Off The Record...

Dirty Dozen Brass Band

Buck Jump

While the celebration Mardi Gras is limited to just a few weeks each year, the seasonal music of New Orleans gives off a party vibe perfect for any time.  Buck Jump, the ensemble's second Mammoth release, is another pot of gumbo seasoned with such time-tested ingredients as early brass band jazz and rambunctious, R&B-marinated bebop. Buck Jump will surprise casual jazz-funk fans and take them on a spicy romp through the French Quarter and beyond.

At The Movies...

The Thirteenth Floor

Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and Douglas Hall (Craig Bierko) have taken virtual reality to a higher level. Using a simulation of 1937 Los Angeles for their prototype, they have invented a microchip capable of creating a virtual universe where people exist only if they believe they do. While this film is not heavy on special effects, it utilizes rich and realistic scenery that succeeds in taking the audience to a believable Los Angeles circa 1937. Intriguing plot twists and fine performances add to the appeal of The Thirteenth Floor.

On Video...

Alien Legacy

On the 20th anniversary of Alien, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has repackaged all four films (Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection) and priced them to sell. The Aliens version here is the James Cameron director's cut, called Aliens Special Edition, which includes 17 extra minutes. A boxed set, which includes all four volumes, a special bonus tape 20th anniversary tribute to Alien and collector cards is also available.

The Buzz...

Beginning in mid-July, the Idea Factory, makers of Meanies, irreverent, parody forms of Beanie Babies, will release Farce Wars: The Fantom Meanies. The line up includes Dark Gator, a reptilian creature cloaked in protective black suit and helmet, and Slobba the Mutt, an overweight canine gangster up to no good with Chihuahua Crud in clutch (poking fun at the Taco Bell promotion).

Wolverine got his start in the pages of The Incredible Hulk, scrapping tooth and claw with old Jade Jaws. Now he returns to match his new adamantium-free body against that of the rampaging brute called the Hulk. Who wins? Find out in the pages of Hulk #8.

Producer Kevin McClory is in talks with Australian and German film makers to co-produce alternative James Bond 007 movies, beginning with a reworking of Thunderball.

Samuel L. Jackson will be the host for Fox's special From Star Wars to Star Wars, on June 15 at 9 pm. The special will feature unseen footage, interviews with George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford and James Cameron, and a review of ILM's special effects career over the last 25 years.

Tom Hanks' 19-year-old son, Colin, will have a role in the new WB series Roswell about the hunt for alien life that crash-landed in the New Mexico desert in 1947. The WB has ordered 22 episodes, and shooting begins this spring.

Universal Pictures may pass at the chance to make Hannibal, the long-awaited sequel to Silence of the Lambs, even though it paid $10 million for the big-screen rights. Sources say the reasons include director Jonathan Demme's refusal to do the movie and the extremely high price the studio would have to pay for Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins to reprise their roles.

The summer is heating up for the Spice Girls as reports from the UK say the femme fab four will begin working on a follow-up to the mega-selling Spiceworld.

NBC affiliates are fuming over a network plan to add some commercial time in its top-rated series, ER, which will delay the start of stations' 11 p.m. newscasts.  The plan will allow the network to earn more money during broadcast of its most valuable show starting this month; stations will get one additional ad spot every three weeks.

Nickelodeon's first original Saturday morning show will compete head-to-head with the hottest children's series on television, the WB's Pokemon.  Nickelodeon will premiere the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants on July 17.

Action figures based on the Sony Playstation game Final Fantasy VIII should hit American shores this fall. Palisades Marketing will represent Kotobukiya in the sale of action figures, vinyl figures and polyresin statues.

Paul Stanley did an autograph and Q and A session at Tower Records in Toronto as he prepares to entertain as the Phantom. Stanley said that KISS will be performing some of the bands 80's and 90's material on the next leg of the tour.

Jerry Springer fans who tune in just to see fights will have to get their daily dose of violence somewhere else. His television distributor issued an order on Tuesday: no more fights. Isn’t that the whole show though?

Director John Landis is ironing out the details to produce a horror anthology film for New Line Cinema. The project is tentatively entitled Really Scary and will include four segments by four filmmakers.

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