Vol. 9 No. 9
Pick Hits
Off The Record
Great White - Thank You...
Goodnight!
Famous as of late due to
tragedy, the band's final official release is a live album and is appropriate
considering its status among fans as an outstanding live act that consistently
delivers, giving 100% to its fans. The band generously includes two previously
unreleased songs, Back On The Rhythm is a straight ahead boogie & blues rocker,
while Play On is a an acoustic based mid-tempo ballad. The live sound is
somewhat raw, yet intimate. The liner notes, in fact, indicate that the
production intentionally attempted to capture the band with "squeaks, feedback,
buzzes, rattles & rolls." The booklet includes some nice live shots of the band
and sincere, yet brief liner notes from the president of Knight Records, the
indie label releasing the album as well as Jack Russell's new solo CD.
For those who may be new to the band or had overlooked them in the past, Thank
You, Goodnight provides a decent platform of song representation and solid live
musicianship.
At The Movies
Spider
This film is the result of
David Cronenberg's adaptation of Patrick McGrath's novel, which
follows Dennis "Spider" Cleg (Ralph Fiennes), a mentally disturbed man
who has been released from a British asylum. Upon taking up residence in a seedy
apartment building, Spider begins to retreat into his own thoughts, which
revolve around his troubled childhood. The inflamed state of Spider's mind
reflects without a single special effect Cronenberg’s abiding concerns with the
fine line between the normal and the depraved. If not the best film ever made
about mental disorder, Spider is certainly the most painstaking, and it’s
arguably Cronenberg's greatest achievement.
On Video
Road To Perdition
Perdition features two
fathers, Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks), a hit man for the Irish mob in
Depression-era Chicago and Mr. John Rooney (Paul Newman), Sullivan's boss
and the man who raised him as a son. On the other side are two sons, Michael
Sullivan, Jr. (Tyler Hoechlin) and Connor Rooney (Daniel Craig),
each desperate to earn his father's favor. Jealousy and competition put them all
on a collision course, ultimately bringing Sullivan's work into his private life
and leading to the death of his wife and youngest son. Now Michael Sullivan and
his surviving son are set on a journey instigated by tragedy and fueled by
revenge.
The Buzz...
Cartoon Network has joined
forces with Lucasfilm Ltd. to bring an unprecedented original TV programming
extension to the Star Wars franchise. Beginning in November, Cartoon will unveil
20 animated shorts, each about three minutes in length that form a bridge
between the story lines of Attack of the Clones and the next theatrical
installment. Titled Clone Wars, the shorts will be produced by Samurai Jack
creator Genndy Tartakovsky at the channel's in-house studio.
Nicole Kidman and
Brad Pitt are in talks to star in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, an action-adventure
flick following a bored married couple who discover they are enemy assassins
hired to kill each other.
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NEW BASSIST FOR METALLICA |
Ozzy Osbourne bassist
Robert Trujillo has left the crazy train and checked into the sanitarium.
Following almost three months of auditions, Metallica have finally found
their replacement for Jason Newsted. Metallica's massive Summer
Sanitarium Tour, featuring Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Deftones
and Mudvayne kicks off this July.
Howie Epstein, a former
bass player for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, died of what authorities
suspect was a drug overdose. He was 47.
Comedian Drew Carey
received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame placed, appropriately enough for
an ex-Marine, in front of The Supply Sergeant military surplus store, a
Hollywood fixture for decades.
Country music star George
Jones is donating a burial plot next to his own for colleague Johnny
PayCheck, who died earlier this week.
As it stands right now, WWE is
moving forward with the idea of creating a "hard split" in the company's two
brands - RAW and SmackDown! WWE is moving forward with the plan of holding four
RAW-only PPVs, and four SmackDown-only PPVs, with the two brands coming together
for Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series. The upcoming
June King of the Ring pay-per view is expected to be the first brand-only show,
with it being the RAW brand PPV.
The nation's two major actors
unions are considering joining forces to increase their clout in the face of
changing technology and the consolidation of the entertainment industry.
Pop songbird-turned-actress
Mandy Moore is continuing to forge ahead with her burgeoning film career by
entering negotiations to star in the Stephen Gaghan-penned indie drama
Havoc for director Barbara Kopple and Mark Damon's MDP Worldwide.
Officials raided Chong Glass, a
Los Angeles
business owned by Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong fame. DEA agents
accused the glass water pipes manufacturer of sale and transport of drug
paraphernalia across state lines. Chong's Pacific Palisades home was also
raided.
WWE Superstar Edge
learned earlier this week that he will need spinal fusion surgery which is
expected to keep him out of the ring for a year.
Julianne Moore is in
final negotiations to star opposite Pierce Brosnan in the romantic comedy
Laws of Attraction, which Michael Caton-Jones will direct for Intermedia
Films and Stratus Film Co.
Digital media software company
Roxio Inc. confirmed Monday that Napster founder Shawn Fanning has been
signed on as a consultant.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer star
Sarah Michelle Gellar is in negotiations to topline MGM's Romantic Comedy
for director Joel Gallen. Production is aimed to begin in August after
Gellar wraps production on the sequel to Warner Bros. Pictures' Scooby-Doo,
which sees Gellar reprise her role of Daphne Blake.
Nora Ephron is in final
negotiations to write and direct Bewitched, a feature film adaptation based on
the long-running television series of the same name that Doug Wick and
Lucy Fisher's Red Wagon Prods. is producing for Columbia Pictures.
Princess Diana's former
lover James Hewitt filed a $1.08 million breach of contract suit on
Monday against Fox News, accusing the media company of firing him as a war
correspondent for allegedly leaking the story of his deal.
MSNBC fired Phil Donahue,
abruptly ending the veteran talk show host's return to television after six
months of poor ratings.
Michael Jackson's
lawyers have requested a court injunction to block a television company from
releasing unused footage filmed during the making of a documentary about his
life.
