Russell: “I am Snake Plissken!”

Posted on by
The other day I mentioned that Gerard [“300”] Butler had signed on to play Snake Plissken in a new movie. My ZONE message board lit up with people [myself included] saying that Kurt Russell should be the one to play Snake.

Well, it seems Kurt Russell agrees. Entertainment Weekly posed the question, “What if they asked you to do a cameo in the new Escape from New York, or play the Ernest Borgnine role?” Here’s Kurt’s reply…
“F— that! I am Snake Plissken! It’s like Sean Connery always watching someone else do their version of Bond. I think one of the things, for instance, about Escape From New York that appealed to me was that it wasn’t a special effects extravaganza. It’s a quiet, dark world and it revolved around watching the behavior of this one guy. He’s a fascinating character. In fact, he’s the most complex character I’ve ever played.”
And if you wonder what Kurt thinks about Scottish actor Gerard Butler playing Snake, the EW interview clears it up when Kurt says, ”Oh, man!” [Russell winces]. I do think that character was quintessentially one thing. And that is, American.”
I have nothing against Gerard Butler. I think he was great in “300” and I expect him to do other cool projects. And, while the remake of Snake Plissken is definitely cool, Russell is still THE MAN to play him. For the whole EW interview, click HERE.

We Want to Pump You Up!

Posted on by
According to a Sports Illustrated report, Evander Hollyfield is just one of many professional athletes linked to a nationwide steroids investigation. Several professional wrestlers including Randy Orton, Adam Copeland, a.k.a. “Edge,” and Shane Helms, a.k.a. “The Hurricane,” Kurt Angle, Oscar Gutierrez aka Rey Mysterio join other pro athletes such as Jose Canseco, John Rocker, Jerry Hairston Jr., David Bell, and bodybuilder Victor Martinez on the list. You can read the full story HERE.

Honestly, the only name on the list which really surprises me is Hollyfield’s.

It Wasn’t All Bad

Posted on by
This past Saturday my wife and I decided to ride down to the inlet. There was an art show going on and we figured that we could walk around, check out the art and then have some lunch at one of the seafood joints nestled in the inlet.

It was a beautiful afternoon with clear skies and a light breeze. I was surprised that we were able to walk through the entire show in less than an hour. We did see a couple of nice pieces by Florida artists and photographers, but nothing that really knocked us out.

We decided to grab a bite and headed over to one of the better seafood establishments in the area. We’d never had a bad meal there… until that afternoon. The baked potato was cold, the cocktail sauce was near frozen, there was a piece of shell in the fried oysters and the waitress disappeared at about the same time my soda ran dry. Still, the shrimp were delicious and the company was great. And I did like the way this photo turned out.

"300" Still #1

Posted on by

“300” continues to rake in the dough at the box office. It was number one for the second-straight weekend bringing in $31.2 million. This shoots it past the $100 million mark [$127.5 million] after only a week in theaters.

“300” was also number one at the box office overseas, bringing in $15.6 million and topping the charts in thirteen countries. The overseas total so far is $24.6 million and has yet to open in Britain, France, Spain and Mexico!
 
If you’re a “300” fan, then be sure to keep an eye out for the March 23, 2007 issue of Entertainment Weekly which should hit the stands early this week.

EW: 1st Look @ 28 Weeks Later Poster

Posted on by

The March 23, 2007 issue of Entertainment Weekly has a cover story on “300” [more on that later] and features a first look at the poster for “28 Weeks Later” the sequel to the cult hit “28 days later.” Look for the issue to hit news stands this week. It’s always more than worth the price of admission and especially so this week.

There’s a New Snake in Town

Posted on by


Variety announced yesterday that New Line won the bidding war to remake Escape From New York.  Gerard Butler [star of the fan favorite and record setting “300”] is set to take on the role of Snake Plissken which Kurt Russell made famous. Ken Nolan [Black Hawk Down] is on board to produce the screenplay which will update the 1981 John Carpenter script.

 

I have mixed feelings about this. One one hand, Kurt Russell is still around and in good enough shape to play Plissken again. I’ll miss his “Clint Eastwood” delivery as Plissken. On the other mitt, I’ve always thought a more realistic and gritty Snake Plissken would be very cool. It’ll be interesting to see what direction this updated Escape from New York  will take. The good news is that even if the new version bombs, it won’t change one frame of the original movie in my collection.

Must Love Jaws

Posted on by


One of the cool things that you can find at Youtube.com is fan made trailers that have been edited to change the genre of the movie. I’ve seen The Shinning made to look like a romantic comedy, The 10 Commandments to look like a teen comedy [complete with a hip hop soundtrack] and many others.

Perhaps the best of all is Must Love Jaws.

If you know of any other good ones, please post the links!

American Idol Down to 11

Posted on by

Tonight the American Idol 12 will become 11.

Before I say who I think will be going home, let me compliment Chris Sligh. Not only can the young man sing, but he did exactly what the judges have been encouraging the contestants to do… and then got slammed for doing it.
 
Week in and week out, we hear the judges say, “make the song your own… don’t be an imitator… show your personality.” It was Diana Ross week and Chris took took “Endless Love” and modernized it. Was it as catchy as the original version? No, but then again we’ve heard the original for over 20 years. It’s engrained in our memory banks so no new version will initially sound as good. Still, Chris took the judges’ advice to heart and made the song his own and he sounded really good in doing it. So it ticked me off to hear the judges slam him when it was their suggestions that led him down that path.
 
Sanjaya Malakar should be the next contestant to leave [and Brandon Rogers needs to kick it up a few notches or he’ll soon be on the bubble], but my guess is it will be Haley Scarnato. Haley forgot her words and appeared to be really nervous. Still, I felt it was one of her better performances and hope that she gets another chance to prove herself. Unfortunately I think that Sanjaya has a teeny-bopper fan base that will keep him around for another week.

"300" is 1

Posted on by

It’s been announced that “300” made an estimated $70 million during its first three days of release. This not only catapults “300” to the coveted #1 spot in its opening weekend, but sets a new record for a March release. What makes this even more impressive is that the previous record-holder was the family-friendly “Ice Age 2: The Meltdown” that took in $68 million in March 2006. “The Matrix Reloaded” ($91 million) and “The Passion of the Christ” ($83 million) are the only R-rated movies to have bigger openings than “300.”

 

To add icing to the cake, most reviews have been positive and women are also giving the movie high marks [which is especially nice to hear since most critics felt that the movie would have very limited appeal to females].

 

I saw the movie in a packed theater at the first showing on opening day and loved it. In fact, I plan to see it again on the big screen… which is rare for me in this age of quick to dvd releases.

Couture Shocks the World!

Posted on by

Last night 43-year old UFC Hall of Famer, Randy Couture shocked the world by not only winning, but by dominating Tim Sylvia for all five rounds to take back the UFC heavyweight championship belt.

Going into the fight most people in the know were predicting another win for Sylvia. At 6’8″ and 263 pounds, Sylvia had a 6″ height advantage, a 40 pound weight advantage and was 13 years younger than Couture. The word on Couture was that he didn’t do as well when he fought as a heavyweight and he didn’t do well against strikers… and Sylvia is one of the biggest and hardest hitting strikers in the game. All of that didn’t matter though once they were in the ring. BIG PROPS to Randy Couture!
[And for those interested, Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes both won their comeback fights!]

Crimes of the Century

Posted on by

On the 75th anniversary of the Lindbergh kidnapping, TIME magazine decided to look back at The 25 Most Notorious Crimes of the Past Hundred Years. Using just their list, I decided to rank my top five… starting at the bottom…

5. The Black Dahlia, 1947. Ask most folks who Elizabeth Short was and few will know. Ask them about the Black Dahlia and it’s a different story. How can it be that a murder committed over 60 years ago still grabs our attention?

4. The Murder of Jonbenet Ramsey, 1996. Little Jonbenet was found murdered in her own house the day after Christmas. As the case first unfolded it appeared that her killer would be caught and evidence seemed to point to her own mother. The police botched the investigation, her parents left the state and no one was ever charged or convicted of the murder.

3. The Tate – LaBianca Murders, 1969. I was ten years old at the time of the killings and living half a continent away. Still, I remember the concern in the voices of the adults as they discussed the murders. Charlie Manson’s cult of followers brutally murdered six people and created a climate of fear that was felt across the country.

2. Columbine Massacre, 1999. There had been school shootings prior to Columbine, but none before had such a high casualty rate, nor did they receive as much media coverage. The fact that Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris killed 12 of their classmates, one teacher and wounded 24 others, coupled with security video of them as they moved through the school brought the reality of the murders into our homes. We realized just how much damage two lonely, isolated kids could bring down on a school. It was frightening. And even more so when we contemplated how many lonely isolated kids could be in EACH school in America.

1. The OJ Simpson Case, 1994. Consider this: Time magazine didn’t list the double-murder of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman as the notorious crime, but instead labeled their choice The OJ Simpson Case! It’s funny that the OJ case even made the list since the trial itself wasn’t a crime, [perhaps a travesty, but not a crime]. It’s even a stranger choice when you consider that OJ was found not guilty! Despite all of that, The OJ Simpson Case is my #1 most notorious crime of the last 100 years. Not only did it involve the murder of two people, but it brought down a legend [OJ], brought into question the integrity of a city’s police force [LA], created doubt about the sanctity of our judicial system, and exposed just how differently two groups of people could view the same evidence. Here we are over a decade later and people still get heated talking about the case.

 

 

Once More with Feeling

Posted on by

American Idol makes the ZONE yet again.

I’m really surprised to say that Antonella Barba has avoided the boot once again. I was pretty sure if the “racy picture” scandal didn’t catch up with her tonight, her singing would. There’s no doubt that she’s a pretty girl, but I didn’t think her performance was good enough to save her. And some folks say ya can’t get by on looks.

If you watched American Idol tonight you know that Alaina Alexander, Leslie Hunt, AJ Tabaldo and Nicholas Pedro were voted off. I can’t really argue with those choices [unless it would be to keep Leslie and say goodbye to Antonella]. I’m not ready to pick a winner yet, but I will say that I’ll be surprised if it’s not one of the ladies.

One final comment about tonight’s show… I believe that Alaina was the first contestant in the show’s history to be so emotional [after being told that she was leaving] that she wasn’t able to immediately sing her last song. It was touching to see all of the girls come out to comfort her… and did you notice that Sundance was tearing up as well?