At The Movies...

The Thirteenth Floor

Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and Douglas Hall (Craig Bierko) have taken virtual reality to a higher level. Using a simulation of 1937 Los Angeles for their prototype, they have invented a microchip capable of creating a virtual universe where people exist only if they believe they do. While this film is not heavy on special effects, it utilizes rich and realistic scenery that succeeds in taking the audience to a believable Los Angeles circa 1937. Intriguing plot twists and fine performances add to the appeal of The Thirteenth Floor.

Off The Record...

Backstreet Boys

Millennium

Love 'em or hate 'em the Backstreet Boys are a force to be reckoned with.  Over 10 million units of their self-titled debut were sold in North America alone, racking up 5 Top 10 singles, and this release will only build on that momentum.  Of all the bands that appeal to the younger set, they are definitely the most talented, with a sound that is more Motown, than annoying teen angst.  Check out the new single, I Want It That Way, which is currently burning up the charts. 

Play This...

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron

Jedis and trainees, know this, you can fly an X-wing right now, this minute.  Through various battles, ranging from the prison planet of Kessel to Han Solo's home planet of Corellia, the player takes on the personalities of various characters as they blast at everything from Scout Walkers to hover trains.  Well designed and exciting to play, if you were disappointed in the movie, this game will more than make up for it.

On Video...

Saving Private Ryan

Academy Award winning (including best director for Steven Spielberg) World War II epic that centers around the D-Day landing at Omaha Beach and branches out in the search for the missing-in-action Pvt. Ryan, whose three siblings were all killed within days of each other. Gruesome and horrible in its depiction of the cost of battle, the film is ultimately a search for good in humanity against all odds to the contrary. Powerful filmmaking.

The Buzz...

The Backstreet Boys newest release, Millennium, has become the fastest selling album of all time, moving over 1 million copies in its first week in release.  The Boys replace former champ, Garth Brooks.

Three men were arrested for stealing a copy of The Phantom Menace from a theater last weekend.  The reel of film was taken off the projection system in the State Theater in Menomonie.  The film's value on the black market has been estimated to be more than $60,000, although it was not believed to have been copied.

CBS has won the ratings war. The home of Touched By an Angel and Everybody Loves Raymond has climbed to the season's top spot in the ratings for the first time in five years.

Director John Landis is ironing out the details to produce a horror anthology film for New Line Cinema. The project is tentatively entitled Really Scary and will include four segments by four filmmakers.

Sony Music Entertainment has teamed with Microsoft to begin selling music in digital format via the Internet this summer. Expect to shell out your greenbacks for high-quality digital tracks by Sony artists such as Korn, the Offspring, Silverchair, and the Black Crowes.

Everclear has just been announced as the latest addition to the Detroit Rock City soundtrack. They will be performing Thin Lizzy's The Boys Are Back In Town.  Other artists on the soundtrack include Marilyn Manson, Cheap Trick and, of course, KISS.

DC Comics and Warner Bros. were awarded $3.6 Million in a judgement against CBB Group Inc. of Los Angeles. CBB was operating a 70,000 square foot warehouse in Los Angeles engaged in a counterfeit operation.

The Practice's Camryn Manheim will star with Gary Shandling and Annette Bening in What Planet Are You From?, a science fiction parody about an alien equipped with a mechanical sexual organ who is sent to mate with an human as a prelude to taking over Earth.

Wizards of the Coast subsidiary TSR inked a deal with Blizzard Entertainment to make a role-playing game based on the computer games Diablo and Starcraft using the Dungeons & Dragons and Alternity game systems.

The success of The Mummy may open the door for remakes of The Invisible Man, The Phantom of the Opera, Creature From The Black Dragon and an animated Frankenstein film, guest-starring the Wolf Man.

Fans are scrambling to save The Crow: Stairway to Heaven from cancellation. The show is tied up with Universal's buyout of Polygram and its sale in foreign markets.

Starbase-1 Coffee Co., Ltd. has announced plans to launch Star Trek bottled water. The bottled water will be available in a patented plastic container with various Star Trek icons on the label.

Now And Again, a sort of Six Million Dollar Man for the new millennium, begins Friday nights on CBS this fall. It's the story of a man killed in an accident who gets a new body.

Action figures based on the Sony Playstation game Final Fantasy VIII should hit American shores this fall. Palisades Marketing will represent Kotobukiya in the sale of action figures, vinyl figures and polyresin statues.

The Vulture and Mysterio will return to make Spider-Man's life miserable in the Webcrawler's monthly titles.  Doc Octopus will also continue his evil ways.

Paul Stanley did an autograph and Q and A session at Tower Records in Toronto as he prepares to entertain as the Phantom.  Stanley said that KISS will be performing some of the bands 80's and 90's material on the next leg of the tour.

Jerry Springer fans who tune in just to see fights will have to get their daily dose of violence somewhere else. His television distributor issued an order on Tuesday: no more fights.  Isn't that the whole show though?

Sarah Michell Gellar was rumored to be on tap for Back To The Future 4 and possibly 5 but Universal Studios told fans that was untrue. The plotline reportedly involves going back to Roswell, NM, in the year 1947.

Remains found at the bottom of a steep canyon in the posh seaside community of Malibu appeared to be those of a rock guitarist who disappeared more than four years ago, authorities said Monday.The human skull and bones, discovered late Saturday near a wrecked van were being studied by a medical examiner to determine if they belonged to Philip Kramer, who played bass guitar in the second version of the band Iron Butterfly in the mid-1970s.

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