ALF Will Talk Some More

TV Land has just ordered six new episodes of ALF'S HIT TALK SHOW featuring the cat-loving alien Alf, also known as Gordon Shumway.

HIT TALK SHOW debuted as a special in July 2004 and ratings were good enough to bring it back to the screen. Ed McMahon, long-time TONIGHT SHOW's sidekick, will be Alf's co-host.

ALF'S HIT TALK SHOW will debut on November 5 at 11 p.m.

'The Grudge' Scares Up $22M to Stay No. 1

LOS ANGELES - Halloween spirit possessed movie-goers as Sarah Michelle Gellar (news)'s fright flick "The Grudge" remained the top draw for the second straight weekend with $22.4 million. The film biography "Ray," which has drawn Academy Awards buzz for Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles in the title role, debuted in second place with $20.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The horror tale "Saw," about a serial killer who puts victims through grisly morality trials, opened at No. 3 with $17.4 million. The cast includes Cary Elwes and Danny Glover.

In narrower release, Nicole Kidman's "Birth" had a so-so debut, coming in at No. 11 with $1.7 million in 550 cinemas to average $3,091 a theater. Kidman plays a widow about to remarry when she encounters a 10-year-old boy claiming to be the reincarnation of her dead husband.

By comparison, "Ray" debuted in 2,006 theaters with a healthy $10,020 average, while "Saw" averaged $7,516 in 2,315 cinemas.

"The Grudge," starring Gellar as an American student tormented by a hateful spirit lurking in a Tokyo house, lifted its 10-day domestic gross to $71.3 million. A remake of a Japanese horror hit, "The Grudge" cost just $10 million to produce.

Scary movies tend to plummet in their second weekend because hardcore horror fans catch them in the first few days. Halloween weekend helped shore up "The Grudge," whose receipts fell just 43 percent, a relatively strong hold from its $39.1 million debut.

"The Grudge" and "Saw" drew mostly younger viewers looking for Halloween scares. The audience for "Ray" was older, with three-fourths of viewers age 30 and over.

Films that play to older crowds tend to stick around longer at theaters, and distributor Universal Studios is counting on the movie's Oscar prospects to extend its appeal through awards season.

Interest in Charles has surged since his death last June and Foxx has received enormous acclaim for his uncanny re-creation of the blind singer's mannerisms and spirit.

"This is the most talked about performance of the year," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "His performance even transcends the movie itself."

Director Taylor Hackford, who had Charles' full support on "Ray," struggled for 15 years to get the movie made. Financed independently, the finished film was shopped around futilely among Hollywood studios until it found a home at Universal.

"Nobody wanted this movie, so as a result we are celebrating like you can't even believe," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal. "We expect a long life for this movie."

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 Grudge," $22.4 million.
2. "Ray," $20.1 million.
3. "Saw," $17.4 million.
4. "Shark Tale," $8 million.
5. "Shall We Dance?" $6.3 million.
6. "Friday Night Lights," $4.1 million.
7. "Ladder 49," $3.3 million.
8. "Team America: World Police," $3.1 million.
9. "Surviving Christmas," $2.6 million.
10. "Taxi," $2.15 million.

Stefani Revisits '80s Pop on Solo Album

NEW YORK (Billboard) - To hear No Doubt frontwoman Gwen Stefani tell it, she's just a girl from Orange County following a dream.

"I'm just like you, except I write songs," Stefani says. "I feel like I'm doing something right. And right now, I feel like I'm in a good place in my life."

Indeed. Stefani -- rock star, pop culture icon, fashion entrepreneur (clothing line L.A.M.B.), actress (Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator," due in December), wife of Bush vocalist/guitarist Gavin Rossdale -- is gearing up for the next chapter in a prolific career.

Her solo debut album -- or as she prefers to call it, "my side project" -- "Love, Angel, Music, Baby" arrives November 23 in North America (and a day earlier in Europe) from Interscope.

The disc will also be available in a deluxe limited edition. This fabric-wrapped, gold-embossed Digipak, with a case designed by Stefani/L.A.M.B., will retail for less than $30.

PERSONAL CONCEPT

"Gwen is the kind of person with the potential to move the needle of popular culture," Interscope Geffen A&M chairman Jimmy Iovine says. "She comes from a different place; she has her own lane. This is her very own concept album."

Stefani is more direct. "This is my dance record," she says of the set. "I had always wanted to do a dance record, but 'dance' is misleading (because) the definition of 'dance music' around the world is so different."

Stefani's "dance record" -- not to be confused with today's four-on-the-floor underground club music -- is steeped in all things '80s, from Lisa Lisa and Debbie Deb to Depeche Mode and the Cure, from Prince and Club Nouveau to Missing Persons and L'Trimm.

Stefani credits No Doubt bandmate Tony Kanal with exposing her to these sounds. "I was a strict ska girl until I met Tony," she says. "He was always listening to all this stuff that you would hear when you went dancing at Knott's Berry Farm -- like I did."

She adds, "Everyone I worked with (on this album) was under strict instructions as far as inspiration goes. I wanted to recapture the feeling I had when I first heard those songs."

"Love, Angel, Music, Baby" includes the work of numerous producers, songwriters and musicians: Dr. Dre and Eve ("Rich Girl"), the Neptunes ("Hollaback Girl"), Wendy & Lisa and New Order's Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner ("Real Thing"), Dallas Austin ("Cool"), OutKast's Andre 3000 ("Long Way to Go"), Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis ("Harajuku Girls") and Kanal ("Serious"). Stefani co-wrote all the tracks on the album.

Lead single "What You Waiting For?" -- which ascends the Billboard Hot 100 to No. 63 this week -- was penned with Linda Perry.

COLLABORATIVE EFFORT

"It wasn't about me having to create every part," Stefani says of the album. "It was about me driving the car, making the rules. Because I let so many other people in, this record is less of me than a No Doubt record. I see it as one big collaboration."

Stefani -- who has collaborated with Eve ("Let Me Blow Ya Mind") and Moby ("South Side") in recent years -- acknowledges that she had a goal: "I was not looking to make an art record. I was looking to make a specific record that would be everyone's guilty pleasure. There was no room for anything but singles on this album."

Whether Stefani takes "Love, Angel, Music, Baby" on the road remains to be seen. "Touring is something I've done a lot of in my life, and right now it's about doing stuff I've never done before -- like dancing to my own song in a club," Stefani says. "But I can't picture myself touring without No Doubt."

Speaking of No Doubt (as she often does), Stefani hopes hardcore and casual fans alike will welcome her album. "I have all the respect for everyone (who has) ever supported No Doubt around the world," she says. "But if I'm being honest, when I'm making songs I'm only thinking of myself. I had a specific thing I wanted to try (with this album), and now I'm ready to share it with people."

Elton John Blames Tantrums on Creativity

LONDON (Reuters) - Pop star Elton John says he doesn't mean to throw tantrums -- it just comes with the territory of being creative.

John told Britain's Sunday Times magazine that his behavior had changed since beating drug and alcohol addictions 14 years ago, yet "the rage and the temper are still there ... but it's part of being creative."

The British superstar, famous for his outbursts, grabbed headlines last month when he cursed and shouted at Taiwanese photographers for surprising him as he arrived at Taipei airport, calling them "rude, vile pigs."

At a London award ceremony a week later, he launched into a foul-mouthed tirade at pop star Madonna, accusing her of charging fans outrageous prices to see her lip-synch in concert.

"Anyone who lip-synchs in public on stage when you pay 75 pounds ($134) to see them should be shot," he said.

John, 57, said he was working to rein in his temper.

"I don't seem to have anger -- I have rage. There are still times, especially when I'm tired, when the bad temper and the irrationality come out. And I hate that. Because I'm trying to change it."

The 30-year veteran of the music business also said he has grown weary of the industry's excess.

"People slag me off because I'm a larger-than-life character, and that's part of my thing from the past.

"I'm not happy being in the limelight much. I don't want to be at every party. I used to love it. I hate it now. My life's changed."

New Hannibal Lecter Book Due Late 2005

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ever wondered what made Hannibal a cannibal?

The answer will come when Thomas Harris' new novel about serial killer Hannibal Lecter, "Behind the Mask," is published next year.

"Millions of readers in 25 languages have wondered how Dr. Lecter developed his particular appetite for evil. This novel will satisfy their curiosity," publisher Bantam Dell said in a statement announcing the book would be ready late in 2005.

Chillingly brought to the screen by Anthony Hopkins in the 1991 film "The Silence of the Lambs," Hannibal Lecter is due to be back on movie screens for another outing based on the new novel. Film rights for the book have been acquired by The Dino De Laurentiis Company, producer of "Red Dragon" and "Hannibal."

"Behind the Mask" will be the fourth book about Hannibal, who first appeared in "Red Dragon."

"Hannibal," the third book in the series, was a number one New York Times hardcover and paperback bestseller, with sales of nearly 1.5 million hardcovers in 1999 and more than 3 million paperbacks.

Irwyn Applebaum, president of Bantam Dell Publishing Group, part of Random House, called Harris, "the premier novelist of psychological suspense of our time" and said Lecter was "the literary figure to whom all other villains are compared."

Random House is a division of Bertelsmann .

Lavigne Says Fake Pop Starlets Are 'Pathetic'

CLEVELAND (Billboard) - With Ashlee Simpson in the news this week following a disastrous lip-synching appearance on "Saturday Night Live," Canadian pop singer Avril Lavigne says it's "pathetic" that some young artists don't sing on their own record or on stage.

While she can relate to the pressures of learning how to play live and work an audience for the first time, Lavigne says she takes exception to the practice of lip-synching.

"You know what? There are a lot of people out there today, who have become stars or famous musicians -- I wouldn't really define them as a star -- with a record only because they have connections and only because they have money and for the wrong reasons," Lavigne, 20, told Billboard.com.

"And it sucks. Actually, I know for a fact there are some young female artists who don't even sing on their own records and who don't sing live. And that is pathetic."

Ashlee Simpson, the younger sister of fellow reality TV starlet, Jessica Simpson, was caught out during her "SNL" appearance when a pre-recorded vocal track started playing as she held her microphone to her side. She initially blamed her band, and then a sore throat that prevented her from singing live.

Lavigne, who is six days older than Simpson, added, "I got signed because of my voice. That's what (then-Arista head Antonio) 'L.A.' Reid signed me on. He said, 'Wow, you are only 15 and you can really sing. I'm going to sign you.' And I've never lip-synced once."

Lavigne is in the midst of a North American tour to promote her newly released second album "Under My Skin," which has sold 1.8 million copies to date in the United States. She drops in on Hampton, Va., Oct. 30.

She says she's more confident than ever. On stage, she's singing, playing piano and even showing off her drum chops on one song.

While she has been doing a little writing on tour, and live material is being gathered for an eventual DVD release, there is no timetable for her next project. Said Lavigne, "No, I'm going to be out here for a while."

Lavigne recorded the theme song for the upcoming "SpongeBob SquarePants" soundtrack, due Nov. 9 via Sire.

"I sang the theme song but did my own version for the movie," she said. "I had never done anything like that before so I said that would be kind of cool. You know, a good experience. I just did a rockier version -- a me version of it."

Springsteen draws 100,000 to cheer Kerry

Bruce Springsteen sent megastar wattage pumping through John Kerry's presidential campaign Thursday, rocking crowds of over 100,000 people in swing states Wisconsin and Ohio.

"The Boss," famed for hits including Born in the USA, said the Democratic candidate had lived his country's history and was a guardian of the gritty working folk and American fables that people his songs.

In Madison, Wisconsin, thousands of spectators packed balconies on neat wooden houses along a mile-long stretch of road climbing up the Midwest state's white Capitol, packed with what fire chiefs said was at least 80,000 people.

"As a songwriter I've written about America for 30 years, tried to write about who we are, what we stand for, and what we fight for," said Springsteen, who has never before endorsed a presidential candidate.

Springsteen said Kerry shared his fight for "human principles" of economic justice, healing the sick, healthcare, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and a "sane foreign policy."

"I believe that Senator Kerry honors these ideals. He has lived our history over the past 50 years. He has an informed and adult view of America and its people."

"He's shown us starting as a young man that by facing America's hard truths, both the good and bad that that's where we find a deeper patriotism," the rocker said, as golden leaves floated from the trees onto his stage.

Sox Win Throws Curve to Barrymore Movie

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The Boston Red Sox's historic World Series baseball win Wednesday has forced a rewrite of a sports-based romantic comedy starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon.

Fox's "Fever Pitch," which is set during the 2004 Red Sox season, stars Barrymore as a woman who falls for Fallon's Red Sox-obsessed sports addict. It is in production in Toronto and depicts the Red Sox losing just as the baseball team has for the past 85 years.

"We had gone into the movie anticipating that the Red Sox would not win the World Championship, and it would be another dismal ending for them, but love would conquer all," said Peter Farrelly, who is directing with brother Bobby. "But what happened because of this turn of events, we now have the double whammy of a happy love story and a championship team at the same time."

Because of the reversal of fortune, screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, who Americanized English author Nick Hornby's football novel, have been in rewrite mode to incorporate the championship run.

"Since Game 4 of the Yankee series, when the Red Sox pulled it out and started turning the tide, (Ganz and Mandel) were writing on an hour-by-hour basis," Farrelly said.

The production shot in Boston's Fenway Park last month, incorporating actual games into the movie. When it looked as if the team was going to clinch the World Series title, a skeleton crew including the actors flew to St. Louis to shoot a scene or two at the final game.

"Had we made this ending up, it would have been considered too trite," said Nancy Juvonen, a producer on the film. "Now the happy ending isn't just for our couple, it's a happy ending for the team and all underdogs."

Long-Lost Final Film by Ed Wood Rediscovered

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Considered the worst film maker of all time, Ed Wood won a cult following after his death and now fans can see his long-lost last film "Necromania," a work some say shows he was so bad that he was brilliant.

But it's not for the faint-hearted. The 1971 movie is a porn film documenting the sexual enlightenment of a young couple at the hands of a coven of witches.

The much maligned creator of enduring cult classics such as "Bride of the Monster," Wood was himself the subject of Tim Burton's 1994 biopic, the lead role played by Johnny Depp.

That film shows the making of Wood's most famous film -- "Plan 9 From Outer Space" from 1956 -- in which actors screw up their lines and "special effects" include pie tins for flying saucers.

"Necromania" -- the last film Wood directed -- was filmed over two or three days with a budget of no more than $7,000 and the only copies went missing soon after it was made. The movie tells the story of Danny and Shirley, a young couple who visit the mysterious Madame Heles for help with their flagging sex life. The lessons they are taught involve skulls, spells and sex in a coffin.

Rudolph Grey, author of a biography of the director, and a fellow Ed Wood enthusiast, movie distributor Alexander Kogan, unearthed "Necromania" in a warehouse in Los Angeles after more than 15 years of detective work.

A year ago they contacted the editors of a pornography Web site called Fleshbot, which this week will start selling the DVD by mail order for $19.99.

"I knew of its existence since about 1982 and it intrigued me because it was supposedly one of the last feature movies that Ed Wood did, so naturally I wanted to see it," said Grey.

At one point Grey and Kogan were frustrated to be told the only person who might know the film's whereabouts was in jail -- as a result of a porn bust in Florida.

They waited until he got out and resumed the search, striking gold in 2001.

PURE GENIUS?

"This is something more than just porn," said Fredrik Carlstrom, executive producer of the DVD featuring two versions of the film, one soft core, the other more explicit.

"This is an old film. It's in the '70s, they're hairy, they don't look the way we are used to now," Carlstrom said.

"It has a story, it has ambition ... It's like all his films, like anything that's so bad it becomes good. Or maybe it's pure genius. That's the appeal of Ed Wood."

Struggling to find backers for more mainstream work, Wood turned to smut in the 1960s, making a string of films and "loops" -- short porn flicks shown in coin-operated booths -- up until his death in 1978.

Grey, author of the biography "Nightmare of Ecstasy," said those who dismiss him as naive and talentless are plain wrong.

"These movies seem to exist in another plain of existence where nobody pays any attention to them whatsoever, and that must have been frustrating to Ed Wood," Grey said.

He says "Necromania" displays Wood's wit and style and he points to a scene where the main character Danny is struggling to untangle a pair of red pajama bottoms to put them on.

"The guy's fumbling for about 15 seconds and he's starting to laugh -- the actor, he can't get the pajama bottoms on and he's laughing," Grey says. "He could have cut that out but Ed Wood left that in intentionally. He was having some fun."

Red Sox Win First World Series Since 1918

ST. LOUIS - The Boston Red Sox — yes, the Boston Red Sox! — are World Series champions at long, long last. No more curse and no doubt about it. Ridiculed and reviled through decades of defeat, the Red Sox didn't just beat the St. Louis Cardinals, owners of the best record in baseball, they swept them for their first crown since 1918.

Johnny Damon homered on the fourth pitch of the game, Derek Lowe made it stand up and the Red Sox won 3-0 Wednesday night. Edgar Renteria grounded out for the final out, wrapping up a Series in which the Red Sox never trailed.

Chants of "Let's go, Red Sox!" bounced all around Busch Stadium, with Boston fans as revved-up as they were relieved. Only 10 nights earlier, the Red Sox were just three outs from getting swept by the New York Yankees in the AL championship series before becoming the first team in baseball postseason history to overcome a 3-0 deficit.

It was Boston's sixth championship, but the first after 86 years of frustration and futility, after two world wars, the Great Depression, men on the moon, and the rise and fall of the Soviet Union.

After all that, on a night when the moon went dark in a total eclipse, the Red Sox made it look easy.

Gone was the heartbreak of four Game 7 losses since their last title, a drought — some insist it was a curse — that really began after they sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1920.

"We wanted to do it so bad for the city of Boston. To win a World Series with this on our chests — it hasn't been done since 1918," Kevin Millar of the Red Sox said. "So rip up those '1918' posters right now."

Damon's leadoff homer off starter Jason Marquis and Trot Nixon's two-out, two-run double on a 3-0 pitch were all that Lowe needed. Having won the first-round clincher against Anaheim in relief and then winning Game 7 at Yankee Stadium, Lowe blanked the Cards on a mere three hits for seven innings.

Relievers Bronson Arroyo and Alan Embree worked the eighth and Keith Foulke finished it off for his first save.

The Red Sox get to raise the World Series banner next April 11 in the home opener at Fenway Park, with the Yankees in town forced to watch.

Boston became the third straight wild-card team to win it, relying on the guts of Curt Schilling and guile of Pedro Martinez. And they took it in the same year they traded away popular shortstop Nomar Garciaparra.

Led by Series MVP Manny Ramirez, Boston got key contributions from almost everyone. Backup outfielder Dave Roberts did not play in the Series, yet it was his stolen base in the ninth inning of Game 4 in the ALCS that began the comeback against Mariano Rivera.

And while second baseman Mark Bellhorn was born in Boston, no one else on the roster came from anywhere near Beantown. And the only homegrown players on the team are Trot Nixon and rookie Kevin Youkilis.

No matter, this win might make all of them as much a part of New England lore as Plymouth Rock and Paul Revere.

Or, as Red Sox owner John Henry said close to gametime: "People tell me this is the biggest thing since the Revolutionary War."

The Boston win also left no doubt which city is now the most jinxed in baseball. It's Chicago — the Cubs last won it all in 1908, the White Sox in 1917.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals team that led the majors with 105 wins never showed up. The timely hitting, solid pitching and sharp baserunning that served them so well all season completely broke down.

Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds, the meat of the order, combined for just one RBI. Rolen got it on a sacrifice fly, and it was little consolation as he went 0-for-15.

Ramirez, put on waivers in the offseason and nearly traded to Texas for Alex Rodriguez, was 7-for-17 (.412) with a homer and four RBIs. The left fielder's biggest contribution came in Game 3, when he bounced back from a couple of errors to throw out a runner at the plate.

Lowe was loose from the start. While the Cardinals took batting practice, he sat alone in the Boston dugout, his hat backward and singing the little ditty, "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands."

Lowe was equally relaxed on the mound. He gave up a leadoff single to Tony Womack, then retired 13 straight batters until Renteria doubled in the fifth. Renteria made it to third on a wild pitch, but Lowe fanned John Mabry — who unsuccessfully argued that he tipped strike three — and got Yadier Molina on a routine grounder.

At that point, the Cardinals were going quietly. About the only noise they made came when Molina, a 21-year-old rookie catcher whose two brothers catch for Anaheim, began yapping at Ramirez when the Boston star came to the plate in the fourth.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona quickly rushed out of the dugout to keep things calm.

Best known before this year for being Michael Jordan's manager in the minors, Francona made plenty of wicked smart moves. Oakland's bench coach in 2003, he took over after Grady Little was fired last fall. Baltimore and the White Sox also interviewed the man who managed Philadelphia to losing seasons from 1997-2000.

And while many Boston fans hollered for him to bench the slumping Damon in the ALCS, Francona stuck with him. Damon hit a grand slam and two-run homer in Game 7.

Facing Marquis, Damon yanked a shot over the right-center field wall and before he could circle the bases, the chants of "Let's go, Red Sox!" began echoing from the upper deck.

Damon became the second Boston player to hit a leadoff homer in the Series. The other? Patsy Dougherty, who did it in 1903 for the Americans — renamed the Red Sox five years later.

A single by Ramirez and double by David Ortiz got the Red Sox ramped up again in the third. Pujols threw out Ramirez at the plate, trying to score on a grounder to first base, and a walk loaded the bases with two outs.

Nixon took three straight balls and Francona gambled, giving his good fastball hitter the green light. That's what Nixon got, and he drilled it off the right-center wall for a 3-0 lead.

Notes:@ Ramirez tied Derek Jeter and Hank Bauer for the longest postseason hitting streak at 17 games. ... Damon hit the 17th leadoff homer in Series history. Jeter (2000) was the last to do it. ... This was Jim Burton's 55th birthday. A rookie in 1975 for Boston, he gave up Joe Morgan's go-ahead single in the ninth inning of Game 7 against Cincinnati. Burton pitched only one more game in the majors. ... The Red Sox led for 34 of the 36 innings. ... Larry Walker put down his first sacrifice since 1991. He bunted in the first inning, but Lowe threw him out. ... Boston teams continued to bedevil St. Louis clubs. The New England Patriots beat the Rams in the 2002 Super Bowl, the Bruins swept the Blues for the 1970 Stanley Cup and the Celtics won their first NBA title by defeating the Hawks in 1957.

The Reviews Are In: Movie Critics Noticed

LOS ANGELES - Let's review movie reviews. Millions read them. Actors covet nice ones. Studios scour them for positive nuggets to cram into advertising blurbs.

But how much influence do reviews really have on a movie's fate?

Virtually none on big action flicks and lowbrow comedies, which can pack in huge crowds despite rotten reviews. Family audiences and horror and sci-fi fans can turn out to see practically anything in their genre, no matter what reviews say.

Critics of critics say professional reviewers have snooty tastes, applying the same criteria to an Eddie Murphy comedy or Vin Diesel bust-'em-up as they would to a Kurosawa or Fellini film.

The Web has given movie buffs a broad forum to carp about traditional reviewers and post their own opinions, which often reflect more populist tastes than those of professional critics.

"You do wonder what kind of limited power we have," said USA Today movie reviewer Claudia Puig. "But we do it because it's a great job. I can't tell you how many people tell me, `You've got the best job in the world.' When you love something, you're so excited to be able to tell people, and when you hate something, you love to be able to tell people, `Don't see that.'"

It's in their passion for film — and their ability to scout out little gems — that professional critics hold sway.

This time of year, the awards prospects and commercial fortunes of many small films rest with reviewers, whose praise can help them gain a toehold among the holiday box-office behemoths.

Mike Leigh's abortion drama "Vera Drake," Alexander Payne's road-trip tale "Sideways" and David O. Russell's ensemble comedy "I (Heart) Huckabees" debuted strongly in limited release on the strength of good advance notice from critics.

Unlike the gradual rollouts of old Hollywood, when reviews helped spread the word on new movies, summer popcorn flicks and other big releases now roar into as many theaters as possible, backed by colossal marketing campaigns to grab moviegoers over opening weekend.

"Movie reviews don't mean jack to summer blockbusters. It's pointless to even review it," said Will Smith, who has scored July hits with such critically drubbed flicks as "Independence Day," "Wild Wild West," "Men in Black II" and "Bad Boys II."

Smith struck again this fall with his animated hit "Shark Tale." Trashed by critics, "Shark Tale" filled a void for family fare at theaters, with parents and kids rushing to see it.

Reviews were mixed on Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," with many top critics loathing it. But no critic on Earth was going to keep avid Christians out of theaters, along with a more general audience intrigued by the religious firestorm the movie caused. "The Passion" took in $370.3 million, No. 3 on this year's domestic box-office chart.

This year's list of top hits is crowded with movies poorly received by critics, among them "The Day After Tomorrow," "Van Helsing," "Troy" and "The Village."

A survey of 2,000 people by three business school researchers found that television ads and recommendations from others were the biggest influences on movie-going habits, each factor cited by about 70 percent of respondents. Professional reviews ran a distant third at 33 percent, while online ratings on such sites as Yahoo and the Internet Movie Database influenced 28 percent.

Sites like Rottentomatoes.com, which compiles reviews from professional critics but also Internet newcomers, have become more valuable to many consumers than the opinions of individual critics, said Chris Dellarocas, one of the researchers who conducted the survey as part of a study on how online reviews can predict a movie's box-office performance.

"I think there's a shift away from trusting the experts and more toward trusting the opinions of many," said Dellarocas, an associate professor of information technology at the University of Maryland.

If today's audiences are looking more for strength-in-numbers consensus than the voice of individual critics, the Internet still has advantages for reviewers.

Many astute critics have cropped up online who otherwise would not have had a forum. Newspaper critics who once had mainly local followings have found national exposure on the Web.

And sites such as Rottentomatoes.com or rival Metacritic.com provide cyber hangouts for film fans interested to read what critics in general have to say.

"It's the whole idea of united we stand, divided we fall," said Paul Lee, marketing manager for Rottentomatoes.com. "The Internet allows critics to come together and have collectively a bigger voice."

For their biggest releases, studios stage advertising blitzes and debut movies in as many as 4,000 theaters — two-thirds of the total number of cinemas — essentially buying huge opening-weekend grosses.

"Any film that can spend tens of millions of dollars on advertising can effectively obliterate any critical comment," said Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan.

The year's two top-grossing films received almost universally favorable reviews. Yet "Shrek 2" owes its $436.5 million haul and "Spider-Man 2" its $372.6 million take to the fact they were sequels to enormously popular movies and hit theaters preceded by ubiquitous hype and promotion.

Commercial and critical sensibilities often run counter. Critics tend to savor high-minded drama and artistic production, while the average male viewer might rate a movie for its explosion and babe factor.

"You can't take a movie which is designed to be an action-adventure film and have it critically reviewed by somebody who's interested in independent, intense, dark, in-depth character portrayals like `Taxi Driver,'" said Nicolas Cage, whose adventure film "National Treasure" opens just before Thanksgiving.

Audiences may grumble that critics are snobs, but Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said reviewers have to stay true to their tastes and let people know about worthy independent features, foreign films and documentaries lurking in the shadows of the latest blockbuster.

"You don't need a critic to tell you about `Titanic,'" Ebert said. "You really need a critic to tell you about good movies you might miss or might not have heard of otherwise. You don't need a critic to tell you the box office is right."

The one sure value of movie reviews is that they are part of the fun of show business. Reviews get people talking about movies, and sometimes, lead them to a cinematic jewel they never would have found on their own.

"Unless film is your life, you're going to be overwhelmed by the choices," said the Los Angeles Times' Turan, whose new book — "Never Coming to a Theater Near You: A Celebration of a Certain Kind of Movie" — is a collection of his reviews of cherished smaller movies. "You need a guide, and I think people are grateful to be guided to something they like, because otherwise, it's a crapshoot."

"Forget your stupid theme park! I'm gonna make my own! With hookers! And blackjack! In fact, forget the theme park!"

— Bender, Fox's FUTURAMA

Apple announces online music store ITunes coming to Canada in November

TORONTO (CP) - Canadian music lovers who've been itching to get into the ITunes online music store will have the chance next month.

Apple confirmed Tuesday that it will make ITunes available in this country in November. But Simon Atkins, a spokesman for the company in Canada, said Apple isn't ready to announce an exact date yet, or the price for songs here. The word of a Canadian November debut came as the company launched a European Union version of its store for downloaders in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

Speculation about a Canadian launch has heated up in recent weeks, with a spate of media stories. A billboard promoting the music store has even popped up at the Ryerson University campus in Toronto.

"I have been waiting for iTMS to come to Canada, I'm jealous of my friend who has a US billing address so he can get music off of the US iTMS," says one posting in a macrumors.com forum.

The ITunes Music Store allows PC and Mac users to legally purchase and download music online. It'll provide competition for Puretracks, which established in Canada more than a year ago, as well as www.napster.ca and www.archambault.ca.

Besides the United States, ITunes is already available in the U.K., France and Germany. The EU store gives users the ability to play songs on up to five personal computers, burn a single song onto CDs an unlimited number of times, burn the same playlist up to seven times and listen to their music on an unlimited number of IPods.

"ITunes is the world's number one online music store, with more than 150 million downloads and over 70 per cent market share in the U.S. and U.K.," Eddy Cue, Apple's vice-president of Applications, said in a statement Tuesday.

"We're excited to bring the ITunes Music Store to even more music fans across Europe, and with this expansion we now reach customers in almost 70 per cent of the global music market."

The EU ITunes Music Store features over 700,000 songs from four major music companies and more than 100 independent record labels. It has exclusive tracks from a variety of artists, including Marc Anthony, Andrea Bocelli, Black Eyed Peas, Destiny's Child, Duran Duran, George Michael and Gwen Stefani.

The company hasn't announced how many songs will be available to Canadian consumers.

Apple Rolls Out iPod Photo, Rocks with U2

SAN JOSE, Calif. (Reuters) - Apple Computer Inc. rolled out on Tuesday a new iPod that allows users to view and share photos, a dramatic expansion that takes the most popular digital music player squarely into the multimedia realm, while spurring its rivalry with Microsoft Corp. and others.

Apple also has hooked up with Irish rock band U2 to announce the iPod U2 Special Edition, a black model with a bright red click-wheel and holds up to 5,000 songs.

The new iPod Photo, which had been widely anticipated, is a multimedia device with a color screen and comes with 40 gigabytes or 60 gigabytes of storage -- two to three times more than the storage available on its most used music player.

The iPod Photo, partnership with U2, which appears in the most recent iPod television commercial, and a Digital Box Set of more than 400 U2 songs, underscore how digital music, and, arguably Apple, are transforming multimedia and music.

"You're seeing bits of the future here in how the leadership power centers of media are shifting," said Mike McGuire, an analyst with research firm GartnerG2. "These are the companies that are going to be the next media titans. Does that include Apple? Yes. Does that include Microsoft, Starbucks and others? Yes."

The iPod Photo 40-gigabyte version sells for $499 and the 60-gigabyte model for $599. Both immediately available.

"We think photos are the next big thing. Everyone has the content" because of the rapid proliferation of digital cameras among consumers "and there are no copyright issues," Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said at a news conference. "We think music plus photos is the next big thing."

"If you look at Apple's customer base they absolutely are focused around two major areas, one is music and one is photos," said Creative Strategies analyst Tim Bajarin. "This was purely a natural evolution."

The timing of Apple's U2 iPod release coincides with the upcoming Nov. 23 release of the Dublin-based band's new album "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb."

The U2 iPod will sell for $349 and is expected to be available in mid-November.

'EVEN BETTER THAN THE REAL THING'

The Cupertino, California-based computer maker also said it created the online music industry's first-of-its-kind "Digital Box Set." The set, "The Complete U2," will contain over 400 tracks including all of the band's albums. Fans will be able to buy and download it with just one click on the iTunes Music Store in the United States and Europe beginning in late November for $149.

Since the iPod's introduction in October 2001, Cupertino, California-based Apple has sold more than 6 million iPods, 2 million alone in Apple's most recent quarter.

Apple remains the undisputed leader in digital music players and online music sales with the iPod, iPod mini and the iTunes online music store.

But rivals are converging on the market, with No. 1 software company Microsoft earlier this month officially launched its own music store. Also earlier this month, Dell Inc. announced a slimmed-down player and Virgin Electronics has weighed in with its own tiny player.

Bono told reporters after he and U2 guitarist The Edge performed two songs from the new album that U2 was not paid to appear in the iPod ads, and that the band and Apple would share profits from the U2 iPod.

"It's a horizontal relationship rather than a vertical one," Bono said. "We will make (money) on the products that we put out together. If they don't sell, we won't."

The Edge said he sees the partnership with Apple as the beginning of a wholesale transformation in the distribution of music, to an online world from a physical one of CDs.

"We wanted to find an innovative way to redefine the distribution of music," The Edge told reporters. "We see it as the next step for the music business."

Familiar Names Lead People's Choice Nominees

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Neither Julia Roberts nor George Clooney has opened a film so far this year, but both stars made the cut in nominations announced on Tuesday for the annual fan-driven People's Choice Awards.

Roberts and Clooney, who will reunite later this year in "Ocean's Twelve," the highly anticipated sequel to the 2001 hit remake of caper "Ocean's Eleven," were nominated as favorite female movie star and favorite male star, respectively.

Roberts, whose last film, "Mona Lisa Smile," debuted in December 2003 and quickly faded, will face off against fellow nominees Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Charlize Theron and Reese Witherspoon. Roberts was voted favorite film actress in the previous year's competition.

Clooney, last seen a year ago opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones in the darkly comic "Intolerable Cruelty," is up against Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington.

Unlike the Oscars and other entertainment awards shows, in which nominees and winners are selected by industry peers, the People's Choice Awards are determined by the public.

In previous years, polling for the awards was conducted by the Gallup Organization. This year, Entertainment Weekly magazine recruited a group of 6,000 readers to nominate their favorites from pre-selected candidates in various film, music and television categories.

The top five selections for each category became nominees. The winners will be announced January 9 in a ceremony televised on CBS.

Organizers said nominees for other categories, including favorite film drama and comedy, will be revealed in December.

In TV categories, two of ABC's new series -- "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" -- made the cut for favorite new drama. "Lost" also scored a nod for Matthew Fox as favorite male TV star. Veteran NBC sitcom "Will & Grace" was the most recognized TV series, garnering nominations for favorite TV comedy and for co-stars Debra Messing and Megan Mullally.

Other nominees announced on Tuesday are as follows:

* favorite musical group -- Evanescence, Maroon 5, No Doubt, OutKast, U2;

* Favorite male singer -- Eminem, Josh Groban, John Mayer, Prince, Usher;

* Favorite female singer -- Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones, Alicia Keys, Avril Lavigne and Sarah McLachlan;

* Favorite TV comedy -- "Arrested Development" (Fox), "Everybody Loves Raymond" (CBS), "Scrubs" (NBC), "That '70s Show" (Fox), "Will & Grace" (NBC);

* Favorite TV drama -- "Alias" (ABC), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (CBS), "Gilmore Girls" (WB); "The O.C." (Fox) and "The Sopranos" (HBO).

* Favorite reality show competition -- "Extreme Makeover" (ABC), "American Idol" (Fox), "The Apprentice" (NBC), "Survivor" (CBS) and "Last Comic Standing" (NBC).

Paris Packs Her Bags for 'Simple Life 3'

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two rich blond women and three dogs will board a Greyhound bus on Wednesday -- with dozens of cameramen, makeup artists and hangers-on in hot pursuit -- as a new installment of the reality TV show "The Simple Life" starts filming.

The stars of the show, heiress Paris Hilton and her best friend Nicole Richie, said they planned to spend the eve of their departure packing -- nine suitcases for Hilton and six for Richie.

"I never end up wearing even half the things I bring, but it's always good to have a selection. You never know where we're going or what the weather's going to be like," Hilton said.

Fox scored a major hit with the first two seasons of "The Simple Life." In the first season, the pair were transplanted to a farm in middle America, while the second season saw the duo traveling from town to town in a camper van.

This time, the pair will visit major cities along the East Coast and work as interns in a range of jobs, including stints on Wall Street and in a classroom.

"It's two girlfriends having fun and being silly which I think a lot of girls can relate to," Richie said in an interview in a penthouse loft in Manhattan.

"A lot of people have misconceptions that we wouldn't know how to do things," says Richie, daughter of singer Lionel Richie and a childhood friend of Hilton family heiress Paris. "This is to show everybody that we can do it."

Still, she is hoping the big city tour will mean no repeats of the episode when she had to put her arm inside a cow. "I'm just over doing manual labor, we don't want to get dirty any more," she said.

Insiders said the show's producers approached several people in the U.S. House of Representatives to procure an internship for the celebrity socialites, but they came up empty-handed.

Only the show's producers know the final itinerary for the monthlong trip and the nature of the jobs the two will perform. The show is expected to air in the first half of next year.

The Couch Potato Report - October 26th, 2004

In The Couch Potato Report this week, there's not much in the way of new stuff, but wait until you hear about what's coming out next week!

I know I have a tendency to come off stoic and serious. I have rarely laughed in public and I can't remember the last time I told a joke.

But even though that may be true, I do actually enjoy a hearty laugh, guffaw or chuckle. Yes, even though I am usually quite serious I enjoy laughing a great deal.

A great many of my laughs in the last decade have come courtesy of the work of the Wayans family.

With their movies HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE, SCARY MOVIE and MO MONEY, and the television series IN LIVING COLOUR, Damon, Keenan Ivory, Shawn and Marlon Wayans have all given me that rare pleasure known as laughter.

I've laughed with them. I've laughed at them. I've laughed.

And that is the reason I wanted to see the movie WHITE CHICKS. I wanted to laugh.

But WHITE CHICKS isn't funny. At all. And now that it is available on video and DVD I want to make 100% sure you know that, just in case you've always trusted the Wayans family for your laughs as well.

In WHITE CHICKS Keenan Ivory Wayans directs his brothers Marlon and Shawn. They play African-American FBI agents who have to go undercover as over-privileged white debutantes to try and prevent a kidnapping.

Other than the fact that the film doesn't have one laugh in it, the absolute worst thing about WHITE CHICKS is how bad the make-up is. The two "white chicks" look horrible. They aren't believable for a second! Even if this is supposed to be a comedic film that you don't take seriously, c'mon! Bad work is bad work!

And WHITE CHICKS looks bad, plus - as I've mentioned - it is a comedy that has no laughs.

This movie is absolutely horrible on every level.

Now, if you want to see the premise of an African-American person going undercover as a white person done right, pick up SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: THE BEST OF EDDIE MURPHY and watch his classic "White Like Me" film. Now that was one of the funniest things I have ever seen!

Okay, since it is going to be Halloween on Saturday, you might be in the mood to check out a movie with some horrific elements this week. And if you like your horrific films to have zombies in them, well you are in luck as the remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD is now available!

After a devastating viral outbreak, a Milwaukee shopping mall is under siege by cannibalistic zombies. Inside the mall is a group of people who haven't been infected, and they are trying to keep the zombies out.

Ah yes, a nice simple, believable premise!

Canadian national treasure Sarah Polley, of ROAD TO AVONLEA, GO and THE SWEET HEREAFTER stars with Ving Rhames of PULP FICTION and Mekhi Phifer from 8 MILE.

Unlike WHITE CHICKS, DAWN OF THE DEAD is very funny. It also has a simple plot and a great deal of tension. Plus, if you are a fan of the 1978 original, you will catch the tributes to George A. Romero's original. If you are not a fan of that classic zombie movie, no worries, just check out this update and you will have a new classic zombie film to enjoy.

But be warned, if you don't enjoy horror or zombie movies, then DAWN OF THE DEAD isn't a movie you should see. Halloween or not!

WHITE CHICKS, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: THE BEST OF EDDIE MURPHY and DAWN OF THE DEAD are all available now at your favourite local video store.

COMING UP IN THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT

The incredible SHREK 2 sees the ogre and his wife Fiona summoned to meet the in-laws. Don't worry Donkey is also back and he goes along for the ride. Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy all return to provide the characters voices.

LOONEY TUNES - THE GOLDEN COLLECTION: VOLUME TWO is a 4 disc set that has 60 more of the finest, funniest, bestest Golden Era cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester, Tweety Bird, The Road Runner, Wile E Coyote and all of the other classic animated Looney Tunes characters.

The word "classic" will never be used in conjunction with the remake of the film AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS. Jackie Chan plays a thief and Steve Coogan is a London inventor. Together they travel around the world. You won't care.

You might care that STAR TREK" THE ORIGINAL SERIES - THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON is coming out. If not, there is NORTHERN EXPOSURE - THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON or THREE'S COMPANY - SEASON THREE to placate your desire to own some classic television series on DVD.

I'm Dan Reynish and I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.

For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.

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

New Tuneage

There's not much, but here are the new music releases for Tuesday, October 26, 2004:

CREED Greatest Hits (Sony)
EVANESCENCE Live DVD/CD (Sony)
LEONARD COHEN Dear Heather (Columbia)
RICKY MARTIN TBA (Ricky Martin) (Sony)
SIMPLE PLAN Still Not Getting Any... (Warner)
THE GUESS WHO Running Back Through Canada (BMG Canada)

Ashlee Simpson Takes 'SNL' Lip Sync Blame

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Ashlee Simpson is reportedly taking the heat for deciding to lip-sync during a performance on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" over the weekend, a plan that backfired when the vocals to the wrong song were audible during her second appearance.

Simpson had already performed her single "Pieces of You" and had returned to the "SNL" stage to run through the title track of her Geffen debut album, "Autobiography." As the band kicked into the song, her vocals to the first song were heard while Simpson held her microphone at her side.

Flustered, she improvised a few dance steps before bolting from the stage. NBC quickly cut to a commercial.

At the close of the show, Simpson deflected the blame, telling the viewing audience "I feel so bad. My band started playing the wrong song." Geffen issued a statement blaming a computer glitch that should have played pre-recorded percussion rather than the "Pieces of You" vocals.

Simpson was reportedly singing a different tune Monday. MTV, home to her reality series "The Ashlee Simpson Show," reported on its Web site that Simpson admitted to lip syncing on the show because her voice has suffering from the stresses of a heavy promotional schedule.

"I can't cancel something like 'SNL,"' Simpson is said to have written in a post on her Web site. "You and I know that even if I synched on it or not, I'd still get seen by millions, maybe even make a few more fans.

"I'll hold my head high and say I think it was silly of me to do it, silly of me to blame the band, I was just so f---ing embarrassed," she added. "But I don't think it did me much harm, and people will see that soon."

An attempt to find Simpson's original post is daunting, as her site's message board has become a battleground where her staunch fans are fighting to defend her from an onslaught of thousands of negative, even vicious posts.

Amidst the often-vulgar posts in the site's "open forum" is a quote lifted from a Lucky magazine interview where she was asked about lip-synching. "I'm totally against it and offended by it," she said. "I'm going out to let my real talent show, not to just stand there and dance around. Personally, I'd never lip-synch. It's just not me."

The younger sister of singer-turned-reality television star Jessica Simpson scored her family's first chart-topping album when "Autobiography" was released in August. The set spent three non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 2 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Secrets of ALIAS

J.J. Abrams, currently busy with MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3, gave the 411 about the upcoming season of ALIAS wiht TV Guide Online.

Even though some fans were highly disappointed by season three, Abrams says that he's proud of it and that viewers will, as season four is unveiled, like season three better because it helped build the foundates of the upcoming season. However, he admits he there were some mistakes done last year: "I think one of the biggest mistakes I made last year was to let story and plot dictate episodes rather than have our characters run the show. There was no more Sydney as a real, normal person." But fans can rest assured, Abrams confirms that this season we'll get back to the show's roots and see Sydney as a person and not just a suit.

The ALIAS guru also makes a few revelations about the upcoming season. This season's two-hour premiere will solve season's three cliffhanger involving Sydney finding out something shocking Jack did. Melissa George is not schedule to come back at the moment. They are trying to get Bradley Cooper to reprise his role of Will in at least one episode.

Since Mia Maestro is now a regular, viewers can expect the relationship between sisters to be explored. "[The sisters relationship] won't be without its issues. Ultimately, it'll be very relatable, the kinds of things siblings experience, but transposed onto that sort of odd universe of ALIAS," J.J. Abrams reveals.

The fourth season will also allow the characters to return to the dynamic that worked best for them. "Sloane will no longer be a peripheral character. Vaughn will no longer be the kind of meandering betrayer of Sydney. Marshall won't just be another mouthpiece in conference-room scenes. Dixon will no longer be the authority figure. And Jack will no longer just be the milquetoast dad."

ALIAS fans shouldn't expect Lena Olin to grace the screen again as Irina Derevko even if the ALIAS people would love to have her back. Sark will come back but as a guest star and not a regular.

ALIAS returns on ABC in January 2005.

BUFFY DVDs Lack Gellar Commentaries

It's not lack of interest but time constraints that prevented the BUFFY star from doing episode commentaries on the BUFFY DVDs.

As she explained to Sci Fi Wire, commentaries were done while the stars where filming BUFFY episodes. "I was working constantly, three units. There was never time. It was unfortunate. It was a timing thing. If you tell a line producer, 'OK, we need Sarah for two hours on this day to do commentary,' the line producer is going to tell you, 'Uh-uh.' So that was why I didn't do it during the show. And if I had free time, if for some reason I was getting a day off, I was taking it. I was exhausted," she explained.

Season seven of BUFFY comes out on DVD on November 16.

CHAPPELLE'S SALES

The double-disc DVD of Dave Chappelle's Chappelle's Show Season One: Uncensored selling 2 million copies and breaking the previous record for a television series held by The Simpsons: The Complete First Season, which sold 1.9 million copies, according to Nielsen VideoScan. Under his new contract, Chappelle reportedly receives one-half of the revenue from all DVD sales.

Movie-Goers Hold 'Grudge' Against Affleck

LOS ANGELES - Movie-goers hold no grudges against Sarah Michelle Gellar, but they apparently have a beef with Ben Affleck. Gellar's fright flick "The Grudge" got a jump on Halloween with a $40 million opening weekend to debut at No. 1, while Affleck delivered a holiday turkey with "Surviving Christmas," his critically drubbed comedy that came in No. 7 with just $4.5 million.

The animated "Shark Tale," the top movie for three straight weekends, slipped to second place with $14.3 million, lifting its total to $136.9 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"The Grudge," a remake of a Japanese horror hit, stars Gellar as an American student in Tokyo terrorized by a raging spirit lingering in a house with a violent history.

Debuting in 3,245 theaters, "The Grudge" averaged a healthy $12,327 per cinema.

The movie marks the English-language debut for director Takashi Shimizu, who also made the Japanese original. "The Grudge" was produced by the horror outfit created by "Spider-Man" filmmaker Sam Raimi, who got his start with the cult fright flick "The Evil Dead."

Audiences this time of year are in the mood for scary movies, but the big debut for "The Grudge" indicates it grabbed more than the usual Halloween crowd, said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony, which released the movie.

"I would say that when you do $40 million, it's got to be more than" the Halloween influence, Bruer said. "You have Sam Raimi, who's got incredible knowledge of this genre. We had tremendous marketing, and Sarah Michelle Gellar, who was out there pounding the pavement, fighting for this film."

"Surviving Christmas" did barely better than Affleck's notorious 2003 bomb "Gigli," which had a $3.8 million opening weekend.

The movie stars Affleck as a lonely guy who hires a pretend family for the holidays. Critics trashed the movie, whose release was delayed a year to avoid bumping up against Affleck's thriller "Paycheck" during the 2003 holiday season.

Executives at DreamWorks, which released "Surviving Christmas," were unavailable for comment Sunday, a spokeswoman said.

Along with terrible reviews, "Surviving Christmas" may have been hurt by its October release date, unusually early for a yuletide movie.

"It is a little early, but people would accept Christmas in October if it had been a really good movie," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

After three weeks in limited release, critical favorite "I (Heart) Huckabees" expanded nationwide and broke into the top 10 with $3 million.

Another darling of critics, the road-trip comedy "Sideways," had a stellar debut in four New York City and Los Angeles theaters, grossing $208,293 to average $52,073. Directed by Alexander Payne ("About Schmidt"), "Sideways" stars Paul Giamatti as a loser in love on a bachelor spree at California wineries with a buddy who's about to marry.

"The Machinist," starring Christian Bale as a man coming unhinged after a year without sleep, also opened strongly in limited release with $64,000 in three New York City and Los Angeles theaters, averaging $21,333.

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 Grudge," $40 million.
2. "Shark Tale," $14.3 million.
3. "Shall We Dance?", $8.6 million.
4. "Friday Night Lights," $7 million.
5. "Team America: World Police," $6.6 million.
6. "Ladder 49," $5.4 million.
7. "Surviving Christmas," $4.5 million.
8. "Taxi," $4.25 million.
9. "The Forgotten," $3.4 million.
10. "I (Heart) Huckabees," $3 million.

Did 'SNL' Gaffe Expose Simpson Vocal Aid?

NEW YORK - Singer Ashlee Simpson's "extra help" may have been exposed when a "Saturday Night Live" audience heard her voice — singing the wrong song — while she held a microphone at her waist.

Her record company blamed a computer glitch and she blamed her band for Sunday morning's incident, which cut off her planned performance of the song "Autobiography" on the network comedy show.

Simpson had performed her hit single "Pieces of Me" without incident earlier in the show. When she came back a second time, her band started playing and the first lines of her singing "Pieces of Me" could be heard again.

She looked momentarily confused as the band plowed ahead with the song and the vocal was quickly silenced.

Simpson made some exaggerated hopping dance moves, then walked off the stage 35 seconds into the performance. NBC quickly cut to a commercial.

"What can I say?" guest host Jude Law said with Simpson standing next to him at the end of the show. "Live TV."

"Exactly," Simpson said. "I feel so bad. My band started playing the wrong song. I didn't know what to do so I thought I'd do a hoe-down."

Her record company, Geffen Records, said there was a computer glitch. Instead of some pretaped electronic percussion, the recording of "Pieces of Me" started mistakenly performing, the record company said in a statement.

But it sounded suspiciously like a guide vocal that's a common — although almost always unspoken — concert aid. Either the singer "lip synchs" by mouthing words to a backing tape or has a live microphone and sings along to the tape, making the voice sound more powerful than it is.

Such vocal tricks have been used before on the show, making "Saturday Night Live" not entirely live, said a show insider who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A Geffen spokeswoman did not immediately return a call for comment.

Simpson's walk-off joins the lore of other unexpected music moments on "SNL": Elvis Costello stopping and changing songs on live TV, and Sinead O'Connor tearing up a picture of the pope.

AC/DC Honored with Street Name in Australia

MELBOURNE (Billboard) - AC/DC formed in Sydney in 1974, but it's the Australian city of Melbourne that has honored the veteran hard rock band with its own street.

On Oct. 1, Melbourne City Council renamed Corporation Lane in the city center ACDC Lane, at a ceremony attended by 500 fans. A bagpiper played the 1975 track "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll)" at the festivities, while local bands played other AC/DC material for five hours in a nearby bar.

Recording commitments prevented the band from attending, but guitarist Angus Young sent a message: "Melbourne was our stomping ground in the early days. If you could make it in Melbourne, you could make it anywhere else in the world."

Present at the ceremony were Fifa Riccobono, CEO of AC/DC's Australian label, Albert Productions, and TV presenter Ian "Molly" Meldrum, an early supporter of the band.

The council debated the name change for several months, and it proceeded despite local protests from a restaurant and a Christian group.

Porn Star Hits It Big as Best-Selling Writer

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - She has two bodyguards, four dogs, a surgically enhanced double D-cup bust and an almost 600-page book on the best-seller list.

And the fact she spends a lot of her time naked has nothing to do with living in the sunny climes of Scottsdale, Arizona.

Indeed if, as some have suggested, porn stars are the new socialites, Jenna Jameson, whose raunchy memoir has been on the New York Times best seller list for months, is more at home in a G-string than an evening gown.

"How To Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale," written with Neil Strauss, is more self-absorbed than Bill Clinton's autobiography although Jameson says :"Clinton had more sex."

That depends, of course, on what ones mean by sex, undeniably the thrust of Jameson's oeuvre. The book teems with pictures of bare-breasts, comic book panels, handwritten diary entries and graphic detail.

"I've had ... women tell me I'm their idol," 30-year-old Jameson said in an interview. "They want to be like me. They're seeing the glamour icon but don't realize ... there are more facets to me besides spreading my legs."

Born in Las Vegas to a cop turned criminal father and showgirl mother who died when she was two, Jameson entered the X-rated world at age 17.

Wanting to be a stripper at Las Vegas's Crazy Horse Too, the voluptuous blonde was told to come back after getting rid of her braces. That night, Jameson says, she yanked them from her teeth with pliers and wire-cutters and never looked back.

Changing her name to Jameson (after the Irish whiskey), she made her way from stripper to X-rated photo model, eventually becoming a porn performer. The book chronicles a litany of sordid escapades, including a gang rape and Jameson's eating disorders, drug addictions and numerous lesbian and three-way affairs, both on and off camera.

As a cinematic porn goddess, Jameson says she worked only five times a year, usually with the same partner. "I was lucky to not have caught any sexual diseases, even though I worked without condoms for two years."

Today Jameson says she is monogamous and happily married and only has sex -- both on-screen and off- -- with her husband, Jay Grdina, an adult-film studio owner and business entrepreneur. The couple started a film production, marketing and web hosting company. So with Jameson a millionaire who no longer needs to bare her body for bucks, one wonders why she persists.

LOVES WORK

"I love what I do for a living," said Jameson, dragging on a cigarette, the only vice she claims to still have.

"I'm also trying to change the way the industry is run, which is mostly headed by men who don't take women seriously as business people. To change things for girls going into the industry, I have to continue. I want to continue."

Like many actresses, Jameson worries about losing her beauty. "Our looks pay our bills. I get Botox and love it. I'm very expressive and I'm trying to keep lines from appearing. I did have a chin implant and I'm having breast-reduction surgery," she said.

Downsizing her implants to a C cup seems right, Jameson says, because to remove them completely "would leave too much extra skin."

"I'll get a full reduction after I have children," she said.

In the interim, the couple continue to produce hard-core films, with a Hollywood deal in the works for her autobiography.

"I initially wanted Kate Hudson to play me," said Jameson, "but she's not as endowed as I am. My fans have mentioned Pamela Anderson, Jaime Pressly and even Meryl Streep."

Absurd as that sounds, it's no more farcical than living in a world where a porn star achieves the American dream.

"I don't know if I can spit out another book. Maybe it'll be a coffee table book of photos or maybe I'll focus on something more family-oriented.

"If I do have a daughter," she said with resolve. "There's no way in hell I would allow her to be a porn star and go through the things I went through."

The Dead Will Rise at The Box Office This Weekend

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Halloween might be a week away, but Hollywood is beginning its annual horrorfest on Friday when "The Grudge," starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, opens in theaters.

Offering horror fans another chance to see Gellar fight off demons -- following her seven-year stint as the heroine in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" -- "The Grudge" is on track to lure young males in droves.

A remake of the Japanese thriller "Ju-on," the Columbia Pictures release is expected to bring in about $20 million, a bit better than DreamWorks' "The Ring," another PG-13 Japanese remake, which opened to $15 million in 2002.

The film was written and directed by Takashi Shimizu, who also was responsible for the Japanese original and who used his Japanese crew to shoot the remake.

The other wide release hitting theaters this weekend is DreamWorks' "Surviving Christmas," starring Ben Affleck and James Gandolfini. Following in the wake of some dismal early reviews, "Christmas" will likely hover around the $5 million mark.

In the past 18 months, Affleck has been widely lampooned for his role in "Gigli" and didn't really energize the box office with either John Woo's "Paycheck" or Kevin Smith's "Jersey Girl."

Those films likely to fill the rest of the top five include DreamWorks' "Shark Tale," which topped the charts with $22 million last weekend; Miramax's "Shall We Dance?" which has maintained strong midweek numbers after a respectable No. 4 opening last weekend; adult fare "Ladder 49"; the high school football drama "Friday Night Lights"; and perhaps Paramount's "Team America: World Police," though it disappointed with its No. 3 bow last weekend.

The limited-release market is becoming increasingly crowded in preparation for awards season.

Fox Seachlight's "I (Heart) Huckabees," No. 12 last weekend, will expand wide this weekend to 720 theaters and hopes to build on an already impressive $2.6 million gross.

Searchlight also opens Alexander Payne's "Sideways" Friday. Starring Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church, "Sideways" revolves around two men traveling to the Santa Barbara, Calif., wine country for a bachelor sendoff.

Fine Line Features will expand "Vera Drake" to the top 15 markets, following a successful opening in New York in conjunction with the New York Film Festival. With a $20,435 per-screen average for its second weekend in release, the film, centering on an abortionist living in 1950s England, already has won critical acclaim for actress Imelda Staunton and director Mike Leigh.

Paramount Classics will unveil "The Machinist," starring Christian Bale as an industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year and is beginning to question his sanity. The R-rated film will open in three locations in Los Angeles and New York.

The documentary "Lightning in a Bottle" from filmmaker Antoine Fuqua will be released by Sony Pictures Classics on two screens in Los Angeles and New York. The PG-13 film showcases the 2003 Radio City Music Hall concert celebrating the anniversary of American blues.

MGM will release through its United Artists' specialty label "Undertow" on six screens in Los Angeles and New York. The R-rated thriller is directed by David Gordon Green.

Little-Known TV Actor Cast as Next Movie Superman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Landing one of the hottest roles in Hollywood, little-known television actor Brandon Routh has been cast as the Man of Steel in an upcoming "Superman" movie from Warner Bros. Pictures, the studio said on Friday.

Routh, 25, whose credits include the ABC soap opera "One Life to Live" and prime-time WB drama "Gilmore Girls," is the only casting choice announced for the film, which has been in development at Warner in one form or another since 1998.

Now under the direction of Bryan Singer, the filmmaker behind the "X-Men" movies for 20th Century Fox, the "Superman" film is expected to begin principal photography in Australia early next year for a summer 2006 release, the Time Warner Inc.-owned studio said.

Routh originally tested for the role when director McG was overseeing the project and later caught Singer's attention, a source close to the actor told Reuters.

The casting announcement came less than two weeks after actor Christopher Reeve, who wore the red cape for Warner Bros. in four "Superman" movies during the 1970s and '80s before he was paralyzed in an equestrian accident, died at age 52.

In a statement issued by the studio, Singer said he always had intended to hire an unknown to play the comic book hero in the upcoming film.

"Brandon is an extremely fine actor who possesses the physical qualifications of (the role). But he also embodies the legacy and history of this character in a way that makes me certain he's the right choice."

The 6-foot-2-inch performer was born and raised in Iowa, home state of television's original Superman, George Reeves, giving Routh the same Midwestern roots as the superhero's mild-mannered alter ego, Clark Kent.

The Sith Arrives Next Week

The much awaited new teaser trailer for STAR WARS: EPISODE III -- REVENGE OF THE SITH will debut in theaters on November 5 before the premiere of the Disney/Pixar movie THE INCREDIBLES.

However, members of Hyperspace and AOL subscribers will be able to view the trailer online on November 4. The clip will also air on TV the same evening but Luscasfilm did not say if it would be as a commercial or part of an entertainment news program.

The SITH trailer will ultimately be available to the mere mortal with and Internet connection on November 8 at starwars.com.

Rapper Eminem says 'Bush not my homie' but maybe Kerry isn't either

NEW YORK (AP) - Rap star Eminem plans to vote for the first time ever this year and while he is highly critical of President George W. Bush, he has not yet settled on Democrat John Kerry.

"Bush is definitely not my homie," Eminem said in an interview to be published in Rolling Stone magazine's Nov. 5 edition, parts of which were posted Thursday on the magazine's website. "But I'm still undecided. Kerry has been known to say some things that's caught my attention, made a few statements I've liked but I don't know."

"Whatever my decision, I would like to see Bush out of office."

The 32-year old rapper includes an angry and profanity-laced denunciation of Bush and the war in Iraq on his new album, Encore, which will release next month.

"Let the president answer on higher anarchy/Strap him with an AK-47, let him go fight his own war/Let him impress daddy that way...No more blood for oil," Eminem says in the single Mosh.

"He's been painted to be this hero and he's got our troops over there dying for no reason," Eminem said in the interview.

"He's in a tailspin, running around like a dog chasing his tail. And we got young people over there dyin', kids in their teens, early 20s that should have futures ahead of them."

"And for what? It seems like Vietnam 2."

"People think their votes don't count but people need to get out and vote," Eminem added.

New version of Band Aid Christmas song planned: report

LONDON (AP) -- The founders of Band Aid, the 1984 charity effort that raised millions for Ethiopian famine relief, plan a new version of the single Do They Know It's Christmas, a British newspaper reported.

The Sun tabloid said Wednesday that Bob Geldof and Midge Ure had approached top British acts including Coldplay, the Darkness, Robbie Williams and Dido to appear on the single, which would be released before Christmas.

"It's definitely going to happen. I'm very excited," Ure was quoted as saying. "This project is not just about raising money. It's about putting the focus back on Africa and the problem of famine which has not gone away."

The original single, which featured musicians including Bono, Boy George, Phil Collins and Sting, sold three million copies and raised $9.4 million US for Ethiopia. It was followed by the 1985 Live Aid concert, which raised more than $47 million. A U.S. single, We Are the World, featured a lineup of 43 artists including Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen and Diana Ross.

Silent Bob loves CTV's Degrassi:Kevin Smith plans to act in three-episode arc

TORONTO (CP) - Jay and Silent Bob are coming to Canada.

And they plan to visit Degrassi high school. Indie American filmmaker Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mallrats, Jersey Girl) has made no secret over the years of his love of the long-running Canadian TV franchise, and has even included references to it in his films featuring those slacker/stoner characters Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith).

After his offers to direct and/or write for the show were declined (sorry, he was told, Degrassi is 100 per cent Canadian content and that would jeopardize their Telefilm funding) it was agreed he could act in three episodes. So he'll be playing a dual role: a visiting director and the mute Silent Bob character he plays in his films.

"It's the easiest job in the world because I have to play myself but I play a fictionalized version of myself where I've been successful," Smith quipped Wednesday during a photo-op visit to the north-end Toronto studios of Epitome Productions where Degrassi is shot. "I pretend I'm a little different version of me."

The droll director posed with cast members and happily accepted an "official" Degrassi High lettered cardigan sweater, which he promised to wear to bed with his wife.

The script's pretext for the Degrassi visit is that Smith is shooting a new film, Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, in which the characters require a high-school diploma but no school in the U.S. will accept them, so they come to Toronto.

"I'm just angry that I didn't think of that first and shoot that picture," he said. "So we actually may wind up making that movie one day because I'm incredibly charmed by that notion."

Admitting to a long-standing crush on the show's character Caitlin Ryan (Stacie Mistysyn), Smith revealed that the onscreen version of himself is single and that he might be pursuing her in the storyline - something, he conceded, that he hasn't yet cleared with his real-life spouse. But he revealed that Mewes would be joining him on the episodes, adding that he might also try to get actor-friend Ben Affleck to show up.

"Affleck, honestly, could use the work right now. What better way to reboot your career than starring in a Canadian melodrama?"

Smith is planning to start another real Jay and Silent Bob film - a Clerks sequel - early next year, about the time his Degrassi arc will be airing on CTV.

As to whether the Degrassi experience will become part of the film series, he said that was an interesting question.

"That'd be awesome. I might throw in a reference, like, 'We just got back from Canada. Here are our degrees.' "

The Jersey boy readily heaped praise on Degrassi, recalling how, as far back as 1990, he was working in a convenience store on Sunday mornings and, in order to maintain his sanity, would catch episodes of the Degrassi High and Junior High forerunners which were then airing on PBS.

"So I just kind of fell in love with the show," he said, adding that growing up was never depicted so accurately on television.

"I loved the story arcs and I also love challenging material . . . such a great alternative to most of the crap that's on American TV."

The new Degrassi is now the flagship show on Noggin, a teen-oriented cable channel in the U.S., and cast members have become so well known they were mobbed during a recent cross-country publicity tour of U.S. malls.

Smith, 34, said Degrassi makes him feel young again because it takes him back to his own high school days.

"And these kids are insanely good actors," he added. "This is just really the topping on the dessert, it takes the cake, there's nothing left."

Stefani Dresses Up Solo Debut Package

Gwen Stefani is offering fans a little something extra via a special edition of her upcoming Interscope solo debut, "Love, Angel, Music, Baby." Due Nov. 23, the disc will come in a fabric-wrapped, gold-embossed digipak and feature a book-style layout with a gold ribbon bookmark. Stefani also custom designed the case for the CD, which will retail for around $40.

The upcoming album is led by the single "What You Waiting For?," co-written by Stefani with Linda Perry. The cut is No. 81 in its second week on the Billboard Hot 100 and also debuted last week on Billboard's Adult Top 40, Top 40 Mainstream and Top 40 Tracks airplay charts.

The accompanying video clip was recently shot in Los Angeles by Francis Lawrence (Jennifer Lopez, Nelly Furtado) and can be streamed on Stefani's official Web site. The artist is expected to perform the song Nov. 14 as part of the opening of the American Music Awards, to be broadcast live on ABC.

Mulder Adds Guest Host to His Resume

CBS has tapped actor David Duchovny, best known as Fox Mulder on the hit series THE X-FILES, to guest host the THE LATE LATE SHOW on Wednesday, October 20, 2004.

Duchovny is one of many actors and comedians who filled in as guest-hosts since former THE LATE LATE SHOW host Craig Kilborn's departure in September.

Back Together Again: Original Duran Duran

NEW YORK - They played the obligatory classics: "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Girls on Film." But when Simon Le Bon ripped into the chorus of the new single "(Reach Up for the) Sunrise," the sun suddenly illuminated Times Square as if to officially mark a new day for Duran Duran.

As the original five members performed for "Good Morning America" last week, it seemed the planets had finally aligned for a band that had been ignored through its ever-changing lineup and lackluster albums of the past ten years.

The British quintet once created a fan hysteria that was compared to the Beatles', and they are largely credited for ushering in the music video age with their innovative and exotic clips. Still, until recently, they couldn't buy the sort of publicity they're now enjoying.

"We are really pleased to be back in the history books where for a while it looked as though we were being written out of them," Le Bon told The Associated Press, commenting on the Lifetime Achievement award MTV finally bestowed upon the video pioneers last year and the sudden excitement over Duran Duran's 12th album, "Astronaut."

It's been three years since Le Bon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, guitarist Andy Taylor, bassist John Taylor and drummer Roger Taylor (none of them related) announced their reunion. Since then, they've played to sold-out crowds and made calculated public appearances to whet fans' appetite for the product. The anticipation also helped to secure a multi-album deal with Epic Records.

"We were dealing with the industry in its most jaded, deprived, downsized state," Andy Taylor recalled, "but when they saw the concert tickets flying out the ... window the question was answered for them and they came to the table with what we wanted."

Enduring good looks didn't hurt the band's cause either, but the former poster boys, now in their 40s, had no intention of simply letting Sony repackage their greatest hits.

"We didn't get back together to play 'Hungry Like the Wolf,'" John Taylor said, revealing the small creases bordering his flirty eyes. "We got back together to see what kind of music we could create together, and oh my God, this is the sound that we've been striving for!"

Who better to achieve that sound than old Duran Duran producer Nile Rogers, alongside Don Gilmore and Dallas Austin — who's been a big fan since he was a kid.

"I don't think they try to come off too trendy or too young or be what they are not," Austin said. "I think if you like Duran Duran you'll really like this record."

Rhodes agrees: "If it hadn't of worked musically and we hadn't have felt that it was something that was as good as everything we had done before, there is no way it would have ever come out. There's just too much pride in what we created together."

The studio chemistry (which the band considers their best since 1983's "Seven and The Ragged Tiger") resulted in a potent, moody album that showcases a newfound comfort in voicing powerful opinions.

"The first batch of songs we did in the South of France were all very upbeat and happy go lucky," Roger Taylor said, "and the second batch was after 9/11."

"Point of No Return," perhaps their most political song to date, deals with America's response to terrorism. Le Bon said the message is that rather than bombing people, "you've got to try and make the world a fairer place."

No matter where this release takes them, the quintet is committed to not letting their youthful insecurities once again divide them. Still, the band may always have to ride the line between '80S nostalgia act and relevant 21st century band.

"We are proud of the '80s, we know where we came from," Le Bon says with a transfixing, crystal-blue gaze. "But it ain't where we're going."

David Letterman to Appear on 'Regis'

NEW YORK - David Letterman, who infrequently appears on anyone's show but his own, will make a guest appearance next month on "Live With Regis and Kelly." Letterman, host of CBS' "Late Show," will appear on Nov. 8, the syndicated morning talk show said Tuesday.

"I think it's nice that he visits our show once every 10 years," co-host Regis Philbin told The Associated Press by phone. "But I'm very pleased."

Philbin and Letterman have long traded friendly barbs. He subbed for Letterman in 2000 when the late-night host underwent heart bypass surgery and again in 2003 while Letterman recuperated from an eye infection.

About their friendship, Philbin says, "that's the problem. We're great friends when I go on his show and then I leave and I don't hear from him. But I'm going to settle that on my home ground."

In anticipation of the event, "Live," with Kelly Ripa as co-host, has released its own Top Ten list, with reasons why Letterman is appearing on the show. Among them: "Thinks Kelly is hot" and "Wants to return Regis' copy of `Deuce Bigalow' in person."

U2, Apple in iPod Deal

NEW YORK (Billboard) - U2 and Apple Computer Inc. are expected to announce next week that they have signed a deal to sell custom iPods.

According to a source, the Irish rock band's upcoming album "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," due Nov. 23 via Interscope Records, will come preloaded on iPods that will be available the week of street date.

Interscope, a unit of Universal Music Group, declined to comment; an Apple spokesperson could not be reached.

E-mails from Apple chairman and CEO Steve Jobs and U2 members Bono and the Edge have invited members of the press to a "special event" scheduled for Oct. 26 in San Jose, Calif.

U2's new single "Vertigo" is featured in current television ads for the iPod. The track is currently No. 2 on Billboard's airplay-based Modern Rock Tracks chart, and No. 44 on the Hot 100, which is based on both retail sales and radio airplay.

Buzzing about Oscar

The bad news is that Chris Rock will host the February 27th Oscar ceremony.

The godo news is tha the studios are beginning to roll out the films they hope will be among the top contenders.

It's been a lean year for early Oscar hopefuls. Mel Gibson's The Passion of Christ will likely fill one of the five slots for best picture even though it is already out on DVD.

It's become too much of a phenomenon for the academy to ignore.

Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 would have been a shoo-in for best documentary, but the man has an ego as big as his waistline, so he's demanding it be considered for the best picture category instead.

The most likely contenders for best picture of 2004 will be rolling out over the next 10 weeks. High on the list is Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, which offers a glimpse at the high-flying, high-rolling life of eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes. Unless Oliver Stone's Alexander is a compete dud it will nab one of the coveted spots because Hollywood loves a spectacle.

Musicals are popular once again with both audiences and academy voters, so Joel Schumacher's Phantom of the Opera looks like another safe bet for a best picture nod.

No film is getting more positive advance buzz in Hollywood these days than Mike Nichol's Closer, a story of four people's love and betrayal of one another. It's based on a stage play and stars Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen.

In recent years, the academy has looked for at least one little movie, art film or foreign flick to champion which bodes well for the Che Guvara road movie The Motorcycle Diaries, Bill Murray's quirky The Life Aquatic and Kinsey, the story of America's famous sex therapists.

The most hotly contended category for the 2004 Oscars will be for best actor. There are at least twice as many possibilities as there are slots. Jim Caviezel heads the pack with his performance as the tortured Christ in The Passion of the Christ with Leonardo DiCaprio a close second for his transformation into the power-hungry playboy Howard Hughes in The Aviator. Jamie Foxx does a staggering job of bringing the legendary Ray Charles to life in Ray, as does Liam Neeson in portraying Alfred Kinsey in Kinsey. Hollywood's new-found love affair with Johnny Depp could find him getting nominated for playing J.M. Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan in Finding Neverland -- and Colin Ferrell may get nominated for Alexander even though he's wearing a mini-skirt for much of the film.

Jude Law could get a nod for being the unfaithful lover in Closer and don't count Bill Murray out for Life Aquatic.

Law's co-star Julia Roberts will likely head the best actress category by being nominated for Closer. Roberts swears she's putting her career on hold to be a stellar mom. A second Oscar will be a way for Hollywood to show Julia how much they love and need her.

The old guard in Hollywood love Annette Bening and she gives a rousing turn as the fading actress in Being Julia. Nicole Kidman is back in her best haunted mode in the creepy psychological drama Birth.

Kate Winslet could be nominated for Finding Neverland and Laura Linney is a match for Neeson in Kinsey. Gwyneth Paltrow has a good chance of recognition this year for Proof in which she plays a woman haunted by the ghost of her famous father (Anthony Hopkins).

The deciding factor is performance, not only on screen, but at the box office. If pictures such as Birth, Proof, Kinsey, The Life Aquatic, Beyond the Sea and Ray fail to connect with audiences, they'll be just as quickly forgotten by academy members who are swayed as much by popularity as they are by talent and hype.

Here are the new CD releases for Tuesday October 19, 2004:

JIMMY EAT WORLD Futures (Universal)
NEVILLE BROTHERS Walkin' in the Shadow of Life (Narada)
RHEOSTATICS 2067 (True North)
ROBBIE WILLIAMS Greatest Hits (EMI)
THE MUSIC Welcome to the North (Capitol)
VANESSA CARLTON Harmonium (Interscope)
VARIOUS ARTISTS Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon (Sony)

The Couch Potato Report - October 19th, 2004

In The Couch Potato Report this week, there's, well, there's a lot! Corner Gas, SCTV, Garfield, Van Helsing and Ed Wood!

By now I am sure you are well aware of the made-in-Saskatchewan television show CORNER GAS.

If not, it is set in the fictional Saskatchewan town of Dog River, takes place mainly at the corner gas station, and stars Tisdale, Saskatchewan's own Brent Butt.

CORNER GAS is one of the most popular shows on Canadian television and now CORNER GAS - SEASON ONE is set to become a very popular DVD and video set as well.

CORNER GAS - SEASON ONE features all 13 episodes from the first year of the show, and the 2-DVD set also has audio commentaries on three episodes from Brent Butt and others, a blooper reel and many other extras.

THE TAXMAN, PILATES TWIST, GRAD '68, WORLD'S BIGGEST THINGS, HOOK, LINE & SINKER, FACE OFF. All of the imminently quotable, and very funny episodes are all included.

Just press play and enjoy!

You can now also press play and enjoy more episodes of SCTV on DVD!

Back in June I professed the first SCTV Box Set that was released to be "The Comedy Release Of The Year."

I must now amend that statement as SCTV - VOLUME 2 is just as good. Thus, my new statement is - "The SCTV Box Sets Are The Comedy Releases Of The Year."

SCTV - VOLUME 2 picks up where the first box set left off and we get nine more 90-minute shows from SCTV's fourth season.

Originally broadcast in 1981 and 1982, this set contains many SCTV classic parodies, including "The Jazz Singer" and "The Godfather," as well as the uniquely SCTV segments "I'm Taking My Own Head, Screwing It On Right, and No Guy's Gonna Tell Me That It Ain't"; Meryl Streep blowing up real good on the "Farm Film Report"; Bob and Doug McKenzie demonstrating how to stuff a mouse inside a beer bottle; "Benny Hill Street Blues"; performances by musical stars Al Jarreau, Natalie Cole, The Boomtown Rats, Talking Heads and much, much more!

The 5-disc box set is also loaded with over 90 minutes of special features, including new & unreleased material, and there is also a 24-page booklet.

Yes, the SCTV Box Sets Are The Comedy Releases Of The Year. And you can expect me to proclaim something similar next year as Volume 3 will be released in February!

Okay, CORNER GAS - SEASON ONE and SCTV - VOLUME 2 are the best of this week's new releases. Let me briefly tell you about two other releases before I get to this week's final good title.

The first of those other releases is VAN HELSING. This was supposed to be the start of a franchise that would see Hugh Jackman from X-MEN star in many, many films as a vampire hunter. If they do make it a franchise, I hope they work harder to make sure the next films aren't also absolutely dreadful.

The sets in VAN HELSING are all amazing, and the characters are interesting, but instead of making a movie, they made a video game.

All of the action that takes place is all done with computer-animated special effects and bad effects at that. Not one thing looks real. It just looks like a computer game. Press this button to kill the bad guys, press that button to change your weapon.

Not long into the movie's 132 minute running time I found myself actually saying, "Who cares?!?!"

Who cares if Van Helsing succeeds, who cares if he fails, who cares if Dracula's minions live, or die, who cares, who cares, who cares!!

I certainly didn't care while I watched the movie and I don't care now.

Even the presence of the lovely and talented Kate Beckinsale of SERENDIPITY and UNDERWORLD as the love interest slash equal of Van Helsing didn't interest me. Both she and Hugh Jackman have great screen presence, but together in VAN HELSING they don't add up too much.

VAN HELSING just isn't worth your time. See it if you want to, but I don't recommend it at all.

I also don't recommend GARFIELD: THE MOVIE, but if you see it you won't hate it. I certainly didn't hate it, it just serves no purpose.

On June 19, 1978 the comic strip Garfield debuted in 41 newspapers. Today, Garfield is the most widely syndicated comic strip in the world appearing in 2,570 newspapers.

On June 11, 2004 GARFIELD: THE MOVIE debuted in 3,094 theaters. Even though the film isn't horrible, and Bill Murray is okay as the voice of the titular cat, here's hoping we get another 26 years of laughter from the comic strip before they even think about making another film.

None of the characters in the film look or act like their cartoon counterparts and the actual human beings who embody the cartoon people don't have the personality of the drawings either.

Garfield, the comic cat, is usually funny on several levels. GARFIELD - THE MOVIE isn't funny, or entertaining at all.

But, as I said, if you see the movie you won't hate it. You'll watch it and it will be over.

Over. Done. Finished.

And now that I am over, done, finished with this week's mediocre films let me get back to something good stuff to wrap up this week's Report.

Back in 1994, after he had scored major box-office hits with BATMAN, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS and BATMAN RETURNS, director Tim Burton announced that his next film would be a biography of failed 1950's filmmaker Ed Wood.

Wood resume includes movies that are universally thought of as some of the worst movies ever made. GLEN OR GLENDA, THE BRIDE AND THE BEAST and PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SOACE are just three of his cinematic messes.

Wood loved movies, and he just wanted to make movies, but he could never catch a break, even when Hollywood's biggest director of the mid-nineties decided to make a picture about him.

Tim Burton's film ED WOOD starred Johnny Depp, Bill Murray, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette and Martin Landau, who won an Oscar for his work in the movie. It debuted in theatres in 1994 and it wasn't a hit.

In his day no one went to Ed Wood's films and that year no one went to see a film about Ed Wood either.

Well, I shouldn't say no one went. My friends and I went, and we loved the movie ED WOOD. We loved it then and we love it now.

For us, and others like us, there is now an ED WOOD: SPECIAL EDITION DVD!

If you are a fan of old Hollywood, classic characters, or just a recent convert of Johnny Depp's due to his work in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, then ED WOOD is a movie for you!

The comic highlight of the movie is a scene featuring a stuffed octopus that was being used as a prop. Since he didn't have the necessary motor, Martin Landau throws his body down upon the puppet and, in an attempt to create the illusion of mobility, wraps the limbs about him.

It is a classic scene in a classic film many people have never seen, but should tak ethe time to watch.

ED WOOD is one of the best films of all time about one of the worst filmmakers of all time.

CORNER GAS: SEASON ONE, SCTV - VOLUME 2, VAN HELSING, GARFIELD: THE MOVIE and ED WOOD: THE SPECIAL EDITION are all available now at your favourite local video store.

COMING UP IN THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT...

...is a film that is horrible on every level. It is called WHITE CHICKS and it features two male FBI agents who go undercover as rich heiresses. Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans and Jaime King are the "stars" of this complete waste of time.

Man is that movie bad, but luckily next week's other release is pretty good.

That movie is DAWN OF THE DEAD, the 2004 remake of the respected 1978 zombie movie where zombies overrun the United States. Canadian national treasure Sarah Polley stars with PULP FICTION's Ving Rhames and Mekhi Phifer from 8 MILE.

I'm Dan Reynish and I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.

For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.

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

Group rips on CBC movie night

TORONTO (CP) -- The CBC would do better to acquire the rights of other hockey league games for Saturday night telecast, instead of "foreign" movies for the duration of the current NHL lockout, says Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.

In an open latter to CBC president Robert Rabinovitch on Monday, Friends says that in the place of Hockey Night in Canada, the public broadcaster could be airing Canadian Hockey League games, such as Drummondville at P.E.I. next Saturday night.

"In the last month of your mandate as CBC president, we find it highly regrettable that you would preside over a scheduling change that will have the effect of reducing Canadian content on CBC Television's prime time schedule to a level last seen in the 1980s," says Friends spokesman Ian Morrison.

"Hockey is an important part of Canadian culture."

Last Saturday, CBC aired the popcorn classics Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Disney's Dinosaur. On Oct. 30, the network will show a prime-time pre-Halloween airing of Monsters, Inc.

The open letter is just the latest in a series of critical broadsides aimed at the CBC for failing to come up with Canadian programming alternatives in light of the current NHL dispute.

Pop singer picks up the pace on her second record

"It's the past two years as a journal of my life, basically," Kelly Clarkson says of her second album, due November 30th. Because her life has been more fast-paced, Clarkson promises a decidedly more aggressive style the second time around.

"It's rock & roll, baby," she says excitedly of the sound, before adding with a huge smile, "It's pop as well, obviously. I'm not Metallica -- but it is more rock, and it's a little deeper. It's very rock, and it's very cool."

Helping her dig deep are an array of producers and writers, including Clif Magness and Rhett Lawrence, both of whom return from Clarkson's chart-topping debut, Thankful. Also on board are former Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody and Kara Dioguardi, who has written songs for Ashlee Simpson, Marc Anthony and Kylie Minogue.

With all the talent involved, Clarkson and Co. are having a difficult time pairing down the material. "We're still picking tracks right now," she says. "We've got so many songs, we're just picking our favorites."

Clarkson is anxious to wrap up the process so she can return to the road. "I'll be touring right after the album comes out," says the former American Idol champion. "I think people know that when I perform live, I usually win the audience over."

Season of Change for 'The West Wing'

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) "The West Wing" went through behind-the-scenes upheaval last season, with executive producer John Wells and a team of writers taking over for the show's prolific creator, Aaron Sorkin.

The changes sparked a good deal of debate among critics and fans about whether the show was better or worse in the wake of Sorkin's departure. (Ratings, which had been dipping toward the end of Sorkin's tenure, took a significant hit.)

As "The West Wing" begins its sixth season on NBC Wednesday (Oct. 20), the show is likely to spark further discussion -- this time for what goes on in front of the camera. As the fictional administration enters its last years, members of the White House staff will find themselves in new roles, while several candidates begin their campaigns to replace President Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen).

In addition to following the show's timeline -- Bartlet is now in the third year of his second term -- the shakeup should allow viewers to see familiar characters in a new light, Wells says.

"One of the things that starts to happen on long-running TV shows -- and I didn't know this until I did 'ER' -- is that unless you shake things up and sort of change the way characters relate to each other, you inevitably end up with the same character dynamics and you start in three or four years to feel like you're repeating yourself," he says.

"A lot of the things we're doing are just changing the dynamics between the characters you've already come to know and love so they're not doing exactly the same thing, and they have to confront the differences in the way their job works and how they work with their co-workers."

For example, White House chief of staff Leo McGarry (John Spencer) suffers a heart attack in the season's second episode, forcing him to give up his job. Bartlet makes an unexpected choice to replace him, ruffling feathers among other staffers.

Then there are the people vying to replace Bartlet. Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda have joined the cast, playing candidates from both major parties. Smits plays Matt Santos, a former Houston mayor and three-term congressman running a long-shot campaign for the Democratic nomination; he impresses Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) during a policy debate.

Alda, meanwhile, plays Arnold Vinick, a moderate senator seen as a front-runner for the Republican nomination. Vice President Bob Russell (Gary Cole) is also in the mix, aided by White House staffer Will Bailey (Joshua Malina).

"Part of what we're playing throughout the fall is the growing unease with the leading candidates that show up for the Democratic nomination," Wells says, "and should the White House try behind the scenes to get more involved in seeing if a better candidate should be put forward?"

The campaign to replace Bartlet doesn't necessarily mean "The West Wing" is in its homestretch; although the show is in the last year of its contract with NBC, Wells says he's "fairly certain" the network will renew it.

"I expect they'll respect the quality of the show and what it's meant to them and make certain we have lots of time to continue to make the show," he says.

Wells doesn't yet know who might win the fictional election the show is setting up, most likely for next season. He has contingency plans, though: Smits and Alda both have options in their contracts to return next season.

GANGSTER ADD

Universal greenlighting production on Carlito's Way: The Beginning, a prequel to Brian DePalma's 1993 drama that will star Jay Hernandez, Sean Combs and Luis Guzman.

Winslet Scoffs at Rumors About Her Weight

LONDON - She is famed for her pride in her curvy figure — and actress Kate Winslet says reports that she had slimmed down to a British size 8 — the equivalent of a U.S. size 4 — are "insane."

British newspapers carried prominent photographs Monday of the svelte-looking "Titanic" star in a floor-length Ben de Lisi gown at the premiere in London Sunday of her latest movie, "Finding Neverland."

Most speculated that she had been dieting to regain her figure after the birth of her second child, Joe.

"It is so insane; I haven't lost any weight," Winslet said in an interview Monday morning with GMTV.

"Everybody likes to think it is a great story to talk about my fluctuating weight. The reality is I have had two children in four years and the only time my weight goes up and down is when I'm pregnant, which happens. I have stayed the same weight apart from those times," she said.

In "Finding Neverland," the 29-year-old Winslet plays Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, whose four young sons inspired Scottish author J.M Barrie — played by Johnny Depp — to write the children's classic "Peter Pan."

The film, which also stars Julie Christie and Dustin Hoffman, tells how Barrie, who had no children of his own, befriended the Davies boys in London's Kensington Gardens.

Winslet is married to Sam Mendes, director of the Oscar-winning "American Beauty" and creative producer of the upcoming stage version of "Shrek."

CNN's Tucker Carlson, Jon Stewart Feuding

NEW YORK - How's this for a feud that straddles the line between politics and entertainment: CNN's bow-tied conservative Tucker Carlson vs. "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart.

Carlson on Monday fanned embers still hot from their "Crossfire" confrontation, saying Stewart looked ridiculous during his CNN appearance and was a sellout for publicly backing Democrat John Kerry for president.

Stewart, appearing on the debate show Friday, angered Carlson by saying "Crossfire" is "partisan hackery" that does little to advance the cause of democracy.

And that was the mild stuff.

"You have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably," Stewart said.

Responded Carlson: "You need to get a job at a journalism school, I think."

"You need to go to one," Stewart shot back.

Carlson complained that for a comedian, Stewart wasn't being very funny.

"Come on," he said. "Be funny."

"No," Stewart said. "I'm not going to be your monkey."

Carlson chided Stewart for lobbing softball questions when Kerry appeared on "The Daily Show" last month.

Later, Carlson told Stewart he was "more fun" on his Comedy Central show, and Stewart called him a jerk — although he used a more vulgar term.

"I thought that he looked ridiculous," Carlson said in an interview Monday, "and I think the tape makes that clear."

Carlson said Stewart continued lecturing the "Crossfire" crew after the show went off the air. "I wasn't offended as much as I was unimpressed," he said.

Stewart wasn't talking about the confrontation on Monday, a spokesman said. Comedy Central executive Tony Fox said there may be some regret over the vulgarity, but that Stewart has been a longtime critic of cable news networks and their political argument shows.

The comedian hasn't gone out of his way to endorse Kerry. In a public forum last week in New York, he was asked who he would vote for, and he said he'd back the Democrat.

Carlson noted that many of the great comedians kept their political opinions to themselves, not for fear of offending anyone, but because it could hurt their art.

"You're selling out," he said. "If you are a satirist or an acute social observer, and he is, and all of a sudden you suspend disbelief on someone or suck up rather than prod or poke someone, people will look at you and say, `Even if I agree with you, I don't like it,'" he said.

Fox said "The Daily Show" poked fun at people in power, regardless of their party. Most people who watch Stewart are aware that he leans to the left politically.

"I don't think it really impacts the show at all," he said. "The show does what it does regardless of Jon's political persuasion."

Melissa Etheridge Recovering from Cancer Surgeries

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rock singer Melissa Etheridge, who revealed earlier this month that she was battling breast cancer, says she is recovering at home from two recent surgeries and plans to undergo chemotherapy.

"The good news is they took out the tumor and a few lymph nodes, only one of which was positive (for cancer)," Etheridge, 43, said in a statement posted on her Web site on Friday.

"I still have both of my breasts, and whether I will keep them is a bridge I have to cross later."

"What an unexpected journey this is," she added. "I will be entering the phase of chemotherapy next. Who knows what that will bring."

In the meantime, the Kansas-born artist said she plans to continue working on an upcoming greatest-hits album, as well as a pilot TV comedy being developed for ABC. In it, she stars as a single lesbian raising a child with a straight roommate.

Etheridge made headlines and became a hero in the gay community in 1993 when she publicly revealed that she is a lesbian. In 2000, she disclosed that fellow rocker David Crosby was the biological father of her children.

The raspy-voiced rocker, known for such hits as "Come to My Window" and "I'm the Only One," announced Oct. 8 that she was canceling the remaining 11 dates on her North American tour in order to deal with her illness. She said doctors have described her prognosis as "excellent."

She also urged her fans to "please vote" in the U.S. presidential election on November 2.

SMELLS LIKE KERRY SPIRIT

Former Nirvana mates Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic making their first joint public appearance together in over a decade at a rally for Kerry Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

Jon Stewart Bitchslaps CNN's 'Crossfire' Show

In what could well be the strangest and most refreshing media moment of the election season, "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart turned up on a live broadcast of CNN's "Crossfire" Friday and accused the mainstream media — and his hosts in particular — of being soft and failing to do their duty as journalists to keep politicians and the political process honest.

Reaching well outside his usual youthful "Daily Show" demo, Stewart took to "Crossfire" to promote his new book, "America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction", but instead of pushing the tome, Stewart used his time to verbally slap the network and the media for being "dishonest" and "doing a disservice" to the American public. After co-host Tucker Carlson suggested that Stewart went easy on Senator John Kerry when the candidate was a guest on "The Daily Show," Stewart unloaded on "Crossfire," calling hosts Carlson and Paul Begala "partisan hacks" and chiding them for not raising the level of discourse on their show beyond sloganeering.

"What you do is not honest. What you do is partisan hackery," Stewart said. "You have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably.

"I watch your show every day, and it kills me. It's so painful to watch," Stewart added as it became apparent that the comedian was not joking. He went on to hammer the network, and the media in general, for its coverage of the presidential debates. Stewart said it was a disservice to viewers to immediately seek reaction from campaign insiders and presidential cheerleaders following the debates, noting that the debates' famed "Spin Alley" should be called "Deception Lane."

"The thing is, we need your help," Stewart said. "Right now, you're helping the politicians and the corporations and we're left out there to mow our lawns."

While the audience seemed to be behind Stewart, Begala and Carlson were both taken aback. The hosts tried to feed Stewart set-up lines hoping to draw him into a more light-hearted shtick, but Stewart stayed on point and hammered away at the show, the hosts, and the state of political journalism. Carlson grew increasingly frustrated, at first noting that the segment wasn't "funny," and later verbally sparring with the comedian.

"You're not very much fun," Carlson said. "Do you like lecture people like this, or do you come over to their house and sit and lecture them; they're not doing the right thing, that they're missing their opportunities, evading their responsibilities?"

"If I think they are," Stewart retorted.

The conversation reached its most heated moment when Carlson said to Stewart, "I do think you're more fun on your show," to which Stewart replied, "You're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show."

"That went great," Stewart could be heard sarcastically saying as the show went off the air (a transcript of the show is available on CNN.com).

In an era when the media is increasingly fragmented and viewers can surround themselves with programming that falls right in line with their own views, be they on the right or the left, Stewart's blast seemed especially on point. It seems fitting that the tirade came on a day when much of the media attention focused on the presidential race was directed at the mention of Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter during the last presidential debate, as opposed to the issues addressed at that debate.

Britney Spears Announces She's Taking A Break From Her Career

Britney Spears is taking a break — again. She made the announcement late Friday in a "letter of trut