Number 25. This edition is for the week of September 11--17, 2000.
Announcement: my good friend Will Moriaty's T.R.E.E. website, which has been down about a year or so, is back online. I am delighted to expose to the world this man's remarkable achievements. T.R.E.E., Inc. stands for the Tampa (Bay) Reforestation and Environmental Effort, incorporated. It is a non-profit organization sponsoring large-scale tree and vegetation planting in Florida on a volunteer basis. (Think of him as kind of a "Johnny Appleseed" of Florida country.) He has made numerous TV and newspaper appearances and heads up all his projects personally. I posted a link to his site on my homepage for updates and information about volunteering for plantings. I would appreciate it if, before leaving this issue of Pop Culture Review, you would visit his site by clicking here: T.R.E.E. Thank you. ( the TREE site was designed and posted completely by Karen Cashon Moriaty; i.e. "the Mrs.")
The World of Nolan "filmmaker reunion" special airs despite crippling lightning storm!
It was one of those times I had to ask myself, "did I say to someone 'may I be struck by lightning if I'm not telling the truth' or something?" This was arguably one of the most important shows of the season and one I was looking forward to. Naturally, as the show went on, the Public Access station my show originates from was engulfed in a raging electrical storm! More on that in a bit....
From the World of Nolan show of September 7, 2000, I was happy and honored to have as my guests 3 people involved in my last summer's zero-budget extravaganza "The Horror Writer", namely, Ray Koehler, Renee Carrick, and the founder of "Viddywell Productions", 21-year-old Terence Nuzum. This was tricky to arrange because they don't do this kind of thing often, and Terence, especially,eschews television interviews.
The dark and brooding personage of Terence Nuzum with a rare smile. Vid still from tape.
But, he did very well. He told how he was inspired by dark movies as a child, especially realizing the director's role. But, it wasn't until he saw "A Clockwork Orange" that he knew that this--directing--is what he wanted to do. A lesser turning point he revealed, with unnecessary embarassment, was "Texas Chainsaw Massacre." I responded that many people point to "Massacre" as a classic film and it's nothing to be ashamed of, despite its low budget. I also commented on "Evil Dead" as one of my personal low-budget favorites.
Terence went through the history of his many video features and commented on all of them. It was very interesting to hear. Ray Koehler and Renee Carrick have played parts in most of them.
The next TREE Inc. planting is slated for Saturday November 18th. A time has not yet been determined, but it will be sometime that morning. The planting will be of 177 3-gallon container sized South Florida Slash Pines on the Pinellas Trail. Volunteers are needed. Parking is at the parking lot closest to the trail where the Publix Supermarket is located in the northeast corner of the intersection of Alt. 19 and Curlew Rd. Thanks!
Top Ten Album Fallout time!! Good friend Scott van Sickle, in a first-time, rare correspondence was moved by our challenge enough to spit out his Top 10 albums of all time. Now he's also the first to list his 11--20! (See Top Ten challenge, issue 23.)
The lovely and talented Renee Carrick. From the videotape.
Renee had the honor of having the first 40 seconds of her interview cut off by a lightning strike to the station, which put us off the air about that long. The first of many, but we perservered. She has an inborn sensitivity which, I believe, helps immeasurably with these sometimes difficult roles.
For what it's worth, here are my top 10 followed by 11-20. A lot of the 11-20 albums would have been higher up, but they were held back by one clunker song. That's what knocks out a lot of Monkee albums - a couple of Davy songs. So, 1-10 I consider to be cringe-song free.
10. JAMES TAYLOR In The Pocket
9. NEAL MORSE Neal Morse
8. SAGA Silent Knight
7. TODD RUNDGREN A Wizard/A True Star
6. LOGAN'S RUN soundtrack
5. QUEEN A Night at the Opera
4. MARILLION Clutching at Straws
3. PAUL McCARTNEY & WINGS Band on the Run
2. THE BEATLES Abbey Road
1. GENESIS The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
11. THE MONKEES Head soundtrack
12. BLUE OYSTER CULT Imaginos
13. RENAISSANCE Song for All Seasons
14. KATE BUSH The Dreaming
15. THE WHO Quadrophenia
16. YES Close to the Edge
17. JONI MITCHELL Hejira
18. QUEENSRYCHE Operation:Mindcrime
19. TONY BANKS A Curious Feeling
20. STEVE HACKETT Defector
Hey, my list looks as facile as everyone elses! Oh well, there it is. Not the most significant albums, right? Not qualified to do that; just best, most repeatable albums to the individual.
As for worst albums : Can't do that 'cause I don't have them anymore. The best I could pull out, fondle and look at. No references available for the worst.
Renee Carrick has been in every Viddywell production but one, the first one, I believe. She told a funny story about being recognized from TV at a local sports bar. She felt like a celebrity, later realizing the power of the tube!
Renee also played the ditzy secretary, Sheila, in my film The Horror Writer. Altho she didn't have all that much screen time, the crew at Tampa Public Access recognized her immediately when I was editing the tape. By far, her most impressive work was in her "starring" vehicle, Terence's last and best film, "Sins of the Blood". (Reviewed in issue #7--opportunistic Nolan.) We played film clips of both movies and discussed them on the air.
Ray Koehler had the most fun of the group on the air, I think. He told of starting in French theatre in the '80s and was doing mostly stage work until he came to work for a local photo lab, where Terence's aunt also works. It is worth noting, in my opinion, that all four have jobs there now! Makes cast meetings much easier! But, I digress...
Ray had great stories about all the movies he'd been in, mine included.
Veteran stage and screen actor, Ray Koehler. Vid still from tape.
As we'd played the tape from "Sins of the Blood", Ray was stifling a laugh. During this one tense scene, he explained how he almost lost his vampire fangs. Turns out he was supposed to bring dentu-creme to the shoot, but forgot it, so he substituted Dentene gum instead! Well it didn't work, so as he's delivering his lines, he incurs a slight lisp due to trying to talk and keep his teeth from falling out!
Ray also brought his photo album, as he makes it a habit to try to photo-document everything he does. (Uh-oh...evidence!) He showed pictures of me, for example, putting the bloody neck-stump on Renee for a "beheading" scene. I remembered it was like 120 degrees, in the dead of summer, in an un-air-conditioned apartment! It was a miserable shoot, but strangely fun too.
About 5 minutes before the end of TWON, a massive lightning strike darkened the station and I thought we'd lost the show for good. Somehow, we kept sync (tech-talk) and, altho there was unavoidable video distortion, we were able to salvage the episode for repeats!
Thanks, Scott!! As someone who's known you a long time, I was still surprised at a few..er...surprises. (Lot of surprising going on with these lists. That's what makes 'em fun.) Genesis, Marillion, Tony Banks, Steve Hackett--I do remember you being a fan of. I was pleasantly surprised to find any Monkees albums on there at all! And you're a softy for folk? (Joni Mitchell, James Taylor) I'm happy you didn't abandon your heavy metal/hard rock roots. (Queenryche, et al.) I'm also amazed the Logan's Run soundtrack placed as high (# 6) as it did. But that's cool--ya think ya know a guy!---Nolan.