Lux Interior (Erick Purkhiser), lead singer of the punk/rockabilly band The Cramps, has passed away.

Born October 21, 1948, Lux went on to form The Cramps with his wife, Poison Ivy (Kristy Wallace), in 1979.  They were part of the whole CBGB scene of the late 1970′s/early 1980′s that also spawned bands such as The Ramones.  While none of those bands really went on to true stardom, they had loyal followings and influenced too many bands to even begin to mention.  The Cramps had an unusual sound as they always mixed in little tastes of 1950′s rockabilly with their punk sound, something I think was distinctly influenced by The Misfits that came around in 1977 and mixed 1950′s horror/sci-fi references into their music.  Some consider them the originators of a whole sub-genre of music known as psychobilly that mixes classic rockabilly sensibilities with darker subject matter for the lyrics, and more of a kitsch feel to their songs.

While their influence on music, and where they took inspiration from can be debated for ages, nothing changes the fact that Lux passed away on February 4th, 2009 at the age of 60 from a pre-existing heart condition.  I imagine 99.9% of the people who read my site will have never heard of the band, or Lux himself, but this is a sad event for those of us who have followed punk and psychobilly for years.  I’ve embedded the video for one of my favorite songs of theirs, “Bikini Girls With Machine Guns”, something that I literally hum or sing at least once every single day.  Usually it’s just the chorus, and I won’t even realize I am walking around saying “Bah-ki-ni girls with ma-chine guh-ns… Bah-ki-ni girls with ma-chine guh-ns…”.

Enjoy the song, and you will be missed, Lux.  Rest in peace.

***MAJOR SPOILERS***

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I’m not one usually for posting celebrity gossip, but this has to be heard to be believed.

Christian Bale, star of The Dark Knight, has long been rumored to have a temper, and on July 17th, 2008, while filming Terminator Salvation, it got caught on audio just how much of a temper he has. As he blows up at a crew member, the audio team had not stopped recording, and the tape has now been “leaked” to the press.  Please note there is a large amount of cursing in this audio clip, and it is distinctly not safe for work or children.

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I hate to say it, but I kinda see his point.  Yes, he could have handled it better, but as someone who isn’t big on being taken “out of the zone” while writing, I get it.  Have I ever gone off to this degree?  No, but I have been close a few times, and it’s why I tend to isolate myself when I write.  While my father was laid up for 6 weeks from his knee surgery, I exiled myself back to my fairly cold office to write at night, though I would have much rather been at home in my comfy chair, I did this for fear of snapping at someone for trying to talk to me while I worked.

Now, if the directory of photography (the “DP” he refered to in the clip) truly did wander in to his eye line during the filming of the scene, then, yes, the DP messed up.  And if, as Mr. Bale said, this wasn’t the first time he had done it, then, yes, he needed to be talked to… though a bit more calm might have been called for.  The director should have stepped in and taken care of it, but apparently he didn’t, or maybe Mr. Bale was just a bit quicker on the draw.

However, defend him as one might, this was also within days of when he was accused of getting violent with his mother and sister in London, so I think it is fairly safe to say he has some anger management issues.  It’s unfortunate that such a talented actor has these issues, and maybe this will be the catalyst for him finally getting some help.

As seems to be a trend with any celeb freak out, someone has made an angry dance remix of the audio.  I’ve embedded it below, and, yes, very not safe for work, you have been warned.

It’s true folks, Hollywood is in deep crisis… of morals that is.

Hollywood had a record year in 2008 financially, but attendance dropped off.  Well, according to Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood, the American movie industry had their best January ever to kick off 2009… stupid pirates killing off all of their business!

Hollywood has been cutting jobs in this down economy, and they also have been dragging their feet on a new contract with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) due to money concerns, and they have been saying that they need more money, with even rumors of a government bailout may be needed.  Yet, here we are looking at the January numbers show that they grossed $1.028 billion at the box office compared to $867.2 million last January for an increase of 18.57%.  Now, before you say this is caused by increased ticket prices, you should know that attendance was up 16.78% over the same time period last year.

True, we are only one month into 2009, but this certainly bodes well for the movie industry, and while it is highly unlikely we will see another break out, $500 million plus, grosser like The Dark Knight this year, this bodes very well for the year.  Considering the total gross for 2008 was $9.76 billion, it certainly looks like they are tracking to beat last year already.

Poor Hollywood… you know pirates are hurting their bottom lines… they keep telling us so by annoying advertisements.  Well, if history teaches us anything, it is that during tougher economic times, people tend to go to the movies more for escapism, and this lead to huge attendance numbers during the Great Depression.  Certainly this is not another depression, but you have to figure that contributes to the situation.

I have to admit I am a bit befuddled by this since Netflix reported their earnings jumped 45% in the fourth quarter of 2008, so expected box office takes to be down.  Shows what I know!

The Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Super Bowl commercial has shown up online.

Seems anti-climatic, and gives me even less reason to watch the Super Bowl except to see Bruce Springsteen at halftime.  As this commercial was scheduled for the first moments of the third quarter, I figured I’d stick around… now I won’t.  As you can see from the picture to the right, one of the biggest reveals is that Ravage is indeed in the movie, and for long time Transformer’s fans, this is major.  Course, he looks nothing like he did years ago, but oh well.

Without further ado, here is the commercial from YouTube, or you can download a high definition version here.

Well, there is no question it is a Michael Bay film… stuff is blowing up real pretty like.  While I know some of what is going on in these scenes, I will respect those people who wish to stay spoiler free.  For those who do want to know, I suggest you check out the Transformers Live Action blog for a breakdown of what you are seeing.  Overall it just looks like the first movie which means I’ll go see it and then complain about it, but would you expect any less from me at this point?