Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
After putting in a 14 hour day at work [with two more equally long days to follow] coming home to read THIS just made my day.
I was shocked to hear that Heath Ledger was found dead today and that drugs may have played a factor. Although only 28, Ledger had already appeared in both critically acclaimed [“Brokeback Mountain” “Monster Ball”] and wildly popular [“The Patriot”] movies. Ledger seemed to me to be an actor who was more interested in being an actor than a star, although his upcoming role as the Joker in “The Dark Knight” would surely once again pushed him into the spotlight.
My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.
ShockTillYouDrop.com has scored 
Suzanne Pleshette, best known for her role as Bob Newhart’s wife, Emily Hartley, on “The Bob Newhart Show” passed away yesterday at the age of 70 from respiratory failure.
The first time I remember seeing Suzanne Pleshette on screen was in Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds.” She played Rod Taylor’s ex-flame, Annie Taylor [who to me was more appealing than his new love interest, Tippi Hendren]. I know I saw her in other things [since she turned up in a lot of guest star roles], but my next memory is of her co-starring with James Garner in “Support Your Local Gunfighter.” Not long after that came the classic role on Newhart.
Suzanne Pleshette was pretty, fun-loving and brought a sparkle to the roles she played. She will be missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family, friends and fans.
I just discovered via Mark Evanier’s site that Allan Melvin passed away last Thursday. While you may not know his name, I’ll bet you’ll know his face. Melvin was probably best known as “Sam the Butcher” from the Brady Bunch, but there was a time when Melvin was, as Mark Evanier states, “in everything.”
B.J. Penn and Joe Stevenson headline UFC 80 today live from Newcastle, England. Although there are, of course, other fights on the card, the main event is the only one that I am really interested in. My guess is that Penn will win, but given the right odds I would swing over to Stevenson [ya gotta love an underdog].
Unfortunately these days it’s rare that a movie uses actual artwork to attract viewers. Perhaps that’s why I have an interest in “Hellride.”
Then again maybe it’s because it’s about a biker gang out to avenge the murder of one of their own. Maybe it’s because it’s got a mix of horror thrown in. Or maybe it’s because it stars Michael Madsen, Vinnie Jones and Dennis Hopper and is “presented by” Quentin Tarantino.
Then again, it could be simply because I like the poster.
My buddy, John Beatty started up Sketch Society a while back. Sketch Society is a group of artists [amateur and professional] who would get together for informal sketching sessions. Although not an artist, I would go just to hang out and shoot the breeze [and occasionally live blog]. The meetings were irregularly scheduled but always a blast.
This year John has decided to have regularly scheduled meetings with the same informal “let’s get together to shoot the breeze, sketch, laugh and have a good time” atmosphere. The first is scheduled for January 26th. You can read more about the whole shebang HERE. Hope to see you there!
Man, I miss those days.
Boy, did the tv commercial below bring back some great memories. When I was a kid growing up in the 60’s, I loved my action figures. My favorites were General Custer, Johnny West and Chief Cherokee all from Marx’s Best of the West Series. Hard to believe how many hours I spent playing with them… and my guess is kids today would enjoy them if we could pry them away from their video games.
Maila Nurmi, better known as Vampira, passed away yesterday at the age of 86. Although few would recognize Ms. Nurmi’s name, almost everyone knows her “Vampira” character. Maila did make appearances in a few movies after her tv show was cancelled; most notably Ed Wood’s infamous “Plan 9 From Outer Space.” Maila left show business in the early 60’s, but her spirit lived on through the antics of dozens of other horror hosts such as Zacherley, Sammy Terry, and even Elvira [who was later unsuccessfully sued by Maila]. With the growth of the goth movement, the “popularity” of “Plan 9” and Tim Burton’s “Ed Wood” film, Maila enjoyed renewed popularity in her later years.
It appears that Maila died leaving behind no family members. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her friends and many fans.
George Romero, The King of Zombies, is back with a look at his new movie, Diary of the Dead.
Merv Griffin died nearly five months ago… yet he made me laugh today. That’s more than I can say for a lot of comedians still alive.
