Fox has tasked William Wisher, a screenwriter of very inconsistent quality who is responsible for both T2: Judgment Day and Judge Dredd, to put pen to paper for a big WWII adventure story about post-Pearl Harbor action. The project, which is currently moving forward with the old-school title of Escape of the Pacific Clipper, is about a crew who try to get a Boeing B-314 back from New Zealand to where it belongs after the sneak Japanese attack on Hawaii. According to Variety, the "crew races against the Japanese and Nazis to make it home," which sounds like it could make for a pretty good adventure story, if the elements come together. Interestingly, Pan Am honcho Juan Trippe is a character in this story. Since Alec Baldwin played Trippe in The Aviator, and he also played Lt. James Doolittle in Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor, I say why not let Baldwin reprise both roles here? Hell, I just saw the latest Milos Forman film where Natalie Portman plays dual roles, and her characters even end up in the same place at the same time. Why not?

Wisher also wrote The 13th Warrior and Exorcist: The Beginning, and did polishes on both of the most recent Die Hard films, so I'm not really sure what to think about his ability to pull it off, but I guess we'll see. In general, I like the fact that Fox is gambling on big WWII-era epics like Australia and this; we'll keep you posted as more Pacific Clipper details become available. On another note, the Variety story also mentions that Wisher has another project in the pipeline called Pilgrim. That one is an espionage drama set in the modern-day Middle East, which will be directed by John Moore.

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• Timothy Albrecht (?-2006) - Choreographer for The Intern, Camp and Pretty Dead Girl. He died in his sleep December 9, in Los Angeles.
• Nicolas Balla (1918-2006) - Producer of many short documentaries for the National Film Board of Canada.
• Jack Bean (c.1922-2006) - Producer of Witches' Brew and Very Close Quarters. He died of pneumonia December 5, in Beverly Hills, California.
• Peter Brayham (?-2006) - Stuntman on a number of Peckinpah and 007 films, including Straw Dogs, Goldfinger and Live and Let Die, as well as Brannigan, The Guns of Navarone and Sweeney! He later coordinated/arranged stunts on Cross of Iron, Time Bandits, The Razor's Edge, White Nights, Spice World, Quadraphenia, Drowning by Numbers, Bridget Jones' Diary and My Left Foot. He also played named characters in From Russia With Love and Safari 3000. He died of a heart attack.
• Glenis S. Gross (c.1943-2006) - Co-founder of Coming Home Entertainment and Coming Home Studios, which produced straight-to-video music documentaries and concert films. She died of complications from diabetes November 24, in Oceanside, California.
• Anthony Jackson (1944-2006) - Actor who provided character voices for Labyrinth and appeared in Alan Cumming's Burn Your Phone. He died of cancer November 27, in London.
• Max (c.1987-2006) - Potbelly pig owned by George Clooney, who once told USA Today that the pet was his longest relationship. He died of natural causes December 1, in Hollywood, California.
• Kevin McClory (1926-2006) - Director, screenwriter, producer and assorted crew member who co-wrote and produced the 007 pic Thunderball (and its sorta remake Never Say Never). He was a boom operator and assistant to John Huston on Moulin Rouge (1952) and The African Queen, assistant director on Huston's Moby Dick, second unit director on Around the World in 80 Days (1956), location manager on The Cockleshell Heroes and writer-director-producer on a flop called The Boy and the Bridge. He died November 20, in London.
  

Today is my best friend's birthday. I've always been jealous of him because July 3rd is, hands down, the coolest birthday ever. First off, when you're young there's no school that day, the day after or the day after that. Heck, it's summer -- you don't have school for two months. When you're older, working some dead end job and hating your life, July 3rd is superb because of the federal (no work for me!) holiday that follows on the fourth.

Not only that, but early July is always such a fun time here in the United States. Time to go to the beach, throw a backyard barbecue and smuggle in illegal fireworks from Pennsylvania because I can't buy them anywhere near me. Ya know, it's time to be an American --  time to throw on some SPF 75, wave a flag and complain about what President Bush isn't doing. For a movie buff, it's time to escape the heat and sit down with one of your favorite patriotic films.

Depending on the kind of mood you're in, there's plenty of films to choose from -- most of which involve us Americans kicking someone's ass. Can't make up your mind? Well, here's a few flicks to help steer you toward a decision:

• Americans kicking Alien ass: Independence Day
• Americans kicking German ass: Saving Private Ryan, Battle of the Bulge
• Americans kicking Japanese ass: Pearl Harbor, In Harm's Way, Sands of Iwo Jima
• Americans kicking Vietnamese ass: Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July
• Americans kicking English ass: The Patriot
• Americans kicking American ass:  Glory

So, I ask you: What's your favorite patriotic (go America!) film?