Posted on: Friday, November 1, 2002
THE LEFT LANE
Lovable Tommy Lee
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Ex-Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee was hard to miss at last weekend's premiere opening of the Mall at Pearl Harbor. The 6-foot-something, tattooed rocker — dressed simply in jeans, a black tee and a black cap worn backward — and a male friend were seen wandering around the lower level of the Navy Exchange. Lee apparently is in the Islands to boost military morale.
"I'm just here to support the troops," he said as he gave his autograph to a giddy fan.
Realistically deceased
The hyper-realism of the current crop of crime dramas has fostered a subsidiary TV trend: a demand for realistic-looking corpses.
It's not enough simply for living actors to play dead anymore. Producers now come armed with tools once reserved for big-budget movies, such as elaborate makeup, prosthetic props and computer-generated imagery.
That gang member who was burned to a cinder on "The Shield" showing on FX cable network? It's a specially crafted rubber dummy. The bluish corpse that tumbled out of a foot locker on NBC's "Boomtown" the other week? It got its necrotic coloration from makeup and a special film-processing technique, said Graham Yost, creator and executive producer of "Boomtown."
Skillful craftsmen, he says, "can make a very realistic-looking flesh wound with latex. Even the (fake) blood is better these days. These makeup guys are great, but I'm telling you, it's a weird, creepy business."
'Harry Potter' tix hot
Harry Potter fever is building as the Nov. 15 date for release of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" approaches. In fact, tickets are on sale now.
If you're truly determined to guarantee yourself a seat on a particular date and time, advance tickets are available at all Consolidated's O'ahu theaters except Aikahi in Kailua (no Neighbor Island theaters yet), and at Signature's Dole Cannery 18, Pearl Highlands 12 and Windward Stadium 10 theaters on O'ahu. Wallace is making a play for Neighbor Island ticket sales at Makalapua Cinemas (Big Island), Prince Kuhio Stadium Cinemas (Big Island), Maui Mall Megaplex Cinemas (Maui) and Coconut Marketplace Cinemas (Kaua'i).
Hitting an off note
Samuel Wong, maestro and musical director of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, is poised to part company with the Hong Kong Philharmonic next year when his three-year contract expires. Wong, in Honolulu this week, said he's still in negotiations with the Hong Kong orchestra, but that the Asian city's political climate may dampen his chances for remaining.
Wong is in his seventh season as maestro here. At the start of this season, his contract with the Honolulu orchestra was extended through 2005.
Hong Kong musicians have been at odds with Wong, whose tenure has been marked with at least 15 dismissals of musicians and 19 resignations.
— Advertiser staff and news services
