I heart the 80s. More specifically I heart 80s TV and those US action/adventure series where the sun always shines, the bad guys never shoot straight and where the good guys are framed for a crime they didn’t commit and can make flamethrowers out of a couple of paperclips once a week. Burn Notice updates the 1980s action series to present day Miami in style.
Season One introduces us to Michael Weston (Jeffrey Donovan), a spy who is served a burn notice (the equivalent of his P45) by his bosses in the middle of a covert operation.
With help from old school spy Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell), ex-IRA member and ex-girlfriend Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) and his mom (Cagney and Lacey’s Sharon Gless), Weston’s main mission throughout these 12 episodes is simply to find out why he was burned…though simple isn’t a word in his vocabulary.
Each episode contains a mention of the main season arc, its prominence varying depending on the other story being told. Weston becomes something of a “gun for hire”, taking on cases that his mother, brother or other associates send his way.
Writing this review of My Name Is Bruce just a few days after attending an appearance by Bruce Campbell in Edinburgh where he introduced the film, I’m still a little shell shocked. Watching a film where an actor plays a version of himself, only to have said actor stand in front of you minutes later discussing it is slightly surreal.
With his appearances in low budget classics such as the Evil Dead trilogy, Maniac Cop and Man with the Screaming Brain, Campbell has carved a niche for himself as one of the greatest living B-movie stars. Never taking himself too seriously, Campbell has also built up a strong fanbase who follow him from project to project.
My Name Is Bruce is something of an ode to Bruce’s fans and to anyone who has ever watched a horror movie or rented a DVD that clearly has had zero money spent on it.
Bruce Campbell plays Bruce Campbell, a star of low budget classics such as Cave Aliens and Cave Aliens 2, who has carved a niche for himself as one of the greatest living B-movie stars.
When Campbell is kidnapped by a young fan who needs him to help rid his small town of a recently reawakened Chinese demon, the actor must put all the knowledge he’s gained over the years from his many films to defeat the monster…or run away like a little girl.
It’s not every day that a Hollywood legend arrives on your town to introduce their latest film. And that didn’t happen tonight at Edinburgh’s Cameo cinema. What did happen is that Bruce Campbell, star of B movies, horror films and various cult TV series made his way to the front of Screen 1 and took time to speak to his fans over a 30 minute period. And I got to ask a question.
Preceded by My Name Is Bruce, Campbell’s self-directed homage to his own career that acted as a trailer to his appearance, Campbell took to the makeshift stage in front of the 300 or so fans gathered in the auditorium with the words “you’ll have that song in your head for months!” in reference to the films theme song.
A round of applause from the crowd and it was straight into the questions. Though slightly reserved at the start, they ranged from what it was like to play Elvis in Bubba H0-Tep (“I got training from an Elvis impersonator and he gave up after 20 minutes”) to what films he shouldn’t have made (he agreed Congo was bad but “it looked good on paper!”) to which of his leading ladies he’d like to sleep with (“I’ve slept with a lot of them”).
I’ve gone on about it on the site for a few weeks, but it’s now only a few days away: Bruce Campbell will be in Edinburgh on Thursday 5 February at the Cameo cinema, setting hundreds of geek hearts a flutter for one night only.
Thanks to the Cameo, and tying into my Reel Time column in today’s Edinburgh Evening News Guide section, I’m pleased to announce that I have two tickets to give away to the second screening of My Name is Bruce, due to start at 9.15pm on the night.
The film will be introduced by Campbell himself and is a opportunity to see the star of the Evil Dead Trilogy, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr and, of course, Maniac Cop, in the flesh.
A final reminder that tickets to the second screening of My Name is Bruce, introduced by Bruce Campbell himself, go on sale tomorrow morning, Monday 26 January, at 11am at the Cameo cinema in Edinburgh!
Head over to the original Bruce Campbell in Edinburgh post for some exciting, exclusive, news about a second screening of My Name is Bruce introduced by the man himself…
As I’m adding more and more film-related posts to the blog at the moment, I thought I’d start a weekly round-up of what’s been going on around the place…
This week I reviewed the fun new Danny Boyle film Slumdog Millionaire…witnessed the blogs stats go sky-high with my preview of the upcoming appearance at Edinburgh’s Cameo cinema by cult-movie legend Mr Bruce Campbell (tickets are due to go on sale/sell out on Monday)…saw some equally impressive views for the preview of this Sunday’s Whisky Galore/Sweet Smell of Success Double Bill at the Cameo…urged everyone to pop along to the Filmhouse to catch a Sam Peckinpah film this month and flagged up the free Mamma Mia! screening at the Festival Theatre.
This is a biggie for film and TV fans not only in Scotland but around the UK: Bruce Campbell will be appearing in person at Edinburgh’s Cameo Cinema for one night only to promote his new film, My Name is Bruce!
Bruce will be in town as part of a promotional tour which will see him appear post-screening at only two venues in the United Kingdom, and Edinburgh is one of them.
One of my personal favourite Bruce appearances is in the short-lived but much loved Adventures of Brisco County Jr TV show, though he’s also worshipped appreciated by many for the Evil Dead trilogy, Bubba Ho-Tep, Maniac Cop, the Spiderman films, some superb episodes of Homicide: Life on the Streets and a long list of other cult classics.
This will likely sell out in seconds, with fans travelling from far and wide for the screening – subscribe to the itsonitsgone.com email and I’ll let you know more as soon I hear it.
Update 6 January: the Cameo have now announced that the screening will take place on Thursday 5 February 2009, tickets to go on sale on Monday 12 January.
Update 7 January: the latest from those nice people at the Cameo is that, barring last minute attacks by skeletons from the Middle Ages, tickets will go on sale at 11am on Monday 12 January. Sales will be by phone on 0871 704 2052 or in person at the box office but NOT online. There’s also due to be a Bruce Campbell Q&A post-screening. Please note that all this is subject to change – I’ll let you know more when I hear it…
Update 12 January: Gone in 13 minutes. No, that’s not some ropey sequel to a Nic Cage movie but the amount of time it took for tickets for Bruce Campbell’s Edinburgh appearance to sell out. Not bad considering sales were only by phone and in person. Ian Hoey, manager of the Cameo, says that a second screening is “being considered” for those that missed out, but that nothing is certain just now. He also says he has something “very special” planned for the film’s introduction…
Update 14 January: I’ve got a bit of exclusive news (it’s not even up on the Cameo website yet!): As I mentioned above, huge demand on Monday resulted in the tickets for the screening of My Name is Bruce followed by the Bruce Campbell Q&A selling out in a Cameo record of 13 minutes.
To try and ease some of the disappointment felt by those who missed out on tickets, the cinema have managed to arrange an additional screening of My Name is Bruce immediately following the sellout show. They are very hopeful that Bruce Campbell will remain after the Q&A to personally introduce this second screening!
Details are currently being finalised though the expected show time is around 9 or 9.15pm.
Tickets will go on sale at 11.00am on Monday 26 January and will be via the phoneline on 0871 704 2052 or in person at the box office only. Prices are £7.50 Full/£6.00 concession/£5.00 members.
In addition they’ll also be screening Bubba Ho-Tep as a late-nighter on the two days following this event.
This is fantastic news – two screenings introduced by Bruce Campbell in one night…we shall never see such excitement again?
I know this post is still getting a lot of traffic so if you are attending either screening, or are coming a long distance, please leave a comment below as I’d love to know who’s out there!
Updated 26 January: As of 4.30 today there were still 80 tickets left for the 9.15pm screening which the Cameo have now confirmed will be introduced by Mr Bruce Campbell…
Updated 29 January: As of 12.30 today there are only 19 tickets remaining for the Bruce Campbell introduced second screeing of My Name is Bruce… tickets can only be bought in person at the box office or on the booking line 0871 704 2052.
itsonitsgone.com 
Comments