Off The Record...
Iron Maiden
Brave New World
Considering all of the hype surrounding Iron Maiden's recent reunion, this album had to meet critical quality standards, anything less would not be acceptable. Not only does this new record deliver on all counts, but it greatly exceeds expectations. The first single and album opener, The Wicker Man, goes right to core with vintage Maiden, hard and heavy. This represents the band at its peak and for anyone out there who had their doubts, rest assured, this is Iron Maiden firing on all six of their cylinders to bring about a new Millennium metal movement.
 

At The Movies...
Gone In 60 Seconds
Memphis Raines (Nicolas Cage) was a legendary auto thief until he gave up his corrupt ways and went straight in the time-honored tradition of sympathetic Hollywood crooks. Now his kid brother is in deep trouble and Memphis is forced to make one of the more ridiculous bargains in crime movie history: Either he goes out and boosts 50 high-end cars or the bad guys will whack his bro. Not too deep on the plot here, but summer movies are about action and car chases and this provides plenty of both. Besides, Angelina Jolie being in the movie is enough reason to go see it.
 

On Video...
The Green Mile
Set during the Great Depression, Michael Clarke Duncan plays a Death Row murderer in a Southern prison who possesses the unusual gift of healing. Tom Hanks co-stars as the penitentiary guard who, upon discovering the inmate's miraculous power and gentle nature, begins to question the man's guilt. Based on Stephen King's 1996 best-selling novel. Using a cast working at peak form, the director has remained true to his story, and produced a movie guaranteed to lift the spirits of audiences everywhere.

The Buzz...

With CBS' Survivor a giant hit after two weeks on the air, the real mystery isn't which one of the show's 16 castaways outlasted the others, the question is can Survivor keep it a secret. The show wrapped filming on April 20^th, and all 16 castaways signed confidentiality agreements that bar them from discussing the outcome. But what about the castaway that comes home 30 days early and is noticed by his next door neighbors?  As each contender was voted off the island, they were invited to stay on at a Malaysian resort. All but three accepted the offer. This means that nearly everyone returned home at the same time.

Fourteen bands are set to play Tattoo The Earth. Slipknot, Sevendust, Sepultura, Nashville Pussy, Slayer, and Coal Chamber are just a few that will take the stage during the day-long event in Somerset WI on July 28.

Jack Ryan, the Tom Clancy hero played by Alec Baldwin in The Hunt for Red October and then by Harrison Ford in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger will be taken over by another actor. Ford says that he won't reprise the role for Paramount's The Sum of All Fears after he and director Phillip Noyce couldn't agree on a script.

Hollywood Entertainment said Monday it is pulling the financial plug on its cash-draining Reel.com Web site before it drags down the company that has built into the nation's No. 2 video chain.

The home where artist Norman Rockwell spent the last 25 years of his life is up for sale. But don't expect the 14-room home, built in 1783, to become the Rockwell Bed & Breakfast or the Rockwell Antiques Shop. A restriction in the deed prevents the use of the Rockwell name for any commercial purpose. The current owners are asking $775,000 for the two-story Victorian home.

Here’s a must for any basketball fan. Twenty-one squares of the famous Boston Celtics' parquet floor are now up for auction by Sotheby's, and to add a special touch, basketball stars of the past have signed each spot where his piece of history occurred.

Mick Jagger’s ex, supermodel Jerry Hall, will follow in the footsteps of Hollywood actress Kathleen Turner and appear naked in the hit London stage version of The Graduate.

George Lucas' special effects powerhouse Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) plans to expand into the animation business, creating a slate of computer-generated films and television shows as co-productions with major studios. ILM had planned to step into the animation arena about three years ago with Frankenstein, however, that project fell through due to creative differences.

The Sci Fi Channel chalked up a monster rating for the two-hour premiere of The Invisible Man TV series. The 2.4 Nielsen rating in cable homes translates into 1,534,000 households, marking the largest audience ever delivered to Sci Fi for original programming of any kind.

The Stanley Cup finals on ABC wrapped with white-hot numbers. According to Nielsen, Thursday's marathon Game 5 of hockey's championship series between the New Jersey Devils and Dallas Stars scored the highest U.S. rating in the 20 years.

Nelvana Ltd. has purchased the production, distribution and merchandising licensing rights to Hugh Lofting's Doctor Dolittle books. The Canadian animation studio plans to have an animated television series based on the books ready for broadcast in the next year or two.

It looks like NBC may be shelving Steven Spielberg's Semper Fi military series. Originally, NBC and DreamWorks Television was going to team up on the Marine Corps drama with Spielberg serving as the executive producer.

The Cartoon Network's Powerpuff Girls will soon be fighting schoolyard crime in a $25 million feature film from Warner Bros. The film is scheduled to hit theaters summer 2002.

Comic strip artist Andrew Pepoy and writer Jay Maeder gave Little Orphan Annie a makeover. That means no more red dress and curls. Now, Annie can be spotted wearing platform sneakers, jeans and slicked-down hair.

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