Macy, 'Door-To-Door' Look Like Emmy Winners

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - With the Emmys less than a week away, Hollywood is playing guessing games over possible winners of the television industry's top awards, but at least one actor seems considered a shoo-in, William H. Macy.

Macy, one of Hollywood's top character actors, is nominated for best actor in a TV movie for playing Bill Porter, a salesman afflicted with cerebral palsy, in 2002's "Door to Door," which aired on the TNT cable network to 7.3 million viewers and can be seen on video and DVD.

The show already won a prestigious Peabody Award for excellence on TV, earned Macy best TV movie actor honors from the Screen Actors Guild, and received 12 Emmy nominations overall, more than any other original TV movie this year.

"A couple of these awards shows are really special ... The Emmys are huge, they are the granddaddy" of TV awards, Macy told Reuters in a recent interview. "I'm very, very pleased."

Tom O'Neil, who hosts the goldderby.com web site and is the author of "The Emmys," thinks Macy is the clear front-runner in his group, and believes his performance is so strong, it will likely lead "Door to Door" to the Emmy for best TV movie when the awards are handed out on Sunday, Sept. 21.

"Some critics regard this movie, respectively, as one of the great achievements in his career," O'Neil said.

Macy said one primary benefit of all the recognition is that it generally leads to more acting jobs, although it is hard to believe Macy has trouble getting work.

The actor, 53, began his career in the 1970s working with playwright David Mamet, but it was 1996's Coen brothers film "Fargo" that proved to be his breakout movie and made his face recognizable among audiences. Most recently, he played horse racing commentator Tick Tock McGlaughlin in "Seabiscuit."

PORTER POWER

He and writing partner Steve Schachter came across the true story of Bill Porter, a cerebral palsy, or CP, victim and door-to-door salesman for Watkins home products in Portland, Oregon, by watching a TV news magazine story about Porter. The pair decided Porter's story was so compelling, it would make a good movie.

Cerebral Palsy describes chronic conditions that all affect muscle coordination, and it is caused by faulty development or damage to motor skills areas of the brain.

Basically, Porter overcame his disability to eventually wind up as one of Watkins' top door-to-door salesmen. When the daily trips around the neighborhood became history at Watkins, Porter moved his operation online, and people can still buy products from him at his website.

Macy said writers often go wrong in telling stories about people with disabilities because they focus on the problem and not the person.

With "Door-to-Door," Macy and Schachter started with the person, his strengths and his weaknesses, then crafted the story. Porter is fiercely independent, but his independence sometimes gets him into trouble.

"He's so full of pride that he can't accept help from people, and what he learns is that its very human to ask for and receive help," Macy said.

Macy said some Hollywood movies try to endow disabled people with charm, and added "that rings false to me." He said writers often go awry if they try to tell an able person's story, and just simply insert a disabled person into the tale.

As an actor, Macy said he tried to mimic Porter's every move as close as he could to keep the story real. The film is no woe-is-me tale.
 
"This is a story about a really cool guy who happened to have CP," Macy said.

"Door-to-Door," too, has lured the actor into supporting efforts of the United Cerebral Palsy organization to promote social change and progress for people with disabilities.

"It's great to get out and do something that is new and not about me," Macy said.

Cradle Of Life

Just in are the final specs for Tomb Raider 2: The Cradle of Life, which Paramount Home Entertainment will release on November 18th. While this Jan de Bont-helmed sequel failed to generate much box office heat, it will likely find a more welcome home on DVD. Available in separate anamorphic widescreen and pan & scan versions, each will feature a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track, audio commentary with director Jan De Bont, six deleted scenes and an alternate ending, five featurettes, two music videos and trailers.

LISA MARIE: JACKO A SACKO WACKO

Wacko Jacko's sex romps with ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley left Elvis' daughter breathless and wanting more.

But the bizarro 45- year-old pop star never went to bed without makeup on - and beat it out of the bedroom anytime Lisa Marie would switch on the lights, according to a sensational new book on Jacko's weird world.

"Apparently, Michael is hot stuff in bed," Lisa Marie's friend, Monica Pastelle, told J. Randy Taraborrelli, whose update of his book, "Michael Jackson: The Magic and The Madness," caused ripples when it was excerpted last week in London's Daily Mail.

"Lisa said he was amazing. And she's been around. Everyone was saying, 'No way, Lisa. It can't be true. Michael Jackson? Are we talking about the Michael Jackson, the one with the glove?' But she wasn't joking."

Pastelle said the odd couple, who split in January 1996 after secretly tying the knot in May 1994, spiced up their sex sessions with "role playing" - but that Jacko wouldn't let her see his body if the lights were on.

"The first time, she went to turn on the lights afterwards, and he leapt out of bed and ran into the bathroom so she wouldn't see his body," she said.

"He emerged 20 minutes later, in full makeup and wearing a silk robe. Then they went at it again. They were into role-playing games, although Lisa would never say who was playing what kind of roles."

Also according to Taraborrelli's tome, Jacko:

* First asked Lisa Marie to have his child, and hoped they could do it without having to have sex. He then turned to friend Debbie Rowe.

* Was driven to plastic surgery by his allegedly abusive father. "Michael's motive was to avoid looking like his father, the man he detested and whose broad-nosed face he saw looking back at him in the mirror," according to Taraborrelli.

* Because his nose collapsed after 10 operations, Jacko now wears a "prosthetic nose tip and disguises it with thick stage makeup."

* Feared he'd have to have sex with pal Elizabeth Taylor if they moved in together, as they were planning, before the faded pop star bought Neverland. The friends even discussed tying the knot.

* Only feels safe at Neverland.

2004 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Nominees Set

Former Beatle George Harrison, Prince, John Mellencamp and Jackson Browne are among the nominees on the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot.

Harrison, who died of cancer in November 2001, is already in the rock hall as a member of the Beatles. Former bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney preceded him for their solo work. Both Harrison and Mellencamp are former Billboard Century Award honorees.

Previous nominees back for another try include the Sex Pistols, Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Gram Parsons and Patti Smith. Other nominees include the Dells, the "5" Royales, Bob Seger, the Stooges, Traffic and ZZ Top.

Ballots were mailed this week to voting members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation.

Artists are eligible to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after at least 25 years have passed since their first record was released. The inductees likely will be announced in December.

Various Cash CD, Video Projects Due

Purely coincidentally and unrelated to his death last week, several Johnny Cash audio and video projects will be released in the coming weeks.

On Tuesday, Columbia Legacy will release a 12-track collection, "Christmas With Johnny Cash." The set features the legendary country artist performing such traditional favorites as "I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day," "Silent Night" and "Joy to the World."

On Sept. 23, Eagle Rock Entertainment will issue "Johnny Cash, A Concert: Behind Prison Walls" on CD and DVD/VHS. Shot in 1976, the film features shows Cash performing for inmates at Nashville's Tennessee State Penitentiary accompanied by Linda Rondstadt and Roy Clark.

The latest edition in the Starbucks Coffee Company/Hear Music series "Artist's Choice" series was assembled by Cash. The set features tracks by Eddy Arnold, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Glenn Campbell and Mahalia Jackson, among others, with comments on each in the liner notes.

For album opener, Hank Williams' "Lovesick Blues," Cash wrote: "We came to a point, my voice teacher and I, where she was ready to throw up her hands because I was not going to budge from the way I was singing. And she said, 'Okay, sing something you like.' So I sang Hank Williams' 'Lovesick Blues.' And she put down her books and closed them up and said, 'Don't ever let anybody try to give you voice lessons again.' And so that was the beginning of my professional career, I guess."

The 14-track compilation is currently available exclusively through Hear Music and Starbucks outlets in the U.S. and Canada. It will be available beginning Sept. 23 via traditional retailers.

As previously reported, Cash and producer Rick Rubin had been working on a box set that may see release before Christmas. Tentatively titled "Unearthed," the collection will most likely span five discs, four of which will be composed entirely of previously unreleased material. The fifth disc would be a compilation of tracks highlighting past four Cash studio albums, each recorded and produced by Rubin for his American Recordings label.

The previously unreleased material will come from recording sessions for the four "American Recordings" albums Cash released over the past decade. It's also possible that more recently recorded fare could make the set, as Rubin told Billboard.com last month he and Cash had began working on songs after his wife, June Carter Cash, died in May.

"He kind of made a decision," Rubin said. "He called me a couple of days after June passed and said that he really has dedicated his life to work and wants to be busy all the time and focused on songs. That's what he wants to do, so that's what we're going to do [and] that's what we've been doing."

TICKET TO LEGAL FIGHT

The Beatles management company, Apple Corps., seeking a court injunction against Apple Computer Inc. on Friday, claiming the computer company breached the band's trademark by using the Apple name in the moniker for its Apple iTunes online music store.

POSTPONED

Britney Spears' new album will not be released on November 25 as previously announced by her record label, Jive Records, a statement on the singer's official website confirmed. No word when it will hit stores.

EMMY PREVIEW

Actress Alfre Woodard and actor Charles S. Dutton named best guest actor and actress in a drama series at the creative arts Emmy Awards, a warm-up to the main event airing on Fox on September 21. Gene Wilder and Christina Applegate won best guest actor and actress in a comedy series for their appearances on Will & Grace and Friends respectively.

REST IN PEACE

Johnny Cash, who died Friday from complications due to diabetes at the age of 71, will be laid to rest next to his wife, June Carter Cash, following a private service Monday near their home north of Nashville.

Denys Arcand's Barbarian Invasions wins best Cdn feature at Toronto film fest

TORONTO (CP) -- The Barbarian Invasions, Quebec filmmaker Denys Arcand's much-lauded sequel to his 1980s film Decline of the American Empire, was a big winner at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival.

A reflection of the intergenerational changes going on in Quebec society, it won the Toronto-City Award for best Canadian feature film, while a Japanese film, Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi -- a mythic story of a seemingly frail masseur who is actually the deadliest swordsman in the land -- won the People's Choice Award, voted on by festival audiences.

"This is a great festival, by the way," Arcand said as he accepted his trophy at an awards brunch Sunday. "You people don't know how lucky you are. I mean, this is the greatest, such a great festival run by people who love films and filmmakers and who treat us so wonderfully. You're very lucky and I am very lucky, so thank you very much."

Arcand's film was the festival's opening gala Sept. 4.

Other winners include:

-- Rhinoceros Eyes, a Canada-U.S. co-production by Toronto's Aaron Woodley, about a man with a loose grip on reality, won the Discovery Award.

-- Aspiration, by Montrealer Constant Mentzas, a lyrical examination of a man's silent anguish and isolation, took the Best Canadian Short Film award.

-- Love, Sex and Eating the Bones, by Torontonian Sudz Sutherland, a fun and sexy look at contemporary urban relationships, won the Citytv Award for Best Canadian First Feature.

-- November, from Spanish director Achero Manas, won the FIPRESCI Prize, awarded by a jury of international film critics for "its freshness, its original blending of fiction and documentary techniques, its humanistic message and the high quality of all performances."

Over its 10-day run, the festival, now regarded as the most important in North America and second only to Cannes globally, showed 339 films from 55 countries, including 63 world and 104 North American premieres.

Festival director Piers Handling concluded the 28th edition of the annual film fest was pretty amazing.

"We ducked the bullet of SARS, luckily," Handling said, conceding they were wondering just what kind of festival it would be after months of uncertainty over the outbreak that wreaked havoc on the city's economy and kept tourists away in droves.

"Whether the films would be here, whether the stars would be here, and clearly at the end of it all, it was perhaps our most successful edition."

Arcand, who had just returned to Toronto overnight from promotional visits to London, Paris and Berlin, admitted he was jet-lagged but immensely pleased and grateful.

"A lot of filmmakers would love to be in my shoes right now, I'm not complaining," he said. "It's a nice feeling when you see that you've touched people, that they appreciate what you do."

Admitting he was overwhelmed and stunned by his award, Woodley could offer only a "Wow!" at first.

He said just to be invited to the festival was honour enough, but had a special thanks for his mother, Denise Cronenberg, who was also the film's costume designer as well as, he added, an inspiration.

"This award is for you, mom, thank you!" he said to applause.

Aspirations director Mentzas carried humility to new lengths when he conceded to the audience that he thought his short film was slow-moving.

"It has really not had high ratings among viewers. You know, most people think it's really slow and they really took a wonderful risk in screening it. And I really would like to thank the jury for (sitting) through it and not falling asleep."

Sutherland said he began as a volunteer at the Toronto festival and that it was a dream to be invited now as a filmmaker.

"You know the story. It's sweat and tears and blood."

Runners-up in the People Choice Award category included Ron Mann's Go Further and The Corporation by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott.

Neither Manas nor any representative of his film was present so the award was accepted by FIPRESCI jury president Dan Fainaru.

"I am going to take this diploma with me, carry it to San Sebastian where the film is being shown in competition, and give it to him personally. At least I know he'll get it."

'Once Upon a Time' Tops Box Office

LOS ANGELES - Johnny Depp has made another transformation: oddball actor to box office moneymaker.

The star known for playing eccentrics in cult favorites such as "Ed Wood" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" is establishing himself as a major box office draw with two films this weekend in the top five.

"Once Upon a Time in Mexico," starring Antonio Banderas as a mariachi-musician gunslinger and Depp as a sleazy CIA agent, debuted in first place with $24 million, according to industry estimates Sunday.

It was Depp's second consecutive No. 1 debut after the summertime hit "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl."

"Pirates," still performing strongly in its 10th week of release, came in at No. 5 with $4.6 million. So far, it has earned $288 million, making it the second highest-grossing movie of the year, behind "Finding Nemo."

Analysts said Depp's comical sashaying swashbuckler in "Pirates" may have helped sell audiences on "Once Upon a Time in Mexico," which was written and directed by Robert Rodriguez as a sequel to his films "El Mariachi" and "Desperado."

"Johnny Depp's career has been very interesting but he's normally not in the big blockbusters," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Exhibitor Relations Co. "Suddenly, he's in the No. 1 and No. 5 movie in the same weekend. For any actor that's great, and for Johnny Depp it's totally unexpected and welcome."

Depp has had blockbusters before, such as "Sleepy Hollow" (1999) and "Chocolat" (2000), and modest hits like "Edward Scissorhands" (1990) and "Donnie Brasco" (1997), but they have been few and far between the respected but little-seen cult films like "Dead Man," "Ed Wood," "Benny & Joon" and "Fear and Loathing."

The first weekend's ticket sales for "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" nearly matched the total $25.4 million theatrical gross for 1995's "Desperado," which starred Banderas but not Depp.

The Nicolas Cage caper "Matchstick Men," about a con man and his daughter, opened in second place with $13.3 million, a modest debut consistent with some of Cage's recent underperforming films such as "Windtalkers" and "Captain Corelli's Mandolin."

"This wasn't the kind of film that could strike across-the-board appeal," said Brandon Gray, proprietor of BoxOfficeMojo.com. "He opened this about as well as it could be opened."

The cheaply made trapped-in-the-woods horror film "Cabin Fever" opened in third place with $8.5 million.

"It's a great weekend for horror and it's been a good season for horror," Dergarabedian said, citing the success of such recent slasher-monster films as "Jeepers Creepers 2" and "Freddy vs. Jason."

Ticket sales overall bounced back from last weekend's dismal earnings of $50.5 million, the lowest box office weekend in two years with "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star" at No. 1. This weekend, "Dickie Roberts" fell to fourth place with $5 million.

The Bill Murray dramedy "Lost in Translation" debuted with $901,143 in just 23 theaters, posting an outstanding per-screen average of $39,180. The film opens in 125 theaters next weekend.

The top 12 movies grossed $73.5 million, up 45 percent from last week and about 1 percent from last year, when "Barbershop" and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" topped the box office.

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. "Once Upon a Time in Mexico," $24 million.
2. "Matchstick Men," $13.3 million.
3. "Cabin Fever," $8.5 million.
4. "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star," $5 million.
5. "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," $4.6 million.
6. "Freaky Friday," $4.1 million.
7. "Jeepers Creepers 2," $3 million.
8. "Open Range," $2.809 million.
9. "S.W.A.T.", $2.800 million.
10. "Seabiscuit," $2.7 million.

Affleck, Lopez Split -- at Least Temporarily

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood celebrity couple Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have split, at least temporarily, sources close to Affleck told Reuters on Sunday.

The pair were seen on Friday in the Los Angeles area boarding planes to different U.S. cities, after postponing weekend wedding plans due to a media frenzy, said the sources, who wished to remain anonymous.

The sources said that sometime last week Affleck called close associates telling them that he and Lopez had broken up. On Saturday Affleck was spotted gambling and sunning himself without Lopez at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, they said.

Meanwhile, sources said that Lopez on Friday flew to her Miami residence and had made plans to head to Winnipeg where she is filming a new movie with Richard Gere.

It was not certain if the break-up would be permanent, the sources said.

Representatives for the pair could not immediately be reached for comment. People magazine reported that the representatives said they had no knowledge of the break-up.

The pair, who reportedly planned to wed on Sunday at an estate in the hills near Santa Barbara, California, said in a joint statement last Wednesday that they had postponed the nuptials because of unwanted publicity.

However after making that announcement, the couple were seen together at the trendy Los Angeles restaurant, The Ivy.

Lopez, 33, and Affleck, 31, are currently America's hottest celebrity couple, but doubts were cast over their engagement when stories surfaced in tabloids and magazines last month about Affleck visiting a strip club without Lopez in July. Lopez publicly shrugged off Affleck's night out.

One source familiar with the couple said that a request by Lopez for a prenuptial agreement may have chilled wedding plans.

The couple also suffered bad publicity when their first movie together, "Gigli," was panned by critics and flopped at the box office in the summer.