THE ICS FILES


The Official Newsletter of The Imaginative Cinema Society *The love of many, the work of a few....*

April 2005 #75

CLUB NEWS
JUST READ ALL THE CLUB NEWS!

TV NEWS
What is happening with our faves

MOVIE NEWS
The hottest news out on ICS genre films

DANA’s DELVINGS
A Review from the eyes of an ICS member

MUST SEE MOVIES
Movies for Aprill

DVD NEWS
What to watch late at night

FAREWELLS
Old friends, now gone

THE LAST WARD
From ICS member John Ward

ICS CALENDER
Put this up on the Fridge!

Editor-Betsy Childs
Staff Writers- Regina Vallerani, Andrew Kent John Ward
Dava Sentz, Mike Laird, Joe Plempel, Gary Roberson, Charles Wittig
Taylor Sherblom Woodward, Jim Childs, Jeanne Matcovich, Mike Schilling

ICSClubnewsClubnews All About Us ClubnewsClubnewsICS

THE BIPOLAR GEEK GENIUS
It was our second consecutive month of presenters awarding prizes related to their topic, but this time, knowledge, not luck, was the key.
Donna Burke began our evening of Quentin Tarantino Films with a biography of the man himself. He began as a humble clerk in a video store, where he was able to indulge his love of films during business hours (often to his boss’s chagrin as QT liked to put rather inappropriate films on the store’s screens). He caught his first big break when Harvey Keitel saw the script for RESERVOIR DOGS. Near that time, he also got his scripts for TRUE ROMANCE and NATURAL BORN KILLERS made into films by other directors. At the time, he was hoping to direct TRUE ROMANCE, but he was yet not a big enough name. All of that changed with a little film called PULP FICTION. And from there, we all know the rest of story.
Some things to look for in Tarantino Films? Mexican Standoffs, Red Apple Cigarettes (because he hates product placements), a character named Scagnetti and Chevys. He also claims that Danny Bonaduce saved his life – whilst in a ‘Quentin Detest Fest’ episode of suicidal depression, he caught an episode of THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY – it was so funny, it inspired him to continue living.
But, on to the prizes. Donna first devised a quiz to list character names for Quentin’s most used actors (i.e. David Carradine was “Bill” in KILL BILL VOLS 1 & 2). Most of us looked at the quiz and gave up almost immediately… All of us except for Mr. Oscar Pool himself, John Ward, who answered 99% correctly and walked away with a T-Shirt like the one worn by John Travolta in PULP FICTION.
Excellent job on the presentation, Donna!   We hope you sign up again sometime before 2010!!

RESERVOIR ZIP
The club voted and RESERVOIR DOGS, the film which put Tarantino on the map, was the winner. The film is your basic double-cross heist revenge film, but with lots of pop-culture references, even more blood and violence and enough salty language to stop all the monsters in THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH! But, QT himself was very proud of making a film with such extremes.

THE HOTEL QUADRILOGY
As an extra bonus feature, we screened the last segment of the anthology film, FOUR ROOMS with Tim Roth channeling Jerry Lewis as a bellhop. The segment was THE MAN FROM HOLLYWOOD directed by our subject du jour, Mr. Tarantino. To quote an IMDB reviewer: “This part of the movie, with its ridiculous premise (lifted from an old Hitchcock episode, which it acknowledges out loud), moves along speedily, and the actors take to it as naturally as any other movies by Q.T. Basically playing himself, Tarantino is hilarious. If anything, he knows A) how people really act when they're drunk (i.e. not like Dudley Moore caricatures) B) why people think he's so obnoxious, like a real-life, fast-talking Jar Jar Binks and C) how to put some bang in his visual storytelling. It's low-rent Tarantino, don't get me wrong, but it's also the best part of FOUR ROOMS”. Well said – and another film to check out in it’s entirety.

AMENDMENT GOT PRESENTMENT AND APPROV-A-MEND-MENT
For the business part of our meeting, we voted on an amendment to the ICS constitution. Our club's been blessed with a mostly harmonious membership. This amendment will help to assure that we stay that way. We've given the Board a formal set of tools to respond to disruptive behaviour. Should a disciplined person want to take legal action against the ICS, we have a written procedure and documentation to justify why we acted on their behavior.  The amendment was unanimously approved and will go into the books as follows:

DISCIPLINARY ACTION
The Imaginative Cinema Society exists to promote fellowship among those interested in film. If the Board should find that a member’s behavior significantly violates the spirit of fellowship and unity, the Board of Directors may take any of the following measures:
VERBAL WARNING: Warn the member to correct their behavior.
WRITTEN WARNING: The warning may be transmitted by conventional mail, electronic mail or fax.
EXPULSION: The person’s membership would be permanently revoked. The e expelled member would be asked not to attend any further ICS functions or to participate on our web forum. The ICS will refund the former member’s prorated d dues.

SPECIAL JULY GUEST! PHD ZOMBIE EXPERT AND AUTHOR!
On July 30th we have a special guest presenter. We have Dr. Peter Dendle, an Associate Professor of English from Penn State’s Mont Alto campus. According to the university’s catalogue, Dr. Dendle’s fields are Old English language and literature, World Folklore and Zombie Movies and Literature. Dr. Dendle is the author of the work that’s considered to be the definitive work on undead movies – The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia. He will discuss zombie films from the early WHITE ZOMBIE days to current films like 28 DAYS LATER and DAWN OF THE DEAD 2004. The presentation couldn’t come at a better time being that Romero’s LAND OF THE DEAD is due to be released in October 2005.
And I can’t go on without thanking John Clayton for volunteering to move his July movie night to December so we could host Dr. Dendle (prompting another big thanks to John Ward for giving his December night to John C.) – Thanks, Johns, and thanks Dave Willard for lassoing Dr. Dendle.

THE LIVING DEAD AND THE DOMINO EFFECT
Now, how many of us can handle two zombie months in a row? Why do I only see 5 hands raised? To prevent Zombie Overload, on June 25th, we will have another change. Andrew Kent, who was going to be presenting an evening of Zombie films will now be offering an evening of Jackie Chan. More info to come later.
And one more thing… Our annual Pizza Night, usually held in July, will be moved ahead to August, so we will have two special summer meetings instead of just one.

TSUNAMI RELIEF - $59 IN THE MARCH KITTY!!! THANKS!!!
The ICS is having a pledge drive from now until May to collect funds to donate to the Save The Children Tsunami relief charity. There will be a cigar box at the April and May meetings where donations may be dropped. We are accepting checks made out to “Save the Children” (put "Tsunami Relief" in the memo line). Your cancelled check is your receipt if you want to include it as a 2005 charitable donation.   Save the Children told us that they will also try to send individual receipts to those who send checks. We are also accepting cash in the cigar box and paypal over the net (to ICSFILM@HOTMAIL.COM). Regina can provide a receipt for any cash or paypal donations, but we do not know if the IRS will accept an ICS receipt as proof of a charitable donation.
If you’d like to donate, but cannot attend a meeting, please send checks payable to “Save the Children”/memo line “Tsunami Relief” to:
Regina Vallerani
1 E Chase St Apt 405
Baltimore, MD 21202
We will hold all donations until after the May meeting. Then, we will bundle your individual checks and write a check from the ICS checking acct for cash/paypal donations and send them to Save the Children on behalf of ICS.
Joe Plempel has generously agreed to match up to $1000 of funds donated by club members. Thanks, Joe!   To date, we have collected $59, make that $118, for the charity. Thanks Everyone!

HORRORFIND
We are going to participate in the Horrorfind convention from August 19-21. We'll need folks to staff the table. We will be passing out a list to see who’s interested in helping out and who can confirm to a time.
We will also be collecting movies to sell at Horrorfind. No books or collectible figures or toys, please. Those items are harder to sell and take up more space. Again, MOVIES ONLY please.

NEWS OF OUR NEXT MEETING
Our next meeting will be held on Saturday April 30th at 5:30 P.M. at the church hall behind the Perry Hall Presbyterian Church located at 8848 BelAir Road. Take Baltimore Beltway exit 32 north on Belair Road. Turn left onto Joppa Road. Immediately past the miniature golf course turn left into the parking lot. If you miss it there are ample turn-around opportunities. If you get stuck call 443-570-6455. That's Dave Willard’s cell phone. He'll talk you in.

THE DOCTOR IS IN
And since it’s Dr. Jekyll and not Dr. Who, let’s hope he doesn’t make house calls (although when Dr. Who shows up, you know there’s gonna be trouble, so scratch that). Dave Henderson is taking the reigns this time around and may have a surprise or two up his sleeve. Be there or be square!

THAI TO TAY AWAKE
For our April late night show!! It’s ONG-BAK, a Thai martial arts film advertised as “No stunt doubles, no computer images, no strings attached.” The Plot: When the head of Ong-Bak, the sacred Buddha of a poor village is stolen, the population is plunged into misery. The Buddha was the focal point of an anniversary vigil believed to bring rain to the drought-stricken area. Young Ting is selected by the villagers to travel to Bangkok and rescue the relic in time for their ceremony. Ting has an affinity with the statue as he was left on the temple steps as a baby and raised by monks, who taught him muay thai, but forbade him to use it in combat. But now he is forced to delve into a seedy underworld and try to avoid temptation. The film was released theatrically earlier this year and Steve Vaught has a copy for us.

AND EVEN FURTHER AHEAD
On May 21st, Barry Murphy attempts to answer the question, “Are They ICS-Worthy?” and we can finally figure out what that darn poll (you know, the poll that did NOT include MYSTICS IN BALI) was all about! PLEASE NOTE THAT THE MAY MEETING IS NOT THE LAST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH.

2006 CALENDAR NEWS
For 2006, we are trying a new approach with the Calendar theme – call it Pot Luck. The months and front and back covers are for sale to members for a fee. If you decide to purchase a month, you must provide a movie still by the August meeting (nothing objectionable please – some calendars are kept in places where young, impressionable children can see them). You will get credit on the calendar for that month. The Front Cover, and months March, June, September and December are $15 and are color months. The back cover and remaining months are $10 each and will be printed in black and white. Here is the current month status:
   JANUARY Dave Willard
   FEBRUARY John Ward
   MARCH Steve Vaught
   APRIL open
   MAY   open
   JUNE   Lisa Schilling
   JULY   open
   AUGUST open
   SEPTEMBER Andrew Kent
   OCTOBER Regina Vallerani
   NOVEMBER Jim & Betsy Childs
   DECEMBER Masked Auctioneer & Minimum Bid Kid
   BACK COVER Sue Feder

YOUR LAST ICS FILES???
It’s time to renew your dues if you haven’t already. The Cost is $25 per person or $40 per couple. Family memberships are available at $25 for the initial family member and $15 each for the second to nth family member. Unfortunately, unless you renew now, this will be last ICS Files.
Dues can be paid in one of the following 3 ways:
Cash or Check to Regina at a meeting
Mail a check to Regina at:
REGINA VALLERANI
1 E CHASE ST APT 405
BALTIMORE, MD 21202
Via Paypal to ICSFILM@HOTMAIL.COM. There is a Paypal link from the ICS Website (WWW.ICSFILM.NET).

This is the list of people who have paid their dues. If you have paid your dues, but are not on this list, please contact Regina at RVALLER107@HOTMAIL.COM to correct the omission.

Rick Arnold
Joe Auslander
Donna Burke
Betsy Childs
Jim Childs
Linda Conrad
Suzanne Cooper
David Dellman
Sam DiBlasi
Troy Farwell
Sue Feder
Heather Fleming
Tim Fleming
Diane Gervasio
Peggy Gervasio
Ralph Gervasio
Dave Henderson
Andrew Kent
Kelly Klein
Mitch Klein
Mike Laird
Jeanne Matcovich
Barry Murphy
Tom Noll
Robert Ostrosky
Skip Phillips
Joe Plempel
Norman Prentiss
Justin Proveaux
Tom Proveaux
Rick Rieve
Gary Roberson
Ruth Roberson
Lisa Schilling
Mike Schilling
Dava Sentz
Sue Ellen Sherblom
Blake Sherblom-Woodward
Taylor Sherblom-Woodward
Richard Smith
Courtney Spies
Jack Tydings
Regina Vallerani
Teeka Vallerani
Beth Vaught
Steve Vaught
Neil Wagenfer
John Ward
John (son) Ward
John Weber
Dave Willard
Charles Wittig
Tom Woodward

A Special SNEAK PREVIEW from Dave ‘Hendo’ Henderson

   I know the calendar says April’s topic will be Hammer Frankensteins presented by Skip Phillips. There’s been a bit of a change- Skip can’t make it, so his presentation will be next April. So you’re going to be treated to my presentation- “The Doctor is In – Jekyll & Hyde in the Movies”.
   Use the words “Jekyll and Hyde” to refer to someone, and odds are everybody will know your meaning. Even if they have never read Robert Lewis Stevenson’s novella, even if they have never seen a single film adaptation of Stevenson’s “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde”, they will probably know what you mean. That you are referring to a person who shows opposite personalities at different times.
   Stevenson wrote his novella in 1886. Actually he wrote it twice, a second time after his wife trashed his first version. Stevenson, like many Victorians, was fascinated by the concept of good and evil that reside in a single person. Men like Freud were exploring the many facets of a person- leading to Freud’s famous concept of the Id, the Ego, and the Super Ego.
   Stevenson got the inspiration from a dream that he had. He used the idea of science and medicine as a means of splitting the good from the evil, having his Dr. Jekyll concoct a potion that could release his bestial side. Unfortunately in the long run, the drug began to need to be increased in potency in order to sluff his Hyde self. Worse, he started turning into Mr. Hyde without the drug. His evil self was asserting itself over his good side.
   Stevenson’s story was a big hit. It was made into a stage play about two years after publication. In the play Hyde stalks London in evening dress and top hat. In 1888, when Jack the Ripper made his appearance, this depiction of Hyde started to merge into the popular image of the Ripper, too.
   Stevenson’s idea of good vs. evil in one person manifested itself in many forms and many media. For example, Batman creater Bob Kane admitted that the Jekyll/Hyde scenario was his inspiration for the criminal Two-Face. One can also see this concept in The Hulk. The notion was also picked up in the movie “Forbidden Planet”, where Dr. Morbius’s Id is given form and substance to carry out his primitive rages.
   Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde has been adapted numerous times. Sometimes the idea is a straight adaptation. Sometimes the idea is a twist on the theme. In all cases, the underlying premise, the struggle of one side to assert itself, has been the paramount driver for the story.

The movies for the night will be:
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde: featuring Frederick March. Considered the “classic” version, March won an Oscar for his portrayal. The only annoying thing is that they call him “Gee-Kul” instead of “Jek-ill”. March’s Hyde is a true neanderthal, who gets uglier and meaner with each transformation.

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde: featuring Spencer Tracey. Tracey is one of my favorite actors. He was miscast in this film. Using a minimum amount of makeup, Tracey just doesn’t work.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde: featuring Jack Palance. A well done version by Dan Curtis, the master of the Gothic Afternoon Soap Opera Dark Shadows. Shown on TV in the 70s, it did so well that Curtis hired Palance to play Dracula in his version of Stoker's story.
I, Monster- a rare gem from Amicus Studios. Amicus was a low(er) budget studio version of Hammer, that often borrowed Peter Cushing and Chris Lee for their movies. Nowhere near as polished as Hammer, I was amazed to find this movie was actually out in DVD. For some reason, the names are changed to Dr. Marlowe and Mr. Blake. Go figure.

Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde: Speaking of Hammer, they made a few movies based on Stevenson’s novella. This is probably the most well known adaptation, featuring Ralph Bates and Martine Beswick. Done by Brian Clemens (of Avengers fame), it is a step above the usual Hammer fare. Instead of turning into an evil man, Jekyll turns into an evil woman, superbly played by Beswick.

Mary Reilly: A fairly recent version of J&H, told from the point of view of a servant inside Jekyll’s household (Julia Roberts). John Malkovich plays an older bearded Dr. Jekyll whose potion makes him a younger, clean shaven, and attractive Hyde.

Dr. Jekyll & Ms. Hyde: Another variation of the man into woman theme, with Tim Daly and Sean Young. This is played more as a comedy, and not a very funny one (IMHO). Ms. Hyde is not evil- but she is a schemer, and she wants to be the top dog at the company Jekyll works at. But that means getting rid of Jekyll- permanently.

So there you have April’s cornucopia of movie selections that you will be voting on. In fact, just email me your votes so that I only have to bring in one DVD! Just kidding- it’d be silly to vote in advance for a movie, since the people who are actually there should do the voting. So I hope you’ll show up for my presentation on ---
The Movies of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.

tv news tv news tv news the glass teat tv news tv news tv news

GOYER CROSSES THRESHOLD
   David Goyer, who co-created the CBS SF television pilot THRESHOLD for CBS, said that the show's premise involves a new kind of alien invasion. "It's an interesting one-liner," Goyer said. "It has to do with an alien invasion, but you never see the aliens. It's a very novel approach to an alien invasion story, because they're invading us through our DNA. They're bio-forming us. They're altering us."
   Goyer said he based the idea of the series on an obscure scientific fact. "Something like 80 to 90 percent of our DNA is junk DNA," he said. "We don't know what it does. And the aliens have figured out a way to activate it and are slowly, literally, changing our chromosomes. They're basically, over the course of generations, turning us into them. Along with that they've got genetic racial memories, things like that, that they're starting to implant in us."
   Goyer will direct the pilot and serves as an executive producer on the series, alongside Brannon Braga (Star Trek: ENTERPRISE) and David Heyman (the Harry Potter films). Goyer said he has been involved in every aspect of the series so far, from writing to casting to editing.
   Although CBS has not officially made a commitment to the series, Goyer is optimistic that the show will be on the network in the fall. "That's what they say," he said. "You never know for sure until you do the up-fronts [the yearly event in New York City where the networks roll out their schedules], but we're just finishing the post on it now. We'll know for sure in about five weeks."

DE RAVIN DELIVERS ON LOST
   "I guess that's yet to be revealed, whether the baby is normal or not," Emilie de Ravin said. "It seems normal.", Emilie de Ravin who plays Claire on ABC's hit series LOST, said that she doesn't know whether her character's new baby will turn out to be good or evil.
   De Ravin's character gave birth on the April 6 episode of the show. To play Claire's new infant, "We've got twins we're working with," de Ravin said. "They're very cute and very tiny. I think it's definitely going to add a dynamic to the set, having a baby around."
   Until the recent episode, "Do No Harm," the Australian actress had spent months walking around the LOST set in Hawaii sporting an ever-expanding pregnancy suit. Actually depicting the child's birth presented a whole other challenge, she said. "That was an interesting episode to shoot, not being a mother myself," she said. "Talking to my sisters, who both have children, and doing all the research I did about this labor that was obviously looming for Claire since day one, and really getting into it for the episode, was such a strange thing, because it's such a gritty, personal thing, giving birth. It's different for every woman in every situation. I'm really happy with it. It turned out really well."
   It helped, de Ravin added, that an obstetrician was on set. "She was great, guiding along, helping, because we wanted to make it as realistic and natural as possible for TV,"
   For many LOST fans this was a traumatic episode in another way – one of the main characters died. Boone, played by Ian Sommerholder died just as the baby was being born and this made for a very interesting episode twist. He said “I will be missing the friends I have made in that show, Matthew Fox (Jack) most of all. Sommerholder said that “I didn’t know it was going to happen until just a few episodes before” His death was accidental and an important part of the plot. He is inside a crashed plane calling for help when it slides of a cliff. “It was a tough episode to shoot for me because I really enjoyed the cast and crew.”

BBC APOLOGIZES TO WHO STAR
   The BBC, which earlier reported that DOCTOR WHO star Christopher Eccleston was leaving the show after the first season, issued an unusual apology to the actor for mischaracterizing his reasons for departing. The BBC said that it failed to consult Eccleston before confirming the actor's departure and that it erroneously attributed statements to the actor that he was leaving because he feared being typecast and found the show's schedule grueling.
   In fact, the BBC reported, the network broke an agreement with Eccleston not to reveal that he had planned to film just one season of the hit show all along. "The BBC regrets not speaking to Christopher before it responded to the press questions on Wednesday 30 March," the BBC's head of drama and commissioning, Jane Tranter, said in a statement. "The BBC further regrets that it falsely attributed a statement to Christopher and apologizes to him."
   The BBC has already ordered up a second season of the new DOCTOR WHO, which is airing in the United Kingdom to record ratings. The BBC confirmed that it is in talks with actor David Tennant as a possible replacement for Eccleston.

ENTERPRISE TALKS DENIED
   Organizers of Trek United, the fan fund-raising campaign to save UPN's canceled STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE, are telling fans that they are in secret discussions with Paramount representatives about keeping the show alive, and that the reps have left open the possibility the show may return. But a spokesman for Paramount denied that such talks are taking place, adding definitively: "That is not true. The decision to end the show is final."
   So what's the truth? "I think it's probably a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing," Candice McCallie, the Houston-based spokeswoman for Trek United, said in a separate interview. "I mean, it's a large company, of course, and we've talked to a couple of different people there. Now, as far as whatever they're telling you, my guess is, you know, we've tried to be as open as possible about it. Until something is signed sealed on the dotted line, they're not going to say anything different from what they said back in February." McCallie declined to name the group's Paramount contacts, except to say they were "people above the producers."
   McCallie added: "Just because he doesn't know what is going on doesn't mean that we haven't talked to someone about the possibility of the show coming back. ... Obviously, if the possibility wasn't there, they wouldn't fool with us. "
   Trek United has raised nearly $3.14 million in pledges and contributions from fans eager to finance a fifth season of Enterprise, and McCallie said that donors are promised their money back if the show doesn't come back, "except for the 5 percent handling fee to cover the banks and Paypal and all that kind of stuff."
   Some fans have raised concerns about Trek United and its campaign. McCallie said that she understood such concerns, but added that the group has been aboveboard in its representations.
   “We've been pretty open about the whole entire thing. Our only goal is to try to get the show back, and we're spending a lot of time and a lot of money out of pocket, and there's no reason for us to do that if we can't get the show back, because, obviously, we've got a legally binding agreement with the contributions. So there is no danger of our embezzling the money or anything like that."

GUNMEN FORESHADOWED 9/11
   Dean Haglund, star of the short-lived THE LONE GUNMEN TV series on Fox, said that the show's pilot eerily foreshadowed the terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center, though it was shot months before Sept. 11, 2001. In the pilot, which aired in March 2001, the title characters prevent a commercial airliner from crashing into the World Trade Center with barely enough time to spare.
   "Conspiracy theorists might say otherwise, but we had no way of knowing," Haglund recalled. "When 9/11 occurred, and I actually witnessed those planes crashing into the towers, I was in a state of shock. We shot that eerily prescient episode eight months before 9/11. Soon afterward, everyone was carefully viewing episodes of THE LONE GUNMEN to reveal further prophecies, which was nonsense. For example, I personally don't believe the government has an army of super-intelligent military chimps. We weren't the Nostradamus of TV programming."
   Haglund played Langly, one of a trio of ubernerds who investigated paranormal phenomena, in THE LONE GUNMEN, a spinoff of THE X-FILES. The show's 13 episodes have just been released on DVD.

SHATNER ADMITS IOWA GUILT
   William Shatner, who stars in the hoax reality series INVASION IOWA on Spike TV, said that he felt guilt pulling the wool over the eyes of the residents of a small Iowa town, who thought the original STAR TREK star was there to make an SF movie. In fact, the series was designed to fake the residents out, and there was no movie production in Riverside, Iowa.
   "I felt tremendous guilt," Shatner said. "Every night, we'd come and spend three hours in front of the camera saying, 'Oh, my God, I feel so guilty. I cannot believe it. There were actors who cried out of the pain of lying to them."
   Since the hoax was discovered, some Iowans have expressed displeasure at the stunt.
   For his part, Shatner said that he grew close to some of the townspeople. "There's an old fellow in the coffee shop who took me out to the grave where his wife was buried, because he had become my friend," Shatner said. ‘He starts to cry, and I start to cry, and I tell him I know exactly what it is to lose a wife."
   Shatner added: "Everybody became like buddies, and that was the pain of the last day when we had to tell them it was all a gag."
   In the end, Shatner said, the townspeople took it pretty well. The show also donated about $100,000 to the town of Riverside and also helped out individual residents financially.

SCI FI UNVEILS REALITY SLATE

SCI FI Channel announced that it was developing a slate of new shows, including several that stretch the definition of reality television, building on the success of its hit series Ghost Hunters and Scare Tactics.

The following project was given the green light for production:

•Master Blasters, a half-hour weekly documentary-style show produced by First Television, pits teams of amateur rocket scientists against each other in a race to design, build and launch some bizarre things into orbit, from rocket-bolstered La-Z-Boys to fuel-injected Mini Coopers.

The following alternative series are in development:

•Gordian, a half-hour weekly animated series from First Television, depicts a futuristic world where humans and robots live side by side. It centers on ex-video jockey Jake Gordian and his band of laser-cowboys, robots, animal freaks and talking body parts.

•Mind Game, an hourlong weekly series produced by Hallock-Healey Entertainment (Scare Tactics), is a reality competition series in which contestants must rely on their powers of observation, recall, judgment and intuition to collect clues and be the first to claim the grand prize. The Mastermind, a mysterious unseen figure, will guide contestants through a series of situations that offer signs to advance them toward their goal.

•The Gauntlet, a weekly reality competition produced by Reveille and Hoegl/Singer, in association with Princess Productions, challenges contestants to navigate an elaborate, futuristic maze over a 24-hour period, with no sunlight, no rest and, seemingly, no way out.

•Dallas in Wonderland, a weekly half-hour reality series executive produced by R.J. Cutler, from Actual Reality Pictures, is hosted by Dallas Campbell, who undergoes a bizarre set of challenges, from applying to NASA to become an astronaut to asking the Raelians to clone him.

Previously announced alternative series in development include Monster Smash, which puts a SCI FI spin on competitive wrestling by introducing fictitious, genetically engineered monsters into the sport, and Amazing Screw On Head, an animated series about a robot secret agent charged with defending President Lincoln against a band of evil villains. The series is written by Bryan Fuller (Dead Like Me) and Mike Mignola (Hellboy), based on his comic.

movienews movienews Silver Screen movienews movienews

PHILLIPS BACK IN SCI FI IN ISLAND
     Ethan Phillips, who played the alien cook Neelix for seven years on Star Trek: Voyager, said that he's glad to be back in the sci-fi fold as a clone in Michael Bay's upcoming action thriller film The Island. "It's nice that I don't have to wear the makeup," Phillips said during a break in filming last week on the movie's set in Downey, Calif. "I really appreciate that. I save myself five hours a day of sitting in a makeup chair."
     In The Island, Phillips plays Jones Three-Echo, one of several "agnates," or human clones, living in a top-secret compound. He co-stars with Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor (Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith). The Island is "science fiction, but it's more of a thriller that takes place in the future," Phillips said. "It's not aliens, and it's not outer space, things like that. It's more like the evolution of science and what's happening with genetics and things like that."
     Surprisingly, Phillips and McGregor never talked between takes about their participation in two of sci-fi's biggest franchises. "I think he knows I was on Star Trek for seven years, and I know he did two Star Wars movies, and we never really ... talked about that," Phillips said. "No, that's weird." The Island opens July 22.

No Man's Land Gears Up
     Producer Walter F. Parkes said that he and partner Laurie MacDonald are in pre-production on a new sci-fi thriller film titled No Man's Land. Parkes (The Island) described the film as War of the Worlds meets Chinatown. "It's really good, ... because it's kind of a melding of science fiction and noir cop fiction. Just yesterday, [makeup guru] Rick Baker just started working on designs for the aliens." Baker just worked with Parkes and MacDonald on the upcoming horror sequel film The Ring Two.
     Les Bohem, who wrote and executive produced the television miniseries Steven Spielberg Presents Taken, wrote the script for No Man's Land. No director has yet been attached.
     "It takes place in New York City eight years after ... the alien invasion that we lost," Parkes said in an interview. "And it imagines New York City kind of like Paris during the Vichy government [under Nazi occupation during World War II], where we've all sort of just given up. And there's this race of aliens living there that get all the good tables, and the shops are kind of collaborating. And there's an incipient underground movement to take the Earth back."
     Parkes added: "The main character is a cop who lost his wife when the aliens destroyed London, and so he's given up trying. Just trying to keep his [eye] on his eight square blocks of Manhattan, his beat. And there's a murder there, and it seems to be the murder of a human by a 'blue' [an alien]." The movie centers around his murder investigation.

Tarantino Mulls Friday The 13th?
New Line has contacted director Quentin Tarantino about helming what would be the "ultimate" Friday the 13th movie in the wake of the success of 2003's Jason vs. Freddy, and Tarantino is reportedly interested enough to take an initial meeting. The director of Kill Bill is being asked to write a script for the latest incarnation of the 25-year-old slasher franchise, which features the antics of hockey-masked Jason Voorhees. Tarantino's representatives at William Morris confirmed that a meeting with New Line is on the books, but also cautioned that Tarantino frequently takes off months, if not years, between projects.

DARK PHOENIX RISING
Dark Phoenix is indeed the big villain in X3. Not the Sentinels, Mr. Sinister, Dr. Bolivar Trask, or the Hellfire Club. It was said, however, that it still doesn't make her the main story. So far this is in line with what Avi Arad has stated.
Also in regards to X3, Halle Berry seems more open about returning to play Storm - "I have not read the script. All I asked is that if I come back Storm needs MORE TO DO. So, if they have in fact written her closer to the comic book, then I'm in ...if not then I'm out. I hope I'm in though. I love Storm and really want to be a part of the last film" said the Oscar-winning actress during an online chat.

THE SANDMAN COMETH
Multiple spies at Sony have confirmed that Thomas Hayden Church will indeed be playing the villain The Sandman. There's apparently a ton of Sandman conceptual art all over the Spidey-offices. The character was a prison escapee hiding out at an atomic testing facility when a explosion goes off. His molecules fuse with sand, giving him essentially shape shifting ability along with various other skills.

Daybreakers Develops
     Australian filmmakers Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig told said that they are drafting Daybreakers, a new vampire film, for Lions Gate. The writing/directing team already has the zombie movie Undead under their belts, which Lions Gate will release in the United States this summer.
     "[We] just finished the next draft [for Daybreakers] and are about to deliver it to Lions Gate," the Spierigs said. "Everyone's very excited about it. The film is much darker and far more serious than Undead. It's about a world dominated by vampires."
      The Spierigs added: "[The vampires] have tried to continue their lives as normal people. Human beings are on the brink of extinction, [and] it's just a matter of time before the entire human population is wiped out. Vampires will suffer an eternity of starvation and madness if they can't find an alternative to human blood, [but] one man discovers a solution that will save the vampire race: They must become human again."
     Daybreakers is expected to hit theaters in 2006. Undead is slated for a July release.

Aoki Slices Into Sin City
     Devon Aoki, co-star of the upcoming comic-book film Sin City, said that her directors, Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, made it easier to perform against green screens, which were later replaced with computer-generated cityscapes. "The environment that Robert and Frank created out there was easy," Aoki said in an interview. "It was sort of seamless and really enjoyable. You're working with actors who are brilliant, and who are talented, so you start to sort of believe the scene material and stuff."
     Aoki plays a silent assassin named Miho, who protects a community of prostitutes in the corrupt title metropolis. Rodriguez and Miller shot the actors mostly against green screens and later filled in the backgrounds, props and vehicles with black-and-white, noirish computer-generated imagery.
     Aoki said that she occasionally found it difficult to react to the minimal sets. "All of my scenes were shot with green screens," she said. "You show up, and you sort of basically go into the same set every day, the same stage. You're surrounded by this bright green color, and it could be sort of difficult to imagine the things that will be surrounding you once the movie's up on the screen."
     But Aoki said that she enjoyed working with co-star Benicio Del Toro, who plays the villainous cop Jackie Boy, a victim of Miho's vengeance. "I basically kill, like, half of the people in the film," Aoki added. "It was scary fun. I'd be doing these [fight] scenes with Benicio, and he's like, 'Does she have to do this with me sitting here?' It was great." Sin City, based on Miller's graphic novel series, opens April 1.

Anderson Developing Deathrace 3000
     "The original was so much about decimating pedestrians that the actual race was almost irrelevant, and I want to restore that," Paul Anderson said. "Set in 2020, ours is an ultra-violent, no-holds-barred race with heavily armed Escalades, Ferraris and Aston Martins."
     Paul W.S. Anderson will write and direct Paramount's Deathrace 3000, a remake of the cult Roger Corman film Deathrace 2000. The trade adds that the deal has sparked Viacom into talks for a companion videogame.
     Anderson, who last directed Alien vs. Predator and Resident Evil, will join Corman and C/W partners Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner as producers, as will Anderson's Impact Pictures partner Jeremy Bolt.
     The Paul Bartel-directed original is considered a B-movie classic, a campy and polemical black comedy that pitted David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone in a race where drivers accumulated points for running over pedestrians. Anderson's got a different vision, planning a mix of Road Warrior and road kill.
     Anderson, who wrote and produced the sequel Resident Evil: Apocalypse, is producing with Bolt and Constantin an adaptation of the videogame DOA: Dead or Alive, which starts production in six weeks. Anderson also is writing a third Resident Evil film.

Benioff and Weiss to Write Ender's Game
     David Benioff, the writer of the screenplay for Wolfgang Petersen's 2004 epic Troy, has been signed by Warner Bros. to pen the script for the movie Ender's Game. Benioff will work with his writing partner, Dan Weiss, in close cooperation with Petersen, who is developing Ender's Game with the intent of directing it himself. The screenplay will be based on Orson Scott Card's novels Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow.
     Says Card, "Mr. Benioff proved with TROY that he could adapt a long work to fit the brevity of film, while preserving what is most powerful and effective in the original."
     Any film of Ender's Game will be heavily dependent on special effects, says Card, "but it's the characters that the audience must care about for the film to succeed."
     "I have every expectation that he and Mr. Weiss will be able to create a screenplay that will distill the strong characters and moral dilemmas of the novel into an exciting film that will justify the huge expense involved in filming it, said Card.”

EPISODE III HAS NEW CHEWIE
   Peter Mayhew, who returns to the STAR WARS saga as the Wookiee Chewbacca in Episode III, said that he will look slightly different from his incarnations in previous installments. "Chewie is younger in Episode III, so it meant they had to make a different costume, because Chewie is now lighter-colored," Mayhew said in an interview. "He's like a puppy that is one color and changes as he gets older."
   Mayhew played the furry co-pilot in the original STAR WARS trilogy and once again puts on the suit for the last prequel, STAR WARS III -Revenge of the Sith. "The actual costume itself was no different, except we've got a 'cool suit' running through it now, so that's wonderful," Mayhew said. "But once I get the costume on, that character comes out. There are no two ways about it. Chewie is one of those characters that never said a line throughout the whole of the three movies, and this one just finishes that off nicely. Chewie is a rock star anyway. He's one of those characters that you either love him or hate him, and most people love him."
   A frequent Star Wars convention guest around the world, Mayhew said that fans still ask about the legendarily bad '70s television program, STAR WARS Holiday Special, that revolved around Chewbacca and his family. "No matter where it is, someone will come up and say, 'Holiday Special,'” Mayhew said with a laugh. "I usually blow it over and say it was something we did because we could do it. The mere fact that George [Lucas] doesn't like it is right, and for me it was just another job. Maybe if George had just put it out, probably all the fans would have forgotten about it. But George is the governor, and we do what George wants. If he wants to put us in a dashiki, it's up to him, and we will do whatever he wants and be glad of it!"

EPISODE III FANS TAKE CALLS
STAR WARS fans have already begun lining up in Hollywood, Calif., for Episode III, as they have for the last two prequel films, to raise money for charity—and this time they're taking calls. The fans, who began lining up at Grauman's Chinese Theater on April 1, are answering a public pay phone at (323) 462-9609, the Episode III Liningup.net Web site reported.
"We've been doing this for the last six years as a fund-raiser for the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation," fan Sameer Bakhda, 29, said. Bakhda, a native of Chicago, added: "It's one last time that we get to get together and stand on line in Hollywood, ... and hopefully one last chance for George Lucas to do something good."
The Liningup.net Web site said that it has raised more than $6,200 in pledges for the foundation, a children's charity. Bakhda said about 250 people had already gotten in line for STAR WARS Episode III—REVENGE OF THE SITH, which doesn't open until May 19.

DAVA’S DELVINGS

A Movie Review by: Dava Sentz

The Cosmic Balance: Heaven and Hell come to Earth

   Religion is a sensitive subject for almost everyone. In my 23 years of life experience, I've come to realize that, when it comes to social behavior, there are certain things you just don't talk about in mixed company.
   In regards to spiritual faith, people are very opinionated. No matter how valid the argument, you can never convince your audience to keep an open mind. Some people believe that there is no afterlife, that when you die, you're just gone and that's the end of it. Others believe in reincarnation, that the better your karma in life, the higher you rank after death. Still, others believe in Heaven and Hell, a universe of your creation waiting to accept you in your ultimate demise.
   But, what if the rulers of these kingdoms made a secret wager? What if God and the Devil had placed operatives on our planet to influence humans in a battle of will? These questions are raised frequently in the Keanu Reeves thriller, Constantine.
   Based on Hellblazer, a series of graphic novels published by DC/Vertigo, John Constantine (Reeves) is a chain smoking, black clothes wearing, modern day Exorcist. Having attempted suicide as a young man, he now attempts to "buy his way into Heaven" by ridding his city of Hell's minions.
   Constantine's demeanor is rude and highly cynical. His nicotine addiction has landed him with terminal lung cancer and time is running out. Meanwhile, a desperate and grief-stricken detective, Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz) will stop at nothing to find out the truth behind her sister's suicide. Hailing from a strict Catholic background and aware of his reputation in demonology activity, she aggressively recruits Constantine to prove that it was not suicide, but murder that killed her identical twin. In so doing, Angela seeks to prove that her soul is resting in Heaven, not Hell.
   Because I haven't read the Hellblazer comics and have never been an avid fan of Keanu Reeves, my opinion of this movie might prove to be less than accurate in the eyes of more action savvy readers. Constantine is not, by any means, a terrible film. But, with the stream of comic book heroes making their big screen debuts over recent years, director Francis Lawrence made what could be considered a classic rookie mistake. He allowed a series of elaborate special effects and C.G.I. to carry his story.
   Constantine is the kind of dark, big budget spectacle that has come to be so common in modern cinema. It's Matrix meets Van Helsing with a hint of Daute's Inferno thrown in. From a visual standpoint, this is a highly impressive, beautifully made film. It was designed to make the audience "Oooo" and "Ahhh" in hypnotic wonderment. This goal was achieved quite well. Though I don't usually look for such cheap, obvious tactics in a movie, I admit that even I fell under its spell, and couldn't help but wish I had a pair of 3-D glasses to emphasize the visions in front of me.
   Constantine most certainly has the visual elements needed to amuse and entertain. What it lacks, unfortunately, is a valid plot line and a strong leading man. The movie is all show with very little story and the performance of Keanu Reeves reflects this.
   To be perfectly blunt, the man is a weak actor and really should not be cast in title roles. His talents buy you a good laugh in comedies. He is attractive enough to woo a pretty lady in a tear jerking romance. But, in no way should he ever be cast as the trash talking vigilante hero. The end result is a GQ model trying to be Batman and, like pickles and ice cream, the combination just doesn't go.
   Fortunately, for Keanu, an ensemble of understated talent surrounded him. I didn't have any strong opinions regarding the supporting cast. But, it was very refreshing to find that there was no romantic cliché to steal focus. Rachel Weisz did employ some humorous flirty tactics in her dialogue, yet it wasn't over the top.
   Angela's charms were subtle but alluring, venerable but tough. In a movie that is basically filled with overblown and overused images, the last thing you need is another love story to further stupefy things. It was great to see a woman character in an action film that doesn't need to be rescued by the muscle bound hunk. This is what Rachel achieved.
   But that isn't the only detail that gave Constantine some redeeming qualities. This film is jammed packed with all the scary monsters I've come to adore as a horror film fan. Constantine introduces a fairly new breed of terror, creatures not entirely of the human race, placed on Earth to do the work of their master.
   They are called "Half Breeds", half human being, half-unworldly spawn. One of these is a part demon named Balthazer, surprisingly portrayed by former teen idol Gavin Rossdale. Once the lead singer of the English rock band Bush, Rossdale seemingly took a sabbatical from his musical roots to pursue acting. Being that I was once a huge fan of Bush, I was naturally thrilled to discover that he had a semi-major role in Constantine.
   His tall, dark, and handsome demeanor made him the perfect half-breed demon in the physical sense. His skills as an actor, however, left something to be desired. It wasn't at all a bad performance, but when you watch him on the big screen, it is clear where his true talents lie.
   This ongoing trend of crossing over from music to film and back again is confusing and very often, not that successful. My advice to Gavin would be to play to his strengths and return to the studio. Rock and Roll is a terrible thing to waste.

IMAGINATIVE CINEMA COMING SOON
MUST SEE MOVIES FOR ICS MEMBERS LIKEYOU!

APRIL 1st SIN CITY
Cast: Josh Hartnett (Employee), Marley Shelton (Customer), Mickey Rourke
(Marv), Jamie King (Wendy/Goldie), Bruce Willis (John Hartigan)
Premise: Sin City is a violent city where the police department is as
corrupt as the streets are deadly. In this movie, we follow three stories,
the central of which is Marv, a tough-as-nails and nearly impossible to kill
street fighter who goes on a rampage of vengeance when a beautiful woman,
Goldie (King), he sleeps with for only one night is killed while lying in
bed with him. Based on a comic/graphic novel.

APRIL 8th THE CAVE
Cast: Morris Chestnut (Buchanan), Eddie Cibrian (Tyler), Kieran Darcy-Smith
(Vince Strode), Cole Hauser (Jack), Brian Steele (Creature)
Premise: A rescue team is sent down into the world's largest cave system to
try to find the spelunkers who first explored its depths. But when the
group's escape route is cut off, they are hunted by the monstrous creatures
that live down below

APRIL 8th       SAHARA
Premise- Master explorer Dirk Pitt (Matthew McConaughey) takes on the adventure of his life when he embarks on a treasure hunt through some of the most dangerous regions of North Africa. Searching for what locals call "The Ship of Death", a long lost Civil War battleship filled with coins, Pitt and his wisecracking sidekick (Steve Zahn) use their wits and clever heroics to help Doctor Eva Rojas (Penelope Cruz) who believes the ship may be linked to mysterious deaths in the very same area.

APRIL 15th      THE AMITYVILLE HORROR
Cast-Jimmy Bennett (Chris Lutz), Ryan Reynolds, Melissa George, Rachel Nichols, Chloe Grace Moretz (Missy Lutz), Philip Baker Hall (Father McNamara)
Premise -Can we say REMAKE? A newly married couple move into a house in NY where a murder has taken place and noone told them when they were looking at the house. Demons are the rage there.

APRIL 29th      THE HITCHIKERS GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE
Premise -Arthur Dent wakes up to find out that he gets to travel the universe with a towel and a friend - Ford Prefect, because Earth is going to be demolished. What more in a movie do we need? Oh and always remember – 42.

DVD DVD WHAT IS NEW AND OUT AND ABOUT DVD DVD

WORTHY VOYAGE CUT SHORT
Many fans are upset with the announcement that Star Trek ENTERPRISE will be cancelled after it completes the 2004-2005 season. With the exception of NBC's shortsightedness with the original series in the mid-'60s, this is the shortest run of a Star Trek franchise series. The cancellation is unjustified; the series was just getting warmed up. It will be fascinating (no pun intended) to see if the fan base can turn things around as their parents did in 1968. But for those who wish to preserve the experience, Paramount Home Entertainment will release Star Trek Enterprise - The Complete First Season on May 3rd. Seven discs will span 1147 minutes of content and will carry an SRP of $129.98.

ANOTHER GHOST ANOTHER SHELL ANOTHER COMPLEX
Volume six in the television spin-off of the intriguing Ghost in the Shell motion pictures, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex will be released by Manga & Bandai Entertainment on May 17th.
As with the previous releases in the series, the presentation will be in anamorphic video and Dolby Digital 5.1. Supplements will likely include yet another pair of filmmaker or voice talent interviews, previews, and those too-cute-for-words, little 30-second epilogues to each episode, Tachikomatic Days. It took a while to warm up to this re-imagining of the film series, but with the departure of the Tachikoma, you could become a fan. Expect an SRP of $24.98

EXPLOITING RENEWED POPULARITY.
The cynic in us will wonder if the timing of Warner Home Video's Lois & Clark television series on DVD wasn't timed to leverage Terry Hatcher's renewed popularity. The self-confessed has-been is hot right now, thanks to her runaway hit Desperate Housewives. The first season of L&K costars Hatcher and Dean Cain and will be released as a six-disc package on June 7th. The aspect ratio will be television's 1.33:1 and the audio will be in stereo. Expect an SRP of $59.98.

REMEMBERING PETER SELLERS
MGM Home Entertainment is going to release three Peter Sellers films on June 7th. Sellers teams with the droll Terry-Thomas in a 1957 comedy called The Naked Truth. A more serious crime drama called Never Let Go has Sellers co-starring with Richard Todd. And the slapstick flick that teams Sellers with Peter O'Toole, Woody Allen, and Ursula Andress is What's New Pussycat? All will carry an SRP of $14.95. Each is presented in 1.66:1, but the MGM press site doesn't specify anamorphic video. All are in monaural and include the film's theatrical trailer.

farewellsfarewellsfarewells Good bye farewellsfarewellsfarewells

Andre Norton, the “Grand Dame of Science Fiction and Fantasy”, author, poet, editor, whose published works span seven decades, has died at age 93.
Born Alice Mary Norton on February 17, 1912, in Cleveland Ohio. She wrote more than 130 novels, nearly one hundred short stories, and edited numerous anthologies in the science-fiction, fantasy, mystery, and western genres. She is the first woman to be an SFWA Grand Master and to be inducted in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. She was the first woman to win the Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy award.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America has announced the formation of the Andre Norton Award for young adult novels. Her work included such series as the Solar Queen, Crosstime, Time War, Witch World, The Magic Sequence and Free Traders and such novels as Ralestone Luck, The Prince Commands, The X Factor, Breed To Come, Here Abide Monsters, Merlin’s Mirror, Wheel of Stars and Scent of Magic.
Her last complete novel, Three Hands for Scorpio, is to be released in early 2005. It is the last manuscript she wrote alone. Return to Quag Keep, a sequel to her Quag Keep from 1979, will be released as a collaboration in January, 2006

Francis Marion Busby, long time science fiction writer and fan, has died at age 83.
As F. M.”Buz” Busby he published over 20 novels and collections, including eight in the universe of Rissa Kerguelen, three in that of Cage A Man, and another three in the Slow Freight grouping. Among his solo books are All These Earths, The Breeds of Man, The Singularity Project and Islands of Tomorrow.
Along with his wife, and others, he published the fanzine, Cry of the Nameless, which won the Best Fanzine Hugo Award in 1960. He was Toastmaster of IguanaCon II, the 1978 World Science Fiction Convention and from 1974-1976 he was Vice President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Herb “Jason” Evers, favorite actor of the ICS for his lead role of Dr. Bill Corter, a surgeon seeking a body for his fiancee's decapitated head in the 1963 film The Brain That Wouldn't Die, has died. He was 83.
He burst onto the Hollywood scene in 1960 in the western TV series Wrangler and the movie Pretty Boy Floyd. He played an English professor in the 1963-64 ABC series Channing, and the elusive missing son James to Walter Brennan's Will on ABC's The Guns of Will Sonnet. His films included the green berets and shadow of fear, and ICS hits the illustrated man, escape from planet of the apes, claws, barracuda and his last film basket case 2.

THE LAST WARD . . .
By John Ward

Look, up in the sky…it’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s an ellipsis!
It’s spring, and a young man’s thoughts turn once again to baseball…and for a moment, I can actually dream that the Orioles can challenge the Yankees and Red Sox…but only for a moment…
It might not be movie-related, but I’ve said a prayer for the soul of John Paul II…the last time a pope was elected, I was in college…I still remember the newsroom of the Daily Collegian at Penn State scrambling to get out the news of not one, but two popes in the space of about 5 weeks…and does anyone remember the way Francis Ford Coppola managed to tie the last pope’s death into the plotline of THE GODFATHER PART III?…
My choices for the Five Greatest Newspaper Comic Strips of All Time: (In no particular order)…Peanuts…For Better or For Worse…Doonesbury…Calvin and Hobbes…and Prince Valiant… what, you thought I was going to say Apartment 3-G?… I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for the May meeting and the Skipper’s unveiling of the ICS Movie Hall of Fame…Best perk about being a club member: the ICS Lending Library, overseen by librarian extraordinaire Joe Plempel…
Currently on my reading table: The Godfather, by Mario Puzo…The Dante Club, by Matthew Pearl…Xombies, by Walter Greatshell…State of Fear, by Michael Crichton…The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien…and The Great Movies II, by Roger Ebert…Guilty pleasure that recently found its way into my shopping cart: Berger’s cookies…I was happy to see the Sunpaper start running the Fox Trot comic strip, after I championed it in this column a year ago…now if only they’d get my second message and deep-six Zippy the Pinhead…
Here’s proof that 2005 will go down in movie history as the Year of the Remake…the following films are all slated for release sometime before the end of the year…now, these are remakes, mind you, not sequels – that’s a whole other can of French-fried worms…check it out: THE AMITYVILLE HORROR, HOUSE OF WAX, THE LONGEST YARD, BAD NEWS BEARS, THE DUKES OF HAZZARD, BEWITCHED, WAR OF THE WORLDS, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, THE PINK PANTHER, OLIVER TWIST, YOURS MINE AND OURS, ALL THE KING’S MEN, FUN WITH DICK AND JANE, THE PRODUCERS, and KING KONG!!… Yeesh!…Okay, a couple of caveats: two on the list are remakes of TV shows (which I’m sure you knew), and one isn’t strictly a remake, but a movie version of a musical that was based on a previous movie…got all that?…Most intriguing possibilities on the list: Roman Polanski’s take on Dickens’ OLIVER TWIST, and the high-powered cast lined up for ALL THE KING’S MEN (Sean Penn, Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law, etc.)…My vote for most unnecessary remakes – a tie between HOUSE OF WAX and THE PINK PANTHER and THE LONGEST YARD and – oh, what the hell, I give up…
And while we’re on the subject of movies (duh), here’s my second annual “If I Could Only See One Movie a Month” for 2005…April: SIN CITY (Already seen – it’s fantastic)…May: STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH…June: BATMAN BEGINS…July: FANTASTIC FOUR…August: Wes Craven’s RED EYE…September: Tony Scott’s DOMINO (Left over from August)…October: GEORGE ROMERO’S LAND OF THE DEAD…November: HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE… December: KING KONG…There are a few more coming out this year that look interesting…aside from a few of the remakes on that list I mentioned (which I’ll leave to you readers to guess which ones I mean), a few original titles grab my attention…Sydney Pollack returns to CONDOR thriller mode 30 years later with THE INTERPRETER…MR. AND MRS. SMITH, husband-and-wife assassins-for-hire played by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie…Sam Mendes’ JARHEAD, the first film to deal with the war in Iraq, with Jamie Foxx and Jake Gyllenhall…and HIGH TENSION, which made my Top Ten list for 2004, finally gets a stateside release in June…it’s one of the most frightening movies I’ve seen in a long time…
Cheap entertainment: jigsaw puzzles…just don’t get one with big, dark sections in it…I’ve started collecting comics again, although at a much slower pace than before…Currently reading New Avengers, Astonishing X-Men, Ultimates 2, and I’m considering DC’s upcoming All-Star line, which will kick off with Frank Miller and Jim Lee’s Batman and Robin…I confess I’ve also started reading manga, which makes my son happy…but it’s only one title, which should be quite familiar to ICSers: Battle Royale…so far I’m through Volume 6…there are at least a dozen volumes…if you’re wondering how they could possibly stretch a 2-hour movie across 1,500 pages of comics, think of the TV show Lost and its habit of flashbacks for all the characters, and you might get the picture…
Most recent additions to my DVD rack: THE INCREDIBLES, HEAT, HOOSIERS, BAMBI, and BEN-HUR (the perfect Easter movie)…Here’s my second annual “Top Ten Reasons to Watch TV” for 2005: 24, LOST, THE WEST WING, ER, LAW AND ORDER, LAW AND ORDER/SVU, TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES…Wait, that’s only seven…too bad NYPD BLUE is gone, or the number would be eight…and I just noticed that no comedies made the list…EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND is the chief casualty here, since they moved 24 opposite RAYMOND on Monday nights, and I can’t be bothered to tape the dang thing on the bedroom VCR…but I’ll try to tape the finale in May…
So, how many of you have already picked up REVENGE OF THE SITH action figures?…I can’t laugh, since I walked right past the Star Wars display at Walmart yesterday and wound up buying a “Coronation Gimli” LOTR action figure, my 34th…although I think a certain fan in New Mexico has left me in the dust…right, Tim?…Speaking of LOTR, I just finished Sean Astin’s biography, There and Back Again…I can’t give it a rave review, although the inside info on the making of the trilogy is pretty good…I was put off by Astin’s self-pity routine, which got old very quickly…recommended only for die-hard fans…
Starting to make plans for our summer vacation trip to London…8 nights, 7/20-7/29…and back in time for the July meeting…Looking forward to hitting those old bookstores along Charing Cross Road…remember the movie, 84 CHARING CROSS ROAD?…The bookstore in the movie had books crammed into every conceivable space…It was full of nooks and crannies where people could disappear and read quietly…that’s for me…Also looking forward to riding the British Airways London Eye, the world’s tallest ferris wheel…just like Pierce Brosnan in THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH…Other wishes for the trip: seeing a show in the West End (maybe THE MOUSETRAP again), visiting the British Museum (for the Rosetta Stone), and riding one of those double decker buses…also checking out Westminster Abbey…and taking a big pile of pictures…
More non-movie-related doings: enjoyed a recent daytrip to DC over spring break…saw the new World War II Memorial…just beautiful…also saw “The Price of Freedom,” a new exhibit at the American History Museum tracing America’s involvement in war…from George Washington’s officer’s uniform (Revolutionary War) all the way to a twisted pair of steel support beams from the South Tower (War on Terrorism)…fascinating exhibit for history buffs…I plan to go back with my father on his next visit…
And I think I just realized why I couldn’t come up with 10 things I liked about TV…I simply don’t watch as much television as I used to…and I can thank the Internet for that…
That’s it for this month…say goodbye to the ellipsis for another year…or maybe sooner, if I run dry on ideas again…see you all at the April meeting.

ICS CALENDER OF EVENTS

APRIL 1st SIN CITY Don’t be fooled, go see this great movie!!!
.

APRIL 8th THE CAVE

APRIL 8th SAHARA

APRIL 15th THE AMITYVILLE HORROR

APRIL 16th REVELATIONS a fan produced/filmed Star Wars Movie
Premiering at the Senator

APRIL 29th THE HITCHIKERS GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE

APRIL 30th The ICS next meeting will be held on Saturday at 5:30 P.M –
Hendo is presenting ‘Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde’ this month!

And a final reminder –

This is a repeat message to make sure you haven’t forgotten. Check with Regina about your membership if you have a question. ICSClubnewsClubnews All About Us ClubnewsClubnewsICS