Weezer Scrap Rubin Tracks
Band begins recording fifth album fresh
Weezer have scrapped the sessions they recorded in December with producer Rick Rubin (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jay-Z, Johnny Cash) for their fifth album and have started again fresh. With help from engineer Chad Bamford, the band has been recording since July and hopes to finish before frontman Rivers Cuomo returns to Harvard University next month. The band hopes to release the album, the follow-up to 2002's Maladroit, late this year or early next year.
Rubin has not been part of the "day to day action" for the new sessions, according to the band's official site, but he is serving as an advisor. "[Rick] has become more of a 'mentor' figure," reads a post. "He had a tremendous impact on Rivers and the band in '03, helping re-organize the band's then-somewhat confused recording priorities, and being a wonderful and positive influence on Rivers, helping him 'find his way' both personally and in songwriting again."
In an email exchange with Rolling Stone, Cuomo declined to elaborate on the decision to start recording anew, writing that he was not in the "right mind-mode to speak right now."
On Monday, Cuomo posted two solo covers on his personal Web site (riverscuomo.com). Cuomo's take on Harry Nilsson's pop classic "Without You" and Francoise Hardy's "Je Changerais" were recorded in February 2003. "I don't speak French so I have no idea what I'm saying," Cuomo says of the latter. "I just transcribed the words phonetically."
Beasties Sign On For Benefit, Expand Tour
The Beastie Boys and De La Soul will hook up this weekend for a rare club show to benefit HIV/AIDS prevention efforts. The MTV2 Presents: A LIFEbeat Benefit will take place Saturday (Aug. 28) at the Miami's South Beach nightclub Crobar. The bill will also feature DJ Am and DJ Samantha Ronson.
Tickets for the event will be available tomorrow (Aug. 26) at MTV's VMA Take Over and Friday and Saturday at the VMA Block Parties, events tied to the music channel's annual Video Music Awards, which are set for Saturday at Miami's American Airlines Arena. Tickets will also be available via Wanttickets.com.
General admission tickets will sell for $35, while VIP seats will net $150. Platinum VIP tickets, which include a MTV2 VMA gift bag, will cost $250. Proceeds will benefit LIFEbeat.
The LIFEbeat concert will precede the kick-off of the Beastie Boys' tour in support of their latest album, "To the 5 Boroughs" (Capitol). The run is set to launch Sept. 9 at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Col., with dates being confirmed in sporadic blasts.
At deadline, dates stretch through Oct. 23 in Dallas, with a gap in the schedule between a Sept. 20 Vancouver date and an Oct. 9 gig in Fairfax, Va. Talib Kweli will support.
Released in July, "To the 5 Boroughs" debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200. The group's first album in more than five years has sold 874,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Here are the Beastie Boys' confirmed tour dates:
Aug. 28: Miami (Crobar; LIFEbeat benefit)
Sept. 9: Morrison, Col. (Red Rocks Amphitheatre)
Sept. 11: San Diego (Cox Arena)
Sept. 13: Universal City, Calif. (Universal Amphitheater)
Sept. 14: Long Beach, Calif. (Long Beach Arena)
Sept. 16-17: San Francisco (Bill Graham Civic Auditorium)
Sept. 19: Seattle (Key Arena)
Sept. 20: Vancouver (Pacific Coliseum)
Oct. 8: Fairfax, Va. (Patriot Center)
Oct. 9: New York (Madison Square Garden)
Oct. 11: Philadelphia (Wachovia Center)
Oct. 15: Duluth, Ga. (The Arena at Gwinnett Center)
Oct. 16: New Orleans (Voodoo Music Experience)
Oct. 18: Sunrise, Fla. (Office Depot Center)
Oct. 19: Tampa, Fla. (St. Pete Times Forum)
Oct. 22: Austin, Texas (Frank Erwin Center)
Oct. 23: Dallas (American Airlines Center)
Scientists pick Blade Runner as their favourite film; Asimov their top author
LONDON (AP) - A newspaper survey of top scientists has chosen Blade Runner as the world's best science fiction film.
The 1982 movie was the favourite when 60 scientists were questioned by the Guardian, including evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, the newspaper reported Wednesday. In the film, a retired cop played by Harrison Ford hunts down renegade human replicates in a dark futuristic vision of Los Angeles.
Stephen Minger, a stem cell biologist at King's College, London, said Blade Runner was the best movie he had ever seen.
"It was so far ahead of its time and the whole premise of the story -what is it to be human and who are we, where we come from. It's the age-old questions," he said.
Stanley Kubrick's epic, 2001: A Space Odyssey, came in a close second, followed by the first two films of George Lucas's Star Wars trilogy: Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back.
The others chosen, in descending order, were Alien, Solaris (1972), Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Day the Earth Stood Still, War of the Worlds, The Matrix, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Asked to pick their favourite authors, the scientists chose: Isaac Asimov (I, Robot); John Wyndham (Day of the Triffids and Chocky); and Fred Hoyle (The Black Cloud).
The other writers chosen, in descending order, were Philip K. Dick, H.G. Wells, Ursula Le Guin, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Frank Herbert and Stanislaw Lem.
Tarantino and Latifah Meet the Muppets on ABC
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Quentin Tarantino is an Oscar-winning writer-director, Ashanti is a Grammy winning singer and Queen Latifah has both a Grammy and an Oscar nomination, but for all of their accolades, these three stars really just want to work with the Muppets.
Ashanti is signed, Latifah is in negotiations and Tarantino is set to make a guest appearance in ABC's original telefilm "The Muppets' Wizard of Oz."
Airing as part of ABC's venerable Wonderful World of Disney franchise, "The Muppets' Wizard of Oz" will star Ashanti ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer") as Kansas-based Dorothy Gale, an aspiring performer stuck working at her Auntie Em's (Latifah) diner.
A twister whisks Dorothy off to a Muppet-filled world, where she makes pilgrimage to Oz with a Scarecrow (Kermit the Frog), a Tin Man (Gonzo the Great) and a Lion (Fozzie the, well, Bear). Thwarting Dorothy's mission home is the Wicked Witch (Miss Piggy).
Tarantino will make a guest appearance as the film's director, coaching Kermit through an action scene.
"I'm beside myself to have these mega-talented actresses, Ashanti and Queen Latifah, and Quentin Tarantino's involvement is an example for something the Muppets have done really well -- breaking the fourth wall," ABC movies and miniseries chief Quinn Taylor tells The Hollywood Reporter.
Muppet veteran Kirk R. Thatcher (2002's NBC pic "Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie") will direct the Frank Baum adaptation, which will feature songs, but won't officially be a musical. Lisa Henson and Brian Henson will executive produce for the Jim Henson Co.
Disney acquired rights to the Muppets in February, but development on this project began at Jim Henson Co. and ABC before that time. Originally the project was set up at Fox TV Studios.
THE ULIMATE MATRIX
December 7 is the release date set for a 10-disc DVD box set containing all three MATRIX movies, as well THE ANIMATRIX and THE MATRIX REVISITED. The box set is called THE ULTIMATE MARTIX COLLECTION and will retail for $80. The limited edition set will also include a 80-page booklet and a Neo figurine, and will run $130 and be released the same day.
JEDI MINDTRICKS?
Star Wars fansite TheForce.net reporting that employees of George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic were required to sign non-disclosure agreements promising not to talk about the possibility of a trilogy sequel. Lucas has previously said he's closing down the franchise after the prequels.
It's Deja View All Over Again on TV
LOS ANGELES - Broadcast networks are in big trouble this season if federal regulators add being derivative to the list of TV trespasses. Networks are copying their own series, sometimes with a third or fourth edition ("CSI," "Law & Order") or putting on shows that have the whiff of copycat about them ("The Contender" vs. "The Next Great Champ").
Television is used to milking ideas for all they're worth, but the trend is nearly overwhelming in the 2004-05 season — nearly, but not quite.
There are a few wayward and promising originals, including ABC's suburban satire "Desperate Housewives"; CBS' coming-of-age baseball drama "Clubhouse"; the WB's "Jack & Bobby," about a future U.S. president's youth, and NBC's animated Siegfried & Roy comedy "Father of the Pride."
Mostly, however, viewers will get what's been proven to work because networks figure playing it safe is the sanest course of action.
"The networks will continue to create similar shows or variations of franchises as long as the audience continues to watch," said industry analyst Bill Carroll of Katz Television Group.
Since people flock to CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "CSI: Miami," give 'em "CSI: NY." Or a fourth "Law & Order, coming midseason. Or two more reality series in which rich guys spread the wealth in the tradition of NBC's hit "The Apprentice" ("The Benefactor," "The Billionaire: Branson's Quest for the Best").
After all, one of the best characterizations of the medium, right behind Newton Minow's "vast wasteland," is the late satirist Fred Allen's assertion that imitation is the sincerest form of television.
There's deja vu in casting as well, with familiar TV faces in new places, among them Rob Lowe ("The West Wing") in "dr. vegas"; Neal McDonough ("Boomtown") and Kelli Williams ("The Practice") in "Medical Investigation," and John Goodman ("Roseanne"), Jean Smart ("Designing Women") and Ed Asner (news) ("Lou Grant") in "Center of the Universe."
(Heck, even "Jeopardy!" is bringing back last season's ongoing champion, Ken Jennings, when the syndicated game show returns in September.)
The goal for networks is to keep their footing in the unending battle against cable TV's innovative, often racy programming which broadcast can match in only a pallid fashion.
If it tries to do more than that, the Federal Communications Commission is waiting to enforce indecency regulations — now even more vigorously since Janet Jackson's Super Bowl exposure.
Broadcasters may need a laugh but they're not searching for comfort in comedy. A paltry seven new sitcoms are debuting, making an already drama-heavy schedule even more so. All told, the six networks will field up to 49 dramas by the first quarter of 2005, compared to some 37 comedies.
For the first time in two decades, NBC won't have four sitcoms on Thursday night. It will have "Joey," the "Friends" spinoff starring Matt LeBlanc and one of the season's high-profile newcomers.
Another season hallmark is the sizable number of new reality shows — six — and their introduction at the season's start. This year, they're not second-string substitutes for failed dramas and sitcoms.
The result: an extreme, if gradual, makeover.
"Comedy and newsmagazines are pushed out by the influx of reality shows — or infestation," said Shari Anne Brill, an analyst with the ad buying firm Carat USA.
Advertisers welcome the shows because they attract younger viewers but don't like how they play havoc with marketing plans when abruptly tossed on the air, said TV analyst Stacey Lynn Koerner of Initiative Media.
"There's nothing more irritating to an advertiser to be told you're scheduling a scripted series and then you change it to a reality series," she said, because the audience shift has a ripple effect across the dial.
Order is relative, however. The tradition of all shows debuting in the same fall week has been upended despite the season's official Sept. 20 start date.
Fox, accommodating the interruption caused by its postseason baseball coverage, is moving to year-round scheduling. It already debuted a trio of series ("North Shore," "Quintuplets" and "Method & Red") in June.
WB had its own summer rollout in July with "Studio 7" and "Blue Collar TV."
NBC, seeking to capitalize on its new series promos during the Olympic Games (news - web sites), is introducing part of its schedule immediately after the Games wrap up Sunday.
Now, let the Network Games begin.
Bon Jovi Empties Vaults for Boxed Set
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Bon Jovi is raiding its vaults for a boxed set boasting three discs of previously unreleased material, a disc of previously released rare tracks and a DVD of unseen film and video footage.
The package, dubbed "100 Million Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong," is due out Nov. 16 via Island Records.
Among the vault tracks set for inclusion are "Gotta Have a Reason," "Why Aren't You Dead?" and "One to Say Goodbye." The set will also revive such cuts as "Real Life" (from the 1999 "EDTV" soundtrack), "Good Guys Don't Always Wear White" (from the 1994 "The Cowboy Way" soundtrack), the B-side "Temptation" and a demo of the 1994 No. 4 pop hit "Always" will also be featured.
The liner notes for "100 Million" will be bolstered with reminiscences from fans, which the band is soliciting via e-mail at tellus@bonjovi.com.