BlobFest is just 12 hours away! If you can’t make it, don’t worry – we’ll have plenty of pictures and coverage of all the fun as the weekend progresses. If you are heading out, just be advisedof the weekend’s weather and plan accordingly. (Below image taken from Weather.com. Click to enlarge) All though there is a chance of rain tonight, veteran BlobFest attendees will tell you that a little precipitation has never slowed the Blob down!

It’s just a few days until the weekend and this year’s BlobFest and already the media attention is starting. Here is a nice piece that the Onion’s AV Club did on the Fest with organizer Shane Stone.

Enjoy!

Philadelphia: The Blob movie theater

It’s T-minus four days until BlobFest so we just want to remind you that following Friday night’s running out reenactment, the Rivers will be hosting the Fourth Annual Blob Ball at Underground at PJ Ryan’s Pub. hether you’re a swing dancer, a jitterbug or just a fan of good old fashion rock and roll, you’ll want to stop by a give the Rivers a listen. They’ve become a BlobFest tradition i themselves.

If you are unsure, check out the fun that was had at last year’s BlobBall!

You can get your tickets here.

Just in case you can’t make it out to next month’s BlobFest to see The Blob at the Colonial Theater, you can catch it tomorrow evening on Turner Classic Movies at 8 pm.

The screening is the kickoff of a night of Drive-In Double Features and all the films being presented are fun and worth checking out if you haven’t seen them already. (And if you have seen them, you’ll probably want to see them again!)

9:30 PM – H-Man, The (1958)
11:00 PM – Magnetic Monster, The (1953)
12:30 AM – X The Unknown (1956)
2:00 AM – Thing From Another World, The (1951)
3:30 AM – It! The Terror From Beyond Space (1958)

BlobFest is just a few weeks and the Colonial has announced the schedule for all the weekend’s events.

Friday, July 8

7:30 PM – The Friday Night Stage Show And Run Out
Hosted by Dr. Frank N. Stone & the gang from Ghoul-A-Go-Go
Music by City Rhythm Orchestra
Special Guests: Wes Shank and the original Blob, Mr. Lobo and Patient Creatures
Doors open at 7:00 PM

9:00 PM – The Run Out!

Saturday, July 9

11:00 AM – 5:00 PM – Street Fair
Hosted by Hotrod Scott and Professor Ouch of The Roots Rockabilly Roadhouse on WPRB 103.3 FM
Music by the Buzzards
Special Guests – The Violators Motor Club and storytelling by The Patient Creatures
All events on the street are free.

11:30 – Double Feature: The Blob & Invaders From Mars (Tickets $10 adults/ $8 seniors/ $6 members & kids)

Noon – Street Fair: Fire Extinguisher Parade

1:00 – Street Fair Costume Contest

3:30 – Double Feature: The Blob & Invaders From Mars (Tickets $10 adults/ $8 seniors/ $6 members & kids)

8:00 PM – Double Feature: The Blob & It Conquered The World (Tickets $10 adults/ $8 seniors/ $6 members & kids) Doors open at 7:30

Sunday, July 10

2:00 PM – Screening: The Blob (Tickets $8 adults/ $6 seniors/ $5 members & kids)

Jeremy Renner is quite the busy boy. Not only is currently shooting The Avengers, but has an appearance in the next Mission: Impossible film already in the can and has recently signed up for The Bourne Legacy.

In-between all this, he has just started his own production company, and has started development on its first project – a bio-pic of acting legend Steve McQueen.

The proposed film will be based on the two biographies of McQueen written by Marshall Terrill-Portrait of an American Rebel and The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon. James Gray, writer/director of The Yards, is adapting the two books into a screenplay, but is not set to direct the film. Instead, music video and commercials director Ivan Zacharias has been tapped to direct what will be his feature film debut.

Coming out of the New York stage and live television scene of the 1950s, McQueen had his first starring role in the classic 1957 science-fiction film The Blob. His performances in such films as The Great Escape, Bullitt and others made him an icon of cool.

Now I’ll have to admit that I have not yet read either of Terrill’s books on McQueen, but tales of McQueen’s wild personal life are fairly legendary. I have talked to enough people who met him while he was in Phonexville, PA filming The Blob to know that while those stories are very probably true, he was also a pretty nice and good man. It seems to me that McQueen’s wild side is an outgrowth of a certain joie de vie that the actor had. Hopefully, the film will be able to capture that.

Cross-posted from FilmBuffOnline.

We’re just over three months away from this year’s BlobFest (July 8-10. You’ve marked your calendar, yes?)  and the Colonial Theatre has announced the first couple of the weekend’s guests through their Facebook page.

Of course, it just wouldn’t be Blob Fest without the return of the gangs from Ghoul-A-Go-Go and Patient Creatures. But the Colonial has announced to names new to the BlobFest festivities.

The first is rockabilly band, The Buzzards. Coming to you from Long Island, the band will be playing Saturday during the Street Fair in front of the theater. I’ve some friends who are rockabilly fans and I’ve heard nothing but good things about these guys, so I have to say that I’m stoked for this.

And if the music gets you in the 50s rocker mood, you can get yourself a nice retro haircut from John Scioli, owner of John’s Old School New Skool Barber Shop! John will be on hand to give you that buzz cut or sculpt your hair into the pompadour that you’ve always secretly wanted.

More details as they are announced!