Mary Jane, Hannibal Lecter, the R & R Hall of Fame, ridiculous baseball salaries.
Mike's Rant
Hello, gang! Hope everyone has completed the majority of their holiday shopping. I do have a list of preferred colors and sizes available if you haven't figured out what to get me yet! Here we go:
MOVIE NOTES:
Kirsten Dunst has been chosen to play the part of "Mary Jane" in the upcoming "Spider-man" film, beating out competitors Alicia Witt and Kate Hudson. (This from the innocent days where "Mary Jane" usually meant the name of a girl!---N)
YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!
This Friday, the reissue of "A Hard Day's Night" hits theatres nationally. If you haven't seen this film, by all means do. It captures the Fab Four at the beginning of their fame, still young and cheeky. My favorite part is John arguing with a woman who thinks he's "him." And don't forget Paul's grandfather..........he's very clean! Plus the great music. This week's trivia: For what film did the Beatles win an Oscar?
I hope Warner Brothers isn't counting on "Proof of Life" to pull people in ala "Cleopatra" to see the budding romance between Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan. Moviegoers in the 60's flocked to the theatres to see the on-screen chemistry between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. But, as the Monkees sang, that was then and this is now. This Saturday, a whopping 7 people showed up at my theatre to see it. All day! (And they were in the wrong theatre!---N)
Oscar-winning screenwriter Ted Tally ("Silence of the Lambs") is working on another Hannibal Lecter story. Tally, who is not involved with the upcoming "Hannibal", is going to adapt Harris' earlier novel, Red Dragon, into a film. This will be the second film of that novel. Michael Mann directed "Manhunter" in the late 80's, with Brian Cox as Dr. Lecter. Lecter is not the main character of Red Dragon, so it will be interested to see how Tally adapts it.
Comic fans are mourning the passing of Jack Liebowitcz, publisher of the first "Superman" comic. He passed away last Monday at the age of 100. Speaking of the Man of Steel, Warner Brothers is in the process of reissuing 1978's "Superman: The Movie." Not sure if the reissue will include some added footage that was shown when the film was first shown on television. Let me wax nostalgic for a moment and go back in time to the Hillsboro theatre in Tampa. We stood in line for almost 90 minutes to get tickets to the first show. I still have my souvenir program, pin and "kryptonite" rock I bought at the concession stand. I can still remember the first time Superman flew towards the camera from the Fortress of Solitude. He banked against the camera and flew off stage right. INTERMISSION I was never so excited for a movie to resume. (Very similar to my experience at Britton Theater. I'm jealous I didn't get a Kryptonite rock, tho.---N)
ROCKING AND ROLLING
Congrats to this years inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, Queen, Paul Simon, Steely Dan, Ritchie Valens, The Flamingos and Solomon Burke. Jackson and Simon were both inducted for their solo work. Each had already be enshrined for their work with The Jackson 5 and Simon and Garfunkle respectively. The following nominees did not make the cut this year: AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Brenda Lee, Lynyrd Skynyrd, New York Dolls, Lou Reed (can you believe that, Terence!!!!???), Bob Seger and Patti Smith. I'm not sure how the voting goes. Perhaps you are only allowed a certain number of inductees each year. I'd like to meet the idiots who didn't vote for AC/DC, Sabbath or Skynyrd!
For those interested, The HATS are not eligible for induction until 2004.
(To confused readers: "Terence" is Terence Nuzum, our controvertial, occasional colunmnist for "Terence's Tirade"; The HATS is Mike, Matt's and my kitchen band from the '70s. There's always next year, Mike!---N)
WANTED: NEW HOBBY. AVAILABLE NOVEMBER 2001
My house is old. It's one of the houses that has the garage in the rear of the house in the basement. Since it also has a regular garage outside, I have turned the one in the basement into a batting cage for my son Phillip. I came home one day last week to find him down in the cage. Usually he starts hitting in late January, so I was curious as to what led him downstairs. "What's up?" I asked. "Arod signed for $252 million today." he replied. For those of you who don't speak baseball, "Arod" is 26 year old Alex Rodriguez, newly signed shortstop for the Texas Rangers. If you recall my rant last week, you will remember how I criticized the disparity of baseball team payrolls. Apparently Rangers owner Tom Hicks didn't read my piece as he proceeded to commit one quarter of a BILLION dollars over the next 10 years to Rodriguez. In layman's terms, Rodriguez will make more then the entire Kansas City Royals Team made last year. If he was a movie, he'd be the 14th highest grossing film of all time (behind "Jaws"). In fact, owner Hicks payed $2 million more for Rodriguez then he payed George W. Bush (yes, him) for the whole team! Of course, the small market owners are up in arms over this deal. But even more surprising is that large market teams like the Yankees and Mets are also flabbergasted at this deal. Hicks offered $72 million dollars more then the next highest bidder for Arod's services. Shortly after the Arod deal, the Boston Red Sox signed outfielder Manny Ramirez to an 8 year/$160 million deal. As an Oriole fan, I can tell you firsthand that big money doesn't always add up to a winning team. The collective bargaining agreement between players and teams ends October 31, 2001. The way things are going, I honestly anticipate an owners lock out and NO baseball during 2002. The way salaries are climbing, it's almost foolish for small teams like Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Montreal to even go to spring training. They are obviously playing for 2nd place! I mean Montreal didn't even have an English language radio deal last year! Some players, like St. Louis' Mark McGwire, have stated they will retire rather then make fans endure another strike/lockout like 1994. I hope that more of the superstars of the sport take that route and make their thoughts known. The players union must realize that the needs of the many certainly outweigh the needs of a few. There must be a salary cap applied to Major League Baseball or at least serious revenue sharing. If not, in my opinion, the sport is doomed! (So, uhhhh....what's this guy do that's worth a quarter billion dollars? Does he do impressions while he swings a bat or something? Does he sing and dance? What?---N)
Have a great week!
"Mike's Rant" is ©2000 by Michael A. Smith