MGM Theater Trailer Will Push Bond DVD

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - MGM is bringing "Die Another Day" back to theaters this May. Kind of.

Audiences who sit down to watch this summer's "2 Fast 2 Furious," "The Matrix Reloaded" and "X-Men 2" will see a new trailer for "Die Another Day," the most recent 007 outing that grossed $160 million in the United States.

But this time, the studio will be promoting the June 3 DVD release.

The 30-second trailer will be tailored to moviegoers at more than 900 theaters nationwide. MGM's deal for the unique promotion targeting other movies with similar demographic appeal was struck with Regal Cinemas nationwide and NCN, a company that provides pre-feature ads to multiple theaters in the top 14 markets, including the AMC and Pacific chains.

Other movies to which the trailer will be attached are "Daddy Daycare," "Bruce Almighty" and "The Italian Job."

The double-disc "Die Another Day" should easily become the top-selling 007 movie on the DVD format because that market has grown significantly since the last Bond movie, "The World Is Not Enough," was released three years ago.

But it will not have the kind of overall opening-weekend unit sales and revenue numbers of some of the biggest titles in recent months, such as "Spider-Man" and "Monsters, Inc.," as MGM continues to introduce the VHS versions of the 007 movies as rentals before repricing them to be purchased on videocassette months later.

Like all the 007 DVDs, "Die Another Day" will be loaded with seven hours of extras, including the first audio commentary by the actor playing Bond. Pierce Brosnan teams with co-star Rosamund Pike for his audio track, while director Lee Tamahori and producer Michael G. Wilson also will provide an audio commentary.

In other DVD news, DreamWorks has slated May 6 as the DVD release date for "Catch Me if You Can."

The film's retro-style opening credit sequences are emulated in customized menus for each of the many extra features on the two-disc set.

Co-star Leonardo DiCaprio talks extensively about his approach to the con artist character of Frank W. Abagnale Jr., who is also profiled separately in a featurette. The FBI's real-life investigation is chronicled as well.

Also announced this week for DVD release are Focus Features' "Far From Heaven" through Universal, set for April 1, and Warner's "Two Weeks Notice," slated for April 29.

'Late Show' Host Letterman Diagnosed with Shingles

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The eye infection that sidelined late-night television host David Letterman for most of this week was brought on by a case of shingles, a viral infection related to chickenpox, his doctor said on Thursday.

Actor Bruce Willis filled in as host of the CBS "Late Show" on Wednesday, while tennis legend John McEnroe and Regis Philbin from the morning show "Live! With Regis and Kelly" assumed guest-host duties for Thursday and Friday's shows.

The "Late Show" was already scheduled to be on a production hiatus next week, but it was not immediately clear whether Letterman would be ready to return the week after next.

When "Late Show" producers first revealed Wednesday that Letterman would miss that day's taping due to an eye infection, they had said repeats of earlier broadcasts would air Thursday and Friday. Letterman's absence this week was his first since his recovery from open-heart surgery in early 2000, when he missed several weeks of shows.

Before then, Letterman, 55, had never missed an appearance in his more than 20 years of late-night television.

A statement issued by Letterman's production company quoted the comedian's physician, Dr. Louis Aronne, as saying, "Dave is on his way to a full recovery."

Shingles is a viral infection of the nerve roots that typically results in pain and rash. It is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox and occurs as a result of reactivation, possibly through physical or emotional stress, of the virus in a person who has already had chickenpox.

Playboy Is Looking For 'The Women of Starbucks'

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lattes aren't the only steamy things at Starbucks these days. Much to the chagrin of Seattle-based Starbucks Corp., Playboy Magazine has issued an alert: "Calling all coffee-making cuties!" to pose nude for an upcoming issue featuring the "Women of Starbucks."

With the application process already percolating, the chain of more than 6,200 coffee shops worldwide, is anything but thrilled with the cattle call by the adult magazine to its coffee-making employees, known as baristas.

The company on Thursday offered a frosty statement: "Starbucks Coffee Company is aware that Playboy Enterprises has issued a call for entries for a 'Women of Starbucks' section in a future magazine. Starbucks is not affiliated with this project and does not endorse it. All further inquiries should be directed to the contact at Playboy, Theresa Hennessey."

Hennessey, at Playboy Enterprises Inc.'s Chicago headquarters, said the magazine was already getting a lot submissions for the issue. "Starbucks is such a big part of American pop culture, and Playboy is always trying to stay on top of the latest trend so it seemed like a natural fit, especially with all the beautiful women there," she said.

Hennessey said that while Playboy had not approached Starbucks beforehand, it was sensitive to copyright and trademark issues.

FAIR USE, FAIR PLAY, FAIR PLAYBOY

"However we use or title the piece, we'll be using it within the boundaries of fair use of trademark law. By saying 'Women of Starbucks,' that's using it an a descriptive manner within the boundaries of fair use," she said.

"If the girls want to submit their photos and want to do something in their off time, they should be able to do that."

The application deadline is April 1 for a publication date likely before the end of 2003.

"The photo department will sift through the applications and will narrow it down and try to see who would be the best representatives to put in a pictorial. Typically we have about 10 to 15 women for a themed pictorial in an issue," she said.

In recent years, Playboy has scored big with other corporate-themed pictorials such as "The Women of Enron," as well as 7-Eleven.

BAWA WAWA'S WESTS

Renée Zellweger, Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore lined up for this year's 22nd annual Academy Awards edition of The Barbara Walters Special, set to air at 7 p.m. on March 23 before the Oscars.

DREW CARREY Shuffled to Summer

Due to ratings struggles on Friday night, ABC has pulled THE DREW CARREY SHOW. They will resume new episodes in the summer.

Nicholson, Pacino Join STUCK ON YOU

Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino have joined the cast of the Farrelly Brother's STUCK ON YOU, starring Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear and Cher. In the film, Damon and Kinnear play conjoined twins. One of the pair wants to be a famous actor, and he has to convince his other half to go along with him to Hollywood. Once there, they are cast in a tv show starring an unhappy actress (Cher).

No Hartnett For SUPERMAN V

According to Warner Bros., Josh Hartnett has passed on the chance to play Superman in whatever sequel is coming. Warner has announced that their next three top choices are Brendan Frasier, Paul Walker and Matthew Bomer (ALL MY CHILDREN). Screen test deals are currently being negotiated for the three and Warner hopes to do so next week. Warner has said they are not looking for someone that looks like Superman or even can act well; they're looking for someone to sign a three-picture deal.

Bruce Springsteen Hits TV & Concert Stage On Friday

The hour-long Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band special airs at 9 p.m. ET/PT Friday (February 28) on CBS--the same night the group's tour resumes in Duluth, Georgia. The broadcast, taken from a show in Barcelona last October, will feature a number of songs from The Rising, including the title track, "Lonesome Day," "You're Missing," and "Waiting On A Sunny Day," as well as older material such as "Darkness On The Edge Of Town."

E Street Band guitarist Little Steven said that Bruce Springsteen and company were very pleased with how the show--which was originally broadcast live in Europe--turned out. "It was, you know, one of the most extraordinary audiences in the world, and it was just one of those freaky things where you do a great show the same night as you're doing a live broadcast--usually that doesn't happen," Little Steven said. "You know, you'll do a good show with a live broadcast, or with a film crew there, you know, but they're never...You know, very rarely are they great, for some reason, but this was an exception to the rule. This was...Everything came together."

Little Steven added that he's also anxious for American viewers to get a look at the exuberance of the European audiences. "It's different, man," Little Steven said. "The audience is different, the vibe is different, it's...You know, it's cool. I mean, there's something different about it that I think American audiences would love to get a chance to see actually, you know--get a taste of that European audience."

Little Steven previously described the Barcelona audience as being "berserk."

Springsteen and the band will play in the U.S. until March 11, and then tour Australia, Canada, and Europe before returning home for summer dates.

'Sexist' Thong Ad Withdrawn

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's tourist board has temporarily withdrawn an ad showing a woman's half-naked bottom marked by the suntan outline of a thong with the slogan "Spain marks," after a deluge of complaints that it was sexist.

The ad was pulled after protests by political and women's groups, a spokeswoman for the tourist board Turespana said. A meeting of regional government and tourist authorities will decide whether the poster should be banned altogether.

"We asked the Women's Institute what they thought, and they said it was positive, not sexist. In fact, there is also a version in which a man appears, so it is a balanced campaign," the Turespana spokeswoman said.

Spain's Women's Institute is a department of the Social Affairs Ministry. But other women's' groups were not impressed.

"This resorts to the figure of a semi-naked woman as a tourist attraction, which is pitiful and it seems like we're taking a step backwards," said Micaela Navarro, responsible for equality issues at the main opposition Socialist party.

Tourism is Spain's biggest industry, accounting for more than one tenth of its economy. The "Spain marks" campaign has already been launched internationally, with a series of different photographs deemed to cause less offence.

'Buffy' Series to End After Seven Seasons

NEW YORK - Stick a stake in it: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is done.

After seven years, the series will be over at the end of this season, said its star, Sarah Michelle Gellar.

"'Buffy,' in this incarnation, is over," Gellar told Entertainment Weekly magazine for its March 7 issue, her eyes welling with tears.

The series will wrap up with a five-part story, which will include the return of Faith, the bad-girl slayer, and Buffy's first love, Angel.

"We're gearing up to tell a fabulous, huge, great arc," Gellar said. "It's going to be pretty spectacular."

But the show may come back to life in some form: Its creator, Joss Whedon, is planning a spin-off that may include some "Buffy" cast members. It will be pitched first to UPN, "Buffy's" home for the past two seasons; for five seasons before that, it was on the WB.

Gellar, 25, gained fame on the cult hit as Buffy Summers, a perky high school student burdened with the responsibility of killing vampires in the seemingly idyllic town of Sunnydale, Calif.

Last summer, she co-starred with Freddie Prinze Jr., who's now her real-life husband, in a live-action movie version of "Scooby-Doo." A sequel is scheduled for release in March 2004.

'Mr. Rogers' dies of cancer at 74

PITTSBURGH -- Fred Rogers, who gently invited millions of children to be his neighbour as host of the public television show "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" for more than 30 years, died of cancer early Thursday. He was 74.

Rogers died at his Pittsburgh home, said family spokesman David Newell, who played Mr. McFeely on the show. Rogers had been diagnosed with stomach cancer sometime after the holidays, Newell said.

"He was so genuinely, genuinely kind, a wonderful person," Newell said. "His mission was to work with families and children for television. ... That was his passion, his mission, and he did it from day one."

From 1968 to 2000, Rogers, an ordained Presbyterian minister, produced the show at Pittsburgh public television station WQED. The final new episode, which was taped in December 2000, aired in August 2001, though PBS affiliates continued to air back episodes.

Rogers composed his own songs for the show and began each episode in a set made to look like a comfortable living room, singing "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood," as he donned sneakers and a zip-up cardigan.

"I have really never considered myself a TV star," Rogers said in a 1995 interview. "I always thought I was a neighbor who just came in for a visit."

His message remained simple: telling his viewers to love themselves and others. On each show, he would take his audience on a magical trolley ride into the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, where his puppet creations would interact with each other and adults.

Rogers did much of the puppet work and voices himself. He also studied early childhood development at the University of Pittsburgh and consulted with an expert there over the years.

"He was certainly a perfectionist. There was a lot more to Fred than I think many of us saw," said Joe Negri, a guitarist who on the show played the royal handyman in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe and owner of "Negri's Music Shop."

Negri said Rogers refused to accept shoddy ad-libbing by guests who may have thought they could slack off during a kid's show.

But Rogers could also enjoy taping as if he were a child himself, Negri recalled. Once, he said, the two of them fell into laughter because of the difficulty they had putting up a tent on the show.

Rogers taught children how to share, deal with anger and even why they shouldn't fear the bathtub by assuring them they'll never go down the drain.
During the Persian Gulf War, Rogers told youngsters that "all children shall be well taken care of in this neighborhood and beyond -- in times of war and in times of peace," and he asked parents to promise their children they would always be safe.

"We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility," he said in 1994. "It's easy to say 'It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.'

"Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes."

Rogers came out of broadcasting retirement last year to record public service announcements for the Public Broadcasting Service telling parents how to help their children deal with the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"If they see the tragedy replayed on television, they might think it's happening at that moment," he said.

Rogers' show won four Emmy Awards, plus one for lifetime achievement. He was given a George Foster Peabody Award in 1993, "in recognition of 25 years of beautiful days in the neighborhood."

At a ceremony marking the show's 25th anniversary that year, Rogers said, "It's not the honors and not the titles and not the power that is of ultimate importance. It's what resides inside."

The show's ratings peaked in 1985-86 when about 8 percent of all U.S. households with televisions tuned in. By the 1999-2000 season, viewership had dropped to about 2.7 percent, or 3.6 million people.

As other children's programming opted for slick action cartoons, Rogers stayed the same and stuck to his soothing message.

Off the set, Rogers was much like his television persona. He swam daily, read voraciously and listened to Beethoven. He once volunteered at a state prison in Pittsburgh and helped set up a playroom there for children visiting their parents.
One of Rogers' red sweaters hangs in the Smithsonian Institution.

Rogers was born in Latrobe, 30 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Early in his career, Rogers was an unseen puppeteer in "The Children's Corner," a local show he helped launch at WQED in 1954. In seven years of unscripted, live television, he developed many of the puppets used in his later show, including King Friday XIII and Curious X the Owl.

He was ordained in 1963 with a charge to continue his work with children and families through television. That same year, Rogers accepted an offer to develop "Misterogers," his own 15-minute show, for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

He brought the show back to Pittsburgh in 1966, incorporating segments of the CBC show into a new series distributed by the Eastern Educational Network to cities including Boston, Philadelphia and Washington.

In 1968, "Misterogers' Neighborhood" (the spelling changed later) began distribution across the country through National Educational Television, which later became the Public Broadcasting Service.

Rogers' gentle manner was the butt of some comedians. Eddie Murphy parodied him on "Saturday Night Live" in the 1980s with his "Mister Robinson's Neighborhood," a routine Rogers found funny and affectionate.

Rogers is survived by his wife, Joanne, a concert pianist; two sons; and two grandsons.

Key events in the life of Fred Rogers:

March 20, 1928: Fred Rogers is born in Latrobe, Pa.

1954: Rogers introduces The Children's Corner, a children's show in Pittsburgh where he works as an unseen puppeteer.

February 1968: Misterrogers begins broadcasting.

1985-86: Ratings peak for Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, as eight per cent of all U.S. households tune in.

1991: During the Persian Gulf War, Rogers tells youngsters, "All children shall be well taken care of in this neighbourhood and beyond -- in times of war and in times of peace," and asks parents to promise their children they will always be safe.

1993: At a ceremony marking the show's 25th anniversary, Rogers says, "It's not the honours and not the titles and not the power that is of ultimate importance. It's what resides inside."

December 2000: Rogers tapes the show's final episode.

August 2001: Final episode airs.

September 2002: Rogers comes out of broadcasting retirement to record public service announcements telling parents how to help their children deal with the Sept. 11 attacks anniversary.

Feb. 27, 2003: Rogers dies of stomach cancer.

He will be missed!

ANOTHER YEAR FOR '24,' 'ALIAS'

TWO of TV's biggest cult hits, "Alias" and "24" will both be back next fall.

ABC and Fox announced yesterday that the two shows will be returning, although there had been some doubt about the fate of the spy thrillers which havwe garnered some of TV's most passionate fans.

Fox entertainment president Gail Berman would not confirm that "24" star Keifer Sutherland would return however, apparently to protect the secrecy of what happens in the show's final episode later this year.

?!?!?

Final Rush?

Rush will make its first, and likely only, public appearance of 2003 tomorrow when the legendary rock trio is inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame.

The presentation takes place during a closed gala ceremony during the Canadian Music Industry Awards at Toronto's Westin Harbour Castle hotel.

The distinction between this Hall of Fame award and the one received at the 1994 Juno Awards is the qualifier "industry." Over the past 35 years, Rush has become more than a band; it has become an industry, a business.

"I hadn't thought about it in that light, but obviously we've become some kind of institution in this country," muses bassist/singer Geddy Lee.

Rush is the second band, following the Guess Who, to join such movers and shakers in the Canadian Industry Hall of Fame as retailer Sam "The Record Man" Sniderman, and concert promoter Donald Tarlton (aka Donald K. Donald).

Rush's Lee, drummer/lyricist Neil Peart and guitarist Alex Lifeson have released 22 albums, which have worldwide sales of over 35 million. They own eight Juno Awards, a Lifetime Achievement award from the Musician's Institute in Hollywood, and are Officers of the Order of Canada.

"It's a compliment," Lee says of receiving such awards. "It's recognition of what you like to consider a worthwhile life, especially for a band that's been around as long as we have. It's nice to be reminded that the industry, in particular, doesn't take it for granted."

Who could take for granted a band that returns after a five-year absence (following the tragic deaths of drummer Neil Peart's daughter in a car accident and wife from cancer) with a new studio album, Vapor Trails, and what turned out to be one of the top 20 highest-grossing tours of 2002?

The band played 63 shows in 62 North American cities to some 600,000 fans. "There was a renewed energy in the way we approached our live performances," says Lifeson.

What the future holds for Rush after such a successful comeback is anyone's guess -- even the band's. There's the brand new The Spirit Of Radio: Greatest Hits: 1974 - 1987, and a still untitled DVD, made up of footage from the band's first tour of Brazil, slated for a spring release. But a new studio album?

"This year, I plan to be with my family," says Lee, "do a lot of travelling, focus on my life outside of music, which I've been neglecting the past four years. I'm sure at some point I'll start getting itchy to do some work. I don't know what form that will take, whether it will be band work or work on my own, but this year I'm just going to try and take a break."

Lifeson says he plans to do some production or another solo album. He expects to get together with Lee later in the year to do "some casual writing" with a view to start working on an album in 2004, followed by a tour, but then he reconsiders.

"At this stage in our lives, it meant so much for us to get out on the road and play this tour and we felt so good about it, in some ways. If it were to end now I would feel that there was some kind of closure, that we went through a rough period and did it great one more time," he says. "So the door goes two ways at this point. Either we dive into the next project in a year and repeat the whole thing, or we just find that we've had our fill and move on."

Marvel sues Sony over 'Spider-Man'

HOLLYWOOD, California (Variety) -- Marvel Enterprises set the gears in motion Tuesday to sue Sony Pictures Entertainment over the Spider-Man character. Marvel asked that the filing be sealed from public view under the terms of a contractual provision.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Marvel said the suit in Los Angeles Superior Court involves its Spider-Man licensing agreement with Sony, whose Columbia Pictures division released last year's blockbuster film based on Marvel's web-slinging comic book hero.

The release goes on to say that the suit is not an attempt to stop production of the "Spider-Man" sequel slated for 2004 or to alter any of the merchandising or licensing deals that are in place.

Marvel's release cites contractual provisions as the reason for filing the suit under seal. In such a filing, there is no public record of the lawsuit being filed or the contents of the suit.

Filing under seal for a least a brief period -- 30 to 60 days -- in not unusual. California law, however, contains a strong presumption that court files are public, and filings under seal can be challenged.

Technically, Marvel filed a motion to file its complaint under seal; when the motion is heard, the public has an opportunity to challenge the sealing.

The stated purpose of Marvel's release is to inform investors that it does not foresee any negative impact from the litigation. Without the release, there would be no public record of the litigation.

Litigation is a way of life for Spider-Man. Sony grabbed the rights to the superhero in 1999 at the culmination of a six-year litigation.

Marvel initially licensed Spider-Man to Carolco and James Cameron wrote a treatment. After Carolco's bankruptcy, Sony, Viacom and MGM all claimed they owned a piece of Spider-Man. After a loss at trial by Viacom and a settlement with MGM, Sony made a deal with Marvel and emerged the winner of the Spider-Man wars.

Fox Greenlights DAREDEVIL 2, ELEKTRA

20th Century Fox has announced official plans to make sequel to the hit movie DAREDEVIL, as well as a spinoff based on the character of Elektra. Jennifer Garner, who played Elektra in Daredevil, will star in the spinoff, picking up from where character's story left off in DAREDEVIL. Garner will also play Elektra in DAREDEVIL 2.

Harry Potter Author to Cast Spell Over 'Simpsons'

LONDON (Reuters) - The creator of Harry Potter, the world's most popular boy wizard, is set to cast a spell over cult U.S. cartoon show "The Simpsons," her spokeswoman said Wednesday.

J.K. Rowling will bring a touch of magic to the animated sitcom about the dysfunctional family by appearing as herself in an episode set in England.

"I can confirm that she did a voice-over for 'The Simpsons,"' the spokeswoman told Reuters.

In the episode, Rowling will meet beer-guzzling Homer Simpson and his family when they visit England to find a girl with whom Grandpa Simpson had a wartime fling.

"'The Simpsons' bump into J.K. Rowling outside a bookshop and they talk all about Harry Potter," Don Payne, executive producer of the cult cartoon told the Sun newspaper.

The episode will also feature "Lord of the Rings" star Sir Ian McKellen, the paper said.

The family go to see him perform the Shakespeare play "Macbeth," but bring him bad luck by saying the play's name aloud -- in defiance of a well-known theatrical superstition.

This leads to the actor being hit by scaffolding and then struck by lightning.

Rowling, who has sold millions of Harry Potter books around the world, joins dozens of stars from Paul McCartney to Dustin Hoffman who have lent their voices to the show.

Bruce Willis Hosts 'Late Show,' Letterman Out Sick

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Bruce Willis filled in as host of the CBS "Late Show" on Wednesday in place of David Letterman, who was sidelined by an eye infection, producers of the program said.

It was Letterman's first absence since his recovery from open-heart surgery in early 2000, when he missed several weeks of shows, then alternated with a series of guest hosts for a few weeks.

Before then, Letterman, 55, had never missed an appearance in his more than 20 years of late-night television.

A statement released by Letterman's production company quoted the comedian's physician, Dr. Louis Aronne, as saying, "Dave has an infection of his right eye. It's under treatment and we expect a full recovery."

Willis already was scheduled to appear as a guest on Wednesday's show, along with CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather, just back from his exclusive interview with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Also appearing were actress Carmen Electra and singer John Mayer.

"Late Show" episodes scheduled to air on Thursday and Friday will be replaced with repeats, and, as previously scheduled, the show will be dark the week of March 3, producers said.

Letterman's eye was visibly puffy during Tuesday night's broadcast.

"I look like somebody gave me a beating," he remarked on the show. "It's either an irritation, inflammation or infection ... For the love of God, does it hurt?!"

Letterman was first sidelined from his show undergoing bypass heart surgery on Jan. 14, 2000. CBS ran repeats of the show for the next three weeks, followed by a series of taped "Late Show Backstage" telecasts, with frequent guests showing clips of their favorite moments from the program.

Letterman returned part time on Feb. 21 of that year, then alternated for a few weeks with a series of guest hosts, including Bill Cosby, Nathan Lane, and David Brenner, before coming back full time the week of March 27.

Lennox To 'Bare' Self On New Album, Tour

Annie Lennox will release a new album, "Bare," June 10 in the U.S. via J Records (a day earlier internationally through BMG). "The songs are gorgeously lush, elegant, and eloquent," is how Billboard's Melinda Newman described the music after hearing the material last year.

The album was recorded in London and produced by long-time collaborator Steve Lipson (Cher, Pet Shop Boys), who has described "Bare" as a "truly career defining album. Her best yet." Among the songs included are "Pavement Cracks," "The Hurting Time," and "The Saddest Song." A single has not yet been determined, according to a J Records spokesperson.

Lennox will precede the release with about a month of North American tour dates starting at the end of March. A management representative says that the tour will visit only small theaters, "making it a very intimate evening with Annie Lennox." There will be no opening act on the tour.

Currently, only four dates are confirmed. U.S. shows in Miami (March 26), Tampa, Fla. (March 28), and Atlanta (March 30) will go on sale Friday (Feb. 28) via Ticketmaster. A Toronto date (April 4) will go on sale the same day through Ticketmaster Canada. A May date in Zurich is also confirmed; further dates are expected soon.

Fans will be able to keep up with Lennox's travels and information on the new album through a new Web site that is in the midst of being established, according to management.

Lennox last toured in 1999 with Dave Stewart as the Eurythmics. That run came in support of the act's "Peace" (Arista). She has only played a handful of shows as a solo artist, with no full scale tours to support either of her two previous releases, 1995's "Medusa" and 1992's "Diva."

"That was all because of my babies," Lennox said in her Billboard Century Award interview. "We did a few appearances. At one point, I'd been away from my daughter for about a week, and it was disastrous. I felt like part of my body had been cut off and was on the other side of the world -- I couldn't bear it... I just never want to be away from my kids like that. It's not healthy."

Both "Medusa" and "Diva" were released through BMG-associated Arista in the U.S., where Lennox thrived under label head Clive Davis. The move to J Records reunites her with Davis, who established the label after exiting Arista in 2000. Following BMG's November purchase of his 50% stake in the label, he was named chairman of the company's RCA Records Group, which holds the J label under its umbrella.

"Medusa" debuted at No. 11 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 1.8 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. An album of covers, it is best remembered for the ballad "No More 'I Love You's" (originally recorded by U.K. band the Lover Speaks), which reached No. 10 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart and No. 23 on the Hot 100.

"Diva" reached No. 23 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 2.6 million copies. That set spawned the hit singles "Walking on Broken Glass" (No. 6 AC, No. 7 Modern Rock, No. 14 Hot 100) and "Why" (No. 6 AC, No. 12 Modern Rock, No. 34 Hot 100).

Here are Annie Lennox's confirmed tour dates:

March 26: Miami (Gusman Cultural Center)
March 28: Tampa, Fla. (Tampa Theatre)
March 30: Atlanta (Woodruff Arts Center)
April 4: Toronto (Toronto Centre for the Arts)
May 23: Zurich (Kongresshaus)

Bye Bye Robbie!

Rob Lowe returns to The West Wing (NBC, 9 p.m. ET/PT) in what's being billed as his farewell performance. Lowe has been much missed, so let's hope it's not too late for all concerned to change their minds.

Hello Saddam

CBS is scheduled to air Dan Rather's interview with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The interview will run in a special edition of 60 Minutes II (9 p.m. ET/PT).

Nicole Kidman News

SEXY COUPLE: Nicole Kidman and Brad Pitt in talks to star in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, an action-adventure flick following a bored married couple who discover they are enemy assassins hired to kill each other. Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity) will direct.

TWITCHING HER NOSE: Nora Ephron coming aboard to pen and possibly direct the feature version of the 1960s sitcom Bewitched, with Kidman set to star.

MSNBC Axes Phil Donahue's Talk Show

NEW YORK - MSNBC fired Phil Donahue on Tuesday, abruptly ending the veteran talk show host's return to television after six months of poor ratings.

Donahue's final show will be Friday night. The news show that precedes him on the air, "Countdown: Iraq," temporarily will be expanded to two hours to replace him.

"We're proud of the program and we're disappointed that the show was not able to attract the viewership we had hoped for and expected," said Erik Sorenson, MSNBC president. "We thank Phil and his staff for their dedication, commitment and passion."

Donahue's office referred calls to his agent on Thursday, and he did not immediately return a call for comment.

The move was not a surprise. MSNBC hoped "Donahue" would provide a liberal counterweight to Fox News Channel's competing "The O'Reilly Factor," but the ratings started poorly and didn't improve.

MSNBC tried to tweak the show in November, putting Donahue in front of a live audience in New York instead of in a New Jersey studio, but it made little difference.

The political talk show format has yet to prove — and may never — that it can support a liberal voice, said Andrew Tyndall, head of ADT Research, a television news consulting firm.

Donahue's chances weren't helped by MSNBC's impatience, he said.

"They're very quick to cancel shows," Tyndall said. "Right from the start, they haven't settled on a format and let it grow so people can find it. If it's not working in a few months, they cancel it and move on to something else."

MSNBC also has sought a younger audience than its cable news rivals and the hiring of Donahue, 67, went against that strategy. "Anyone who's under 25 doesn't remember when his old talk show was on the air," Tyndall said.

During this month, a "sweeps" month in which ratings are watched closely to set advertising rates, "Donahue" averaged 446,000 viewers. O'Reilly drew 2.7 million viewers, up 28 percent from February 2002, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Connie Chung's CNN show that debuted shortly before "Donahue" averaged 985,000 viewers this month, Nielsen said.

"Countdown: Iraq," with Lester Holt as host, is one of the network's few success stories, occasionally inching past CNN to second in the cable news ratings.

Donahue was a nine-time Daytime Emmy winner for his syndicated talk show, which began in 1967 and aired nationally from 1970 to 1996, paving the way for dozens of such shows to follow.

He began his MSNBC show July 15 with a panel discussion on whether the United States should try to oust Saddam Hussein. On Monday night, with Rosie O'Donnell as guest, they talked about the same topic.

The show's failure is "a footnote" to Donahue's career, Tyndall said. "His legacy is unharmed," he said. "He invented an entire genre of television."

Not Surprisingly, Actor Robert Blake Proclaims Innocence

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Robert Blake says he did not kill his wife and believes that God will make sure he is cleared, but he also says he does not worry about his upcoming trial because he is already "a dead man."

Blake, who on Wednesday faces a preliminary hearing that will determine if he must stand trial on murder charges, proclaimed his innocence during an interview on ABC's "20/20" program that is scheduled for broadcast on Wednesday night.

"Of course I'm innocent," Blake told television personality Barbara Walters during the interview, which was conducted last week at the Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles.

"No, I'm not going to be found guilty," the "Baretta" star responded when asked if he would be convicted. "Why? It's real simple. Because God has never, ever deserted me. Can't say I haven't deserted Him from time to time."

Bonny Lee Bakley was found shot to death on May 4, 2001 while sitting in Blake's car not far from a restaurant where the couple had dinner. Blake had gone back into the restaurant to retrieve a gun that he left there.

But Blake, who would face a life prison term if he is found guilty, says he is not concerned about that possibility.

"What do I care?" Blake said. "How do you kill a dead man? What are they gonna do to me that they haven't done already? They took away my entire past. They took away my entire future. What's left ... to take? They gonna take my testicles and make earrings out of them?"

WANTS TO CLEAR NAME FOR DAUGHTER'S SAKE

The 69-year-old actor, best known for playing detective Tony Baretta on the 1970s television drama, also offered his theory about who killed his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, on May 4, 2001.

Blake said Bakley, who has been portrayed by defense attorneys as a grifter who bilked men with "lonely hearts" letters, was probably slain by one of her victims.

"In my heart I believe that some man maybe 10, 15, maybe 20 years ago -- because she used to get married to them ... I think she destroyed a lot of lives," he said. "And I think one life she destroyed saw her on television ... Because we got engaged and it was in all the newspapers."

Blake added that he used to see strange people "hanging around" his house and that one of them followed him and Bakley when they went to dinner on the night of the murder.

Blake also said during the interview that he wants to clear his name for the sake of his young daughter, Rosie, and says he does not expect to last long if kept behind bars.

"I'm not going to last another year," he said. "I'm 70 years old. Things happen to old people. They get aneurysms, they get strokes, they get heart attacks."

Blake, a former child actor who starred in the "Our Gang" comedies, has also appeared in dozens of movies, including 1967's "In Cold Blood," based on the Truman Capote book of the same name, in which he portrayed one of two men who murdered a Kansas family and were hanged for their crime.

My Big Fat TV debut

Nia's sitcom impresses but the true test comes Sunday

After raking in more than $250 million US at the box office with movie hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding, it's time to see if her TV marriage is going to work similar ratings magic. The debut episode of My Big Fat Greek Life on CBS and Global last night was a promising start.

With a lead-in from Everybody Loves Raymond, the premiere courted comparisons to CBS's most successful sitcom when newlyweds Nia and Thomas Miller agreed to move into a house across the street from her buttinsky clan's restaurant, the Dancing Zorba. But the true popularity test comes this Sunday when the show settles into its regular CBS timeslot opposite perennial favourites The Simpsons.

The series is set shortly after the wedding, with the former Nia Portokalos (Vardalos) and teacher Thomas (Steven Eckholdt) returning from a honeymoon in Greece with plans to set boundaries with her parents Gus and Maria (Michael Constantine and Lainie Kazan) and an extended family that includes Nia's chesty cousin Nicky, short-order cook brother Nick, outrageous aunt Voula (Andrea Martin) and an assortment of cousins, uncles and grandparents.

But Nia's family hijacked the pair at the airport, where Nia explained her marriage with "non-Greek" Thomas to a fellow traveller, quipping, "It'd make a good movie."

SLIGHTLY MORE HIP

Once home, the first order of business for Maria and Voula -- after asking if Nia was pregnant yet after her 10-day vacation -- was to inform Thomas, "now that the honeymoon is over, remember it's not all about your pleasure." So much for boundaries.

Accompanied by a laughtrack, the comedy is more broad on TV than in the movie, which earned Vardalos an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay, and Nia is slightly more hip. But she's as likable on the small screen as on the big one, which is a big fat plus for this show.

'N Sync singer star Joey Fatone guests as Nia's cousin Angelo this Sunday, when she learns her parents plan to leave the Dancing Zorba to her in their will.

RADIOHEAD Release Date Announced

RADIOHEAD will reportedly release their next album during the 2nd week of June. Currently being recorded in Los Angeles, the "Amnesiac" follow-up is expected to be titled either "2+2=5," or "Are You Listening."

Grammy has a Jones for Norah, but will it be a jinx?

By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY

Norah Jones' five-for-five Grammy sweep may include a booby prize.

The jazz-pop chanteuse, 23, took three of the four top categories Sunday: best new artist, album and record. Best song went to Jesse Harris for writing Jones' hit, Don't Know Why, from debut Come Away With Me, which accounted for an extraordinary eight trophies.

History casts a pall over Jones' triumph. Among new artists, she's eclipsed only by Christopher Cross, who took all four top slots in 1980 and then promptly faded, as did Grammy-showered newcomers Hootie & The Blowfish and Tracy Chapman.

Will Jones succumb to the new-artist curse? Past winners Mariah Carey, LeAnn Rimes and Sheryl Crow didn't. But in Grammy physics, a sky-high victory often portends a backlash. Entertainment Weekly critic Ken Tucker dubbed her "terribly over-rewarded."

Jones' defeat of legend Bruce Springsteen "could lead to critical resentment," says Grammy historian Paul Grein. "I'm sure there were people in her camp who were thinking, 'Uh-oh.' She might have been better off if Bruce had won best album."

Come Away has sold 3.5 million copies and could steamroll toward 10 million, "making this album that much harder to follow," Grein says. "I hope it doesn't bury her. She's already shown she can defy odds, so maybe she'll find a way to break the Grammy jinx."

Geoff Mayfield, Billboard's director of charts, says Jones could follow the trajectory of Bonnie Raitt or Tina Turner, whose Grammy bonanzas yielded enduring boosts in stature and sales clout.

In addition to boosting sales of her Nick of Time album, Raitt's 1989 coronation "set up the rest of her career," Mayfield says.

Jones' motherlode probably will spark a sales spike for Come Away, which is No. 3 in Billboard this week. Santana's eight-Grammy jackpot in 2000 triggered a 166% jump for Supernatural the next week.

"People will plunk down money this week to find out what the fuss is about," Mayfield says. Longer-term success "will depend on what she comes up with next, which would have been scrutinized anyway. ... It's refreshing to see this quiet little record that didn't fit any format find an audience."

That audience grew with Sunday's 24.9 million Grammy viewers. She'll gain more exposure with today's release of DVD Norah Jones Live in New Orleans, tonight's performance on CBS' Late Show With David Letterman and a U.S. tour that kicks off June 6.

Jones, who was weaned on jazz and blues, grew up in Texas with her mother, a nurse. She recently reconciled with her father, sitarist Ravi Shankar, after a lengthy estrangement. Blue Note signed her in early 2001.

"I didn't expect this," she said, holding an armload of statuettes backstage. "Nor did I need it."

If Grammy gold turns into a career millstone, she could be right.

Kiss Says Pyrotechnics Are Here to Stay

NEWARK, N.J. - Pyrotechnics have become as much a part of rock concerts as guitars and drums, and will continue to be used despite last week's deadly Rhode Island nightclub fire, according to a rock band known for its fiery displays.

Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of Kiss, which has built stage shows around pyrotechnics for 30 years, said the displays are fine for large arenas or outdoor shows, but can be deadly in small clubs.

They say the key is having bands and venue owners agree beforehand on exactly what can be used onstage.

Onstage sparkler fountains at a Great White concert in West Warwick, R.I., ignited the small club Thursday night, killing 97 fans and injuring more than 180 others.

"People want a thrill, people love spectacle and people love to be entertained," Stanley, Kiss' lead singer, told The Associated Press. "That's why people go to horror movies, why they go on roller coasters, and why a band like us has been able to be around as long as we have.

"But you have to be extremely careful with anything that has to do with fire," he added.

Bassist Simmons, who accidentally has set his hair ablaze a half-dozen times while breathing fire onstage, said he "would no more ban pyrotechnics at rock concerts than I would on the Fourth of July."

"It's all about full disclosure," Simmons said. "The venue has to know what it's buying."

That has emerged as a central question in the Rhode Island fire. Great White claims it had permission to use pyrotechnics inside The Station, but club management denies it. Fire officials said the required permits were not obtained, and would have been denied had they been sought.

Ex-Heartbreakers Bassist Dead at 47 - Report

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rock musician Howie Epstein, bassist for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers for 20 years until ousted from the band last May, has died in a New Mexico hospital, Billboard magazine's Web site reported on Tuesday.

Epstein, who was 47, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the veteran rock band in 2001. He had battled legal and drug problems in recent years.

Although the cause of the musician's death on Sunday night was not immediately known, a female companion who took Epstein to a Santa Fe hospital told authorities he had been using heroin and also had been taking prescription antibiotics for an illness, according to Billboard.com.

"We are deeply saddened at the news of Howie's passing," the online report quoted Petty & the Heartbreakers as saying in a statement. "It's difficult to put into words how much we loved him and will miss him. The world has lost a great talent and a kind ... soul. We can only take solace in knowing he is now at peace. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and his many friends."

The veteran rock band fired Epstein in May of last year, citing his "ongoing personal problems," and he was replaced on tour by Ron Blair, the original band member Epstein subbed for in 1982.

Epstein and his then-girlfriend, Carlene Carter, daughter of country music icon June Carter Cash, were arrested in New Mexico in 2001 while driving a vehicle that was reportedly stolen. Inside, state troopers found three grams of black tar heroin and drug paraphernalia. Carter was charged with heroin possession, and both with receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, but the cases ultimately were dismissed.

Epstein, a Milwaukee native who previously played with John Hiatt and Del Shannon, joined the Heartbreakers in 1982. In addition to playing bass, he sang harmony.

In an interview with Reuters last fall, Petty said no one had heard from Epstein in many months.

New On DVD And Video Today

One of the best flicks of 2002 (Road To Perdition) bows at home today, as does one of the worst (The Tuxedo). There are other ones too.

UP FIRST, THE BIGGIES

Road To Perdition- A Mob hitman makes it personal when his family is murdered. (Tom Hanks, Tyler Hoechlin, Jude Law)

The Tuxedo- A bumbling spy invents a suit that fights crime. (Jackie Chan, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jason Isaacs)

Tuck Everlasting- A young women falls in love with an immortal. (Jonathan Jackson, Alexis Bledel, Ben Kingsley)

Knockaround Guys- Four mobster sons next job send them to Montana. (Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Seth Green)

HERE'S THE REST.

She's (Finally) Back!

The delicious DAMHNAIT DOYLE returns with a new collection of music today called "Dav-Net."

Check it out! For now, check her out!

Oh, there are some other things coming out today as well. Here's the list.

Welcome back, Dav!

Newton doomsday prophecy cited

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Sir Isaac Newton predicted the world would come to an end 57 years from now, a TV network says, based on a document unearthed from a Jerusalem archive by a Canadian researcher.

Newton's sombre prediction is part of the documentary Newton: The Dark Heretic. In a statement promoting the program, to be aired March 1, the British Broadcasting Corp. said it will show a handwritten Newton document predicting the end of the world in 2060, according to calculations he made based on the Bible.

The BBC said the document was found in a Newton collection in the Jewish National Library in Jerusalem.

Raphael Weiser, director of the library's manuscripts and archives department, said Sunday that Canadian academic Stephen Snobelen had worked extensively on its Newton collection and had brought a BBC camera crew with him, but Weiser said he had not seen whatever document the program intended to present as evidence.

"They came here two months ago with a researcher from Nova Scotia," Weiser said Sunday. "He found in one of our folios this note and they are going to show it on their program."

Snobelen, of the University of King's College in Halifax, could not be reached on Sunday.

Weiser said he could not confirm the manuscript's contents or authenticity until it is revealed in the BBC film.

"I didn't see it with my own eyes," he said. "When they show it on TV, we will see it."

Newton, who died in 1727, won immortality for formulating the law of gravity, but he was also a theologian who wrote well over a million words on biblical subjects and was influenced by Hebrew scripture, according to academic articles on his work.

The BBC statement said he studied the Bible for more than 50 years, trying to unravel what he believed were God's secret laws of the universe.

The Israeli daily Maariv said the documents now in Jerusalem were discovered in England at the home of the Duke of Portsmouth and put on sale at the London auction house, Sotheby's, in 1930.

The buyer, named by the paper as Abraham Yehuda, later donated the collection to the Jewish National Library, it said.

Weiser said the library has never fully examined its wealth of Newton manuscripts.

"We have thousands of volumes of Newton," he said. "We haven't researched it all."

Season Two Is Coming For You

You'll be happy to learn that Warner Bros has officially announced the DVD release of South Park: The Complete Second Season for June 2.

The 3-disc set will include all 18 second season episodes in the original full frame, with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio. Extras will include documentary, interactive menus, music video and TV spot. Warner's spec list includes no mention of audio commentary tracks, so we're waiting for word from Comedy Central as to whether there will be separate audio commentary CDs as there were for Season One. Here's the cover art...

Foo Fighters Joined By Unknown Man In Grammy Acceptance

The Foo Fighters won the best hard rock performance Grammy, but the most interesting part of the honor came just after their name was called. While singer-guitarist Dave Grohl and drummer Taylor Hawkins were at the podium making their acceptance speech, a large, unidentified man was standing behind them cracking his knuckles and waving to the audience.

As Grohl appeared to end his thank you speech, the man leaned into the microphone to comment.

"And rock would not be anything without B.B. King," the unknown man said. "Rock would be nothing without him. Thank you." Grohl responded, "I was gonna, I was gonna say that."

Backstage after the incident, Grohl and Hawkins were still perplexed about the interruption. "He just wanted to go to the bathroom, because after that whole schlemiel he stepped out in the backstage and said, 'I gotta take a piss.' That was it. I don't know," Grohl said about the unidentified man. Hawkins added, "Does anybody know who that dude was? No. I have no idea...Yeah, he's our DJ. He's our MC."

METAL MEMBER

Metallica announcing on Monday that they've selected Robert Trujillo, formerly of Suicidal Tendencies, as the group's new bass player. Original bassist Jason Newsted left the metal band two years ago.

Shankar Thrilled With Jones' Grammy Wins

NEW DELHI, India - While Norah Jones' music is little known in most of India, her sweep at the Grammys brought a wave of pride and cheer to a home in southern New Delhi, where her father sat watching the awards ceremony.

Jones is the daughter of Ravi Shankar, the 82-year-old sitarist who's India's best known musician.

"It was such a joy seeing Norah getting so many Grammy Awards. I knew even as a child how talented she was and it makes me so happy to see how she has charmed everyone to such an extent with her singing," Shankar said in a written statement to The Associated Press.

Shankar is a three-time Grammy winner. His other daughter, Anoushka Shankar, also had a nomination Sunday night for best world music album.

"Norah is my daughter but she grew up in America ... I cannot take any credit for the music that she has excelled in," Shankar told the Star News television channel. "Her base is Western, jazz and country music."

Beating crowd favorite Bruce Springsteen, the 23-year-old Jones earned five Grammys, including album and record of the year, and her disc "Come Away With Me" was responsible for eight trophies overall. Her disc has sold more than 6 million copies worldwide and become the talk of the music business.

"I am absolutely thrilled. I can't tell you how happy I am," he said. "I was fully confident that she would win at least five or six. But when she won eight, I was surprised and very happy."

Shankar said in a newspaper interview last month that he'd thought of composing a piece for both daughters to perform together.

"But I don't want to force it upon them," he told The Hindustan Times. "It would be wonderful if it happened."

Shankar has had an estranged relationship with his daughter and her mother, New York concert producer Sue Jones. For 10 years, Norah Jones had no contact with her father, but the two since have made peace. Shankar recently saw his daughter perform.

"We sort of reconnected before all this happened," Jones said in May. "Truth be told, I wouldn't have wanted him to come see me in a little bar where everyone was talking. I'm over everything, I don't resent him. I just don't want him to be the focus of all my press."

Virgin Records, which released Jones' album in India, said it was preparing for a sharp increase in sales after the Grammys sweep.

"We have been selling a good amount of her CDs and cassettes even before she won the Grammys. It has been among our top five albums last year," said T.V.N. Sridhar, who handles sales and marketing for Virgin in northern India. "But now the big boom has started."

CBS' Rather Lands Saddam Interview

NEW YORK - CBS News' Dan Rather said hard work and luck helped him land his interview with Saddam Hussein on Monday — the Iraqi leader's first interview with a foreign television journalist in 12 years.

CBS posted a report about the interview on its Web site Monday afternoon, saying Saddam has challenged President Bush to a live debate on their nations' differences.

It's the biggest interview "get" of the year in television news, one all the national news organizations had been seeking. Reached by telephone in Baghdad, Rather credited his executive producer, Jim Murphy, and foreign desk staffer Ana Real for their work in securing it.

"It was a lot of hard work, some team play and, yes, some luck," he said.

Rather reported on the interview Monday on the "CBS Evening News." But the first taped excerpts won't be seen until Tuesday morning. The full interview is to air in prime time Wednesday, on "60 Minutes II."

Rather has interviewed Saddam once before, in 1990. CBS News also ran excerpts earlier this month from Saddam's interview with Tony Benn, a retired British lawmaker who has become a peace activist.

The anchorman was in Iraq on Monday, hoping to secure the interview, and was told at 8 a.m. EST that Saddam was ready. After two hours spent going through security, Rather and Murphy met Saddam.

Rather said the fact of his previous Saddam interview probably helped him secure this one. Competitor Peter Jennings of ABC News also interviewed Saddam in 1990, while NBC's Tom Brokaw has not.

"We made a point of saying to him that we keep our word," Rather said. "We do what we say we will do and won't do what we say we won't do. They came out of that with the experience that we are who we say we are."

CBS acknowledged that former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, who is prominent in the global anti-war movement and met with Saddam on Sunday, put in a good word for Rather in helping secure the interview.

Clark has known Rather for a long time, said CBS News spokeswoman Sandra Genelius. In a competitive situation seeking an interview, journalists call on many different resources, she said.

Rather did not anticipate any criticism from supporters of a potential war with Iraq who might be upset that he's talking with the nation's potential enemy.

"I'm a reporter," he said. "What reporters do is try to talk to everybody on all sides of the story. I don't know any journalist who wouldn't take this interview. If you do, have them call me, collect."

Day-Lewis Favorite to Scoop Oscar for Best Actor

LONDON (Reuters) - British actor Daniel Day-Lewis was tipped Monday as the favorite to win the Oscar for best actor following his success at Sunday's Bafta awards for his role in "Gangs of New York."

Leading British bookmaker Ladbrokes said Day-Lewis, who won best actor at the British film awards, has replaced former frontrunner Jack Nicholson as the clear favorite for the coveted award with odds of 10/11. Nicholson was nominated for his part in "About Schmidt."

Sunday's awards also confirmed Nicole Kidman's billing as the favorite for the best actress Oscar following her Bafta win for her role as tormented author Virginia Woolf in "The Hours."

"The significance of the Baftas as a form guide for the Oscar race has increased dramatically now that the British awards precede the Hollywood bonanza," Ladbrokes said in a statement.

"With that in mind Day-Lewis and Kidman are now strong fancies for the Oscars on March 23rd."

Day-Lewis, awarded an Oscar in 1989 for playing a disabled man in "My Left Foot," took five years out before starring in "Gangs of New York."

Set between 1846 and 1863, the film tells the story of the bloody gangs from downtown New York, a melting pot of immigrants, and their pitched battles to establish supremacy.

Kidman, who has yet to win an Oscar, was nominated last year for her role in the musical "Moulin Rouge."

The musical Chicago, starring Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere, has remained the favorite to scoop the Oscar for best picture, despite being pipped by Roman Polanski's The Pianist for the Bafta Best Picture award.

Hollywood's Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will hold its 75th annual awards show Sunday, March 23.

If You Liked BEST IN SHOW and WAITING FOR GUFFMAN

Here's A MIGHTY WIND

'Daredevil' Clings to Top Box-Office Spot

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Serious film proved no match for a daredevil and a big old frat party.

Ben Affleck's superhero adventure "Daredevil" remained the No. 1 movie for the second straight weekend with $18.9 million, pushing its 10-day total to $70.3 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"Old School," starring former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Will Ferrell with Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson as thirtysomething partiers who form a college fraternity, debuted a close second with $17.5 million.

A rush of heavy new dramas had modest to weak openings. "The Life of David Gale," starring Kevin Spacey as a capital-punishment opponent who lands on death row, was No. 6 with $7.2 million.

The Civil War epic "Gods and Generals," featuring Robert Duvall in a follow-up to "Gettysburg," debuted at No. 8 with $4.8 million. "Dark Blue," with Kurt Russell and Ving Rhames in a police thriller set in the days leading up to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, opened in ninth place with $3.75 million.

Hollywood had a solid weekend overall, with the top 12 movies grossing $96.2 million, up 14 percent from the same weekend last year.

Among the new movies, "Old School" had a healthy $6,508 average in 2,689 theaters. "The Life of David Gale" averaged $3,580 in 2,002 cinemas, "Gods and Generals" did $3,115 in 1,533 theaters and "Dark Blue" managed just $1,723 in 2,176 locations.

Critics welcomed "Old School" as a lowbrow but fun successor to the campus classic "Animal House," with Ferrell earning high marks compared to other "Saturday Night Live" alumni, whose big-screen efforts often draw bad reviews.

Men made up 58 percent of the audience for "Old School," and 56 percent of viewers were younger than 25.

"The genius of the movie, if you can call it genius, is it had appeal across a pretty broad age range," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "You had older teens and twentysomethings interested, then you had thirtysomethings who wanted to see people they could relate to in this frat-house setting."

"Daredevil," based on the Marvel Comics character, is poised to become the first movie released in 2003 to top $100 million. The movie began with a largely male audience but drew solidly among women this past weekend, said Bruce Snyder, head of distribution for 20th Century Fox, which released "Daredevil."

"It's a legitimate across-the-board movie today," Snyder said.

The musical "Chicago" continued to trade on its leading 13 Academy Awards nominations, coming in at No. 5 with $8.5 million. Considered the front-runner to win best picture, "Chicago" pushed its two-month total to $94.4 million.

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. "Daredevil," $18.9 million.
2. "Old School," $17.5 million.
3. "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," $11.9 million.
4. "The Jungle Book 2," $8.6 million.
5. "Chicago," $8.5 million.
6. "The Life of David Gale," $7.2 million.
7. "Shanghai Knights," $6.4 million.
8. "Gods and Generals," $4.8 million.
9. "Dark Blue," $3.75 million.
10. "The Recruit," $3.5 million.

Once Again They Got It Wrong!

"Various Artists- O Brother Where Art Thou?" "Two Against Nature- Steely Dan." "Come Away With Me- Norah Jones."

What do these three discs have in common? They have all been unjustifiably named the best "Album Of The Year" over the past three years at The Grammy Awards. The latter defeated Bruce Springsteen's "The Rising" just last night. Granted, I am a huge Springsteen fan, so I could see how you might think that I am biased towards The Boss.

Not true.

If Eminem or the Dixie Chicks, or even Nelly had won the award, I would have been fine. An argument could be made that all of those releases helped define the music world in 2002. But Norah Jones?!?!

Do you know anyone, and I include me in that list, do you know anyone who owns, loves or has even heard the disc? Yes, even I haven't heard the whole CD and I don't own a copy of the CD or even MP3's of the songs, save for the title track.

Yet Ms. Jones, in the same fashion as Steely Dan and the "O Brother Where Art Thou?", has now been recognized as THE Album Of The Year.

I am disgusted! If the Academy Of Recording Arts And Sciences, the people who give out The Grammy Awards, don't soon completely revamp the way that they give out these Awards, I assure you that I will no longer care.

Can they afford to lose me, a serious music fan who always clears his schedule for Grammy night? Can they afford to see us longtime viewers and supporters walk away due to the idiotic way they dole out Awards? I'm sure they can.

But they can't afford to lose you, the casual music fan who tunes in if there is nothing else on.

So I implore you to stand up and be counted. Make the Academy Of Recording Arts And Sciences accountible for their Awards. If they want us to recognize their selected item as "Album Of The Year", shouldn't they recognize an album that is refelctive of the year in question?

Can you, in any way, say that that album in 2002 was Norah Jones? And that isn't a rhetorical question.

Personally, I say "Come on up to 'The Rising'!"

PS- Even with my stance on the above issue, I will give the Grammy people major points for their tribute to the late, great Joe Strummer. Putting Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl and Little Steven together for a rousing rendition of "London Calling" was tremendous. It was a tribute worthy of the man who inspired it.

Norah Jones Sweeps Grammy Awards

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The soft, jazzy voice of Norah Jones inviting listeners to "Come Away With Me" swept up eight Grammy Awards at Sunday night's top music industry awards that were punctuated by a smattering of low key anti-war protests.

Jones, 23, nominated personally for five awards and tipped by many music critics to dominate the 45th annual Grammys, did just that by taking home the golden gramophone statuettes for Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Record of The Year for the single "Don't Know Why," Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Album.

"I can't believe this, I can't believe this. Bonnie Raitt and Aretha Franklin. This is freakin' me out," Jones, who wore a black dress, said on the Madison Square Garden stage after receiving the Record of the Year award from the famous singers.

Later, after receiving the coveted Album of the Year, the modest Jones said, "I just want to say that at a time when this world is very weird, I feel really blessed and really lucky to have had the year I've had. Thank you very much."

The number "Don't Know Why" from her debut album "Come Away With Me" won Song of the Year for songwriter Jesse Harris while the album collected Best Engineered Album, non-classical category and Producer of the Year, non-classical.

Jones outdid the critics' other top pick, veteran rocker Bruce Springsteen, who won three Grammys for his album "The Rising" influenced by the Sept. 11, 2001 hijacked plane attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center, killing nearly 2,800 people.

The three-women country band Dixie Chicks won four Grammys for work on the album, "Home."

Jones is the daughter of Indian music master Ravi Shankar, 82, and former music promoter-turned nurse Sue Jones who were not married and split up before she was born. When she stood on stage to accept the first of her gold gramophone statuettes Sunday night, she thanked her mother but did not mention Shankar.

A few musicians made low-key statements or gestures opposing the U.S. buildup to the possible war on Iraq. The most pointed remarks were made by award presenters, rocker Fred Durst and Raitt.

"I don't know about you but I just really hope we are in agreeance (sic) that this war should go away as soon as possible," Durst said before presenting the Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy to Foo Fighters.

Raitt, who joined Franklin to present the Record of the Year Grammy, said, "Enough about building a mystery, let's build some peace."

Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Grammy winner Sheryl Crow sported a guitar strap with the words "No War" written on it and wore a large, silver peace sign on a necklace as she performed on stage during the show broadcast live by CBS.

THE RISING

In the pre-telecast segment the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences gave Springsteen, 53, three Grammys in rock categories for "The Rising," the first all-new recording with his famous E Street band since 1984.

Springsteen and the band performed a rousing version of "The Rising" during the awards ceremony.

The Springsteen album includes the track "Into the Fire," which he wrote after the Sept. 11 attacks. Another track was "My City of Ruins," an earlier song about down-on-its-luck Asbury Park, New Jersey, that the musician dedicated to New York after the attacks.

In another echo of the attacks on New York, country singer Alan Jackson's emotional "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" won in the category of Best Country tune.

Dixie Chicks won Grammys for Best Country Album for "Home" and Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal, "Long Time Gone," and Best Country Instrumental Performance, "Lil' Jack Slade" and Best Recording Package on "Home" went to art director Kevin Reagan.

Dixie Chicks talked about how satisfying it was winning with the "Home" album, which they put together themselves.

"This is special," said lead singer Natalie Maines. "We feel we made this one by ourselves. We had no on else to answer to."

The Blues album called "Screamin' and Hollerin' The Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton" won three Grammys in the pre-telecast show -- Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package, Best Album Notes and Best Historical Album.

The Grammys returned to New York for the first time since 1998. The awards were moved to Los Angeles in 1999 after then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani had a much-publicized dispute with Academy executives.

If you are interested, you'll find a complete list of the winners at the official Grammy website.

MUGGLE ALERT!

Warner Bros. finally confirming that actor Michael Gambon will take over the role of Professor Dumbledore for the late Richard Harris in the Harry Potter movies.

ACROSS THE POND

Roman Polanski's The Pianist winning honors for Best Picture and Best Director at the British Academy Awards Sunday. Nicole Kidman won Best Actress for The Hours and Daniel Day-Lewis was named Best Actor for Gangs of New York.

Nia Vardalos builds 'Big Fat Greek' franchise

By Bill Keveney, USA TODAY

A blockbuster movie can do amazing things for a stalled sitcom.
Nia Vardalos and Steven Eckholdt star as newlyweds in My Big Fat Greek Life.

CBS passed on Nia Vardalos' pilot about her raucous Greek family for last fall's schedule. But the mood changed when her $5 million film, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, became the year's surprise hit and grossed more than $240 million.

"When the film crossed $120 million, they coincidentally picked up the phone and said, 'We're picking you up as a series,' " Vardalos says of My Big Fat Greek Life, which makes its debut tonight (9:30 ET/PT), then moves to Sundays (8 ET/PT).

In less than a year, Vardalos has gone from Hollywood hopeful to the real-life star of a Cinderella story more unlikely than that of her Wedding character, a mousy type who found love, pizazz and the backbone to stand up to her loving but domineering family.

"We're out on video. We're in theaters. And the TV show is premiering. It's just unheard of," Vardalos says of her Greek empire. "And really fun."

There's an Oscar nomination, too, for best original screenplay.

Vardalos, 40, a Winnipeg native and veteran of Chicago's Second City comedy troupe, remains stunned by the power of a short, family-oriented monologue. Inspired by her family and her husband, actor Ian Gomez, her piece grew into a screenplay and a one-woman show, produced with the simple goal of trying to attract a better agent. After Rita Wilson, an actress of Greek heritage, saw the show, she and her husband, Tom Hanks, shepherded the story onto the big screen. Both are involved in producing the series.

"I keep thinking I'll be able to catch my breath one of these days. One thing piles on the next. I have these moments, as if I've absorbed it all. Then I start to shiver. What happened?" says Vardalos, who also will star in the upcoming movie Connie and Carla Do L.A.

As star and co-executive producer of the TV show, with responsibility for its voice and tone, Vardalos hopes to remain faithful to the film while moving beyond it. To start, she wants to reduce the old-world feel, making the family less obstinate and shifting away from such themes as the father's idea that women shouldn't go to college.

The success of Wedding probably means many viewers will give Life a look. But Brad Grey, whose company is one of Life's producers, hopes the early spotlight doesn't lead to snap judgments.

"My experience is you don't find your footing for six to 13 shows," he says. "Hopefully, if given time, we'll find our way to an entertaining show."

In what might be a first for a movie turned sitcom, all but one member of the movie cast returns, including Portokalos family members Lainie Kazan, Michael Constantine, Andrea Martin, Louis Mandylor and Gia Carides. The change is the spouse: Steven Eckholdt (It's Like, You Know ...) replaces John Corbett, who has his own series, Lucky, premiering on FX in April.

Eckholdt, a longtime friend of Vardalos', played the same part in the pilot and says the series has been more fun. "It just has a different vibe to it. It might be that it's the cast; there's a cohesiveness they bring with them."

Eckholdt doesn't feel like a stranger at the Wedding party, but he realizes his relationship with his on-screen Greek-American in-laws has to be laced with frustration. "There has to be that conflict in order to sustain it. A movie is a two-hour capsule. A TV series has to be there every week."

The presence of Eckholdt and the Wedding cast creates an instant comfort level for Vardalos on the set, but there have been adjustments and concessions. She didn't want a laugh track, but that sitcom staple will be there. The demands of a weekly series mean delegating writing duties.

On Wedding, "I had complete autonomy. No one touched a word of that screenplay but me," Vardalos says. "At CBS, they are very supportive, but I can't possibly write every episode. And yet these are characters I created, so no one knows them better than I do.

"It's a tough couple of first episodes, trying to keep characters' voices right, trying to keep jokes out of the script. It's a work in progress."

Marsh McCall, the day-to-day executive producer, is impressed by Vardalos' ability to jump from writing to rehearsing to editing. "She doesn't seem to need sleep," he says.

Even with non-stop work, the series could find crossover success elusive. For every M*A*S*H, there are plenty of duds, such as Working Girl and 9 to 5.

But Vardalos, who went from virtual anonymity to wealth and fame in less than a year, says she doesn't feel pressure.

"I'm a bit of a fearless idiot that way," she says. "I honestly think this whole experience is, 'Hey, I'll try it.' If it doesn't work, OK, I'll do something else."

Limp Bizkit Names New Album, Offers Track Online

Limp Bizkit has announced that Bipolar will be the title of its next studio album, due out May 13. None of the tracks to appear on Bipolar have been announced, but Limp Bizkit has posted a new song, titled "Just Drop Dead," on the band's official website.

In a written introduction to the song, frontman Fred Durst notes, "It's a crazy world we live in, and too many people can't be honest. Everything happens for a reason." Durst concludes, "This is raw, unmixed, and straight from the studio."

Durst reveals the inspiration for "Just Drop Dead" came from "someone who just shouldn't have crossed the line...Someone who thinks they can just get away with anything regardless of how bad the karma will be."

NUMBER ONE- A Generation’s Final Journey comes to DVD

The tenth and most recent Star Trek film Star Trek Nemesis is making its way to DVD as a special edition from Paramount Home Entertainment this May.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise-E crew find themselves on a diplomatic mission to initiate peace with the Romulans. Learning that the Romulans have undergone a political upheaval and their new Praetor, Shinzon, wants to discuss a peace treaty with the Federation, Picard and his crew must investigate the situation and determine Shinzon's sincerity. But they learn that not only is the new Praetor not a Romulan at all but a native of Romulus' sister planet Remus, they also find that he is a human replica of Picard, originally bio-engineered by the Romulans to be substituted for the captain as a weapon against the Federation. Now, Picard and his crew must determine if the Romulans truly desire a peace treaty, or if they have other plans in mind.

The film will be available in both fullscreen and anamorphic widescreen (a first for Trek DVDs) and carry sound in Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as English and French Dolby 2.0 Surround. Extras include seven deleted scenes an audio commentary by director Stuart Baird, four brand-new featurettes titled "New Frontiers: Stuart Baird on Directing Nemesis," "A Bold Vision of the Final Frontier," "A Star Trek Family's Final Journey" and "Red Alert! Shooting the Action of Nemesis" and a photo gallery. Streetdate is May 20th.

NUMBER TWO- Cheers!

In other Paramount news, wanna go where everybody knows your name? Now you can... again and again and again. On May 20th Paramount will debut Cheers: The Complete First Season. This 4-disc set features all the first season episodes presented in their original 4:3 full screen aspect ratios, plus a bar full of extras: The featurettes "Setting The Bar: A Conversation with Ted Danson," "Love At First Fight: Opposites Distract" and "Coach Ernie Pantusso's Rules of the Game," some "I'll Drink To That: Stormin' Norm-isms," and the trivia game "It's A Little Known Fact...".

NUMBER THREE- After Cheers!

How about Frasier: The Complete First Season, one of the few TV spin-offs to be as successful as the original? Paramount will also debut this 4-disc set on the 20th, with plenty of extras as well: audio commentary on the pilot episode by Peter Casey and David Lee, the featurettes "Behind The Couch: The Making Of Frasier" and "Frasier Crane's Apartment," and a trivia game. All 24 episodes are also presented in 4:3 full screen (the show didn't go HD until last year).

NUMBER FOUR- Stands with a fist

Just announced was a 3-disc set of Oscar winner Dances with Wolves, streeting on May 20th. Featuring the 236-minute extended version (the theatrical cut is not included) of the film presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround (no DTS option is included), the extras are plentiful: All-new, full-length audio commentaries with Kevin Costner and producer Jim Wilson, and on the second director of photography Dean Semler and editor Steve Potter, the new "Creation of an Epic" documentary, the original making-of featurette, the music video, a still montage with introduction by Ben Glass, a poster gallery, trailers, and TV spots.

NUMBER FIVE- A 'Back to the Future' Update

Rounding out today's news is an update on those corrected Back to the Future II and III discs, which should be available in the next month to consumers who called or wrote in to receive replacement discs. Repressed box sets should also be arriving in stores in March as well, but how to tell? Look for the packaging which will have a "V2" printed near the bottom of the bar code sticker, which indicates it has been remastered (these "V2" letters will also be printed on the discs themselves.) I you would like to get corrected versions of your current misframed BTTF set, just send back discs II and III (without the case) at the following address:

Back to the Future DVD Returns
PO Box 224468
Dallas, Texas 75260

Be sure to include your name, mailing address, a daytime phone number, and a return address. Good luck!

And you are now up to date on new DVD release news.

'NEVER BE KRAMER AGAIN'

Kramer is dead.

That's the word from Michael Richards, the loose-limbed actor who immortalized the character on "Seinfeld."

Richards, 53, now says he doesn't want anything to do with his famed alter-ego.

"I don't want to be Kramer anymore!" Richards declared in an interview with The Guardian newspaper of London. "He was nice for 10 years, but now I'm running away from him."

Richards last week made his London stage debut starring in a revival of "Arsenic and Old Lace" at the Strand Theatre.

The wire-haired actor formerly known as Cosmo is playing the role of Jonathan Brewster, the character played by Raymond Massey in director Frank Capra's famed 1944 movie starring Cary Grant.

Richards, who has rarely spoken publicly since the demise of his short-lived NBC sitcom "The Michael Richards Show" in 2000, said starring in his own show was a mistake.

"About three shows in, I thought, 'What am I doing?' " he said. " 'I just got off 10 years on a TV show. Why am I going back into this?' I was glad to get out!"

He doesn't miss "Seinfeld" at all, but values his fame from the show for the acting jobs it gets him today.

"Do I miss 'Seinfeld'? No!" he said. "It had a good run. And the popularity to me is only useful to the extent that it gets me work."

BNL helps out Waltons rocker

Barenaked Ladies' frontman Ed Robertson has little time for anything besides working on his band's new album and spending time with his family, but he did produce the solo debut from Jason Plumb, formerly of Saskachewan's The Waltons.

"I could only really do it for someone that I really know and love and respect," Robertson says of a possible sideline as a producer. "It requires so much of your time. I have three kids now and the band keeps me really busy, so to do that in my free time was hard for me."

He describes the album, for which he co-wrote a couple of songs with Plumb and produced it at Jeremy Darby's Canterbury Studios in Toronto, as "more rockin' maybe" than The Waltons.

Robertson has been a fan of Plumb's songwriting for years. The Waltons formed in 1987 and moved to Toronto in '91. The band's independent debut, Lik My Trakter, was released in '92.

"They were around before us, but we ended up being really fortunate," says Robertson. "We actually had them open for us on our first Canadian tour."

Robertson is now concentrating on finishing up the demos for Barenaked Ladies's follow-up to 2000's Maroon with bandmates Steven Page (vocals/guitar), Jim Creeggan (bass), Tyler Stewart (drums) and Kevin Hearn (keyboards).

"We're just at Kev's house (in Toronto), demoing on a Pro-Tools rig," says Robertson. "We're recording really hard right now, but we're not recording a record yet.

"For the first time, we've actually done some writing as a five-piece, which is new for us," he adds. "We just rented a rehearsal space in Toronto and showed up a couple of days a week and hammered stuff out. We've got some great stuff.

"We've written the most we've ever written for a record. It's really exciting. We start recording probably the last week of March. We've already got like 26 songs done. We want to make a 12 song record."

The band will decide on a producer in the next week. The album is due by year's end. No word on when Plumb's album will be released, but here's hoping that it hits the racks soon!

White Stripes Move Up Album Release Due To Internet Leaks

Internet leaks of its new album have forced White Stripes to change the release date for their forthcoming Elephant. Originally slated for April 15, Elephant will now come out on April 1 in the U.S., with the U.K. release a day earlier (March 31).

The group and its labels, Third Man/V2 in the U.S. and XL in Britain, took extreme measures to keep the album from being pirated, including pressing advance copies on vinyl only and making MP3 snippets of several tracks available at the White Stripes website. Despite such measures, the entire album has been made available on a variety of Internet sites.

The new release date now precedes the duo's tour of Britain, which kicks off April 7, while Elephant shows in the U.S. start in the Stripes' hometown of Detroit on April 15 at the Masonic Scottish Rite Theatre. More tour dates should be announced soon.

BIG FAT DVD SALES

My Big Fat Greek Wedding setting DVD sales record last week with 4 million discs sold in the first five days.

Molina in Spidey sequel

HOLLYWOOD, California (Variety) -- Actor Alfred Molina, who portrayed Mexican artist Diego Rivera in "Frida," has been cast in Columbia Pictures' upcoming

Molina will play Doc Ock, aka Dr. Otto Octavius, an atomic researcher who designs a chest harness with four artificial tentacle-like arms designed to enable him to manipulate radioactive substances from a safe distance.

The scientist is transformed into a supervillain by a freak lab accident that bombards him with radiation, bonding the harness to his skin and nervous system. Now criminally insane, Doc Ock can control his arms mentally rather than by mechanical controls.

Molina joins a cast that includes Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco. Director Sam Raimi begins principal photography on "The Amazing Spider-Man" in April, with the film's release planned for next May.

Molina recently earned a Screen Actors Guild nomination for his portrayal of Diego Rivera in Julie Taymor's biographical film "Frida," starring Salma Hayek. He's also featured in Columbia's upcoming "Identity."

I Hate Those Ads!

A patron is suing a theatre chain for showing commercials.

Hey, can I get in on that?

Eminem, Coldplay Win at Brit Awards

LONDON - Singer Robbie Williams, R&B artist Ms. Dynamite and the alternative band Coldplay won honors as Britain's top musicians at the Brit Awards Thursday.

Two Americans — rapper Eminem and singer Pink — were named best international male and female solo artists in the British version of the U.S. Grammy Awards.

Ms. Dynamite, who emerged recently and has become one of the country's top music stars, also won best British urban act, and Coldplay got best British album for "A Rush Of Blood To The Head." Eminem won best international album for "The Eminem Show."

Ms. Dynamite performed a retooled version of George Michael's hit "Faith," with lyrics expressing opposition to a possible war in Iraq.

"We've been here before, talk of violence and talk of war. I don't wanna see children die no more, so I've gotta make a stand," she sang.

Williams, who first found fame with boy band Take That, was not at the awards show in west London but sent his thanks via video. He used the public platform to tell fans he was available, having recently split from his girlfriend.

"I'd like to thank the Brits for allowing me to put my lonely hearts message out there," he said.

Williams has sold nearly 10 million albums in Britain and has had a series of No. 1 hits, including "Millennium," "She's the One" and "Rock DJ."

Former Bee Gee Robin Gibb, at the ceremony as an award presenter, recalled his brother Maurice, who died last month at 53.

"My brother Maurice Gibb was a great British musician and a great British songwriter, and tonight I'm here in his honor," Robin Gibb said.

Tom Jones was honored for his "outstanding contribution to music." He dedicated the award to his parents and thanked his fans.

"I've been doing this now for 38, 39 years," he said. "I've enjoyed every moment of it and now this, after all these years, can you believe it?"

Other winners included the Red Hot Chili Peppers for best international group and Norah Jones for best international breakthrough artist.

Liberty X won best British single for "Just A Little," Blue won best pop act, the Sugababes won best British dance act, and Will Young was named best British breakthrough artist.

The Brit Awards are run by the British Phonographic Industry Ltd., an industry association.

Most winners are selected by a vote of more than 1,000 industry members, including representatives from record companies, the press, retailers, record producers, DJs and promoters.

Simon and Garfunkel Considering a Grammy Reunion

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel have built a bridge over their troubled waters and may even sing at the Grammy Awards on Sunday in their first public performance together in 10 years.

A spokesman for Simon said the two -- who often had strained relations -- sang together in a private setting on Wednesday, uniting for the first time since 1993.

"They got together yesterday and had a wonderful time. They got together as two great old friends and sang for the first time since 1993. They're thinking of performing at the Grammys, but they're not sure if they have enough time," the spokesman said.

Sources close to the situation said the two were to meet the award show's writer-producer Ken Ehrlich on Thursday at Madison Square Garden, where rehearsals for the show were getting underway.

Neither Ehrlich or a spokesman for Cossette Production, the company producing the Grammys were available for comment.

Another source confirmed that managers for the artists, who have reunited only a few times since splitting up 33 years ago, have been discussing a public reunion at the Grammys.

Simon and Garfunkel, considered the most successful folk-rock duo of the 1960s for creating such enduring hits as "Sounds of Silence" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water," will get a Lifetime Achievement Award this week from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), the host of the Grammys.

The award, honoring their work, will be presented at a special pre-Grammy ceremony on Saturday night and will again be mentioned during the CBS telecast, beginning at 8 p.m.

"Art's really excited about getting the award with his friend," a spokesman for Garfunkel said.

NEW YORK THEME

Sunday's Grammy ceremony is the first to be held in New York since 1998 and is expected to focus around the theme of New York City, which is why an appearance by Simon and Garfunkel, both native New Yorkers, would be particularly poignant.

Other performances are expected by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, No Doubt, James Taylor, Yo-Yo Ma, Eminem, Norah Jones and Avril Lavigne.

Simon and Garfunkel met as kids in the New York borough of Queens and released their first record in the late 1950s, calling themselves Tom & Jerry.

They scored a hit with their first single, "Hey Schoolgirl," but follow-up efforts floundered and they split up. They reteamed and released an initially unsuccessful debut acoustic album as Simon & Garfunkel in 1964 before splitting up again.

But a year later, their producer overlaid their strongest song, "Sounds Of Silence" with Beatles-style electric guitars and drums and it became a huge hit.

As their success grew, their partnership weakened with growing creative tensions, particularly as Simon, who penned most of the songs, began to feel constrained by working with the same collaborator and as Garfunkel began to feel overshadowed by Simon's songwriting talents.

They split around 1970 as their landmark album "Bridge Over Troubled Water" was released. They have reunited a few times since then, including in 1981 for a concert in New York's Central Park, attracting half a million people, and also toured in the early 1980s.

Coming Soon On DVD, FINALLY!!!

At long last for fans of incredible comedy, Warner Home Video will release the
entire run of The Ben Stiller Show on June 3rd.

OH YEAH, BABY!!

Starring Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, Andy Dick and Bob Odekirk, this mistreated Fox TV show remains a cult favorite, although it never quite became a ratings success. This two disc-set, which includes every episode presented in 4:3 full screen and Dolby 2.0 stereo, plus a featurette, interviews and promo spots. Retail is $34.95.

AWESOME!!!

PEACE ON EARTH

U2 frontman Bono placed on the short list of possible winners for this year's Nobel Peace Prize for his tireless efforts on behalf of AIDS-stricken Africa and other charitable causes.

ABC's Bachelorette Picks Poetic Fireman

NEW YORK - Roses are red, violets are blue, "The Bachelorette" is history, and Charlie is, too.

Proving a stuffed whale and treacly prose are the key to at least one girl's heart, television's most eligible bachelorette, Trista Rehn, fell for Ryan, the sensitive firefighter who tickled her fancy with poems.

Ryan Sutter, 27, of Vail, Colo., immediately dropped to his knees to ask the woman he'd known for six weeks to marry him. She said yes.

Hunk Charlie Maher was sent away, no doubt disappointing Rehn's star-struck family.

It was all the stuff of fairy tales, and ABC was certainly hoping Wednesday's last episode of "The Bachelorette" was a happy ending in the ratings, too.

The reality series has faded in appeal compared to Fox's juggernaut, "Joe Millionaire," which averaged nearly 35 million viewers Monday. But it still was ABC's most popular show last week. The network stretched the final episode of "The Bachelorette" to two hours, and it unfolded like a 500-page Hallmark card.

"The fact that I'm falling so hard for two guys at the same time is very stressful to me," said Rehn, the 29-year-old physical therapist and former Miami Heat cheerleader, setting up Wednesday's cliffhanger ending.

It was stressful for Sutter and Maher, too, who awkwardly tried to divine Rehn's true feelings between nuzzles and kisses.

One early hint it was a good night for Ryan: a quick camera shot showing her waking up clutching the stuffed whale he had bought for her earlier.

Rehn took both men home to meet the folks in St. Louis, the yellow leaves on trees a reminder that Wednesday's episode was filmed months ago. The handsome, easygoing Maher made Rehn's mother and stepmother swoon; they all but asked to watch when Maher said he occasionally clipped his chest hairs with a buzzer.

Sutter was more shy, but won points by privately asking Rehn's father if he could propose to his daughter.

Both men picked up sparkling engagement rings on Rehn's decision day, ready to spend the rest of their lives with a woman they'd courted on camera.

Tears dropped from Rehn's eyes when she informed Maher that her heart belonged to someone else. Driven away in a limousine, he said he felt like he'd been hit by a bus.

Instead, Sutter got the rose.

"This day is a day I dreamed about my entire life," she said. "I see smiles and laughter, I see babies and grandbabies, I see comfort and safety. I see me in a white dress and I see it with you."

Ryan replied that he loved Trista "with every ounce of who I am."

Time will tell if television's dating game will work. As Rehn moved inexorably toward her decision, ABC continually hyped Thursday's interview with the winning couple from last fall's "The Bachelor."

Their engagement is already on the rocks.

Country Performer Johnny Paycheck Dies at 64

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Reuters) - Johnny Paycheck, the carousing country music singer best remembered for his blue-collar anthem "Take This Job and Shove It," has died, the Grand Ole Opry said on Wednesday.

Paycheck, 64, died on Tuesday in a Georgia nursing home after a long battle with emphysema and related respiratory ailments, the NBC television station in Nashville reported.

His 1977 hit about a factory worker bent on revenge against his boss still resonates with listeners and continues to get radio play, especially on Friday afternoons.

But Paycheck's success was short-lived as he continued to wrestle with drugs and the law until he was imprisoned for two years in 1989 for wounding a man in a barroom fight.

After keeping a promise to clean up while in prison, Paycheck was finally offered membership in the Grand Ole Opry in 1997 and made a few appearances at the Nashville fixture before becoming too ill to perform.

"People still come to see me because they still remember me as that crazy, good-time-Charley honky-tonker. And I don't tell 'em any different," he said in a 1997 interview with the Nashville Tennessean newspaper.

He admitted to a lifetime of drug-taking and alcohol abuse in another interview with the newspaper.

Paycheck had nearly three-dozen hits, beginning with the hard-driving 1965 song "A-11." He earned two Grammy nominations during his career, the first in 1971 for the single "She's All I Got" and the second in 1978 for "Take This Job and Shove It."

He had a powerful, expressive voice, distinctive inflection and a knack for delivering solid country emotion.

His hits included "I'm the Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised," "He's in a Hurry (To Get Home to My Wife)," "and "If I'm Gonna Sink (I Might as Well Go to the Bottom)," which was the tentative title of his unfinished autobiography.

Born Donald Eugene Lytle in Greenfield, Ohio, he picked up a guitar at age 6, and was performing and traveling on his own by age 15.

He joined the Navy while underage, but was court-martialed and imprisoned for fracturing an officer's skull, the first of several tussles with the law.

He was fined for slandering an airline attendant and pleaded no contest to the sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl -- though he later denied the assault ever happened.

He launched his career as a sideman to such stars as George Jones and Faron Young. He adopted the name Paycheck from a boxer.

Dr. Phil Lifts Letterman Over Leno

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Dr. Phil was a ratings elixir for David Letterman on Monday, as a guest appearance by the self-help guru boosted CBS entry "The Late Show" to its highest overnight rating in 17 months and its first victory over NBC's "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" in three years.

According to Nielsen, Monday's "Late Show" netted a 6.3 household rating and 15 share in Nielsen's 55 metered markets, the program's best numbers on any night since Sept. 17, 2001 (its first telecast after 9/11), when it posted a 6.7/17.

It also marked a hefty 54 percent jump over Letterman's Monday average this season (4.1/10).

"Late Show" beat "Tonight" head-to-head (6.3/15 to 6.0/14) for the first time since Feb. 21, 2000 -- when Letterman returned after heart surgery (9.3/23). But Leno's ratings were up, too, as this was its best overnight score since Nov. 13, 2000.

Overall prime-time viewing levels were very high Monday, due in part to sweeps stunts and an East Coast blizzard.

Phil McGraw, host of hot syndicated series "Dr. Phil," had been the butt of numerous on-air Letterman jokes in recent months.

After "Late Show," the Craig Kilborn-hosted "Late Late Show" on CBS delivered a 2.2/8 in the overnights, its highest since Sept. 17, 2001.

TRAILER SMASH!

Sometimes, all you need to see is a movie's trailer - it's often better than the film itself.

Trailers are a $90 million-a-year industry in Hollywood, with their own production crews, their own release dates and now even their own awards show: The Golden Trailers, which will be handed out on March 13 in Los Angeles, hosted by comedian Dennis Miller.

"Trailers are my favorite part of going to the movies," says Evelyn Brady, a former advertising executive who started the Golden Trailers four years ago.

"But the editors who work on these never get any credit. I wanted to shine the spotlight on them."

So give it up for the artists who snip and clip movies into memorable sound bites.

Remember the "Sweet Home Alabama" trailer - and Reese Witherspoon's great line, "Oh, you have a baby . . . in a bar?"

"I remember people rolling in the aisles at that," says People magazine senior editor Jess Cagle, one of this year's Golden Trailers judges.

" 'Sweet Home Alabama' was only a sort-of-funny movie, but the trailer was hilarious. And that can open a movie big."

Golden Trailer awards are divided into groups such as best action, best foreign, best drama and even trashiest.

Snob appeal gets no weight here: hence a film like "Bringing Down the House" gets a nod alongside "About Schmidt" for the best comedy trailer - as does the yet-to-be-released "Daddy Day Care," which doesn't exactly sound like Oscar material.

There's even an award saluting good trailers for not-so-good films. Nominees for the Golden Fleece trophy include "Final Destination 2," "The Hot Chick" and "Rollerball," widely considered one of the year's worst movies.

"There is so much riding on these," Brady says. "Studios are frantic to get them right."

Studios may commission as many as 16 different previews for a big blockbuster and spend as much as $600,000 on each of them.

Often, trailers are tailored to the audience that will see it - "one with fast cuts for the kids, another with romantic, gushy cuts for the women, and yet another with action cuts for the guys," Brady says.

"Gosford Park" is a good example: A sneak peek for female moviegoers played up the romance.

But to sell the film to teens and college students, quick-cut previews focused on Ryan Phillippe and a Rolls-Royce pulling up to the mansion - the car was even artificially sped up in the trailer, just for the MTV crowd.

Occasionally, promos will include footage that doesn't appear in the film.

The trailer for "Unfaithful," for instance, featured a scene in which a detective warned Richard Gere not to look to deeply into Diane Lane's affair.

"I want to know the truth!" Gere shouts. Not in the movie.

In "The Royal Tenenbaums" trailer, Gwyneth Paltrow's character wins a Pulitzer Prize. What Pulitzer?

Studios also test previews to death - and they've found that more is better when it comes to customer satisfaction.

"Test audiences often like trailers that tell the whole story, but that doesn't mean they want to see the movie," Brady says. "The best trailer whets the appetite."

Just as a winning trailer can help make a movie - a crummy one can kill it.

"Say you've got a trailer for a horror film, and the audience laughs at it," Brady says. "That's definitely a bad sign."

Meet The Hills This June

Finally making their DVD debut on June 24th, Hank, Peggy, Bobby and the rest of the King of the Hill gang will get The Complete First Season treatment from Fox Home Entertainment.

Each episode from the 1997-1998 season will come complete with a 4:3 full screen transfer, English, French and Spanish Dolby 2.0 surround tracks, and plenty of extras: audio commentary on select episodes (Pilot, The Order of the Straight Arrow, Hank's Unmentionable Problem, Westie Side Story, Shins of the Father, Plastic White Female, King of the Ant Hill and The Company Man), the featurettes "Becoming King of the Hill," "Mowing Lesson with Charlie," "The Do's and Don'ts of King of the Hill," "Dale's Conspiracies," and "Meet the Hills," no less than 75 deleted scenes, extended scenes, and an alternate ending to the series closer, a Barenaked Ladies music video, the main title with alternate music themes, 12 promo spots, and a special "Thank You from the Production."

Spice Girl Spokeswoman Denies Reunion

LONDON - Could a reunion be far behind? A spokeswoman for Posh Spice says all five former Spice Girls, Ginger, Baby, Sporty, Posh and Scary, are planning what she calls "a social get together" this week. But she denies that a comeback is in the cards, saying the women won't be discussing reunion plans.

This is the first time in five years that all five Spice Girls have gotten together. The group formed in 1994 and sold 35 million albums worldwide in four and a half years, according to their Web site. Some of their hits include "Wannabe," "Say You'll Be There" and "2 Become 1." The girlpower group also made a movie, "Spiceworld." Ginger Spice left the group in 1998. And the remaining four haven't recorded together since 2000.

Double Dose of Beatles for Fab Four Fans

LONDON (Reuters) - Beatles fans had two reasons to twist and shout on Tuesday with announcements of a Europe-wide tour by Paul McCartney and the release of a never-before seen video of three Beatles jamming together.

Fresh from a hugely popular North American tour, McCartney said he would kick-off his first British tour in 10 years in April, with gigs featuring 22 Beatles songs from "All My Loving" to "Let It Be."

His "Back In The World" series of marathon concerts -- each nearly three hours long -- will also hit European cities in France, Spain, Germany and Scandinavia.

"I had a lot of fun touring this show around America last year, but now I'm bringing it on home and that's special to me as I always look forward to playing to a home crowd," McCartney, 60, said in a statement.

"We'll be playing some of my Beatles stuff -- rather a lot of Beatles stuff, actually -- some Wings stuff and some more recent stuff, so basically the show pretty much spans my whole career," he added.

His sweep through Canada, the United States, Mexico and Japan last year broke sales records and was hailed by Billboard Magazine as the tour of the year.

For Beatles fans unable to get their hands on a concert ticket, a reunion performance by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison filmed in 1994 will be released on DVD in March.

The session was filmed at Harrison's studios at his mansion in Oxfordshire, England and is the only time the three played together after the Beatles split in 1970.

A small segment of the footage was featured in the 1996 Beatles Anthology Video.

John Lennon was shot and killed outside his New York apartment in December, 1980 and Harrison lost a battle with throat cancer in November, 2001.

More recently, McCartney has been involved in a dispute with Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, after he reversed the credits on his latest album from the traditional "Lennon-McCartney" to "By Paul McCartney and John Lennon."

McCartney has said he was not worried about Ono's displeasure at the credit reversal and called the spat a "long-running and rather silly dispute."

'Joe Millionaire' Sums It Up

Evan and Zora may not have found love on Joe Millionaire, but they did find money.

As fans expected, Evan Marriott picked Zora over Sarah in Monday's extended finale of Fox's hit reality show, Joe Millionaire. After he told Zora he had lied to her about having $50 million and she told him she forgave him, and was actually happy that he didn't have the money, Joe revealed its final, long-promised twist. They were given a $1 million check in both their names, presented on a silver platter by the butler.

That makes them millionaires — if they stay together. Next week in a special detailing the show's aftermath, viewers find out if they did.

After more than an hour of recap Monday, Evan finally broke the news to Zora, telling her flatly, "I've chosen you." (Her response: "Are you serious?") He then owned up to the show's central ruse: "I don't have $50 million. I don't have $50,000. I'm sorry I lied to you." He asked an enigmatically calm Zora to give him her answer later that evening, then went to break the news to Sarah.

Though he said his time with her had been "really neat," he told Sarah she was not his pick, saying later that he feared she was more into Joe Millionaire than Evan Marriott. She was then reunited with the already rejected Melissa, and they had a laugh at Evan's expense, with Sarah calling him a "big loser without any money."

So, did Evan make the right choice? "Definitely," says Shannon Stewart, 34, of Norcross, Ga. "I have been a Zora fan since Day One." The pick didn't surprise her, but the twist with the money did.

Chris Johnson, 28, of Chillicothe, Ohio, had been a Melissa fan, but he switched to Zora. "This was kind of the ending I was hoping for. I wanted Zora, and I was kind of hoping the end would be them getting money themselves."

The two-hour special was the climax of a surprisingly successful run for Joe, which has averaged 20 million viewers since its Jan. 6 premiere. With much of the Northeast snowbound, Fox was hoping to top last week's 24 million peak, though the show did face stiffer-than-usual competition from NBC's two-hour Michael Jackson special and a repeat of ABC's interview with Jackson.

Czech, please: It's SI's swimsuit cover girl
 
Known affectionately as the "Czech Chick," Petra Nemcova was named the 2003 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover girl Monday.

Putting a thaw on the East Coast blizzard, Czech supermodel Petra Nemcova was named the 2003 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover girl Monday.

Magazine editors were planning on surprising Nemcova at New York's JFK airport with flowers and a camera crew.

Instead, "I'm stuck at the Atlanta airport because of the snow," Nemcova, 23, said Monday after receiving the news in an uneventful phone call. "I'm supposed to do morning shows and a big party (Tuesday). How I'm going to get to New York, I just don't know."

Nemcova is the third Czech mate to make the SI cover, after Paulina Porizkova and Daniela Pestova. "Maybe it's something in the water," says Nemcova.

The first person she called was longtime boyfriend, Dutch model Donaes Platteel. "He was super happy for me," says Nemcova, who speaks three languages.

Known affectionately as the "Czech Chick," Nemcova hails from Karvina, a small mountain town northeast of Prague. "Some people love the ocean, but for me, it's the forest." The former fashion design student was discovered at a talent audition in her hometown. Now she travels the globe posing for Victoria's Secret, Cartier and others.

"I am in the air more than I am on earth," she says. Terrorism and war talk don't scare her. "I'm not afraid to fly. I think when the heart is filled with love, there is no room for fear. So I try to fill my heart with love."

The issue hits newsstands Wednesday.

Springsteen & Little Steven Set For Joe Strummer Tribute At Grammys

A tribute to Joe Strummer and the Clash will be one of the highlights of the upcoming Grammy Awards show. The late Clash singer-guitarist, who died in December at age 50, will be saluted by Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band guitarist Little Steven, along with Clash contemporary Elvis Costello and No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal.

Springsteen and company will also perform a song of their own on the broadcast, as will James Taylor with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Eminem, Sheryl Crow with Lenny Kravitz, John Mayer, Ashanti, Avril Lavigne, the Dixie Chicks, members of the New York Philharmonic, Vanessa Carlton, Coldplay, Faith Hill, Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland, and Norah Jones.

The Grammys will air live from Madison Square Garden in New York City on February 23 on CBS, starting at 8 p.m. ET.

Spice Girls Meeting Sparks Comeback Speculation

LONDON (Reuters) - Posh, Baby, Scary, Sporty and Ginger are really, really going to meet up -- but are five going to become one again?

All the members of the nineties pop phenomenon the Spice Girls -- Victoria "Posh" Beckham, Mel "Sporty" Chisholm, Geri "Ginger" Halliwell, Mel "Scary" Brown, and Emma "Baby" Bunton -- were set to meet up on Monday for the first time since their acrimonious split five years ago.

British newspapers were rife with speculation that the reunion could be the start of a Spice revival, with some of the band's members said to be keen on a "greatest hits" album and several one-off concerts after seeing their solo careers slump.

Beckham, who has had only limited success as a solo artist, is reported to have organized Monday's get-together but her spokeswoman played down rumors that the former queens of British pop "wannabe" number one in the charts again.

"The girls are meeting up for a social dinner. But it's not a 'Spice' meeting," the spokeswoman told Reuters.

"The Spice Girls aren't getting back together and they're not planning any concerts."

Despite official rebuttals, newspapers quoted band insiders as saying a lucrative farewell tour could be on the cards in a few years' time.

The darlings of the British pop industry sold about 40 million albums and 25 million singles worldwide, notching up nine number one singles in the UK charts alone, with hits such as "Wannabe," "Spice Up Your Life" and "Two Become One."

Their "Girl Power!" catchphrase struck a chord with young fans all over the globe, but the success story started to turn sour in 1998 when Halliwell quit the band in 1998 amid reports of bitter squabbling.

"Monday will be the first time that all five have been in a room together since," Beckham's spokeswoman said.

After disappointing sales of their last album, "Forever," in 2000, the four remaining band members decided to concentrate on their own careers.

Although Halliwell and Chisholm, who has pledged never to work with the group again, enjoyed solo successes, the careers of the other three stalled, provoking rumors that the band could reform for a lucrative reunion.

Industry experts said a greatest hits album and tour could be a money-spinner but the girls could also find their army of screaming young fans have grown up to be teenagers who might now cringe at their sight of their old favorites.

"Their fan base was very young. To them it would be excruciatingly uncool being reminded of what they listened to as kids," a record label insider told the Daily Express newspaper.

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES ON DVD AND VIDEO

By MICHAEL GLITZ

"M*A*S*H: Season Three"

This is the one - the best season from one of the best sitcoms of all time ($39.98; Fox). It's almost unthinkable that the show could continue without Trapper (Wayne Rogers) and Henry (McLean Stevenson), but that's exactly what they would have to do in Season Four. It was still funny for a while, but nothing can match this moment when the show was brutal and funny and sometimes brutally funny - from the first episode where a general decides the 4077th should be closer to the front (a lot closer) to the devastating, unprecedented finale when Henry was killed off by having the chopper taking him home crash into the sea."The Killers"

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"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"

This two-disc set ($39.95; Criterion) collecting adaptations of Ernest Hemingway's short story "The Killers" is almost comically complete: You get the classic '46 movie starring Burt Lancaster, the pretty good '64 remake with Lee Marvin, a radio play adaptation with Lancaster and Shelley Winters, numerous stills and essays by Paul Schrader and others, and even Andrei Tarkovsky's '56 student film version! Film buff heaven. Though "Fear and Loathing" hasn't gelled into a classic yet (at least, not without taking more drugs than the characters), it too gets the deluxe treatment ($39.95; Criterion). Is there any question that director Terry Gilliam is having the craziest, loopiest, path-breaking career in memory? This venture apparently broke new ground in screenplay credits, an escapade well-documented, naturally, by Criterion.

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"The Four Feathers"

"The Rules of Attraction"

"City by the Sea"You can learn a lot from a bad movie. In the deadly dull anti-colonial adventure "The Four Feathers," you finally realize Wes Bentley has only one trick, Kate Hudson has no tricks, and Heath Ledger can maintain his dignity in the worst of circumstances ($19.95; Paramount). In the banally cynical "Rules" ($24.99; Lions Gate), you realize actors can advance their careers even in bad movies, as James Van der Beek does nicely by playing mean. (But what we really wanted were extras showing more home movies with Kip Pardue.) And "City by the Sea" shows that a bad movie with talented actors like Robert De Niro is a lot more painful to watch than a bad movie with a bunch of nobodies ($27.95; Warner Bros.)."The Color Purple"

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"Cinema Paradiso"

A fresh coat of paint brightens up "The Color Purple" but can't hide the fact that this earnestly serious drama hasn't stood the test of time as well as Steven Spielberg's other early stab at drama, the brilliant "Empire of the Sun." The difference? "Empire" avoids sentimentality while "Purple" is dripping in it, from the wrenching scene where Celie is separated from her sister to that "Wizard of Oz" finale ($27.95; Warner Bros.). And if Miramax's truckload of Oscar nominations wasn't proof enough, this director's cut of "Cinema Paradiso" (with 50 extra minutes) shows yet again that Harvey Weinstein is usually right ($29.99; Miramax). Sometimes, less is more. Happily, this DVD contains both versions, and you can jump right to the stirring finale.

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"Biggie & Tupac"

"Benjamin Smoke"Nick Broomfield is a good, old-fashioned muckraker as demonstrated in his follow-up to "Kurt & Courtney" that investigates the murders of Biggie and Tupac ($19.99; Razor & Tie). If Martin Bashir unmasks his subjects by disarming them with smiles, Broomfield unmasks them by confrontation and abrasiveness. Far more gentle and sad is "Benjamin Smoke" ($24.95; Plexifilm), a look at Benjamin, a Georgia native who takes speed, plays in a band (of sorts) called Smoke and occasionally wears women's clothing. Shot over 10 years, it is - simply - indescribable. How often can you say that about a movie?

Here's the complete list.

Grover Is Bitter!

To millions of children throughout the world in the seventies and eighties, that name was synonymous with a funny, cuddly and ultimately loveable fuzzy blue monster from Sesame Street. For many of us, Grover was hands-down the best character on the show: bringing laughter, intelligence and a certain irreverence not seen in other 2-dimensional children's programming of the day. And he was cute, too.

But what many of us didn't see behind that brave exterior was a monster cowering in the face of his own insecurities, a monster so unsure of himself he wouldn't even watch his own performances, and a monster who ultimately allowed his own weaknesses to overcome him and nearly ruin his career. A genius, a tyrant, a womanizer or just a washed-up drunk?

It's time to expose Grover- the monster behind the myth!

Hardest. Quiz. Ever.

In honor of "The Simpsons" airing its 300th episode on Sunday-- actually, it's the 302nd episode produced, as noted in the episode, which has Bart gaining emancipation from his parents--we humbly present a quiz on the greatest TV comedy ever.

And because you're either going to know the answers or go back and forth to find the answers, we're saving you a lot of time by putting the answers right after the questions.

You're welcome. Now enjoy!

1. Krusty's Non-Narkotik Kough Syrup for Kids was the secret ingredient in what cocktail, which was briefly all the rage in Springfield? (The Flaming Moe a k a The Flaming Homer.)

2. Comic Book Guy owns a rare Radioactive Man comic in which the superhero travels back in time to do what? (Defeat Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics.)

3. According to Homer, what three little sentences will get you through life? ("Cover for me," "Oh, good idea, boss!" and "It was like that when I got here.")

4. What three choices are there on the official "Purpose of Visit" form at Cuban customs? (Business/Pleasure, Smuggle Cigars and Assassinate Castro.)

5. Who did the B Sharps barbershop quartet beat for a Grammy? (Dexy's Midnight Runners, though Homer says he's sure we "haven't heard the last of them." )

6. What does the warning label say on the Krusty the Clown-brand Home Pregnancy Test? (May cause birth defects.)

7. Who are Sam Etic and John Jay Smith? (The names Dustin Hoffman and Michael Jackson used for their respective guest appearances in the credits.)

8. According to Waylon Smithers, what two things don't mix on a sailing expedition? (Women and seamen.)

9. What clown college did Sideshow Bob's brother Cecil attend? (Princeton.)

10. From what memoir does Bart quote on the plight of the Jews to win over Rabbi Krustofski, estranged father of Krusty the Clown? (Yes, I Can by Sammy Davis Jr.)

11. What was the opening act when the Simpsons performed at the Iowa state fair? (Jimmy Carter's Habitat for Hilarity.)

12. After journeying halfway across the world to help Apu get his job back, Apu and Homer are allowed to ask the CEO of Kwik-E Mart three questions. Homer asks all three. What are his questions? ("Are you really the head of Kwik-E Mart?" "Really?" "You?")

13. Why did Krusty bet against the Harlem Globetrotters? (He thought the Washington Generals were due.)

14. What was the name of Apu's entry in the Springfield film festival? ("Bright Lights, Beef Jerky.")

15. According to Comic Book Guy, what is the worst crossover comic ever? (She-Hulk vs. Leon Spinks.)

16. Who played Bart in the TV movie "Blood on the Blackboard: The Bart Simpson Story"? (Neil Patrick Harris.)

17. Who played Krusty in the TV movie "The Krusty the Clown Story: Booze, Drugs, Guns, Lies, Blackmail and Laughter"? (Fyvush Finkel.)

18. From what telethons might we remember Troy McClure? ("Out With Gout '88," "The Springfield Public TV Telethon" and "Let's Save Tony Orlando's House.")

19. What is the name of Meryl Streep's celebrity fragrance? (Versatility.)

20. According to Homer, what is the cause of--and solution to--all of life's problems? (Alcohol.)

21. Comic Book Guy owns a rare photo of Sean Connery autographed by whom? (Roger Moore.)

22. Who is Krusty's worthless half-brother? (Luke Perry.)

23. What is the name of Marge's mother? (Jacqueline Bouvier.)

24. What is Homer J. Simpson's middle name? (Jay.)

25. What are the ingredients in a Krusty the Clown sandwich at Izzy's Deli? (Ham, sausage and bacon with a smidgen of mayo on white bread.)

26. According to Homer, what is the code of the schoolyard? (Don't tattle, always make fun of those different from you and never say anything unless you're sure everyone feels exactly the same way you do.)

27. Comic Book Guy owns a rare Mary Worth comic in which Mary advises a friend to do what? (Commit suicide.)

28. How does Sideshow Bob explain his tattoo, which says "Die Bart, Die"? (He says it's German for "The Bart, The.")

29. What is the real name of the man known as Principal Seymour Skinner? (Armin Tamzarian, and this will never be mentioned again.)

30. How did Troy McClure end "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" a little over seven years ago? ("The Simpsons have come a long way since an old drunk made humans out of his rabbit characters to pay off some old gambling debts. Who knows what adventures they'll have between now and when the show becomes unprofitable?")

Here are some recently released DVDs with big bonuses

Not only are filmmakers keeping the DVD version in mind as they make new movies, but studios also are sifting through their vast libraries for films that can be mined for special treatment — and renewed sales.

Special-effects bonanzas such as Pearl Harbor and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring have spawned multiple versions, including four-disc sets. But nearly all DVDs arrive in stores with a slew of extras, such as behind-the-scenes footage, commentary and music videos.

"Most consumers know that, and that is why DVDs are selling so well," says Eddie Feng, associate review editor of the DVDTown Web site.

Studios know that bonuses can make the difference in whether a consumer buys a DVD. Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment surveyed consumers and found that 63% consider bonus materials important in purchases.

Most Disney DVDs have a "Disneypedia" feature, with facts about Hawaii in Lilo & Stitch, and pirates in the forthcoming Treasure Planet DVD. "These are all-family games and interesting features, ways to talk about the movie ... things they can't find elsewhere," says Buena Vista's Bob Chapek.

As demand increases, the process gets more hectic. Warner Home Video's DVD production staff is usually working on 100 or so DVDs simultaneously and has more than 250 due in 2003. The crew has been involved from the outset on films such as Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (DVD due April 11) and The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (in theaters May 15 and Nov. 7, respectively), says Paul Hemstreet of Warner Home Video. "We really get involved as early as we can."

But, Feng says, the rush to retail results in "a lot of discs filled with junk. The studios sometimes don't have much time to create extras, so they'll resort to cramming it full of promotional items ... of little value in the long run."

But in most cases, independent DVD producers who create and design the bonus materials are getting much more cooperation from studios and filmmakers than in the past, says Alita Holly, who has created extras for Rush Hour 2 and Swingers, Collector's Series.

"They want their (discs) to be really cool, so they have been opening their doors in ways they hadn't before," she says. "They realize that DVD is where their movie is going to live on."

Dave Matthews Band To Release Film, DVD Boxed Set

The Dave Matthews Band intends to release a DVD boxed set of concert footage from shows in 2002. Three shows at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington, were recorded last fall for the DVD set, which will be followed by a long-form video that will play in theaters, according to United Entertainment Media's Creative Planet Communities reports.

All three September 2002 Gorge concerts were recorded using 14 high-definition video cameras, capturing more than 100 hours of footage. A theatrical release is reportedly planned, with a long-form concert video to play in theaters equipped with high-definition projectors. The DVD boxed set will be issued via RCA, and is scheduled to be available later this year.

The Dave Matthews Band has released several collections of live material over the years. And while fans may have their opinion as to which is best, Matthews admits that it's difficult for him to judge the band's shows. "We'll have a show where the whole band will get off the stage and we'll be feeling, like, 'God that was awesome. That was just so smoking,'" Matthews said. "And then I'll talk to the sound or we'll talk to the soundman, and he'll go, 'It was OK. That wasn't great--it was OK. It had some trouble.' And then some nights we'll all be a little winded after the show and we'll talk to one of the guys in the crew or to the soundman Jeff, and they'll be, like, 'That was one of the best shows that we've had.' And then you're [thinking], 'Well, that's too bad,' 'cause then it makes you think that you don't know what the hell's happening."

IT'S JOE MILLIONAIRE VERSUS MICHAEL JACKSON!

Tonight's television viewing quandary comes down to this: Michael Jackson vs. "Joe Millionaire" - with a little "Everybody Loves Raymond" thrown in.

It is the most jam-packed night of newsworthy TV watching in recent memory.

What's fan to do? How can you get to see it all?

Well, you can't. But with at least one extra VCR in another room, here's a plan of attack that might get you through this.

Here's the problem:

On NBC, you have a special two-hour edition of "Dateline" - "Michael Jackson Unmasked" - detailing the many ways in which the singer has surgically rearranged his face. This airs from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.

On ABC, there's a repeat airing of "Living with Michael Jackson," the now-infamous, two-hour interview imported from England which first aired on ABC Feb. 6. That's also on from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Rounding out an entire night of Jacko-mania on ABC is a new edition of "Primetime" from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., recapping all the recent Jackson hoopla.

On Fox, you have the two-hour finale of "Joe Millionaire" from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Here's what to do:

If you've been following JOE MILLIONAIRE up 'til now, which I have not, of course you have to find out how it ends. And even if you haven't been a devotee for the last six weeks, this is the show everyone will be talking about tomorrow morning, so you have to be on board.

Now - of the two Michael Jackson specials, at least NBC's is new. ABC's lineup can be pretty much discounted because (a) "Primetime" doesn't figure to contain much new which you don't already know, and (b) most of us have already seen "Living with Michael Jackson."

And even if you missed it earlier this month on ABC, you can catch it this Thursday night at 10 on VH1, right after Jackson's rebuttal special airs on Fox (from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.).

As for "Michael Jackson Unmasked" on NBC, I suggest forgetting the first hour to see "Joe Millionaire" and then tuning in for the second hour of "Unmasked" at 10. How much of Jacko's plastic surgery do you need to see anyway? One hour should be plenty.

That leaves CBS, which, ironically has dominated Monday nights in the ratings all season long.

Since it's the sweeps, the CBS lineup is all-new tonight, so if you simply must see them, here's where that extra VCR would come in handy.

If not, these episodes will be repeated more than once before next September so you can save yourself the trouble of taping.

See, that wasn't so hard, was it?

EMINEM FRIGHTENS OSCAR

EMINEM has been invited to perform his Oscar-nominated song next month on the Academy Awards show - but the producers sound as if they hope he doesn't show up.

The obscenity-prone rapper was nominated for "Lose Yourself" from his movie "8 Mile."

"Eminem has an airplay version of that song," says Oscar show producer Gil Cates. And that is the version he will be expected to perform, he said.

"Listen, the Academy Awards show is a show for the family. I mean, everyone watches the show and we're very much aware of that," he told reporters.

"Obviously we would not knowingly have anything on the show which would be offensive."

No matter, Eminen has not said yet whether he will perform.

"Eminem we're not sure about in terms of the schedule," Cates said. "We haven't heard."

Another question mark is "I Move On" from from the movie musical "Chicago."

In the movie, stars Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones sing the song. But Zeta-Jones will be eight-and-a-half months pregnant in March and may not be able - or even want to - perform the song at the Oscars.

Direct from Liverpool, The Beatles Anthology

At long last, the 1995 documentary following the rise of the Fab Four from 1962-1970 will come to the digital format The Beatles: Anthology is set for an April release from Capitol Records.

In addition to the many hours of behind-the-scenes footage found within the series proper, nearly an hour of additional footage will be included in the longer cut.

Coming on four discs, the set will present the show in its original fullscreen ratio, but with audio choices of Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1 and PCM 2.0 stereo to preserve the quality of the recordings.

NBC to Put 'Kingpin' on DVD Before Series Ends

BURBANK, Calif. (Reuters) - NBC has decided to release its new crime drama "Kingpin" on DVD even before the heavily promoted series about a Mexican drug lord finishes its limited six-episode prime-time run.

The network said on Friday it would release all six episodes of "Kingpin" on DVD via mail order on February 16, two days before the show ends its scheduled run.

The move comes as networks look to such DVD releases to earn more from series.

NBC said the "Kingpin" DVD would include behind-the-scenes footage, cast interviews and explicit footage not seen on broadcast TV. The show, about a Mexican drug lord and his family, has been characterized by many as network TV's answer to HBO's violent but popular crime drama "The Sopranos."

The show has met with some success in the ratings and also generated some controversy. The League of United Latin American Citizens has blasted the series for portraying Hispanics as "murderers and unpatriotic American citizens."

HBO has released seasons of "The Sopranos" on DVD, and Fox released a DVD of the series "24" last year not long after the show ended its first season.

Ono Reflects on Beatles' Demise

NEW YORK - More than 30 years after the breakup of the Beatles and on the brink of her 70th birthday, Yoko Ono has become philosophical about the days when many Beatles fans hated her and blamed her for the band's demise.

"I think that through that kind of incredible, strange confrontation, people started to understand me," the widow of John Lennon told the New York Post for a story in Sunday's editions.

Ono turns 70 on Tuesday and more than 200 guests are expected to attend a cocktail reception in her honor at a Manhattan restaurant, the Post said.

Ono keeps busy these days managing the legacy of her late husband and producing dance mixes of his music and her own. She is about to release a dance mix of "Walking on Thin Ice" — the song Lennon was working on the night he was murdered in 1980.

"If he's observing me from up there, I'm sure he's proud of me," Ono said. "It's going to go on and on. This is what I love now, so it's great."

'Daredevil' Leaps To 2nd-Best February Debut

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Movie-goers took Ben Affleck up on his latest dare. Affleck's "Daredevil," a big-budget gamble on a comic-book character more obscure than "Spider-Man" or "X-Men," paid off nicely with a $43.5 million weekend debut, according to studio estimates Sunday.

It was the second-best February debut ever behind the $58 million opening of "Hannibal" two years ago. "Daredevil" had the biggest haul ever for a movie opening over President's Day weekend, easily surpassing the previous best of $20.3 million for last year's "John Q."

The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," fell to second place but held strongly with $19 million, pushing its 10-day total to $47.7 million. The Kate Hudson-Matthew McConaughey romance got a boost from Valentine's Day audiences Friday.

Riding the wave of its leading 13 Academy Awards nominations last week, the musical "Chicago" expanded to more theaters and took in $12.6 million, remaining in third place and pushing its two-month total to $80.7 million.

Disney's animated sequel "The Jungle Book 2" opened in fourth place with $11.9 million.

The overall box office shot up, with the top 12 movies taking in $130.1 million, a 22 percent increase over President's Day weekend last year.

In "Daredevil," based on the Marvel Comics hero, Affleck plays a blind attorney with superhuman other senses that allow him to become a deadly crusader for justice by night. The movie co-stars Jennifer Garner, Michael Clarke Duncan and Colin Farrell.

"The first tier of comic books would be `Superman,' `Batman,' `Spider-Man,' `X-Men.' This would probably be a second-tier character, but from the audiences that showed up Friday night, there's a big fan base," said Bruce Snyder, head of distribution for 20th Century Fox, which released "Daredevil."

Playing in 3,471 theaters, "Daredevil" averaged a strong $12,532 a cinema, compared with $4,238 in 2,808 theaters for the weekend's other new movie, "The Jungle Book 2."

Produced on a modest budget of under $20 million, "The Jungle Book 2" follows other recent titles Disney has mined from its vaults for inexpensive animated family flicks, among them "Return to Neverland" and "The Tigger Movie."

"The Jungle Book 2" is expected to at least match the $48 million gross of "Return to Neverland," last year's follow-up to the cartoon classic "Peter Pan," said Disney head of distribution Chuck Viane.

Along with best-picture front-runner "Chicago," other key Oscar contenders benefited from their nominations.

Best-picture nominee "The Hours" expanded to 1,003 theaters, up 454, and took in $3.3 million. The Virginia Woolf-related drama pushed its total to $26 million since opening in limited release in late December.

Also nominated for best picture, "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" grossed $3.45 million, virtually unchanged from the previous weekend even though its theater count fell sharply as it winds down its run. The blockbuster fantasy has taken in $325.3 million.

The dark comedy "About Schmidt" missed out on the best-picture category, but its lead-actor nomination for Jack Nicholson helped boost business. The film took in $3.55 million, up 18 percent from a weekend earlier, and its total gross climbed to $53.1 million.

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 Tuesday.

1. "Daredevil," $43.5 million.
2. "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," $19 million.
3. "Chicago," $12.6 million.
4. "The Jungle Book 2," $11.9 million.
5. "Shanghai Knights," $11.4 million.
6. "The Recruit," $6.8 million.
7. "Final Destination 2," $6.2 million.
8. "Deliver Us From Eva," $4.4 million.
9. "Kangaroo Jack," $4 million.
10. "About Schmidt," $3.55 million.

Night of the Jackos at ABC, NBC

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - TV's gone wacko for Jacko: ABC and NBC are now planning competing two-hour Michael Jackson specials for Monday night.

ABC has worked out a deal with VH1 to air a rerun of its high-rated Feb. 6 special "Living with Michael Jackson." The music cable network, which has always held U.S. repeat rights to the controversial interview, still plans to air the special this weekend.

ABC will encore "Living with Michael" Monday from 9-11 p.m. as part of a full night of Jackomania. From 8-9 p.m., the network will air a special "PrimeTime" focusing on the latest controversies circling the self-proclaimed King of Pop.

In response to ABC's move, NBC has decided to expand "Michael Jackson Unmasked" into a two-hour edition of "Dateline NBC" that will air from 9-11 Monday. The special "Dateline" had been set to air from 10-11 Monday, but NBC programrs decided Jacko was too hot for a single hour.

"We've always had 90 minutes of material that we were condensing into an hour; it's just as easy to go the other way (and expand to two hours)," NBC Entertainment president Jeff Zucker said.

Zucker said expanding "Dateline" was less a response to ABC and more a reaction to Fox's "Joe Millionaire" finale, which is expected to dominate Monday's ratings.

"Both these (specials) are going to get killed (by 'Joe')," he said. "I'd be totally wasting a 'Third Watch,' so the choice was a 'Fear Factor' repeat or to expand this Michael Jackson ridiculousness.

"This is clearly one of the most ridiculous sweeps in modern American TV history," Zucker added.

Indeed, Jackomania continues later next week when Fox airs its two-hour rebuttal from Jackson featuring the singer's own videotape of his Granada interview.

For its part, CBS is staying out of the Jackson action.

"It appears CBS may be the last frontier for scripted programming on Monday night," said Chris Ender, the network's senior VP of communications.

Mike Myers Samples Unusual Film Deal

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Mike Myers has inked an unusual production deal with DreamWorks in which the actor will insert himself, other actors and new plots into existing films to create new properties.

The studio is calling the process "film sampling," similar to the music business practice in which an artist takes part of an existing song and works it into his own tune, sometimes with new lyrics and music.

"Film sampling is an exciting way to put an original spin on existing films and allow audiences to see old movies in a new light," Myers said. "Rap artists have been doing this for years with music, and now we are able to take that same concept and apply it to film."

The idea isn't new; Woody Allen created new dialogue for a Japanese film and released it as "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" in 1966. More recently, commercials have altered old movie footage starring John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart and Fred Astaire to promote beer, soda and vacuum cleaners.

Myers is already known for his homages to pictures. In his previous film outings, including the "Austin Powers" trilogy and even "Wayne's World 2," Myers has re-staged or spoofed scenes from pics including "The Graduate" "The Thomas Crown Affair" and the James Bond franchise.

But the new deal with DreamWorks will have him take the tweaking to a new level.

Myers' pact, which isn't a traditional first-look production deal but specific to the films made from sampling, will have DreamWorks acquiring the rights to films so the actor can use advancements in technology to digitally alter them.

Myers and the studio already have several films in mind but would not disclose them, as no deals have yet been inked.

DreamWorks principals Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg will help to develop the first project, and "Austin Powers" franchise helmer Jay Roach is on board to direct. In addition, Kid From The Hall Dave Foley and writer-producer Jay Kogen are also in negotiations to join the picture.

A Good Heart

By Feargal Sharkey

I hear a lot of stories, I suppose they could be true
All about love, and what it can do to you
High is the risk of striking out, the risk of getting hurt
And still, I have so much to learn

Well I know, 'cause I think about it all the time
I know that real love is quite a vice

And a good heart these days is hard to find (a good heart)
True love, the lasting kind
A good heart these days is hard to find
So please be gentle with this heart of mine

My expectations may be high, I blame it on my youth
Soon enough I learned the painful truth
I'll face it like a fighter, then boast of how I've grown
Anything is better than being alone

Well I know, 'cause I learn a little every day
I know, 'cause I listen when the experts say, that

That a good heart these days is hard to find (a good heart)
True love, the lasting kind
A good heart these days is hard to find (ooh)
So please be gentle with this heart of mine, yeah

Yeah!

As I reflect on all my childhood dreams
My ideas of love weren't as foolish as they seemed
If I don't start looking now, I'll be left behind
And a good heart these days, it's hard to find

Well I know, it's a dream I'm willing to defend
I know it will all be worth it in the end

And a good heart these days is hard to find (a good heart)
True love, the lasting kind
A good heart these days is hard to find
So please be gentle with this heart of mine

It Is Here, And It Is Great (Says I!)

After waiting for almost three decades to see a movie version of one of my favourite comic books, DAREDEVIL is now in theatres, and I couldn't be happier!

Now I can see why people, many people will be bored by it and not care for the movie at all. I can also see why some people, many people might have some issues with Ben Affleck's performance in the title role. I am not one of those people. I enjoy the film immensely and thought Affleck was pretty good.

And Jennifer Garner was superb!

In the end it wasn't as good as Tim Burton's original BATMAN but it was waaaaaaaaay better than SPIDER-MAN.

I hope to see it again this weekend!

Here's an overview of what the world's critics have to say about the flick.

Enjoy the popcorn and I'll see you at the movies.

Ex-Metallica bassist rips former band

Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted has been bad-mouthing his ex-bandmates and commenting on their recent decision to tour with Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit, British magazine Rock Sound reports.

"It's a joke, I think Metallica are just a joke, I don't think they have any idea. I am a fan of Metallica again, I did my thing in there and felt good and I'm proud of that sh*t and I am more proud than sour," he said in an online conversation with the British magazine. "But that's the integrity down the f***ing tube!" he said of the band's choice to participate in the Summer Sanitarium tour 2003, kicking off in July.

"What they are doing now is such an obvious cash thing and has nothing to do with the music that we're supposed to be fighting for," he said.

And in one final Metallica slam, he dissed drummer Lars Ulrich by writing: "Lars -- he hasn't practiced enough drums over the years. He let his art fall away from him, he doesn't have the same finesse as he used to have."

Newsted reportedly left the band for personal reasons in early 2001, and has now joined Canadian rockers Voivod.

"Over the years at different times, it was always a secret true aspiration to be the bass player in Voivod," he said in a press release. "I also feel strongly about my hard-earned ability to bring some long deserved recognition to these brilliant musicians, whom I've looked up to since the early days of this music that the four of us helped to invent," he added.

He also told the magazine that it's unlikely that his former and current bands will take a stage together. "There is political sh*t going on, they are really against us being on the same bills. Wherever Metallica is you won't be seeing Voivod," he said.

Voivod are scheduled to kick off their U.S. tour on April 10.

Genie Awards Given Out

The Genie Awards, recognizing the best Canadian films of the year, were given out Thursday night.

Now I love movies, LOVE MOVIES, but even I don't care as most of us, myself included, will ever get to actually see many of the films that win. So what interest can I be expected to have if I have no idea if the movies that win deserve it?

That's right, none!

But maybe you do have an interest. So for you, here's a story about the 23rd annual Genies Awards.

Oh, and congratulations to all of the winners. If you send me a copy of your film I guarantee you that I will watch it!

GRACIOUS GUEST

Contradictory to his earlier waffling, Peter O'Toole has agreed collect his Honorary Oscar at next month's Academy Awards. The feisty septuagenarian reportedly worried the honor was a retirement send-off.

RARE APPEARANCE

The reclusive Eminem confirmed to perform at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards along with 'NSync, Sheryl Crow and Lenny Kravitz, while Elvis Costello, Tony Kanal of No Doubt, Bruce Springsteen and Steve Van Zandt perform a tribute to Joe Strummer and the Clash and the Bee Gees receive a Legend Award. The ceremony takes place February 23 in New York.

Hartnett a Lock as Supes?

Some people are already claiming that Josh Hartnett has locked in the role of Superman.

We all know who the contenders were, Josh Hartnett, Jude Law, Brendan Fraser, Ashton Kutcher and Mutant X star Victor Webster.

Apparently (hack) director Brett Ratner was casting the role for the man of steel in NYC, when all of a sudden who shows up but JOSH HARTNETT. Brett was amazed by his performance. Apparently impressed to the point where it's 99% certain that he will be the next man of steel!

I just can't see Hartnett playing Superman. But hey that's what they said about Michael Keaton playing Batman and he turned out to be the best Batman ever. So maybe we have to give Josh a chance...NAH!

Make your own Candy Valentine Heart.

Britain's Jedis Become a Force to Be Counted

LONDON (Reuters) - It's official -- "Star Wars" has created almost 400,000 Jedis in Britain.

Over 390,000 people wrote "Jedi" on their 2001 census form, more than those who registered their faith as Jewish, Buddhist or Sikh in the optional question on religion, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Thursday.

The Jedis declared their belief after a campaign on the Internet asked people to "do it because you love Star Wars" or "just to annoy people."

"Star Wars devotees stated their faith as 'Jedi' in the mistaken belief that if 10,000 did so it would be recognized as an official religion," a spokesman for the ONS said.

The census question on religion offered a series of tick-boxes for the major religions in the UK, including a free space for "any other religion."

In the films, the Jedi knights are a noble order of protectors unified by their belief in a universal power called the Force.

Rocker Kelly Osbourne Pulls UK Gig on Terror Fears

LONDON (Reuters) - Rock tearaway Kelly Osbourne has pulled out of performing at one of Britain's biggest music awards, fearing a terror attack on London while she is there, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.

The spiky-haired singer, who was due to belt out her latest hit "Shut Up" at the NME awards on Thursday, canceled the show after pressure from her showbiz parents Sharon and Ozzy.

"Sharon and Ozzy are concerned about their children's safety and they don't want them flying about while the world is on high alert," said a UK spokeswoman.

The United States and Britain have bolstered security amid intelligence-led fears that al Qaeda may launch a terror attack on the western allies.

Britain has deployed troops to London's Heathrow airport and reconnaissance aircraft to the skies, while the U.S. has surrounded its defense headquarters at the Pentagon with anti-aircraft missiles.

The teenage rebel "freaked" when she saw images of British troops patrolling Heathrow, according to the Web Site of the show's organizer NME.

"The Osbournes were in New York on September 11 (2001)," said Kelly's spokeswoman. "That had a big effect on them."

NME added that British showbiz promoters were expecting a slew of cancellations from other U.S.-based stars, including Pink, Avril Lavigne and Justin Timberlake.

Tenacious D: The Movie

New Line has completed a deal with actors/musicians/comedians Jack Black and Kyle Gass to make a movie centered around their two-man band Tenacious D.

The pair will aid in writing the script as well as starring in the movie, which will be a creation story on how the two came together and became the greatest band on Earth.

Liam Lynch is attached to direct. Ben Stiller's Red Hour Films is negotiating to produce.

DR. PHIL, MEET DAVE

Even after months of relentless taunting, Dr. Phil McGraw has agreed to appear on the "Late Show" with David Letterman on Monday.

Since last fall when the mega-hit "tough-love" talk show "Dr. Phil" debuted, Letterman has been poking fun at McGraw almost nightly.

The running gag features one-line sound bites taken out of context from the "Dr. Phil" show that the gap-toothed comic likes to call "Dr. Phil's Words of Wisdom."

The "Late Show" segments which have aired more than 50 times include Dr. Philisms like: "I wanna be Miss America."; "You're fat, stupid, and a pig."; "I'm a drunk pimp." And "Don't think you don't know what you don't know, only you know what you don't know."

McGraw was not available yesterday to answer questions about why he'd changed his mind.

McGraw and his "tough-love" therapy began as a regular feature on the "Oprah Winfrey Show."

And Winfrey herself has long been the target of a long-running Letterman gag-campaign to be invited as a guest on her show.

Mayor Daley Chides 'Chicago' Location

CHICAGO - Mayor Richard M. Daley gives the movie that bears his city's name high marks. He has one complaint, though: It was shot in Canada.

"The movie is great," Daley said Tuesday. "I said, `Too bad it wasn't filmed in Chicago.'"

He blamed the federal government, saying it needs to provide incentives to American filmmakers that would match what the Canadians offer.

"The film industry in America was going strong. Canada says, `OK, we want the film industry. We will subsidize you.' So all the film industry went from America up to Canada," Daley said.

"Chicago," adapted from the stage hit about two murderous women competing for tabloid celebrity, leads this year's Oscar contenders with 13 nominations, including best picture.

"We do the creative work," Daley said. "We do the financial work. Why should we send the production work overseas? ... Our priorities should be keeping people working in the film industry right here."

He said American workers will continue to lose out until the federal government gets the message.

"I really believe we have to get our priorities straight in Washington, D.C.," he said. "You know — knock, knock. No one is home in Washington. They have to get reality. If they listen to people, they will find out what is happening."

Tonight, 9 pm!

Enjoy the popcorn and I will see you at the movies!

Avril, Shania get top Juno nods

Canada's latest music phenom will face off against a veteran marvel who has been conquering the charts for years at this year's Juno Awards.

Avril Lavigne and Shania Twain will compete for album of the year and songwriter of the year at the April 6 awards ceremony in Ottawa.

Lavigne, whose debut album Let Go has been on the charts since its release last June, leads the pack of nominees with six nods, including best new artist and best pop album. The nominations are the latest accolades for the 18-year-old from Napanee, Ont., who is competing for five Grammy Awards.

Twain, who is hosting the awards show, received five nominations including artist of the year. Her album Up was the highest selling album of 2002.

With Twain and the capital city hosting and a slate of hot musical acts performing, there seems to be a real drive to raise the bar set last year in St. John's, Nfld.

That show was largely considered the most successful Junos ever by industry and fans alike. The show will once again be telecast by CTV.

"I remember back in the old days struggling to get people to participate. The exact opposite is the truth now. Everybody wants to be part of the show," said executive producer John Brunton. "It's getting bigger and bigger and bigger every year."

The slate of performers includes Lavigne, Shand, rock band Our Lady Peace, singer Sam Roberts, hip-hop crew Swollen Members and Twain herself.

Brunton said he chatted with Twain on Tuesday and she had lots of plans for the show.

"She's bringing so many ideas to the table," he said.

The singer has been on a hot streak lately having wowed crowds at the Grey Cup, the Super Bowl and the American Music Awards where, clad in leather, she drove into the stadium on a motorcycle.

In addition to hosting duties, the country superstar will be up against songstress Celine Dion, francophone singer-songwriter Daniel Belanger, singer Alanis Morissette and Motown's Remy Shand in the artist of the year category.
Up for four Grammy awards on Feb. 23, Shand was also recognized for producer of the year, best R&B recording and songwriter.

"All the hard work that went into it, it's finally paid off," said an elated Shand following a nomination news conference in Toronto on Wednesday. "All these years of working on music, my family, they're very proud. It's a love fest."

Dion and Our Lady Peace also snagged four nominations each.

Dion's nods include single of the year for A New Day Has Come, album of the year and fans choice award. The multi-Juno winner was shut out of this year's Grammy Award nominations.

Toronto-based rockers Our Lady Peace, who are currently on tour, were nominated for best rock album, group of the year, single of the year for Somewhere Out There and album of the year.

Joining the Canadian Music Hall of Fame this year will be singer-songwriter Tom Cochrane, who said he was touched to be included with previous inductees Joni Mitchell and Gordon Lightfoot.

"A lot of these people showed me the possibilities. These people are my heroes," said Cochrane, whose hits include Big League and Life Is A Highway.

"It's a thrill being included with some of these people and being considered in the same company.

Cochrane, born in Lynn Lake, Man., said the Junos are an integral part of the country's music scene. He said the involvement of Twain and Lavigne proves its notoriety.

"I think it speaks volumes for the event. It speaks volumes for the integrity of a lot of Canadians and the fact that we do have a very independent awareness of our collective and pride in our culture in Canada."

The 30-year music veteran started out as the lead singer of rock group Red Rider. He's won seven Juno Awards.

On the industry side, Nettwerk Music Group head Terry McBride will join the Music Hall of Fame.

Three-time nominees include Belanger, Morissette and rap artist K-OS.
Double nominees include last year's big winners jazz singer Diana Krall and rock band Nickelback, as well as Blue Rodeo, Jane Bunnett, Shawn Desman, James Ehnes, Danko Jones, Sam Roberts and Swollen Members.

For best rock album, heavy hitters Our Lady Peace will be up against fellow Canadian stalwarts The Tea Party, Treble Charger, Wide Mouth Mason and Danko Jones.

"It's great to be acknowledged," Jones said. "We really worked hard to make this album."

In all there are 37 Juno Award categories. Winners are selected by members of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

Top nominees in the 2003 Juno Awards:

Best single: Bulletproof, Blue Rodeo; A New Day Has Come, Celine Dion; Complicated, Avril Lavigne; Somewhere Out There, Our Lady Peace; Brother Down, Sam Roberts.

Best international album: Weathered, Creed; The Eminem Show, Eminem; Escape, Enrique Iglesias; Nellyville, Nelly; Laundry Service, Shakira.

Best francophone album: Rever Mieux, Daniel Belanger; Rendez-vous, Sylvain Cossette; Break Syndical, Les Cowboys Fringants; Les Lettres Rouges, Lynda Lemay; De L'amour le mieux, Natasha St-Pier.

Best album: Rever Mieux, Daniel Belanger; A New Day Has Come, Celine Dion; Let Go, Avril Lavigne; Gravity, Our Lady Peace; Up Shania Twain.

Artist of the Year: Daniel Belanger, Celine Dion, Alanis Morissette, Remy Shand, Shania Twain.

Group of the Year: Blue Rodeo, Our Lady Peace, Sum 41, Swollen Members, The Tragically Hip.

Best country recording: I Just Want To Be Mad, Terri Clark; Curve, Doc Walker; Emerson Drive, Emerson Drive; I'm Gonna Getcha Good, Shania Twain; Shut Up and Kiss Me, Michelle Wright.

Best rap recording: El Dorado, BrassMunk; R.A.W., Checkmate; exit, K-OS; Reloaded, Rascalz; Monsters In The Closet, Swollen Members.

Best pop album: Shake It Off, Jarvis Church; Asianblue, Emm Gryner; Let Go, Avril Lavigne; Everybody's Got A Story, Amanda Marshall; Under Rug Swept, Alanis Morissette.

Best rock album: Born A Lion, Danko Jones; Gravity, Our Lady Peace; The Interzone Mantras, The Tea Party; Detox, Treble Charger; Rained Out Parade, Wide Mouth Mason.

Best video: Black Black Heart, Craig Bernard (David Usher); Lovercall, Craig Bernard (Danko Jones); Weapon, Ante Kovac and Matthew Good (Matthew Good); Superstarr Pt. 0, Micah Meisner (K-OS); PDA, Christopher Mills (Interpol).

Good luck to everyone!

Did He Tell The Truth About Anything?!?

Actress Tatum O'Neal (Little Darlings) has denied that she tried to seduce Jackson as he described in Living With Michael Jackson documentary. O'Neal, 39, says that she did not share sweet nothings with the pop singer, nor did she try to lure him into the sack.

O'Neal told NBC News, "Michael did come over to my house when my father was home, but at 12 years old, there was no way I was capable of being as mature or as sophisticated as he claimed I was."

Like Jackson, O'Neal spent her childhood in the limelight. She was 10 years old when she starred opposite her father Ryan O'Neal in her first movie, Paper Moon. She won a best supporting actress Oscar for the role. By the time she was 17, her credits included The Bad News Bears, Nickelodeon, and teenage laffer Little Darlings.

New Line, Marvel Pimping 'Iron' for 2005

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - "Iron Man" has become the next Marvel character to land on Hollywood's live-action production slate.

New Line Cinema, which has worked with Marvel on the successful "Blade" franchise, hopes to turn "Iron Man" into a tentpole for its 2005 slate. The studio acquired the property in 2000, but has started from scratch with scribes Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, creators of the WB's top-rated "Smallville" and writers of current hit film "Shanghai Knights" and its predecessor, "Shanghai Noon."

"Iron Man," which first appeared as a Marvel comic in 1962, is the story of Tony Stark, inventor and owner of Stark Enterprises. His work in corporate espionage and international terrorism leads to an accident that forces him to go on life support in the form of a high-tech bodysuit. This also gives him an alternate identity, Iron Man, a being capable of a heroism Tony Stark could not achieve.

The latest Marvel property to become an action picture is "Daredevil," which 20th Century Fox releases Friday. Other Marvel characters that have been treated to feature adaptations include Fox's "X-Men" and its sequel, "X2," which is set for a May release. Likewise, Universal will release "The Hulk" in June.

Marvel also is prepping adaptations of "Fantastic Four" at Fox, "Man-Thing" and "The Punisher" at Artisan Entertainment and "Ghost Rider" at Dimension Films.

Oscar Nod Caps 'Greek' Cinderella Story

LOS ANGELES - A year ago, Academy Awards nominations were the last thing on Nia Vardalos' mind. She was just hoping a few people would go see the low-budget film she wrote and starred in, an old-fashioned little romance called "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

A word-of-mouth blockbuster unlike anything the movie industry has ever seen, the film opened in a few theaters last April and grew into a $240 million sensation as enchanted moviegoers talked it up.

The icing on the wedding cake came Tuesday, when Vardalos earned an Oscar nomination for original screenplay. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" also hit video Tuesday, while still lingering in the top-20 box-office chart at theaters.

"All I'd hoped for is that really we would be released in one theater," Vardalos said Tuesday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "I thought I could bus my relatives in. You know, where is that theater?

"Now I feel awed — that's A-W-E-D, and odd, O-D-D — stunned and thrilled and really, really grateful. I feel like I'm in the middle of a miracle."

Shot on a tiny budget of $5 million, the film is the comical story of a Chicago family that revels in its boisterous Greek heritage and the preparations for the nuptials of an ugly-duckling daughter (Vardalos) to a non-Greek man.

Vardalos based the movie on her upbringing and marriage to a non-Greek.

Bono Says U2 Oscar Win Would Be 'Dream'

LOS ANGELES (AP) — U2 has won virtually every music award a band can win, but front man Bono said an Oscar win would be the fulfillment of a dream for the Irish rock band.

"The Hands That Built America" is nominated for best original song. It was written for "Gangs of New York," a mid-19th century epic depicting the struggle between Americans who called themselves "natives" and the Irish immigrants who were pouring into New York City.

"Our dream is that the Academy will recognize the fact that this song grew out of the story and the characters. It wasn't just put in the film," Bono told AP radio. "That's what we're most proud of."

Bono said Oscars organizers have not contacted U2 about performing at the March 23 awards ceremony.

"It's a nerve-racking thought. The only thing equivalent to it would be like playing the super bowl," he said. "It'd be a hell of an honor if we're asked to perform. I hope we will be."

Zeta-Jones' Due Date Close to Oscars

LOS ANGELES - Catherine Zeta-Jones hopes to get through Oscar night without a little thing like giving birth getting in her way.

Zeta-Jones, whose second child with husband Michael Douglas is due in April, said she plans to be at the Academy Awards ceremony March 23, where she's up for best supporting actress for the musical "Chicago."

"They can roll me in on a stretcher if they have to," the 33-year-old said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press Tuesday, when nominations for the 75th annual Oscars were announced.

"Chicago" earned a leading 13 nominations, including best picture, director for Rob Marshall, lead actress for Renee Zellweger, supporting actor for John C. Reilly and a second supporting-actress honor for Queen Latifah.

"I just can't wait," Zeta-Jones said. "I hope this baby doesn't come on the same night. That'll be just my luck to get all dressed up and ready to go, and the pains will start."

Simon Relishes Nod 35 Years After Mistake

LOS ANGELES - Paul Simon said he's celebrating his new chance at an Oscar after a paperwork mistake likely kept his song "Mrs. Robinson" out of the competition 35 years ago.

The singer-songwriter received his first Academy Award nomination Tuesday for "Father and Daughter," from the animated "The Wild Thornberrys Movie."

He said many people erroneously believe he was nominated for "Mrs. Robinson," which he and former collaborator Art Garfunkel sang in 1967's "The Graduate."

"We forgot to fill in the forms," Simon acknowledged with a laugh. "You know, it was the '60s. We just weren't paying attention. We went along our way and never filled it in. That's what happened."

"Talk to the Animals" from "Doctor Dolittle" claimed the movie song honor at that year's Oscars.

Simon, 61, said his three young children inspired him to write a song for "The Wild Thornberrys Movie," a feature film version of a popular Nickelodeon cartoon.

"It was something that the kids watched," he said. "I thought of it as an opportunity to write a song for a movie that the kids could see."

Simon is competing against U2 for "The Hands That Built America" from "Gangs of New York;" "Burn It Blue" from "Frida," by Elliot Goldenthal and Julie Taymor; "I Move On" from "Chicago," by John Kander and Fred Ebb; and "Lose Yourself" from "8 Mile," by Eminem, Jeff Bass and Luis Resto.

Actor Penn Claims Lost Movie Role Over Iraq Views

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Sean Penn is claiming in a lawsuit that he lost a movie role because of his public opposition to a U.S. war against Iraq.

But Movie producer Steve Bing has countered in his own lawsuit that Penn is "irrational and irresponsible" and accused the actor of trying to extort $10 million for a movie he had no deal to star in.

Bing and Penn hit each other with Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuits on Tuesday in a bitter feud over the putative movie, "Why Men Shouldn't Marry," that could result in a classic courtroom showdown.

Penn accused Bing of "borrowing a page from the dark era of Hollywood blacklisting" by allegedly reneging on a contract for him to play the lead in the movie after Penn aired his views on Iraq in a January television interview.

Bing, most famous for a bitter dispute over paternity of British actress Elizabeth Hurley's child, termed Penn's claim blackmail.

Bing alleged that on Penn's return from Iraq, Penn threatened "to turn their business dispute into a First Amendment crusade" although it had nothing to do with free speech, threatening to tell the media he had been forced off the movie because of his opposition to a U.S. invasion.

Bing said he had never closed a deal with Penn but had spent millions of dollars on pre-production for the movie which he wrote and intends to direct in the belief that the actor would be on board.

Penn claims breach of oral contract and is asking for $10 million in damages. Bing claims civil extortion and is claiming $15 million in damages.

Only One More Day!

Christina Aguilera Speaks To '20/20'

Pop "temptress" Christina Aguilera will be featured on this Friday's (February 14) episode of 20/20. ABC is hyping the segment online with the tag, "Real, raw, and ready to reveal it all!"

During her sit-down interview with Christopher Cuomo, the singer discusses her music, family, and the persistent cries from critics that her image sets a bad example for today's youth.

The newsmagazine 20/20, featuring Aguilera, airs Friday at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.

'Idol' contestant booted for working for adult Web site

Frenchie Davis, the full-figured brassy-voiced American Idol semifinalist from Washington, D.C., has been eliminated from Fox's talent competition after she acknowledged she worked for an adult Web site four years ago.

Fox said she'll be replaced on a show airing Feb. 25. But co-producer 19 Entertainment, which signs Idol winners to recording contracts, says it will "endeavor to do all in its power to help Frenchie further her music career."

Another Idol finalist, Jaered Andrews, was replaced earlier for undisclosed reasons.

Pearce for BATMAN

According to Dark Horizons, Guy Pearce is the leading candidate to play Batman in the Chris Nolan adaption.

Oscar Officials See Show Going on Despite War Talk

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (Reuters) - Despite talk of a looming U.S. war with Iraq, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has adopted an old showbiz tradition and plans for the Oscar show to go on, the Academy's president said on Tuesday.

The Oscars, or Academy Awards, are the U.S. film industry's top honors handed out each year by the Academy, and the awards ceremony will take place this year on Sunday, March 23, around the time many analysts believe the United States could strike Iraq.

The event is scheduled to be telecast by the ABC network, a unit of Walt Disney Co.

Annually, the movie industry's biggest stars turn out for the gala ceremony in downtown Hollywood, and security will be tighter than ever, said Academy President Frank Pierson.

At today's nominations announcement, Pierson told reporters that the budget for securing the Kodak Theater where the event will be held would be double that of more normal years.

But when asked whether a breakout of war would cause the Academy to cancel the show, Pierson replied: "I don't anticipate that."

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, officials last year closed off air space over downtown Hollywood. Concrete barricades blocked the entrance to the Kodak Theater, and part of Hollywood Boulevard was shut down.

Pierson said the Academy plans to focus the Oscar show on a celebration of its own 75-year history and how the movie industry has changed over that period. Nothing is planned to acknowledge how the world outside Hollywood has changed since Sept. 11, he said.

"I don't think there will be any special mark of that .... I don't see any need to," he said.

But there may be acceptance speeches in which celebrities or other winners take advantage of a live television broadcast to talk about political issues and, possibly, make anti-war statements, he said.

Often winners will address political issues at the Oscars because the telecast reaches an estimated audience of 1 billion viewers, making it a huge platform from which to speak out.

"That's always something that can happen. One of the most interesting things about the Oscars are the unexpected things that happen .... I welcome that kind of excitement," Pierson said.

"Mostly what we ask them to do is to keep their speeches under 45 seconds," he added.

Some Oscar Faves Are No-Shows

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - In a wacky year, the list of Tuesday's Oscar also-rans is as interesting as the nominees.

"Antwone Fisher," "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and "Rabbit-Proof Fence" went home empty-handed. "About a Boy," "About Schmidt," "Minority Report," "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" were recognized, but didn't nab as much Academy Awards attention as some had predicted.

Other no-shows in Tuesday's nominations include directors Peter Jackson and Phillip Noyce, along with such thesps as Leonardo DiCaprio, Richard Gere, Dennis Quaid and "The Hours"' Meryl Streep; and scripters Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor ("About Schmidt").

Future generations inevitably will express surprise at some possibilities that were shut out or under-represented in Tuesday's lineup. But it may be the flood of good pictures or the fact that some really terrific work wasn't seen by enough voters. As one Academy voter said, "This is the first year I can remember in ages when there were more than enough contenders for every category."

Among the other films without any nominations Tuesday were Disney's "Signs" and "25th Hour"; Miramax's "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind"; MGM/UA's "Nicholas Nickleby"; Paramount's "Changing Lanes" and "Narc"; Sony/Revolution's "Punch-Drunk Love"; USA Films' swan song, "Monsoon Wedding"; and Warner Bros.' "Insomnia," "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" and "White Oleander."

Many indie pics had hoped to emulate the success last year of "Monster's Ball," but they didn't make the cut. Among them: "Max," "Roger Dodger," "Secretary" and "Sonny."

The foreign-language race was crowded with worthy contenders that didn't make the grade. A record-breaking 54 countries made official submissions. Among high-profile pics that failed to make the final five were Brazil's "City of God," France's "8 Women," India's "Devdas," Italy's "Pinocchio," Russia's "House of Fools," Spain's "Los lunes al sol" and a trio of countries with first-time entries: Afghanistan (news - web sites) ("FireDancer"), Bangladesh ("The Clay Bird") and Chad ("Abouna").

Missing documentaries included two well-reviewed looks at showbiz, "The Kid Stays in the Picture" and "Lost in La Mancha."

The following received guild nominations but were left off Oscar's list:

SAG: In addition to Golden Globe winner Gere ("Chicago"), SAG-nominated Alfred Molina ("Frida"), Quaid ("Far From Heaven") and Michelle Pfeiffer ("White Oleander") were overlooked.

DGA: Jackson ("Rings") received a DGA nomination, but was replaced by Pedro Almodovar in the Oscar race.

WGA: Scripts for Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine," Antwone Fisher's "Antwone Fisher" and Payne & Taylor's "About Schmidt."

Producers Guild: Sony's "Adaptation," IFC's "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and DreamWorks' "Road to Perdition" are contenders for the PGA's best pic trophy.

Ah, well. Somebody's got to come in sixth.

'The Simpsons' Hits 300th Episode

LOS ANGELES - The characters may be yellow but "The Simpsons" hasn't mellowed as it marks its 300th episode Sunday.

If anything, the Fox animated comedy born in 1989 is more boldly iconoclastic in the 21st century. Given that timidity is programmed into television's very DNA, how does "The Simpsons" thrive?

By being very good at being naughty, so much so that Fox simply can't afford to tinker with success. In its 14th season, the series (8 p.m. EST Sunday) can still field top 20 episodes and is the heart of a merchandising empire.

Fox just renewed the program for two more seasons, which will carry it at least through May 2005 and make it the longest-running sitcom ever (with "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet" set to fall to second).

The pattern of commerce trumping controversy was set early, when the show helped fledgling Fox establish itself as a brash alternative to the big three networks.

"There were many reasons the show was successful, one of which was we were in the right place at the right time," said series creator Matt Groening. "I don't think 'The Simpsons' could be on any other network, even today."

At the beginning, the clout of James L. Brooks smoothed the way. Brooks, a force in TV ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Taxi") and movies ("Terms of Endearment") brought "The Simpsons" to Fox. Brooks, Groening and Al Jean have been the show's executive producers since its beginning.

The animated format also helped the series zoom below Fox's radar. The mustard-hued Simpsons, including dimwitted dad Homer, patient mom Marge, and children Bart, Lisa and Maggie, got away with cartoon murder.

"There's nothing glamorous about a network executive peering over the shoulders of people making goofy drawings," said Groening. "They'd rather hang around the edges of a sitcom set and say an actress needs to have a more revealing blouse."

That unusual TV freedom has resulted in comedy and satire of often breathtaking proportions, especially since the show's creators and actors pride themselves on their democratic approach to targets.

"We go after everyone," said Yeardley Smith, who provides the voice of brainy Lisa. "Nobody's safe."

The series has mocked capitalism (through the evil empire of industrialist C. Montgomery Burns), entire cities (Rio de Janeiro threatened to sue over its depiction) and the news media (anchors may itch to sue over shallow Kent Brockman). "Welcome to Atlanta — Home of Ted Turner's mood swings," a sign read in one episode.

"We haven't figured out a way to take on George W. Bush because he's such an obvious target," said Groening. In a previous episode, Bart accidentally shredded the memoirs of former President Bush, and the show has toyed with bringing the current president in to avenge dad.

"But the writers decided Homer and George W. would become really good friends. They're so much alike," said Groening, who delivers such zingers in the mildest of tones.

Religion doesn't get a pass. In last Sunday's episode, Homer won a personal injury lawsuit against the First Church of Springfield, was awarded the deed to the church and took up residence. Havoc ensued.

Among the eye-popping bits involving Christianity's most sacred symbols: An underwear-clad Homer grabs a cross for an air-guitar solo a la Tom Cruise in "Risky Business," and the chalice is turned into a cocktail cup, complete with tiny umbrella.

(The barbs cut across denominational lines. When the jury issued its million-dollar verdict for Homer, the stricken reverend exclaimed: "Your honor, we don't have that kind of money. We're not a synagogue!")

In the end, Homer provoked the wrath of God and was forced to repent. Faith prevailed again in "The Simpsons," which has been praised by some religious commentators for its realistic depiction of American devotion.

Such consistently provocative material, however, inevitably draws criticism.

"Periodically we get in trouble," acknowledged Groening. "We offend somebody and Fox feels intimidated by them." Turns out the riskiest targets are closest to home: The network doesn't like to see itself, its properties or its advertisers slammed.

Fox howled one year when "The Simpsons" included a scene in which a bus drove by bearing an ad for "Mad About You" — the NBC sitcom airing opposite "The Simpsons" at the time.

"They said it was Fox policy not to promote competing shows," Groening recounted, dryly.

Apparently, it's also Fox policy not to denigrate a fellow corporate property.

"We have an upcoming show in which we poke gentle fun at the Fox News Channel. It's such an easy target the jokes write themselves," Groening said. "There was some murmuring in the executive offices."

While Fox endures such barbs, it reaps impressive returns from "The Simpsons." The show is widely syndicated and is seen in overseas markets including ones in Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.

A marketing push has reinvigorated the multimillion-dollar "Simpsons" brand of products in the last several years, said Peter Byrne, executive vice president of Fox licensing and merchandising. About 500 companies worldwide sell an array of items including figurines, board games, apparel and snacks.

"It's one of the company's biggest assets" and one of television's biggest when counting in video, interactive, licensing and syndication, Byrne said. Fox declined to provide figures.

Such rewards render the network mute as a censor and, presumably, contentedly so. Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of Fox parent News Corp., has been sport enough to give voice to his cartoon depiction on the series.

Fox's good humor could diminish if the audience dips, Groening said. (He spoke theoretically: Viewership has risen this season by 12 percent.)

"If ratings started slipping, I think you'd see some tweaking of the show that would be awful. When Bart starts combing his hair in every episode, you'll know we've succumbed to the evils of network notes."

Fox to Air Jackson Interview Outtakes

NEW YORK - The Michael Jackson media wars continue, with Fox agreeing to air outtakes the singer selected from his controversial interview with a British journalist.

A two-hour special, tentatively titled "Michael Jackson, Take Two: The Interview They Wouldn't Show You," is scheduled to air Feb. 20.

The Jackson spectacle is fodder for hungry television networks, particularly in a hotly contested ratings sweeps month. ABC's airing of Jackson's interview with Michael Bashir was last week's most popular show, seen by 27.1 million people.

Angered by how Bashir portrayed him — as an odd man-child who says he sometimes innocently lets children sleep in his own bed — Jackson came forward with videotape taken during the Bashir interview by his own production company.

Jackson's British publicist said over the weekend that the footage "clearly shows that Bashir was actually continuing to praise Michael's abilities as a father and Bashir making many statements about how he feels it is a pity that the world is so quick to criticize Michael."

Fox spokesman Scott Grogin said he didn't know how much the network paid Jackson for the video. ABC reportedly paid a British television company nearly $5 million to show the Bashir interview.

Fox's special does not feature any new interview with Jackson, Grogin said.

Jackson was reportedly ready to give an interview to CBS "60 Minutes" correspondent Ed Bradley over the weekend. But the singer got cold feet, and Bradley left Jackson's Neverland ranch in California empty-handed.

Meanwhile, the VH1 cable network is rerunning the ABC version of the Bashir interview three times this weekend.

NBC is also moving ahead with a sweeps-month special examining plastic surgery allegedly performed on Jackson's face. ABC's "Primetime Thursday" looked at the same subject on Thursday, and it was the week's third most-popular show in the ratings.

A Jackson representative did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

Oscar Nominations Reflect Banner Year for Women

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - And the winner is... women. Whoever takes home those coveted golden statuettes next month, it's been a memorable year at the movies for females, producing a bumper crop of performances from ladies with more on their minds than little men called Oscar.

In a town where glamour still reigns and actresses frequently lament the dearth of decent roles for those over 35, Hollywood on Tuesday nominated one of the strongest, most complex group of female performers seen at the Oscars for years.

"These are not big hambone dramatic roles. These are really psychologically complicated parts that delve into the souls and hearts of these women. What's so terrific this year is that we've got so many of them," said Oscar pundit Tom O'Neil.

From Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore in "The Hours," the intensely emotional drama about three diverse women, to the hi-jinks of Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Queen Latifah in girl-power musical "Chicago," the best actress and best supporting actress Oscar nominations reflected the range and depth of Hollywood's leading women.

"The Hours" and "Chicago" -- also both nominated for best film -- could hardly be more different in their style, tone and subject matter yet they both break the Hollywood mold.

"Look at Renee Zellweger, in 'Chicago.' This is not any woman singing and dancing 'the hills are alive with the sound of music.' She is kicking up her heels trying to get away with murder. These are not your typical Hollywood heroines," O'Neil told Reuters.

Salma Hayek, won a best actress nomination for her role as the very atypical, unconventional Mexican artist Frida Kahlo in "Frida." Hayek had lobbied for years to raise the money for the movie and prove that a former Mexican soap star like herself could make her way in Hollywood as an actress, producer and director.

"It's a wonderful year for the women, and also the movies themselves are so diverse," said Frank Pierson, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as the Oscar nominations were announced.

"GALS OVER FIFTY"

Scott Rudin, producer of "The Hours," said film writers were finally recognizing the growing importance of the female audience, and as a result, better parts are being written for actresses.

Kathy Bates, nominated for best supporting actress for playing a sexually adventurous, middle-aged woman in "About Schmidt," said it had been a "banner year" for women.

"It's great to see a range of actresses (nominated). You've got wonderful actresses out there, like Meryl (Streep) and you just want to see what she's going to do next," Bates said. "To us gals over 50, there is a range there, and I hope that continues to play out."

What would the Oscars be without Streep, enjoying critical acclaim for "The Hours" and Oscar nominated for her best supporting role in the quirky comedy "Adaptation?". The nomination, Streep's 13th, took the 53-year-old actress past legend Katharine Hepburn to become the most nominated performer in Oscar history.

Diane Lane, nominated for best actress for portraying an adulterous wife in "Unfaithful," said she has seen a wider range of parts coming to her.

"I think we can see the diversity, and that is always refreshing," she said, "and the fact that 'The Hours' was named best picture by the Hollywood foreign press (Golden Globes) is a wonderful vote for the strength of women's roles."

Julianne Moore was nominated both for best actress for her role in the 1950s domestic drama "Far From Heaven" and as best supporting actress for "The Hours,.

But she doubted that the strong showing for women in 2002 would necessarily pay off in terms of better roles.

"It's nice to be nominated in a year when there is this much attention for women," Moore said.

"I don't know that it's a trend, but I do think it shows audiences are interested in more substantive films ... it's great material, and the fact that there are ideas behind the movies, that is what is resonating with audiences."

Polanski's Fugitive Status Clouds Oscar Chances

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Filmmaker Roman Polanski might be considered a front-runner to claim the Academy Award as best director for his acclaimed Holocaust drama "The Pianist," except for one thing -- he's a fugitive from justice.

The fact that Polanski fled to France in 1978 as he was about to be sentenced for having sex with a minor and faces arrest the moment he sets foot in the United States makes it highly unlikely that he will show up for the Academy Awards, even if he wins.

The 69-year-old director, a French citizen who resides in Paris, would hardly be the first absentee Oscar winner. Marlon Brando, George C. Scott and Woody Allen have all snubbed the Academy Awards, but Polanski would be the first kept from collecting his statuette by the threat of incarceration.

"He has no plans to come to the United States," his Los Angeles-based agent, Jeff Berg, told Reuters on Tuesday. "He lives in Europe, and his home is there, and the legal issues are unresolved, and he has no plan for returning."

Polanski himself made no mention of his legal quandary in a brief statement issued by the film's U.S. distributor, Focus Features: "I am deeply honored by these nominations and regard them as a tribute to all those who made such fine contributions to 'The Pianist."'

"The Pianist," which garnered a total of seven Oscar nominations and was voted best film at Cannes last spring, is based on the 1946 memoir of pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew who survived Nazi-occupied Warsaw. But Polanski drew heavily on his childhood Holocaust experiences, including his memory of his father telling him, "Walk, don't run," as he escaped a roundup of Jews sent to Auschwitz.

Polanski has earned a measure of sympathy in Hollywood for having lived through another personal tragedy -- the murder of his pregnant wife, the 26-year-old actress Sharon Tate, by followers of Charles Manson in 1969.

PUNISHMENT ENOUGH?

The victim at the center of the 25-year-old statutory rape case against him, now a married mother of three living in Hawaii, also has said she forgives Polanski and believes his exile from Hollywood has been punishment enough.

Polanski originally was indicted on six counts, including rape, for having sex with a 13-year-old girl while she was under the influence of alcohol and drugs. The director insisted the sex was consensual but pleaded guilty to a single count of having sex with a minor, punishable by up to 20 years in prison. He fled to France shortly before sentencing.

A civil suit brought by the girl's family was eventually settled. And in 1997, a series of closed meetings between the director's lawyer, prosecutors and a judge sparked speculation that a deal was in the works to permit the filmmaker to return, but nothing ever happened.

One Oscar pundit, Tom O'Neil, said Polanski would be a clear favorite to win the Oscar were it not for his legal past, though he still has a "realistic" chance of an upset victory. O'Neil said Hollywood has a long history of forgiving the sex scandals of its stars on the Oscar stage, citing extramarital affairs by actresses Ingrid Bergman and Elizabeth Taylor as examples. Taylor, widely seen as having broken up Eddie Fisher's marriage to Debbie Reynolds, went on to win an Oscar for "Butterfield 8." Bergman was named best actress for "Anastasia" several years after she sparked a public furor by having a child out of wedlock with Italian director Roberto Rossellini.

Polanski's nomination for "The Pianist" is his third as a director, with previous nods for the 1979 drama "Tess" and 1974's "Chinatown." He also received a screenplay nomination for "Rosemary's Baby."

A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Sandi Gibbons, said the status of Polanski's case remains unchanged. She said a retired lawyer who still represents Polanski contacts prosecutors about once a year, and did so in the last few months.

But because the director had already pleaded guilty and was waiting to be sentenced when he fled, "it's not within our power to ease the way for Mr. Polanski. He has to make arrangements with the court," Gibbons said.

On Further Review

After taking a closer look at the entire list of nominees for the 75th Annual Academy Awards here are the nominations that caught my eye. Some catches were good, some surprised me.

Here we go!

BIGGEST YEAH- "Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN" nominated for Best Original Screenplay!

YEAH- To Nicole Kidman for her nomination!

YEAH- To Julianne Moore for her two nominations.

SHOCK- "Chicago" with 13 nominations?!? Last year's "Moulin Rouge" was and is a better film!

NOT SHOCKED- No nomination for Richard Gere. His politics are too out in the open.

WONDER- Salma Hayek gets a nomination for "Frida"?!? She has always been beautiful, but can she act now?

GET USED TO HEARING THIS- "The Time Machine" is now an Academy Award nominee! So is "Spider-man."

NO SHOCK- Harvey Weinstein's Miramax studio has 38 Nominations.

WHAT?!?- "Treasure Planet" for Best Animated Feature? Obviously they absolutely HAD to have 5 nominees.

YEAH- "Spirited Away" was nominated for Best Amimated Feature!

SADLY- No Hugh Grant for "About A Boy" and no "About A Boy" for Best Picture.

DITTO- For Nia Vardalos and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

ROCK THE HOUSE- I hope Eminem performs! Yes, Eminem is now an Academy Award Nominee. So are U2 and Paul Simon.

CAN EMINEM WIN?- Well, Prince won for "Purple Rain."

YEAH- Michael Moore's documentary "Bowling For Columbine got a nod!

FINALLY- This is a great Oscar Race!

DAN'S OSCAR PICKS AS OF RIGHT NOW (I reserve the right to change these as the race goes on):

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Daniel Day-Lewis

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Chris Cooper

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Nicole Kidman

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Queen Latifah

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
ICE AGE

DIRECTING
Martin Scorsese- GANGS OF NEW YORK

BEST PICTURE
CHICAGO

'Chicago' Leads Oscar Nominations With 13

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - "Chicago" leads Oscar contenders with 13 nominations. "Gangs of New York" has ten nominations.

The best picture nominees are "Chicago," "Gangs of New York," "The Hours," "The Two Towers" and "The Pianist."

The nominees for best actor are Adrien Brody for "The Pianist," Nicolas Cage for "Adaptation," Michael Caine for "The Quiet American," Daniel Day-Lewis for "Gangs of New York" and Jack Nicholson for "About Schmidt."

The nominees for best actress are Salma Hayek for "Frida," Nicole Kidman for "The Hours," Diane Lane for "Unfaithful," Julianne Moore for "Far From Heaven," and Renee Zellweger for "Chicago."

Meryl Streep became the most nominated person in history by earning her 13th nomination for "Adaptation."

Here's the complete list of nominees.

Winners will be announced March 23 in Los Angeles.

...it's Oscars.org.

Here Is Some Academy Awards Trivia

BIGGEST AWARD WINNERS: FILMS

Ben-Hur - 11
Titanic - 11
West Side Story - 10
Gigi - 9
The Last Emporer - 9
The English Patient - 9
Gone with the Wind - 8
From Here to Eternity - 8
On the Waterfront - 8
My Fair Lady - 8
Cabaret - 8
Gandhi - 8
Amadeus - 8

Want more trivia?

Robert Duvall slams Canadian actors

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Veteran actor Robert Duvall is badmouthing Canadian actors.

Last summer, Duvall spent 13 weeks in the Calgary area filming the western Open Range with Kevin Costner and Annette Bening.

Duvall, 71, was in Washington for a press junket and for yesterday's world premier of Ted Turner's epic Civil War drama Gods and Generals, which opens Feb. 21.

"I prefer not to work in Canada. I prefer to work in my own country. There are better actors down here. That's why they have to import so many actors for their Canadian productions," said Duvall.

A man of his word, Duvall says he insisted Secondhand Lions, the film he made with Michael Caine shortly after Open Range, be shot in Texas.

"I said I wasn't interested in shooting it in Canada. It was a Texas story and had to be shot in Texas."

His comments puzzled the Calgary film community.

Local actress Pat Benedict, who worked for 10 days on Open Range in scenes with Costner and Duvall, says "it was never apparent by (Duvall's) demeanour that he was displeased with the level of acting by Calgary actors.

"He seemed to be having a great time. He was very funny and very friendly. He ate with the crew and with the supporting actors, which is not always the case with visiting stars."

Calgary-based actor Ran-dy Birch, who is also president of the local chapter of the national union ACTRA, says Costner "was very complimentary about my work in a scene I did with Mr. Duvall and Michael Jeter.

"At the end of the day, he made a point of telling me how pleased he was, and I heard he did the same for so many of the local actors no matter how small their roles."

Jackie Lind, who did Canadian casting for Open Range through her company Jackie Lind Casting Ltd., insists Duvall's sentiments were not shared by Costner, who directed and stars in the film.

"At the wrap party, Kevin said he was impressed not just with the calibre of talent in Canada, but in particular the talent pool in Calgary."

Duvall may not have been impressed with Canadian actors, but he had high praise for the Calgary area.

"I can't say I've seen every mountain range in the world but those Rocky Mountains are the most spectacular I've ever seen."

New 'Survivor' Splits Up Sexes

NEW YORK - How's this for a selling point? "Survivor" host Jeff Probst says splitting contestants into separate teams for men and women had the unexpected benefit of promoting nudity.

CBS won't be able to show it, of course, when the sixth edition of "Survivor," from the Amazon, debuts Thursday. But a little sexiness never hurt.

"With all the women together, there's no modesty," Probst said Monday in an interview with The Associated Press.

Male contestants were immediately cocky when they heard of the arrangement, Probst said. And he wondered, too, when the men immediately started building a shelter and the women spent time talking.

But the women were laying a different kind of foundation, finding out about the people they would be competing against for a $1 million prize, he said.

While not physically as strong, the women realized they had certain other advantages in competing against men stuck together for weeks in the tropics — including the strategic use of a string bikini.

"The women knew they could manipulate them," Probst said, "and the men were ready to be manipulated."

Only 3 More Days!

The early word from my guy on the inside is:

"Everyone in it is good. Except Ben Affleck. I say no more."

Oh well, I'm still excited!

Own It, Watch It, Love it!

The best news about today's new DVD and Video releases is that MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING isnow available!

Winnipeg born Nia Vardalos' MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING is the biggest romantic comedy and indie film of all time - grossing over $210 million. And it only cost $5 million to make.

Based on Vardalos' one-woman show about dealing with her family while romancing actor Ian Gomez (Felicity, Norm, Drew Carey Show), the film also stars John Corbett, Lainie Kazan, Andrea Martin, and Joey Fatone (but don't let him being in it stop you from owning it!).

The DVD features audio commentary from Vardalos, Corbett, and director Joel Zwick.

Get some feta cheese and some souvlaki and enjoy! OPA!

Today's New DVD and Video Releases

In addition to My Big Fat Greek Wedding there are several other great titles coming out today on DVD and Video. And they begin and end with:

X-MEN 1.5- This week's special DVD release of the first X-MEN film features a number of new extras not found on the film's prior release, including new deleted scenes, and new audio commentary from director Bryan Singer and actors Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, and Hugh Jackman. Also featured is a "sizzle reel" offering an exclusive sneak peak at the May 2nd release of the X-MEN sequel. If you already have this on DVD I have one word for you: SUCKER!

ANGEL: SEASON ONE - The first season of The WB series ANGEL is collected in a 6-disc DVD set offered through FOX Home Entertainment. Select episodes from the 22-episode season include audio commentary tracks and script features, and the set also includes photo galleries and featurettes.

Here are the other major releases coming to video and DVD today, Tuesday, February 11th, 2003:

SWEPT AWAY- Madonna stars in one of the biggest stinkers of all time, and I include her "Shanghai Surprise" in that list.

POSSESSION- Gwyneth Paltrow stars in this art film you had to live in a big city in order to see it theatrically...until today!

FULL FRONTAL- A film starring Julia Roberst, from the director of her "Erin Brokovich." Nope, lightning doesn't strike twice.

BROWN SUGAR- This is a great romantic comedy (read: chick flick) that stars Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan

And the rest:

THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH: SPECIAL EDITION (DVD)
A POLISH VAMPIRE IN BURBANK (VHS & DVD)
MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER COLLECTION, Vol. 2 (DVD)

Fans Find 29 Mistakes in 'Gangs of New York'

HOLLYWOOD (Zap2it.com) - Maybe Martin Scorsese should re-title "Gangs of New York" as "Gangs of Historical Inaccuracies."

The website MovieMistakes.com has found 29 mistakes in the horrible, yet Oscar nominated, film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis.

One of the biggest mistakes involves the Brooklyn Bridge. Near the end of the film a scene set in 1863, the bridge is shown in the background. The bridge wasn't constructed until 1870.

In another scene, the American flag has 50 stars, long before the country had 50 states. Also, in one scene, bananas can clearly be seen on the floor -- even though they weren't introduced in America until 20 to 30 years later. Other mistakes include guns that disappear, facial cuts mysteriously switching cheeks and a draft riot lasting four days when in reality it only lasted three.

In addition, inaccuracies in the film's make-up, which includes hair styles, may have contributed to the film not being considered for an Oscar nod in the category. However, the film is relatively error-free compared to last year's "Spider-Man," in which fans found 150 mistakes, or "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," which has 145 errors listed. Topping the list of the film to have the most mistakes is "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," which has 206 errors.

Courtney Love Apologizes To Virgin

Courtney Love is once again allowed to fly on Virgin Atlantic Airways, despite having been removed from one of its flights last Monday (February 3) after she verbally assaulted a flight attendant.

At a charity event sponsored by Elton John on Wednesday (February 5), Love ran into Virgin founder Richard Branson and offered him and his airline an apology for her on-board tirade. In a statement on the matter, Branson reports, "Courtney was a little out of order on the flight over and apologized to me. We are looking forward to flying her back to L.A."

During her flight into London's Heathrow Airport, Love refused to sit down and put her seatbelt on upon descent. Love also berated a flight attendant who would not permit the singer's personal assistant to visit the first-class cabin. When the plane landed in London, British authorities arrested her for being disruptive and creating a disturbance during an international flight.

What is The ANIMATRIX?

Fans of THE MATRIX and/or anime will want to check out the upcoming video and DVD release THE ANIMATRIX, due out from WARNER Home Video on June 3rd.

THE ANIMATRIX features nine original animated shorts conceived by the Wachowski Brothers; the creators of the MATRIX trilogy. The brothers W. wrote four of the nine shorts, with the anime directors themselves handling the remaining five.

The 9-minute short "The Final Flight of Osiris," which serves as a prelude to the May 15th release of THE MATRIX RELOADED, will also air in theaters attached to DREAMCATCHER, starting March 21st.

THE ANIMATRIX features a soundtrack supervised by Jason Bentley (Metropolis, KROQ After Hours), with artists including MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO, DEATH IN VEGAS, and JUNO REACTOR.

Visit theanimatrix.com and enjoy!

Lady Heather Returns in a 90-minute CSI

Elizabeth Berkley (Showgirls, Saved by the Bell) guest stars on a special 90-minute episode of CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION this Thursday night at 9:30, on CBS.

In the episode - "Lady Heather's Box" - Melinda Clarke returns for another guest appearance as dominatrix Lady Heather, whose romantic relationship with Grissom continues until she becomes a murder suspect in an investigation into the death of two male escorts.

Now Available At A Store Near You (even Though Most Of It Isn't Very Good)!

It has been more than a few weeks since we provided you with a list of the new CD releases available in stores, and some of you haven't been happy about that.

So in order to appease the masses, here are the new CD releases for Tuesday, February 11th, 2003:

* 50 CENT Get Rich Or Die Tryin' (Shady/Interscope)
* ALL MIGHTY SENATORS Music Is Big Business (Dog Eat Dog Records)
* AMBER Naked (Tommy Boy)
* BEAUTIFUL MISTAKE EP (EP) (Militia Group)
* BEAUTIFUL MISTAKE Light A Match For I Deserve To Burn (Militia Group)
* BLACKSTREET Level II (DreamWorks)
* BLACKSTREET No Diggity: Very Best Of (Interscope)
* BLU CANTRELL Bittersweet (Arista)
* BLUE Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word (CD Single) (Virgin)
* CAROL WELSMAN Language Of Love (Savoy Jazz)
* DEATH ON WEDNESDAY Buying The Lie (TVT)
* DEBBIE DAVIES Key To Love (Shanachie)
* DIXIE CHICKS An Evening With The Dixie Chicks (DVD Video) (Sony)
* DONALD FAGEN Kamakiriad (DVD Audio) (Rhino)
* EARTH, WIND & FIRE Live In Rio (Kalimba)
* GEORGE STRAIT For The Last Time: Live At The Astrodome (MCA Nashville)
* HALL & OATES Do It For Love (Sony)
* HOLLAND Photographs & Tidalwaves (Tooth & Nail)
* HOPESFALL No Wings To Speak Of (Trustkill)
* HOPESFALL Satellite Years (Trustkill)
* JANIS JOPLIN Essential (Remastered) (Sony Music Direct)
* JEFFREY GAINES Toward The Sun (Sony)
* JENNIFER LOPEZ Let's Get Loud (DVD Video) (Sony)
* JOHN FAHEY Red Cross (Revenant)
* JOHN HAMMOND Ready For Love (Backporch/Virgin)
* JOHN MAYER Any Given Thursday (Columbia)
* JOHN OATES Phunk Shui (Navarre)
* JOJO HERMANN Defector (Fat Possum)
* JOOLS HOLLAND Small World Big Band Volume 2 (Warner)
* JUNKHOUSE Rounders: Best of (Columbia)
* KENNY BROWN Genuine Stingray (Fat Possum)
* LIONEL RICHIE Definitive Collection (Remastered) (Motown)
* MAHALIA JACKSON In My Home Over There (MCA)
* MASSIVE ATTACK 100th Window (EMI/Virgin)
* MOUNTAIN BROTHERS Triple Crown (Babygrande)
* NATALIE GRANT Deeper Life (Curb)
* NECK Should My Fist Eye (Militia Group)
* NICK CAVE Nocturama (Anti/Epitaph)
* NICK CURRAN Doctor Velvet (Blind Pig)
* OASIS Songbird (CD Single) (Epic)
* OPHELIE WINTER Explicit Lyrics (WEA)
* OZZY OSBOURNE Essential Ozzy Osbourne (Sony)
* RUSH The Spirit Of Radio (Anthem)
* SANDRA BEECH Pretend Box Songs: Best Of (Page)
* SOCIALBURN Where You Are (Elektra)
* SUSAN TEDESCHI Wait For Me (Artemis)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS 2003 Grammy Nominees (Warner)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS Hank Williams Jr. Tribute (Warner)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS We're A Happy Family: A Tribute To The Ramones (Sony)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS Song Poem Anthology (Bar None)
* VERONICA Hope For A Brighter Future (Militia Group)
* VINCE GILL Next Big Thing (MCA Nashville)
* YARDBIRDS Yardbirds (DVD Video) (Warner)

New Fleetwood Mac due in April

Fleetwood Mac will release its first new album with Lindsay Buckingham since 1987 on April 15, Rolling Stone reports.

"Say You Will," will feature Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, and Buckingham, but not keyboardist/singer Christine McVie.

"(Christine's departure) kind of freed the Fleetwood Mac situation to be looked at in a fresh light and in some ways in the dynamic that Stevie and I had going before we joined the band," Buckingham said. "But this music is the best that I've ever done on my own, or with Fleetwood Mac, tapping into some new areas," he said.

Some of the songs contributed by Buckingham are up to nine years old and have been considered for use on solo projects.

The band is planning a world tour, set to begin in May.

Coming Soon On DVD

Here's an update on Universal Music's upcoming The Police: Every Breath You Take - The DVD, due March 18.

The disc will include the original music videos for Roxanne, Can't Stand Losing You, Message in a Bottle, Walking on the Moon, So Lonely, Don't Stand So Close to Me, De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da, Every Little Thing She Does is Magic, Invisible Sun, Spirits in the Material World, Every Breath You Take, Wrapped Around Your Finger, Synchronicity II and Don't Stand So Close to Me '86, all with newly remastered audio in Dolby Digital 5.1 & 2.0 and DTS 5.1 formats.

Bonus features will include Can't Stand Losing You and Next to You as performed live on the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test program, The Police in Montserrat (a 45-minute, behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of the Ghost in the Machine album, featuring Demolition Man, One World (Not Three), Spirits in the Material World and Every Little Thing She Does is Magic), the Studies in Synchronicity album promo featurette and a complete discography of the band (which includes the new remasters and SACDs). The disc is NTSC and encoded for all regions.

I hope to watch mine with Miss Gradenko.

Lollapalooza Music Festival Revived After 6 Years

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Six years after the Lollapalooza traveling music festival played its last note, some of the top names in rock will hit the road for a new version this summer, organizers said on Monday.

Lollapalooza will be headlined by Jane's Addiction -- the alternative rock quartet who conceived the event in 1991 as a way to mark its brief swan song -- and emerging acts Audioslave, Incubus, Queens of the Stone Age and Jurassic 5.

Members of the bands gathered at a Hollywood record store to announce the details, and Jane's Addiction performed three songs for the press corps and several hundred fans.

In its seven years of operation, Lollapalooza grouped such disparate acts as Pearl Jam and Ice-T (1993), Smashing Pumpkins and Nick Cave (1994), and Metallica and Devo (1996) on the same bill. Fans could watch a dozen bands on a single day, and also take in various exhibits. While such festivals are commonplace in Europe, they have been slow to catch on in America.

"When Lollapalooza first emerged, it completely changed the face of popular music," said Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello, who previously played a few shows during the 1996 installment with his former band Rage Against the Machine.

"It took a lot of cutting-edge bands and forged them into a musical community that changed music in America. It was probably the most important tour to ever trek across the United States," Morello added.

But the juice ran out of Lollapalooza by 1997, when the lineup was headed by hard rock bands Korn and Tool. Some fans and critics complained that the event was becoming too mainstream.

"It's never a bad idea to take a rest especially, when you're exhausted, to think about things and restrategize and wait for -- I would call it the perfect wave," said Perry Farrell, the Jane's Addiction singer and surfing enthusiast who co-owns Lollapalooza.

Dates and venues will be announced imminently, a spokeswoman said. Lollapalooza will visit 27 U.S. cities and Toronto over July and August. More bands are also expected to be added to the bill.

Lisa Marie Presley Follows in Dad's Footsteps

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Twenty-five years after Elvis Presley's death, the only child of the king of rock 'n' roll is launching her own musical career with a newly issued record that has some critics all shook up.

"Lights Out," the bluesy first single from Lisa Marie Presley's upcoming debut album, was officially released to radio stations around North America on Monday, the latest example of pop music progeny following in the footsteps of famous parents.

Whether Lisa Marie, 35, achieves the success of Jakob Dylan, Julian Lennon or Hank Williams Jr. remains to be seen. Her recording debut poses the twin challenges of overcoming inevitable comparisons to her legendary father and years of tabloid headlines borne of her high-profile former marriages to Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage.

But "Lights Out," which contains an eerie lyrical reference to her Presley heritage, has received glowing early reviews.

Los Angeles Times music writer Robert Hilburn calls the song "a powerful, hauntingly personal work" and writes that Presley's "gutsy, blues-edged voice has a distinctive flair."

Bill Ellis, writing for the Memphis, Tennessee, Commercial Appeal, says that judging from a four-track sampler circulated to critics, the album is "better than you might think."

"Lisa Marie is a solid singer with plenty of character in her husky voice, a cross somewhere between Sheryl Crow and Cher," he wrote.

'SERIOUS ARTIST'

The album, "To Whom It May Concern," is due out April 8, and "Lights Out" actually has received some advance airplay since it was leaked to a Memphis station last month.

"We wouldn't play it unless it was a good record," Los Angeles radio station KIIS-FM's program director, John Ivey told the Times. "This record has the stamp of a serious artist all over it."

Presley, who was 9 when her father died in 1977 and was raised by her mother, actress Priscilla Presley, confronts her family's past with haunting lyrics:

"Someone turned the lights out there in Memphis/That's where my family's buried and gone/Last time I was there I noticed a space left/Next to them there in Memphis in the damn back lawn."

"I never wanted to write a song, ever, about anything indicating my genetic code whatsoever, or my background. But if I had to do it, then 'Lights Out' would be that song," Presley said in promotional materials for the album. "It's kind of a darker, odd take on it. It's not like, 'Woo! I'm from Memphis, and look at my life and it's so wonderful."'

"Lights Out" was produced by Capitol Records president Andrew Slater, who previously has worked with such acts as Fiona Apple, Macy Gray and Jakob Dylan's band, the Wallflowers.

Although lyrics for the album were penned almost entirely by Presley, she received songwriting help from Glen Ballard, the producer who signed her five years ago to his then- Capitol-distributed label and is best known for his work on Alanis Morissette's blockbuster release "Jagged Little Pill."

Other collaborators include songwriter-musician Danny Keough, Presley's first husband and still close friend, as well as former Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan, who co-wrote and plays on a track titled "Savior."

Dell's 'Steven' Arrested in NY for Marijuana

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actor Benjamin Curtis, who plays the wise-cracking "Steven" in Dell Computer Corp's "Dude, yer gettin' a Dell" commercials, was arrested for marijuana possession, officials said on Monday.

Curtis, 22, was charged with criminal and unlawful possession of marijuana, two misdemeanor charges that carry possible jail sentences of up to three months.

However, at his arraignment on Monday afternoon, Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Ellen Coin adjourned the case for one year and said the charges could be dismissed if Curtis, who lives in New York City, gets in no trouble for the next 12 months.

Police had spotted Curtis on a street corner in Manhattan's Lower East Side holding a plastic bag filled with marijuana late on Sunday evening, according to court papers filed in Manhattan Criminal Court.

The arresting officer said he saw another man, identified as 19-year-old Omar Mendez, give the bag of marijuana to Curtis for an undisclosed sum of money, according to the complaint.

It did not say how much marijuana was in the bag.

Neither Curtis, who appeared disheveled after his night in jail, nor his attorney would comment on the case after his release.

Dell, the No. 2 personal computer company which makes most of its money selling to businesses and schools, began television and print commercials featuring "Steven" three years ago, but lately had moved to a less "dude-centric" advertising campaign.

Venancio Figueroa, a spokesman for the Round Rock, Texas-based Dell said: "We really are not commenting as to Benjamin's future plans for the 'Steven' character."

Madonna to Deliver Anti-War Message in Video

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Madonna, who cultivated her pop vixen image in the music video genre she helped popularize 20 years ago, is using her latest video performance to speak out against a possible U.S. war with Iraq.

The Material Girl plays out her anti-war message, including a scene in which she lobs a grenade at a fashion show, in a video being produced for the title track and first single of her upcoming album, "American Life," due for release in April.

The elaborate video was shot last week in Los Angeles, and post-production work is under way, said Madonna's spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg, who denied that the 44-year-old singer was singling out President Bush for criticism.

"This is not a Madonna statement against George Bush," Rosenberg told Reuters on Monday. "It's certainly an anti-war statement and a statement about the horrors of war," she said, adding that the singer was moved by the prospect of an impending U.S. war with Iraq.

Madonna becomes the latest in a chorus of pop stars, from Dave Matthews to Sheryl Crow, to lend their voices to expressions of opposition to U.S. military action against Iraq.

According to a description released by Rosenberg, the Madonna video opens as a fashion show of runway models wearing couture camouflage and combat fatigues, then "escalates into a mad frenzy depicting the catastrophic repercussions and horror of war."

At one point, Madonna herself appears on the catwalk and throws a hand grenade toward the audience, Rosenberg said.

The video, she said, "expresses a panoramic view of our culture and the looming war through the view of a female superhero portrayed by Madonna."

Rosenberg said the video was expected to be released in March, about a month before the album, Madonna's first collection of new studio material since her 2000 LP "Music."

The video was directed by Jonas Akerlund, who also collaborated with the pop singer on her "Ray of Light" video several years ago, the publicist said.

Madonna Fights J.Lo for Worst Actress Award

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - If you think the Oscar battle for best actress is going to be close, wait until you see who's duking it out for the dubious honor of being named the year's worst actress: Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie.

The nominations for the Golden Raspberry or Razzie awards for 2002's worst films, actors and actresses were announced on Monday, a day ahead of Oscar nominations, and this year the worst actress category seems to be swept away by a high profile who's who of talent, beauty and bad luck.

Competing for worst picture are critical flops that include Eddie Murphy's $85 million down-the-toilet action film "The Adventures of Pluto Nash," Madonna's spoiled wife epic "Swept Away," Spears' wooden screen debut "Crossroads" and Oscar winner Roberto Benigni's wooden remake of "Pinocchio."

Add to the mix George Lucas' latest entry in what Razzie organizers call a series from a galaxy far, far too long: "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones."

In filmdom's main event, the Academy Awards, the fight for best actress is expected to be particularly tough this year, with nominations expected for Meryl Streep, Renee Zellweger, Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore.

The Razzies also are going to be a close fight but in a far worse way. Spears is nominated for "Crossroads," Madonna for "Swept Away," Jolie for the box office bomb "Life Or Something Like It," Ryder for "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town," and Lopez has a shot with two films, "Enough" and "Maid in Manhattan.

Now that may be a fight that many a film fan would say was too close to call.

Murphy in "Pluto Nash" leads the list for worst actor followed by Benigni for "Pinocchio," Adriano Giannini for "Swept Away," Steven Seagal in "Half Past Dead" and previous worst actor winner Adam Sandler with a chance to win for two films, "Adam Sandler's 8 Crazy Nights" and "Mr. Deeds."

In the worst supporting actor category, it's a fight between Hayden Christensen in the latest "Star Wars," Tom Green for "Stealing Harvard," Freddie Prinze Jr. for "Scooby Doo: Where Are You" Christopher Walken for "The Country Bears" and Robin Williams in "Death To Smoochy."

Up for worst supporting actress are Lara Flynn Boyle for "Men in Black II," Bo Derek, "Master of Disguise," Madonna for her blink-of-an-eye appearance in "Die Another Day," Natalie Portman, "Star Wars" and Rebecca Ramijn-Stamos, "Rollberball."

The Razzies are ushering in new category to mark its 23rd annual awards: "Most Flatulent Teen-Targeted Movie" and the nominees are: "Adam Sandler's 8 Crazy Nights," "Crossroads," "Jackass: The Movie," "Scooby Doo" and "XXX."

Nominees for Worst Screen Couple were: Adriano Giannini and Madonna in "Swept Away," Roberto Benigni and Nicoletta Braschi in "Pinocchio," Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman in "Star Wars," Eddie Murphy paired with either Robert DeNiro in "Showtime," Owen Wilson in "I Spy" or himself cloned in "Pluto Nash," and Britney Spears and Anson Mount in "Crossroads."

The battle for worst director came down to Benigni for "Pinocchio," Tamra Davis for "Crossroads," George Lucas for "Star Wars" Madonna's husband, Guy Ritchie, for "Swept Away" and Ron Underwood for "The Adventures of Pluto Nash."

The Razzies are handed out on March 22 or, as the organizers like to say, "24 hours BEFORE That Other Awards Show, a.k.a. 'The Giving Out of the Little Gold Naked Men."

Thursday, 9 pm!

'Rushmore' Writers Wilson and Anderson Reteam for Oceanography Script

HOLLYWOOD (Zap2it.com) -- Owen Wilson says he plans to team up for a fourth time with his longtime friend and co-collaborator Wes Anderson after he finishes up some of his acting projects.

As his latest film "Shanghai Knights" opens, Wilson, 34, admits he plans to go back to writing again with Anderson, who co-wrote the scripts for "Bottle Rocket," "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenembaums" which brought both of them Oscar nominations last year for best original screenplay.

"Wes has actually a story about an oceanographer that we hope to film in September maybe," Wilson reveals, talking to Zap2it about his future scripts. "It will be with the same group of people we usually work with. In every movie I end up writing a little bit, but you know, when you sit down and you write a whole story -- I haven't done that in a long time."

With less than a decade in the movie business, he has both writing and acting projects under his belt, including the "Shanghai Noon" sequel with Jackie Chan. He just finished "The Big Bounce" directed by George Armitage ("Miami Blues," "Grosse Pointe Blank") and based on a novel by Elmore Leonard.

"I worked in a movie in Hawaii, with Morgan Freeman," he says about the movie. "We had two weeks hiatus, after the director got sick, but then we finished that."

"The Big Bounce" book was set in a Michigan resort town, but it was changed to Hawaii to make the movie more exotic and different from the original 1969's film starring Ryan O'Neal. Planned for a September release, he plays a vagabond who accepts a job taking care of an ailing Hawaii judge played by Freeman. This leads Ryan to get involved with a beautiful but suspicious woman (Sara Foster,) who will give him some trouble.

"Then I start a movie here in like a month or so, 'Starsky and Hutch,' with Ben Stiller, I think it should be good, with some drama," continues Wilson, speaking of the '70s TV show remake for the big screen. He doesn't mention that his last such venture, "I Spy" with Eddie Murphy, did poorly at the box office.

Directed by Todd Philips ("Hated," "Road Trip," "Bittersweet Motel"), Wilson says he's looking forward to adapting 1975 to 1978 ABC police series starring Paul Michael Glaser (Starsky) and David Soul (Hutch.) Wilson will play Hutch, while Starsky will be embodied by his friend and co-producer of the movie Ben Stiller, with whom Wilson had already worked in "The Cable Guy," "Zoolander" and "Meet the Parents."

Dixie Chicks Release Live DVD, Launch New Website

The Dixie Chicks are set to release a live DVD/VHS of their full-length concert for the first time on February 11. An Evening With The Dixie Chicks includes all the songs from the award-winning trio's NBC special concert, plus seven additional songs not seen in the TV broadcast, for a total of 16 songs. The show was recorded over two nights at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles.

There's no doubt that Dixie Chicks members Natalie Maines, Emily Robison, and Martie Maguire had quite a hand in the final outcome of the DVD/VHS. The trio has made a point to be very involved in every aspect of their career, and have the final say in anything that goes out with their names on it.

In fact, the multiplatinum-selling act has been approached by a multitude of companies hoping the Chicks will lend their image to various products, but few get the Chicks' approval, according to Maguire. "We just think a lot of things are sellouts," Maguire said. "We get approached with a lot of endorsement deals--clothing line deals, makeup deals--and if we don't wear it or use it then we don't want to sell it, and I don't have any regrets with that at all. I really feel like we stick to our guns, and I hope we don't get a bad reputation for it."

Being strong-willed women in a tough industry has worked both for and against the Dixie Chicks. "People might say we're hard to work for--I don't know--or work with, but I know we care," Marguire said. "I know we spend a lot of time trying to make the music right, and so we're very picky about what gets put out, and I'm sure we drive our label crazy too because we wanna know every picture, can't change our mixes on our songs, and we just wanna know what's gettin' out to the public, so we usually wanna have our grubby little hands in everything."

The Dixie Chicks have teamed up with Yahoo! for the official Dixie Chicks Artist Club, the first club of its kind on the Internet giant. Fans who pay a yearly $30 fee will receive a host of benefits, including premium pre-sale concert tickets; exclusive videos and performances; tour diaries from Maines, Maguire, and Robison; backstage photos; and entrance in special contests.

"Control freaks that we are, Martie, Emily and I spent considerable time with Yahoo! coming up with some great new ways we can better serve the people who have made us what we are today--the fans," said Maines. "We have renewed enthusiasm about actively participating in our official website, we're grateful to the people at Yahoo! for understanding us, and we're excited that the new and improved site is up and running."

You can access the new website by logging onto dixiechicks.com.

Eminem Planning Only One U.S. Show in '03

DETROIT - Superstar rapper Eminem plans only one U.S. concert this year and it will be in his hometown of Detroit.

Also appearing at the July 12 show at the new downtown football stadium will be Missy Elliott and 50 Cent.

"His entire North American tour takes place at Ford Field," Rick Franks of Clear Channel Entertainment told the Detroit Free Press. "We look at it as the highlight of the summer."

Metallica also plans to play in July at Ford Field, which hosted the Rolling Stones in October and holds about 45,000 people for concerts.

Ebert Recovering From Cancer Surgery

CHICAGO (AP) — Film critic Roger Ebert is recuperating from follow-up surgery for papillary cancer, a common and curable type of thyroid cancer.

The 60-year-old movie reviewer for the Chicago Sun-Times and television audiences underwent the procedure Thursday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

"It went very successfully," a hospital spokeswoman said.

A year ago, doctors removed Ebert's thyroid gland and selected lymph nodes in his neck. They said at the time that Ebert was expected to make a complete recovery.

Ebert said in a statement Friday that he would attend screenings on Monday and would cover the Oscar nominations on Tuesday.

"In other words," he said, "it's business as usual."

'How to Lose a Guy' Finds Box Office Gold

LOS ANGELES - Critics called it a bad date movie, but "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" courted movie-goers to the tune of $24.1 million in its first weekend for a No. 1 debut.

The martial-arts action comedy "Shanghai Knights" opened in second place with $19.8 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The musical "Chicago," which tripled its theater count to 1,841 cinemas, climbed to No. 3 with $10.7 million, lifting its total to $63.7 million since opening in limited release at Christmas.

The previous weekend's top movie, the spy thriller "The Recruit," fell to fourth place with $9.5 million.

The weekend's other new wide release, the romantic comedy "Deliver Us From Eva" starring LL Cool J, was No. 6 with $7.1 million.

It was a strong weekend overall, with the top 12 movies grossing $103.1 million, up 22 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Collateral Damage," "Big Fat Liar" and "Rollerball" debuted in the top three box-office spots.

"How to Lose a Guy" stars Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey in a romance of deception between a woman trying to get dumped in 10 days to research a magazine column and a man trying to win a bet that he can make a woman fall in love with him in 10 days. The movie generally was written off by reviewers as cutesy and contrived.

"In this case particularly I think they were way too hard on the movie," said Rob Friedman, vice chairman of Paramount's motion-picture group, which released the romantic comedy. "The public just loves this movie. Kate and Matthew are a tremendous winning combination."

"How to Lose a Guy" should hold well with Valentine's Day coming this weekend, when "guys definitely roll over for whatever a girl wants," Friedman said. "I think we'll have more guys seeing the movie this weekend than last."

"Shanghai Knights," Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson's followup to their mini-hit "Shanghai Noon," features the mismatched buddies on a mission in London to thwart villains trying to usurp the British and Chinese thrones.

Three years ago, "Shanghai Noon" took in $19.6 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend, one of the busiest times at theaters. The sequel slightly exceeded that gross over a three-day weekend during Hollywood's quiet winter season, a sign that the Chan-Wilson franchise picked up new fans through the video release of "Shanghai Noon."

"Shanghai Knights" should end up surpassing the $57 million total gross of the original movie, said Chuck Viane, head of distribution at Disney, which released both flicks.

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. "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," $24.1 million.
2. "Shanghai Knights," $19.8 million.
3. "Chicago," $10.7 million.
4. "The Recruit," $9.5 million.
5. "Final Destination 2," $8.7 million.
6. "Deliver Us From Eva," $7.1 million.
7. "Kangaroo Jack," $5.9 million.
8. "Biker Boyz," $4 million.
9. "Darkness Falls," $3.8 million.
10. "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," $3.4 million.

Clooney Snaps at Critic Who Called 'Solaris' Boring

BERLIN (Reuters) - George Clooney reacted with a stream of invective when a journalist called the American actor's latest film -- the box office flop "Solaris" -- "boring" after it was screened at the Berlin Film Festival.

Clooney, who had even exposed his bare bottom for the camera in one scene in a bid to boost the film's commercial appeal, was happily answering questions at a news conference late on Saturday when a reporter rose to say the film was boring.

"I find you fascinating," Clooney said, responding to the Turkish journalist's remarks on the film, which got decidedly mixed reviews in the United States.

"You crack me up, man. You just wanted to get up and be a rat, you know that? You just wanted to get up and say something rotten. What a jerk! I mean honestly, you know, what a (expletive) thing to say!" said Clooney.

"Solaris," directed by Oscar-winning Steven Soderbergh, is one of 22 films in the running for the "Golden Bear" prize at the Berlin film festival that opened Thursday.

It flopped at the U.S. box office with revenues of just $15 million -- the same as the amount Clooney is said to command for his appearances.

Based on a 1961 novel, "Solaris" is about a psychologist sent to a space station orbiting a planet covered in an energy-rich galactic ocean.

Chris Kelvin, the character played by Clooney, investigates a series of strange deaths on the space station, but is visited by a reincarnation of his long-dead wife that forces him to confront his past.

The novel raises the question whether the ocean is a giant brain that conducts psychoanalytical experiments on the space travelers sent to observe it.

The critical journalist said that much had been written about the film, "but I found it boring."

"You make a lot of films, do you?" Clooney asked rhetorically. "You make a lot of films yourself? Yeah, I'd like to see you make a film first before you get to talk about it. What a jerk!"

Clooney, 41, said he expected "Solaris" to do better in foreign markets. In 2000 the film "The Perfect Storm," in which he starred, had revenues of $182 million.

Soderbergh, asked by the same journalist if he were happy with his film, remained calm. "Yes I am. And thanks for the question," he said.

Even Stanislaw Lem, the Pole who wrote the best-selling novel "Solaris," complained recently about Soderbergh's film, lamenting that it focused on affairs of the heart rather than the head.

Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky made a slow-paced version of the film in 1972 that film enthusiasts regard as a classic.

OSCAR IS SINGING ‘CHICAGO'S' TUNE

Here's a not-so-fearless prediction: "Chicago" will razzle-dazzle the competition and lead the nominations when they're announced early Tuesday morning.

By common consent among my industry sources, "Chicago" is the heaviest Best Picture favorite since "Titanic."

Some of us critics may complain about Richard Gere's lead-footed hoofing, Renée Zellweger's unsteady vocals, the choppy editing and director Rob Marshall's dreary visual sense.

But the film's Oscar-savvy distributor, Miramax, has mounted a campaign that brilliantly capitalizes on many Oscar voters' appetite for musicals.

Another Best Picture slot is assured for the winner of the Golden Globes' drama division: "The Hours."

The third sure thing for Best Picture, insiders say, is the phenomenal "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" - the only picture on the list a sizable number of Americans have seen. But it will not lead nominations as "The Fellowship of the Ring" did last year and almost nobody expects it has much of a shot at Best Picture this time.

That leaves two fiercely contested Best Picture slots.

Some West Coast insiders I've spoken to insist that "About Schmidt" has the fourth slot sewn up, but other Academy members aren't so sure. Jack Nicholson and Kathy Bates seem assured of nominations, but there are doubts the academy will include a comedy (even a dark one about a midlife crisis) in a field dominated by a musical.

Similarly, there's a dark cloud hanging over "The Pianist," a Holocaust drama that has been rapidly gaining ground for Best Picture. That cloud is director Roman Polanski, a fugitive from Hollywood who fled to Paris in 1978 to avoid sentencing after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a minor.

And then there's the murky candidacy of "Gangs of New York," an ultra-violent and wildly uneven epic that has received a very mixed reception but does seem to fit the classic profile of a Best Picture nominee: a hugely ambitious big-budget epic with a megabucks marketing push.

More important, the consensus is that "Gangs" director Martin Scorsese seems to be leading the race for Best Director.

I'm guessing the academy will hold its nose and nominate "Gangs" as Best Picture so Scorsese can collect his guilt-based award.

The final slot, I'm tipping, will go to "The Pianist" - I figure it's hard for Oscar to resist the Holocaust.

The Stripes On Vinyl

Advance copies of the new White Stripes record were sent out only on vinyl, aggravating rock critics. But the Stripes are just trying to prevent it from being uploaded to the Internet.

Jackson says he'll hit back with video of interviewer

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Pop icon Michael Jackson said on Sunday he would authorise the release of video footage to prove a British television documentary about his private life was misleading and unfair.

Jackson's lawyers have already filed complaints with British broadcasting authorities over the film aired last Monday in which the American singer admitted to sharing a bed with children at his Neverland ranch in California.

The rare look at Jackson's private life triggered a storm of controversy including a call for a probe by child welfare services.

In a statement issued in London, Jackson repeated a vehement denial of child abuse allegations made by the British media.

"I am bewildered at the length to which people will go to portray me so negatively," Jackson said.

"I will say again that I have never, and would never, harm a child. It sickens me that people have written things that portray me as a child abuser."

In their complaints Jackson's lawyers called "Living with Michael Jackson" --- the Granada Television documentary fronted by journalist Martin Bashir -- "a gross distortion of the truth" that violated the singer's right to privacy.

In Sunday's statement, issued by a London public relations company, Jackson said he would produce his own video excerpts, filmed by his personal cameraman during the eight-month documentary shoot, to prove Bashir's portrayal was hypocritical.

"The film shows extraordinary scenes of Martin Bashir praising the way Michael treats children and commenting on how good a father he is," the statement said.

"The Jackson footage clearly shows that Bashir was actually continuing to praise Michael's abilities as a father and (shows) Bashir making statements about how he feels it is a pity that the world is so quick to criticise Michael."

"On the face of it, either Martin Bashir was lying to Michael or was misleading his audience on the voiceovers on the film," the statement said, adding that Bashir had been aware he was being filmed during his interviews.

The lawyers had said the filmmakers had used footage of Jackson's children even though he had forbidden them to do so, and had unfairly asked him about a 1993 child abuse allegation without prior warning.

Jackson said the filmmakers had talked to a 12-year-old boy who shared his bed without seeking permission for the interview from the boy's parents.

Nearly one in four Britons watched the documentary in which Jackson vowed to kill himself if there were no kids left in the world.

His two older children, aged five and four, appeared on film with Jackson wearing party masks. The film showed his third child with a veil draped over his head as Jackson fed him with a bottle of milk.

Jackson has been dogged by controversy since 1993 when he reached a multi-million dollar settlement with a 14-year-old California boy who had accused him of sexual molestation.

Details of the accusations resurfaced in Britain's tabloid newspapers on Sunday and a California lawyer has called on child welfare services to probe his life at Neverland.

AC/DC Looking Ahead To New LP, Live Shows

After AC/DC fulfills its contract by delivering its next studio set to Elektra, the veteran rock act will make its subsequent two albums for Epic, guitarist Malcolm Young tells Billboard.com. The two-album deal is part of the extensive contract the band recently signed with the label. As previously reported, the first fruits of that pact arrive Feb. 18, when remastered, extensively repackaged copies of AC/DC albums "Back in Black," "Live" (single- and double-disc versions), "Highway to Hell," "High Voltage, and "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" are reissued.

Another five AC/DC reissues arrive March 25, with yet another batch of five coming May 20. The first group features extensive booklets that include essays by longtime rock scribes David Fricke and David Wild, among others, unreleased photos, reproductions of vintage newspaper clippings, handwritten song lyrics, magazine covers, and ticket stubs. The albums are likely to be issued on vinyl later this year.

There will not be any bonus tracks on the new editions, however. "We really haven't got a lot of spares lying around," says Young, who adds that he and his infamous brother Angus usually work up about 30 to 40 song ideas for each album. From that batch, the group will then come up with about 10 or 12 songs. "We'll go in to do 12, if one or two doesn't make it, we'll go into another batch of ideas that we've got, and maybe do a bit more writing in the studio," he reveals.

"But the bottom line is: what we record is what we use," he continues. "Once we feel we've got a good album, we stop at that. That's usually around 12 tracks. We figure if they're not good enough for the album, we're not going to spend all that time trying to make them good; it's like trying to make something that's not quite there, there; and sometimes, you've got the best out of it, so you go, 'that's gone, that one.'" As a result, any leftovers are in extremely rough form ("too rough to be issued," Malcom says).

This spring, the band will begin to hone a few songs out of the Young brothers' latest batch of ideas for its final Elektra album. Malcom says he and his brother have "more than a bunch" of ideas this time around. The band hasn't yet decided on a producer for the set yet. But Malcom says the band has often thought of once again working with Robert John "Mutt" Lange, helmsman for such classics as "Back in Black," "Highway to Hell," and "For Those About To Rock."

"He did a great job back then for us," he says. "So we've always had the idea, every now and then, maybe we should get Mutt back involved; but it comes down to the songs at the end of the day. If it's just a good ole rock'n'roll album, we may go with George, our brother, who produced the first four or five albums. There's other new producers around at the moment, but we haven't really looked into that ourselves."

It's unclear when the album will be released. "We'd love to do it really quick," Malcolm admits. "We'd like to be on the road tomorrow, to be honest. That's our real job -- that's what we love doing. That's the best part of it, being onstage. I know we've played a lot of the same tracks for many years, but we've got such a good band, especially with (original member) Phil (Rudd) drumming back with it."

"It's different every night, there's a different slant to it; some nights, things just sound 10 times better than they should be," he concludes. "It just gives us that adrenaline charge when we go on. We know we're gonna come off two hours later, but we're pushing it all the way; we build it right through, it's amazing how it happens. It's sort of magical, because you couldn't do it in a rehearsal like that, you need that audience in front, and that's really what gets us going. When we see them going, we just fall in line with them, and keep the energy level up, and then we like to take them over the top, one extra, up to 11!"

I'll Be Back

As if the previous Ultimate Edition of Terminator 2: Judgment Day didn't have enough stuff on it, Artisan Entertainment has announced a new Extreme Edition of the Cameron classic for release on June 20th, just in time for the debut of Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines. What more they will be adding to this one is not yet known, but stay tuned.

It Isn't Even That Great A Movie

In other re-release news, Universal Studios Home Entertainment also bow the new The Fast and the Furious Tricked Out Edition in June, also just in time for its own big budget sequel, the ridiculously titled 2 Fast and 2 Furious.

Jack In A Box

At long last for Jack Ryan fans, Paramount Home Entertainment will finally release The Jack Ryan Special Edition DVD Collection. Featuring newly remastered editions of The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, plus the previously-released special edition of The Sum of All Fears, the set comes loaded with new extras produced exclusively for the collection. And in another first for Paramount, all the titles in the set except for the repackaged Fears will mark the studio's first-ever DTS-encoded releases. Each title will also be available separately and street date is May 6th.

Original Star Wars NEVER To Appear On DVD

There's a story that has been posted at Ain't it Cool News this morning (also reported on The Force.net). Star Wars creator George Lucas appeared last night at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood in honor of the opening night of a week-long tribute to ILM and Skywalker Sound by the American Cinematheque. According to many that were there, Lucas reportedly confirmed that the original theatrical versions of the Star Wars movies (as we all remember them from 1977, 1980 and 1983), will never appear on DVD. They're lost to time, replaced by his new and still-in-development ultimate, final "super special editions". The outraged reaction from fans is, of course, predictable... and entirely justified.

This plan isn't particularly new - Lucas has vaguely (and not so vaguely) hinted several times in recent years that this was his intent. But if that turns out to be his final decision, the result would be that the original experience that captured the imaginations of an entire generation of moviegoers would be lost forever. How can that make any Star Wars fan anything but sad... and absolutely, downright, steaming, pissed-off angry. Given the almost complete lack of charm the new prequels have compared to even the first edit of the rough-hewn, original film, the fact that Lucas would fail to preserve the original experience of Star Wars shows how utterly and completely he's lost sight of the point over the years.

Filmmakers have a responsibility to their audience and to cinema history. Lucas owes it to every single Star Wars fan that ever paid $5 for an action figure or $8 for a theater ticket to preserve the original experience. I don't care if he doesn't like them. We love them. I don't care if he owns them. In a equally real and important way, we own them too. They're part of our childhood! Steven Spielberg understood the importance of saving the original version of E.T., including it on DVD recently along with his "better" 2002 version. Lucas needs to follow his lead.

Hey... don't get me wrong. I'm dying to see the new CGI-finished versions too. It's his right to make them the way he always wanted to, and I'm all for it. But he still needs to preserve the original versions. He owes it to the fans, he owes it to everyone who ever worked on the films, he owes it to film historians and he owes it to generations of film lovers as yet unborn.

You might have built the Empire, George... but your fans paid for it. While you're making us wait for YEARS for these fabled super-boffo special editions of the original films on DVD, WHY IN THE HELL don't you release a set of movie-only DVDs of the original theatrical versions of the films?!! Every Star Wars fan on Earth would gladly shell out their hard-earned cash for the original versions now. And then, in 3 years or 5 years, they'd all be happy to buy the super-deluxe versions too!

Maybe if we all use the Force...

How Many PSYCHO Remakes Does a Guy Need?

While talking to Moviehole about his new film "Gerry", Gus Van Sant revealed that he is in talks to do another version of "Psycho".

"I'm thinking of remaking "Psycho" again. Doing a third remake. The idea this time is to really change it - we're talking about doing a Punk rocker setting. Viggo Mortensen suggested it. He was married to Exene Cervenka and knows all the right people to get involved - all the right punk rocker etc - so he would definitely be involved if we go ahead.", he says.

""Psycho" was great, a huge kind of grand experiment project. Very trial by fire. It met with a lot of criticism - but we managed to keep afloat, I think we broke even"

Van Sant also said one of his films might get made after all. "
We were in pre-production on the John Travolta picture "Standing Room Only" and it came apart - financially it was a bit shaky. We'll possibly do that again sometime."

Zevon Reissues Tout Bonus Material

Warren Zevon's back catalog will get a boost March 25 when EMI/Capitol reissues the singer/songwriter's 1969 debut "Wanted Dead or Alive," as well as his two Virgin Records efforts, 1987's "Sentimental Hygiene" and 1989's "Transverse City." All discs house varying degrees of bonus material, with "Wanted" boasting a second, previously unreleased 10-track album titled "A Leaf in the Wind."

Featuring titles like "Jukin'," "Tules Blues," and "Doin' the Missouri Weave," "A Leaf in the Wind" was recorded just prior to Zevon's extended sojourn to Spain in the early 1970s. Upon his return to the U.S. in 1974 and with the production help of his friend Jackson Browne, Zevon recorded his highly regarded self-titled 1976 Asylum Records breakthrough.

The newly revised "Sentimental Hygiene" contains three bonus tracks: "Studabaker," "Nocturne," and a Spanish-sung version of the album cut "Leave My Monkey Alone." Largely a collaboration with R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry, the disc -- released after a five year gap and considered by many to be his finest album of the 1980s -- also features guest appearances by Bob Dylan and George Clinton.

The reissue of 1989's "Transverse City" adds an acoustic take of the album cut "Networking." Featuring cameos from heavy hitters like Neil Young, Jerry Garcia, Chick Corea, and David Gilmour, the acclaimed set ended Zevon's affiliation with Virgin. The artist recorded for Warner Bros. subsidiary Giant in the 1990s before landing at Artemis at the turn of the century.

Zevon, who was diagnosed last fall with inoperable lung cancer, is planning a summer release for his final studio album. Tentatively titled "My Dirty Life and Times," the disc will feature contributions from Bruce Springsteen, Dylan, Don Henley, Ry Cooder, Dwight Yoakam, Billy Bob Thornton, and Jim Keltner, among others. A retrospective, "Genius: The Best of Warren Zevon" was released in October by Rhino.

ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS

Sean "Puffy" Combs has just inked a three-year deal with Universal to take on distribution and promotion of Bad Boy Entertainment. The hip-hop entrepreneur retains 100 percent ownership of his company.

DEATH BECOMES THEM

HBO's funereal series Six Feet Under will kick off its third season March 2, the cable network announced Thursday.

NBC Shuffles the Deck for Sweeps

Trying to beat the other networks during February sweeps, NBC is messing with their schedule. In an effort to disrupt CBS' premiere of MY BIG FAT GREEK LIFE on February 24, NBC will air a two hour FEAR FACTOR at 8 PM and the premiere of DOG EAT DOG at 10. Then, on February 25, DOG EAT DOG will take its normal slot on Tuesdays at 8 PM ET, opposing Fox's AMERICAN IDOL. NBC has also slotted two specials of OUTRAGEOUS GAMESHOW MOMENTS to air on February 11 and 18. On February 13, NBC will move SCRUBS and GOOD MORNING MIAMI off the schedule for a day, running two super-sized FRIENDS and one super-sized WILL & GRACE. One of the FRIENDS episodes will feature the return of Freddie Prinze, Jr.

Fox to Oppose THE BACHELORETTE

On February 19, Fox is hoping to reduce the ratings for the two-hour finale of ABC's THE BACHELORETTE. They will run the special AMERICAN IDOL: BEST OF THE WORST in the 9 PM slot, after AMERICAN IDOL's first hour.

Berman Uncertain About Star Trek Future

Star Trek Nemesis executive producer Rick Berman told SCI FI Wire that several factors likely contributed to the film's lackluster box-office performance, and he added that the future of the film franchise remains uncertain. "There's no way of telling what happened," Berman said in an interview. "I'm convinced that we made a very good movie, and I'm also convinced that the movie was promoted properly."

Berman added, "I thought the trailers and the television spots were all excellent. It's easy to blame that sort of thing, but I don't think we can in this situation. I think that the competition of other films may have played some part in it, but I can't be certain of that, either. It's very, very hard to tell."

Berman sounded disappointed. "Obviously, you want a film to do well," he said. "You work for a long time, and you work for a long time, and if it doesn't do well, it's not fun."

Berman went on to say that he's not sure what the future will hold for the Trek film franchise. "There's a theory that there was too much time [between Insurrection and Nemesis]," he said. "There's another theory that there wasn't too much time. I, along with the people at Paramount, need a few months of perspective and thinking about it to then decide what's the best thing to do next. I don't think this is like falling off a horse, and you want to jump right back on it. But we'll see."

Carnage Will Be There, But He Won't

The rumors about Sam Rockwell and Christian Bale being offered the part of Carnage reported some months ago for Spider-Man 3 are bogus. Here is the truth:

Jake Gyllenhall will make a brief appearance as Kletus Kasady in the Amazing spider'Man and will don the CGI symbiote alongside Venom in Spider-Man 3.

300 Reasons To Love "The Simpsons"

Woo-hoo! Ay Carumba! Excellent! No matter how The Simpsons characters phrase it, hitting 300 episodes (Feb. 16, 8 p.m. ET/PT) is quite a TV milestone.

The work is paying off: Buzz and viewership are up this year, the latter by 12%. (this past Sunday's two episodes both hit the week's top 20.) The show is destined to become TV's longest-running sitcom, with at least two more seasons ahead.

It is on the Fox lot in Hollywood that most of the 300 reasons to love The Simpsons have been hatched. On this particular day, executive producer Al Jean is supposed to work on six of them: five new episodes plus a Season 3 DVD.

Sure beats a desk job at a nuclear plant.

On Jean's to-do list this day:

* Recording a trans-Atlantic guest voiceover with Ian McKellen for an episode in which the Simpsons go to London (God save the Queen).

* Cutting 23 seconds from an episode in which Krusty the Clown runs for Congress.

* Rewriting a first draft of the Skinner-Krabappel nuptials.

* Reworking an episode featuring Lisa as a grade-school Evita, which has gone through initial animation.

* Arranging for Nancy Cartwright to read a new Bart line for the 300th episode on Feb. 16.

* Joining Simpsons creator Matt Groening to watch and comment on episodes for the Season 3 DVD.

The most mysterious part of creating an episode takes place in the writing rooms, where two groups work on separate scripts. The Simpsons staff is unusual for TV. Even on hit shows, many writers move on after two or three years, but many Simpsons writers have been with the show six years or more.

In one room, the wedding script is undergoing revision. (Generally, less than half of a first draft makes the final episode.) One writer waxes Bart-esque about her work: "It's like playing with the funnest toy in the world."

After checking on the status of the rewrite, Jean heads to the other writing room, where he and five others work on a line for the Evita episode: Superintendent Chalmers fears Lisa's positive influence on students.

"It's the biggest threat since the baby bust of '89," Jean says.

"The biggest threat since standardized tests," co-executive producer Kevin Curran quips back.

"Biggest threat since accountability standards for teachers," Jean counters.

Writer John Frink takes the strand: "We've lost so many ..."

"... loyal morons," finishes writer Tim Long.

Later, Jean's day takes a detour. He has to leave for a Simpsonian emergency: His house has flooded. D'Oh!

And who knows what other adventures The Simpsons will get into before they are deemed unprofitable.

Metallica's 'St. Anger' Due June 10

Metallica announced that its forthcoming album is titled St. Anger, and the band's eighth studio release is set to hit stores June 10. It's Metallica's first studio album since 1997's Reload, which has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide, according to Elektra Entertainment. Metallica has been holed up in its HQ studios in San Francisco, working on new material.

Although an official bass player hasn't been named yet, bass duties have been handled by Bob Rock, who is producing St. Anger.

Metallica, the band's 1991 self-titled breakthrough, is at Number Three on the top selling albums in the Soundscan era. That album has sold 13 million in the U.S. alone.

CAT CALL FOR NICOLE

Nicole Kidman would be purr-fect to play the crime-fighting superheroine Catwoman, Warner Bros. reportedly thinks.

The studio is courting the much-in-demand saucy Aussie - expected to be nominated next week for an Oscar as Best Actress for "The Hours" - to star in the "Batman" spinoff, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

"Catwoman" is one of several Batman projects currently in development at Warner, including one that would reunite "Memento" star Guy Pearce and director Chris Nolan, as well as another by director Darren Aronofsky.

Kidman previously played Dr. Chase Meridian in 1995's "Batman Forever," opposite Val Kilmer's Caped Crusader.

Jackson 'Devastated' By Documentary (The Rest Of Us Are Just Shocked)

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Pop superstar Michael Jackson says he is "devastated and feels utterly betrayed" by a documentary in which he revealed he shares his bed with children.

Jackson, who allowed reporter Martin Bashir to become part of his entourage for eight months, said the programme was a "gross distortion of the truth."

It was a "tawdry attempt to misrepresent his life and his abilities as a father," Jackson said in a statement issued on Thursday.

The behind-the-scenes programme, called "Living with Michael Jackson," was initially shown on British television this week and will be aired on U.S. television on Thursday.

"I trusted Martin Bashir to come into my life and that of my family because I wanted the truth to be told," Jackson said in the statement, released by his London representative Stephen Lock.

"Martin Bashir persuaded me to trust him, that his would be an honest and fair portrayal of my life and told me that he was 'the man that turned Diana's life around.'"

Bashir is well known for an interview with Princess Diana, in which she admitted being unfaithful to Prince Charles. No comment from him on Jackson's criticism was immediately available.

"Today I feel more betrayed than perhaps ever before, that someone who had got to know my children, my staff and me, whom I let into my heart and told the truth, could then sacrifice the trust I placed in him and produce this terrible and unfair programme," Jackson said.

He accused Bashir of using the vehicle "to celebrate his own career" and as a "salacious ratings-chaser."

Jackson was filmed saying there was nothing wrong in sharing his bed with children at his Neverland ranch in California.

The crew were also in the Berlin hotel room when Jackson dangled his youngest son Prince Michael II over the balcony.

His two other children, five-year-old Prince Michael I and four-year-old Paris, appeared with Jackson wearing party masks. He fed Prince Michael II, whom he has nicknamed Blanket, with a bottle of milk while draping a veil over his head.

Children's charities Barnardo's and the NSPCC have voiced their concerns.

Barnardo's, the UK's largest children's charity, said an investigation would be launched if similar circumstances were reported in the UK. The NSPCC said Jackson was sending out the wrong message.

But Jackson said: "Everyone who knows me will know the truth, which is that my children come first in my life and that I would never harm any child."

The statement added: "Michael feels deeply angry that the programme could have led viewers to conclude that he abuses children in any way.

"Michael Jackson has never, and would never, treat a child inappropriately or expose them to any harm and totally refutes any suggestions to the contrary."

His former wife, and mother of two of his children, was quoted as saying: "It breaks my heart that anyone could truly believe that Michael would do anything to harm or endanger our children: They are the most important thing in his life."

The programme has, however, proven a fillip to Jackson's career with huge jumps in sales of his records, companies say.

Sales of his album "Thriller" shot up by 500 percent on the previous week in the UK on Tuesday, and his greatest hits package HIStory rocketed by 1,000 percent at retail chain HMV.

This Is Not Me

Okay, here's one for the books: Rent My Chest.

Seriously, this is not me!

'Canadian Idol' auditions to be held

Auditions for CTV's new Canadian Idol series have been scheduled for seven cities beginning in April, but talent hopefuls can rest easy: nasty judge Simon Cowell will not be on the panel.

"He's tied up with the American show until the end of May," said Rick Lewchuk, CTV's senior vice-president of program planning and promotion.

Cowell is known for his harsh comments directed at quivering contestants on Fox's hit series American Idol.

How harsh?

"If you lived 2,000 years ago and sang like that, I think they would have stoned you," he told one hapless contestant.

To another: "If you were to win and sing a song, you would kill the American record industry. That's how bad you were."

And although Canadians will be spared Cowell's insults, CTV promises "a fiercely fought competition."

Auditions will be held in Vancouver (April 24), Calgary (April 29), Winnipeg (May 3), Montreal (May 7), Halifax (May 13), St. John's, Nfld., (May 21) and Toronto (May 26). Venues have not yet been announced.

The auditions are open to Canadians between age 16 and 26. Contestants should have two songs prepared and will be asked to sing without musical accompaniment. Anyone with talent representation or a recording contract is ineligible.

A web site -- provides the rules and an application form for competitors.

CTV will air the 24-part series beginning in June. The show will follow the same formula as American Idol, in which thousands of competitors are gradually whittled down.

"At stake for the winner is a guaranteed recording contract and instant stardom," the network says.

Season 2 of American Idol, airing Tuesdays and Wednesdays on CTV, is averaging 2.35 million viewers.

CTV says it has received a lot of applications from people wanting to be judges, but it's not looking for a Simon Cowell clone.

"It has to be people who are credible in the music business," said Lewchuk. "It's about them being able to judge these kids fairly."

THE ENVELOPE PLEASE

Oscar winner Marisa Tomei will join Academy president Frank Pierson in announcing the Academy Awards nominees on Tuesday, February 11.

Shes One Of The World's Hottest Ladies

Minnie Driver guests on "Will & Grace" tonight (NBC, 9 p.m. ET/PT) as a brash Brit who has eyes for Karen's ex-husband. Were that not bad enough, she also is after Jack, who may just be the one man Karen can't stand to lose.

Tonight's Michael Jackson Special Both Shocks And Saddens

Watching a lot of TV these days, you don't know whether to laugh or cry. Or whether you should even be watching.

Certainly, with disaster in the headlines and war clouds on the horizon, spending two prime-time hours Living With Michael Jackson seems like less than the best use of our time. But interest goes where it goes, and there's no denying that Jackson has always managed to command the nation's interest, which is why ABC paid good money to bring this British news special over to America.

In TV terms, at least, it looks like a smart purchase. Indeed, it's hard to imagine a more thorough, fascinating or disquieting celebrity documentary than Living, which ABC will repackage as a 20/20 special. (Only the British version was available for preview, but ABC says any changes will be minor.) Following Jackson over eight months — from the mind-boggling Neverland Ranch to Las Vegas to that infamous balcony in Berlin — reporter Martin Bashir has constructed not so much an interview as a mini-biography in which the biographer is an active participant and commentator.

Making good use of his unprecedented access, Bashir continually presses the notoriously shy and not particularly introspective Jackson to dig deeper. Bashir's style can be unduly intrusive, but in the end he serves as our surrogate, as uneasy and perplexed around Jackson as viewers are likely to be.

The major sound bites march by in mad procession. Jackson acknowledges having plastic surgery twice, but only on his nose. He says he used a black surrogate mother for his baby, but he doesn't identify her. He defends holding the baby over that balcony, and he sees nothing wrong with cutting his other children off from their mom or in making them wear masks whenever they're in public.

Nor does he see any problem with continuing to share his bedroom — though not, he says, his bed — with children. Bashir asks, "Can you understand why people would worry about that?" And Jackson replies, "Because they're ignorant."

What emerges is a picture of a man who is so odd that he doesn't appear to know how odd he is. Surely, if most of us decided to share a story about running out of the hospital with a newborn baby still covered in the placenta, we would at least acknowledge that the behavior was a bit strange.

You get no such sense of self-awareness from Jackson. The tragedy is not that Jackson has demons, but that he seems unable to confront them; it's why he hasn't grown as an artist, despite his talent.

There are moments in Living that call out for gasping mockery. But ultimately, the isolation and freakishness on display here is heartbreaking. This is a 44-year-old man who yearns to be Peter Pan and who apparently has no one in his life who can tell him that's both impossible and unhealthy.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" Comes Out December 17th!

Here's a complete list of every movie scheduled for release this year.

Ooh, "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star" is slated fro October 3rd!

Bon Jovi Eyes DVD, Rarities Collection

These are exciting times for the members of Bon Jovi. In addition to beginning a stateside arena tour Saturday (Feb. 8) in State College, Pa., guitarist Richie Sambora tells Billboard the veteran New Jersey group has a few fan-friendly projects in the works that should see the light of day by the end of 2004.

"On our last tour of domes in Japan, we decided to play one [unplugged] arena show, recording 3 hours and 40 minutes of Bon Jovi acoustic," Sambora reveals. "It came out phenomenal. We did a 10-camera shoot, and it's going to be a DVD and also an acoustic live album. That's somewhere to be dated, I don't know when, maybe for next Christmas. It depends on how well [the band's latest Island studio album] 'Bounce' is doing [as to] when that will come out." Included in the acoustic show were covers such as Steve Miller's "The Joker" and John Hiatt's "Have a Little Faith in Me."

Considering Bon Jovi has been together since 1983, the band was pondering releasing a box set to commemorate its 20th anniversary. However, there's another milestone looming: 100 million albums sold (Bon Jovi's sales are currently in the 97 to 98 million range, according to the label).

"It's going to be basically a box set oriented to our fans and the people who have supported us through the 100 million albums," says Sambora. "It will be the rarities that no one has ever heard before. Mostly, songs that we've forgotten we've written that we really liked and didn't belong on a particular album because it didn't go with the rest of the other songs on that record. Also, great recordings like Bob Geldof coming up and doing 'I Don't Like Mondays' [with the band] at Wembley Stadium."

Sambora estimates there are 30 or 40 songs that were once considered for studio albums but have never seen the light of day. He adds that the band isn't ruling out writing a few new tracks for the release, which will more than likely be in stores sometime in 2004.

As for 2003, the upcoming North American arena tour in the States will be followed by a European stadium trek in late spring, culminating in a gigantic show in London's Hyde Park (expected to draw between 80,000 and 100,000 fans). From there, the band will head home for about a half-dozen stadium shows in such locales as Detroit, Chicago, and Foxboro, Mass. Bon Jovi has also been invited to open Philadelphia's new Lincoln Financial Field.

In regard to the possibility of touring the acoustic release with an unplugged outing, Sambora offers, "I don't know. Jon [Bon Jovi] and I often pontificated about just him and I doing some kind of acoustic 'Jon & Richie' album down the road somewhere but I don't know if that will ever come to. It sure would be fun to do it. I think that it is certainly one of our fortes."

ABC's 'Bachelor' Says Engagement Is Off

NEW YORK - The second "Bachelor" is still a bachelor.

Aaron Buerge, a 28-year-old banker from Springfield, Mo., proposed to Helene Eksterowicz at the end of the second season of "The Bachelor," ABC's romance-reality series in which an eligible guy chooses a bride from among 25 hopefuls.

An estimated 29 million viewers watched the Nov. 20 finale, as Buerge got down on one knee and placed a diamond ring on Eksterowicz' left hand. (He refused to let the show spring for the rock, and insisted on buying it himself.)

Now, he says in the Feb. 17 issue of People magazine that the engagement was over by New Year's.

"There has not been any dagger throwing," Buerge said, adding that neither had been unfaithful. He said he and Eksterowicz, a 27-year-old school psychologist from Gloucester City, N.J., stay in touch by e-mail, and will explain why the romance died on a Feb. 20 ABC special.

So did Eksterowicz keep the ring? "That will be revealed," a network spokeswoman said Wednesday.

NBC Plans Wall-To-Wall 2004 Olympics Coverage

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - NBC plans 24-hour a day coverage of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens spread across five networks as it tries to avoid the ratings disasters of past coverage of the world's most celebrated athletic event.

The network said in a statement on Wednesday that it plans to offer a total of 806.5 hours across NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo and Telemundo for the 2004 Games in Athens, nearly double its cover from the 2000 Sydney Games and more than four times what it offered for the 1996 Olympics from Atlanta.

The network did not own Bravo or Telemundo at the time of either of those events.

NBC said its 2004 programming would mark the first time that at least some coverage of every one of the 28 sports played at the Olympics would be televised. The network said Telemundo's coverage would mark the first exclusively non-English broadcast of the games in U.S. history.

Despite a time difference between Athens and the eastern time zone of the United States of seven hours, the network also indicated it plans to offer some live programming.

NBC's coverage of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City generated profits of about $75 million, the network said late last year, not counting receipts from MSNBC and CNBC, both of which saw sharp ratings increases over their normal programming when they carried Olympic events.

But the 2000 games told a different story. Through the closing ceremonies, NBC posted an average U.S. household rating of 13.8, according to Nielsen Media Research, compared with the 16.1 rating it had promised advertisers. Each point represented 1.02 million U.S. homes with TV sets.

That was the lowest ratings for the Olympics in 32 years and prompted the network to offer advertisers "make-goods," or free air time, of about one minute per hour every night of the games starting with Day Six.

That amounted to 72 thirty-second spots a night in the prime hours of 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. for 12 nights.

An NBC spokesman said the network was not discussing its 2004 plans beyond the details in its statement Wednesday.

For 2004, the network's coverage will begin at 2 a.m. EDT on MSNBC and run until 4 p.m. NBC will also come in from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Bravo will take up coverage from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., with CNBC adding cover from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. NBC will jump back in from 8 p.m. to midnight and then again from 12:35 a.m. to 2 a.m. Bravo will provide midnight to 6 a.m. replays.

Telemundo's Spanish-language programming will run from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., NBC said.

NBC and its sister networks are units of General Electric Co.

Hip-Hop Group Urging Pepsi Boycott Over Ads

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The hip-hop nation has parted ways with the Pepsi generation until the giant soda maker shows it some respect.

Accusing Pepsi of applying a double standard by placing foul-mouthed rocker Ozzy Osbourne in a Super Bowl commercial only months after yanking rapper Ludacris for his vulgar language, rap icon Russell Simmons on Wednesday called on the hip-hop community to start a boycott next week against PepsiCo Inc.

"The 'Campaign for Respect' will be officially launched a week from today," Simmons said in statement following a press conference in New York on Wednesday. "We're asking all artists and supporters of hip-hop culture to refrain from supporting Pepsi and PepsiCo products," he said.

Simmons said the action follows six months of unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a settlement of the dispute.

He said the boycott will continue until Pepsi agrees to certain terms, such as issuing a public apology to Ludacris and the hip-hop community, making a $5 million charitable contribution to the Ludacris Foundation and reinstating the Ludacris Pepsi television commercial.

Purchase, New York-based Pepsi declined to address Simmons' specific demands, but a company spokesman said on Wednesday that the Ludacris situation was unfortunate for all concerned.

"We learned from it and we moved on. We completely understand and respect Russell Simmons' passion for promoting hip-hop music and we are working with him and others to do just that," the spokesman said.

Simmons and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) had initially planned to announce the boycott during the upcoming National Basketball Association All-Star Weekend in Atlanta.

But a spokeswoman for the non-profit hip-hop group that Simmons co-founded said on Wednesday they pushed up the announcement as word of the action quickly circulated.

She said Simmons still plans to the attend the All-Star game in Atlanta and will be co-hosting a party there with entrepreneur and former NBA star Earvin "Magic" Johnson.

PARTY TOPIC FOR ATLANTA

No formal activities regarding the boycott are planned during the weekend, although the issue is sure to spark a lot of attention at the many star-studded soirees and events surrounding the all-star game in the home town of Pepsi's rival Coca Cola Co.

Simmons is credited with bringing black, hip-hop culture into the American mainstream over the past 20 years. He is also the founder of Def Jam Records, a unit of entertainment giant Vivendi Universal

The controversy began a few months ago when conservative commentator Bill O'Reilly said Ludacris was foul-mouthed, accused Pepsi of being "immoral" and urged a boycott.

Pepsi caved in to the pressure, yanking its 30-second television spot, stating it had received several consumer complaints about Ludacris' profanity-laden song lyrics.

In addition to its flagship sodas, PepsiCo makes such household brands as Tropicana orange juice, Gatorade sports drink, Quaker Oats and Frito-Lay snacks.

Chicken Little

One day the first grade teacher was reading the story of Chicken Little to her class.

She came to the part of the story where Chicken Little tried to warn the farmer.

She read, ".... and so Chicken Little went up to the farmer and said, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!"

The teacher paused then asked the class, "And what do you think that farmer said?"

One little boy raised his hand and said, "I think he said: 'Holy Shit! A talking chicken!'"

Weezer Mourns Shuttle Pilot

Saturday's space shuttle Columbia disaster claimed the life of a Weezer fan -- Commander William C. McCool, Rolling Stone reports.

The 41-year-old father of three was such a big fan of the band that he included their self-titled debut album in the small collection of personal items he took on his first and only space flight on January 16.

"The Weezer community feels the particular loss of Commander Willie McCool," reads a message on the band's web site. "Willie was a huge music and Weezer fan, and brought his trusty blue album on the flight not only to listen to, but in hopes of getting a neat picture to contribute to Weezer's web site upon his return.

"The Weezer community extends its deepest condolences to all the families of the crew of STS-107, and trusts that those 7 brave souls are now at peace," says the message.

McCool and his children attended a Weezer concert in Houston last summer and gave the band a special set of patches from the Columbia mission. He also invited them to the shuttle's launch on January 16, although the band was unable to attend.

Last week, in an interview from space, the pilot told National Public Radio, "there's nothing better than listening to a good album and looking out the window and watching the world go by."

YUKS AWARD

Mike Myers to be honored with the 23rd Annual Jack Benny Comedy Award February 12 at the UCLA campus.

NOT AMUSED

Latino advocacy groups are objecting to NBC's new drama Kingpin, about a drug cartel run by a Mexican family, for its stereotypical portrayal of Hispanics.

SO SOON?

Rob Lowe's last appearance on the West Wing will air February 26, about a month sooner than first thought, TV Guide Online reports. Lowe has already been signed to an NBC legal drama.

Theres A Multitude Of 'Matrix' On The Way

By Mike Snider, USA TODAY

Get ready to re-enter The Matrix.

A massive multimedia campaign begins today on the Net with the release of a new animated short film set in The Matrix universe. Three additional shorts will be posted free on the Web over the next three months at www.thematrix.com.

With a pair of Matrix sequels headed to theaters this year, the movie's makers will maximize their marketing opportunities with two Matrix DVDs — a compilation of nine animated shorts (including the four on the Net) called The Animatrix, and a revamped version of the original hit film — plus a highly anticipated video game tied closely to the movies, all due by summer.

The game will be previewed Wednesday at a Hollywood party at Warner Bros. Studios. New cast member Jada Pinkett-Smith stars in the game, which is scripted by the Wachowskis and incorporates film footage shot especially for it.

All fit into the larger Matrix concept devised by writer-directors Andy and Larry Wachowski. The animations provide the back story that "really bridges" the films, says Paul Hemstreet of Warner Home Video. Such complex story development and promotion across various media is "something that really hasn't been done before," he says.

Your first chance to jack into The Matrix world arrives today with the free download of The Second Renaissance: Part One, a nine-minute widescreen short. The segment is directed by Mahiro Maeda, who directed the Japanese animated series Blue Submarine No. 6. Among other noted animé �ilmmakers involved are Koji Morimoto (Akira) and Peter Chung (creator of Aeon Flux).

The shorts, developed at studios in Japan, Korea and the USA over three years, are close to the Wachowskis' hearts, because animé inspired The Matrix's style and look. "This is a chance to really go wide in introducing animé to the American audience," Hemstreet says.

The Matrix's attack timetable:

* March 21. Another Animatrix episode, The Final Flight of the Osiris, a nine-minute film written by the Wachowski brothers and animated by Andy Jones (Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within), appears in theaters with the Warner film Dreamcatcher.

* April 29.The Matrix Special Edition two-disc, $28 DVD arrives, including all of the original extras from previous Matrix and Matrix Revisited DVDs, plus "Preloaded," a new behind-the-scenes preview of The Matrix Reloaded.

* May 15.The Matrix Reloaded, which reunites Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving, arrives in theaters. Enter the Matrix, the video game, hits stores.

* June 3. The Animatrix DVD is released. Reeves and Moss provide voices for two shorts. Among the bonus features is a history of animé.

* Nov. 7. The Matrix Revolutions arrives in theaters.

Courtney Love Arrested After Flight to London

LONDON (Reuters) - British police arrested U.S. rock star Courtney Love after she arrived on a transatlantic flight at London's Heathrow Airport Tuesday.

Virgin Atlantic said the 38-year-old star, widow of Nirvana's late singer Kurt Cobain, was detained after a disturbance on board its flight from Los Angeles.

An airline spokesman said Love, lead singer of the band Hole, had verbally abused cabin crew during the flight.

The plane's captain had called police during the flight to notify them, the spokesman added.

"Essentially she was acting in a disruptive manner. We won't tolerate disruptive behavior and the matter is now in the hands of the police," he said.

British police would not immediately confirm the arrest, but a source told Reuters: "It looks like that's the case."

Witnesses said police met the flight when it arrived and after about 20 minutes Love was escorted off and put into a police van.

"She was having a row with one of the flight attendants," one woman passenger told reporters. "There were a lot of raised voices."

Love's behavior in the past has earned her a reputation as a hell-raiser with well publicized drink and drug problems.

The passenger said Love had "looked out of it as she was led across the tarmac."

"She had bright red lipstick on which appeared smudged. But Courtney Love is Courtney Love -- I guess that's rock and roll."

Streep Dismisses Oscars as 'Political Campaign'

LONDON (Reuters) - Actress Meryl Streep has poured scorn on the race for Oscar glory, saying the movie industry's most celebrated event had almost deteriorated into a "political campaign"

Streep is a double Oscar winner who could break the record for most nominations next week. But she said she found the quest for Academy Awards distasteful.

"I find it alarming that all the campaigning for Oscars is getting like a political campaign," she told Tuesday's Daily Telegraph newspaper. "It really is distasteful.

"It won't be long before they start paying for television commercials for best picture, best actor and all those things."

The 53-year-old is in the running for a best actress nomination for literary drama "The Hours" and supporting actress for director Spike Jonze's "Adaptation."

Streep has been nominated for an Oscar 12 times and won twice, for divorce drama "Kramer vs. Kramer" and "Sophie's Choice," in which she played a concentration camp survivor.

She shares the record for nominations with Katharine Hepburn.

This year's nominations will be announced on February 11, with the ceremony on March 23.

Today's New Releases

Some have told me that they liked it, others have said it wasn't bad. Personally, I thought Reese Witherspoon looked great, as always, but this week's biggest title really isn't that great.

But if the person you are watching it with looks like Reese Witherspoon, who cares!?!?

Here is a quick look at this week's biggest titles being released on video and DVD:

Sweet Home Alabama- A girl must decide between staying in New York City or going back to small-town Alabama. If you can't figure out which she'll do from that explanation, then you MUST BUY THIS FILM NOW!! (Reese Witherspoon, Patrick Dempsey, Josh Lucas)

Formula 51- A drug dealer creates new drug then goes on the run in this very entertaining, quite underated flick. (Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Carlyle, Emily Mortimer)

Igby Goes Down- A teenage boy tries to grow up with an insane family. Who hasn't? (Kieran Culkin, Susan Sarandon, Ryan Phillippe)

Ultimate X- This is a closer look at the Summer X Games. Gnarly, dude! BEWARE, it's only 39 minutes long! (Dave Mirra, Mat Hoffman, Bob Burnquist)

Those are the "highlights", here's the complete list.

Why Re-release The Matrix?!?!?

With the highly-anticipated theatrical debut of The Matrix Reloaded just months away, Warner Home Video will release a newly repackaged two-disc set of The Matrix and The Matrix Revisited on April 29th. This collection is essentially a reissue of the previously-released DVDs, although this new set will include the new sneak peek featurette "Preload: On the Set of Reloaded," promo spots for The Animatrix, "What Is the Game?" and a Reloaded music sampler, plus the Marilyn Manson "Rock Is Dead" music video. And in typical cross-promotion style, this two-disc set will also include a free ticket offer for one to see The Matrix Reloaded.

Music Producer Phil Spector Arrested in LA Murder

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Legendary rock producer Phil Spector, who revolutionized pop music with his lush "Wall of Sound" recordings in the 1960s, was arrested for murder on Monday in the shooting death of a woman in her 20s at his mock castle on a Los Angeles hilltop.

Spector, the reclusive and eccentric genius behind such classic hits as "Be My Baby" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" and the man who made the Ronettes and the Crystals superstars, was in the process of posting $1 million bail pending an arraignment, officials said.

Investigators said a woman in her 20s was found in the foyer of Spector's make-believe castle in the suburb of Alhambra with the 62-year-old record producer nearby. The weapon was also recovered and Spector was taken into custody at the scene.

The woman was not immediately identified by police who were waiting for next-of-kin to be notified. Police believe she arrived at the house with Spector in his black Mercedes which was still parked outside with its the passenger door ajar.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokeswoman Faye Bugarin said officers were called at 5 a.m. (8 a.m. EST) to Spector's 10-bedroom, eight-bathroom "Pyrenes Castle," which stands behind wrought-iron gates on a private road and found a woman who had been shot dead.

Spokesmen for Spector, a two-time Grammy winner, did not immediately return calls seeking comment. He was being represented by Robert Shapiro, the veteran lawyer who played a key role in the defense of O.J. Simpson during his so-called "Trial of the Century." Simpson was found not guilty of murdering his ex-wife and her friend.

Neighbors said the producer was rarely seen at the red-tiled, turreted replica castle with a marble entrance overlooking a middle-class neighborhood and shielded by large pine trees. He was sometimes seen coming or going in a white Rolls Royce or another car.

Tom Mestaz, who lives near the castle, said that while Spector was not there often, lately he had seen lights on in the residence at night. Several neighbors reported hearing dogs barking early Monday morning.

WALL OF SOUND

A pioneer in pop record production, the Bronx-born Spector is famed for his "Wall of Sound" technique that featured lush orchestration with strings, horns and additional percussion added to the spare instrumentation of rock music.

Formerly married to Ronnie Bennett of the Ronettes, one of several girl groups he ushered into super-stardom, Spector developed a reputation as a temperamental, reclusive and erratic genius.

Spector got his start in the music business in 1958 as a songwriter, guitarist and backup singer for the Los Angeles group the Teddy Bears, which had a hit single with "To Know Him is to Love Him" and made him a millionaire by age 21.

Soon after the group split, Spector pursued a career as a songwriter and producer, working primarily with the Crystals and the Ronettes. He went on to produce records for the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Ike & Tina Turner, Eric Clapton and the Righteous Brothers. He was voted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.

He was hired by the Beatles to do post-production work on their "Let It Be" album, which Paul McCartney and many critics later criticized as overdone.

He also produced the first solo albums from John Lennon and George Harrison and shared a Grammy with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and others for producing the "Concert for Bangladesh" album, named album of the year for 1972.

In a business where the singer is the star, Spector often outshone his clients.

Spector "elevated record production to commercial art," former Rolling Stones manager and Spector protege Andrew Loog Oldham wrote in his 2001 memoirs "Stoned."

"In scale and presence he was to the record biz what Orson Welles was to Hollywood. 'You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling' and 'River Deep Mountain High,' like 'Citizen Kane' and 'Touch of Evil,' could not be created merely by re-creating what had been successful in the past."

Spector was just 17 when he wrote and produced his first No. 1 hit, "To Know Him Is To Love Him" -- a line taken from the inscription on his father's gravestone -- for his high school group, the Teddy Bears. The teen tycoon would go on to produce 17 top-10 U.S. hits in a decade.

Swinging Clubs and Shooting Gophers...Again

Some sequels are just not required. Some movie news can come from the most unlikely places. Both principles combined today to reveal this rather terrifying scoop - seems that in the latest issue of New Hampshire Golf Magazine, they talked to Brian Doyle Murray (brother of Bill Murray) about his golf-themed restaurant and he confirmed a third film in the 80's comedy series is on the way: "Okay, the second one sucked. This one is going to be good. It's Chevy, Rodney, Louie Anderson, Michael O'Keefe and myself. It should be a lot of fun. We're even trying to get Bill to do a short appearance in it as Spackler". Murray also confirmed that whilst no other "Ghostbusters" films are in the works, a "Snow Dogs" sequel is and "I'll be reprising my role of this crazy chap named Ernie. Should be a lot of fun". Where does one find a damn five iron when you feel the need to hit someone.

The Name Game

In an interview over the weekend with CNN's Headline News, Nickelback lead singer Chad Kroeger, who also had a huge hit in 2002 with the track 'Hero' - with Josey Scott- from the "Spider-man" soundtrack, said that everyone has been saying his name wrong.

"...it's pronounced Crew-ger, like Freddy Krueger. Not Crow-ger."

In January, Nickelback received a Grammy nomination for record of the year ("How You Remind Me"). Kroeger's hit "Hero" garnered three nominations.

The Grammy Awards will be handed out Feb 23. How do you think they will pronounce his name?

For my money, nothing beats "You Only Move Twice", The Hank Scorpio Episode.

Wanna know more about Hank Scorpio?

Linkin Park To Tour This Summer With Limp Bizkit And Metallica

Linkin Park's new album, Meteora, is at the pressing plant right now waiting to be multiplied and distributed around the world, according to DJ Joe Hahn. The band will tour all kinds of venues.

"We're going to start off small, do some theater shows, and then when Projekt Revolution rolls around, those are arena shows," he said. Hahn then told us Linkin Park is going to team with some of rock's biggest hitters for a stadium tour.

"Once we hit the summer we're going to do a stadium tour with Metallica and Limp Bizkit," Hahn said. "We're excited about all those shows because there's different levels of intimacy. You know, the smaller ones being more intimate, but when you get the bigger shows it gets crazier so, it's a trade-off."

Spokespersons for both Metallica and Limp Bizkit couldn't comment on the tour, and at press time there was no kick-off date or itinerary announced.

Linkin Park's Meteora is set for release March 25, and the first single from the Hybrid Theory follow-up is "Somewhere I Belong." Limp Bizkit will release Less Is More on April 1.

Kidman Wants to Be Swept Off Her Feet - But Not Yet

LONDON (Reuters) - Nicole Kidman would love to be swept off her feet by a new man -- but not yet.

And, speaking to Hello! magazine about her break-up with fellow movie star Tom Cruise, she said: "It was the worst time in my 35 years of living, where all I felt was great sadness."

Kidman's film career is currently on a high with her role in the critically acclaimed "The Hours" already a contender for Oscar honors. But there is no new love in her life.

She said she was not dating anyone and had no desire to go back to the dating game.

"I'd love to be swept off my feet at some stage. I really would. It would be nice to fall in love again. But I strongly believe that it will happen when I least expect it." she told the celebrity magazine.

"For now I have to admit I still go through periods where I'm frightened by the love of a man so I know that I'm not quite ready to be dating seriously."

Punxsutawney Phil Forecasts More Winter

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (Reuters) - The weather-prognosticating groundhog known as Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow during the annual Groundhog Day ceremony on Sunday, signaling six more weeks of winter in North America.

The chubby rodent, said to dine on a rich diet that includes strawberry sundaes, was hauled from his cozy burrow beneath a maple stump on Gobbler's Knob into the glare of television camera lights and cheers from hundreds of onlookers, as part of a 117-year-old ritual.

The ceremony, which dates back to 1887, stems from an ancient European superstition that winter will last another six weeks if a burrowing animal like a groundhog or a hedgehog sees its shadow on Candlemas Day, which falls on Feb. 2. No shadow means an early spring.

The Punxsutawney rodent has seen its shadow 41 times over the past 50 years. It last missed its shadow in 1999.

Sunday's prediction followed weeks of unusually cold weather in the U.S. Northeast and Midwest during January.

For the town of Punxsutawney, a rural community of 6,800 people located 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, Groundhog Day is an annual tourist festival of parades, music, sleigh rides and ice carvings that can attract thousands of out-of-town visitors.

Groundhog Day has gained world notoriety in recent years, thanks mainly to the 1993 Hollywood film "Groundhog Day," starring Bill Murray. Organizers have since taken to selling groundhog souvenirs on the World Wide Web.

'Spirited Away' Wins Animation Award

GLENDALE, Calif. - The Japanese fantasy "Spirited Away" won top honors at the animation industry's Annie Awards ceremony, picking up trophies for best feature film, writing, music and direction.

The film, by writer-director Hayao Miyazaki, tells an Alice in Wonderland-style story about a girl who becomes trapped in a world of nature spirits and must escape to rescue her parents from a spell that transformed them into pigs.

Known as "Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi" in its homeland, "Spirited Away" became Japan's highest-grossing movie ever in 2001, topping the American film "Titanic" by earning approximately $234 million.

An English-language translation, produced by "Toy Story" creator John Lasseter, was released by Walt Disney Co. in September. It earned about $5.5 million while at its peak playing in only 150 theaters nationwide.

The Annie Awards, created 30 years ago, are presented by The International Animated Film Society to honor outstanding animation in television and film. Organizers decided last year to move the event from November to February to make them a more closely watched prelude to the Oscars.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last year awarded its first Oscar for best animated feature to "Shrek," which also was the big winner at the previous Annies.

Among the other winners Saturday, DreamWorks' "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron," about a young horse fleeing human captors in the wilderness, received awards for character design, effects animation, production design and storyboarding.

Pacino's 'The Recruit' Debuts at No. 1

LOS ANGELES - The CIA packed a bit more punch than death in film debuts at the box office. The Al Pacino- Colin Farrell spy thriller "The Recruit" debuted as the No. 1 movie with $16.5 million in its first weekend. It was closely followed by "Final Destination 2," a fright flick about death stalking young people on spring break, which opened with $16.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The motorcycle-racing adventure "Biker Boyz," with Laurence Fishburne and Derek Luke, premiered in third place with $10.1 million.

The buddy comedy "Kangaroo Jack" was No. 4 with $9 million, while the previous weekend's top movie, the horror tale "Darkness Falls," fell to fifth place with $7.5 million.

In limited release, the romantic comedy "The Guru," starring Heather Graham, Marisa Tomei and Jimi Mistry, opened strongly with $648,000. Playing in 62 theaters, "The Guru" had a strong average of $10,452, compared with a $6,944 average in 2,376 cinemas for "The Recruit," $5,716 in 2,834 theaters for "Final Destination 2," and $5,719 in 1,766 locations for "Biker Boyz."

The overall box office was up compared to a slow weekend a year ago that corresponded with the Super Bowl, which generally dampens moviegoing. The top 12 movies grossed $94.7 million, up 20 percent from the first weekend of February last year.

"This was a really strong weekend for a January, which is usually kind of slow," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "To have two films over $16 million is not bad at all."

Pairing Pacino with rising star Farrell broadened the audience for "The Recruit," which drew almost equally among the 18-to-25, 26-to-34 and 35-to-49 age groups, said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney, which released the film.

"Al Pacino always delivers a great performance, and when you put him with Colin Farrell, the combination just whetted the appetite of the public on all sides," Viane said.

The sequel "Final Destination 2" easily out-grossed its predecessor, which opened with $10 million in 2000. Distributor New Line Cinema expects the sequel to at least match the $53 million total gross of the original "Final Destination," said Russell Schwartz, president of domestic marketing.

New Line's "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" took in $5 million over the weekend and edged past the $313.4 million total of "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring." "The Two Towers" has raked in $315.9 million, and New Line expects it to top out domestically at about $350 million, Schwartz said.

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. "The Recruit," $16.5 million.
2. "Final Destination 2," $16.2 million.
3. "Biker Boyz," $10.1 million.
4. "Kangaroo Jack," $9 million.
5. "Darkness Falls," $7.5 million.
6. "Chicago," $7.1 million.
7. "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," $5 million.
8. "Just Married," $4.9 million.
9. "Catch Me If You Can," $4.8 million.
10. "About Schmidt," $4.7 million.

Studio Pulls 'Core' Trailer After Shuttle Disaster

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Paramount Pictures has pulled its trailer for "The Core," which shows the Space Shuttle in jeopardy, but the studio is holding to its March 28 release date for the sci-fi thriller.

The Viacom Inc.-owned studio asked exhibitors to stop screening the trailer following Saturday's space shuttle Columbia disaster and it is reviewing its advertising to make certain the campaign is sensitive to the tragedy.

The studio also said it's premature to decide whether to alter or excise Shuttle sequences from the film.

Paramount decided in the fall to delay release of "The Core" from November in order to give more time to complete f/x shots. Helmed by Jon Amiel ("Entrapment"), the picture revolves around a group of NASA "terranauts" who must travel deep underground after the Earth's inner core stops rotating, which creates a host of natural disasters that threaten life on the surface. It stars Aaron Eckhart and Hilary Swank.

'Dawson's Creek' Dries Up After Five Years on WB

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - "Dawson's Creek" -- the show that turned the WB into a bona fide network -- will sail into the sunset this May after five angst-filled years.

The WB plans to air a two-hour "Dawson's" finale May 14.

While other young-skewing series came before it, "Dawson's Creek" came to define the WB's programming strategy, along with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Felicity." The show bowed to the WB's highest-ever ratings in January 1998 and immediately became its No. 1 show in key demos.

Created by Kevin Williamson, "Dawson's Creek" also became the WB's first out-of-the-box hit among critics, who began to look at the network (which was still seen as the home for trashy sitcoms a la "Unhappily Ever After") in a much more positive light.

"We will always carry an emotional attachment to 'Dawson's Creek,' for without it the WB would not exist," WB entertainment president Jordan Levin said. "The show defined who we are and reflected the aspirational voice of the next generation of television viewers. The WB has grown up alongside the cast and in the process the series became a defining and life-altering experience for all involved."

"Dawson's Creek" also made stars out of its original cast, including James Van Der Beek (Dawson), Katie Holmes (Joey), Michelle Williams (Jen) and Joshua Jackson (Pacey). With their contracts on the show up, all involved agreed it was time to focus on their burgeoning film careers.

Season to date, "Dawson's Creek" is still the WB's No. 2 program among adults 18-34 (3.3 rating/10 share, up 6% from last year) and is its 4th-highest rated series in the persons 12-34 demo (3.0/9). "Dawson's" still holds the WB's record for best-ever rating among the 12-34 crowd (6.3/17). In its heyday, the show dominated especially with female teens, where it once pulled an astounding 19.3 rating and 48 share.

The show, which originally took place in a sleepy New England hamlet, now mostly centers in Boston, as the characters grow up and attend college.

Season One Of Futurama Is On Its Way!

The opening season (premiered in 1999) sees nerdy pizza delivery boy Fry transferred to the 31st century in a cryogenic mishap. There, he meets the beautiful, one-eyed Leela (voiced by Married with Children's Katey Sagal) and the incorrigible alcoholic robot Bender. The three of them join Fry's great (great, great, etc.) nephew Professor Farnsworth and work in his intergalactic delivery service. Hyper-real yet strangely recognizable situations ensue--Fry discovers he's a billionaire thanks to 1,000 years' accrued interest, Leela must fend off the attentions of Captain Kirk-like Lothario Zapp Brannigan, and Fry accidentally drinks the ruler of a strange planet of liquid beings.