He's Huge!
Here's the trailer for The Hulk
Jim Carrey plays "God" in 'Bruce Almighty.' (Please notice how I resisted the urge to put "Well allllllllll-mighty then!" in there!)
Jay Mohr, Amy Smart Check In with 'Scrubs'
NBC's hospital comedy "Scrubs" is admitting more guest stars for February sweeps and extending the run of a previously announced guest.
Jay Mohr ("Action," "Jerry Maguire" ) will play a doctor who studied under Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) in the Thursday, Feb. 13 episode. Mohr's character will help J.D. (Zach Braff) gain some insight into Cox's badly damaged psyche.
The following week, Amy Smart ("Felicity," "Road Trip" ) will begin a three-episode arc as the wife of a coma patient at the hospital. J.D. faces a moral dilemma when he finds himself falling for her.
The show will also keep Rick Schroder around for at least four episodes, up from the two shows on which he was originally slated to appear. His character, a male nurse, will be introduced in Thursday's (Jan. 30) 40-minute "super-sized" episode.
The character, Paul, becomes an object of infatuation for Elliot (Sarah Chalke) -- who at first thinks he's a doctor. Once she gets over the fact that he's not, they decide to go out.
Schroder says the decision to do more episodes came from a conversation he had with series creator Bill Lawrence.
"The decision was just a very hang-loose personal relationship where he just asked me if I was having fun," Schroder says. "And obviously they like what I'm doing to Sarah's character. She's so funny with the way she relates to me. It's just hysterical what it's done for her character."
Why Is This Not A National Holiday?!?
Did you know that today is Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day?
Academy won't thank Oscar voters who sell DVDs on eBay
By Thomas K. Arnold, Special for USA TODAY
If Punch-Drunk Love isn't playing in your town, you can probably get a DVD copy on eBay, the online auction house.
One just sold for $122.
Antwone Fisher was up to $22.50 Sunday. Two weeks ago, a single copy of Gangs of New York fetched $150.
These films are still in theaters; none has been officially released on video or DVD. Bidders are vying for coveted "screeners," or advance DVD copies, sent out by the Hollywood movie studios to members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the press in hopes a film will be nominated for Oscars.
Selling screeners is not something the studios condone. "They are on loan from the studio, so they cannot be sold," says Benjamin Feingold, president of Columbia/TriStar Home Entertainment, which released Punch-Drunk Love.
Still, eBay won't do anything about screener sales unless the studio complains. Phone calls to eBay were not returned, but according to a statement on the auction site, "eBay policy does not specifically prohibit the listing of promotional items, but you should be aware that many rights owners take the position that the listing of such items is a copyright infringement. Listing such items could therefore result in the ending of your listing if the verified rights owner reports the items as infringing their rights."
Feingold says he plans to contact Columbia/TriStar's legal department. Columbia sent out more than 6,000 screeners.
"Screeners are for viewing by academy members only, and their right to view does not include the right to sell it," Feingold says. "Any sale or purchase is illegal."
An Oscar screener of DreamWorks' The Ring sold for $41, but the auction for Catch Me If You Can was shut down a day after USA TODAY contacted DreamWorks.
But new auctions keep popping up, including one from a seller of Gangs of New York: "Due to eBay shutting down auctions I am selling this NOT as a DVD but as a FRISBEE. You may use is it however you wish, BUT I AM SELLING IT AS A FRISBEE."
Though sellers contacted via e-mail did not respond, judging from item descriptions, they're aware of what they're doing.
"This special DVD is a collector's item," read the description for the copy of Catch Me If You Can that was shut down by eBay on Thursday. "Imagine watching the awards shows and knowing you actually watched a DVD that helped cast the vote."
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences calls screener sales "problematic," says spokeswoman Leslie Unger. "That's why we don't send them out from here. The studios develop their own lists."
Motion Picture Association of America spokeswoman Marta Grutka says her organization is very concerned about the sale of illegal copies of movies online.
"If a movie has not been released on video or is still in theaters, and (consumers are) finding it for sale on an auction site, it's more than likely an illegal copy."
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL WINNERS
Indie drama "American Splendor" about the life of comic artist Harvey Pekar, and the documentary "Capturing The Friedmans" scored best film honors at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival on Saturday.
Also winning audience awards in the drama and documentary categories respectively was "The Station Agent" and "My Flesh and Blood."
Radio Station Guilty in Dry Ice Stunt
LONDON (Reuters) - A British radio station pleaded guilty Friday to injuring four listeners who suffered severe frostbite after sitting on dry ice for a competition.
After the "Coolest Seats In Town" challenge by BRMB radio in Birmingham, the participants -- aged between 15 and 30 -- had to be hospitalized and suffered scarring.
"We pleaded guilty and have been fined 15,000 pounds ($25,000)," a spokesman for BRMB told Reuters.
The Health and Safety Executive, the safety watchdog which brought the prosecution, said the temperature of the dry ice -- frozen carbon dioxide -- was minus 108.40 degrees Fahrenheit.
The prize for the contest held in August 2001 was tickets to a music festival called "Party in the Park."
The radio station said it was sorry about what had happened.
"We deeply regret the consequences," said Paul Davies, operations director for the Capital Radio Group.
"It was never our intention to place anyone in jeopardy and we sincerely apologies to the participants and their families for their injuries and distress."
Davies said an internal investigation had been carried out to ensure a similar incident did not occur again.
Over the last few years the station has run several publicity stunts which have aroused controversy.
One promotion led to two strangers getting married, winning cash, an exotic honeymoon and the use of an luxury apartment. The competition prompted criticism from church groups which said it demeaned the dignity of marriage vows.
The couple separated after a few months.
Springsteen, Zeppelin Records Honored as Classics
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - From Bruce Springsteen's breakthrough "Born to Run" to Led Zeppelin's hit "Stairway to Heaven," some of the biggest classic-rock titles of the 1970s were inducted on Friday into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
The 1975 album that launched Springsteen as a superstar and the 1971 Zeppelin ballad that became one of the most heavily played tracks of the rock era were among 21 recordings to gain Hall of Fame status this year.
The eight albums and 13 singles bring to 606 the number of titles recognized since 1973 by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for their enduring artistic quality and cultural influence.
The lion's share of this year's entries -- 11 in all -- dominated record collections and radio airplay during the 1970s and endure on classic-rock stations today. Among the album selections were Elton John's double-set "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," Fleetwood Mac's blockbuster "Rumors," the Eagles' smash release "Hotel California," Paul Simon's introspective "Still Crazy After All These Years" and Steely Dan's jazz-rock masterpiece "Aja."
Hit '70s singles making the list included one of the most popular songs of the decade, Carole King's "It's Too Late," along with Eric Clapton's cover of the Bob Marley classic "I Shot the Sheriff" and Ike & Tina Turner's take on the John Fogerty song "Proud Mary."
Six other entries hail from the 1960s, notably Peter, Paul & Mary's hit version of the Bob Dylan protest song "Blowin' in the Wind," Petula Clark's winsome 1964 single "Downtown," Judy Collins' generational touchstone "Both Sides Now" and "Up-UP And Away" by the 5th Dimension.
Jazz made the list with two titles -- Thelonious Monk's 1949 release "The Genius of Modern Music, Vols. 1 & 2," and the oldest entry from this year's crop, Ethel Waters' 1933 rendering of "Stormy Weather."
O'Toole to Get Honorary Academy Award
LOS ANGELES - Peter O'Toole, nominated seven times for an Oscar for films as diverse as the epic "Lawrence of Arabia" and the nostalgic comedy "My Favorite Year," will receive an honorary Academy Award this year.
"O'Toole's performances have ignited the screen for more than four decades," Frank Pierson, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said Friday in announcing the award.
It will be presented during the 75th annual Oscars ceremony March 23 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Its citation will read: "Peter O'Toole — whose remarkable talents have provided cinema history with some of its most memorable characters."
O'Toole, 70, made his stage debut at 17 before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his film debut 10 years later with a bit part in the 1959 film "The Savage Innocents."
The Irish-born actor shot to international fame three years later, portraying legendary British adventurer T.E. Lawrence in David Lean's landmark film "Lawrence of Arabia." The performance brought him the first of his seven best actor Oscar nominations.
The others were for "Becket" (1964), "The Lion in Winter" (1968), "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (1969), "The Ruling Class" (1972), "The Stunt Man" (1980) and "My Favorite Year" (1982).
"He's seven times been nominated as best actor, which puts him in extremely rarified air for a performer," Pierson said. "The Board of Governors felt it was time for him to hold his own Oscar in his hands."
'Darkness Falls' Rises To Number One At Weekend Box Office
LOS ANGELES - The horror flick "Darkness Falls," about a vengeful spirit tormenting the town that lynched her, scared up $12.5 million in its opening weekend to debut as the No. 1 movie.
Last weekend's top movie, the comedy "Kangaroo Jack," fell to second place with $11.9 million.
The musical "Chicago" continued to climb the charts in narrower release. It expanded to 616 theaters, an increase of 59, and took in $8.5 million to finish at No. 3, up from sixth place the previous weekend.
"Chicago" averaged an impressive $13,721 a theater, compared with $4,406 in 2,837 theaters for "Darkness Falls."
With $40.6 million already in the bank and solid Academy Awards prospects, "Chicago" is well poised to expand into wide release Feb. 7, four days before the Oscar nominations come out.
"It's a very enviable position to be in," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "Musicals have been out of favor for so long, but `Chicago' is beating all the odds and performing better and better as it rolls out."
George Clooney's directing debut "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" broke into the top 10 in its first weekend of wide release after a limited debut in December to qualify for the Oscars. Starring Sam Rockwell as game-show host Chuck Barris in a fictionalized film biography, "Confessions" grossed $6 million and came in at No. 8.
Other awards contenders held well as they expanded to more theaters, including "About Schmidt," which came in at No. 9 with $5.5 million, and "The Hours," which was No. 10 with $4 million.
Overall, the box office dropped sharply compared to the same weekend last year, when "Black Hawk Down" was the No. 1 film. The top 12 movies grossed $82.9 million, down 25 percent from the same weekend in 2002.
Some of that decrease resulted from movie-goers staying home for the Super Bowl, which came a weekend later last year.
"Darkness Falls" benefited from a slow weekend in which it was the only wide-release debut. It stars Emma Caulfield of TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as a woman battling a ghost-hag that's slicing and dicing people in her town.
Horror movies typically do well in their first weekend as fans of the genre turn out in big numbers, but business tends to drop off steeply in subsequent weeks. With a tight $11 million budget, though, "Darkness Falls" will turn a solid profit, said Tom Sherak, a partner at Revolution Studios, which produced the movie for distributor Sony.
Like last year's horror hit "The Ring," a PG-13 rating might give "Darkness Falls" more staying power than fright flicks with an R rating, Sherak said.
"PG-13 is a little bit broader than the hard Rs," said Sherak, whose son, William, made his debut as a producer on "Darkness Falls." "It's the kind of horror movie that people felt safe in bringing younger kids to."
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Darkness Falls," $12.5 million.
2. "Kangaroo Jack," $11.9 million.
3. "Chicago," $8.5 million.
4. "Just Married," $7.5 million.
5. "National Security," $7.4 million.
6. "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," $6.9 million.
7. "Catch Me If You Can," $6.6 million.
8. "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," $6 million.
9. "About Schmidt," $5.5 million.
10. "The Hours," $4 million.
'Piano Man' Joel Released From Hospital
SAG HARBOR, New York - "Piano Man" Billy Joel was hospitalized for several hours early Sunday after smashing his car into a tree along a highway on far eastern Long Island.
A hospital spokesman confirmed that the singer was released Sunday morning but would not comment on Joel's injuries.
The 53-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer had swerved into the tree as he was driving his Mercedes-Benz in Sag Harbor late Saturday, Sag Harbor Village Police Chief Thomas Fabiano said.
No charges were filed, police Officer Hugh Caulfield said Sunday. Joel wasn't given a Breathalyzer test, which measures blood alcohol levels, he said.
Joel was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital, where a hospital spokesman said he arrived around midnight and was released around 7:30 a.m.
Joel has had more than two dozen Top Ten hits in his career, including his signature 1974 song "Piano Man." His music, including the title song "Movin' Out," is currently the subject of a Broadway musical.
Last summer, he voluntarily checked into a substance abuse and psychiatric center at New Canaan, Connecticut, reportedly after becoming "very depressed" when a respiratory infection forced him to cut short a tour with fellow piano player Elton John.
He told People magazine in July that he had begun "what I ultimately realized was a prolonged period of overindulgence. I don't want to get any more specific."
Joel was also involved in a motorcycle accident on Long Island in 1983. He and model Christie Brinkley have one daughter, Alexa Ray. The couple divorced in 1994.
Super Bowl Advertisers Stick With Humor
NEW YORK - Advertising's auteurs kept it quirky on Super Bowl Sunday, with humor a prime ingredient in most commercials as Americans weary of war talk and a gloomy economy were given a chance to chuckle.
AT&T Wireless offered a parody of the PBS series, "Antiques Roadshow," with the traditional telephone ridiculed as a useless relic. "Do you know how much this is worth?" the host asks his guest. "Diddly-squat."
The game's biggest ad buyer, Anheuser-Busch Inc., tweaked pro football's review rule and the league's troubled officiating this season with a zebra pulling referee duty during a game between horses. (The ad aired, coincidentally, right before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sought a successful review of a turnover call.)
Super Bowl commercials are traditionally among the most coveted and prestigious in the advertising world, with a television audience topping 100 million people and few channel surfers. The night offers advertisers a forum for exhibiting their skills to a huge, diverse group of people — some of whom watch solely for the ads.
This year's 30-second slots sold for between $2.1 million and $2.2 million, about 10 percent more than last year. For the second consecutive year, Anheuser-Busch was the game's largest advertiser, with 11 spots.
Around the ads, Tampa Bay won its first Super Bowl, 48-21. The splashiest commercials typically air earlier in the game, which fit well with listless offense through much of the first half.
About 40 percent of the game's commercial spots were bought by four advertising behemoths: Anheuser-Busch, General Motors Corp., Sony Corp. and PepsiCo.
MasterCard used a trio of "dead presidents" to extol the convenience of its debit cards. Presidents Washington, Lincoln and Jackson wait impatiently at home as a man has a dinner-and-movie date, paid for with his debit card.
Michael Jordan showed up in two campaigns.
In Gatorade's Super Bowl debut, Jordan of today plays against his younger self, the No. 23 icon of the Chicago Bulls. In a spot for Hanes, Jordan smirks as actor Jackie Chan scratches at the shirt tag rubbing his neck. The ad shows off Hanes' new tagless T-shirts.
Pepsi hired Ozzy Osbourne's prominent clan to push Pepsi Twist, although none of the oft-deleted-expletive bunch was bleeped, even once, in the 45-second spot.
Big-budget movies played their usual role, with Arnold Schwarzenegger on hand to tout his summer action flick, "Terminator 3," and Warner Bros. offering many viewers their first peeks of the two new "Matrix" movies scheduled to be released this year.
McDonald's offered a humorous twist on the bad day of a bedraggled middle-aged Dad: his equally frazzled young son forced to contend with a flat tire on his bike and a surprise math quiz at school. Then Mom offers McDonald's, to which the precocious adolescent replies, "That's what I love about that woman."
In a spoof of his past tax problems, country crooner Willie Nelson decides to shoot a shaving cream commercial to help pay a $30 million tax bill. The ad was for H&R Block, the tax preparation company.
HotJobs.com, the job-search company that's part of Yahoo! Inc., bucked the trend with a somber commercial showing people at work singing about rainbows.
"We just feel that this year, given what's going on in the economy and in the environment in general, that a more respectful point of view and approach of job search is what's needed," said Marc Karasu, HotJobs' vice president of advertising.
Dodge offered perhaps the grossest commercial moment, using the power of its new truck engine and quick braking to help a choking man expel a hunk of beef jerky — directly onto the windshield, slime and all.