Hip to be Square for Reynolds

Burt Reynolds will be among the stars sitting in the centre square when the syndicated game show Hollywood Squares returns next month.

Reynolds, who appeared on the original Squares in the '60s, has signed for a two-week stint. Other centre square signings include Ellen DeGeneres and Alec Baldwin.

Whoopi Goldberg, also a former producer on the show, split in a recent Squares housecleaning. New executive producer Henry "The Fonz" Winkler has decided on a rotating series of centre square stars until a new Paul Lynde can be found.

Aerosmith Looks For Next Album

Fresh off of JUST PUSH PLAY and their greatest hits album, Aerosmith is already looking to develop their next album, which they say will be different from their usual stylings. Said bassist Tom Hamilton, "We're exploring doing a record that's sort of about our roots, and whether that's a blues record or something like that, we're really not sure. We're talking about it kind of in general terms right now. But we feel like the moment is perfect for us to go and start looking at things and doing things the way we did when we first started."

NFL, Loews Usher in Film Trailer

Relief may be on the way for moviegoers who seethe at the guy behind them who can't stop talking during the movie.

NFL Films has produced a tongue-in-cheek 75-second trailer that will run before movies on the 2,448 screens owned by Loews Cineplex Entertainment.

In the spot, a loudmouthed boor is blabbing away at the screen when two burly ushers, played by Michael Strahan of the New York Giants and Bruce Smith of the Washington Redskins, pull the disruptive patron out of his seat and frog-march him to a room in the back of the theater where a judge played by Tony Siragusa, formerly of the Baltimore Ravens, doles out the punishment. Tim Couch of the Cleveland Brown also has a role in the spot.

The trailer, which starts playing in Loews multiplexes this weekend, is the highlight of a national promotion campaign engineered by the NFL and Loews Cineplex called "Lights, Camera, Kickoff."

"The NFL has always wanted to extend its brand into entertainment areas, and this is a potentially good vehicle for the league," said John McCauley, VP of marketing for Loews Cineplex Entertainment.

The deal could work for both parties, said McCauley, as ESPN Sports polls show that NFL fans are 35% more likely to go to the movies every week than the rest of the U.S. population.

In exchange for the NFL putting up the money to produce the spot, Loews will hand out booklets at each movie showing that feature an NFL TV schedule, information about fantasy football, discounts on merchandise from the NFL Shop and an entry form for a contest to get a free screening with an NFL player.

NFL players in 15 cities with a Loews multiplex also will attend premieres of movies with children sponsored by local charities.

Wait No Longer!

Here is your first look at X-MEN 2!

Wanna better look at the 4-disc Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring - Extended DVD Version due on 11/12? Well here you go!

Don't Miss This!

It's not every day you get the opportunity to watch a video of Leonard Nimoy singing The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins.

The dogs and delights of the summer cinema

Some stars are born at the summer movies. Other stars fizzle out. Sleeper hits come from nowhere and spawn series, while sequels to blockbusters bomb and end the franchise right there. Yes, summer can be cruel.

USA TODAY's Andy Seiler navigates through some of the top winners and losers of summer 2002:

Winning couple: Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. They were already two of the most appealing young actors in movies. Now they are superstars — at least in as many Spider-Man movies as they'd care to make.

Losing couple: Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock in Bad Company. An honest title, at least: They put these two together to keep company, and the result was bad.

Winning action star: Vin Diesel. His much-hyped XXX opened at $44.5 million, which is pretty amazing for a newly minted movie star in a film that didn't get great reviews.

Losing action star: Clint Eastwood. Blood Work was dud work up against XXX, an anemic box office performance from a veteran icon whose movies used to routinely knock 'em dead. A sequel to this one is not coming; Clint's career needs a transfusion. You can almost hear Diesel say it: "Do ya feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"

Winning marquee name: M. Night Shyamalan. And he has one of the most exotic names ever put on a marquee. His Signs shows every sign of being another Sixth Sense, despite less scintillating reviews. So that's what those crop circles were trying to tell us?

Losing marquee name: Harrison Ford. Vaz it zat bad Russian accent?

Winning spinoff: Scooby-Doo. Scooby-Doo! Who knew? Who knew this film would do such scooby-dooby business — $150 million — amazing for a badly reviewed live-action adaptation of a dopey TV cartoon that gave "primitive animation" new meaning.

Losing spinoff: The Country Bears. Who didn't know? Why on earth would a vintage American amusement-park attraction attract worldwide movie audiences? Kiddy-losers whose failure was somewhat more surprising: The Powerpuff Girls Movie and Hey Arnold! The Movie. But just because kids see them on TV doesn't mean that they'll be another Pokémon or Rugrats ...

Winning little creature: Lilo & Stitch. An obnoxious alien cracked up the kids and their parents and became one of Disney's most popular animated movies.

Losing little creature: Stuart Little 2. A cute mouse made half-decent coin, but it didn't matter because it cost indecent coin to shoot the movie in the first place. Eek!

Winning Saturday Night Live alumnus: Mike Myers as Austin Powers in Goldmember. Naysayers called the first film in the series a one-joke movie. Now that audiences have roared at three films in the series, the joke's on the naysayers.

Losing Saturday Night Live alumnus: Myers' former creative partner Dana Carvey in The Master of Disguise. It wasn't bad enough that it was the worst reviewed film of the summer, but, to add insult to injury, the studio put it out a week after Goldmember. The Man of Mystery creamed The Master of Disguise. Which was worse? The movie or the release date?

CRAPPY BUFFY MUSIC AVAILABLE SOON

A CD soundtrack of last season's much talked-about musical episode of Buffy, titled Once More With Feeling, hitting record stores next month.

THE FORCE IS STRONG IN THIS ONE

Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace winning a field-best four awards at the Fifth Annual DVD Awards, including the Viewers' Choice trophy. Citizen Kane was named Best of Show and The Godfather Collection was awarded Best Special Edition DVD.

Stolen Titian Masterpiece Found in Plastic Bag

A painting by Venetian master Titian, worth more than $7.6 million, has been found in a plastic bag seven years after it was stolen, British newspapers reported on Friday.

The "Rest on the Flight to Egypt" was snatched from Longleat House, the western England stately home of the Marquess of Bath, in 1995.

The masterpiece was recovered in London without a frame in a carrier bag by Charles Hill, a former policeman and now security adviser to the Historic Houses Association, the Guardian newspaper said.

Previous reports suggested a convicted art crook was used as a go-between. Details of the operation were not released.

One of Titian's most famous works, "Rest on the Flight to Egypt" was bought by one of the Marquess of Bath's ancestors in the 19th century.

"It has been a long and difficult process but we are all extremely pleased that the painting is finally safe," Longleat's general manager Tim Moore was quoted as saying.

"Mr Hill is the leading expert in his field and he has remained confident throughout that the picture would eventually turn up."

Britney Spears Says She Growing Up

A teen role model no more, and "not yet a woman," pop princess Britney Spears now says she no longer finds drinking, smoking and sex to be "such a big deal."

In excerpts from an interview with People magazine released on Thursday, the 20-year-old singer said she feels at ease with her more mature, less innocent image of late. And she denied that her recently announced six-month hiatus was the result of an emotional meltdown.

"The first week, I was so excited I was off that I partied every night. I drink," she told People, adding, "Everything in moderation."

"Smoking, drinking, sex -- why is it such a big deal for me? As you get to 20, you grow up, you experiment. You feel more comfortable in your own skin."

"Who cares if I've had sex?" she said. "It's nobody's business. Trust me, I'm not going to have a press conference to announce it." In 1999, Spears made a famous pledge to remain a virgin until her wedding day.

She also talked about her breakup with childhood sweetheart Justin Timberlake of the pop group 'N Sync, calling their recent split "horrible."

According to Spears, Timberlake broke up with her first, they tried to get back together, then she broke up with him, but she denied that either side had cheated on the other.

Timberlake, 21, has since been linked romantically to dancer Jenna Dewan, though Spears said she expects him to see other women.

Still, she said Timberlake was "my first real love, and I doubt I'll ever be able to love anyone like that ever again."

Spears, who heralded her own coming of age in the recent single "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman," said she needed some time off to "rejuvenate spiritually and to just play" following a hectic year.

She had been working virtually nonstop since bursting on the scene as a peaches-and-cream teen with the 1998 hit "...Baby One More Time" and grew up to become worldwide pop idol known for provocative costumes and stage performances.

Her hiatus follows a controversial end to a world tour in which she was booed by fans after cutting short her final show in Mexico City because of a torrential rain and made an obscene gesture to paparazzi photographers besieging her car.

Spears' parents recently ended their marriage, a development she describes as "the best thing that's ever happened to my family ... My mom and dad, bottom line, do not get along."