Off The Record...

311

Soundsystem

Four studio albums and one live record into its career, 311 still maintains a funky, hip hoppin' and youthfully idealistic outlook.  But on Soundsystem, the band turns up the hard rock element that was missing from its last studio effort.  This time out, the group avoids redundancy by garnishing its patented and potent nasal vocals and suburban b-boy raps with a dressing of metallic riffs and hip-twistin' rhythms.  311 hasn't lost its goofy, high-school sense of humor, either.  If you're looking for nothing but a good time, these sunshine boys will certainly make your day.

At The Movies...

Bringing Out The Dead

For 56 gut pumping, adrenaline filled hours, you follow the chaotic world of Frank (Nicolas Cage).  He can't sleep, he drinks, smokes, has precious little social life and is in a slump: he hasn't saved anyone's life in months. To add supernatural terror, he has started seeing the spirits of people who died under his care.  Cage is in top form, and John Goodman, Ving Rhames and Tom Sizemore all give amazing performances as a trio of drivers Frank is randomly paired with in succeeding shifts.  An amazing film, though not for the faint of heart.

On Video...

eXistenZ

A computer game creator (Jennifer Jason Leigh) develops a virtual reality game that gets her in big trouble with unknown assassins.  Barely escaping with her life, she convinces a corporate friend to escape with her in the alternate world, entering another universe of espionage, duplicity and double agents as the film shifts between different realities and fictions.  A return to sci-fi roots for David Cronenberg, who here embellishes on one of his recurrent and powerful themes, the transcendence of the flesh and the desire to be made into machine. 

The Buzz...

The Harvey Entertainment Company and Spumco Inc., the animation studio founded by Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi, have signed an agreement allowing Spumco to create Internet cartoons based on classic Harvey characters.

NBC has confirmed that the cast of Homicide: Life on the Streets, which was canceled last season, will return in a made for TV movie, Homicide: The Movie.

The only thing that is holding back the fourth Indiana Jones movie is an agreement by Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg on the script.

Gary (Pleasantville) Ross has signed to direct Warner Brothers' adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's classic, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  The new version is currently being written by Scott (Out of Sight) Frank.

Even though the seventh season of The X-Files doesn’t start till Nov. 7, Chris Carter is already answering questions about the possibility of doing an eighth season.

Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick may not be involved in the Blair Witch sequel.  The directorial pair recently appeared on a TV talk show and were asked if there would be a second movie.  “No, not from us,” was the reply.

Supernova, a science fiction film about an exploding star, is facing another hurdle on its way to theaters.  MGM is attempting to sell-off the international distribution rights to the $60 million-plus project.

CBS has signed a deal with Jim Henson Television to create a four-hour mini-series based on the Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale.  Boasting state-of-the-art special effects from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, the new take on an old classic is scheduled to pop up on the network late next year or early in 2001.

In a continuing effort to develop DVD's interactive capabilities, New Line Home Video will release a multiple-angle KISS song as one of the several supplements to its Platinum Series Detroit Rock City release, released Dec. 1.

The Goo Goo Dolls will be taping a segment for the popular children's show Sesame Street’s 31st season. The segment, which won't be airing until next year, features the band dueting with Elmo on a still-to-be-determined song.

Actress Roz Kelly, who achieved everlasting rerun fame as Pinky Tuscadero, Fonzie’s love in a very special guest spot on Happy Days, was sentenced in Southern California to three years' probation for spraying her neighborhood with bullets in a car alarm-inspired rampage.

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