Music Makes The World Go Round, Or Is That Love?
There are a slew of new discs coming out today, including:
Anthologia: The 20th Anniversary of ASIA, one of my most favourite bands, that is a Double-disc collection of all their Geffen Records music.
But no matter how great these CD’s are, I doubt I will be listening. The new Springsteen CD is so great that I can’t stop spinning it. It is awesome!
But if you need some new tunes, here are the new CD releases for Tuesday, August 6, 2002:
* 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE OST 24 Hour Party People OST (Warner International)
* AQUANOTE The Pearl (Astralwerks/Virgin)
* BILL EVANS & JIM HALL Undercurrent (Blue Note)
* BRAD Welcome To Discovery Park (Redline)
* CHICK COREA Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (Blue Note)
* COLDPLAY In My Place (CD Single) (EMI)
* DUKE ELLINGTON Money Jungle (Blue Note)
* FAIRPORT CONVENTION Best Of (20th Century Masters)
* FREE Best Of (20th Century Masters)
* GANIYU Special (CD Single) (Warner International)
* GIORGIA Greatest Hits (Ariola)
* GREG OSBY Inner Circle (Blue Note)
* JESSE VAN RULLER Trio (Emarcy)
* JIM BRICKMAN Love Songs & Lullabies (Windham Hill)
* JIMMY CLIFF Jimmy Cliff (Sanctuary Records)
* JOE LOUIS WALKER In The Morning (Telarc)
* KACI I’m Nobody’s Girl (Curb)
* LENA HORNE The Young Star (Bluebird/BMG)
* LIONEL HAMPTON Ring Dem Bells (Bluebird/BMG)
* LOUIS ARMSTRONG Sings & Swings (Bluebird/BMG)
* LUCE Luce (Nettwerk)
* MAD AT GRAVITY Resonance (BMG)
* MIDNIGHT OIL 20,000 Watt R.S.L.: The Midnight Oil Collection (DVD) (BMG)
* NICKELBACK Curb (EMI)
* PHIL VASSAR American Child (Arista)
* PORCUPINE TREE Metanoia (Navarre)
* PROVIDENCE OST Providence OST (MCA Nashville)
* RAY CHARLES Essential Collection (Cleopatra)
* RICHIE HAVENS Wishing Well (Navarre)
* RICK DANKO Rick Danko (BMG Heritage)
* SASHA Airdrawndagger (Kinetic Records)
* SCARFACE The Fix (Def Jam)
* SLUM VILLAGE Trinity (Priority)
* SMILEZ & SOUTHSTAR Crash The Party (BMG)
* SOLANGE KNOWLES Solo Star (Columbia)
* SPY KIDS 2 OST Spy Kids 2 OST (Milan)
* STARECASE Firstfloor (Kinetic Records)
* THE KIDS STAY IN THE PICTURE OST The Kids Stay In The Picture OST (Milan)
* TRAIN She’s On Fire (DVD) (Sony)
* TRENDROID Transport (Kinetic Records)
* TRICK DADDY Thug Holiday (Atlantic)
* UNIVERSAL LOVE ATTACK Weapons Of Mass Destruction (Sextant Records)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS Snowjam Ripped (Linus Entertainment)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS Music Of The Millenium 2 (Universal)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS MTV Road Rules (Rounder)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS This Is Not The 80’s (Sony)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS Dance Alliance (Navarre)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS Post Mortem: Tribute To Slayer (Navarre)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS The World’s Hottest Fiddlers (Cmh)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS Swing: Bandstand Kings (Bluebird/BMG)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS Beachlife (Incredible)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS In The Pocket: A Taste Of Blues (Telarc)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS Sun Records 50th Anniversary (BMG Heritage)
* VICTORIA WILLIAMS Sings Some Ol’ Songs (Razor & Tie)
* XXX OST XXX OST (Universal)
* YES Magnification (DVD Audio) (Rhino)
* ZEROMANCER Eurotrash (Cleopatra)
Day: August 6, 2002
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Today’s (BIGGEST) NEW RELEASE
Do You Bring Home The Rings Today Or In November?
New Line Home Entertainment, through Alliance Atlantis in Canada, is releasing The Fellowship Of The Ring on VHS and DVD today.
But here’s the rub, and a thrifty consumer’s dilemma: The DVD release — despite being juiced up as a two-disc set with an immaculate widescreen transfer and strong behind-the-scenes extras — is just a teaser of what is to come.
For that future release, Rings director Peter Jackson is extending his epic, making it three-and-a-half hours long. In addition, all-new documentary materials and other extras will be layered in for what should become the definitive set.
“I’m a huge fan of special edition DVDs,” Jackson says in an interview shown in tomorrow’s DVD release, “and I really think it’s a great opportunity to be able to restore back into the movie about 30 minutes worth of extra footage.”
The timing is appropriate, of course. Installment two of the saga, The Two Towers, will be released in December and the special edition DVD will be used to whet appetites.
As for today’s DVD release, it is excellent on its own. The movie is presented in all its visual and aural glory on disc one. On disc two, the special features introduce newbies to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien and to the astonishing ways that Jackson turned Tolkien’s classic into a movie trilogy. These extras will not be repeated in November.
There are three non-critical documentaries plus 15 vignettes covering various specific Rings topics. Unfortunately, they all seem to draw on the same set of cast & crew interviews — so interview snippets are repeated to exhaustion.
The first, Houghlin Mifflin Welcomes You To Middle-earth, introduces us to the late Rayner Unwin, who greenlit The Hobbit as a 10-year-old adviser to his publisher father and later published The Lord Of The Rings himself.
The Fox TV special, Quest For The Ring, is routine fare. But the SCI-FI Channel special, A Passage To Middle-earth: The Making Of The Lords Of The Rings, is more comprehensive and better presented. The 15 vignettes, running from 90 seconds to five minutes, flesh out the story.
Other bonus materials include the Enya video for May It Be, three trailers, other self-promotions and an interesting home-movie style look at Jackson at work on The Two Towers, a teaser that includes exclusive footage.
So my advice to Lord Of The Rings fans is as simple as New Line’s line of hype: Bring home the power of the Ring now — and again in November. Plus, you know you won’t be able to wait.
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Today’s (other) New Releases
The Best Of The Rest Of The New Titles
For me, the biggest new title that is coming out today is the DVD box set of The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season. With behind the scenes goodies, the “Do The Bartman” music video and the entire Second Season of The Simpsons in full digital glory (!!!!!!!) this is the one title that I will be buying today. But if you want “Lord Of The Frings” that’s okay.
THE OTHER “BIG” TITLES TODAY ARE
The Jeffersons: The Complete First Season
Sanford & Son: The First Season
Deuces Wild- A gang turf war unfolds during a horrible, horrible movie that is set in 1950s Brooklyn. (Stephen Dorff , Brad Renfro, Drea de Matteo)
Super Troopers- Misfit cops try to save their job by solving a drug case in this very stupid, very insipid comedy that is a must see! (Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme)
Dogtown And Z-Boys- A rocking look at the rise of skateboarding. (Sean Penn, Jay Adams, Tony Alva)
OKAY, AND THEN THERE ARE ALL OF THESE COMING OUT TOO!
Absolute Power
The Adventures Of Tom Thumb And Thumbeli
Air Power
The Anniversary Party
Antichrist
Any Given Sunday (Director’s Cut)
Any Which Way You Can
Blade
The Blob
Bob The Builder: Celebrate With Bob
The Bridges Of Madison County
Bronco Billy
The Business Of Strangers
Busta Rhymes: Unauthorized
Caddyshack II
The Care Bears Movie
Chelsea Walls
City Hall
Clash Of The Titans
Curse Of The Devil
Dark City
Dark Descent
The Dead Pool
Dirty Harry
Dog Day Afternoon
Dr. Who: Ark In Space
Dr. Who: Tomb Of Cyberman
Dungeons & Dragons
The Enforcer
Every Which Way But Loose
Exorcist II: The Heretic
Final Destination (Widescreen)
The Firebird
Forever Young
The Forsaken
Frankenstein 90
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare
The Gauntlet
Ghost World
Heat
Hercules In The Haunted World
Hot Shots!
Hot Shots! Part Deux
Interview With The Vampire
Jay Jay The Jet Plane: Lessons For All S
Kelly’s Heroes
Little Nicky
Luau
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Maggie & The Ferocious Beast: Adventures
Magnum Force
Major League II
Man Of The Century
Maverick
Mayerling
Message In A Cell Phone
Mrs. Soffel
National Lampoon’s Vacation
Nightmare City
A Nightmare On Elm Street
Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s…
Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream…
Nightmare On Elm Street 4: Dream Master
Nightmare On Elm Street: The Dream Child
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Pale Rider
Parasite (Widescreen)
Passion Crimes
The Porky’s Collection
Random Hearts
The Red Shoe Diaries Collection
Repli-Kate
The Revenge Of The Nerds Collection (Boxed Set)
The Road Warrior
Rough Magic
Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (Director’s Cut)
Sudden Impact
The Swarm
Tequila Sunrise
Them!
Time After Time
Tomcats
True Crime
The Unearthly
Unforgiven
Urban Task Force
V: The Final Battle
The Werewolf Vs. The Vampire Women
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
Women In Film
The Year Of Living Dangerously
SCRUBBING IN
Actor Don Cheadle (Traffic) set to guest star on NBC’s ER next season playing a medical student. The four-episode arc will likely air during November sweeps.
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Scooby- Who, as in who cares!
‘Scooby-Doo,’ ‘Windtalkers,’ ‘Bad Company,’ And More Street Dates
Another big summer blockbuster is making its way to DVD as the major fourth quarter buying season gears up. The live action remake of Scooby-Doo hits DVD on 10/15 in separate full frame and widescreen versions, complete with bright green snapper case. Debuting on 10/22 is In Betweens: Chuck Jones, A Life in Animation.
While not exactly the blockbuster MGM likely hoped for, the $100 million Windtalkers lands on 10/15, followed by the art house smash Y Tu Mama Tambien in separate Unrated and R-rated versions a week later, along with the import Gangster No. 1. And another summer disappointment, the Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins actioner Bad Company, is due to hit DVD on 11/12 from Buena Vista, along with the Oscar Wilde update The Importance of Being Earnest. Retail is $29.95 each, and watch for full details to follow.
Oh, and don’t forget STRANGE BREW will bow on October 1st! Woo hoooo!!!
Smart Answers To Supid Questions Was Always My Favourite- JERK!
Mad Magazine is 50!
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“Jump The Shark” rocks!
Ayyyyyyyyyy!
In THIS STORY, Henry Winkler (Happy Days’ “Fonz”) talks about what it’s like to be associated with JUMP THE SHARK, a Web site which determines when a good TV series goes bad. “Something the people who put that together should know is that we were a big hit for three more seasons after I jumped the shark,” he says.
‘Freddy Vs. Jason’ in Franchise Showdown
In a continuing effort to exploit its franchises, New Line Cinema has greenlit “Freddy vs. Jason,” signing Brad Renfro to star alongside Robert Englund, who’ll be back for his eighth performance as Freddy Krueger.
The studio hasn’t yet decided on the actor who’ll play Jason Vorhees, the lumbering maniac from the “Friday the 13th” franchise who will be making his 11th appearance onscreen. Ronny Yu, the Honk Kong veteran whose credits range from “The Bride With White Hair” to “Bride of Chucky,” will direct the picture, with shooting to begin Sept. 9 in Vancouver.
The film’s premise is a simple collision of legendary evildoers who’ve each racked up impressive body counts of promiscuous teens. Renfro (“The Client”) will play a character who finds himself pitted between the two combatants, and so his mission is to try and stay alive until the end credits.
“It’s clash of the titans, the ultimate showdown,” said New Line production president Toby Emmerich. “Freddy is the intellectual manipulator, Jason the killing machine. When you have done 17 movies between these characters, it is hard to stay fresh, but putting these characters together makes it fresh. There is a hard-core fan base for each, and we will be out in front of ‘Predator vs. Alien’ and ‘Batman vs. Superman,’ other films putting venerable characters against each other.”
It is the studio’s second significant franchise move since “Austin Powers in Goldmember” posted record summer numbers last weekend. The studio just hired Troy Miller to direct “Dumb and Dumberer,” the “Dumb & Dumber” prequel that will hit the marketplace next summer. Corporate sibling Warner Bros. meanwhile, is mining its own franchises with plans for Wolfgang Petersen to direct “Batman vs. Superman.”
Braodcasting Great Chick Hearn Has Died
Chick Hearn, the longtime voice of the L.A. Lakers, has died at the age of 85.
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He gave us Salma Hayek!
Rodriguez Shuns Hollywood Lifestyle
Robert Rodriguez doesn’t need to be in Hollywood to make box office hits. He’s content in Austin, Texas.
The director of the “Spy Kids” movies jokingly refers to his lakeside home and movie studio as Spywalker Ranch, a nod to George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch.
The studio and home allow him to be writer, producer, editor and almost everything else for his films.
“When I’m in Los Angeles, I pretend that it’s another world,” Rodriguez told USA Today in its weekend editions. “I know that when I get home to Texas, I’ll get back to the serious work.”
The first “Spy Kids” grossed $112.7 million, and its sequel, “Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams,” opens this week. Rodriguez’s other credits include “Desperado” and “From Dusk Till Dawn.”