Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I'll be mine,
And we'll tak a cup o kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou'd the gowans fine,
But we've wander'd monie a weary fit,
Sin auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl'd in the burn
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin auld lang syne.

And there's a hand my trusty fiere,
And gie's a hand o thine,
And we'll tak a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne

WHACK PACK IS BACK

HBO's The Sopranos kicking off its fifth season on March 7 with 13 new episodes. Production on the sixth, and likely final, season doesn't begin until 2005.

Bush, Hillary Clinton dubbed America's most admired people: poll

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush and Senator Hillary Clinton, the wife of former president Bill Clinton, are the people Americans admire most, according to a poll.

Bush was deemed the most admired man by 29 percent of the Americans surveyed, according to the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll. He was followed by US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Pope John Paul II, each with four percent of the vote.

Sitting US presidents regularly top the list of admired men, but the same does not always hold true for first ladies.

Hillary Clinton was the leading lady for 16 percent of poll respondents, while First Lady Laura Bush came in third, with six percent of the vote -- just behind US talk-show diva Oprah Winfrey, with seven percent.

It marked Clinton's second year in a row as America's most admired woman. Laura Bush enjoyed that distinction in 2001.

The December 5-7 poll of some 1,004 adults has a margin of error of three percentage points.

Spears, Aguilera Trading Insults

NEW YORK - Britney Spears (news) and Christina Aguilera aren't exactly in the same Mickey Mouse Club anymore.

The pop stars, who both kissed Madonna a few months ago during a performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, are now trading insults about each other's careers and personalities.

In the December issue of Blender magazine, Aguilera said of Spears, "She seemed very distant, even during rehearsals. Every time I tried to start a conversation with her — well, let's just say she seemed nervous the whole time. ... She seems to me like a lost little girl, someone who desperately needs guidance."

Spears responds in the magazine's January issue, "I can't believe Christina said that about me."

Then she relates a story about seeing Aguilera, her former friend and fellow Mouseketeer, for the first time in two years: "She comes up to me in a club in front of all these people and tries to put her tongue down my throat!

"I say, 'It's good to see you,' and she goes, 'Well, you're not being real with me.' I was like, 'Well, Christina, what's your definition of real? Going up to girls and kissing them after you haven't seen them for two years?'

"A lost girl?" Spears says. "I think it's probably the other way around."

Actor Hindman, 'Home Improvement' Neighbor, Dies

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Earl Hindman, best known for his role as the never-seen next-door neighbor who imparts advice as he peers over Tim Allen's backyard fence in the hit television series "Home Improvement," has died, his wife said on Tuesday. He was 61.

Hindman died of lung cancer at Stamford Hospital in Connecticut early on Monday, said his wife, the Rev. Molly McGreevy, a priest at St. Francis Episcopal Church in Stamford.

A character actor, Hindman launched his 30-year career on stage before appearing in numerous films, television series and specials. He played Detective Bob Reid on the ABC soap opera "Ryan's Hope" for over a decade

Among his best known films were "Three Men and a Baby" in 1987, "Greased Lightning" in 1977 and "The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3" in 1974.

McGreevy said "The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3," filmed in an abandoned subway station in New York, was one of Hindman's favorite roles. He played Mr. Brown, a stuttering criminal and one of a band that hijacks a subway train.

Hindman also had guest appearances on hit television series like "Law & Order," "L.A. Law," and "Spenser: For Hire."

Born in Arizona, Hindman studied theater at the University of Arizona in Tucson. His first acting roles were in regional theater and on and off Broadway.

McGreevy said Hindman enjoyed co-starring with Tim Allen as Wilson from next door in "Home Improvement" and the fact that he could be appearing in such a popular hit show while still not being recognized when he went out to buy a newspaper.

"He loved Tim Allen. They got along like two peas in a pod ... It was just a wonderful role for him. He was a very private person. He would say, 'Well, I don't have to worry about how I look because you can't see my face anyway,"' McGreevy said.

Hindman is survived by McGreevy, his mother, a sister and brother.

DVD do's and don'ts for 2004

By Mike Snider and Thomas K. Arnold, USA TODAY

TRENDS WE LIKE

Movies coming to DVD faster. Now it typically takes four months for a movie to go from theater to DVD instead of the historical standard of six months. Studios say they get to capitalize on theatrical marketing and awareness. Fans are just happy to see the movie sooner.

TV on DVD. Watch what you want, when you want and best of all, no commercials. Consumers are snapping up "complete season" packages of TV shows ($1 billion worth in 2003). And they're coming out quickly. For example, Alias fans can catch up on the action with Sydney because Season 2 arrived just three months after the release of Season 1.

Music DVD. Concerts have never been more realistic. You get great sound, cool visuals and all sorts of extras — all for the price of a music-only CD. No wonder traditional music sales are down.

Getting more of favorite films. Check out the longer versions of the Alien films in Fox's Alien Quadrilogy, Blade Runner Director's Cut and the extended The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Cooler extras. Bonus materials have gotten a lot slicker in the six years since the format was introduced. Joining the old standbys such as director commentaries and deleted scenes are games, interactive scene studies and other innovations. Among our favorites: interactive history of pirates on Pirates of the Caribbean and a multi-angle study of the Nightcrawler's opening attack in X-Men 2: X-Men United.

Cool packaging. Who can resist Universal's Scarface gift set, which comes in a faux alligator cigar box along with a money clip and the original 1932 Scarface? The rubberized cover on Artisan's Speed Racer collection adds character without creating storage problems.

Low prices. DVD is so hot that retailers are using them as loss leaders. You can buy virtually any release its first week out for less than $15. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart and other discounters routinely sell classic films for as little as $5.88. That's less than the price of a movie ticket.

Listening to what people want. Some studios have sought viewer advice in creating DVDs. Broadway Video asked Kids in the Hall fans what they wanted on the Season 1 DVD. And classic-movie junkies got to recommend which five of 20 Warner catalog titles to release. Days of Wine and Roses, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Postman Always Rings Twice with Lana Turner and John Garfield, The Wind and the Lion and Where the Boys Are arrive Jan. 6.

TRENDS WE WOULD RESOLVE TO END

Holdouts. The recent quick DVD turnaround has made buyers impatient. But some releases are way past due. Where are the original Star Wars movies? Bill Murray's classic Quick Change? The John Candy film Only The Lonely? The cult classic The Bad Seed? And while we're at it, Seasons 4 through 15 of The Simpsons?

Not-so-special features. Why do some studios still insist on listing scene selection, subtitles and Dolby stereo as special features?

Multiple versions of the same film. How many times do you expect someone to buy a refurbished Terminator 2?

Cardboard boxes. The flimsy cardboard "snapper" that Warner Home Video uses has got to go. Warner has some of the greatest classic films ever made, and they deserve better — such as the plastic "keepcase" other studios use.

Tape, tape, and more tape. We realize security is a concern, but are those three sides of super-sticky tape really necessary? It's almost easier to hack the copy-protection code than to open one of these suckers.

Cumbersome packaging. Fox's Alien Quadrilogy is impressive, but the package folds out into an unwieldy 5-foot behemoth. Die-hard Battlestar Galactica fans probably went gaga over the shiny, silver Cylon helmet-shaped Complete Epic Series set from Universal, but how will it fit on shelves? We much prefer individual plastic cases for each disc, like Paramount's Adventures of Indiana Jones collection. Or check out Sony Music's Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues and Broadway Video's The Kids in the Hall — Season 1 in slim keepsake cases.

Endless trailers. Stop putting in trailers for upcoming releases. Or at least offer it as an option on the menu, so we go there only if we really want to.

Portable DVD player batteries with too little power. Why they can't get the battery to last as long as a movie is beyond us.

Give us everything. Every television show on DVD release should have every episode from the respective season (Spin City skipped some), and every major living star should join in on commentary and interviews.

OSCAR ANTICIPATION

Nomination ballots for the 76th Academy Awards were mailed out Monday to the 5,803 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The voters must return the ballots by January 17; nominations will be announced January 27.

The School of Rock.

I'm hearing March 2nd as the street date on School of Rock.

The disc should feature an audio commentary with Jack Black and director Richard Linklater, commentary with the kids in the film, an interactive Dewey Finn's History of Rock and the featurettes Lessons Learned in School of Rock, Jack Black's Pitch to Led Zeppelin and Kids' Video Diary: Toronto Film Festival Piece.

Get ready to rock!

Global brings in new executive producer to boost flagging Mike Bullard Show

TORONTO (CP) - In a move designed to rescue the late-night program, Global TV has appointed veteran producer David Rosen to join executive producer David Asper on The Mike Bullard Show.

Ever since Bullard leaped from CTV to Global in November, the talk show has yielded less than stellar audience numbers, a situation that has baffled and disappointed Asper. Rosen has a long track record with CBC, ABC, TVOntario and Global, having produced such shows as PSI Factor, Foreign Objects, Anne Murray Christmas specials and even the Genie and Gemini Awards shows.

"David's track record is outstanding," says Doug Hoover, Global's programming vice-president, adding that his grasp of TV will "help drive this show forward in the new year."

Ron Waksman, executive producer for special projects for CanWest Global, says hiring Rosen "demonstrates Global's commitment to The Mike Bullard Show and late-night television."

Bullard's show resumes production next week with the first telecast of the new season slated for Jan. 12.

Angelina Jolie voted America's top New Year's Eve date: survey

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Film star Angelina Jolie is the woman most American males would like to date on New Year's Eve, according to a survey by movie rental chain Blockbuster Inc.

Results of the survey released Monday, showed Jolie in the top spot with 35 percent of respondents saying she would be their number one pick for a hypothetical New Year's Eve candle-lit dinner.

Rival star Catherine Zeta-Jones gained second spot in the online survey conducted by Blockbuster November 11-24. The survey had 31,969 responses.

Jolie, 28, has a string of films to her name, and is well-known for her lead role in the "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" franchise.

Ashton Kutcher, star of "Dude, Where's My Car?," and recent flame of Demi Moore, was the male lead most women wanted to see under the New Year's Eve misteltoe, garnering 31 percent of responses.

Kutcher, 25, pipped Johnny Depp for first place in the survey.

Stones to Release Toronto SARS Gig on DVD

TORONTO (Billboard) - The Rolling Stones' performance at the "SARSfest" extravaganza in Toronto last July will be released on DVD next spring.

The Stones' tour manager, Michael Cohl, told the Toronto Sun that all 13 performers at the July 30 Downsview Park concert were recorded and should be included in the DVD, but it's not known if the entire concert will be released.

"We're hoping by April or May to have it out," Cohl said.

The daylong concert, which was designed to boost Toronto's sagging economy in the wake of the deaths caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), attracted some 450,000 people and also featured AC/DC, Rush, Justin Timberlake and the Flaming Lips. It was formally billed as Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto.

Highlights included an appearance by AC/DC siblings Angus and Malcolm Young as the Stones covered "Rock Me Baby." But Timberlake's duet with Mick Jagger on "Miss You" was rewarded with a volley of empty bottles from outraged fans, who in turn received stern glares from Keith Richards.

Cohl added he's not sure if the upcoming DVD will be made available to all retailers; the Stones' recent "Four Flicks" DVD was sold exclusively by Best Buy and Future Shop, resulting in some stores removing Stones-related merchandise from their racks.

The Couch Potato Report

This week in the Couch Potato Report, an old TV show is turned into a good movie and there's an American Wedding.

Up first, TV, or not TV.

Most of the old TV series that have been turned into movies have been pretty bad. For every one good movie based on a TV series - like THE NAKED GUN, THE ADDAMS FAMILY and THE BRADY BUNCH - there are two films based on TV shows that are bad - LOST IN SPACE, THE AVENGERS, THE SAINT, WILD WILD WEST, CHARLIE'S ANGELS and MY FAVOURITE MARTIAN for instance.

The MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE and STAR TREK movies fall somewhere in the middle of the good/bad pack, but I digress.

With this week's release of S.W.A.T. you can add one more to the good list.

Samuel L. Jackson of PULP FICTION and current Colin Farrell of DAREDEVIL swagger through this guns-and-big-trucks macho extravaganza based on the 1970s TV show of the same name, about the police teams brought in to take care of extremely dangerous situations.

After a lot of training and head-butting with a smarmy police captain, our cinematic S.W.A.T. team is assigned to transfer the head of a European crime cartel who's declared on television that he'll give $100 million to anyone who gets him out.

Every scumbag in Los Angeles descends to claim the money, turning a routine transfer into a bullet-filled gauntlet.

S.W.A.T. is a great story with just enough action to keep you going, without overdoing it.

But the best part about S.W.A.T. isn't the action. The filmmakers have taken the time to create back-story and interpersonal elements that elevate the film above that of a simple action flick.

In a simple action film police officers just race to the action without taking time to prepare or discuss potential consequences. In S.W.A.T. situations are discussed, repercussions are considered and consequences are pondered.

This is a thinking person's action film. I really enjoyed S.W.A.T. and it made my list of the Top Ten movies of 2003.

Now since I have added S.W.A.T. to the list of movies that have been made from TV shows that are good, there must be two bad ones on the way to keep my opening statement of 2 bad for every one good intact.

Well, with the ongoing rumours that there will soon be movies based on the TV shows THE DUKES OF HAZARD, BEWITCHED, KNIGHT RIDER and HARDCASTLE AND MACORMACK I suspect the two bad for every one good theorem will be restored soon enough.

With all of the hype surrounding the conclusion this year of THE MATRIX and LORD OF THE RINGS trilogies there wasn't as much attention paid to another trilogy that has reportedly come to an end.

The AMERICAN PIE trilogy.

If you are a fan of American Pie 1 or 2 I suspect that you won't be disappointed with this third installment. Even though most of the original cast is absent the story is a fitting conclusion to a very funny trilogy.

The gags in AMERICAN WEDDING all hit the mark. Our hero Jim once again stumbles from one embarrassing episode to another as he prepares to marry his one true love.

All the while, Jim's Dad - the brilliant Eugene Levy - is right there with him, lecturing Jim on the lessons of life and love.

But what would any AMERICAN PIE be without Steve Stifler? I am pleased to tell you that Seann William Scott does return as one of the most idiotic cinematic losers you hate to love of all time.

If there is one detriment to disclose about AMERICAN WEDDING I have to admit that it just isn't as funny as the other two AMERICAN PIE films.

It is a very funny, and enjoyable film - if you liked the first two movies- but at times it does just seem like a watered down version of the first two films.

Of course, we've all been to weddings where things are a bit watered down, so why should this one be any different?

If you expect a comedy to make you laugh, then you won't be disappointed with AMERICAN WEDDING.

S.W.A.T and AMERICAN WEDDING are available to rent and own at your local video store right now.

COMING NEXT WEEK

ALIEN - A slimy creature boards a woman's space tanker in this "director's version" of the classic 1979 film. (Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt)

UNDERWORLD - A Vampire and werewolf fall in love despite an age old and existing rivalry between their two species. (Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Shane Brolly)

OUT OF TIME - A police chief gets caught up in scandal and murder. (Denzel Washington, Sanaa Lathan, Eva Mendes)

UPTOWN GIRLS - A spoiled, rich girl is forced to get a job as a nanny in this movie that has nothing to do with the Billy Joel song. (Brittany Murphy, Dakota Fanning, Marley Shelton)

Enjoy the movies, HAPPY NEW YEAR, and I'll see you on the couch!

'Lost in Translation' Finds Its Way to DVD

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Audiences will be able to find "Lost in Translation" at their video stores this February.

The critically acclaimed film from writer/director/producer Sofia Coppola will debut on DVD Tuesday, Feb. 3 and will include numerous bonus features.

"Lost" follows the poignant relationship between jaded American actor Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and the bored wife (Scarlett Johansson) of a workaholic photographer (Giovanni Ribisi) in Tokyo, and was inspired by Coppola's time spent in Japan.

Besides the typical deleted scenes, theatrical trailer and music video, the DVD will include the behind-the-scenes look, "Found in Conversation," which offers a dialogue between Coppola and Murray, discussing working in Japan, favorite scenes and casting choices.

The "Lost on Location" featurette includes exclusive footage shot by the filmmakers on DV camera from location scouting through the first days of production and beyond, and "Mathew's Best Hit TV" offers an extended version of the hilarious Japanese TV show featured in the film.

"Lost in Translation" recently earned five Golden Globe nominations for best musical/comedy, best directing and writing by Coppola, best actor for Murray and best actress for Johansson. It was also awarded the "Golden Athena" (Best Film) award at the 2003 Athens International Film Festival.

'Return of the King' Reigns at Box Office

LOS ANGELES - The final installment of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy continued to reign at the box office despite a handful of new openings as Hollywood had its best Christmas weekend ever.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" pulled in $51.2 million in ticket sales for a total of $224 million since opening two weeks ago, according to studio estimates released Sunday.

The fantasy film also posted the best Christmas Day gross of any current movie, $14.6 million.

Out of the gate, the movie also has outstripped the first two chapters of the trilogy. It took just 11 days to cross the $200 million mark — one day less than part two, "The Two Towers."

Four movies opened over the holiday weekend, including "Cheaper by the Dozen." The Steve Martin comedy was No. 2 with $28.2 million over the weekend.

The Civil War epic "Cold Mountain" opened in third place with $14.5 million. The R-rated, 2 1/2-hour movie opened on 2,167 screens.

"Paycheck," a summer-style action movie, opened with $13.9 million, and "Peter Pan," a live-action retelling of the classic story, grossed $11.4 million.

The total estimated weekend box office receipts for the top dozen pictures was $168.6 million, a record, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracking company Exhibitor Relations. The top 12 movies over the same weekend last year pulled in $155.9 million, or 8.2 percent less, he said.

The range of new openings in wide release, the opportunity to catch up on older movies and the "Lord of the Rings" finale combined to make it "a perfect Christmas weekend at the movies," Dergarabedian said.

"Hollywood would love a Christmas like this next year," he said.

"Return of the King," directed by Peter Jackson, wraps up the trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic adventure of hobbits, wizards, humans, elves and dwarves battling for control of the mythical realm of Middle-earth. The ensemble cast includes Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen and Cate Blanchett.

"They have had a major investment in the characters over the last few years. They are waiting for the dramatic ending," said Rolf Mittweg, president and chief operating officer for New Line, which distributed the movie.

"Cold Mountain," an $80 million epic directed by Oscar-winner Anthony Minghella, features an ensemble cast led by Nicole Kidman, also an Academy Award winner. It co-stars Jude Law and Renee Zellweger, both previous Oscar nominees.

The film is adapted from Charles Frazier's Civil War best seller of the same name. It is a reimagining of Homer's "The Odyssey," in which a wounded Confederate deserter (Law) makes his way home to his sweetheart (Kidman).

"That's a film that will still be around when Oscar nominations are announced" in late January, Dergarabedian said.

"Return of the King," meanwhile, could go on to become the second movie to top $1 billion worldwide, after 1997's "Titanic" ($1.8 billion). By Sunday, it already had taken in $492 million, according to New Line estimates.

"Elf" slipped to the bottom of the top 10 list — a strong showing all the same for a movie in its eighth week of release, Dergarabedian said. The Christmas comedy starring Will Ferrell has taken in $164.9 million.
 
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," $51.2 million.
2. "Cheaper By the Dozen," $28.2 million.
3. "Cold Mountain," $14.5 million.
4. "Something's Gotta Give," $14.2 million.
5. "Paycheck," $13.9 million.
6. "Mona Lisa Smile," $11.5 million.
7. "Peter Pan," $11.4 million.
8. "The Last Samurai," $8.4 million.
9. "Bad Santa," $4.5 million.
10. "Elf," $4.3 million.

The Who's Townshend Mulled Suicide Over Child Porn

LONDON (Reuters) - British rock legend Pete Townshend contemplated suicide during a police inquiry into his use of child pornography, he said in an interview published on Sunday.

The 58-year-old guitarist from the Who was arrested in January during a high-profile crackdown on Internet child porn and was formally cautioned in May after a four-month investigation.

Townshend, who said he was abused as a child, publicly admitted viewing child pornography but said it was purely for research purposes.

"If I had had a gun, I would have shot myself," he told Britain's Observer newspaper. "And if I had shot myself, it would have been awful because it would have confirmed what everybody thought."

The inquiry found he had visited a Web site containing child abuse images in 1999 but did not download any images.

On top of the formal caution, police have taken a DNA sample from Townshend and put his name on the national Sex Offenders Register for five years.

"I'm not sexually attracted to children," he said in the interview. Among the Who's many songs was the track "Fiddle About," which dealt with the issue of child abuse.

Veteran British Actor Alan Bates Dies

LONDON (Reuters) - British actor Alan Bates, a pioneer of the "Angry Young Man" school of post-war British theater who also conquered Hollywood with gritty performances, has died of cancer, his agent said on Sunday. He was 69.

Bates died in a London hospital on Saturday with his son and brother at his side.

"He had a long battle with cancer," agent Rosalind Chatto told Reuters.

Bates, versatile and good looking, shot to fame in 1956 in John Osborne's "Look Back in Anger," a groundbreaking play reflecting the social and class turmoils of 1950s England.

"'Look Back in Anger'...totally transformed British theater," said Oscar-winning actress Glenda Jackson. "But as he matured as an individual, his acting became broader and deeper and he always brought the unexpected to everything he did."

Bates went on to play classical leads on the stage in "Hamlet," "Richard III" and "Antony and Cleopatra."

On the big screen, he starred in films such as "Zorba the Greek," "Far From The Madding Crowd" and "Women in Love," in which he famously grappled naked with Oliver Reed.

More recently, in 2001, he featured in director Robert Altman's period drama "Gosford Park."

Jackson, who starred with Bates in "Women in Love," said he had been unafraid to take risks.

"The longer he lived, the better an actor he became," Jackson, now a politician, told Sky television.

Bates, knighted after a career spanning six decades, suffered personal tragedies in recent years.

His son Tristan died in 1990 aged 19 and his wife, the actress Victoria Ford, died two years later.

KATE'S KID

Kate Winslet and director-hubby Sam Mendes welcoming a baby boy named Joe December 22 in New York. The 7-pound, 13-ounce boy is a first for the couple, who married in May. Winslet has a young daughter from her previous marriage.

Kramer Cracks in "Seinfeld" Feud

Kramer has crossed the Seinfeld picket line.

Michael Richards, the beloved, wacky star of the much-Emmy’d comedy series has broken ranks with costars Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus and decided to participate in an upcoming DVD about the show.

Until now, all three stars have passed on participating in the project due to financial woes—reps for all three actors have said their clients were unhappy with their payoffs from the continually successful show and they didn’t want to work for free.

But Richards finally caved to pressure after talking things over with series star Jerry Seinfeld over the weekend. He does maintain that he would like to receive some cash for participating, particularly since others like Seinfeld, co-creator Larry David and several others involved in production are still making money on the show.

"I think everyone wants to get paid," Richards told the New York Times. "Is it honorable for those on the inside to make compensation? That's an ethical question they have to deal with. But I never heard back from anybody."

It seems unlikely that Kramer will cash in for his participation, since actors don’t generally get paid on residual deals like DVDs. "I innocently asked a question. 'Is there some compensation?' I don't believe there is," Richards told the Times. "There isn't anything."

Still, Richards says he is going to do his part to make the DVD a success. "I'm not boycotting," he told the Times. "I'm involved. I was never called to do an interview. I am so for the DVD coming out that I'll go on the Tonight show."

Elizabeth Clark, a rep for Seinfeld, says the actor still has hope that the erstwhile George and Elaine will come around and that he plans to get in touch with them in the New Year. "He hopes they will participate in the DVD," she said in a statement.

But whether Alexander and Louis-Dreyfus sign on or not, the DVD is likely to be a smashing success. Seinfeld was consistently a No. 1 show and a mainstay of "Must-See TV" on NBC throughout its run from 1990 to 1998. Even today, it still runs relentlessly in syndication and generates millions for its Seinfeld and David, co-creators and executive producers.

Seinfeld, meanwhile, is having no trouble keeping his pockets lined even without the help of his hit show.

The star has landed a deal to write, produce and star in Bee Movie, a computer-animated feature-length flick for DreamWorks.

Michael Jackson Denies Sex Charges in TV Interview

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In his first interview since being charged with child molestation, pop star Michael Jackson vehemently denies the allegations but insists there is nothing wrong in sleeping with children, according to excerpts released on Friday by CBS News.

"Before I would hurt a child, I would slit my wrists," Jackson told correspondent Ed Bradley in an interview scheduled to be shown Sunday on "60 Minutes."

Bradley asked Jackson whether he thought that under the circumstances, it was still acceptable to sleep with children and Jackson answered, "Of course. Why not? If you're going to be a pedophile, if you're going to be Jack the Ripper, if you're going to be a murderer, it's not a good idea. That I am not."

Jackson also said the police search of his Neverland Valley Ranch in central California last month so violated his privacy that "I won't live there ever again. It's a house now. It's not a home anymore. I'll only visit."

During the 30-minute interview, conducted Thursday at a Los Angeles hotel, Jackson also discussed his brief time in police custody, including an injury he said he suffered from the handcuffs, and other details about his arrest, CBS said.

In addition to the "60 Minutes" interview, CBS said that an hourlong Jackson music special that was canceled the day after authorities raided his Neverland Ranch has been rescheduled for Friday, Jan. 2.

CBS spokesman Chris Ender said Jackson's "60 Minutes" interview cleared the way for the network to resurrect the music special. "The timing is better," Ender told Reuters. "We wouldn't have rescheduled the entertainment special if he hadn't addressed the situation in the Ed Bradley interview."

The reclusive entertainer was arrested on suspicion of child molestation in November and released on $3 million bail. He was formally charged Dec. 18 with seven counts of committing a lewd act on a minor and two counts of administering an "intoxicating agent" for the purposes of molesting a child.

The charges stem from allegations that he molested a boy under the age of 14 at his Neverland ranch earlier this year.

Jackson, who has three children of his own, has issued a statement through his publicist calling the allegations a "big lie," and his lawyer, Mark Geragos, has said the case is a "shakedown" motivated by greed and revenge. But Jackson's upcoming appearance on "60 Minutes" will mark his first interview since the case broke.

Jackson's last television interview was in a controversial documentary by British journalist Martin Bashir that ran on ABC and British television in February.

In it, the singer appeared on camera holding hands with a 12-year-old boy with whom Jackson admitted sharing his bedroom. Jackson said he had spent the night with numerous children but denied there was anything sexual about such sleepovers.

The documentary renewed questions about Jackson's relationship with children and sparked calls for an investigation by child welfare authorities.

2003 was a year of musical idols and icons, arriving and passing away

TORONTO (CP) - It was a year of idols and icons in music in 2003 - the idols were finding stardom after mega-exposure on the television airwaves, the icons were fading into the musical twilight.

News of Johnny Cash's passing seemed to underscore the changing of the guard. His Sept. 12 death came amid chart battles between American Idols' Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken and only days before millions of Canadians crowned their own Idol, Ryan Malcolm.

With young stars like Avril Lavigne, Norah Jones, Justin Timberlake and Beyonce getting airplay and the magnificent acceptance of the Idol format around the world, a new pop movement seemed be taking shape, perhaps even signifying the beginning of an end to the years of rock 'n' roll dinosaurs dominating the charts and pulling in the biggest bucks on the concert circuit.

From the moment hundreds of kids starting lining up on a frigid April night in Winnipeg, it was hard to escape Canadian Idol.

The success of the franchise made it either a great year for music or a horrible one, depending on which side of the Idol fence you're standing on.

Part game show, part karaoke, Canada's 26-week-long version cycloned into a monstrous hit. Over 20 million votes were cast and three million people tuned in to watch the finale where 24-year-old Ryan Malcolm was crowned the winner.

The show, following a format that had been embraced in the U.S. a year earlier, broke Canadian records and sent a jolt of excitement through the jaded veins of music industry executives.

Idol seemed a proven way to get people back into CD shops and away from downloading programs like Kazaa.

Malcolm's first single, Something More, has remained at the top of Canada's singles chart for 11 straight weeks, outselling Pink, Radiohead, OutKast and even Britney Spears in Canada. The record, Home, debuted at No. 4 in mid-December.

By making multi-media stars out of musicians, the industry found a way to make CD-buying hip again among youth after years of sale decreases.

"It's brand extension," said George Stroumboulopoulos, host of MuchMusic's MuchNews. "The success of those Idol people in record sales is the same reason why people go see a movie with Tom Cruise . . . I don't think people look at them like music stars, they're television stars."

While nothing else quite compared to the level of excitement generated coast to coast by the Idol phenomenon, visits by two of the world's leading music stars come close.

Mick Jagger strutted into Toronto in July to help attract much-needed dollars to the SARS-battered city. More than 450,000 people from across Canada, the U.S. and even Europe danced along to AC/DC and the Rolling Stones in a giant field overlooking the city.

A few months later, Bono, wearing his trademark shades, endorsed the country's prime minister-in-waiting by appearing at the Liberal convention.

The year also saw a celebration of an important figure in Canadian music history.

Gordon Lightfoot's bout with a stomach ailment prompted others to fete the legend with a tribute album, induction into the Canada's Hall of Fame and a Companion of the Order of Canada - the country's highest honour for lifetime achievement.

"Gordon Lightfoot is one of our only towering figures (in Canada)," said Keir Keightley, an expert on the culture of celebrity who teaches at the University of Western Ontario, in London.
 
"We don't have another Gordon Lightfoot. There are other people who could be compared to Johnny Cash but who can we compare to Gordon Lightfoot?"

But what does the next chapter hold in Canadian music history? It's too early to tell if the Nelly Furtados and Avril Lavignes will make cultural impacts with their music.

Keightley thinks there seems to be a pop or urban idolization emerging in Canada, led by the Lavigne model of overnight success.

"There was a time when there was a very clear-cut sense of Canadian popular music having these folky roots and that's changing," he said. "Lightfoot is passing into history and the future of Canadian music is very likely elsewhere."

Alongside Lavigne, a horde of superstars continued to make an international splash, including Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Nickelback and Sarah McLachlan.

But a slew of Avril clones - lead by Lillix, LiveOnRelease and Fefe Dobson - showed that her influence was much more powerful than many originally gave the young singer from Napanee, Ont., credit for.

Less than a year after her debut album was released, the so-called skater girl walked the red carpet into the Grammy Awards with five nominations.

While she walked away empty-handed, she secured a spot as a force on today's music scene helping pave an anti-Britney road for girls who don't want to be packaged as tarty, lip-glossed sex symbols.

"Already she is used as an icon of a new school of pop idol," Keightley said. "It speaks to how much more quickly it feels like the popular culture is shifting. It speaks to the media saturation that she achieved . . . she hasn't hit the burnout point that you might expect."

South of the border, hip hop was embraced by the mainstream, with acts like Beyonce, OutKast, Jay Z and 50 Cent taking charge. Even Eminem's film 8 Mile garnered acclaim and was nominated for an Oscar.

Homegrown urban artists, however, weren't able to emulate the gigantic success of their peers in the U.S.

Bands like Toronto's In Essence and Vancouver's Swollen Members had radio hits at home but barely create a sizzle south.

"Record sales haven't been what we ultimately want but we understand the process," said Smooth, of In Essence, in a recent interview. "This whole R&B, urban scene is still very new to Canada. We're trying to break something new here. We understand what we're up against."

He attributed the genre's stalled momentum to a lack of radio support.

"There's just not the number of radio stations playing urban music as there is in the States."

Radio stations flipped formats at a dizzying pace this year, with many urban stations changing over to adult contemporary. There are less than eight radio stations currently playing R&B and hip hop.

"The Canadian urban scene is working from a much different starting point than rock and roll," said Stroumboulopoulos.

"Canadian hip hop will find its voice internationally but right now it's building its own voice in Canada. There's great talent out there. You won't find anyone who's better than Kardinal or K-OS."

Globally, Norah Jones, Lavigne and Beyonce led a battalion of young music-makers hoping to make a lifelong imprint on the scene.

They were able to overthrow the comeback of bubblegum queen Britney Spears, whose only memorable feat this year was a smooch with Material-Girl-turned-book-author Madonna. Christina Aguilera and her "dirrty" image was talked about more for its humour than its musical influence.

Buoyed by Internet buzz and chat rooms, indie bands continued to make a splash and indie labels proved their value as a farm league for the majors.

Sam Roberts, Billy Talent, the New Pornographers and Kathleen Edwards were all part of the indie steam engine.

"Labels have smartened up and realized that you can sell 4,000 copies of a record and make your money back," said Stroumboulopoulos. "They've created a very reasonable break-even point and because of that we get Broken Social Scene, Danko Jones and Hot Hot Heat."

"It's been an amazing year," agreed Amanda Newman, one of the co-founders of Paper Bag Records. The Toronto-based label recently celebrated its one-year anniversary with a healthy roster of "buzz" bands including FemBots, Stars, Matthew Barber and Hawaii.

But it was Victoria's Hot Hot Heat that was most often called the highlight of the year by music critics.

Pushed to the limelight by the boutique label Subpop, Hot Hot Heat received critical U.S. acclaim at the end of 2002 through the New York Times, Rolling Stone and Spin.

The melodic punksters said it was weird that they caught on faster south of the border.

"It does seem a bit odd to us," singer and keyboardist Steve Bays said earlier this year.

Part of a larger musical moment that included the Strokes and the White Stripes, the band's brand of new, new wave rock 'n' roll resonated with music fans looking for a retro sound.

"The Hot Hot Heat story is the older Canadian story of 'you have to make it elsewhere to get respect at home.' This is the classic Canadian actor, filmmaker story," explained Keightley, who includes the band as one of the year's best. "They tapped into the zeitgeist in an international sense."

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Some highlights from 2003:

Explosive: Beyonce gave us this year's summer song with Crazy In Love; Justin Timberlake proved he had a shelf live beyond boy band N'Sync with a groove-filled album; The White Stripes cemented their rule of the old/new rock scene with the release of their stellar disc Elephant; 50 Cent provided a new birthday song with In Da Club; Sean Paul made dance hall music accessible to the masses via a few hits from his album Dutty Rock.

Sugar kisses: Madonna and Britney's brief lip lock generated enough water cooler talk to rejuvenate both their ailing careers.

Michael Jackson: He's like a car accident you can't tear your eyes away from. Jackson continued to baffle this year. The image of the dethroned King of Pop feeding his son - the oddly-named Blanket, covered in a green sheet - in the now-famous Martin Bashir documentary, guaranteed him the title of Most Bizarre Father of the Year, or perhaps Ever. A few months later allegations of sex abuse surfaced - for the second time in his career, which, whether true or not, will cast a shadow over his life.

Patriot games: Not since the Vietnam war have so many celebrities voiced their political views. Dixie Chicks' singer Natalie Maines took the lead in March with a quip about U.S. President George W. Bush during a performance in London. "Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas," she said. A flame war ensued with Toby Keith, who claimed the Chicks were unpatriotic. And some radio refused to play the Chicks' music. Todd Harrell of the rock band Three Doors Down had his own opinion of Bush: "If I was the president when that 9/11 happened, I would have found me a button, pushed it, and make it look like a parking lot over there."

Aging rockers out for a buck (and some airtime): After a powerful Grammy performance that saw a strained peace treaty between arch-rivals Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, the duo reunited for a tour. Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles also hit the road to find that aging boomers, thirsty for music they can relate to, were anxious to check back into Hotel California. The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and Cher ranked the top three grossing tours of 2003.

Love, set, match: Jazz singer Diana Krall softened the cynic in Elvis Costello with a spring romance that was topped with a winter wedding in early December. Gwyneth Paltrow soothed the aching Chris Martin's heart and will make him a daddy with the birth of their child next summer. Jennifer Lopez and Ben Afflek entertained us with their public sizzle and fizzle this year.

Breakouts: Ottawa's Kathleen Edwards proved young women can drink scotch and write meaningful songs; Montreal's Sam Roberts launched his bid to become Canada's next rock and roll star; Vancouver's New Pornographers returned with a phenomenal pop disc; the buzz generated by Hot Hot Heat proved their namesake; the crooning of Burnaby's baby-faced singer Michael Buble made women weak at the knees.

On the verge: A loud buzzing sound has been following Fefe Dobson ever since her video for Bye Bye Boyfriend aired on MuchMusic and MTV in October. Debut releases by Matt Dusk, Matthew Barber, Liam Titcomb and Graph Nobel have the potential to launch star careers with albums coming out in the spring.

Yearend charts: According to SoundScan the following were the top five selling albums in Canada for 2003: Norah Jones' Come Away With Me, 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin', Shania Twain's Up!, Various with Star Academie and Avril Lavigne's Let Go.

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Here are a few of the musicians who died in 2003:

- Maurice Gibb, 53, Jan. 12 in Miami Beach, Fla. of cardiac arrest. With his brothers, Gibb built the Bee Gees into a disco sensation that ruled the charts in the late 1970s with hits like Stayin' Alive, More Than a Woman and songs on the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever. The Bee Gees had nine No. 1 songs, wrote dozens of hits for other artists, and sold more than 110 million records - placing them fifth in pop history behind Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney.

- Hank Ballard, 66, March 2 in Los Angeles of cancer. Ballard, whose hit The Twist ushered a North American dance craze in the 1960s, was banned from 1950s radio because some thought his songs were too sexually suggestive. By the early 1960s, he had charted 22 singles on the rhythm and blues charts, including Work With Me Annie - the biggest R&B hit of 1954, selling more than one million copies. The song inspired a series of other risque R&B songs including Annie Had a Baby, Annie's Aunt Fannie and Roll With Me Henry.

- Edwin Starr, 61, April 2 in Nottingham, England of a heart attack. Starr was a soul singer who produced Motown hits such as War, Contact, H.A.P.P.Y. Radio, Stop Her on Sight (S.O.S.) and Agent Double-O Soul.

- Nina Simone, 70, April 21 in an undisclosed town in France of natural causes. Simone was a classically trained pianist but gained fame with her recordings of I Loves You Porgy and for singing in a style reminiscent of Billie Holiday. She later became known as a protest singer for penning fiery songs that chronicled the pain, pride and hope of the U.S. civil rights movement. Simone influenced artists including Norah Jones, India.Arie, Peter Gabriel, Sade and Aretha Franklin, who rerecorded one of Simone's most famous songs, To Be Young, Gifted and Black.

- June Carter Cash, 73, May 15, in Nashville of complications from heart surgery. A Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, musician, actress and author, Cash's duets with her husband Johnny Cash included It Ain't Me Babe and If I Had a Hammer. She co-wrote the hit Ring of Fire, which is about falling in love with Cash.

- Barry White, 58, July 4 in Los Angeles of kidney failure. Known as the king of "make out" music for his velvet voice and lush melodies, White's biggest hits included Can't Get Enough of Your Love; Babe; Love Serenade; You're the First, the Last, My Everything and It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me.

- Celia Cruz, 77, July 16 in Fort Lee, N.J. of a brain tumour. Cruz went from singing in Havana nightclubs to become the Queen of Salsa. She became famous in the 1950s with the legendary Afro-Cuban group La Sonora Matancera. She left Cuba after its 1959 revolution for the United States in 1960 and never returned. She recorded regularly with Mambo King Tito Puente. She recorded more than 70 albums and had more than a dozen Grammy nominations.

- Warren Zevon, 56, Sept. 7 in Los Angeles after a yearlong fight with lung cancer. The singer-songwriter is best known for penning the songs Life'll Kill Ya, Werewolves of London and Excitable Boy. He gained attention in the 1970s by writing a string of popular songs for Linda Ronstadt, including Poor, Poor Pitiful Me, Carmelita and Hasten Down the Wind.

- Johnny Cash, 71, Sept. 12 in a Nashville hospital of complications from diabetes. The Man in Black became a towering figure in American music with such hits as Folsom Prison Blues, I Walk the Line and A Boy Named Sue. Cash recorded more than 1,500 songs during his career.

- Robert Palmer, 54, Sept. 26 in Paris of a heart attack. Palmer created one of the first iconic music videos with the look-alike models of Addicted to Love. A two-time Grammy winner in the 1980s, his hits in his three-decade career included Simply Irresistible, Bad Case of Lovin' You (Doctor, Doctor), I Didn't Mean to Turn You On and Some Like It Hot.

- Elliott Smith, 34, Oct. 21 in Los Angeles from suicide. A singer-songwriter whose dark, introspective songs won him critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination. Smith released five solo albums that received widespread acclaim from rock critics and garnered modest commercial success. Miss Misery, recorded for Gus Van Sant's Good Will Hunting, was nominated for an Oscar in 1998.

- Bobby Hatfield, 63, Nov. 5 in Kalamazoo, Mich. of a heart attack. As part of the Righteous Brothers', Hatfield's hits included Unchained Melody, (You're My) Soul and Inspiration and Rock and Roll Heaven. The duo's signature 1965 single, You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling, has been frequently cited as the most-programmed song in U.S. radio history.

- Don Gibson, 75, Nov. 17 in Nashville. Gibson wrote and recorded country standards like Sweet Dreams and Oh Lonesome Me. His most famous song I Can't Stop Loving You was recorded by more than 700 artists, but Ray Charles had the big pop version in 1962.

- Teddy Wilburn, 71, Nov. 24 in Nashville. As the Wilburn Brothers, he and his brother, Doyle, had 30 songs on the country charts from 1955 to 1972, including Hurt Her Once for Me, Trouble's Back in Town and Roll, Muddy River.

DISC-ORD AHEAD

(Variety) HOLLYWOOD --- Writers and studios are on a collision course over the red-hot DVD market.

The Writers Guild of America, responding to rising ire among members over their slim slice of the revenue pie, has elevated DVD to its top issue as it heads into bargaining.

That move is going to hit a rock-solid wall of studio resistance, and that impasse undoubtedly will complicate already complex labor negotiations.

Should the issue spiral out of control as writers become angry over the studios' perceived intransigence, a strike would become a possibility. The WGA struck three times during the 1980s and nearly went on strike three years ago.

Despite that threat, budging even a millimeter on DVDs is out of the question for studios.

Here's what they'll argue:

Moviemaking costs have continued to escalate sharply, with the MPAA estimating in March that the average price of a major studio film had risen to nearly $90 million. Negative costs for 2002 films rose by almost 25% to an average $58.8 million and marketing expenses dipped 1.25% to $30.6 million.

DVDs aren't ancillary income; they essentially keep studios afloat. Only one in 10 features recoups its costs from domestic box office; only four in 10 recoup after all revenues come in --- foreign B.O., TV and DVD.

The future profitability of DVDs could vanish, given the already massive pirating of the discs. The MPAA is already claiming the losses amount to $3.5 billion annually.

If the WGA's contract is adjusted upward, the studios probably will have to adjust the DGA and SAG contracts as well, meaning even higher costs for them.

The looming battle comes at a time of sizzling DVD sales for titles such "Finding Nemo," "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" and "Seabiscuit" during this Christmas season. Those results have fanned the fires of discontent among the scribes.

The writers are stuck with uncommonly small residuals amid the current DVD bonanza because the payout is based on a formula unchanged since it was set in 1985.

With WGA member earnings remaining flat or increasing only marginally for the past five years, writers are clearly in no mood for the studios' likely poor-mouthing about how agreeing to the guild demands will bankrupt Hollywood.

Here are the key points in the WGA's argument as it heads toward negotiations:

These are boom times in worldwide box office and TV advertising.

Those gains pale in comparison with the DVD sales, which rose from $11 billion last year to $15 billion this year --- an "astronomical" revenue stream, according to WGA East president Herb Sargent. The WGA estimates writers earned $18 million out of last year's $11 billion in DVD revenues.

The 1985 formula, tilted toward studios to help the fledgling videocassette technology, doesn't reflect changing showbiz economics in the years since then.
 
The economics of DVD are enormously attractive. Wall Street analyst Jessica Reif Cohen of Merrill Lynch has estimated the 2002 profit margins for DVD at 66%, compared with 45% for videocassettes; average wholesale unit price is $16 with $2.75 for marketing, $1 for duplication, 90¢ for packaging and 80¢ for distribution, leading to a $10.55 gross profit per unit. A hit selling 11 million DVDs equals a $121 million profit.

Under the WGA's contract, which expires May 2, about a nickel per DVD sold goes to the credited writers. The rate --- set at 0.3% of wholesale revenues on the first $5 million, then 0.36% after that --- has been in place since 1985, even though the standard WGA residual rate is four times higher, or 1.2% of revenues.

For a moderately successful film selling 1 million DVDs and generating $15 million in wholesale revenues, the credited writers would split a payout of around $50,000 --- pretty tiny compared with the $10 million in profit the studio will see.

Even more aggravating to the WGA is how the revenues are calculated under this particular formula.

Unlike its other residual agreements, video/DVD revenues are based on producers' gross receipts rather than distributors' gross. The producer figure can be significantly less at major studios, since distributor costs can be subtracted.

"The residual formula for homevideo in the guild agreement is one of the worst formulae we have," said Charles Slocum, assistant exec director at the WGA West.

The guild pushed hard on the video/DVD issue in the 2001 negotiations, asserting the 1985 costs of videocassette manufacturing were $14 per unit, but had dropped to $3 per unit with DVD manufacturing costs at $2 per unit.

The WGA asked first for a 100% hike, scaled that back to 25% after the first month of talks and then settled for no hike with a one-time $5,000 fee for the right to include the movie script on the DVD.

The WGA's major gains in 2001 came from hiking residuals for foreign TV, the Fox net and pay TV. The potential strike threat was taken seriously enough that studios spent several months speeding up production to create a stockpile; negotiations went three days after expiration before a deal was hammered out.

Currently, no talks are scheduled, but the future looks rocky and the May 2 contract expiration is only four months away.

The WGA began polling its members last week on a 25-point "pattern of demands," which highlighted DVD and gave special notice to healthcare and jurisdiction over reality TV and animation.

And in a notable change from 2001, the WGA isn't demanding elimination of "A film by" credit, which provoked anger from the Directors Guild and proved to be something of a PR headache three years ago.

One of the 25 points simply asks that the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers address "usage and validity of credits in film and TV, with special attention to the 'A film by' credit."

The WGA will release the voting results Jan. 14, then craft its opening proposal to the AMPTP, the negotiating arm for studios and nets.

But during the past year, fuild leaders have stressed that members want a change in the DVD formula more than any other issue, since that area is clearly where the major revenue growth is occurring.

"What is clear to everyone --- writers and employees alike --- is that we are negotiating in an exceedingly prosperous new atmosphere," Sargent and WGA West president Victoria Riskin wrote in the "pattern of demands" letter.

"What is also clear to us is that writers did not participate in this bonanza and, in spite of these boom times, were even forced into widespread rollbacks in important areas."

Those comments went over like a lead balloon.

AMPTP prexy Nick Counter, chief negotiator for the studios and nets, immediately blasted the demands as "excessive" and "a disaster waiting to happen."

Both sides are likely just warming up.

Before negotiations started in early 2001, studio execs accused the WGA of seeking increases that would add $2.4 billion over three years in entertainment union costs; the WGA called that number "hyperinflated" and said the three-year costs for writers, directors and actors would be $725 million.

Back in 1985, no one could have expected the shiny DVD discs would be the rage of the 2003 holiday season.

When the WGA learned in 1984 that 80% of videocassette revenue was being excluded by studios, it filed an arbitration suit, and that trial was going on when its negotiations with the AMPTP on a new contract fell apart.

The WGA, which had struck for 13 weeks in 1981 and delayed the start of the fall TV season, struck for two weeks in 1985, with the key issue being video residuals.

Under pressure from members who feared a repeat of the long '81 strike, the WGA agreed to accept the same formula that had been worked out the year before by the DGA, which allowed studios to exclude 80% of revenues in order to give those studios a chance to recoup their investment.

In 1988, the WGA struck for five months, again delaying the start of the fall TV season. The stoppage had a profound impact on Hollywood as writers lost hundreds of millions of dollars and the Big Three nets never recovered all of the audience share lost to cable and local TV.

Partly because of those three strikes, the WGA carries a reputation for being the most assertive Hollywood union.

And though it has not struck since then, it came close in 2001.

Cdn. Idol fails to wow World judges

LONDON (CP) -- If Canada's Ryan Malcolm wins World Idol, it looks like he'll have to do it against the odds -- again.

The former waiter from Kingston, Ont., who came back from the pop idol dead after being voted off the Canadian version of the show last summer, failed to wow the experts with his performance on World Idol, broadcast Christmas Day on CTV.

Ben Mulroney, host of the Canadian program, announced during the show that auditions will be held in nine cities for Canadian Idol 2. The cities are Vancouver, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax and St. John's, Nfld., and auditions will take place from mid-February through April.

After performing He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother, Malcolm was criticized by the judges for his awkward dance moves and lack of passion.

"Sincerity was just a little light," British judge Pete Waterman said at a taping of the show last week.

But Canadian judge Zack Werner said he admired the job done by Malcolm, who got back into the Canadian Idol contest as a wildcard entry after being voted off the program. "You should be proud of what you did," he said.

Malcolm was competing against 10 other Idol winners from around the world. The show broadcast on CTV was taped in London, where the first Pop Idol program was aired two years ago before becoming a global TV success from Australia to Norway.

Various versions of the program were shown for each television market where national winners of the talent contest were selected. Each of the 11 countries involved in World Idol had their own voting systems to determine the winner in their country. Points were then allocated to each contestant based on where they finished in the voting.

All the performers got the maximum 12 points available to them in their own countries, which couldn't vote for their homegrown winner. The remaining points were then assigned based on where the contestants finished in the voting.

That means in Canada, viewers couldn't vote for Malcolm, but he automatically got 12 points. The winner of the Canadian vote got 10 points for finishing first, the second place finisher got nine points with the scale dropping by one for each finishing place down to one point for 10th.

The winner will be announced New Year's Day on CTV between 9 and 10 p.m. ET in a show taped earlier that day in London.

The Christmas Day broadcast of World Idol often bordered on the zany as the judges -- whose over-the-top personalities play a large role in Idol's success -- argued over the quality of the performances.

Polish judge Kuba Wojewodzski was a popular target among his fellow judges at the taping, especially after he took a shot at British Idol Will Young, who sang Light My Fire by The Doors.

"You looked like Mr. Bean singing Jim Morrison," said the wild-haired Wojewodzski. "If I was part of the Morrison family, I'd sue you."

Werner joined Wojewodzski in dismissing Young's performance. "The Bee Gees doing The Doors doesn't work for me," he said.

But in a rare moment for the panel of music industry experts, they were left almost speechless by Diana Karazon, 20, who won the Super Star competition spanning 22 Arab countries. After singing the Arabic love song Ensani Ma Binsak, the judges agreed it was difficult to comment on a song they didn't understand.

"It wasn't spine tingling, but I enjoyed it, whatever it was," said Werner.

In interviews before the show was taped, the contestants described World Idol as a chance to build on the success they have had in their own countries.

"I'm a little less worried about winning," said Malcolm, who went to No. 1 in the Top 40 charts in Canada with his first single Something More. "I think just the exposure itself is a great thing."

There is no prize for winning the show. Winners of the national Idol contests received record deals and career guidance from the management company owned by Spice Girls' founder Simon Fuller, who created the formula for the show.

American Idol Kelly Clarkson, a recent Grammy nominee, said the beauty of World Idol is the many cultures it crosses.

"A lot of countries, not just America but other countries, you know you don't look outside the box, you only listen to what your culture kind of listens to," she said.
Although Clarkson was arguably the biggest star of the show given her success since winning American Idol, her performance of You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman left Werner unmoved.

That caused American judge Simon Cowell, a Briton known for his caustic comments, to fly into Werner in one of the most memorable moments from the taping.

"You are not fit to judge this girl," Cowell said to the Canadian judge as he called Clarkson the performer to beat in the contest.

"The gulf between these singers is enormous. . . . I honestly don't know why I'm here."

From all of us at anythingbut.com to you all of you, at thepeoplewhoreadthissiteeachday.com, have an awesome Christmas!

Ho Ho Ho!

Dan and Dave

Letterman Visits U.S. Soldiers in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Joking with wounded soldiers and rattling off a `Top 10' list for the desert-weary, talk show host David Letterman dropped in Wednesday for a Christmas Eve visit with U.S. troops in Baghdad.

Letterman, the host of CBS' "Late Show," visited the military's main combat hospital and met soldiers at one of Saddam Hussein's ransacked palaces that now serves as part of the U.S.-led coalition's headquarters.

Soldiers said the visit was an important boost over the holiday spent far from home.

Arriving at the hospital, Letterman emerged from a car wearing dark sunglasses, smoking a cigarette, holding a cup of coffee and casually taking a phone call.

Snapping a picture, 1st Lt. Michael Gerstmyer, 24, from Baltimore said he was surprised at how relaxed the TV star appeared in a battle zone.

"He acts like he's been here for years," Gerstmyer said.

Last Christmas, Letterman visited troops in Afghanistan.

Letterman — who brought along his comedy sidekick Biff Henderson and the show's musician, Paul Schaffer — toured the hospital and stopped at the bed of Pfc. Jacob Dominique, 20, of Archbold, Ohio. "We took his appendix," a nurse said.

Letterman's reply — "I saw it downstairs in the gift shop" — won a roomful of laughs.

In a routine that Letterman is famous for on the show, he read out a "top 10" list written especially for the soldiers: the top 10 signs you've been in Iraq too long.

"No. 9: you've heard a crazy rumor that Arnold Schwarzenegger is the governor of California," Letterman said.

Number two was, "Camel: it tastes like chicken."

Number one was aimed at the soldiers running the hospital: "And the No. 1 sign you've been in Iraq too long: Dave's heard about our outstanding health care and came to us for his hemorrhoids," Letterman said to loud applause.

'Christmas Story' Marks 20th Anniversary

LOS ANGELES - The phrase "You'll shoot your eye out!" has become as synonymous with the Christmas season as Scrooge's "Bah, humbug!" and Santa's "Ho, ho, ho!"

For 20 years, this warning has defined the holidays for doe-eyed 9-year-old Ralphie Parker in the movie "A Christmas Story," as his mother, his teacher — and even Kris Kringle — reject his plea for one particular Christmas present.

That would be, in his words, an official Red Ryder carbine-action, 200-shot, range-model air rifle with a compass in the stock "and this thing that tells time."

"It catches the truth," said director Bob Clark, who spent 14 years trying to make the film. "It's about the American sense that there is something great in our destiny, and Ralphie's is to get that BB gun with a compass in the stock."

Over the years, the modest little movie has grown into a Yuletide perennial and is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year with a new DVD, featuring reminiscences from the now grown-up star Peter Billingsley.

Meanwhile, this year marks the sixth annual marathon broadcast of the movie on the TNT cable channel. (Starting Christmas Eve at 6 p.m. EST.) TNT started its 12 around-the-clock showings as a stunt in 1988, but popular demand turned it into a tradition. An estimated 38.4 million tuned in at some point to watch it last year.

"Probably about 10 years ago, when it started getting mentioned in the same breath as `It's a Wonderful Life' — and people weren't disagreeing with that — that's when I realized, `Wow, this thing might be around for a really long while,'" Billingsley, now 32, told The Associated Press.

But how did "A Christmas Story" begin? What made it a seasonal phenomenon? And where does it go from here?

The truth is: "A Christmas Story" didn't start out as a Christmas story.

The series of vignettes in the 94-minute film — war with the yellow-eyed school bully, The Old Man's gloating over a garish "leg lamp" in a fishnet stocking; the triple-dog dare of sticking your tongue to a frozen flagpole — were short stories from radio storyteller Jean Shepherd's 1966 collection "In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash."

Among them was the tale about Ralphie wanting a BB gun for Christmas, which became the centerpiece of the movie.

While driving to a girlfriend's house in 1968, director Clark said he became enthralled with one of Shepherd's fireplace-cozy radio narrations. Clark repeatedly drove around the block — keeping his unknowing date waiting — while Shepherd finished the story.

For the next 14 years, Clark tried to persuade a studio to finance a film based on the stories of Shepherd, who died in 1999 at 78.

But nobody in Hollywood was interested.

Clark made a series of horror B-films in the 1970s ("Deathdream" and "Black Christmas") and wrote for "The Dukes of Hazzard" TV show before landing on a hit.

His rowdy 1981 sex comedy "Porky's," which cost only $4 million to make, collected a whopping $105 million. Suddenly the writer-director had some industry clout.

"They didn't want to do the movie. Nobody did," he said. "But they said, `Let the idiot do the movie. Give him some money so he'll get up and do another "Porky's."' That's the only reason `A Christmas Story' got made."
 
Apart from Ralphie, the movie's other major role was the father — known not as "Dad" but as "The Old Man."

The suddenly popular Clark shopped the part around to a few curious Hollywood big-shots — including Jack Nicholson. (Imagine that alternate-universe version for a moment.)

Ultimately, the part went to Darren McGavin, a cult-favorite for his TV role as a reporter who investigates the supernatural in "Kolchak: The Night Stalker."

Although he was not the first choice, McGavin proved he was the best choice — bringing a boyish musicality to the character, crossed with the grumpy scowling of a well-practiced curmudgeon.

McGavin, now 81, suffered a debilitating stroke several years ago and was unavailable for an interview.

At 60 when the film was made, he may have seemed a little old to have such young sons — but don't all adults look much older from a child's perspective?

"I can't tell you how many people come up to me and say, `You know, he's just like my dad,'" said his daughter, Graemm Bridget McGavin. For her, it's the same thing.

"This is the closest to him of any of his roles," she said, adding with a laugh: "He was TOUGH."

Billingsley, who was also the Messy Marvin kid from 1980s Hershey's chocolate syrup commercials, was a veteran child star but "A Christmas Story" presented him with new challenges.

The then 12-year-old Billingsley had to carry the whole movie, but had very little dialogue. Most scenes required him to look cute and thoughtful while Shepherd provided narration.

"A lot of it's instinctual. You just try to figure out how you can stay as real as possible without overdoing it," he said.

He still remembers the bitter winter of Cleveland, where they filmed many of the snowy exterior scenes. "I remember going outside and shooting the gun — the part where I nearly shoot out my eye — and I start to tremble and cry a little bit, which was very real because it was so cold and I was in my PJs," he said.

The film opened in 1983 the week before Thanksgiving, and collected about $2 million from 600 theaters — solid business for the time. That take doubled on Thanksgiving weekend and the movie was getting strong word-of-mouth support.

But MGM hadn't counted on much success — and didn't schedule any more screens for the lead-up to Dec. 25.

"I thought, `Well, in the weeks before Christmas we're going to clean up,'" Clark said. "But I got a call from the head of distribution, who said: `I've got a surprise for you.'"

And the movie disappeared from theaters.

Ultimately, it collected about $19 million at the box office. Good, but not great.

The advent of home video and ubiquitous showings on television earned "A Christmas Story" a place as a holiday tradition alongside "Miracle on 34th Street" and "White Christmas."

In fact, a recent unscientific survey of 7,200 people by the Internet Movie Database placed "A Christmas Story" as the most beloved holiday film of all time. It had 19.3 percent, while "It's a Wonderful Life" was second with 15 percent.

Warner Bros. now owns the film, and Clark is on a crusade. He wants the studio to reissue the movie on the big screen next Christmas season and is trying to rally fans to contact the studio.

In the meantime, with repeated showings on television, does the grown-up Ralphie ever sit down to watch the little-kid Ralphie?

"Over Christmas, when the family gets together, it invariably gets turned on," Billingsley said. "And yeah ... I'll sit down and watch."

RAYMOND RETURN 'MYSTERY'

There's no word yet whether "Everybody Loves Raymond" will return for another season, said star Patricia Heaton.

"It's a huge mystery for all of us on the set," Heaton said.

CBS certainly would like the series to return. "Raymond" has been a Nielsen ratings hit during its eight-season run and is this fall's fifth highest-rated show. But executive producers Ray Romano and Phil Rosenthal have said this might be its final season.

Romano and Heaton star in the Emmy-winning sitcom as Raymond and Debra Barone, a couple who argues virtually nonstop. Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts play Raymond's meddling parents, Frank and Marie, who live across the street.

"Ray and Phil are trying to figure out if we have enough stories to continue; we've had eight memorable seasons," Heaton said. "I certainly would like to do another year, but I want it to be wonderful.

"I think we'll know in January," Heaton added.

No Joke: Actress Jennifer Connelly Wants to Laugh

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Jesus, I think I need a comedy," exclaimed super-serious Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Connelly.

The star of new movie drama "House of Sand and Fog," which opens nationwide on Friday after playing in a few cities last week, has vaulted onto Hollywood's A-list of leading ladies in recent years for a series of films exploring dark themes.

Connelly, 33, has played the colleague of a doomed scientist ("Hulk"), wife of a schizophrenic math genius ("Beautiful Mind"), mistress to a tortured painter ("Pollock"), drug addicted girlfriend of a junkie ("Requiem for a Dream") and doomed lover of a politician ("Waking the Dead").

Things don't get much brighter in "Sand and Fog" with her role as Kathy Nicolo, a recovering alcoholic whose home is repossessed by the county for back taxes.

Connelly said she has had enough of tragic heroines, but comedic roles just do not come her way. "It's not like, you know, the hot new comedy comes around and they think of Jennifer Connelly," she joked.

While "Sand and Fog" won't help Connelly build a reputation for leaving audiences laughing, the buzz in Hollywood is that it just might deliver her a second Oscar.

She won her first Academy Award for supporting actress playing Alicia Nash, wife of Nobel laureate John Nash, in 2001's "Beautiful Mind,"

"It's a bit early, but it's a nice sign people are considering this movie that way. Clearly, you do a film and you hope people like it," she said. "It's a worthwhile film. It's well-executed, and it's really about something."

AMERICAN DREAM GONE AWRY

The movie, based on a best-selling novel by Andres Dubus, revolves around two people struggling against each other to realize one of the great American dreams -- owning a home.

But the seaside bungalow in northern California is more than just a house. For Connelly's Nicolo, it represents safety and security as she deals with depression and alcoholism.

The house, which her father left her, offers her a shred of dignity, and when the local government auctions it off because she failed to pay a tax bill, she fights to get it back.

Ben Kingsley portrays Massoud Amir Behrani, an Iranian and former colonel in that country's air force who fled to the United States when his government was overthrown.

To maintain an appearance of wealth and influence in his community of Iranian expatriates, he works two low-paying jobs to afford a high-rise apartment and proper education and lifestyle for his wife and kids.

Behrani has saved money diligently and when Nicolo's house goes up for sale, he buys it fast and determines he will fix it up then sell it at a profit to restore his own dignity.

Behrani's purchase and Nicolo's inability to reverse it legally sets in motion a chain of events that lead both on a downward spiral of manipulation and deception as they try to outwit each other and the government.

BOLD CHOICES, SHY PERSONALITY
 
Connelly calls the movie, "largely about intolerance," and not just ethnic prejudice. Nicolo also encounters resistance to her pleas for help, given her state as penniless and homeless.

Connelly said "Sand and Fog" and other recent films, such as "Requiem for a Dream," are movies "that just kind of grab you and shake you up a bit."

The actress, who has two sons and is married to "Master and Commander" star Paul Bettany, took a break from films in the late 1990s. She returned for "Waking the Dead" and "Requiem" -- both low-budget, art-house films that rekindled her career.

"Requiem," in particular, was considered a bold choice due to its subject, and Connelly said she likes the risk involved in projects considered too dangerous for major studios.

"Otherwise, (acting) would just be very boring," she said.

While her recent characters have been very "emotionally demonstrative," in her life Connelly said she can be shy.

The day she won her Oscar, Bettany said she had forgotten about the awards altogether until he called to ask if she had prepared her speech. At that point, she didn't have one.

"I've never seen anyone so unconcerned about it," he said.

Connelly disagreed, saying that when she's stressed she tends to appear calm even though she is a bundle of nerves.

On Oscar night, "I had a bit of the deer in the headlights syndrome," she said. "It is an overwhelming moment, a big, big moment."

If "Sand and Fog" scores as well with Oscar voters as it has with early audiences, she may be able to have another big moment.

Seinfeld cast boycotts DVD

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Kramer, George and Elaine aren't happy, so fans of the old Seinfeld sitcom won't be seeing interviews with them on an upcoming DVD set, according to a published report.
 
Jerry Seinfeld, left, with his three co-stars, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Michael Richards.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Michael Richards (who played Kramer), Jason Alexander (who played George) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (who played Elaine), declined to give on-camera interviews for the DVD set or otherwise participate in the project because they are not being offered a share of the sales, only a recording fee.

"They all said, 'Why should we make other people richer,'" said a representative of one of the actors to the Times.

One of the selling points of DVDs are the extras not available with the original product, such as commentary tracks by a film's or series' director or stars, or features and documentaries about the making of the movie or show.

The sale of DVD collections of an entire season or two of a television show has become the fastest growing segment of the already fast-growing DVD market, according to industry officials. Sales of TV on DVD sales are expected to nearly double this year to $1.5 billion from $880 million in 2002, Video Store Magazine told CNN/Money earlier this year.

The Times reports that one of the representatives of the three unhappy actors said the three receive annual payments of about $100,000 each from the continued airing of the show in syndication. But that pales in comparison to the millions received by the show's creators, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David. Seinfeld and David, along with the companies set to produce and distribute the DVD, will share in sales of the DVD set.

The three supporting stars also received $600,000 each per episode the final year the show was still on NBC, although they had been seeking $1 million each per episode. Each has starred in short-lived network series since "Seinfeld" went off the air.

"Seinfeld" ran on NBC from 1990 through 1998 and is now popular in syndication. The DVD set is being prepared by Castle Rock Entertainment, which produced the show for NBC, and is to be distributed by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.

Mathilda’s Back Shooting

For all those that loved the classic Luc Besson film LEON (THE PROFESSIONAL) and wondered what happened to Mathilda (Natalie Portman) after Leon (Jean Reno) died, well soon we should find out.

In a recent interview Natalie Portman revealed that she has read a script for a sequel and it is great. She also said that Luc Besson himself would be making the film. It sounds like it could be pretty energetic as well, as she said she would have to seriously hit the gym to get ready for the part.

The Couch Potato Report

This week in The Couch Potato Report When Good Filmmakers Go Bad.

Woody Allen and Rob Reiner are two of my favourite filmmakers. Allen gave us the modern day classics ANNIE HALL, MANHATTAN, MIGHTY APHRODITE and many others. Reiner's resume is equally impressive as his list of classic includes THIS IS SPINAL TAP, WHEN HARRY MET SALLY..., STAND BY ME, A FEW GOOD MEN and MISERY, just to name five. And I don't have to stop at five, Reiner also gave us THE PRINCESS BRIDE and THE SURE THING.

Either of these two men's names on a film used to mean that you were guaranteed a great time at the movies.

Used to mean.

Should you choose to rent either ANYTHING ELSE, this week's new release from Woody Allen, or ALEX & EMMA, the new release from Rob Reiner you'll understand my point of "used to mean."

They just don't seem have "it" anymore.

What do I mean by "it"? Well, let me give you this scene from the movie TRAINSPOTTING:

"SICK BOY - It's certainly a phenomenon in all walks of life.

RENTON - What do you mean?

SICK BOY - Well, at one time, you've got it, and then you lose it, and it's gone for ever. All walks of life: George Best, for example, had it and lost it, or David Bowie, or Lou Reed -

RENTON- Some of his solo stuff's not bad.

SICK BOY - No, it's not bad, but it's not great either, is it? And in your heart you kind of know that although it sounds all right, it's actually just shite.

RENTON - So who else?

SICK BOY - Charlie Nicholas, David Niven, Malcolm McLaren, Elvis Presley. -

RENTON - OK, OK, so what's the point you're trying to make?

SICK BOY - All I'm trying to do is help you understand that The Name of the Rose is merely a blip on an otherwise uninterrupted downward trajectory.

RENTON - What about The Untouchables?

SICK BOY - I don't rate that at all.

RENTON - Despite the Academy award?

SICK BOY - That means fuck all. The sympathy vote.

RENTON - Right. So we all get old and then we can't hack it any more. Is that it?

SICK BOY - Yeah.

RENTON - That's your theory?

SICK BOY - Yeah, Beautifully fucking illustrated."

Now, I don't think that either Woody Allen, who just turned 68, or the 56 year old Rob Reiner have necessarily lost their way because they are too old. If they want to keep making films, whatever their age, I say more power to them.

What I am saying is that they have lost the gift that allowed them to be proclaimed filmmakers who have "it."

Filmmakers who's name in the credits of a movie was a guarantee that the movie was going to be great.

Neither Allen's or Reiner's new films will likely ever be described using the word great. I wouldn't call either of them even mildly entertaining.

Let's start with Reiner's latest - ALEX & EMMA. This so called romantic comedy is so off the mark that it lands in an alternate plane of awfulness.

Luke Wilson from OLD SCHOOL is Alex, a writer and gambling addict who must deliver an entire novel in 30 days in order to pay off some Cuban mafioso.

Kate Hudson from ALMOST FAMOUS is Emma, the stenographer Alex hires in order to produce the book faster.

As Alex dictates to Emma his novel the pair grows closer, as do their characters in the novel. Sure, it sounds interesting, but it is in fact astonishingly dull.

Wilson and Hudson are two great actors who have been in some great films, but in ALEX & EMMA they have zero chemistry. They are fully to blame as the script, co-written by Rob Reiner, is a lifeless work that drags on, and on, and on.

Once I realize a film that I am watching is bad my mind starts to wander and during ALEX AND EMMA I starting wondering how Rob Reiner, the man who made WHEN HARRY MET SALLY... and THE PRINCESS BRIDE could have forgotten how to make a romantic comedy.

Then I thought of that scene in TRAINSPOTTING. He had, "it" and then he lost "it."

That point was "Beautifully fucking illustrated" by ALEX AND EMMA.

Avoid this film unless you can't find anything else.

And I mean any other movie. I don't mean ANYTHING ELSE, the latest film from Woody Allen.

To me, Woody Allen is one of the funniest people, not just a funny filmmaker, but one of the funniest people of the 20th century.

But if you haven't noticed, we are now in the 21st Century.

ANYTHING ELSE is Woody Allen's latest film and it stars Allen along with film veterans Danny DeVito and Stockard Channing, along with Jason Biggs of AMERICAN PIE and a grown up Christina Ricci from THE ADDAMS FAMILY films.

Biggs is an aspiring writer falls in love with Ricci, a supposed free spirited woman. Allen is the young writer's friend. A man who has an opinion on everything. He may be the smartest person on the planet, but he could also be a close relative of Cliff Claven, the mailman from CHEERS.

Who these people are supposed to be is irrelevant. They are self-centered and complaining whiners who aren't the least bit interesting.

I actually can't understand why Allen thought an audience would consider these character's stories entertaining.

Maybe it's because he's lost "it."

Without making the conclusion of this review too predictable, allow me to just suggest that you stay away from this movie, as well as ALEX & EMMA, and check out anything else. Anything else but ANYTHING ELSE, that is.

Should you be curious, ALEX & EMMA and ANYTHING ELSE are now available at your local video store to rent and own.

Let me conclude my diatribe on Woody Allen and Rob Reiner by saying one of my hopes for 2004 is that these two incredible filmmakers find their way again. I hope they get "it" back and I look forward to that day.

COMING NEXT WEEK

S.W.A.T. - Even the cops dial 911! A Special Weapons and Tactics team will provide highly trained hostage negotiators and tactical teams for situations that regular law enforcement officials can't handle. The team in this film version of the 1970's TV series must protect an inmate from jailbreakers seeking the $100 million (U.S.) reward. (Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez)

AMERICAN WEDDING - The aforementioned Jason Biggs and some of his pals are back in the reported final installment of the AMERICAN PIE series. This one is less about pie and more about the wedding of Jim and Michelle. (Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, Eugene Levy)

THE ORDER - A priest infiltrates a secret sect known as Sin Eaters. I have to admit that I couldn't be bothered sitting through this film from the maker's of A KNIGHT'S TALE. (Heath Ledger, Benno Furmann, Shannyn Sossamon)

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

Eminem And Interscope Records Taking Extra Security Precautions

Eminem is currently in the recording studio working on new material, but the rapper and his label, Interscope Records, had a scare last week when three of his unfinished songs turned up on the Internet auction site eBay.

A source told the New York Post, "He has a very close-knit group of people he works with--he knows everybody who goes in and out of that studio. About a week and a half ago, somebody copied three unfinished raps onto CDs and tried to sell them on eBay. EBay immediately took the auction down and has promised Interscope the tracks will never be auctioned on its site, but the problem is every time they shut the auction down it pops back up."

According to the source, everyone in Eminem's circle who has access to the studio including managers, advisers, and friends, is being interviewed. Interscope Records is also considering hiring a special security team to make sure that no additional music is leaked. Some of the precautions may include making everyone who enters the studio sign a log and a confidentiality agreement.

No release date has been set for Eminem's untitled new album.

Missteps, misfires and misjudgments mark the year in pop music

When two singers accused of underage sex crimes emerge as two of the music world's most intriguing figures, you know it's been a wild and crazy year. Here's one take on the most memorable 2003 moments in pop music, whether we want to remember them or not ...

Biggest Mouth: Proving candour and celebrity don't mix, the Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines caused an uproar when she told a London audience she was ashamed President George W. Bush was from her home state of Texas, with a U.S. war imminent with Iraq. Though she later apologized, it didn't come quickly enough for some country radio stations, which pulled the popular trio's music. But they still found a way to milk the controversy, championing themselves as victims of free speech while posing nearly nude on the cover of Entertainment Weekly.

Worst Career Move: Once again, the King of Bad Decisions, Michael Jackson, wins by a landslide. At first, the singer's decision to give British journalist Martin Bashir unprecedented access to his private life for the unflattering documentary Living With Michael Jackson seemed like just another bad publicity move on MJ's part. But it actually set in motion inquiries and scrutiny which led to child molestation charges.

Best Career Move: When it comes to entertainers, reality TV has been resuscitation TV, and this year was no different. Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey went from C-list singers to A-list celebrities simply by inviting MTV to chronicle their vapid yet undeniably entertaining first year of marriage for The Newlyweds. Still, no amount of Chicken of the Sea jokes could make the couple appealing enough to buy their records - both albums tanked on the charts.

Best Comeback: Singing sexually suggestive songs while you're facing child pornography charges usually isn't a good career move. Heck, facing child porn charges period usually isn't a good career move. But R. Kelly, the music world's own Teflon Don, soared up the charts despite the controversy surrounding him. Surely Michael Jackson must be taking notes right about now.

The NAACP Award: Snoop Dogg embarked on his own bid for racial parity this year, saying he would appear on no more Girls Gone Wild videos because there weren't enough "hoes" of colour. Equality, indeed.

The Rush Limbaugh Award: The typically unrepentant Eminem was unusually apologetic after his nemesis, The Source magazine, dug up decade-old raps in which the white rapper called black women gold-diggers and stated his preference for white women. What made the incident so shocking is not that Eminem offended another group - but that he actually apologized for it.

Best Way to Downplay a Flop: Madonna's CD American Life was practically DOA by the time it arrived in record stores in April. It garnered not one hit and barely went gold, making it one of the worst-selling albums of the Material Girl's career. But with her first kiddie book, The English Roses, she still managed to garner all the media attention and fanfare she's accustomed to - even though she had to turn into a schoolmarm to do it.

Most Overexposed: The pimp cup. When the gold-encrusted goblet favoured by purveyors of women becomes so ubiquitous that former Nickelodeon star Nick Cannon is rocking it in a video, you know it's time to retire it.

Afterthought of the Year: Talk about a fallen idol. The mop-headed Justin Guarini, who elicited squeals of delight as last year's American Idol runner-up, drew only yawns this year when he released his self-titled snoozer. If that indignity wasn't enough, he also endured another flop in another genre, with the should-have-been-straight-to-video musical, From Justin to Kelly.

Couple of the Year: Britney Spears and ... just about anybody. Whether she was stepping out with Fred Durst, mugging for camera time with Colin Farrell or swapping spit with Madonna, just about anyone linked with the pop tart got Bennifer-type attention. Just think what will happen when she actually starts dating.

Hype of the Year: The 50 Cent-Ja Rule feud. Maybe it's because rap has gotten so complacent that people were salivating over the beef between these two Queens-bred rappers; even Louis Farrakhan inserted himself into the beef. But the so-called feud was decidedly one-sided, as Ja Rule found himself flattened by 50's verbal pummeling. By the time he released his response, Blood in My Eye, it flopped on the charts.

Warren Zevon Special to Come Out on DVD

LOS ANGELES - The story of Warren Zevon's last album will expand when it hits DVD in March.

A VH1 special about the making of "The Wind" that aired in August will be released by Artemis Records on DVD with extra footage, Jordan Zevon, Warren Zevon's son, told The Associated Press on Monday.

"They're all moments that are uncut," said Zevon, executive producer of the album. "They're not edits-together for the sake of time and go from bit to bit, they're actually just little moments in the making of the record."

Zevon said the DVD will include full interviews with musicians such as Bruce Springsteen that show his father's true personality.

"You got some extra questions and just got to know his sense of humor," he said.

Warren Zevon, known for witty and dark songs such as "Life'll Kill Ya," "Werewolves of London" and "Excitable Boy," lost a yearlong fight against lung cancer Sept. 7 at age 56.

Tiger Trainer Roy Horn Recovering in Las Vegas

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Animal trainer Roy Horn has returned to his home in Las Vegas to continue recovering from the tiger mauling that ended the "Siegfried & Roy" magic show in which he starred, his manager said on Monday.

Horn almost died after a male white tiger grabbed him by the neck and dragged him off stage during a performance at the MGM Mirage-owned Mirage resort on Oct. 3.

Horn, 59, was moved to the University of California, Los Angeles hospital two months ago and has now returned to Las Vegas, manager Bernie Yuman said in a statement

Horn is able to write notes, a spokesman said, but no other details of the extent of his recovery were available.

White Stripes Singer Charged with Assault

DETROIT (Reuters) - Michigan prosecutors charged Grammy-nominated singer Jack White of the band The White Stripes with aggravated assault on Monday following a fight with another singer at a Detroit club.

White, 28, could face a prison charge of up to a year if convicted on the aggravated assault charge stemming from an unprovoked attack on Jason Stollsteimer, the singer from the local garage rock band the Von Bondies, the prosecutor for Wayne County, Michigan said.

White approached Stollsteimer, 25, at the Magic Stick club in Detroit on Dec. 13, spat on him, and punched him in the face, the prosecutor said. Stollsteimer fell to the floor and White continued to hit him until he was pulled off by onlookers, the prosecutor said.

Stollsteimer suffered injuries to his right eye, which swelled shut after the fight, and was bleeding from his nose.

"It seems that far too often celebrities think that the law does not apply to them," Wayne County Prosecutor Mike Duggan told a news conference. "So many don't understand the impact they have as role models on young people, and this just can't be tolerated,"

The White Stripes, a duo of White on guitar and his former wife Meg White on drums, has been nominated for three Grammy awards. Its songs include "Seven Nation Army." "Elephant," the group's critically praised album, has been nominated for album of the year.

White has received a fourth nomination for his solo work.

White has been romantically linked to actress Renee Zellweger, and he contributed music to the movie "Cold Mountain," a U.S. Civil War drama starring Zellweger, Nicole Kidman and Jude Law.

It's great to be home for the holidays, catching Christmas favourites on DVD

By BRUCE KIRKLAND (Toronto Sun)

Watching movies with Christmas themes is as much a part of the ritual of enjoying the holidays as exchanging gifts. At least it is in my life, which is why Frank Capra's inspirational It's A Wonderful Life is still one of my all-time favourites.

So I'm intrigued with the avalanche of new/old titles coming to DVD for 2003.

Most make their DVD debuts. Some appear in new special editions. A Merry Christmas round-up:

* A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983): Bob Clark's Canadian-American comedy returns in a wonderful two-disc, 20th Anniversary Special Edition that offers the beloved Christmas classic in both full and widescreen versions on the same disc. Another disc of excellent bonuses tells the story behind the story of Ralphie's search for the Holy Grail of Christmas gifts: The Red Ryder, 200-shot, carbine-action, Range Model, Daisy Air Rifle. Extras include two of Jean Shepherd's folksy radio broadcasts, one weaving the original tale of the BB gun, the other chronicling the infamous stuck tongue incident. And don't forget, kids: "You'll shoot your eye out!"

* THE SANTA CLAUSE (1994): With Tim Allen as the reluctant Santa, the original movie is back in a Special Edition DVD, available in either full or widescreen versions. The extras really are not "special" but John Pasquin's playful flick is still tons of fun for the holidays. A true original.

* NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION (1989): Chevy Chase used to be funny. Find out how in this Lampoon flick, back as a Special Edition, which means the movie is in widescreen and there is a commentary with director Jeremiah Chechik and four actors, none of them Chase (humbug!).

* A CHRISTMAS WISH (1950): Also known as The Great Rupert, this goofy, yet charming flick stars Jimmy Durante and a clever squirrel. The DVD offers both the original B&W version (which I prefer) and a lurid colourized version (yuck).

* SCROOGE (1970): With Leslie Briscusse's 11 eccentric songs and dances, director Ronald Neame turned Dickens' A Christmas Carol into an oddball musical with sourpuss Albert Finney as Ebenezer Scrooge. It's entertaining enough but I still prefer the 1951 version with Alistair Sim.

* ROBBIE THE REINDEER: Co-written by Richard Curtis (Love Actually), this brilliant pair of satirical stories about Rudolph's lazy son Robbie are acted out in stop-motion claymation. You can watch both with either the British or the U.S. (Ben Stiller, Britney Spears, James Woods and Hugh Grant) vocal casts --and both are terrific. A real gift!

* OLIVE, THE OTHER REINDEER: Matt Groening and Drew Barrymore bring alive, in odd but interesting flat-perspective computer animation, this eccentric story of a dog who saved Santa's reindeer. Way off the beaten track -- and fun.

* SECOND STAR TO THE LEFT: a christmas tale: In traditional cel animation, Graham Ralph crafts an utterly enchanting English tale of three unlikely animals who help Santa and ensure a little girl's Christmas is jolly. A real gem!

* SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS: christmas: The DVD is loaded with nine episodes of the hippest animated show under the sea. The double-length Christmas Who? shows how Christmas comes to Bikini Bottom with hilarious results.

* NICKTOONS CHRISTMAS: tales of good tidings: Four of Nickelodeon's animated best. Includes SpongeBob's Christmas Who? plus other great shows such as the Rugrats' extended holiday adventure, Babies In Toyland.

* NICK JR. HOLIDAY: There are three good Christmas stories for the little ones: Dora The Explorer: A Present For Santa, Blue's Clues: Blue's Big Holiday and the quietly profound Bill Cosby creation, Little Bill: Merry Christmas, Little Bill.

* BOB THE BUILDER: A christmas to remember: Who knew that Bob the Builder and his crew were instrumental in burnishing the star of Elton John? Find out how in this beguiling, 50-minute tale that rocks with music and shows how Bob's twin brother Tom survives in the far north.

* A FREEZERBURNT CHRISTMAS: With stop-action puppetry, this cheeky musical brings it all home for Christmas with Joe Pants' conniving penquin Chill showing the way. A unique and nutty little Yuletide flick.

* ANGELINA BALLERINA: THE show must go on: Christmas In Mouseland: With strong stories and good moral lessons, the lovely Angelina animated stories do for girls what Bob the Builder does for boys. In this 50-minute special, Angelina has to learn a life lesson about being selfish.

* CHRISTMAS WITH THE SIMPSONS: The DVD offers five hilarious episodes (from 1990 through 2001), the best of which is the Christmas special Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire.

* BARNEY'S NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS: The Big Purple One leads kiddies through 16 Yuletide songs and a tour of Santa's North Pole home and toy factory.

* IT'S A VERY MERRY MUPPET CHRISTMAS MOVIE: The 2002 TV special is out on DVD. With God's help, Kermit fights to save the Muppet Theatre and his Christmas pageant.

* WINNIE THE POOH: A Very Pooh Year and Seasons Of Giving: These titles represent two separate DVDs, each with a long, charming story about the holidays. The usual Pooh gang, from Tigger to Rabbit, is on screen in both.

* STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE: very, merry christmas: Strawberry and Honey Pie Pony go to Holiday Land for prezzies for all their pals, only to discover that friendship is even better.

Fans of Quirky 'Far Side' Snap Up Comic Compendium

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - It costs more than $130 and weighs about 18 pounds, and its cover features a pair of chefs hiding in the reeds and hunting for flying cows.

It is also one of the best-selling books of the season -- "The Complete Far Side," a two-volume, 1,250-page collection of 14 years of the iconic comic panels drawn by artist Gary Larson.

From the first panel on Jan. 1, 1980 -- a pair of crabs marveling at the odd appearance of human babies -- to the last -- a Jan. 1, 1995, double panel in which the cartoonist wakes up to find it was all a dream -- the "Far Side" ranks as one of the most popular comics ever.

Syndicated at its peak in 1,900 newspapers and translated into 17 languages according to media reports, "Far Side" was almost a traditional comic strip until Larson convinced his editors of the merits of a panel instead.

"I had a single-image brain; I drew single-image cartoons," Larson wrote in an introduction in the book.

But summing up those 4,300 cartoons was not as easy as it might seem because once Larson agreed to do help compile the retrospective, the process took three years.

"He had been away from it long enough that I guess he felt like it was time he could deal with it," said Michael Reagan, chief executive of Lionheart Books. Reagan, who is based in Atlanta, worked with Larson to design the collection.

"I think in his mind he always knew he would do what we came to term 'the legacy book,"' Reagan said.

Bound in two volumes (1980-1986 and 1987-1994), the collection features a foreword by comedian Steve Martin, who rather than writing one essay instead offers a number of different potential introductions.

'HE IS AN INSECT'

"Gary Larson came to my house last weekend, and I was surprised to find that he is an insect," Martin wrote. "All this time I figured him for a bear or a little fat kid, but when he walked across my ceiling and hid in the drapes, I knew ..."

Despite the relatively steep price of $135 (though it can be found for under $100 online), the book made the New York Times best-seller lists and it has garnered rave reviews.

Many fans find the appeal of the "Far Side" in its intelligence and the wry way it made people think about what Larson was trying to say. He drew a world populated by quirky, goofy people and animals, especially cows, and his drawings sometimes perplexed readers.

"It's a sense of the bizarre, a sense of the absurd," said M. Thomas Inge, a professor of English and humanities at Randolph-Macon College in Virginia and an expert on culture and comics. "Many times you really couldn't figure out what in the world the humor was really about until it settled in on you."

Much of the original work was retained in the compilation, though Reagan said some captions were redone and some panels redrawn. In doing the retrospective work, Reagan said, there were even some that Larson came to regret drawing.

"Absolutely, but never did he say we couldn't put it in a book," he said. "He would absolutely cringe at some of them."

Although there were a few more panels after 1994, including six done for the New York Times in 1998 and 1999, and although Inge said "we probably need him even more" now than when he stopped working regularly, Lionheart's Reagan said fans should not keep their hopes up for a Larson comeback. Since he stopped drawing the comic, Larson has made two animated films and published a book.
 
"He's never going back into the newspapers on a daily basis," Reagan said.

"American Soldier" named Time's "Person of the Year"

WASHINGTON (AFP) - "The American Soldier" has been named Time Magazine's "Person of the Year," the magazine announced.

The weekly said Sunday that it was using the term broadly to include men and women in all branches of the US armed forces -- 1.4 million in uniform and 1.2 million in the reserves.

"For uncommon skills and service, for the choices each one of them has made and the ones still ahead, for the challenge of defending not only our freedoms but those barely stirring half a world away, the American soldier is TIME's Person of the Year," TIME editor-at-large Nancy Gibbs said in a statement.

Seceretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld suggested the choice when Time editors met with him at the Pentagon in November, the statement said.

The United States has about 120,000 troops currently serving in Iraq and some 9,000 hunting remnants of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, according to the US Central Command.

US soldiers got the salute from Time in 1951 when it named "The US Fighting-Man" "Man of the Year" during the Korean War.

Three women who spoke up about abuses at their workplaces -- the FBI, WorldCom and Enron -- were named "persons of the year" in 2002, and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani took the nod in 2001 for his leadership during the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.

'World Idol' Pits Winners From 11 Nations

NEW YORK - Who will be the world's favorite pop superstar? On "World Idol," a two-part special airing the evenings of Christmas and New Year's Day, "American Idol" Kelly Clarkson and "canadian Idol" winner Ryan Malcolm will compete in London with winners from 10 other countries including Germany, South Africa, England and Poland.

The program will air at 8 p.m. EST on Christmas Day and 9 p.m. EST on New Year's Day. Elton John will perform on the final-results show, the Fox network Web site said Friday. Fox is the home of "American Idol."

Viewers worldwide will have the chance to vote.

The competitors are all winners of the first season of the "Idol" series in their respective countries — making second-season U.S. winner Ruben Studdard ineligible, the network has said.

The third season of "American Idol" will premiere Jan. 19 at 8 p.m. EST. Special episodes also will air on Jan. 20 and 21, according to Fox.

Third 'Rings' Movie Outdraws Predecessors

LOS ANGELES - Movie audiences shelled out a king's ransom for one last trip to Middle-earth. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" raked in $73.6 million in its first weekend and put up a five-day haul of $125.1 million since debuting Wednesday, according to studio estimates Sunday.

That put it well ahead of the fantasy trilogy's first two chapters. Part one, "The Fellowship of the Ring," grossed $47.2 million over opening weekend and $75 million in its first five days, while the middle chapter, "The Two Towers," had a $62 million opening weekend and took in $102 million over its first five days.

Julia Roberts' "Mona Lisa Smile," the weekend's only other new wide release, opened as the No. 2 movie with $12 million. The previous weekend's top movie, "Something's Gotta Give," slipped to third with $11.5 million.

"Return of the King" did not set records for best domestic opening weekend, but it put up the highest numbers ever for a worldwide debut. The film added $121 million in 28 other countries since Wednesday for a global total of $246.1 million, surpassing the $202.8 million five-day opening for "The Matrix Revolutions" last month.

"That is amazing. The worldwide sweep of this movie is unprecedented. To have a quarter-billion-dollar gross in five days shows what a broad swath this movie cuts," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "These would be good numbers for a film to do in its entire run, but this is just the beginning."

The worldwide record was all the more remarkable considering "Matrix Revolutions" opened virtually everywhere simultaneously, while "Return of the King" has yet to debut in many markets, among them Japan, Italy and Australia.

The fast start boosts the prospects for "Return of the King" to top the $861 million total worldwide gross for "Fellowship of the Ring" and $921 million take for "Two Towers." "Return of the King" could become the second movie to top $1 billion worldwide, after "Titanic" ($1.8 billion).

Directed by Peter Jackson, the three films are based on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic adventure of hobbits, wizards, humans, elves and dwarves battling for control of the mythical realm of Middle-earth. The ensemble cast includes Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchett.

The films were shot at the same time, allowing distributor New Line Cinema to rush them into theaters only a year apart and assuring fans of the same production value.

"Peter managed to sustain the same level of creativity and the same level of excitement for each film, so the quality level was always maintained, and I think it was exceeded in the last movie," said Rolf Mittweg, New Line's head of worldwide distribution and marketing.

Other studios mostly stayed away from opening weekend for "Return of the King," holding the last of their big holiday wide releases for Christmas Day, when such films as "Cold Mountain," "Peter Pan" and "Cheaper by the Dozen" open.

In limited release, "Calendar Girls" debuted with a solid $161,000 at 24 theaters. Starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, the film is based on a real-life group of older British women who posed nude for a charity calendar.

"House of Sand and Fog," a somber drama about an American woman and an Iranian immigrant battling for possession of a home seized over back taxes, took in a healthy $44,000 debuting in two theaters. It stars Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly.

"The Fog of War" — a documentary about Robert McNamara, U.S. defense secretary during much of the Vietnam War — opened strongly in three theaters with $40,779.

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 Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," $73.6 million.
2. "Mona Lisa Smile," $12 million.
3. "Something's Gotta Give," $11.5 million.
4. "The Last Samurai," $7.3 million.
5. "Stuck on You," $5.4 million. 6. "Elf," $5 million.
7. "Bad Santa," $4.3 million.
8. "The Haunted Mansion," $4.2 million.
9. "Love Don't Cost a Thing," $4 million.
10. "Honey," $2.6 million.

Spears Reigns Again on Internet

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Just as Internet users were beginning to lose interest in longtime Web wonder Britney Spears, a few sexually provocative magazine covers and a famous smooch with Madonna propelled the pop princess back into favor.

Yes, it's that time again -- when Lycos, America Online and Yahoo! each weigh in with their end-of-year statistics and, as was the case last year and the year before, Spears managed to claw her way near the top of the lists of the most searched-for celebrities.

Until Spears started promoting her new album with a flurry of attention-getting stunts, highlighted by her Sapphic excursion at the MTV Video Music Awards in September, the singer actually fell off Lycos' top-10 list of search terms for several weeks, spokesman Aaron Schatz said. Ultimately, though, she finished in the No. 2 spot overall at Lycos for the year, right behind song-swapping service Kazaa.

At Yahoo! she finished sixth on the overall list of searched-for terms, with one celebrity ahead of her: Eminem.

Yahoo! also reports that the search term receiving the biggest percentage gain year-over-year is, no surprise, Paris Hilton, she of online sex-tape fame. Yahoo! says searches for her went up a mere 212,000%.

Over at AOL, the biggest topic online was the war in Iraq, judging from activity at the Internet service provider's many message boards.

Following the war was politics in general and, in particular, the Democratic party primaries, the California recall election and "The Reagans" miniseries. Celebrities and their scandals also were hot, with Rush Limbaugh, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jackson leading the way.

Reality TV also was popular on AOL message boards, led by "American Idol" and followed by "Survivor," "Paradise Hotel" and "Big Brother."

Apparently, threesomes are quite popular on the Internet, according to Yahoo! The company's list of the most-searched movies is led by the Harry Potter soon-to-be trilogy, and more. It's followed by "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Matrix" trilogies, with "Spider-Man" and "8 Mile" rounding out the top-five searched-for movies.

And Lycos is predicting, based on its growing number of searches, that the movies "The Passion of the Christ," "Troy" and "Catwoman" will be hits.

Speaking of feature films, "Finding Nemo" has the dubious honor of being probably the year's most downloaded movie at peer-to-peer file-sharing services, according to the firm BayTSP. And surprisingly, BayTSP reported, the Miramax film "Shaolin Soccer," which hasn't even been released in the United States, was hugely popular.

Garnering an immense amount of short-lived attention was Al-Jazeera, the Arabic cable news network, which generated three times as many search queries in April than did the word "sex." Driving the interest in Al-Jazeera in March and April was the fact that its Web site featured video of American prisoners of war, Schatz said.

The top TV shows searched for, according to Lycos, were "American Idol," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "The Simpsons" and "Survivor." The top sports stars were Bryant, Anna Kournikova, Michael Jordan, David Beckham and Allen Iverson.

Nielsen/NetRatings is reporting that the top online brand, judging from statistics culled from the first 10 months of the year, will probably be AOL, narrowly outscoring MSN and Yahoo!

Costello helps Krall on new album

Diana Krall is currently finishing up her seventh studio album, and she's getting some help from a likely source -- her new husband Elvis Costello.

The couple has teamed up to co-write six songs on "The Girl in the Other Room," due in Canadian stores on April 27, Rolling Stone reports.

The new effort, the follow-up to the 2001 hit "The Look of Love" includes twelve tracks, including Krall's cover of Costello's "Almost Blue," as well as her versions of tracks written by Tom Waits ("Temptation"), Joni Mitchell ("Black Krow") and Mose Allison ("Stop This World").

Krall married Costello in London on December 6.

Here's the full track list for "The Girl in the Other Room":

"Stop This World"
"The Girl in the Other Room"
"Temptation"
"Almost Blue"
"I've Changed My Address"
"Love Me Like a Man"
"I'm Pulling Through"
"Black Crow"
"Narrow Daylight"
"Abandoned Masquerade"
"I'm Coming Through"
"Departure Bay"

Norah Jones album due in Feb.

Pop-jazz sensation Norah Jones has announced details of her brand new studio album.

"Feels Like Home," the follow-up to her Grammy-winning debut "Come Away With Me," will be released on February 10 in Canada, with the track "Sunrise" pegged as the first single.

Guests on her sophomore effort include Dolly Parton, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson of The Band, drummer Brian Blade, keyboardist Rob Burger and guitarists Jesse Harris and Tony Scherr.

Jones will embark on a worldwide tour in April, with North American dates expected to begin in the summer.

"Come Away With Me" has sold over 600,000 copies in Canada since its release in February 2002.

Globes Get "Lost in Translation"

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has spoken and nothing was Lost in Translation. Sofia Coppola's semi-autobiographical tale of jet-lagged travelers in Tokyo is a leading contender among the Golden Globe nominees announced early Thursday morning.

The movie racked up a total of five nods, including Best Picture, Comedy or Musical; Best Actor for Bill Murray; Best Actress for Scarlett Johansson; as well as bookend Screenplay and Director nominations for Francis' talented daughter.

Johansson solidifed her status as one of Tinseltown's brightest up-and-coming stars with dual noms--she's also up for Best Actress in a Drama for her work in the art film Girl with a Pearl Earring, an adaptation of Tracy Chevalier's bestselling novel. She competes in that category against Cate Blanchett for Veronica Guerin--a surprising nomination as most expected Blanchett to make the cut for The Missing. Also in the mix: Nicole Kidman for Cold Mountain, Charlize Theron for Monster, Uma Thurman for Kill Bill: Volume 1 and relative newcomer Evan Rachel Wood for Thirteen.

As for Coppola, she faces off against an A-list roster in the race for best helmer. Her competition includes Clint Eastwood for Mystic River, Peter Jackson for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Peter Weir for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Cold Mountain director Anthony Minghella, who was another double-nominee, having chalked up a nod for his screenplay, as well.

Laffers going against Lost include British soccer caper Bend It Like Beckham; Tim Burton's magical family tale Big Fish; Disney-Pixar's Finding Nemo and another British contender, the ensemble romantic comedy Love Actually.

On the dramatic side, the 90-strong members of the HFPA tipped their hats to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Peter Jackson's rendition of the final installment of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy; Miramax's epic Civil War love story Cold Mountain; Russell Crowe's high-seas adventure Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World; Eastwood's dramatic thriller Mystic River; and horse-race saga Seabiscuit.

In fact, Cold Mountain topped the list of Golden competitors with a total of eight nominations, including kudos for its stars Nicole Kidman, up for Best Actress; Jude Law for Best Actor; and Renée Zellweger for Best Supporting Actress.

In the mix with Law for Best Actor in a Drama are Crowe; The Last Samurai's Tom Cruise; Mystic River's Sean Penn and House of Sand and Fog's Ben Kingsley. William H. Macy, considered a strong bet for his work in The Cooler, was a no-show on the Best Actor list but he was compensated with a Best Supporting nod for his role in Seabiscuit.

Because the Globes split their favorite movies and TV shows into two categories: Drama and Comedy or Musical, separate Best Actor and Best Actress lists are required for the funnies. As such, Murray competes against the high-octane likes of Johnny Depp for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Jack Nicholson for Something's Gotta Give and Billy Bob Thornton for Bad Santa, along with surprise nominee Jack Black, a well-known teacher at the School of Rock.

Meanwhile, Nicholson's costar, Diane Keaton, joins Johansson in the Best Actress category for her role in Something's Gotta Give. Other funny-lady nominees are Jamie Lee Curtis for Freaky Friday, Diane Lane for Under the Tuscan Sun and Helen Mirren for Calendar Girls. Mirren was a double-medium nominee, also scoring a nod for Best Actress in a Miniseries/TV Movie for The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone.

When it comes to Best Supporting Actors and Actresses, the Globes don't break out dramatic or comedic contenders, narrowing the pool of potential entries. Making the cut among actors: Macy (Seabiscuit), Alec Baldwin (The Cooler), Albert Finney (Big Fish), Tim Robbins (Mystic River), Peter Sarsgaard (Shattered Glass) and Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai).

Supporting Actress nominee Zellweger squares off against Maria Bello (The Cooler), Patricia Clarkson (Pieces of April), Hope Davis (American Splendor) and Holly Hunter (Thirteen).

Davis is the only nominee representing Splendor, a quirky Sundance winner that's considered one of the year's best indies. Also feeling a chill is Jim Sheridan's semiautobiographical Irish-American family drama In America, which garnered only one nod, for Best Screenplay. In fact, other than the stong showing by Lost in Translation, indies were generally shut out of the Globes. The indie absence may reflect the impact of the screener ban (which was overturned late in the Globe balloting process), or may simply be an indication of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's typical infatuation with glitz.

As for the big-budget studio films, Seabiscuit, considered a front-runner going into the trophy season, failed to sweep all the major categories. And despite two acting nominations for Samurai, the movie was shut out of the Best Picture race, which could be a bad omen come Oscar time.

And while The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King's cast went unmentioned, the Ring cycle is nonetheless trying for the Golden bling, in the races for Best Director, Original Score by Howard Shore and Original Song for "Into the West" by Shore, Fran Walsh and Annie Lennox.

Finally, the competing foreign-language are: The Barbarian Invasions (Canada), Good Bye, Lenin (Germany), Monsieur Ibrahim (France), Osama (Afghanistan) and The Return (Russia).

While the movie noms went pretty much as expected, there were some surprises on the television side. FX's buzz hit Nip/Tuck scored a (surgically enhanced) jaw-dropping nod for Best Drama Series and as well as an acting nod, for Joely Richardson (Best Actress in a Drama Series). Soap renegade Amber Tamblyn is up for Best Actress in a Drama Series for Joan of Arcadia. Fox's funnybone-tickling infant sitcom Arrested Development and BBC import The Office crashed the Best Comedy Series category, with the latter also scoring a nod for Best Actor in a Comedy for Ricky Gervais.

The Best Actress in a Comedy Series is really topsy-turvy, with usual suspects Sarah Jessica Parker and Debra Messing plus the following eyebrow-raisers: Bonnie Hunt (Life with Bonnie), Reba McEntire (Reba), Bitty Schram (Monk) and Alicia Silverstone (Miss Match). Perennial favorites not invited back include Jennifer Aniston (Friends) and Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond).

HBO's Angels in America predictably dominated the TV-movie/miniseries categories, pulling in a grand total of seven nominations: Best Miniseries or TV Movie, Best Actor for Al Pacino, Best Actress for Meryl Streep and Best Supporting Actress for Mary-Louise Parker. Angels also controlled the Best Supporting Actor category thanks to Ben Shenkman, Patrick Wilson and the highly regarded Jeffrey Wright.

HBO topped the TV nominations with 20 nods. The next closest network was NBC with 10.

In a slap to CBS, the controversial miniseries The Reagans, which was banned by the Eye but eventually aired on sibling cable network Showtime, picked up Best Acting noms for "the Gipper," James Brolin, and First Lady impersonator Judy Davis.

Among the most notable tube snubs was NBC's Friends. Their swan song was worth only one nomination, for Matt LeBlanc as Best Actor, Comedy. Emmy favorite Everybody Loves Raymond was overlooked entirely.

There was some justice in the Supporting Actress category as Sex and the City's underappreciated Kristin Davis finally made the Globes cut, alongside much-nominated costars Kim Cattrall and Cynthia Nixon. Megan Mullally (Will & Grace) and (as mentioned) Mary-Louise Parker (Angels in America) face off against the City girls.

The one sure bet for Globes night is Michael Douglas, who has been tapped to recieve the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's highest honor, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, for his "outstanding contribution to the entertainment field."

The 61st Annual Golden Globes ceremony telecast airs live on NBC January 25, two days before the Oscar nominations are announced. Per usual, E! counts down the festivities with complete live red-carpet coverage.

Here's the complete list of contenders for the 61st Annual Golden Globe Awards:

MOTION PICTURES

Best Motion Picture, Drama:

* Cold Mountain
* The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
* Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
* Mystic River
* Seabiscuit

Best Actress, Drama:

* Cate Blanchett, Verionica Guerin
* Nicole Kidman, Cold Mountain
* Scarlett Johansson, Girl with a Pearl Earring
* Charlize Theron, Monster
* Uma Thurman, Kill Bill: Volume 1
* Evan Rachel Wood, Thirteen

Best Actor, Drama:

* Russell Crowe, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
* Tom Cruise, The Last Samurai
* Ben Kingsley, House of Sand and Fog
* Jude Law, Cold Mountain
* Sean Penn, Mystic River

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy:

* Bend It Like Beckham
* Big Fish
* Finding Nemo
* Lost in Translation
* Love Actually

Best Actress, Musical or Comedy:

* Jamie Lee Curtis, Freaky Friday
* Scarlett Johansson, Lost in Translation
* Diane Keaton, Something's Gotta Give
* Diane Lane, Under the Tuscan Sun
* Helen Mirren, Calendar Girls

Best Actor, Musical or Comedy:

* Jack Black, School of Rock
* Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
* Bill Murray, Lost in Translation
* Jack Nicholson, Something's Gotta Give
* Billy Bob Thornton, Bad Santa

Best Foreign-Language Film:

* The Barbarian Invasions (French Canada)
* Good Bye, Lenin (Germany)
* Monsieur Ibrahim (France)
* Osama (Afghanistan)
* The Return (Russia)

Best Supporting Actress:

* Maria Bello, The Cooler
* Patrica Clarkson, Pieces of April
* Hope Davis, American Splendor
* Holly Hunter, Thirteen
* Renée Zellweger, Cold Mountain

Best Supporting Actor:

* Alec Baldwin, The Cooler
* Albert Finney, Big Fish
* William H. Macy, Seabiscuit
* Tim Robbins, Mystic River
* Peter Sarsgaard, Shattered Glass
* Ken Watanabe, The Last Samurai

Best Director:

* Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation
* Clint Eastwood, Mystic River
* Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
* Anthony Minghella, Cold Mountain
* Peter Weir, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Best Screenplay:

* Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation
* Richard Curtis, Love Actually
* Brian Helgeland, Mystic River
* Anthony Minghella, Cold Mountain
* Jim Sheridan, Naomi Sheridan, Kirsten Sheridan, In America

Best Original Score:

* Alexandre Desplat, Girl with a Pearl Earring
* Danny Elfman, Big Fish
* Howard Shore, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
* Gabriel Yared, Cold Mountain
* Hans Zimmer, The Last Samurai

Best Original Song:

* "The Heart of Every Girl" (Mona Lisa Smile, music by Elton John, lyrics by Bernie Taupin
* "Into the West," (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), music & lyrics by Howard Shore, Fran Walsh and Annie Lennox
* "Man of the Hour" (Big Fish), music & lyrics by Eddie Vedder
* "Time Enough for Tears" (In America), music & lyrics by Bono, Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer
* "You Will Be My Ain True Love" (Cold Mountain), music & lyrics by Sting

------------------------------------------------------------------------

TELEVISION

Best Drama Series:

* 24
* CSI
* Nip/Tuck

Michael Jackson Charged with 'Lewd Acts' on Child

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (Reuters) - Michael Jackson was charged on Thursday with nine counts of molesting a young boy, including committing seven "lewd acts," but the pop star's lawyer called the case a "shakedown" motivated by greed and revenge.

The 45-year-old Jackson, a self-styled "Peter Pan," is also accused of giving the boy, who is not identified in court papers, an "intoxicating agent" in order to make it easier to molest him. If found guilty, he could face more than 20 years in prison and be forced to register as a sex offender under California law.

All of the charges stem from allegations that Jackson molested a boy under the age of 14 at his Neverland Valley Ranch, in the hills above Santa Barbara, earlier this year.

A police report has said that the boy in question was the youth who was shown holding hands with Jackson during a British documentary that was broadcast in February. The singer said that they both slept in his bedroom, as had other children.

Jackson, who describes himself as a Peter Pan, insisted that there was nothing sexual in those encounters, which he viewed as an innocent form of his professed affection for children.

The self-declared "King of Pop," who was arrested on suspicion of child molestation last month and released on $3 million bail, was not present when the charges were unsealed at a courthouse in the central California city of Santa Maria, near his Neverland Valley Ranch.

"Michael is innocent," Jackson's mother, Katherine, said in a written statement. "On behalf of the Jackson family we know these vicious lies are totally untrue, malicious and motivated by pure greed and revenge."

She added that the family would "fight with every ounce of our energy to reveal the truth behind these false allegations and the motivations behind those who have falsely accused Michael."

Jackson's attorney, Mark Geragos, suggested that he knew more about the case than prosecutors and vowed that his client would ultimately be proven innocent.

'ABSOLUTELY, UNEQUIVOCALLY INNOCENT'

"I can tell you categorically, based upon this complaint that has been filed, that Michael Jackson is absolutely, unequivocally innocent of these charges," Geragos said at a press conference outside his Los Angeles office at which he refused to take questions.

"What we have here is an intersection between a shakedown -- someone who is looking for money -- with somebody doing an investigation who has an ax to grind," he said. "Because otherwise there would be no way that any self-respecting prosecutor would be going forward on the basis of this patent ... shakedown."

Jackson was due in court on Jan. 16 for a formal reading of the charges.

Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon, who announced the charges at a press conference, also dismissed a memo by a Los Angeles County child welfare agency clearing Jackson of similar charges, saying that it was based on a single interview and not expected to affect the Santa Barbara case.

"To call that an investigation is a misnomer," Sneddon said. "It was an interview, plain and simple, and we are not concerned about it."

The entertainer was expected to be at Neverland on Saturday night for a party with friends and family members who wanted to lend him support, Jackson spokesman Stuart Backerman said. Jackson then planned to travel to England, Backerman said, after his lawyers arranged with prosecutors for the return of his passport that was confiscated at his arrest.

Jackson, who survived a similar brush with the law 10 years ago by making a multimillion dollar out-of-court settlement with the family of a teenage boy, has protested his innocence.  

He set up a Web site in November calling the current allegations a "big lie," but he has remained out of the public eye. His lawyers have said the accuser and his family are trying to make money from Jackson.

New DVD Announcements

Making its debut on March 16th is a special edition reissue of the Alan Parker cult classic The Commitments. This two-disc set boasts a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, plus an audio commentary by Parker, the full-length "The Commitments: Looking Back" and "The Making of The Commitments" documentaries, an additional "Dublin Soul: The Working Class & Changing Face of Dublin" featurette, a "Treat Her Right" music video plus "Before the Next Tear Drop Falls" and "Taking on the World" original songs, a still gallery, and promotional materials including the theatrical trailer, six TV spots and four radio spots. Retail will be $26.95. 

Fox has also announced two street date changes: In Living Color: Season One has been bumped to April 6th, while the hit Paris Hilton reality series The Simple Life gets moved up one week to January 20th to meet all the demand. (I weep for the future.) Specs and prices remain the same.

Golden Globe noms announced

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Hollywood's annual trophy-giving season started Thursday with the Golden Globe nominations as Johnny Depp and Scarlett Johansson joined Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton in collecting bids for lead performances in movies. "The Reagans" garnered two made-for-TV movie nominations.

Jack Black was a surprise nominee for his loudmouth role as a phony music teacher in "The School of Rock" while Depp was nominated for playing a wobbly buccaneer in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl." Other lead comedy or musical actor nominees were Bill Murray for "Lost in Translation," Nicholson for "Something's Gotta Give," and Billy Bob Thornton for "Bad Santa."

Johansson was recognized in the lead comedy film actress category for "Lost in Translation," while Keaton was up for "Something's Gotta Give" and Helen Mirren for "Calendar Girls," two films about beauty and romance among older women.

Jamie Lee Curtis was also recognized in the category for playing a mom who switches bodies with her teenage daughter in the remake "Freaky Friday," while Diane Lane received a bid for the romance "Under the Tuscan Sun."

Renee Zellweger, as a tough mountain woman in "Cold Mountain," and Hope Davis, as the wife of a dowdy comic book scribe in "American Splendor," were among supporting movie actress nominees along with Patricia Clarkson in "Pieces of April," Holly Hunter in "thirteen" and Maria Bello in "The Cooler."

In the supporting movie actor class, Albert Finney was nominated for playing a tall-tale teller in "Big Fish," while Alec Baldwin was recognized for playing a casino boss in "The Cooler." William H. Macy also received a bid for playing a colorful but fictional horse race announcer in "Seabiscuit." Other nominees: Ken Watanabe as a warrior in "The Last Samurai" and Tim Robbins as a grown up abuse victim in "Mystic River" and Peter Sarsgaard for his role as a skeptical editor in "Shattered Glass."

"The Reagans," which CBS dropped after Reagan admirers complained that it dwelled on the negative, got nominations for James Brolin and Judy Davis -- who played former President Reagan and first lady Nancy. The Showtime cable channel eventually picked up the movie.

Christopher Lee character left behind in 'Return'

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- In "The Fellowship of the Ring," Christopher Lee appeared as the traitorous elder wizard Saruman, whose snowy white beard and robe hid his black-hearted intentions for Middle-earth.

In "The Two Towers," Saruman watched his power fade as enormous walking trees laid waste to his army of ugly orcs and trapped him in his stone skyscraper.

The final installment, "The Return of the King," reveals that Saruman is ... well, where is he? Certainly not in the movie.

All of the 81-year-old Lee's closing scenes were cut from "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, a move that has angered thousands of hard-core fans and may confuse the casual moviegoer who wonders why one of the story's main villains has simply disappeared.

In the books by J.R.R. Tolkien, Saruman escapes his tower and overtakes the Shire, a peaceful Hobbit homestead. His death comes at the end of the books when Frodo and company try to eject him from their village.

That particular subplot was never filmed by Jackson. Instead, he shot an alternate climax for the wicked wizard character that he intended to place at the end of "The Two Towers."

But that didn't work out either.

"It seemed like an anticlimax," Jackson said. After that film's elaborate battle sequence in the mountain stronghold of Helm's Deep, the director said he felt audiences would want "to finish that film off as quickly as we could."

'It didn't work'

The seven-minute sequence that ends Saruman's story line was held for use near the beginning of "The Return of the King."

"As it is, it didn't work in the theatrical cut of 'Return of the King' either, because it felt like we were finishing off last year's movie instead of jumping in and setting up the tension for the new film," Jackson said.

Instead, the characters mention perfunctorily that Saruman is powerless -- then they move on to the rest of the story.

Filmmaker Peter Jackson tried to fit Saruman's scenes in the new film, but they "didn't work," he says.

That explanation hasn't satisfied many fans. An Internet petition asking Jackson to reinstate the Saruman footage has gathered more than 40,000 signatures.

"I believe this cut will hurt 'The Return of the King,' " wrote petition founder Matt Shuster. "Please Peter Jackson, at least consider putting this scene back into the theatrical version, and give us Saruman fans/haters some much needed closure."

Shuster has since posted an addendum, acknowledging it was too late to change the film. "Signing the petition now will only serve to breed ill will against the filmmakers and that is not my intent."

Jackson promised fans that the sequence would be included in the extended DVD edition of "The Return of the King," which is expected to be released next fall.

"It will ultimately take its place as part of the greater package," Jackson said. "The scene is perfectly fine. Christopher is good in the scene and there's nothing wrong with it."

'At least it is not lost'

Lee, who also plays the villain Count Dooku in last year's "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones," has appeared in about 250 movies. The 6-foot-4 actor is best known for his suave, calculating evildoers in the Hammer horror films of the 1960s, and is ranked along with Bela Lugosi among the actors most remembered for playing Count Dracula.

The British actor did not respond to a request for comment on his cut scenes, but he told Britain's ITV-1 last month he was dismayed by Jackson's decision. "Of course I am very shocked, that's all I can say," he said, citing confidentiality agreements that required him to hold his tongue.

Lee, who was an acquaintance of Tolkien's, has said he has read the trilogy every year for the past five decades.

Ian McKellen, who as the good wizard Gandalf had magical duel with Saruman in "Fellowship," said he doubted that Lee had any lingering hurt feelings.

"It would have been nice to see Saruman dealt with, wouldn't it," McKellen said. "He hasn't told me there was a problem. I can't imagine that a man who has made as many movies as Christopher is surprised that sometimes what you've shot doesn't make it into the final movie.

"At least it is not lost," McKellen added, smiling. "It will be there on the DVD, and people will be able to say to Peter, 'You should have put it into the movie!' "

Janet Tapped For Super Bowl Halftime

Janet Jackson will perform on one of the world's biggest stages, the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show. The National Football League championship football game is set to air Feb. 1 live on CBS from Houston's Reliant Stadium.

MTV is producing the Super Bowl halftime show, which will be sponsored by America Online, for the second time. The network previously produced the segment in 2001, which featured Aerosmith, 'N Sync and Britney Spears.

Last year's halftime event, produced by Interscope Geffen A&M Records chairman Jimmy Iovine and Tenth Planet Productions director/producer Joel Gallen, saw Shania Twain, No Doubt and Sting perform at halftime. Celine Dion, Carlos Santana, Michelle Branch and Beyoncé all performed during pre-game festivities, while the Dixie Chicks were on hand to deliver the National Anthem.

Jackson is currently working on her next still-untitled album, which is due sometime in 2004 on Virgin Records. Her official Web site promises a world tour will follow.

American Idol's Studdard Tops U.S. Music Charts

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "American Idol" champion Ruben Studdard topped the music charts this week, proving once again the power of the buzz surrounding the reality TV show.

Studdard's new album, "Soulful" ranked No. 1, selling 417,000 units in the week ended Dec 14, becoming the third "American Idol" contender to have an album debut on top of U.S. album sales charts, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

The first season's winner, Kelly Clarkson, debuted at No. 1 earlier this year when her album, "Thankful" sold 297,000 units in the first week, while "American Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken's "Measure of A Man," debuted at No. 1, selling 613,000 in April 2003, eclipsing both champions.

"If it's an 'American Idol' record, you know that you have a built-in customer base. If it's an 'American Idol' album that gets good radio play and is a good record, then you know you're going to go even beyond," said Violet Brown, director of urban music for Wherehouse Music stores.

"Studdard has had tons of urban radio and that has definitely added to his sales," she said.

To be sure, not all of the "American Idol"-affiliated albums have been winners. Runner up Justin Guarini's self-titled album debuted in June at No. 20, selling 57,000 units, and has sold only 136,000 units to date.

But industry experts cited a decent showing for a holiday compilation album by America Idol participants, called, "Great Holiday Classics," which has sold 305,000 units to date.

Studdard's opening was also boosted by the fact that music mogul Clive Davis was behind it.

Released on J records, Studdard's album was one of three artists on the label who made it to the top 10 in the last week. J Records is a unit of Bertelsmann AG formed jointly with music industry veteran Davis, who is credited with boosting the careers of stars like Whitney Houston and Carlos Santana.

Ranking No. 2 behind "Soulful," was J Records' "Diary ofAlicia Keys," which sold 342,000 units in its second week of release.

J Records also claimed the No. 7 spot with Rod Stewart's "Volume II-Great American Songbook," selling 204,000 units in the latest week.

Ranking No. 3 on the charts was "Now That's What I Call Music!," the 14th in a series of hits compilations culled from various major labels, selling 261,000 units.

Country singer Toby Keith's "Shock N Y'all," came at No. 4, selling 245,000 units, followed by Josh Groban's "Closer," which sold 238,000 units, ranking fifth.

OutKast, whose album, "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" sold an estimated 215,000 units, claiming the No. 6 position, followed by Stewart.

Hilary Duff's album, "Metamorphosis," ranked No. 8, selling 201,000 units, followed by Sheryl Crow's "The Very Best of

Sheryl Crow," which held the No. 9 slot, selling 173,000 units.

Britney Spears' much-hyped "In the Zone," sold 158,000 units, putting her at the No. 10 spot, down from No. 7 last week.

'Canadian Idol' back for new season

TORONTO -- Call your voice coach, prep your rain gear and start practising -- Canadian Idol is coming back next summer looking for Ryan Malcolm's successor.

Auditions for CTV's Idol series have been scheduled for nine cities, which will be revealed on World Idol on Dec. 25 (CTV, 8-10 p.m.). They will likely begin in the spring.

Quibblers Farley Flex, Jake Gold, Sass Jordan and Zack Werner have all agreed to return to judge the talent hopefuls.

As well, Ben Mulroney will return to host the popular series, which broke numerous ratings records.

The process will be the same: the judges will troll the audition cities looking to bring talent back to Toronto for the competition. The competitors will rely on TV viewer votes to proceed to the next level of competition. At stake for the competitors is a recording contract and instant stardom.

The news of a second season wasn't much of a surprise. Similar to the American and British series, the show was a huge ratings draw during a typically lean summer TV schedule.

"Canadian Idol was such a success. It became a bigger event than the TV show itself," said Susanne Boyce, president of programming at CTV, from London where Malcolm and the Canadian contingent are making final preparations for the upcoming international special World Idol.

Starting in Winnipeg on a chilly April day, season one of Canadian Idol attracted 16,000 young hopefuls during a six-week-long audition tour to seven cities.
And once the series began airing in June, millions tuned in on a weekly basis to watch the karaoke-style show. Millions more cast votes for their favourite singers.

The September finale saw an average of three million viewers, making it the highest rated episode of the 26-part series.

By bringing the audition to nine cities instead of seven, Boyce said CTV expects next summer's show to be more popular than the first.

"We're expecting a bigger turnout because with the first season people weren't sure what to expect," she said. "People now know clearly what it is."

She said the series showcased the country's love for music.

"We've got such a musical history . . . music is deep within us and so is comedy," she said.

Advertisers have also been lining up hoping to cash in on pool of loyal weekly viewers, said Boyce.

"There've been people asking to come back, wanting to be part of the show," she said.

The deadline for last year's sponsors, including L'Oreal, to renew is Wednesday.
Since his victory four months ago, Malcolm has become a bona fide celebrity, shaking hands and signing autographs everywhere he goes. He's hobnobbed at political functions with Prime Minister Paul Martin and U2 singer Bono, delivered the national anthem at the Grey Cup, and released a CD.

He's currently in London preparing for World Idol, which pits 11 Idol winners from around the globe against each other. It will air in two parts on CTV: a performance special on Dec. 25 from 8-10 p.m. ET and a one-hour results show Jan 1 from 9-10 p.m. ET.

Murray Thumbs Nose at Oscar

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Although he is the critics' frontrunner for taking home an Oscar for his lead role in "Lost in Translation," funnyman Bill Murray has no desire to win because awards are meaningless to him.

Additionally, the 53-year-old despises thespians who campaign for award recognition, reports London's Channel4.

"It's a really unattractive sight to see an actor or actress who really wants an Oscar. And you often see it on the show, you see their faces and the desperation is so ugly. Desperation is not a quality I long for," says Murray. "It's a little bit of a popularity contest, too. Sometimes it's right, but it's wrong just as often, so I don't care."

Despite his disdain for awards, Murray has already received best actor nods from New York Film Critics Circle and the Boston Society of Film Critics.

OZZY UPDATE

Sharon Osbourne telling Britain's ITV Television that husband Ozzy Osbourne is up and joking with nurses, even asking two to marry him, but said it will be "probably about six months" before he's fully recovered from his injuries stemming from last week's ATV crash.

The List Is Life

The last remaining major Steven Spielberg film not yet released on DVD, Schindler's List will celebrate its tenth birthday in 2004, and buzz continues to rage on the Internet about a pending DVD release. Recent overseas adverts have indicated a release date in early March, but so far Universal Studios Home Video has remained mum on just what, if any, their plans are for the release.

But longtime Spielberg publicist Marvin Levy did have a few words to say about the rumors, confirming that those looking forward to an imminent DVD release in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Academy Award-winning masterpiece are "on the right track," although both Spielberg and the studio are "not yet certain about a specific date."

And what of extras, including a long-rumored extended cut of the film with deleted material? Although a few of the director's earlier DVD releases have included deleted material, such as JAWS, or extended versions, including both 1941 and Close Encounters, "You know where Steven is on deleted scenes at this point," Levy elaborate, adding that Spielberg "does not what to get into [a situation of], 'I could have put this in and here's why.' Or, 'I love this scene but I had to cut it.' I wouldn't bet that, whenever Schindler's List comes, that you will likely see a deleted scene."

Also to be absent from the release will be any alternate audio tracks; many had hoped Spielberg that would change his no commentary policy for Schindler's List, given its highly personal subject matter. But the release wil instead feature another extended documentary, produced by longtime collaborator Laurent Bouzereau. "He gives so much when he does his interviews" that he feels commentaries are redundant, Levy explains, but not before offering one last ray of hope: "That is not to say he won't someday change his mind."

'Mystic River' Tops Broadcast Critics' Movie List

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Contenders for Hollywood's 2003 film awards narrowed further on Tuesday when broadcast critics weighed in on the annual competition with a diverse list of film nominations led by major studio release "Mystic River" and independent offering "In America."

Nominees by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, which counts 182 members in the United States and Canada, follows Monday's awards from the 35-member New York Film CriticsCircle, which named adventure "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" as 2003's top movie.

Each year, critics awards often influence voting for the U.S. film industry's top honors, the Oscars, in February. The season gains more momentum on Thursday when the Hollywood Foreign Press Association picks nominees for its annual GoldenGlobe Awards in January.

BFCA president Joey Berlin called his group's list "fascinating" for its diversity of "several epics and several smaller, intensely personal films."

"Mystic River," about three boyhood friends involved in a neighborhood murder, earned nominations in eight BFCA categories including best film, director for Clint Eastwood, actor for Sean Penn and supporting actor and actress for Tim Robbins and Marcia Gay Harden, respectively.

Earlier this month, the movie was named 2003's best film by the U.S. National Board of Review and Penn, playing a thug who suspects one of his old friends (Robbins) of being a killer, won the group's award for best actor.

"In America," in which Irish director Jim Sheridan retells events from his first year living in New York City, landed nominations in seven categories including best film, director for Sheridan and writer for him and his daughters, Kirsten and Naomi Sheridan. Samantha Morton was nominated for best actress.

"Lord of the Rings" landed in four BFCA categories, among them best film and best acting ensemble, but the epic based on the J.R.R. Tolkien books was shut out of individual acting groups.

Joining Penn in the best actor race is Bill Murray playing an actor whose flagging career sends him to Tokyo to shoot commercials in independent hit "Lost In Translation." Murray was named best actor by the New York Film Critics Circle.

"Translation" won five BFCA nominations, including best film. Sofia Coppola will compete for director and writer honors, and Scarlett Johansson for supporting actress.

Up against Murray and Penn for best actor are Russell Crowe in "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," which also was nominated for best film, Johnny Depp for "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," and Ben Kingsley for drama "House of Sand and Fog."

Kingsley's "Sand and Fog" co-star, Jennifer Connelly, will compete in the best actress category against Morton for her work in "In America" and Charlize Theron, who undertook a major acting transformation playing a female serial killer in "Monster."

The actresses are joined by Nicole Kidman for Civil War drama "Cold Mountain," Diane Keaton in romance "Something's Gotta Give" and Naomi Watts for drama "21 Grams.

Rounding out the list of 10 best film nominees weredirector Tim Burton's drama about a young man rediscovering his love for his father in "Big Fish," which had five nominations overall, "Cold Mountain," which had four, computer animated hit "Finding Nemo," "The Last Samurai" and "Seabiscuit."

The BFCA names its winners on Jan. 10 in a ceremony televised on the E! Entertainment cable TV network.

'Return of the King' Promises Big Box Office Ring

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Movie fans dressed as elves and hobbits lined up hours early on Tuesday for sold-out debut midnight showings of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," as brisk advance ticket orders promised one of the biggest mid-week film openings of all time.

One advance ticket service said that by Tuesday afternoon it was selling three tickets every second.

Bolstered by rave reviews, the third and final chapter in director Peter Jackson's epic adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's novels was set to unspool with some 7,200 prints showing in more than 3,700 North American theaters on Wednesday.

That number -- marking the second-widest domestic movie release ever, behind only "X2: X-Men United" in May of this year -- includes about 2,000 theaters launching the film with 12:01 a.m. Wednesday screenings.

According to distributor New Line Cinema, a unit of Time Warner Inc., 126 of those venues were participating in a "Tuesday Trilogy" event, playing the first two "Lord of the Rings" installments leading up to the midnight showing of "Return of the King."

OPENS INTERNATIONALLY

The film also will open on Wednesday in 16 other countries, with worldwide distribution growing to 14,000 screens by the weekend. Thirty-five more countries will be added by February.

Box office analysts said the fantasy adventure should easily gross $25 million to $30 million in first-day North American receipts alone, possibly topping the record mid-week debut of "Star Wars: Episode One -- The Phantom Menace."

The 1999 "Star Wars" prequel posted first-day Wednesday sales of $28.5 million, while the first "Lord of the Rings" sequel, last year's "The Two Towers," grossed $26.2 million to rank second among the biggest Wednesday releases ever.

"Return of the King" was not expected to quite reach the lofty heights of "Spider-Man," which grossed $115 million during its first weekend to hold the record for biggest opening of all time.

One analyst, Robert Bucksbaum of the Web site ReelSource.com, projected "Return of the King" would gross $68 million this coming Friday through Sunday, enough to surpass "Two Towers" by $4 million and cement the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy as one of the most successful franchises in movie history.

The first two films have collectively grossed nearly $1.8 billion in worldwide theatrical release to date, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations Inc.

Optimism about the film's blockbuster potential came largely from advance ticket orders, which New Line executives said were running 50 percent higher than for "The Two Towers" one year ago. Likewise, ticket retail service Fandango said it was selling 60 percent more advance seats for "Return of the King" than for "Two Towers" at the same point last year.

"We're selling about three tickets a second," said Fandango Inc. CEO Art Levitt, adding, "It's the single biggest advance-selling movie in Fandango's history. It's a phenomenon we never expected to see."

America's largest theater chain, Regal Entertainment Group, reported most of its opening-day tickets for "Return of the King" were sold in advance through telephone and Internet outlets, including Tuesday Trilogy showings at 20 locations.

At some multiplexes, with costumed "Lord of the Rings" devotees lining up early, Regal was scrambling to add additional screenings and show times to accommodate the swelling demand, Regal spokeswoman Misty Cunningham told Reuters.

The only factors weighing against the film's early commercial potential were a movie market crowded with big-budget holiday pictures and a lengthy running time, three hours and 20 minutes, industry experts said.

TOP OF THE WORLD

It's a small "World Idol" after all.

A new global talent show airing on Christmas night on Fox will pit the winners of 11 different versions of "American Idol" against each other in a two-hour contest. The winner will be announced in a separate telecast on New Years Day.

The voting will not be a straight popular vote. The organizers realized that Kelly Clarkson could likely win in a walkover - because the U.S. is so much bigger than other competing countries.

Under a special voting system, the winner will be decided - electoral college-style - by how many countries they carry.

"Each territory's own performer will automatically win in their territory," says Ken Warwick, "World Idol" executive producer. "From each country, we will want to know who's second and third and so on."

The system evens the playing field so that countries with small populations can compete fairly against countries with large populations.

Competitors include Clarkson, U.K. winner Will Young, Australia's Guy Sabastian along with top "Idol" winners from Poland, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Canada, Norway, South Africa and the winner of the Pan Arabic Idol competition that airs in 22 Middle Eastern countries.

Each singer is allowed to choose a song that they feel best represents their vocal talent.

Clarkson, who favors Aretha Franklin tunes, is slated to sing "Respect." With the exception of the Jordanian Diana Karazon, most of the singers will sing in English, says Warwick.

"Most universal, commercial songs are in English," he said.

Viewers vote by phone.

Producers in each country will count viewer's votes and rank the singers in first place through 11th based on how many votes are cast for each performer.

First place is worth 12 points, second is worth 10 and so on. At the end of the competition, when all the points from each territory are added together, the performer with the most points wins.

The contest will also feature 11 on-air judges - one to represent each territory in the competition. But you won't hear the comments of each judge either. Because of time constraints, producers will keep the most entertaining or interesting comments.

"Generally speaking, we'll use the most caustic and the most kind com ments," said Warwick. Not surprisingly, U.S. judge Simon Cowell is expected to get the most airtime. "He has far and away the most caustic reputation in the world," Warwick said.

TOUR OF 'THE RINGS'

So who is this king everyone's talking about? Unless you've just sat through a seven-hour viewing of the first two installments, you might need a refresher course before you watch "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," which opens tonight at midnight in some cities, tomorrow for the rest of us.

LOTR director Peter Jackson had to squeeze hard to compress J.R.R. Tolkien's 1,750-page epic into three 3-hour-plus movies.

Naturally, certain plot points were lost along the way, leaving even those who did read the books scratching their heads.

But don't despair! Here's The New York Post's spoiler-free "Return of the King" cheat sheet.

Where are we now?

At the end of the last LOTR movie, "The Two Towers," the forces of good were flying high, having defeated the evil wizard Saruman at the battle of Helm's Deep.

But the war is far from over: Frodo (Elijah Wood), Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and the rest of the good guys must now face an even more powerful enemy, the archvillain Sauron - and he isn't hiding in a tiny "rat hole" near Tikrit.

In fact, Sauron (who has turned himself into a giant flaming eye) is massing tens of thousands of orcs in his Mordor fortress, ready to fight the free people of Middle Earth at their final stronghold, the city of Minas Tirith.

While Gandalf and the rest of the warriors (including Orlando Bloom as Legolas) prepare for their last stand, Frodo continues his secret journey into Mordor with his trusty pal, Sam (Sean Astin), and their not-so-trustworthy guide, Gollum (Andy Serkis).

The trio is trying to sneak into Sauron's land to destroy the One Ring of Power - which all desperately covet - in the fires of Mount Doom.

Can Gollum be trusted?

Can you trust a schizophrenic? Probably not.

In "The Two Towers," we saw that Gollum has two distinct personalities inside his slimy head - the evil Gollum, who will do anything to survive, and the pitiable, sweet-natured Smeagol, who's been corrupted by the Ring of Power.

The "Return of the King" opens with a flashback explaining how Smeagol became Gollum - showing just how insidious the Ring can be.

Who is this returning king, anyway?

That would be Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), the rightful heir to the crown of Gondor.

His family hasn't ruled this once-proud city for generations, and instead it is in the hands of a steward, the reprehensible Denethor (John Noble), who's gone mad.

Why is Denethor such a wuss?

Tolkien's books explain that he's being brainwashed by Sauron with a very dangerous telepathic communicator called a "palantir" stone.

Denethor is so messed up that he mistreats his younger son, Faramir (David Wenham) - never recognizing him as the loyal soldier that he is.

(His older son, Boromir, was killed at the end of "Fellowship of the Ring," and Denethor is still bitterly mourning his death.)

This father-son drama is set up in several scenes that you never saw if you only saw "The Two Towers" in the theater - Jackson cut these Faramir-Denethor scenes for time reasons, but included them in the extended DVD version of "Two Towers."

Keep an eye out for palantirs, by the way: The hobbit Pippin (Billy Boyd) finds one in "Return of the King," and that is not a good thing.

What happened to Saruman?

He was another victim of the cuts that Jackson had to make to keep his films' pace moving quickly.

Jackson filmed a long scene with second-string baddie Saruman (Christopher Lee) for "Return of the King," but cut it at the last minute.

And Jackson never intended to show the final end of Saruman, as Tolkien wrote it in his books.

As LOTR readers know, Saruman flees after his defeat at Helm's Deep to - of all places - the Shire, home of the hobbits.

He changes his name to Sharkey and uses his wicked powers to take over the peaceful land with his slimy flunky, Grima Wormtongue.

After they return from their big adventure, Frodo and Sam lead the hobbits in a revolt against Sharkey, and he is killed when Grima finally turns on him and stabs him.

Is it all just battle scenes and special effects?

No, there's also a love story to make all the girls swoon.

Aragorn and the elf princess Arwen (Liv Tyler) have loved each other since they were young - but they've been separated for a long time, while he's been fighting the War of the Ring.

During "The Two Towers," Arwen argued with her father, Elrond (Hugo Weaving) about giving up her immortality in order to marry him.

And Aragorn exchanged more than a few flirtatious glances with Eowyn (Miranda Otto), the princess of the kingdom of Rohan, setting up a bit of a love triangle.

But rest assured, by the trilogy's end, there are no broken hearts.

This week in the Couch Potato Report a horse is a horse, of course, of course, a Friday that's freaky and a new league. One that has extraordinary gentlemen.

Up first, SEABISCUIT.

SEABISCUIT is based on a true story about an undersized Depression-era
racehorse whose victories lifted not only the spirits of the three-man
team behind it but also those of an entire country.

During a summer of terribly inane sequels, like BAD BOYS II, CHARLIE'S
ANGELS 2, and LEGALLY BLONDE 2, SEABISCUIT was an oasis. It was a
fertile spot in a uninspired desert of celluloid.

With an exceptional cast that includes Tobey Maguire from THE CIDER HOUSE RULES, Jeff Bridges of THE FISHER KING, recent Oscar winner Chris Cooper from ADAPTATION, and William H. Macy of FARGO, I had a feeling that I would like SEABISCUIT before I even saw it. My one trepidation was the fact that since the titular horse was an American legend this American made film could have been too "Rah-Rah, America is number one!!!!" for my taste.

I am happy to report that SEABISCUIT isn't just about how great America
and Americans are. Its about people; the consequences of decisions; and
the absolute joy of rising above adversity.

What I enjoyed most about SEABISCUIT was how the story was told. Director Gary Ross has fashioned this film like a documentary, using archival material and familiar PBS-styled narration from noted historian David McCullough.

Simply put, SEABISCUIT is a very entertaining and rewarding film and is one of the best movies of the year.

There are no horses in FREAKY FRIDAY, the remake of the 1976 Jodie Foster mother daughter role reversal movie. Former teen movie queen Jamie Lee Curtis stars with current teen up and comber Lindsay Lohan in this pleasant enough family film that sees a Mother and daughter swap bodies and lives through an odd twist of fate.

As in the original, hilarity ensues as the daughter has to live the mother's life and vice versa. And, as in the original, both women learn that the other's life is no picnic either.

So, if this version of FREAKY FRIDAY is so much like the original, why did they remake it you ask? Well, even though its an enjoyable film, I was asking myself
that same question while watching it.

I liked the movie, but I loved the original. Maybe 27 years from now when they remake it again people who are kids today will say the same thing about this version.

Finally this week is THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN. Sean Connery stars as Allan Quartermain as he, Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, Dorian Grey and other literary legends join forces to try and defeat a masked madman's plans.

Based on the Graphic Novel of the same name THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY
GENTLEMEN is a hard movie to review. It is a visually stunning film, and anything with Sean Connery in it will always be worth watching. But the film is kind of boring.

That's due to the fact that as the film rushes from one frenetic battle to another it replaces sense with spectacle. Sure, its cool to see Captain Nemo's submarine rising from the water; a warehouse full of zeppelins bursting into flame; and the city of Venice collapsing into its own canals, but during those spectacles the movie gets flashy, dumb, and almost completely incoherent.

But, then Connery comes on-screen and says a few words and the movie gets good again.

That's why its a hard film to review. If it wasn't for Connery's incredible screen presence this movie might be unwatchable. I guess you could say, in the spirit of the festive season, that I found myself enjoying it, in spite of myself.

SEABISCUIT, FREAKY FRIDAY and THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN are all available to rent and own right now.

COMING NEXT WEEK

Not too much

ANYTHING ELSE - Christina Ricci invigorates an even-more-neurotic-than-usual variation on the classic neurotic woman in this Woody Allen movie. Comedy writer Jerry Falk (Jason Biggs, American Pie) is madly in love with Amanda (Ricci, The Opposite of Sex), even though they haven't had sex in six months. Falk meets an older writer named Dobel (Allen) who becomes a sort of accidental mentor, encouraging him to break free of Amanda and his clinging agent (Danny DeVito). The pace is sluggish, almost every scene feels like an outtake from an earlier, better Woody Allen movie (particularly Annie Hall), Biggs never seems comfortable with his dialogue--only Ricci makes her character her own, giving her own perverse comic spin to the proceedings. About three-fourths of the way through the movie, the story starts to feel fresher and more compelling, but by then it's too late. Also featuring Jimmy Fallon and Stockard Channing.

JEEPERS CREEPERS 2 - The Creeper returns to feed on a bus full of athletes in this second chapter of the mildly entertaining Francis Ford Coppola produced horror franchise. (Billy Aaron Brown, Jonathan Breck, Nicki Aycox)

THE MEDALLION - A cop gains super powers from mysterious medallion in
Jackie Chan's latest Hollywood misstep. (Jackie Chan, Lee Evans, Claire
Forlani)

ALEX AND EMMA - Rob Reiner's latest not only proves that he has lost his touch as a film maker, but offer definitive proof that it may be time for him to just stop making movies. This failed feature sees a writer hire a stenographer to help him finish his novel. No romance or hilarity ensues. (Kate Hudson, Luke Wilson, Sophie Marceau).

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

Michelle Branch Reveals Herself In 'Maxim'

20-year-old Michelle Branch shows a new side of herself in the January issue of Maxim magazine, where she's seen in a racy photo spread alongside an equally racy interview. Here is an excerpt of Branch's Maxim interview:

How can a guy get your attention? "Well, you know that thing where you always want what you can't have? I like guys who are taken. I can't help it. It's the guy who's not paying attention to you. That just kills me."

Any other weird obsessions? "This is going to sound stupid, but I have a pirate fetish. It started when someone in my band hurt their eye and had to wear an eye patch. I realized that I always thought pirates were sexy."

What's something about you that people might be shocked about? "People have this notion of me being this sweet, nice girl, but I'm kind of a pervert. We'll be on the tour bus, and me and my makeup artists will be watching porn. Everyone thinks about sex, so why are we pretending that we're not?"

ACTION!

Operation "Red Dawn," the mission to capture Saddam Hussein, shares its name with a 1984 movie starring Patrick Swayze about American teenagers fighting off a Soviet invasion. A Command Central official could not confirm whether the operation was named after the movie.

Conan bring Late Night to Toronto

The guests will range from J.D. Salinger to Saddam Hussein to Ed the Sock, at least according to a tongue-in-cheek Conan O'Brien who confirmed Monday that he will bring his show to Toronto for four nights in February.

And the late-night personality quipped that if it all works out, they'll move Late Night permanently from New York City to Winnipeg. But a disappointed-sounding O'Brien promised that any igloo jokes are out.

"The minute I heard Toronto I thought that makes perfect sense," O'Brien added, turning serious at a news conference, maintaining that he's found the best, hippest members of studio audiences in New York always turned out to be from T.O.

"They appreciated some of the things that we were doing, like Clutch Cargo with the lips, some of the weird animated segments. They appreciated those things before some people in America did."

The news conference brought out politicians who expressed glee that O'Brien's show would help boost city tourism in the wake of the disastrous SARS summer.

Mayor David Miller joked that the popular TV comic was most gracious, even offering him a bathrobe during a visit to this hotel suite. Ontario Tourism Minister Jim Bradley noted that the four tapings would occur in the middle of TV's critical February sweeps period.

"Canada's biggest city will have this chance to polish its reputation even further."

But O'Brien made it clear that the main idea is to do something funny and to exploit the city's comedy potential, not to simply plug the city and the country for tourists.

"The first 15 minutes of each show will be a film strip, to talk about Gross National Product, rainfall, you know, ethnic diversity," he said with tongue planted firmly back in his cheek, adding that some of the show's writers had already been enrolled in the University of Toronto to study agriculture.

The idea for the road show was born last summer, apparently, in a meeting between Toronto native and executive producer of both Saturday Night Live and Late Night, Lorne Michaels, and Peter Soumalias, founder of Canada's Walk of Fame.

"Mike Myers had recently appeared on NBC's Tonight Show and we thought it might be cool to bring the coolest late-night talk show to the coolest city, in the coolest country, in a cool month," Soumalias explained.

Some other O'Brien bons mots at the press conference:

"Alex Trebek is going to put me in touch with everybody ... it's the Trebek system." — on how he will select Canadian celebrities to be guests.

"Saddam Hussein, just yesterday, first thing out of the hole was `I'm going on Conan, I hope, in Toronto.'" — on who his first guests will be during Canadian tapings.

"I never even had that idea until you mentioned it. Now it's gonna be `Igloo, igloo, igloo, igloo! Igloo all the time!" — when a local hotelier pleaded that he not indulge in stereotypical Canadian humour involving beavers, Mounties and igloos.

Details on tickets and guests for the Feb. 10-13 tapings, at the historic downtown Elgin Theatre, will be released in January.

O'Brien's late-night show recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. When Late Night was launched, Michaels said at the time that the red-headed comic writer was selected for his unique mix of "vitality, wit and intelligence."

O'Brien, now 40, was once a writer for both SNL and The Simpsons. Born in Brookline, Mass., he recently became a father, with Neve O'Brien born in New York City on Dec. 1.

NY Film Critics Tap 'Lord of the Rings' Year's Best

NEW YORK (Reuters) - "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," the final installment of a cinematic trilogy based on the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, was named best picture of the year on Monday by the New York Film Critics Circle.

The off-beat comedy "Lost In Translation," from Focus Features, won a pair of major awards doled out by the critics, with Bill Murray named best actor and Sofia Coppola taking best director honors.

Hope Davis took the best actress award for her performances in "American Splendor," and "The Secret Lives of Dentists."

The film critics group, which has been issuing awards since 1935, is comprised of 35 New York-based film critics from daily newspapers, weekly newspapers and magazines.

More than 40 percent of the film critics' choices for best picture have gone on to win the Oscars in the same category.

Shohreh Aghdashloo was named best supporting actress for "House of Sand and Fog," while Eugene Levy was named best supporting actor for "A Mighty Wind."

The Brazilian movie "City of God" was named best foreign film.

Film Critics Circle chairman Andrew Johnston, of Radar Magazine, said there had been a slew of close contests.

"I think the degree the wealth was spread around reflected how close much of the voting was," said Johnston. "All the movies that won something were strong contenders in a number of categories."

Johnston would not give out specific details of the multi-round balloting, but said the best picture award for "The Lord of the Rings," was "reasonably decisive," and in his view appropriately so.

"It is easily the best of the three," Johnston said of the New Line Cinemas adventure trilogy shot in New Zealand. "It's amazing epic film making."

More Chaplin

The Chaplin Collection Volume 2 will feature another great lineup of Chaplin classics.

This boxed set includes The Chaplin Revue a 1959 recut compilation of the silent comedies "A Dog's Life," "Shoulder Arms" and "The Pilgrim," including Chaplin-added music, narration, and connecting material), Circus, City Lights, The Kid, A King In New York/A Woman of Paris and Monsieur Verdoux, all newly remastered in their 1.33:1 full screen aspect ratios and remixed in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround.

Each will also be available as a two-disc set, complete with extras: never-before-seen, behind-the-scenes footage, exclusive family home movie material, and commentaries (participants to be announced).

The box set also includes the new two-hour documentary Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin, directed by Richard Schickel and narrated by filmmaker Sydney Pollack, and chock full of new interviews with Woody Allen, Richard Attenborough, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr, Milos Forman, Andrew Sarris, Marcel Marceau, and Martin Scorsese.

Street date for these new titles is March 2nd, and each retails for $29.95 each, or $99.95 for the box set. (Monsieur Verdoux will retail for $24.95.)

Check this out!

Sandra Diaz-Twine wins $1 million and a new SUV as final Survivor

NEW YORK (AP) - In a Survivor contest packed with villains and indelible characters, Sandra Diaz-Twine, a mother of two from the Northwest United States, had the staying power to win the television game.

Diaz-Twine beat Lillian Morris, the tearful Scoutmaster from the Cincinnati area, in the final vote revealed during CBS's three-hour finale of Survivor: Pearl Islands on Sunday. An office worker for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, Diaz-Twine wins $1 million US and a new sport utility vehicle.

"I'm in shock! I'm in shock!" Diaz-Twine said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I didn't think I was going to win so I didn't make any plans for the money."

She didn't have too much trouble thinking of a few ideas, however: new cars for her mother and grandmother, a cruise vacation and "something for my husband."

She said she was surprised that Morris had cast the deciding vote that enabled her to be in the game's final two contestants instead of Jon Dalton, who had been the game's most notorious villain since Richard Hatch won the Survivor first season. But she said it proved the unpredictability of the game.

The CBS game has proven the most popular, long-running reality show on TV and this fall's edition did particularly well. With more than 22 million viewers the week before last, it was the week's most-watched prime-time program, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The colourful pirate Rupert and Dalton helped make this fall's game - set on a remote island off Panama - particularly popular.

Dalton had earlier lied and said his grandmother had died to win a good meal.

Diaz-Twine was no saint, either, at one point swearing on the life of her two children that she was voting with Dalton when, in fact, she was lying.

"I was mumbling under my breath, 'I'm gonna get you, sucker,' " she said. "Jon had back-stabbed me too many times for me to trust him."

'Something's Gotta Give' Rules Box Office

LOS ANGELES - Love among older adults conquered the box office as Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton's romance "Something's Gotta Give" debuted in the top spot with $17 million.

The previous weekend's top film, "The Last Samurai," slipped to second place with $14.05 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Farrelly brothers' comedy "Stuck on You," starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear as conjoined twins, opened at No. 3 with $10 million. The teen romance "Love Don't Cost a Thing," featuring Nick Cannon, debuted in fourth place with $6.5 million.

The overall box office slipped, with the top 12 movies grossing $83 million, down 8 percent from the same weekend a year ago.

Ticket sales will surge this week with "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," the conclusion of Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy classic. The film opens Wednesday.

"Return of the King" could surpass the $62 million opening weekend for last year's middle chapter, "The Two Towers," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

In limited release, a reissue of "Two Towers" took in $700,000 this past weekend, pushing the film's total gross to $340 million and priming the pump for "Return of the King."

"This past weekend was the calm before the storm," Dergarabedian said. "Everybody's waiting for `Return of the King' and the onslaught of all the holiday movies coming after that."

Opening Friday is Julia Roberts' "Mona Lisa Smile." Christmas week brings Nicole Kidman and Jude Law's Civil War epic "Cold Mountain," Steve Martin's comedy "Cheaper by the Dozen," Ben Affleck's sci-fi tale "Paycheck" and a live-action version of "Peter Pan."

Distributor Sony hopes the well-reviewed "Something's Gotta Give" will linger in theaters through the holidays. Keaton stars as a 55-year-old playwright in a love triangle involving a 63-year-old womanizer (Nicholson) and a 30-something doctor (Keanu Reeves).

"For the holidays, this is the perfect piece of entertainment, especially in a market that for the most part has had either children's films or darker-themed adult films out there," said Jeff Blake, Sony Pictures head of distribution. "This is funny, well-written, and we think works for all audiences."

Though aimed at older adults, "Something's Gotta Give" scored well among younger crowds, with viewers under 30 accounting for a third of the audience, Blake said.

It was Sony's ninth movie this year to debut as No. 1 for the weekend, breaking the old industry record of eight set three times in past years by Warner Bros., Blake said.

Playing in 2,677 theaters, "Something's Gotta Give" averaged a solid $6,350 per showing, compared to a $3,330 average in 3,003 theaters for "Stuck on You" and $3,544 in 1,844 theaters for "Love Don't Cost a Thing."

In limited release, Tim Burton's tall-tale adventure "Big Fish" debuted strongly, grossing $215,000 in six theaters for a $35,833 average. The father-son reunion story stars Albert Finney, Ewan McGregor, Jessica Lange and Billy Crudup.

The 17th century drama "Girl With a Pearl Earring," starring Colin Firth as Dutch artist Vermeer and Scarlett Johansson as a servant who inspires him, also opened well. In seven theaters, the film took in $90,000 for a $12,857 average.

"Big Fish" and "Girl With a Pearl Earring" expand to more theaters Christmas week.

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. "Something's Gotta Give," $17 million.
2. "The Last Samurai," $14.05 million.
3. "Stuck on You," $10 million.
4. "Love Don't Cost a Thing," $6.5 million.
5. "The Haunted Mansion," $6.3 million.
6. "Bad Santa," $6.21 million.
7. "Elf," $6.2 million.
8. "Honey," $5.1 million.
9. "Dr. Seuss' the Cat in the Hat," $4.2 million.
10. "Gothika," $2.7 million.

Saddam Story Covers All Networks on Sunday Morning

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - The dramatic capture of Saddam Hussein predictably drew the complete attention of the cable and broadcast networks.

CNN got on the air first with a Reuters report at 5:03 a.m. EST on Sunday, and the network enjoyed the additional edge of having reporter Alphonso Van Marsh embedded with the unit that captured the former Iraqi dictator, although he did not go along on the actual raid. CNN had two reporters stationed in Tikrit, while the other networks immediately sent out correspondents from their Baghdad bureaus.

Van Marsh's presence enabled CNN to provide viewers with video of the U.S. troops celebrating upon return from their mission.

ABC News faced complications as "World News Tonight" anchor Peter Jennings was actually working at the time -- but in Los Angeles, where at 2 a.m. PST he was with a police unit working on a special about Los Angeles police chief William Bratton when Hussein was captured.

Instead of going on the air from the West Coast, ABC decided to ship Jennings back to New York -- which was on the verge of being hit by a major snowstorm -- in time to host "World News Tonight Sunday" and an 8 p.m. primetime special.

ABC's Sunday morning coverage was fronted by "Good Morning America" co-host Charlie Gibson, and "This Week" host George Stephanopoulos.

ABC and CBS News went on the air with special reports shortly after CNN, as MSNBC hit the air next at 5:17 a.m., and Fox News at 5:27 a.m. ABC and CBS went into full-time special coverage at 6 a.m. and 6:16 a.m. respectively.

At that hour, not too many viewers noticed who went on when, but a Fox News spokeswoman said the network wanted to confirm the wire reports independently before going on the air. Reuters had picked up the story from an Iranian news agency.

NBC News did not cut in with any special reports, but went live at 5:52 a.m.

Anchors Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw led CBS and NBC's coverage all Sunday morning past President Bush's noontime news conference. CBS left the air for football at 12:20 p.m., while MSNBC's Lester Holt anchored a simulcast edition with NBC from 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m.

Shepard Smith led Fox News' coverage, Holt anchored for MSNBC, and Aaron Brown and Paula Zahn were at CNN's desk on Sunday morning. Smith also fronted halftime reports on Fox's NFL coverage.

At ABC, Stephanopoulos hosted two editions, with news cut-ins of "This Week" from 9 a.m.-noon, although New York's WABC-TV cut away from 10:30-noon to cover the snowstorm. ABC News left the air at 12:30 p.m.

CBS and NBC were scheduled to devote their 7 p.m. newsmagazines "60 Minutes" and "Dateline" entirely to Hussein's capture, and CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC were set with their regular weeknight primetime schedules. FNC's Smith was scheduled to host a 9 p.m. special on the capture.

American Film Institute Honors Year's Top 10 Films

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Fantasy vied with reality on Sunday as the American Film Institute named the year's 10 best films, listing epics like "The Last Samurai" and the final installment of "The Lord of the Rings" alongside slice-of-life movies "American Splendor" and "In America."

The 10 films to win the AFI Awards 2003, listed in alphabetical order, were "American Splendor," "Finding Nemo," "The Human Stain," "In America," "The Last Samurai," "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," "Lost in Translation," "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," "Monster" and "Mystic River."

The American Film Institute names the year's 10 top films and television shows without giving rating preferences.

"We don't rank them because what we want to celebrate is the creative collaboration in front and behind the camera that made these stories possible," said Jean Picker Firstenberg, AFI director and chief executive officer.

The winners of the AFI Awards in television were "Alias," "Angels in America," "Arrested Development," "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Joan of Arcadia," "Nip/Tuck," "Playmakers," "Soldier's Girl," "24," and "The Wire."

The AFI Awards, which started in 2000, aim at helping to define the contest for the coveted Oscar awards, which will be given out in February.

The AFI said the winners were chosen by its 13-person jury in which scholars, artists, critics and AFI trustees discuss, debate and determine the most outstanding achievements of the year.

"I think what AFI is trying to create is an almanac for the 21st century so we can look back and see what we consider excellence in narrative storytelling in 2003," Firstenberg told Reuters.

Rush reveals 2004 tour plans

Canadian rock legends Rush have announced plans for a 2004 world tour to coincide with the band's 30th anniversary.

The trio revealed the news yesterday during an appearance on the syndicated radio show "Rockline."

The tour will see the band hit various cities in Canada, the U.S. and around the world, including their first European shows in more than a decade.

Specific dates and on-sale information have yet to be released.

Rush's live CD and DVD set "Rush In Rio," taken from their last date on their 2002 "Vapor Trails" tour, was released in October.

Affleck Wants Kevin Smith for 'Daredevil 2'

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Despite the success of his comic book-inspired "Daredevil," Ben Affleck is apprehensive to return for a sequel.

"I don't know about 'Daredevil 2.' That may be too much work for me," Affleck tells Zap2it.com. "It was a very difficult movie to make."

"Daredevil" stars the 31-year-old actor as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who moonlights as a red-suited vigilante. The film, which was released on Valentine's Day, earned over $100 million in the U.S.

Affleck says he may change his mind if longtime friend, filmmaker and comic book writer Kevin Smith was behind the sequel. Or if Jennifer Garner asked him to.

"I think that Kevin is the guy who should be behind it. He'd really do the best job," he says.

It wouldn't be the first collaboration for the friends. Affleck has appeared in Smith's "Mallrats," "Chasing Amy," "Dogma," "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" and "Jersey Girl," which will be released sometime next year.

For fans still hoping to see him in red latex, the actor says that he'd consider appearing in the spin-off "Elektra," which stars his "Daredevil" love interest Garner in the title role.

"I would do some sort of cameo in Jen's movie. But she'd have to plead with me," he quips.

Affleck next appears opposite Uma Thurman in John Woo's sci-fi thriller "Paycheck" opening Christmas Day.

Oscar voters face bevy of movies starring the same actors

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Oscar voters may think they're seeing double as they begin considering which stars of the screen to nominate for next year's movie awards as several actors feature in more than one epic.  

Studios here have been forced to juggle hectic publicity schedules to avoid pitting the same actor or actress against him or herself for awards in separate movies, according to industry press.

Up for possible double consideration for the 2004 Oscar nominations -- Hollywood's highest accolade -- are Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman, bad-boy star Sean Penn, actor William H. Macy, Cate Blanchett, Patricia Clarkson and Scarlett Johansson.

The nomination choices will be unveiled in Los Angeles on January 27.

The six actors have starred in at least two Oscar-hopeful films each during 2003, making them eligible for double nominations next year, an achievement notched up by fewer than 12 actors in the awards' 76-year history.

Australian Kidman, who took this year's best actress award for her role in "The Hours," has done turns in "The Human Stain" and in the much talked about "Cold Mountain," which opens in North America on Christmas day.

Penn, 43, stars in Clint Eastwood's much talked about movie "Mystic River," produced by Warner Bros studios as well as in the drama "21 Grams," the debut film of Mexian director Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu.

Rival Aussie star Blanchett, 34, performed two roles as a slain Irish lawyer in the biopic "Veronica Guerin" as well as in director Ron Howard's "The Missing" this year.

Up and coming US actress Patricia Clarkson stars in "The Station Agent" and has a big role in "Pieces of April," both Miramax releases have reportedly had the studio scrambling to avoid a publicity clash.

Newcomer Scarlett Johannson has a major part in Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation," released by Focus Features, and also stars in "Girl With A Pearl Earring," also from Focus.

Veteran actor Macy starred in the horse-racing movie "Seabiscuit" and in the gambling flick "The Cooler" that is poised for US release.

Mortensen Gets 'Rings' Throne Last-Minute

LOS ANGELES - Viggo Mortensen was never supposed to be the man who would be king.

When director Peter Jackson started filming "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy in October 1999, he had another actor cast as the warrior Aragorn, a reluctant hero whose courage and royal bloodline help defeat the ancient evil of Sauron.

That was Stuart Townsend, a then 26-year-old Irish actor who later appeared in "The Queen of the Damned" and last summer's "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen."

But once work began on "The Lord of the Rings," Jackson said it became clear that Townsend was too youthful to convey the sense of wisdom and world-weariness needed for Aragorn.

So he dropped him — with a cast and crew of thousands assembled in New Zealand and a budget of $270 million on the line.

"We had to make a very hard decision very quickly, without having anyone else cast," Jackson said.

Days passed with tensions rising as Jackson and crew busied themselves filming Hobbit sequences that didn't require Aragorn. But the three films — "The Fellowship of the Ring," "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King," were being shot simultaneously — and they needed a king to return, fast.

The rugged, soft-spoken Mortensen, then 41, agreed to take the role.

"The best thing I can say about it is I didn't have any time to get nervous. I just had to do it," he says more than four years later, sipping tea beside a massive, shady tree in Los Angeles.

"In retrospect, that was probably a good thing. The downside is I was worried for quite a while about letting others down. I didn't want to be the guy who, when you saw the movie, you said: 'Good movie ... but THAT guy ..." He rolled his eyes.

Jackson said Mortensen's involvement was "fate dealing us a very good card." "He's an actor with huge integrity and professional responsibility, and once he's committed to a movie he's there for you morning, noon and night," the director said. "It doesn't matter what time of the day it is. It doesn't matter how long you've been working."

That work ethic helped the newcomer quickly earn the respect of his fellow castmates.

In the public mind, however, he was still somewhat obscure.

Mortensen's first role was as an Amish farmer in the 1985 Harrison Ford thriller "Witness," and he had notable roles as hunks opposite Demi Moore in 1997's "G.I. Jane" and with Julianne Moore in the 1998 "Psycho" remake.

He also earned a living with roles in B-movies such as "Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III" and "The Prophecy," in which he played a handsome, moody Devil.

After the success of the first two installments of "The Lord of the Rings," he's ambivalent about his newfound fame. He credits it with helping him land another lead role, as a horseman in the upcoming Disney adventure "Hidalgo," but his heartthrob status seems like a distraction to him.

"It doesn't help me do a better job and doesn't have much to do with my personal life or work life, so I'm a little bit removed," he said. "Sometimes it seems a bit strange, but all in all it's flattering and certainly nicer than hearing that everybody hates you."

And it's certanly nice that his star status has attracted attention to his other endeavors as a poet, photographer, painter and publisher.

It has even carried over to other artists at his publishing company, Perceval Press. "I'm using that strange phenomenon of public attention to accomplish good things," he said.

A frequent critic of the Bush administration, Mortensen said part of what appealed to him about "The Lord of the Rings" was its positive message about integrity in leadership.

"Everyone thinks (Aragorn) is the man for the job, because he has humility, a concern with the consequences of his actions and words on others and an interest in finding common ground with other people. All are qualities which I wish there were more of in real life in our modern-day leaders. There's an unfortunate lack of humility and overabundance of arrogance."

He's not sure whether that message is apparent to most audiences. "I think you get what you want out of the story."

As he speaks, Mortensen's expression can best be described as fierce mellowness, as if he is focusing very hard to stay relaxed.

His "Rings" colleagues say below that restrained exterior is a surprising amount of confidence, energy and intensity. While others slacked, he remained aggressive.

"I'd say he was very much a leader," said Liv Tyler, who plays Elf Princess Arwen.

He was so dedicated to getting into character that he went everywhere with his character's sword, she said, adding: "He kept his sword in his car and drove around with the sword all the time."

Arwen shares a war-torn romance with the human Aragorn, and since they had few scenes together she said he was always trying to add extra depth to their exchanges.

"For our love scenes, he would come to me the night before and say he wanted to change all the lines to the Elvish language. He was trying to make that connection stronger, and I thought it was beautiful that they'd speak Elvish to each other because it adds a layer to their history that you wouldn't otherwise see."

In Mortensen's real-life love life, he once was married to Exene Cervenka (news), a singer with the rockabilly-punk band X; they divorced in 1997.

Their son, Henry, now 15, was the one who urged Mortensen to take the role of Aragorn.

Part of Henry's reward was joining the cast. He has played a villainous orc, a heroic Gondorian and a young soldier of Rohan in some of the battle sequences.

Asked if his teenage son is impressed to have Aragorn for a dad, the actor wrinkles his face.

"Ehhh ... he has a healthy amount of disrespect for me and every other adult," he said. "That comes with being that age. If it was otherwise I would think there is something wrong with him."

'Spider-Man 2' Spins His Web on the Web

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Where is the first place movie fans will see the new "Spider-Man 2" movie spinning its crime-fighting web? The Web, of course.

Columbia Pictures, the movie studio behind the top-grossing film of 2002, on Thursday said it has set the worldwide debut of the upcoming movie's promotional trailer for Monday, Dec. 15 at 12:01 Eastern Time on Internet service Yahoo!

The trailer, which is an industry term used to describe the brief scene clips of upcoming movies preceding a film in theaters, can be seen in 13 countries on the Internet in North and South America, Europe, and Asia.

In recent years, the Internet has become a major marketing tool for Hollywood's studios because so many movie fans surf the Net for the latest in movie news.

In many cases, like the "Lord of the Rings" movies or independent hit "The Blair Witch Project," Web promotion has been a huge boost for a movie's box office. However for some films, like last summer's "The Hulk," negative buzz on the Net has hurt a movie.

"Spider-Man," which starred Tobey Maguire as the emotionally conflicted crime-buster, sold a record $114 million worth of tickets in its debut weekend in May 2002 and grossed $820 million at global box offices, according to Columbia Pictures.

"Spider-Man 2" is set to hit theaters in summer, 2004.

In the sequel, Maguire returns as Peter Parker, who sheds his cloak as a college student by day to don the red-and-blue suit of Spider-Man. It brings in a new nemesis, Otto Octavius, portrayed by Alfred Molina.

Also returning are director Sam Raimi, Kirsten Dunst as Parker's love interest, Mary Jane Watson, and James Franco playing his best friend, Harry Osborn.

Diana Krall Marries Elvis Costello

NEW YORK - Jazz singer Diana Krall has tied the knot with her beau of one year, Elvis Costello, in a wedding in England, Costello's public relations firm confirmed Wednesday.

The couple married Saturday night in a ceremony at Elton John's mansion in Surrey, England, Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reported.

"The wedding was a private event with close friends and family in attendance," Shore Fire Media said in a statement.

About 150 guests, including Paul McCartney and Canada's consul general to New York, Pamela Wallin, were sworn to secrecy, the newspaper reported. Krall grew up outside Vancouver, British Columbia.

The 39-year-old jazz singer and Costello, 49, live in New York and have a home on Vancouver Island.

The marriage is a first for Krall. Costello's previous two marriages ended in divorce.

Beyoncé, R. Kelly Win at Billboard Awards

LAS VEGAS - R&B dominated Wednesday's 2003 Billboard Music Awards, as sultry singer Beyonce and crooner R. Kelly each earned four awards.

Beyonce, who appeared at the ceremony in a sequined Versace dress, won new female artist of the year, new R&B artist, Hot 100 female artist and a special Hot 100 award for most weeks at No. 1.

The Destiny's Child frontwoman, who went solo this year with her album "Dangerously in Love," told reporters before the show that she was nervous about the possibility of making an acceptance speech.

"I don't know what to say. I completely blank out," she said.

In the end, she told the crowd after winning the Hot 100 female artist award: "This is amazing. This has been an incredible year."

R. Kelly, whose album "Chocolate Factory" sold more than two million copies despite a looming child pornography case against him, was the night's other big winner. He took home awards for Hot 100 producer, R&B producer, Hot 100 songwriter and R&B songwriter — and closed the show with a flamboyant performance that had him riding down the aisle in a horse-drawn chariot.

No Doubt opened the nationally televised show, hosted by Ryan Seacrest of "American Idol," with a performance of their hit single "It's My Life."

Singers Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, featured on the MTV reality show "Newlyweds," presented the first award for duo/group of the year to 3 Doors Down. Simpson — now famous for her dippy blonde moments on the show — turned to her husband and said, "Don't say anything dipsy or stupid. I keep telling myself the sex is worth it."

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog provided additional comic relief, saying he and Michael Jackson had a lot in common: "We're both partly made of rubber."

Rapper 50 Cent had a leading six nominations heading into the show at the MGM Grand hotel-casino. By the end of the night, he won three awards — for top artist, R&B artist and rap artist.

Stevie Wonder presented Sting with the Century Award for creative achievement. The Grammy Award-winning singer has sold 100 million albums and singles with The Police and as a solo artist.

But Sting said album sales didn't matter: "If you play music with passion and love and honesty, then it will nourish your soul, heal your wounds and make your life worth living."

For the first time, the Billboard Awards recognized the sales of legally downloaded music tracks, honoring "Hey Ya!" by OutKast as the digital track of the year.

The Billboard Awards honor the year's chart-topping artists. Winners are determined by the magazine's year-end chart listings, which are based on record sales and airplay.

Gun in Phil Spector's Hand After Shooting -Police

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Record producer Phil Spector emerged from his California mansion with a gun in his hand and said "I think I just shot her," his driver told police shortly after a B-movie actress was found dead in the foyer.

According to police reports unsealed late Tuesday, actress Lana Clarkson was sprawled on a chair, her teeth and blood spattered about the room from a gunshot wound to her mouth when police arrived at the faux castle outside Los Angeles at about 5 a.m. on Feb. 3.

The documents -- police affidavits, a catalog of evidence seized from the crime scene and search warrants -- provide the first public glimpse of the killing that last month led to a murder charge against the legendary music producer.

The police reports suggest an intimate evening of drinks by candlelight that ended tragically.

Clarkson, 40, was wearing a "black nylon slip/dress, black nylons and black shoes," according to an affidavit by Los Angeles County sheriff's Detective Mark Lillienfeld that was made public at the request of crime author Carlson Smith.

"A leopard print purse, with a black strap, was slung over her right shoulder, with the purse hanging down on her right side by her right arm," Lillienfeld said. "Broken teeth from the victim were scattered about the foyer and an adjacent stairway."

Sheriff's Detective Danny Smith, in an affidavit, said Spector's driver, Adriano Desouza, told police that shortly after he heard a single gunshot at about 5.0 a.m., the record producer emerged from his Alhambra, California mansion with a gun in his hand and said, "I think I just shot her."

Lillienfeld's affidavit said, "Spector came out the back door holding a handgun, stating words to the effect of, 'I think I just killed someone."'

Spector, who created the lush, layered recording technique known as "The Wall of Sound," suggested in a magazine interview earlier this year that the statuesque blonde actress killed herself. Spector, 63, pleaded innocent to the charge and remains free on $1 million bail.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In his affidavit, Lillienfeld said that on the floor beneath Clarkson's left leg was a blue steel, .38-caliber Colt revolver with five live rounds and a spent cartridge under the hammer. The weapon was blood-spattered, the detective noted.

Investigators also found blood smears on the back door handle and on a wooden stairway railing near the death scene, he said. A blood-spattered man's jacket was recovered from an upstairs dressing room, and a blood-soaked cloth was found on the floor of a bathroom next to the foyer, Lillienfeld said.

In the adjacent living room, candles had been lit atop a fireplace mantel and a partially filled brandy glass and bottles of tequila and soda stood on the coffee table between two sofas, the report said. Desouza told police Spector and Clarkson had spent about an hour and a half in the mansion before the shooting, having arrived there at 3.30 a.m.

Police took nine guns, a bloody holster, fragments of Clarkson's teeth and fingernails, and false eyelashes from Spector's 12,000-square-foot home, according to court records.

Interviews with Desouza revealed that Spector had dined with a woman named Rommie Davis on the night of the shooting, and had drinks at two other Los Angeles night spots before meeting Clarkson at the House of Blues, where she worked as a hostess.

Police believed that the pair met for the first time on the night she died, Lillienfeld said. Clarkson starred in such films as "Amazon Women in the Moon" and "The Barbarian Queen."

AHOY, MATEY

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl selling 11 million DVD and VHS units in its first week on store shelves, making it the best-selling live-action movie in history.

Dunst Finds New Motivation in SPIDER-MAN 2

Kirsten Dunst, who reprises the role of Mary Jane Watson in the upcoming sequel film Spider-Man 2, told SCI FI Wire that her character will take more charge of her life. "Now she has her own place in New York, and she's getting married," Dunst said in an interview. "She's working and doing her own thing. I scream a lot less in this one."

Dunst felt Mary Jane's progression in the sequel is natural, considering her conflicted background. "Look at her family and what she came from, this abusive male in the house and this mother who's an alcoholic," she said. "I don't think Mary Jane was the most secure woman to begin with, so she was a little bit more like, I guess you could say, a damsel in distress [in the first film]."

Dunst also confirmed that Mary Jane's fiance is John Jameson, son of Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson (again played by J.K. Simmons). John is played by actor Daniel Gillies. "[It's] just a different guy to kiss," Dunst said. Columbia Pictures will release Spider-Man 2 on Jul. 2, 2004.

Seinfeld buzzes to 'Bee Movie'

Jerry Seinfeld has inked a deal for his first major project since retiring his top-rated NBC sitcom in 1998.

The comedian is set to write, produce and star in the CGI-animated film "Bee Movie," Variety reports.

Dreamworks' Steven Spielberg, who had been discussing animated film ideas with Seinfeld last summer, was sparked to his idea to set a comedy in an anthropomorphized world of bees, a structured metropolis that resembles Manhattan.

Seinfeld has begun writing the project, and will voice the male bee. It will take approximately three years to complete the project.

Thurman Partakes of Travolta's 'Cool' Chili

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - "Pulp Fiction" dance partners Uma Thurman and John Travolta will reunite on the big screen to take care of business.

The pair will star in "Be Cool," the sequel to 1995's "Get Shorty," based on the novel by Elmore Leonard, according to industry reports.

Travolta will reprise his role as Chili Palmer, a former mobster who discovered a knack for Hollywood wheeling and dealing. In "Cool," Palmer looks to the music industry for new movie ideas. Thurman plays Edie, a widow who takes over her husband's record label, crossing paths with Palmer. The pair inevitably runs afoul of Russian gangsters, the law and aspiring entertainers.

Danny DeVito once again portrays actor Martin Weir, and The Rock will play a bodyguard who dreams of stardom.

"Cool" is scheduled to begin shooting in early 2004.

Travolta, 49, will next appear in the comic book adaptation of "The Punisher" next April. Thurman, 33, returns as The Bride in the second "Kill Bill" installment in February, and stars opposite Ben Affleck in John Woo's "Paycheck," which opens Christmas Day.

Bonus, Repurposed 'Simple Life' Comes to FOX

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - FOX's reality take on "Green Acres," "The Simple Life" has the network rolling in greenbacks. Looking to fill some scheduling holes, FOX has gone into repurposing mode.

FOX will add a bonus new episode of the series on Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 8:30 p.m. ET. The episode will follow stars Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie as they learn yet another lesson about how the other half lives during their temporary sojourn in Arkansas. More specifically, the gals will try their hands at cattle herding and hilarity will inevitably ensue.

For viewers who have had other things to do during the show's first run, FOX is offering a variety of opportunities to catch up. On Thursday, Dec. 11 the first two episodes will be reaired. Then, just in time for New Year's Eve Eve, FOX will do a mini-marathon featuring four episodes to air starting at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 30.

The show's premiere last Tuesday (Dec. 2) drew more than 13 million viewers, topping the night's other high profile premieres, including NBC's "The Tracy Morgan Show." A new episode the following night improved on those numbers.

Paris and Nicole will be presenters on FOX's telecast of "The 2003 Billboard Music Awards" on Wednesday, Dec. 10. Following an appearance on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" over the weekend (Dec. 6), it appears that Hilton's experiment with avoiding extra publicity and the public eye lasted roughly a week.

Sofia Coppola and Spike Jonze file for divorce after 4-year marriage

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Filmmakers Sofia Coppola and Spike Jonze are splitting after four years of marriage.

Coppola, director of this year's Oscar hopeful "Lost In Translation", filed divorce papers Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. She cited "irreconcilable differences" and said the couple separated in May. They have no children. The couple reached the decision to divorce "with sadness," Coppola's publicist, Bumble Ward, said in a statement.

Coppola, 32, wrote and directed "Lost in Translation", starring Bill Murray, and the 2000 drama, The Virgin Suicides.

Jonze, 34, whose real name is Adam Spiegel, is the director of the 1999 cult classic Being John Malkovich, and last year's Adaptation.

'Idol' Winner Studdard to Release CD

NEW YORK - "American Idol" winner Ruben Studdard gets his turn to reclaim some of the spotlight from friendly singing rival Clay Aiken when his album, "Soulful," is released Tuesday.

With his oversized frame and booming, soulful voice, Studdard would seem to be a tough guy to overshadow. Yet ever since he captured the TV talent contest last May, he's been upstaged by his twig of a runner-up, Aiken.

Aiken's single, "This is the Night/Bridge over Troubled Water," released at the same time as Studdard's "Flying Without Wings/Superstar," was tops in sales. Rolling Stone magazine put Clay on its cover first. It was Aiken who sang at the World Series and Miss America pageant. And Clay's album was rolled out first, becoming an instant best seller in October.

Now Studdard finally gets his turn when his disc is released by J Records.

The apparent popularity disparity has some fans of the "Velvet Teddy Bear" — as Studdard has been dubbed — in a tizzy. But ask the man himself, and he responds with a shrug.

"Everybody has their time in the spotlight, and it's Clay's time to shine right now," the 24-year-old told The Associated Press during an interview in his hotel suite. "He has his album out that's selling tremendously well, and I'm proud of him.

"Of course, I would want to have the same success. Every artist wants to be a multiplatinum-selling artist, so I'm looking forward to selling a lot of CDs as well, but I'm not going to hate on Clay just because he's doing his thing."

Studdard's thing is primarily R&B with a little hip-hop and gospel, unlike the pop-centric albums from Aiken and last year's "American Idol" winner, Kelly Clarkson.

"I'm not a pop artist, so I think that's like the difference between me and the rest of the artists that have left the 'American Idol' thing," said Studdard.

The Birmingham, Ala. native doesn't veer too much from the formula that established him. Clive Davis, J Records' founder and the executive producer of "Soulful," says it was important to stay true to Studdard's R&B roots.

"I saw the pride in the black community, that this was the first 'American Idol' who was a black person, so therefore we wanted to honor and do right by Ruben," he said.

However, he took pains to note that he felt the album would have pop success.

"Every so often, you do get an artist who is multi-format, and I think Ruben can be that kind of artist," Davis said.

The hefty Studdard was an early favorite in the competition with his powerful, soulful tenor, which recalled greats like Luther Vandross. He became so popular that even the clothing he wore with the Birmingham area code, 205, became a hot seller.

Yet when the competition was finally decided, he faced stiff competition from Aiken, who in many ways seemed Studdard's polar opposite — a white, lanky guy with a nerdy image and a voice made for Broadway.

Out of nearly 24 million votes cast by telephone, Studdard won by only 130,000. The margin was so slim, some Aiken fans demanded a recount. And when the pair toured with other "Idol" contestants, it seemed Aiken's popularity continued to soar while Studdard faded into the background.

Dave Karger, who wrote a cover story on Aiken for Entertainment Weekly, says one reason the media seemed to be more enchanted with Aiken was personality.

"He's much chattier than Ruben, and I think from a media point of view, he has proven himself to be a more appealing interview subject," Karger said. "Ruben ... is much more reserved, and just much more quiet, and I think because of that, people in the media have assumed that he has nothing to say."

Indeed, it's hard to get anything too revealing out of Studdard. Though polite and charming, he reveals only what he needs to during an interview, giving short answers in his low-key manner.

He admits he's "always just in chill mode. ... Some reporters think I'm real soft spoken and all this other stuff, but that's just who I am. Everybody wants you to change, to acclimate to them. Especially with the media. Everybody's like, 'Ruben's too soft spoken. He should talk up!'"

Both Studdard and Aiken are on record labels run by Davis, a veteran hitmaker, who says that he's shipping 1.4 million copies of Studdard's album in anticipation of a smash: "The orders for Ruben are slightly higher for what they are for Clay."

"Clay was everywhere because Clay had an album out," said Davis. "We knew that we were building a major album for Ruben. There's no show that Clay was on that Ruben will not be on."

Studdard also says that as the winner of the competition, he had more commitments than Aiken, giving the runner-up more time to do other interviews and boost his profile. Also, "I was on the cover of Rolling Stone too," Studdard says.

Studdard also has something Aiken does not: a Grammy nomination, for best male R&B vocal performance.

But if Studdard is annoyed, upset or worried about the attention Aiken has received, you'd never know it. He refuses to be baited into a rivalry with his friend.

"People always ask me if I'm upset that Clay's on (the covers). No I'm not upset. If I was the runner-up, I'd want to be on all the magazine covers too, and people would be just as pissed off at me doing stuff," he says. "It is a media thing. It's been given way more hype than it should have ever received."

Here are the other new CD Releases for Tuesday, December 9, 2003:

* AVANT Private Room (Geffen)
* BILLY RAY CYRUS The Other Side (Warner)
* CHRISTINA AGUILERA The Voice Within (CD Single) (RCA)
* CRYSTAL METHOD Born Too Slow (CD Single) (V2)
* EARL SLICK Zig Zag (Sanctuary Records)
* FEFE DOBSON Fefe Dobson (Island)
* HOOBASTANK The Reason (Island)
* HOWLIN' WOLF The Howlin' Wolf Story (Arista)
* KELIS Tasty (Arista)
* KELLY CLARKSON The Trouble With Love Is (CD Single) (RCA)
* MADONNA Nothing Fails (CD Single) (Maverick)
* NICK CANNON Nick Cannon (Zomba)
* OUR LADY PEACE Our Lady Peace Live (DVD Video) (Sony)
* RYAN ADAMS Love Is Hell Pt. 2 (Lost Highway/Universal)
* RYAN MALCOLM Home (Vik)
* SIMPLY RED Home: Live In Sicily (DVD) (Warner)
* THE OFFSPRING Splinter (Columbia/Sony)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS Gotta Love The Holidays (Warner)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS Love Don't Cost A Thing OST (Hollywood)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS Ultimate Dirty Dancing (BMG Heritage)
* WESTSIDE CONNECTION Terrorist Threats (Priority)

Ozzy Osbourne Badly Injured in Crash in England

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rocker Ozzy Osbourne underwent emergency surgery at a hospital in Britain after suffering serious injuries in an all-terrain vehicle crash on the grounds of his estate in Buckinghamshire, his publicist said on Monday.

"During examination, doctors found that Ozzy had broken his collarbone, six ribs and a vertebra in his neck," publicist Cindy Guagenti said in a brief written statement, which added that the injuries were not considered life threatening.

"Ozzy is currently undergoing emergency surgery to lift the collarbone which is believed to be resting on a major artery interrupting blood flow to his arm," Guagenti said in the statement. "Surgeons are also working to alleviate some bleeding into his lungs."

The 55-year-old heavy metal rocker was injured while riding the all-terrain vehicle during a day off from promoting his new single, a duet with his daughter Kelly titled "Changes."

Local police said that a man had been injured after an accident on a so-called quad bike but would not confirm that it was Osbourne -- who stars with his wife Sharon and two of their children on the MTV reality series "The Osbournes."

The Birmingham, England-born Osbourne first shot to fame as lead singer of Black Sabbath.

The Couch Potato Report

This week in The Couch Potato Report I'm going to say nice things about two of the worst movies of 2003.

There is an old adage that says: "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

If I were to adhere to that all I would have for you in this week's Couch Potato Report would be the titles of the two biggest films being released.

I'd just say: "The two new films that are out this week are BAD BOYS II and GIGLI. Enjoy the movies and I'll see you on the couch."

But I can't just do that. I have to say something about these films, without being negative and proclaiming them two of the worst films of 2003.

Yes, since I have to be nice, I can't tell you that these two films are nothing but a complete waste of your time.

Nor can I exaggerate for comedic effect and state that after watching either BAD BOYS II or GIGLI you'll have to take a shower to get the stench of them off of you.

Nope, I can't say those things. I have to be be nice.

Here goes.

Bad Boys II is the sequel to the 1995 release that launched the movie careers of two then-TV stars named Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

The original BAD BOYS was an entertaining action film about two police partners in Miami. Smith and Lawrence both became big movie stars because of their great chemistry and the film was an unexpected surprise.

But that was the original BAD BOYS...now, lets see what I can say that is nice about the absolutely dreadful BAD BOYS II.

Hmmm...I've got it! BAD BOYS II, a movie that sees the Miami cops on the trail of drugs and a ruthless drug lord, isn't as bad a GIGLI. Yes, that's it, that's what I'll say, and its nice. The nice thing that I will say about BAD BOYS II is that it isn't as bad a GIGLI.

Don't get me wrong, BAD BOYS II is an absolute waste of time. But if you like things that blow up loud and blow up real good, at least you might find something worthwhile for some of the otherwise excruciating 2 hours and 27 minutes that the film runs.

No, BAD BOYS II isn't as bad as GIGLI. But few films are.

But to be totally honest, its easy to pick on GIGLI. The Ben Affleck/Jennifer Lopez vehicle was universally panned by critics and moviegoers alike when it was released a few months ago. And when the Worst Of 2003 lists start to come out in the next few weeks expect to see this movie on or at the top of almost every one of them.

Yes, it is easy to pick on this film about a kidnapping mobster who falls for his female cohort.

Very easy!

But I want to say something nice, or I shouldn't say anything at all.

Okay, something nice about GIGLI...oh! I've got it! At 2 hours and 1 minute, GIGLI is almost a half an hour shorter than BAD BOYS II! Yes, that’s it! That's nice!

So if you happen to find yourself watching this dreck, as you sit through the implausible scenarios, the excruciating overacting by Christopher Walken and Al Pacino in their brief cameos, and the idiotic dialogue, you can rest secure in the knowledge that this movie, although much worse than BAD BOYS II, is 25 minutes shorter.

And there you go, I have managed to say nice things about two of the worst films of 2003! I didn't think I was going to be able to do it.

To recap my niceties, BAD BOYS II, although it is a horrible movie, isn't as bad as GIGLI. And GIGLI, one of the worst films of 2003, isn't as long as BAD BOYS II.

Should you be curious to see just how bad they are BAD BOYS II and GIGLI are, they are both available at your local video store to rent and own right now.

COMING NEXT WEEK

Some movies that are actually worth seeing.

Seabiscuit - This true story was one of my favourite movies of 2003. It's the story of an undersized Depression-era racehorse whose victories lifted not only the spirits of the three-man team behind it but also those of all of America as well. (Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper)

Freaky Friday - A Mother and daughter swap bodies and lives in this remake of the 1976 Jodie Foster classic. (Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Mark Harmon)

The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen - A Legion of superheroes try to defeat a masked madman's plans in this almost a great movie. (Sean Connery, Naseeruddin Shah, Peta Wilson)

Rugrats Go Wild - The Rugrats call upon the Thornberrys when stuck on desert isle. (Lacey Chabert, Nancy Cartwright, Elizabeth Daily)

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

Horn Head Gets R Rated

Well I don’t know if anyone remembers reading the interviews with Mark Steven Johnson just before DAREDEVIL came out. Well if not, he mentioned that he had to cut over an hours worth of footage for the theatrical release. Soon we may be able to see some of the cuts. In April 04 DAREDEVIL 1.5: DIRECTOR’S CUT will be released and unlike the theatrical release that was a PG – 13, this will have an R rating. Who knows what could of pushed up the rating, but hey, I’ll check it out.

No. 1 reason Oprah won't appear on Letterman's show: his jokes were about her

CHICAGO (AP) - Oprah Winfrey doesn't have a Top 10 list of reasons why she hasn't appeared on David Letterman's show recently. She has just two: her two previous appearances.

"Both times I was sort of like the butt of his jokes, " Winfrey tells Time magazine for its Dec. 15 issue. "I felt completely uncomfortable sitting in that chair, and I vowed I would not ever put myself in that position again." The Late Show host isn't shy about making references to Winfrey. He has had stagehands read transcripts of The Oprah Winfrey Show and has made a running gag of his desire to be a guest on the daytime program. For weeks he kept an Oprah Log, recording each day that passed without Winfrey calling.

Winfrey insists she's not snubbing Letterman and has "a great deal of respect for his talent."

When Letterman's girlfriend gave birth to his son last month, Winfrey said she sent Letterman the best baby gift she has ever given: "It was a tub of children's books."

Singles downloaded most

NEW YORK (Variety) --- The singles scene is alive and thriving on the Internet.

New research by NPD Group confirms what many pundits and users have already suspected: When it comes to downloading digital music over the Internet, individual singles are downloaded with far greater frequency than whole albums of a single artist.

Research by NPD tracking a broad base of both peer-to-peer and legitimate online music retail stores like iTunes suggests that when downloading single tracks from the Web, consumers chose to download only one track from an album 85% of the time; 94% of the time consumers downloaded two or fewer tracks from an album. Users downloaded the entire album less than 1% of the time, NPD noted.

Furthermore, research indicates a vast majority of digital song tracks downloaded by consumers during those three months were "catalog" tracks released more than 18 months ago. That compares with a roughly 50/50 split between new and catalog sales in the physical product (i.e., CD) market.

Admittedly, these numbers are skewed by the fact that digital downloading is still dominated by illegal file swapping, where albums are not as readily available or promoted. On iTunes, said one music exec, albums constitute as much as half of all downloading traffic. Record labels are anxious not to cannibalize their more profitable album business.

Still, NPD veep Russ Crupnick says a shift from albums, which dominate in the physical product market, to singles is inevitable based on the behavior already observed. "There's going to be a major shift, though it's still too early to say whether it's 20% or 30% of the ultimate market," he said.

It's also noteworthy that when users burn a CD for use on another device, only 12% of the time do they copy the whole album.

"In the world of paid services, consumers may prefer buying singles," said Crupnick, "so record companies must locate a balance between effectively promoting new releases while not losing sight of the revenue-generating power of popular songs from the catalog --- and import or concert tracks, as well."

Crupnick believes it's sensible to offer a discount when consumers buy four or five songs from the same artist, regardless of what album they originate from. "It may not be all about the bestselling songs, either. Less popular tracks offered as free downloads might even be effectively leveraged to market paid downloads of more popular songs and drive sales of full CDs."

A&E Set for Year-End Top 10 Shows

Let's count the year-end countdown shows on A&E this week! Each airing at 8 p.m. EST, these "Biography" hours have "Will & Grace" star Megan Mullally serving as host. And, of course, they count down to another countdown special: next week's "Biography of the Year."

Monday: "Top 10 Hitched and Ditched." No surprise who claims the top spot here: J.Lo and Ben. But this show doesn't forget losers in love like Liza (Minnelli) and David (Gest) — or the United States and France.

Tuesday: "Top 10 To Watch." Take a look at this special, which lists people to keep an eye on next year — like California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michelle Wie, the 13-year-old golfer.

Wednesday: "Top 10 Most Notorious." Here's a list that Michael Jackson can still be sure of landing on. Plus Robert Blake, Kobe Bryant and Martha Stewart.

Thursday: "Top 10 Survivors." This show chronicles the year's most intrepid, including kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart, blackout-beset New Yorkers, and even that elusive Saddam Hussein.

Other shows to look out for:

- What's tougher than spending Christmas with the family? Doing it while also trying to do your job as an FBI agent. That's the challenge for Jake Cunningham, who's forced to bring home to the parents a free-spirited cocktail waitress he is assigned to protect for the holidays. While there, he must pass her off to his straight-laced family as his girlfriend. "Undercover Christmas" stars Jami Gertz ("Still Standing") as the waitress, Tyne Daly ("Judging Amy) as the snooty mom, and Shawn Christian ("Crossing Jordan") as the badge-carrying son who's hard-pressed to maintain his ruse. This TV film airs 9 p.m. Sunday on CBS.

- Which lovesick frog will Melana's kiss turn into her Prince Charming? Expect an obligatory fairy-tale ending for "Average Joe" in its two-hour finale 9 p.m. Monday on NBC. After weeding out 14 other ordinary-looking suitors, Melana will declare which of the two remaining Joes (that is, Adam or Zach) will win her love. As part of her decision-making process, she will go on overnight dates with each of these two hopefuls, and visit their hometowns to learn more about each candidate.

- "UFO Invasion at Rendlesham," a two-hour documentary on the Sci Fi Channel, investigates a series of bizarre events, and a resulting cover-up, near two American military bases in Rendlesham Forest, England. It was in 1980 that U.S. servicemen observed a variety of unearthly phenomena that none of them could explain, including an airborne object obscured by its own blinding light. Later, the eyewitnesses were forced to change their stories and the case was officially swept under the rug. What does it all mean? Airing 9 p.m. Friday, this film brings to light declassified materials, new physical evidence and firsthand accounts of the mystery. Bryant Gumbel is host.

- The modestly titled "Price Is Right Million-Dollar Spectacular" marks the 80th birthday of host Bob Barker. During the hourlong special, which airs 8 p.m. Saturday on CBS, contestants will vie for prizes that include boats and luxury vacations, as well as spin the wheel for a possible $1 million. Barker, whose actual birthday is Friday, has been host of "The Price is Right" on CBS since 1972, and is marking his 47th year on network television.

'Last Samurai' Cruises to Box Office Win

LOS ANGELES - "The Last Samurai" came in first at the weekend box office as the Tom Cruise war epic cut down the competition with $24.4 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

In the film, Cruise plays a downtrodden Civil War veteran who reclaims honor by forging a bond with samurai warriors — despite having been brought to Japan to quash their rebellion by training a mercenary army for the Japanese emperor.

Cruise's other recent films have opened stronger, such as the $35.6 million debut for "Minority Report" and the $57.8 million opening of "Mission: Impossible II."

"Samurai," which is nearly two-and-a-half hours long, had a similar opening gross to "Vanilla Sky," which collected $25 million in its first weekend.

"It's almost a lock that every time he opens a movie it comes in at No. 1. This guy is box office insurance personified," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "For an R-rated film, a very long film, a period epic — I think this speaks to Tom Cruise's drawing power."

The debut of "Samurai" toppled last week's No. 1 movie, "Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat," which fell to fifth place with $7.3 million.

So far, "Cat" has earned a total of $85.5 million, according to Universal Pictures, placing it far behind the studio's 2000 Jim Carrey comedy "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas," which had collected about $172 million at the same point in its release. "Grinch" ultimately earned $260 million by the end of its run.

The Jessica Alba aspiring-dancer melodrama "Honey," the only other new movie opening in wide release, ranked second this weekend with $14 million despite generally poor reviews, some of which compared its story to the infamous Mariah Carey bomb "Glitter."

It's a strong opening for the former star of TV's "Dark Angel," and distributor Universal Pictures said the audience for "Honey" was about 75 percent under 21 and 74 percent female. That proved to be wise counterprogramming against "Samurai," which had audiences skewing older and predominantly male, Dergarabedian said.

"Universal selected just the right movie to go up against 'The Last Samurai,' the two movies couldn't be more different," he said.

In only 126 theaters, a rerelease of "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" added $431,000 to that film's total gross, bringing it to $313.8 million. New Line Cinema is reissuing the previous two films to a handful of theaters in advance of the Dec. 17 debut of the final "Rings" installment: "The Return of the King." This coming week, "The Two Towers" will be in theaters again.

There's a moviegoing vacuum that usually follows the weekend after the Thanksgiving holiday, and many of the top holdover movies saw ticket sales drop by more than 60 percent this weekend. Snowfall in the northeastern states may also have kept people at home and away from theaters.

Nonetheless, the overall box-office was up about 34 percent. The top 12 movies took in $91.8 million from Friday to Sunday compared to $68.5 million from the same weekend last year, when "Die Another Day" and "Analyze That" topped the box-office.

Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released later today.

1. "The Last Samurai," $24.4 million.
2. "Honey," $14 million.
3. "The Haunted Mansion," $9.5 million
4. "Elf," $8.1 million.
5. "Dr. Seuss' the Cat in the Hat," $7.3 million.
6. "Bad Santa," $7 million.
7. "Gothika," $5.3 million.
8. "The Missing," $4.4 million.
9. "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," $3.8 million.
10. "Love Actually," $3.7 million.

Kids Who Watch More TV Eat Fewer Vegetables-Study

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The more television children watch the less fruit and vegetables they eat, probably because the advertising they see leaves them craving junk food instead, a study said on Monday.

Children surveyed for the study who spent more time watching television ate 0.16 fewer servings of fruit and vegetables for every extra hour watched. That additional hour a day of TV watching added up to one less nutritional serving every six days.

Heavy television viewing by children has been linked to eating more junk food, getting less exercise and obesity, but this was the first study to show that TV watching led to lower consumption of nutritious fruit and vegetables, said the report, which was published in the journal Pediatrics.

At the start of the survey in 1995, the children, who averaged 12 years of age, ate an average of 4.23 servings of fruit and vegetables per day, which was below the government-recommended five daily servings.

The rising epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States and other industrialized nations has been linked to cardiovascular disease in even young children, and to an accumulation of health problems later in life.

American children spend more time watching television than engaging in any other activity except sleeping, averaging 22 hours of viewing a week, the report said. They are exposed to 20,000 TV commercials a year, or 150 to 200 hours worth.

Study author Renee Boynton-Jarrett of the Harvard School of Public Health said most food advertising aired during children's shows conflict with healthy eating habits.

"Little of this marketing is aimed at fruit and vegetables," the report said.

Conan sets T.O. nights

Conan O'Brien is indeed coming to Canada.

A tentative deal has been reached to bring NBC's Late Night With Conan O'Brien to Toronto for four days of taping, Feb. 7-10.

The early February sweeps date works best for everybody, says Canada's Walk Of Fame founder Peter Soumalias, the driving force behind the event.

"Everyone from NBC's side -- from Conan, Lorne Michaels, (executive producer) Jeff Ross and everyone at the network level -- has been outstanding," Soumalias said yesterday. "We couldn't ask for more co-operation."

The venue for the event appears to be the historic Elgin Theatre, across Yonge St from the Eaton Centre. Originally a vaudeville house, the 90-year-old facility seats more than 2,000.

On Nov. 6 The Sun was first to report that O'Brien's people were interested in shooting a week's worth of shows in Toronto. Five days later, The Sun spotted O'Brien himself scouting venues with executive producer Ross.

O'Brien has been tentatively booked to return to Toronto for a Dec. 15 press conference.

Zevon, Harrison, Cashes Among Dead Grammy Nominees

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - They may have passed on to that great concert hall in the sky, but artists such as Warren Zevon, George Harrison, Johnny Cash and his wife June Carter Cash still managed to pick up multiple Grammy nominations on Thursday.

Zevon, who died of lung cancer in September, scored five Grammy nominations, including song of the year, while Harrison nabbed three nods -- more than two years after he, too, succumbed to lung cancer.

Country royalty Johnny Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, who died within months of each other earlier this year, landed four between them.

Other deceased nominees included Rosemary Clooney, Celia Cruz, soul legend Sam Cooke and blues giant Muddy Waters.

Zevon and Harrison will compete against each other for best male pop vocal performance, with their respective songs "Keep Me In Your Heart" and "Any Road." The Zevon tune is also competing for song of the year.

His collaboration with Bruce Springsteen on "Disorder in the House" is up for best rock song and best rock vocal performance by a duo or group with vocal.

Harrison's posthumous album "Brainwashed" will compete for best pop vocal album, and the tune "Marwa Blues" for pop instrumental performance.

Zevon never received a Grammy during his lifetime, while Harrison won a total of 10.

Johnny Cash's heartbreaking clip for "Hurt," his unlikely cover of a funereal tune by hard rock band Nine Inch Nails, will vie for short form music video. His work with June on "Temptation" competes for country collaboration with vocals.

That track came from her posthumous release "Wildwood Flower," which was nominated for traditional folk album. And her cover of the Carter Family's "Keep on the Sunny Side" will compete for female country vocal performance.

The Cash family was "thrilled and honored" by the recognition, said their manager, Lou Robin. "It's unfortunate that they just weren't here to share in the pleasure of it. But the music, I think, will prevail for years and years to come."

Cash has won 11 Grammys, including two he shared with his wife, and she also won a prize for a solo album.

Clooney, who died of complications from lung cancer in June 2002, was nominated for traditional pop vocal album for "The Last Concert." Coincidentally, she is virtually competing with herself as Bette Midler's "The Rosemary Clooney Songbook" was also cited. Clooney never received a Grammy.

Two-time winner Cruz, who died of cancer in July, will compete for salsa/merengue album with "Regalo Del Alma."

Cooke and Waters will battle each other in the long form music video race, for their respective packages "Legend" and "Muddy Waters Can't Be Satisfied." Cooke was shot to death in 1964, while Waters died of a heart attack in 1983.

"I'm grateful that this fine documentary on the life and music of my brother, Sam Cooke, has been recognized this way," Cooke's brother, L.C. Cooke, said in a statement. "Our family has always been proud of Sam's legacy and we thrilled to share it."

Urban Music Stars Shine at Grammy Nominations

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Destiny's Child singer Beyonce Knowles, rapper Jay-Z, flamboyant hip-hop duo OutKast and musician/producer Pharrell Williams led the contenders for the Grammy Awards on Thursday, as urban acts dominated the nominations for the music industry's most coveted prizes.

Each landed six nominations, while nine artists -- including rapper Eminem, his protege 50 Cent and R&B singer Missy Elliott -- scored five nods apiece.

Musicians in other genres also featured prominently, with rock band Evanescence, pop singer Justin Timberlake, bluegrass musician Ricky Skaggs, and late rock singer/songwriter Warren Zevon also receiving five nominations each.

"Emotionally it hasn't hit me," OutKast member Andre "3000" Benjamin told Reuters of his six nods. "It probably won't -- maybe a year from now..."

Benjamin and colleague Antwan "Big Boi" Patton were nominated for album of the year for their U.S. chart-topper "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below," which consists of two solo discs. The nod was an exoneration of sorts given "what it took to make the album and how this album almost was not made, and how many different phases this album went through," Benjamin said.

His catchy tune "Hey Ya!" -- a grim rumination on marriage set against an upbeat melody -- will vie for record of the year.

Williams, one-half of hitmaking production duo the Neptunes, said he also felt validated by the recognition.

"Man, I could have been nominated for best shoestring," he said. "I'm just glad to be here, man."

Williams' production partner, Chad Hugo, was among the five-time nominees, along with R&B veteran Luther Vandross, who was felled by a life-threatening stroke earlier this year.

"These five Grammy nominations bring yet another unbelievable blessing in a year that's been filled with dramatic ups and downs for Luther Vandross," his business manager, Carmen Romano, said in a statement. "His fans have been incredible and it is so important that his work is recognized in this manner by the industry."

VANDROSS CAREER FIRST

For the first time in his career, Vandross was cited for song of the year, a category that goes to the songwriter, for "Dance With My Father," which he co-wrote with Richard Marx.

Also competing were Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" (written by Linda Perry); Canadian pop singer Avril Lavigne's "I'm With You" (written by Lavigne and producing combo the Matrix); Zevon's "Keep Me In Your Heart" (written by Zevon and Jorge Calderon); and Eminem's Oscar-winning "Lose Yourself" (written by Eminem, Jeff Bass and Luis Resto).

Among the acts with four nominations each were R&B singer Erykah Badu, country veteran Willie Nelson, classical conductor Jose Serebrier, and Jack White, singer/guitarist with Detroit rock duo the White Stripes.

The White Stripes' critically acclaimed release "Elephant" will compete for album of the year with Elliott's "Under Construction," Evanescence's "Fallen," Timberlake's "Justified" and the OutKast set.

The other contenders for record of the year are "Crazy in Love," performed by Knowles with Jay-Z; "Where is the Love," by funk band Black Eyed Peas with Timberlake; "Clocks" by U.K. rock band Coldplay; and Eminem's "Lose Yourself."

Evanescence will also vie for the best new artist category, along with 50 Cent, pop duo Fountains of Wayne, R&B singer Heather Headley and Jamaican reggae star Sean Paul.

Elsewhere, former U.S. President Bill Clinton and his wife, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham, each received a nomination. He, along with former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Italian actress Sophia Loren will compete in the spoken word album for children for their work on a version of "Peter and the Wolf." His wife, a previous Grammy winner, was nominated for spoken word album for "Living History," a recording based on her book.

Winners in all 105 categories will be announced during the 46th annual Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Feb. 8.

Winnipeg to host the 2005 Junos

WINNIPEG -- Winnipeg will host the Juno Awards in 2005, now all we need is a headliner.

"My dream is to get Neil Young to play Portage and Main. Wouldn't it be great to have a parka party at Portage and Main with Neil Young?" said Mayor Glen Murray.

Young, a one-time Winnipegger, has been quoted in the past as saying he would never appear at the Junos unless they were held in Winnipeg, so Murray is going to try to get him keep his word and headline a Get Together Downtown street party the mayor is planning to coincide with the Juno Awards, which will be held in Winnipeg April 1-3, 2005.

"When we host this we will spend every penny we can to make this the best one ever," Murray said at a press conference yesterday.

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) decided to award the Junos to Winnipeg after a local bid committee wowed them with a presentation at the Juno Awards in Ottawa this past April, said CARAS chairman Ross Reynolds.

The awards used to only be held in Toronto and Vancouver but have recently been held in St. John's, Nfld. and Ottawa, where they pumped millions of dollars into the local economies. They will be in Edmonton next year and in Winnipeg the year after that.

"After St. John's the overwhelming consensus was stay the hell out of Toronto," Reynolds said.

The three levels of government have committed about $800,000 to hold the Junos in Winnipeg and private sponsors are also on board, said Kevin Walters, Manitoba Film and Sound manager of sound recording programs, who led the Manitoba bid committee.

The three-day event -- which could be expanded to include the street party -- includes Juno Fest, a two-day music festival to be held in downtown clubs; Juno Fan Fare, a chance for fans to get up close and personal with Canadian musicians at autograph and photo sessions; and a Songwriter's Circle, where artists perform intimate acoustic shows and explain how they write songs.

The Sunday night awards show will be held at the new True North Centre, while other events will be held at the Convention Centre, bars and hotels.

The awards show is the first confirmed event at the new downtown arena, other than the Manitoba Moose.

It's scheduled to open in November, 2004.

"A great thing is you can walk to most places. Ottawa was great, but the Corel Centre is half-an-hour from downtown," Reynolds said.

Premier Gary Doer hinted bars could extend their hours during Juno week to match St. John's.

"I guess we've got to change a few liquor laws in Manitoba to show our hospitality," he said.

The local bid committee -- made up of government and industry representatives -- will spend the next 15 months organizing venues and working on a marketing plan, Walters said.

Ticket prices won't be set or go on sale until after nominations are announced in February 2005.

New Furtado stumbles on charts

Nelly Furtado fans were not in a very giving mood this week, as her latest effort failed to make waves at the top of the Canadian album charts.

"Folklore," her long-awaited follow-up to 2000's runaway effort "Whoa, Nelly," stumbled out of the gate on the Canadian charts, entering in at No. 18 on sales of 10,400 according to Nielsen SoundScan Canada.

Despite debuting lower than "Whoa, Nelly" (No. 11), "Folklore" did manage to sell twice as many albums in its first week. It's too early to tell if "Folklore" will match "Whoa, Nelly's" success, which made Furtado a bona fide star in Canada. It has since sold more than 427,800 copies in Canada alone.

It was the same story south of the border, where Furtado debuted at No. 38 in the U.S.

News was brighter for fellow Canuck Sarah McLachlan, who returned to familiar territory, reclaiming the No. 1 spot with "Afterglow" (26,500). The album has now sold 172,200 copies since its release four weeks ago.

Two MuchMusic compilations made moves in their second week -- "MuchDance 2004" (21,100) moved from No. 6 to No. 2, while "Big Shiny Tunes 8" (18,100) rose four spots to fifth.

Josh Groban's "Closer" (19,000) claimed the third position, while Britney Spears's "In The Zone" (18,200) fell two notches to fourth.

Bruno Pelletier's self-titled (17,200) album jumped 12 spots to land at No. 6, Sheryl Crow's "The Very Best of Sheryl Crow" (15,200) re-entered the top 10 in seventh, and Blink-182's new self-titled effort dropped to No. 8 in its second week of release, after debuting at No. 1 last week.

Rod Stewart's "As Time Goes By...The Great American Songbook: Volume II" (13,800) placed ninth, and "Star Academie" winner Wilfred Le Bouthillier (13,700) rounded out the top 10.

Other notable debuts this week included No Doubt's "Singles Collection" at No. 13, Garou's "Reviens" at No. 20, the compilation "Women & Songs" at No. 27, the soundtrack to the new "Lord of the Rings" film at No. 36, Missy Elliott's "This Is Not A Test" at No. 41, and Puddle of Mudd's "Life On Display" at No. 49.

In the U.S., Jay-Z checked into the No. 1 spot with "The Black Album" (260,100), followed by No Doubt (252,900) in second, Britney Spears (251,300) in third, Hilary Duff's "Metamorphosis" (223,900) in fourth, and the collection "Now That's What I Call Music Vol. 14" (220,300) in fifth.

Here are the 10 best-selling albums in Canada, according to Nielsen SoundScan:

1. SARAH McLACHLAN -- "AFTERGLOW" (26,500)
2. VARIOUS ARTISTS -- "MUCHDANCE 2004" (21,100)
3. JOSH GROBAN -- "CLOSER" (19,000) 18482 58096
4. BRITNEY SPEARS -- "IN THE ZONE" (18,200)
5. VARIOUS ARTISTS -- "BIG SHINY TUNES 8" (18,100)
6. BRUNO PELLETIER -- "BRUNO PELLETIE" (17,200)
7. SHERYL CROW -- "THE VERY BEST OF SHERYL CROW" (15,200)
8. BLINK 182 -- "BLINK 182" (14,000)
9. ROD STEWART -- "THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK: VOLUME II" (13,800)
10. LE BOUTHILLIER -- "WILFRED LE BOUTHILLIER" (13,700)

Canada Songwriters Eye Royalties From ISPs

Canada's songwriters sought to require that Internet service providers pay for their users' music downloading habits in a case that could generate millions of dollars in music royalties.

In the case Canada's Supreme Court heard Wednesday, the 70,000-member Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada also wants to extend the nation's copyright law beyond its borders by applying it to offshore Web sites that serve Canadians.

"I believe that those who benefit from selling access to music should compensate the creators," said David Basskin, president of the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency, whose agency oversees royalties from CDs and includes many of SOCAN's members.

Analysts said the case could have far-reaching implications worth millions if not billions of dollars, especially as the music industry tries to rebound from declining sales in traditional stores.

The case could change how artists are compensated, how far a country can go to extract payment, what gets put on the Internet and how recording companies serve buyers, they said.

SOCAN argues that everyone is downloading music, so all ISPs should pay a blanket royalty fee.

Fighting the effort is the Canadian Association of Internet Providers, which includes Canadian subsidiaries of some of the tech world's heavy hitters: Bell, Sprint, AOL, MCI, IBM and Yahoo.

Jay Thomson, the service provider group's president, said artists should seek royalties directly from Web site operators, not from ISPs simply because they are a convenient target.

SOCAN's effort contrasts with the more litigious approach in the United States, where the recording industry has sued file-sharing services along with individuals who use them. The industry filed another round of lawsuits Wednesday.

The tariff model has been used for the past three years in Canada as a tax on blank cassettes and CDs, ostensibly to compensate for the loss of royalties on home-recorded music. To date the measure has collected $20.5 million.

Richard Owens, executive director of the Center for Innovation Law and Policy at the University of Toronto, questions whether such a model would work on the Internet.

"I'm not sure people using the Internet for perfectly legal reasons should have to pay for problems in the music industry," he said.

Casey Chisick, a copyright and entertainment lawyer in Toronto, said the case could open the door to whether Canadian ISPs are liable for any illegal content they may carry, such as music or pornography.

In the United States, service providers are generally exempted from liability, though they must take steps to remove or block materials upon request to preserve their immunity.

The Supreme Court heard arguments from both sides and is expected to rule in six to 12 months.

John Perry Barlow, a Harvard Law School fellow and co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco, told The Associated Press that SOCAN would be in a "unique, absurd and untenable" position if it won.

"I can't imagine SOCAN effectively policing every Web site on the planet," he said. "Nor can I imagine a Web site in Singapore paying much attention to what the Supreme Court of Canada says."

Paltrow, Martin Expecting First Child

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Gwyneth Paltrow and boyfriend Chris Martin are expecting their first child next summer, her publicist said Wednesday.

The couple were "pleased" to confirm the pregnancy, publicist Stephen Huvane said in a statement. He declined to say whether there were wedding plans.

The 31-year-old actress has been dating Martin, frontman for the British band Coldplay, for the past year. Both have been reticent about publicly discussing their relationship.

In a recent interview with the British Broadcasting Corp., Paltrow said she hopes to marry but wouldn't reveal whether that aspiration extended to the 26-year-old Martin.

Paltrow won a best-actress Oscar in 1999 for "Shakespeare in Love." She stars as poet Sylvia Plath in the new film "Sylvia."

'Mystic River' Wins Season's First 'Best Film' Award

NEW YORK (Reuters) - "Mystic River" was named best film of 2003 and its star Sean Penn was named best actor by The National Board of Review on Wednesday in a possible indicator of what to expect in the race for Academy Awards.
 
Diane Keaton won best actress for her role in Sony Pictures Entertainment's comedy "Something's Gotta Give."

The top 10 films named by the board were: "Mystic River," "The Last Samurai," "The Station Agent," "21 Grams," "House of Sand and Fog," "Lost in Translation," "Cold Mountain," "In America," "Seabiscuit," and "Master and Commander."

Penn won best actor for his work in both Warner Bros.' "Mystic River," and Focus Features' "21 Grams."

Alec Baldwin was named best supporting actor for "The Cooler," while Patricia Clarkson took supporting actress honors for "Pieces of April," and "The Station Agent."

The award for best director went to Edward Zwick for "The Last Samurai," to be released by Warner Bros. this week.

Best foreign film was "Barbarian Invasions," a Canada/France production made in French.

Voting for the awards were about 150 members of a screening committee along with a 12-member awards panel.

"Every year we are the first to announce our awards, and we vote for the ones we like," said board spokeswoman Megan Henry Pilla. "We often hear actors that go on to win Academy Awards tell us 'because you recognized us early, it helped push our campaign for the Oscars."'

More often than not, however, the board's choices do not mirror the Academy Awards, scheduled for Feb. 29.

The board, however, is proud of their independent spirit.

"We picked 'Citizen Kane,' and the Oscars ignored it," said Pilla of Orson Welles (news)' cinematic masterpiece, which won an Oscar for best screenplay in 1941 but otherwise came up empty.

Last year the board agreed with the Oscars on only the best supporting actor category among major awards in honoring Chris Cooper for "Adaptation." Two years ago they again only agreed on best supporting actor Jim Broadbent for "Iris."

The National Board of Review will mark its 95th year as a nonprofit organization in January. Its membership includes film professionals, educators, students and historians.

Warner Bros. Pictures is a unit of Time Warner Inc . Focus Features is the specialty label of Universal Pictures, which is owned by Vivendi Universal.

Paris Hilton's 'Simple Life' Debuts Big for Fox

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - You've seen her in magazines, you've seen her at parties, you may even have seen quite a bit of her on the Internet -- but socialite and heiress Paris Hilton had her biggest showing yet on television on Tuesday night.
 
"The Simple Life," in which Hilton and pal Nicole Richie move to rural Altus, Arkansas to live and work on a farm, was the highest-rated show of the night among teenagers as well as adults ages 18 to 49, two demographics key to advertisers, broadcaster Fox said on Wednesday.

Citing preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research, Fox said the debut of its latest reality series drew an average of 13 million viewers, with a 16 percent share of adults under 50 who were watching TV during the show's 8:30 p.m. time slot.

Hilton, daughter of the famous hotel-owning family, and Richie, daughter of singer Lionel Richie, easily beat NBC comedy "The Tracy Morgan Show." The show had its premiere at 8:00 p.m. and immediately followed with a second show opposite "The Simple Life," when it drew 8.83 million average viewers in its premiere and a 10 percent share of the adult under-50 audience.

After a disappointing "sweeps" ratings period in which it finished fourth among the major networks, Fox was counting on "The Simple Life" to tide it and its audience over until the return of "American Idol" early next year.

The show may have been helped by the very public saga of a video tape, making the rounds of the Internet, showing Hilton engaged in various sex acts with ex-boyfriend Rick Salomon.

The second episode of "The Simple Life" aired on Wednesday night where it faced a mix of repeats, news and holiday specials.

How Many Do You Agree With?

Rolling Stone magazine has published a list of the Top 500 Albums Of All Time.

Whether you agree, or not, here are the Top 100!

1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles
2. Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys
3. Revolver, The Beatles
4. Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan
5. Rubber Soul, The Beatles
6. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye
7. Exile on Main Street, The Rolling Stones
8. London Calling, The Clash
9. Blonde on Blonde, Bob Dylan
10. The Beatles ("The White Album"), The Beatles

11. The Sun Sessions, Elvis Presley

12. Kind of Blue, Miles Davis

13. Velvet Underground and Nico, The Velvet Underground

14. Abbey Road, The Beatles

15. Are You Experienced?, The Jimi Hendrix Experience

16. Blood on the Tracks, Bob Dylan

17. Nevermind, Nirvana

18. Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen

19. Astral Weeks, Van Morrison

20. Thriller, Michael Jackson

21. The Great Twenty-Eight, Chuck Berry

22. Plastic Ono Band, John Lennon

23. Innervisions, Stevie Wonder

24. Live at the Apollo (1963), James Brown

25. Rumours, Fleetwood Mac

26. The Joshua Tree, U2

27. King of the Delta Blues Singers, Vol. 1, Robert Johnson

28. Who's Next, The Who

29. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin

30. Blue, Joni Mitchell

31. Bringing It All Back Home, Bob Dylan

32. Let It Bleed, The Rolling Stones

33. Ramones, Ramones

34. Music From Big Pink, The Band

35. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, David
Bowie

36. Tapestry, Carole King

37. Hotel California, The Eagles

38. The Anthology, 1947 - 1972, Muddy Waters

39. Please Please Me, The Beatles

40. Forever Changes, Love

41. Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, The Sex Pistols

42. The Doors, The Doors

43. The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd

44. Horses, Patti Smith

45. The Band, The Band

46. Legend, Bob Marley and the Wailers

47. A Love Supreme, John Coltrane

48. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Public Enemy

49. At Fillmore East, The Allman Brothers Band

50. Here's Little Richard, Little Richard

51. Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Simon and Garfunkel

52. Greatest Hits, Al Green

53. The Birth of Soul: The Complete Atlantic Rhythm and Blues Recordings,
1952 - 1959, Ray Charles

54. Electric Ladyland, The Jimi Hendrix Experience

55. Elvis Presley, Elvis Presley

56. Songs in the Key of Life, Stevie Wonder

57. Beggars Banquet, The Rolling Stones

58. Trout Mask Replica, Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band

59. Meet the Beatles, The Beatles

60. Greatest Hits, Sly and the Family Stone

61. Appetite for Destruction, Guns n' Roses

62. Achtung Baby, U2

63. Sticky Fingers, The Rolling Stones

64. Phil Spector, Back to Mono (1958 - 1969), Various Artists

65. Moondance, Van Morrison

66. Led Zeppelin IV, Led Zeppelin

67. The Stranger, Billy Joel

68. Off the Wall, Michael Jackson

69. Superfly, Curtis Mayfield

70. Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin

71. After the Gold Rush, Neil Young

72. Purple Rain, Prince

73. Back in Black, AC/DC

74. Otis Blue, Otis Redding

75. Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin

76. Imagine, John Lennon

77. The Clash, The Clash

78. Harvest, Neil Young

79. Star Time, James Brown

80. Odessey and Oracle, The Zombies

81. Graceland, Paul Simon

82. Axis: Bold as Love, The Jimi Hendrix Experience

83. I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, Aretha Franklin

84. Lady Soul, Aretha Franklin

85. Born in the U.S.A., Bruce Springsteen

86. Let It Be, The Beatles

87. The Wall, Pink Floyd

88. At Folsom Prison, Johnny Cash

89. Dusty in Memphis, Dusty Springfield

90. Talking Book, Stevie Wonder

91. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Elton John

92. 20 Golden Greats, Buddy Holly

93. Sign 'o' the Times, Prince

94. Bitches Brew, Miles Davis

95. Green River, Creedence Clearwater Revival

96. Tommy, The Who

97. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan

98. This Year's Model, Elvis Costello

99. There's a Riot Goin' On, Sly and the Family Stone

100. In the Wee Small Hours, Frank Sinatra

Wanna check out the other 400?

Ralphie's near miss

Director Bob Clark will never be confused with Frank Capra.

But for many, Clark's film A Christmas Story is as beloved a holiday perennial as Capra's It's A Wonderful Life.

Film lovers might sneer at Clark's body of work — Baby Geniuses, Turk 182! and Rhinestone are among the more high-profile films — but he will be remembered for two genre milestones.

It was the vulgar sex comedy Porky's in 1982, a Canadian box office champ, that made the beloved A Christmas Story possible in 1983. They are as different as night and day, but represent two sides of the feisty but little-known filmmaker. And both come straight from the director's heart.

Clark, 62, was born in Birmingham, Ala., but was raised in Florida, where he attended college.

Like many young directors, he broke into the business through the horror genre. When his first film, Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things, was picked up by a Canadian company in 1972, he inadvertently became a pioneer in the coming exodus of film production from Hollywood to Canada. In 1974, his film Black Christmas was picked up by Warner Bros. and he was off.

Two studio films — 1979's Murder By Decree, with Christopher Plummer as Sherlock Holmes, and 1982's Tribute, with Jack Lemmon — followed. After each of his films, Clark said during a telephone interview, he would try to get studios to let him make something called A Christmas Story.

"And they would laugh at me. After Porky's, they didn't laugh any more," he said.

Porky's is the story of a group of high school boys obsessed with sex.

"It was the most vulgar, outrageous movie," said Clark, "but it was honest. That's how we grew up. Every single one of those stories is true. Everything in Porky's was collected from high schools around the nation, because I realized that high schools are the repository of our ritual of our sexual coming of age, which is an important part of what life is about."

The film became a surprise hit, spawning sequels and modern-day gross-out imitators such as American Pie and the Farrelly brothers' films.

But Porky's was also much loathed. Clark said that one critic wrote, "`I hate it more for the hundreds of copies of it I had to review since then.'"

However, the director added, the film "always had its supporters." David Mamet and Norman Mailer were fans, "and Pauline Kael gave me a good review," he said.

The film's success at the box office gave Clark the clout to make his dream project. He had been writing the screenplay for A Christmas Story for 15 years, with Jean Shepherd, upon whose autobiographical essays the film is based.

Shepherd was a radio announcer turned writer and performer whose works were featured on public TV in the 1970s. Clark tracked him down back in 1968 and told him that "I loved his material but I didn't have any money. He didn't care. He just wanted see A Christmas Story get made."

It took 15 years to do it. Shepherd, who narrated the film and who died in 1999, was a notorious curmudgeon, but he and Clark "hit it off from the beginning," the director said. "I revered his work, and he knew that."

A Christmas Story, set in the 1940s, is specifically drawn from Shepherd's life growing up in a steel town in Indiana, but it tells a more universal story of a working-class family's life in the days leading up to the holiday. It stars Darren McGavin as the crusty father, Melinda Dillon as the frazzled mom and Peter Billingsley as the bespectacled boy who dreams of getting a BB gun for Christmas. It is a beautifully detailed and emotionally evocative piece that captures the feelings of family life, childhood and the holiday in one fell swoop.

"It touches so many truths. So many people say, `God, that was my old man,'" Clark said.

McGavin and Billingsley's character, named Ralphie, "are both unquenchable in their spirit," Clark added.

"The old man is going to go on and on and on. He may seem a dullard and stupid, but he's not," the director said. "He wants what he wants, and Ralphie is very much his son, with a bit more finesse.

"We worked very hard to capture the feeling of the house and the Christmas tree. We went to great lengths to create the sense of time and place. And I think that's what touches people."

In the audio commentary on the recently released 20th anniversary DVD from Warner Bros., Clark almost dismissively describes a scene in which the family tries to get Ralphie's younger brother to eat his dinner as "a lot of palaver around the kitchen table." Yet the scene's very simplicity reveals the heart of the film and reflects the purity of Clark's aesthetic.

"It's just the gut instinct of, forgive me, an artist who grew up in that world," he said. "That's the world of a lot of Americans. That's their home. Two kids, a father and a mother who does all the work. The truths were in Shepherd's work.

"Someone said, `There's not a scene where there aren't 10 observations about life.' And it's true. We worked hard for those little moments."

The film's ending "tells you what's really going on" in the family. After their adventure at the Chinese restaurant where they eat Christmas duck, "Mom puts her arm around Dad — they haven't touched in the whole movie — and there's a connection there. You think they live in separate worlds, but these people have parts of each other that fill the other's life."

Clark said Porky's and A Christmas Story are "about the dynamics of acquisition, the intense desire to acquire a girl's body" in Porky's and Ralphie's BB gun in A Christmas Story. One critic even noted that the boys in A Christmas Story could have grown up to become the leering youths in Porky's.

"And I think that's true without question," said Clark.

Clark made a sequel to A Christmas Story, about summer vacation, using different actors, but it did not fare well. The original, however, lives on in the hearts and minds of the audience. There are numerous Web sites and fan clubs dedicated to it, and Clark often encounters people who recite lines of dialogue to him.

Clark hopes the film will be theatrically re-released during the 2004 holiday season. Five of his films are being remade, including Porky's, which is being remade by Howard Stern. But A Christmas Story is not among them.

"You couldn't do it again," said Clark. "A certain magic happened."

Futurama Season 3

The third season of the retro-futuristic Futurama will be coming to DVD from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment early this spring. (That’s the third production season, which was actually fragmentally aired over the third, forth and fifth seasons).

The set will contain all twenty-two episodes in fullscreen and Dolby Surround 2.0 with the usual excellent selection of features including audio commentaries for all episodes and an alternate animation commentary for "Roswell that Ends Well", seventeen deleted scenes, still galleries and character art, a full length animatic for "Anthology of Interest II", the Fox DVD staple international clips, and nine 3d models.

The set will street March 9th, with a $49.98 suggested retail price.

X-MEN DVDs hit staggering numbers

Between the numbers for the first five days of the DVD release for X-Men 2, and the to date numbers of X-Men and X-Men 1.5 (the special rerelease DVD set of the first film), the franchise is reported to have made well over one billion dollars, easily beating out SPIDER-MAN and THE HULK's total income, although X2 is still about 75 percent of SPIDER-MAN's sales, yet easily doubleTHE HULK'S.

X-Files To Return

Yep, that’s the news people. Fortunately X-FILES won’t come back as a TV series, but as a sequel to the 1998 movie. David Duchovny recently told a website that depending on the script, the plan is to start filming early next year.

Peter Jackson Wants THE HOBBIT

LORD OF THE RINGS director Peter Jackson says he definitely wants to direct THE HOBBIT, but it's in New Line's court.

Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson told the Australian news.com.au Web site that he is now interested in helming a movie version of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. Jackson said that Rings studio New Line Cinema had yet to speak to him about The Hobbit and added there were some difficulties related to the rights for the book.

But, Jackson said, "certainly if they want to talk to me about it, I'd be keen. It would be wonderful to complete the set of films." The Hobbit, which Tolkien published in 1937 before starting on The Lord of the Rings, is a children's story about Bilbo Baggins' first encounter with Gandalf, Gollum and the One Ring.

Lord of the Rings executive producer Mark Ordesky confirmed to the site that "there could be a movie about The Hobbit. Enough said." Before that, however, Jackson will have to complete work on his upcoming remake of the classic SF movie King Kong.

New M*A*S*H?!?!?

"MASH" fanatics will be happy to hear that CBS is sitting on a proposed special called "MASHback."

The scribe is Gary Markowitz, who has called Larry Gelbart "dad" --- "since I was 6 years old."

The show tells the story from Gelbart's script for the pilot and continues on to the death of McLean Stevenson's character Lt. Col. Henry Blake.

This special would be unlike any homage to past vidclassics. It would be cast with new actors in the classic "MASH" roles. (Five of the episodes were written by Markowitz.)

Gelbart has not written any of "MASHback," but Markowitz, who has interviewed his "father" at great lengths to make this special truly special, allows that it has Gelbart's "imprimatur" and he's given CBS an OK to portray him.

The project was initiated by Myra Model, then at CBS. And if it goes forward as a movie, Markowitz says she will be attached as a producer with him

Familiar Names Lead People's Choice Nominees

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Old favorites like Kelsey Grammer, Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts led the nominees for the 30th People's Choice Awards, a fan-driven list of honors in TV, movies and music announced on Tuesday.

As opposed to most other awards shows, where nominees are determined by industry peers, the People's Choice Awards are determined by public polling by the Gallup Organization. The awards will be broadcast live on CBS on Jan. 11.

Among the TV networks, NBC led with 11 nominations, including two each for "Friends" and "Will & Grace" in the categories of favorite comedy series and favorite female performer (Jennifer Aniston and Debra Messing, respectively).

CBS came in second with eight nominations, including mentions for "Everybody Loves Raymond" and star Ray Romano. ABC garnered two nominations while Fox received just one.

The music nominations leaned heavily toward country, with leading acts like Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Alabama and Brooks & Dunn among those on the list. Two of rap's hottest artists, Eminem and 50 Cent, also drew mentions, for favorite male musical performer.

The list of film honorees contained no surprises, with the likes of "Pirates of the Caribbean"'s Johnny Depp and "Gothika"'s Halle Berry receiving nominations.

A list of the People's Choice Award nominees in the top 14 categories:

FAVORITE MALE TELEVISION PERFORMER
Kelsey Grammer
Ray Romano
Martin Sheen

FAVORITE FEMALE TELEVISION PERFORMER
Jennifer Aniston
Debra Messing
Oprah Winfrey

FAVORITE NEW TELEVISION DRAMATIC SERIES
"Cold Case"
"Joan of Arcadia"
"The O.C."

FAVORITE NEW TELEVISION COMEDY SERIES
"Hope & Faith"
"Two and a Half Men"
"Whoopi"

FAVORITE TELEVISION DRAMATIC SERIES
"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"
"ER"
"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"

FAVORITE TELEVISION COMEDY SERIES
"Everybody Loves Raymond"
"Friends"
"Will & Grace"

FAVORITE REALITY-BASED PROGRAM
"Fear Factor"
"Survivor: Pearl Islands"
"The Bachelor"

FAVORITE TALK SHOW HOST
"Jay Leno"
"David Letterman"
"Oprah Winfrey"

FAVORITE MALE MUSICAL PERFORMER
Eminem
50 Cent
Tim McGraw

FAVORITE FEMALE MUSICAL PERFORMER
Faith Hill
Beyonce Knowles
Shania Twain

FAVORITE MUSICAL GROUP OR BAND
Alabama
Brooks & Dunn
Matchbox Twenty

FAVORITE MOTION PICTURE ACTOR
Johnny Depp
Mel Gibson
Denzel Washington

FAVORITE MOTION PICTURE ACTRESS
Halle Berry
Sandra Bullock
Julia Roberts

FAVORITE ALL-TIME ENTERTAINER
Bill Cosby
Clint Eastwood
Tom Hanks

Today's New Releases

This week in The Couch Potato Report, a movie that should have failed but succeeded and a TV show that just plain failed.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL should have been one of 2003 biggest theatrical bombs.

After all it was a movie that was based on a ride at Disneyland, and it was a pirate movie. Over the past decade any movies with pirates in them have failed miserably.

Remember CUTHROAT ISLAND? How about THE PIRATE MOVIE? THE ISLAND? TREASURE PLANET?!?

Neither do most people.

But you will remember PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL. Just forget everything you heard about this film. Forget it's based after a Disney ride, forget that the cast that includes Johnny Depp, Keira Knightly and Geoffrey Rush, all seemed horribly miscast, forget that pirate movies have been dreadful for the past few decades, just forget all and any preconceptions you might have.

This is an amazing movie!

Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow fights to regain his pirate ship the Black Pearl. It was stolen by his former crew turned, who are now less than human.

I don't want to say too much regarding the plot as you should have the opportunity to press play and let PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL unfold as I did.

Trust me, you won't be disappointed, me mateys.

For 12 brief and shining episodes in 1992 THE BEN STILLER SHOW was the best show on television.

It recaptured the humour of skit based comedy that had been missing since the years when we had both Saturday Night Live and SCTV to watch every week.

Sadly, the show was too-hip-for-the-room and had more than dismal ratings and was unceremoniously cancelled.

Happily the cast went on to bigger and better things. Ben Stiller starred in THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY and MEET THE PARENTS. Andy Dick was part of the cast of the TV show NEWSRADIO. Janeane Garofalo starred on TV in THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW and on the silver screen in THE TRUTH ABOUT CATS AND DOGS and BOB ODENKIRK became a writer for THE CONAN O'BRIEN SHOW, but for those few of us who were enjoying THE BEN STILLER SHOW every week, that cancellation left a void.

Luckily I had taped the entire run of the show, but over the years those tapes have been loaned out to so many people that they had become unwatchable.

I no longer need those videos. The entire run of THE BEN STILLER SHOW has been released on DVD!!

Stiller and company's pitch-perfect and intimately observed skewering of movies, television, and show business convention could be exhilarating, as witness "Woody Allen's Bride of Frankenstein" (you'll never watch another Allen film with a straight face again), "Cape Munster," with Stiller as a psychopathic and vengeful Eddie Munster, "Skank," a potent comment on the crass programming that was initially Fox's stock in trade, and even brilliant riffs on the seminal reality series Cops, which re-imagine the series in witch-hysteric Salem, Massachussetts, ancient Egypt, and medieval times.

In addition to the cast's uncanny impersonations (Stiller's Bono, Tom Cruise, Bruce Springsteen, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Bruce Willis, and Garofalo's Juliette Lewis), The Ben Stiller Show was home to a gallery of recurring characters--agent Michael Pheret, the No, No, No Guy--who, thankfully, SNL producer Lorne Michaels was not around to parlay into godawful films. The topical humor can't help but date some of the material (the show is a veritable Trivial Pursuit of pop culture references, from The Partridge Family to Beverly Hills 90210, but the brilliance of the writing and sheer abandon of the performances are still a joy to behold.

And now you don't have to borrow my video tapes to watch them, you can own your own copy of THE BEN STILLER SHOW!

Enjoy!

Also out this week, the TV show ALIAS offers you a box set with THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON; and THE ALIEN QUADRILOGY is an incredible nine disc box set that includes all of the ALIEN films. That's ALIEN, ALIENS, ALIEN3 and ALIEN RESURRECTION.

COMING NEXT WEEK

Bad Boys II - Two Miami cops are out on the trail of drugs and a ruthless drug lord in one of the most pointless movies of 2003. (Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Gabrielle Union)

How To Deal - A teenager, who doesn't believe in love, falls in love. Sorry, I didn't see it, but I love Mandy Moore. (Mandy Moore, Allison Janney, Alexandra Holden)

Gigli - A kidnapping mobster falls for his female cohort in one of the worst movies ever. (Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Christopher Walken)

M*A*S*H: Season Five Collector's Edition - The complete fifth season of the TV series M*A*S*H. (Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, Loretta Swit)

Enjoy the movies and I'll see you on The Couch!

Justin Guarini Dropped By RCA, Missing From 'Idol' Christmas Special

Season one American Idol runner-up Justin Guarini is among the missing. The Pennsylvania native was dropped from his record label, RCA, after his self-titled debut album landed at Number 20 on the Billboard 200 album chart selling a mere 54,000 copies. While 54,000 may seem like a fair amount of albums, it pales in comparison to Kelly Clarkson's first week sales of 297,000 copies of her album Thankful, or Clay Aiken's first week sales of a whopping 613,000 copies of Measure Of A Man.

Guarini was noticeably absent from the Fox special An American Idol Christmas on Tuesday, November 25, and the word is from sources close to the situation that the 25-year-old singer refused to appear on the show. Interestingly, Guarini was on the bill when the show was first announced in October. Clay Aiken, Christina Christian, Kelly Clarkson, Tamyra Gray, Kimberley Locke, and Ruben Studdard were among the Idol stars who did perform.

By the way, Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson return for a new season of American Idol on Fox-TV in January. A special two-hour episode of American Idol will air on January 20 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, and a special one-hour episode of the show will air on January 21 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Eastwood In Gotham?

Clint Eastwood was rumoured to be playing Commissioner Gordon in the upcoming BATMAN 5. This however would seem to have been false. Instead, word is that he is to play the Gotham City Mayor

...here are the new music releases for Tuesday, December 2, 2003:

* 112 Hot And Wet (Def Soul)
* ALICIA KEYS The Diary of Alicia Keys (J Records)
* BERES HAMMOND Can't Stop A Man (VP)
* BLUE MAN GROUP The Complex Rock Tour Live (DVD) (Warner)
* BOB GUINEY 3 Sides (Wind-Up/Sony)
* CLAY AIKEN Invisible (CD Single) (RCA)
* DAVID BOWIE Sound + Vision (Box set) (Capitol/Virgin)
* DIXIE CHICKS Top Of The World (Sony)
* ELEPHANT MAN Good 2 Go (VP)
* IN AMERICA OST In America OST (Atlantic)
* JAMIROQUAI Late Night Tales (Ultra Records)
* JOHNNY GREENWOOD Bodysong (EMI)
* KINKY Atlas (Nettwerk)
* KRS-ONE D.I.G.I.T.A.L. (Cleopatra Records)
* LONGVIEW Mercury (Warner International)
* NAT KING COLE The Classic Singles (Box set) (Capitol)
* NORTHERN PIKES It's A Good Life (Sextant Records)
* PAT MARTINO Think Tank (Blue Note)
* RANDY TRAVIS Worship & Faith (Warner)
* ROBERT PALMER The Very Best Of (Angel)
* THE HOLLIES The Long Road Home: 40th Anniversary Collection (EMI)
* TRACE ADKINS Comin' On Strong (Capitol)
* TURBULENT Turbulent (Sextant Records)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS Mingle: Supper Club Album (Warner Strategic Marketing)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS Platinum Dance Hits (Warner Strategic Marketing)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS CMT Central Volume 1 (Capitol Nashville)
* VARIOUS ARTISTS MuchDance 90s (BMG)
* WESTLIFE Turnaround (Arista)

Nelly Furtado's New CD Is Pure Diversity

NEW YORK - As a 4-year-old, Nelly Furtado hid behind the living room couch, listening to her mother practice Portuguese hymns with friends in the church choir. She also would raid her father's record collection to hear Blondie, Led Zeppelin, ABBA and Billy Joel albums. She'd sing Joel's songs over and over.

Furtado learned the spirit of musical eclecticism at an early age. And now with the release of her second album — two decades later — she's made it her signature.

The disc's lead track, "One-Trick Pony," is all about not being pinned down to a style. In a single song, she manages to include a hip-hop beat, a banjo, the classical Kronos Quartet and a Hawaiian guitar.

"I do feel like I'm a standout, that I'm separate from the pack, that I've carved out my own niche in the pop world by giving my music an international edge and putting a new spin on how I do things," she said. "Diversity is my strength."

Furtado, who turns 25 Tuesday, grew up in British Columbia, the daughter of immigrant parents from Portugal's Azores. She won a Grammy in 2002 for her song, "I'm Like a Bird," off her debut album, "Whoa, Nelly," which has sold 2.4 million copies.

After some predictable second-album jitters where she briefly considered quitting and going back to school to study creative writing, she completed the disc, "Folklore," and took time off to have her first baby, Nevis.

With her album out Thanksgiving week, Furtado worked through the holiday on interviews and appearances, delaying one talk so she could feed Nevis in a hotel room.

It's not exactly the glamorous life she pictured as a teenager when, having cleaned rooms in the Robin Hood Motel in Victoria, she'd take a soda out to the roof and daydream about a musical career.

But it beats being a maid.

When Furtado performed after her first album, the place she felt most at home was with Moby's Area One concert tour, where she shared a bill with Moby, Incubus, OutKast and the Roots.

"Nothing made sense," she said. "Just a lot of people on one stage. And that's what music should be. It should be a celebration of differences."

In school, she played in the jazz band, the marching band and the concert band. She played the ukulele and the trombone, and that doesn't even account for the music she played with friends.

"I've never really stuck to one genre," she said. "Maybe when I was a young teenager. I was really into hip-hop and R&B, but aside from that phase I think I've been pretty open-minded my whole life when it comes to music. It's hard not to be when you grow up speaking in two languages and singing in two languages."

Furtado and her producers, the Canadian duo of Gerald Eaton and Brian West, treated the recording studio as their personal playground.

The striking song, "Childhood Dreams," is a stately ballad built around a pipe organ found in a church. Concerned the song was getting too classical-sounding, Furtado threw in an Indian instrument, the tabla.

The album also features an appearance by one of Furtado's musical heroes, Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso, who she admires for — you guessed it — his eclecticism.

Furtado sent the song, "Island of Wonder," to him and was delighted when Veloso wrote back how much he liked it and wanted to sing. Veloso didn't realize that the music was built off a sample from one of his own albums.

"People always ask me, `Why do you throw all these things in the mix?'" she said. "And I don't know any other way. I can't separate myself from my culture."

Furtado has attracted some attention for the lyrics to her new single, "Powerless (Say What You Want)," which hint at prejudice in how she's portrayed.

She sings: "Paint my face in your magazines, make it look whiter than it seems. Paint me over with your dreams, shove away my ethnicity."

Asked about it, Furtado said she's not referring to a specific incident. The lyrics refer not to how she's portrayed in the media, but instead recall some of her difficulties as a child of Portuguese parents mixing cultures.

"Growing up, I was the only kid in my elementary school who didn't have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in my lunchbox," she said. "That has an effect on you."

Album signed for Lennon killer on sale

An infamous piece of Beatles' memorabilia is up for sale on the Internet, Reuters reports.

The copy of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Double Fantasy" album, signed by the musician for Mark David Chapman hours before Chapman killed Lennon, is up for sale on Momentsintime.com

The album was found hidden outside the entrance of Lennon's New York home, the Dakota apartment building, shortly after he was shot Dec. 8, 1980. It was used as evidence against Chapman.

The asking price for the "most important piece of historic rock memorabilia ever," according to the site, is $682,213 Cdn. The album includes Chapman's forensically enhanced fingerprints, visible on the cover and dust jacket.

'Cat' Tops Weekend Box Office by Whisker

LOS ANGELES - The Cat in the Hat came back to narrowly beat Eddie Murphy at the box office over a Thanksgiving weekend dominated by family flicks.

"Dr. Seuss' the Cat in the Hat" earned $25.6 million from Friday to Sunday to finish as the No. 1 movie, a whisker ahead of Murphy's spooky comedy "The Haunted Mansion."

The 10-day total for "The Cat in the Hat," starring Mike Myers as the mischievous feline, hit $77 million. "The Haunted Mansion" earned $25.3 million, and has grossed $35 million since its debut Wednesday.

Will Ferrell's "Elf" held up well with $22.2 million, lifting its four-week sum to $130.1 million. "Elf" became the 24th movie released in 2003 to top $100 million, tying last year's record of 24 films over that mark.

"Thanksgiving is the perfect time for family films, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "If you've got the kids home and you have family activities going on, what better way to keep the family together than going to the movies?"

In initial box office reporting early Sunday, The Haunted Mansion had the top spot, but Universal revised its numbers upward to put "The Cat in the Hat" in the lead. Rankings could change again when final numbers are reported Monday.

Universal spokesman Jeffrey Sackson said a company publicist had released incorrect weekend numbers early Sunday. The company called reporters to correct the error once it was discovered, he said.

The family films held off a rush of new movies for adults. Billy Bob Thornton's "Bad Santa," about a foul-mouthed boozer who poses as a mall Santa to rob department stores, debuted at No. 6 with $12.5 million from Friday to Sunday and $16.8 million since opening Wednesday.

Ron Howard's Old West thriller "The Missing," starring Cate Blanchett as a pioneer woman who enlists her estranged father (Tommy Lee Jones) to track her abducted daughter, premiered at No. 7 with an $11.7 million weekend and $16.5 million since its Wednesday debut.

The sci-fi adventure "Timeline," about a team of archaeologists hurled back in time to a deadly 14th century battle, opened in eighth place with $8.5 million for the weekend and $12.6 million since premiering Wednesday.

If figures hold when final numbers are released Monday, this would be Hollywood's second-best Thanksgiving weekend ever. The top 12 movies took in $209.5 million from Wednesday to Sunday, ahead of the $208 million haul for the previous No. 2 Thanksgiving weekend in 1999.

The best Thanksgiving weekend ever was in 2000, when "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" paced the industry to a $232.2 million haul.

Based on Disney's theme-park attraction, "The Haunted Mansion" stars Murphy as a real-estate salesman stuck with his family in a big old house full of ghosts. Playing in 3,122 theaters, "The Haunted Mansion" averaged a solid $8,104 a cinema from Friday to Sunday.

Like "The Cat in the Hat" the previous weekend, "The Haunted Mansion" found a solid audience despite bad reviews. Critics tend to judge family flicks too harshly, said Disney head of distribution Chuck Viane.

"They're sometimes put up against a much more critical standard than they should be," Viane said. "You have people who want everything to be so artistic. That's not what family movies are about. They're about enjoyment and laughter and having fun."

Three films did well in limited-release debuts. Jim Sheridan's semi-autobiographical "In America" — about an Irish family adapting to life in New York City — had a weekend haul of $202,730 in 11 theaters, averaging $18,430 a cinema.

"The Cooler," a black comedy starring William H. Macy as a Las Vegas loser paying off casino debts by working as a "jinx" on other gamblers, grossed $130,000 in 11 theaters, averaging $11,818.

The madcap French animated flick "The Triplets of Belleville" took in $114,636 in six theaters for a $19,106 average.

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. "Dr. Seuss' the Cat in the Hat," $25.6 million.
2. "The Haunted Mansion," $25.3 million.
3. "Elf," $22.2 million.
4. "Gothika," $12.71 million.
5. "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," $12.7 million.
6. "Bad Santa," $12.5 million.
7. "The Missing," $11.7 million.
8. "Timeline," $8.5 million.
9. "Love Actually," $8.2 million.
10. "Brother Bear," $4.9 million.