Clerks Fans Unite!
Uber-filmmaker George Lucas references CLERKS and JAY AND SILENT BOB on the audio commentary of the Star Wars- Episode II: Attack Of The Clones DVD.
Remember the part in CLERKS when Randall and Dante are discussing the contractors who built the Death Star? Well, so does George Lucas!
Give it a listen!
Time to watch the 'Wedding' DVD
My Big Fat Greek Wedding, still one of the top 10 movies in theaters 30 weeks after its release, is coming to DVD on Feb. 11, HBO Video senior vice president Cynthia Rhea says.
"Just a week ago, it became the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time," Rhea says. The movie, which has grossed $192.9 million, was made for a paltry $5 million.
So why watch it again at home? The film includes cast and director commentary from star and writer Nia Vardalos, leading man John Corbett and director Joel Zwick. Vardalos reveals that the young actress who plays her as a child was so much like her that her family thought it was really Vardalos — tweaked by a special-effects crew.
Weekend Movies: Potter Mania Returns
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - One year older, one year wiser, British boy wizard Harry Potter whizzed back into movie theaters on Friday to see if he can stir the same box office magic that made last year's film the No. 2 grossing movie of all time next to "Titanic."
Only action hero Steven Seagal's "Half Past Dead" is brave or dumb enough to go up against mighty "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," but Seagal's new jail house flick looks like old hat compared to the bag of special effects tricks in "Potter."
Early on Friday, kids were skipping classes -- with their parents approval, of course -- donning capes, brandishing wands and topping off their costumes with a sorcerer's pointed hat to catch the first Potter screenings in theaters nationwide.
Online ticket seller Fandango.com reported Potter tickets comprised 96 percent of their total sales Thursday and Friday.
"It looks as good or better than last year for 'Harry Potter,"' said Fandango.com Chief Executive Art Levitt. "We're seeing a lot of sold out conditions, early on."
Last year's "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" debuted in U.S. and Canadian theaters to a whopping $90.3 million box office in its first weekend and another $23.7 million in the U.K. where it was "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone."
This new version, based on the second book in the best-selling series from British author J.K. Rowling, is darker than the first with more sinister evil afoot at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where Harry (Daniel Radcliff), and friends Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) take their lessons in magic.
But Radcliffe, for one, likes the newer movie's tone.
"Everybody has a dark side, really," he told reporters at a recent gathering. "I think it was great to show Harry's dark side, show that he's not flawless, not a perfect person.
"Chamber of Secrets" also clips along at a faster pace than "Sorcerer's Stone" without much of the character and scene explanation necessary to the first.
"I tried to make a 2-1/2 hour movie feel about 30 minutes long," director Chris Columbus told Reuters.
MORE EVIL AFOOT
In the new movie, Harry returns to Hogwarts for his second year of school only to find that a hidden "chamber of secrets" has been opened and a serpent unleashed that threatens to kill all wizards-in-waiting who aren't of pure wizard blood.
If the serpent is not killed and the chamber closed for good, Hogwarts will cease to exist, and it is up to Harry and his friends to make sure that doesn't happen.
Potter fans will see the return of favorite characters like Hagrid and Professors Dumbledore -- played by the late Richard Harris, who died last month -- McGonagall and Snape, along with additions such as the mysterious elf, Dobby, and the foppish Professor Gilderoy Lockhart.
Dark moments come when Harry and Ron are chased from a spider's lair by hundreds of the creepy eight-legged creatures, and younger kids may find the serpent who swims through Hogwarts sewer pipes too menacing with his sharp fangs.
But in early screenings in Los Angeles, Harry's legions of young fans seem to be pleased.
Adult critics seem mixed, however, with the Los Angeles Times thinking it was too dark, but the New York Times gives it a passing grade and said it is a little better than the first.
"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" is rated PG for scary moments, some creature violence and mild language.
Meanwhile, "Half Past Dead" looks to field more of the same gun-blasting and punch-throwing that made Seagal a star in 1990s flicks like "Under Siege. Trouble is, the 90s are over.
The 51 year-old action hero portrays a car thief named Sascha who, with his buddy Nick (rap star Ja Rule), is tossed into a "new" Alcatraz just when a corrupt prison cop (Morris Chestnut) stages a "break-in" to coerce a death row inmate into telling him where $200 million in gold is hidden.
Together, the prisoners must overcome the corrections official and restore justice to civilized society -- all from inside a jail.
"Half Past Dead" is rated PG-13 for pervasive action violence, language and some sexual content.
Actors Paul Reubens And Jeffrey Jones Charged in Child Pornography Investigation
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian Paul Reubens, best known as children's television favorite "Pee-wee Herman," and veteran character actor Jeffrey Jones were charged Friday in related child pornography cases, prosecutors said.
Reubens, whose career was nearly derailed in 1991 by a lewd conduct scandal, faces a misdemeanor count of possessing child pornography stemming from a search of his home by police in November 2001, a spokesman for the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office said.
Jones, an acquaintance of Reubens who played a malevolent Puritan in "The Crucible" and a school principal in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," was charged with a felony count of using a minor for sex acts and misdemeanor possession of child pornography.
The felony count relates to allegations he hired a 14-year-old boy to pose for sexually explicit photographs between September 2000 and May of last year, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said the charges do not involve any sex act being performed or any video or film being taken.
Charges against the performers grew out of searches conducted by police at their homes in related investigations. While prosecutors declined to specify how the two cases were linked, a spokeswoman for Reubens said the probes resulted from accusations made by a teenager against both men.
Reubens' attorney, Blair Berk, said the charge against the comedian were untrue. The charge carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail and $2,500 fine.
HANDFUL OF IMAGES
At issue in Reubens' case were a "handful of images" from "an extensive collection of vintage physique art photography" seized at his home by police, a spokeswoman for Reubens told Reuters. Berk said Reubens was unaware that the collection contained anything improper.
Jones' attorney, Jeff Brodey, could not immediately be reached for comment, but he was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying the charges against his client involve only pictures, not physical contact. "This is all about photos. There's not allegations of any touching or any improper acts with a minor," Brodey told the Times, adding that Jones "is a very decent guy, and his life shouldn't be ruined."
Jones, 55, surrendered to authorities on Thursday and was released on $20,000 bail. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison and would have to register for life as a sex offender.
The district attorney declined to file any charges against Reubens but his spokeswoman said the City Attorney's Office waited until the last day possible under the statute of limitations to bring its misdemeanor case.
Officials said Reubens allegedly took photographs of the same boy as Jones, but prosecutors declined to bring charges against him because his photos were not found to be sexually explicit.
Reubens, best known for his nerdy, man-child Pee-wee Herman persona, had his career nearly destroyed in 1991 when he was arrested for allegedly masturbating in an adult movie theater. But he gradually has made a comeback with various offbeat character roles for television and film.
CHEST A MINUTE, MARGE!
MARGE Simpson is getting breast implants just in time for American Thanksgiving.
In an upcoming episode of "The Simpsons" called "Large Marge," Bart's blue-haired mother is mistakenly given a breast augmentation when she goes into the hospital for liposuction on her stomach.
In the episode, scheduled to air Sunday, Nov. 24, it's revealed that the implants were actually meant for a younger patient, who turns out to be one of Mayor Quimby's escorts.
Marge decides to go under the knife for the liposuction when she gets jealous of all the younger women she mistakenly thinks her husband Homer is drooling over when he sees them on the street.
At first Marge wants the implants removed, but later decides she likes them because of all the attention she gets.
She soon becomes a fashion model and ends up flashing her breasts at the residents of Springfield - giving an eyeful to a crowd including Krusty the Clown, Sideshow Bob and Police Chief Wiggum.
Marge's enhancement is one of the few known instances of a breast job on an animated prime-time show - but not the first one on "The Simpsons."
Several years ago, Krusty the Clown tried to have plastic surgery to change his identity, but ended getting a breast enlargement by mistake.
When he looks exactly the same after his plastic surgery, his doctor argues and says, "Plus I did your breasts," to which Krusty answers: "Does anyone hear me complaining about the breasts?"
Marge's new chest puts her on a list of celebs who are either rumored to have gotten or admit to cashing in on a new pair of surgically enhanced breasts, including Pam Anderson (who's since had them downsized), Demi Moore and Melanie Griffith.
Amanda Marsh, last season's winner of "The Bachelor," admitted on the show that her ample bosom was the result of a pair of breast implants
And it's rumored that pop-tart Britney Spears has gotten implants - a charge she has denied.
This is the 14th season of "The Simpsons," which will celebrate its 300th episode in February.
THE SOPRANOS Will Take a Shorter Break This Time
According to creator David Chase, THE SOPRANOS will take a shorter break between seasons after the fourth one concludes than it did between the third and the fourth (16 months). Chase says that his writing staff is already working on the fifth (and possibly final) season. Filming on new episodes will then begin in March and the season will begin in the early fall of next year. Chase said he expects all remaining characters to be back next year as well - providing no one else gets whacked this season.
I HOPE ALF IS NEXT?
Muppet mainstay Kermit the Frog got his star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame Thursday. Congrats, buddy!
Corgan's Zwan Signs To Reprise
Billy Corgan's post-Smashing Pumpkins group Zwan has signed to Reprise and will release its debut album in late January or early February, a spokesperson confirms. The group features Corgan on guitar and vocals, former Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, former Chavez guitarist Matt Sweeney, ex-Slint guitarist David Pajo, and bassist Paz Lenchantin, previously a member of A Perfect Circle.
Before the release of the as-yet-untitled album, Zwan has lined up several performances at radio station-sponsored holiday concerts, as well as a Dec. 5 club date at the Joint in Las Vegas. The group will then play Dec. 11 in Boston with Coldplay and OK Go for WBOS' Honor the Earth Benefit, Dec. 12 at K-Rock's Clausfest in New York, Dec. 13 at WHFS' Nutcracker in Washington, D.C., Dec. 15 at the Y100 Festival in Philadelphia, and Dec. 17 at The Night 89X Stole Xmas in Detroit.
"The Zwan album is just about done and we are all very excited and proud that we were able to come together to make this possible," Corgan wrote last month on the band's official Web site. "We've been having a lot of fun, working like wizards under red lights here in the studio."
The group has played sporadically since forming late last year, but of late its members have been active at a weekly open-mic night at Chicago's Hideout club, hosted by Sweeney. During one performance, Sweeney and Pajo performed as a duo. Lenchantin played some classical pieces on cello and violin with her sister. And over the course of a few weeks, Corgan debuted a number of new songs solo on pump piano or guitar -- some written that morning.
On the final night of the series, just past the club's 2 a.m. curfew, Corgan himself closed out the run. For the last word, he chose "the longest song [he had] ever written." A concept piece, "Woman With a Cruel Face" compiled "all the cruel things women have ever said" to him. Earlier in the night, he was joined by bassist Paris Delane and harmonica player Jeff "Hyper Harp" Grossberg for a few tunes from Chicago bluesman Howlin' Wolf.
"Star Wars: Episode II- Attack Of The Clones" DVDs Are Flying Off Retail Shelves
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Consumers attacked video stores Tuesday to get their hands on the latest DVD installment of the Star Wars franchise, "Episode II: Attack of the Clones."
Although Fox would not give actual sales figures, industry sources estimate the title may have sold about 4 million copies in the first 24 hours, for an estimated $75 million in retail value.
Although that doesn't top the 7 million units claimed by Columbia for "Spider-Man" or the 5 million claimed by Disney for "Monsters, Inc.," Fox said "Clones" is selling a higher percentage (more than 25%) of the units that were shipped to retailers than any title this year.
Columbia shipped 26 million copies of "Spider-Man" and Disney shipped 21 million copies of "Monsters, Inc." while Fox shipped just 15 million units of "Clones."
Part of the reason for strong sales of "Clones" is steep discounting by retailers, said Mike Dunn, executive VP of sales and marketing at 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Not surprisingly, about 75% of the copies shipped and being purchased are on DVD.
Meanwhile, sources said sales of "Spider-Man" slowed considerably in the second week and even more this week, with the release of both "Clones" and the special edition of the first installment of "The Lord of the Rings," and may not reach the lofty record-breaking heights, initially projected by Columbia, of more than 30 million units.
The special four-disc extended edition of "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" is selling at many outlets for $25 (US). Sources say New Line shipped well under 1 million copies of the special edition after shipping an estimated 14 million-18 million units of the initial release in August.