• Kathleen Canham Ross (c.1954-2007) - Head of the U.S. Army's entertainment liason office, which assists Hollywood with its depictions of the U.S. Army. While under her leadership, the office was involved with the productions of Black Hawk Down, We Were Soldiers, The Invasion and Transformers. She died of complications following breast cancer treatment May 9, in Woodland Hills, California. (Variety)
• Lois Gibson (c.1930-2007) - Writer who co-wrote the story for Crypt of the Living Dead. She died May 6, in Malibu, California. (Variety)
• Bernard Gordon (1918-2007) - Blacklisted screenwriter who wrote the Ronald and Nancy Reagan movie Hellcats of the Navy (pictured) and co-wrote Earth vs. the Flying Saucers under the pseudonym Raymond T. Marcus. Before becoming one of the tragically blacklisted, he wrote Crime Wave and The Lawless Breed. He also worked under the name John T. Williams and later worked for producer Philip Yordan, who was originally given the credit for Gordon's screenplays for The Day of the Triffids and Battle of the Bulge. He was able to put his name on 1964's The Thin Red Line and Nicholas Ray's 55 Days at Peking. In the '70s he produced three films by Eugenio Martín, including Horror Express. He died of cancer May 11, in Los Angeles. (Variety)
• Curtis Harrington (1922-2007) - Writer and director of genre pics Night Tide, Games, and Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet, the latter of which he wrote under the alias John Sebastian. He also directed Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? and What's the Matter With Helen?, both starring his close friend Shelley Winters. He was known for being able to mix a career in Hollywood with a career in the avant-garde scene; he worked for big producers Jerry Wald and Philip Yordan but also for artsy filmmaker Kenneth Anger. More recently he made an appropriate cameo appearance in Gods and Monsters. He died May 6, in Hollywood. (Variety)
• Sydney Rose (1939-2007) - Executive producer of the Who concert film The Kids Are Alright and assistant producer of The Adventures of Barry McKenzie. He died of pancreatic cancer April 30, in London. (Variety)
• Nicholas Worth (1938-2007) - Character actor who played the villainous strangler in Don't Answer the Phone! He also appears in Darkman, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! and Swamp Thing. He died of heart failure May 7, in Van Nuys, California. (LA Times)

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?