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PCR #251. (Vol. 6, No. 2) This edition is for the week of January 10--16, 2005.
Mike's RantMike's Bust
Hello, gang! Some news, notes and I begin a new series for, hopefully, your enjoyment. Shall we begin?

LA FLORIDIANA
Will and Karen's Cabbage Key and Key West Kraziness, Part Four....Comet Machholz....Thanks, I'm Semi-Outta Here!...And The Winner Is...
 by William Moriaty
THIS WEEK'S MOVIE REVIEW
"Elektra"
 by Mike Smith
"White Noise"  by Nolan Canova
THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
The Best Albums of 2004
 by Terence Nuzum
ODDSERVATIONS
An Afternoon With Chris Sarandon
 by Andy Lalino
SPLASH PAGE
Pimp Is Not Evel....Wade In The Hall, But Who Are These Voters?....Bizarre Sports Note....The People's Choice....Just Some Updates....Goodbye to the Godfather, Will Eisner
 by Brandon Jones
MATT'S RAIL
WMD And Me....Happy Birthday To Me....Lizzie Borden Took An Axe....Football Playoffs
 by Matt Drinnenberg
MIKE'S RANT
Happy Birthday....Also In This Issue....Movie Notes....Censorship -- A Good Thing?....How Do You Spell Punk? M O S S....Jaws: The Story, Part 1
 by Mike Smith
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY
To PCR colleague and Best Friend in the World Matthew J. Drinnenberg. 44 is a nice age to be (believe me I know.) Also belated best wishes to Nicholas Castellano (does that make me an uncle) and Best Bassist in the World Scott Van Sickle!

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
I hope everyone that enjoys a good made for television movie followed Matt's lead and signed the petition to bring 1975's "The Legend of Lizzie Borden" to DVD. Before Valerie Bertinelli and Linda Gray, Elizabeth Montgomery was the Queen of the Made for TV Movies. Keep an eye out in your cable guides as the Lifetime channel occasionally runs the movie. Andy, great piece on Chris Sarandon. I would just like to add that not only was he also great in "The Princess Bride," he also received an Academy Award nomination for his role as Al Pacino's lover in "Dog Day Afternoon." Of course, both he and Brad Dourif (the voice of "Chucky") lost to George Burns. Plus, he gave one of my all time great cinema crushes, Susan Sarandon, her last name. Among other things, the lucky bastard!

MOVIE NOTES
Cornered at the Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival, Liam Neeson and Samuel L. Jackson let it slip that Neeson will be doing a cameo as Qui Gon Jinn in "Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith." Rumor is he will appear as a ghostly image, ala Alec Guiness in "Empire" and "Jedi." Call it a "Beyond the Sea" reunion. Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth have signed on to the new "Superman" film. Spacey will play Lex Luthor while Bosworth will tackle Lois Lane. The Director's Guild of America announced their five nominees for best motion picture director of the year. They are: Martin Scorsese for "The Aviator," Alexander Payne for "Sideways," Marc Forster for "Finding Neverland," Taylor Hackford for "Ray" and Clint Eastwood for "Million Dollar Baby." Sad news here in Kansas City. Jesse Cooper, the son of local boy Chris Cooper, died this week due to natural causes caused by cerebral palsy.

CENSORSHIP. A GOOD THING?
I'm all for freedom of expression but even I thanked the censors at Fox for turning down a proposed Super Bowl ad that would feature a two second shot of 84 year old Mickey Rooney's bare butt. While the Mick compared the shot to an innocent peek at a newborn baby's backside, smarter heads prevailed, pointing out that a baby's butt is round, not flat, white and pasty.

HOW DO YOU SPELL PUNK?  M  O  S  S
When in God's name is someone going to slap Randy Moss down and teach him some manners? First the guy walks off the field before the game is over when his team has a chance to get the ball back. Then the next week, he pretends to drop his pants and moon the fans in Green Bay. Fox commentator Joe Buck has taken some heat for his on air reaction (he called the act "disgusting). Good for you Joe. If you've seen the incident replayed, you may have noticed Moss' teammate Nate Burleson trying to stop Moss. Apparently, Moss had told his teammates before the game that he intended to do much more then shoot a moon were he to score a touchdown. Word of what he planned apparently reached the Fox booth and Buck was commenting on what he thought he was going to see take place. Back in the 70's, the Chiefs had a player nicknamed "The Dog" for his habit of lifting his leg near the goalpost when he would score, imitating a dog urinating on a tree. The story is that Moss planned to top that. You may remember a couple years ago that Moss, not wanting to turn his car around, used his car to push a police officer out of the way at the scene of a traffic accident. As the officer stood in front of Moss' car, Randy kept accelerating until his car knocked the officer over in the street. Of course, nothing became of that. If I had done that, I'd still be in jail.

JAWS - THE STORY
Jaws poster I'm glad that Brandon enjoyed my "Meet the Beatles" series. I struggled to find something for this year. The Monkees? The Evolution of Bill Shatner's toupees? Then it hit me. If you're even slightly familiar with me, you know that my favorite film of all time is "Jaws." Released on June 20, 1975, "Jaws" was the first film to break the $100 million mark. As 2005 will mark the 30th Anniversary of the film, I thought I would try my hand at a weekly series, hopefully with illustrations! My love of everything "Jaws" knows no boundaries. In the past 29 plus years, I have helped run Richard Dreyfuss' Official Fan Club, started and ran Roy Scheiders', and, eerily, received an autographed photo of Robert Shaw in the mail the same day he died. I have collected and/or bought pretty much everything ever made on the film. Sadly, unlike Matt, I have NOT been to Martha's Vineyard, where the film was shot. But I plan to correct that this year. Unlike the Beatles piece, I won't be concentrating on a specific date. I will do my best to tell the story as best I can, from beginning to end. I will use a variety of sources: books, articles, stories told to me by some of the principals, etc. If you've seen the documentary on the laser disc or DVD you have no need to fear. I'll try to put my own spin on things and promise I won't repeat the Richard Dreyfuss "the shark is not working" story he loves to tell. So, without further ado, I bring you "Jaws," from book to classic:

PART 1:
In early 1973, Helen Gurley Brown, the editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, brings home a manuscript of a soon to be published book that her magazine may excerpt. Her husband, film producer David Brown, sees the title "Jaws" and begins to read. Within days, he and his partner, David Zanuck, begin negotiations for the movie rights with author Peter Benchley. With the rights secured, Universal Pictures runs a full page ad in late 1973. "Jaws" is on it's way.

Well, all for now. Have a great week. See ya!


"Mike's Rant" is ©2005 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 ©2005 by Nolan B. Canova.