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PCR #282. (Vol. 6, No. 33) This edition is for the week of August 15--21, 2005.
Mike's RantMike's Bust
Hello, gang! Thanks to service provider gremlins it's a short one this week. So let's not waste anymore time. Shall we begin?

LA FLORIDIANA
Doors Closing and Doors Opening: Part One
 by William Moriaty
THIS WEEK'S MOVIE REVIEW
"The 40 Year-Old Virgin"
 by Mike Smith
ODDSERVATIONS
Is Horror at a Turning Point?...Happy 50th
 by Andy Lalino
ASIAN FILM UPDATE
Changing Tastes Puts Column on Hiatus
 by Peter Card
MATT'S RAIL
Birthday Bash....King Kong DVD Update....Go Bucs
 by Matt Drinnenberg
MIKE'S RANT
Birthday Revisited....Get Me Clive Owen....Gas Pains....Jaws: The Story, Part 30
 by Mike Smith
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BIRTHDAY REVISITED
I would like to note that I called Nolan last Saturday and wished him a Happy 50th. Don't want anyone thinking his out of state pals forgot him! Wish I could have been there. Next year we'll do it up right!

GET ME CLIVE OWEN
With a simple phone call Pierce Brosnan learned that he would not be playing James Bond for a fifth time. Brosnan told Entertainment Weekly magazine that he was in negotiations to play 007 when the producers informed him that he was no longer being considered. Sad. I was working for the advertising agency that represented MGM in 1986 when it was announced that Brosnan had been chosen to play Bond. In fact, I still have the fax that was sent out. Of course, the evil NBC used the publicity from the announcement and forced Brosnan into one more season of the presumably cancelled "Remington Steele." The role went to the very serious Timothy Dalton. It was almost 10 years before Brosnan appeared as Bond in "Goldeneye."

GAS PAINS
When I filled up my car this past Sunday for the week ahead, gas here in Kansas was $2.35 a gallon. Today, as I write this, it is now considered CHEAP if you can find it for less then $2.65 a gallon. What the hell is going on? I've never understood how the oil companies work. The price of a barrel of oil goes up and within hours the price goes up at the local station. WHY? The oil they just bought won't be gas for quite a while. Why should the gas they ALREADY bought cheaper and have on hand cost more then it did the day before. And why, like this week, when the price of a gallon of oil goes down, doesn't the price at the pumps go down? I'd ask President Bush to talk to his Saudi buddies but he's too busy ducking a grieving mother to talk to me. How hard could it be? He and his Saudi pal walk hand in hand and Bush tells him, "Ya know, my dad and his pals have made enough money this year. How about cutting my countrymen a break?" I can hear Shiek Who-ever laughing out loud already: "Oh, George, you are such a kidder!" (Hear! Hear! Around Tampa, gas prices are expected to be $3.00 a gallon by Labor Day before a rollback is even considered. --Nolan)

THE STORY OF JAWS: PART 30
In the next couple of weeks, I'll highlight the various films that tried to capitalize on the success of "JAWS." First up, "Orca:" Released for Christmas 1977, "Orca" starred Richard Harris, Charlotte Rampling and Will Sampson. The story: Boat captain Harris, attempting to harpoon a male killer whale, accidentally spears Mrs. Whale. While being lifted from the water Mrs. Whale decides to abort her little baby whale. Seeing all this, the male makes a mental note to follow Harris and his boat, the Bumpo(?), to the arctic and gain his revenge. Sound like crap? It should, because it is. Terrible acting and an arctic setting that looks like it was filmed during off days on the "Superman the Movie" set are only a few of the problems this film has. And what is it with these revenge seeking creatures. I wonder if this whale was related to the shark that followed Ellen Brody all over the world in "Jaws the Revenge?" Harris and Rampling deserved so much better then to be in this crap. Sampson, who gained fame for playing the Chief in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," would later team up with Charles Bronson in the "Jaws" inspired "White Buffalo." Yes, revenge has taken over a giant buffalo. Honest! The highlight of "Orca" is when a young and then unknown Bo Derek has her leg bitten off by the whale. Of course, the whale had to rise up out of the ocean, fly approximately 50 feet straight up, and then ever so lightly chomp down on Bo's leg. I was working at the Twin Bays 4 theatre when the film opened at our competition, the Britton Plaza (Both in Tampa.---N). I can remember sitting in the office joking with my assistant manager who was doing the recording for the weekend's films. Thinking the recording had ended, callers heard he and I giggling about the film, announcing "and now playing across the parking lot: Orca, the fucking killer whale!" It wasn't until late Friday night that someone notified us about the message!

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.