screenwriting." I'll be doing this one with Mary Harron, who wrote and directed the new Bettie Page movie, as well as AMERICAN PSYCHO and I SHOT ANDY WARHOL.

4 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. - I'll be doing a panel called ALONE IN THE DARK about writing horror. Uh, did anyone get Uwe's permission to use this title? Isn't it a bad omen to use a Uwe Boll title as a panel name?... anyway, I'm doing the panel with Mary Harron again, Dan Madigan, who wrote SEE NO EVIL, April Smith, who wrote NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES, AND the great Larry Cohen of IT'S ALIVE, Q, THE STUFF, and GOD TOLD ME TO fame! All jokes about Uwe aside, this should be an awesome panel, and, as usual, I probably won't agree with anyone else on it.

At 6:30 p.m. there's a VIP party. Since I don't know how many actual VIP's will be at this conference, it may be fairly easy to get into. Who knows. I probably shouldn't even be putting it in here.

Click here to read more Upcoming Events.

LOLLILOVE

A Troma Team release of a Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz presentation of a LolliLove production. (International sales: Troma, New York.) Produced by Stephen Blakehart. Executive producer, James Gunn. Co-producer, Troy DeVolld. Directed by Jenna Fischer. Screenplay, Fischer, Peter Alton.

With: James Gunn, Jenna Fischer, Linda Cardellini, Jason Segel, Judy Greer, Sarah Sido, Jennifer Eolin, Larry Fitzgibbon, Michelle Martin, Bill McCormack, Joan Blair, Lloyd Kaufman.
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Loads of SLiTHER interviews and more, at Horror.com, here.

SLiTHER Village Voice Review
by Matt Singer
Good zombie movies are metaphorical; Slither allegorizes living-dead horror as a critique of the American heartland's boundless gluttony. The film's aliens enter their victims through the mouth or stomach and compel people to consume endless quantities of meatthey grow so morbidly obese that they literally explode with extraterrestrial evil. Writer-director James Gunn, who wrote Tromeo & Juliet and the Dawn of the Dead remake, is obviously a fan of the genre...
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Video Interview with Nathan Fillion and Elizabeth Banks: here.

SLiTHER
By Joe Leydon

"Slither" is a gleefully nasty and ingeniously twisted horror-comedy that pits a populace of heavily armed but mostly clueless rednecks against flesh-eating zombies, slimy extraterrestrial slugs and an acid-spewing, multitentacled mutant. Call it "Night of the Living Dead" meets "Tremors." Scripter James Gunn infuses the pic, his debut feature as a director, with the exuberance of a movie geek given carte blanche to play fast and loose with the cliches and conventions of his favorite films. Result is a rock-the-house crowd-pleaser for genre aficionados, though its breakout potential appears iffy.
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An article on Tania Saulnier, who plays Kylie in SLiTHER, in Toro Magazine: here.

Better yet, here's a photo from the article:

Movies Online: here.

Horror Channel Review: here.

Joblo.com - click here for the interview.

Click here to read more Press.