Napoleon Bonaparte… A Real Cold Case

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Napoleon Bonaparte was at one time a self-proclaimed Emperor who had conquered nearly all of Europe.

Napoleon died an early death from stomach cancer when, despite his military genius, he was defeated and banished to a small island in the South Atlantic over 180 years ago.

Now it appears that Napoleon may not have died from cancer after all. A new toxicological report shows a “toxic form of arsenic, used for centuries as rat poison, was found in Napoleon‘s hair samples at 37 to 42 times above the normal level.” .

Rock On… Crazy Frog!

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This little fellow is The Crazy Frog. And in case you didn’t know it, he’s taking the world by storm.

I first read about The Crazy Frog a while back. I thought he was amusing in an irritating way. Then earlier in the week I saw a link posted to this video.

Then I read about The Crazy Frog in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly.

Whoa.

What’s amazing is that The Crazy Frog ring tone kept Coldplay’s premiere of “Speed of Sound” safely in second place on the UK music singles chart. The Crazy Frog has the #1 selling single?

Now THAT is CRAZY

“Strange Days” / Z-View

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If you were to ask me, right now, to name my top ten favorite murder mystery movies, sci-fi movies, and love stories, one movie would make all of these lists.

Don’t believe me? OK, then ask me… Really… Ask me.  Would one of you please ask me?

Ok. Thanks.

The movie that makes all three lists is Strange Days.  Bet that surprised you.

 

 

 

Strange Days was made in 1995 from a story by James Cameron, a screenplay by Cameron and Jay Cocks and directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

 It stars Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Glenn Plummer.

I watched Strange Days again last night and re-remembered just how much I love it and how cool it is that it works in all of the genres that I mentioned at the start of this post. I’d really like to discuss it here, but my guess is that many, if most of you haven’t seen it.

 

 

 

You see it really didn’t do gangbusters at the box office. Heck, I didn’t even see it until it came out on video.

Maybe some of you have seen it and want to talk about why you like or don’t like it.

 Maybe some of you who haven’t seen it want to learn more about it. If so, you can click HERE to see the teaser trailer, or even HERE if you want to purchase a copy for your collection.

“Strange Days” rates an A

Hollywood Animal

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Joe Eszterhas was, at one time, the highest paid screenwriter in Hollywood. He was also the first screenwriter to make the 100 Most Powerful People in Hollywood list.

Eszterhas’ first movie was F.I.S.T. which starred Sly Stallone. Before the movie was released Eszterhas and Sly had a few very public squabbles although they did ultimately patch things up. Eszterhas went on to write some of the most popular movies being produced. Movies like Flashdance, Jagged Edge, and Basic Instinct.

On Tuesday, Eszterhas‘ latest book, Hollywood Animal : A Memoir will be released. It promises to be a “shocking and often devastating look inside the movie business. It intimately explores the concept of fame and gives us a never-before-seen look at the famous. Eszterhas reveals the fights, the deals, the extortions, the backstabbing, and the sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll world that is Hollywood.”

Man, if it does all of that, I’ll bet it could make a good movie. Hmmm… I wonder who’d write it?

One Last Bullet for 2004

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I hope that everyone made it to this side of 2005 with a minimum of damage. 2004 was a good year and I’m hoping for even better things in 2005. But before we leave ’04 completely, I thought I’d give a brief rundown of some of the highlights entertainment-wise [at least for me]…

Movies: I loved the Dawn of the Dead re-make and The Passion of the Christ. [Kinda strange that they were both about people who rose from the dead.]

Collateral was very good and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and The Chronicles of Riddick were fun rides.

Several of the best movies that I saw in 2004 were older movies that I discovered on DVD or cable. The original Metropolis was stunning even 77 years after it was made. And you know I love the whole tough guy – noir genre, so seeing movies like On Dangerous Ground, Brute Force and The Big Heat made my day.

TV: The Shield, 24, Survivor and West Wing continue to make my “Must See TV” list. And although Alias still hung in there, ER fell from the ranks. Lost soared to the top of the list and I enjoyed Boston Legal when I caught it.

Novels: The best were Portrait of a Murderer: The Jack the Ripper Case Closed by Patricia Cornwall, Double Play by Robert Parker, Sensei by John Donohue, and Rain Storm by Barry Eischer.

Comics: My favorite comic of the year was Grave Digger: The Scavengers by Christopher Mills and Rick Burchett. The writing and art meshed perfectly to create a comic that’s impossible not to enjoy. If we don’t get more Grave Digger stories from Mills and Burchett, then there’s no justice.

My favorite graphic novel of the year was The Wicked West by Todd Livingston, Robert Tinnell and artist, Neil Vokes. Anyone who is a fan of westerns, horror or simply great graphic novels would love The Wicked West.

My favorite on-going series were The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman and Charles Adlard [which just keeps getting better and better] and 100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso.

Blogs: Mark Evanier’s News from ME is required reading daily. He’s funny, informative and blogs don’t get any better. Jeff Parker’s Mystifying Oracle and Mike Wieringo’s blog don’t appear daily but when they do, they’re worth a read.

Breakfast: Was a three hour marathon session [and NO, we weren’t eating the whole time] with my ole pal Jim Ivey last week. Jim will soon be 80 and we hadn’t been able to get together in quite a while. Christmas Break seemed like the right time to clear my schedule and make a trip over to see “Jimbo” and I couldn’t have asked for a better time. Jim seemed to enjoy it too. ; )

Now… on to 2005!

Anyone Going to SAHARA?

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The official site for Sahara has opened up with a Quicktime trailer.

While it looks like it’s going to be a fun movie, it doesn’t quite give me the feel I had when I read the bestseller of the same name by Clive Cussler.

For one thing Matthew McConaughey seems a bit young to be playing world adventurer Dirk Pitt. But if they’re looking to build a tentpole out of this series, then younger is probably better.

The other thing that jumped out at me as a bit diferent than the book is how funny Steve Zahn is as Pitt‘s sidekick is. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a good mix of humor in the book, but the trailer really played it up… which again, may not be a bad thing.

And Penelope Cruz is always a plus!

Sin City Trailer

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Oh, man! I just can’t wait
to see Sin City up on the big screen.

If you’re a long time ZONE reader, you’ve [repeatedly] heard how much I love
Frank Miller’s Sin City.

You also already know how juiced I became when I heard that Miller was teaming [as
co-director] with Robert Rodriguez to bring Sin City
 to the big screen.

Then the cast started coming on board… Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Clive Owen, Benicio Del
Torro, Rosario Dawson, Elijah Wood…

How could it get any better?

Take a look at this trailer and you tell me!

“Cinderella Man” – Bad Title, Good Movie

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Cinderella Man [hate that title] came in under the radar.

I should have seen it coming. It stars Russell Crowe and Rene Zellweger… is directed by Ron Howard… and is the story of how Jim Braddock shook the boxing world back in the ’30’s.

Still somehow, it slipped by me until I saw the trailer.

I’ll bet it doesn’t get missed come Awards time.

RIP: Reggie White

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It’s just been posted that Reggie White died today of a massive heart attack.
Man, one of the best loved and greatest NFL defensive players ever… dead at 43.

“Today our beloved husband, father and friend passed away,” White‘s wife, Sara, said in a statement through a family pastor. “His family appreciates your thoughts and prayers as we mourn the loss of Reggie White. We want to thank you in advance for honoring our privacy.”

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Reggie‘s family and friends.

AC Comics @ FX

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If you’re planning to attend the FX show in Orlando next month [January 28th -30th], in between getting autographs from movie and tv stars and sketches from comic artists; you may just want to try and get yourself one of the exclusive toys and collectibles available only at the FX Show!

My buddy, “Wild” Bill Black, publisher of AC Comics will debut three limited edition versions of a new line of action figure toys based on Bill‘s Femforce and major AC characters. These toys are 8 inches tall with full articulation, created in the Mega style of the 1970’s, and will actually wear a costume made of cloth which is applied over the plastic figure. The figures, produced by Cast-A-Way Toys, are planned for early 2005 release but the limited figures [Fighting Yank, Black Terror and Miss Masque] will be available ONLY at the FX show.

Bill‘s a great guy. If you make it to the FX show, please be sure and swing by Bill‘s AC booth and tell him, “Hi.” He won’t pressure you to buy anything, but after you meet him, I’ll bet you may walk away with something… and it may even be one of his new action figures!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

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It’s just a bit after six AM, and the family is still sleeping.

Although the house is quiet now, soon the sounds of Christmas morning will be everywhere.

Still in this period of calm, as I reflect on the many blessings that I have, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Wonderful Kwanzaa, or great whatever you celebrate. And if you don’t celebrate anything, have a good day anyway!

Are You Stressed

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With Christmas quickly approaching, I’m sure that many of us are experiencing various levels of stress. As a public service to Zoners everywhere, here is a quick stress test that was used in a major hospital study to determine stress levels in patients.

The picture below has 2 almost identical dolphins in it. Look at both dolphins jumping out of the water. The dolphins are identical.

A closely monitored, scientific study of a group revealed that in spite of the fact that the dolphins are identical, a person under stress would find differences in the two dolphins.

If there are many differences found between both dolphins, it means that the person is experiencing a great amount of stress.

Look at the photograph and if you find more than one or two differences you may want to take a vacation.