OSCARS ON THE HORIZON?
This week the final two major organizations handed out their pre-Oscar ceremony awards. The Writer's Guild of America gave the best adapted screenplay award to David Hare for his script of "The Hours." And, in an unprecedented award, the best original screenplay award went to Michael Moore for the outstanding documentary "Bowling for Columbine." "The Hours" is also nominated for an Academy Award for it's screenplay. "Columbine" is up for the best documentary prize.
Also this week, the Screen Actor's Guild gave out it's prizes. I'm happy to see that three of their four choices match my picks for the Oscar. Congratulations to Renee' Zelwegger, Daniel Day Lewis, Catherine Zeta Jones and Christopher Walken for their awards in the Best Actor/Actress and Supporting Actor/Actress Categories.
ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE - AND A DVD PLAYER
On April 1st, EMI will release "The Beatles Anthology" box set on DVD. Not only will the set feature over 10 hours of material from the eight episode television series, but it will also have over 80 minutes of never before seen footage recorded during the making of the show. Among the bonus material: George Harrison and Paul McCartney playing the ukulele while they and Ringo Starr sing "Baby What You Want Me To Do" and producer George Martin playing an early tape of John Lennon singing "A Day In The Life" with the orchestra and McCartney's middle part missing.
Next up: Apple is finally finishing up the DVD of the Oscar winning film, "Let It Be."
BOOKS! BOOKS! BOOKS!
I'm so glad that many readers took my top 10 book challenge to heart. Before I list my top 10 favorites, let me add that I really wasn't a science fiction junkie as a kid. I've read a few novels and would have to list "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" as a personal favorite. Anyway, my top 10 influential books are:
1. From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiller by E L Konigsburg - two children decide to live in a New York museum. One of those books that you read over and over as a kid.
2. Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank - an excellent choice by Richard Sousa. I think this was required reading at Plant. And yes, it was weird to imagine MacDill being nuked.
3. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote - one of the first true crime novels. I was so captivated by the book that I ended up in Kansas primarily so I could visit the Clutter farm. Imagine my joy when I learned that a friend of my father in law was a witness at Dick and Perry's execution!
4. Jaws by Peter Benchley - Yes, I read it after I saw the movie. Another book to read over and over again.
5. The Godfather by Mario Puzo - I must admit that as a kid I only read the part where Sonny bangs his girlfriend against the wall. However I eventually did read the whole thing! One of the greatest examples of story telling ever.
6. Carrie by Stephen King - the first King novel I ever read. Who in high school didn't identify even a little with Carrie White?
7. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee - Also required reading at Plant. I've since read it at least 50 times.
8. Respect for Acting by Uta Hagen - While hanging around the set of "Tin Men," I struck up a conversation with Bruno Kirby. He recommended this book and I found it to be an invaluable resource to me as an actor.
9. The Making of........... - pretty much any behind the scenes book on the making of a particular film. Back before DVD and director commentaries this was the way to get the back story. Special kudos to Carl Gottlieb and his "Jaws Log."
10. Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi - What a read! The story of the Tate/LaBianca killings as told by the prosecutor who put Charles Manson and his followers away for life. A vivid memory: just finishing up the chapter where the family is "creepy crawling" a house and the light in my bedroom burns out!
TV LAND STORIES
I did catch some of the "Batcave" special Sunday night (See frontpage's "Return to the Batcave", this issue.--N) and was indeed quite surprised to see Burt Ward had put on a few pounds. A chapter in his book is titled, "Holy Impotence! My Testicles Grew to the Size of Grapefruits!" Nice to see his body has caught up.
Wednesday night I caught the first annual "TV LAND AWARDS." What I expected to be another piece of promotional fluff turned out to be quite entertaining. Seeing some old favorites together again (Don Adams and Barbara Feldon, Don Grady and Stanley & Barry Livingston) was great. And the various awards were funny. Glad to see David Cassidy embrace his Keith Partridge persona and I thought the fact he expounded so lovingly about his late father, Jack, was great. Jack Cassidy was very jealous of his son's fame, decrying the fact that it happened overnight, so the fact that David thanked him showed that a lot of water has gone under the bridge. Am I the only one who was worrying whether or not James Doohan was going to drop dead at the podium when "Star Trek" was honored? It's always sad when you see someone you remember as young and vibrant because they are always captured that way on film. Nice of Leonard Nimoy to mention the late De Kelly since Shatner certainly didn't. A great time to sit back and celebrate with the "friends" of your youth. Apparently Carl Reiner is working on a script that would have the Dick Van Dyke show cast reunited as they are today. Can't wait to see it.
Well, that's it for this week. Next week I'll be listing my Oscar picks (I encourage others to do the same). See ya!
"Mike's Rant" is ©2003 by Michael A. Smith. Webpage design and all graphics herein are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2003 by Nolan B. Canova.
