The Boston Herald vs Mr. Disgusting 1:36am, April 8, 2008
I've been waiting for something interesting to happen to talk about in my blog - well today is the day! BC sent me an article in the Boston Herald written by the "credible" Stephen Schaefer, whom even with all of his experience, still doesn't know how the movie industry works. He poses implicating questions that have simple answers. Any film critic, or anyone working in the film industry should know exactly how my quotes got on THE RUINS TV spots. I f-cking said them. It's no secret, I like the movie. But the best part of Schaefer's article is where he implies that maybe I didn't even see the movie?! WOW, the balls!
"So where did they get these quotes from - a seance? It turns out those are the opinions of one Mr. Disgusting, who claims on his Web site bloody-disgusting.com that he saw it by sneaking into a Los Angeles test screening of the film." Schaefer writes in his article, which was published in a newspaper and online.
Here, read his article by clicking here before going on.
Ok, now that you've read what he has said, you can check out my lengthy response. What pisses me off the most is that he is in a position of authority and speaks as if he is in the know, or the ruler of all things movies. The fact is he doesn't know DICK about how things work - or he's just playing stupid. Either way I'm pretty aggravated by his comments.
You're sort of speaking without any knowledge in your article and felt obligated to respond. I know living in Boston makes it difficult to really understand how things work in the industry, but just because a film is not screened for ALL critics (such as yourself), doesn't mean we are not shown the films from time to time. I was in fact invited to an OFFICIAL screening of The Ruins at Paramount, which I declined as I didn't really feel like watching it twice.
But the main reason for my e-mail is your reference to Pathology not being screened for critics. Like I said, living in Boston I don't blame you for not understand, but the film was screened for nearly 30 critics two weeks back. It wasn't initiated by MGM as they don't seem to know what's on their hands, instead the screening was held by Lakeshore Entertainment. While the screening is not "official", it was in fact shown to critics for review.
Your implications that I, and another reporter, have made up our quotes is unfounded and I am personally offended. I think before you start writing with such "authority" in your magazine, and on it's website, you should really understand the way things work in the industry. Speaking with a false sense of know is damaging to anyones credibility - even your own.
So what the hell is going on? Is he jealous that he wasn't invited to see the film? The PATHOLOGY reference cracks me the hell up. I seriously saw the film with about 100 other people, 25-30 of which were critics. In fact, Milo Ventimiglia and Alyssa Milano were there and can even collaborate the story. But Schaefer wasn't invited, so I'm expecting a follow-up to his piece when he sees more quotes on trailers for the film.
For those of you who don't know how it works. Let me lay it out for ya. Studios occasionally test films, they aren't even hard to get into (you just have to know where to look). If we like a movie there, and review it, they can pull quotes from that review. Funny enough, studios usually get pissed either way - I got in a lot of trouble for my review of TRICK 'R TREAT, which was the only good thing going for that move, and REPO!. The films arent finished, so they dont like when we sneak in. Beyond that, occasionally the studio will invite a select few journalists to check out their films (such the case with RUINS). If these journalists like the film they'll ask to see the review for the film, so they can use quotes. BUT they ask we don't post until the day before release. If the studio is afraid of reviews (PROM NGIHT) or doesnt think it will help the film any (INDIANA JONES, IRON MAN), it won't be screened for the mass of critics.
Pretty easy. But living in Boston doesn't help Schaefer understand these things. He needs to understand that he's not an authority and shouldn't speak as such. The only king of Hollywood is Jack Nicholson.
If you guys have any questions, feel free to post and I'll respond. Below is the video in question:
Good. Hopefully you (and others) put this tard in his place. I hate people like this. People who act like they know shit about shit, then cower when they get put in their place. If you want, I'll leave a bag of shit on his doorstep.
He is a douchebag. I saw "The Ruins" at a test screening at Paramount back in January and wrote a positive early review for esplatter. The guy is a twat that needs to do a little research before he vomits is jackoff opinions into a newspaper.
People who are jealous about not getting to attend screenings always say crap like this. It's just a pity that it had to come from a "legitimate journalist" in this instance.
If you look in their movie reviews the boston herald also gave "The Ruins" a D and said "Horror aficionados will find no love among these Ruins"... maybe they should hire some BD staff to write for them.
Rally up people.
< plays HOLY DIVER >
You can count on my steel!!
besides that other critic who actually reviewed the movie deserves to be schooled too..just read that mess of a review. Terry Woodward ro somthing. the link is right next to it.
Dude, sounds like you should aim your frustrations at Paramount. This guy may be a douche, but he was writing an article based on something I've asked myself a number of times: who are these "critics" who give dogshit films praise? The problem here is the numb-nuts should have contacted you as well as Paramount to ask the hard questions. Instead, he hid behind his PC and published an article. Bad move. Also, when you publicly lash back at someone, don't make generalizations like, "I know being from Boston...", that's just thick-headed on your part. Stick to the facts, don't make assumptions, and for the love of Pete: spell-check the damn thing before sending it out.
Wow... I've only been reviewing movies for a year and already I know more about "The Industry" than that Boston Herald guy... how embarassing for him. Of course having been to L.A. and spent some time there, it's amazing how much shit you can get into. I suppose it's an advantage for movie people who live in L.A., but there's no use crying about if you live somewhere else. Stephen Schaefer sould probably just move to L.A. and stop crying.
What he did amounts to libel. If this took place in NY or if you live in NY, I would have given you my brother's number since he is a lawyer.
I've had one situation when a fan (initials MF), that hosts her radio show with 2 other horror fans (JF and P), was told by me about my personal friend, Debbie Rochon, not showing up at Fangoria Weekend of Horrors in LA due to a commitment with filming Good Sisters, a movie that is being filmed around my area. She went on about "she is legally obligated to show up" and "she will be there" without providing any proof about her activities and validate the claim about being her friend and mentioning JimmyO and his wife. The funny thing is that the fan did this close to Horrorfind (a horror convention in my area) where JimmyO, the creator of Chainsaw Sally and Good Sisters, is going to show up and I gave him, his wife, and a person from PopCinema the 411 about this individual and what she had said about Debbie. They did not know this fan and the other ones on that show when I mentioned their names. He validated about starting to film the movie during that convention and also added that due to doctor's orders, she is not allowed to go on any flights during her recovery from her surgery. I got the approval and support to make the call even though I did not need the approvial since all the info about Good Sisters was on his Chainsaw Sally message board that anyone could look up.
Just like you posting a response on that dude's stuff, I called into the show and I owned her when she was backstepping and making admissions about not knowing who JimmyO and his wife were when she mentioned their names the previous week and needing to do research on Good Sisters when I mentioned about it the previous week also.
People like them should not be allowed to write or say anything since they got owned when their BS got checked by everyone.
Wow. My biggest complaint about the mainstream media is that they don't review Horror movies. My local paper Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale) almost never reviews lower budget studio Horror. They claim the films aren't screened for critics. SO WHAT!? Pay the 8 bucks, watch it on Friday, and review it in Saturdays paper. Keep on doing what you do, Disgusting. I sure as heck aint spending 9 bucks to read Fango. Ripping off the kids...
Oh boy, another one of those, huh? I just can't understand why some people feel the need to twist stories around for their own selfish purposes. He's probably jealous of BD and Mr. Disgusting's success, not to mention the fact that Mr. D enjoys what he does. I'm not sure we could say the same for Mr. Schaefer; otherwise why would he stoop to such childish tactics to make himself look "good"?
Mr. Schaefer, a word of advice: make sure your "facts" are true before publishing them. Shouldn't that be the #1 rule in "journalism"? At least you learned somthing today: horror fans are loyal and are far from being dumb.
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"So where did they get these quotes from - a seance? It turns out those are the opinions of one Mr. Disgusting, who claims on his Web site bloody-disgusting.com that he saw it by sneaking into a Los Angeles test screening of the film." Schaefer writes in his article, which was published in a newspaper and online.
