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All the news I'm sick enough to print! A newsletter and magazine in one.
Publisher and Editor, Nolan B. Canova
Vol. 1, No. 7
This edition is for the week of May 1--7, 2000.
Reno takes Cartman
"Uncle Julian" (Ray Koehler)
Tampa indy feature, "Sins of the Blood", premieres on Public Access
"Oh my God! The INS killed Kenny!" South Park spoofs the Elian Gonzalez saga.
Last week's South Park started out with the "Cirque de Cheville" coming to town, sporting an acrobatic little girls act called the "Romanian quintuplets." It's the one act the boys watch.
The boys, enamored of the fair five, begged if they could stay in South Park, which was a forgone conclusion anyway, since the quint's mother had been planning to defect.
So the boys decide to create their own circus ("Cirque de bleh, blah"), exploiting their new friend's talents. They decide the act isn't advancing quickly enough because Kenny can't sing well. Kenny decides to take singing lessons, which, for reasons I won't take space to describe here, lands him in--Romania!
About the same time he's rising to a sort of pop stardom in Romania, a video of a man being held at gunpoint, claiming to be the quintuplets' father, is shown on South Park TV, begging for the gov't to return them to Romania.
About the same time that's going on, Kenny's father is being shown on a video to Romanian viewers begging the gov't to force his son, Kenny, to come home.
The INS counterparts of both countries basically re-enact the tragic Elian siege in Miami, complete with mulitple spoofs on "The Picture" (INS gunman pointing gun at Elian and friend), one seen in the video still at the top of this column.
A video still of the American scene with Janet Reno in an Easter Bunny costume, carrying an uzi or something, blasting in to find Cartman in the closet, I tried to squeeze in at the top of this page.
Rumor on the street has it that this episode started out as something slightly different, but the producers decided to go full-bore on the Elian thing so late in the schedule, they were working on it until 3 hours before airtime.
Renee Carrick as "Aria", forced to drink victim's blood as youthful vampire Christopher Beck looks on.
Young videomaker/aspiring filmmaker Terence Nuzum, 20, has produced his greatest artistic success, in my opinion, with this lurid outing which debuted on Tampa Public Access TV this past Saturday (4-29-00)on Channel 20.
Despite his youth, Terence is no stranger to filming and videomovies shot in Tampa. He's already got 4 other short works completed to date. But more on that some other time.
"Sins of the Blood", a 35-minute videomovie loosely based on a short story Terence read (but I neglected to write down--sorry), deals with a young woman's coming to grips with an unseemly family destiny. It appears that great-grandmother was a "full-breed" vampire.
In the opening scenes Aria is seen wearing her great-grandmother's dress--an artifact which plays into the plot frequently. She's had the dress since childhood and she idolizes the old lady. Some dark visions have come from those feelings, which inspired her to write.
Aria (played by the lovely and talented Renee Carrick) is an aspiring poet who would like to see her work published. One night, out of the blue, she is visited by her Aunt Lydia (Tampa author, Patricia Gomez)and told to expect another visit by some relatives from the "old country." This upsets Aria, because she suspects what they're after: to initiate her into the clan as a full-fledged vampire and return with them to their ancestral home (the location of which is apparently irrelevant).
This sets the stage for some serious soul-searching. As Aria broods over the visit, she must prepare for her relatives. They show up--quite suddenly--and make their anticipated claim with some occasionally, er, messy and sinister results.
An extended scene taped in downtown Tampa features a cameo by writer-director Nuzum as a punk who beats up a homeless man (Gary Esposito). Renee Carrick shows remarkable sensitivity here as Aria battles her vampiric half at the sight of blood.
Reluctantly giving in, she finds it repulsive and must find somewhere to, er, expectorate. Ms. Carrick's obvious vulnerability basically makes the whole movie work, in my opinion.
My all-time favorite Terence Nuzum edit: as Aria is making salad for her expected dinner guests, the camera follows her back and forth from kitchen to dining area; she has just set the dinner plates and is returning from the kitchen with the salad bowl and then, suddenly--POOF--all the vampiric relatives are present and are properly seated without so much as a stitch otherwise out of place. The look on Aria's face at this appearance is priceless.
It's a jarring and effective sequence that in any other situation I might've called cliché. Well done, Mr. Nuzum! (And Ms. Carrick!)
The biggest chuckle: At the dinner table, Julian, the "senior" vampire, without even looking at the salad utters with great disdain, "You enjoy eating this foliage?"
It's a deceptive moment, tho. There's nothing friendly about "Uncle Julian" (played by vet actor Ray Koehler, a pro at comic villainy, shows admirable restraint here).
As this program will repeat next weekend, I will not succumb to the temptation to give away any more plot or the resolution--suffice to say, the supporting actors are all great and really do add to the ambience.
I must make a comment about Christopher Beck's performance as the child vampire. There is a scene in a bedroom towards the end of the story where Renee's and Chris's characters have a talk about destiny and attitude. It is pretty darn well-scripted and very well acted, with a stand-out performance by the young Mr. Beck. This kid's got to stay!
In conclusion, I recommend viewing "Sins of the Blood". It showcases many up-and-coming artists who, I think, might go places.
Hilarious X-Files episode looks at Mulder and Scully in a movie cast with different actors.
Last Sunday's X-Files episode (5-1-00) was a hilarious "what-if" with Mulder and Scully involved in the casting and consultation of a motion picture about the lives of---Mulder and Scully!
While they are working on an actual case, a Catholic priest accused of murder, a studio guy is following them around, taking notes and making bad puns, generally trying to get the feel of FBI work. Like Hollywood ever took that seriously. (Actually, I remember an old TV Guide article about Fox Studios sending David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson (Mulder and Scully) out to the FBI training and practice gun range. Seems some agents saw the show and didn't feel the actors had an authentic grip on their guns!)
Altho Mulder felt Richard Gere would be a good Mulder, the studio guy says Gere is playing Skinner! (Normally, Mitch Pillegi).
Winds up with Garry Shandling as Fox Mulder and Tea Leoni as Dana Scully. Long-time fans of the show will recognize Shandling and Duchovny's long association (The Larry Sanders Show, for one) and Tea Leoni is Duchovny's wife. Too much.
When the movie debuts, Mulder, Scully, and Skinner are in the audience grimacing heavily about their portrayers on the screen. Skinner is having a great time with it. The only thing I missed that would have been great is having a reaction by the "real-life" Cigarette Smoking Man, upon seeing himself homogenized in the movie as a smoking bishop! William B. Davis did not appear in the episode. No matter....
This episode was written and directed by David Duchovny and is a definitely successful stand-out this season.
Stan Lee to write 12 issues of "Super- man" with all-star staff of artists
I'm quickly running out of room for this issue, but I just wanted to drop this little bomb I only just now was made aware of: in an unprecedented move, DC comics is having Stan Lee, one-time publisher and editor emeritus of Marvel Comics, DCs arch-competitor, write a 12-issue Superman series to come out later this year.
It's expected Lee will take the character into new areas and create a new "history" of sorts. Helping him out is an impressive array of artistic talent, among them: Jim Lee (no relation), Dave Gibbons, Joe Kubert, Bruce Timm, and, as I understand it, John Buscema. Adam Hughes will do the covers.
More info as I get it.
Letters and Commentary, this issue
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All contents this page © 2000 by Nolan B. Canova
Aria....Renee Carrick Aunt Lydia...Pat Gomez written, directed
Julian....Ray Koehler Bum...Gary Esposito and produced
Vampire Boy.... Christopher Beck Punk...Terence Nuzum by Katarina....Nisha Penton Add'l scenes:..Andrew Reiber Terence
Marcel....Erno Klajo and Lamar Nuzum Nuzum