Either your browser's javascript has been disabled or it needs an update! Please re-enable your javascript program or update your browser to view this page as designed.

PCR Archives 2002
PCR Archives 2001
PCR Archives 2000
Crazed Fanboy homepage
E-mail
Nolan's Pop Culture Review, 2002!

CURRENT STUFF
La Floridiana
Movie Review:    
   One Hour Photo
   Stealing Harvard

Matt's Rail
Mike's Rant

(Links listed above indicate "final edition" status.)
CONTRIBUTOR'S
Homepages

Michael A. Smith's
The Omnipresent M. Smith homepage and Email                    

Matt Drinnenberg's
The Masters of Horror

Terence Nuzum's
Viddywell Productions

William Moriaty's
T.R.E.E., Inc.

Established A.D. 2000, March 19.  Now in our third calendar year!
  Number 130  (Vol. 3, No. 38). This edition is for the week of September 16--22, 2002.

It's that time of year again...

THE NEW FALL TV SERIES


It's absolutely hysterical. Especially after I just wrote about old TV a couple issues ago. Specifically, how TV Land saved my sanity one fateful weekend with showings of ancient repeats of Superman, Batman, and finally, the original The Twilight Zone. And I remember saying "They just don't make 'em like that anymore."

Well, evidently, it hasn't stopped them from trying. I just have a few thoughts from what I'm sure will be an ongoing series of rants in the PCR about the new Fall TV series.

In a rare moment of lucidity, suddenly it was made known to me that the third incarnation of The Twilight Zone debuts this Wednesday (well, "tonight" as I write this, 9-18-02). In this version, film actor Forest Whitaker takes the role of omnipresent voice-over narrator, succeeding Burgess Meredith from the 80's version, and Rod Serling, the show's creator, from the 60's version. OK, the first obvious PC statement is Forest Whitaker is the first black man to nail this gig, so UPN wants to show a soul-brother can be as moody and introspective as all the older white guys who ever took the job. I don't remember what films Whitaker has been in, but if the producers had come to me with it, I might've gone for Michael Dorn (Worf of "Star Trek: TNG"). To be fair, I'll give him a chance, but he's got mighty big shoes to fill.

Anybody besides me remember Nowhere Man? Starred Bruce Greenwood as man who suddenly finds himself in a world where government spies are on his tail, his own wife and friends don't recognize him, and tho he has a name, he's not even sure who he is, but starts to build case he's a government experiment. I was crazy about that show the one year it was on beween 1995 and 1996. Apparently the TV-going audience got tired of the suspense and bailed on the story of Thomas Veil. The series closed with an official finale. That was then, this is now. Who is John Doe? debuts 9-20-02, a Friday night. It stars Dominic Purcell as a man who awakes one day to find he doesn't know who he is, possibly a government experiment, and while he searches for clues to his identity, he helps police with strange cases since he also has an amazing grasp of near-limitless trivia. OKaaaaaay. I'll give it a go. Wonder if Bruce Greenwood will be watching?

Speaking of Batman, ever thought it would be just wacky if Bruce Wayne/Batman, and Selena Kyle, aka, Catwoman had, like, done the nasty and produced offspring? That's precisely "the secret" they share as their progeny go into action in this Fall's Birds of Prey. Former Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, is wheel-chair bound from an unfortunate run-in with The Joker. Her new alias is The Oracle and she's into computers. Bruce and Selena's daughter is The Huntress, meta-human. Barbara is her legal guardian (in 60s TV/comics slang that's basically the same as Dick Grayson being "a ward" of Bruce Wayne). Together with a teen-psychic named Dinah, Gotham City may again be protected from crime despite the disappearance of Batman (who bailed after Catwoman's death). I'll be there for this one too. Hope Jessia Alba and Michael Weatherly of Dark Angel are watching.

But why, oh why, oh dear god in heaven, did they feel the need to bring back Family Affair? Gary Cole (Brady Bunch movies, One Hour Photo) is saddled with recreating the once-deadpan Brian Keith role as the bachelor father, and Tim Curry (yes, that Tim Curry) reinvents (you might say) the role of Mr. French the English butler (ha ha, like Mr. Italian, the Chinese cook, I know). How bad is it when mere publicity pictures from the show frighten me? The buzz is bad on this. TV Guide says from what thay saw, the kids are brats, and French has gone from the dignified English butler/nanny, to some glowering harlequin ogre. YUCK.

Push, Nevada.  Please, I still have headaches from Twin Peaks. Slow to interest me.

CSI--Miami.  Will Moriaty is really jazzed about this and it looks extremely promising. He'll have more in La Floridiana, I'm sure.

Haunted. Detectives and ghosthunters. Finally. Doesn't get much better than this, post X-Files! This could be very interesting. I'll be watching this closely and writing more as I know it.

8 Simple Rules for Dating My Daughter. John Ritter comedy vehicle. I like John Ritter, but this is not my cup o' tea.

My Biggest Laugh of the Season So Far---2 series with near-identical premises: That Was Then (ABC) and Do Over (WB). Two series on different networks about thirty-somethings who are magically transported back to the 80s to re-live their youths and hopefully correct mistakes. The set-ups are not only the same, the dialogue apparently occasionally matches word-for-word.

Announcements
Well, as usual, timely birthday greetings are my weak spot. HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY wishes to Michael A. Smith, the most regular columnist the PCR has ever had with an unbroken record of 130 Rants in 130 PCRs!! Mike turned 42 Monday, September 16. And to Scott A. Gilbert, he of the True Artist Tales fame, we believe he turned 41 on September 18th. Many happy returns to all!

Beasley's Bits
Odds-and-ends column by Steve Beasley, our correspondent from "down under" New Zealand.

Art imitates life. The following happened on September 16, 2002 in Pennsylvania, unfortunately I've located neither the movie title, nor its makers.
   Six people who were making a movie have been charged with disorderly conduct after frightening people in a Pennsylvania nature preserve near the community Mount Gretna. They staged an armed confrontation so realistic that park visitors thought it was real. Police say a hiker and a woman walking her dog came upon a man on his knees, pleading for his life, while a group of people pointed a rifle and other weapons at him. They thought the man was going to be killed. But it was just a scene in a 15-minute movie about brothers on a hunting trip.

Boulder-Size Meteor Almost Struck Australia? A large meteor possibly the size of a boulder came close to striking the earth in South Australia state, on Thursday, Sept. 5th night, Residents of Goolwa and Victor Harbour, south of the state capital Adelaide, inundated police with reports of a flash of blue light, smoke trails and two sonic booms.

Everything old is new again. Um, it appears we're going back in time.....is that a VACUUM TUBE I see on this motherboard? http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/aopentube/ American car manufacturer's have been borrowing from 40s and 50s car designs for the new Thunderbird and the PT Cruiser. What's next? A Ford Flintstone mobile or a Chrysler Cavestomper? LOL!

Oops, they did it again.... Another ad with humorously obscene overtones: http://www.ausomecandy.com/us/static/frooze.html

Too SHAGEDELIC? A doll, sold at Toys R Us Singapore, resembles Mike Myers' character in "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me", and has a voice chip that says: "Do I make you feel horny, baby, do I?" when you press a button. Most parents seemed to be stunned that it's on sale. Due to a shipping mix-up, department stores were supposed to sell only the more family-oriented doll that says: "Would you fancy a shag?" (You could always say that, since Austin Powers is a 70s icon, that he's selling carpet varieties.) American Toys R Us stores have agreed to pull the item. In Japan, the adult version is found only in special comicbook shops such as Comic Art Gallery. Right or wrong, the toys, especially the "horny" figure, are much sought after among collectors, despite the fact that copies are going for $50 and selling out fast.



La Floridiana This week's issue
La Floridiana by William Moriaty
Book Review: "Historic Landscapes of Florida" Rocco J. Ceo and Joanna Lombard. Another book that no "La Floridiana" fanatic should not be without is "Historic Landscapes of Florida". Published by the Deering Foundation and the University of Miami (Go Canes!) School of Architecture in Coral Gables, this spectacular publication showcases the finest private, public, and institutional gardens in the state.... ..................................Click here for more.

Movie ReviewMovie Review
This Week's Movie Reviews:
"One Hour Photo"
Review by Nolan Canova .........................................Click here for more.

"Stealing Harvard"
Review by Mike Smith .........................................Click here for more.

Matt's Rail This week's issue
Matt's Rail by Matt Drinnenberg
MY BRO'S BIRTHDAY. Okay. You know how I am with birthdays. I can get kind of gushy at times, which is in direct contrast to how most people view me........ FANTASY FIGHTING WORDS. Now that I've deluged Mike's mental stability with thoughts of kindness and affirmation, let me point out to everyone that he is also grand in the scale of revision........ ...............................Click here for more.

Mike's Rant This week's issue
Mike's Rant by Michael A. Smith
AND THE NOMINEES ARE........REMEMBER THAT SONG?........THE BEATLES ARE BACK........ I AM THE LIZARD KING........PASSING ON......... .........................................Click here for more.


Letters to the EditorWe welcome your feedback.
Nolan.....
Are you aware, that in the following excerpt from Will's latest video review...which I throughly enjoyed..........that "Steve Nakoda" is a character from one of Wynkoop's earlier films? (Re: Will Moriaty's review of "Twisted Illusions 2" from last issue's La Floridiana.---N)

It's from 1992s "Lost Faith"....which Joel wrote and directed.

Steve [Beasley]
Auckland, New Zealand


Nolan,
Do you know where and when the term "pop culture" originated?

I know that it began to be used between the early 70s and the early 90s based on a newspaper article, but the specifics of when and how were not given :(... before that, I think the terms used were "the popular arts" and "the lively arts," but that was quite a while ago. I'm teaching a class on "pop culture and art," so thanks for your help--it is greatly appreciated.

Carla

Funnily enough, no, I don't know when and where that started, Carla (I kinda figured it had always been around), but I'm publishing your letter to see if our crack staff of experts worldwide has any clue to answering this interesting question!--Nolan


To send an email to Letters to the Editor write to: Crazedfanboy1@aol.com.  Any emails sent to this address will be assumed intended for publication unless you specifically instruct me not to. I can and do respond privately, if that is your preference. Frequently, it's both ways.---Nolan


"Mike's Rant" is ©2002 by Michael A. Smith    "Matt's Rail" is ©2002 by Matthew Drinnenberg    "La Floridiana" is ©2002 by William Moriaty    "Beasley's Bits" is ©2002 by Stephen Beasley    This week's movie reviews of "One Hour Photo" and "Stealing Harvard" are © 2002 by Nolan Canova and Mike Smith for their respective columns    Add'l thanks to Steve Beasley and Carla for their input in "Letters"     All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2002 by Nolan B. Canova

Webpage design and all graphics herein are creations of  Nolan B. Canova ©2002; all rights reserved.