inmate profile: Michele Boyd

Continuing Committed's spotlighting of the creative talent behind The Asylum's upcoming adventure epic 3 Musketeers, we look now at actress Michele Boyd, who plays "Aramis" in the film, one of the, well, 3 musketeers.

I could take the time to re-work her IMDB bio into my own phrasing, but frankly, this is a big cast and time is of the essence, so pardon my shortcut and peep Ms. Boyd's background:

"Born in Gainesville, Florida, Michele's childhood was spent constantly moving due to her father's Navy career, traveling everywhere from Virginia to Japan. Eschewing the usual career path of most actors, Michele earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior from the University of California, Davis. Besides academia, Michele became an avid snowboarder and active in Hapkido, a street-style martial art that blends Aikido and Tae Kwon Do.

After moving across country yet again to Boston, Michele started traveling down to New York City two or three times a week for auditions and acting training. After landing roles in several independent films, Michele came back to California, signed with a manager and soon landed her first television role as a surgical intern on "Untold Stories of the ER" (2005)".

Pretty impressive stuff, right? Especially the part about her degree in Neurobiology etc from UCAL-Davis. Sheesh, check out the big brain on Ms. Boyd. Curiously enough, 3 Musketeers scribe Ed DeRuiter also has a neuro-degree; he minored in neuroscience at USC. Smart set. My science in college was astronomy, which was pretty much just getting stoned and staring at stars for a semester. I got a C. I'm digressing...


Since getting her big break, Ms. Boyd has worked steadily in film and television, including roles on "Sons of Anarchy," "The Young & the Restless," "Cold Case," "How I Met Your Mother" and - most notably and my personal favorite - in 14 episodes of season 3 of Felicia Day's outstanding series "The Guild," in which Ms. Boyd played "Riley," the dominating and insatiable girlfriend of Zaboo. 3 Musketeers will mark Ms. Boyd's second stay with The Asylum; earlier this year she appeared in Battle Los Angeles as "Pilot 1," the badass that lead the first assault on those lousy aliens.

Prepare yourself for that badass-streak to continue when 3 Musketeers hits DVD on October 25th.

outside the walls: Non-Asylum Inkings

So I'll admit it, there are films not produced by The Asylum. There always have been, always will be. These glasses I wear are not rose-colored. They are clear, and occasionally smudged with fingerprints. A sampling of non-Asylum films due soon and news that might spark the interest of Asylum fans. Just remember, Sweet 'n Low ain't Sugar.

Mothman Mini-Review

I had the fortune of catching this 2010 SyFy release based on the same - albeit differently realized - legend behind The Mothman Prophecies; whereas the other film posits the being as a benevolent, if creepy and shrill, spirit who manifests itself to humans in places of and before great tragedy, such as the bridge collapse in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in this particular film the Mothman is a spirit of vengeance, attaining justice for the very specific offense of murder gotten-away-with. The spirit is still confined to Point Pleasant, where apparently there are enough unsolved murders to satiate it.

Anywho, the film opens with 3 couples, school chums (including "Firefly" uber-hottie-next-door Jewel Staite), cavorting and drinking down by the local river. When a prank (conveniently utilizing the mothman myth) results in the accidental drowning of a young boy, the group decides, of course, not to "ruin the rest of our lives" by reporting the death, and thus cover it up by each smashing the dead boy in the head with a rock, you know, just so they're all nice and guilty. Flash forward ten years when a newspaper assignment sends journalist Jewel home again, where she is reunited with her old partners in crime just in time for the Mothman to begin enacting his vengeance.

Overall, I suppose it was a neat take on the legend - the turning of this caveat spirit into one of lethal justice - that gave an interesting spin to the hidden-groupcrime story, kind of like I Know What You Did in Mothman Country Ten Years Ago. The FX I really enjoyed; the mothman looked like a shadowy Frightener, and never came across - to me, at least - as overtly or obviously CGI. Jewel Staite just charms you even more, if that's possible.

Taken together, these elements make Mothman worth a watch, should you happen to be near SyFy when it's on, because as of yet there's no date for a DVD release. Jewel has a problem with that.


Mega-Shark-Ripoff Hauls in Major Ratings

It's true, the Roger Corman-backed SyFy original movie Sharktopus  raked in some major ratings when it premiered last Saturday night, 2.5 million viewers, to be precise. This made it a major player on cable for the week, trumping both the most recent episode of "Mad Men" on AMC and the season premiere of "Dexter," which still brought in it's highest ratings for a premiere episode to date.

What in the world does this mean? you might be asking yourself. It means people love sharks, they just fucking love them, everything about them - marveling at them, respecting them, fearing them - and why not? They're perfect, the most evolved species on the planet, and yes, I'm including us in that assessment. People love sharks, always have, always will. Too bad Sharktopus sucks. I mean it's lousy. Neat FX, sure, interesting concept, I guess, but the story, like the last Corman-shark-outing, Dinoshark was shit, and the dialogue worse. Eric Roberts is better than this, goddamnit. And if he's willing to do this tripe, I think he'd be damn proud to come over to The Asylum and make some quality creature features; there's a mega-something with his name all over it.

For those of you who tuned in and were as disappointed as I, join me in baited breath for the December 21st DVD release of Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus. It's going to be okay.


Red: Werewolf Hunter Trailer Released

SyFy dropped their latest original trailer last weeks for the upcoming Red: Werewolf Hunter, starring Felicia Day ("Buffy...," "Dr. Horrible...," "The Guild," ahem). The film, best I can tell, revolves around Felicia("Red")'s family, secret werewolf hunters and the combination of revealing themselves to the world through Felicia's boyfriend and some new kind of werwolf that threatens all they know. Check out the trailer here, then tune in to SyFy, Saturday night, October 30th, to see how it all goes down.