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.