Although not as much news about Return of the King leaked out from Comiccon as I would have liked, ex-Eurythmics siren Annie Lennox has announced she’s singing on the “title” track (like Enya [“May it Be”] and Emiliana Torrini [“Gollum’s Song”] before her.) Well, I prefer this to the Liv Tyler song rumor that went around a few months back, even if that is a bit unfair (I’ve never heard Tyler sing.) Perhaps they’ll both make the final cut.
Month: July 2003
DeLay’s Dollars.
“Tom DeLay is the king of congressional influence-money. In DeLay’s world, the operating rule is you have to pay to play.” Democracy 21 takes a comprehensive look at the Exterminator’s money machine, and it ain’t pretty.
O Wife, Where Art Thou?
The first trailer for Intolerable Cruelty, starring George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Billy Bob Thornton, is now online. Doesn’t immediately look like my cup of tea, but the brothers Coen deserve the benefit of the doubt.
Avon Lives.
The original blueprint for Farscape, Blake’s 7 returns with a flash-intensive site and news of a possible mini-series. “As was the intention of the late Terry Nation, only Paul Darrow who played the character Avon will reprise his role, acting as a catalyst for a Rebellion Reborn. It is fair to say that all the original characters are dead and there are no plans for their resurrection.” Sure seemed like Avon died in the last episode twenty-two years ago, but I suppose he could’ve had a backup plan.
The Freefall continues.
“The president’s approval rating fell to 59%, its lowest level since March…Democrats had a 17-point advantage, 53%-36%, when poll respondents were asked which party would do a better job handling the economy. In January, the GOP had a 43%-42% edge.“
The Thick Red Line.
Only six years after The Thin Red Line, Terrence Malick readies his fourth film, Che, tentatively with Benicio Del Toro in the title role. (Expect voiceovers.) I just watched TTRL again the other night and was amazed once again how many people are in it. I remembered Jim Caviezel, John Cusack, Woody Harrelson, John Travolta, George Clooney, John C. Reilly, Ben Chaplin, Nick Nolte, Adrien Brody, Sean Penn, and Elias Koteas from the first go-round in the theater. But seeing it again this week, I now also noticed Tim Blake Nelson, Nick Stahl, Jared Leto, Matt Doran (Mouse from The Matrix), and Thomas Jane — plus Miranda Otto as Chaplin’s wayward wife on the homefront. I’d love to see the unreleased six-hour version someday (which, according to the credits, apparently also includes Viggo Mortensen, Mickey Rourke, Lukas Haas, Billy Bob Thornton, Bill Pullman, Jason Patric, Martin Sheen, Donal Logue, Randall Duk Kim [The Keymaker from Reloaded], and a full-on performance by Brody), even if it ends up being too much for one sitting.
Pressure Defense.
“When I hear that a professional athlete is being charged with rape, my first thought isn’t that he’s the victim. Nor do I immediately envision some sort of vexing vixen preying on poor unsuspecting millionaire athletes in a hotel lobby. No, my first thought is to fear that a horrible crime has occurred … and to hope that I’m wrong. And, yes, that’s my first thought no matter how well I ‘know’ the athlete — whether that athlete is a ‘thug’ like (fill-in-the-blank with your NBA bad boy of choice), or a ‘solid citizen’ like Ray Allen or Kobe Bryant.” I haven’t said much about the Kobe case around here, and that’ll probably continue — It looks like it’s already degenerating into an ugly he-said-she-said type of case, with Kobe’s lawyers trying their damnedest to destroy the accuser’s credibility. I will say this, though: I agree with this column about the borderline-misogynist way sportscasters have been covering the case so far, and, legal presumption of innocence aside, I for one do think he’s guilty. In his scripted television denial, Kobe couldn’t even look at the camera (or at anybody but down) when he twice proclaimed his innocence. This is not the body language of an innocent man.
Grief and Anger.
“President Bush made a comment a week ago, and he said ‘bring it on.’ Well, they brought it on, and now my nephew is dead.” (Via Looka.)
Armed and Dangerous.
Also released at Comicon this past weekend was the first look at Alfred Molina as Doc Ock in Spiderman 2. The trenchcoat’s a bit generic, perhaps, but at least they didn’t completely screw up the look as with Willem DeFoe’s Green Goblin. And I betcha Alfred Molina will be more fun than a barrel of monkeys to boot. His origin moment (previewed at Comicon) sounds like vintage Sam Raimi.
Indy Carnies (Carny Indies?)
This Modern Age plays Hipster Bingo at the Siren Music Festival on Coney Island. (Via Listen Missy.) I was there on Saturday too, and was kicking myself for not printing out a card. (I must say I also quite relished being at a beach and being well within the skin tone median – usually I’m the whitest guy for miles, but with indy rockers galore about I felt certifiably tan.) At any rate, the only acts I caught were Hot Hot Heat (interesting), The Datsuns (bleah), and Modest Mouse (ho hum) – I spent most of the time enjoying ancient amusement park technology and eating carny food. All in all, it was a beautiful day to enjoy a quintessential NYC summer attraction.