New Video And DVD's For You To Buy
One huge Hollywood film that did well and two small movies that hardly anyone saw debut on video this week. And I must admit that the one everyone saw isn't half as good as the other two that everyone stayed away from, which is too bad because with the big movie's star power and premise it should have been great.
But ANGER MANAGEMENT isn't great. Its barely even okay. Adam Sandler of Big Daddy is a passive, calm man who is forced into undergoing anger management therapy with a dysfunctional therapist. The one and only Jack Nicholson is the therapist and with him and Sandler in this picture on paper it should have been one of the best comedies ever! On film, and now on video and DVD, ANGER MANAGEMENT is merely a mildly entertaining comedy. I don't think I laughed once, and I love Adam Sandler's work. His BILLY MADISON and HAPPY GILMORE are movies I watch all the time. I doubt I'll ever watch ANGER MANAGEMENT again.
I must admit that I will watch CONFIDENCE again, and not just because it stars Rachel Weisz from ABOUT A BOY and THE MUMMY, the actress I have a crush on this month.
CONFIDENCE is a heist caper in which the heist is unimportant. What is important is the wonderful dialogue that is spoken throughout the movie. Edward Burns, Andy Garcia and Dustin Hoffman also star in this movie which is derivative of almost every con man movie you've ever seen, but you won't care as it copies from some of the very best.
Finally, after being delayed more times than I can remember CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND is supposed to be available again today. The movie is based on the memoirs of game-show creator-host Chuck Barris, the man responsible for The Newlywed Game and The Gong Show.
This movie doesn't only cover Barris's television career, but also his exploits as a government assassin.
Yes, you heard me right. TV Game show guy Chuck Barris claims to have been an assassin for the U.S. Government. In real life that claim is unsubstantiated, but has also not been disproved, so while watching the movie you can believe what you want. I believe him, it made the film more fun!
Sam Rockwell from the upcoming film MATCHSTICK MEN stars as Barris, while a trio of Hollywood's biggest stars, Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts and George Clooney - who also directed - round out the cast. Plus there are some great cameos that I won't tell you about. I just don't want to ruin the surprise!
Like I said, this thing keeps getting delayed, so call your local store before you go looking for it in case it gets delayed again.
Finally this week the incredible 1970 TV series SOAP debuts in a COMPLETE FIRST SEASON DVD set. Known by some as the funniest comedy of all-time, SOAP is also renowned because it was the first TV show to feature a gay leading character. Who was that actor? It was Billy Crystal.
COMING NEXT WEEK
Daddy Day Care - A couple of fathers open up a guy-run child daycare. (Eddie Murphy, Anjelica Huston, Susan Santiago)
Holes - An innocent teen is sent to a weird detention camp. (Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight, Patricia Arquette)
A Mighty Wind - A trio of folk acts reunite for a tribute concert in this wonderful comedy from the makers of THIS IS SPINAL TAP, BEST IN SHOW and WAITING FOR GUFFMAN. (Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer)
The Shape Of Things - A story of love, seduction and betrayal. (Paul Rudd, Gretchen Mol, Rachel Weisz)
Enjoy the movies and I'll see you on the couch!
Here are the new CD releases for Tuesday September 16, 2003:
* A PERFECT CIRCLE Thirteenth Step (Capitol)
* DAVID BOWIE Reality (Columbia)
* OBIE TRICE Cheers (Interscope)
* SHELBY LYNNE Identity Crisis (EMI)
* TONI BRAXTON Toni Braxton (Blackground)
Corgan Pulls Plug On Zwan
Billy Corgan's post-Smashing Pumpkins band Zwan has broken up, he told Chicago's WGN Monday morning. "A couple of people asked me, 'Why didn't you tell anybody?' I'm sort of out of the period of my life when I run around trying to generate news," he said.
As previously reported, Zwan -- which featured bassist Paz Lenchantin, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and guitarists David Pajo and Matt Sweeney -- canceled a planned summer tour due to "family matters." Lenchantin quit Zwan last month to join Pajo's Papa M project for a fall tour and studio album.
"I really enjoyed my experience with Zwan, but at the end of the day, without that sense of deeper family loyalty, it just becomes like anything else," Corgan said. Zwan's lone Reprise album, "Mary, Star of the Sea," debuted earlier this year at No. 3 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 267,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.
"Our attitude in the Pumpkins was, it was a do or die proposition, and that got us through all the hard times we went through, particularly with the Pumpkins where we had two members with serious drug problems," he continued.
As previously reported, Corgan will participate in a multimedia poetry performance Wednesday in his Chicago hometown, opening the Poetry Center of Chicago's 31st Annual Reading Series at the Art Institute of Chicago's Rubloff Auditorium. The performance, expected to incorporate elements of singing, reading and playing music, will also serve as a promotional preview of Corgan's forthcoming poetry book.
Musicians Honor Johnny Cash at Funeral
HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. - Family, friends and musicians gathered at Johnny Cash's funeral Monday to pay tribute to a giant in American music.
"He represented the best of America; we're not going to see his like again," said singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson, who wrote Cash's 1970 hit "Sunday Morning Coming Down."
More than 1,000 people attended the private two-and-a-half-hour service at First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, about 15 miles north of Nashville — the same church where Cash mourned the death of his wife, June Carter Cash, in May.
Cash, 71, died Friday of respiratory failure caused by complications from diabetes. He had been in declining health for years.
"I can almost live in a world without Johnny Cash because he will always be with us," said Cash's daughter, singer Rosanne Cash. "I cannot begin to imagine a world without Daddy."
Among the celebrities attending were country singers Vince Gill, Hank Williams Jr., Travis Tritt, Dwight Yoakam, George Jones, Ricky Skaggs, Ronnie Dunn, the Statler Brothers and the Oak Ridge Boys.
Other celebrities in attendance included rock-rapper Kid Rock, actress Jane Seymour and former Vice President Al Gore, a native of Tennessee.
Kristofferson called Cash "Abraham Lincoln with a wild side" — a man always willing to champion the voiceless and downtrodden, "whose work in life has been an inspiration and salvation to so many people around the world."
The Rev. Franklin Graham — son of Cash's friend, the Rev. Billy Graham — called Cash "a good man who also struggled with many challenges in his life. He was a deeply religious man."
Emmylou Harris and Sheryl Crow sang the gospel hymn, "The Old Rugged Cross" and Bob Dylan's "Every Grain of Sand."
Cash, known as "The Man in Black" for his preferred attire, said in a hit song that he wore the color in honor of the poor and oppressed. He was buried in a black coffin with silver handles.
As the service came to end, country singer Larry Gatlin addressed his own son, Joshua Cash Gatlin, from the pulpit: "Son, this man fed your mama and me when we couldn't afford food. He paid rent for us when we couldn't pay rent."
For more than four decades, beginning in the 1950s as a peer of Elvis Presley in Memphis, Cash specialized in earthy songs about hard times and brooding love songs. His hits range from the rockabilly anthem "Get Rhythm," to the comical "A Boy Named Sue," to the recent "Hurt," about the ravages of drug abuse.
Cash rose to fame in his late 20s, but his career was nearly derailed by an addiction to pills. He credited his wife, Carter Cash, whom he married in 1968, for helping him beat the addiction.
His commercial peak was from 1969-71 when he had a network television show with guests including Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Kristofferson.
After a dip in record sales that lasted nearly two decades, Cash partnered with rock-rap producer Rick Rubin and recorded four critically lauded albums that found him a new, younger audience.
After the death of Carter Cash in May, Cash spent most of his time recording, leaving more than 30 songs yet to be released. He had planned to attend the MTV Video Music Awards shortly before his death, but couldn't because of illness. His video for "Hurt" won an award for cinematography at that show, and he has four nominations at the Country Music Association Awards in November.
Gatlin, Marty Stuart and producer Randy Scruggs were among the active pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers included Kristofferson; Rubin; singers Rodney Crowell and Willie Nelson; Marshall Grant, who played bass in Cash's original band; and his brother Tommy Cash.
A public memorial was also being planned.
John Ritter Remembered in Private Service
LOS ANGELES - Actor John Ritter was remembered by his family and close friends at a private service Monday, four days after his sudden death.
Ritter's publicist, Lisa Kasteler, did not release details of the service. She said a public memorial was being planned and Ritter's friends and colleagues will pay tribute to him in an ABC News special.
"A Life of Laughter: Remembering John Ritter," an hour-long program anchored by Diane Sawyer, will air at 8 p.m. EDT Tuesday.
Those scheduled to be part of the special include Suzanne Somers and Joyce DeWitt, who costarred with Ritter in the 1977-84 sitcom "Three's Company," and Katey Sagal, his co-star on the ABC sitcom "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter."
Ritter, 54, died last Thursday after suffering a tear in his aorta. He was stricken while on the set of "8 Simple Rules."
ABC was weighing the future of the show, which was to start its second season Sept. 23 and was seen as a key part of the network's effort to rebound in the ratings.
Destiny's Child to Reunite in January
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Singer Beyonce Knowles says she and Destiny's Child cohorts Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams will reunite in the studio early next year to begin work on their first album of new material together in more than two years.
The last studio record by the Grammy-winning rhythm and blues trio was "Survivor" in 2001.
"Destiny's Child will be back in the studio in January," Knowles said in an interview with Reuters on Monday.
The three singers parted company in late 2001 to pursue solo projects. Knowles cemented her own celebrity status as Foxxy Cleopatra in the 2002 film "Austin Powers in Goldmember," then scored a hit earlier this year with her solo record, "Dangerously in Love."
Rowland made her solo debut with last year's "Simply Deep," while Williams released a gospel/soul record titled "Heart to Yours."
Knowles, who stars in the upcoming film "The Fighting Temptations," opening on Friday, has kept particularly busy. She may issue another collection of her own songs before the new Destiny's Child effort.
"I recorded about 45 songs for my record, but only put 15 on it," Knowles said. "I still have a lot of songs that I really love that I couldn't put on the record. So I might be releasing another record of my unreleased songs before the Destiny's Child record comes out."
Knowles said she hopes the trio can take a few months to work on some new material and find a fresh sound.
"I want us to work together from the very start on every song because everybody has grown so much," she said. "It's been a couple of years. I know the sound is going to mature and be a little different. We have to figure it out.
"Kelly made an alternative record and Michelle's was gospel. We've got to mix it all together and figure out what we're really going to do."
Destiny's Child, which began more than a decade ago as a foursome in Houston, emerged as a reconstituted trio following the acrimonious departure of two co-founding members of the group in 1999.
Knowles, Rowland and Williams became a dominant pop music force in the spring of 2000, producing a string of multi-platinum albums and such hit singles as "Say My Name," "Jumpin', Jumpin"' and "Bootylicious."
The group's third album of new material, "Survivor," debuted in May 2001 at No. 1 on the Billboard pop charts and sold more than 3 million copies.