GLOBE SHUT OUT
The Hollywood Foreign Press, which hands out the priceless Golden Globe Awards, has pretty much put the kibosh on two of the more controversial films of the year. First, they have disqualified "The Passion of the Christ" from Best Picture eligibility because the film is in Aramaic and they only are allowed to nominate English language films. And, because they have no category for documentaries, that also leaves "Fahrenheit 9/11" out in the cold. Of course, if you read my review, you will see that I stressed that the film company wanted to stress the fact that the film was NOT a documentary.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
A belated happy 72nd birthday to my favorite actor of all time, Roy Scheider.
WELCOME ABOARD, ART
A personal "welcome aboard" to Art Brown who's inheriting Flash Fantastic editing duties from the departing Patty G. Henderson. I've known them both since my high school days as we'd cross paths at various events and movie clubs. I am confident Art will do us proud and will continue to put the "fan" in Flash Fantastic as Patty has done so well over the past year.
OH DARN!
OK, I'm getting pretty damn (oops, darn) sick and tired of the endless censorship going on these days. In honor of Veteran's Day, ABC decided to show "Saving Private Ryan" uncut. That means all of the violence and language would be shown. Sadly, more then 20 ABC affiliates, including the one here in Kansas City, decided not to show the film, fearing that they would be fined, ala CBS and the Janet Jackson episode, by the FCC. I called the station and was told that it wasn't the violence but the language they didn't want to air, which pretty much proves Trey Parker and the "South Park" movie right: it's ok to show someone having their entrails pulled out but heaven forbid you should say the "f" word. OK, that's broadcast tv. Now it's affecting cable. The other day, AMC ran their "DVD" version of "Smokey and the Bandit," which is basically the movie with a bunch of behind the scenes details on screen. I am proud to admit that "Smokey and the Bandit" is one of my favorite and most quotable films ever. And I have sat through it when it ran on ABC and listened to some voice actor do a terrible version of Jackie Gleason and overdub the words "sum bitch" with "scum bum." And they did it on the AMC version, too. But then it got to a scene where Sally Field is telling Burt Reynolds about her old boyfriend. She said she caught him in the shower with another girl. And her mother! But on AMC, the "and her mother" line was gone. Another great line is when Gleason tells his son that "there is no way, no way that you could come from my loins." But now, there's no way he came from his "line." And my pal, Paul Williams? As much as he'd like to kick the Bandit's ass just once, we'll never know it because they cut that line too! What the hell is going on? Have we as a society become so politically correct that we are afraid to offend anyone? Or has the government scared the bejesus out of everyone with threats of half a million dollar fines? I keep expecting George Carlin to amend his list of seven words you can't say on television. I only hope whoever reads the list isn't the guy doing the bad Gleason impression!
MEET THE BEATLES - PART 42
November 15, 1965: Final production work was done on "Rubber Soul," with five songs, including "I'm Looking Through You" and "Michelle" mixed into both mono and stereo. The next day, George Martin worked out the LP's song order and the discs were cut, sleeve printed and the finished product was in stores on December 3. This marked the last time the band would have two albums of new material out in the same calendar year (the soundtrack to "Help!" was released in the summer).
Well, all for now. I hope everyone took a moment to say a quiet thank you to the veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country as well as the brave men and women in all of the armed forces around the world. I know I speak for my basic training buddy Matt when I say I feel a small sense of pride every November 11th. Have a great week. See ya!
"Mike's Rant" is ©2004 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 ©2004 by Nolan B. Canova.
