by Dave Thomas

Woody Allen directs Scarlett Johansson again in Scoop
Remember how I said that last month was all about the comedy? I spoke too soon. All the B-list comedy tries its hand at making a buck this month. It can’t all be bad, right?
JULY 7
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST
ARRR, WHAT BE THE PITCH THIS TIME?
Jack Sparrow vs. Davy Jones (not the one from The Monkees).
ARRR, BE IT OF THE VARIETY OF FILMS THAT SUCK?
Early buzz is generally good, so I guess it was a smart move to keep the same cast, writers and director for this installment. And adding Bill Nighy to the mix probably didn’t hurt. Oh, and who’s a pirate’s favorite addition to the cast? Stellan Skaaaarrrrrrrsgaaaaaarrrrrrd!
ARRR, HOW MANY DUBLOONS WILL IT PLUNDER?
This is probably the only movie that has nothing to fear from the second frame of Superman, and the following week two weak-ass comedies are all it has to stare down. Every pundit from here to Tuscaloosa has declared this the sure-fire number one hit of the summer in spite of Da Vinci Code, X-Men, Superman, Mission Impossible, Cars and, of course, SOAP. And polls of moviegoers seem to agree. $335mil.
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A SCANNER DARKLY
ARRR, I MEAN, UM, WHAT’S THE PITCH?
The latest adaptation of a Philip K. Dick novel. As if the rotoscope effect weren’t mindfuck enough.
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is very split. I guess Linklater plus rotoscoping equals controversy. But me, I loved Waking Life. And having Robert Downey, Jr. and Linklater vet Rory Cochrane involved can only help.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
With the following and star power this film has, Warner Independent could have probably released it wide as counterprogramming to Pirates. $20mil.

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From The AP:

Subway Rider Sliced in Power Saw Attack
A man grabbed two cordless power saws off a subway station workbench and went on a rampage Thursday, swinging the saws at riders and slicing open a man’s chest before running away, police said.
The 64-year-old victim, whose name was not released, was hospitalized in critical but stable condition. Police were searching for the suspect, described by witnesses as a thin man in his 30s, who had earrings in both ears and was possibly carrying a teddy bear.
The attack occurred before dawn at a subway station a few blocks south of Columbia University.
Wielding a saw in each hand, the man took a swipe at one rider on a platform and missed, police said. Moments later, he cut into the man’s chest at a turnstile before bolting out of the station, still carrying the power tools, which were later found in a trash can.

It’s a benefit, so it’ll cost you $30, but should be a great show for BSS fans. Click here for more.

Disgraceful. From CNN

New York court refuses to recognize same-sex marriage
The New York State Court of Appeals refused to recognize same-sex marriage in a ruling issued Thursday, saying the issue was a question for the Legislature to decide.
The New York case involved 48 gay and lesbian couples who filed four separate cases seeking to overturn a 97-year-old state law that defines marriage as between a man and woman.
The couples claimed the law violated their constitutional rights because it defended sex discrimination. The cases were heard together by the court in Albany.

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Dead Meadow and The Double have both confirmed to play a FREE show at McCarron Park
When:
July 16 2006
Doors at 2pm
Show starts @ 3
Where:
McCarron Park Pool
Lorimer St. between Driggs and Bayard Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11201

TV on the Radio has a funny collection of new promotional videos on You Tube. Many of the scenes were filmed in Williamsburg and the above video stars our favorite comedian, David Cross. Check them all out here. [via Gothamist]
If you missed the band’s show on Friday, here’s a video of Young Liars recorded at Prospect Park.
Also, the reviews are in of their new record, Return to Cookie Mountain.

Lady Liberty gets a Jesusy makeover by theocrats at a Memphis megachurch
Our Christiany brother site, EvangelicalRight.com has the story. [Thanks Kevin]:

JULY-4TH-ROOFTOP-BBQ – a Todd P all-stars bands army assembles to raise money for New Orleans charity CommonGroundRelief.org — JAPANTHER, PARTS & LABOR, MATT & KIM, Pterodactyl, Battleship (Oakland), Knyfe Hyts (current & ex Ex Models), Deathset (Australia), and NECKING – STARTS AT 4PM and will go fast! @ 330 MELROSE ST – ROOFTOP. More info here.
and from Flavorpill:
Rooftop Films presents Fun with the Founding Fathers feat. the Double
price: $20

This Fourth of July, Rooftop Films presents Fun with the Founding Fathers, an evening of live music, comedy, short films, and fireworks, if not exactly to celebrate the Founding Fathers, then to at least have fun with them. The films include Cox and Combs (Washington), a musical about George Washington’s lovemaking prowess; Preacher With An Unknown God, a biopic of anti-capitalist activist Reverend Billy; and Frank and Wendy: A Blow to the Back of Society’s Head, an award-winning animated Estonian film about FBI agents battling Latvians in Estonia. Noise-rockers the Double perform (8pm) and the waterfront Stuyvesant Cove Park provides a perfect place to watch the fireworks.
Note: Though the films start at 10pm, NYPD regulations require all attendees be at the event at 6pm. Rooftop Films presents the doc Guerilla Girl at the Open Road Park on Fri 6.30 (9pm) and Industriance Shorts 2: This Land Is Not Yours at the American Can Factory on Sat 7.1 (8:30pm). MORE INFO HERE

$15, 3pm til fireworks with a rooftop fireworks view.
with live performances by:
Voxtrot
The Occasion
Rusty Santos
Damon McMahon
TK Webb
Zachary Cale
Click here for more info

The Times is typically late to the story, but their feature on the McCarren Park Pool is worth a read nonetheless:

Dive In, the Music’s Fine: New York Rock Shows Move Outdoors
By BEN SISARIO
THE McCARREN PARK POOL in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, is surely one of the last places in New York you would expect to see a concert. Shuttered by the city 22 years ago, it is a 50,000-square-foot void, its floor specked with decades-old turquoise paint and its walls blanketed by layers of graffiti. It lacks electricity and lights, and its bathrooms have long been boarded up. And it is a pool. As in splish-splash.
But in the strange logic of the New York summer concert season ‚Äî when a pier on the Hudson River and the boardwalk of the South Street Seaport play host to loud indie rock, and the empty courtyard of a Queens museum becomes a dancing and people-watching nexus ‚Äî this all makes the McCarren Park Pool an ideal performance space. It’s enormous, it’s a blank slate, and it’s available: three uncommon and highly prized attributes.
“It’s just been sitting there, like the monolith in ’2001,’ ” said Sam Kinken, who books concerts throughout the New York region for Live Nation, the giant promoter. He has programmed six nights at the pool, beginning July 29 with the British band Bloc Party.

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