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Now in our eleventh calendar year!

PCR #535 (Vol. 11, No. 26). This edition is for the week of June 21--27, 2010.
Mike's RantMike's Bust
Hello gang! Some news and notes. Shall we begin?

MOVIE REVIEW
"Knight and Day"  by Mike Smith
RETRORAMA
Astro-Zombies M3: Cloned – Florida Premier  by ED Tucker
FANGRRL
FANGRRL Goes to the Florida Premiere of Astro-Zombies: M3: Cloned  by Lisa Scherer
THE ASIAN APERTURE
Tampa’s Natsumatsuri  by Jason Fetters
MIKE'S RANT
Passing On .... Movie Notes .... .... .... .... .... .... .... Mike's Record Shelf  by Mike Smith

PASSING ON
Sad to report that Ronald Neame, famed British filmmaker best remembered on these shores for "The Poseidon Adventure," passed away this week after suffering a fall. He was 98.

Born to a film director father and an actress mother, Neame began his career as an assistant cameraman on the Alfred Hitchcock directed film "Blackmail," which was the first talking picture made in England.

He began working as a cinematographer in the 1930s, photographing no less then 36 films in that decade, and in 1942 he shared a Best Special Effects Academy Award nomination with sound designer C.C. Stevens for the film "One of Our Aircraft is Missing." In 1944, Neame, director David Lean and producer Anthony Havelock-Allan formed a production company they called Cineguild. Neame wrote the screenplays for the films "Brief Encounter" and "Great Expectations," earning Best Screenplay Oscar nominations for both.

After a fall-out with Lean, Cineguild was disbanded and Neame turned to directing. He helmed such films as "The Horses Mouth," "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," "Scrooge," "The Poseidon Adventure," "The Odessa File" and "Hopscotch."

MOVIE NOTES
In what I really saw coming all along, it appears that Peter Jackson will direct the two upcoming "Hobbit" films. According to the site Deadline.com Jackson is in negotiations to take over the project. Last month it was announced that Guillermo del Toro had to leave the project due to schedule and budget constraints.

PIXAR co-founder John Lasseter will co-direct the upcoming "Cars 2: World Grand Prix," assisting first time director Brad Lewis.

20th Century Fox has optioned the rights to Ray Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles" for the big screen.

Director Wolfgang Petersen ("Das Boot," "Air Force One") is developing a film based on the popular Mattel toy Rock-em Sock-em Robots.









Album:
Schools Out by Alice Cooper

Soundtrack:
High Anxiety - Original Soundtrack Music - Composed by John Morris


Well we got no class
And we got no principles
And we got no innocence
We can't even think of a word that rhymes


Sorry, but that last line in the song "School's Out" always gets me.

Released in 1972, "School's Out" was Cooper's followup to his highly successful LP "Killers." The original version (featured here) has a gatefold cover that opens like a school desk. There are cardboard flaps on the back of the jacket that fold down like legs, supporting the album. The vinyl album itself is wrapped in a pair of panties (which I still have). Subsequent issues of the album had the panties removed because they weren't fire retardant. Odd. But very creative. Give a listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbNEOJMGFAo



Hard to believe but, in spite of his previous films having decent soundtracks and songs, this was the first time all of that music was made available. I surely can't remember ever seeing (nor can I find any mention on line) of a soundtrack for "The Producers" so I can only assume that Dr. Demento recorded "Springtime for Hitler" while watching the film. Featured here are "High Anxiety," "Springtime for Hitler" (from "The Producers"), From "The Twelve Chairs" we get "Hope for the Best, Expect the Worse. We also find the title song to "Blazing Saddles," as well as "I'm Tired" and "The French Mistake." And no Brooks compilation would be complete without the theme from "Young Frankenstein" as well as the Gene Wilder/Peter Boyle duet "Puttin' On the Ritz." Here are a few classics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K08akOt2kuo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-pmpgrYQgs


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



"Mike's Rant" is ©2010 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 ©2010 by Nolan B. Canova.