Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Shannen Doherty and Jeremy London (“I’ll Fly Away”) are the two big names in Kevin Smith’s latest movie, “Mallrats.” But Jason Lee is the star. Jason who? “That’s OK,” Lee said, dining on a light lunch of chicken and pasta during a recent visit to Chicago. “I haven’t been in anything.”
When Jim Ho decided to open Pacific Cafe during the Around the Coyote weekend, he knew his Asian eatery would get good exposure. What he didn’t realize was that his restaurant would go over so well that there literally would be no food left in his restaurant at closing time Sunday.
The one-two punch of the “Mortal Kombat” video game and the film of the same name – the nation’s No. 1 movie – is being followed with a live tour that zeroes in on martial artistry. “When we did the movie, only one of the actors (Robin Shou) was a champion martial artist, so there were limitations as to what could be done,” said fight choreographer Pat Johnson.
Playing the superhuman son of Zeus in “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,” Kevin Sorbo is winning some godlike adulation these days. Besides getting write-ups in all the major publications, his series made Rolling Stone’s annual “Hot List.”
“Arabian Knight” is no worse than your standard Saturday-morning cartoon fare. Unfortunately, it’s also no better.
The producers of “Mortal Kombat” know that the strength of their movie is based on the actors’ abilities to execute awesome roundhouse kicks, not soliloquies. So it’s not surprising that the sci-fi action-adventure, which opened Friday and totaled $23 million nationwide over the weekend, is heavy on fight scenes, low on plot.
It took a three-year-old song with a questionable title to win Sublime both notoriety and heavy rotation on radio stations across the country. A more appropriate title for the Orange County, Calif., trio’s hit single “Date Rape” actually would be “Anti Date Rape,” since the rapist ends up in prison – where he becomes a victim of rape himself.
People who question whether the Man of Steel is invincible have to check out “Off Camera With Dean Cain” at 7 tonight; on WLS-Channel 7. It’s not kryptonite that foils Cain – the man in tights on ABC’s “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” which airs at 7 p.m. Sundays on WLS-Channel 7 – but rather a quick soccer shootout with Andrew Shue. That’s right – the milquetoast Billy on “Melrose Place.” “Soccer is not my forte,” said Cain, laughing. “Even if it was, Andrew still probably would’ve kicked my butt.”
After a two-year battle with lymphoma – a cancer of the lymph glands – Chicago-based performance artist Brigid Murphy is enjoying her recovery. In a big way. To celebrate her health and to thank her friends and fans for their support, Murphy is bringing back her vaudevillian “Milly’s Orchid Show,” which she has staged since 1987.
