Spend Your Halloween With Sasquatch!

ANIMAL PLANET’S FINDING BIGFOOT RETURNS TO THE WOODS TO INVESTIGATE SASQUATCH’S ORIGIN IN HALLOWEEN SPECIAL

Source: Animal Planet

This fall, the Bigfoot Field Research Organization (BFRO) team from Animal Planet's FINDING BIGFOOT trudges deep into California's Redwood forest to investigate one of the most infamous and disputed pieces of Bigfoot evidence ever - the Patterson-Gimlin footage. Premiering Sunday, October 30, at 9 PM (ET/PT), the two-hour special FINDING BIGFOOT: BIRTH OF A LEGEND takes viewers to the site where the notorious footage was captured to investigate the elusive beast's existence and settle the more than 50-year-old debate originated by the tape.

Outfitted with the latest technology, including night-vision and infrared cameras, the BFRO team also scours the Redwoods to uncover additional evidence of the presence of Sasquatch. With more Bigfoot signals discovered in the Redwoods than anywhere else in North America, each broken branch or peculiar noise could mean a Squatch is lurking nearby.

Prior to the debut of the special, the BFRO team will make an appearance at this year's New York Comic Con convention. On Friday, October 14, at 6:30 PM, the entire cast -- Bobo, Cliff, Matt and Ranae - will debunk Bigfoot myths with a special sneak preview of the BIRTH OF A LEGEND special. Following the sneak peek, the team will discuss its Squatchin' experiences from the show and share years of Bigfoot knowledge and research on a panel.

In FINDING BIGFOOT, a four-person team from the BFRO -- a leading scientific research organization exploring the Bigfoot/Sasquatch mystery -- investigates Sasquatch sightings by interviewing locals, examining evidence and infiltrating the woodlands and forests in places where Bigfoot has been reported.

The History Of Dinosaur Cinema Explored In The BBC's REX APPEAL

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: BBC / Radio Times

The BBC has gone absolutely prehistoric with a new documentary about dinosaurs in the movies called "Rex Appeal". The hour-long special covers everything from "Gertie" to "Godzilla" with a collection of clips from the dino films that made all of our Saturday afternoons growing up all that more special.

Here is the scoop from the BBC:

From the beginnings of film-making to the triumph of Jurassic Park - the dinosaur has always been a movie star. Over 60 minutes, BBC4's Rex Appeal takes a bite out of the Cretaceous cinema and reveals the truth about T-Rex.

It's a story that stretches from the charming cartoon apatosaurus Gertie (1914), to the vicious and cunning velociraptors of Spielbrerg's imagination.

But it's not all teeth and trashing city centres - as our critics explain, dinosaur movies are always about more than just dinosaurs. The 'nature finds a way' DNA argument in Jurassic Park directly mirrored the arguements about GM crops in the early 90s. Godzilla - the radioactive-breathed dinosaur emerged from the seas of Japan just nine years after the nuclear attack on Hiroshima. King Kong and his dinosaur pals on Skull Island have sparked a million film school theories.

Of course, not all dino dramas are so high minded - in the Hammer film One Million Years BC, the audience were just as fascinated with Racquel Welsh's fur tops as they were with the Triceratops. Despite Hammer's claim that 'This is the way it was', the science was a little dubious- the last dinosaur died 64 million years before the first modern human appeared.

Whatever cultural anxieties dinosaurs represent, they've always been a cinematic spectacle that has thrilled audiences on a instinctual level - with each new breakthrough in special effects giving us ever more real Rex's.

Willis O'Brien gave us the legendary Kong v Rex fight that taught us to love Kong, Ray Harryhausen invented 'dinomation' and put dinosaurs and cowboys together in The Valley of Gwangi. And since the 90s - CGI has banished the man in the dino suit, and made prehistoric protagonists are more real than ever.

Contributors include film critics James King and Kim Newman, science broadcaster Adam Rutherford, comedian Susan Calman and broadcaster and film historian Matthew Sweet.

In conjunction with the broadcast of "Rex Appeal" the Radio Times in the UK has released their own list of the top 10 dinosaur films of all-time. It's a decent list but I would yank out "The Land Before Time" and insert "The Valley of Gwangi" but to each their own. You can check out the list HERE

"Rex Appeal" airs again on Sunday (October 2nd) on BBC 4

Andrew Stengele Developing A Japanese Monster Heavy Documentary

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Andrew Stengele

This past week I was contacted by independent film maker, Andrew Stengele, about his plans to film a very Japanese Monster heavy documentary this upcoming summer.

According to Stengele, the film will center on monsters, both real and imaginary, and their transition from myth and folklore to movies and television.

"It (the documentary) will be a look at mankind's view of monsters from mythical creatures, cryptozoology, and horror/scifi movies, books, video games, and so on."

At this time, due to budget limitations, the film maker will be making the rounds of local Midwest conventions interviewing scholars, people in the movie biz and fans to get his content.

Stengele adds, "I am looking for anyone who might have something to say about monsters, basically. I am going to start by interviewing some people at the University of Illinois about monsters in folklore and literature, and probably some sort of psychology professors as well to get their perspective on why we are fascinated by them and why children always imagine there are monsters everywhere."

So far, Stengele has zeroed in on two Chicago area conventions, that being "G-Fest", the official gathering of Godzilla and Japanese sci fi movie fans, and the Famous Monsters of Filmland convention.

Though, the documentary will feature monsters of all types, the film maker admits that Godzilla and his Japanese monster cousins will steal the show.

"The project isn't limited to kaiju (Japanese movie monsters), but I will admit I know that sub-genre better than the others and will make it a bigger portion of the movie."

Luckily for Stengele, he already has all the equipment necessary to film his movie, but he still needs to raise the money to travel outside his area to do more interviews. Namely, to travel to California to talk to Hollywood monster movie makers, stars, and more fans.

In fact, if he can raise the money, yours truly will be included in that prestigious list.

Stengele has started a fundraiser through Kickstarter, a company that helps independent film makers raise money for their projects, to aid in gathering the funds necessary to produce a top-of-the-line documentary.

I urge all of you out the to give what you can to help get this one going. I have talked with Andrew Stengele in length about his movie, and it sounds like he has great plans for producing something that will be both educational, and very entertaining.

Once again, to donate to this film project, go to Kickstarter (project page here).