Off The Record...

Rancid

Life Won't Wait

With 22 songs timing in at over 1 hour, Rancid restates their claim as the new torch bearers of punk.  In today's fickle musical market, taking a four year break between albums can be risky, (1993's And Out Come the Wolves) but the band comes back recharged and refreshed both musically and emotionally, to produce their best album to date, not an easy feat for a group with such an established catalog.  Forget the new crop, Rancid still has a lot to say, and they deliver it with style and power. 

At The Movies...

Saving Private Ryan

When Private Ryan's (Matt Damon) brothers are all killed in combat, a unit headed by Tom Hanks is sent in to retrieve him so that he can return home.  Brilliantly directed by Steven Spielberg even according to his lofty standards, Ryan is a film that explores the human elements of war, something that has been overlooked in every battle film to date.  These men are not your typical heroes, they are people in an extraordinary circumstance trying to control their fears.  Look for this one to rule next year at the Oscars.

On Video...

U.S. Marshals

Tommy Lee Jones returns as tough, relentless Chief Deputy Marshal Sam Gerard in this spin-off from The Fugitive. This time out Gerard chases down Wesley Snipes after he escapes from a prisoner transport plane that crashes in the Ohio River. Exciting stuff highlighted by tense cat-and-mouse chases and battles in New York City, but probably lacked massive box office appeal due to Harrison Ford's absence. Still worth a look at home where the pop corn is a little more reasonable.

The Buzz...

Stocks in Planet Hollywood have hit an all time low since the split of shareholders Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. Shares have plunged %75 in the past year, cutting the chains worth by over $2.4 billion. 

Two time Oscar winner Jodie Foster has given birth to a baby boy she named Charles, but when it comes to who the father is, mum's the word.

Matt Groening, creator of the Simpsons, will launch a second animated comedy on Fox this season entitled Futurama, which will revolve around a 20th century man lost in the year 3000.  It will be the first effort by Groening in over 10 years.

Popular Home Improvement star Tim Allen will be behind the wheel this weekend at the first-ever West Michigan Grand Prix.  Allen grew up in the state.

Students at Ada Junior High will be chowing down on a free show from teen phenoms Hanson after collecting 560 box tops from Kellogg's products such as Eggo's and Corn Flakes.  The concert was a tie in with the popular line of breakfast foods featuring the group.

Tom Hanks mini-series From Earth To The Moon garnered 17 Emmy Nominations for HBO, beating out stiff competition from ER and The X-Files with 16 a piece, and newcomer Ally McBeal with 10.

Pearl Jam will release an animated video for Do The Evolution that will be overseen by comic master and creator of Spawn, Todd McFarlane.  It will be the first video for the band since Jeremy in 1993.

Madonna, The Spice Girls, Blur and All Saints are all said to be working on new tracks for the latest South Park spin off, South Park - The Album, due out in October.

Rip Torn was awarded $475,000 for a defamation verdict against fellow actor Dennis Hopper after Hopper told the Tonight Show's audience that Torn had lost out on a role in the cult classic Easy Rider after her pulled a knife on Dennis in a restaurant.

Ratings for the World Cup have yet to generate the impact here in North America that they do on a worldwide scale.  ABC grabbed 6.9 share with the tournament, or roughly 10 million viewers.

Raquel Welch will walk down the aisle with L.A. restauranteur Richard Palmer sometime next year.  And in a scene right out of her former series Dynasty, Catherine Oxenberg will marry producer Robert Evans, who is 30 plus years her senior.  But this might be lucky, it's the seventh marriage between them.

The Verve have replaced guitarist Nick McCabe with BJ Cole for the rest of their current tour after McCabe's sudden departure from the band due to the stress of being on the road. 

Teen Dream Jennifer Love Hewitt has been getting serious with MTV VJ Carson Daly, admitting that she is in love, but denying that the diamond on her left hand is an engagement ring.

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