Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
It was announced today that Heath Ledger has been nominated for a Best Support Actor Oscar for his work as the Joker in “The Dark Knight.” Although most say that it’s enough to be nominated, I’d really, really like to see Ledger win. [I’ll be pulling for Mickey Rourke in the Best Actor category, but not quite as hard.]
Bob May passed away today. Many, if not most of you probably don’t recognize the name or face. I know I didn’t right away. The reason that I’m noting his passing is because he played an important role in one of my favorite TV shows when I was a kid. Bob May was the man in the robot suit on “Lost in Space.” Although it was Dick Tufeld who provided the robot’s voice, it was Bob May that made the robot move. Together they created one of the most memorable tv characters of all time.
Bob May didn’t have a huge list of credits on the Internet Movie Database. He wasn’t a household or name or have an instantly recognizable face, but he did play a part on one of my favorite shows as a kid and I didn’t want to let his passing go without mention.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.
I’m not an artist, but I’ve always loved art. I believe that comic books were the start of it all. Like most kids of my generation, I loved comic books. Unlike most, I never outgrew them.
In junior high I met John Beatty. He was also into comic books and original art. He wanted to be a comic book artist. During our high school and my college years, Beatty and I spent a lot of time at Jim Ivey’s Cartoon Museum. Jim’s was THE place for comics and original art. We also started attending conventions. I was in college and Beatty had become a comic book artist.
I sold off my art collection when I was ready to graduate college. I kept just one piece, a Paul Gulacy commission of Sylvester Stallone [my favorite actor]. Over the years some of my artist friends gifted me pieces of Stallone art. When my sons were in their mid-teens we started attending comic conventions. I realized that getting sketches of Stallone from my favorite comic artists was a perfect mesh of my hobbies.
So, no, I don’t draw ’em, I just collect ’em.
Mood: Joy
Listening to: 70’s Music
Reading: The Wildwood Boys by James Carlos Blake
Watching: “Serenity”
Playing: Internet Hearts
Eating: Wings
Drinking: Tea
Kliph Nesteroff is going to make many ZONErs happy when they click on this link to see a rare interview from 1971 with Bruce Lee. The videos run about 26 minutes total and are worth every second. Lee talks about:
It was great seeing Bruce Lee in a new interview. He was an amazing talent and died way too young. I think it’s time for another viewing of “Enter the Dragon.” What better way to honor his memory than to enjoy his ultimate performance?
I hadn’t heard of “Give ‘Em Hell, Malone” until I saw this trailer today. Thomas Jane and Ving Rhames directed by Russell Mulcahy. I’m in.
Have you seen the new ad that John Lennon did for charity? Yeah, you read that right. The new ad. Yes, I know that John Lennon was killed over 28 years ago. But through the wonders of modern technology here is John urging us to give a child a laptop.
I have mixed feelings about this type of thing. On one hand I love the possibilities the technology gives us. Think about how cool it would be to see Sly Stallone, young Marlon Brando, Humphrey Bogart and Lee Marvin acting alongside each other. The possibilities are endless.
On the other hand, we’ll probably end up with more of this and this.
Eartha Kitt, the multi-talented, singer, actress and author has died at the age of 81 from colon cancer. Her career spanned sixty years and made her an international star.
Born to poor parents [a mother of African-American/Cherokee heritage and a white father] in 1927, Eartha was sent to live with relatives when her mother’s new husband refused to have a mixed child in the house. Eartha’s big break came in 1946 when she auditioned and won a spot as a dancer with the Dunham dance group. This in turn led to work on Broadway and later a Paris nightclub where she was spotted by Orson Welles who called her the “most exciting woman in the world” and cast her in his Paris stage production of “Faust.”
From there her career really took off with a recording contract [Eartha could sing in several languages] and songs such as “I Want to be Evil” and the classic “Santa, Baby.” At a time when women of color were often seen on television as maids and secretaries, Ms. Kitt had a reoccurring role as the sexy Catwoman on the popular tv series Batman.
In 1968, her career in the US came to a screeching halt. Ms. Kitt, along with several other important ladies of the time had been invited to a luncheon at the White House hosted by President Johnson’s wife. They were there to discuss youth crime. Ms. Kitt brought up the Viet Nam war and the unrest it was causing among young people, and Mrs. Johnson took offense. The incident made the papers and suddenly Ms. Kitt found herself blacklisted. So she went overseas where she continued to perform until her return to Broadway in 1974. Jimmy Carter invited her back to the White House in 1978. In 2006, President Bush had her back once again, this time to light the National Christmas tree. Ms. Kitt never retired. She is one of the few entertainers to earn nominations for Emmy, [she won two and was nominated for three], Grammy [nominated twice] and Tony [nominatied twice] awards.
Ms. Kitt leaves behind a daughter and two grandchildren. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family, friends and fans.
Robert Mulligan, 83, the Oscar nominated director of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” died at his Connecticut home Friday from heart disease. Although the classic “To Kill a Mockingbird” is his best known effort, Mr. Mulligan’s credits include films such as “Love with a Proper Stranger,” “Up the Down Staircase,” “Summer of 42,” “Same Time Next Year,” and “Bloodbrothers.” Known as an actor’s director, Mr. Mulligan repeatedly worked with some of the biggest stars in Hollywood including Gregory Peck, Steve McQueen, Tony Curtis, and others. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.
Bettie Page, the legendary 1950’s pin-up model has passed away at the age of 85. Ms. Page who quit modeling at the height of her popularity and disappeared from public view [although not our imagination] went on to become a pop culture icon inspiring generations of fans. Fans like Mark Evanier, Christopher Mills, Rafael Kayanan, Steve Thompson, Ivan Shreve have all written remembrances, but they need not worry… Bettie Page will live forever.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to her friends and fans.
I just read over at Ivan Shreve’s site that character actor, Robert Prosky, has died at the age of 77. Mr. Prosky was a star of the stage, television and movies.
I first saw Mr. Prosky in “Thief” [his feature film debut] with James Caan. Mr. Prosky owned every scene he was in. Mr. Prosky worked continuously alternating roles in films, television and stage. He made every thing he was in just a bit, and sometimes a lot better. [And that includes “Eye See You” with Sylvester Stallone.]
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Prosky’s family, friends and fans.
Despite earlier reports that announced he was ready to, Clint Eastwood 
Forrest J Ackerman has died at the age of 92. Probably best known as the founding editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland, Ackerman made his living as a literary agent, magazine editor and occasional actor.I grew up loving monster movies and of course Famous Monsters of Filmland. Although it was chock full of movie stills, interviews with the folks behind those movies, and more — it wasn’t until I was in my late teens/early twenties that I discovered that nearly all of those things that I enjoyed about the magazine came from Forrest Ackerman. His collection of memorabiliai ncluded many original movie props, autographs, over 50,000 books and much, much more. He kept it all in his house. Fans were often invited in to hear classic anecdotes as they toured. Sadly, in his later years Mr. Ackerman was forced to sell off his collection piece by piece.
Mr. Ackerman is said to have discovered Ray Bradbury and to have coined the term “sci-fi.” And while both of those are “definite claims to fame” — I don’t think that my childhood would have been as fun without Mr. Ackerman’s influence on Famous Monsters of Filmland.
My thoughts and prayers go out to his fans around the world.
O.J. Simpson was sentenced today to at least 15 years in prison.
All I really have to say about that is, what kind of person must you be if you’re convicted of a dozen felonies, including
armed robbery, kidnapping, burglary, conspiracy and assault and those aren’t the worst crimes you’ve ever been charged with?
I’m not a huge Star Wars or Carrie Fisher fan, but after reading about her today at Victor Gischler’s site and then again at Bill Crider’s joint, I decided to follow Bill’s link to Carrie Fisher’s piece. Even if you’re not a Star Wars / Carrie Fisher fan, the article is worth a read and if you are a fan, you’ll like it that much more.
One of the greatest fights of all-time was the third match between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali. Dubbed the “Thrilla in Manila” it was the rubber match between two of the best fighters to ever step into the ring. Ali won the battle, but at a great cost. The fight took such a toil on them that both Frazier and Ali never wanted to watch it again.
Now, thirty plus years later, film maker John Dower uses that epic battle as the framework for his documentary “Thriller in Manila.” Not only does Dower take a close look at the fight, he takes the controversial stance that Ali’s dark side has been glossed over by time and that Joe Frazier was slighted due to the charisma of Ali. Dower uses new interviews with Frazier [who watches the Manila fight for the first time] interspliced with old newsreel footage and interviews to paint a picture of Ali that isn’t pretty.
You can read more about the documentary here.
