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 throughout the perimeter of the scene, tell me that won't make you sit up and notice," he said.

Miller gave a hint of the barbs he's preparing in the interview portions of his show. Responding to a question on the controversial Patriot Act, which many liberals and conservatives have attacked, Miller went into his familiar rant mode.

"All I know is when (reporters Bob) Woodward and (Carl) Bernstein wanted to see what (Watergate conspirator) Howard Hunt's library records were, it was viewed as a seminal moment in political journalism. When we want to find out if Ramsey El-Kaboom is taking out a bomb cookbook, it's thought to be Orwellian. I don't understand that discrepancy," he said.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be Miller's first guest Monday, followed by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

THE BEST OF THE WORST

It's Hollywood's biggest popularity contest - tonight's Golden Globe Awards, often derided as the Hollywood Foreign Press' annual back-slapping praise-fest that has virtually nothing to do with acting talent.

But the same can't be said this time around.

Four of the nominees for Best Actor - Johnny Depp, Bill Murray, Russell Crowe and Sean Penn - are critics' darlings who have spent the bulk of their careers blasting Hollywood and awards shows.

But this time, all four bad boys seem to want to win.

Penn's conversion might be the most surprising: The man who, in the '80s, purposefully punched the paparazzi, shot at helicopters circling his outdoor wedding to Madonna and who served 32 days in jail for hitting an extra, might have a better chance of being lauded in Iraq these days than Hollywood. His son's name is Hopper Jack, after two of Hollywood's most famous rebels (Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson). He moved his family to Marin County because he - very publicly - stated that he couldn't stand to raise his kids in Hollywood.

In fact, when Penn (who skipped the Oscars when he was nominated for "Dead Man Walking") picked up the National Board of Review Best Acting award recently, for both "Mystic River" and "21 Grams," he quipped, "Russell Crowe's been a prick for a decade. I've been a prick for two decades."

Crowe - nominated as Best Actor in a Drama for "Master and Commander" - is widely believed to have lost the Oscar in 2002 (for "A Beautiful Mind") after bullying a British producer at the BAFTA awards. And it's not like he's done all that much sucking up to voters this year. "There's no way I'll go to the (Oscar) ceremony, even if I'm nominated," he has said.

Throw in Bill Murray and Johnny Depp - two Hollywood iconoclasts if there ever were - and you've got a full-on dark-horse race at this year's Globes. Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise they're not. Hell, they're not even Al Pacino. They don't smile, they don't kowtow, and they seem to aggressively court controversy.

Depp is an expat who lives in Paris, who became famous for playing freaks, and who, in his younger days, got engaged (to Sherilyn Fenn, Jennifer Grey and Winona Ryder) more frequently than J.Lo. Now he's a father of two who says he'd rather "play Barbies" with his little girl than make movies.

And Depp, as did Penn, went so far as to make statements that were widely construed as anti-American. Penn caught major flak for visiting Iraq before the war and vocally opposing U.S. military action while there; Depp called the United States "a dumb puppy with big teeth," when it comes to foreign policy.

And then there's the "Lost in Translation" Bill Murray, who makes the other three look like die-hard publicity seekers. Sofia Coppola has said that even though she wrote the part of depressed movie star Bob Morris for Murray, it took her months to get the script to Murray, and even longer to get a response. "Bill has has an 800-number, and I left messages," she has said. "This went on for five months. Stalking Bill became my life's work."

So why is Hollywood showing its most cranky, controversial peers so much love?

"These guys are rebels," says movie producer Keri Selig, who runs Intuition Productions. "And people are attracted to rebels. [They're] elusive and sexy."

"Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper created that prototype on film," says bad boy emeritus Peter Fonda. "The outsider is the true American hero. It's about time the public began to appreciate that again."

"These guys were always outsiders," says "Sopranos" star Joe Pantoliano. "They didn't mold to the system. The reason why they're being honored - they're so f --in' good, and it has nothing to do with Hollywood. [People] that good cannot be ignored."

Yet they ignore Hollywood. Think about it: How often do you see them on talk shows, at movie premieres, on "Access Hollywood," or in the pages of Us magazine?

Murray, as laconic in real life as his "Lost in Translation" movie star Bob Morris, shows more excitement about the New York Mets and minor league baseball (he owns three teams) than he does the movie business. "I cry a lot," Murray once admitted, "but I don't cry much over work." And the 54-year-old Murray is at the top of his game: he's shooting Anderson's new movie, "The Life Aquatic." As for Penn, he'll star for Sydney Pollack next year in "The Interpreter," possibly with Nicole Kidman. He's even being considered for a big Disney summer action movie called "Flight Plan."

"Everyone's always thought of Sean Penn and Russell Crowe as great actors," notes one ICM agent (who didn't want to be named) of Penn's sudden popularity.

"Now, with all these nominations, Hollywood just can't sit back anymore. They have to go to him."

"Have you noticed Russell Crowe has become P.C. this year?" asks Variety editor in chief Peter Bart. "I'm sure he's noticed that if Ben Kingsley, Jude Law and Tom Cruise say the right thing, they all get awards."

"They're just really great," says John Lesher, a partner in the Endeavor Agency whose clients directors Martin Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson and David O. Russell.

"Talent does ultimately rise to the top." he adds. "[These actors] have the courage of their convictions. They all have careers not defined by box office. And since when do the Golden Globes mean anything, anyway?"

This year - maybe everything.

RUSSELL CROWE
Smokes; drinks; once shoved a TV producer against a wall; said, "I'd move to Los Angeles if Australia and New Zealand were swallowed up by a huge tidal wave, if there was a bubonic plague in Europe and if the continent of Africa disappeared from some Martian attack."

JOHNNY DEPP
Smokes; drinks; slugs paparazzi. Arrested for trashing his room at the Mark Hotel in New York City in 1994; arrested in Vancouver in 1989 or fighting with hotel security; arrested in 1999 for fighting with paparazzi; has said, "I'd like [my kids] to see America as a broken toy."

BILL MURRAY
Has said, "Whenever I hear a star say, 'My fans,' I go right for the shotgun" and, "It's a really unattractive sight to see an actor or actress who really wants an Oscar. You see their faces and the desperation is so ugly. Desperation is not a quality I long for." Despite such loathing, he has already won New York Film Critics Circle and the Boston Society of Film Critics awards for "Lost in Translation. "

SEAN PENN
Smokes; drinks; slugs paparazzi. Shot at a helicopter before outdoor wedding to Madonna; arrested for punching an extra on the set of "Colors"; served 32 days in jail for assaulting a photographer in 1987; called "Baghdad Sean" for visiting Iraq before the U.S.-led war; has said he hates acting and that Hollywood is "creatively corrupt."

Last laugh for 'Friends' as production ends on the highly rated TV show

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Friends had the last laugh Friday.

The final episode of the hit NBC series, which ends its 10-year run in May, was being filmed at the Warner Bros. studio Friday night.

Series stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox Arquette, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer were to trade their last quips and inevitable hugs around midnight.

Friends tended toward long production days and, with emotions running high and an extended, hourlong finale to film, a quick finish was unlikely on Stage 24, the sitcom's longtime home.

The mood this week has been "deeply emotional, very sad," Peter Roth, president of Warner Bros. Television, said Friday. "But beyond the sadness, I think there is an enormous sense of accomplishment."

The cast, which shared real-life friendships as well as highly productive salary negotiations, talked with reporters last week about the series' end.

"We're like very delicate china right now," said Aniston, who plays single mom Rachel. "And we're speeding towards a brick wall, inevitable pain."

Said Kudrow: "Looking back on all the fun ... is not going to help me leave. I mean, that's exactly what I can't be thinking about because that's the saddest part for me."

The actors have the chance to drown their sorrows at a wrap party Saturday, being held at a secret location in the Los Angeles area.

Friday's studio audience was limited to "a very special, invited guest list," Roth said. Measures were taken to safeguard plot leaks, according to the show's producers.

"There are elements that the audience will not be seeing that we'll be shooting before the audience comes in," series creator and executive producer Marta Kauffman said last week. "And then you just keep your fingers crossed that everybody lives up to what they say that they will."

However the May 6 finale plays out, will Friends fans be satisfied?

"As one of the show's biggest fans, I am enormously satisfied with it. I was enormously satisfied with the script, and I certainly hope fans will be satisfied as well," Roth said.

The top-rated comedy for the last six seasons, Friends is going out in style. Thirty-second ads for the show are reportedly fetching $2 million US, close to Super Bowl prices, according to Horizon Media, an ad buying firm.

In its 10 years, Friends received six nominations for best comedy series and won the award once, in 2002. Joey, a spinoff starring LeBlanc, is set to debut next season on NBC.

TV's Captain Kangaroo, Bob Keeshan, Dies at 76

BOSTON (Reuters) - Bob Keeshan, who enchanted millions of American children as television's grandfatherly Captain Kangaroo, died on Friday in Vermont after a long illness, his family said. He was 76.

The easy-going television personality and his posse of sidekicks, including Mr. Green Jeans and Bunny Rabbit, neatly blended entertainment and education on the "Captain Kangaroo" show, which first aired on CBS in October, 1955.

As the mustachioed host -- whose pouch-like jacket pockets gave the character his marsupial name -- Keeshan captured the hearts and minds of everyone from baby boomers to Generation Xers during more than three decades on the air.

"Our father, grandfather and friend was as passionate for his family as he was for America's children," his family said in a statement. "He was largely a private man living an often public life as an advocate for all that our nation's children deserve."

A Marine during World War II, Keeshan began his career working as a page at NBC.

Things began to take off when he joined "The Howdy Doody Show" and created the character Clarabell the Clown, who communicated by honking horns and squirting a seltzer bottle, usually at host Buffalo Bob Smith.

Years later, after he had gone his own way as Captain Kangaroo -- a more sedate, nurturing character -- he credited Smith's influence on his creative and professional life.

"One of the reasons that Captain Kangaroo was such a success is that it ran so smoothly, and that happened because I ran that show with all the talents that Bob Smith taught me," Keeshan wrote.

"He is my father in the business," he said. "I put what he taught me to work on Captain Kangaroo and we ran for thirty years."

Although children loved the program, CBS eventually jettisoned "Captain Kangaroo" to make room for a morning news program with the hopes of challenging NBC's "The Today Show."

Keeshan's show migrated to public television, where it remained on the air until 1993.

CBS Chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves called Keeshan "a true pioneer in children's television whose legacy goes unmatched," while Bozo the Clown -- whose real name is Larry Harmon -- mourned his passing, calling it "a big loss to generations of American kids."

It was the second such loss in less than a year, following the death last February of Fred Rogers.

In their later years, both men bemoaned the state of children's entertainment.

In a 1999 interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Keeshan expressed frustration with the lack of creativity in children's television -- something he blamed on corporate bean-counters -- and increasingly violent video games.

"When you play some of these games, the only way to win is to be skilled at violence. If you want to be conciliatory or to mediate, you're going to lose," he said. "You take a game like Mortal Kombat, the conditioning of violence involved, it's sickening."

Famed German Photographer Killed in L.A. Car Crash

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - German-born photographer Helmut Newton, whose stark, often sadomasochistic portraits of nude women in chains and bonds won him acclaim and revulsion, was killed in a car accident in Hollywood on Friday, police said.

Newton, 83, was pulling out of a parking lot at the Chateau Marmont Hotel just off Sunset Boulevard at about noon when he lost control of the Cadillac he was driving and crashed into a wall, Los Angeles Police Department officer April Harding said.

The car sustained major damage, and Newton died of his injuries a short time later at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, she said, adding the accident remained under investigation. No one else was reported hurt in the wreck.

The accident brought to an abrupt end a celebrated photography career spanning eight decades.

Born in Berlin in 1920 to Jewish parents, Newton was apprenticed to a society photographer in 1936 and fled Germany two years later for Singapore, then settled in Australia, where he served in the army and worked as a fashion photographer before returning to Europe in 1957. After making his home in Paris for many years, he moved to Monte Carlo in 1980.

Admittedly color blind, he once joked that his difficulty distinguishing yellow from green and green from blue was "why I take very good color pictures."

But it was the often shocking, coldly stylistic nature of his images, printed in Vogue and other fashion magazines, for which Newton was renowned.

His specialty was sharply focused female nudes, often Amazonian women with hints of sexual deviancy, danger and fetishism. He photographed women wearing dog collars, chains and even saddles.

In one notorious shot that outraged Italian jeweler Bulgari, he photographed their diamonds and sapphires on the wrists of a model engaged in dismembering a chicken.

Men in his photos typically appeared in servile roles, as waiters, chauffeurs or mere onlookers.

His work outraged many and feminists protested one of his exhibits by throwing paint on his photos.

Grealis, 74, ran RPM, sired Junos

Walter Grealis, long-time supporter of the Canadian music industry, founder of the trade publication RPM and one of the inspirations behind the Juno Awards, died Tuesday.

Mr. Grealis had been diagnosed with lung cancer which later spread to his liver, said a close friend, broadcaster Dave Marsden. He was 74.

Born in Toronto on Feb. 18, 1929, the former policeman entered the recording industry in 1960 and soon became the Ontario promotion manager for London Records before establishing RPM magazine. The publication promoted Canadian singers and musicians for 37 years before folding in November, 2000.

In 1964, RPM initiated the Gold Leaf Awards, which evolved into the Junos. In 1975 it also established the Big Country Awards along with the Canadian Academy for Country Music Advancement.

Grealis received a people's award at the 1976 Junos and had a Juno for industry figures named after him. In 1993 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

BENNIFER'S GONE BUST

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have officially called it quits.

"I am confirming the reports that Jennifer Lopez has ended her engagement to Ben Affleck. At this difficult time, we ask that you respect her privacy," said a statement from her rep.

According to Us Weekly, Lopez broke off their engagement January 20 but the decision to split was allegedly mutual.

Dennis Miller Courts Viewers to CNBC Show

LOS ANGELES - Dennis Miller will do almost anything to get people to tune into his new CNBC show.

Including hiring a chimpanzee.

And he's not kidding.

Miller said when he was a kid he used to watch Dave Garroway on the "Today" show and he had J. Fred Muggs, the chimp, with him.

So Miller thought if he ever had his own news show, he'd have a chimp on it, too. "Just to see him scamper through the foreground of a shot (makes me) laugh out loud," he told reporters.

"If I was watching at home and I was doing an interview, (and) in the back you saw a chimp swinging from a light standard; I don't know about you, but I would call my wife and say, 'Honey, they've got a monkey on this show!'"

Miller said people who watch his new show will realize he's still the same guy from "Saturday Night Live," although the hair's different.

"My boys seem to watch 'Comedy Central' now, my sons," he said. "And I see the old me on 'Saturday Night Live.' When I get pass the Billy Ray Cyrus mullet that I'm wearing, I notice one thing: That my humor hasn't seemed to have changed since I first started there. I don't see where I have this wide range that I can change what I do. My monkey trick is my monkey trick."

Miller, who was in ABC's "Monday Night Football" booth as an announcer for two seasons, said often times the people who don't agree with him will watch him and that adds to the audience.

"I can't tell you how many people would watch football and come up to me and tell me they dislike me, it was about equal to the amount who liked me," he said of his 2000-02 stint. "Oh, I see, they kind of like disliking you. Because it defines their parameters. Don't you watch somebody at home who bugs you once in a while? And you say, 'Why am I watching him?' Because they bug you and it makes you feel superior."

Miller is fine knowing his style is an acquired taste, but there is little doubt as to his popularity. His HBO weekly series "Dennis Miller Live" won five Emmy Awards and three Writers Guild Awards.

"The way I do it, everything I've ever done, there's 50 percent of the country (that) hates me and 50 percent likes me," he said. "When I was younger I used to rail against that. I wanted more to like me. Then I got older, (and) there's a real career to be made keeping it within one or two points of 50-50."

The "Dennis Miller" show debuts Monday.

Dancer-Actress Ann Miller Dies at Age 81

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ann Miller, the whirlwind Hollywood hoofer and comic actress who co-starred with such dancing greats as Fred Astaire in "Easter Parade," Gene Kelly in "On the Town" and Bob Fosse in "Kiss Me Kate," died on Thursday at age 81, a spokeswoman said.
 
Miller, whose last screen performance was her featured role as the landlady Catherine "Coco" Lenoix in David Lynch's bizarre 2001 mystery "Mulholland Dr.," died of lung cancer at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, her longtime publicist Esme Chandlee said.

"She was a much better actress than people gave her credit for because she was always singing and dancing," Chandlee told Reuters.

While never quite reaching the lofty star status of contemporaries like Ginger Rogers or Cyd Charisse, the leggy, raven-haired Miller established herself as a second lead in a string of memorable Hollywood musicals during the 1930s, '40s and '50s.

Her film career faded by 1956, but she continued to perform in nightclubs, on television and on stage into the 1990s. In 1969, she became one of the stars to succeed Angela Lansbury in the title role of "Mame" on Broadway, and returned to the Great White Way a decade later with Mickey Rooney in the musical "Sugar Babies."

Born and raised in Texas, Miller began dancing at age 5 as therapy for a childhood case of rickets, and signed her first Hollywood contract with RKO as a teenager in the 1930s.

Winning notice as Ginger Rogers' dancing partner in the 1937 film "Stage Door," she landed supporting roles in a string of movies through the remainder of the decade, including "Room Service" with the Marx Brothers in 1938.

In the early 1940s, she set a record for the fastest tap dancing, producing more than 500 tap sounds per minute. In 1948, she signed with MGM and danced with Fred Astaire in her first film for that studio, "Easter Parade."

She co-starred with Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Betty Garrett the following year in "On the Town" and played Lois Lane "Bianca" in the 1953 film version of "Kiss Me Kate," the musical adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew," co-starring Bob Fosse, Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel.

Miller remained active in show business well into her 70s, playing Carlotta Campion and belting out "I'm Still Here" in a 1998 Paper Mill Playhouse revival of "Follies." The following year, she took a part in the Lynch-directed TV pilot for "Mulholland Dr.," which was turned into a feature film and released in 2001 after ABC passed on the series.

Nintendo Gets Back in the Game

TOKYO (Reuters) - Only a few months ago, it looked like it was 'game over' for Nintendo.

Its mainstay GameCube console was losing ground toMicrosoft's Xbox and Sony, which had already ousted the company from the top slot in the home market, announced plans for a hand-held game machine to challenge Nintendo's Gameboy Advance.

Nintendo answered with a series of price cuts that rejuvenated GameCube demand and sent holiday sales up more than 70 percent from a year ago. It is also launching a new, hand-held game machine that is not as high-tech as what Sony and Microsoft plan to roll out but still breaks new ground in the gaming world.

Investors are starting to sit up and take notice.

"It's undergoing a bit of a reconciliation and if you stop forecasting worst case scenarios, it looks quite cheap," said Jeremy Hall, a fund manager at Henderson Global Investors.

The stock had a dismal 2003, tumbling to a six-year low in May and losing 10 percent in a year when the Tokyo stock market posted its biggest rise since 1999.

Analysts say that was an overreaction, especially given Nintendo's solid finances.

"If you consider that its balance sheet is ridiculously strong and there is so much in cash and assets...then I don't think the company's valuation has been formally recognized," KBC Securities analyst Hiroshi Kamide said.

It has 660 billion yen ($6.18 billion) in cash and carries a price-to-book (PB) ratio -- a favorite indicator for value investors -- of 1.6, compared with valuations of 7.9 for software competitor Electronic Arts and 1.8 for Sony.

If Nintendo's PB ratio rose to 1.83, the average level for all the companies included in Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 N225> , the stock would reach 11,880 yen. That is 15 percent above Thursday's closing price of 10,370, which was up four percent from the start of the year.

SIMPLE IS BEST

Sony and Microsoft are developing microprocessors to power the next generation of game machines, but Nintendo seems to be heading in the opposite direction -- so much so that one high-ranking Sony executive recently joked that Nintendo's next new product might be a deck of cards.

The comment was a dig at the company's humble origins as a maker of playing cards, but also a reference to Nintendo's notion that video games should be fun and simple, like toys.

With that in mind, Nintendo has unveiled details of a new, portable video game system, codenamed "Nintendo DS." The hand-held device, due for launch later this year, will feature two LCD screens, one above the other.

"It's going to be a challenge for Nintendo to compete with Sony and Microsoft technologically, so it behoves Nintendo to try different forms of gaming, such as the "DS" product," said Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Jay Defibaugh.

It already has one hand-held product in the Gameboy Advance, which controls almost the entire portable gaming market, but Nintendo says the new "DS" is unlike any existing game system.

The dual screens might allow the user to view the game from two angles at once, in racing games for example.
 
Nintendo's new product might still be overshadowed by Sony's PSP, an advanced hand-held gaming device set for launch by the end of the year.

Sony's PlayStation guru, Ken Kutaragi, has said the PSP will be the "Walkman for the 21st century" and it will play not only games, but music and movies as well.

PS2 RULES

The "simple is best" strategy has not helped Nintendo in the home console market, where the company is neck and neck with Microsoft for second place, way behind Sony, whose PlayStation 2 (PS2) controls roughly two-thirds of the market.

But Nintendo has seen a surge in sales in the United States after it slashed GameCube prices to less than $100, a 40-percent discount to PS2 and Xbox.

Nintendo officials now say it will "easily" meet a target for the year to March to sell six million GameCubes, a goal that looked very much in doubt when it sold less than a million units in the first six months of the business year.

"You can explain almost all of the recovery, the renaissance in GameCube interest with the price cut," said CSFB's Defibaugh.

One concern is Nintendo's exposure to currency fluctuations since it generates over 70 percent of its revenue overseas and foreign profits will be cut in yen terms by the yen's strength.

Goldman Sachs analyst Ken Uryu wrote in a note to clients Last week that if the dollar stayed around its current level of 106 yen until the end of March, there was a danger that Nintendo would suffer a currency-related loss of 65 billion yen.

Nintendo based its net profit forecast of 60 billion yen for the year to end-March -- which would be down 11 percent from last year -- on an assumed dollar rate of 114 yen.

Analysts say this does not affect the company's intrinsic value but the yen's strength will have an impact on earnings because Nintendo holds almost $5 billion of dollar-denominated assets that are revalued in yen terms every six months based on prevailing currency rates.

SOME SURE-FIRE STRATEGIES FOR 'IDOL' HANDS

If you wanted to be a rock star in the old days, all you had to do, according to the Byrds song, was "get yourself an electric guitar and take some time and learn how to play."

But in the world of the hit Fox TV series "American Idol," it takes smarts and strategy, as well as talent, to survive the scrutiny of judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul. Whether you're a contestant or a viewer, here's how to separate golden idols from those with clay feet:

1. All three critics say they don't want to see gimmicks, yet so far, an Elvis impersonator and a girl who rides a scooter have made it to round two.

2. Simon is a sucker for any Righteous Brothers song, especially "Unchained Melody."

3. Old pop (that's pre-1970) gets the judges' attention since tunes from that era are the music of their youth. Really old pop, like a Bing Crosby number, falls into the gimmick category, which is supposed to be bad, but is really good.

4. Phrasing and timing are meaningless to all three judges. It's strictly about keeping in key and maintaining pitch.

5. Dancing is an open invitation to ridicule.

6. Being a good-looking blonde - male or female - is a great asset.

7. The wackier or ditzier you are, the better - especially if you can back it up by singing in key.

8. The show is about melody, so never rap or sing a song that's totally rhythm-dependent, such as "Not Fade Away."

9. When the judges laugh at you - they are laughing at you, not with you.

10. No matter how badly you want to be on the show, if the judges give you the ax, lose with dignity. Begging, even in the kneeling position, just doesn't work.

'Titanic' Director Sets Sail with New Film, Report Says

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Titanic" writer/director James Cameron is preparing a follow-up feature, six years after his maritime saga smashed worldwide box office records, Daily Variety reported in its Thursday edition.

Cameron hopes to start shooting the untitled project, which he described as "a big-budget science-fiction film with a pile of special effects" later this year for 20th Century Fox with high-definition 3-D video cameras, the trade paper said.

Cameron announced his plans to sci-fi buffs on Tuesday during a question-and-answer session following a special Hollywood screening of his 1991 blockbuster "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," the paper said.

Fox, a unit of News Corp.'s Fox Entertainment Group Inc, financed "Titanic" with Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures. Although it went way over budget, the 1997 film grossed $1.8 billion at the worldwide box office and won 11 Oscars, including best picture and director.

Since "Titanic," Cameron has directed two documentaries: "Ghosts of the Abyss," a 3-D giant-screen film that took him to Titanic's resting place at the bottom of Atlantic; and the TV special "Expedition: Bismarck," about the famed German battleship.

Conan invites Canuck pals

HOLLYWOOD -- Conan's comin' and he's bringing some Canadian friends with him.

Mike Myers, Michael J. Fox, Will & Grace star Eric McCormack and Canadian bands Nickelback and Barenaked Ladies will be among the celebrity guests when Late Night With Conan O'Brien comes to Toronto on Feb. 10-13, organizers announced last night.

O'Brien isn't just inviting Canuck stars. Also on the guest list is Adam Sandler, who stars with Drew Barrymore in the feature film 50 First Dates, which hits theatres that week.

The four shows will be taped at Toronto's Elgin Theatre and will air weeknights at 12:35 a.m. on NBC.

This will be a rare public appearance by Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease. He starts a two-episode guest stint on NBC's Scrubs on Feb. 5 playing a surgeon who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder.

As well, the hardest working comic in Canada, Ron James, will get a shot at some NBC face time. Myers is a big fan of James, who had a CBC special earlier this season.

"We're absolutely thrilled with the quality of stars lined up already," said Peter Soumalias, who is spearheading local organizing efforts. "We eagerly await the rest of guest list, which will be announced shortly."

O'Brien's producers hope to land some local heroes who aren't quite as well known in Hollywood.

Spidey, Harry and Shrek Lead Movie Lineup

LOS ANGELES - You'd think there isn't an original idea left in Hollywood with all the sequels, spinoffs and remakes crowding the 2004 movie lineup.

Yet fans are not likely to complain, considering the savory characters featured in this year's many retreads, which include about two dozen sequels and prequels and at least a dozen updates of old movies or TV shows.

The three heavy hitters arrive in quick succession during the busy summer season:

- "Shrek 2" premieres just before Memorial Day, as the animated ogre with the Scottish brogue (again voiced by Mike Myers) accompanies his princess bride Fiona (Cameron Diaz) to meet her parents, with their pal Donkey (Eddie Murphy) along for the ride. Julie Andrews and John Cleese join the voice cast as Shrek's disapproving in-laws, and Antonio Banderas provides the voice of crafty cat Puss-in-Boots.

- "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" debuts in June, with author J.K. Rowling's boy sorcerer (Daniel Radcliffe) and his chums (Rupert Grint and Emma Watson) in their third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This time, the gang faces an escaped convict (Gary Oldman) who's coming after Harry for mysterious reasons. Michael Gambon replaces the late Richard Harris as wise headmaster Dumbledore.

- "Spider-Man 2," opening over Fourth of July weekend, reunites director Sam Raimi with Marvel Comics' anxious-teen-turned-superhero Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), girl-next-door Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and Peter's pal Harry Osborn (James Franco). Now a college student, webmaster Peter battles new super-villain Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina), who has been transformed into the tentacled "Doc Ock."

While most sequels ratchet up the action, Raimi chose to ratchet up the moral and personal dilemmas and private quandaries that set "Spider-Man" apart from many Hollywood franchises and helped turn it into a $400 million mega-hit.

"The next one is going to seem a little smaller and more intimate. I hope people are not hoping it's bigger and better. Hopefully, they'll think it's smaller and better," Raimi said. "I really turned the film inward on the characters, and it seems like that's what the audience responded to in the first film. So we focused on developing the characters to the next level, and the actors have taken the performances, all of them, up a notch."

The sequel picks up two years after "Spider-Man," which ended with Peter turning his back on his great love, Mary Jane, realizing it was a sacrifice he had to make to travel the high road with his superpowers.

"In those two years, we see the weight of this decision upon Peter Parker," Raimi said. "It's a much tougher road than he ever thought. And the sacrifices he makes here are much more extreme than he ever thought.

"It's about the growth of a boy into a man. Really, a simple coming-of-age story. This boy just happens to be one bitten by a radioactive spider."

"Harry Potter" fans who want to see every detail from the books translated into the screen versions might be uneasy over the projected length of "Prisoner of Azkaban." Director Alfonso Cuaron expects to bring the movie in at less than 2 1/2 hours, the shortest of the series so far and well under the nearly three-hour running time of the last installment, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets."

This time, Rowling's story lent itself to a tighter script than the first two flicks, Cuaron said.

"I'm sure that somebody is going to miss something very specific that was ingrained in his or her mind when they read the book. But I think fans are going to love the movie," Cuaron said.

Cuaron signed on for "Harry Potter" after making the racy Spanish-language hit "Y Tu Mama Tambien." He hesitated initially, wondering if it was a good idea to leap into blockbuster country, where every frame would be under the microscope of a profit-minded studio and an eager but finicky audience.

Helping to put the filmmaker on the Hogwart's Express was a remark from a friend, who told him, "in serving Harry Potter, you may do the best film of your career," Cuaron said. "It turned out to be probably the most free experience I ever had in a studio movie."

On the other hand, Andrew Adamson felt a bit artistically constricted on "Shrek 2." A co-director on both "Shrek" movies, Adamson felt he and his collaborators wrapped up the 2001 original too neatly, making it tougher to develop the sequel.  

Adamson's main beef: He wishes they had not let Shrek and Fiona marry at the end of the first film. The filmmakers could have strung out the romantic mayhem in the sequel if the two had yet to tie the knot, Adamson said.

"But it actually forced us to push the story through more twists and turns and prevented us from letting the film fall back into sequel cliches," Adamson.

Among the twists: Turns out Shrek wasn't the fairy-tale true love meant for Fiona, after all. A guy named Prince Charming was (Rupert Everett provides the voice of the unlucky-at-love prince).

While the filmmakers had not been thinking sequel on the first "Shrek," they have left more leeway to continue the story after the new installment, Adamson said.

"This time at least, we're preparing for it. We're trying not to make the same mistakes," Adamson said. "In the first movie, Shrek learned he could be lovable to some degree. This movie, he learns how to love, and at some point, he needs to learn to love himself. So there is still more to be told about these characters. They still have room to go."

This year's non-sequel and non-remake highlights include a "Wedding Singer" reunion for Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore in the romance "50 First Dates"; Tom Cruise as a hitman in "Collateral"; Kurt Russell in "Miracle," the story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team; Gene Hackman as an ex-president running for mayor in "Welcome to Mooseport"; the end-of-the-world thriller "The Day After Tomorrow," with Dennis Quaid; Nicole Kidman's "The Interpreter," a tale of United Nations intrigue; Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg reteaming for the drama "The Terminal"; and Will Smith in the sci-fi adventure "I, Robot."

Also: "The Village," the latest fright flick from M. Night Shyamalan ("The Sixth Sense"); the epic "Troy," with Brad Pitt as Greek hero Achilles; the musical "Andrew Lloyd Webber's the Phantom of the Opera," directed by Joel Schumacher; Oliver Stone's "Alexander," with Colin Farrell as the great conqueror; Leonardo DiCaprio in the Howard Hughes biography "The Aviator," directed by Martin Scorsese; Russell Crowe as Depression-era boxer Jim Braddock in Ron Howard's "Cinderella Man"; and the comic-book adaptations "Constantine" with Keanu Reeves, "Catwoman" with Halle Berry, "Hellboy" with Ron Perlman, and "The Punisher" with Thomas Jane.

Among the year's other sequels: Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer and pals return in "Barbershop 2: Back in Business," which co-stars Queen Latifah, who gets her own spinoff, "Beauty Shop"; "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement," with Anne Hathaway and grandma Julie Andrews on a hubby hunt; "Kill Bill — Vol. 2," the conclusion to Uma Thurman and Quentin Tarantino's vengeance saga; and Renee Zellweger's return to romantic misadventures in "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason."

Also: Matt Damon's second time out as the amnesiac spy in "The Bourne Supremacy"; Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller's "Meet the Parents" follow-up "Meet the Fockers"; "Blade: Trinity," Wesley Snipes' third time as the vampire slayer; Frankie Muniz in "Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London"; "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed," with the Great Dane and his ghost-hunting gang; Naomi Watts in the horror tale "The Ring 2"; and John Travolta's "Get Shorty" postscript "Be Cool."

With "Ocean's Twelve," George Clooney reprises the title role from the heist hit "Ocean's Eleven," a remake of the Frank Sinatra flick.

The assassination thriller "The Manchurian Candidate," another Sinatra film from the '60s, gets an update with Denzel Washington in the lead.

Among other remakes and adaptations: Nicole Kidman in the comic thriller "The Stepford Wives," about a town of oddly obedient women; Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson as cop partners in "Starsky & Hutch," updated from the '70s TV show; Tom Hanks in the Coen brothers' retelling of "The Ladykillers," about a gang of inept crooks; The Rock as a take-no-prisoners sheriff in "Walking Tall"; "Flight of the Phoenix," starring Dennis Quaid in the story of crash survivors scavenging their wrecked plane to build a new one; "Van Helsing," a new take on the "Dracula" saga, featuring Hugh Jackman; "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights," which transplants the romance to 1950s Cuba; Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez and Susan Sarandon in "Shall We Dance," based on the Japanese film; and "Dawn of the Dead," with Ving Rhames and Sarah Polley among survivors in a world of undead zombies.

Other movies, while not straightforward remakes, mine familiar territory. Hilary Duff's "A Cinderella Story" gives a modern twist to the fairy tale as a downtrodden stepdaughter who meets her prince online then leaves behind her cell phone rather than a slipper for him to track her down.

Jennifer Garner does the child-in-an-adult-body thing a la "Big" in "13 Going on 30," about a teenager who wishes for a new life and suddenly finds herself stuck in the body of her grown-up self.

Writer-actress Nia Vardalos follows up her surprise blockbuster "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" with "Connie and Carla," a romance that carries shades of the cross-dressing comedies "Some Like It Hot," "Tootsie" and "Victor/Victoria."

"Connie and Carla" stars Vardalos, Toni Collette and David Duchovny in the tale of two female musical-theater singers who witness a murder and hide out from mobsters by posing as drag queens — "women dressed as men dressed as women," Vardalos said.

The success of the low-budget "Greek Wedding" has landed Vardalos in the middle of big-money Hollywood. The music budget alone on "Connie and Carla" equaled the entire $5 million cost of making "Greek Wedding," Vardalos said.

Sky-high expectations often trip up newly minted stars on their first follow-up to a major hit. But Vardalos figures she's already taken that tumble with the failed TV adaptation "My Big Fat Greek Life."

"I'm not worried about the sophomore jinx. That already hit me with the TV show," Vardalos said. "I'm now in my junior year, and I feel great."

Music Industry Sues Hundreds Over Piracy

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. music industry on Wednesday said it is suing 532 people identified only as "John Doe" in anti-piracy lawsuits after a recent court ruling forced record labels to abandon earlier methods of tracking down online copyright infringers.

The Recording Industry Association of America, which has been fighting the digital piracy it blames for a three-year slump in CD sales, said it filed four separate suits against 532 users of undisclosed Internet service providers.

In a new legal tactic, the trade group identified song swappers by numerical Web addresses. It plans to discover their names and locations through subpoenas.

The RIAA has been unable to sue suspected individual song swappers by name since mid-December, when a federal appeals court sided with Verizon Communications and ruled that ISPs did not have to respond to subpoenas filed as a prelude to lawsuits requesting the names of users.

Three of the suits were filed in New York, and the fourth in Washington, DC, RIAA President Cary Sherman said on a conference call with journalists.

"Our campaign against illegal file sharers is not missing a beat," Sherman said.

In recent years, record labels and even musicians likeMetallica and Sheryl Crow have campaigned against peer-to-peer networks like Napster and Kazaa, claiming they have contributed to plummeting CD sales and cheated them out of royalties by letting people swap music for free.

The RIAA refused to disclose the ISPs involved in the John Doe suits, but Verizon said it had recently been notified it would soon be getting subpoenas.

Sarah Deutsch, Verizon vice president and associate general counsel, said the company had not seen the lawsuits and had not spoken with the RIAA regarding the suits, but said it had received nearly 50 e-mail advance notices from the RIAA, saying it would soon be receiving subpoenas from attorneys.

PEER-TO-PEER GROUPS RULED EXEMPT

The RIAA had previously invoked a 1998 digital-copyright law to force ISPs to turn over suspects' names, an approach upheld by a lower court.

But the appeals court found the law does not apply to peer-to-peer networks, where infringing material is stored on individual hard drives rather than on public Web sites.

Sherman said the decision complicated and raised the cost of the industry's anti-piracy efforts, and he predicted that settlements would likely rise to reflect the higher costs.

Verizon's Deutsch, on Wednesday said the suits should discourage frivolous subpoenas and protect customer privacy and due-process rights.

"The past method was an unsupervised digital dragnet," she said. "The difference is now the subpoenas have to be administered under a judge. Our goal is to comply, although we don't know any details. We're interested to see if the RIAA is trying anything new here," she said.

Legal experts believe the new tactic should help ease tensions between the RIAA and ISPs.

"The ISPs still have privacy issues that have not been totally resolved. A court-issued subpoena will have to be done excruciatingly properly or an ISP will not obey it," said Len Rubin, a Chicago-based copyright attorney, adding the ISPs will scrutinize subpoenas carefully, looking for discrepancies.

Others like Sen. Norm Coleman, a Minnesota Republican who chairs a Senate investigations committee and has held hearings on digital piracy, criticized the latest round of lawsuits.

"The decision by the RIAA to rely primarily on the fear of the courts and litigation to pummel (peer-to-peer) users is unfortunate and misdirected," Coleman said.

"While it's an improvement that the record industry now has to play by the same rules as everyone else who goes into court, they are still heading in the wrong direction," said Cindy Cohn, legal director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Since September, the RIAA has settled 233 of 382 lawsuits for about $3,000 each and has agreed on another 100 settlements in principle. The rest are still in court.

The latest suits are also targeted against what the RIAA deems as the most "egregious" cases of copyright infringement.

A study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found the number of people who downloaded music from the Web fell by around half by late 2003 from the early part of the year.

Gibson Expects 'Worst to Come' Over Christ Film

ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - The controversy that has followed Mel Gibson's film about the death of Christ could be persecution or just inspired publicity, but the film-maker himself predicted "the worst is yet to come" on Wednesday at a meeting with 4,500 evangelical Christian pastors.

A day after reports that a high Vatican official denied that Pope John Paul gave a thumbs up to his film, "The Passion of the Christ," Gibson prepared to show it to another hand-picked audience, this time the Global Pastors Network conference meeting in Orlando.

As with past screenings, media were barred, as were Jewish groups worried that the film could incite anti-Semitism if it suggests Jewish authorities in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago were largely responsible for the crucifixion of the man Christians worship as the incarnation of God.

On Tuesday, an aide to the pose denied media reports that the pontiff had praised the film's Biblical accuracy, saying, "The Holy Father told no one of his opinion of this film."

Gibson did not mention the Vatican denial when he addressed the pastors. He thanked them for their prayers, but warned, somewhat ominously "I anticipate the worst is yet to come. I hope I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong."

Gibson said the film gestated in his imagination for 12 years as he meditated on the gospel stories of a God who became human so he could pay the price for human sin.

"He could have done it by pricking his finger and shedding a little blood. He didn't; he wanted to go all the way," Gibson said.

While Gibson thanked the pastors for their support, his publicity director, Paul Lauer, urged them to send youth groups to the R-rated flick when it opens on Feb. 25 on 2,000 screens in the United States.

The rating, apparently based on the graphic depiction of the crucifixion, means those under age 17 must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian.

Lauer predicted that if the film posts good numbers on its opening weekend, "I think there'll be a lot of powerful people in Hollywood saying, 'Somebody get me a Jesus picture."'

This week's Couch Potato Report was posted today instead of yesterday.

Scroll down and enjoy!

I'll meet you on the couch.

Welcome Back Weezer

Universal Music Enterprises has set a March 23 release date for two highly anticipated Weezer items: the DVD "Video Capture Device" and an expanded reissue of the group's 1994 debut, "The Blue Album." As previously reported, The DVD is expected to run three hours and feature music videos, live footage and optional band member commentaries, while the album reissue will include a second disc of B-sides and rare tracks.

Meanwhile, work is progressing on Weezer's next studio album, which, as previously reported, is being produced by Rick Rubin. The band is expected to be in pre-production on a new batch of songs through the end of the month, after which time it will return to the studio to record the material. "Happily, between Rick Rubin and Weezer, quality control standards are at an all time high," according to the band's official Web site.

New Janet Jackson Album Due In March

Janet Jackson's as-yet-untitled new album will be released March 30 via Virgin, according to a label spokesperson. Beyond collaborations with longtime producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Jackson has also worked with Missy Elliott, Dallas Austin and producer Rich Harrison, who was behind the boards for Beyonce's "Crazy in Love." The artist is planning to tour this summer in support of the album.

As previously reported, Jackson will be part of the MTV-produced, AOL-sponsored Super Bowl XXXVIII, although it is unknown if she will debut material from the upcoming release. P. Diddy, Kid Rock and Nelly will also be on hand for the festivities.

The new album is the follow-up to 2001's "All for You," which debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart. It has sold more than 3 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. The title cut reached No. 1 on the Hot 100.

COULD IT "BE" MORE EXPENSIVE?

NBC is charging a record $2 million per 30 second spot during the May 6 Friends finale, according to TV Guide.

BE PART OF THE MEMORIES:

A pair of tickets to the taping of the final episode of Friends is being auctioned off on eBay. Bidding has already hit $10,000 for the tickets--the only two available to the public for the taping. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Lili Claire Foundation, which helps children born with neurogenetic disorders.

Freaks and Geeks get the last word

Fans of the short-lived series Freaks and Geeks seemed to go unheard as the show was quickly pulled off the air, and then completely ignored. But a huge petition has prompted Shout! Factory to release the entire series on six discs this spring.

All eighteen episodes of the show are included with audio in Dolby Digital 5.1along with twenty-eight audio commentaries, deleted and extended scenes, alternate ending, outtakes and bloopers, cast auditions, behind-the-scenes footage and NBC promotional TV spots. A 28 page booklet will also be included and it all arrives on April 6th.

Juno Award tickets for Edmonton gala to go on sale Valentine's Day

EDMONTON (CP) - Tickets for this year's Juno Awards, one of the country's premier music events, will go on sale on Valentine's Day.

Beginning at 11:30 a.m. EST on Feb. 14, music fans can contact Ticketmaster for the 33rd annual Juno Awards. The awards show will take place at Edmonton's Rexall Place on Sunday, April 4. Ticket prices range from $91.50 to $57. A limit of four tickets per person will be sold.

Last year, tickets for the Ottawa show, hosted by Shania Twain, sold out in 22 minutes. A host and performers for the 2004 ceremonies have yet to be named.

Hoffman Heads 'Focker' Clan for Comedy Sequel

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Dustin Hoffman has been cast as Ben Stiller's father in "Meet the Fockers," the sequel to the 2000 comedy hit "Meet the Parents."

As with the original, the Universal Pictures project is being directed by Jay Roach. Stiller, Robert De Niro, Blythe Danner and Teri Polo are returning in their original roles.

The sequel sees Greg Focker (Stiller) and his fiancee, Pam Byrnes (Polo), thinking everything is hunky-dory now that Greg has won over his soon-to-be in-laws, Jack (De Niro) and Dina Byrnes (Danner). But that's before Pam's parents meet Greg's parents, the Fockers. The hyper-relaxed Fockers and the tightly wound Byrneses are mismatched from the start.

Hoffman won Oscars for his work in "Kramer vs. Kramer" and "Rain Man." He last appeared in "Runaway Jury." He and De Niro appeared together in the prophetic 1997 satire "Wag the Dog."

'American Idol' Returns to Stellar Numbers on Fox

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The quest for instant pop fame and a new TV take on matrimonial mayhem scored big with viewers as the return of "American Idol" and the debut of "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance" struck ratings gold for the struggling Fox network.

The third edition of "Idol" premiered on Monday night to 28.2 million viewers overall and a whopping 12.5 rating in the benchmark demographic of 18-to-49-year-olds, making it the biggest show of the night and the biggest debut of any series on any network this season, according to figures issued on Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

Monday's "Idol" now ranks as the second-highest-rated nonsports telecast so far this season in 18-to-49-year-olds behind a Jan. 15 episode of NBC's "Friends," while just two episodes of the CBS hit series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" have drawn more in total viewers, Fox said.

The return of "American Idol" also gave a boost to the launch of another key Fox reality series, "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance," which averaged nearly 21.4 million viewers to rank as the second-most watched program of the night and prove the enduring appeal of matrimonial melodrama.

The reality show centers on a young bride-to-be trying to get through a formal engagement and marriage to a world-class lout -- over the sensible protests of her parents -- in order to win $1 million.

But while the search for America's next pop star on "Idol" increased its audience about 13 percent from its first half-hour to the second, "Fiance" lost nearly 20 percent of its total viewers at the half-hour.

Still, Monday night's performance marked a welcome triumph for Fox, a unit of News Corp. Ltd., which has been struggling to shake off a ratings slump and was counting on the premieres of both shows to re-energize its schedule.

It was the strongest Monday night for Fox since the finale of "Joe Millionaire" last year. That show, along with the second installment of "American Idol" last January, transformed Fox's fortunes from dismal to dazzling at the end of last season.

Fox started the new season with improved ratings for its baseball playoffs coverage but faltered with misfires by several new shows, including the porn-themed drama "Skin," the sitcom "Luis" and a second installment of "Joe Millionaire."

Elsewhere on prime time Monday, NBC's "Average Joe: Hawaii" saw its 18-49 ratings jump nearly 40 percent in its third episode at 10 p.m., apparently benefiting from reality TV fans looking for something else to watch once "American Idol" and "Obnoxious Fiance" were off the air, and from the fact that CBS aired a repeat of "CSI: Miami."

This week in The Couch Potato Report four movies, count 'em four, four movies that are worth seeing!

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 am pleased to tell you that this week there are four new films to tell you about. I am even more pleased to report that all four are good and quite worth your time.

We'll start this week out with a western called OPEN RANGE.

After a decade of movies that weren't very good Kevin Costner came here to Western Canada to direct OPEN RANGE.

Set in the Old West Costner and co-star Robert Duvall lead cattle across the land, grazing wherever the land is good.

After a territorial murder the cowboys seek vengeful justice against the ruthless rancher who threatens their law-abiding survival.

Now I've never been in a climactic shootout, but I suspect that the masterfully staged ones that take place in OPEN RANGE are laced with the shock and suddenness of real-life gunfire.

But it isn't all gunfire and cattle, this is a beautiful film that is rich in character development and contains an abundance of thick-hided humor.

Costner plays his role just right Robert Duvall offers us one of his finest cinematic performances.

OPEN RANGE might not be as good as Costner's other western - DANCES WITH WOLVES - or Clint Eastwood's UNFORGIVEN but I liked it a lot. I especially enjoyed its slow pace and the opportunity it offers to get lost in the old west.

The films of the old west, especially Sergio Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST served as the inspiration for director Robert Rodriguez' EL MARIACHI films.

1995's DESPERADO was the middle film of the trio and now we have the completely enjoyable ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO. In this installment El Mariachi protects the Mexican president from coup plans.

The film is a complex with an engaging story to follow, complimented by some riveting action scenes and classy dialogue.

Antonio Banderas continues to personify The Mariachi, with Salma Hayek returning as his love interest. They are supported in wonderful performances from Johnny Depp of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, missing-in-action 80's star Mickey Rourke and William Dafoe from THE ENGLISH PATIENT. And I can't forget the stunning Eva Mendes.

As a big fan of these ELMARIACHI films I was pre-destined to like ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO, but even if you've never seen the other two films in the trilogy there is a lot to like in this movie.

Movie. Spelled M-O-V-I-E.

Okay, I got it right!! I can spell movie!

It's unlikely any actual spelling bee would offer such an easy word to spell. I know that for a fact as I've seen the spelling bee documentary SPELLBOUND. And you should see it too! It is wonderful.

Now who would have thought that a documentary about spelling-bee contestants could be wonderful, or even as suspenseful as a Hitchcock thriller? SPELLBOUND follows eight kids from their early victories in regional spelling bees to the national competition in Washington, D.C.

SPELLBOUND is an out-and-out nail-biter. Each of the kids gets captured so vividly that you can't help but get emotionally immersed in their brave, nerve-wracking struggle to spell slippery, treacherous words.

And none of them are as easy as movie. M-O-V-I-E. Look, I spelled it right again!

But enough about my ability to spell, just search out SPELLBOUND at your local video store. It is a riveting, wrenching, must-see movie.

That title again: S-P-E-L-L-B-O-U-N-D.

Another title to search out, and spell for your local video store proprietor is SWIMMING POOL.

If you feel like watching a movie that you can discuss and dissect afterward than SWIMMING POOL is your movie.

This erotic thriller also offers a potent, voyeuristic charge as it takes you through a seductive tale of murder and complicity.

British mystery novelist Sarah Morton seeks peace and relaxation at her publisher's French villa, only to find his brash, sexually liberated daughter Julie arriving shortly thereafter. What begins as mutual annoyance turns into something more sinister and duplicitous, alternating between Julie's predatory dalliances with men and Sarah's observant, perhaps jealous fascination.

A delicate dance of trust, curiosity, and gradual understanding ensues, until a twist ending that forces you to reevaluate everything you've seen.

Everything!

Jump into SWIMMING POOL. You might not feel refreshed, but you will feel engaged.

OPEN RANGE, ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO, SPELLBOUND and SWIMMING POOL are all great films and are all available to rent and own right now.

COMING NEXT WEEK

RADIO - A football coach mentors a mentally challenged boy. (Cuba Gooding
Jr., Ed Harris, Sarah Drew)

LE DIVORCE - French and American social customs and behaviors are observed in a story about an American visiting her Frenchman-wed sister in Paris. (Naomi Watts, Kate Hudson)

THIRTEEN - A thirteen-year-old girl's relationship with her mother is put to the test as she discovers drugs, sex, and petty crime in the company of her cool but troubled best friend. (Evan Rachel Wood, Nikki Reed, Holly Hunter)

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

STAR WARS Episodes VII – IX?

According to an interview in Hotdog magazine there is going to be another STAR WARS TRILOGY that will continue the story after RETURN OF THE JEDI.

In the interview it says that Peter Mayhew, the man under the Chewbacca costume, said that when he signed the contract for EPISODE III it had a clause in it that means he would have to work in a further EPISODES VII, XIII and IX.

At this point there has been no word from George Lucas or anyone else from Lucasfilm, but you have to remember that Lucas has been denying another trilogy would be made for some time. And in the book series that Lucas has final word on, Chewbacca is dead.

'Cold Mountain' Leads British Film Nods

LONDON - "Cold Mountain" with 13 nominations and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" with a dozen led the nominations Monday from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
 
Both movies will compete for best picture against Tim Burton's whimsical "Big Fish," Peter Weir's seafaring saga "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," and Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation," the young director's second film.

Anthony Minghella, who also wrote "Cold Mountain," and Peter Jackson ("Lord of the Rings") rounded out the best director category.

Left out of the running were "Mystic River" and its director, Clint Eastwood.

The BAFTA winners will be announced Feb. 15, two weeks before the Oscars.

Sean Penn was nominated twice for best actor, for "Mystic River" and "21 Grams." Also nominated was Penn's co-star in "21 Grams," Benicio del Toro; Jude Law ("Cold Mountain"); Bill Murray ("Lost in Translation"), and Johnny Depp ("Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl").

Depp's BAFTA citation follows nominations in the same category at this year's Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globes. The attention for the kind of comic performance often overlooked at awards season augurs well for Depp's chances when the Oscar nominations come out Jan. 27.

Nicole Kidman, the female lead in "Cold Mountain," failed to get a BAFTA nod.

The best actress nominees were Anne Reid ("The Mother"); Naomi Watts ("21 Grams"); Uma Thurman ("Kill Bill Vol. 1"); and a double nomination for Scarlett Johansson, for "Lost In Translation" and "Girl with a Pearl Earring."

"Girl," English director Peter Webber's film version of the Tracy Chevalier best seller, had a surprisingly strong showing. The film was nominated in 10 categories, with Judy Parfitt an unexpected supporting actress nominee and Eduardo Serra cited for his extraordinary camerawork, which pays homage to the film's subject, the Dutch artist Vermeer.

Besides Parfitt, the supporting actress category includes Holly Hunter ("thirteen"), Laura Linney ("Mystic River"), Emma Thompson ("Love Actually"), and Oscar favorite Renee Zellweger ("Cold Mountain").

Tim Robbins, Penn's co-star in "Mystic River," is the only American nominee in the supporting actor category. He goes up against Bill Nighy as the amiable crooner of "Love Actually"; Ian McKellen's bearded Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings"; Albert Finney's dying patriarch in "Big Fish"; and Paul Bettany in "Master and Commander."

CBS Orders Two More 'Survivor' Challenges

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - CBS has given the go-ahead to at least two more editions of "Survivor," and has ordered full seasons of four of its six new fall shows, including "Cold Case" and "Joan of Arcadia," the network said Saturday.

Network honchos sang the praises of what has been a very strong season so far during its portion of the Television Critics Assn. winter press tour in Hollywood. But CBS' successes were overshadowed by some tougher-than-usual questions for CBS chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves about the network's dealings with embattled pop star Michael Jackson, its handling of the controversial "Reagans" biopic miniseries and a pointed question regarding Moonves' personal life.

The "Survivor" renewal -- clinched by Moonves and executive producer Mark Burnett on Saturday morning as they shared an escalator ride at the Renaissance Hotel where the press tour has unfolded during the past two weeks -- covers the ninth and 10th editions of the series. The pickup means that "Survivor" will stay on CBS through at least May 2005.

Given its strong ratings, "Survivor" was expected to remain a fixture on CBS, though the timing was something of a surprise, as the two sides have apparently hammered out few details, including the locales for Nos. 9 and 10. Indeed, CBS is busy preparing for the eighth edition of "Survivor," an "all-star" cycle featuring past winners and favorite contestants, which premieres Feb. 1, right after CBS' telecast of Super Bowl XXXVIII.

CBS also officially announced "CSI: New York," the second spinoff from the forensics drama "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," and gave full-season pickups to the drama "Navy NCIS" and the comedy "Two and a Half Men" (another drama, "The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H.," was pulled from the schedule earlier in the season). That leaves the low-rated freshman crime drama "The Handler" as CBS' only fall freshman that has not yet been renewed.

"It's not officially dead, but it's not looking good, let's put it that way," Moonves told reporters about "The Handler."

Meanwhile, on the daytime side, Bob Barker will return for his 33rd season as host of the game show "The Price Is Right."

CBS is having a strong year in the ratings, ranking No. 1 season-to-date not just in total viewers but also in its target adults 25-54 demographic and placing second behind NBC among the more coveted adults 18-49 demographic, points that Moonves repeatedly made to the TV critics Saturday.

But the programing news and ratings boasts were somewhat clouded by the recent national headlines Moonves and CBS have made. The network chief came prepared for queries on his handling of the made-for-TV movie "The Reagans" and a "60 Minutes" interview with Jackson as well as his feud with Donald Trump, star of NBC's new reality hit "The Apprentice," which Burnett also executive produces.

Moonves joked to reporters that the job of the network's media relations executives "used to be to get my name in the newspaper. Now it's their job to keep my name out of the newspaper, and frankly, they haven't done a very good job in the last few months," he said.

Moonves reiterated earlier statements that, despite published reports, the network did not pay Jackson $1 million to be interviewed by Ed Bradley on "60 Minutes." But he conceded that the network backed off its initial insistence that Jackson's arrest on child molestation charges be addressed in court before a tribute special featuring the singer could be aired.

Instead, Moonves decided that the Bradley sit-down was sufficient to pave the way for the airing earlier this month of the "Michael Jackson Number Ones" special, which was hastily yanked from CBS' schedule in November following Jackson's arrest.

"I did change on that," Moonves said.

As for "The Reagans," Moonves said he realized his decision not to air the TV movie about the former first family (which wound up running on CBS' pay-cable sibling Showtime) was unpopular in some quarters, but he still stands by the move.

In a lighthearted vein, he attributed Trump's personal attacks to "a very bad hair day" for the real estate baron. Last week, Trump called Moonves "the most highly overrated person in television" and criticized him for failing to renew the network's deal to telecast the Miss Universe pageant and other events controlled by Trump.

But Moonves was caught off guard when a reporter asked whether he would "recuse" himself from decision-making on "The Early Show," where his girlfriend Julie Chen is co-host. Moonves, who is in the midst of a divorce, has kept his relationship with Chen largely private.

"What do you mean?" a clearly surprised Moonves asked the reporter. "Are you writing for (the New York Post's) Page Six now?"
 
He added that he and CBS News president Andrew Heyward had worked out an "Early Show" arrangement that works "fine," but he declined to elaborate.

Moonves offered no new details on the status of the sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond," whose current deal with CBS expires in May. He said he's trying to persuade star Ray Romano that a "Raymond" series finale this May would "get lost in the shuffle" because NBC's "Friends" and "Frasier" will end their runs with a hail of publicity at that time.

"We obviously hope it comes back," Moonves said of "Raymond," adding that he has told the creators, "We'll give you awards, we'll give you dinners ... we'll supersize you. We'll do whatever you want to come back for an extra year."

'American Idol' Returning for Third Year

LOS ANGELES - In two years, Fox's "American Idol" has minted three new music stars in Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken. Now the televised talent hunt is trying for more.
 
"American Idol" returns for its third season Monday — and not a moment too soon for the struggling Fox network. More than 38 million people watched Studdard beat Aiken in last May's finale, a bigger audience than the Academy Awards.

"It's as important to our network as `Survivor' is to CBS," said Gail Berman, Fox's entertainment president. "It's as important to our network as `Friends' is to NBC. We need an engine."

Fox isn't messing with the elements that made the show a success. Ryan Seacrest is back as host. Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and the caustic Simon Cowell return as the judges. An estimated 80,000 wanna-be stars applied to test their talents.

That's a lot of excruciating music to sit through.

"There's only two people every year, or in some cases only one person, who makes a difference, and that's the terrible thing about the show," Cowell said. "Of course, every one of the 80,000 think they're fantastic."

Word to the wise: If you want to impress the judges, leave the Mariah Carey-like vocal histrionics at home.

Abdul said it's like "a breath of fresh air" when a singer simply sticks to the melody.

"It's about the sound of the voice," Jackson said. "The kids just don't know that. They're more impressed and trying to impress people with the vocal gymnastics."

"A Whole New World" from the Disney movie "Aladdin" wins the judges' cringe award for the most-butchered song in auditions.

Talent shows on TV have become commonplace in the wake of "American Idol." CBS has revived "Star Search," for instance, and NBC's "Today" show launched its own search for a star. None have approached the ratings impact of "Idol."

"While others may try to copy us, they will never have the caliber of talent on or off the stage that `American Idol' has," Berman said.

In this season's "American Idol" tryouts, the judges said girls held an advantage over guys. The show's producers say they're tinkering with the series to make its middle period better. Fans love the train-wreck auditions and the excitement of the finals, but interest lags in the stretch when 32 contestants are whittled down to 12.

They also hope to make better use of guest stars, many of whom don't find it as easy as Cowell to crush singers' dreams and are boring as a result.

"The good thing about `American Idol' — watching it and being involved in it — is that it has a sense of humor," Cowell said. "One of the things that's missing in the music industry at the moment is that people are taking themselves so seriously, it's not fun anymore."

The judges believe Aiken changed the competition forever because of the way he played to the audience's emotions.

Beneath his innocent looks was a fierce competitor, evident perhaps in how Aiken has overshadowed Studdard since the show ended.
 
"He played to win, but you didn't think that," Jackson said.

Even the ultra-confident Cowell thinks the show is better because it's the public, and not the judges, who make the final choice of American idol.

"There's never a shortage of talent," Abdul said. "You find some of the best talent in the most remote parts of the country and, you know, there's always someone who drives to make it. And we'd love to see that happen."

'Polly' Comes to Knock 'Rings' From No. 1

LOS ANGELES - "Along Came Polly" came along and swept "The Lord of the Rings" from its four-week perch atop the box office list.

The new romantic comedy collected $27.6 million to debut at No. 1, while "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" fell to fourth place with $10.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"Along Came Polly" stars "Friends" sweetheart Jennifer Aniston with Ben Stiller playing yet another romantically inept young man.

Audiences were not deterred by what some critics described as a rut for Stiller, who played similar roles in "Meet the Parents" and "There's Something About Mary."

The chemistry between the two stars was part of its appeal, said Nikki Rocco, president of Universal Pictures distribution. "Sure, he's done this before, but now she's with him. That might have something to do with it," she said.

After weeks of heavy dramas angling for awards considerations, sometimes all an audience wants is a laugh, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations Co.

"(Stiller) does seem to play this role a lot, but he does it well," Dergarabedian said. "The audience obviously loves Ben Stiller in this type of movie."

If estimates hold, "Polly" will rank as the highest-grossing movie to debut on a Martin Luther King holiday weekend, topping the $23.4 million of 2001's "Save the Last Dance."

The Tim Burton storytelling fantasy "Big Fish," which lost a close race to "Lord of the Rings" for the top spot last week, held on at No. 2 with $10.4 million.

The movie has slowly built an audience since debuting in limited release six weeks ago, and is one of the nominees for best comedy film at next weekend's Golden Globe Awards.

"Enough people have seen and heard about it to create buzz, but not everyone has been convinced to go out and see it," Dergarabedian said. "This is one that could really benefit at the box office from awards or nominations."

"Torque," featuring rapper-actor Ice Cube in a motorcycle-chase action film akin to "The Fast and the Furious," debuted in third place with $10.3 million.

The only other film opening in wide release, the cartoon "Disney's Teacher's Pet," was a bomb that didn't come close to cracking the Top 10. The animated feature, about a talking dog who disguises himself as a schoolboy, was based on a TV show from the Disney Channel.

Although "Lord of the Rings" dropped to fourth place, it is still performing strongly for a movie in its fifth week of release. So far, the third installment of the trilogy has collected $326.8 million domestically.

Worldwide, "The Return of the King" has earned $771.5 million, putting it on track to cross the billion-dollar mark, especially if it fares well at the Golden Globes or Academy Awards.

The overall box office was down slightly, with the top 12 movies taking in $95.6 million, down 4 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Kangaroo Jack," "National Security" and "Just Married" were at the top of the box office.

Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Tuesday, a day later than usual due to the Martin Luther King holiday in America.

1. "Along Came Polly," $27.6 million.
2. "Big Fish," $10.4 million.
3. "Torque," $10.3 million.
4. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," $10.2 million.
5. "Cheaper by the Dozen," $8.7 million.
6. "Cold Mountain," $7 million.
7. "Something's Gotta Give," $6 million.
8. "My Baby's Daddy," $3.6 million.
9. "The Last Samurai," $3.12 million.
10. "Calendar Girls," $3.10 million.

'Survivor: All Stars' cast revealed

Is the world ready to see Richard Hatch naked again? We'll soon find out as eighteen former 'Survivor' castaways try to 'outwit', 'outlast' and 'outwit' each other again on ''Survivor: All-Stars'.

CBS has formally announced the identities of the eighteen (rather than the usual sixteen) players who will compete in the eighth installment of the popular reality show series which debuts following Super Bowl XXXVII on Feb. 1st.

The list includes four previous 'Survivor' winners - Richard Hatch ('Survivor: Pulau Tiga'), Ethan Zohn ('Survivor: Africa'), Jenna Morasca ('Survivor: Amazon') and Tina Wesson ('Survivor: Australia') - and possibly the most popular 'Survivor' of all time: Rupert 'Blackbeard' Boneham of 'Survivor: Pearl Islands'.

Despite rumours following his comments on the 'Survivor: Pearl Islands' finale, Jon ('Jonnie Fairplay') Dalton is not a part of the cast and neither is winner Sandra Diaz-Twine.

Returning to the Pearl Islands due to conflicts with the original Pulau Tiga site, 'Survivor: All Stars' will feature three tribes that will eventually merge into two on the fifth or sixth episode.

The three tribes are...

CHAPERA TRIBE (Red):
1. Amber Brkich: "SURVIVOR: THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK".
2. Tom Buchanan, "SURVIVOR: AFRICA"
3. Alicia Calaway, "SURVIVOR: THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK".
4. Rob Cesternino, "SURVIVOR: THE AMAZON"
5. Sue Hawk, "SURVIVOR: PULAU TIGA"
6. Rob Mariano, "SURVIVOR: MARQUESAS"

SABOGA TRIBE (Yellow)
1. Rudy Boesch "SURVIVOR: PULAU TIGA"
2. Rupert Boneham "SURVIVOR: PEARL 3. ISLANDS"
3. Jenna Lewis, "SURVIVOR: PULAU TIGA""
4. Jerri Manthey, "SURVIVOR: THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK""
5. Tina Wesson, "SURVIVOR: THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK""
6. Ethan Zohn, "SURVIVOR: AFRICA""

MOGO MOGO TRIBE (Green):
1. Colby Donaldson, "SURVIVOR: THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK"
2. Richard Hatch, "SURVIVOR: PULAU TIGA"
3, Shii Ann Huang, "SURVIVOR: THAILAND"
4. Jenna Morasca, "SURVIVOR: THE AMAZON"
5. Lex van den Berghe, "SURVIVOR: AFRICA"
6. Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien, "SURVIVOR: MARQUESAS"

Filming of the series began on Nov. 3rd and finished on Dec. 9th and since that time, a number of startling rumours have cropped up on such leading 'Survivor' spoiling sites such as 'SurvivorNews.net'.

The primary ones being that contestant Jenna Morasca had to leave the series before it was finished filming due to the death of her mother, the former winners don't fare well at Tribal Council and that there will be no 'Ghost Tribe' this season.

The Couch Potato Report

This week in The Couch Potato Report – Freddy, Jason and English. Johnny English.

Rowan Atkinson, one of the world’s funniest performers, is the titular twit.

Mr. Bean is known around the world, and because of the role so is Mr. Atkinson.

It’s a legacy that most performers who have a signature role might not be able to rise above. But Atkinson hasn’t spent his career trying NOT To be Mr. Bean, he’s enjoyed a successful run in movies and TV shows playing a variation of the Bean person we know and love.

Rowan Atkinson has made me laugh for years in movies such as FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, LOVE ACTUALLY and RAT RACE. And before he was ever even thought of as Mr. Bean he performed in such BBC shows as BLACKADDER and NOT THE NINE O’CLOCK NEWS.

But its because of Mr. Bean that he’s beloved worldwide.

It’s also because of Bean that a film like JOHNNY ENGLISH is worth seeing.

Rowan Atkinson stars as JOHNNY ENGLISH in this spoof of James Bond and other spy films.

JOHNNY ENGLISH isn't as funny as Mr. Bean, or BLACKADDER or NOT THE NINE O’CLOCK NEWS for that matter, but it is funny.

Not as funny as Mike Myers’ AUSTIN POWERS, but funny.

While Myers created a whole new character for Austin Powers Rowan Atkinson has just given his JOHNNY ENGLISH the best characteristics of his past work.

From Mr. Bean JOHNNY ENGLISH gets his muscle and face twitchings and helplessness, and courtesy of BLACKADDER he is equipped with plenty of nasty but harmless remarks.

There are also elements of Peter Seller’s Inspector Clouseau. JOHNNY ENGLISH is an 'idiot' who happens by sheer good luck to solve a case against all the odds. Like Clouseau he also has an annoyed superior and a faithful deputy who inevitably saves the day.

The story in JOHNNY ENGLISH is uneven in places, but through sheer good luck it all works out fine at the end.

John Malkovich plays the villain and pop singer Nathalie Imbruglia is quite good as English's sidekick.

Plainly stated, JOHNNY ENGLISH is a funny movie. It’s Rowan Atkinson's movie, tailored for his abilities and talent, one that will leave you with a genuine smile. Maybe even two.

You likley won't smile as funny is not a word many would ever use to describe the horror movie franchises A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET or FRIDAY THE 13th.

In the 80’s and early 90’s these movie series raked up big bucks no whammies at the box office.

But as the nineties drew to a close their returns continued to diminish. In an attempt to capitalize on the continuing popularity of the two series’ anti-heroes Freddy Krueger, of the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET films, and Jason Vorhees, from FRIDAY THE 13th, they have been put together in a film that is creatively titled FREDDY VS. JASON.

In FREDDY VS. JASON Jason and Freddy battle from Elm Street to Crystal Lake. if you don’t CLEARLY UNDERSTAND that reference, then you should probably stay away from this film.

If you do get it, and you want to know if this horror film is any good, well I’ll say this: I have no regrets about seeing it and I’m glad I did. Good? Maybe not. Satisfying? Definitely!

JOHNNY ENGLISH and FREDDY VS. JASON are available to rent and own at a video store near you right now.

Coming Next Week On Video and DVD

In 2003 Kevin Costner returned to the directorial form he displayed with DANCES WITH WOLVES. It came in a beautiful western called OPEN RANGE. Shot right here in Western Canada it also stars Robert Duvall and Anette Bening.

Also next week, Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek and Johnny Depp star in the conclusion of director Robert Rodriguez’ Mariachi trilogy. This follow up to EL MARIACHI and DESPERADO is called ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO.

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

'GUY': IT'S ALIVE!

'THE Family Guy" is coming back from the dead.

Talks are under way with both Fox - which canceled the cartoon series two years ago - and the Cartoon Network - which airs it in reruns now - for new episodes of the show, Seth MacFarlane, creator of "Family Guy," told The New York Post.

No matter what, MacFarlane says, production will begin soon - even if he doesn't know exactly where they'll end up.

"We're sort of waiting on an official word, but to the best of my knowledge, the plan is to start producing a batch of new episodes without necessarily knowing where they're going to wind up," he says. "It's sort of a new format that really hasn't been tried before, and it's based on the DVD sales."

DVD sales of the canceled show have been huge - and in no small part is fueling talk of reviving the series.

"It's insane. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that it would have this kind of afterlife," MacFarlane says. "It's just a shock to everybody who worked on the show."

The show follows the misadventures of the Griffin family - bumbling dad Peter, his good-natured wife Lois, their two teens, a cynical dog who is smarter than everyone else, and an evil baby bent on world domination who makes numerous attempts to kill his parents and siblings.

When "Family Guy" aired on Fox from 1999-2002, many attributed its low ratings to not having a secure place on the network's schedule. The show was kicked around so much, one of its writers once complained that even his own mother didn't know when it was on.

But industry execs took notice last year when the show's DVD collection surprised even MacFarlane by selling more than a million copies, a huge feat by any standard, but especially for a show that drew so little attention while it was on the air.

In the meantime, Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" late-night programming block began airing repeats last year - which attracted large numbers of young men. In time, more young guys were tuning into the cable channel to see "Family Guy" at 11:30 p.m. than for either "The Late Show" or "The Tonight Show."

Men between the ages of 18 and 34 years old are a prized group for advertisers.

" 'The Family Guy' is appealing to a young male audience in a season when nothing seems to be appealing to young men," said an industry source close to the talks.

A deal could even be announced as early as this week, according to sources. But others believe that might be overly optimistic because insiders have been claiming a deal for the prime-time return of "Family Guy" has been imminent since last November.

Several different plans to bring the show back are under discussion.

In one scenario, new episodes of "The Family Guy" would air on Fox, then Cartoon Network.

Other options include shipping the show exclusively either to Fox, Cartoon Network or elsewhere. In all instances, the ultimate destination for the episodes would be on DVD.

But if the show does return, it will likely put off a planned "Family Guy" movie, says MacFarlane.

"To do an original movie directly for DVD and the series at the same time would be a little difficult," he says. "But there's been some discussion of doing a series of episodes that would all link together to form a movie."

While canceled shows have been picked up by rival networks in the past ("JAG" jumped from NBC to CBS in 1997, for instance), no one can recall a show that has been canceled and off the air ever returning to the same network.

Friends, CSI, Pirates of Caribbean win at 30th annual People's Choice Awards

PASADENA, Calif. (CP) - The 2004 awards show season kicked off Sunday night with some of North America's favourite stars of television, film and music on hand to accept People's Choice Awards.

It was a Friends kind of night as the sitcom, now in its final season, won its sixth award for favourite comedy series. And one of its stars, Jennifer Aniston, was voted favourite female television performer. "I love my job and I love that the people have supported our show for the last 10 years," said Aniston, who didn't attend the ceremonies, but sent along her thanks and acceptance via a video message.

Friends cast members Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry were there to accept the prize on behalf of the show.

"We've had a great 10 years, but if it weren't for the brilliant people behind us - the writers - we would have been cancelled after 13 episodes," said Perry.

The 30th annual awards, held this year at Pasadena Civic Auditorium, were hosted by Jon Cryer and Charlie Sheen of the new comedy Two and Half Men.

They opened the show with Cryer's declaration that this is the awards show "by the people, for the people and of the people," prompting Sheen to remark that he sounded "like my dad." It was a reference to his father, Martin Sheen, who was nominated for his role as the U.S. president on The West Wing.

He was beaten by Ray Romano of Everybody Loves Raymond, who won favourite male television performer.

Alliance Atlantis's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was the most popular dramatic show.

Pirates of the Caribbean, starring Johnny Depp, was the favourite motion picture. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers took the dramatic motion picture award, while Bruce Almighty, starring Canadian actor Jim Carrey, won for comedy.

A grinning and manic Carrey accepted the Bruce Almighty award, saying: "Not only is this an important win for the movie, it's just great to know... the whole Hollywood community has decided to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and saviour... thank you, my Jewish friends."

When Mel Gibson picked up his actor award, he seemed somewhat perplexed by the choice.

"I'm rather surprised at winning this since I wasn't actually in a motion picture much this year or last year - maybe that's why, huh?"

Julia Roberts was favourite motion picture actress, and Tom Hanks was voted all-time entertainer.

Faith Hill and Beyonce Knowles tied for favourite female musical performer; Canadian singer Shania Twain had been the third contender in the category. Tim McGraw won male performer.

Survivor: Pearl Islands was best reality-based program, and executive producer Mark Burnett accepted the prize surrounded by cast members.

"The crew is about 400 people living months on end in jungles and these people" - he motioned to the cast - "I'm starving for 39 days," he said.

"Thank you very, very much for the award, four years in a row."  

Oprah Winfrey was best talk show host, beating Jay Leno and David Letterman.

"I thank you for the opportunity to speak and talk and use my voice in a way that I believe is a force for something really good on the air," she said.

Winners were selected through a Gallup poll of the general public.

A glittering array of stars attended the event , including Mandy Moore, Lance Bass, Cuba Gooding Jr., Mary Steenburgen, Ted Danson and Faith Ford.

Winners of the People's Choice Awards, presented Sunday night in Pasadena, Calif.:

TELEVISION:

Male Performer: Ray Romano

Female Performer: Jennifer Aniston

New Dramatic Series: Joan of Arcadia

New Comedy Series: Two and a Half Men

Dramatic Series: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Comedy Series: Friends

Reality-Based Program: Survivor: Pearl Islands

Talk Show Host: Oprah Winfrey

MUSIC:

Male Performer: Tim McGraw

Female Performer: Faith Hill, Beyonce Knowles (tie)

Group or Band: Matchbox Twenty

FILM:

Favourite Motion Picture: Pirates of the Caribben

Dramatic Motion Picture: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Comedy Motion Picture: Bruce Almighty

Actor: Mel Gibson

Actress: Julia Roberts

ALL-TIME FAVOURITE ENTERTAINER:

Tom Hanks

'Big Fish' Duels 'Rings' for No. 1 Spot

LOS ANGELES - The top spot at the weekend box office was too close to call, with Tim Burton's "Big Fish" holding a narrow lead over "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."

Studio estimates Sunday showed "Big Fish" took in $14.5 million to squeak past "Return of the King," which grossed $14.1 million. But with just $400,000 separating the top films, rankings could change when final numbers are released Monday.

Final figures often end up slightly lower than estimates made on Sunday, when studios are making projections on how big an audience their films will draw on the last day of the weekend.

"This is very rare to have a photo finish for the No. 1 spot," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. He predicted that the movies would stay in the same order on Monday.

Other studios were tracking Sony's "Big Fish" and New Line's "Return of the King" at slightly lower weekend grosses. Some had "Big Fish" in first place and some had "Return of the King" as No. 1.

Rory Bruer, Sony head of distribution, said the studio's $14.5 million figure for "Big Fish" was a reasonable estimate.

This was the first weekend in wide release for "Big Fish," which stars Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor in the fanciful adventures of a man who tells larger-than-life tales. The film opened in late December in a handful of theaters for Academy Awards consideration.

Expanding to 2,406 theaters, "Big Fish" averaged $6,027 a cinema, compared to $3,999 in 3,532 theaters for "Return of the King."

The weekend's only new wide releases were two poorly reviewed movies, the Eddie Griffin comedy "My Baby's Daddy," which ranked No. 6 with $7.8 million, and Mandy Moore's romance "Chasing Liberty," which was No. 7 with $6 million.

January is traditionally a dead zone for new releases, with audiences shrinking after the holiday boom and studios dumping mediocre flicks into theaters.

The overall box office was up compared to last year, though, with the top 12 movies taking in $92.5 million, up 5 percent from the same weekend in 2003.

Distributor Sony rolled out "Big Fish" slowly to build audience word of mouth for a complex film that was not an easy sell for Hollywood's marketing machine.

"It was a tough picture to represent marketing-wise in terms of letting people know what the story was," Bruer said. "It felt like going slower with the picture would give audiences a chance to kind of discover the story for themselves."

"The Return of the King" is about to pass the total $314.8 million domestic gross of the fantasy trilogy's first installment, "The Fellowship of the Ring." The final film also is expected to top the $341.7 million haul of the middle chapter, "The Two Towers."

The serial-killer drama "Monster," which has earned Academy Award buzz for star Charlize Theron, did well expanding into wider release. The film, based on the life of executed murderer Aileen Wuornos, took in $865,160 in 82 theaters for a strong $10,551 average.

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

1. "Big Fish," $14.5 million.
2. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," $14.1 million.
3. "Cheaper by the Dozen," $12 million.
4. "Something's Gotta Give," $8.2 million.
5. "Cold Mountain," $7.9 million.
6. "My Baby's Daddy," $7.8 million.
7. "Chasing Liberty," $6 million.
8. "Paycheck," $5.2 million.
9. "The Last Samurai," $4.53 million.
10. "Mona Lisa Smile," $4.5 million.

Ryan Seacrest Hopes to Score with the Ladies

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - It's "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest's turn to be judged Monday, when his live daily TV show debuts in syndication across the U.S.

Unlike some of the wannabe stars on the Fox talent show, the one-hour "On Air With Ryan Seacrest" does not fit easily into any immediately definable category.

"It's not talk, it's not variety, and it's not news -- it's pieces of all of the above," says Robb Dalton, president of program development at the show's syndicator, Twentieth Television. "We are creating a hybrid."

However, Dalton and executive producers David Armor and Adam Freeman have no doubts about what kind of audience they hope to attract to the show, which goes out live from a specially built multimillion-dollar studio at the Hollywood & Highland entertainment complex.

With all his "American Idol" exposure, as well as his new gig as the host of radio's syndicated "America's Top 40" program, Seacrest should be able to count on drawing an advertiser-friendly young female audience to the Fox-owned stations that are carrying the show -- but Twentieth is much more ambitious than that.

"We are looking to do the kind of show that a 17-year-old girl will watch with her 40-year-old mother," Dalton said.

To that end, Armor and Freeman, working with Seacrest, who is also executive producing, believe that they must break new ground in syndication with an ambitious mix of genres that casts a wide net in terms of audience appeal.

Seacrest will act as a sort of ringmaster to a host of different types of presentations from musical acts to celebrity interviews to on-location entertainment news reports, reviews, gags and competitions, the producers say. It's a show, Dalton says, that has "a lot of moving parts."

Industry analysts say it makes sense for Twentieth to shoot for a broad demographic but "realistically" the audience for Seacrest will be females aged 12-24 and 18-34, suggested Bill Carroll, vp, director of programing at consulting firm Katz Television in New York.

"And that younger 12-24 demographic is a notoriously fickle audience that is difficult to attract and to retain. It's an audience that's drawn to shows such as MTV's 'TRL' and to a range of other young adult cable programing," he said.

Carroll said Ricki Lake initially generated big numbers among that target young female demo, adding that Seacrest's association with "American Idol" should give him added appeal to that same 12-24 audience.

The fact that this is a show that will go out live against a backdrop of Hollywood seen through a big window a la "Today" will be a big factor in presenting something new for the highly competitive afternoon arena, Armor says.

"The appeal will be its spontaneity and unpredictability -- we are looking to try to make this an event every day that happens on live TV," he says.

The company also has provided a studio in the same complex for Seacrest's "America's Top 40." "So a guest can appear on live television and then also do a major radio show in the same visit," Dalton says. "And that will be a big attraction for many celebrities."

Although not all stations will air the show live, Dalton says: "For us, it doesn't make any difference if 20% or 100% of stations carry it live because we produce it as a live show, and there are no second chances. So when we go to the top of the hour, we have 60 minutes to get it right, and there are no second chances -- there's no saying, 'Let's repeat that."'

Some of the major Fox-owned stations taking live feeds are Dallas, Atlantis, Detroit, Cleveland and St. Louis.

Armor and Freeman say they plan to bring in viewers by providing a platform for fans to interact directly with their favorite personalities and performers. For instance, Freeman says: "We plan to do a live 'door knock' during the show from somewhere in the country. This will involve us going to a fan's home or place of work -- they have no idea we are coming -- and we reveal to them on the show that we have two tickets to fly them that night or the next night to be front and center at a performance by their favorite artist."
 
Seacrest also will assign fans to actually cover and report on their favorite artists' concerts and other entertainment events.

Describing the show as "fan-centric," Armor said fans will interact live via text messaging with celebrities who are appearing with Seacrest. There will be various other interactive elements to the show, he adds.

For example, Freeman says: "We were doing a show on the day the news broke that Britney Spears got married, and because we were live, we were able to react to it. And as we put our package together, we were able to have viewers vote on whether they liked it, and we could have fans talk about it on the air."

Motown Spruces Up Supremes' 'No. 1's

In the wake of top-selling collections of chart-toppers by the Beatles and Elvis Presley, Motown will on Feb. 3 release a similar album by Diana Ross and the Supremes, "The No. 1s." The 24-track set sports 11 Supremes No. 1s, four cuts from the period when the group was billed as Diana Ross and the Supremes, eight Ross solo tracks and a new remix of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by the Almighty Associates.

Producer Harry Weinger went back to the original master tapes to create slightly longer mixes of a number of tracks, resulting in what is touted as "the best fidelity in any Supremes and/or Diana Ross collection ever."

The album kicks off with the August 1964 No. 1 hit "Where Did Our Love Go," and runs the gamut from such evergreens as "Stop! In the Name of Love," "I Hear a Symphony" and the group's final No. 1 R&B hit, 1970's "Stoned Love."

Ross' solo selections include "Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)," "Love Hangover," "I'm Coming Out" and her 1981 duet with Lionel Richie, "Endless Love." The package is rounded out by rare photos, a track-by-track recap and an essay by Brian Chin, who has contributed to two prior Supremes best-ofs collections.

Here is "The No. 1s" track list:

"Where Did Our Love Go"
"Baby Love"
"Come See About Me"
"Stop! In the Name of Love"
"Back in My Arms Again"
"I Hear a Symphony"
"You Can't Hurry Love"
"You Keep Me Hangin' On"
"Love Is Here and Now You're Gone"
"The Happening"
"Reflections"
"Love Child"
"I'm Gonna Make You Love Me"
"Someday We'll Be Together"
"Stoned Love"
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough"
"Touch Me in the Morning"
"Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)"
"Love Hangover"
"The Boss"
"Upside Down"
"I'm Coming Out"
"Endless Love"
"You Keep Me Hangin' On (The Almighty Mix)"

Beatles DVD Spotlights First U.S. Visit

A new DVD due next month will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' initial trip to the U.S. "The Beatles First U.S. Visit" will be released Feb. 3 in the U.S. on Apple Corps/EMI, and Feb. 9 internationally.

The DVD, which includes footage previously unseen by the public, was lensed by Albert and David Maysles, who had all-areas access to the band as its plane touched down in New York Feb. 7, 1964, and during the ensuing two-week tour of the country at the height of Beatlemania.

The Maysles brothers captured behind-the-scenes moments of the band in dressing rooms, hotels and nightclubs, at press conferences, in limos and on trains, and such footage. Also included is the group's first concert at the Washington Coliseum in Washington, D.C., and its three performances on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

Songs on the DVD include "All My Loving," "Till There Was You," "She Loves You," "From Me to You," "This Boy," "Twist and Shout," "Please Please Me," "I Saw Her Standing There," "I Wanna Be Your Man" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand." The 80-minute documentary is also accompanied by a 50-minute making-of feature that includes an interview with Albert Maysles.

As previously reported, the Beatles' "Ed Sullivan Show" performances were compiled on a separate DVD released in October by Sofa Home Entertainment.

Wilson Phillips hits the 'Highway'

After more than a decade away from the recording studio, second-generation pop supergroup Wilson Phillips is re-exploring its roots.

In May, the trio — Brian Wilson's daughters Carnie and Wendy, and John and Michelle Phillips' daughter, Chynna — will release Pacific Coast Highway, their first CD of new material since 1992's Shadows and Light. As its title suggests, the new album, which will be the band's first for Columbia Records, has a West Coast theme.

The California girls will pay homage to their parents by covering the Beach Boys' In My Room and the Mamas and the Papas' Monday Monday. Songs made famous by Linda Ronstadt (You'reNo Good), Fleetwood Mac (Go Your Own Way), Jackson Browne and The Eagles will also appear.

Veteran producer Peter Asher, whose previous clients include Ronstadt, James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt, will produce the collection, and papa Brian Wilson is scheduled for a guest spot.

'Die Hard 4'? Maybe ...

LOS ANGELES — As Bruce Willis dives into new projects, an upcoming movie role (Hostage) and a producing credit on a USA cable series (Touching Evil, premiering in March), the actor still plans to revisit an old one via Die Hard 4.

"We're working on it. Fox wants to do it. I want to do it. It depends on the script," says Willis, 48, whose tough, wise-cracking cop, John McClane, became a pop culture favorite.

Willis, sporting a full, salt-and-pepper beard for his role as a hostage negotiator in Hostage, wouldn't say that the project, which would be the first Die Hard movie since 1995, is a done deal.

"After the first Die Hard, I said I wasn't going to do any more Die Hards, and I did two more. So I don't make predictions anymore. If they get the script right and it seems like an interesting story ... "

However, that's a challenge for the franchise in the post-9/11 world, said the actor, who appeared at the semi-annual TV press tour in Los Angeles to promote Touching Evil, which he's executive-producing.

"It's hard today to do. The whole Die Hard trilogy so far has been based on some element of terrorism, and it's difficult in today's world to do stories that fictionally portray terrorism," Willis says.

As for his romance with Brooke Burns, 25, the actor says: "It's going great."

McGuinty defends spending $1 million to bring U.S. talk show to Toronto

TORONTO (CP) - Spending $1 million to bring NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien show to Toronto for one week is a "great investment," says Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.

"Given the media coverage that we're going to get and the viewing audience, given the fact they're going to provide some great exposure to some Canadian talent, I think it's a great investment," McGuinty told reporters Thursday.

The federal and Ontario governments each kicked in $500,000 to relocate the cast and crew of the popular talk show to Toronto for the week of Feb. 10.

The provincial money is coming from a special fund to help the city's tourism industry recover from the impact of last year's deadly SARS outbreak.

"This city has gone through one heck of a year," said McGuinty, referring to the devastating impact on tourism from SARS, mad cow, a higher dollar and even the Iraq war.

An official of the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation had criticized the use of taxpayers' money to pay some of the costs to relocate the NBC show to Toronto, rhetorically asking if the governments would want O'Brien to go out west next to help with the mad cow crisis.

Ontario's Tourism Ministry expects the expenditure will help boost tourist visits to Toronto because of the five hours of American TV network exposure for the city.

"There's going to be 20 million U.S. viewers there, and we look at that as a pretty good investment," said ministry spokesman Jim McPeak.

'Bourne Identity' Tops 2003 Home Video Rentals

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "The Bourne Identity," an espionage thriller starring Matt Damon as a CIA assassin on the run with amnesia, was the top-renting U.S. home video of 2003, according to year-end figures issued on Thursday.

Combined revenues from DVD and VHS rentals of "Bourne Identity," released on video last January, totaled nearly $79.2 million for the year, said Rentrack Corp., which tracks point-of-retail data for the industry.

Close behind at No. 2 for the year was the Leonardo DiCaprio con-artist caper "Catch Me If You Can," which was released on video in May 2003 and generated rental revenues of $75.5 million, Rentrack said.

"Signs," the crop circle mystery starring Mel Gibson, ranked third with rentals totaling more than $74.9 million since its video release in January 2003.

In part due to the lag time between theatrical and video releases of films, home rental patterns differ considerably from box office business in any given year. And many movie fans who miss a film in cinemas for one reason or another will catch up with it once it's out on video.

The top-grossing theatrical release in the United States for 2003 was the computer-animated underwater adventure "Finding Nemo," which has grossed about $340 million.

The Johnny Depp swashbuckler "The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," was No. 2 at the U.S. box office last year with more than $305 million in ticket sales.

By comparison, "The Bourne Identity," which was released in theaters in June 2002, grossed about $121 million at the U.S. box office. "Catch Me If You Can" grossed $164 million in theaters after its release in December 2002.

Rounding out the top-renting videos of 2003 were: "Sweet Home Alabama" ($74.8 million), "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" ($74.2 million), "The Ring" ($68.9 million), "How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days" ($66.2 million), "Bringing Down the House" ($64.2 million), "Maid in Manhattan" ($62.3 million) and "Two Weeks Notice" ($62.1 million).

Rose Lays Blame for His Troubles in Book

NEW YORK - Only occasionally contrite but repeatedly the defiant, belligerent sparkplug fans love, Pete Rose blames his accusers and medical conditions for the problems that got him kicked out of baseball.
 
Rose spills his thoughts in a colorful autobiography, "Pete Rose: My Prison Without Bars," released Thursday by Rodale Inc. Rose, still banned 14 1/2 years later, also concedes for the first time that he bet on Cincinnati Reds games while he was manager.

The highly touted 322-page book, in which Rose admits he gambled on the Reds while managing the team in the late 1980s, contains no bombshells. It alternates between apologies for his wrongs and the aggressiveness Rose showed during a 24-season major league career.

Rose writes he has had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Behavior, which he says he got from his mother, and the book contains several quotes from a doctor about the effects. He repeats that he still loves to gamble legally at racetracks, and describes himself as "grumpy, short-tempered and cold-hearted."

He also talks about the emotional moment when he faced his family before going to prison and "humiliating body searches" in prison. He recounts anecdotes of his career such as taking an umpire to dinner after he was ejected from a game and makes a few puerile jokes.

He also compares his compulsive gambling to the behavior of former President Clinton, actors Robert Downey Jr. and Winona Ryder, and blames former Reds manager Jack McKeon and general manager Jim Bowden for not giving Pete Rose Jr. enough of a chance when he played for Cincinnati in 1997.

On Wednesday, Rose insisted he didn't plan to draw attention away from the elections of Dennis Eckersley and Paul Molitor to baseball's Hall of Fame this week.

"I never intended to diminish the exciting news for these deserving players," Rose said in a statement.

What Rose intended for his public confession has gone terribly awry, former teammate Mike Schmidt said.

"It doesn't look good, it's taken a turn for the worse," Schmidt told the AP. "It is a sad thing. ... I haven't heard anything good, but I hope the commissioner is reserving judgment. I've heard some of the worst references about Pete."

Rose repeatedly challenges the report on his gambling by John Dowd and the accusations made by his former associates before he accepted a lifetime ban in August 1989.

Rose said at the time of the investigation, he couldn't believe the way baseball treated him, calling baseball's evidence "flimsy."

"I spent 24 years building a baseball career that other players could only dream of," he wrote.

"And I put it all at risk over the thrill of `risk' itself. I spent thousands of hours in the batting cage. I took hundreds of grounders and fly balls each day in an effort to master my craft. I was known for a diligent work ethic that was unequaled among my peers. Nobody worked harder or took the game more seriously than Pete Rose — nobody. Yet after knowing (Paul) Janszen for only seven months, I trusted him to place bets on the game I loved. How could I be so disciplined in one aspect of my life and so reckless in the other? ...

"I was Pete Rose — baseball's all-time Hit King. I had more records than anybody on the damn planet. Nothing could possibly be wrong with someone who achieved that much success — nothing! ... I was Charlie Hustle — baseball legend. I would not go down without a fight."

Rose writes about the day he went to federal prison in 1990 after pleading guilty to tax charges and talked to his son, Tyler, then 6.

"I had no answer for the betrayed look in Tyler's eyes," Rose wrote. "My dad never let me down on any level and failing my own son was too tough to handle. So hell, I started to cry, too — rare for me because, like I said, I'm not a warm-and-fuzzy guy. ... As you can imagine, this was the lowest point in my life."
 
He says that in prison, he was given identification No. 01832-061.

"I never thought I'd be wearing anything other than No. 14 on my back," Rose wrote, adding that guards "couldn't help but gawk at the sight of Charlie Hustle in lockdown."

Rose pleaded guilty to two counts of filing false income taxes by failing to report income and was sentenced to five months in prison, three months in a halfway house and 1,000 hours of community service.

"I'm probably the only person in America to go to jail for underpaying his taxes by 4 percent," Rose wrote. Then he added, "The responsibility rested squarely on my shoulders. I just wasn't ready to accept it."

The book quotes Dr. David E. Comings of the City of Hope National Medical Center on ADHD and how it applies to Rose.

"ADHD kids are very strong-willed. They don't like anyone telling them what to do," Comings said. "Although they can't sit still or focus on subjects of little or no interest, their restless energy when focused can by dynamite. Pete Rose is not unlike Einstein, who flunked English but excelled in math."

Rose says he hopes commissioner Bud Selig will grant his application for reinstatement.

"My actions, which I thought were benign, call the integrity of the game into question," Rose wrote. "And there's no excuse for that, but there's also no reason to punish me forever."

Rose blames former commissioner Fay Vincent for the 1991 rule that bars him from the Hall ballot and wants "to enjoy my Hall of Fame induction ceremony while I was still alive!"

Mercer's new show set for debut

TORONTO -- So much for Homeland Security.

CBC's resident satirist Rick Mercer thought it might be interesting to take a camera crew, jump into a van and head for the Canada-U.S. border at Niagara Falls on Tuesday to test the orange alert and the new border regulations.

Alas, U.S. Customs wasn't prepared to make it interesting.

"Piece of cake, tragically," says Mercer, who says they were waved right through, without even a raised eyebrow over the Afghan stamps in his passport. Mercer recently returned from Kabul where he entertained Canadian troops.

He says the border guards WERE interested in the contents of his production assistant's wallet, which contained nothing more official than a Newfoundland driver's licence and a video store card.

"Very intrigued with the driver's licence and 'Oh you have a Blockbuster.'"

While he did some interviews with truckers and people on both sides of the border, Mercer says they didn't roll tape during the crossing itself.

"You can't roll cameras as you go through U.S. Customs. Everyone in TV knows that. If you do that, you get sent to Syria, I think."

Mercer was hoping to catch something funny on tape for his new CBC comedy series, Rick Mercer's Monday Night Report which debuts, well, next Monday.

During the week, Mercer and crew will travel the country for material, then tape the show Friday nights in front of a studio audience at the CBC broadcast centre, with the edited product ready for airing Monday.

The comic says there will likely be something salvaged from the Niagara road trip, as well as bits on Paul Martin, mad cow and the aforementioned Kabul experience. In addition, Mercer promises to continue The Rant, the manic monologue he made famous on This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

"It's a political show because it's about what happened in Canada that week and what people are talking about," he says. "Canadians are political junkies and by and large they do talk about politics."

But he doesn't share the concern of some comics and political cartoonists that the new prime minister might not be funny enough.

"That's just opening night nerves, with a new cast member," Mercer says.

"They're like going 'Well, I hope he's going to be as good as the last guy'. It's like getting a new Darrin on Bewitched. It's like 'How's he gonna compete with the old one?' Well, it'll work, don't worry."

Mercer's new star vehicle debuts as part of CBC's Monday night troika of mid-season shows. He is followed by the return of Ken Finkleman's The Newsroom and then the new legal drama This is Wonderland with Cara Pifko.

While it sounds like a nerve-wracking high-wire act, Mercer says he's comfortable with jumping on a plane or getting in a car, not knowing what he's going to get.
"That's part of the excitement of creating television on the fly, crashing and burning.

"Who knows? The nature of the beast is the unknown. All I can say is, I will try my best to give you a funny show every weekend. It's not a soap box, it's a comedy show."

His earlier Talking to Americans routine became a huge hit as Mercer and crew just how little the average American knows about Canada. The routine lost much of its punch after Sept. 11. But Mercer says the street interviews he does in Canada will be different.

"Of course it has this connotation that I'll be out there pulling fast ones all the time and. . .it's actually quite impossible for me to do that in Canada anyway."

Actress Kate Hudson Gives Birth to First Child

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Goldie Hawn's daughter, actress Kate Hudson, gave birth on Wednesday to her first child, a son, with rock star husband, Chris Robinson, Hudson's spokesman announced.

The baby, weighing 8 pounds, 11 ounces, was born in Los Angeles and named Ryder Russell Robinson. according to publicist Brad Cafarelli.

It's the first child for either Hudson, 24, or Robinson, 37, formerly of the rock band the Black Crowes. They married on Dec. 31, 2000.

The birth of their son makes a grandmother of Hudson's Oscar-winning mom, Goldie Hawn, 58, who sprang to fame as the giggly blonde waif of the 1960s TV show "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In."

Hudson is Hawn's daughter by her first marriage to actor Bill Hudson.

Hudson herself earned an Oscar nomination in 2000 for her breakout supporting role as a rock groupie in "Almost Famous." More recently, she starred in such films as "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," "Alex and Emma" and "Le Divorce."

Buck discusses R.E.M.'s future

NEW YORK (AP) -- A band who's been around as long as R.E.M. will inevitable be asked, "When are you going to give it up?" Guitarist Peter Buck's answer is maybe next year, maybe never.

Buck says it depends on the day: sometimes he thinks it'll last another year, and sometimes he thinks he'll be doing it when he's 70.

"Right now I'm thinking it could last for a while. But I also sometimes wake up at 4 in the morning in a hotel and I can't sleep and I haven't seen my family in a couple of weeks and I just think, 'Ya know I could go home right now and be OK,'" Buck told AP Radio.

He knows a lot of people grew up with them. He says if you went to college in the '80s, "they'd give you your information booklet and an R.E.M. record." He says a lot of people who are 35 to 40 years old now, R.E.M. was the soundtrack of their lives. And he finds that moving. He says when he was 21 and "as stupid and shallow as every other 21-year-old on earth," he had to learn to do something meaningful to him, which in turn was meaningful to other people.

Bad Love

Sharon Stone's love scene with pint-sized Joe Pesci in "Casino" has been voted the worst of all time by the readers of Film magazine.

The unappealing assignation beat out the less-than-stiff competition from "Entrapment," in which the ancient Sean Connery bedded Catherine Zeta-Jones, who is 40 years his junior.

Snagging third place was Marlon Brando's tacky tryst with Maria Schneider in "Last Tango in Paris."

Describing the "Casino" scene, one Film reader cracked, "Could there be a more repulsive combination than these two? It's like one of the munchkins got a shot at Dorothy from 'The Wizard of Oz.' "

Other scenes that made the magazine's 10 worst include Madonna's creepy candle-wax session with Willem Dafoe in "Body of Evidence" and Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton's simulated sofa sex in "Monster's Ball."

Blockbusters may not be what they used to be

More movies reached "blockbuster" status — grossing $100 million at the box office — in 2003 than ever before.

But should that impress anyone? Ticket prices keep rising, and the cost to make and market a film keeps going up (now an average $89.4 million, according to the Motion Picture Association of America). So crossing that milestone doesn't mean what it used to: It takes fewer moviegoers to get there, and getting there doesn't automatically mean moneymaker.

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, for instance, took in $100.8 million. Trouble is, the film cost more than $160 million to produce and promote.

Though films like that can recoup their losses internationally and on video and DVD, many analysts and even studio executives say that it's time to redefine the term "blockbuster" — or throw it out. Some argue that the label should be reserved for movies that take in $200 million because that remains rarefied air: Six movies topped that mark in 2003.

Russell Schwartz, marketing chief for New Line Cinema, says even $200 million might not be a true measure. "Movies cost so much to make and market ... it's hard to say something is a hit just because it reaches a certain level of sales."

Many still maintain that $100 million remains a valid measure of success. The 25 films that took in more than $100 million last year brought in almost half of all ticket sales, according to box office trackers Nielsen EDI.

"No matter how you cut it, that's a lot of money," says Paul Dergarabedian of box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. "It's big. And to me, that's the definition of a blockbuster."

Origin of 'the blockbuster'

Coined by the British military during World War II, "blockbusters" were aerial bombs dropped on German cities during raids. Similar to "bunker busters" used in attacks on Iraq, blockbusters were so named because the bombs — some in excess of 8,000 pounds — could level entire city blocks.

By the 1960s, the term made made its way into British playhouses, referring to plays that were so popular that they drew lines of theatergoers around the block.

The first Hollywood blockbuster was 1975's Jaws. With its $12 million budget and an unprecedented $4.5 million advertising campaign, Jaws was the first film released on 465 screens on the same date. Universal studios broke from the traditional practice of releasing a high-profile film in a few markets for a few months, then gradually rolling it out to other theaters across the country. It raked in a then-astonishing $7.1 million on its opening weekend. Billed as a "summer blockbuster," the film crossed the $100 million mark within a month. After two releases it took in $260 million, then the highest-grossing film of all time.

Blocking blockbusters: Bad word of mouth

What's a surefire way to topple an expected movie monolith? Bad buzz. Just ask the Hulk. Director Ang Lee spent $120 million on his computer-generated angry antihero. But after a strong $62.1 million opening weekend, Hulk went into a sulk its second weekend and went on to make just $132.2 million.

Box office watcher's tip: A drop in box office of 50% or more from opening weekend is a sign that people who saw it the first weekend didn't have good things to tell their friends.

Blockbusters this year that opened big but fell off badly:

The Matrix Reloaded ($91.8 million)

Hulk ($62.1 million)

The Matrix Revolutions ($48.5 million)

2 Fast 2 Furious ($50.5 million)

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle ($37.6 million).

TO THE BIG SCREEN

Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane inking deals to reprise the Producers roles they made famous on Broadway on the big screen. Shooting on the film adaptation is scheduled to begin in 2005 for release later that year.

Hefner Would Like Spears As a Girlfriend

NEW YORK - Now that Britney Spears is a single woman again, she already has at least one potential beau: Hugh Hefner.

The 77-year-old Playboy founder said he's interested in adding the pop singer to his bevy of beautiful blonde girlfriends.

"Britney would make a great girlfriend," Hefner told Us Weekly magazine for its Jan. 19 issue.

"Picasso had his pink period and his blue period. I am in my blonde period right now," he said. "I think it's related to those early movies that had such a great influence on me when I was a kid."

Hefner said he'd also like to see the 22-year-old Spears appear as a Playmate, as well as Catherine Zeta-Jones.

"They really epitomize the type of beauty that we like in the magazine," he said.

Spears got married in an impromptu Las Vegas ceremony early Saturday morning, then filed for an annulment 55 hours later. The groom, Jason Allen Alexander, is a childhood friend of hers from Kentwood, La.

George Harrison's Estate Sues Doctor

NEW YORK - A doctor forced a weakened George Harrison to autograph a guitar for the physician's teenage son two weeks before the ex-Beatle died of cancer, a lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges.

Filed by Harrison's estate, the suit alleges that the musician tried to resist the request by saying, "I do not even know if I know how to spell my name anymore."

The suit alleges that Dr. Gilbert Lederman responded by saying, "Come on, you can do this," and held Harrison's hand as the musician wrote his name on the guitar "with great effort and much obvious discomfort."

The estate seeks possession of the guitar and two cards it says Harrison signed as he was treated by Lederman, a Staten Island-based expert in treating large tumors with high doses of radiation. Harrison died in November 2001 after battling lung cancer and a brain tumor.

"This lawsuit is strictly allegations. Frankly, I think it's absurd," Lederman's attorney, Wayne Roth, said Tuesday. "He didn't coerce Mr. Harrison."

Harrison's wife and son believe a National Enquirer story about Harrison's death that featured Lederman's son holding the instrument was orchestrated by Lederman to raise the item's value, a lawyer for the Harrison estate said Tuesday.

"George was literally lying there dying and the doctor forced George to sign a guitar," Paul LiCalsi, an attorney for Harrison's estate, said Tuesday. "The doctor should not be permitted to profit from this behavior."

Roth said Lederman's son still plays the guitar and the family has no intention of selling it. The instrument, appraised in connection with a state investigation of Lederman's treatment of Harrison, is worth less than $10,000, Roth said.

The estate also accuses Lederman of violating Harrison's privacy by orchestrating invasive media coverage in the interest of promoting his medical practice.

Lederman conducted interviews about Harrison with several news outlets, many within hours of the ex-Beatle's death, the suit charges.

The state Health Department reprimanded Lederman for talking to the press about Harrison without his consent. Lederman accepted his censure, reprimand and a $5,000 fine, documents show.

Directors Snub 'Cold Mountain' in Best Film Race

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) - The race for Oscars gold took an unexpected turn on Tuesday when a major list of nominees for best film director snubbed Anthony Minghella and his widely-hailed Civil War epic "Cold Mountain" but gave a nod to Gary Ross's horse racing saga, "Seabiscuit."

The widely-respected Directors Guild of America, an association representing movie directors, put Peter Jackson and his smash box office hit "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," on the list of best film director nominees along with Peter Weir for his seafaring epic, "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World."

Rounding out the list of five nominees were Clint Eastwood with crime thriller "Mystic River," and Sofia Coppola for her Tokyo romance, "Lost in Translation."

"Return of the King" now positions itself as an award front-runner, Oscar watchers said, as industry voters could reward Jackson for the combined trilogy that includes 2001's "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" and last year's "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The nomination also marks Jackson's third consecutive DGA nod, the first time that has ever happened.

Still it was Minghella's absence and the inclusion of "Seabiscuit" that had Hollywood buzzing.

"It's a bit of cliche, but it really does mean the most when (a nomination) comes from your peers," Ross told Reuters.

The "Seabiscuit" nod follows Monday's nomination for best film producing team for Ross and co-producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall from the Producers Guild of America.

The nomination was especially rewarding for "Seabiscuit," about the come-from-behind, Depression-era champion because it has been a dark-horse this Oscar race owing to its summer debut outside the fall season that is filled with Academy Award hopefuls.

The loss of Minghella and his critically acclaimed "Cold Mountain" from the DGA race proved to be a "shocker" for Tom O'Neil, host of award Website goldderby.com and author of "Movie Awards."

"We had presumed up to now that the race for best picture at both the Golden Globes and Oscars was between 'Cold Mountain' and 'Lord of the Rings,"' said O'Neil. "The news today means a major step back for 'Cold Mountain."'

"Cold Mountain" received a leading eight nominations for Golden Globe awards, which are given out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and are perceived as instrumental in swaying Oscar voting. Globe winners will be named on Jan. 25.

Moreover, "Cold Mountain" is backed by Miramax Films and its chief Harvey Weinstein, who have waged widely successful campaigns in Oscar races since the 1990s, backing winners like Minghella's "The English Patient" and last year's "Chicago."

Some Oscar watchers attributed Minghella's absence to a timing issue as ballots for the DGA awards were mailed out on December 8, but "Cold Mountain" did not debut until Christmas day, Dec. 25, meaning ballots could have been returned early.

Only six times since 1949 has the winner of the DGA's honor not won the best director Oscar, and 10 of the past 14 PGA winners have claimed the best film Oscar, which is the U.S. film industry's top award given out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Oscars will be awarded on Feb. 29.

Fading in the Oscar pack appear to be Tom Cruise movie "The Last Samurai," director Tim Burton's "Big Fish," and low-budget film "In America," from Irish director Jim Sheridan.

Coppola's film appears to be the independent movie to beat this year. The director is the daughter of acclaimed filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, himself a DGA winner for 1972's "The Godfather" which earned the best picture Oscar that year but failed to win the best director Oscar.

'Friends' Star Courteney Cox Expecting First Child

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Friends" star Courteney Cox, who has tried for years to become a mother, is expecting her first child with actor husband David Arquette, her publicist said on Tuesday.

Cox's spokeswoman said the 39-year-old actress was expecting a baby but gave no other details about the pregnancy which follows what Cox herself has referred to as "many miscarriages" over the years.

Cox and Arquette, who married in June 1999, have spoken publicly about their infertility troubles and said in a television interview last year that they were trying to conceive via in-vitro fertilization after a string of miscarriages.

Cox's pregnancy coincides with the last season of the hit TV sitcom "Friends" where her screen character Monica and TV husband Chandler, played by Matthew Perry, have been exploring adoption after being unable to conceive.

The final episodes of "Friends" are due to air this spring, ending a 10-year run as one of the top-rated U.S. television comedies.

Molitor, Eckersley elected to HOF

NEW YORK (AP) - In their final confrontation, Paul Molitor wanted to beat Dennis Eckersley so badly he bunted in the ninth inning to win a game that was meaningless to the Minnesota Twins.

When they see each other this summer, they'll be going into the Hall of Fame together.

The two tough competitors were chosen Tuesday in their first year of eligibility, the only players to gain election. And they thought back to that night at the Metrodome in August 1998. 

"I was 43 years old,'' Eckersley recalled with a laugh. ``He dropped down a bunt and, guess what, it worked. He's a little weasel, that's what he is.''

Molitor turned 42 that night, and his single gave the Twins a 4-3 win over Boston, which was vying for the AL wild-card. Eckersley had a few choice words for Molitor that night. But the two always had great respect for each other.

``He had a way of being unpredictable,'' Molitor said. ``He could throw any pitch at any time, which added to his effectiveness. Not to mention he could throw it to a teacup.''

Molitor, a patient, proficient batter, is eighth on the career list with 3,319 hits, many in clutch situations. He also helped the Toronto Blue Jays win the second of two straight World Series titles in 1993, batting .500 with two home runs and eight RBIs as Toronto beat the Philadelphia Phillies in six games.  Molitor was named World Series MVP.

Molitor was picked on 431 of 506 ballots (85.2 per cent) cast by reporters who have been members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America for 10 or more years.

Eckersley, among baseball's most exuberant and colourful players, was selected on 421 ballots (83.2 per cent).

To gain election, a player must be chosen by at least 75 per cent of the voters (380).

Ryne Sandberg was third with 309 votes, 61.1 per cent, up from 49.2 last year. He was followed by Bruce Sutter (301), Jim Rice (276), Andre Dawson (253), Rich Gossage (206), Lee Smith (185) and Bert Blyleven (179).

Pete Rose, ineligible because of his lifetime ban from baseball, got 15 write-in votes, down three from last year.

Molitor, Seattle's hitting coach, became the first player elected to the Hall who spent more games at designated hitter than at any other position. He was a DH for 1,174 games (44 per cent), played 791 at third, 400 at second, 197 at first, 57 at shortstop and 50 in the outfield.

He hit 51 home runs and had 246 RBIs in his three seasons in Toronto. He joined the Jays in 1993 after 15 years in Milwaukee.

Molitor was a seven-time all-star who played from 1978-98 with Milwaukee, Toronto and Minnesota. He was primarily a DH in his final six seasons.

``It certainly extended by career and allowed me to accomplish some things offensively that I might not have otherwise,'' he said.

Eckersley, 49, joins Hoyt Wilhelm and Rollie Fingers as the only pitchers who were primarily relievers elected to the Hall by the BBWAA. The six-time all-star went 149-130 with a 3.71 in 361 starts, winning 20 games for Boston in 1978 and throwing a no-hitter for Cleveland against the Angels in 1977.

He was converted to a reliever when he moved from the Chicago Cubs to Oakland after the 1987 season, when he underwent treatment for alcoholism. He quickly became the game's dominant closer.

Eckersley is credited with coining the phrase ``walkoff homer'' - and one of the worst nights of his career included one. He allowed Kirk Gibson's famous game-winner in the opener of the 1988 World Series, which propelled the Los Angeles Dodgers to the title in five games.

``I had the ultimate walk off in the World Series, a lot of pain in those walking offs,'' Eckersley said.

He was the American League MVP and Cy Young Award winner in 1992, when he was 7-1 with 51 saves and a 1.91 ERA.

Eckersley was a big reason Oakland won three AL pennants and one World Series from 1988-90. In 1989 and 1990, he had seven walks and 128 strikeouts in 131 innings.

``I could do no wrong. It was like walking on water at one point,'' he said.
In all, Eckersley went 197-171 in 24 seasons with 390 saves, third behind Lee Smith (478) and John Franco (424).

``There's no way I would have gotten into the Hall just strictly as a reliever,'' he said. ``Being a starter had to have something to do with distancing me from some of the other relievers.''

Molitor, 47, hopes the Hall decided he should go in with a Brewers cap. Eckersley, who played for six teams, wouldn't say which team he preferred for the cap on his plaque, but he added, ``I liked playing for the Oakland A's.''

``As long as my moustache looks good, it's OK,'' he said.

Rose, who admits in his soon-to-be-released autobiography that he bet on the Cincinnati Reds while managing them, must be reinstated by December 2005 to appear on the BBWAA ballot. In the 13 seasons he has been ineligible because of the ban, he has been written in on 230 of 6,171 ballots (3.7 per cent).

``I am a little disappointed in the timing of it,'' Molitor said, referring to Rose's book. ``Does it take away from the current class? ... In my mind, I think it does a little bit.''

Eckersley didn't care, saying: ``Bad timing, but it doesn't bother me.''

Fifteen players will be dropped from next year's ballot because they failed to draw at least 5 per cent of the votes. That group includes first baseman Keith Hernandez (22 votes), who was on the ballot for nine years, and pitcher Fernando Valenzuela (19), who was on for two.

Five-time AL batting champion Wade Boggs is eligible for the first time next year.

Molitor and Eckersley will increase the Hall of Fame's members to 258. The BBWAA has elected 100 players, including 40 in their first year of eligibility. Induction ceremonies are July 25 in Cooperstown, the small village in upstate New York.

Apple Rolls Out Cheaper iPod, Launches Garage Band

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Computer Inc. on Tuesday said it would introduce a smaller and cheaper version of its popular iPod music player next month to challenge rivals in the market for flash-memory-based digital devices.

In a presentation at Macworld in San Francisco, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said that Apple, known best for its stylish and easy-to-use Macintosh computers, had shipped 730,000 iPod units in the most recent quarter, bolstering its market-leading position among digital music players.

The new iPods, which are roughly the size of a business card, half an inch thick and weigh 3.6 ounces, along with a new version of its iLife digital lifestyle software and a new music program called Garage Band, extend Apple's digital hub strategy that Apple co-founder Jobs outlined more than two years ago.

"The iPod is clearly one of the most successful consumer electronics devices out there and is by far the most successful MP3 player," said Tim Bajarin, an analyst with market research firm Creative Strategies. "Steve does tend to be the one who drives innovation into the industry and then has everyone follow him afterward."

The charismatic Jobs, a consummate showman, unveiled the iPod and other goodies for the Mac faithful, with his characteristic flash. Musician John Mayer jammed on stage to demonstrate the Garage Band software, and a video featured testimonials from actor Elijah Wood, professional skateboarder Tony Hawk and musician Sheryl Crow.

LUG A POWERBOOK, NOT AN AMP

"Now instead of lugging an old amp around, you can lug a PowerBook around," Jobs quipped, referring to the six different vintage simulated guitar amplifiers that are built into the Garage Band software program.

Jobs said the iPod mini, which comes in variously colored anodized aluminum cases, is aimed at high-end flash memory MP3 music players, which he said accounted for about 30 percent of the overall MP3 player market.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, said it continued to hold the No. 1 position in the MP3 player market , with 31 percent in terms of units for the months of October and November, and accounted for 55 percent of the MP3 player market when measured by revenue, according to Jobs.

Apple, which has about 2 percent of the personal computer market on a worldwide basis, said it had sold over 2 million iPod units since the launch of the popular digital music player two years ago, which has won a following for its huge storage capacity and sleek design.

The iPod mini is aimed at MP3 players such as those made by Rio Audio and others in an increasingly crowded market. It didn't take long for Apple to have fresh competition. Hours before Jobs' keynote, Rio Audio announced a new version of its Nitrus player that boasts 4 gigabytes of storage, or enough to store about 1,000 songs, the same as Apple's new iPod.

Moreover, a slew of souped-up portable music players that use the competing Windows Media Audio file format are slated to roll out at the Consumer Electronic Show this week in Las Vegas.

'ON FIRE'

The iPod has also received a boost from Apple's online music store, iTunes, which the company said has sold more than 30 million songs -- an increase of 5 million tracks from the sales numbers announced by the company less than a month ago.

"This thing is on fire," Jobs said of the iPod.

The new "iPod mini" will be priced at $249 -- $50 cheaper than the current entry-level iPod. Rather than flash memory, it uses a tiny hard disk drive to store songs, said Phil Schiller, Apple's head of marketing.

Jobs also said that the company would phase out its entry-level 10-gigabyte iPod and offer a 15 gigabyte model instead for the same price of $299.
 
The prices on the 20-gigabyte iPod and the top-of-the-line 40-gigabyte model, which is able to hold about 10,000 songs, remained at $399 and $499 respectively.

One of the most innovative software programs out of Apple in years, analysts said, was its Garage Band application. The program essentially turns a Macintosh computer into a musical instrument and recording studio.

In addition to more than 1,000 prerecorded loops, Garage Band has more than 50 instruments. Users can put together complete digital music tracks, as if assembling building blocks, Apple said.

"Garage Band might even have more long-term effect on Apple's sales," Bajarin said. "Steve has taken the consumer application (software) layer to its next level from playing music to allowing you to be part of making music."

Apple also rolled out a new Xserve storage system and Xserve computer servers that use the latest PowerPC G5 processor, instead of the G4 microprocessor.

Apple shares fell 8 cents to close at $22.09 on the Nasdaq on Tuesday.

Some New DVD Rumours

It seems that Columbia TriStar has been working on a new 3-disc Panic Room: Special Edition with the assistance of director David Fincher.

The official announcement should come in the next few weeks for release in either March or April.

The set is expected to include the film on Disc One in anamorphic widescreen (with audio in Dolby Digital 5.1), audio commentary with Jodie Foster, Dwight Yoakam and Forest Whitaker, and a second audio commentary with Fincher.

Disc Two will feature an in-depth look at the pre-production and shooting of the film, including in-depth documentaries and multi-angle features.

Finally, Disc Three will look at the post-production process, including editing, visual effects, sound design and more.

Also, The Force.net is reporting an interesting George Lucas quote in a new book that's been released. Interviewed for Robert J. Emery's The Directors: Take 4, Lucas reportedly says that when the original Star Wars Trilogy is released on DVD, he'll finally be able to release the films the way he originally intended. The site concludes that this confirms more changes to the original films as we've reported in the past. We'll just have to wait and see. September 2004's getting closer and closer every day.

Finally, it looks like Warner's Matrix Revolutions will street on April 6th.

Short-lived celebrity marriages

Science tells us that the shortest-lived thing in the universe is a "top quark" -- a subatomic particle that exists for only a septillionth of a second.

This beats by a nose the time it took for the love to leave Britney Spears' marriage.

The singer's quickie Vegas wedding to childhood friend Jason Alexander was annulled yesterday after 13 hours, putting her joke nuptials in the running for shortest Hollywood marriage -- a category of wedded bliss that is best measured by an atomic clock.

Here with a rundown of some of the looser celebrity interpretations of the words " 'til death do us part:"

ROBIN GIVENS & SVETOZAR MARINKOVIC: One day. He was the actress' tennis instructor.

ZSA ZSA GABOR & FELIPE DE ALBA: One day. Husband No. 8 did not last long.

MICHELLE PHILLIPS & DENNIS HOPPER: Eight days. About as long as it took for the 'buzz' to wear off.

CARMEN ELECTRA & DENNIS RODMAN: Nine days before Rodman filed to annul this drunken misadventure. He's since a dad of two with wife Michelle Moyer, which suggests he may indeed be among the great rebounders in NBA history.

CATHERINE OXENBERG & ROBERT EVANS: 10 days. The legendary producer Evans blamed his then-recent stroke for the bad judgment.

ERNEST BORGNINE & ETHEL MERMAN: One month. Chalk this one up to "irreconcilable similarities."

DREW BARRYMORE and JEREMY THOMAS: 39 days. She says she married the Welsh bar owner to get him his green card.

RICK ROCKWELL & DARVA CONGER: 49 days. The Who Wants To Marry A Millionaire couple's marriage was essentially over before the first commercial break (and by accounts, it was never consummated). But it took 49 days to squeeze every last ounce of publicity out of this freak show.

NICOLAS CAGE & LISA MARIE PRESLEY: Three months. Aliens kidnapped Cage and forced Lisa Marie to hand over the crystal of Okmar, thus rendering their marriage invalid under Tau Ceti law. OK, not, but it makes as much sense as any other theory about them.

ASHLEY HAMILTON & ANGIE EVERHART: Three months. Biggest fight came after ex-boyfriend, Sylvester Stallone, gave the married Angie a Porsche.

COLIN FARRELL & AMELIA WARNER: Four months. In a fit of passion, Colin described his then-wife to the Sun thus: "She's a great girl. She's like one of my mates. She doesn't just go to the pubs with me. She gets there before me and leaves after I do." They reportedly split over the bar bill.

CHARLIE SHEEN & DONNA PEELE: Six months. Bad boy Charlie said he "found religion" and called it off. He would later be seen praying with porn stars.

DREW BARRYMORE & TOM GREEN: Six months. Grounds for divorce: Freddy Got Fingered.

ASHLEY HAMILTON & SHANNEN DOHERTY: Six months. They'd met two weeks earlier. "One day in his car he turned to me and said, 'Let's get married.' I thought he was joking and went, 'Yeah!' But he called later and said, 'I'm really into this marriage thing.' And that was that. It was six months of hell. I didn't know Ashley at all. I didn't know he was a drug addict."

COURTNEY THORNE-SMITH & ANDREW CONRAD: Eight months. Oops. She was the featured blushing bride on the cover of InStyle Weddings -- just after she filed for divorce from the biotech mogul.

CHRISTIE BRINKLEY & RICHARD TAUBMAN: Eight months. The supermodel and real estate magnate hooked up after surviving a deadly helicopter crash together, but strangely found it hard to recapture the excitement in their relationship afterwards.

J.LO & CRIS JUDD: Nine months. Ms. Lopez's former dancer got custody of their chocolate Labrador Buster and went on to win the reality series I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!

JIM CARREY & LAUREN HOLLY: 10 months. In a press release announcing their marriage, Carrey quipped: "I am striving to live a loving and honorable life. Lauren is my proof and my reward; not to mention a fantastic beard to conceal my raging homosexual lifestyle."

ANNA NICOLE SMITH & J. HOWARD MARSHALL: 14 months. But the oil mogul died with a smile on his face -- just from knowing how much he'd pissed off his kin.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THEY'RE STILL MARRIED: Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin (six years). Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown (11 years).

Kidman in talks for 'Bewitched'

Nicole Kidman is in final talks for the lead role in "Bewitched," the big-screen adaptation of the '60s TV series, reports U.K. website Empire Online.

Kidman would play Samantha, a housewife, mother and witch, famous for her domestic mishaps and broomstick rides.

"Elf" star Will Ferrell has signed on to play Samantha's husband Darrin after Jim Carrey reportedly turned down the role.

Nora Ephron ("Sleepless in Seattle," "You've Got Mail") will direct "Bewitched," which is scheduled to begin filming in April.

'Nemo' Reels in Record Year for DVDs

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Record high DVD sales and rentals made 2003 the "year of the DVD," thanks in part to an orange clown fish.

Disney/Pixar's "Finding Nemo" became the top-selling DVD of all time in November, selling 15 million units in its first 12 days out, according to a release by the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA).

Beyond "Nemo," the DVD as a home video format has overshadowed its poor country predecesor, the VHS cassette, with approximately 17 discs bought per player compared to the average of six VHS titles purchased per unit in 1996.

"We have simply run out of superlatives to describe the DVD phenomenon," says VSDA President Bo Andersen. "It's bigger and better than anyone imagined it could be."

DVD's rapid growth, increasing 46 percent in sales and 55 percent in rentals since 2002, not only draws success from its movie releases, but from TV shows on DVD as well. The lure of easily replaying episodes of favorite series -- without waiting for unpredictable syndication schedules -- led consumers to purchase an estimated 1.46 billion television show DVDs in 2003.

After passing notable milestones in 2003, the DVD can look forward to increasing success in the new year.

"Given that we have just passed the 50 percent mark in DVD player household penetration," says Andersen, "I would say this love affair is just starting."

OSCAR PREVIEW? The Producers Guild of Amercia on Monday announcing its nominations for top film of 2003: Cold Mountian, The Last Samurai, The Return of the King, Master and Commander, Mystic River and Seabiscuit. The PGA Awards, considered a key Oscar predictor, will be announced January 17.

SPLENDID! American Splendor, the indie biopic of oddball comic book author Harvey Pekar, named Best Picture of 2003 by the National Society of Film Critics. Lost in Translation's Bill Murray snagged Best Actor and Monster's Charlize Theron took home Best Actress.

CROWNING KING: Meanwhile, The Return of the King dominated at the Online Film Critics Society Awards on Monday, taking home a whopping nine prizes, including Best Picture and Best Director for Peter Jackson.

THE HONEYMOON IS OVER

Britney Spears has officially annulled her two-day-old marriage to childhood friend Jason Allen Alexander. A Las Vegas judge signed off on the annulment Monday. Spears' rep called the insta-wedding a "joke that went too far."

The Kinks' Davies Shot in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Ray Davies, the lead singer of the British rock group The Kinks, was released from the hospital on Monday after being shot in the leg while chasing a mugger.

Davies, 59, was walking with a woman in the city's French Quarter Sunday evening when the shooting occurred, police said.

"Two men approached and had taken the woman's purse. He ran after them and was wounded in the right thigh," police spokesman Marlin Defillo told Reuters.

Police have arrested one suspect in the shooting and are searching for the second.

Part of the "British Invasion" of the 1960s, the Kinks shot to fame with "You Really Got Me" from their debut album in 1964. The band also hit the pop music charts with "All Day and All of the Night" later that year and the major hit "Lola."

Davies was on the 2004 New Year's honors list, and named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. It ranks below the knighthoods earlier given to Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Elton John.

Former Relief Pitcher Tug McGraw Dies

PHILADELPHIA - Tug McGraw, the zany relief pitcher who coined the phrase "You Gotta Believe" with the New York Mets and later closed out the Philadelphia Phillies' only World Series championship, died Monday. He was 59.

McGraw died of brain cancer at the home of his son, country music star Tim McGraw, outside of Nashville, according to Laurie Hawkins, a family spokesperson. He had been battling the disease since March when he underwent surgery for a malignant tumor.

McGraw's illness came as a shock to fans and friends alike last spring. He was at Phillies' training camp in Clearwater, Fla., as a special instructor, looking fine and acting as funny as ever. On March 12, he was hospitalized and the tumor was discovered. He later said there had been signs something was wrong. For example, he mistakenly showed up at the ballpark on an off day.

"We lost a part of Mets history tonight," Mets owner Fred Wilpon said. "Tug was a battler on and off the field. I know he fought the disease with every ounce of energy he had. We'll all miss him dearly."

Especially former Phillies teammate and Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt.

"He put up a gallant fight," Schmidt said. "Publicly, he never let on that he had gotten a raw deal. He was Tug through the entire thing. As he always said, `I front-loaded my life, just like my contract.' His passing is hard to take because his presence meant so much to people around him."

Bob Boone, who was the Phillies' catcher from 1972-81, remained a close friend, too.

"I was real pleased I was able to be with him a little bit the last couple of months," Boone said from his home in Anaheim, Calif. "All of a sudden it hit and he went real quick, which probably is a blessing.

"I know he got more living out of his 59 years than anybody. What you saw was what Tug was. There was no phoniness at all. He loved people and loved life."

McGraw participated in the closing ceremonies for Veterans Stadium, which will be demolished next month. During the program, he re-enacted his final pitch of the 1980 World Series, striking out Kansas City's Willie Wilson for the title.

He popularized the phrase "You Gotta Believe" during the Mets' 1973 NL championship season and carried the slogan through his illness, vowing he'd be on hand next month to push the button to bring down the Vet.

McGraw was known for charging off the mound, slapping his right hand on his thigh and tapping his chest after a close call.

"Patting his hand on his heart after a guy hits a home run foul, who would do that in the heat of the battle?" said Phillies manager Larry Bowa, who played with McGraw on the 1980 championship team. "But it showed he had no fear. He was loose. That's how he played the game."

A left-hander who threw a screwball, McGraw could be a bit of screwball himself.

Once asked whether he preferred to play on a grass field or an artificial surface, he said, "I don't know. I never smoked any AstroTurf."

McGraw's playful personality often overshadowed his talent. He was an outstanding big-game pitcher during his 19-year career.

In 26 postseason games, he had a 2.23 ERA and was 3-3 with eight saves.

McGraw was 96-92 with a 3.14 ERA and 180 saves, and was a two-time All-Star. He made his major league debut with the Mets in 1965 at age 20 and finished with the Phillies in 1984.

After the 1974 season, McGraw was traded by the Mets to Philadelphia in a six-player swap that sent John Stearns to New York. With McGraw, the Phillies won five division titles, two NL pennants and one World Series.

McGraw had 20 saves and a 1.46 ERA in 1980, helping put Philadelphia into the playoffs. After the Phillies got past Houston in a tight NLCS — McGraw pitched in every game of the best-of-five series — they faced the Royals in the World Series.

In addition to his son Tim, McGraw is survived by sons Mark and Matthew McGraw; a daughter, Cari Velardo, and four grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements were not immediately available.

This Week's New Releases

This week in The Couch Potato Report I'll define the word classic and then use it once too often.

The word classic is used all too often these days in the movie world. Any film that makes money at the box office is immediately dubbed a classic.

By definition, the word classic means: "Serving as a standard of excellence; Of recognized value; and Historically memorable."

Some films that inarguably meet that criteria are THE GODFATHER, CITIZEN KANE, CASABLANCA, STAR WARS, SCHINDLER'S LIST and ALIEN.

Yes, I included ALIEN in that list!

And not just because it made money, which I'll address in a moment. ALIEN is on the list as it continues to serve as a standard of excellence for its use of suspense. That fact also makes it historically memorable.

Yes, ALIEN is a classic. Sadly, it is a classic with a very high recognized value. That means director Ridley Scott was allowed to mess around with it and create a new "director's version" of the film. That new version played in theatres last year and is now being released on DVD and video.

ALIEN originally arrived in 1979 between the releases of the original STAR WARS and THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

It was landmark combination of science fiction and horror and a wonderful diversion from George Lucas's space fantasy.

But it wasn't just a science fiction - slash - horror film. It also had painfully pleasurable relentless suspense.

The film centered on the crew of the space freighter Nostromo, who fell prey to a vicious creature that had gestated inside one of the ill-fated crew members.

Impeccably directed by Ridley Scott, the original version of ALIEN is one of the cinema's most unforgettable nightmares.

And because we can't forget it, Scott was allowed to create ALIEN - THE DIRECTOR'S CUT.

What's unfortunate about this new version is the same as most theatrical re-releases of moderate-to-classic films: The director has suffered from a cumulative attack of coulda-woulda-shoulda syndrome, and decides to rethink and rework the film for contemporary audiences.

Forgetting the time and, if you'll pardon the pun, space where it was created, in this DIRECTOR'S CUT Scott wants to speed up the timing for modern audiences. Audiences who have been weaned on the quick cut, fast editing style of today's filmmakers and TV producers.

But that pace was the beauty of the original version of ALIEN. It was slow moving and that motion, or lack thereof sometimes, is what made the film, is what MAKES the film a classic.

ALIEN - THE DIRECTOR'S CUT doesn't diminish the legacy of the original film. But it doesn't advance it either. Simply put, the original version is the better film.

My hope is that in the future director's who have made classic films will stay away from the "Of recognized value" part of the definition of the word classic and remember that creating and giving an audience a film that "Serves as a standard of excellence; and is Historically memorable" can be good enough.

I doubt they will as long as there is money to be made from these "director's versions", but I can dream can't I?

It's unlikely the director of UNDERWORLD will ever be asked to create a new version of his film. This dark, moody film is a love story about a vampire and werewolf who fall in love despite an ongoing rivalry between their two species.

UNDERWORLD is a good enough movie but it doesn't have one original moment throughout the entire 121 minute running time. It just blends a lot of familiar ideas together. Like I said, it's good enough and horror movie buffs will enjoy it.

Those who enjoy the work of Denzel Washington will probably also enjoy his new thriller OUT OF TIME. Its about a police chief who gets caught up in scandal and murder.

Sure, it is a contrived, at times implausible film but its worth seeing. This is a good movie for one of those days when it is just way too cold to go outside.

Like today!

OUT OF TIME has just enough twists to keep you wondering just enough so that you're interested in how Denzel Washington's character will get out of each predicament.

Be warned, it does have some corny, highly unlikely turns, but for me they just made it more fun.

Its no where near being a classic, but OUT OF TIME is a great film to rent.

ALIEN - THE DIRECTOR'S CUT, UNDERWORLD and OUT OF TIME are available to rent and buy right now.

COMING NEXT WEEK

FREDDY VS. JASON - Jason and Freddy battle from Elm Street to Crystal Lake in this meeting of the horror uberstars. (Robert Englund, Ken Kirzinger, Kelly Rowland)

JOHNNY ENGLISH - Ever see Mr. Bean? Well imagine him as a bumbling idiot who becomes a British secret spy. Now take away the humour. (Rowan Atkinson, Natalie Imbruglia, Ben Miller)

SWIMMING POOL - A murder-mystery author gets inspiration from a young woman. I can't wait to see this one myself! (Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier, Charles Dance)

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

Alex Lifeson: Arrest was unfair

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) -- The lead guitarist for the rock band Rush said his arrest at a New Year's Eve party was unfair.

Alex Zivojinovich -- known on stage as Alex Lifeson -- was arrested for what police described as drunken, violent behavior at the Naples Ritz-Carlton hotel. He faces six charges, including four felonies, the most serious of which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years.

"This gives new meaning to dinner at the Ritz," Zivojinovich, 50, said as he left jail Friday on $14,500 bond, wearing the same black suit he wore to the New Year's Eve bash.

Zivojinovich said he didn't believe his arrest was fair. "They didn't like the way we were dancing, apparently," he said.

Also arrested were his son Justin Zivojinovich, 33, and his son's wife, Michelle Zivojinovich, 30.

According to authorities, the scuffle began when Justin Zivojinovich refused to leave the stage where the house band was performing. His father spat blood on a deputy's face and pushed a deputy down a hotel stairwell during the struggle, police said.

Justin Zivojinovich disputed that account and said deputies broke his father's nose.

Charges against Alex Zivojinovich include aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, and disorderly intoxication.

Arraignment is set for Jan. 26.

Seal, 311 Cover '80s Classics For Soundtrack

A slew of 1980s modern rock classics are reborn on the soundtrack to the Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore comedy "50 First Dates." Due Feb. 3 via Maverick, the set features such artists as Seal, Black Eyed Peas and 311 covering the likes of Echo & the Bunnymen, the Cure and Spandau Ballet, respectively.

Veteran U.K.-based reggae outfit UB40's remake of the Police smash "Every Breath You Take" will be the first radio single released from the soundtrack. Other covers include 311's version of the Cure's "Love Song," Seal's take on Echo's "Lips Like Sugar" and Ziggy Marley's interpretation of the Cars' "Drive."

Wyclef Jean and Eve team up on the Outfield's "Your Love," while Jason Mraz reinvents Modern English's "I Melt With You," Sugar Ray's Mark McGrath takes a solo turn on the Psychedelic Furs' "Ghost in You" and the Black Eyed Peas revamp Spandau Ballet's "True."

Sandler and Barrymore last starred together in the '80s-themed comedy "The Wedding Singer." Also starring Rob Schneider, Sean Astin and Dan Aykroyd, "50 First Dates" opens Feb. 13 in U.S. theaters.

The enhanced-CD soundtrack release will also include behind-the-scenes movie footage, film-related screen savers and movie trailers, among other features.

Michael J. Fox to scrub up twice for 'Scrubs'

Michael J. Fox will play an accomplished surgeon on two February episodes of NBC's Scrubs, a rare on-screen performance for the actor since his departure from the hit sitcom, Spin City, in 2000.

Fox's episodes, which begin taping this week, mark a reunion with Scrubs executive producer and Spin City veteran Bill Lawrence. Lawrence said Fox, who left Spin City to focus on his battle with Parkinson's disease, is a fan of the medical comedy and expressed interest in a guest role. A spokeswoman for the actor said Fox is in great health.

"Mike is such a humble guy. He said if it wasn't something I wanted, not to worry about it. Meanwhile, I was trying not to jump through the phone," Lawrence said.

Fox's character is a "superdoc," a funny, quirky guy with both medical and surgical specialties who inadvertently forces the Scrubs' physicians — J.D., Turk and Cox — to face their own shortcomings.

This doctor also has obsessive-compulsive disorder, but has found a way to make the best of it — a parallel to Fox's own dealings with Parkinson's, which have included creating the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.

Lawrence isn't the only one excited about the guest appearance by Fox, 42, who has done some voice roles recently: "I had to come up with a way that every actor on the show could get a scene with him or they would kill me."

SPLENDID!

Shaking up the Oscar race, American Splendor, the biopic featuring Paul Giamatti as file clerk turned comic book author Harvey Pekar, named Best Picture of the year by the National Society of Film Critics. Lost In Translation's Bill Murray snagged Best Actor and Monster's Charlize Theron took home Best Actress.

Survey: Recording industry crackdown appears to be slowing music downloading

NEW YORK (AP) - The recording industry's legal onslaught against Internet song-swappers appears to be having its desired effect. The percentage of Americans who download music online has been sliced in half, according to a report released Sunday.

Fourteen per cent of Internet users surveyed from Nov. 18 to Dec. 14 said they sometimes download songs to their computers, according to the report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and comScore Media Metrix, a web tracking firm.

That number was 29 per cent in May, the same as in February 2001.

The survey did not distinguish between use of free, "peer-to-peer" music-sharing sites such as Kazaa, and licensed, commercial downloading sites such as the new Napster, MusicMatch, Rhapsody and iTunes.

But the study attributed the plunge to the Recording Industry Association of America's strategy of suing individual song-swappers. The study noted that most of the licensed commercial sites didn't exist when previous surveys were conducted, but that they have attracted many users.

The RIAA has sued nearly 400 individuals for copyright violations since September, but most cases have been settled. Although the RIAA can legally demand $150,000 US per song, people familiar with the cases have said most settlements have been for $2,500 to $7,500.

RIAA chief executive Mitch Bainwol was heartened by the Pew study but said the lawsuits against individual users would continue in 2004.

"We would not look at any single measure and make a statement of victory," he said. "But what we do know is this: The lawsuits have had a profound impact on awareness and fewer people are downloading (illegally), and that's good news."

The music business suffered through another down year in 2003, with overall units sold dropping 0.8 per cent, according to Nielsen SoundScan. CD sales fell two per cent. But the fourth quarter saw an overall gain of 10.5 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

The Pew telephone survey of 1,358 people had a margin of error of three percentage points.

Irwin: I'd Feed Crocodile, Hold Son Again

SYDNEY, Australia - "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin snapped back at critics who have accused him of endangering his month-old son's life by holding him while hand-feeding a crocodile, saying Monday that he would even do it again.

"What I would do differently is I would make sure there were no cameras around," Irwin told Network Nine television's nationally broadcast "A Current Affair" program.

"When I was a very small boy, my dad did the same for me. In fact when I was 9 years old, he let me jump, restrain and capture my first crocodile."

Child welfare advocates have said the TV hero endangered his son, Robert, in the incident Friday, drawing comparisons with pop star Michael Jackson who dangled his infant out of a hotel window in Berlin in November 2002.

Police said Sunday that Irwin would not be charged with violating any laws.

Irwin promised to give "A Current Affair" a videotape from his Australian Zoo reptile park where he staged the act, which he said would prove it was not as dangerous as the public believed.

"(The tape) will give you another angle so all that ugly stacked-up vision of me looking like I endangered my child will be put to bed very quickly," he said.

The celebrated animal lover, who has survived tussles with pythons and crocodiles, fed a 13-foot croc while cradling his baby during a media event at his reptile park in northeastern Australia.

Irwin also angrily rejected any comparisons to Jackson.

"I would never, ever put him in any danger, not in a million years," he told Australia's Sunday Telegraph.

"To hear people say that it was a publicity stunt, that I'm just like Michael Jackson well, it just tears me up. It makes me sick to my stomach to be compared in that way."

Jackson was criticized for the Berlin incident. In an unrelated high-profile case involving an accuser who is not related to the singer, Jackson has been charged in California with committing lewd acts on a child.

Meanwhile, a message board on a Web site used to promote Irwin's television shows in the United States has become a battleground for the crocodile hunter's critics and supporters.

Some fans sent messages of support while others vowed never to watch his shows again.

Irwin has gained worldwide fame for his "Crocodile Hunter" show on the Animal Planet network, in which he chats excitedly about exotic and dangerous creatures — sometimes from extremely close proximity to the beasts.

'Return of the King' Keeps No. 1 Spot

LOS ANGELES - Hollywood made way for a third straight week of box-office dominance by "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" as no new movies opened in wide release for the New Year's weekend.

The top 10 movies looked a lot like last week's, led by "Rings" with $30.8 million and Steve Martin's remake of "Cheaper by the Dozen" in No. 2 with $21.9 million, according to studio estimates released Sunday.

It's typical for the New Year's holiday weekend to be slow as far as new releases are concerned, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations Co. Most studios release their big films in time for Christmas.

This coming weekend will bring fresher offerings, such as "Chasing Liberty," "My Baby's Daddy" and a wider release for "Big Fish."

"The Return of the King" has collected $292 million in North America since it debuted Dec. 17. "This movie is like a freight train with no brakes," said Dergarabedian, who predicted the film eventually would cross the $1 billion mark worldwide.

"Calendar Girls" collected $4.6 million to rank ninth, and "Bad Santa" slipped one place to No. 10 with $3 million.

"Calendar Girls," a comedy about older British women who decide to make a tasteful nude calendar, was playing in only 745 locations. The audience for the film was mostly women, predominantly in their 40s and 50s, who have been motivated by word-of-mouth, said Disney head of distribution Chuck Viane.

Other films that performed strongly in limited release included "House of Sand and Fog," with Ben Kingsley (news) and Jennifer Connelly as two people feuding over ownership of a home. It collected $1.8 million in about 442 theaters, for a solid per-screen average of $4,072.

Director Tim Burton's "Big Fish," meanwhile, has had an outstanding limited run and is heading into its first nationwide distribution next week in about 2,500 theaters. The movie, about a tall-tale spinner whose fantastic stories annoy his grown son, garnered $2.5 million in about 125 locations, averaging $20,000 per screen.

"That's a huge number that means the movie is really filling those theaters, and that portends well for its first wide expansion," Dergarabedian said.

The overall box office was up about 14 percent compared to the same weekend last year, when "The Two Towers," the second installment of "The Lord of the Rings," was No. 1, followed by "Catch Me If You Can" and "Two Weeks Notice."

Total ticket sales came in slightly lower for 2003 than the year before, the first downturn since 1991. "It's a little early to start celebrating," Dergarabedian said of the new year's first week. "But you want to head into '04 with momentum."

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

1. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," $30.8 million.
2. "Cheaper By the Dozen," $21.9 million.
3. "Something's Gotta Give," $12.5 million.
4. "Cold Mountain," $11.7 million.
5. "Paycheck," $10 million.
6. "Mona Lisa Smile," $8.7 million.
7. "Peter Pan," $8.5 million.
8. "The Last Samurai," $7.5 million.
9. "Calendar Girls," $4.6 million.
10. "Bad Santa," $3 million.

Rose in Book Admits Betting on Baseball

NEW YORK - After 14 years of denials, Pete Rose has finally come clean and admitted he bet on baseball while manager of the Cincinnati Reds.

The career hits leader says in his soon-to-be-released autobiography that he hopes the acknowledgment will help end his ban from baseball, which could lead to his induction into the Hall of Fame.

Rose says he was a big-time gambler who started betting regularly on baseball in 1987 but never against the Reds, according to excerpts from the book released to Sports Illustrated for its issue that hits newsstands Wednesday.

"Yes, sir, I did bet on baseball," Rose told commissioner Bud Selig during a meeting in November 2002 about Rose's lifetime ban.

"How often?" Selig asked.

"Four or five times a week," Rose replied. "But I never bet against my own team, and I never made any bets from the clubhouse."

"Why?" Selig asked.

"I didn't think I'd get caught."

Rose repeated his admission in an interview on ABC News' "Primetime Thursday," parts of which aired Monday on "Good Morning America."

"It's time to clean the slate, it's time to take responsibility," Rose says in the interview. "I'm 14 years late.

"I just never had the opportunity to tell anybody that was going to help me. ... I couldn't get a response from baseball for 12 years. It's like I died and, and they knew I died and they didn't want to bring me back. They were just going to let me rot."

In "My Prison Without Bars," to be released Thursday, Rose writes that he regrets lying for all those years and says, "I wish I could take it all back."

"I've consistently heard the statement: 'If Pete Rose came clean, all would be forgiven.' Well, I've done what you've asked. The rest is up to the commissioner and the big umpire in the sky."

Rose agreed to the lifetime ban in August 1989 and applied for reinstatement in 1997, but Selig hasn't ruled on the request.

After meeting with Selig, Rose came away thinking he would be reinstated "within a reasonable period." Other baseball officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the following month that Selig wanted Rose to admit he bet on baseball as part of any reinstatement agreement.

"We haven't seen the book. Until we read the book, there's nothing to comment on," Selig told The Associated Press on Sunday night.

As long as Rose is banned from baseball, he is ineligible for the Hall of Fame ballot. His last chance to appear on the writers' ballot is December 2005. After that, if he's reinstated, he could be voted in by the veterans' committee.
 
Rose wrote that if he "had been an alcoholic or a drug addict, baseball would have suspended me for six weeks and paid for my rehabilitation."

"I should have had the opportunity to get help, but baseball had no fancy rehab for gamblers like they do for drug addicts," Rose wrote. "If I had admitted my guilt, it would have been the same as putting my head on the chopping block — lifetime ban. Death penalty. I spent my entire life on the baseball fields of America, and I was not going to give up my profession without first seeing some hard evidence. ... Right or wrong, the punishment didn't fit the crime — so I denied the crime."

In the book, Rose admits placing bets with Ronald Peters through Thomas Gioiosa and Paul Janszen — the three were the primary witnesses in the 1989 investigation by baseball lawyer John Dowd that led to the agreement in which Rose accepted a lifetime ban.

Dowd concluded Rose bet on baseball from 1985-87 and detailed 412 baseball wagers between April 8-July 5, 1987, including 52 on Cincinnati to win.

"During the times I gambled as a manager, I never took an unfair advantage," Rose wrote. "I never bet more or less based on injuries or inside information. I never allowed my wagers to influence my baseball decisions. So in my mind, I wasn't corrupt."

Former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent said Sunday: "I think John Dowd is owed a big apology by Rose.

"John is the hero. He did a great job. Now Rose admits John was correct," Vincent said.

Rose wrote that after breaking Ty Cobb's career hits record in 1985, and as he dealt with retirement as a player the following year, his betting became more of a problem. He details losing several hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"I didn't realize it at the time, but I was pushing toward disaster," he wrote. "A part of me was still looking for ways to recapture the high I got from winning batting titles and World Series. If I couldn't get the high from playing baseball, then I needed a substitute to keep from feeling depressed. I was driven, in gambling as well as in baseball. Enough was never enough. I had huge appetites, and I was always hungry."

Asked during the ABC News interview what fans think about him, Rose said: "I think the powers that be in baseball understand that, 'Hey, maybe the fans like this guy. Maybe the fans want, want us to give him a second chance.'"

Hollywood Has First Down Year Since 1991

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ticket sales at the North American box office last year fell for the first time since 1991, despite higher ticket prices and aggressive marketing that ensured strong opening weekends for Hollywood movies.

According to data issued on Sunday by tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, sales in 2003 fell 0.5 percent to $9.27 billion, from $9.317 billion in 2002. Those were the only two years where sales exceeded $9 billion, Exhibitor Relations President Paul Dergarabedian said.

Attendance -- or the number of tickets sold -- slid by 4.5 percent to 1.53 billion from 1.6 billion in 2002. A drop is not uncommon, but Dergarabedian said the slide was unusually steep. It now costs about $6.03 to attend a movie, up from $5.85 in 2002, and the $10 threshold has been broken in major markets.

A record number of 2003 releases crossed the century mark -- 25 and counting -- and moviegoers turned out in droves for such hits as "Finding Nemo" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." But 2002 was a hard act to follow, with highlights such as "Spider-Man" and new films in the "Austin Powers" and "Star Wars" franchises, Dergarabedian said.

Sequels used to be a sure thing, but several failed to generate much water-cooler buzz in 2003 despite strong openings. Disappointments included follow-ups to "Charlie's Angels" and "Legally Blonde," as well as the final two installments in the "Matrix" trilogy. And not all comic book heroes are destined for greatness, as "The Hulk" found out.

With that in mind, the studios' 2004 slates are heavy with sequels and comic book heroes. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" is set for release on June 4, followed by "Spider-Man 2" on July 2 and "Catwoman" on July 30. The latter film will compete for top honors with suspense director M. Night Shyamalan's thriller "The Village."

Dergarabedian was bullish for prospects in 2004, in part because of an easier year-on-year comparison. Already, sales for the first weekend of 2004 were tracking 14.5 percent ahead of the year-ago period.

Britney Arranges Annulment Hours After Wedding

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop star Britney Spears made arrangements to annul her Las Vegas marriage to childhood friend Jason Allen Alexander just hours after the two were wed in a chapel there on Saturday, friends and relatives said on Sunday.

George Maloof Jr., owner of the Palms Casino and Hotel, where Spears was staying over the New Year's Eve holiday and weekend, confirmed Spears and Alexander, both 22, were wed around 5 a.m. PST (8 a.m. EST/1300 GMT) on Saturday at a Las Vegas wedding chapel. He declined further comment.

However, a friend of Spears who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters that by late Saturday afternoon, all the annulment papers had been signed by both Spears and Alexander in the presence of an attorney, a notary public, Spears' brother Brian, her manager Larry Rudolph and Maloof.

The annulment papers were expected to be filed when the courts open on Monday morning, the friend said.

Alexander's grandmother, Betty Alexander, also confirmed the marriage and annulment. "Yes, they got married and they are in the process of getting it annulled," she told Reuters by phone from Alexander's hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana.

There were apparently no hard feelings. Shortly after the annulment papers were signed, the couple on Saturday night had dinner at the N9NE Steakhouse at the Palms Casino and Hotel.

On Saturday morning, Spears was escorted down the aisle at the Little White Wedding Chapel in the city known for quickie marriages -- and divorces -- by a Palms Casino Hotel bellman, who doubled as the couple's limousine driver for their impromptu nuptials, Spears' friend said.

BRIDE WORE A BASEBALL CAP

The only people who witnessed the wedding were the chapel's minister, a photographer and the bellman. The wedding ceremony was videotaped, but no video has so far been released.

The bride wore a baseball cap, jeans and a T-shirt for her first marriage. The groom was dressed casually for what was his first marriage as well.

After spending Friday night at a movie in the Palms' theater and in their hotel suite, Spears and Alexander showed up in the hotel's Ghostbar to ask for a driver.

After stopping at two other chapels that were closed, the couple found their way to the Little White Wedding Chapel. They were told they needed a marriage license, so at about 4 a.m. PST (7 a.m. EST/1200 GMT) they drove to the courthouse, Spears' friend said.

A marriage license was indeed filed in Clark County, Nevada, on Jan. 3, for Alexander and Spears. Signed by both, the document says they are both residents of Kentwood, Louisiana, and have never been married before.

The pop princess, a one-time children's television performer turned teen-aged sex symbol who most recently has posed scantily clad on magazine covers and kissed Madonna on national television while promoting her latest album.

Spears' close friend said the pop diva was publicly seen kissing both Alexander and one of her female dancers while dancing to her new song "Toxic" at the hotel's Rain nightclub on Thursday night. "It made her kiss with Madonna look mild," the friend said.

The pop diva's most high-profile romance previously was with fellow pop idol Justin Timberlake, now enjoying a successful solo career after years with the boy band 'N Sync.

Spears shot to superstardom as a teen-ager with her debut album "...Baby One More Time." She released her latest, "In the Zone," in November, storming to No. 1 on the music charts with the aid of a publicity blitz. It was the singer's fourth consecutive No. 1 debut.

Spears will tour to promote "In the Zone" in 2004.

2004's Must See Films

It promises to be a hard act to follow.

With the help of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the final two chapters of The Matrix, Finding Nemo and Pirates of the Caribbean, Hollywood set new box-office records in 2003.

As few as five years ago, if a film grossed $100 million US in its North American release it was considered a blockbuster.

With films like Spider-Man, Finding Nemo and Pirates of the Caribbean breaking $300 million and all three of the Lord of the Ring features spiralling past $200 million, new expectations are keeping pace with new records. In 2003, 25 films earned upwards of $100 million with six of those passing the $200-million mark.

Studios are lining up with some familiar faces and some new ones in an attempt to capitalize on this enthusiasm.

Once again, sequels hold the best chance of achieving the kind of event fervor and status of Lord of the Rings, The Matrix and X2: X-Men United.

In 2002, Spider-Man grossed $404 million so its sequel Spider-Man 2, set for July 2, is easily the year's most anticipated flick.

Following close behind is the June 4 opening of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Studio moguls are hoping the following sequels will out-pace their predecessors:
BARBERSHOP 2: BACK IN BUSINESS: Hair, tempers and laughs begin to fly on Feb. 6 when Calvin's barbershop reopens for business.

KILL BILL: VOLUME 2: The carnage continues on Feb. 20 as assassin Uma Thurman tracks down more of the former partners who tried to kill her.

AGENT CODY BANKS 2: DESTINATION LONDON: On March 12, teen spy Frankie Muniz visits the homeland of his idol, James Bond.

SCOOBY-DOO 2: MONSTERS UNLEASHED: The live-action gang of Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Linda Cardellini and Matthew Lillard team up on March 26 to help their animated canine pal discover the whereabouts of a monster-making machine.

THE WHOLE TEN YARDS: Hitman Bruce Willis and cohorts Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet and Natasha Henstridge return on April 9 to tangle with international mobsters.

THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK: On June 11, what all started back in 2000 with Vin Diesel's modest sci-fi thriller Pitch Black morphs into a big-budget, big-thrills adventure.

THE PRINCESS DIARIES 2: ROYAL ENGAGEMENT: In the surprise hit of 2001, Julie Andrews had to teach Anne Hathaway how to be a princess. Now on July 16, it's time to show her how to behave like a queen.

THE BOURNE SUPREMACY: Matt Damon's spy may know who he is, but on July 23, he's going to have to figure out who's trying to kill him.

ALIEN VS PREDATOR: Last year horror kings Freddy and Jason battled to their deaths. Not to be upstaged, on Aug. 6 two extraterrestrial super creatures will use Earth as their battleground.

BLADE 3: TRINITY: Vampire killer Wesley Snipes returns on Aug. 13 to continue his mission to rid the world of undead bloodsuckers.

THE RING 2: The terror continues this November as Naomi Watts tries to protect her son David Dorman from supernatural forces.

OCEAN'S TWELVE: Come Dec. 10, George Clooney and his team of cat burglars are hoping to steal the holiday box office with more of their brand of wry slapstick hijinx.

BRIDGET JONES: THE EDGE OF REASON: Renee Zellweger hopes to find love as well as sex this Christmas as the amorous adventures of the lovable chubby Brit continue.

MEET THE FOCKERS: Beginning Dec. 22, Ben Stiller will once again try to convince Robert DeNiro he is good son-in-law material for Teri Polo.

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Comic books, superheroes and fantasy adventures will continue to fill screens throughout 2004. With Hugh Jackman battling such classic screen monsters as Dracula, Frankenstein's creature and the Wolf Man on May 7, Van Helsing could well become a new adventure franchise. Then again, it could go the way of Sean Connery's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Eye-popping adventure is the common ingredient in the following fantasies.
HELLBOY: On April 2, Ron Perlman plays the hero of Dark Horse Comics who was born in the flames of Hell and has vowed to protect mankind.

SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW: Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie star in this summer futuristic adventure that boasts sets created entirely through computer imagery.

CATWOMAN: On July 30, Halle Berry slips into the leather suit and cat ears to battle corporate espionage.

THUNDERBIRDS: The hit British 1960s marionette series becomes a live action adventure starring Bill Paxton and Ben Kingsley on Aug 6.

CONSTANTINE: Ripped from the DC comic Hellblazer comes this Sept. 17 tale of occultist John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) and his battles with demons and angels.

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As such recent films as Gladiator, The Last Samurai, Cold Mountain and Master and Commander proved, there is a growing appetite for historical epics.
There are several big-budget flicks on tap this year that hope to cash in on this trend.

HERO: Ancient Chinese history comes to life on April 16 when Jet Li plays warlord Quin who became the first emperor of China.

TROY: Brad Pitt plays legendary Greek hero Achilles in this May 14 retelling of the siege of Troy.

ALEXANDER: On Nov. 5, Oliver Stone directs Colin Farrell in this story of how Alexander the Great built one of the greatest empires ever.

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There is always excitement when a filmmaker like M. Night Shyamalan announces a new project. He has captured imaginations and the box-office with such thrillers as The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs. On July 30 in The Village, Shyamalan investigates strange happenings in a mysterious forest.

There are high hopes for the following projects from filmmakers and actors with their own enviable track records.

HIDALGO: The Lord of the Rings trilogy turned Viggo Mortensen into a star and he's going to test his new status on March 5 in this true story of an American cowboy who raced his steed Hidalgo in a 3000-mile race inthe Arabian Desert.

THE LADYKILLERS: Tom Hanks teams up with Joel and Ethan Coen on March 26 for this comic caper flick.

TWISTED: Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman team up in March for a third time in this story of a homicide detective who thinks she might be the serial killer she's tracking.

THE STEPFORD WIVES: Nicole Kidman, Bette Midler and Matthew Broderick star in this summer remake of the 1975 thriller about a village that turns its women into robots.

NEVERLAND: On Oct. 8, Johnny Depp plays British writer J.M. Barrie who created the classic children's tale Peter Pan.

THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE: Denzel Washington stars in this fall remake of the classic thriller about brainwashing.

THE INCREDIBLES: Pixar Studios whose Finding Nemo was the biggest hit of 2003 unveils its latest animated creation on Nov. 5 about a group of superheroes.

SAHARA: Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz star in the winter thriller about a toxin that is killing the Earth's marine life.

THE AVIATOR: Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio team up on Dec. 17 to examine the life of eccentric billionaire and Hollywood mogul Howard Hughes.

LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS: Jim Carrey stars in this Christmas screen version of the popular children's series about the cunning villainous Count Olaf who is a master of disguise.

Rush Guitarist in New Year's Eve Fight

NAPLES, Fla. - The lead guitarist for the rock band Rush faces criminal charges after a New Year's Eve fight with sheriff's deputies.
 
Alex Zivojinovich, better known by his stage name Alex Lifeson, was arrested for what deputies described as drunken, violent behavior at the Naples Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Deputies said they used a stun gun on Zivojinovich, 50, who faces six charges that include aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, and disorderly intoxication.

Also arrested were his 33-year-old son Justin Zivojinovich and wife Michelle Zivojinovich, 30.

Justin Zivojinovich said his father, who was still in Collier County jail late Thursday, had his nose broken by deputies.

He also said his father did not throw a female deputy down the stairs, as stated in arrest reports. She tumbled down the stairs as she pushed the guitarist down the stairwell, his son said.

The scuffle began when Justin Zivojinovich refused to leave a stage, according to the arrest report.

Rush's hits include "Tom Sawyer," from the 1981 album "Moving Pictures," "Limelight" and "Spirit of the Radio."

Krall Enters New 'Room'

Jazz superstar Diana Krall explores the piano in greater depth on her upcoming album "The Girl in the Other Room," due in April from Verve. The leader of the "back to standards" movement in the 1990s, the Canadian artist steers into a new direction with six "new" standards and six originals that she co-wrote with new husband Elvis Costello.

Produced by Krall and Tommy LiPuma, the strings-less CD features Krall leading two different quartets. Costello and Krall wed Dec. 6 in England.

Krall was Billboard's top jazz artist of 2003, having dominated the charts for more than a year with her album "Live in Paris" (Verve).

As previously reported, Krall and Costello will be among the host of musicians paying tribute to Sting when he is honored in February as the MusiCares person of the year. The Feb. 6 gala event in Los Angeles will also feature performances by Tony Bennett, Black Eyed Peas, Dido, Elton John, k.d. lang, Dave Matthews, John Mayer and Rufus Wainwright.

Krall has plans to launch a Canadian tour in May. The run will kick off with a May 2-4 stand in Calgary and close with a May 30-31 booking in Ottowa.

Here are Krall's 2004 tour dates:

May 2-4: Calgary (Jubilee Auditorium)
May 5: Kelowna, British Columbia (Skyreach Center)
May 7: Vancouver (GM Place)
May 12-13: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Centennial Concert Hall)
May 15-16: Regina, Saskatchewan (Regina Center of the Arts)
May 17: Winnipeg (Winnipeg Center Hall)
May 21: Quebec City, Quebec (Pepsi Colisee)
May 22: Halifax, Nova Scotia (Halifax Metro Center)
May 23: St. John's, Newfoundland (Mile One)
May 25: London, Ontario (Labatt Center)
May 27-29: Toronto (Hummingbird Center)
May 30-31: Ottawa, Ontario (NAC).

Norway's 'Pop Idol' Wins World Title

LONDON - Norway's "Pop Idol" Kurt Nilsen moved a step up to "World Idol" on Thursday when he triumphed in a singing competition with winners from 10 other nations

"American Idol" Kelly Clarkson won second place, and Belgium's Peter Everard came in third when the vote was announced on Britain's ITV television Friday evening following a Christmas Day broadcast of the international singing competition.

"This is totally amazing," said a thrilled and tearful Nilson. "I love you guys," he told the 10 other competitors.

The competitors are all winners of the first season of the "Idol" series in their respective countries.

Nilson, a 25-year-old plumber, won the Norwegian version of "Pop Idol" in May. His single, "She's So High," went straight to No. 1 in the Norwegian singles chart and is the country's biggest-selling single to date.

The young Norwegian won maximum points from nine of the 11 countries that voted in the contest for his rendition of the U2 track "Beautiful Day."

Clarkson, a former Texas cocktail waitress, won the first American title in September 2002 and scored a No. 1 single with "A Moment Like This."

Shows patterned after the original series, Britain's "Pop Idol," now are seen in more than 20 countries.

For Your Oscar Consideration: 254 Films

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Voting members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences won't have to sit through as many films as they did last year.

For 2003, 254 films are eligible for consideration in the Oscar race's major categories, including best picture.

That's 25 fewer films than were eligible last year, when 279 releases qualified for Oscar consideration.

However, this year's 254 films is almost exactly the average number of films that the Academy has been asked to consider the previous four years.

In addition to 2002's 279 qualifiers, 2001 saw 248 films make the grade, 2000 produced 242 pictures, and 1999 offered up 244 films -- an average of 253 films per year over the four-year period.

The 5,803 voting members of the Academy were mailed a complete list of the 254 eligible films along with their nominating ballots Monday.

Academy rules state that to qualify for consideration, a feature-length motion picture must have a running length of more than 40 minutes and have been exhibited theatrically on 35mm or 70mm film or in a qualifying digital format.

The films must open in a commercial theater, for paid admission, in Los Angeles County between Jan. 1 and midnight Dec. 31 and run for seven consecutive days. Films that receive their first public exhibition or distribution in any manner other than as a theatrical motion picture release are not eligible for Academy Awards in any category, which in the past has disqualified films that ran on TV first. Official screen-credits forms and copies of the main and end title credits must have been submitted to the Academy by Dec. 1.

Films submitted in the documentary, foreign-language, animated feature and short-film categories have different eligibility requirements and are viewed and selected by special voting panels of Academy members.

Nominations for the 76th Annual Academy Award will be announced Jan. 27 at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

The Oscar ceremonies will be held Feb. 29 at the Kodak Theater at Hollywood & Highland and televised live on ABC.

U.S. Album Sales Fall in 2003 But End on Up Note

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. album sales fell once again in 2003, but there were some signs that the music industry could be pulling out of its long-running slump, retail tracker Nielsen SoundScan reported on Wednesday.

Sales of compact discs, which make up 96 percent of all sales, fell 2.1 percent to 635.8 million units. But the decline in 2002 was a much steeper 8.7 percent, the firm said.

The best-selling albums came from diverse acts, led by rapper 50 Cent, jazz singer Norah Jones and rock band Linkin Park.

For the last three months of the year, when many labels roll out their biggest releases, CD sales rose 5.6 percent from the year-ago period.

Overall music sales -- including singles and increasingly popular online downloads -- were up 10.5 percent for that period, Nielsen SoundScan said.

Battered by rampant piracy and competition from rival entertainment, such as video games, the record industry has endured three years of slumping sales.

But the recent success of Apple Computer Inc. iTunes music store and Roxio Inc's revived Napster offering has prompted some industry watchers to suggest that the worst may be behind.

Sales of "current" albums -- the lifeblood of the music industry -- slipped just 1 percent in 2003. Aggressive "loss-leader" pricing by discount chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Best Buy Co. Inc., likely played a key role, industry observers said. Sales of "catalog" albums, where the labels' profit margins are often higher, slid 7 percent.

In a sign of the success of newer formats, sales of music videos on DVD more than doubled in 2003 and overall music video sales were up almost 79 percent, Nielsen SoundScan said.

Sales of alternative, jazz and Latin albums were also up overall for 2003, the sales data showed.

Industry leader Universal Music Group, home to both 50 Cent and 2003's best-selling country music performer, Toby Keith, maintained its top spot with 28 percent of total sales in 2003.

But Sony and BMG, which have announced plans to merge their music operations, would have had a slightly bigger piece of the U.S. market on a combined basis with 29 percent.

Warner Music, home of Linkin Park, which is being sold by its Time Warner Inc parent to a group of investors led by Edgar Bronfman Jr., had just over 16 percent of U.S. sales, the data showed.

EMI Group, which is home to both Norah Jones and British band Coldplay, had a market share of almost 10 percent.

Poll: Limp Bizkit, Creed Worst Bands of Year

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Limp Bizkit, which suffered slow sales of its long-awaited new album, has been named worst band of the year by readers of Guitar World magazine.

Creed, another act that draws sharp reactions, came in at No. 2 even though the Christian combo took the year off. New York rockers the Strokes were No. 3, followed by "all pop-punk bands" at No. 4 and pop-punk band Good Charlotte at No. 5.

Limp Bizkit's "Results May Vary" has sold one million copies after 13 weeks, and ranks No. 64 on the U.S. pop charts. Its previous release, 2000's Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavored Water," ranked No. 5 after 13 weeks with sales of four million copies.

Metallica's poor-selling new album, "St. Anger," was named biggest disappointment, but it also came in at No. 2 as the best metal album, ranking behind Black Label Society's "The Blessed Hellride."

Metallica's Kirk Hammett was named best metal guitarist, a possible consolation prize for having all his solos cut from "St. Anger," and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl was named best rock guitarist, notwithstanding his initial claim to fame as the drummer with defunct rock band Nirvana.

Another long-gone band, Led Zeppelin, released the best rock album of 2003, the 3-CD live package "How the West Was Won," according to Guitar World readers. That category was rounded out by Audioslave's self-titled debut, the White Stripes' "Elephant," Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Vicious Cycle" and Rush's "Rock in Rio."

The other big disappointments of the year were listed as "all new music," the break-up of Texas metal veterans Pantera, the continued absence of a new Guns 'N Roses album, and Marcos Curiel's departure from Christian rock band P.O.D.