Stones Defend DVD Sales at Best Buy

NEW YORK (AP) — Mick Jagger is defending the Rolling Stones' decision to sell their new DVD box set "Four Flicks" through Best Buy and no other music retailers.

"This is not like not allowing them to sell some Blockbuster movie, which is going to sell 2 million DVDs in first week, you know, a 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' or something like that," Jagger told The Associated Press on Thursday.

"I think that this is like really small potatoes compared to that," he said.

Best Buy, which operates nearly 700 stores in the United States and Canada, won't say how much it paid for exclusive selling rights. Industry sources estimated Best Buy's deal easily runs into the millions of dollars given the retailer's plans to conduct a multichannel marketing campaign that will include in-store signage, national TV advertising, newspaper circulars, direct mail and the company's Web site.

George Whalin, a California retail consultant, has said Best Buy's deal with the Rolling Stones gives the nation's largest retailer of consumer electronics "an edge over everyone else who sells music" because of the Stones' popularity.

Three big music chains in Canada announced they were pulling some of the band's merchandise and music off shelves in protest after learning of the deal.

"I feel bad for the stores that aren't going to have the product, but they have lots of other products, to be honest, and music videos don't sell anything like movie DVDs," Jagger said.

But the band had the fans in mind all along when it made the decision, he said.

The Best Buy partnership will allow them to buy the DVD set for about $30 instead of $60, he said.

The set documents three of the band's concerts from its 2002-03 "Live Licks" tour and features more than five hours of music, including some material never recorded before. Concerts featured are from Olympia Theatre in Paris, Madison Square Garden in New York and Twickenham Stadium in London. The DVD package also includes two documentaries on the band.

Given the Stones' history with previous albums, the "Four Flicks" DVD set seems likely to sell at least 1 million copies in North America.

The Stones' "Forty Licks" two-CD set sold about 4 million copies in the United States, according to figures from the Recording Industry Association of America.

"Four Flicks" will be released Nov. 11.

Italian Tenor Franco Bonisolli Dies at 65

Franco Bonisolli, an Italian tenor who performed with the Vienna State Opera for decades, has died, the opera house said Thursday. He was 65.

Bonisolli died during the night, opera spokeswoman Margarete Arnold said. She didn't identify the cause of death or say where he died.

Bonisolli made his opera debut as Ruggero in Puccini's "La Rondine" at the renowned festival in Spoleto, Italy, in 1962, later singing the part of the Prince in "L'Amour des Trois Oranges."

His debut with the Vienna State Opera came in 1968, and he eventually performed with top opera houses worldwide, including the New York Metropolitan Opera , where he first sang in 1970.

He sang a total of 25 performances at the Met over the next two decades as Count Almaviva in "Il Barbiere di Siviglia," "Faust," the Duke in "Rigoletto," Cavaradossi in "Tosca," Alfredo in "La Traviata" and Manrico in "Il Trovatore."

He performed at the Vienna opera house for the last time in 2000 as Manrico in "Il Trovatore," the Vienna opera house said.

Bonisolli was born May 25, 1938 in the northern Italian city of Rovereto.

Comedian Dennis Miller to Host CNBC Talk Show

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian Dennis Miller, a regular on "Saturday Night Live" over a decade ago, will return to the NBC fold to host a prime-time cable talk show starting next year.

Miller, who won five Emmy Awards for his weekly series "Dennis Miller Live," will also serve as executive producer for the hour-long show set to debut in January on CNBC, the cable business channel, both sides said in a statement issued on Thursday.

"With all that's going on in the world today, it's nice to have a nightly platform to air my opinions. I'm happy to be back in the NBC family," said Miller.

Miller, who supported Arnold Schwarzenegger in the action star's successful bid for governorship of California earlier this month, has been seen as a potential rising star in the state Republican party.

"Having Dennis Miller return to the NBC family is one of the most exciting things to happen to us in years," said Jeff Zucker, president of NBC Entertainment. "His wit, uncanny takes on life and fearlessness have made him a popular figure -- and this is the next logical step in his brilliant career."

Miller was a member of the commentary team for ABC's "NFL Monday Night Football" during a stint that ended last year. He is also a frequent guest on politically oriented talk shows.

NBC is a unit of General Electric Co. while ABC is owned by the Walt Disney Co.

Networks at a loss as November sweeps arrive

By Gary Levin, USA TODAY

The November sweeps, starting tonight, has the usual crop of celebrations (CBS turns 75), news-interview exclusives (Jessica Lynch), trophy handouts (Country Music Association Awards) and special episodes (8 Simple Rules mourns John Ritter's death).

What's missing: networks celebrating their usual skill at luring viewers who are eager to embrace the new TV season.

With the exception of first-place Fox — up 20% this fall because of postseason baseball — the news isn't good. UPN is off 16% from last year, NBC and WB are down 11%, CBS is off 3% and ABC is unchanged compared with a lowly 2002. Among younger viewers, the declines are even sharper.

So naturally there's even more jockeying to improve standings during sweeps, when ratings help determine local stations' ad rates.

"The season started poorly, and now that baseball's over, there are no more excuses" for weak performance, says top Initiative Media buyer Tim Spengler.

Less than six weeks into the season, the weaklings are being separated from the herd:

• NBC, now in third place, has made the most moves, axing Boomtown and benching Coupling and legal drama Lyon's Den for at least a month.

• Fox canceled its new sitcom Luis.

• CBS yanked David E. Kelley's Brotherhood of Poland, N.H.

• UPN's The Mullets didn't last nearly as long as its namesake hairstyle.

NBC is hauling out more repeats of Friends and Law & Order to fill its gaps. Six Law episodes are scheduled to air in the next week, leading to questions about the network's reliance on the still-powerful crime series. Monday brings new reality dating show Average Joe (NBC, 10 p.m. ET/PT), despite the failure of another Joe, as in Millionaire.

Which brings up Fox's dilemma: The network has been unable to parlay powerful baseball ratings into series success, as Millionaire and new drama Skin stumbled badly. Even the hit 24 premiered Tuesday with 11.6 million viewers, down 14% from last fall's opener.

One problem, analysts say, is TV cannibalism: NBC's Saving Jessica Lynch will do battle with another biopic, CBS' Elizabeth Smart Story, on Nov. 9. "Each standing alone has the potential to do well," says Steve Sternberg of media buyer Magna Global USA. "Opposite one another, they will both be hurt."

Tipsy Popcorn

Odeon Cinemas in the UK are set to launch alcoholic popcorn. Yep, that’s right you didn’t miss here me. They held a poll of what else people want from their kernels and alcohol was the winner. They are going to start off with Sambuca and Irish Cream and if these go down well, who knows what will be popping.

Paul McCartney 'Ecstatic' Father Again at 61

LONDON (Reuters) - Paul McCartney is a father again at the age of 61 after the former Beatle's second wife, Heather Mills, gave birth to their first child, a baby girl born three weeks early by Caesarian section.
 
"Both she and mum are doing well. Paul and Heather are ecstatic with the news," said a statement on Thursday from the couple after the birth of seven-pound Beatrice Milly. "She is a little beauty and we couldn't be prouder."

The one-legged model turned charity campaigner, who married the former Beatle in June last year, gave birth on Tuesday at a London hospital near the Abbey Road studios where the world's most famous pop group recorded their immortal albums.

The proud parents said: "She is named after Heather's mother Beatrice and Paul's Aunt Milly. Our immediate family were told the news right away and are all as overjoyed as we are at the early arrival of our little bundle of joy."

Initial press reports said that Mills gave birth to a boy.

McCartney has three adult children from his marriage to first wife Linda, who died of breast cancer in 1998.

Mills, 35, had always feared she could never have children because she had in the past suffered cancer of the uterus and two ectopic pregnancies.

Mills said that when she told McCartney that her pregnancy test was positive "We both started crying and it was just a miracle."

McCartney's marriage to photographer Linda Eastman was one of the happiest in showbusiness and they rarely spent a night apart. He was heartbroken by her death.

His friendship with Mills, who was born the year before Paul and Linda's wedding, blossomed into romance after they first met at a charity event.

"I'm lucky to have found a good woman who is strong like Linda," McCartney said.

His children were said to be not so sure and McCartney has admitted this was a problem.

"I think a second marriage is hard for the children no matter who it is," he said. "They find it difficult to think of me with another woman."

Mills has denied press reports of a feud between herself and McCartney's children Mary, James and fashion designer Stella.

Mills ran away from home at the age of 13, living rough on the streets of London and descending into petty crime and delinquency.

She became a glamour model and married a computer sales director. But they split up in 1989 and she went to Yugoslavia to train as a ski instructor.

On return to Britain, her life was forever changed in 1993 when she was hit by a police motorcylist speeding to an emergency. "When I landed, I was on one side of the road and my leg was on the other," she said of the horrific accident.
 
She now devotes her time to her own charity which raises funds to provide artificial limbs to land mine victims.

Nichols' brother sues Michael Moore

DETROIT (AP) -- James Nichols, the brother of Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols, says he was tricked into appearing in the documentary Bowling for Columbine, according to a federal lawsuit filed against filmmaker Michael Moore.

Nichols also alleges in the lawsuit, filed Monday in Detroit, that Moore libeled him by linking him to the terrorist act.

Nichols accuses Moore of libel, defamation of character, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. His lawyer is asking for a jury trial and damages ranging from $10 million to $20 million on each of nine counts, the Detroit Free Press reported.

A message seeking comment was left Tuesday with Moore's publicist.

In the film, Moore asks Nichols for an interview and steers the subject from the Oklahoma City bombing to gun ownership. Nichols tells Moore he has a gun under his pillow, and Moore asks Nichols to show him.

In the lawsuit, Nichols, who lives in Decker, said Moore misled him about the purpose of the interview.

Bowling for Columbine won the feature-length documentary Academy Award earlier this year.

Groening: Fox News Threatened to Sue 'Simpsons'

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Over its 14-year history, "The Simpsons" has taken almost as many shots at its network, FOX, as Bart has at Springfield bartender Moe Szyslak through his prank calls.

However, Fox News Channel -- which is part of the same News Corp. empire that owns FOX -- apparently got a little touchy about an episode of the show that aired last season.

In an interview on National Public Radio's "Fresh Air" last week, "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening said Fox News threatened to sue "The Simpsons" for using a fake news crawl with the Fox News logo in an episode that aired in March. The episode, titled "Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington," involved Krusty the Clown running for Congress.

"We called their bluff because we didn't think [News Corp. CEO] Rupert Murdoch would pay for Fox to sue itself," Groening says in the interview. "We got away with it, but now FOX has a new rule that we can't do those little fake news crawls in a cartoon because it might confuse the viewers into thinking it's real news."

Fox News says it never threatened to sue the show, according to several news reports.

The fake crawl took some jabs at Fox News' right-leaning reputation, reading in part: "Rupert Murdoch: Terrific dancer ... Dow down 5000 points ... Study: 92 per cent of Democrats are gay ... JFK posthumously joins Republican Party ... Oil slicks found to keep seals young, supple. ..."

"The Simpsons" begins its 15th season Sunday (Nov. 2) with the annual "Treehouse of Horror" episode.

Timbaland To Lead 'World' Charity Remake

Timbaland plans to revisit the USA For Africa charity project "We Are the World" to raise funds for worldwide HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention programs. The hip-hop artist/producer confirmed the plans Monday night (Oct. 27) at the second annual YouthAIDS Gala in New York.

Justin Timberlake and Missy Elliott will co-write the new version, which will be titled "The World Is Ours." Like the original, which involved an all-star roster of more than 40 vocalists, a cast of contemporary artists is being recruited for the project.

Due in spring 2004, "The World Is Ours" is being made with the blessing of Quincy Jones, who produced the original. Beat Club Records will release the single, which will be distributed by Interscope. Proceeds will benefit YouthAIDS and Jones' Listen Up Foundation.

A "The World Is Ours" video will premiere on VH1, the official media partner for the project, and MTV. A VH1 special about the recording of the song is also planned and an accompanying DVD will be produced by QD3, Jones' son.

Inspired by Bob Geldof's all-star U.K. Band Aid benefit recording "Do They Know It's Christmas?," in 1985 Harry Belefonte conceived a stateside version, USA For Africa, to further raise funds to fight famine in Africa. Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote "We Are the World," reportedly in just two hours, and Jones produced the recording session. Among the participants were Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder and Willie Nelson.

Released by Columbia, the single reached the top of The Billboard Hot 100. The accompanying album, which also boasted previously unreleased tracks by Prince, the Pointer Sisters and others, hit No. 1 on The Billboard 200. The project raised $90 million for famine relief in Africa.

"I see this as a passing of the torch. I will use the legendary model of 'We Are the World,' but update it in a way that works for the trends of the music industry today," Timbaland says in a statement. "Just as Quincy Jones, Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson did, we will create an anthem with today's most talented artists to produce a song that will bring the world's attention to the AIDS pandemic."

Disney Postpones 'The Alamo' Release

LOS ANGELES - Disney has postponed the Christmas release of "The Alamo" until April because filmmakers felt they needed more time to finish it.

"Too often in Hollywood these days, release dates are set before a film has even completed shooting and it forces the director into a situation that compromises the work," studio Chairman Dick Cook said Wednesday.

The movie, starring Billy Bob Thornton as Davy Crockett and Dennis Quaid as Sam Houston, was scheduled to debut Dec. 25. The postponement means it won't qualify for the 2003 Academy Awards — where some had predicted it would be a major contender.

"Ultimately, the end product is more important than the need to meet arbitrary deadlines for awards," Cook said.

With Tom Cruise's "The Last Samurai," "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" and "Peter Pan" opening in December, "The Alamo" will be dodging some tough competition.

"The Alamo" was directed by John Lee Hancock, whose other major directing credit was "The Rookie," which starred Quaid. He also wrote the screenplay for Clint Eastwood's "A Perfect World."

Hancock said he wouldn't miss the awards campaign.

"Postproduction on an epic ensemble piece takes time and no deadline, no prestige release date, no awards season is worth more to me than the movie being fantastic," he said.

Disney initially courted "A Beautiful Mind" Oscar winner Ron Howard to direct "The Alamo" and Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe to star. But the studio and Howard clashed over how bloody and expensive the film should be, with Howard seeking a reported $125 million budget.

Hancock's "Alamo" has been touted by the studio as an example of a cost-saving epic in an era of out-of-control movie budgets, but the delay is likely to drive its reported $80 million price tag higher.

Italian Tenor Franco Corelli Dies at 82

ROME - Franco Corelli, whose ringing tenor voice and matinee-idol looks made him one of the top opera stars of the 20th century, has died at age 82, the ANSA news agency said Thursday.

Corelli, whose career took him from La Scala to New York's Metropolitan Opera and other great stages in between, had been hospitalized in August following what was believed to be a stroke. ANSA said Corelli died in the same Milan hospital where he was being treated.

The Italian agency's report did not say when he died, and officials were not available for comment in the early hours Thursday.

Born April 8, 1921, Corelli made his opera debut in 1951 at Spoleto as Don Jose in Bizet's "Carmen."

He inaugurated the opera season at Milan's Teatro alla Scala three years later with Maria Callas, singing in Spontini's "La Vestale." He made his debut at The Royal Opera in London in 1957 as Cavaradossi in Puccini's "Tosca," becoming one of the world's finest spinto tenors.

He appeared frequently at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, which was for many years his favorite venue.

In all, Corelli sang 368 performances at the Met, where he made his debut on Jan. 27, 1961, as Manrico in Verdi's "Il Trovatore" opposite soprano Leontyne Price, who also made her house debut that night.

His final performance with the Met was on tour in Puccini's "La Boheme" on June 28, 1975.

He made his Vienna State Opera debut in 1963.

Corelli was a perfect romantic lead: a lyric tenor with great versatility, he also had a strapping and muscular build. As he developed his upper register, he took on and scored successes in all the great tenor roles, performing in Verdi's "Don Carlo," "La Forza del Destino," "Aida" and "Ernani," Puccini's "Turandot," and Giordano's "Andrea Chenier."

He appeared in opera houses around the globe with such greats as Callas, with whom he had a special partnership for many years, Renata Tebaldi, Birgit Nilsson and Joan Sutherland.

He frequently sang opposite Nilsson at the Met in Puccini's "Turandot," taking the role of Calaf, the prince who melts the heart of the icy princess Turandot, the role sung by Nilsson. In their second-act duet, they delighted audiences by competing to see who could hold the climactic high note longer.

Legend has it that on one occasion when Nilsson outlasted him, Corelli became so jealous he bit her on the neck. Nilsson, famous for her sense of humor as well as her powerhouse soprano voice, supposedly notified Met general manager Rudolf Bing that she would be unable to perform again until she had been tested for rabies.

Barry Tucker, son of the late American tenor Richard Tucker, called Corelli "one of the greatest tenors of all time," and remembered him for "his ringing high Cs."

"My mother used to say to my father all the time after (hearing) "Turandot:" `This opera was written for Franco Corelli,'" said Tucker, a longtime friend.

Corelli also had a hand in the Met debut of Placido Domingo. Corelli was scheduled to sing in Cilea's "Adriana Lecouvreur" opposite Tebaldi at the Met on Sept. 28, l968.

"I had just sat down to dinner when the phone rang and Rudolf Bing's voice inquired, `How are you feeling, Placido?' " Domingo recalled in 1998.
 
"`Oh, fine, Mr. Bing,' was my answer.

"`That's good, because in an hour from now you have to sing Maurizio. Franco Corelli just canceled, because he is sick.' "

The mayor of Corelli's hometown of Ancona, Fabio Sturani, sent a message of condolence to Corelli's family, calling Corelli one of the most "refined" tenors in Italian lyric opera.

As his voice aged, Corelli sang fewer operas and concentrated more on concerts. He retired in 1976, although he was present as a special guest in October 2002 at a Milan awards ceremony where he received a standing ovation.

He is survived by his wife, the singer Loretta Di Lelio, ANSA said.

'Indiana Jones' Digs Up Record for Catalog Set

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "The Adventures of Indiana Jones -- The Complete DVD Movie Collection" has become the best-selling boxed set of classic catalog film fare of all time, selling more than 1.1 million units during its first week on store shelves, according to studio executives.

During its first 24 hours in release Oct. 21, the four-disc boxed set, at an average retail price of $46, sold roughly 600,000 units for an estimated retail value of $28 million. For the week, the value topped $50 million said executives at Paramount Home Entertainment and Lucasfilm Ltd.

The adventure classics starring Harrison Ford, with supporting cast members including Karen Allen, Sean Connery, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri, Denholm Elliott, River Phoenix and John Rhys-Davies, was one of the most requested DVD series, prompting Lucasfilm executives to meet the demands with a boxed set.

"We couldn't be more pleased about the fantastic sales figures, but probably the best news is that we delivered a collection that lived up to the enormously high expectations that 'Indiana Jones' fans had for this movie," said Jim Ward, Lucasfilm's vp marketing and distribution.

"Our top priority was making sure these movies looked and sounded better than ever, so a new generation of fans can discover them for the first time," Ward said. "The reviews are really pleased with the quality of the discs and the bonus materials."

The four-disc set provides viewers with more than 10 hours of entertainment. Disc 1 offers the completely remastered "Raiders of the Lost Ark." On Disc 2 is "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," while Disc 3 offers "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." Disc 4 holds the bonus material, including an exclusive link to special material on the "Indiana Jones" Web site.

A Milestone Is Approaching!

Sometime over the next week we will be publishing our 5000th post here on anythingbut.com.

Woo hoo!

Thanks for getting us here.

Stones CDs yanked from Cdn. stores

TORONTO -- At least three of the country's largest music retailers pulled Rolling Stones CDs, DVDs, T-shirts and other merchandise off store shelves Tuesday to protest an exclusivity deal with Best Buy and Future Shop.

That means anyone looking to buy Bridges to Babylon or Exile on Main Street at HMV's 100 stores, Music World's 102 or Sunrise Records' 30 will be out of luck.

The move comes after the band's management made a deal to sell the upcoming release of the Four Flicks DVD exclusively through the big box retailer.

The four-disc DVD, due out Nov. 11, documents the Forty Licks tour, which passed through parts of Canada earlier this year. Special features include behind-the-scenes footage of the band's Toronto rehearsals. It will retail for $39.99 exclusively at the 16 Best Buy and 107 Future Shop stores across Canada until at least early next year.

"If our customers aren't good enough to have access to their new release in our stores then maybe (The Stones) aren't worthy of having any products in our stores," said Humphrey Kadaner, president of HMV Canada.

This is the first time the CD and DVD shop has made such a bold move with an artist, but Kadaner said it won't be the last. The chain, he said, has to take a stand against major artist new release "retail exclusives" or risk not being able to service its customer base.

Next in line is John Mellencamp, who made a similar exclusivity deal with Best Buy for the release of his upcoming DVD Trouble No More: The Making of a John Mellencamp Album, he added.

"It's not just the Rolling Stones, any artists that choose to exclude HMV as a retailer for selling the product, this will be our response," he said.

The chain said it stands to lose up to $1 million in sales between now and Christmas. Canada is a particularly strong market for the Stones, who in July showed their appreciation by playing a special concert after Toronto's SARS outbreak.

Best Buy Canada defended its deal with the Stones saying the music industry is in a state of flux and companies have to find new ways of getting people to buy CDs.

"We support and applaud any innovative ways that retailers or artists or labels can create to create excitement around music," said Lori De'Cou, a spokeswoman for the company from its offices in Burnaby, B.C. "Music as we know is really a changing industry."

Sunrise Records became Stones-free on Tuesday in hopes of persuading other artists not to enter similar deals.

Tim Baker, head buyer for the southern Ontario-based chain, said the deal perhaps makes sense in the U.S. where big box stores like Best Buy account for 70 per cent of music sales. In Canada, however, the reverse it true.

"The traditional music retailers account for 70 per cent of the business," said Baker. "In other words (Stones' promoter) Michael Cohl has made a deal for Canada without thinking."

Cohl, a Torontonian, said the Rolling Stones wanted to offer their fans a deal for holidays.

"Best Buy made this possible with a four DVD set for $29.99 in the U.S. and $39.99 in Canada," he said in a statement.

Baker said the chain will keep all the merchandise, which includes Rolling Stones hats and wallets, for a few weeks in case the band's management changes its mind, otherwise the product will be sent back.

Marlon Brando Dictates His Will, Plans Funeral

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Hollywood legend Marlon Brando, who has been suffering from serious ill health, is reportedly making preparations for his death.

The 79-year-old actor has left instructions on dictated tapes specifying points in his will and details for his funeral, according to media reports.

Sources claim that Brando's tapes say he wishes to be cremated, with his ashes sprinkled among the palm trees on the Polynesian atoll known as Tetiaroa, an island he has owned since 1966.

The actor also wants Jack Nicholson to lead mourners at the funeral service, with King of Pop Michael Jackson saying a few words.

In February, Brando was diagnosed with congestive heart failure.

Brando, whose career has spanned more than five decades, won best actor Oscars for Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather" in 1972 and Elia Kazan's "On the Waterfront" in 1954. His most recent onscreen appearance was in the 2001 heist film "The Score" opposite Robert DeNiro and Edward Norton.

Moose tracks lead to Bob and Doug, eh?

By Susan Wloszczyna, USA TODAY

Parents who catch Disney's Brother Bear when the animated feature opens wide Saturday might find that the bickersome moose brothers who amble through the Pacific Northwest adventure sound awfully familiar.

And, no, they aren't related to Bullwinkle. The antlered duo of Rutt and Tuke are voiced by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas, creators of the flannel-shirted, beer-imbibing buffoons Bob and Doug McKenzie. The proletariat pair, who were born in 1980 as part of Canadian-bred skit show SCTV, parodied such national food concerns as back bacon and doughnuts and popularized catchphrases like "Take off, you hoser" and "Eh?" (Canadian for "you know?") on their "Great White North" segment.

Moranis and Thomas later parlayed their McKenzie fame into multimedia fool's gold, including a 1983 cult classic that combined Hamlet and ale, Strange Brew; a best-selling comedy album; and ads for Pizza Hut and Jiffy Lube. But this is the first time the doltish duo has impersonated wild animals. At least intentionally.

It's as good of an occasion as any to catch up with New York-based Moranis, 49, star of such films as Little Shop of Horrors and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, and Thomas, 55, an L.A. resident who appeared on the sitcom Grace Under Fire.

Q: The last time you probably did Bob and Doug was for Molson beer commercials in 1997.

Moranis: We could have built a special theater in Vegas for ourselves, but we would have gotten tired of them. By living 3,000 miles apart, we stay friends.

Q: Did Molson pay you in beer? Thomas: They sent us six cases a month that we didn't ask for. I'm not a big beer drinker, and it would stack up. I used to give it to the handyman as a tip.

Q: Did Disney give you any special gifts?

Thomas: They gave us manquettes (models) of our characters. We had to sign something saying we wouldn't sell it on eBay.

Moranis: I sold them out of the back of my car, instead.

Q: Bob and Doug were spawned as a subversive way to meet the Canadian government's requirement of having a certain amount of Canadian content on TV and radio. Do they still have the rules?

Moranis: They still do. The restrictions were more exaggerated in the beginning. With music, if the recording was made in Canada or the artist, producer, lyricist or composer were Canadian, it would qualify. Galt MacDermot, who wrote the music for Hair, was Canadian. So the songs from Hair were always on the radio.

Thomas: Canada has a national inferiority complex. It isn't enough that the whole cast and crew are Canadian. You have to make specific Canadian references. No wonder they flock to American TV.

Q: Did you agree right away to speak for moose, or were you holding out to be bears?

Thomas: Supporting character roles are forever. Leads come and go.

Q: Was it nice to revisit the McKenzies and be able to introduce them to younger generations? Do you ever tire of them?

Moranis: The essence of these characters is to fly by the seats of our pants. Having Dave in my headphones doing the character is no different from having phone conversations. We don't get tired of it. It's like getting tired of fun. Thomas: The directors gave us a lot of latitude. We didn't specifically give them the McKenzies. We adapted them to moose talk, like saying, "Trample off, you hoofer."

Q: The financing for a Strange Brew sequel fell through. But is it true you are planning to do an animated feature based on the McKenzies?

Thomas: We are working on it right now. It will probably be released direct to video.

Q: "Tuke" refers to tuque, the knit ski caps the McKenzies wear. Why the spelling change?

Thomas: Americans freak over the "que" spelling. They would think it was a French movie.

Q: Is Rutt a dirty moose term?

Thomas: (Silence)

Moranis: (Silence, then ) I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with rooting.

Q: If Rutt and Tuke rumbled with fellow cartoon animal sidekicks Pumbaa and Timon from The Lion King, who would win the fight?

Moranis: I guess it would depend on whether any agents were involved in that deal.

VERY SPECIAL EPISODE

R.E.M. performing in a Christmas episode of Boston Public December 19 on Fox. The band will perform an acoustic version of "Losing My Religion," while their new single "Bad Day" will play in the background during the episode.

LENNOX LORDS IT

Annie Lennox contributing a song to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King soundtrack. The CD will be released November 25; the film opens December 17.

Courtney Love Charged on Two Drug Counts

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Actress-singer Courtney Love was charged with two felony drug counts Tuesday in a complaint that specified she illegally possessed painkillers.

The two painkillers, hydrocodone and oxycodone, can be prescribed legally.

Love surrendered voluntarily and was booked by Beverly Hills police, district attorney's spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said.

She said bail was recommended at $20,000 and the court will consider whether Love is eligible for a drug diversion program.

"If she had prescriptions, we would not be charging illegal possession," Gibbons said.

The charges stem from an incident earlier this month when Love, 39, was arrested and booked on two misdemeanor drug counts after she allegedly tried to break into a Los Angeles home.

Hours after she was released, Beverly Hills police and paramedics were called to her home and took Love to a hospital for treatment of a drug overdose. The new charges relate to the overdose.

The performer is the widow of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, who committed suicide in 1994. She received a Golden Globe nomination for her role in the 1996 movie "The People vs. Larry Flynt."

Rod Stewart Takes Swipe at McCartney, Sting, Elton

LONDON (Reuters) - Rocker Rod Stewart feels he has been unfairly criticized for dating a younger woman, especially when ex-Beatle Paul McCartney escaped censure despite taking a wife half his age.

Stewart, 58, told on Tuesday that the difference was that McCartney has a knighthood.

He also complained at being passed over for a Grammy award in favor of British rival Sting, calling him "Mr. Serious who helps the Indians," and nicknamed singer Elton John "Sharon."

Stewart, whose partner is 32-year-old model Penny Lancaster, was speaking ahead of next month's formal opening of London musical "Tonight's the Night," based round 22 of his chart-topping songs.

"What pisses me off is they never have a go at Paul McCartney for marrying a younger woman ... but they kill me because of Penny," he said.

McCartney, 61, is 26 years older than his wife Heather Mills, the same age difference as between Stewart and Lancaster.

"Perhaps it's because he's got a knighthood," Stewart added. "I don't know why I haven't got any honor. I do my bit for charity."

Stewart, currently riding high in the album charts, complained he had been passed over for America's Grammy awards in favor of more worthy rivals like Sting.

Elton John, another singer with a knighthood, also earned Stewart's disapproval for not inviting him to his parties. Dubbing him "Sharon," Stewart took a swipe at John's appearance and weight.

"My hair is nice and real and looks it, and hers doesn't. No, I take that back. He looks good at the moment, but he could lose a bit of timber," he said.

Warner Begins Looney Tunes Rollout with 4 DVDs

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Some new DVDs based on popular animated characters like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck hit retail shelves on Tuesday as part of Warner Bros. film studio's plan to reinvigorate its library of Looney Tunes cartoons.

The studio, owned by Time Warner Inc, also raises the curtain on a new movie, "Looney Tunes Back in Action," on Nov. 14 that puts the Looney Tunes gang in a live-action feature film starring Brendan Fraser and Jenna Elfman.

George Feltenstein, senior vice president of the classic catalog for Warner's home video group, said the DVD release culminates a roughly six-year effort to restore old cartoons, that in some cases date back to the 1930s.

"Every cartoon is restored on film. It's a very time consuming, very expensive process," Feltenstein said.

Warner Bros. plans to release one set of the classic cartoons a year for the foreseeable future, he said, adding that he is already working on the second set.

The four DVDs include two based on the classic cartoons with Bugs, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Tweety, Yosemite Sam and characters voiced by the legendary Mel Blanc, who died in 1989. The "Looney Tunes Golden Collection" is a four-disc set and the "Looney Tunes Premiere Collection" is a two-disc package.

Classic Looney Tunes cartoons were made from 1930 to 1969 and set themselves apart from Walt Disney Co. cartoons by their wild lunacy and slapstick humor.

The library includes some 1,100 cartoons in all, and Feltenstein said he tried to pick a cross section of the animated shows with different characters. He added that the Looney Tunes brand of comedy is enjoyed by kids who like the wacky humor and adults who enjoy the often smart jokes.

"They were made for adults, but perfectly appropriate for children," he said. "Fifty years from now, they will still be as relevant, as funny and as wonderful as they are now."

The two other DVDs are "Looney Tunes Reality Check" with 21 new cartoons and "Looney Tunes Stranger than Fiction" with 19 fresh "toons" featuring the original characters whose voices come from a variety of actors used for television.

"It varies from character to character and actor to actor, but it is always amazing to me how every one of them has mastered their (character's) voice," Feltenstein said.

Actress Reese Witherspoon Gives Birth to Son

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Legally Blonde" actress Reese Witherspoon has given birth to a boy that she and her husband, actor Ryan Phillippe, have named Deacon, a representative for the actress said on Tuesday.

The boy was born on Thursday, Oct. 23. The couple, who were wed in 1999, have a 4-year-old daughter, Ava Elizabeth.

Further details were undisclosed. The birth was first revealed on celebrity TV show Access Hollywood.

Witherspoon, 27, has been appearing in movies and on television since she was a teenager, and had her first breakout role in 1998's quirky drama "Pleasantville."

She gained star status as college sorority sister, Elle Woods, who sheds her ditzy image to attend Harvard Law School and graduate at the top of her class in 2001 comedy "Legally Blonde." The sequel "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde" proved to be another hit for the actress this past summer.

Witherspoon and Phillippe starred together in 1999 drama "Cruel Intentions." Phillippe, 29, has been seen in recent movies like 2001 Oscar-nominee "Gosford Park" and last year's hit in the independent movie arena, "Igby Goes Down."

Mmm...Ringtones: Vodafone Inks 'Simpsons' Deal

LONDON (Reuters) - There was nary a "d'oh!" heard from mobile phone-using fans of "The Simpsons" on Tuesday, as Vodafone signed a deal to offer ringtones, games and other content from the show.

In a move that would likely be met with a murmured "excellent" from the show's evil millionaire Mr. Burns, the world's largest mobile phone company by sales inked an agreement with mobile content firm THQ Wireless and Twentieth Century Fox, the show's owner.

Terms of the exclusive deal to offer "Simpsons" content to Vodafone customers in Europe, Australia and New Zealand were not disclosed.

The satirical tale of the yellow-skinned Simpson family and their neighbors in the fictional town of Springfield is set to become the longest-running sitcom in U.S. prime-time history this year.

Fox was not immediately available to comment on whether a ringtone of Burns answering the phone with the archaic greeting "Hoy hoy" -- the preferred salutation of telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell -- would be offered.

Judas Priest Prepping DVD Release

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Veteran heavy metal act Judas Priest has gathered music videos, television appearances and a long out-of-print concert film for a new DVD.

Due Dec. 9 from Sony Music, "Electric Eye" will feature 13 videos spanning 1980 to 1990, including "Breaking the Law," "You've Got Another Thing Comin"' and "Turbo Lover."

The "Priest...Live!" concert video was filmed in Dallas during the band's 1986 Fuel for Life tour, and features the band performing 19 songs. Rounding out the DVD are seven performance clips from BBC shows "Old Gray Whistle Test" and "Top of the Pops." The oldest finds the group performing the title track of its debut album, "Rocka Rolla," in 1975, while the most recent is a 1980 run through "United" from that year's "British Steel" album.

Having newly reunited with singer Rob Halford, Judas Priest will release a new studio album next year and launch a world tour to mark its 30th anniversary.

Today's New Releases

This week in The Couch Potato Report - some cartoon friends I used to spend every Saturday morning with and a new cartoon that doesn't quite work.

Foist up, its Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and that's not all folks!

Regardless of the fact that they haven't appeared in a new cartoon that's worthy of their legacy in years the Looney Tunes are still the highest standard in animation.

They're the fabulously funny friends we grew up with every Saturday morning on TV! And if you didn't grow up with them personally, I bet you know someone who did.

Now, 56 of the very best animated shorts ever created have been released on DVD for the first time ever in THE LOONEY TUNES GOLDEN COLLECTION!

This four-DVD collection is a great chance for cartoon-lovers eager to re-live the golden age of animation. More importantly, its a chance for us to have Saturday morning anytime we'd like.

In addition to the cartoons the set includes an exclusive amount of bonus features from expert commentaries to insights into the evolution of these classic characters.

THE LOONEY TUNES GOLDEN COLLECTION is the ultimate animated experience for anyone who's ever made their own breakfast, let their parents sleep in, and couldn't wait to hear our friend Bugs query: "Ehhh? what's up, Doc?"

While we were getting up early on Saturday mornings, some of our parents were sleeping in because they were up late on Friday nights watching The Hulk.

In the late 1970's the comic book character THE HULK became a TV show. In 2003 it became a movie.

Did I like it? Well, I didn't hate it.

Will you like it? I'm not sure.
  
The character of the Hulk first appeared in 1962 in comic books. No matter its incarnation the story is still the same: A man exposed to radiation changes into a big green hulk when he gets angry.

In the TV show actor Lou Ferrigno played the Hulk. In this movie version the Hulk is computer generated. Highly sophisticated computer animation was used to create the character and although it wasn't totally believable, it was pretty good.

The human side of THE HULK, the Jekyll and Hyde dichotomy of Bruce Banner, the man behind the hulk, was pretty good too.

But overall, something was missing from THE HULK. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either.

Director Ang Lee successfully combined action and drama in COUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, but he didn't quite pull off that same combination in THE HULK.

So I guess I can't fully recommend THE HULK to you, unless you are a fan of the comic, or TV series, or are just curious.

As I mentioned, THE HULK is known by some as a 1970's TV series. Two more recent TV shows are also new releases this week.

THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON OF THE SOPRANOS features all 13 episodes of the widely debated fourth season of this incredible show. I thought Season Four contained too much yakking instead of whacking, and way too much domestic family over business Family, but what are you gonna do. Even a mediocre season of THE SOPRANOS is better than 90% of everything else out there.

In most minds that 90% includes MARRIED...WITH CHILDREN. But if you need to own the escapades of Al, Peg, Kelly and Bud Bundy that you'll be happy to know that MARRIED WITH CHILDREN: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON is now available to own.

THE LOONEY TUNES GOLDEN COLLECTION, THE HULK, THE SOPRANOS: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON and MARRIED WITH CHILDREN: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON are available in stores right now.

COMING NEXT WEEK

Finding Nemo - A father and son clown fish become separated in the most successful animated film of all time. (Albert Brooks, Willem Dafoe, Ellen DeGeneres)

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde - Elle Woods heads to Washington to initiate legislation in this horrible follow-up to one of the most charming movies ever made. (Reese Witherspoon, Sally Field, Bob Newhart)

Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights - A coach and marketing guy join forces to coach a team in Sandler's first foray into animation. Lets hope he doesn't have a second. (Adam Sandler, Kevin Nealon, James Barbour)

Enjoy the movies and I'll see you on the couch!

Today's New Tunes

It wasn't so long ago that R.E.M. were a band who's every new release I would get stoked about.

Nowadays, they are juat a band I used to get excited about. So if you aren't like me today, then you are really stoked about one of the new releases on the list below!

As for the rest of the list...slim pickens! Except for the CD from SHAYE, who are Damhnait Doyle, Tara MacLean and Kim Stockwood. Now the music isn't as good as the pictures of these three together, but you have to start somewhere...right?!

Either way, here are the new releases for Tuesday October 28, 2003:

* BLINKER THE STAR Still In Rome (Universal)
* CHER Best Of Vol. 2 (Universal)
* GORKY'S ZYGOTIC MYNCI Sleep/Holiday (Sanctuary Records)
* JOSS STONE The Soul Sessions (EMI)
* KATHRYN ROSE My Little Flame (Kindling)
* R.E.M. In Time: The Best Of R.E.M. 1988-2003 (Warner)
* SHAYE The Bridge (EMI)

Silver Nixes Possible 'Matrix' Sequels

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - "That will never happen," Joel Silver says on the possibility of any future sequels for "The Matrix."

While most producers will never say never when talking about future sequels, "The Matrix" producer Silver shot down the idea that Warner Bros. could revisit the futuristic film franchise in the coming years.

However, fans of The Matrix, particularly those who play video games, will find other avenues for the world created in the films to be explored. Silver is currently working on a deal with the Seattle-based video game publisher Ubisoft to develop a multiplayer online game that could be available as early as this summer. The game would continue on the story of the world of "The Matrix," with Jada Pinkett Smith and Laurence Fishburne's characters possible involvement.

In addition, Andy and Larry Wachowski, the two brothers who directed the three "Matrix" movies, are also interested in creating another video game around the character of Seraph, who appears in "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions."

"It's a moment in the movie where Seraph comes in with Trinity and Morpheus and Merovingian says, 'Oh, the prodigal son returns!' And the boys wanted to explore that back-story, so that may be another video game. So there will be other areas of Matrix material, but there will not be any more movies," Silver told a crowded room of journalists at a press conference Monday morning (Oct. 27).

"The Matrix Revolutions" opens in theaters Wednesday, Nov. 5.

No More Radiohead Albums?

Radiohead are more likely to release an EP, or even several EPs, before recording another full-length album. With the release of their sixth studio disc, Hail To The Thief, the band have fulfilled their contract with their record label, and now singer Thom Yorke says they're looking forward to not having to make another album right away. He told Billboard.com, "It's always been album, album, album...with things like iTunes and people splitting up tracks, I kind of think that's good. I listen to music on random all the time."

Yorke stressed the need for Radiohead to "reinvent" their sound again on their next project, saying that it "needs to be more conducive to moving on musically, because that's kind of what we've always done. We feel that after Hail To The Thief, we want to definitely disappear into a black hole of the unknown, rather than carrying on where we left off."

The band just wrapped up a North American tour and will resume live performances on November 10 in Germany. A new single, "2+2=5," featuring remixes, a demo recording, and a video, will be released overseas on the same date. The band is also planning Australian and Japanese tours for April.

'24' picks up the thrills where they left off

Talk about arriving in the nick of time.

Never mind saving his country, we have a tougher job for super secret agent Jack Bauer. We need him to jump-start a season in danger of winding down before it even revs up.

Happily, if anyone is up to the task, it's Jack. In tonight's jolting commercial-free premiere, the shamefully Emmy-free Kiefer Sutherland immediately re-establishes Jack as TV's most commanding hero and 24 as one of TV's prime destinations.

Told, once again, in real time over the course of a single day, the story takes place three years after the attack on President Palmer (Dennis Haysbert, as perfectly presidential as ever). Palmer is up for re-election, which brings him and his brother (Buffy's D.B. Woodside) back to Los Angeles.

As for Jack, he has a new, young hottie partner, Chase (James Badge Dale); a new job at CTU; and a new mission. Having infiltrated a drug cartel run by Ramon Salazar (Joaquim de Almeida), Jack now wants the imprisoned Ramon to reveal the cartel's terrorist links.

Jack wouldn't be Jack if he weren't also battling some personal demon. The surprise, when it's revealed, is not just a great serial shocker. It's proof of how fabulous Sutherland is in this part.

Almost immediately, Jack and the president are faced with a bigger problem, one that may even top last year's nuclear bomb for current zeitgeist terror value. The threat this season? A mutated bio-weapon virus capable of killing a large part of the populace in — you guessed it — 24 hours.

With admirable efficiency, tonight's premiere ties up a few loose ends while plunging us into the new story. Old cast members return and new characters are introduced, including a presidential doctor (Wendy Crewson), an unstable drug couple (Vincent Laresca and Vanessa Ferlito) and an errant mule (Riley Smith) who is such a loser, he should be dating Kim.

Ah yes, Kim (Elisha Cuthbert), the cougar-girl we love to hate. This year, however, Jack's peril-prone daughter has had a makeover: She's older, more discreetly dressed and working at CTU as a computer analyst.

Oh, never fear, she's still our Kim. There may be no kidnappers in sight, but she's still determined to distract her dad with her personal problems in the midst of a national crisis.

And there you have part of the genius of 24. Kim isn't just a plot diversion. She's a reminder that the show is entertainment on a grand, oversized scale, packed with shocks, twists, and, yes, absurdities. It may be more grounded in reality than that other, equally enjoyable serial, Alias, but it's not a documentary. You'll have more fun with it if you give it a long leash.

We're ready, Jack. Restart the clock.

Beatlemania returns in books, music, DVD

By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY

This fall, consumers can find The Beatles here, there and everywhere. Roughly 33 years after breaking up, they're still amassing a fab fortune.

This year's magical history lure is the Nov. 18 release of Let It Be ... Naked, which strips away Phil Spector's lush orchestrations to reveal the 1970 album's sonic skeleton.

The Concert for George DVD and soundtrack, capturing the all-star tribute staged a year after George Harrison's death, arrives the same day, along with the Lennon Legend DVD, which celebrates the late Beatle John Lennon.

The Beatles library expands with a slew of new books, from lavish photo collections to scholarly dissections and reissued biographies.

And don't forget the biggest cache of unearthed archives since Anthology nearly a decade ago. The Ed Sullivan Shows Featuring The Beatles, a two-disc DVD out today, compiles all four hysteria-inducing episodes that helped transform the moptops into pop's top attraction. It's the "Holy Grail," says Beatles historian Martin Lewis, the DVD's associate producer.

Canadian Beats World at Rock, Paper, Scissors

TORONTO (Reuters) - The competitors, in glitzy, off-the-wall costumes, call themselves professional athletes. Some even bring along team doctors to supervise their nutrition and take them through intense warmups.
 
This is serious stuff for at least some of the 320 competitors who shook their fists at the World Rock, Paper, Scissors Championships at a nightclub in downtown Toronto.

The winner, who netted $3,825, was Toronto's Rob Krueger, a member of the "Legion of the Red Fist" team. He took the lofty title of World RPS Champion with a combination of rock-paper-paper, defeating his opponent's three rocks.

Treading a thin line between silly spectacle and serious sport, the event drew a crowd of about 900, including a slew of local and international media.

Andy Cumming, 28, flew in from London with five other members of the British team, plus their team doctor who counsels them on warmups, diet and practice. "It's an internationally played game, you know," he said, wearing a pair of worker's coveralls with the red, white and blue of the Union Jack patterned on it.

To the uninitiated, taking the playground game seriously is difficult. Many competitors wore crude, homemade costumes, and played with a can of beer in their non-throwing hand.

Britney Spears: No More Topless Photos

NEW YORK - Britney Spears hasn't exactly been shy lately. She's appeared topless on the cover of Rolling Stone and British Elle magazines and bottomless on the cover of Esquire.

But after taking it all off for the suggestive pictures, the 21-year-old pop star says she plans to put it all back on — at least for now.

"I did feel kind of weird after those photos," Spears tells Newsweek magazine for its Nov. 3 issue, referring to the Esquire cover on which she wears nothing but a white sweater and high heels.

"I was in a moment. I had, like, eight Red Bulls and said, 'OK, let's do it.' I learned my lesson and you won't see me like that for a while. I'm kinda over it myself. Not that it's dirty or tacky, but it is really revealing and I wouldn't want my kid, at 21, to be dressing like that."

Spears also says she swore off dating for a while after her very public breakup with Justin Timberlake. She says she's still not involved with anyone, despite reports that she hooked up with a married backup dancer.

"There was a time when I was like, 'OK, I'm over men. They're mean,'" she says. "For like six months, not a single thing happened. Not like they weren't drawn to me, but there wasn't a single real attraction. I'm like, 'What's happening? I know I'm not a lesbian.'"

'Price Is Right' Announcer Rod Roddy Dies

LOS ANGELES - Rod Roddy, the flamboyantly dressed announcer on "The Price is Right" whose booming, jovial voice invited lucky audience members to "Come on down!" for nearly 20 years, died Monday. He was 66.

Roddy, who had cancer, died at Century City Hospital, according to his longtime agent, Don Pitts. He had been hospitalized for two months.

"He had such a strong spirit. He just wouldn't give up," Pitts said Monday.

Roddy had been ill for more than two years but tried to work as long as he could, said Bob Barker, host of "The Price is Right." Roddy had been with the game show for 17 years.

"The courage he showed during those difficult times was an inspiration to us all," Barker said in a statement Monday.

Barker recounted a recent visit to his friend: "I went to the hospital and sat on the edge of his bed and we laughed the whole time we were talking. He was still having fun."

Roddy's announcing stints included "Love Connection" (1981-85) and "Press Your Luck" (1983-86), but "The Price is Right" earned him his greatest fame. "The Price is Right" remains one of television's most popular game shows, and Roddy, with his flashy sport coats and booming voice, was a big part of the success.

"He started wearing those jackets when he joined the show," Barker said. "He was quite a character. He was important to the success of the show. He had the spirit of `The Price Is Right.' It's a fun show. We did it with the hope people will forget their problems for awhile."

Roddy, whose real name was Robert Ray Roddy, was born Sept. 18, 1937, in Fort Worth, Texas, Pitts said.

He was a graduate of Texas Christian University and a popular disc jockey in Texas when he decided to expand his career in Hollywood, his agent recalled.

Roddy's versatility made him a popular voice-over artist for commercials in Los Angeles, Pitts said. He got his big break in television with the 1977-81 satire "Soap."

Disc jockey Casey Kasem, who was the first announcer on the risque series, decided he did not want to stay with it and asked Pitts if he knew someone who could take over.

"I said, 'I've got a guy who's terrific,'" Pitts said. "Rod started with 'Soap' and then his career took off."

Roddy, who taped his last show about two months ago, had colon cancer surgery on Sept. 11, 2001, and his left breast removed last March.

The diseases appeared under control following chemotherapy but flared up again, Pitts said. The two cancers, which Roddy had said were unconnected, prompted him to become a spokesman for early detection.

"I could have prevented all this with a colonoscopy and, of course, that's the campaign I've been on since I had the first surgery," he said in a recent interview on a CBS Web site.

Breast cancer, although typically associated with women, is diagnosed in about 1,500 American men a year, Roddy said in the CBS interview: "To everybody out there, 'Get a mammogram!' It can happen to men, too."  

Roddy was single. The only family member he talked about was his mother, who died several years ago, Pitts said.

Private funeral services will be held in Texas, with a memorial service planned in Los Angeles in several weeks, CBS said.

Wallace, Gromit, Wererabbits Oh My

Nick Park (CHICKEN RUN) is finally bringing Wallace and Gromit to the Big Screen in a movie called CURSE OF THE WERERABBIT.

It’s been 8 years (1995) since we last saw them in CLOSE SHAVE, but they're still much loved amongst fans.

Once again Dreamworks is financing Park and his outfit Aardman Animation (as with CHICKEN RUN) to make the movie, which should take 18 months to animate.

The voice of Peter Sallis (LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE) will, as usual, bring Wallace alive. And we’re also getting at least two new characters. So far announced are Lady Tottingham and Lord Victor Quartermaine. Those two characters will be voiced by Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes.

Jinx Is Axed

The word was that, after Halley Berry tore it up as American spy Jinx in DIE ANOTHER DAY, she would be the first character to get a spin-off film. Well MGM has just told producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson of Eon to stop work on the spin-off and fast track Bond 21. No word has come on whether this is a definite no, or if it might get made at a later time. Bond scribes Neal Purvis and Rob Wade had already started on the script, so maybe it won’t be jinxed after all.

Clive Owen definitely has a licence to thrill, but is he the next ...OO7?

LONDON -- Will the next James Bond please grab the gun, kiss the girl and catch the next evil nutter who wants to destroy the world?

Rampant speculation here in 007's home base is that the new Bond -- after Pierce Brosnan does one more movie in the famous role -- is going to be Englishman Clive Owen.

While best known to critics for the superb Mike Hodges thriller Croupier, and familiar to keen observers as a valet in the nifty Gosford Park ensemble, Owen is expected to catapult to fame as "the manly man" star of Beyond Borders, which opened in theatres yesterday.

His passionate kissing scene with Angelina Jolie is as 007 as it gets.

And Beyond Borders director Martin Campbell, who directed Brosnan in GoldenEye -- the 1996 film credited with resuscitating the now 41-year franchise -- says Owen would be a throwback to the Sean Connery era.

The trouble is, says the amiable Owen, nobody has offered him anything to do with James Bond -- and until somebody does, he does not want to join in the speculation.

"That's exactly what they are -- rumours!" Owen says. "There has never been anything substantial underneath them. It's reared up so many times now. I'll deal with it, I'll think about it, if it ever becomes a fact.

"I learned a long time ago in this game that there is a lot of bulls--t and, if you worry about things that are not factual, you end up wasting a lot of time. If ever there is an official approach, or somebody talks properly to my representatives, I'll think about it. But, until then, I read what you read. No, no, no, no ... I honestly do not think about it."

Owen is a tall, dark and handsome type from Keresley, near Coventry, in Warkwickshire, England. Now 39, he first came to prominence in a series of BMW commercials as "the mysterious driver" and was seen driving a Beemer in The Bourne Identity.

But he is actually a serious actor, having graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1984.

Contrary to reports, Owen has a wry sense of humour, even about James Bond. He likes to tell stories to illustrate how silly the speculation has become.

Story 1: "I had a phone call two weeks ago from someone saying, 'It's just been confirmed that you've signed to do two Bonds -- congratulations!' "

Story 2: During filming of the Hodges film I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, Owen was photographed by a tabloid sporting the long hair extensions and beard he wore for the role. The tabloid had a picture of him with the headline: Bond Bosses Unveil New Bond. "They had the inside scoop that I had been offered Bond, but the Bond people wanted to disguise me with long hair and a beard until they were ready to unveil me!" Owen says of the story: "That was an extraordinary page that they got out of a silly little picture. You read that and it's just absurd!"
Campbell, however, says that Owen is not only terrific in Beyond Borders but that he would make a great James Bond -- and play the role with more gusto than Brosnan.

"He's slightly darker and more dangerous. Sean Connery had a real edge to him, which none of the rest do. I mean, I love Pierce and he's great and he does it real well, but it's different. I think Clive goes right back to Connery."

Few could pull that off, Campbell says. "Where are the William Holdens and the Burt Lancasters and the Lee Marvins and the Robert Ryans and the Tyrone Powers? They don't exist -- and I think Clive is one of the rare exceptions."

Owen grins maliciously when he hears Campbell's praise: "He's full of s--t!"

Indy Raids Pockets

He’s getting older, but it would seem Indiana Jones still knows how to get a job done. After years of speculation, October 21st finally saw the release of THE ADVENTURES OF INDIANA JONES—THE COMPLETE DVD MOVIE COLLECTION. And as soon as it hit shelves, it was snatched up. 600,000 copies only were sold in the United States, for an estimated $28 million. If sales continue, this could be the best ever selling DVD box set.

'Scary Movie 3' Conjures Up Nearly $50M

LOS ANGELES - The "Scary Movie" franchise has risen from the grave, with part three of the horror-spoof series opening as the top weekend flick with $49.7 million, the best October debut ever.

"Scary Movie 3" bumped the previous weekend's No. 1 movie, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," to second place with $14.7 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Premiering in third place with $14 million was the feel-good drama "Radio," starring Cuba Gooding Jr. in the real-life story of a mentally disabled man befriended by a high school football coach (Ed Harris).

Angelina Jolie — whose career had been on the skids with the flops "Original Sin" and "Life or Something Like It," plus a weak return on last summer's "Tomb Raider" sequel — delivered another turkey with "Beyond Borders."

A downbeat story of doomed romance between humanitarian-aid workers (Jolie and Clive Owen), "Beyond Borders" opened at No. 11 with just $2 million.

The overall box office soared, with the top 12 movies taking in $121.1 million, up 39 percent from the same weekend last year.

"Scary Movie 3" was a lesson in resurrecting a declining franchise. Created by the Wayans brothers, "Scary Movie" was a surprise hit in summer 2000, with a total gross of $157 million. Their "Scary Movie 2" the following spring smacked of a rush job and did less than half the business of its predecessor.

Miramax, whose Dimension banner releases the "Scary Movie" flicks, tapped David Zucker, part of the team behind the disaster-film spoof "Airplane!" and the police parody "The Naked Gun," to direct "Scary Movie 3."

The audience was mainly younger than 25, but Zucker's involvement helped bring in older adults, Miramax co-founder Bob Weinstein said.

"David Zucker almost semi-invented this genre," Weinstein said. "You have those people who loved `Airplane!' but said, ah, `Scary Movie,' that's not for me, then going, oh, Zucker's doing it?"

Miramax also broadened the audience to younger teens by toning down the raunchy sight gags, holding "Scary Movie 3" to a PG-13 rating. The first two "Scary Movie" installments were rated R.

"The traditional wisdom is you don't mess with a franchise formula because you run the risk of alienating the core audience," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "In this case, the combination of retooling it and making it more accessible with a PG-13 rating was a perfect combination."

Zucker is returning to direct "Scary Movie 4," due out late next year, Weinstein said.

Disney's latest animated flick, "Brother Bear," debuted impressively in limited release, taking in $285,000 in two New York City and Los Angeles theaters. The movie, which features the voice of Joaquin Phoenix as an Inuit boy seeking to undo misdeeds that have transformed him into a bear, opens in wide release of about 3,000 theaters this coming weekend.

Also opening strongly in limited release were Jane Campion's dark murder thriller "In the Cut," starring Meg Ryan, and Gus Van Sant's "Elephant," featuring a group of unknown teen actors in a drama loosely inspired by the Columbine school shootings.

"In the Cut" took in $95,000 at six theaters. "Elephant," the top prize winner at last spring's Cannes Film Festival, grossed $90,000 in six theaters.

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. "Scary Movie 3," $49.7 million.
2. "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," $14.7 million.
3. "Radio," $14 million.
4. "Runaway Jury," $8.4 million.
5. "Mystic River," $7.6 million.
6. "The School of Rock," $6.5 million.
7. "Kill Bill — Vol. 1," $6 million.
8. "Good Boy!", $4.85 million.
9. "Intolerable Cruelty," $3.6 million.
10. "Under the Tuscan Sun," $2.2 million.

TRIBUTE TO A FRIEND

Pearl Jam including a new song on their upcoming double-disc rareties collection that frontman Eddie Vedder wrote in tribute to Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley. The track, titled "4/20/02" after the day Staley died, is a hidden track on the album, which hits stores on November 11.

'Scary 3' Set to Top Weekend Box Office

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Halloween may be a week away, but that's not stopping the studios from unleashing their scary movies ahead of the fright night.

After New Line scored a $28 million bow last weekend with its remake of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," Miramax Films is targeting the same audience this upcoming three-day period with its horror movie spoof "Scary Movie 3." The third installment in this successful franchise is guaranteed to top the box office this frame, with some predicting that the film will top the $30 million mark.

Playing off a pushed-to-the-limit PG-13 rating and a franchise that has generated more than $228 million in domestic grosses, Miramax's Dimension Films will be egging on the under-25 crowd with its parody of such recent films as "Signs" and "The Ring."

Starring Anna Faris in her recurring role as Cindy Campbell and featuring Charlie Sheen, Regina Hall and Denise Richards, "Scary 3" will open in more than 3,500 theaters. Director David Zucker of "Airplane!" "Top Secret!" and "The Naked Gun 2 1/2" fame was at the helm.

Also opening wide Friday is Sony Pictures' "Radio," produced by partner Revolution Studios. After a successful weekend of sneak previews, industry execs expect the film to open in the mid-teens. The PG-rated feel-good film stars Cuba Gooding Jr. as a mentally challenged man who, with the help of a high school football coach (Ed Harris), transforms himself from a laughing stock to a beloved figure in a small town. Directed by Michael Tollin ("Summer Catch"), "Radio" will open in 3,000-plus theaters.

The other picture debuting wide is Paramount's "Beyond Borders." Starring Angelina Jolie as a philanthropic socialite who falls in love with an international disaster relief worker (Clive Owen), "Borders" has so far disappointed on the tracking front and is unlikely to top $5 million for the weekend. Some industry insiders say the film's concept appeals more to an older female audience, while Jolie generally attracts younger males, which leads them to suggest that the two disparate groups will cancel each other out. Directed by Martin Campbell ("The Mask of Zorro," "GoldenEye"), the R-rated "Borders" opens in 1,798 theaters.

Disney will debut one of its last traditionally animated films, "Brother Bear," in New York and Los Angeles, a week before the film opens wide nationally. The family film, centering on a American Indian chief's son who is transformed into a bear, "Bear" will be a big test for the Walt Disney Co., which has had little success with its traditionally animated films in recent years.

Sony's Screen Gems division will debut "In the Cut" on six screens in New York and Los Angeles. The Jane Campion film has received considerable advance buzz because of Meg Ryan's adventurous performance, and could hold well for its planned expansion Oct. 31. The R-rated thriller also stars Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Jason Leigh and tells the story of an NYU professor (Ryan) who tests her limits in a risky liaison with a detective investigating the murder of a neighborhood woman.

Paramount Classics debuts "The Singing Detective" from Mel Gibson's Icon Pictures. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Robin Wright Penn and Gibson and based on the British TV miniseries, the R-rated film sees Downey's character rewriting himself into one of his novels.

Gus Van Sant's "Elephant" will debut in New York and Los Angeles this weekend. The controversial HBO Films production, loosely based on the events at Columbine High School, is being released by Fine Line Features and stars Matt Malloy, Timothy Bottoms and Alex Frost.

Shoreline Entertainment will open "Irish Eyes," a crime drama starring Daniel Baldwin and John Novak, on eight screens in Boston before expanding to other East Coast cities in coming weeks.

'Three's Company' heading to DVD

Fans of John Ritter's classic pratfalls and comical misunderstandings can look forward to next month's DVD release of "Three's Company," Variety reports.

The first season of the 1970s sitcom will be released Nov. 11. Rights holder DLT Entertainment plans to donate part of the proceeds to United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) in Ritter's memory.

"We thought it appropriate to do this [give the donation], since John was so closely involved with UCP for many years," DLT Entertainment vice president Don Taffner Jr. said Tuesday.

Ritter's recent death sped up DLT's release plans, leaving little time to include many bonus features on the first-season DVD. These features may be included with the release of subsequent seasons.

Foo Fighters to release tour DVD

The Foo Fighters' first DVD, "Everywhere But Home," will hit stores in late November, reports Rolling Stone.

The DVD will feature more than three hours of music, including behind-the-scenes and backstage footage from four shows on the band's "One By One" tour. The performances range from small acoustic club gigs to their August 23rd show at Ireland's Slane Castle in front of 90,000 fans.

Other features will be tour and studio photo galleries, more than 20 tracks of current and past hits, and an audio-only recording of the band's first show in Reykjavik, Iceland on August 26. The full set includes six acoustic songs, including Dave Grohl's solo version of "Everlong."

'Matrix Revolutions' Opens at Zero Hour

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - It's enough to make even Neo say, "Whoa" again.

On Nov. 5, audiences will be able to experience the premiere of "The Matrix Revolutions" at the exact same moment in time in every major city around the world.

This unprecedented distribution scenario will make the film available to fans simultaneously at 6 a.m. in Los Angeles, 9 a.m. in New York, 2 p.m. in London, 5 p.m. in Moscow, 11 p.m. in Tokyo and at corresponding times in over 50 additional countries worldwide.

"The zero hour simultaneous opening of 'Revolutions' once again positions the Matrix films as the cutting edge experience in motion pictures," says Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution of Warner Bros. Pictures.

In "The Matrix Revolutions," the final chapter in the "Matrix" trilogy by brothers Larry and Andy Wachowski, the rebels' long quest for freedom culminates in an explosive battle. As the Machine Army wages devastation on Zion, its citizens mount an aggressive defense, trying to stave off the relentless swarm of Sentinels long enough for Neo (Keanu Reeves) to harness the full extent of his powers and end the war.

To date, "The Matrix Reloaded," the previous installment of the series, has earned over $734 million in worldwide box office, making it the highest-grossing film of 2003 and the highest-grossing R-rated film in history, both domestically and internationally.

Cash's 'Unearthed' Box Set Unveiled

A sprawling five-disc Johnny Cash box set will arrive Nov. 25 from American Recordings/Lost Highway. Dubbed "Unearthed," the set features 79 songs, 64 of them previously unreleased and produced by Rick Rubin during the late country great's sessions for his four "American Recordings" albums released between 1994 and 2002.

Rubin first unveiled plans for the set exclusively to Billboard.com in August. Cash died Sept. 12 from complications related to diabetes at the age of 71.

The first three discs feature such finds as solo acoustic versions of "Long Black Veil" and "Flesh and Blood," and covers of Steve Earle's "Devil's Right Hand," Roy Orbison's "Down the Line" and the Neil Young songs "Heart of Gold" and "Pocahontas."

Discs two and three boast several duets, some with old friends and others with newer acquaintances. On the veteran side, Cash's former Sun Records labelmate Carl Perkins joins him for a run through the familiar "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man" while his bandmate in the Highwaymen, Willie Nelson, shows up on "Like a Soldier." Glen Campbell sings with Cash on "Gentle on My Mind."

Skewing away from his contemporaries, late Clash lead singer Joe Strummer joins Cash on a version of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" and Tom Petty appears on "The Running Kind." Fiona Apple also sings "Father and Son" with him and Nick Cave joins in on "Cindy."

Of the Strummer duet, Rubin told Billboard.com, "When we were recording [Cash's 2002 album] 'The Man Comes Around,' Joe was coming every day, because he loved Johnny Cash, and he just happened to be in L.A. on vacation. He actually extended his trip a week longer just to come every day and be around Johnny."

A solo version of "Redemption Song" also appears on Strummer's new album, "Streetcore" (Hellcat/Epitaph). "Originally, the song was supposed to be a duet, and we recorded it as a duet. But, just in case, both Johnny and Joe sang the whole song several times," Rubin explained, noting that the track was nearly complete ("It wasn't mixed, but most of the overdubs were there") before Strummer died suddenly in December.

The fourth "Unearthed" disc is subtitled "My Mother's Hymn Book," and is comprised of 15 songs from a book of hymns Cash's mother read to him as a child. Via solo acoustic performances, the deeply spiritual artist revisits such secular songs as "I Shall Not Be Moved," "Do Lord," "If We Never Meet Again This Side of Heaven" and "In the Sweet By and By."

The final disc is a "best of" representation of the four albums Cash released with Rubin at the helm: 1994's "American Recordings," 1996's "Unchained," 2000's "American III: Solitary Man" and last year's "American IV: The Man Comes Around."

"Unearthed" will also include a 104-page clothbound book including a track-by-track discussion by Cash, Rubin and others. Also featured is one of Cash's final interviews, in which he and Rubin talk about the body of work they created.

As previously reported, Cash's life and career will be celebrated with a musical tribute Nov. 10 at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry. Nelson, John Mellencamp, Dwight Yoakam, George Jones, Rosanne Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Travis Tritt, Hank Williams Jr. and Sheryl Crow are among those confirmed to participate.

Here is the "Cash Unearthed" track list:

Disc I - Who's Gonna Cry
"Long Black Veil"
"Flesh and Blood"
"Just the Other Side of Nowhere"
"If I Give My Soul"
"Understand Your Man"
"Banks of the Ohio"
"Two Timin' Woman"
"The Caretaker"
"Old Chunk of Coal"
"I'm Going to Memphis"
"Breaking Bread"
"Waiting for a Train"
"Casey's Last Ride"
"No Earthly Good"
"The Fourth Man in the Fire"
"Dark as a Dungeon"
"Book Review"
"Down There by the Train"

Disc II - Trouble in Mind:
"Pocahontas"
"I'm a Drifter" (Version 1)
"Trouble In Mind"
"Down the Line"
"I'm Moving On"
"As Long as the Green Grass Shall Grow"
"Heart of Gold"
"The Running Kind" (w/Tom Petty)
"Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby"
"Brown-Eyed Handsome Man" (w/Carl Perkins)
"'T' for Texas"
"Devil's Right Hand"
"I'm a Drifter" (Version 2)
"Like a Soldier" (w/Willie Nelson)
""Drive On" (alternate lyrics)
"Bird on a Wire" (live w/orchestra)

Disc III - Redemption Songs
"A Singer of Songs"
"The L & N Don't Stop Here Anymore"
"Redemption Song" (w/Joe Strummer)
"Father and Son" (w/Fiona Apple)
"Chattanooga Sugar Babe"
"He Stopped Loving Her Today"
"Hard Times"
"Wichita Lineman"
"Cindy" (w/Nick Cave)
"Big Iron"
"Salty Dog"
"Gentle on My Mind" (w/Glen Campbell)
"You Are My Sunshine"
"You'll Never Walk Alone"
"The Man Comes Around" (early take)

Disc IV - My Mother's Hymn Book
"Where We'll Never Grow Old"
"I Shall Not Be Moved"
"I Am a Pilgrim"
"Do Lord"
"When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder"
"If We Never Meet Again This Side of Heaven"
"I'll Fly Away"
"Where the Soul of a Man Never Dies"
"Let the Lower Lights Be Burning"
"When He Reached Down"
"In the Sweet By and By"
"I'm Bound for the Promised Land"
"In the Garden"
"Softly and Tenderly"
"Just As I Am"

Disc V - Best of Cash on American
"Delia's Gone"
"Bird on a Wire"
"Thirteen"
"Rowboat"
"The One Rose"
"Rusty Cage"
"Southern Accents"
"Mercy Seat"
"Solitary Man"
"Wayfaring Stranger"
"One"
"I Hung My Head"
"The Man Comes Around"
"We'll Meet Again"
"Hurt"

Dixie Chicks Hatch Live DVD/CD

The Dixie Chicks' 2003 Top of the World tour will be captured in an upcoming collection of live recordings, due Nov. 25 from Open Wide/Monument/Columbia Records. The release will come in double-CD and DVD editions. Titled "Top of the World," the set was recorded during the North American leg of the Chicks' 2003 tour of the same name.

Both the CD and DVD feature performances of songs such as "Goodbye Earl," "Long Time Gone" and "Travelin' Soldier," from the group's three most recent albums, 1998's "Wide Open Spaces," 1999's "Fly" and last year's "Home."

The double-disc CD version of "Top of the World" features 22 songs, while the DVD pares things down to 18, but includes a bonus video clip for "Top of the World."

As previously reported, the Top of the World tour grossed about $60 million in revenues, making the Dixie Chicks the top country touring act of the year. "Home" debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 5.6 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Here is the track list for the "Top of the World" CD:

Disc one:
"Goodbye Earl"
"Some Days You Gotta Dance"
"There's Your Trouble"
"Long Time Gone"
"Tortured, Tangled Hearts"
"Travelin' Soldier"
"Am I the Only One (Who's Ever Felt This Way)"
"Hello Mr. Heartache"
"Cold Day in July"
"White Trash Wedding"
"Lil' Jack Slade"

Disc two:
"A Home"
"Truth No. 2"
"If I Fall You're Going Down With Me"
"Mississippi"
"Cowboy Take Me Away"
"Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)"
"Landslide"
"Ready To Run"
"Wide Open Spaces"
"Top of the World"
"Sin Wagon"

HERE SHE IS

Sandra Bullock has signed on to produce and star in a sequel to the 2000 hit Miss Congeniality.

BIONIC BUTT TALK?

Jim Carrey starring in a comedic remake of the Six Million Dollar Man. Old School helmer Todd Phillips will write and direct. A fall 2004 production date is predicted.

To Boldly Go!

Paramount Home Entertainment has announced the sixth and final DVD voyage of the old crew of the Starship Enterprise.

On February 27th comes a two-disc special edition of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, will at last complete every Trekkers collection.

Presented in a newly remastered 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1, extras include director and screenwriter audio commentaries, the "Movie Making," "The Star Trek Universe," "Art Imitates Life" and "A Farewell" featurettes, extensive storyboards and production gallery and theatrical trailers.

Actor Fred 'Rerun' Berry Dies at Age 52

LOS ANGELES - Fred Berry, the bulb-shaped, squeaky-voiced actor famous for playing red-beret-wearing Rerun on the 1970s TV sitcom "What's Happening!", has died at age 52, police said Wednesday.

Berry died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles apparently of natural causes, police Officer Jason Lee said. The county coroner was investigating, but friends said Berry had been ill because of a recent stroke.

He wore his red beret and suspenders in real life, and it was unclear whether he originally brought his own style to the character of Rerun or whether he was forever mimicking the goofball character that made him famous.

"What's Happening!", which ran from 1976-1979, focused on three teenage friends — Rerun, Raj and Dwayne — who learn about life, women and trouble while growing up in Los Angeles.

The name Rerun, according to Berry, referred to the character's brainlessness: In the summer, he had to rerun all the classes he failed during the school year.

Among the more famous episodes was one in which Rerun joined a bizarre cult and another in which he was busted for making bootlegged tapes of a Doobie Brothers concert.

Berry's success on the show was clouded by his heavy use of marijuana and cocaine. "There were dealers right there in the studio, people that worked there," he said in 1996.

By the time "What's Happening!" ended, Berry said he had blown more than a million dollars on drugs, cars, homes and an airplane. With no acting jobs heading his way, Berry tried to live off his fame by charging for appearances at shopping malls.

Lately, he had earned money by calling fans on the telephone, taking part in the service www.HollywoodIsCalling.com. About $30 would earn a fan a 30-second call.

Rerun brought Berry another brief moment of success in 1985, when "What's Happening!" was revived as the syndicated "What's Happening Now!" Berry quit in a contract dispute after the first season, and the show ended in 1987.

By 1986, Berry says, he abandoned drugs and started speaking to churches, schools and other groups, finally working as a minister in Madison, Ala.

He continued to dabble in show business. Berry recently appeared on the TV shows "Star Dates" on the E! Entertainment Network, MTV's "Doggy Fizzle Televizzle" with Snoop Dogg and in a cameo role in the David Spade comedy film "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star."

Berry married a dancer while in his 20s, and the two divorced, remarried and divorced again. Berry also married and divorced his second wife twice, most recently in 1991. He also married and divorced two other women.

Singer Elliott Smith Dead in Apparent LA Suicide

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Brooding singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, who earned an Oscar nomination and widespread notice for his 1997 single "Miss Misery" from the film "Good Will Hunting," has died at age 34 in an apparent suicide, officials said on Wednesday.

The body of the musician, who had appeared to have stabbed himself in the chest, was found by his live-in girlfriend at their Los Angeles home on Tuesday, city police spokeswoman Grace Brady said.

She said there was no sign of foul play and Smith's death was being treated as an apparent suicide, pending an investigation by the Los Angeles County Coroner.

Smith had battled drug and alcohol addiction for years, a subject he used as a metaphor in some of his songs. But Luke Woode, a DreamWorks Records executive who knew him, said Smith had been sober during the past year and seemed upbeat.

"He was in the middle of writing his next record. He had recorded a good chunk of it. He was incredibly optimistic," Woode told Reuters.

In an online interview with Salon.com in 2000, Smith acknowledged the attention focused on his melancholy persona, saying he was frequently asked "Why are you so sad?"

"Just because people have a range of emotions and thoughts ... sometimes they get ecstatically happy about something and at other times ridiculously depressed, doesn't mean that there's something wrong with them," he told the Web site.

DreamWorks Records, his label, said in a statement that Smith would be remembered as "perhaps his generation's most gifted songwriter. His enormous talent could change your life in a whisper. We will miss him."

The performer's touring guitarist, Shon Sullivan, called Smith a "musical genius" and "one of the sweetest people I've ever known."

"He played all the instruments on his records," Sullivan told Billboard.com. "Having him for a friend and playing in his band was one the highlights of my life."

Hailing from Portland, Oregon, Smith began writing songs at age 14 and started performing on the local music scene as a solo artist and with some friends in the rock band Heatmiser.

His debut solo album, "Roman Candle," was released in 1994, followed by two more LPs, "Elliott Smith" in 1995 and "Either/Or" in 1997, on the influential independent label Kill Rock Stars. He also recorded three albums with Heatmiser in the early 1990s.

But his breakthrough from folk-punk obscurity to mainstream success came in 1997 when filmmaker and fellow Portland resident Gus Van Sant sought Smith's permission to use some of his songs in the film "Good Will Hunting," starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Robin Williams.

Smith agreed and composed a handful of new songs for the film, including "Miss Misery," which went on to garner an Academy Award nomination for best original song. Smith did not win but performed "Miss Misery" during the Oscar telecast in March 1998, taking the stage alongside country star Trisha Yearwood and Canadian pop songstress Celine Dion, who sang the winning song, "My Heart Will Go On" from "Titanic."

Smith signed with DreamWorks in 1998 and quickly released his fourth solo album, "XO," named one of the year's top 20 albums by Spin magazine. The following year, his cover of the Beatles' "Because" was included on the soundtrack to the Oscar-winning film "American Beauty."

His latest album, "Figure 8," was issued in 2000, and Smith had begun writing songs for his sixth solo release, a planned double album, DreamWorks said.

When The Shark Bites

By NADIA MUSTAFA

Ratings for the broadcast networks have taken another tumble this fall — down an overall 3% from last season. And it's not just new shows that are having trouble; a surprising number of old favorites have slipped badly.

Frasier has dropped 21%; Will & Grace is down 16%; and even CBS's hot CSI fell 11%. Nor can it all be blamed on the unusually high ratings for the baseball play-offs. In times like these, TV fans are reminded of the famous Happy Days episode in which Fonzie jumped over a shark while water skiing in the Pacific Ocean. At that instant, even the biggest Happy Days fan knew the show would never be the same.

Now "jumping the shark" is the term used for that moment when a series hops the track and starts its inevitable downhill slide. A look at some of this year's waning hits, and why they're wobbling. (The more sharks, the bigger the creative slide.)

FRIENDS
Ratings: [down] 23%
The Joey-and-Rachel storyline didn't ignite, and after everything from Phoebe's triplets to a Barbados getaway, the show seems out of ideas. A nice time to exit.
[2 SHARKS]

NYPD BLUE
Ratings: [down] 23%
It jumped the shark in Season 6 (it's now on 10), when Sipowicz's wife was killed by a stray bullet. Now Andy's on his fourth partner — and getting remarried. The edge is gone.
[3 SHARKS]

EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND
Ratings: [down] 9%
Ray's spine has continued to shrink, Debra has got nastier, and Robert has found a wife. Despite a sameness to the episodes, the CBS hit comedy is holding up.
[1 SHARK]

ER
Ratings: [down] 16%
Ever heard of trauma fatigue? Everyone on the floor has been hit by a life-threatening condition or assaulted by a whacked patient. Oh, the plague again? Yawn ...
[4 SHARKS]

From the Oct. 27, 2003 issue of TIME magazine

AGING INDY

Harrison Ford undergoing successful surgery to repair torn tendons in his shoulder. He's expected to be fully healed in time to shoot the fourth Indiana Jones film next year.

Schindler's List?!?

I've heard an actual street for Universal's upcoming Schindler's List DVD!

Word from retailers who I feel are in the know is that Universal expects to release the DVD on March 9th of next year.

Oh yeah, baby!

Universal is also expected to release The Rundown in March as well.

Check back here for more later.

Madonna in a 'Remix' Mood

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Just in time for the holiday shopping season, Madonna will on Nov. 25 release "Remixed & Revisited."

The seven-song Maverick/Warner Bros. EP includes remixes of tracks from this year's "American Life" album as well as the previously unreleased song "Your Honesty."

"Your Honesty" was recorded during the 1994 "Bedtime Stories" recording sessions, and was co-written and co-produced with Dallas Austin. The EP also features the Jason Nevins radio mix of Madonna's forthcoming single, "Nothing Fails." The track is due to impact mainstream top 40 radio outlets on Oct. 28.

"Remixed & Revisited" also includes the "Like a Virgin / Hollywood" medley performed at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott.

Also due Nov. 25 is a CD Maxi single featuring remixes of three "American Life" songs: "Love Profusion," "Nobody Knows Me" and "Nothing Fails." Remixes of "Nobody Knows Me" (reworked by Peter Rauhofer, Mount Sims and Above & Beyond) have already been serviced to dance clubs.

Here is the tracklist for "Remixed & Revisited"

"Nothing Fails" (Jason Nevins Mix)
"Love Profusion" (Headcleanr Rock Mix)
"Nobody Knows Me" (Mount Sims Old School Mix)
"American Life" (Headcleanr Rock Mix)
"Like a Virgin / Hollywood" Medley (featuring Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears & Missy Elliott)
"Into The Hollywood Groove" featuring Missy Elliott (The Passengerz Mix)
"Your Honesty" (previously unreleased)

Elton John to Be a Fixture in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS - Elton John promised the sequins will fly again when he kicks off a three-year gig at Caesars Palace in February.

"I cannot do this show anywhere else in the world except here," the entertainer said at a news conference Tuesday. "It's back to costume changes and Velcro."

The 56-year-old has signed a deal to perform 75 shows at The Colosseum at Caesars beginning February 2004, five times a week for five weeks a year in a deal reportedly worth more than $50 million.

John and hotel officials wouldn't confirm contract details.

"Let's just say, I'm very well paid," the entertainer joked.

Clad in purple sunglasses and a pinstriped suit, John described a production filled with an eclectic mix of songs and costumes, saying "there are not ostrich feathers, but there will be sequins flying around."

"The wild and wacky days are here again," said famed photographer David LaChappelle, the show's production designer, alluding to John's flamboyant stage shows of the past.

The Grammy-winner dismissed reports about throat problems, saying he canceled a recent event because of a minor medical procedure. To illustrate his health, John burst out singing, "My voice is fine."

Tickets for the performances were priced at $250, $175 and $100. The show is expected to generate $61 million in total ticket sales, Caesars Palace President Mark Juliano said.

The $95 million, 4,100-seat Colosseum was built for singer Celine Dion and her extravaganza "A New Day." It has hosted performances by Mariah Carey, Tim McGraw and Gloria Estefan. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is scheduled in December.

John will perform his show, "The Red Piano," when Dion is on vacation from her three-year, $100 million contract.

Today's New Releases!

This week there are three of the best films ever made and one of the worst films of 2003.

I know I am supposed to measure my enthusiasm when I write these things and offer an impartial look at the films that are coming out. I'll be honest with you, I'm not doing that this week.

This week I am going to gush about three movies I love.

I'm also not going to pull any punches about a movie I hate.

And since love usually precedes hate, I'm going to start with THE ADVENTURES OF INDIANA JONES COLLECTION. It contains three films I love.

Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Harrison Ford the collection contains the films Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. That latter film upped the ante by introducing Sean Connery as Indiana Jones' father.

These movies have been available on video for years but they are debuting on DVD for the first time this week. All three have been painstakingly remastered to look and sound better than ever before, and a disc full of new documentaries featuring rare archival material rounds out the four-disc box set.

As with Star Wars, the George Lucas-produced trilogy are not just movies that people remember fondly from their childhood but an act of nostalgic affection toward a lost phenomenon: the cliffhanging movie serials of the past.

Set in the late 1930's and early 40's the films are episodic in structure and fate hangs in the balance about every 10 minutes.

The final film in the trio - INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE - was released in 1989 and there have been rumours for years that another is supposedly in the works, but young films fans can have the same fun that I did, and still do, picking out numerous references to Hollywood classics and B-movies of the past.

So don't hesitate, pick up this trilogy now and relive the thrill of snatching a golden idol from a temple full of traps; riding in a coal car with Short Round: and outwitting the Nazis in the search for the Holy Grail with THE ADVENTURES OF INDIANA JONES COLLECTION.

They are three prime examples of why we love movies in the first place.

On the other hand of love is CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE.

Boy did I hate this movie! Based on the TV series I know its supposed to be harmless fun. The kind of movie where you just shut off your mind and enjoy it. But I just couldn't. I'm sorry, but I just didn't get it.

Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu star and they do the best that they can, but the silly stuff isn't silly, the action isn't interesting and the story and the plot are so irrelevant that I won't even waste your time by recapping them.

Sure, the three main actresses are great to look at, and Demi Moore has reinvigorated her career by appearing scantily clad in the movie, but aren't we past the point where just showing a little skin makes something worth watching?

Maybe you will be able to enjoy CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE now that I have lowered your expectations. If so, then good for you! You were able to see the movie as mindless, entertaining fun. I saw it as pointless and a total waste of my time.

Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you about 28 DAYS LATER. The people who made TRAINSPOTTING gave us this small horror film about a small group of virus survivors who try to save humanity.

It is a horror movie, so if you don't like the genre don't watch the movie. But if you don't mind a few scares and some gore, you will get a rush of entertainment out of 28 DAYS LATER.

THE ADVENTURES OF INDIANA JONES COLLECTION, CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE and 28 DAYS LATER are available now on video and DVD.

COMING NEXT WEEK

The Hulk - A man exposed to radiation goes through changes. (Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly and Sam Elliott)

Whale Rider - A young woman faces challenges to her destiny. (Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton)

Enjoy the movies and I'll see you on the couch!

Today's New Releases

After a few weeks of music releases that weren't even worth writing about today brings some discs that are actually worth mentioning.

Foremost worth a mention is the new BARENAKED LADIES disc "Everything To Everyone." Sure, its as fun as you would expect it to be, but it is also moving and poignant. The track "War On Drugs" is the prime example of that.

I love this disc and think it is the Ladies best work yet. Well done, boys!

The discs from RUSH and PINK FLOYD are live, but also worth mentioning. Especially if you are a fan of the bands.

Which I am.

Anyway, here are the new music releases for Tuesday, October 21, 2003:

* BARENAKED LADIES Everything To Everyone (Warner)
* CRASH TEST DUMMIES Puss 'N' Boots (Maple Music)
* DISTILLERS Coral Fang (Warner)
* DOVES Lost Sides (Virgin)
* EDIE BRICKELL Volcano (Universal)
* JOEL PLASKETT EMERGENCY Truthfully Truthfully (Maple Music)
* LUDACRIS Chicken-N-Beer (Def Jam)
* MANDY MOORE Coverage (Sony)
* MARIAH CAREY The Remixes (Columbia)
* PAUL WESTERBERG Come Feel Me Tremble (Vagrant)
* PINK FLOYD Live At Pompeii (DVD) (Universal)
* RUSH Rush In Rio (CD/DVD) (Anthem)
* SHINS Chutes Too Narrow (Sub Pop)
* SOMETHING CORPORATE North (Geffen)
* SWOLLEN MEMBERS Heavy (Nettwerk)
* THE STILLS Logic Will Break Your Heart (Atlantic)
* THE STROKES Room On Fire (RCA)
* VAN MORRISON What's Wrong With This Picture? (Blue Note)

Larson leaves the heavy lifting to 'Complete Far Side'

By Bob Minzesheimer, USA TODAY

Cartoonist Gary Larson calls his 20-pound opus — a two-volume set that includes every Far Side cartoon in its 14-year twisted history — "a hernia giver." But, he says, the heft has mostly to do with the quality of the glossy paper. "I don't think the cartoons weigh that much."

The Complete Far Side (Andrews McMeel, $135) will be published today, nearly nine years after Larson retired as a daily cartoonist. Or, as he puts it, "I hung up my eraser, the most essential tool I owned."

Has he thought about where readers will put the set of books?

"I don't know," he says by phone from his home in Seattle. "I hope it's on something well supported."

The set opens with his first syndicated cartoon, from New Year's Day 1980, of two crabs eyeing two kids building sand castles. One crab says, "Yes ... they're quite strange during the larval stage."

It concludes with a cartoon that Larson drew in 1999 for the Science Times section of The New York Times of a wolf, next to a casket in the woods, addressing a gathering of other wolves:

"Yes, we'll all miss him, but we must not forget: Louis was shot while slaughtering chickens, so we can take solace in knowing that he died doing what he loved."

It was that kind of macabre humor, which Larson avoids explaining, that both delighted and upset readers. The book, which reprints complaints, notes that many of the newspaper polls that placed Larson among reader favorites also put him on their most-hated list.

At the height of his popularity in 1994 (in more than 1,900 newspapers), Larson quit because of a "fear that if I continue for many more years, my work will begin to suffer or, at the very least, ease into the Graveyard of Mediocre Cartoons."

Looking back at more than 4,000 cartoons, Larson says he's pleased by how much of it holds up, but recalls how "something changed inside. You need a balance of fear and confidence, and not have one overpower the other. I thought I might lose the fear and start to coast."

In one of his 14 essays in the book, Larson writes that he doesn't miss cartooning: "As they say, been there, done that.

"Plus, for me, there was always this unforeseen nature of this thing, which no doubt made it easier to eventually let it go. (When Career Day comes to your high school, you don't go around looking for the Cartoon Guy.)"

At 53, he doesn't consider himself retired. "I'm just not drawing."

He says he spends several hours a day playing jazz guitar, "the demon that keeps chasing me." He takes lessons and jams with friends, limiting performances to "sneaking into little gigs, just the guitar player in the background, just for the fun of it."

Actor Alan Alda Hospitalized in Chile

SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) - Actor Alan Alda, who starred in the hit U.S. television comedy "M*A*S*H," was recovering on Monday from emergency surgery in northern Chile after falling ill while filming a TV documentary.

Alda, 67, host of the PBS series "Scientific American Frontiers" for the past seven years, had surgery early on Sunday for an intestinal obstruction and was recuperating at the San Juan de Dios Hospital in La Serena, 290 miles north of the capital, Santiago.

Hospital Director Julio Rojas told Chile's Cooperativa radio station that Alda had asked for no visitors and was expecting his wife to arrive later on Monday.

Alda was working on an astronomy documentary for "Scientific American Frontiers," part of which was being filmed on location at a huge telescope in the Chilean Andes.

A stage, film and television performer in a career dating back to the 1950s, Alda is best known for his Emmy Award-winning role as Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, the insubordinate Army doctor on "M*A*S*H," which ran on CBS for 11 years in the 1970s and early 1980s.

The son of actor Robert Alda, the "M*A*S*H" star went on to appear in numerous TV and film projects, including three Woody Allen movies -- "Crimes and Misdemeanors," "Manhattan Murder Mystery" and "Everyone Says I Love You."

Other film credits include Robert Mulligan's 1978 adaptation of the romantic comedy "Same Time, Next Year," opposite Ellen Burstyn, and the 1981 ensemble comedy-drama "The Four Seasons," which he directed, wrote and co-starred in with Carol Burnett.

More recently, he appeared in five episodes of NBC's hit medical drama "ER" as a prominent physician in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, and returned to Broadway last year as a physicist in the one-man play "QED."

Oscar-Winning Actor De Niro Diagnosed with Cancer

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Academy Award-winning actor Robert De Niro, 60, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but his prospects for a full recovery are good, his publicist said onMonday.

"Doctors say the condition was detected at an early stage because of regular checkups," publicist Stan Rosenfield said in a statement. "Because of the early detection and his excellent physical condition, doctors project a full recovery."

Rosenfield declined to give further details about the actor's condition or course of treatment, but said De Niro planned to fulfill his commitment to start shooting his next film, "Hide and Seek" for 20th Century Fox early next year.

De Niro won an Oscar as best actor in 1981 for his role as the emotionally self-destructive boxing champion Jake La Motta in "Raging Bull." He was named best supporting actor in 1975 for playing the young Mafia patriarch Vito Corleone in "The Godfather: Part II."

The native New Yorker, who shot to prominence in Martin Scorsese's 1973 film "Mean Streets," has received four other Oscar nominations as best actor in "Cape Fear" (1991), "Awakenings" (1990), "The Deer Hunter" (1978) and "Taxi Driver" (1976).

Best known for his tough-guy roles, De Niro was last seen in movie theaters reprising his comic turn as mobster Paul Vitti in the film "Analyze That" with Billy Crystal.

'SCARFACE' BADDEST FILM THUG

Al Pacino has just won the meanest award in showbiz - his head-busting, coke-snorting gangster Tony Montana from "Scarface" has been named the "Biggest Movie Badass of All Time."

"This cockroach shoots and shoots, murders his way to a green card, survives a chainsaw attack, whacks his boss so he can have sex with his old lady, snorts coke like he's breathing air and kills his best friend," says Maxim magazine.

The mag picks the 25 roughest, toughest characters ever to light up the silver screen in its November issue, and not all of them are men.

In fact, just behind Montana is Sarah Connor, the sexy, butt-kicking mom played by Linda Hamilton in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day."

"Did our mothers school us in hand-to-hand combat and munitions? No, we had to take piano lessons," Maxim says.

Bruce Lee's character Lee in "Enter the Dragon" comes in third, followed by Bill the Butcher, the cutthroat crime boss portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis in "Gangs of New York," and Harry Callahan, Clint Eastwood's shoot-first cop from "Dirty Harry."

After Harry comes Luke, Paul Newman's rough-and-tumble prisoner from "Cool Hand Luke"; Mad Max, Mel Gibson's desert-swelling loner from "The Road Warrior"; and Officer Bud White, the brutal cop played by Russell Crowe in "L.A. Confidential."

Rounding out the Top 10 is Paul Kersey, Charles Bronson's vigilante gunman from "Death Wish," and Shaft, the babe-magnet Harlem detective played by Richard Roundtree.

Diana Predicted Her Own Car Crash Death, Says Aide

LONDON (Reuters) - Princess Diana made a chilling prediction of her own death in a car crash just 10 months before she died in Paris road tunnel, according to a secret letter revealed by her former butler Monday.

The former wife of heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles wrote the letter in October 1996 claiming there was a plot to kill her in a car crash and gave it to her butler Paul Burrell, asking him to keep it for insurance for the future.

The Mirror newspaper, which is serializing Burrell's book "A Royal Duty," said the letter includes an allegation by Diana that someone was planning her death, but that the plotter's name could not be published for legal reasons.

"This particular phase in my life is the most dangerous," it quoted the letter as saying. "(DELETED WORD/S) is planning 'an accident' in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for Charles to marry."

Burrell claims in his book that before sealing the letter in an envelope marked "Paul," Diana told him: "I am going to date this and I want you to keep it... just in case."

A spokesman for the royal household declined to answer any questions. "We are not making any comment," he told Reuters.

Burrell was Diana's servant, friend and confidante for more than a decade during some of the most turbulent times in her marriage to Charles. The couple's divorce became official in October 1996 after both Charles and Diana had admitted to having adulterous affairs during their rocky 15-year marriage.

Burrell stood trial last year accused of stealing hundreds of the Princess' belongings including jewelry and clothes, but the case collapsed dramatically after Queen Elizabeth told prosecutors she remembered Burrell telling her after Diana's death that he would look after some of her possessions.

Diana died at the age of 36, alongside her lover Dodi al Fayed and chauffeur Henri Paul when their car crashed in Paris on August 31, 1997.

Burrell told the Mirror: "With the benefit of hindsight, the content of that letter has bothered me since her death."

CONSPIRACY THEAORIES RIFE

Robert Lacey, a royal biographer, said the letter was an "extraordinary revelation and prophecy" which was bound to add to the raft of conspiracy theories on how and why Diana died.

"There is something magic about this," Lacey told Reuters. "People will say forever now that Diana foretold her death. And that will add to the magical aura -- the supernatural and the prophetic -- that surrounds Diana."

He also said it would add to growing pressure for a British inquest into Diana's death. The coroner charged with investigating the death has promised there will be an inquest, but has so far declined to set a date.

An inquiry by French authorities in 1999 ruled the crash was a accident caused by Paul being drunk and driving too fast.

But Dodi's father, the multi-millionaire owner of the exclusive Harrods London store, Mohamed Al Fayed, has repeatedly called for a British inquiry, insisting that Diana and his son were murdered by the British secret services.

Piers Morgan, editor of the Mirror, which has exclusive coverage of Burrell's book, said he had no reason to doubt the authenticity of the letter. "Paul Burrell is about as reputable as it comes...when it comes to the testimony and legacy of Princess Diana," he told BBC radio.

Lacey too said the writing looked exactly like Diana's hand.

'Chainsaw' Massacres Box Office Rivals

LOS ANGELES - Bloodshed continues to rule at theaters. "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," the remake of the 1974 horror tale that helped launch the modern slasher genre, debuted as the top weekend movie with $29.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Quentin Tarantino's bloody vengeance saga "Kill Bill — Vol. 1," the previous weekend's No. 1 movie, slipped to second place with $12.5 million, lifting its 10-day total to $43.3 million.

The John Grisham court thriller "Runaway Jury," with Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, John Cusack and Rachel Weisz, opened in third place with $12.1 million.

After a strong debut in limited release a week earlier, Clint Eastwood's "Mystic River" — starring Sean Penn and Tim Robbins — expanded to wide release and came in at No. 5 with $10.36 million.

Playing in 3,016 theaters, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" averaged a strong $9,649 a cinema, compared to a $4,298 average in 2,815 theaters for "Runaway Jury" and a $7,059 average in 1,467 cinemas for "Mystic River."

Cate Blanchett's "Veronica Guerin," in which she plays a real-life Irish journalist slain during an investigation of Dublin druglords, bombed with $603,000 in 472 theaters, averaging just $1,278.

In limited release, "Sylvia" — Gwyneth Paltrow's film biography of suicidal poet Sylvia Plath — opened strongly with $56,132 in three theaters in New York City and Los Angeles, averaging $18,711.

"Pieces of April," a Sundance Film Festival favorite that stars Katie Holmes and Patricia Clarkson, debuted with $48,000 in six New York City and Los Angeles theaters for an $8,000 average.

The overall box office soared, with the top 12 movies grossing $105.3 million, up 43 percent from the same weekend last year, when the horror tale "The Ring" was the top movie with $15 million.

"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" stars Jessica Biel as one of a group of friends stranded in a Texas town, where they are preyed on by a clan of cannibals, including chainsaw killer Leatherface.

In its first weekend, the movie took in three times its $9.5 million production budget. Three-fourths of the audience was younger than 25, while the crowds were evenly split between men and women.

Biel's presence helped draw women into a gory genre flick that more typically appeals to men, said Russell Schwartz, head of domestic marketing for New Line, which released "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

"But also, women love to be scared, perhaps more than men," Schwartz said. "It's only the gory part that helps turn off the female audience, not so much the scary part."

"Runaway Jury" played to an older audience, with 82 percent of viewers age 25 and older, said Bruce Snyder, head of distribution for 20th Century Fox, which released the movie.

The opening-weekend gross came in on the low side of the studio's projections, but Snyder said movies aimed at older audiences often stick around longer at the box office.

"Adults don't necessarily run out to see a movie the first weekend," Snyder said. "We hope it'll be around for a good long time."

This past week, Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" inched past $300 million, the year's second movie to cross that mark, after Disney-Pixar's "Finding Nemo." It was the first time one studio had two movies topping $300 million domestically in a single year.

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 Texas Chainsaw Massacre," $29.1 million.
2. "Kill Bill — Vol. 1," $12.5 million.
3. "Runaway Jury," $12.1 million.
4. "The School of Rock," $11.3 million.
5. "Mystic River," $10.36 million
6. "Good Boy!", $9 million.
7. "Intolerable Cruelty," $6.9 million.
8. "Out of Time," $4.1 million.
9. "Under the Tuscan Sun," $3.4 million.
10. "The Rundown," $2.8 million.

Travolta eyes 'Get Shorty 2'

John Travolta is in final talks to reprise his role as Chili Palmer in "Be Cool," the sequel to "Get Shorty," Variety reports.

Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a. The Rock, is also being eyed to play a bodyguard-singer who develops an uneasy alliance with Palmer.

"Be Cool" moves the loan shark-turned movie producer Palmer away from the feature film business and into the music industry.

After witnessing the murder of his music industry friend by the mob, he agrees to manage an up-and-coming singer, but is threatened by her mob-connected manager.

The Rock would play the manager's bodyguard, who wants to be a singer and who happens to be gay. After beating him up in their first encounter, Palmer tries to help the tough guy become a film star.

"Be Cool" will begin production in January for a holiday 2004 release.

Apple Launches iTunes For Windows

As expected, Apple Computer Inc. launched the long-awaited Windows-compatible version of its iTunes online music service on Thursday, promising a wider library of songs and new features to maintain its lead in an increasingly competitive market.

"This isn't some baby version of iTunes. It's the whole thing," Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said in a presentation in which he demonstrated the new software and service.

Apple's online music service will feature over 400,000 tracks by the end of the month. The Macintosh version of the download service has sold more than 13 million songs since launch about six months ago, Jobs said. Citing data from Nielsen SoundScan, Jobs said as of last week iTunes had accounted for about 70 percent of all legal downloads. "This has been the birth of legal downloading," he said.

The new version of iTunes will offer a library of some 5,000 audio books and allow parents to set a monthly allowance of up to $200 for children to download songs, an attempt to cut back on the illicit file-swapping that the record industry has challenged in court.

With the Windows version, Apple is looking to bring iTunes to a far wider audience: the 90%-plus of personal computers that use Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system. Today's launch also means that Apple will be ready for the crucial holiday shopping season.

Apple Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson has said that the Windows launch of iTunes would be a Trojan horse for the company, spurring more sales of its popular iPod digital music players, which have also been popular with Windows users.

Apple said yesterday that it had shipped 336,000 iPod units in the September-ended quarter, a rise of 140% from the year earlier.

New, Live Songs Fill Matchbox's 'EP'

Five rare tracks join the previously unreleased "Suffer Me" on matchbox twenty's "EP," due Nov. 11 via Atlantic. The release also sports five live cuts ("You're So Real," "Hand Me Down," "Long Day," "Push" and "If You're Gone") taped April 16 at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, as well as interviews and behind-the-scenes footage.

The material on "EP" includes an acoustic version of "Disease," the lead single from matchbox's latest album "More Than You Think You Are"; a live version of the "More" track "All I Need"; a stripped-down live version of "If You're Gone"; an alternate arrangement of "Crutch" taped for but not aired on episode of "VH1 Storytellers"; and a live version of the group's early hit "Push."

And while ticket sales for matchbox twenty's spring tour fell short of expectations, the in-progress second leg is faring much better, thanks in part to the strong performance of the single "Unwell." The track is No. 15 this week on the Billboard Hot 100.

Frontman Rob Thomas recently told Billboard that some of the first-leg shows were not as packed as he would have liked. "Some nights you go into an 8,000-seat place and can't sell 5,000 tickets," he said. "[But] we're just happy out there playing. There's enough fans out there to justify playing."

Alanis Morissette Wants To Control 'Chaos'

By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY

Alanis Morissette relied on stability and serenity to create So-Called Chaos, a new album due in February. She began a leisurely writing process in June "with, for the first time, the intent of not going to any extremes in terms of workaholism," she says. "I'd write a song, take a month off, write a few more songs. As the fall began, I had a real sense of the 10 songs that I wanted to be on the record."

Those songs were "channeled" quickly, she says. Any song that required more than 30 minutes to write was discarded. "Instead of spending months at a time in a belabored process, I was interested in something non-precious with an immediate visceral response."

Chaos, her first studio album since 2002's Under Rug Swept, echoes the themes and genres of such past works as 1995 breakthrough Jagged Little Pill and 1998's Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. Autobiographical lyrics dwell on relationships, and the sound encompasses "my favorite hybrid of styles," she says. "It runs the gamut from ballads to very rock and extremely pop. It's hard to characterize, which is what I love about it."

Morissette plans limited touring, "but not the tyrannical cycle of killing myself for a year and then recovering for a year. I have no interest in that lifestyle anymore."

OLD SCHOOL

Andy Griffith, Ron Howard, Don Knotts and Jim Nabors reuniting for The Andy Griffith Reunion: Back to Mayberry airing November 11 on CBS and featuring the best moments from the long-running TV show.

NEW RULES: James Garner joining the cast of 8 Simple Rules... for four episodes as the father of newly widowed Cate Hennessy (played by Katey Sagal), who helps her cope with the death of John Ritter's character, report the trades.

RITTER ADD: Ritter's widow Amy Yasbeck being joined by 1,000 of John's friends and colleagues for a memorial service on Tuesday night at Hollywood's El Capitan theater.

TUNE IN NEXT WEEK

NBC and CBS changing their schedules to avoid a conflict with the baseball playoffs on Fox. Networks to air repeats of CSI and Friends on Thursday night. On Wednesday night, NBC replaced The West Wing with a Law & Order: Criminal Intent rerun.

CLUCK YOU

Pamela Anderson calling for an international boycott of KFC over what she claims is the restaurant chain's "cruelty to chickens." Anderson is a card-carrying member of animal-rights group PETA.

CONDITION CRITICAL

Doctors having to remove a quarter of Roy Horn's skull following October 3 tiger attack to relieve cranial pressure. Horn, who suffered a stroke and is partially paralyzed, remains in critical condition at University Medical Center in Las Vegas.

NBC yanks 'Coupling' off the air

NEW YORK (AP) -- NBC is taking its highly touted comedy Coupling off its schedule for two weeks in what could be an ominous sign about its future.

The comedy, an American version of a British hit about six sexually active friends, will be replaced Thursday by a rerun of Whoopi. On Oct. 30, the first Thursday of the November "sweeps" period, an expanded version of Will & Grace will air.

Last week, Coupling was seen by 10.7 million people, ranking No. 37 for the week in Nielsen Media Research's rankings -- not a strong performance on NBC's powerful Thursday schedule.

The shows surrounding it, Will & Grace and ER, drew 14.6 million and 20.1 million, respectively.

If Whoopi performs better in the prized time slot, the stage could be set for Whoopi Goldberg's comedy to move there from its current perch on Tuesday night.

Coupling, considered by some critics to be NBC's attempt to find a replacement for Friends, will air Oct. 23, NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks said.

"I don't think we've given up on it by any stretch of the imagination," she said.

OH BABY

Conan O'Brien and his wife welcoming a baby girl, Neve O'Brien, into the world on Tuesday night in New York, confirms NBC. It's a first child for the couple.

Marlins Win to Advance to World Series

CHICAGO - Given one final chance to beat the demons of their past and the Marlins, the Cubs couldn't get it done. Kerry Wood failed to hold an early lead and Wrigley Field fell silent as Florida capped its stunning NLCS comeback with a 9-6 win in Game 7 Wednesday night.

Destiny? Fate? The fan in Game 6? Whatever. The Cubs were unable to end their long, strange drought because Ivan Rodriguez, Miguel Cabrera and these remarkably resilient Marlins won their third straight game to clinch the National League pennant.

Now, the Marlins will head off to face Boston or the New York Yankees in the World Series starting Saturday night. In a cruel twist to the Cubs' faithful, Florida will make its second Series trip in only 11 years of existence — Chicago has been absent since 1945, prompting the team's sad little motto of "Wait 'til next year."

Alex Gonzalez provided insurance with a two-run double to left-center field in the seventh inning for a 9-5 lead. The ball hopped up against the brick wall, covered with ivy that has changed colors to orange and red.

That poison ivy will certainly be tinged with tears, too.

Even after being shut out in Game 5 by Josh Beckett, the Cubs were in excellent position as they returned home. But aces Mark Prior and Wood lost on back-to-back days for the first time this season and suddenly a sure thing had turned sour.

A sellout crowd of 39,574 minus the infamous Steve Bartman — the fan who deflected a foul ball during the Marlins' eighth-inning rally in Game 6, he was at home with a police guard — had the old ballpark shaking as Wood and Moises Alou homered for a 5-3 lead.

But Wood could only flip his glove into the stands as the wild-card Marlins rallied for three runs in the fifth. Luis Castillo added an RBI single in the sixth and Gonzalez hit a two-run double in the seventh for insurance.

Brad Penny won with an inning of scoreless relief for Mark Redman.

Beckett came out of the bullpen and pitched four innings of one-hit ball on two days' rest, allowing only a homer by pinch-hitter Troy O'Leary. Ugueth Urbina worked the ninth for a save.

Home teams had won 12 of the last 13 times a postseason series went to Game 7. But the Marlins became just the sixth team to ever overcome a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-seven series.

Florida has never lost a postseason series in its young history, going 4-0. That includes a thrilling Game 7 victory in 11 innings over Cleveland for the 1997 title.

This win sent 72-year-old manager Jack McKeon and the Marlins into the Series, something that seemed almost impossible when they were 19-29 back in late May. But McKeon, who had replaced the fired Jeff Torborg earlier in the month, somehow steered them deep into October.

Cabrera and Rodriguez once again played starring roles for Florida. Cabrera, a 20-year-old rookie, hit his third homer of the series while Rodriguez singled home a run that gave him an NLCS-record 10 RBIs.

Down 5-3 in the fifth, Rodriguez doubled home a run and Cabrera tied it with an RBI grounder. Derrek Lee, whose double keyed the eight-run rally in Game 6, followed with a single that put Florida ahead 6-5.

The Cubs had been hoping this would be the year they got a chance to win their first Series championship since 1908.

Instead, add this failure to all of their previous disappointments. That includes wasting a 2-0 lead over San Diego in the best-of-five NLCS, blowing a late lead in the 1969 NL race and losing Game 7 of the 1945 World Series at Wrigley Field to Detroit.
 
Cubs manager Dusty Baker was trying to become the first manager in history to lead two different teams to the World Series in consecutive years. Rather, he fell short, just as he did last year when his San Francisco Giants lost the last two games of the World Series at Anaheim.

Barenaked Ladies "Give Back" To The Community

Barenaked Ladies (BNL) have not forgotten about the virus that hit their native Canada this past year. The group recently visited Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital and contributed more than $66,000 to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) relief. The donated money was raised at one of the group's summer concerts.

Barenaked Ladies lead singer Steven Page told the Canadian Press, "People in lab coats are the real heroes. During the SARS crisis some of the attention was put on people like the Barenaked Ladies or (actor-comedian) Mike Myers, but these are the people who were dealing with it every day." Mount Sinai Hospital treated the most Canadian SARS victims during the outbreak.

This is not the first time BNL has come to the support of Canada and the SARS epidemic. The group appeared in a series of commercials that ran across North America aimed at reviving Toronto's tourism industry.

In related news, the group's next album, Everything To Everyone, will be released in one week's time (October 21). Barenaked Ladies begin their North American tour in Boston that same night.

Couple check: Who's together, who's not

We now take a break (very temporary, we assure you) from Bennifer. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are together (who could miss them at Saturday's Red Sox-Yankees game?), even if baseball is more important at the moment than marriage. But with the hysteria over the couple's postponed nuptials, it has been easy to overlook other celebrity couplings and bust-ups of late. USA TODAY's Karen Thomas updates the scorecard.

Ethan Hawke, 32, and Uma Thurman, 33

• They hooked up: On the set of 1997 futuristic thriller Gattaca

• Time together: Six years (married for five)

• Why it ended: Hawke reportedly was seeing Canadian model Jenny Perzow, 22, while filming Taking Lives in Montreal.

Halle Berry, 37, and Eric Benet, 33

• They hooked up: At a party in 1999 for Berry's HBO movie, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge

• Time together: Four years (married for nearly three)

• Why it ended: Benet had checked in to a clinic for sex addiction last year; People magazine reports that another indiscretion was the final straw for Berry.

Heath Ledger, 24, and Naomi Watts, 35

• They hooked up: On the Australian set of Ned Kelly

• Time together: 16 months

• Why it ended: Busy career paths kept the Aussie couple on separate continents more often than not, and career — not love — looks to be the priority right now.

Nicole Kidman, 36, and Lenny Kravitz, 39

•First sighting: In June at Manhattan's Soho House and days later at P. Diddy's birthday bash

• Time together: About four months

• The buzz: The Aussie beauty and her music man were photographed arriving together at Lincoln Center for a performance of La Traviata at the Met. The big rock she was wearing sparked rumors this week in the British press that they're engaged. But her publicist, Catherine Olim, says it's just a ring Kidman owns.

Britney Spears, 21, and Columbus Short, 21

• How they met: He was hired to be a backup dancer for her upcoming tour

• Time together: About three weeks

• The buzz: He's married with a child on the way, and he denied in Star that there's any fire between him and Britney. Still, pictures of them hanging out continue to pop up — and the tour hasn't even started.

Salma Hayek, 37, and Josh Lucas, 32

• First sighting: At a party in L.A. in early August

• Time together: Two months

• The buzz: The Frida star is fresh off a long relationship with Edward Norton, but it looks to be getting hot and heavy fast with Lucas. She was his date when his Wonderland premiered Sept. 24, and rumor is Lucas recently took his new sweetie home to Washington state to meet Mom.

Killer Knowledge: A Fistful of Essential Lessons About Blood, Cartoons and Cereal

This you know: Bill dies--hence the title. That's no secret. Other things you know already about the intense, kitschy revenge movie Kill Bill: Volume 1: It's packed with kung fu, samurai swords, Uma Thurman and the big comeback of '90s film-geek savant Quentin Tarantino.

But what you don't know about Kill Bill could fill a Tokyo skyscraper. The flick's stuffed with obscure film lore, cameos aplenty, loving odes to Asian cinema--and just a whole bunch of weird stuff. Here's a taste.
Ball & chain: Gore-hungry Go Go (Chiaki Kuriyama) and her toy.

1. The Grindhouse Doesn't Sell Meat: Tarantino's big buzzword these days--he calls Bill a "grindhouse" movie--is a toss to run-down theaters from the '70s. These grindhouses would show the gruesome, out-there and too foreign flicks you couldn't find in the megaplex. Here, Tarantino gorged on horror, import kung fu and blaxploitation marathons, cooking up Bill's blood-spurtin', music-screechin' over-the-top vibe.

2. Warren Beatty Was Supposed to Be Bill: But that didn't work out. So, David Carradine took the part, which makes sense since he starred in the Kung Fu TV series and not, like, Ishtar.

3. The Bride's Getting Old: The opening credits say the movie is based on "The Bride, created by Q&U." That would be Quentin and Uma, you see, who cooked up the concept of a wedding-day massacre--and the revenge that follows--on the Pulp Fiction set. That was a decade ago. In the meantime, Tarantino wrote a WWII epic (actually, three WWII epics) called Inglorious Bastards, and Uma married (and separated from) Ethan Hawke and had two kids.

4. Computers Were Used, Like, Once: Unlike today's rash of slick Matrix-ized action flicks, Bill has only a few tiny CGI shots (to remove wires from fighters flying through the air). "If I'd wanted all that computer-game bulls--t," Tarantino tells Britain's Empire magazine, "I'd have gone home and stuck my d--k in my Nintendo."

5. Kung-Fu Roots Go Deep--Like to the '70s: The movie's packed with sly shout-outs to Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers Studios. Never heard of it? Strange, as the family has squeezed out hundreds of kung-fu classics, all with fountains of blood and such names as Five Deadly Venoms. Bill even opens with a faux title card declaring it's filmed in "ShawScope," and Shaw legend Gordon Liu (surely you know him from Eight Diagram Pole Fighter) shows up in a black mask, yelling and kicking.

6. The Bride Has a Name: Whenever Thurman's character (billed only as the Bride) is mentioned, her name's beeped out. Why? Nobody will say. What are the actors actually saying? Vivica A. Fox, who plays badass assassin Vernita Green, tells us: "Beatrix." Really, it's that easy? Yep. But then she adds, "Did you just get me in trouble?"

7. Quentin Rips Himself Off: The director fills Bill with playful references to his own movie universe, like:

• The Bride, at one point, walks past a mural-size ad for Red Apple cigarettes, the brand smoked by Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction and seen in the Tarantino-directed segment of Four Rooms.

• Michael Parks plays the shades-wearin' Texas Ranger Earl McGraw, same as in the Tarantino-written From Dusk Till Dawn.

8. The DiVAS Code Names Are Snakes: The Bride was part of the five-member Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (DiVAS), which should sound familiar. Thurman's character in Pulp Fiction had shot a TV pilot for Fox Force Five, a five-member team of, yes, assassins! In Bill, their handles are all venomous reptiles: Cottonmouth, Sidewinder, Black Mamba, Cobra, California Mountain Snake.

9. The Japanese Version Has More Blood: Despite gallons of spilled red corn syrup and dozens of sliced-off body parts, Kill Bill: Volume 1 managed an R rating. But the cut seen in Tokyo probably wouldn't. What's different? For one thing, one guts-soaked sequence--shown in cringing black-and-white in the U.S. version--will remain in vivid color.

10. Don't Mess with Sonny Chiba: The longtime Japanese superstar plays a sword master who has sworn off the trade but helps the Bride get her revenge. Unlike in his many Street Fighter flicks, he's low-key here, making fine swords--and fish.

11. On Set, Uma Pigged Out on Tamales: Seriously. She told us.

12. Julie Dreyfus Really Is Big in Japan: The French-born, Japanese-fluent actress plays Sofie Fatale, an ice-cold Yakuza crime-lord associate. Never seen her? You probably don't live in Japan, where she's such a big deal she was one of the judges on Iron Chef.

13. Cartoons Can Hurt: One of the film's many chapters is a startling and stark 10-minute anime segment. Again, this'll be familiar to hard-core nerds who'll recognize the animation by Production IG, the Japanese house responsible for Ghost in the Shell and Blood: The Last Vampire.

14. Beware: Zamfir Is Involved: Yeah, that's right. The master of the pan flute joins Nancy Sinatra, Quincy Jones and Isaac Hayes on the soundtrack. Word is the Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, who composed the original music, heard Zamfir's haunting melodies in a restaurant and thought they'd be perfect.

15. Uma Took Bruce Lee's Clothes: Does that yellow- and black-striped jumpsuit the hero wears look familiar? Then you're one of those people who've seen Game of Death, a Bruce Lee movie in which the martial-arts master has the...same jumpsuit!

16. Quentin Loves His Cereal: During one fight scene, Vivica A. Fox takes out a box of old-school cereal called Kaboom!--which leads to a lethal joke. This continues an odd trend that's part of this nutritious breakfast: Both Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction featured long-discontinued sugary pops called Fruit Brute.

17. There's a Volume 2, Remember? The first installment ends in a cliffhanger, so here's what we know so far about part two.

• It's less of a samurai movie and more of a spaghetti western in the tradition of Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars.

• There's another animated sequence.

• There's more of what we expect from Tarantino: talky dialogue, chopped-up and out-of-order narrative. Plus, plenty of Carradine's face, which we don't actually see in Volume 1.

• Tarantino has a small role, and he fights.

• Bill dies.

18. Tokyo's Done Godzilla Style: Again avoiding computer imagery, Tarantino filmed the scene of an airplane landing in Tokyo using old-school miniature models. And that skyline? It's the same one used in the last Godzilla movie from director Ishirô Honda.

19. Johnny Knoxville Is Now Officially a Muse: Tarantino admits that, yes, he took inspiration from modern "cinema" as well. After watching Jackass: The Movie, he changed what he calls "a brutal bitch fight" in Volume 2 to be...slightly grosser.

20. The Pussy Wagon Gets Around: Tarantino likes the movie's signature car--a truck painted with flames and the words Pussy Wagon--so much he has been driving it around Los Angeles, including to last week's premiere.

Film Actors Join the Fray Against 'Screeners' Ban

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Several top actors and past Academy Award winners are joining the battle against a controversial ban on Oscar movie "screeners" by voicing their opposition in a newspaper advertisement, a film industry source said on Tuesday.

Signers of the ad, which will appear in the Wednesday edition of industry papers Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, include Oscar winners Adrien Brody and Susan Sarandon as well as "Matrix" star Keanu Reeves, said the source who is connected to IFP/Los Angeles, a group helping spearhead the drive against the ban.

The ad will ask the Motion Picture Association of America, which represents Hollywood's major studios, to reverse their decision to issue screeners to Academy members who vote on the awards.

The ban on "screeners" -- videotapes and DVDs of movies vying for awards -- has raised a major outcry by filmmakers, directors and now actors who say it will limit the number of people who will see contending films and discriminate against smaller independent studios.

The MPAA instituted the ban out of concern the videos and DVDs will be illegally copied and sold on black markets or distributed for free over the Internet, which happened last year.

The MPAA and member studios currently are waging a major campaign against movie piracy, especially on the Web.

But filmmakers worry that the ban will give studio movies an unfair advantage over low-budget and independent films when they all begin competing for a slew of awards given out in coming months, culminating in the U.S. film industry's top honors, the Oscars, to be awarded in February.

The actors' ad follows a similar "open letter" by famed directors such as Martin Scorsese and Robert Altman that ran in newspapers last week and called the ban an "unwarranted obstacle" in Hollywood's annual awards race.

MANY VOICES, MANY ISSUES

Other groups such as film critics and award shows organizers have voiced concern, too.

Last week, Kathy Connell, producer of the Screen ActorsGuild Awards said, "we are concerned that if screeners are not made available, our members will not be able to view all eligible performances." The Screen Actors Guild represents 118,000 actors.

The Writers Guild of America West, which represents screenwriters, issued a statement on Monday saying "to place a gag order on 'screeners' is to tilt the playing field from small films to large."

A spokesman for the MPAA stuck to their statement issued last week, saying it welcomed new thoughts and ideas on the issue but that for now, the screener ban remains intact.

Within the industry, the issue is hotly contested because awards and nominations get more people into theaters and have a direct impact on sales of videos, DVD and television fees.

Major studios have the marketing muscle and money to get the attention they need, whereas independent filmmakers depend on publicity from awards. Actors and directors argue they might not make low-budget films without the hype awards season brings.

But the issue has perplexed Hollywood insiders, too, because many fear piracy and a future filled with the sort of declining sales that have played havoc with the music industry.

"We have to look for a solution that will suit all interests," said another source who asked to remain anonymous. "Piracy is a huge problem, and everybody is interested in protecting intellectual property."

Nicole Kidman Wins Libel Case Over Adultery Slur

LONDON (Reuters) - Oscar-winning star Nicole Kidman won a five-figure sum and an apology Tuesday from a British newspaper that said she had had an affair with actor Jude Law and was to blame for the break-up of his marriage.

At London's High Court, the tabloid Sun newspaper admitted the allegations about Kidman, which were published in March, were untrue.

"The defendants apologize to the claimant for the distress and embarrassment this article has caused," said the Sun's lawyer Daniel Taylor.

Kidman, who was not in court, said in a statement she was glad the case was over.

Two months ago she won damages against another British newspaper that had published the same claims.

The marriage split between "Road To Perdition" star Law and his wife Sadie Frost triggered widespread media coverage in Britain earlier in the year.

PULP FICTION 2 anyone?

Surprisingly enough this could well happen. After the success of the original PULP FICTION and RESERVOIR DOGS, it was rumoured that Tarantino would revisit the characters Vic and Vincent Vega in their own movie called, yep you guessed it………..THE VEGA BROTHERS. Well as it was going to be a prequel, which would mean younger brothers and the fact everyone’s getting older, things look to of changed.

Says Tarantino, "That's something I always planned on doing, but other projects took precedence. Ten years on , John Travolta's getting older, Michael's getting older. I don't think they'd even want to do it. Not that that's the last hope audiences have of seeing more of Vic or Vincent Vega. There's an idea I have a Pulp Fiction follow-up. Sequels generally suck, so it's nothing I want to rush into. But Bottom line the studio wants it, the fans want it. I'm sure I can compromise somewhere. It'd be my way of apologizing for never getting Vega Brothers off the ground I guess. That way, we could get John, we could get Michael, and we could get Sam and Tim...everyone back. It would be interesting to see whatever happened to Jules and his plans to 'walk the earth'. Hey, just having Michael and John in the same frame would be great. They're great. But that said, I got to write such a thing".

Today's New Releases

This week there is a cultural phenomenon that people are addicted to and a movie about addiction.

Lets start with the phenomenon. THE MATRIX RELOADED is part two in the uber-popular MATRIX film series. It stars Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss.

With computer generated action, sequences that feature 100 of the same person in the same scene and a world you have to see to believe this movie uses every technological possibility to its advantage. But unlike most science fiction films that are being released these days with great computer generated effects THE MATRIX RELOADED also has an interesting story, strong characters and will make you think.

Mostly you will wonder "how do they think up this stuff?!", but you'll be thinking.

Something you likely won't think about at all is how every single action sequence isn't there just for effect. Every single action sequence in a MATRIX film is there to help move along the story.

In most action films today cars crash, people fight and things explode. And it all happens because people like to see things "blow up real good" in movies.

In THE MATRIX RELOADED no one fights without a reason. Things don't explode without cause. And when cars crash, they do so with purpose.

But I'm just gushing over what I feel is a smart, intelligent, exceptionally made action film that still, even after multiple viewings, cause me to wonder how the brother team of Larry and Andy Wachowski came up with this stuff.

Some of it is just amazing!

But don't mistake me, even though it does have a great story and interesting characters if you don't like science fiction films, then you should stay away from THE MATRIX RELOADED.

But if you like your action smart, your amazement level high and like to never know what to expect visually, then this movie is for you!

If you're just in the mood for a small little film then skip THE MATRIX RELOADED and look for OWNING MAHONEY, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman from PUNCH DRUNK LOVE and ALMOST FAMOUS.

OWNING MAHONEY is an engrossing, fact-based comedy-drama about the perils of compulsive gambling. The subject is hardly new to movies, but as Toronto bank-loan manager Dan Mahowny, Hoffman brings depth and humanity to his portrayal of a man who helplessly feeds his pathological need to gamble with millions in embezzled bank money that he can't afford to lose.

OWNING MAHONEY has a delicate balance of humor, adrenalin, and escalating tension. Its a safe bet for film lovers everywhere.

COMING NEXT WEEK

The Adventures Of Indiana Jones Collection - The complete Indiana Jones movie trilogy. (Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw)

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle - The Angels must recover key to secret identities of witnesses. (Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu)

28 Days Later - Small group of virus survivors try to save humanity. (Brendan Gleeson, Christopher Eccleston, Cillian Murphy)

It Runs In The Family - A dysfunctional family attempts to reconcile. (Michael Douglas, Kirk Douglas, Bernadette Peters)

George Of The Jungle 2 - George battles mother-in-law to keep Ursula and his son. (Chris Showerman, Julie Benz, Thomas Haden Church)

Enjoy the movies and I'll see you on the couch!

Freddy VS Jason, Now Ash Wants In!

It started off as a rumour, but now it’s become solid talk at the NEW LINE CINEMA. After the success of the first film ($82 million domestically), they are seriously considering adding Ash (Bruce Campbell) to the inevitable FREDDY VS. JASON Round Two that the studio has in development.

Wedding Party Shoots Down Plane

BELGRADE (Reuters) - A two-seater sports plane on an unauthorized joyride was apparently shot down by mistake when it flew over a Serbian wedding party where guests were firing guns into the air, local media reported Sunday.

Two men were reported to have sustained serious injuries when their aircraft burst into flames and crashed near Kraljevo, central Serbia.

"I heard shots from a wedding party which was very close to the crash site. Then I saw the plane in flames. It was shot in the left wing," witness Zoran Vukadinovic told reporters.

"A few moments later, while attempting a crash landing, it was caught in overhead power cables," he said.

Local media said neither of the men held a pilot's license.

Firing guns into the air at weddings and other celebrations is common in Serbia.

Steve Martin Thinking 'Pink'

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "The Pink Panther" is sliding toward Steve Martin. The actor has emerged as MGM's top choice to play Inspector Jacques Clouseau in a redo of the 1964 feature.

A studio spokesman confirmed that MGM is in talks with Martin about toplining the project, and sources said he read the project over the weekend and is expected to decide shortly.

The original "Pink Panther" starred Peter Sellers as the bumbling French detective on the trail of a slippery jewel thief. Sellers kept the franchise going in four subsequent features, while Roger Moore and Alan Arkin also took turns in Clouseau's trench coat.

Ivan Reitman and his Montecito Picture Co. are producing the remake with Reitman attached to direct. Martin, last in theaters with the hit comedy "Bringing Down the House," returns on Christmas Day with Fox's "Cheaper by the Dozen."

Shine off 'Star Wars' for Liam Neeson

LONDON, England -- The Star Wars franchise can no longer be taken seriously, according to one former Jedi master.

"Ummm, well, they've kind of got silly now, haven't they?" actor Liam Neeson told The Toronto Sun yesterday while doing interviews for his latest film, the forthcoming ensemble romantic comedy Love Actually.

"That last (Star Wars movie) was just pyrotechnics, you know," Neeson said of Episode II -- Attack of The Clones, lamenting that the "computerized stuff" fails to connect with either the actors or audiences.

Neeson said he expects nothing different when Episode III, in which he is not involved, is released in 2005 to complete the prequel trilogy.

Yet Neeson has no regrets about his own participation in Star Wars lore, despite feeling that he did less than stellar work in 1999 in Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace.

"The one I did, I loved working on it," he said, "and I loved working with George Lucas."

Neeson played Qui-Gon Jinn, a Jedi master knight who counsels Obi-Wan Kenobi and the young Anakin Skywalker.

"Admittedly," Neeson said with a wane smile, "we all come across as pretty wooden. But a lot of that was interacting with blue screen, which was difficult and was also a great challenge, you know, to try to make it seem as an everyday thing that (you're with) a winged beast that talks."

Blue screen is an in-studio process in which actors literally perform in front of a giant blue screen, replaced later with computerized special effects. "But listen," Neeson said, "I'm glad I did it."

Here's Nemo!

Athletes Bare All to Pay for Training

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Female Dutch athletes are baring all on a pay-per-view Web Site to fund training abroad during the winter after cuts in subsidies left them in the cold.

A nude runner basks in the sun embracing her knees, sitting next to starting blocks. Another black and white picture shows an athlete wearing nothing at all who is draped across a podium, her chin propped up on her arm as she looks into the lens.

"Most athletes travel to Spain, France, Portugal, South Africa or the Canary Islands early in the year to prepare for the new season in the sun," Joop Tervoort, an athletics trainer and one of the site creators, told Reuters.

"This year subsidies to the Royal Dutch Athletics Union were cut heavily and many athletes are still students who have a hard time scraping together extra money," he said.

Some 250 photos of six women are on www.sportmeiden.nl, which received almost two million hits on Monday alone.

Visitors can access the Web Site for 80 eurocents ($0.943) a minute and all the proceeds go to the women. They expect to earn about 1,000 euros ($1,185) each which will cover travel to warm countries and accommodation, Tervoort said. They will still need to pay for a coach, physiotherapist and masseur.

The Netherlands' 23-year old high jump champion, Frenke Bolt, features on the site that also includes female javelin throwers and shot putters and lists their achievements.

Tervoort also wants to attract internationally famed athletes, although most receive corporate sponsorship.

Sports personalities from other countries have already set the trend, with teams and individuals stripping off for extra publicity or to raise funds for sports associations.

The photographer and co-founder of the Dutch site, Alex Boer, said there was enough interest to add new photos each week and some male athletes had also asked to be included.

"First we will see how it goes as it is, then we will decide whether or not to set up a site for sportsmen."

Tarantino's 'Kill Bill' Opens at No. 1

LOS ANGELES - It was payback time for Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman at the box office as their vengeance saga "Kill Bill — Vol. 1" opened in first place with $22.7 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The previous weekend's No. 1 flick, "The School of Rock," slipped to second place with $15.4 million. The Coen brothers' romantic comedy "Intolerable Cruelty," starring George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones, debuted at No. 3 with $13.1 million.

"Good Boy!", a family flick featuring the voice of Matthew Broderick as a talking dog from outer space, premiered in fourth place with $13 million. The weekend's other new wide release, the horror tale "House of the Dead," opened at No. 6 with $5.5 million.

In limited release, Clint Eastwood's "Mystic River" had an exceptional debut, taking in $591,390 in 13 theaters for a whopping $45,492 average. The dark murder drama starring Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon expands to more theaters this week.

Playing in 3,102 theaters, "Kill Bill" had a solid $7,312 average.

The overall box office rose, with the top 12 movies grossing $98.7 million, up 6 percent from the same weekend last year.

The opening installment of "Kill Bill," director Tarantino's first film since 1997's "Jackie Brown," did well enough to encourage distributor Miramax over prospects for "Vol. 2," due in theaters next February.

Tarantino and Miramax chose to chop "Kill Bill," a martial-arts epic with a three-hour running time, into two parts rather than dish it out to audiences in one big gulp.

Exit polls indicated 90 percent of the audience the first weekend wants to see "Kill Bill — Vol. 2," said Rick Sands, Miramax chief operating officer.

"The gamble paid off," Sands said. "We think it was a smart decision to split the movie."

"Kill Bill," whose two parts cost a total of $65 million to make, also will be released to home video and pay television in two installments, giving Miramax a double revenue stream in those markets, Sands said.

An R-rated film awash in comic carnage including bloody maimings and beheadings, "Kill Bill" stars Thurman as a former assassin out for revenge against her old employer and his team of killers for hire.

While far from a blockbuster debut, "Kill Bill" delivered solidly at the box office for a genre picture steeped in violence, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

"`Kill Bill' is a very specialized film. It appeals to an important segment of the audience, but kind of a limited audience," Dergarabedian said. "Grandma does not want to see `Kill Bill.'"

The weekend's other wide-release debuts also had niche audiences. While "Intolerable Cruelty" had Clooney and Zeta-Jones' star power, it appealed to fans of the Coens' off-kilter sensibilities rather than a mainstream crowd.

"This was a very different picture from the normal, broad, Friday night movie," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, which released "Intolerable Cruelty."

MGM's "Good Boy!" grabbed the family audience, which it has largely to itself until the holiday surge of family flicks hits in early November, said Erik Lomis, the studio's head of distribution.
 
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. "Kill Bill — Vol. 1," $22.7 million.
2. "The School of Rock," $15.4 million.
3. "Intolerable Cruelty," $13.1 million.
4. "Good Boy!", $13 million.
5. "Out of Time," $8.6 million.
6. "House of the Dead," $5.5 million.
7. "The Rundown," $5.3 million.
8. "Under the Tuscan Sun," $4.8 million.
9. "Secondhand Lions," $3.3 million.
10. "Lost in Translation," $2.9 million.

Less Than Month After Death, Johnny Cash Bio Ready

FRANKFURT, Germany (Reuters) - Less than a month after his death, a Johnny Cash biography is ready to roll and publishers are lining up at the world's biggest book fair to sign on for the tale of the country music legend.

Garth Campbell's "Johnny Cash -- He Walked the Line" sure has the right title as the hell-raising Man in Black was the first to admit: "I had so many devils yapping at my heels for so many years with all of the drugs and everything."

In a career spanning almost 50 years, the gravel-voiced singer with the deadpan delivery became an American icon whose appeal transcended the confines of country and western music.

After he died at the age of 71 suffering complications from diabetes, the tributes were heartfelt to the singer who sold 50 million records and fought through after years of addiction.

U2 singer Bono said of Cash: "Locusts and honey -- not since John The Baptist has there been a voice like that crying in the wilderness. Every man knows he is a sissy compared to Johnny Cash."

Former Beatle Paul McCartney said simply: "His vocal style has always been one of the most distinctive and his songs and recordings are among some of the most memorable ever."

The timing of the book's publication is pure chance for country and western journalist Campbell, a life-long Cash fan who divides his time between New York and Tennessee.

"We are not cashing in on Cash," said publisher John Blake. "This is a warm and heartfelt tribute to a man who changed the face of music. It just happened to be in preparation when he died."

"We commissioned the book 12 months ago," Blake told Reuters. "We had planned to publish in 2004 and then tragically he passed away. It will now be out in November."

His stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair certainly has taken on a truly international flavor.

"So far I have sold the rights to the United States, Japan, Germany, the Czech Republic and Jamaica," Blake said. "I hadn't realized what a global star he was. I would expect to sell it to most countries."

Cash exuded a dangerous mystique. When he boasted of shooting a man in Reno "just to watch him die" in the (fictional) song "Folsom Prison Blues," his cheering audiences believed him.

But in real life, he was devoted to his family. He married his second wife, June Carter Cash, in 1968, more than a decade after announcing to her that she would be his wife someday. Her death in May robbed him of his will to live.

As he said so poignantly after her death ended a great American love story "The pain is so severe, there is no way of describing it. It's the biggest... losing your mate. I guarantee it is the big one. It really hurts."

Next STAR WARS Title Is?

Could the name for the last STAR WARS prequel be EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH!?! We are if we're to go by a reader on TheForce.net. Supposedly he knows someone (one of them stories) who works at the domain registrar Register.com. They told him that Lucasfilm Ltd got Register.com to purchase the RevengeOfTheSith.net name for them. Only the force knows if this is true though!

'Bill' and Uma Set for Killing at Box Office

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Two vengeful women will be looking to inspire moviegoers this weekend.

Uma Thurman takes on a group of deadly assassins in Quentin Tarantino's highly anticipated, ultraviolent, ultrahip "Kill Bill-Vol. 1," while Catherine Zeta-Jones sets her sights on the divorce lawyer who thwarted her plans of financial independence in "Intolerable Cruelty."

While both fighting females are determined to come out on top, the buzz surrounding Miramax's martial arts-fueled revenge flick is likely to propel "Kill Bill" to the top spot this Columbus Day weekend, leaving Universal Pictures/Imagine Entertainment's "Cruelty" to fight for No. 2 against Paramount's reigning champ "The School of Rock."

"Kill Bill," Tarantino's return to the big screen after a six-year hiatus, has film geeks aflutter by what some reviewers are calling one of the most violent movies ever made. The R-rated film is tracking very well with males and is likely to generate grosses in the low-$20 million range for the three-day period.

Centering on Thurman's character called the Bride, "Kill Bill" tracks her bloody revenge on a group of killers who shot her down on her wedding day. One by one, the martial arts-trained Thurman offs the various members of the assassin group in an over-the-top artistic rendition of an Asian action movie. Miramax plans to release the conclusion of the film -- "Kill Bill-Vol. 2" -- on Feb. 20 and is looking for a healthy following to validate its decision to cut the three-hour-plus movie into two parts.

"Bill" is expected to outgross Tarantino's most recent effort, "Jackie Brown," which generated close to $40 million at the box office in 1997, but it could have a much harder time living up to the success of "Pulp Fiction," which earned $107 million domestically in 1994.

"Cruelty" could be the most commercial film from the writing-directing team of Joel and Ethan Coen, who scored with 1996's "Fargo" ($24.5 million) and 2000's "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" ($45.5 million). Starring Zeta-Jones and George Clooney, the black comedy centers on the farcical behavior surrounding divorce and the lengths people go to deceive their mates. By virtue of its star teaming, "Cruelty" is expected to reach into the mid-teens for the three-day period. Scoring well in the over-25 audience with more interest coming from females, the film is unlikely to top the box office, but it could remain in theaters for a longer period of time.

"Cruelty's" biggest competition in terms of gross is likely to be "School of Rock," which opened last weekend with almost $20 million. The film is likely to hold well in a weekend when many children will be out of school Monday for the Columbus Day holiday.

Also looking to take a chunk out of that audience is MGM's talking-dog movie "Good Boy!" The family film, which combines CGI effects and live-action, is likely to earn in the $8 million-$10 million range for the three-day period. Telling the story of a canine from the dog star Sirius, the movie focuses on a group of dogs who have strayed from their original mission of colonizing and dominating Earth and must shape up for a visit from their leader, the powerful Great Dane.

Artisan Pictures will release the R-rated horror film "House of the Dead," directed by Uwe Boll. The film, based on the Sega videogame, is looking for business from young males and is likely to be hurt by "Kill Bill." Industry estimates put the film in the $5 million range for its opening weekend.

Clint Eastwood's "Mystic River," from Warner Bros. Pictures, opened Wednesday in limited release. The all-star cast including Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Tim Robbins, Marcia Gay Harden and Laura Linney has put this critical darling into awards contention, which may drive grosses this weekend. The film, produced with Village Roadshow Pictures, is set to expand wide next week.

Courtney Love faces drug charge in L.A.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Singer-actress Courtney Love was charged with a misdemeanor drug count Tuesday, less than a week after she allegedly tried to break into a Los Angeles home.

Love is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Los Angeles, said Frank Mateljan, spokesman for the city attorney's office. Love's drug tests were still pending, he said.

Love, 39, was arrested Oct. 2 outside a Los Angeles home where she had allegedly broken the windows in an attempt to enter, according to police.

She was arrested and booked for investigation of using illegal drugs, posted $2,500 bail and was released.

Hours later, police and paramedics in Beverly Hills responded to an emergency call and took Love to a hospital to receive treatment for an overdose, police said.
Her representatives did not return a call for comment Wednesday, and had refused to discuss the case previously.

The performer is the widow of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, who committed suicide in 1994. She received a Golden Globe nomination for her role in the 1996 movie "The People vs. Larry Flynt."

Spears not 'some kind of sex thing'

NEW YORK (AP) -- Is 21-year-old Spears trying to attract a more mature audience with her upcoming album, In the Zone?

No, the pop singer says. "The record label wanted me to do certain kinds of songs, and I was like, 'Look, if you want me to be some kind of sex thing, that's not me,"' she tells Esquire magazine in its November issue. "I will never do that. I'm still doing what I love to do."

Spears appears on the cover in a short white sweater and high heels, re-creating a famous pose by actress Angie Dickinson.

But she doesn't see herself as super famous. "I'm famous, but I'm not famous like freaking Brad Pitt or Jennifer Aniston. But in my weird little head, I just think we're all here to inspire each other. We're all equal. We just bounce off each other and show the world what we can do."

Spears said if she didn't have a career in music, she "probably would have gone to college and become a schoolteacher.

"That was my dream, because I love kids," she said. "Either that, or an entertainment lawyer."

Phil Spector Might Flee The Country

The New York Daily News reports that legendary '60s record producer Phil Spector, who was arrested in February on suspicion of killing actress Lana Clarkson at his California mansion, may have plans to flee the U.S. before his October 31 hearing.

Los Angeles law enforcement officials reportedly received a tip from a member of Spector's camp. A source told the newspaper, "Spector has a private jet. The sheriff's office has been told that he might use it to take off. The police said they appreciated the information, but that they didn't have the manpower to keep watch on him 24 hours a day." Just last week, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge extended Spector's $1,000,000 bail to the date of his hearing.

Despite the tip, some L.A. officials are not too concerned with Spector leaving the country. Captain Frank Merriman, head of the L.A. sheriff's homicide bureau, said, "If we felt it was necessary to watch him, we would. I'm not worried about him. If he's charged, he'll either turn himself in or he'll flee. But where's he's going to go? Let him run. We'll catch him."

In September the L.A. County coroner ruled Clarkson's death a murder. Spector is the only suspect in the case.

Spector is known for his "Wall Of Sound" production technique that fueled the hits of many '60s pop acts including the Beatles, the Ronettes and the Shirelles.

'Siegfried & Roy' Co-Star Says Show Will Go On

BERLIN (Reuters) - The co-star of the Las Vegas duo "Siegfried & Roy" said in an interview Wednesday their show would go on despite his partner's severe mauling by a tiger.

Siegfried Fischbacher, whose partner Roy Horn was mauled on Friday, told Germany's Bild newspaper Horn had given him a V-for-victory sign when he visited him, although doctors say it is unclear if the performer will make a full recovery.

The German-born duo's popular "Siegfried & Roy" act would continue, Fischbacher told Bild.

"I'm sure he's going to make a complete recovery," said the 64-year-old illusionist. "He's over the worst. When I went to visit Roy he gave me the victory sign."

Fischbacher said that he and Roy, who was born in the northern German town of Nordenham, were not quitters and that they would come back fighting.

"What happened does not mean it's ended," Fischbacher told Bild. "Our show will go on. We've always been fighters. The history of 'Siegfried & Roy' is nowhere near its conclusion."

Horn's doctor, neurosurgeon Derek Duke, said in a statement in Las Vegas that it was still too early to say whether the performer would fully recovery from the attack.

"Mr. Horn's injury was extremely severe, and it is all but miraculous that he is alive at this time," Duke said, crediting Horn's "extraordinary will and strong physical attributes."

"While we are very pleased with his progress, Mr. Horn is in critical condition and it will be quite some time before the extent of his recovery is known," he said. "Every day that passes increases his chance for survival and recovery."

Fischbacher told Bild that America's best surgeons were treating Roy, 59, who had been in a critical condition after being bitten on the neck and dragged offstage Friday by a seven-year-old, 600-pound white tiger called Montecore.

Members of the show, which had run around 5,700 times previously without serious mishap, had said that the show would be closed down after the incident, probably for good.

Run-D.M.C. Preps 'Ultimate' Hits CD, DVD

Almost a year after the murder of founding member Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell), legendary rap act Run-D.M.C. will be celebrated Oct. 28 with "Ultimate Run-D.M.C." The Arista two-disc CD-and-DVD set features 18 audio tracks spanning the group's career as well as 14 video clips and a mini-documentary.

The audio portion of the package focuses on the group's hits from albums such as 1984's self-titled debut, 1986's "Raising Hell" and 1988's "Tougher Than Leather," with 13 of its tracks culled from those three landmark discs. But the collection also sports rare material, such as live versions of "Together Forever (Krush-Groove 4)" from 1984 and "Here We Go" from 1983. The latter has only seen previous release on the out-of-print "Rap 2" compilation on the band's longtime label Profile Records.

The DVD will include video clips for a number of the band's best-known tracks, including "Walk This Way," "King of Rock," "It's Tricky," "Mary, Mary," "Rock Box" and the 1997 remix version of "It's Like That (Run-D.M.C. vs. Jason Nevins)." The disc, mixed in 5.1 surround-sound, also boasts a discography and a mini-documentary about the band.

The trio broke up in late 2002, following Mizell's death. As previously reported, group member Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels has been working on his solo debut, "Checks, Thugs and Rock'n'Roll," which is inspired partly by classic rock and pop music.

Here is the track list to "Ultimate Run-D.M.C.":

"Rock Box"
"Run's House"
"Walk This Way" (featuring Aerosmith)
"Together Forever (Krush-Groove 4) (Live at Hollis Park '84)"
"King of Rock"
"Jam-Master Jay"
"Hit It Run"
"It's Tricky"
"Peter Piper"
"It's Like That"
"Raising Hell"
"My Adidas"
"Sucker M.C.'s (Krush-Groove 1)"
"Mary, Mary"
"Here We Go (Live at the Funhouse '83)"
"Beats to the Rhyme"
"Down With the King"
"It's Like That (Run-D.M.C. vs. Jason Nevins)"

Here is the DVD track list:

"Sucker M.C.'s (Krush-Groove 1)"
"Walk This Way"
"You Talk Too Much"
"King of Rock"
"Run's House"
"It's Tricky"
"Mary, Mary"
"Pause"
"Rock Box"
"The Ave."
"Beats to the Rhyme"
"It's Like That (Run-D.M.C. vs. Jason Nevins)"
"Down With the King"
"Christmas in Hollis"

Kill Bond?

It would seem like Quentin Tarantino would like to get hold of that 00 licence to kill!

He doesn’t want to create some new adventure though, he wants to remake CASINO ROYALE. This would be really interesting, as this is the only Bond book not to be made as part of the big franchise. It’s only venture to the silver screen was as a campish spoof in 1967.

"Someday I'm going to get the rights to do CASINO ROYALE, the first James Bond novel, and do it the right way," he told the New York Daily News.

"I wanted it to be the follow-up to PULP FICTION and do it with Pierce Brosnan, but have it take place after ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, after Bond's wife, Tracy, has been killed……From what I know of Brosnan, I think he'd want to go in the direction I'd want to take Bond," Tarantino said. "Though I'm not sure the producers of the series would agree."

Jordan could get the call to replace Kobe

CHICAGO (AFP) - Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson admits he has thought about asking one of his former players, Michael Jordan, to come out of retirement if Kobe Bryant is unable to play in the upcoming season.

"It has crossed my mind," Jackson said. "But I don't think I would ask Michael that question until it became absolutely necessary or it became a reality. It's just speculation."

Jordan, 40, played under Jackson on six championship teams with the Chicago Bulls. Jordan retired for the third time last April after the Washington Wizards failed to make the National Basketball Association play-offs.

Bryant faces charges of sexual assault and faces a Thursday hearing in Eagle, Colorado. He is probably going to sit out of two pre-season exhibition games against Golden State in Hawaii, where the Lakers are training.

The Lakers added Karl Malone and Gary Payton to a lineup that already featured dominating center Shaquille O'Neal and backcourt playmaker Bryant, whose absence would dim the club's hopes of a fourth NBA crown in five years.

But the Lakers, ousted in last year's playoffs by eventual champion San Antonio, would be in a solid position for a title run if Jordan replaced Bryant in the backcourt.

Jordan's two-year stint with the Wizards showed that time has weakened some of the skills that made him one of the game's all-time greats. But together with what amounts to an all-star lineup, Jordan could fill a key void.

1980s Bands Making Comebacks

NEW YORK - The 1980s fashion has already been resurrected with the reemergence of leg warmers, parachute pants and ripped T-shirts, and it looks like the music is next.
 
Several bands famous in the '80s are working on and releasing albums in the coming months.

As I told you yesterday Roland Orzabel and Curt Smith are joining back together and reforming Tears for Fears. Smith left the band in 1991 and Orzabel continued it until 1995. Now they've signed a recording contract with Arista Records. A new album is expected in the spring.

Europe, the poodle-haired 1980s rock band from Sweden, is also recording an album with new material, and a world tour is planned. The group is known for its hit "The Final Countdown."

"After the first band jam in years it felt so right, like we've just been away for a lunch break," drummer Ian Haugland said recently.

Singer Joey Tempest said the new music is "fresh and hard but still with the typical Europe melodies in focus."

Europe split up in 1992. They reunited for a millennium concert in Stockholm on New Year's Eve 1999.

American rockers are getting back in the limelight as well.

Bob Seger, whose tune "Old Time Rock 'n' Roll" was an '80s staple, is releasing "Greatest Hits 2," Nov. 4, which will include "Katmandu" and "Shakedown," and will also feature three songs previously unavailable on a Seger album, plus two bonus videos.

And former 80s punk-girl Cyndi Lauper is teaming up with Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder for her new album "At Last," which will feature her versions of standards such as "Makin Whoopee," "Stay," and "Walk On By."

Schwarzenegger Goes From Screen to Office

LOS ANGELES - For Arnold Schwarzenegger, becoming governor of California is just the latest astonishing transformation in a lifetime full of them.

From humble beginnings as a farmboy in Austria, Schwarzenegger turned himself into the world's greatest bodybuilder and Hollywood's biggest action star. Along the way, he married into America's leading political dynasty, wedding Kennedy relative and Democrat Maria Shriver.

Now the Republican actor has been elected leader of the most populous state in America. As he often promised on the campaign trail, the man best known as the "Terminator" helped terminate Democratic Gov. Gray Davis less than a year into his second term.

In a two-month campaign full of mind-bending twists and turns, Schwarzenegger's victory followed a series of shocking accusations. A parade of women came forward in the campaign's final days to say Schwarzenegger fondled and touched them in unwanted sexual advances. And Schwarzenegger had to defend himself against reports that as a youth he had made admiring comments about Hitler.

Schwarzenegger denied the Hitler claims, which also were refuted by associates. He dismissed some of the groping allegations as lies while admitting to wrongdoing and apologizing. "I have behaved badly sometimes," he said.

By the time those charges surfaced in the campaign's wild final days, the juggernaut Schwarzenegger launched in announcing his candidacy on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" could not be stopped. Voters' desire to oust the deeply unpopular Davis was too sharp to curb.

The schoolboy who once told disbelieving companions he would become a champion bodybuilder in America had done it again.

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger, 56, was born in the southern Austrian farming town of Thal in 1947. His father, Gustav, was a local police chief and Nazi Party member. An investigation by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, to which Schwarzenegger has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars, concluded that he joined the party voluntarily but found no evidence he committed war crimes.

Schwarzenegger is remembered in Thal as a reserved boy who was obsessed from an early age with developing his muscles. He would do pull-ups and other exercises from an iron bar erected between two trees.

"His only interest was in shaping his body in hopes of one day becoming Mr. Universe," his first trainer, Kurt Marnul, told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "His ambition was so great."

He first captured that title at 20, only a year after leaving his boyhood home for good. He ended up winning a total of 13 championship titles, including Mr. Universe, Mr. Olympia and Mr. World.

Schwarzenegger first gained attention as an actor for his appearance in the 1977 bodybuilding documentary "Pumping Iron." Over the next decades, he starred in numerous films, including 1982's "Conan the Barbarian," 1984's "The Terminator," plus two sequels, and 1990's "Total Recall" and "Kindergarten Cop."

His entry to public life began when he became involved with the Special Olympics. He soon started an after-school programs foundation now active in 15 cities and served as chairman of President George H.W. Bush's council on physical fitness.

He first considered a run for governor last year, but opted out after deciding he could not break his contract for "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," which was released this summer.

Instead he sponsored Proposition 49, an initiative that would devote as much as $550 million annually to before- and after-school programs. The measure passed by a large margin with bipartisan support last year, although it remains unfunded because of the state's budget deficit.

Politically, Schwarzenegger describes himself as fiscally conservative and socially moderate.

As he has staked out positions, he has sometimes seemed to split down the middle on issues, giving both liberals and conservatives something to like.
 
He supports abortion rights but opposes partial-birth abortion and believes in parental consent. He supports an assault weapons ban but speaks in favor of the right to bear arms. He took a stance against a bill to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, but also opposed Proposition 54, the initiative to prohibit the state from collecting most racial data.

On the campaign trail, Schwarzenegger says he wants to be governor to give back to the state that's given him so much.

After getting involved with community service and working with after-school programs, he realized helping others offered more rewards than a career focused only on self-promotion, he told The Associated Press in an interview.

"I found a new me," Schwarzenegger said. "When I first came over to America, it was all about me, me, me. It was like, 'How can I be rich? How can I build my movie career? How can I become the most muscular man?' It was all about me, and then there was like this turn and I found it was really great to do this."

Simple Flaw in CD-Copy Protection System?

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Princeton graduate student said on Monday that he has figured out a way to defeat new software intended to keep music CDs from being copied on a computer -- simply by pressing the Shift-key.

In a paper posted on his Web site late Monday, John Halderman said the MediaMax CD3 software developed by SunnComm Technologies Inc. could be defeated on computers running the Windows operating system by holding down the Shift key, disabling a Windows feature that automatically launches the encryption software on the disc.

Halderman said the protection could also be disabled by stopping the driver the CD installs when it is first inserted into a computer's drive.

Computers running Linux and older versions of the Mac operating system are unable to run the software and are able to copy the disc freely, he said.

The CD in question, Anthony Hamilton's "Comin' From Where I'm From," was released by BMG's Arista label in late September. Music retailers praised the release, which BMG touted as a breakthrough in the industry's efforts to prevent music piracy.

"SunnComm's claims of robust protection collapse, when subjected to scrutiny, and their system's weaknesses are not only academic," Halderman said in the report.

A spokesman for SunnComm was not immediately available to comment on the report. A spokesman for BMG, a unit of Bertelsmann AG, said the company viewed the software as a "speed bump" to prevent mass piracy of the disc.

"We were fully aware that if someone held down the Shift key the first and every subsequent time (they played the disc) that the technology could be circumvented," BMG spokesman Nathaniel Brown told Reuters, adding the company "erred on the side of playability and flexibility."

Halderman, who has previously done research on CD copy-protection techniques and their effects on consumer sentiment, called the latest protection attempts into question.

"CD copy-prevention schemes that (depend) solely on software, as SunnComm's does, will be trivial to disable, and alternative strategies that modify the CD data format will invariably cause public outcry over incompatibility with legitimate playback devices," Halderman said.

The music industry has blamed piracy and online file sharing services for a prolonged slump in CD sales. Software like that from SunnComm has been seen as a way to slow down the tide of CDs being ripped into digital format and uploaded to the file sharing platforms.

Critics Split on Tarantino's Bloody 'Kill Bill'

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Call it part homage, part parody, but brace yourself for nonstop severed feet, arms, heads, hatchets in foreheads and a sea of blood in Quentin Tarantino's latest movie, "Kill Bill."

The martial arts extravaganza from the writer/director Tarantino, who shot to fame with gritty, violent films like "Reservoir Dogs" (1992) and "Pulp Fiction" (1994), is his first movie in six years.

Tarantino sees "Kill Bill" as a salute to the martial arts movies of his youth and his notion of "girl power." The film stars Uma Thurman as a betrayed female assassin awakening from a four-year coma to seek revenge on an elite band of assassins that slaughtered her wedding party and gave her up for dead.

The marathon blood-letting, which takes classic kung fu film carnage to the level of parody, has divided critics. One reviewer in Business Week noted that the movie "sends more separated arms and legs to the floor than Hollywood usually does in a year. It left me cold."

The Hollywood Reporter had a different verdict on the film, which it praised as "hugely watchable with jaw-droppingly kinetic fight scenes."

While film aficionados might revel in the directorial artistry, the masterful martial arts displays, the break-neck pacing, the stomach-turning sound effects and off-beat soundtrack, when all the gore is stripped away, there's not much left.

"'Kill Bill' is what's formally known as decadence and commonly known as crap," the New Yorker magazine said of the movie, which has its New York premiere on Tuesday and opens nationally on Friday.

Like it or hate it, more is on the way. The film, which ran over budget and over running-time targets, has been edited into two films. "Kill Bill: Volume 2" is slated for release in February in the longest movie intermission in memory.

Tarantino, who won an Oscar for the "Pulp Fiction" screenplay, calls the movie, also starring Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah and Vivica A. Fox, the "ultimate girl power" movie.

"I actually want 13-year-old girls to see this movie," he told Reuters Television. "I think this will be very empowering for them."

But with an R rating, meaning adults must accompany those under 17, young girls might not be able to see it.

Hannah also sees the film as empowering to women. "All of the women are warriors and they're not girlie warriors. They're just tough. They're just as tough as a guy would be."

Maryland's First Lady Rues Spears Remark

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland (Reuters) - Maryland's first lady was only joking when she said she would like to shoot pop star Britney Spears, but on Tuesday it was no longer a laughing matter.

Kendel Ehrlich, wife of the state's Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich, had been criticizing what she views as the entertainment industry's negative influence on youth, during a domestic violence prevention conference last week in the city of Frederick.

"Really, if I had an opportunity to shoot Britney Spears, I think I would," Ehrlich laughingly told the audience, accusing the 21-year-old Grammy Award-nominated singer of exaggerating the importance of sex for young girls.

Spears, a former Mickey Mouse Club member and once-demure pop princess, has recently begun to refashion herself as a sex object with steamy live performances and a topless photo on the Oct. 2 cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

Frederick radio station WFMD discovered Ehrlich's remark about Spears while reviewing a conference tape-recording and ran a news story about it on Monday. By Tuesday, the first lady's office was forced to issue a statement.

"As a working mother raising a 4-year-old son, the first lady has concerns about the negative influences that the entertainment industry can have on young children and teenagers," Ehrlich spokeswoman Meghann Siwinski said. "During a public appearance, she inadvertently used a figure of speech to express those concerns."

Publicists for Spears were not immediately available for comment. Ehrlich's husband is a first-term governor who launched a failed bid this year to strengthen Maryland's penalties for gun-related crimes.

...PETA SPEAKS OUT

PETA, People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals, has issued a statement condemning Siegfried & Roy's act, saying "No matter how much you say that you love the wild animals whom you have confined,...you are still the men who have subjugated their wills and natures to further your own careers."

Tears for Fears Back to Rule World

Shout it on out: Tears for Fears is back.

After reuniting for a weekend benefit, Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, the original Tears for Fears, are heading back to the studio to record their first album together in more than a decade.

The duo performed together for the first time in years at this past weekend's Andre Agassi's Grand Slam for Children Benefit in Las Vegas. By Monday, Arista Records President and CEO Antonio "L.A. Reid" had announced that the newly reformed band had signed with the label and will release a new album this spring.

A 2004 is also rumored to be in the works, but there's been no confirmation from the band's new label.

Though both members continued recording individually, the original Tears for Fears has been mothballed since 1989's platinum-selling Seeds of Love. Until this weekend, Orzabel and Smith last performed together June 30, 1990 at a Knebworth charity concert; by the following year, Smith had split to pursue solo projects. He released Souls on Board two years later and eventually formed a new band, Mayfield, whose 1998 self-titled debut came out on his own Zerodisc Records.

Prefaced by the 1992 greatest hits disc Tears Roll Down, Orzabal continued recording under the Tears name, releasing two underperforming albums, Elemental (1993) and Raoul and the Kings of Spain (1995). Orzabal wrapped up the final "Tears" tour in South America in August of 1996. In 2001, Orzabal released a solo disc, Tomcats Screaming Outside.

Originally calling themselves Graduate, schoolmates Orzabel and Smith scored a minor hit in their native Britain with "Elvis Should Play Ska." In 1981 they adopted the Tears for Fears moniker, taking the name from the primal therapy teachings of Arthur Janov. Their debut album, The Hurting, followed in 1982 with three Top 5 U.K. singles: "Mad World," "Change," and "Pale Shelter."

This success set up the group for worldwide fame with their 1985 follow-up, Songs from the Big Chair. The disc landed consecutive chart-topping U.S. hits "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and "Shout," as well as the Top 5 "Head Over Heels." The album itself topped the Billboard sales charts for five weeks and sold over 5 million copies.

After a long break, Orzabal and Smith released their last album together, The Seeds of Love, in 1989. The lead single "Sowing the Seeds of Love" hit number two in the States and number five in the U.K., and the album itself topped the U.K. sales charts. (Seeds also launched the career of R&B vocalist Oleta Adams. Discovered singing in a Kansas City hotel Lounge, the group asked Adams to appear on the song "Woman in Chains.")

In 2001, the pair reportedly started writing songs together again, but they hadn't performed together or announced a new label contract until just recently. At present, the newly reformed Tears for Fears is recording tracks (rumored song titles include "Closest Thing to Heaven" and "Killing With Kindness") for the forthcoming album, which according to fansites, is tentatively titled, appropriately enough, Everyone Loves a Happy Ending.

Good Ford And Bad Ford

Two weeks from now cinephiles around the world will be celebrating the long awaited DVD release of THE INDIANA JONES TRILOGY starring Harrison Ford.

This week we have to make due with Ford's latest cinematic mistep. But if you are going to fail, you might as well fail miserably.

And HOLIWOOD HOMICIDE does fail miserably! It doesn't know if it wants to be a comedy, a drama, an action flick, a buddy cop movie, or all of the above. It doesn't do any of those genres justice. Harrison Ford stars with up and coming Hollywood hunk Josh Hartnett and the film could have been a unique cinematic way for Ford to pass the torch on to the next generation. Instead, he gives the impression that he doesn't want to admit hes too old to do this kind of film and the viewers have to suffer for that. HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE fails on every single level. Skip it unless you are a Harrison Ford completist or it is decreed by a court of law that you have to watch it!

THE IN-LAWS is no more of a failure that HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE, but since it doesn't star one of the biggest Hollywood stars of all time, you probably won't mind so much. Michael Douglas and the great Albert Brooks star in this remake of the 1979 movie of the same name. Brooks stars as a podiatrist who becomes part of his soon to be in-law's world as a CIA agent. Fish don't get more out of water than Albert Brooks, and he proved that this summer as the lead voice in FINDING NEMO. THE IN-LAWS has a great looking cast and an interesting story, but it just isn't very funny. It's not a bad movie, but I doubt you'll love it.

THE ITALIAN JOB is also a remake, but man is it good! This version sees a gang of criminals use a traffic jam to pull off a heist. Mark Wahlberg from THE PERFECT STORM and my favourite Charlize Theron of SWEET NOVEMBER star in what was one of the better films of the summer. And I didn't even mention that Edward Norton from FIGHT CLUB and Donald Sutherland are in it. THE ITALIAN JOB is so good I can tell you about it and not even mention two of it's stars.

The two stars of DOWN WITH LIVE, Renee Zellweger of BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY and Ewan McGregor from STAR WARS are worth mentioning, but the movie isn't. McGregor is a womanizer and Zellweger a feminist who find love in 1960s New York. DOWN WITH LOVE has style and grace, but not enough of a story to hold your interest.

THE LION KING has style, grace and everything else that this week's other films don't have. Yes this animated film literally has everything and it is finally available on DVD. Since it is one of the biggest animated films of all time you probably know the story of how young Simba battles treachery to claim his destiny. You can also probably sing the songs "Circle Of Life" and "Hakuna Matata." So what more is there to say about this week's new release of THE LION KING?!

Well, there is an extra scene that you've never seen before and an abundance of extra features.

Enjoy, and feel free to sing along when "Hakuna Matata" comes on!

COMING NEXT WEEK

The Matrix Reloaded - The machines locate Zion and battle for their existence. (Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss)

Wrong Turn - Teens are stalked through West Virginia forest by killers. (Eliza Dushku, Jeremy Sisto, Emmanuelle Chriqui)

Owning Mahowny - A bank manager embezzles money to support his gambling. (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Minnie Driver, Maury Chakin)

Blue Car - A high school girl channels emotions through her poetry. (Agnes Bruckner, David Strathairn, Margaret Colin)

Enjoy the movies and I'll see you on the couch!

Who is the next contender to play James Bond?

Scottish newspaper The Daily Record is reporting that despite all the official denials and speculation, "Gosford Park"/"Croupier" star Clive Owen will be revealed to be taking on the 007 role late next year.

"At a Press conference at Pinewood Studios in January or February 2004, Pierce Brosnan will reveal his last outing as 007 will be Bond 21, to be made next year and released in 2005. And for the first time, the new James Bond will be unveiled at the same time. We can reveal that Clive will take on the mantle in the Bond 22 which will be filmed in 2006 and shown in 2007".

Not only do they indicate that Clive is in fact Pierce's recommendation to Producer Libby Broccoli, but their inside source also says "Clive's the one.

There have been rumours about Clive, but these rumours are getting louder and louder now. No one at the top will come out and admit it, but the claims it's Clive are coming from different sources within Eon who make the Bond films...He's not hugely known, but has done some good films and is at least a name people recognise. Most of the other names mooted (eg. Ewan McGregor, Dougray Scott, Ralph Fiennes) are already known actors so could never be Bond. Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan were both known actors, but not hugely famous when they took on 007 and they are the best.

Over-Spending at Restaurant: a Classical Problem?

LONDON (Reuters) - If the next time you are in a restaurant you suddenly feel an inexplicable urge to shell out for a beguiling Bordeaux, it may just be the Beethoven talking.

A British scientific study shows that a bit of classical music can persuade diners to buy more fancy coffees, pricey wines and luxurious desserts.

Researchers at Britain's universities of Leicester and Surrey persuaded a restaurant to alternate silence, pop music and classical on successive nights over 18 days, Sunday's Observer newspaper reported.

On nights when the classics were playing -- a tape of Beethoven, Mahler and Vivaldi -- patrons spent more on dinner, especially on "luxuries" such as coffee, dessert, fine wines and starters.

Psychologist Adrian North, who led the research, said classical music makes people feel more cultured and sophisticated, and therefore more likely to shell out for the sort of items they associate with the high life.

In other research, North has shown that playing German or French music can persuade diners to buy wine from those countries, the paper said.

Roy Still Critical After Tiger Attack

LAS VEGAS - Famed performer Roy Horn of the Siegfried & Roy duo remained in critical condition Monday after being mauled by a tiger, and the show has been canceled indefinitely, officials said.

About 200 fans and show employees stood outside the hospital at University Medical Center Sunday night, where Horn, 59, is being treated. He suffered a severe wound to his neck when the 7-year-old male tiger named Montecore attacked Friday night in front of hundreds of people. Officials said Sunday he had improved and could move his hands and feet.

With the show's future uncertain, about 267 employees are out of a job.

MGM Mirage officials said the show was "closed indefinitely." They added that even if Horn recovers, it's unclear whether he would ever be able to perform again in the rigorous show.

"We are not going to sugarcoat this," MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman said.

Show employees were wondering if the company would pay out the rest of their contracts.

"We are worried about him, but we also basically lost our jobs," said 42-year-old Mary Bryan, a single mother who worked with the acrobats. "We gave this show our heart and soul. It's awful we have to think about money at a time like this."

MGM Mirage officials have promised to help employees land new jobs.

Without the show, the fate of the tigers is also unknown. Montecore continues to be quarantined at the hotel, officials said.

Horn had never been injured during a show before, "not a scratch, not by an animal," said Bernie Yuman, the pair's longtime manager, who added none of the 63 exotic cats "have ever shown aggression on stage."

Horn, along with longtime partner Siegfried Fischbacher, have been a staple on the Las Vegas Strip for years, performing their magic show to sold-out crowds at The Mirage since 1990.

The illusionists, who put on one of the most well-known and expensive Las Vegas shows with their signature white tigers and lions, signed a lifetime contract with the resort in 2001.

The German-born pair perform six shows a week, 44 weeks per year and have been onstage in Las Vegas for more than 35 years. They have done about 5,700 shows since coming The Mirage in 1990.

'Shrek' Illustrator William Steig Dies

BOSTON - William Steig, an illustrator for The New Yorker who was known as the "King of Cartoons" for his award-winning, best-selling children's books including "Shrek," has died. He was 95.

Steig died of natural causes Friday night at his home in Boston, said his agent, Holly McGhee.

Steig combined a child's innocent eye with idiosyncratic line to create a wonderful world of animal characters for his books and Edwardian-era dandies in his drawings.

"I carry on a lot of the functions of an adult but I have to force myself," he said in a 1984 interview with People. "For some reason I've never felt grown up."

His 1990 book about a green monster, "Shrek!," was made into the hit film that in 2002 became the first winner of an Oscar in the new category of best animated feature. In a 1997 Boston Globe interview, he said he gave the filmmakers ideas for the script.

Steig sold his first cartoon to New Yorker editor Harold Ross in 1930 and was hired as a staff cartoonist.

Over the following seven decades, he produced more than 1,600 drawings and 117 covers for the magazine. He also wrote more than 30 children's books, inducing Newsweek to dub him the "King of Cartoons."

His cartoon style evolved from the straightforward worldly children he called "Small Fry" in the 1930s to the expressionist drawings of his later years that illuminated a word or phrase.

In the latter, clowns and princes and lovers came to life from Steig's imagination. It was a pastoral place "where you hear plenty of laughter and only an occasional shriek of pain," Lillian Ross once wrote.

Steig told the Globe he loved Rembrandt and Picasso and was "nuts about van Gogh." And he said his own drawings have a light, feathery line "because I'm having fun."

He began writing children's books when he was 60. His third, "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble," received the prestigious Caldecott Medal in 1970.

Other notable children's books included "Roland, the Minstrel Pig," "Amos and Boris," "Dominic," "Abel's Island," "The Amazing Bone," "Caleb and Kate," "Doctor De Soto" and "Wizzil."

Steig was born Nov. 14, 1907, in New York, the son of a house painter and a seamstress. He began drawing cartoons for his high school newspaper and attended the National Academy of Design.

In the '30s he became fascinated with Freud and psychoanalysis. His 1942 book "The Lonely Ones" was hailed for its symbolic drawings of human neuroses. It was in print for 25 years.

For many years, Steig lived in a sprawling country house in Kent, Conn., where he took inspiration from the countryside.

"I find it hard ... to do a job on order, even if the order comes from myself," he once said. "I go to my desk without any plans or ideas and wait there for inspiration. Which comes if you get in the right frame of mind."

Steig, who was married four times, was survived by his wife Jeanne, two daughters and a son.

Tiger Mauls Magician Roy Horn in Las Vegas Show

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Famed Las Vegas magician Roy Horn of the "Siegfried and Roy" duo remained in critical but stable condition on Saturday after being mauled by a white tiger during a performance on his 59th birthday, his spokesman said.

The 7-year-old male tiger, named Montecore, grabbed Horn's forearm about halfway into the Friday night performance at the Mirage hotel-casino, witnesses said.

When Horn tried to fend the tiger off with his microphone, the tiger lunged and bit him on the left side of the neck, causing profuse blood loss, they said.

Horn was conscious when he was rushed to University Medical Center and underwent about two hours of surgery, said his spokesman, Dave Kirvin.

"It's just sad and extremely unfortunate. The doctors are encouraged that he will recover, but it will be several days until the full extent of his injury is known," Kirvin said.

Spectators were horrified by the scene.

"There were a couple of gasps, and people thought it was part of the act, and then it was real quiet," audience member Paul D'Antonio, who was sitting about 15 feet from the stage, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

"It literally drug him by his neck off the stage like a rag doll," D'Antonio said.

In a mid-day news conference, Alan Feldman, a spokesman for MGM Mirage, said Horn's status had not changed and declined to comment on reports he had gone back into surgery.

"It's a very serious situation," Feldman said. "He's obviously under constant supervision by a team of doctors. They're keeping an eye on things quite literally every moment."

The show has been canceled through Christmas and refunds will be issued, he said.

The tiger was being quarantined, Feldman said, declining to say what would happen to it.

Horn's partner, 64-year-old Siegfried Fischbacher, spent most of the night at the hospital, Kirvin said. "He is shocked and devastated," he added. Horn turned 59 on Friday.

"The last place Roy would place blame would be with the animal," said Bernie Yuman, manager for "Siegfried and Roy."

Although Horn had told the crowd it was the tiger's first performance, the animal has been performing for years, Kirvin said. There have been no attacks in the more than 5,000 shows the two men have performed at the hotel since 1990, he said.

White tigers and lions are a trademark of the German-born illusionists, who have been putting on one of the most famous shows in Las Vegas for more than 30 years.

Horn, born in Nordenham, Germany, and Siegfried, of Rosenheim, Germany, have performed worldwide since meeting in 1959.

When he was 7, Horn's "beloved pet Hexe" saved his life, according to the duo's Web site. It does not say what type of pet it was.