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Now in our sixth calendar year
PCR #285  (Vol. 6, No. 36) This edition is for the week of September 5--11, 2005.

LA FLORIDIANA
Doors Closing and Doors Opening: Part Three
  by William Moriaty
THIS WEEK'S MOVIE REVIEW
The End of Summer
  by Mike Smith
ODDSERVATIONS
Simple Minds, New Order CDs On The Way!..."Red Eye" Soars, "...Thunder" Blunder....Bob Denver Dies
  by Andy Lalino
MATT'S RAIL
Nolan And His Leg Up....Hurricane Bush....Hammer Horror Series DVD....Masters of Horror Update
 by Matt Drinnenberg
MIKE'S RANT
Aftermath....Please Donate....Our Little Buddy....Jaws: The Story, Part 32
 by Mike Smith
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Andy Lalino
Oddservations by Andy Lalino

Simple Minds, New Order CDs On The Way!
New Wave fans rejoice! Two classic bands have new material headed for store shelves: Simple Minds' "Black and White 050505" and New Order's "Waiting for the Siren's Call". NO were on VH1 Classic over the weekend promoting the new CD, which presumably debuted yesterday in the U.S. It was a real treat ingesting a parade of their music videos, but it would have been nice to see their current single, which I didn't catch. (Actually, New Order's "Waiting For The Siren's Call" came out a few months back, as noted in "Couch Potato Confessions", PCR #266. --N)

Hopefully, "Black and White 050505" will be a step up from SM's 2004 studio effort "Cry", which admittedly didn't thrill me. The first single is titled "Home". Despite being my favorite band of all time (when they're in top form, they're better than U2, and Bono knows it), they remain terribly inconsistent, with their heyday being '83-'85. In 1998 SM dazzled fans with their best album since "Sparkle in the Rain" entitled "Neapolis", and followed up with a catchy collection of cover tunes, "Neon Lights". I recommend both to all New Wavers.

The big question remains: will SM embark on a massive U.S. tour that includes Florida? I have my doubts. The last time the band visited Tampa Bay was in 1986 (that's nearly 20 years ago!) during the "Once Upon a Time" tour at the long-gone Curtis Hixon Hall in downtown Tampa. In fact, one may as well add SM to the list of British bands that have an aversion to the sunshine state: The Human League, Ultravox/Midge Ure, ABC/Martin Fry, and Marc Almond/Soft Cell (who is still recuperating from a London motorcycle accident). Annie Lennox/The Eurythmics and The Pet Shop Boys were once on the list, but have since made up for it.

Someone should tell these pasty Brits that they need Florida tans!

"Red Eye" Soars, "...Thunder" Blunder
Wes Craven's high-altitude thriller "Red Eye" continues to lure in patrons at the B.O., while Peter Hyam's interpretation of Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder" debuted at an embarrassing #17. I have a question for the Warner Brothers marketing dept: how does the print/poster image of a human hand with a butterfly in it going to entice me to see "A Sound of Thunder"? Hell, I didn't even know about it until the St. Pete. Times mentioned it last Wednesday. I think what we have here is a failure to communicate. Oh, I've heard it's likely a bad movie, though I'll reserve judgment until I see it.

I was a little surprised at the lackluster performance of "The Cave", which to me looked semi-interesting. The problem with "monster-on-the-loose" flicks is that you're unlikely to experience victims as good as "Alien" or "Aliens". Most horror films ("Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid", "Ghost Ship", "Deep Blue Sea", etc.) have casts and characters as forgettable as yesterday's lunch.

Bob Denver Dies
Fans of the '60s TV comedy "Gilligan's Island" (count me in) were distraught by the passing of Bob Denver, the spindly one himself. Denver succumbed to cancer, or rather complications treating it, on Sept. 2nd. Since the show's cancellation in 1967, it remains syndicated to this day, and is more beloved now than when it originally aired. Talk about the perfect actor for the role - could you ever picture anyone else as Gilligan? Denver also co-starred as beatnik Maynard G. Krebs in the popular series "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis".

For some reason, the St. Pete. Times wasted newsprint ink mentioning The Real Gilligan's Island, a "reality show" based on the original series. I guess they'll never learn that true fanboys are not impressed by lame efforts which attempt to pay homage to classic TV series, as if that's a high honor. 2005 is not the late '60s, therefore a disingenuous attempt at flattery is not welcomed, at least by this fanboy. In fact, we should take up a collection and pay off the network dub clerk who can slip in some magnets in the tape cases of all reality show time-wasters, thus wiping them out of existence once and for all.


"Oddservations" is ©2005 by Andy Lalino.  The Oddservations banner is a creation of Andy Lalino. All other graphics are creations of Nolan B. Canova.  All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2005 by Nolan B. Canova.