At The Movies...

Stuart Little

Even if you have only one sentimental bone in your body, you're still likely to have a sweet time with Stuart Little.  The adventure begins when Mr. and Mrs. Little decide to adopt another child.  At the orphanage, mouse Stuart (voiced by Michael J. Fox) tells them he's been there longest, because, well, no one wants to adopt a mouse.  So he is ecstatic that they choose him and thrilled that he'll have a brother. The three-inch hero is soon put through his paces, but his pluckiness and humanity in facing adversity will appeal to many.  Even if the message is an oldie but goodie, the idea that the greatest contentment we can know is to feel loved should inspire us to cheer along.  After all, home is where the heart is.

Off The Record...

Stevie Wonder

At The Close of a Century

It says something that Stevie Wonder's work has never been adequately covered by previous two-volume collections, so this handsomely packaged and solidly annotated four-disc, 70-song set is most welcome.  It treads only lightly on unreleased and rare gems, focusing instead on Wonder's prodigious hit parade and crucial album tracks.  It’s a lengthy display of wall-to-wall excellence (even amidst his sporadic '90s output) that bolsters his reputation as a bona fide genius and one of the landmark artists of the century, in any genre.

On Video...

Teaching Mrs. Tingle

Screenwriter Kevin (Dawson's Creek, Scream) Williamson's first directorial outing takes another of his stabs (so to speak) at high school evil, here in the form of a nasty, holy terror of a teacher (Helen Mirren).  It seems Mrs. Tingle takes pleasure in degrading her students, and when she decides that her top student has cheated, she gleefully announces she's going to destroy the youngster's future.  But three students have other plans for her, they're going to get even.  A fun outing if a bit far-fetched.

The Buzz...

Looking for that perfect Holiday gift for the comic fan who has everything?  Here's your answer, Stan Lee Media has placed Stan Lee's desk up for auction on the Ebay auction site.

South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have signed a deal with Shockwave.com that will allow them to create original animated content for the Shockwave.com website.  Parker and Stone will retain ownership of any characters and material in the deal, which will also give the two an ownership stake in the company.  The agreement is being touted as one of the most comprehensive content arrangements struck between an online start-up and major players within the Hollywood creative community.

If you missed them at the theater, and are too cheap to rent 'em when they come out on video, here's where you'll be able to find some of the latest blockbusters in the coming years.  CBS has bought the first network broadcast rights to The World is Not Enough, the latest installment of the James Bond series, for $20 million.  Broadcast will most likely begin in late 2001.  And in a move that shows Warner Brothers is still smarting from it's publicity gaffe with The Iron Giant, the film will have its television premiere on TNT amidst a huge promotional push.

While in Australia to promote The Blair Witch Project, co-directors Dan Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez confirmed that their next film project will be Heart of Love, which the duo described as Monty Python meets Airplane.

Get ready for the onslaught of X-Men  merchandise coming with next summer's feature X-Men film from Fox.  According to a company press release, Collectible Concepts Group, Inc. has signed a license agreement with Marvel to create a variety of merchandise and establish a Collector's Club to sell their products for X-Men, which is scheduled for a June 30, 2000 release.

The film adaptation to Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's long-stalled Good Omens has finally begun moving again, and this time it looks like it won't stop until it reaches the screen.

Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg will reunite for another World War II project.  The actor and director had previously worked together on the powerful D-Day drama Saving Private Ryan.  Their new WWII-based project, Band of Brothers, is an 11-hour miniseries for HBO that will be shot in the United Kingdom.  No start date has been announced yet for the $100 million project.

While his animated series lost steam and was axed in 1996 after two seasons, The Tick, based on the comic by Ben Edlund may return to television, this time as a live-action series produced by Sonnenfeld-Josephson and Columbia TriStar TV.

IMDb.com Movie and TV news reports that Japanese film distributor Toho announced that the third Pokémon theatrical feature would hit the screens in Japan next summer.  Will it ever go away?

Police raided International Graphics of Hackensack, New Jersey, stopping what many experts are now saying is the largest bust of counterfeit Pokémon cards ever.  According to the police report, the raid involved three different locations around the greater Hackensack area and included the arrest of 13 individuals.  They were generating more than $1 million a week from selling the fake cards.

Kid Rock will appear on The Simpsons, the musician told Los Angeles radio station KROQ.  The episode, scheduled for spring, has a drunken Homer crashing a spring break party and shooting Joey C. out of a cannon.

Bianca Lawson, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Kendra, is slated to join the cast of Dawson's Creek.  She'll play the daughter of the principal and a rival for Dawson.

Pearl Jam's official fan organization, Ten Club, has launched a new Web site that will work in tandem with the group's label site.  Visitors to the new domain, tenclub.net, are greeted by a treasure-trove of material, including up-to-date band information, memorabilia, and exclusive merchandise.

Former porn star Traci Lords has won a nearly $130,000 judgment against a distributor of adult videos who sold her only legal pornographic movie without permission.

Billy Idol is playing Tempe Arizona’s Fiesta Bowl show on New Year's Eve.  It will be a huge event with what we are told will be 150,000-200,000 people, 8 stages, and many bands, including Sugar Ray.

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