"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.