Visions of sugar plums not giving you your terror fix? Head out to the Troc tonight at 9:30 for the DVD release extravaganza of Unholy Sideshow, a local independent horror movie from West Philth Productions. Juggling, needles skewered through human flesh, women taking their clothes off, sword swallowing, aerialists performing without a net, Heavy Metal, a spectacle you will remember for the rest of your days. Sounds like a good time to us! Unholy Sideshow......

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend My Kid Could Paint That - A documentary about child painter Marla Olmstead, and the questions about aesthetics that her story brings to the forefront. She and her family went on a rollercoaster ride of fame and infamy. Her paintings were hailed as great works of abstract expressionism by some, and started selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. She appeared on many national news programs.......

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we'll be posting events that are going on sale during the current week. This Thursday post only collects the latest announcements, so definitely check the Tuesday post for any you may have missed. COMEDY Lewis Black w/John Bowman Academy of Music; The Hershey Theatre Thu, 11/15/07, 8PM; Fri, 11/23/07, 8PM On sale: Sat, 10AM, Live Nation (11/15, 11/23) MUSIC Foo Fighters Wachovia Arena, Wilkes-Barre Mon, 10/8/07, 8PM $37.50 Pre-sale: Fri, 10AM......

We all remember the rather infamous incident earlier this year when an 18-year-old driver shot a 14-year-old on his bike supposedly because the boy didn't get out of his way fast enough. The accused attorney says his client did indeed kill the boy, but it wasn't a premeditated act; he saw the boy reach under his long T-shirt, thought he was in danger, and fired. Four young men from Mantua were arrested yesterday for......

Judging by the, as of this writing, abysmal freshness rating of 18% on Rotten Tomatoes, a lot of people don't agree with me, but I thought The Invasion was a pretty good movie. It's apparently the fourth film adaptation of a story originally told in a Collier's magazine serial (and which was later turned into a novel), but the only other movie version I've ever seen was the first one - 1956's Invasion of the......

LAist was comped front row seats by the Dodgers due to Malingering being struck by a foul ball last week, and she came back with some great photos, and earlier made fun of 4th of July on Venice Beach. But the biggest stories of the week was that the Mayor's Hot Tamale was revealed, and that a Kwik-E-Mart was erected in Burbank. Phillyist was busy doing the Fourth of July up right, exercising their......

Despite the fact that Transformers is a film based on a cartoon, which itself was based on a story that a marketing company came up with to sell a line of toys, and despite the fact that it was directed by Michael Bay (a piece of news which, when it first came out, caused thousands of nerds to cry out in terror, and then become suddenly silent... before running to the internet to voice their......

Happy Father's Day! For those of you who have dads, are dads, or know dads, this one's for you, from all of us at the Gothamist network. It was a week of bizarre, embarassing headlines at DCist. The trial of the local administrative law judge who sued his cleaners for $54 million over a pair of missing pants left everyone shaking their heads. Then the capital city was nearly brought to its knees, twice, by......

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we'll be posting events that are going on sale during the current week. This Thursday post only collects the latest announcements, so definitely check the Tuesday post for any you may have missed. Joe Walsh and The Bruce Willis Blues Band Borgata Event Center, Atlantic City Sat, 8/4/07, 8PM On sale: Fri, 10AM, Live Nation Forever in Terror Crocodile Rock, Allentown Thu, 6/28/07, 7PM $10 On sale: Fri, 10AM, Ticketmaster Skin......

Can't get enough of those Butterscotch Krimpets? Lucky you: Tastykake is building a new facility at the Navy Yard! In less pleasant news, Philly's death count since January 1 is now 140. That. Is. Terrifying. Planning on taking a fun vacation this summer? If you book before May 31, Southwest wants to make sure you do it cheaper. They're celebrating three years in Philly, and we need an excuse to travel. In case you......

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend. Philadelphia Film Festival - We've mentioned this once or twice. It's here again! All kinds of movies at all kinds of venues around the city. Take a look at the website for more details. Most Likely to Rule: Grindhouse - There's not much we can say about this movie we haven't already said. It's an homage to the titular gritty, extreme '70s-era genre, and consists of......

Not only is that the title of the latest album from Philly's own The Capitol Years, but it's also what we feel the need to do this weekend after reading that a guy tried to fly from LA to Philadelphia with a magnet and some wires up his ass. Magnets are the new butt plugs. Anyway, The Capitol Years will be playing Johnny Brenda's Saturday night, with Nethers, El Dorado, and The Boggs. Dance......

Director David Fincher's latest film, Zodiac, is, like a number of his other films, another crime thriller examining tortured, obsessed, and violent human beings. But this time it's based on a true story: that of the serial killer who called himself Zodiac, and who was active in the area around San Francisco in Northern California for a number of years during the late '60s and early '70s. But really the film is less about the......

Does anybody recognize this particular photograph of the Golden Gate Bridge? I found it on Flickr under a Creative Commons license, but it looks almost identical to one of the opening scenes of "Full House." Now, at one point or another, we all came across this family-oriented show that launched the careers of the Olsen twins and the hair style of John Stamos. Bob Saget played a kind and gentle, if not occasionally effeminate,......

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend. Tideland - We really wanted to label this our Most Likely to Rule this week - we really did! It's the new movie from one of our favorite directors - Terry Gilliam. It's got on of our favorite actors, Jeff Bridges, as Noah, a burnt-out, drug-addicted rock star. It's even also got Jennifer Tilly - who's not really a very good actor, but we like her......

This week's title is inspired by a quote by the ever-talented Willem Dafoe: “Film is fragmented and gets into lots of other people's hands. There are a lot of pleasures that theatre gives me. You get to perform uninterrupted.” We couldn't have said it better. Now, on with the listings! The Desk Set - What? You mean computers will eventually be able to do the work of people? No shit! November 15-December 9. Tickets may......

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. An English theorist has put forward the idea that the human race will split into two species - one super-hot, tall, and smart, the other short, stupid, and ugly. There are a few things wrong with this idea, though: one, the dude is from the School of Economics. What the hell does he know about human biology and evolution? Second, his description of......

On Saturday night, this self-admitted scaredy cat, armed only with a little determination and a very strong man to hold my hand, headed over to the Eastern State Penitentiary for their annual “Terror Behind the Walls.” It is, no doubt, a Halloween extravaganza, made even freakier by the fact that it’s held in a real prison. From the moment you walk up to the prison, you are fair game. Sure, that man outside the......

Celebrate Ben Franklin's 300th birthday with the Bikini Bandits and Phillyist! (NSFW). Speaking of Mr. Franklin, send in a picture of Ben (or Ed Rendell) with a red tongue and win a free t-shirt. And they might have the next YearlyKos in Philly. You know who's going to be upset about those Bikini Bandits? The Houston school system. Houstonist also reports on some redevelopment shenanigans over a landmark theater. LAist's sex advice column on......

Even as the stores sport back to school sales (which depress us, even now), summer lingers on your friends the -ists. This week's collection of links provides some of the best, worst, and oddest bits of summer fun. So, bring your laptop up onto the roof, make yourself an umbrella drink or ten, and enjoy this week's choice posts from across the Gothamist network. Torontoist (where it's 75 degrees F as of this writing)......

Neftaly Cruz, a senior at Penn State, claims that last Wednesday night cops cuffed him and took him down to police headquarters just for stepping out of his backdoor and taking a picture of some police activity on his street with his cell phone camera. (Via gmiles) Sounds unlikely, but his family and one or two witnesses confirm the story. Supposedly the cops said the very act of taking the picture was an obstruction......

What's interesting on TV this week. Shortest Marriages (Mon; 9PM-10PM; VH1) - Short celebrity marriages. Isn't that a bit redundant? The question about this show is not so much which marriages will they talk about, but more which marriages will they leave out? Dirty Jobs (Tue; 9PM-10PM; Discovery) - Another gross episode of this show about a dude trying out various filthy jobs. But what's so dirty about dismantling Tournament of Roses Parade floats? Quite......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY Goodnight Nobody: Philly's reigning chick-lit author, Jennifer Weiner, will be appearing at Head House Books (619 S. 2nd Street) to talk about her latest novel, Goodnight Nobody, at 7PM. Free Music at Green Line: Sherman Arts & Bowerbird present a free evening of music beginning at 7:30PM at the Green Line Cafe (43rd and Baltimore). Performing will be Tuntematon 3.0, The Bastard Trio and Dave Smolen. Music......

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend. Most Likely to Rule: A Night of Crawling Terror! w/Squirm and The Boogens - Another wonderful double feature of cheesy B-movies courtesy of the folks at Exhumed Films. When Phillyist saw Squirm a few years ago, it was as part of an episode of one of our most beloved (and sadly now twice cancelled) TV shows, the movie-lampooning program "Mystery Science Theater 3000." So you know......

Best of the week is compiled and edited by Seattlest's Dan Gonsiorowski. Torontoist throws down the gauntlet and challenges all comers: pillow fight, bitch. They also stand up for a fellow blogger taking heat from the TTC and welcome city-wide WiFi. SFist can finally admit it: It's possible that http://www.sfist.com/archives/2006/03/07/say_it_isnt_so_barry.php">Bary Bonds juiced. Is Bay Area artist (tempted to put quotes around that) Thomas Kinkaid "kinda crappy" or "explosively crappy" or does he just like marking......

CBS 3 reports that the City of Brotherly Love is conducting a review of our current disaster readiness plans, which it then intends to have completed by the end of June, "just in time for the 4th of July holiday." (Phillyist thinks this is great, although we're not clear why Independence Day is relevant here, since any meaningful review completed on June 31st is unlikely to be fully realized by July 4th.) Pedro Ramos,......

What are you favorite local bloggers talking about lately? We've got your blog news right here...Banana Slug finds proof that of what Republicans have really been up to, and it ain't pretty. We couldn't even finish our breakfast.You can sleep easy now - Wook has confirmation that Axl Rose is still rocking the corn rows. Yep, Axl and Bo Derek.The newly conservative Canadian government is already trying to overturn same sex marriage. Read more about......

Editor's note: Jim Genzano attended the first night of Exhumed Film's terrifying triple features series. It resumes this Saturday night at 8 p.m. Local B-grade horror movie aficionados Exhumed Films are celebrating Halloween all month this month, as they do every year, this time with three terrifying triple features. The International House will be hosting the screenings, which will start at 8PM every other Saturday night in October, and cost $12. That's a measly......

Voted the Sixth Best Haunted House in all the land by AOL Digital City, Terror Behind the Walls at Eastern State Penitentiary promises to scare the pants right off of you. Quake in your stylish boots as you are admitted through Intake and harrassed by sadistic security guards. Be wary of the Maximum Security wing, where you're sure to meet a couple of hardened and extremely crazy criminals! Cry out in terror in the......

If NYC has an unsubstantiated terror threat against their subways, so must we all share in the paranoia, er, wealth. Due to police activity Market East regional train station is shut down, effectively also cutting off service at 30th Street Station and Suburban Station. Phillyist found this out the hard way when the R3 we were on this morning stopped just short of 30th Street Station and all riders told to wait it out until......