As you know, we have followed the recent troubles that Rochelle Davis (real name Andrea Ruano) has endured since Oct 26th, 2006. The upshot of everything, given all of the charges that were being leveled at her (I saw the transcript and it read like a laundry list from hell), she ended up only being charged with conspiracy and child endangerment. These were far lessor charges than what she could have seen thrown at her.

Recently, Frank spoke to Rochelle’s manager Jaine Flanagan. By her own account, Jaine has been more of a friend than a manager to Rochelle over the last 10 years. Jaine reports that Rochelle suffered a great deal after Brandon’s death. They had become close friends and Rochelle described herself as one of Brandon’s biggest fans. According to Jaine, Rochelle had a hard time after the accident auditioning for other parts. Her heart just was not into it. Though things came to a head on October 26th of last year with her arrest, Rochelle had other challenges that she had endured since her last acting job on The Crow. Finally, it was a lack in judgement which cost her dearly when the people whom she had become friends with turned out to be some pretty unsavory characters. She has learned a valuable lesson through the course of the events that have transpired over the last 8 months.

Will she act ever again? Who knows. Right now, she is just trying to get her life back on track for her and her son Destin. We hope that she will feel up to talking with fans in the coming months. I know that she is loved by the fan base and everyone is pulling for her to get back on her feet. When I was visiting with Robert Zuckerman he mentioned how much he would love to reach out to her now. I hope she knows how much she is loved, by those who know her and by those who have never met her. We are all a family and when one of your family hurts, everyone hurts.

I pray for nothing but the best for Rochelle and Destin.

Sorry for not getting updates out to you. I was involved in a one car accident on Friday the 13th (still don’t buy into the whole bad karma thing for that day). I ended up with a crushed left leg, arms cut to ribbons, slight concusion and a whole body of hurts :) All in all though, the Lord was watching out for me as nothing broken in my left leg, no major head damage, just major bruising and contusions. Guess my leg is as hard as my head! I’m hobbling around, but none the less, back to my normal self. The cuts on my arms are very Crow-esque, just needed some black electrical tape!

Here is a tid bit of news on the DVD release of STH. It doesn’t mention anything about the commentary Bryce mentioned, but does give some detail as to what will be on the release.

Also, the Crow has been getting a lot of play on Encore action here lately. Also, Frank tells me it will be offered via HD channel soon. This will be the first time fans can see it in HD. Will get you more details on that. Speaking of, waiting to see when we will see the Crow films on HD DVD and/or Blue Ray.

Finally, The Crow got a lot of mentions, or to be more exact, compared to the recent hoax photos put out of a supposed makeup test photo of Heath Ledger as Joker from The Dark Knight. A lot of people were comparing it to The Crow. Of course the photo turned out to be a hoax, but it is good to know that the iconic look of The Crow is still well known.

Here is an article sent in from Frank that gives you a little detail on the video/DVD producers Hart Sharp, who will be putting out the complete series DVD of THE CROW: STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN.

I am in the process of putting together an update on Andrea (Drea) Ruano, otherwise known as “Sarah” from the first CROW film (her professional name that most CROW fans know her as is Rochelle Davis). She has been released with time served. Frank has been trying to reach her via her manager. He obtained a copy of the court docket that details everything that went on and continues to transpire in regard to her case. We will give you a synopsis of that, but will not go into major detail out of respect for Andrea’s privacy. The important thing now is that she be allowed to move forward and hopefully put all this stuff behind her. I will have that article up by this weekend.

Take care & God bless

LLcruize

According to Boxoffice Mojo, THE CROW ranks 38th out of 70 feature films that have been based on comics/graphic novels. THE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS ranks 55th. For a while, THE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS had the largest weekend opening for a late August release with 9 million 787 thousand. THE CROW opened to over 11 million on May 13th, 1994. It ended up making just over 50 million domestically.

Frank forwarded me this information that was posted by the The Intelligencer (Doylestown, PA). For those that have not kept up with this story, Rochelle Davis, real name Andrea “Drea” Ruano, was arrested a long with a number of gang members for basically running a drug house. Drea (Rochelle) contends she was a part of this out of fear for her own safety and that of her daughter. The sentencing has been handed down in the case and Drea received time served to 23 months in the county prison. We pray that she is able to get the time served and does not have to leave her son. It is just very ironic how this whole situation mirrors that of her character’s mom Darla from THE CROW.

We hope and pray that Drea can use this as a way to get herself straightened out. While Robert Zuckerman was visiting with me in January I told him about Drea’s problems and he was dismayed. He would like to speak with her.

Thanks again to Frank here is the full story:

Intelligencer, The (Doylestown, PA)

February 13, 2007
Section: LOCAL
Page: B4

9 Bloods sentenced for selling heroin
Members of the “Sex, Money, Murder” faction of the street gang pleaded guilty to drugs and weapons charges.
Laurie Mason

THE INTELLIGENCER

They set up shop in Bucks County because the prices were better and the customers plentiful. Now nine people linked to the infamous Bloods street gang are in prison for selling heroin at a Penndel apartment complex.

“This was a sophisticated operation and they were growing,” said Senior Deputy District Attorney Robert James. “They sold their product here because their customers were here.”

The defendants, all members or associates of the Trenton-based “Sex, Money, Murder” faction of the Bloods, pleaded guilty to drugs and weapons charges in Bucks County Court in Doylestown.

Their arrests were the result of a two-month undercover sting at the Oxford Grant apartments that showed that the Bloods were raking in at least $12,250 a week selling heroin to a steady stream of customers coming and going from a vacant apartment.

During the sting, the gang members became suspicious of an undercover police detective who had infiltrated their operation and searched his clothes. Had they found anything that identified him as a cop, he could have been killed, James said.

Sentenced Monday by county Judge Albert Cepparulo were:

* Taquan “Skeeno/Blaze/Sparks” Owens, 22, of Trenton; four to eight years in a state prison.

* Rashawn “S” Biggs, 28, of Trenton; six to 15 years.

* David “Dip” Owens, 19, of Penndel; 71/2 to 20 years.

* Terrell “Mack” Owens, 21, of Penndel; four to 20 years.

* James “Hood” Harris, 27, of Trenton; two to five years.

* Darryl Martin, 28, of Bristol Township; 21/2 to five years.

* William “Jerzy” Murphy, 27, Trenton; 11/2 to five years.

* Oscar “Yorel” Holland, 26, of Trenton; six to 23 months in Bucks County Prison.

* Andrea “Drea” Ruano, 26, of Penndel; time served to 23 months in the county prison.

The defendants’ sentences varied depending on their prior criminal record and level of involvement in the operation.

According to court records, the gang began selling heroin, crack, powder cocaine and marijuana at Oxford Grant in June. Confidential informants tipped off police to the Bloods’ presence soon after, and the investigation began.

The gang kept a strict hierarchy, with the leaders rarely interacting with the “fiends,” or customers, leaving that work to the “goonies,” or underlings, in the organization.

The same bag of heroin that fetches between $5 to $7 on a Trenton street corner sells for at least $10 in Bucks, James said. That’s why the Bloods are eager to establish their turf here, and often scope out neighborhoods with small police departments like Penndel and Morrisville to base their operations.

Crow still photographer Robert Zuckerman can be seen in a taped episode of BETWEEN THE LINES. See update below.

It’s a big week for KINDSIGHT on Barry Kibrick’s great BETWEEN THE LINES - the number 1 tv show for book lovers everywhere! Please tune in and/or pass this along to friends. THANK YOU BARRY!!

NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY, CONNECTICUT
Thirteen WORLD (Cablevision 132, Time Warner 715, Comcast 24, Patriot Media 156)
Friday morning and afternoon, February 9, at 7:30 AM and 1:30 PM

BOSTON, MA
WGBH-WORLD (Comcast 209)
Friday morning and afternoon, February 9, at 7:30 AM and 1:30 PM

NEW ENGLAND (check for local channel)
WGBY-WORLD
Friday morning and afternoon, February 9, at 7:30 AM and 1:30 PM

WASHINGTON, D.C.
WETA-WORLD
Friday morning and afternoon, February 9, at 7:30 AM and 1:30 PM

MT. PLEASANT, MICHIGAN
WCMU
Sunday night, February 11, at 11:30 PM
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA & SAN FRANCISCO
KRCB-TV and “On Demand” at: www.krcb.org
Sunday morning, February 11, at 10:30 AM

I had the privilege last week to personally meet Crow 1 and 2 still photographer Robert Zuckerman. We didn’t get to talk too much about The Crow as he was here to visit with my youth group about his latest book Kindsight. But I did get to hear some fantastic memories from the production of the first Crow film. Something I did not know, Robert was in the room the night Brandon was shot. He was taking pictures of the scene and actually snapped a few shots before and after the fatal shot. Those pictures were of course confiscated for the investigation. It was an event that he would never forget. I will post some pictures of Robert with my youth for everyone to see. It was a fantastic meeting, all too soon over. He is making plans to come back. He had to head back to L.A. as work on the film; “Transformers” beckoned his return.

We have an update on Crow alum Rochelle Davis (real name Andrea “Drea” Ruano). Seems she is going to need quite a bit of money to get out of the trouble she is in. We hope that she can overcome all this, get back on to a positive path. Not only for her, but for her son who is an innocent victim caught up in the middle of all this stuff.

Vampire Mike from the UK sent us a link to a movie that came out in 2005 and is based on a little known indie comic “El Muerto”. Some of you have probably seen this. This was my first time to hear about it and check out the trailer. Dang folks, this looks just like a Crow film. I have to say I am VERY intrigued to see this film. You can go to the official site to get info about the film and comic or you can check out the trailer here on YouTube

From what I can gather, it may be available in some non-U.S. markets on DVD. It looks like they are trying to find a distributor for a theatrical release, but I don’t see anything up to date to confirm if that is happening. I checked out IMDB and there are 21 folks that rated it and only 2 that gave comments. The comments are polar extremes. One says it is garbage, the other says it is very good. So who knows.

Thanks again to Vampire Mike for the heads up on this.

**UPDATE** El Muerto creator Javier Hernandez has left a message, make sure to check it out.

(more…)

Fellow Crow fan Buddy Kelly invites all Brandon Lee fan’s to his blog to hear a tribute song he wrote for Brandon several years ago called “Sayeth The Crow”.

His hope is to get a big name band to take it on someday and to have it featured on a Crow movie soundtrack. His ultimate dream would be for it to be part of an adaptation of the Crow comic “Flesh & Blood”.

I listened to the song, not bad at all. Has a very southern/folk rock sound to it.

Take care