Please Send Letters.

Andrew Writes:

I love this podcast.
Laughing my ass off the whole time, and I rarely lol.
Well done, and not boring at all.

Nick Replies:

I’m apparently the worst gauge of what constitutes a good CHUD Podcast. I tend to like the gimmicky ones with lots of robot voices and discussions about weird shit a lot more than ones where we discuss movies and stuff. I like this one but felt it didn’t have a “killer laugh” or signature moment to make it a standout. People seem to really dig it, which is great. I think we were all pretty ambivalent after recording it… well aside from Steve, who always just seems too inconvenienced to be doing the damn things in the first place. And I think that’s the real charm of the podcast: For a few hours a month we keep Steve from doing something he’d rather be doing. Thanks for listening!

Merle Writes:

From the article titled Universal’s Soldiers:

“Every day, Michael Madsen wakes up and looks into the morning sunlight wondering if it’s the day The Vega Brothers is greenlit. He wipes the sleep from his eyes and remembers that there’s no way in Screamin’ Hell that’ll happen. His thoughts then move to Inglorious Bastards but not before he avoids stepping on any bottles as he makes his way towards his home. He curses himself for another night of stupor. He passes Ted McGinley’s house and steals the Daily Variety from the lawn. He wonders how McGinley had the bankroll to be a daily subscriber before pulling open the headline revealing word that Quentin has aced the script and is ready to make it. He scans the page for his name, curses, and pulls his pants down. Whatever comes out, McGinley deserves.”

I swear to you, I laughed so hard, I peed a little. Thanks. 🙂

Nick Replies:

Merle speaks of THIS ARTICLE. Thanks! I’ve grown really weary of Mr. Tarantino of late, which is saying something since I consider his first three films (four if you count True Romance) as unmissable great works so I have to have a little fun just to keep from just collapsing into a totally negative pile of textual exasperation.

Pat Writes:

I read your marvelous site every day. I’m kind of mystified
by your mildly negative attitude towards Quentin Tarantino’s post-Jackie Brown
career. You’re absolutely right about Grindhouse; it’s as big a self-indulgent
piece of crap as something like Lady in the Water was for M. Night Shyamalan,
but you seem to be forgetting the two other flicks Tarantino made between 1996
and 2007. Kill Bill was certainly self-indulgent, but not much more than
Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction were, and like those two movies, Kill Bill is
great. Yeah, it’s sort of bullshit that “The Whole Bloody Affair” has
basically become the Chinese Democracy of DVD releases, but both volumes still
hold up as action classics. And let’s not forget that while Quentin was
indulging in his various Asian/Spaghetti/Uma’s feet fetishes, he was also
making huge leaps forward as a director. Action scenes like House of Blue
Leaves and Budd’s trailer just don’t happen with second unit directors or fight
choreographers, even ones whose last name is Ping. How many directors can
you think of who are masters of both dialogue and action? It’s a short and
distinguished list.

Tarantino has one D+ on a report card full of A’s. He’s
making a fucking World War II men on a mission flick for God’s sake! This isn’t
another Cautiously Optimistic situation we all find ourselves in every year,
it’s a I Can’t Wait to See the Fucking Movie situation!

Nick Replies:

Thing is: I don’t think he’s a master of dialogue. In fact, I cringe a lot with his recent stuff when in the past the cornball or overtly showy stuff was massaged into coolness by the material, the coupling of the more indulgent [and Grindhouse and Kill Bill are insanely more indulgent than the first few] material and plentiful arch dialogue makes for an unhappy experience for me. I love Kill Bill despite knowing it didn’t need to be two films, despite its “look at me” moments, and despite the fact that I am OVER stunt casting in this lifetime. Depending on the casting (I’m so not a fan of B.J. Novak) and if there’s a modicum of actual growth as a filmmaker will determine how much sour taints my reporting on Inglorious Bastards.

Michael Writes:

War of the Worlds IS fucking Good Nick! BOO YAH!

Drink some Wild Turkey.

Nick Replies:

Yes, thanks, ok, and no way! Actually Wild Turkey American Honey is now my favorite booze ever, but their regular stuff can go fuck itself.

Brad Writes:

This past weekend my awesome wife threw me a 30th B-day party in our backyard and after sunrise we had a 20 foot inflatable movie screen showing Raiders of the Lost Ark. It was a great way to not only watch a flick with friends but to watch a movie, period. I picked the movie [mostly to correct the sub-par experience of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull] but I was happily drunk with my best friends and family making gourmet popcorn on the grill watching the faces of Nazi’s melt. In the breezy warm air of mid summer there’s not much else that can beat that experience if you’re a fan of movies.

The company providing the service was called Fun Flicks and they come to your house, set the screen, inflate it and play whatever you want. I believe you can buy the screen yourself [like through Skymall but I don’t think they have a screen as large]. But the projector & sound system is what costs the most anyway. In case you want more info here’s the link: http://www.funflicks.com [NO! I do not have any affiliation with the company and this is not a blatant attempt for free publicity, I’m simply writing to tell you and the rest of the chewers and readers how great the experience was].

BUT wait there’s more: I made a 15 minute ‘trailer reel’ DVD with the various trailers of films from 1978. I had the obvious ones like Animal House, Grease, Superman Halloween and Dawn of the Dead but as an added bonus I made room for The Manitou. Since I’ve been a reader of the site you’ve turned me on to some of the best worst movies out there and I just had to share the experience with my friends. My 70-year-old great uncle actually clapped at the end of The Manitou’s trailer. That in itself was worth the whole experience. I just wanted to say thanks b/c if not for CHUD I would never have heard of The Manitou.

Nick Replies:

I consider Misquamicus something any self respecting film guy needs to inform any and all about before we’re sent violently from this mortal coil in a haze of pizza and poorly mixed Oranga Fanta & Bourbon cocktails.


Justin Writes:

Any time leak letters returns, I feel a bit downtrodden. I still sort of a youngbuck, but i’d say i’ve been reading chud consistently for at least two years now and can say without a doubt it is the best source for movie news on the entirety of Earth ( i say this because my knowledge of movie-news sources goes no further than this). Despite you being the best, we see a consistent stream of negative nancy letters being written and it makes me all mopey. so with that, I love
you. I love devin. I love russ. I love you all. I love Chud.
Please don’t give up the ghost, I trust you completely when you say you’re taking Chud into new and exciting directions.


Nick Replies:

Change comes slow here and we oftentimes think big and execute small, but we’ve been doing it a long time and though the faces change there’s always at least my miserable ass around these parts. I appreciate the nice words. It’s much easier to destroy than create, which is why there’s often so many negative emails. That said, lately there hasn’t been nearly as many. Less readers? Nicer readers? Who knows?


Mark Writes:

I just read in your latest edition of “Leak Letters” that soon the site will have a lot more Nunziata. Can’t tell you how excited I am about that. The world needs more Nunziata.
Keep up the good work on the best movie site on the internets.

Nick Replies:

I’m trying! For what it’s worth, you can bookmark each author’s stuff individually if it helps your experience. My little area is HERE and remember to switch between the blog and articles tabs!


Richard Writes:

Word up War of the Worlds (’05) is good. I don’t see who the naysayers are on that.

Nick Replies:

Beaks is gone and you’re still sending notes! This pleases me, as I thought you were strictly a Beaks Commenter.


Devin Writes:

As someone named Devin I always love it when one of us makes it big time like your Devin Faraci. He’s on TV and in movies and he gets a lot of attention for his work on ChuD. But his ego seems to be getting out of control and unless it’s about Batman, Judd Apatow, or one of a few other things he seems to stay away because it won’t feed his reputation. ChuD isn’t DEVIN, and that hurts for me to say because I’d kill to write for you guys. From one Devin to another, come back to us.


Nick Replies:

Maybe you should write… him?