SUNDAY, AUG. 14, 2011 >>>

1. Marked by Gothic manors, copious blood, busty wenches and color-drenched Gothics, Hammer Films set the vibe for British horror throughout the '60s. We're not sure what Hammer films the Tacoma Cult Movie Club will screen at 7 p.m. inside The Acme Grub Cage, but we pray its the mind-janglingly strange The Lost Continent, the only movie to locate the hidden linkage between the Spanish Inquisition, busty Christian women, man-eating weeds and Freud's "vagina dentata."

2. Journey back to the year 1855 when the Fur Brigades from east of the Cascades camped at Fort Nisqually. More 100 volunteers will recreate the arrival of the 1855 fur brigades to this Hudson's Bay Company post from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Fort Nisqually Living History Museum at Point Defiance Park.

3. Paradise Theatre in Gig Harbor stages Cinderella at 3 p.m. As Weekly Volcano theater critic Christian Carvajal drove up to Paradise's rustic lot, a dozen junior "princesses" in ball gowns greeted him with squeals and enthusiastic waves. It was the perfect introduction to Fantasyland. He was charmed to see several young audience members in gowns as well. It's a story that encourages cosplay. To read Christiab Carvajal's review of Cinderella, click here.

4. Irish purist Noel Hill performs at 7 p.m. inside the Capitol Theater in Olympia.

5. After numerous format, manager and cuisine changes, the Gruv Lounge on Tacoma's Sixth Avenue has gone gay, which is the best idea for this spot this rag has heard yet. It's now MetroGruv with the same large dance floor, two VIP rooms with karaoke, stage and lounge area, but it's now gay-friendly. Burlesque takes over on Wednesdays. Thursdays offer karaoke with lasers and smoke. Friday and Saturday are clubs nights, with Omar spinning Friday. Today marks the grand re-opening week featuring the jazz funk sound of the Farko Collective at 8 p.m.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Many all-day happy hours

LOCALLY-SHOT WEB SERIES GOES GLOBAL THIS FALL >>>

It was the young man lying on the street with a bullet in his belly that got us laughing.

I hadn't been on set of the upcoming web series Look Up in the Sky an hour, and already I could spot little annoyances slowing down the shoot. Sunday's late-morning sun kept ducking in and out of clouds and messing with the cameraman's exposure. And so many cars drove through that seemingly quiet Northeast Tacoma neighborhood, it felt like the "Game on!" scene in Wayne's World.

At some point a film crew needs to collectively release built-up frustration by getting a bit silly. The moment came when the prostrate actor with a prosthetic stomach wound went into a none-too-shabby Schwarzenegger impersonation. The effects artist and another actor joined in with their own renditions, and I soon began warming up to this small batch of strangers.

Just as with making a movie, the plot behind Look Up involves different people coming together for a common goal - in this case, 12 acquaintances reunite seven years after high school to try and save the world from an alien invasion. Or, as producer Ashley Cozine describes it to an elderly passerby, think "Cloverfield or Lost...meets Indian Summer meets Battlestar Galactica."

Cozine also has an on-camera role in this season, which has very nearly wrapped shooting and consists of ten two-minute episodes. (And we'll see even more of Cozine this fall at the Tacoma Film Festival, in director Chad Ruin's homegrown feature A Perfect Life.)

Cozine expects to release the first episode online in September or October, with subsequent episodes distributed each week or so after. Joe Shapiro, who directed this season's last five segments and edited the controversial 2007 Seattle doc Zoo, will also handle post-production on Look Up in the Sky. Though Cozine hasn't yet decided on a precise online location for her project, she may not limit the series to only the Web. "I'm looking for all sorts of outlets for it," she says.

As producer she scouted for shooting locations and handpicked her cast and crew, the majority of whom live in the Seattle area. This dream team has pleased her immensely: "I'm just really lucky that I got such a positive, professional group of people on board. It's really been one of the nicest independent sets that I've worked on. They are people that you look forward to coming to set to work with."

Look out for Look Up release dates on Facebook.

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

Scumbag Alert: Washington State Patrol released a sketch of a man suspected of shooting and injuring two teenagers during a road-rage incident earlier this week on state Route 167. (News Tribune)

Ban Like An Egyptian: British Prime Minister David Cameron may censor social networking sites due to their use in organizing the recent riots. (CNN)

Pissing Away Your Dreams: Drunk 18-year-old Robert "Sandy" Vietz peed on a bratty 11-year-old girl on a JetBlue flight yesterday. Vietze was on the U.S. Ski Team with hopes of attending the 2014 Winter Games in Russia. (NY Post)

Bad News?: Rudi Stein is running for Congress. (Huffington Post)

Tender Love Is Blind: Neko Case covers "Islands in the Stream." (YouTube)

Ho Ho Oh No!: Harold & Kumar deck the halls

YES, OMG >>>

The star of the Disney Channel's original series Shake It Up is coming to South Hill Mall in Puyallup. Bella Thorne will hang in the Center Court from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20. And the great news is autographs and photos are absolutely free.

In other unconfirmed news, later the same day the stars of Disney's The Suite Life on Deck will dance and sing at the Sperry Ocean Dock along Schuster Parkway in Tacoma ... until the neighborhood along the bluff above pummels them with tomatoes.

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

This Isn't Necessarily a Bad Thing: Washington state government spending has grown in real terms in the last four decades. (Crosscut)

Let's Look At Paychecks: College coaches make way more than state governors. (News Tribune)

Could Be The Hair: Rick Perry hasn't even announced he's running, but a poll has the Texas governor near the top of the list for the GOP presidential nomination. (CNN)

Precious: Top 100 science fiction and fantasy novels. (NPR)

Watercooler Talk: George Lopez's talk show went bye-bye. (USA Today)

HBO has ordered a comedy script that could star the guy from Footloose. (Hollywood Reporter)

TACOMA REPRESENT >>>

Twenty Americans from across the country have nailed the chance to be crowned the "handiest of them all" in the new HGTV series, All American Handyman. One of the contestants is Tacoma artist, filmmaker, music promoter and apparently handyman Larry Huffines.

Through Oct. 12, America may vote for the best All American Handyman. C'mon South Sound, let's vote for Larry! Click here to vote.

From HGTV's website:

The goal of the series: to find America's best handyman (or handywoman), the one with real skill, integrity and the right stuff to impress the judges. To avoid elimination, contestants must showcase their abilities under the watchful gaze of HGTV's celebrity judges Mike Holmes, Holmes on Homes and Scott McGillivray, Income Property plus a secret weekly judge. All 20 contestants have proven they've got what it takes but only one will walk away with the coveted title of "All American Handyman," and a significant prize package.

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

Tonight: Tacoma City Council set to vote on the proposal to 1) ban blightful digital billboards from the City of Tacoma, 2) require the removal of non-conforming static billboards by March 1, 2011 (Tacoma Urbanist)

High-ho, The Derry-o: Lakewood takes a stand on pot farms. (News Tribune)

Now What?: Time to buy gold and run for the hills. (Reuters)

Riots: This is really fucking up their Olympics image (New York Times)

Wow: Frances Bean Cobain is all grown up. (Stereogum)

Can't wait: On the set of Mad Men. (Inside TV)

WAKE UP KIDS! >>>

We don't really have anything to say about this, other than we hope the smile they put on your face is as big as the one they put on ours.

APEPOCALYPSE NOW >>>

With the exception of some fleeting nods to fans of the Planet of the Apes series, very little exists to connect Rise of the Planet of the Apes with its namesake. Fans may giggle at some knowing references, but the film is otherwise a self-contained story, and should be approached as such.

To read local film critic Rev. Adam McKinney's review of Rise of the Planet of the Ape, click here.

TIMOTHY MORGAN GETS LOST IN TRANSLATION >>>

A long time ago (meh, a few years back), in a place far, far away (Shanghai), a man entered a flea market and purchased a DVD, assuming it was one of the prequels to a certain sci-fi American franchise. It turned out to be an actual work print of the film, complete with running timecode, Chinese dubbing, and English subtitles mistranslated to a hilariously awful degree.

A copy circulated back to America, where it wound up in the hands of Timothy Morgan in Madison, Wisconsin. He knew he had something special here. 2007 marked the start of Morgan's quest to bring this horribly, wonderfully mangled transcription to life - and to the big screen. The Backstroke of the West (a title light years from the film's original English name) makes its first public appearance at the Capitol Theater in Olympia this Saturday, Aug. 6, at 1:30 p.m.

Morgan has spent almost four years on this audio epic. He cast friends and neighbors as the various voices and directed himself in the film's lead role. After recording hours of dialogue, it took him months to painstakingly reassemble the entire script and clean up the original soundtrack. "At first (my friends and I) were just trying to make something stupid, but then my perfectionist streak kind of took over, and I started really wanting to make it good," the 37-year-old Morgan says.

Let the Force guide you to Olympia this weekend to witness one man's madcap ode to a cinematic legend, heard in a new way. Morgan will attend the screening, so get ready to pelt him with nerdy questions. 

[Capitol Theater, The Backstroke of the West, Saturday, Aug. 6,, 1:30 p.m., $5-$10, 206 Fifth Ave., SE, Olympia, 360.754.6670]