Issue #20 ~ May 24, 1999

AAAaaawwoooo! I bid you....welcome to issue #20 of Count Floyd`s Movie News. Summer will be here soon and it looks like it will be a blast for moviegoers. "Star Wars" opens next week (at the time of this writing) and we can also look forward to the new "Austin Powers" movie as well as "The Wild Wild West". We have also been treated to a cool pre-summer exhibit of such action films as "The Matrix", "The Mummy" and "Entrapment". I haven`t seen"Entrapment" yet but I have seen "The Matrix" and "The Mummy".

"The Matrix" stars Keanu Reeves as Neo. Neo is a computer programmer by day and a superhacker by night. He gets involved with a mysteriously sexy lady named Trinity played by Carrie-Anne Moss. Trinity leads Neo to Morpheus played by Laurence Fishburne. We learn that Morpheus is the leader of a rebel band out to destroy the matrix. What is the matrix? All I will say is that things in the matrix are not what they appear and it does need destroying badly. Neo is considered "the chosen one" to save mankind and he must fight the evil agents out to protect the matrix at all costs. This film is very original in it`s depiction of the action scenes which is rare these days in the remake capital of the world. It is a combination Sci/Fi film with shootem up action and some excellent Kung Fu. The fight scenes were choreographed by Hong Kong`s Yuen Wo Ping who was responsible for some great Kung Fu actions films as "Drunken Master", "Last Hero In China", "Tai Chi Master" and "Wing Chun". The film was written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski who made the critically acclaimed film "Bound". I highly recommend this film especially if you are an action buff like I am.

While "The Matrix" is a new concept picture "The Mummy" offers us something familiar. The film is very loosely based on the original film which starred Boris Karloff. An Egyptian priest named Imhotep is accused of lusting after the Pharaoh`s mistress. Let`s face it, she`s hot. Anyway, things go awry and they are caught. The film goes into detail on how the royal court takes it`s revenge but needless to say the priest, played by Arnold Vosloo, is mummified. Now we fast forward in time to 1923 where our intrepid hero Rick, played by Brendan Fraser, stumbles onto the location of the lost city of Hamunaptra. Evelyn, a cute librarian type who can read hieroglyphics and her cowardly yet sophisticated brother Jonathon come across an artifact that may hold the clue to locating the mummy if they can find the lost city. Rick teams up with Evelyn, played by Rachel Weisz and Jonathon, played by John Hannah to unlock the secrets of Hamunaptra. I enjoyed "The Mummy" on several levels. The special effects were cool, the attention to detail was there and there was plenty of action. I found Brendan Fraser to be a little stiff in the lead role as the Indiana Jones-ish Rick but I felt the other performances far outweighed any objections I may have had. In a way "The Mummy" reminded me of a Hammer Films production and I highly recommend it as a "popcorn matinee" film.

TOTAL RECALL is now a series airing on Showtime. The title is "Total Recall 2070". Don`t fear if you don`t have cable because it will go into syndication next year hopefully on a station near you.

AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME is the title of the sequel to the original Austin Powers film which is due out this summer. Mike Myers will be joined by Heather Graham, Rob Lowe, Robert Wagner, Kristen Johnston and Seth Green. "Groovy baby".

YOU ASKED FOR IT, the classic television show, will return to TV this year. For those who are too young to remember the original series which ran from 1951 to 1959, people would write the show requesting to see some interesting person, place or thing and the show`s crew would take their cameras wherever to show it to you.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy made famous by J.R.R. Tolkien will be made into a live-action film by the excellent New Zealand director Peter Jackson. The three films will hit the theaters 6 to 7 months apart. Forest locations are being scouted out at this time. Peter Jackson directed such films as "Dead Alive", "Bad Taste" and "The Frighteners".

I ran across a video several weeks ago that had a title that caught my eye. It was called "From Dusk Til Dawn II: Texas Blood Money". I was a big fan of the original film which was directed by Robert Rodriquez who knows how to film action scenes. I was a little leary about renting the film because I had never seen this movie advertised for the big screen. It was not directed by Robert Rodriquez but was instead directed by Scott Spiegel. I was more than pleasantly surprised by this film which includes a cameo by Bruce Campbell another hero of mine. The film deals with a former criminal named Buck played by Robert Patrick. He starred in "Terminator 2" as the morphing cop who kept chasing "Ahnold". He agrees to help with the robbery of a bank in Mexico with a band of criminals. The band consists of the guy who plans the heist along with a getaway driver, safe cracker, nervous new criminal, sadistic maniac and Buck. The leader of the group has car trouble and wanders into a seedy bar that we recognize from the first film. Needless to say he is bitten by a vampire and becomes one himself. He now insists that they break into the bank that night. (Hey, what`s your hurry?) The leader lures each gang member away from the others so he can bite them. The alarm is sounded and the cops surround the place. Our hero Buck now realizes that he has vampires on the inside and cops on the outside. This is where the action really starts. Spiegel does a fairly good job at directing the action but he doesn`t quite have the flair of Robert Rodriquez. The film has some truly scary and gross moments and is well worth the cost of the rental.

The new Triviameister of Mellonville asks the following trivia question: "In "Gone With the Wind" when Atlanta was burning what other movie set was actually burning?".

To answer the trivia question please click here. Good luck to you all.

The survey question in the last issue was : "What is your favorite Stanley Kubrick film?". The survey SAYS:

• A Clockwork Orange (9 votes)
• The Shining (5 votes)
• Spartacus (2 votes)
• Lolita
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• Full Metal Jacket
• Eyes Wide Shut (not out yet but writer felt if it showed Tom Cruise naked then it had to be good.)
• and Dr. Strangelove (6 votes) as The Beaver.

Thanks to everyone who participated. Stanley Kubrick will be missed. It looks like this will be the year of the Lucas. Or at least the summer, anyway. The survey question for this issue is: "What is your favorite George Lucas film?": For me it would have to be "American Graffiti". Oh sure, "Star Wars" was an excellent flick but "American Graffiti" hit me were I lived. I come from an age when I remember listening to Wolfman Jack on the radio. In fact I remember being scared by the wolf call made on his show. (I was young and it was late and the sound came from by parents room.) At least I hope it was Wolfman Jack (hi dad).

So, what is your favorite George Lucas film? To answer the survey question please click here.

AAAAaawwoooo! Count Floyd will return in issue #21 of Count Floyd`s Movie News titled "Yesterday Always Faints" due out in August.