EMPTY NEST
Well, I'm officially old. This past Tuesday my son, Phillip, two weeks shy of his 21st birthday, finally officially moved "out." Since graduating high school he has stayed with me and at his grandparents house (they lived closer to the junior college he attended.) In anticipation of attending the University of Kansas in the fall he has moved to a very nice townhouse in Lawrence, Kansas with a couple of roommates. If you're reading this and live in Northeast Kansas, I've got a room for rent! :-)
HYPOCRITES
This week the AMC theatre chain announced that they would not be showing the film, "The Aristocrats," citing the subject matter. The film features dozens of comedians, including Robin Williams, George Carlin and Chris Rock each telling the same dirty joke. Yep, sounds pretty nasty. Just like the X-rated movies AMC used to show in their theatres on the weekends during the 1970s. I guess naked women are ok as long as they don't curse!
COMING SOON
Two very different films were announced recently. The first one will basically kill Terance as Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg have joined forces to bring a live action version of "Transformers." Yes, the Autobots and Decepticons are coming! I'm more excited about the second production, the film version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, "Sunset Boulevard," starring Glenn Close (who originated her role on Broadway) and Ewan McGregor. One of my favorite Broadway memories was sitting fourth row, center, while Betty Buckley (who took over the Norma Desmond role from Close) sang, "With One Look" and it seemed like she was looking only at me. Yes, I am a theatre geek!
HE CAN KEEP "O BLA DEE, O BLA DA"
Michael Jackson is being sued by a financial company that helped refinance his $272 million debt to Bank of America and allowed him to buy the 50% of the Beatles catalog that he didn't already own. Prescient Acquisition Group is seeking $48 million from Jackson for breach of contract.
THE STORY OF JAWS - PART 25
Since I've already commented on the post "Jaws" careers of the cast and Steven Spielberg I thought I'd focus this week on some of the other behind the scenes talent. Composer John Williams won his second Academy Award for his score for "Jaws." He had previously won for his work on the song score for "Fiddler on the Roof," but this was his first award for his own music. Williams has earned an astonishing 43 Oscar nominations in his career, many times competing against himself in the best score category. He has also won for his scores of "Star Wars," "ET" and "Schindler's List." Director of Photography Bill Butler had another film out in 1975. That film was "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," and Butler earned an Academy Award nomination for that film. He has also photographed such films as "Grease," "Rocky II" and "Stripes." Helping Butler on "Jaws" was camera operator Michael Chapman, who became a successful cinematographer in his own right. He photographed "Taxi Driver," "The Lost Boys" and one of the funniest films ever made, "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid." He received Oscar nominations for his work on "Raging Bull" and "The Fugitive."
Well, that's 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.
