Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here. When I was on the set of SHOOT ‘EM UP, Paul Giamatti was talking even then about how much he wanted to play Col. Tom Parker in a BUBBA HO-TEP sequel. That alone is reason to make one. But Bruce Campbell seems to always be vaguely busy, and so I’m wondering... is that film ever going to happen? And how the hell is MY NAME IS BRUCE, anyway?
Hello Harry, Below is my review of "My Name is Bruce" that I saw at the CineVegas Film Festival and some news regarding the Bubba Ho-Tep sequel (the first email I sent you, I don't think it went through): I was fortunate enough to attend the premiere of “My Name is Bruce” at the CineVegas Film Festival at the Palms in Vegas over the weekend. After going through a very stressful ordeal just to get to the theater, I waited in a very long line to get into the premiere. While I was waiting, Bruce Campbell walked up about 20 feet away to pose for some pictures for the press. And because it is Bruce Campbell, he can’t just pose like everyone else… he threw in what looked like kung fu moves of some sort and played it up for the camera. After getting into the theater, I sat next to some younger and much geekier kids who saw my Army of Darkness shirt and proceeded to tell me that my shirt kicked all of their shirts’ asses. And it did, but that’s beside the point. I sat in my chair and awaited the arrival of ‘The Chosen One.’ And sure enough, a few minutes of waiting around and Bruce Campbell appeared before the jam-packed theater. He told us that the movie was incomplete and was a work in progress. The editing was done but sound, visual effects and score were incomplete. He informed us that Joe LoDuca was scoring the film, which if you are Sam Raimi or Evil Dead fan, you should know who that is. After some brief pre-movie questions, one of which a girl insulted Bruce. He took it it in stride and said that she had the right to her opinion, the audience however threw profanities and insults at the girl, which she rightfully deserved. I never said anything, but should have, so I’ll say it now… “You bitch.” Anyhow, the movie started up. It starts out with a folky song about Gwandi (spelling?) a Chinese god of something or other. It then goes into a scene following a kid who is a big Bruce Campbell fan and another kid who are meeting up with 2 girls at a graveyard. The goal… to score some tail. The geeky kid tries to woo the teenage girl and does it in a way that Ashley J. Williams would. It doesn’t work. The geeky kid manages to open a grave or tomb that held Gwandi within. Gwandi, which by the way, looked really fake and cheesy (I’m not sure if he will be enhancing Gwandi with any visual effects or not), but the cheesy look of Gwandi actually added a lot of humor, so if it stays the same, no loss there. So with Gwandi on the loose, he chops, slices, and dices the young teens with only the geeky kid surviving. It is a pretty entertaining beginning and serves as the springboard of the story for the movie and the movie continues being entertaining throughout the rest of the film. The movie is definitely for any and all Bruce Campbell fans. He’s made his fair share of good and bad movies but don’t worry, this falls into the good category. This will not disappoint his fans. It mixes some rude and crude humor with some slapstick that Bruce was born to do. There is a scene where Bruce is drunk and trying to get into his trailer home and the way he tries to get in and the way he fails is something that seems right out of Sam Raimi and Bruce’s earlier home movies. If Evil Dead 4 never happens, this is the closest we are going to get to seeing it. The movies’ jokes are for everyone, but there are a lot of inside jokes that only Bruce Campbell fans will get. Oh and I almost forgot one of the hightlights of the film… Ted Raimi. Ted Raimi has 3 roles in the movie and he’s hilarious in all three. I’d almost suggest that in the sequel (which Bruce mentioned twice, calling it “My Name is Still Bruce,” so maybe we will see another one) Ted Raimi should play all of the supporting characters. That would be hilarious to see Ted Raimi in all sorts of disguises playing it up for the audience. He’s just really funny and absolutely gets over-the-top humor and knows how to do it well. His scenes are definitely some of the most memorable. Despite the movie being a ‘work in progress’, it still felt pretty much like a finished film. The low budget of the movie doesn’t hurt the movie all that much either. Some of the actors are a little stiff, but for the most part it works pretty well. The cinematography is actually pretty decent, displaying some atmosphere that helps in some scenes, something that “The Man with the Screaming Brain” lacked. Overall, I found the movie to be quite funny and definitely recommend to any Evil Dead fan. After the movie, there was a Q&A. Like most Q&As, for as many questions that were actually about the movie, Bruce, or his career, there were stupid, random questions. One of which some guy asked Bruce when he was going to do full frontal nudity. Bruce replied, “Are you gay? Of all the things you want to know, you want to know if you can see my penis.” Bruce poked fun at the guy throughout the rest of the Q&A, it was pretty funny. But the most surprising thing I learned from the Q&A was news regarding the Bubba Ho-Tep sequel. And this is coming from the man himself… he is not involved in the sequel. He doesn’t know what is going on with the movie, but that he is not involved at this point. Hopefully that changes, if they do a sequel… I mean what would be the point of Bubba Nosferatu if there is no Bruce. If you use this call me ‘Fake Shemp.’
