FLASHES

RODNEY DANGEROUS: In his never-ending quest to get some respect, Rodney Dangerfield will play a sadistic thug in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers, starring Woody Harrelson, Robert Downey Jr., and Juliette Lewis. "It's a heavy dramatic role for me," says Dangerfield, who played "a mean guy" once before, in the 1971 cult film The Projectionist. But Dangerfield insists the Stone project "is even more violent." Adds the director: "This is a wild and unusual role for Rodney. It's going to reshuffle the deck in the way people see him." The movie begins filming in May. -Jeffrey Wells