acoustic guitar, Akira Kurosawa, Alfred Hitchcock, Apple computers, asian cinema, Atari 2600, b-movies, bad movies, Batman, blues, bootlegs, Calvin and Hobbes, classic video games, coffee houses, Colecovision, cult films, David Lynch, digital video, DVDs, film, film criticism, film history, filmmaking, Final Cut Pro, freelance writing, Gamera, Godzilla, horror, japanese culture, japanese history, kaiju, laserdiscs, live music, monster movies, movies, Muppets, mystery novels, podcasting, reading, screenwriting, silent movies, songwriting, Star Wars, tape trading, Toho, Tolkien, travel, travel writing, Troma, video editing, videography, writing
Music
3 Blind Mice, Jonathan Coulton, Charles Havira, Jethro Tull, The Beatles, Brian Wilson, Loudon Wainwright III, John Gorka, U2, Tori Amos, The Velvet Underground, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Barenaked Ladies, They Might Be Giants, Joni Mitchell, Tenacious D, Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett, Jill Sobule, and Bob Dylan... although Supertramp's "Breakfast in America" may be one of the greatest rock and roll albums in history.
Mystery Science Theater 3000, Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Firefly, The West Wing, Twin Peaks, Star Trek, Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Young Ones, Fawlty Towers, Family Guy, The Simpsons, South Park, Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist, Entourage, Land of the Lost
Books
Rebel Without a Crew by Robert Rodriguez, Bag of Bones by Stephen King, Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon, A Year at the Movies by Kevin Murphy, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams, In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson, I Lived with My Parents by Mary Jo Pehl, the Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling (oh, shut up), Lloyd Kaufman's various filmmaking books, and The Belgariad series by David Eddings
Heroes
The many geniuses of early cinema, including Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, and Harold Lloyd. Also Jonathan Coulton, for having the courage to chase the dream.
About me: Joe Barlow is a freelance writer who turned to film criticism after realizing his gross incompetence in everything else. A screenwriter and filmmaker, Joe won a small degree of national attention when his first cinematic offering, a spoof of The Wizard of Oz and The Blair Witch Project entitled The Wicked Witch Project, was featured on television and in newspapers from coast to coast.
Joe is the author of 100 Nights in the Dark: A Collection of Contemporary Film Reviews and Essays, published in early 2001. The book is available at bookstores everywhere, as well as online retailers such as Amazon.Com. Joe has written five screenplays, and even managed to sell one back in 2002... but today that script leads a very rewarding life as a doorstop in that magical place known as Development Hell. He's currently directing the pilot episode of the new sitcom Extra Extra, which he co-write with writer/producer Michael Fasciana.
When he’s not laughing his way through Joel Schumacher movies, Joe enjoys reading, playing guitar, surfing the 'net, collecting cult/horror DVDs, and worrying about all kinds of evil things he can’t change, such as death, taxes, and the frightening success of Lindsay Lohan. Although he’s been known to lord his immense (and complete!) collection of Mystery Science Theater 3000 videotapes over the heads of any drooling fanboys he may chance to meet, Joe is also an avid collector of Hitchcock and Kurosawa laserdiscs.
Joe lives near Scranton, Pennsylvania, with his wife Amy and their twin sons, Jeffrey and Bryan. He is the wind beneath your wings. He is also the host of the Cinemaslave podcast, a weekly Internet radio show devoted to the passionate celebration of all things film. Check it out!
Who I'd like to meet: More Cinemaslave listeners. Also Roger Ebert, Peter Jackson, Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Lloyd Kaufman, Woody Allen, the Mystery Science Theater 3000 cast members I haven't yet met, and the (Cool) Shite on the Tube podcast crew.
We’ve been MySpace friends for quite a while. As you know, The Dufus Detective is a free photo web comic book. We just got a new sponsor, www.affordablequalityresumes.com. They are doing an introductory offer of ten dollars off of all resume orders while our new episode (Rugburn) is running. If you’re looking for a job and could use some expert help, they’re very reasonable. In the meantime, check out Rugburn at www.dufusdetective.com.
We are seeking Inde film makers to participate in "Listen" An Earth day film project.
Be part of the first Twitter Community Film project where you can create a portion of a scene for our Earth Day Project.
We want people from around the world to be part of the celebration.
We will produce this film comprised of many individually created video clips sent in by you.
Your film clip can only be 30 seconds of original footage. Rendered in mp2 or mp4, making sure it's only 25 MB maximum.
First 15 seconds, we need you to film a situation of commotion...for example...Parks, Parties, restaurants, crowds, traffic.... Second 15 seconds, have everyone show reaction to sudden total silence (loss of hearing).
This footage will be compiled into the Earth Day Film Project. The script is finished but requires your participation.
We will finish the project after all submissions have been reviewed. Submission deadline is April 15th. This project is not for profit. Not only is this a way to have your original ideas seen, but to also celebrate our planet. Project will be released onto Youtube April 22nd...Earth Day. Please include the name of your film company and the names of all the participants in your clip for ending credits.
MyWeek in Music Magazine’s August issue is running a feature story about “Rock & Roll Homicide.” That’s Dufus Detective creator RJ McDonnell’s novel about the murder of a rock star. The widow hires a mid-20’s private detective who was a club musician before changing careers. While the Dufus Detective is all comedy, RJ’s novel is a mystery with a few LOL scenes. I just posted a brief description of the book in my blog. To read an excerpt go to www. rockandrollhomicide. com. The book is available in Scranton at Gallucci’s Music Studio and Anthology New & Used Books. It’s also available on Amazon and through his website. I don’t usually read books, but I’d strongly recommend it to anybody who loves music.
