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Assistant Editor / Co-moderator: Terence Nuzum Established A.D. 2000, March 19. Now in our eleventh calendar year! Number 558 (Vol. 11, No. 49). This edition is for the week of November 29--December 5, 2010. Another Year Format change? Yes. While I will NEVER give up on the unique combination of elements that constitute Crazed Fanboy/PCR, I've had to make difficult decisions about our ten-year-old weekly e-magazine format. Yes, I know, I said something to the same effect exactly one year ago, but ran out of time to institute the changes, merely contenting myself with having "blog-i-fied" the homepage. I'll be coy about specifics for now, but PCR 2011 will mark the most radical re-design change since 2002 (our last major site-wide upgrade, believe it or not). This experiment is very exciting and I'm hopeful it will stimulate our growth into the future.
The legendary director of Star Wars, Episode Five: The Empire Strikes Back, arguably the greatest of all the Star Wars films, Irvin Kirshner, has died at the age of 87.
Kershner, who besides the 1980 sci-fi epic also directed Sean Connery as James Bond in Never Say Never Again (1983) and Peter Weller in Robocop II (1990), died at home Monday after a long illness.
A Canadian-born dramatic actor who found his greatest success in comic roles during what otherwise would've been his senior citizen years, Leslie Nielson, died Sunday of complications from pneumonia. He was 84.
For long-time sci-fi fans, Nielson is remembered as Commander Adams from the 1956 classic Forbidden Planet. Later he had a notable if short-lived role as the doomed Captain of the Poseiden in The Poseiden Adventure (1972). I myself thought he was terrific in 1982's Creepshow (the "Something to Tide You Over" segment).
But nothing could compare to the explosive success of 1980's Airplane, a spoof of the melodramas Airport (1970) and Airport 1975. Airplane set a new standard for spoof comedy with puns, sight-gags and non-sequitor scripting. Nielson plays the bumbling Dr. Rumack ("Don't call me Shirley!") who must help keep the peace aboard an airliner in trouble.
A close competitor for a Leslie Nielson classic comedy would be the TV series Police Squad (1982) and its theatrical follow-up, The Naked Gun: From The Files Of Police Squad (1988). Along with its sequels, Nielson played Lt. Frank Drebin delivering the same straight-faced lunacy he had with Airplane. His basso-profundo voice and ability to play it totally straight was what made these comedies work.
He was a much-loved actor, highly regarded by anyone who knew him. He will be sorely missed.
Polish born Ingoushka Petrov, the Nazi concentration camp survivor who later found fame as horror actress Ingrid Pitt died November 23, 2010 in south London two days after she turned 73.
From Doctor Shivago (1975) and Where Eagles Dare (1968) to Hammer Films' The Vampire Lovers (1970), and later The House That Dripped Blood (1971) and the classic 1973 The Wicker Man, Ingrid Pitt was a formidable screen presence and a fan favorite.
Former PCR columnist Lisa Scherer did an outstanding and concise bio of Ingrid Pitt in her series on the Greatest Horror Actresses of all Time.
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