Off The Record...

Smashing Pumpkins

Adore

Adore, which nearly maxes out the capacity of a CD at over 72 minutes in length, is a radical, wildly adventurous work. Billy Corgan has set timeless melodies to the music, with hardly any conventional sound to the album at all.  This is definitely music that will play well on the radio, in concert, or through headphones.  A bold departure, but the Pumpkins have never been content to rest on their musical laurels.

At The Movies...

The Horse Whisperer

While most movies are focusing on larger than life special effects, actor/director Robert Redford quietly delivers a motion picture that deals with the human spirit.  A cowboy with a gift for dealing with injured horses, set against a breathtaking backdrop of natural beauty, meld together to form a film that delivers its power through good acting and a well written script. 

On Video...

Scream 2

When a movie is made from the book of the first set of Scream murders, the now college going gang confront a copy-cat killer.  Staying true to the formula that made Scream a success, with periods of tension interrupted with the occasional shocking moment, the viewer is taken on a fun and frightening ride, and a bloody good one at that, somehow making it fun to be afraid.

The Buzz...

The Television Critics Association has nominated Ally McBeal for Best Comedy, Best New Program, Best Program of the Year, and Best Individual Comedy Performance for star Calista Flockhart. Other nominees for Best Program were South Park, Homicide: Life on the Street, and the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon. 

Bill Cosby has joined businessmen Larry and Charles Dolan to make a bid for the Cleveland Browns. The Cos is vying for a 5% share of the team.

Bart Simpson has made Time magazines top 20 of the most important people of the 20th century in the artists and entertainers category.  The Bartman was joined by the non-animated likes of the Beatles, Steven Spielberg, T.S. Eliot and Charlie Chaplin.

Jimmy Smits is leaving NYPD Blue after four successful seasons.  It's not certain on how his pivotal character will be written out, but Smits hasn't denied the possibility of Bobby being killed in the line of duty. 

NBC bigwig, Don Ohlmeyer, has banned all advertising of Norm Macdonald's upcoming film Dirty Work from his network.  The ongoing feud stems from the firing of Macdonald by Ohlmeyer during his stint as the Weekend Update anchor on Saturday Night Live. 

The rights to the Star Wars prequels have finally been sold to 20th Century Fox.  Expect to see a trailer in the theaters soon.  And while on the topic, the official Star Wars site has taken a stab at Godzillas less than expected returns with a bold Plot Does Matter banner.  Ouch...

The popular comic book character Iron Man is blasting on to the big screen in a movie that will be developed by Tom Cruise, although it is not certain if the actor will don the armor in the leading role.  With the new breed of computer generated effects, this should be a winner. 

In the July issue of Playboy, South Park creator Trey Parker said that the Comedy Channel was making $33 million a week on merchandising last fall while paying him just $7,000 a week for his work on the hit show.

Frank Langella has joined Johnny Depp and Lena Olin in The Ninth Gate, a thriller that Roman Polanski will start shooting in Paris on June 8.

Rod Stewart has launched  his new album When We Were The New Boys and his official Web Site rodstewartlive.com.

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