FRIEND OR FAUX?

Some people pay money to receive emails, letters and photos from pretend lovers.

For just $50, you can rent a girlfriend for a month.

You'll never get to kiss her, give her flowers or even meet her, but at least she'll send you a few letters and maybe even scent them with perfume.

Imaginary girlfriends - and boyfriends - are the latest sensations on eBay, which currently lists more than 80 entries from men and women who want to be your baby - if you're willing to pay the price.

If you've got $100, you can bid on "Let Me Be Your Imaginary Girlfriend," who promises "a nice & sweet letter or a hot & naughty letter every week for two months," along with e-mails and digital pictures.

For $14.99, you can get a "secret admirer" box of chocolates from an imaginary boyfriend on Valentine's Day. And for just $4.99, you can land an "Imaginary Stalker Ex-Boyfriend," who will e-mail you "on a daily basis, asking where you've been all day and who you were with."

What's going on here? Are people really that desperate to be in a relationship?

"Some guys are just paralyzed with dating. It's like a phobia," says L.A. clinical psychologist Robert Butterworth.

"If this gives them a boost of self-confidence, then it's not so bad. It's a step to building a relationship."

The bidding is currently up to $51 on "Online Imaginary Girlfriend," who boasts that she's "great if you want to make another girl jealous or to prove to your friends that you do have a girlfriend.

"At the end of the four weeks," she continues, "you can dump me however you'd like to, and I can beg you to take me back if you wish!!"

In real life, "Online Imaginary Girlfriend" is Amanda, a 22-year-old college student from Nova Scotia who posted her first auction on eBay last week.

"At first, I just did it as a joke," Amanda told The Post.

"But then some guy paid me $100, and I thought, this is a lot better than working at Dairy Queen."

Amanda is more revealing than most imaginary girlfriends - she gives out her cell phone number to whoever wins the auction. The guy who won her faux affections last week, a business student in Boston, has called three times since, and he and Amanda trade e-mail several times a day.

The original on-line imaginary girlfriend - a 22-year-old college junior named Judy in Wichita Falls, Texas - only promised four letters and a picture in her first auction, which she posted on eBay late one night last September.

"It started as just this off-the-wall idea at, like, 2 in the morning," Judy told The Post.

She had been watching the 1987 movie "Can't Buy Me Love," starring Patrick Dempsey as a dorky high schooler who pays a cheerleader $1,000 a month to date him.

"I thought, what a great idea, but I wanted to do it in a way that I wouldn't have to see the guy."

That first auction netted $40, and Judy, who wants to be an elementary school teacher, now sells her services through her own Web site, www.judylovesme.com. Since September, she's made about $300.

Meanwhile, her copycats have been raking it in on eBay - and the auctioneer isn't about to stop them.

"This isn't against our policies, because basically it's just a pen pal service," says eBay spokesman Hani Durzy.

"We'd draw the line if someone was offering to meet with the person, because that gets into selling human bodies, which is definitely against our policies."

EBay doesn't promise to protect buyers against deceptive imaginary girlfriends - and they are out there.

"Used to Model Panties," a self-described "naughty college girl (theater major)" advertises herself with a picture that looked like it was ripped out of a lingerie catalog.

The first e-mail from Panties, which was signed "XOXOXO, Shari," also contained a receipt for a payment made out not to Shari but to some guy named Brian, who runs the Internet site at a Ford dealership in Omaha.

A phone call to Brian ended up getting returned by his wife, Shari, who admitted with a laugh that Brian had written the XOXO note and that the picture on eBay was not her.

"Brian's just a creative guy, always looking for easy ways to make money," said Shari, a mother of three who works part-time as a phlebotomist at an Omaha hospital.

"We heard about this imaginary girlfriend thing a couple weeks ago, and we said, 'Well, that sounds easy.' "

Since then, Shari and Brian have communicated with five men, writing them one letter and several e-mails once a day.

"They're just lonely guys looking for a friend," she says. "It's safe companionship for them."

For the most part, the guys have relatively tame e-mails, but one asked for a pair of Shari's panties, and she complied - sort of.

"There's no way I'd send him mine," Shari says. "Those were fresh panties we bought at Wal-Mart."

I'm better than dirt! Well, most kinds of dirt, not that fancy store-bought dirt... I can't compete with that stuff."

— Moe, Fox's The Simpsons

GIVING THE BIRD

Comedian Richard Pryor is joining PETA's international campaign urging people to boycott KFC restaurants until the company cracks down on its suppliers' cruel treatment of chickens.

'King' extended DVD on the way

Now that the last installment of The Lord of the Rings saga has reaped 11 Oscar nominations and appears a shoo-in for best picture, there is another concern on the minds of its fan fellowship.

When can we expect the extended DVD version of The Return of the King?

Director Peter Jackson just edited the four-hour, 10-minute longer cut, due in November. The theatrical version will arrive in May or June.

Speaking from his hotel in Los Angeles, the Kiwi was in a splendid mood, despite a lack of Oscar nominations for his cast. "Sean (Astin, who plays hobbit Sam) was our chance at it. There were other great performances, but his was the name we were praying to hear this morning."

He enjoyed his first Golden Globes ceremony, where King went four for four with wins. Save for one discovery: New Zealand is left off the globe portion of his statue. "I'll have a quiet word with them."

South Park season finale has boys heading to Canada in Oz homage

TORONTO (CP) - The boys of South Park are blaming Canada again. And the new prime minister.

In the 1999 movie South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, foul-mouthed Canadian cartoon characters were blamed for the moral corruption of America's youth, which led to a third world war. The movie included a musical number, Blame Canada, that even jokingly slagged Anne Murray.

Now, the new prime minister is the target in South Park's season finale, an episode called Christmastime in Canada, which airs Feb. 13 on The Comedy Network.

Word gets out that Canada has a new leader and he's causing big problems with his laws and policies. Just as Christmas is approaching, he's demanded that all adopted children be returned to their birth parents.

One of the South Park kids is shipped off to Canada. The South Park gang is determined to save Christmas and they head north to the rescue.

The episode is an homage to The Wizard of Oz, the idea being that Canada is a foreign, bizarre place, said Matt Stone, one of the co-creators of the show.

"We really love the idea of treating Canada like Oz. . .and just asserting that Canada is this totally strange fantasy land," Stone said.

The kids travel down Canada's "only road", though Quebec and Newfoundland, before eventually finding Parliament Hill and the prime minister.

Along the way they learn that French Canadians hate the prime minister because a new law has banned drinking wine; budget cuts have replaced the Mounties' horses with sheep, and a Newfoundlander named Steve (who, of course, has the stereotypical accent) is upset that the PM has "sure screwed up things for Newfoundland. It just hasn't been the same since he made sodomy illegal."

Stone said the show's creators and writers (one of them, Kyle McCulloch, is Canadian) get most of their jokes and ideas from misinformation and misconceptions about Canada.

"It never comes from a place of having any agenda, it just comes from a place of having fun," Stone said. "What we love about referencing Canada so much is that it does perplex people and they're like, 'But why Canada?'

"And we do it because it's just funny. It's the same way Monty Python was always ripping on the stinking Belgians. It didn't make any sense, that's what's so funny about it."

Paul Martin is never named in the episode but there is a surprise revelation when the prime minister's identity is revealed.

Singer Sarah McLachlan to begin 41-date tour on July 5 in Seattle

TORONTO (CP) - Sarah McLachlan will hit the road in July in support of her latest album Afterglow.

The 41-date tour, which begins July 5 in Seattle, is the singer's first in five years. McLachlan will come through Ontario and Quebec in August, and Western Canada in September. The U.S.-Canadian tour, entitled Afterglow Live Tour, will end in Vancouver, her current residence, on Sept. 10.

Tickets for the Western Canadian dates go on sale Feb. 7 through Ticketmaster. The other on-sale dates will be announced in the coming weeks.

McLachlan is up for a Grammy Feb. 8 and is scheduled to perform at the Juno Awards on April 4. Her next single will be the song Stupid, and the accompanying music video will be directed by Sophie Muller, whose previous work includes videos for Annie Lennox, No Doubt and McLachlan's Adia.

The Canadian dates for the Afterglow Live Tour:

Aug. 16: Montreal, Bell Centre.
Aug. 17: Ottawa, Corel Centre.
Aug. 19: Toronto, Molson Amphitheatre.
Sept. 5: Winnipeg, Winnipeg Arena.
Sept. 7: Calgary, Pengrowth Saddledome.
Sept. 8: Edmonton, Skyreach Place.
Sept. 10: Vancouver, GM Place.

Pixar Ends Disney Talks, Seeks New Partner

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pixar Animation Studios Inc. on Thursday ended talks with Walt Disney Co. to renew a lucrative movie distribution deal that has produced such blockbusters as "Toy Story" and "Finding Nemo."
 
Pixar, the pioneering computer animation house founded by Apple Computer Inc.'s Steve Jobs, said it would look for another studio partner to distribute its films starting in 2006, when its current deal with Disney expires.

Shares of both companies fell 6 percent after hours.

Observers had expected Pixar and Disney to renew their partnership, which has generated five mega-hits since 1995 that have collectively earned $2.5 billion at the box office.

The Pixar deal has accounted for a large share of Disney Studios' operating profit in recent years, but Disney said Pixar's final offer on a renewed contract would have cost it hundreds of millions of dollars.

The move was an unexpected blow to Disney, which pioneered feature animation with 1937's "Snow White" but has seen its traditional hand-drawn films like the 2002 flop "Treasure Planet" eclipsed by Pixar-style computer-animated hits.

Chief Executive Michael Eisner is also under fire from an heir of founder Walt Disney, Roy Disney, who claims Eisner has mismanaged the company and sapped its creative energy.

Analysts and investors said Pixar could be using its announcement as a negotiating tactic and some observers did not rule out a resumption of talks.

PIXAR 'MOVING ON"

"After 10 months of trying to strike a deal with Disney, we're moving on," said Jobs, Pixar's chief executive.

"We've had a great run together -- one of the most successful in Hollywood history -- and it's a shame that Disney won't be participating in Pixar's future successes."

Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner issued a statement wishing Pixar success.

"Disney management could not accept Pixar's final offer because it would have cost Disney hundreds of millions of dollars... under the existing agreement" without giving Disney enough return on new collaborations, the company said.

A source close to Disney's side of negotiations said that Pixar had also wanted copyright to the valuable library of previous films by the partnership.

Disney now owns the copyright and can make sequels and other works based on the films in the current deal, which includes two upcoming titles -- "The Incredibles," set for a November release and "Cars," due in 2005.

Pixar had been expected to close a deal by the middle of this year and had said it would prefer to renew with Disney.

Roy Disney, the former chairman of Disney's animation department, said that the breakup would be bad for Disney shareholders long-term and accused Eisner of failing to nurture the relationship with Pixar.
 
"It makes it look like Eisner did something wrong again, but we shouldn't jump to conclusions. This could be a negotiating tactic by Pixar as well," said Patrick McKeigue, an analyst at Independence Investment, which holds Disney shares.

"It's not a happy thing when two long-time partners break apart and Disney, of course, will survive. However, psychologically, the market was hoping there would be an agreement shortly," said Hal Vogel, a New York-based media analyst who runs Vogel Capital Management.

Other studios that have expressed an interest in a Pixar deal included Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc., Sony Corp., 20th Century Fox, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group Inc. and Metro-Goldwyn Mayer.

Banc of America Securities analyst Michael Savner said Pixar had set itself up to compete at the box office with Disney's future family-friendly offerings.

"Disney could put out its movies at the same time as Pixar," he said. Many investors had already assumed Pixar would get a much-improved deal, including on the two pictures in production, he added.

Staffing at Disney's animation department has shrunk by more than 70 percent since 1997. Disney is set to release its first in-house computer-animated film, "Chicken Little," in 2005.

A-DO'H!-RABLE

Homer Simpson is going to the Super Bowl on Sunday.

The animated star of "The Simpsons" will headline a 30-second MasterCard ad - one of several funky spots airing during Sunday's Big Game.

The Homer spot, part of MasterCard's ongoing "Priceless" campaign, is titled "The Simpsons" and highlights a typical day for Homer, who runs some errands so he'll be able to spend more time with Marge and the kids.

Homer's first stop is the Kwik-E-Mart, where he grabs a six-pack of Duff, a hot dog, potato chips and some doughnuts as the voiceover intones "Diapers, milk and laundry detergent . . . $25" ("Oh yeah, and the stuff he said," Homer responds).

And so it goes, with Homer getting his oil changed (as a swarm of bees eat his doughnut), visiting his barber and ending up at Moe's Tavern - where he's served a beer and toasts the voiceover.

"Getting your errands done quicker to spend more time with your family . . . Priceless," says the voiceover, before repeating itself more sternly a second time.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time," Homer replies. "Stupid voiceover."

Pepsi, meanwhile, will air an ad featuring about 20 teens - including 14-year-old Staten Island resident Annie Leith - who were sued for unauthorized downloading of music from the Internet.

The ad, for the "Pepsi iTunes Giveaway," will inaugurate a new campaign in which Pepsi is offering up to 100 million free (and legal) downloads from Apple's iTunes for a two-month period.

During the ad, Leith holds a Pepsi and says, "We are still going to download music for free off the Internet," according to published reports.

ALL OVER BUT THE CRYING FOR 'FRIENDS'

For the cast and crew of "Friends," the walk-up to the taping of the show's final episode last week was a bittersweet whirlwind.

There were no less than three major parties - an intimate one at star Jennifer Aniston and hubby Brad Pitt's $13.5 million mansion, another at a trendy L.A. restaurant and a pull-out-the stops blowout at a hotel last Saturday night. "The party was beautiful and sweet," Aniston tells the latest edition of People magazine, as part of an inside look at the show's final week. "And sad."

Other treats included gifts. Diamond earrings from the producers to the female cast members and cuff-links to the men. The cast in turn gave each of the show's producers inscribed Cartier watches.

The final episode was taped last Friday in front of an audience of about 250 friends and family of the cast and crew. All were sworn to secrecy about how the series ends, and some scenes were taped ahead of time.

As the audience began to applaud during the opening theme song, the entire cast began to cry and had to go back and have their makeup redone.

Emotions on the set continued to run high throughout the taping, which was also filmed on a small video camera by actor David Arquette, husband of cast member Courteney Cox.

When Cox repeatedly flubbed a line, Matthew Perry joked, "Somebody is gonna get fired," said frequent guest star Maggie Wheeler, who played Janice, Chandler's kooky ex-girlfriend.

But by the time the show finished taping, most of the cast and crew were openly weeping.

R.E.M. Eyes 'Perfect' DVD, New Album

R.E.M.'s July 19, 2003, concert at Bowling Green in Weisbaden, Germany, is captured in its entirety on the DVD "Perfect Square," due March 16 from Warner Bros. The 23-song set sports such performance rarities as "Maps and Legends" from the 1985 album "Fables of the Reconstruction" and the ancient non-album track "Permanent Vacation." Prior to the 2003 tour, the former had not been played live since 1989, while the latter hadn't been unearthed since 1984.

Also featured are "Bad Day" and "Animal," the two new songs included on the recent best-of "In Time," plus such R.E.M. favorites as "The One I Love," "Orange Crush," "Country Feedback" and the show-closing "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)."

"Perfect Square" is bolstered by the documentary "A Stirling Performance," which chronicles the set-up for R.E.M.'s summer 1999 three-night stand in the small Scottish town of Stirling. The film features performance footage, behind-the-scenes clips and interviews with the band.

Meanwhile, work continues in earnest on R.E.M.'s next studio album, extensive sessions for which have already taken place in Vancouver. According to a post on the band's official Web site, group members are in Athens, Ga., writing songs and revisiting some of the previously recorded material. Working titles include "Around the Sun," "Wanderlust," "Magnetic North" and "I Wanted To Be Wrong."

"The band will be heading into the studio in the next few weeks," the post continues. "We're hoping for a fall record and hopefully will be touring some of the places we didn't on the '03 tour (and some of the ones we did)."

Here is the track list for "Perfect Square":

"Begin the Begin"
"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"
"Maps and Legends"
"Drive"
"Animal"
"Daysleeper"
"The Great Beyond"
"Bad Day"
"The One I Love"
"All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star)"
"Orange Crush"
"Losing My Religion"
"At My Most Beautiful"
"Electrolite"
"She Just Wants To Be"
"Walk Unafraid"
"Man on the Moon"
"Everybody Hurts"
"So Fast, So Numb"
"Country Feedback"
"Permanent Vacation"
"Imitation of Life"
"It's The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"

Murray Joke "Lost in Translation"

Bill Murray's funny. Even when he's not.

On Sunday, the Lost in Translation star opened his Golden Globes acceptance speech by saying, in trademark deadpan, that he'd recently canned his agents and suffered the loss of his personal trainer. He got a big laugh.

Except he wasn't kidding.

Murray is apparently an ex-client of Creative Artists Agency--the Hollywood powerhouse--after having severed ties with agents Jessica Tuchinsky and Rick Kurtzman.

And, according to the blogs The Blueprint and Gawker.com, Murray is an ex-client of the late Raphael Picaud, the founder of Body Maxx, a celeb-catering gym in West Hollywood, California. Picaud died last year.

Murray's New York business office confirmed that Murray "fired" his agents. ("That was the facts," a rep said.) It could not confirm whether the Saturday Night Live alum was a pupil of Picaud's. (Neither could Body Maxx--the current owner was said to be out of the country; Picaud's official biography lists Kelly Lynch, Estelle Getty and Jeff Goldbum amongst his more famous pupils.)

Kurtzman was said to be traveling and unreachable. A message left with Tuchinsky's office was not returned Wednesday.

Murray, 53, won the Globe for Best Actor, Musical or Comedy, for a playing an out-of-sorts Hollywood star in Lost in Translation. On Tuesday, he picked up an Academy Award nomination--his first--for Best Actor.

Murray prefaced his Globe remarks by telling the black-tie Beverly Hilton audience, "You can all relax."

"I fired my agents a couple months ago," he continued. "My trainer, my physical trainer, killed himself."

At that point, Murray segued into a real joke: "I would thank the people at Universal and Focus [the studios behind Lost in Translation], except there's so many people trying to take credit for this I wouldn't know where to begin."

Of course, maybe that wasn't a joke, either.

Singer James Brown Arrested on Violence Charge

MIAMI (Reuters) - The "Godfather of Soul," James Brown, was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of committing domestic violence, South Carolina law enforcement officials said.

Brown, 70, who has had several run-ins with the law and spent time in prison, was due to appear at a bond hearing on Thursday, a spokesman for the Aiken County detention center said.

Neither the Aiken County Sheriff's office nor the detention center would comment further.

The soul singer, famous for hits including "I Feel Good," was previously accused of beating his wife, Adrienne, in 1995.

Brown served nearly three years in prison after he was arrested in 1988 for leading police on a car chase between South Carolina and Georgia.

He also received a two-year suspended sentence in 1998 and entered a drug treatment program after pleading no contest to firearms charges.

Despite his turbulent past, last month he was among five stars feted in Washington for his contributions to American culture.

Brown appeared at a White House reception before taking part in a gala performance attended by President Bush at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.

The honor prompted Secretary of State Colin Powell to dub Brown the "Secretary of Soul and the Foreign Minister of Funk."

Quebec director gets two Oscar nods

TORONTO -- Quebec director Denys Arcand has two Academy Award nominations for The Barbarian Invasions.

As expected his sub-titled film made the cut Tuesday in the best foreign-film category when the contenders for the 76th annual Oscar race were announced in Los Angeles. The surprise, even for Arcand however, was his inclusion in the best original screenplay competition.

"It's not something that happens very often, that you cross over into the general categories if you're a foreign filmmaker," he said from Los Angeles.

"Exceptional people have done it but it doesn't happen every day."

This makes Arcand's third foreign-film nomination. The Decline of the American Empire, his 1986 predecessor to Barbarian Invasions, was named as was 1989's Jesus of Montreal.

"Who knows?" Arcand replied when asked if this might mean three times lucky.

"This is so unpredictable."

Atom Egoyan earned two nominations for the 1997 Academy Awards, best directing and best screenplay for The Sweet Hereafter.

Barbarian Invasions looks at an aging, cranky Montreal intellectual (Remy Girard) who is dying of cancer and whose friends and family gather around for an emotional but joyous sendoff. Arcand also won a best screenplay prize at last spring's Cannes film festival while Marie-Jozee Croze won for best actress for her performance as a sympathetic junkie.

Arcand said he was feeling truly happy Tuesday morning.

"It's wonderful also for Canada. . .it gives recognition in your own country which is maybe the most important thing. Because you know Canadians always have their eyes turned towards Hollywood, so when you make it there, it gives you a certain aura in your own country which we need, we Canadian filmmakers."

Barbarian Invasions was also named best Canadian feature at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall. But on Sunday night, it lost to Osama, an Afghan film, in the Golden Globes foreign film category. Arcand said he was surprised that Osama, which was also at Cannes, didn't make the Oscar cut. He said he hasn't seen any of the foreign films against which he's competing for the Oscar, Evil (Sweden), The Twilight Samurai (Japan), Twin Sisters (The Netherlands) and Zelary (Czech Republic).

"I've heard vaguely of these films but I've never seen them in any festival this year, and so they are really all coming in from left field. So I have no idea."

Arcand said he's not sure what the nominations mean for his film because it is near the end of its theatrical run. "It's the last kick down so to speak. It gives you a little boost at the end."

Arcand said the foreign film nominations are selected by a committee of some 60 Academy members. The winner is voted on by any eligible member who can prove he has seen all five contenders. He said that although he doesn't have the final word on the matter, there will be no dubbed version.

He said that when he goes to the Oscars next month, accompanied by his wife and producer, he plans to wear the same tuxedo he bought 19 years ago.
"It's always the same. It's perfect."

Awards that Deny Arcand's The Barbarian Invasions has won or been nominated for to date:

-- Marie Josee Croze, Best actress, Cannes.

--Best screenplay, Cannes.

--City Award for best Canadian feature film, Toronto International Film Festival.

--AGF People's Choice Award, Calgary Film Festival.

--Best non-European film nomination, European Film Academy.

--Best foreign film , The National Board of Review.

--One of top 10 films 2003 (6), New York Film Critics Online Awards.

--Canada's top 10 2003, Toronto International Film Festival.

--Best foreign language film, 2003 Broadcast Film Critics Association.

--Best screenplay (tie), Toronto Film Critics Association.

--Best foreign language film nomination, Golden Globes (didn't win), Academy Awards.

--Original screenplay nomination -- Denys Arcand, British Academy BAFTA, Academy Awards.

No Sushi at the Governor's Ball, 'Finding Nemo' Directors Ask

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - They guys who co-directed "Finding Nemo" got two phone calls with good news Tuesday morning.

First, that their Disney/Pixar blockbuster has become the first animated feature to pass the half billion mark, and second that their movie has four Academy Award nominations.

"We're just hoping they don't serve fish at the Governor's Ball," laughs Lee Unkrich, co-director of the animated film which has already been declared the most money-making feature 'toon in history and last year's biggest hit.

"We always believed we had a special story on our hands, but we certainly never dared to dream it would reach such heights," Unkrich says in a phone interview with Zap2it.com. "Receiving this Oscar nomination is the icing on the cake of an incredible year."

The story of the lost little clownfish who is being searched for by his dad (voiced by Albert Brooks) and a forgetful fish named Dory (voiced by Ellen Degeneres), has a best original screenplay nomination as well as best sound editing, best musical score and best animated feature.

The film boasts $504.7 million worldwide and is the first animated feature to ever pass the $500 million mark overseas. It is fast approaching "Independence Day," the No. 8 placeholder.

Pixar is responsible for other CGI-animated films "Toy Story" and "Monsters, Inc."

"Years ago we took a conscious risk to make a different kind of film than we had before - something very emotional, with less humor, more character, and extremely personal, all the while worrying that these ingredients might shrink our audience. To see 'Finding Nemo' do the exact opposite, and then end up with several Oscar nominations is beyond belief and oh so rewarding," says co-director Andrew Stanton. "Drinks are on me tonight."

On Sunday, Feb. 29, "Nemo" competes with fellow toons "The Triplets for Belleville" and "Brother Bear" for the best animated film Oscar.

Oscar Nominations Spawn Fun Facts

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - It could be the fact that the Oscars are earlier than ever, or an after effect of the slimming down of the voting pool, but one thing is certain: this year's Oscar nominees are very different than in previous years. Sure, the best picture winners are almost all studio films -- but just take a look at the acting and screenplay categories and you'll find plenty of films that many Americans probably haven't yet had a chance to see -- or in some cases, even heard of yet.

That films as small as "Monster," "Pieces of April" and "City of God" received nominations, along with the fact that -- for the first time ever -- an American female director received a nomination was enough to have Roger Ebert blurt out to NPR, "It's almost as if [Oscar voters] actually knew what they're were doing for a change."

Here's a few interesting facts and the nominees this year:

New Line's "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" earned more nominations than any other film with 11 nods, following closely by Fox's "Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World." Interestingly enough, neither film earned any acting nominations.

"Master & Commander" may have beaten "Return of the King" if it had not been ineligible in the best score and best song categories. Director Peter Weir intentionally chose classic musical pieces from the time period to work into the story, thus making the score and the song not "original."

"Master & Commander's" 10 nods is the most Oscar nods Fox has received for one film since "Titanic," which received 13 nominations.

Sofia Coppola is the first American woman to ever be nominated in the best director category -- and only the third women overall. The other nominated female directors are Lina Wentmuller (Italy) for 1976's "Seven Beauties" and Jane Campion (New Zealand) for "The Piano" (1990).

If Sofia Coppola wins in any of the three categories for which she is nominated (best film, best director, best original screenplay), it would make the Coppola family (Carmine, Francis Ford and Sofia) the second three-generation Oscar-winning family. The first were the Hustons (Walter, John and Anjelica).

Diane Keaton has now received one acting nomination in each of four successive decades.

At 13-year-old, Keisha Castle-Hughes is the youngest best actress nominee to date, passing Isabelle Adjani, who was 20 when she got her nod for "The Story of Adele H." However, younger actors have received nominations in the three other acting categories: Jackie Cooper was nominated for best actor for "Skippy" (1930) at the age of 9; Justin Henry was 8-years-old when he received a best supporting actor nod for "Kramer Vs. Kramer" (1979)and Haley Joel Osment was 11 when he was nominated for "The Sixth Sense"; Tatum O'Neal was 10 when she was named one of the contenders for best supporting actress for "Paper Moon" (1973), while Anna Paquin was 11 when she won best supporting actress for "The Piano."

Renee Zellweger is the only one of the 20 acting nominations to have been nominated last year. However, five of the acting nominees are previous Oscar-winners.

"City of God" is the first film to benefit from a 1999 rule change that allows pictures entered in the foreign language category in a given year, and not nominated, to compete in other categories the succeeding year if they have their first U.S. release in that year.

Miramax's run of best-picture contenders stops with Cold Mountain snub

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Miramax, the master of Academy Awards campaigning, is sitting out the top Oscar race this time after Cold Mountain was snubbed Tuesday, ending the company's 11-year streak of fielding at least one best-picture candidate.

In the 1990s, Disney-owned Miramax pioneered the modern marketing blitz that has become the norm for studios seeking awards attention on their films. Miramax's campaign machine has helped produce such best-picture winners as The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love and Chicago, along with other Oscar successes that include Good Will Hunting, Life Is Beautiful and The Cider House Rules.

This time, Miramax was unable to sway voters in favour of the Civil War epic Cold Mountain, directed by Anthony Minghella, the filmmaker behind The English Patient.

Cold Mountain did earn seven Oscar nominations, among them best actor for Jude Law and supporting actress for Renee Zellweger. But despite solid results in earlier Hollywood honours, the film lost out on nominations for best picture, lead actress for Nicole Kidman and screenplay and directing for Minghella.

Miramax co-founder Harvey Weinstein said Cold Mountain was hurt by this year's shorter Oscar season. The ceremony was moved up three weeks to Feb. 29, and Cold Mountain was the last major contender to hit theatres on Dec. 25, leaving less time for Oscar voters to see it, he said.

"If I had to do it all over again, I'd have opened it in November. It wasn't ready then, but that's what you would do," Weinstein said. "I don't want to take anything away from the films that were nominated. And seven nominations is not so bad."

The company did score multiple nominations for two other films, the stark Brazilian drug-crime drama City of God and the Canadian tale The Barbarian Invasions, a French-language reunion story centring on a dying man.

City of God was a surprise choice for best director (Fernando Meirelles) and earned three other nominations, for adapted screenplay, cinematography and film editing.

The Barbarian Invasions received two nominations, for foreign-language film and original screenplay by its director, Quebecer Denys Arcand.

City of God had been Brazil's entry for foreign-language film a year ago, but when it missed out on a nomination in that category, it became eligible under academy rules for other awards this time around.

Weinstein held off on the film's video release and kept it in theatres for the past year, hoping to build awards buzz.

"Harvey has been very supportive with City of God from the first time he saw the film," Meirelles said. "It's not a big film, so it's not about making money. He really likes the film."

Weinstein said his campaign for City of God shows up critics who say Miramax has grown to put money before art.

In the new book Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance and the Rise of Independent Film, author Peter Biskind takes Weinstein and his brother, Bob, to task for the company's metamorphosis from artsy niche distributor to big-budget operation.

"People say to me we've lost our focus on the small movies," Weinstein said. "This shoots that down."

Coppola Makes History with Oscar Nomination

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Lost in Translation" director Sofia Coppola found her way into Oscar's history books on Tuesday.

The filmmaker received an Academy Award nomination for best director, making her the first American woman to be so honored. Only two other women have competed in the category: Italy's Lina Wertmuller, nominated in 1976 for directing "Seven Beauties," and New Zealander Jane Campion, nominated in 1993 for "The Piano."

Coppola -- who also received a best original screenplay for "Translation," which is up for best picture -- was still trying to process the historic accomplishment Tuesday morning over champagne.

"I'm kind of in a daze," Coppola said. "It's been a really exciting morning, and it hasn't hit me yet -- this morning was surreal. It is so hard to believe that there have been so few (female directors nominated). I'm happy to be a part of things changing."

Coppola's fellow nominees in the directing category include Fernando Meirelles for "City of God," 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 Clint Eastwood for "Mystic River." Eastwood and Coppola are the oly Americans.

The Oscar nominations cap an impressive award season run for Coppola, daughter of Oscar-winning filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. She has already received a DGA nomination for best director, a WGA nomination for original screenplay, three nominations for the IFP Independent Spirit Awards (feature, director and screenplay) and numerous critics' prizes.

The film, starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson in the tale of two foreigners who form a platonic relationship while visiting Tokyo, also won three prizes at Sunday's Golden Globes: best comedy/musical, screenplay and comedic actor for Murray.

"She's beyond thrilled with her place in history and I think she is very moved by it," said Ross Katz, who produced "Lost in Translation" with Coppola. "I watched her face this morning and she had the biggest smile I had ever seen. She's so honored. Not to mention too that we're both very aware, and she's very aware, of the company that she's in."

While Coppola admires the male nominees in her category, they all had something she didn't: big budgets. "My friends joked that the budget of our movie was like the craft service of these other movies," mused the filmmaker, who made her directorial debut with 1999's "The Virgin Suicides." "It's pretty cool that a low-budget movie is in there with these epics. I never thought when we were running around Tokyo camped out in karaoke booths that we would be going to the Academy Awards."

She may have doubted the prospects for "Translation," but those around her never did.

The nominations are "a testament to the fact that it's her movie," Focus co-president David Linde said. "It was her idea, her gumption to go to Japan. It's very much who she is and what she is."

Added Katz: "She's an incredibly meticulous artist. She doesn't really ever talk about her work and she doesn't say 'I'm good at this,' she just quietly plots along and dreams up these scenarios and makes them real."

Now that her place in history is real, Focus co-president James Schamus said his company and Coppola's team are ready to shoulder the burden that comes with it. "Making history is one thing and being it is another," Schamus said. "She needn't carry the entire burden, she gets to be it. The rest of us should shoulder it, so she can enjoy it."

'Tonight Show' pioneer Jack Paar dies

GREENWICH, Conn. (AP) -- Jack Paar, who pioneered late-night talk on The Tonight Show, then told his viewers all farewell when still in his prime, died Tuesday. He was 85.

Paar died at his Greenwich home as a result of a long illness, said Stephen Wells, Paar's son-in-law. Paar's daughter and wife were by his side, Wells said.

"We're in a bit of a fog," he said. "There were a lot of people who knew Jack and loved him."

Since the mid-1960s, Paar had kept mostly out of the public eye, engaging in business ventures and indulging his passion for travel.

But Paar's years on NBC enlivened an otherwise "painfully predictable" TV landscape, wrote the New York Times' Jack Gould in 1962. "Mr. Paar almost alone has managed to preserve the possibility of surprise."

Johnny Carson took over The Tonight Show in 1962. Paar had a prime-time talk show for three more seasons, then retired from TV in 1965.

Paar had taken over the flagging NBC late-night slot in July 1957; Steve Allen had departed some months earlier. Allen's show was a variety show; Paar's a talk show.

"Like being chosen as a kamikaze pilot," Paar wrote in I Kid You Not, a memoir. "But I felt sure that people would enjoy good, frank and amusing talk."

They did. Viewers loved this cherubic wiseguy, someone once referred to as "like Peter Pan, if Peter Pan had been written by Mickey Spillane."

Soon, everyone was staying up to watch Paar, then talking about his show the next day. Even youngsters sent to bed before Paar came on parroted his jaunty catch phrase, "I kid you not," with which he regularly certified his flow of self-revealing stories.

Just why he walked away from such a breakthrough career at age 47 would become an enduring source of conjecture, possibly even for Paar. His explanation would have to suffice: that he was tired and ready to do other things.

But off the air, as on, he never stopped doing the thing he did best: talk.
"The only time I'm nervous or scared is when I'm NOT talking," he said in 1997. "When I'm talking, I know that I do it well."

What he accomplished with the spoken word -- not only his words but those he wooed from fellow raconteurs like Peter Ustinov, Elsa Maxwell, Hans Conreid and Genevieve -- proved irresistible to his audience.

Paar also played host to Muhammad Ali when he was still known as Cassius Clay, to a pleasantly pickled Judy Garland, and to the outrageous pianist-composer Oscar Levant. Entertainers Paar championed included Jonathan Winters, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett, Woody Allen and Bill Cosby.

Paar's circle of guests included leading politicians. During the 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy made a triumphant appearance -- so much so, that a few days after the election, Paar got a letter from Joseph P. Kennedy, the proud father, gushing, "I don't know anybody who did more, indirectly, to have Jack elected than your own good self."

But Paar was a show all by himself, just talking about himself. "I'm against psychiatry -- for me, anyway," he told viewers. "I haven't got any troubles I can't tell standing up."

A man of boundless curiosity and interests, he was charming, gracious and famously sentimental: He could shed tears, as he put it, just from "taking the Coca-Cola bottles back to the A&P."

He could also be volatile, pettish and confounding. And never so much as in February 1960, when, making headlines, he emotionally told his thunderstruck audience that he was leaving his show. It was the night after a skittish NBC executive had judged obscene, and edited out, a story by Paar where the initials "W.C." were mistaken for "wayside chapel" instead of "water closet."

A month later, the network managed to lure Paar back. Returning on the night of March 7, he was greeted with generous applause as he stepped before the cameras. Then he began his monologue on a typically cheeky note: "As I was saying, before I was interrupted . . . "

My Picks Versus Their Reality

Overall, not a bad year for my predictions of the Academy Award nominations. I didn’t get any one category 100% right but I got at least 3 out of 5 in every category. My final score was 22 out of 30.

While I may not have seen the absolute surprise that was the snub of Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Connelly or the actual nomination of Keisha Castle-Hughes for WHALE RIDER and Fernando Meirelles for CITY OF GOD, I did nail some of the surprises, especially Shohreh Aghdashloo for her work in HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG.

And man am I excited for Bill Murray!! I personally really wanted him to be nominated for his exceptional work in LOST IN TRANSLATION, and he was. I am also stoked about the fact that the picture was also nominated and so was writer/director Sophia Coppola.

In the end, I stand by my predictions, which you can compare with the actual nominations below.

Finally, if the awards were given out today, here’s who would win (I do reserve the right to chance these predictions in the weeks before the 76th Annual Academy Awards are given out on Sunday, February 29th):

Dan’s 2004 Early Oscar Predictions:

BEST PICTURE - The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
BEST DIRECTOR – Peter Jackson, THE LORD OF THE RINGS
BEST ACTOR – Bill Murray, Lost In Translation
BEST ACTRESS – Charlize Theron, Monster
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – Tim Robbins, MYSTIC RIVER
Best SUPPORTING ACTRESS – Renee Zellweger, Cold Mountain

DAN’S PREDICTIONS FOR BEST PICTURE

TOP 5
* The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
* Cold Mountain
* Lost In Translation
* Mystic River
* Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World

POSSIBLE OTHER 2
* In America
* Seabiscuit

ACTUAL NOMINEES
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
LOST IN TRANSLATION
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
MYSTIC RIVER
SEABISCUIT

DAN CORRECTLY PREDICTED
4 out of 5 (Seabiscuit was listed as a possible).

DAN’S PREDICTIONS FOR BEST DIRECTOR

TOP 5
* 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

POSSIBLE OTHER 2
* Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, 21 Grams
* Gary Ross, Seabiscuit

ACTUAL NOMINEES
Fernando Meirelles, CITY OF GOD
Peter Jackson, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
Sophia Coppola, LOST IN TRANSLATION
Peter Weir, MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
Clint Eastwood, MYSTIC RIVER

DAN CORRECTLY PREDICTED
4 out of 5.

DAN’S PREDICTIONS FOR BEST ACTRESS

TOP 5
* Jennifer Connelly, House Of Sand And Fog
* Diane Keaton, Something's Gotta Give
* Nicole Kidman, Cold Mountain
* Charlize Theron, Monster
* Naomi Watts, 21 Grams

POSSIBLE OTHER 2
* Samantha Morton, In America
* Uma Thurman, Kill Bill: Vol. 1

ACTUAL NOMINEES
Keisha Castle-Hughes - WHALE RIDER
Diane Keaton - SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE
Samantha Morton - IN AMERICA
Charlize Theron - MONSTER
Naomi Watts - 21 GRAMS

DAN CORRECTLY PREDICTED
3 out of 5 (Morton was listed as a possible).

DAN’S PREDICTIONS FOR BEST ACTOR

TOP 5
* Paul Giamatti, American Splendor
* Ben Kingsley, House Of Sand And Fog
* Jude Law, Cold Mountain
* Bill Murray, Lost In Translation
* Sean Penn, Mystic River

POSSIBLE OTHER 2
* Russell Crowe, Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World
* Peter Dinklage, The Station Agent

ACTUAL NOMINEES
Johnny Depp - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
Ben Kingsley - HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
Jude Law - COLD MOUNTAIN
Bill Murray - LOST IN TRANSLATION
Sean Penn - MYSTIC RIVER

DAN CORECTLY PREDICTED
4 out of 5

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

TOP 5
* Shoreh Aghdashloo, House Of Sand And Fog
* Hope Davis, American Splendor
* Marcia Gay Harden, Mystic River
* Scarlett Johansson, Lost In Translation
* Renee Zellweger, Cold Mountain

OTHERS
* Patricia Clarkson, Pieces Of April
* Laura Linney, Mystic River

ACTUAL NOMINEES
Shohreh Aghdashloo - HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
Patricia Clarkson - PIECES OF APRIL
Marcia Gay Harden - MYSTIC RIVER
Holly Hunter - THIRTEEN
Renée Zellweger - COLD MOUNTAIN

DAN CORECTLY PREDICTED
3 out of 5 (Clarkson was listed as a possible).

DAN’S PREDICTIONS FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

TOP 5
* Sean Astin, The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
* Alec Baldwin, The Cooler
* Albert Finney, Big Fish
* Tim Robbins, Mystic River
* Ken Watanabe, The Last Samurai

OTHER CONTENDERS
* Jeff Bridges, Seabiscuit
* Bill Nighy, Love Actually

ACTUAL NOMINEES
Alec Baldwin - THE COOLER
Benicio Del Toro - 21 GRAMS
Djimon Hounsou - IN AMERICA
Tim Robbins - MYSTIC RIVER
Ken Watanabe - THE LAST SAMURAI

DAN CORRECTLY PREDICTED
3 out of 5.

The 76th Annual Academy Academy Award Nominees

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Johnny Depp - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL
Ben Kingsley - HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
Jude Law - COLD MOUNTAIN
Bill Murray - LOST IN TRANSLATION
Sean Penn - MYSTIC RIVER

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Alec Baldwin - THE COOLER
Benicio Del Toro - 21 GRAMS
Djimon Hounsou - IN AMERICA
Tim Robbins - MYSTIC RIVER
Ken Watanabe - THE LAST SAMURAI

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Keisha Castle-Hughes - WHALE RIDER
Diane Keaton - SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE
Samantha Morton - IN AMERICA
Charlize Theron - MONSTER
Naomi Watts - 21 GRAMS

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Shohreh Aghdashloo - HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
Patricia Clarkson - PIECES OF APRIL
Marcia Gay Harden - MYSTIC RIVER
Holly Hunter - THIRTEEN
Renée Zellweger - COLD MOUNTAIN

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
BROTHER BEAR
FINDING NEMO
THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE

ART DIRECTION
GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING
THE LAST SAMURAI
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
SEABISCUIT

CINEMATOGRAPHY
CITY OF GOD
COLD MOUNTAIN
GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
SEABISCUIT

COSTUME DESIGN
GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING
THE LAST SAMURAI
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
SEABISCUIT

DIRECTING
CITY OF GOD
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
LOST IN TRANSLATION
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
MYSTIC RIVER

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
BALSEROS
CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS
THE FOG OF WAR
MY ARCHITECT
THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
ASYLUM
CHERNOBYL HEART
FERRY TALES

FILM EDITING
CITY OF GOD
COLD MOUNTAIN
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
SEABISCUIT

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS
EVIL
THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI
TWIN SISTERS
ELARY

MAKEUP
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL

MUSIC (SCORE)
BIG FISH
COLD MOUNTAIN
FINDING NEMO
HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING

MUSIC (SONG)
"Into the West" - THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
"A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" - A MIGHTY WIND
"Scarlet Tide" - COLD MOUNTAIN
"The Triplets of Belleville" - THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE
"You Will Be My Ain True Love" - COLD MOUNTAIN

BEST PICTURE
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
LOST IN TRANSLATION
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
MYSTIC RIVER
SEABISCUIT

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
BOUNDIN'
DESTINO
GONE NUTTY
HARVIE KRUMPET
NIBBLES

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
DIE ROTE JACKE (The Red Jacket)
MOST (The Bridge)
SQUASH
(A) TORZIJA ([A] Torsion)
TWO SOLDIERS

SOUND
THE LAST SAMURAI
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL
SEABISCUIT

SOUND EDITING
FINDING NEMO
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL

VISUAL EFFECTS
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
AMERICAN SPLENDOR
CITY OF GOD
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
MYSTIC RIVER
SEABISCUIT

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS
DIRTY PRETTY THINGS
FINDING NEMO
IN AMERICA
LOST IN TRANSLATION

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'Lord of Rings' Is Oscars Front-Runner

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Hobbits, wizards and elves are marching on the Academy Awards, with "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" emerging as front-runner for Hollywood's top honor.

The final chapter of Peter Jackson's fantasy trilogy is a certain best-picture nominee Tuesday, following the lead of its predecessors, "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers."

Other best-picture prospects for the 76th annual Oscars include the Civil War saga "Cold Mountain," the Tokyo tale "Lost in Translation," the naval adventure "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, the brooding vengeance story "Mystic River" and the horse-racing drama "Seabiscuit."

"Return of the King" led last weekend's Golden Globes with four wins, including best dramatic picture and director, and its broad critical and fan support give the film the inside track at the Oscars.

Voters in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences never have crowned a fantasy film as best picture. But the sense in Hollywood is "Return of the King" may take the top prize for the sheer scope of Jackson's achievement, marshaling a cast and crew of 2,000 to shoot the three films simultaneously and rush them into theaters just a year apart.

The three segments of Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth epic total more than nine hours, loaded with groundbreaking visual effects and stellar performances from its ensemble cast. The franchise has rung up $2.6 billion at the box office worldwide, with "Return of the King" still climbing toward $1 billion on its own.

Jackson also appears to be the lead contender for the directing Oscar.

Among actors, the nomination front-runners include Globe winners Charlize Theron for "Monster," Renee Zellweger (news) for "Cold Mountain," Diane Keaton for "Something's Gotta Give," Bill Murray for "Lost in Translation" and Sean Penn and Tim Robbins for "Mystic River."

Nominees in most categories are chosen by specific branches of the 5,700-member Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, such as actors, directors and writers.

All academy members are allowed to vote for best-picture nominees. The full academy also is eligible to vote in all categories for the awards themselves.

ABC will broadcast the Oscars on Feb. 29 live from Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. Billy Crystal returns as host after a four-year absence, his eighth time as Oscar master of ceremonies.

Director Blake Edwards, whose films include "Breakfast at Tiffany's," "Victor/Victoria," "Days of Wine and Roses" and "The Pink Panther" movies, will receive an honorary Oscar for career achievement.

Good Luck To Bill Murray!

Nominations for the 76th Annual Academy Awards will be announced Tuesday morning, January 27th, by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Frank Pierson and his fellow Academy member Sigourney Weaver.

Pierson and Weaver will announce ten of the 24 categories at a 8:30 a.m. (EST) press conference.

Here are the folks I expect to receive nominations, everything is in Alphabetical order:

BEST PICTURE

TOP 5
* The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
* Cold Mountain
* Lost In Translation
* Mystic River
* Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World

POSSIBLE OTHER 2
* In America
* Seabiscuit

BEST DIRECTOR

TOP 5
* 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

POSSIBLE OTHER 2
* Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, 21 Grams
* Gary Ross, Seabiscuit

BEST ACTRESS

TOP 5
* Jennifer Connelly, House Of Sand And Fog
* Diane Keaton, Something's Gotta Give
* Nicole Kidman, Cold Mountain
* Charlize Theron, Monster
* Naomi Watts, 21 Grams

POSSIBLE OTHER 2
* Samantha Morton, In America
* Uma Thurman, Kill Bill: Vol. 1

BEST ACTOR

TOP 5
* Paul Giamatti, American Splendor
* Ben Kingsley, House Of Sand And Fog
* Jude Law, Cold Mountain
* Bill Murray, Lost In Translation
* Sean Penn, Mystic River

POSSIBLE OTHER 2
* Russell Crowe, Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World
* Peter Dinklage, The Station Agent

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

TOP 5
* Shoreh Aghdashloo, House Of Sand And Fog
* Hope Davis, American Splendor
* Marcia Gay Harden, Mystic River
* Scarlett Johansson, Lost In Translation
* Renee Zellweger, Cold Mountain

OTHERS
* Patricia Clarkson, Pieces Of April
* Laura Linney, Mystic River

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

TOP 5
* Sean Astin, The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
* Alec Baldwin, The Cooler
* Albert Finney, Big Fish
* Tim Robbins, Mystic River
* Ken Watanabe, The Last Samurai

OTHER CONTENDERS
* Jeff Bridges, Seabiscuit
* Bill Nighy, Love Actually

The list of the ACTUAL nominees will be posted here as soon as it is available.

The Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2003 will be presented on February 29, 2004, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland® and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. (PST) with a half-hour arrivals segment.

This week in The Couch Potato Report, three movies I haven't seen, Star
Trek VI and an animated TV show about a critic, who isn't me.

Last week in The Couch Potato Report I proclaimed my adoration for
movies.

If you missed my proclamation, here is what I wrote:

"I like watching movies.

I like going out to the movies, watching movies at home and visiting
friends houses to see movies. I've even traveled to other cities,
provinces and countries sometimes with the sole intention just to see
movies.

Like I said, I like watching movies. Especially when they are good and
not a waste of time."

I enjoy movies so thoroughly that when a film, or TV Series comes along
that skewers them, it usually gets a positive response from me.

Such is the case with THE CRITIC, now available as a box set containing all of the 23 glorious episodes in 1994 and 1995.

Created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who also worked on THE SIMPSONS, and featuring the vocal talents of Saturday Night Live alumnus Jon Lovitz THE CRITIC skewered Hollywood and it's stars with hilarious parodies of classics and contemporary blockbusters. From the musical "Apocalypse Wow" to "Dennis the Menace II Society," this series was a delight for people, like me, who love movies.

That's also why this series failed. You simply have to be a film fanatic to understand and appreciate it. Satires of films like "Cliffhanger" and "Scent of a Woman" are a lot funnier if you know the movies or if they are fresh in your head.

If you love movies, or if you are a huge fan of THE SIMPSONS, THE FAMILY GUY or FUTURAMA then you should pick up this three disc box set containing every episode of THE CRITIC that was produced.

Otherwise you should stay away or you'll be quoting THE CRITIC's main catch phrase and stating "it stinks."

To this day many science fiction fans use the "it stinks" catch phrase to describe the odd numbered films in the Star Trek movies.

Very few people have ever uttered those words to describe the even numbered 2- THE WRATH OF KHAN, 4- THE VOYAGE HOME or STAR TREK 6- THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY.

Star Trek V left us nowhere to go but up, and with the return of Star Trek II director Nicholas Meyer, Star Trek VI restored the movie series to its classic blend of space opera, intelligent plotting, and engaging interaction of stalwart heroes and menacing villains.

Borrowing its subtitle (and several lines of dialogue) from Shakespeare, the movie finds Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) and his fellow Enterprise crew members on a diplomatic mission to negotiate peace with the revered Klingon Chancellor Gorkon (David Warner).

When the high-ranking Klingon and several officers are ruthlessly murdered, blame is placed on Kirk, whose subsequent investigation uncovers an assassination plot masterminded by the nefarious Klingon General Chang (Christopher Plummer) in an effort to disrupt a historic peace summit. As this political plot unfolds, Star Trek VI takes on a sharp-edged tone, with Kirk and Spock confronting their opposing views of diplomacy, and testing their bonds of loyalty when a Vulcan officer is revealed to be a traitor.

With a dramatic depth befitting what was to be the final movie mission of the original Star Trek crew, this film took the veteran cast out in respectably high style. With the torch being passed to the crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation, only Kirk, Scotty, and Chekov would return, however briefly, in Star Trek: Generations, which was another odd numbered film.

Something else that is odd is that of the three big new films being released this week I haven't seen one of them. I've seen commercials for them, seen the synopsis' and read a slew of reviews for each of them, I just haven't actually seen them. So I'll tell you what I know and you can make up your own mind if they are worth seeing

In RADIO Ed Harris stars as a football coach who mentors mentors a
mentally challenged boy, played by Cuba Gooding Jr.

During the course of LE DIVORCE French and American social customs and
behaviors are observed in a story about an American visiting her sister in
Paris.

And

A thirteen-year-old girl's relationship with her mother is put to the test
as she discovers drugs, sex, and petty crime. The film itself is called
THIRTEEN.

Enjoy them, should you choose to do so.

THE CRITIC, STAR TREK 6- THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY, RADIO, LE DIVORCE and THIRTEEN are all available at a store near you right now.

Coming Next Week

LOST IN TRANSLATION - Simply put: This is the best movie of the past year! Bob Harris (played by Bill Murray) is an American film actor, far past his prime. He visits Tokyo to appear in commercials, and he meets Charlotte (Scarlett Johannson), the young wife of a visiting photographer. Bored and weary, Bob and Charlotte make ideal if improbable traveling companions. Both separately and together, they live the experience of the American in Tokyo. Bob and Charlotte suffer both confusion and hilarity due to the cultural and language differences between themselves and the Japanese. As the relationship between Bob and Charlotte deepens, they come to the realization that their visits to Japan, and one another, must soon end. Or must they?

UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN - An American takes vacation to Italy and settles there. (Diane Lane, Raoul Bova, Sandra Oh)

AMERICAN SPLENDOR- Everyman Harvey Pekar creates comic book based on himself. (Paul Giamatti, Hope Davis and Harvey Pekar as himself)

More on those next week.

Enjoy the movies and I'll see you here on The Couch!

Smith Not Afraid of Big, Bad Weinstein

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Don't mess with Miramax chief Harvey Weinstein or you'll have to contend with director Kevin Smith.

Smith, who got his Hollywood break when Miramax backed "Clerks" in 1994, sent a release to the press recently, defending Weinstein.

"[Rather] than jump on the recent bandwagon of unloading a character assassination sniper rifle into the Kevlar-tempered hide of perhaps the only truly interesting Suit [in Hollywood]," says Smith, "I'd like to defend a man I respect, love, and would take a bullet for: the last, great movie mogul."

Smith begins by addressing the co-chairman's notorious temper, which the director has witnessed personally on more than one occasion. Despite being on the receiving end of Weinstein's wrath, Smith says that he is more than happy "to wear a spit guard on occasion."

"So he blows his top inappropriately from time to time," says Smith. "Big deal. He's the only non-actor personality in this business I know who people will still be telling stories about generations from now, marveling at his repertoire."

Smith backs his claim and counters statements calling Weinstein a sellout by pointing to films such as "The Magdalene Sisters," "Citizen Ruth" and "Dirty Pretty Things." In the same breath the director defends himself against the epithet, explaining, "'Sellout' is the cry of the garage band fan who wants to keep a good thing to himself; the kinda folks who'd govern your growth by insisting you never diversify."

Smith concludes his eloquent diatribe with words that he imagines Weinstein would utter: "'Jersey Girl.' In theaters everywhere, March 19.'"

"Jersey Girl" stars Ben Affleck, his ex Jennifer Lopez and Liv Tyler. 2004 marks the tenth anniversary of Smith's working relationship with Miramax. To experience his tirade in its entirety, visit the director's View Askew website.

the director's View Askew website.

Cast Wants More 'Raymond,' Romano's Not Sure

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - It was often reported that the cast of "Friends" operated as a democracy, that no decisions were final until they were approved by the entire Central Perk gang. Things appear to be a little bit more autocratic on the set of CBS' "Everybody Loves Raymond."

"If they got to vote, there'd be no question -- we'd be doing another season," says the show's star Ray Romano.

So while Doris Roberts, Peter Boyle, Patricia Heaton and Brad Garrett all may desperately want their award-winning series to return for a ninth season, the choice seems not to be in their hands. Romano and executive producer Phil Rosenthal have long discussed the importance of going out on top and following the show's 2003 Emmy win for outstanding comedy, now would be a perfect time to test that notion.

While Romano may hold some percentage of that absolute power, it's clear that Rosenthal will have the final say.

"I swear to god I don't know, I don't know," Romano sighs. "I know Phil Rosenthal's gut feeling is it's time to go, but he's even left the door open to see if there's some stories [left], you know?"

While Romano may be tiring of the sitcom grind, he knows that what he and the cast of "Raymond" have is something special. Since the beginning of the show's run, Heaton, Garrett and Roberts have earned multiple Emmys and the star won for outstanding lead actor in 2002 (Boyle, the only cast member without a win, has five nominations).

"There's no denying that you're doing the same thing, the same character over and over and over again," Romano says. "You're doing 196 shows [by the end of this year], but I still appreciate that we have something here that you don't get a lot. I mean there's a little magic thing, chemistry and the way it touches a nerve with the audience and this and that -- that doesn't come by frequently."

In its eighth season, "Raymond" averages more than 18 million viewers per episode, television's second most watched comedy after the departing "Friends."

CBS Chairman Les Moonves isn't anxious to lose his Monday night anchor. Earlier this month he told reporters that he had pretty much offered the "Raymond" team anything they wanted to come back. Romano, in the midst of promoting his big feature splash "Welcome to Mooseport," confirms Moonves' largesse, but emphasizes that he doesn't want money to be a deciding factor.

"The other day he [Moonves] joked around and said he would buy me a golf course if I do it," Romano says. "Look, put it this way: If we decide not to do it, I'm going to tell my manager that I don't even want to know the offer, I don't even want to know what they're offering because I don't want to say, 'OK, I'll come back for that much.'"

Gabriel, Eno Launch Musicians Alliance

Veteran rock artists Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno are launching a provocative new musicians' alliance that would cut against the industry grain by letting artists sell their music online instead of only through record labels.

With the Internet transforming how people buy and listen to songs, musicians need to act now to claim digital music's future, Gabriel and Eno argued Monday as they handed out a slim red manifesto at the Midem conference in Cannes, France.

They call the plan the "Magnificent Union of Digitally Downloading Artists" - or MUDDA, which has a less lofty ring to it. "Unless artists quickly grasp the possibilities that are available to them, then the rules will get written, and they'll get written without much input from artists," said Eno, who has a long history of experimenting with technology.

By removing record labels from the equation, artists can set their own prices and set their own agendas, said the two independent musicians, who hope to launch the online alliance within a month.

Their pamphlet lists ideas for artists to explore once they're freed from the confines of the CD format. One might decide to release a minute of music every day for a month. Another could post several recorded variations of the same song and ask fans what they like best.

Gabriel, who has his own label, Real World Records, said he isn't trying to shut down the record companies -- he just wants to give artists more options. "There are some artists who already tried to do everything on their own," he said, adding that those musicians often found out they didn't like marketing or accounting. "We believe there will be all sorts of models for this."

Gabriel previously co-founded a European company, On Demand Distribution, which runs legal download sites in 11 European countries. The company would provide the technology for MUDDA, though Gabriel and Eno are looking for online partners.

Because both legal and illegal digital download sites offer tunes a la carte, many in the industry believe they'll make albums less important by putting the focus on catchy singles. But Eno and Gabriel both suggested they'd welcome a chance to make songs that stand alone.

"I'm an artist who works incredibly slowly," Gabriel said. "If some of those [songs] could be made available, you don't have to be so trapped into this old way of being confined only by the album cycle."

Gabriel adds that he is interested in putting multiple versions of the same song online. He's also looking forward to being able to hear unfinished music from other artists. "We tend at the moment ... to try to find a moment when a song is right. You stick the pin in the butterfly and put it in the box and you sell the box," he said. "Music is actually a living thing that evolves."

OUT OF THE WOODWORK

Debbie Rowe, the mother of Michael Jackson's two older children, claims the kids aren't biologically his and that she was artificially inseminated with anonymous donor sperm, according to The News of the World, a British tabloid.

Britney, Beyonce, Pink Do Pepsi - Sell Out? It's Art

LONDON (Reuters) - Imagine you wrote a great pop song. Now imagine you get to watch Britney Spears, Beyonce and Pink all sing it together. On a giant set in Rome with Enrique Iglesias.  

"I will die happy," said Brian May, guitarist for the group Queen whose hit anthem "We will Rock You" is being made into -- of all things -- a Pepsi commercial with the three priciest divas in pop and the world's number one Latin heartthrob.

The three female superstars were mobbed by screaming fans on London's Trafalgar Square on Monday, where the song was blasted into the evening sky.

The Gladiator-themed commercial was filmed in Rome with Iglesias in the role of the evil emperor. It was given a Hollywood-style premier at London's National Gallery on Monday.

May insisted the project wasn't a sell-out.

"I think in the end, it will be a good piece of art. There is more money and more talent per second in an ad than in anything else," he told Reuters.

"It was incredible to work with the three of them, and hear the song come to life in a new way. Freddie would definitely have enjoyed it," he said of Freddie Mercury, Queen's late frontman.

Spears, signing autographs for hordes of fans craning over the crash barriers, was also thrilled with her co-stars:

"It's amazing to work with artists like Pink and Beyonce. It's really, really cool. You want to pinch yourself," she told Reuters. "This was a thrill beyond belief."

But don't ask her about the wedding.

Questions about her two-day Las Vegas marriage to a childhood friend were strictly off limits as she met the world's media. Perhaps quickie marriages don't sell cola.

ABC Bringing 'Millionaire' Back for Limited Run

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Regis Philbin, once America's most-watched television personality, is coming back to ABC's hot seat, and the network is hoping he'll bring a ratings lifeline.

"Who Wants to be a Millionaire," the onetime game show gargantuan that powered ABC to No. 1 in the ratings before withering in the glare of overexposure, will return for a brief run next month with host Philbin asking questions worth a lot more money, the Disney-owned network said on Monday.

ABC plans to air a souped-up version of the quiz show, retitled "Super Millionaire," in five hour-long segments during the final full week of the February ratings "sweep."

Like the original show, the new format will present contestants with 15 multiple-choice questions that escalate in difficulty as the size of potential winnings mount. But the value of the correct answers will be higher -- ranging from $1,000 to $10 million. The old show started at $100 and built to a $1 million jackpot.

And new "lifelines" will be added to the three original last-resort assists the show was famous for offering its players -- calling a friend, polling the studio audience and removing two incorrect answers from the multiple-choice list. As before, each contest will open with 10 players competing in a "fastest-finger round" to advance to the hot seat.

"For months, we have been carefully monitoring the environment to determine if the time is right for a new, totally amped-up version of 'Millionaire,' broadcast in its original, event-like form. We think this is the time," ABC Chairman Lloyd Braun said in a statement.

The "Super Millionaire" sweeps gambit comes just after ABC announced plans to return to the game-show genre with another prime-time offering, "Deal or No Deal," which will be added to the network's schedule this spring.

Embracing the quiz show format is a risky move for ABC, following its experience with the original "Millionaire."

CHANGING THE FACE OF TV

"Millionaire" became an instant ratings bonanza for the network -- and a pop culture sensation -- when it launched with a two-week run in August of 1999. The show did so well during a second 18-day outing during the November sweeps that year that it earned a regular three-night-a-week place on ABC's lineup in January 2000.

Airing Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, "Millionaire" averaged 28 million viewers a show, catapulting ABC from a distant third-place to a decisive first-place finish in one season while transforming the landscape of prime-time TV.

It made Philbin, then already the popular co-cost of the morning show "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee," one of the hottest talents on television. His oft-repeated query of "Final answer?" became an American catch-phrase.

The colossal success of "Millionaire" sparked a wave of game shows on rival networks unseen on prime time since the late 1950s, but none did as well in the ratings. "Millionaire" also ushered in a new era of nonscripted programing that persists to this day.

At the start of the 2000-2001 season, "Millionaire" went to four nights a week, then ultimately wore out its welcome and was scaled back to twice weekly before its final telecast in April 2002.

ABC declined to renew the show last season but a daytime half-hour version of "Millionaire," hosted by "The View" talk show moderator Meredith Vieira, was launched in the fall of September 2002.

The collapse of "Millionaire" coincided with the abrupt crash in ABC's fortunes overall and was widely seen as a contributing factor in the resignation of ABC Entertainment Television Group co-chairman Stuart Bloomberg in January 2002.

Ten contestants on the original show won the big prize, including Kevin Olmstead, who actually took home a bonus $2.18 million jackpot in April 2001 and claimed a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the biggest TV game show winner of all time.

Avril, Sarah to perform at Junos

EDMONTON (CP) -- Some of Canada's top musical acts are slated to hit the stage at this year's Juno Awards.

The Barenaked Ladies, Michael Buble, Nelly Furtado, Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan and Nickelback will perform at the April 4 awards show from Edmonton's Rexall Place, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences announced Sunday.

Tickets for the show, airing on CTV, go on sale Feb. 14 through Ticketmaster.

More acts will be announced in the coming weeks, including a host for the bash. Shania Twain emceed the event last year.

Nominations for the awards, honouring the best in Canadian music, will be announced Feb. 11.

The Fockers Have Two Faces

According to Roger Friedman over at FoxNews, Barbara Streisand may be the next big name to land in MEET THE FOCKERS, the sequel to 2000's MEET THE PARENTS.

If she does sign on, Streisand will join Dustin Hoffman, who recently joined the cast as Ben Stiller's father. That pair would, of course, be joined by film heavyweight Robert DeNiro, who will reprise his role as Pam's father.

FoxNews' Friedman thinks the role is supposedly that of a "monstrous mother-in-law and cloying, over-powering mother." But, according to previous news, Greg's (Ben Stiller) parents are supposed to be the opposite of Pam's: very laid back.

Jay Roach is directing again from a script by Jim Herzfeld, Tim Rasmussen and Vince DiMeglio. Roach and DeNiro are also producing with Jane Rosenthal.

'Gigli' Leads Razzies' Worst Film Nominees

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Can it get any worse for Hollywood's favorite tabloid couple?

Just days after Jennifer Lopez confirmed that she had ended her stormy high-profile engagement to Ben Affleck, "Gigli" -- the movie that sparked their off-screen romance -- gets the uncertain honor of leading the pack in nominations for the awards that celebrate the very worst of the American movie industry's annual output.

The nominations for the Golden Raspberry or Razzie awards for 2003, announced on Monday, included nine for "Gigli," a mob comedy starring Affleck and Lopez that critics hated and audiences spurned.

"The Cat in the Hat," a sometimes risque riff on the children's classic by Dr. Seuss, was just behind with eight Razzie nominations, including worst actor for Mike Myers for a performance award organizers called a "fur-ball hocking desecration."

Lopez and Affleck met on the set of "Gigli" in late 2001 and were engaged in November 2002.

Last September, the couple called off their supposedly secret wedding just days before it was to take place, citing a media invasion of their privacy.

The pair, who became known collectively as "Bennifer," have been seen together in public in the months since, although there have been widespread rumors that they were splitting up.

A spokesman for Lopez said on Tuesday that the actress-singer had ended her engagement to Affleck.

Lopez may be the front runner as 2003's worst actress, but other star-crossed screen lovers also had a rough ride with critics and the Razzie judges.

Angelina Jolie, who chases romance to geopolitical hot spots in "Beyond Borders," also scored a nomination, along withKelly Clarkson who chases fellow "American Idol" Justin Guarini through an antic-filled Miami spring break in "From Justin to Kelly."

Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz grabbed a dual dishonor with worst-actress nods for their high-kicking, crime-fighting return in "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle."

Sylvester Stallone, an evil, video-game mastermind set on global domination in "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over," took his 30th Razzie nomination, more than any actor in the history of the awards, which spoof the Oscars, Hollywood's highest honors.

The 2004 Razzies will be given out on Feb. 28, a day before the Academy Awards.

The Razzie awards, which were launched in 1980 by writer John Wilson, offer winners a spray-painted raspberry atop a nest of Super 8 film although most awards go unclaimed by honorees.

Dan's Potential Nominees for the Academy Awards

The Nominations for this year's Academy Awards will be announced early Tuesday morning.

There will be 5 nominees in each of the 6 major categories - Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress. Later today I'll narrow this list of potential nominees down to 7 for each category.

These are the ones that I am leaning toward right now.

Everything is in Alphabetical order:

BEST PICTURE

TOP 5
* The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
* Cold Mountain
* Lost In Translation
* Mystic River
* Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World

OTHERS
* American Splendor
* House Of Sand And Fog
* In America
* Kill Bill: Vol. 1
* Seabiscuit
* 21 Grams

BEST DIRECTOR

TOP 5
* 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

OTHERS
* Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, 21 Grams
* Gary Ross, Seabiscuit
* Quentin Tarantino, Kill Bill: Vol. 1

BEST ACTRESS

TOP 5
* Jennifer Connelly, House Of Sand And Fog
* Diane Keaton, Something's Gotta Give
* Nicole Kidman, Cold Mountain
* Charlize Theron, Monster
* Naomi Watts, 21 Grams

OTHERS
* Jamie Lee Curtis, Freaky Friday
* Samantha Morton, In America
* Uma Thurman, Kill Bill: Vol. 1
* Evan Rachel Wood, Thirteen

BEST ACTOR

TOP 5
* Paul Giamatti, American Splendor
* Ben Kingsley, House Of Sand And Fog
* Jude Law, Cold Mountain
* Bill Murray, Lost In Translation
* Sean Penn, Mystic River

OTHERS
* Russell Crowe, Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World
* Johnny Depp, Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl
* Peter Dinklage, The Station Agent
* Sean Penn, 21 Grams

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

TOP 5
* Shoreh Aghdashloo, House Of Sand And Fog
* Hope Davis, American Splendor
* Marcia Gay Harden, Mystic River
* Scarlett Johansson, Lost In Translation
* Renee Zellweger, Cold Mountain

OTHERS
* Emma Bolger, In America
* Patricia Clarkson, Pieces Of April
* Holly Hunter, Thirteen
* Laura Linney, Mystic River
* Emma Thompson, Love Actually

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

TOP 5
* Sean Astin, The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
* Albert Finney, Big Fish
* Bill Nighy, Love Actually
* Tim Robbins, Mystic River
* Ken Watanabe, The Last Samurai

OTHER CONTENDERS
* Alec Baldwin, The Cooler
* Paul Bettany, Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World
* Jeff Bridges, Seabiscuit
* Chris Cooper, Seabiscuit
* Djimon Hounsou, In America
* Ian McKellen, The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
* Andy Serkis, The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King

'Rings,' 'Translation' Win Golden Globes

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - The intimate held its own against the epic at Sunday's Golden Globes, as the big, thunderous "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" collected a leading four trophies while the small, poignant "Lost in Translation" got three.

"Lost in Translation," a story of two lonely Americans who find friendship in a Tokyo hotel, was named best comedy film. Bill Murray won the first major acting award of his career, winning as best comedy actor, and the screenplay prize went to Sofia Coppola, who wrote, produced and directed the film.

"Return of the King" was recognized as best dramatic film, and Peter Jackson as best director. It also won two musical awards.

"I never realized that seven years on this movie would end up turning me into a Hobbit," Jackson said, referring to the shortish, big-footed magical characters in the J.R.R. Tolkien stories. "To all of the actors, our magical cast, you just gave so much to the movies and equally importantly you made it so much fun to work on."

Among TV nominees, HBO's six-hour adaptation of playwright Tony Kushner's "Angels in America" won five trophies, including best miniseries or TV movie.

But movies gathered most of the attention as Sean Penn collected best movie drama actor for playing an emotionally ravaged father seeking revenge for his daughter's murder in "Mystic River," and Charlize Theron won the drama actress honor for "Monster," the story of a prostitute serial killer.

Theron thanked writer-director Patty Jenkins for believing she could play the role: "There's only so much you can do, but if somebody doesn't give you a chance there is nothing you can do."

Murray thanked Coppola and went on to dryly mock Hollywood award speeches, declaring he had fired all his agents and representatives and had no one else to thank.

He also poked fun at the idea that comedy performers are overshadowed by dramatic stars. "Too often we forget our brothers on the other side of the aisle — the dramatic actors," he said. "I'd just like to say: Where would our war, our miseries and our psychological traumas come from?"

Coppola thanked her father — "The Godfather" director and co-writer Francis Ford Coppola, calling him "a great screenwriting teacher."

Diane Keaton, who had one her her first roles in "The Godfather," collected a Golden Globe for lead comedy performances, playing an older woman in love in "Something's Gotta Give."

"Getting to play a woman to love at 57 is like reaching for the stars with a step ladder. I know I got lucky," said Keaton.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association event is regarded by many in Hollywood as one of the year's biggest parties, but it's also a way to generate front-runner buzz for the Oscars.

The Globes are distributed by a relatively small group, about 90 journalists who cover entertainment for foreign-based media outlets.

Tim Robbins and Renee Zellweger collected supporting movie performer honors.

Robbins' supporting role as a grown child-abuse survivor suspected of murder in "Mystic River" earned him the first trophy of the evening. "Wow! We just sat down. The good thing about this coming early is that I get to drink now," Robbins joked.

Later in his acceptance speech he shouted to director Clint Eastwood: "Clint, you are the man! I have never felt so trusted and in such good hands as when we were on the set for that movie."

Eastwood accepted the drama actor award on behalf of Penn, who did not attend, and described his "Mystic River" star as an actor who has been too often taken for granted.

Zellweger received the supporting movie actress award for playing a tough-as-bark backwoods woman in "Cold Mountain." She previously won two lead comedy actress Golden Globes for "Nurse Betty" in 2001 and last year for "Chicago."

Besides winning best TV movie or miniseries, "Angels in America" won four performing awards. Co-star Meryl Streep and Al Pacino were picked best TV movie lead performers and supporting TV honors went to Jeffrey Wright and Mary-Louise Parker.

Streep, who was previously onstage to present the award to Robbins, accepted her trophy with a blushing remark: "I just realized you can see completely though my dress."

Among the nominees Wright beat out for supporting TV actor: his "Angels in America" co-stars Ben Shenkman and Patrick Wilson. "I share this with you," he told them from the stage. "But I'll keep it at my house."

Anthony LaPaglia won best drama series actor for the CBS crime show "Without a Trace," while Frances Conroy claimed the drama actress award for the HBO funeral-home show "Six Feet Under."

Sarah Jessica Parker won best comedy series actress for "Sex and the City," which is in its last season on HBO, and Fox's real-time thriller "24" won best drama series.

BBC America's "The Office," which stars co-creator Ricky Gervais as an annoying boss at a British paper merchant, defeated "Arrested Development," "Monk," "Sex and the City" and "Will & Grace" for best comedy show. The critically lauded "The Office" is being developed into an American version.

"I'm not from these parts," said Gervais, who later won best TV comedy actor. "I'm from a little place called England ... We used to run the world before you."

The honorary Cecil B. DeMille Award went to Michael Douglas, whose actor father, Kirk Douglas, received the honor in 1968.

The Globes event came just two days before Tuesday morning's announcement of the Oscar nominations. The Oscar ceremony is set for Feb. 29, about three weeks earlier than previous years.

Golden Globes 2004: Minute by Minute

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Say whatever you like about the Hollywood Foreign Press Association -- and lord knows, many have over the years about the group's small size, nebulous membership policies and outsize awards-season clout, but the people there run a tight ship. The 61st Annual Golden Globe Awards Sunday zipped along right on schedule, something we can say probably won't happen at the Oscars next month.

There weren't a lot of huge surprises among the winners, but the combination of an open bar and a roomful of famous people made, as usual, for an entertaining show. Here's a minute-by-minute account of the broadcast:

8 p.m.: The show opens with a re-working of OutKast's "Hey Ya," which is so bad that it could very well kill Andre 3000 and make him turn over in his grave, all in one motion.

8:03: With no host, the Globes get right to the awards. Meryl Streep, presenting the award for best supporting actor in a drama, says she's never opened an envelope before. We assume she's talking about awards-show envelopes, because otherwise that would just be weird. Tim Robbins wins for his work in "Mystic River." He's excited to win the first award of the night, because "now I can drink."

8:06: The always-solid Anthony LaPaglia wins the Globe for best actor in a drama series for his understated work on CBS' "Without a Trace." "Now I can drink with Tim," he exclaims. After starting to leave, he runs back to the mic to thank the Golden Globes' sponsoring organization, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

8:09: Rolling right along, "Six Feet Under's" Frances Conroy accepts the award for best actress in a drama series.

8:14: The consensus among both men and women is that Renee Zellweger looks just fine with the extra weight she gained for the "Bridget Jones" sequel.

8:20: We meet this year's Miss Golden Globe, Lily Costner, the 17-year-old daughter of Kevin. She'll stand on stage looking nice for the rest of the evening.

8:25: British import "The Office" wins best comedy series. Star/co-creator Ricky Gervais doesn't much know what to say, noting "I'm not from around these parts. I'm from a little place called England -- we used to run the world before you."

8:30: In what will probably be the least surprising announcement of the night, HBO's "Angels in America" wins the Globe for best miniseries or TV movie. Star Al Pacino looks a little out of sorts on stage, but fellow cast member Mary-Louise Parker most decidedly does not.

8:32: Meryl Streep should really do more comedy ("Death Becomes Her" and "She Devil" to the contrary). Accepting her award for best actress in a miniseries or TV movie, she at first looks frightened when the towering Uma Thurman tries to hand her the trophy from behind, then remarks about how her dress is sort of see-through. She gets a couple more laughs by thanking her agent and noting that Tim Robbins didn't thank his.

8:43: A member of the Hollywood Foreign Press justifies the group's existence with film clips of the association handing checks out, or something.

8:45: Sarah Jessica Parker wins her fourth Golden Globe for best actress in a comedy series, and gives a halting, "um"-filled acceptance speech. You'd think she'd be better at this by now, wouldn't you?

8:50: Jeffrey Wright is surprised to win for "Angels in America," because he's sitting at a table near the wall of the ballroom. Those who saw the film aren't so shocked.

8:53: NBC is starting in with the treacly, "Don't miss the final episodes" promos for "Frasier."

8:55: Robin Williams, introducing a clip for the nautical epic "Master and Commander," says the sea is "cruel, unforgiving and wet -- a lot like Paris Hilton."

8:57: Diane Keaton wins for "Something's Gotta Give." She says "s***" in her acceptance speech, but NBC, not wanting a repeat of Bono's "This is f***in' great" from last year, makes sure to blip it out.

9:00: Bill Murray wins best actor (musical and comedy) for "Lost in Translation." He arrives dressed as brother Brian Doyle-Murray and delivers a typically dry speech, noting, "Too often we forget our brothers on the other side of the aisle, the dramatic actors." He doesn't mention radiant co-star Scarlett Johansson, which just seems mean. Murray now has a Golden Globe going for him, which is nice.

9:10: "Las Vegas" stars Josh Duhamel and Molly Sims appear on stage to present best television drama. In the crowd, Jim Belushi seems to be saying that he wishes he could win a date with Tad Hamilton.

9:11: FOX's "24" wins for best drama, suggesting that the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press live in countries where they're still getting the show's good episodes from last season or the year before.

9:13: Ricky Gervais of "The Office" picks up his second trophy of the evening and gets to play confused foreigner again. "I've been here before... It's good," he says, milking time until the band plays him off the stage. He manages to thank at least two people while staring blankly at the stars in the crowd.

9:21: Why, oh, why does Gwen Stefani look like one of the aliens from "Alien Nation"? Answer: Too much peroxide. Can she be too bleached? No doubt.

9:25: Two minutes after winning for original score and telling his kid back home to go to bed, Howard Shore wins a second trophy for the original song for "Into the West" from "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." Sting was nominated, but didn't win, perhaps because the HPFA was nervous about the possibility eight-hour tantric acceptance speech.

9:32: J Lo presents the screenwriting prize to Sofia Coppola. J Lo knows the importance of screenwriters. Insert your favorite "Gigli" joke here. Lopez seems upbeat despite her recent break-up with Ben Affleck, but her bangs appear to be in mourning.

9:37: Mary-Louise Parker, best supporting actress in a series, miniseries or telefilm for "Angels in America," wins a $1,000 dare from her "West Wing" co-star Janel Moloney by thanking her newborn son for enhancing the profile of her breasts in her barely-there dress. The true winners are the viewers at home.

9:42: Danny DeVito presents his old friend and frequent co-star Michael Douglas with the Cecil B. DeMille Award and makes jokes about drugs, Douglas' age and his interest in women. Nobody laughs.

9:49: Sharon Stone joins DeVito, noting that she had only made a handful of movies before appearing on top of Douglas in "Basic Instinct." We don't know if she's forgetting about "Total Recall" or "Action Jackson" or "King Solomon's Mines" or "Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol," but we don't want her to sell her early career short.

10:03: Sure, it's nice to get awards, but as the announcer keeps reminding us every time a presenter comes to the stage, these people have movies to plug. Thus, we're made aware that Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon's next project is "Shall We Dance?," while Dustin Hoffman can be seen soon in "I Heart Huckabee's." Oh, and don't forget to check out Brittany Murphy in "Little Black Book."

10:07: Peter Jackson wins best director for "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." The short, scruffy New Zealander acknowledges his own hobbit-like appearance and apologizes to the HFPA for "lowering the standards on the red carpet."

10:12: "Angels in America" completes its sweep as Al Pacino wins for best actor in a miniseries or TV movie. The band is not quick with the hook.

10:21: A stunningly dressed Nicole Kidman states the obvious -- "You're not Sean" -- when "Mystic River" director Clint Eastwood steps to the stage to accept the Globe for best actor in a drama on behalf of the film's star, Sean Penn. Eastwood informs us that Penn has "family business up North."

10:36: After a very serious speech for "Osama," the best foreign-language film winner, Jack Nicholson trots onstage to announce the award for best actress in a drama -- Charlize Theron for "Monster." Jack says something disarming to her as she heads to the microphone, but she pulls it together to make her acceptance speech, despite getting played off.

10:43: A bald Jim Carrey announces that the best motion picture comedy is ... "Elf." "Oh, wait, that wasn't nominated this year," he says, getting a big laugh. In reality, it's "Lost in Translation," which picks up its third award of the night.

10:52: Leonardo DiCaprio, who has his Howard Hughes biopic "The Aviator" (funny, Gwen Stefani forgot to mention it) to plug, announces "Return of the King" is the winner for best motion picture drama. Director Jackson makes his acceptance short and sweet, leading to perhaps the night's biggest shocker: an awards show that ends not only on time, but actually a couple minutes ahead of schedule.

Tears for Fears wants to rule world again

Tears for Fears, disbanded since 1990, embarks on a new beginning with Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, due April 6 on Arista. The album, a melodic pop collection, came together after Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith tested the waters of a reunion by collaborating on single Closest Thing to Heaven. The song, completed in one day, goes to radio Monday.

At its peak, the British band topped the singles chart with Shout and Everybody Wants to Rule the World, both from 1985's Songs From the Big Chair, a No. 1 album that sold 5 million copies. Soon after 1989's The Seeds of Love, Smith quit to escape the pressure-cooker of pop success. He later made a solo album, hosted MTV programs, started a radio show and formed Mayfield with songwriter Charlton Pettus. Orzabal released three albums under the Tears banner and a solo debut.

The songwriting duo plans a tour but isn't sure yet if Happy Ending marks a fresh page or a final chapter in the Tears for Fears saga.

THREE'S A CHARM

DreamWorks giving the greenlight to production on Shrek 3 four months before Shrek 2 even hits theaters. The studio also developing Shark Tale 2 even though the original Shark Tale won't bow until October.

'The Butterfly Effect' Debuts in Top Spot

LOS ANGELES - Ashton Kutcher punked the critics as his time-travel thriller "The Butterfly Effect" stole the top spot at the weekend box office. The film hauled in $17.1 million while the Ben Stiller romantic comedy "Along Came Polly" slipped from first to second place with $16.6 million, according to studio estimates released Sunday.
 
"The Butterfly Effect" stars Amy Smart and Kutcher as a college student haunted by repressed childhood memories who travels back in time to inhabit the body of his younger self and undo traumatic events.

Critics derided the film, but moviegoers seemed intrigued by the premise and hungry to see the 25-year-old Kutcher, star of "That '70's Show" and MTV's prank reality show "Punk'd," in more serious fare.

"There was a great curiosity to see how he'd handle a mature role," said David Tuckerman, head of distribution for New Line, which released "The Butterfly Effect." "This is the first time he's had a chance to show his dramatic acting abilities."

The film attracted nearly as many men as women, despite Kutcher's popularity among young female viewers, he added.

With the Golden Globes on Sunday and the Oscar announcements this week, viewers were expected to follow a seasonal pattern of flocking to light hearted films in the January run-up to awards season, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations Co.

But intense media coverage of Kutcher's high-profile romance with Demi Moore and other exposure helped buck the trend and draw audiences, Dergarabedian said.

"I don't think anyone expected his film to do quite this much business," he said.

Also debuting this weekend was "Win a Date With Tad Hamilton!" which came in third with $7.5 million. The romantic comedy follows Kate Bosworth as a naive West Virginia girl who wins a date with a movie hunk. It also features Josh Duhamel and Topher Grace, another "That '70s Show" cast member.

The film's gross may have been hindered by "Along Came Polly," which likely fleeced weekend viewers looking for romantic comedies.

"That audience got split up so it wasn't able to do as well," Dergarabedian said.

The Tim Burton storytelling fantasy "Big Fish" took in $7.3 million to finish at No. 4. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," fell one place to fifth with $6.85 million to bring its total domestic gross to nearly $337 million.

Meanwhile, the Charlize Theron serial-killer drama "Monster" played in only 330 theaters but averaged $6,066 per screen. The film has created Academy Award buzz for Theron and earned her a Golden Globe nomination for best actress.

The overall box office was up, as the top 12 film garnered about $83.5 million compared to nearly $80 million over the same weekend last year. "Darkness Falls," "Kangaroo Jack," and "Chicago" held the top spots a year ago.

Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to studios and Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc., with final figures will be released Monday:

1. "The Butterfly Effect," $17.1 million
2. "Along Came Polly," $16.6 million
3. "Win a Date With Tad Hamilton!" $7.5 million
4. "Big Fish," $7.3 million
5. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," $6.85 million
6. "Cheaper by the Dozen," $6.6 million
7. "Cold Mountain," $5.03 million
8. "Torque," $4.43 million
9. "Something's Gotta Give," $4.1 million
10. "Mystic River," $3.13 million.

A New Album, Big Expectations for Jones

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - "I'm very over myself," Norah Jones says with a self-conscious laugh. Fortunately, she seems to be the only one who feels that way. The music industry and countless fans are looking at her Feb. 10 U.S. release "Feels Like Home" as the first potential smash of 2004.

"We expect the new album to be the No. 1 seller for Sam Goody in its first week," says Donna Beadle, spokeswoman for Sam Goody parent Musicland.

DEMAND STRONG

Indeed, anticipation for her sophomore Blue Note album is running extremely high after the success of 2002's "Come Away With Me," which swept last year's Grammy Awards.

By the time the Grammy frenzy rolled around, Jones had learned how to handle the ever-present spotlight -- but not before contemplating walking away, she reveals in one of her first interviews about the new album.

"I did, at one point in May 2002, feel too much weight," she says. "I let people know I had a limit and there were just certain things we don't want to do, like not have so much work without a few days off.

"And I thought, 'If this is how it's going to be, I don't want to do this.' I'm really thankful that I know what my limits are and that I can exercise my right to say no."

That attitude should serve her well this time around. Jones admits to getting uptight about the project, but only when someone asks her how much pressure she feels. "Every single person and their mama asks me that," the 24-year-old singer says.

Though it's unrealistic to expect "Feels Like Home" to match the stratospheric sales of "Come Away With Me," Blue Note executives know that even stellar sales could be viewed as disappointing if they don't reach the same high watermark.

"I think it's crazy to say it will sell more than 18 million," Blue Note president/CEO Bruce Lundvall adds.

Crazy, maybe, but that's the benchmark set by Jones' first album, "Come Away With Me." It sold 18 million units worldwide, according to her label. Of those, 7.8 million moved in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.

"There is so much excitement, and that's one of Norah's concerns, too," Lundvall continues. "So we're not hyping the record. We're not going out there and advertising all over the world. We have a very solid plan, but it's not over the top. We're not saying this is the best artist of the last 50 years."

"Feels Like Home" retains the lovely ease of "Come Away With Me" but strays from that album's jazzy roots into country, Americana and bluegrass. Additionally, "Feels Like Home" has more midtempo material than the ballad-heavy "Come Away With Me."

"It's not like the last record, kept the same mood," says Jones. "People liked that, and it was also the criticism."

Jones wrote or co-wrote seven tracks on the album, working primarily with her bandmates. "This album, I was really adamant about wanting to be all the band and no one else," she says.

Among the few outsiders allowed were guest stars Dolly Parton and the Band's Garth Hudson and Levon Helm. There are also covers of tunes by Townes Van Zandt and Tom Waits and his wife, Kathleen Brennan.

"I met backstage, and he said, 'Did you get the songs I sent you?' And I'm like, 'Holy Moly! Are you kidding me?"'

One of the songs Waits sent, "The Long Way Home," appears on the new album. "I'm freaked out," Jones says. "I hope he likes it."

Once in the studio, Jones left the outside world behind.

RADIO PLAY

The first single, the toe-tapping "Sunrise," is off to a fast start at triple-A and several adult contemporary radio stations.

"Sunrise" is also a favorite with downloaders. The single set a new record for first-day sales at Apple's iTunes Music Store, breaking a record previously held by OutKast's "Hey Ya!"

But Jones is far from a radio-driven artist. "Come Away With Me" peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 2003.

For Jones, any radio play is a bonus. "I'm not concerned about radio," she says. "The record did well before it ever got a lot of radio play."

People clearly hunger for substance over style. Studies show that many of today's successful female artists have succeeded by writing music that delivers comfort in these troubled times, instead of relying on sex appeal.

Jones' style is more sensual than sexual, and her appeal has grown as she has played to her strengths. "Come Away With Me" was the second-best-selling album in the U.S. in 2003, according to Nielsen SoundScan, even though it came out in February 2002.

Blue Note is initially shipping up to 2.5 million copies of the album in the U.S. So far, sales look strong.

More than two weeks before its release, "Feels Like Home" was already No. 2 on amazon.com, based on pre-orders. "Come Away With Me" was Amazon's top-selling album for 2002 and 2003, according to group merchandising manager Jeff Somers.

Jones is already pushing the project in international markets, where it comes out Feb. 9. She has just completed a promotional trip to Hong Kong and Japan, and she'll hit European stages before she tours again in the U.S. Jones will kick off a stateside tour in late June.

For Jones, who sold out 33 of 36 shows reported to Billboard Boxscore last year, playing live is a skill she's still developing.

"Some people are just naturally very good, talking to the audience," she says. "I don't know where to put my hands. Sometimes it's cool and endearing, but sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's like, 'Oh, my God. Give her more to say."'

To date, Jones has resisted accepting tour sponsorships and endorsement deals.

"We could have made more money if we had a sponsor, but that's not the kind of stuff I want to do. Deep down, in my gut, all I want to be is part of a band."

Ed Wood Delayed (Again)!! Those Bastards!!

The now delayed Ed Wood: Special Edition was shipped to stores. Some locations have already been selling their shipments of the disc from distributors.

Yes the disc, originally scheduled for release on February 3rd, is already in stock in some store's back rooms.

However, I have confirmed with the studio that the disc has been indefinitely delayed, so we expect that the disc will get recalled soon and stores will have to return their shipments.

No doubt some copies will escape and find their way to eBay. The ones currently listed are now selling for upwards of $70 (U.S.).

So if you see one, or better yet if you see two, grab them for me for personal use. They will not end up on eBay. They will be given good homes.

Barbara Walters to Leave 20/20 News Program

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Groundbreaking U.S. television newswoman Barbara Walters will step down as co-host and chief correspondent of ABC's '20/20' news magazine in September, ending her 25-year association with the program, the network said on Sunday.

Walters, who has interviewed people ranging from Richard Nixon to Fidel Castro to Martha Stewart, said in a statement posted on ABC News's Web site she was leaving the program earlier than expected to "have more flexibility in my life without the responsibilities of a weekly news magazine."

The network, which is owned by Walt Disney Co., said Walters will remain an active member of its news division and "substantially increase" the number of prime-time news specials she does.

Walters will also will continue to oversee specials produced by her own production company, and remain executive producer and co-host of 'The View' daytime talk show.

Walters joined ABC News in 1976, becoming the first woman to co-host the network news, and later joined anchor Hugh Downs as co-host of 20/20 in 1984.

Along the way, she interviewed every U.S. president and first lady since Nixon, and sat down with other leaders including Cuba's Castro, Russia's Boris Yeltsin and Britain's Margaret Thatcher.

Increasingly, she also emerged as an interviewer of choice for celebrities caught in the media glare, conducting the first televised interviews with White House intern Monica Lewinsky in 2000 and indicted home decorating guru Martha Stewart this year.

Walters still had more than a year remaining on her '20/20' contract and is negotiating a new, long-term agreement to stay with ABC News, a network spokeswoman said.

Dennis Miller's CNBC Show Favors Jokes Over 'News'

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Dennis Miller insists he is a comedian and not a journalist, and his CNBC show debuting Monday night will be "entertainment," rather than "a font of pristine journalistic ethics."

CNBC won't care what Miller does as long as his eponymous 9 p.m. show brings the network a modicum of visibility in primetime, where its audience has fallen off the radar screen. The cable network's long-term plan is to follow Miller with John McEnroe -- probably in about three months -- after an 8 p.m. newscast.

Like any talk show host who wants to be popular, Miller is prepared to be controversial. One part Libertarian, one part defense hawk, he told reporters in a teleconference Friday: "I don't have the vaguest pretension to journalistic ethics, I'm a comedian. If I can ask a smart question or show an insight into somebody, that's secondary."

He gave some indication of the rants and feistiness to come when he criticized ABC News anchor Peter Jennings for his subtle views while noting that "at least they'll know where I stand."

"Peter Jennings, over the course of the next year, will tell me in a million ways that he's liberal," Miller said. "There will be a million poker tells.

"He has more of a European look, and he's a very bright man. I don't have anything against Peter Jennings, but ... when the polls were going back and forth in Florida during that (2000) election, I could almost tell what he was thinking," Miller said. "You could see the thought bubbles; he was happier when (Al) Gore was ahead."

Miller indicated that he leans toward NBC News' Tom Brokaw in terms of balance.

"Brokaw is the most measured, partly because I work for NBC and partly because he is," he said. "The ratings convey the fact that he's even-handed."

Referring as well to CBS News' Dan Rather, Miller said, "I think they just come from a time where they think of conservatives as old squares, and they don't to be aligned with them."

Miller said his show will include his trademark mock newscast and stay heavily focused on politics during election season.

Another reason to believe Miller is taking a less-than-traditional tact to cable talk is the monkey.

"When David Garroway had a monkey on the 'Today' show, it made me laugh just because it was so random. You tell me if it's a slow news day and someone is doing an interview that you can care less about, about the gross national product, and you see a monkey ambling t