Bruce Campbell's still got it!

Loving all things Sci-Fi and Horror it should come as no surprise that I also love Bruce Campbell. Really, the three go hand in hand as far as I'm concerned. When I read that Bruce was doing a theater tour of the country with a Q&A session after the showing of his latest film, "My Name is Bruce", I just knew I'd be there. Unfortunately, none of these appearances were in my town. But, I'm always willing to travel and was able to catch a show in a city a couple hours away from here.

We headed out straight after work and loaded up on sugar, caffeine, and Indy rock (thanks to The Kills) the entire way. We arrived at our destination with time enough to catch a delicious dinner of Carnitas Quesadillas (ironically in a restaurant that originated in my neck of the woods) before getting in line for the show. I was dressed appropriately enough for the occasion in black on black with grey stars on my shirt. Some others however went all out in what I'm assuming were left over Halloween costumes. It's funny how someone can spend so much time getting all the details of his Ash costume right only to duct tape his chain saw to the wrong hand. The movie theater we went to had a bar in the lobby, something you rarely see where I live. I'm normally a fan of the 'couple of cocktails before the show' line of thinking, (especially if it's Shemps Olde Tyme Whiskey) but we had a three hour drive home when this was over so I was sticking to candy and soda. Still, I was particularly jealous of the guy in front of us in line. That well gin martini he was drinking out of a plastic cup looked delish! -that was sarcasm by the way, but I digress..

The movie itself was excellent. Everything you'd expect from a Campbell flick that is a parody of every other Campbell flick. Cheap jokes, fake blood, and lots of boob shots (kudos for casting a leading lady with real hooters by the way). I was hooked when ten minutes in our punk rock teenage Bruce fan says "Come on baby, give me some sugar", in an attempt to hook up in a graveyard. Nice! Seriously, though, that would have totally worked on me - natch.
The movie was great, the premise believable (sorry Bruce), and the time flew by. Unfortunately we were sandwiched between two couples who spent the entire movie laughing way too hard at every little quip and happening. It was annoying and distracting. The chick next to me never shut the fuck up but unfortunately wasn't out of line enough for me to correct her. The only time the cackling seemed remotely warranted was when Bruce asked his leading lady if she'd like to see his 'boom stick'. As we were all funneling out of the theater most annoying girl ever was bragging that they only had to walk eight blocks to get to their (free) parking spot. Remembering this we laughed harder and louder then they ever did during the show when the parking lot attendant told us our fee for parking in the lot for the last four hours was two bucks. Two dollars!! Shit, I'd pay two dollars not to huff eight blocks in the freezing cold. Idiots.

After the movie, Bruce came out, and he looked more handsome than ever. He was wearing glasses and I think that made him more dashing and very distinguished looking. There are certain people that I revere so much I can't even imagine having sex with them because they're so much larger than life in my mind. Bruce Campbell is one of those people. The Q&A went well because Bruce handled the crowd like a pro. He was witty, quick, and down to earth which kept things flowing nicely. He was sincere in his answers and at one point he even called Will Ferrell a "smelly son of a bitch" for taking his Old Spice commercial spots. He was gracious enough, signing a fans arm so he could get the signature permanently added amongst his zombie tattoos, and signed one other fan item, but in an effort towards equality he asked the personal requests be kept to a minimum. I thought that was a cool move, I mean really, what do I get out of him signing your t-shirt?

At one point a jerk from the back of the audience asked, "I have four dollars and a camera phone, want to go into the bathroom and make a movie?" Bruce's reply, "I've got a whole wallet right here, why don't I just shove it up your ass?" - Awesome smart assery! Another great one was when he was asked who he preferred Ohio State or U of M and he said, "What do you think dickwad?" Dickwad - that killed me!!

When you see this movie you'll see that Ted Raimi has his usual fifteen roles. He really doesn't have that many, but he's in there - a lot. Bruce said that was because he would take more script for less money, and that his 'acting' helped make Bruce look more natural. One of Ted's characters is Luigi, the town fix it man, but if you look, you'll see his cover-alls actually have Ted on the name tag. Speaking of Raimi's when he was asked what his favorite Raimi project was, Bruce said it was "bailing Sam out with those Spider Man films" and to rest assured they couldn't make Spider Man 4 without him. Also, any rumors about Bubba Hotep 2 are just that, the reason it didn't happen was because they couldn't agree on a script.
One of the first things Bruce said to us was a reference to Evil Dead 4. Later he asked us if we wanted to know about ED4 and then proceeded to show us just how classy he was. He asked us if we liked Indian Jones 4 and how we felt watching Harrison Ford hobble around in the jungle for whole picture. He then told us he didn't like watching dudes past their prime try and do more than they were capable of either. Also, that he was basically more realistic (and had more self respect) than to think ED4 could be pulled off. He also mentioned the remake and said that if he's going to be stuck playing the old man working in the bait shop he'd pass. Good for him, Bruce Campbell is bigger than crappy cameos - he's a leading man! He may star in more B movies than any other actor I can think of, but the guy doesn't fuck around. He knows what's up and that's why people love him so much I guess.

Go here to download the movie poster for "My Name is Bruce" (above), it prints nicely on 11x17 paper.