Reader Review
''Vanilla Sky''
Attention David Cronenberg fans - go see this movie. Today. I must admit, I
was skeptical about the film, owing a lot to the lukewarm and cold reviews
I had read about it, even with Cameron Crowe directing and Tom Cruise being
one of my favorite American actors (after his brilliant performance in
Magnolia), but I ended up leaving the theatre knowing I had seen one of top three
films of the year, easy.
I would divide the film into three sections, each blurring it's way into
the next. We meet David Aames (Cruise), a narcissistic, publishing heir who
is stuck with a corporate board his deceased father saddled him with.
Aames is convinced, rightly so, that the board is
spending their days trying to wrestle his controlling stake in the company
from him. Aames meets his once-in-a-lifetime love Sophia (played adequetly
by Penelope Cruz) at a party, also attended by his jealous "fuck buddy"
Julia (Cameron Diaz). After a night of soulmate, heart to heart bonding,
Cruise exits Sophia's and finds himself face to face with a stalking Julia.
An innocent car ride with Julia turns grisly, with Aames left terribly
disfigured. And this is where it starts melding with the second part.
Aames, and the audience, are propelled into a semi-dream state world where
the only grounding in reality seems to be that Cruise murdered Sophia,
loses his disfigurement via experimental surgery and is now confined to a
large room in a prison, being interviewed by a firm, but fatherly, Kurt
Russell. Russell's character is the one guidance I found myself relying on
to keep some cohesion in the movie. Don't read that as a detraction. The
confusion and plot twists are very enjoyable, but I did get concerned that
the movie was not going to wrap itself up in a satisfying way. Aames's
miraculous rebirth jolts the audience back and forth between reality and
his past in what plays out like a bad acid trip. Now comes the final part.
I won't spoil the ending, because it is absolutely fantastic. As I stated
before, this film is a must for any David Cronenberg fan (like myself),
because Crowe blends a celluloid canvas of Neo-film noir with shadowy
corporate intrigue and surreal, dreamlike locations with a conclusion
brought about by Cruise's and Russell's frantic search for the truth.
Vanilla Sky follows in the footsteps of similar mindfucks like Videodrome,
Altered States, or Jacobs Ladder - a satisfying mix of murder-mystery,
science fiction, and in a very strange way, love story.
~~ David Bellard
Thanks, David. Hope to see it soon.
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Started the evening watching MNF On Saturday Night on ABC, and all was well til Dennis Miller
started spewing his 'bush-man' rant. Didn't stick around for the rest of the game, could catch the score later
on the news.
KTLA was running 'Great Balls Of Fire', which seems to be a rather odd film...I've seen Jerry
Lee Lewis, and he was never anywhere near as cartoony as Dennis Quaid's portrayal.
PBS for LA, KCET had 'Lassie Come Home' with Roddy McDowall who (supposedly) had one of the
finest collections of celebrities caught in compromising situations.
Tonight, Sunday, CBS starts with '60 Minutes' (of course), but it runs an extra half-hour long tonight.
Following it is the movie 'Eraser', when Arnold 'protects' Vanessa Williams, mayhem ensues.
NBC has 2 back-to-back episodes of 'Lost' (who cares?), then reruns of 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent',
and 'UC: Undercover'.
ABC has the movie 'Jack' with Robin Williams, then reruns of 'Alias' and 'The Practice'.
The WB has reruns of 'Steve Harvey', 'Nikki', and 'Off Centre'. The last sitcom,
'Men, Women & Dogs' is not only fresh, but also the last of the 'first-run' episodes of this series.
Faux has nothing but reruns - 'Futurama', 'King Of The Hill', 'Simpsons', 'Malcolm' &
'X-Files'. Probably the same with most of the news that follows, too.
If you've ever wondered what the 'Scopes ''Monkey Trial''' was all about, 'Inherit The Wind' is on TCM.
KNBC (NBC 4 LA) has been advertising Trojan (brand) condoms on it's late, late night programming. Until tonight, that
is....in the 12:30 (am) break in SNL there was the Trojan commerical that I usually see during 'Conan' and
'SCTV'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Peculiar Link
Famous Self-Injurers
According to this site, what do Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Marilyn Manson, Shirley Manson,
and Christina Ricci (among others) have in common...
Famous Self-Injurers
Updated!
BartCop TV!
Visit the site at BC TV
The 'Vidiot' never seems to rest - and doesn't let little things like laundry or
housekeeping get in the way!
Damn near every show on TV must is listed - days & days worth of great reading.
If you have any questions about nearly any tv program, check out
BC TV!
Portraying Howard Cosell
Jon Voight
Critics have raved about Jon Voight's portrayal of Howard Cosell in the Muhammad Ali biopic ``Ali,''
and the role has earned him a Golden Globe nomination.
But Voight won't say whether he thinks he nailed his impersonation of the oft-impersonated sportscaster.
Voight said his transformation took about seven hours of makeup and prosthetics.
``Ali,'' starring Will Smith, set a new record for a Christmas Day debut, grossing $10.2 million.
Jon Voight
Taken At Noon on Sunday, Dec. 30, 2001
Sydney Harbor Bridge
The Sydney Harbor Bridge in Australia is barely visible at noon on Sunday, Dec. 30, 2001 as the entire city
of Sydney is engulfed in smoke from the bushfires that have been burning all over New South Wales for more than
a week. Many homes have been destroyed but so far no loss of human life has been reported.
Photo by Russell McPhedran
For The American Music Awards Participants
'Goodie Bags'
There's a nifty post-holiday gift basket awaiting Garth, Reba, Britney, Cher and other participants in next
month's American Music Awards.
The $5,000 worth of goodies include an electric scooter that goes up to 14 mph, a digital camera/camcorder,
a CD player, a video game system containing 76,000 games, Reebok athletic shoes, Fossil watches, an environmental
waterfall and an American flag blanket.
The American Music Awards duffel bags, as they are called, were assembled by Steve Stein of Hollywood
Connection. The Jan. 9 show at the Shrine Auditorium will be broadcast by ABC-TV.
The booty goes to winners and participants, more than 50 people, including Britney Spears, Cher, Sean ``P.
Diddy'' Combs, Jenny McCarthy, 'N Sync, Garth Brooks, Kid Rock, Rob Lowe, Alicia Keys, the Backstreet Boys,
Luther Vandross, Lenny Kravitz, Usher, Reba McEntire and LeAnn Rimes.
American Music Awards 'Goodie Bags'
``Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge''
Cheech Marin
Cheech Marin made a name portraying a hapless pothead from the Hispanic barrios, and now he's using the fruits of that
celebrity to promote the visions of Mexican-American artists.
Marin is the driving force behind ``Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge,'' which opened this month at the
San Antonio Museum of Art.
He says Chicanos have long contributed quietly to America's cultural identity, and the evidence of that is becoming more
obvious through the work of its artists.
Marin rose to fame in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside longtime partner Tommy Chong in several film
comedies about their characters' pot-smoking exploits. He went on to star in the hit CBS series ``Nash Bridges,''
while pursuing an extensive art collection. He provided many of the paintings on display.
The 80 works by more than two dozen artists date back to the early 1970s and cover a range of styles and
influences - some are crudely primitive, others sparely abstract, and still more employ an almost photographic realism.
``This show posits that the influence of Latino culture is not a sidelight - it's one that's a main thread
in our (national) fabric,'' he said. ``The whole idea of the show is to break it out of the Southwest
and into all parts of the country.''
Cheech Marin & His Art Collection
San Antonio Museum of Art
Special To Re-Air, With Britney Added This Time
Michael Jackson
Though Michael Jackson won't perform at the American Music Awards in early January after all, he'll still be performing on
television that same night on another network. CBS plans to re-broadcast the singer's concert special, "Michael Jackson:
30th Anniversary Celebration," with previously unseen footage of Britney Spears and Lil' Romeo, to air against the AMAs on ABC January 9th.
Jackson's two-hour concert special, which originally aired November 13th, gave CBS some of its highest ratings
this year - it was the network's biggest Tuesday night, excluding sports programming, since 1994. According to Nielsen
Media Research estimates, an estimated 45 million people watched all or part of the special, making "Michael Jackson:
30th Anniversary Celebration" one of the highest-rated musical specials in television history. (MTV's parent company,
Viacom, also owns CBS).
A spokesperson for CBS admits that it is rare for the network to re-broadcast such an event,
but said the decision to do so was made in early December, at least two weeks prior to television personality/producer Dick Clark
filing a lawsuit that charged Jackson had dropped out of his awards special so that he wouldn't be prevented from
performing at AMA's rival awards show, the Grammys (also airing on CBS).
"Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration" airs on CBS on January 9 at 9 p.m.
Reruning Michael Jackson's 30th
New!
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Hong Kong Disneyland
Feng Shui
When it opens in 2005, Hong Kong Disneyland may be the Most Harmonious Place on Earth.
That's because the 310-acre park will be constructed according to the ancient principles of feng shui, the Chinese system of arranging
buildings and furniture in harmony with natural elements.
Doorways will be aligned so that no sharp objects point at them. Rocks and pools of water will be added to the park, which is being
built to resemble Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., dubbed by Disney the Happiest Place on Earth.
More American theme park companies are looking abroad for growth. Just this year, Universal Studios opened a theme park in Osaka,
Japan, and Disney opened Tokyo DisneySea. Next year, Disney is opening a second park outside Paris, Walt Disney Studios, and Six
Flags is opening a Warner Bros. Movie World park in Madrid.
For Hong Kong Disneyland, company officials consulted a feng shui master on the design. Feng shui followers
believe the environment is crowded with invisible energy lines that carry with them either harmony or discord,
health or sickness, success or misfortune.
While 95 percent of the design was already feng shui-compliant, the master recommended an extra courtyard be
built with access to rocks and a small pond, said Wing Chao, executive vice president of Walt Disney Imagineering.
Even the park's location has good feng shui: It is situated between a hill shaped like a white tiger and another
hill resembling a dragon.
"It's a very prosperous and fortunate site," Chao said.
Feng Shui For Hong Kong Disneyland
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feather Bowling
Pam & Bob
Rap-rock bad boy Kid Rock continues to be bowled over by actress-model Pamela Anderson.
The couple spent Wednesady night with about two dozen friends and relatives at Bath City Bistro,
eating and feather bowling.
The game, which entails rolling wooden discs as close as possible to a feather stuck in the ground,
is a favorite of Kid Rock's family.
``When they were leaving, we asked if we could take her picture and Pamela said, 'No way, I look awful tonight,'
and I told her, you are so beautiful,'' said waitress Heidi Buchman.
Kid Rock
Postpones 3 Weekend Concerts
Barry's Bronchitis
Severe bronchitis forced singer Barry Manilow to postpone three weekend concerts but his publicist said
his New Year's Eve show will go on as scheduled.
"He's had bronchitis all week long and had hoped it would get better, but it didn't," Carol Stone Marshall
said. "All tickets will be honored next week."
Manilow's doctor has ordered "mandatory silence for a few more days," Marshall said. All 3,500 tickets for
shows Friday, Saturday and Sunday had been sold, she said.
The Monday night show will be the 55-year-old Manilow's debut concert at the $90 million Kodak Theatre, which
opened in November. The theater will be the permanent home of the Academy Awards.
Barry's Bronchitis
Wedding News
Rowling - Murray Nuptials
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has married her boyfriend at their home in Scotland, her spokeswoman said Saturday.
The wildly successful writer married Dr. Neil Murray, an anesthetist, on Dec. 26, in a private ceremony.
``J.K. Rowling and Neil Murray were married privately on Dec. 26 at their house in Perthshire,'' Nicky Stonehill
said. ``Their immediate family attended the wedding.''
Rowling and Murray met in Edinburgh, Scotland a little more than a year ago. Her first marriage ended in divorce
and it was as a single mother, bringing up daughter Jessica, that Rowling began to write the best-selling books in Edinburgh.
Rowling - Murray Nuptials
Liberal Radio !
Erin Hart
Liberal radio - what a concept!
Join Erin Hart and celebrate the Year in Review tonight, at nearly regulation time -
10 pm to 1 am [pst] at www.710kiro.com or www.kiro710.com (It's
a browser thing).
And don't forget about the chatroom!
For more details, visit Erin's homepage, http://www.erinistas.com/.
Say 'Hi' to Brian, the Webmaster, and, while you're there, check out his computer tips!
New Words For The Dictionary
Gearheads & Noogies
Gearheads and hotties now have an official place in the English language, and the wordsmiths at Merriam-Webster
don't mind if they shake their booties or give each other noogies.
Those slang terms - for the technology obsessed, physically attractive, buttocks and annoying knuckle rubs
on the head - have been added to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary Tenth Edition.
"These are words that have been in use for a long time," said Merriam-Webster spokesman Arthur Bicknell.
"To get into the dictionary, a new word must first appear in a number of reputable sources. Then we need
evidence that its been assimilated into our language."
The 215,000-word Collegiate gets about 100 new entries each year.
New Words For The Dictionary
Holiday Travels
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey may be losing her $100 million record deal with Virgin, as first reported in November, but she
isn't fretting. Carey, her family and her now on-again boyfriend Luis Miguel, spent Christmas in Aspen, where
she tried snowboarding. "She kept falling flat on her face over and over again,". But Carey soothed
her wounds with Miguel's help. We hear the two, who had a suite at the St. Regis Aspen, "re-pledged their love"
over $2,500 worth of Veueve Clicquot and red wine at the Caribou Club. The lovebirds are flying to Barbados for New Year's.
Mariah Carey
New! Updated!
(10 Dec., 2001)
The official BartCop Astrologer, Geneva, has done good, again!
Very interesting reading!
Michelle Pfeiffer & Sean Penn
''I Am Sam''
Michelle Pfeiffer's lawyer character in ``I Am Sam'' initially was to become romantically involved with Sean
Penn's character, a mentally retarded father whom she represents in a custody battle for his 7-year-old daughter.
``At some point, the filmmakers realized that was a line that couldn't be crossed,'' Pfeiffer said. ``There
actually was more of a sort of implication that it became more romantic, and that was cut from the movie.''
``I Am Sam'' opened Friday in New York and Los Angeles and expands nationwide on Jan. 11.
''I Am Sam''
80th Anniversary In Show Business
Mooney Rooney
On New Year's Eve, Mickey Rooney will begin his 80th year as a performer by doing what he has done all his life- entertaining.
The star of the Andy Hardy movies and musicals with Judy Garland will appear at the Palm Springs Hilton with
his wife Jan in a song, dance and reminiscence show they have been doing across the country. The gala is a benefit
for the Palm Springs-based National Jazz Hall of Fame.
In an interview Sunday at his lakeside home northwest of Los Angeles, Rooney, 81, told of his debut at Chicago's
Haymarket Theater, a burlesque house where his father, Joe Yule, worked as a comic and his mother, Nell, danced in the chorus.
"My father was doing what they called the bootblack scene at a shoeshine stand," said Rooney, who was born Joe
Yule Jr. "I was 17 months old, and I crawled out on the stage on my hands and knees. I got back, but I sneezed
because of rosin on the stage. My father went out and grabbed me and brought me before the audience. My father
asked, 'What were you doing back there, Sonny?' I said, (baby talk) 'I wanted to see what it was like.'"
Yule urged the infant to play a three-note harmonica on a string around his neck. "The audience just roared,"
said Rooney. "One of the guys said, 'Let's keep the kid in the act, Joe.'"
He became the star of his parents' vaudeville act and began the travels that took him to Hollywood, where he was
hailed the No. 1 box-office star from 1939 to 1941.
Mickey Rooney
The ``Hogwarts Express''
Copyright Problems
Film studio Warner Bros has blocked plans to turn the steam train in the Harry Potter movie into a tourist attraction,
according to the station storing the locomotive.
The ``Hogwarts Express,'' which whisks Harry Potter to his school of wizardry in the blockbuster film, is currently kept
in a locked shed at Carnforth Station, northwest England.
The station is keen to put it on display, but it says Warner, which produced ``Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone,''
has threatened to sue if it uses the Harry Potter name.
Warner Bros. was not immediately available for comment, but the Guardian newspaper quoted a spokesman as saying
the Hogwarts Express nameplate could not be used for copyright reasons.
''Hogwarts Express''
BC Entertainment Favorite Link
Moose & Squirrel Information One-Stop
http://geocities.com/mooseandsquirrel1
What a great site! Information and reference materials of the first order!
Between 'Moose & Squirrel' and 'Google', who needs 'refdesk'!
Stopping Traffic In Austin
Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson, on horseback, stopped traffic in Texas' capital city on Friday.
One of the city's main roads, Congress Avenue, was closed partially for most of the day to allow the country
singer to film a video for a song he recorded with Lee Ann Womack.
Nelson wore a black leather coat and a black cowboy hat. With his trademark long hair, unbraided, blowing in the
wind, he waved to cheering fans between takes.
Willie Stopping Traffic In Austin
Best Seller - In Iraq
''The Fortified Castle''
A new novel just published in Iraq, combining romance and Iraqi politics after the Gulf War, is widely believed
to be the second book written by President Saddam Hussein.
Al-Qala'ah al-Hasinah (''The Fortified Castle'') appeared this week in bookshops and all public libraries in
Baghdad and was hailed on state-run television and by the newspaper al-Jumhouriya as a ``great artistic work.''
The cover gives no clue to the writer's identity, saying cryptically that it is a ``novel by its author,'' while
a note inside explains that the writer ``did not wish to put his name on it out of humility and modesty.''
But the official press has been heavily promoting the 713-page paperback, which sells at 4,000 Iraqi dinars
(1.25 pounds), and rave reviews in the Iraqi media, which called it an ``innovation which nobody has managed
to achieve during the past century,'' leave little doubt as to its authorship.
An opening paragraph that reads: ``The novel is a trip in the world of struggle and virtue and a fight against
injustice,'' makes it reasonably certain that the style is Saddam's.
If the novel is Saddam's it is his second after ``Zabibah wal Malik'' (Zabibah and the King) which was published
late last year to equally rapturous reviews.
saddam's novel
Rose Parade Float
Madalenna Lai
In the years since Madalenna Lai boarded a wooden boat and fled communist-led Vietnam, she has wanted
to say "thank you" to the Americans who helped her build a new life in the United States.
On New Year's Day, she will get her wish in one of the country's most-watched events, the Tournament of Roses Parade.
It has taken eight years, and she had to sell her house to raise the $100,000 to do it, but when the
parade's 52 floats start through Pasadena, Lai's will be among them.
Her 35-foot long, 18-feet wide float will carry a simple message: "Thank you America and the world."
Aboard the float, "Lac viet," a mystical bird, rises from the bow of a boat much like those that
carried thousands of Vietnamese away from their war ravaged country. Other ramshackle boats rest
beneath, decorated with yellow straw flower, seeds, rice, walnut shells, mums and roses.
Lai, 59, said she has wanted to enter a float since she first saw the parade on television in 1977.
As she worked on her plans for the Rose parade float, though, tougher economic times sent business at her
beauty salons down. She had little time to raise money, so she sold her house to raise the $100,000 fee
to have the float designed and built.
"We have children, we can always live in their houses," Lai's husband said of the decision to sell the home.
But they didn't have to - their youngest daughter, Trang Thu Nguyen, bought them a house in Pomona.
Madalenna Lai
www.tournamentofroses.com/
Looking For The Promised 'Killer' Anna Kournikova Picture?
Courtesy Of Larry?
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"Boondocks" (9 Oct 01)
Still MISSING
Marc Chagall's "Study for 'Over Vitebsk'"
