OK, not really... But I did check out his part in the 94' Frank and Jesse movie on DVD and I realized who I was watching just as Jesse's wife blasted him in the head! :) So Tom... how was it working with Rob Lowe, Bill Paxton and Randy Travis? :) Was Rob a big as a prima donna as the tabliods claim? You can tell us! We'll never tell!

I should send a pic of Tom getting it to Bruce G so hey can post it somewhere with the caption "Gamer's get even with Tom for his Majesty review debacle..."

http://us.imdb.com/Name?Chick,+Tom

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com

"But I did check out his part in the 94' Frank and Jesse movie on DVD and I realized who I was watching just as Jesse's wife blasted him in the head!"

I can't believe you actually rented that. Although I think I get residuals from video rentals...

As for the folks in it, I'll refrain from commenting on anyone other than to say Randy Travis seemed like a very nice, down-to-earth fellow. :)

BTW, I had one scene with Rob Lowe. When it came time to shoot the close-ups of my dialogue, Mr. Lowe went back to his trailer. Someone held up a stick off-camera to mark my eyeline and the script girl read Lowe's lines in a monotone while I delivered my lines to a stick.

-Tom

". . .while I delivered my lines to a stick. "

hehe, this reminds me of that Living in Oblivion movie. you see that movie? hilarious stuff.

btw, tom, do you still act? or do anything with hollywood?

etc

"Someone held up a stick off-camera to mark my eyeline and the script girl read Lowe's lines in a monotone while I delivered my lines to a stick. "

Hey, that sounds like almost as much "fun" as Sacrifice!

(ducking)

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com

"btw, tom, do you still act? or do anything with hollywood?"

I still occasionally get called in to read for stuff, but I don't chase it down anymore. As for anything to do with Hollywood, I do enjoy doing movie reviews and I wish Daily Radar still wanted me to do my column, but I guess it didn't fit in with what they're doing over there.

As for Living in Oblivion, it's definitely one of my favorite movies about movies. The director, Tom DiCillo, was showing his latest film (Double Whammy) at Sundance. I didn't see it, since I heard middling things about it. But it got picked up for distribution, so it should be released sometime this year. But, yes, I *love* Living in Oblivion. After I saw it, my stomach hurt from laughing so much.

-Tom

"I wish Daily Radar still wanted me to do my column, but I guess it didn't fit in with what they're doing over there."

The Bastards.

Guys, I say we start an e-mail campaign to get "Out There" back in all its former glory. If you've never read it, you're really missing out. It's got Trevor and the rest of the gang from Shoot Club, but the focus is on movies. You get a sense for it from the SunDance column. Get your wife, your girlfriends, and your children to write in as well. They shall see the error of their ways.

[shakes fist dramatically at sky]

Woo! hehe, I'm all riled up. Here's a few folks to address those love letters to:

Name: Aaron Loeb
What He Do: Executive Producer
Who He Be: Aaron is from Urbana, IL. He believes so very deeply that cilantro is not edible.
Email: [email protected]

Name: John Newlin
What He Do: Editor in Chief, Showbiz & Direct Hit
Who He Be: John is from Indiana. He gave an ex-girlfriend a thighmaster for Christmas.
Email: [email protected]

"Who He Be: Aaron is from Urbana, IL. He believes so very deeply that cilantro is not edible."

I'm close enough to egg his monitor(s). ;)

-Mike Latinovich -- stuck in east-central Illinois-

No more "Out There"? Oh man, that was by far my favorite column in the Showbiz section. It was an intellectual style of humor instead of the common "least common denomonator" stuff they've been putting up lately. When I read the Sundance articles you did, I was hoping that meant you were back from hiatis and that old Tom Chick humor would be showing up again.

Just another sign that most internet sites are going to hell.

Tom's work at Daily Radar has always been the exception for that site. I'm sorry to see that they're not going to use his column.

The websites are going to hell because the ad revenue's drying up. What are you going to do?

"The websites are going to hell because the ad revenue's drying up. What are you going to do?"

That's easy enough to understand. It's a real shame that no one has managed to find a working model to make websites profitable. Even the niche sites that were set up for the sole purpose of entertainment are having to shut down because the costs are so much more than they can afford.

Starting today, my favorite Everquest website has started showing 1 entry popup and 1 exit popup in order to stay afloat. He used to be part of the Gamecenter Alliance, but since that's folding he needs another way to keep the site going. I would prefer that he set up a monthly/yearly fee system, but I'm the minority there. With the amount of information and work that goes into maintaining his site, I would gladly pay $5 a month or whatever it took to keep things going.

It's pretty grim. Here's what a friend emailed me last night. He works at an technology incubator firm so he's talking to people involved with Internet properties all the time.

"We're really just seeing the tip of the iceberg of the fallout though. In terms of sites dependent upon online advertising, one of the biggest movie sites, TNT's roughcut.com, has gone belly up this week. Amazon is losing fucking billions, literally -- it's quite possible that there will be exactly zero successful business-to-consumer online ventures."

Not too cheerful, eh?

"Not too cheerful, eh? "

Bah, these guys were full of crap for way too long. They're merely reaping what they have sown.

The gold rush is over. Let all the rats who were only interested in making a quick buck get out, so the rest of us can get on with useful business.

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com