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By Ryan Greis
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In Film
There's a reason they're called popcorn movies: Celebrity faces, outrageous stunts and digitized effects fill the summer blockbusters. Hollywood wouldn't have it any other way.
But have no fear -- CityBeat is here with a summer film 2000 scorecard. It's the perfect primer before heading to the multiplexes.
Doris Allen weighs Battlefield Earth the book against its campy screen counterpart. Aaron Epple questions how a biblical epic like Gladiator found its way to modern-day audiences. Pseudoquasiesque columnist Bob Woodiwiss discovers the latest film auteur.
Our handy-dandy summer movie list keeps track of every wannabe hit from Mel Gibson's Revolutionary War shenanigans in The Patriot to Eddie Murphy's schizo-ensemble acting as the family Klump in Nutty Professor II: The Klumps. For those "serious" film buffs who refuse to step into a multiplex, our survey of the upcoming art-house films arrives in next week's Hot Issue. Finally, I take a fond look at summer movie disasters past and present.
Oh yes, there's a review of some little Tom Cruise movie called Mission: Impossible 2. Cruise was also part of the summer class of 1999 thanks to Stanley Kubrick's erotic thriller, Eyes Wide Shut. This time around, he wows summer audiences by playing with a different pistol.
-- Steve Ramos
In Music
For this year's celebration of sun, sounds and the summer concert lineup, it's the tale of two Jims.
Brian Baker talked to the Jimmie we like. Jimmie Dale Gilmore waxes about his exciting new album, One Endless Night, which he'll be promoting with a summer tour that swings through the Southgate House on June 22.
Then there's the evil Jim. The dusty-haired, laid-back messenger of Satan himself, Jimmy Buffett. We decided it was high time to give this guy some ink, so we figured we'd tell you why we think he and his music blows. Check The Enquirer if you want the annual fluff piece.
Finally, we asked our music critics to reach into their hearts and tell us what some of the acts coming to our area this summer have meant to them. It's a sentimental journey down memory lane. Of course, a lot of it's also mean-spirited, sarcastic and self-deprecating.
What will you learn? Brad Quinn was in Tesla for one brief, shining moment. Brian Baker discovered dildoes and Beat writers at a frighteningly young age. Mike Breen doesn't love little girls (honest). And Kathy Y. Wilson should be the mayor of Hamilton. It's all inside.
Enjoy the issue, and then enjoy the summer!
-- Mike Breen
