Esthero Returns!

Esthero, the sultry singer featured on Black Eyed Peas' "Weekends," will follow her We R in Need of a Musical Revolution! EP (due December 7th) with the full-length Wikked Lil' Grrrls early next year. The album boasts collaborations with Cee-Lo and Sean Lennon.

The twenty-five-year-old Toronto-based singer is something of a romantic, as she wants Wikked to be released on Valentine's Day. However, because the holiday falls on a Monday and CDs are typically released on Tuesday, she'll settle for one minute later. "I'm hoping it will come out at midnight," she says.

Esthero released her debut, Breathe From Another, seven years ago, and the new one has been two years in the making, as she amassed some forty songs that mix hip-hop, jazz, rock and soul. She co-produced all the songs, except for one done entirely by Dr. Dre cohort Camara Cambon (Eminem, Mary J. Blige).

Raised in a small town in Ontario, Esthero moved to Toronto in her early teens, began working with musician/producer Doc and landed a deal with the Sony-affiliated WORK Group. At eighteen, she released Breathe, a mild international success, selling approximately 250 copies worldwide, but after WORK was absorbed into Epic, Esthero was without a label. She then quietly signed with Reprise after making an appearance at the Coachella Festival in August of 1999.

Her club track, "O.G. Bitch," hit Number One on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart last month, prompting the rushed release of the six-song We R in Need. "It is specifically for the fans," Esthero says of the EP, "who have been waiting."

[during a company sexual harassment training video] Narrator: Remember, nothing says "good job" like a firm, open-palm slap on the behind.

— From Fox's FAMILY GUY

Lui Meets JOEY

Lucy Lui will make a return to TV as a guest star on the NBC FRIENDS' spinoff JOEY. Lui will play will play Lauren, a tough-talking TV exec producer for the nighttime soap where Joey recently scored a role as the father of one of the show's main characters. Lui will appear in at least two episodes of the comedy.

This will mark the reunion of Lui and JOEY star Matt LeBlanc, who played her love interest in CHARLIE'S ANGELS.

Lucy Lui will first appear in episode "Joey and the Plot Twist" airing December 9 at 8 p.m. on NBC. Her second appearance will air in January.

FOX Unveils Its 2005 Schedule

FOX just released its 2005 updated schedule with return dates for household names such as 24 but also for newbies like POINT PLEASANT.

And sadly, the schedule is TRU CALLING free.

Mondays
8:00 TRADING SPOUSES
9:00 24 (2-Hour Season Premiere on Sunday, Jan. 9; Time period premiere on Monday, January 10)

Tuesdays
8:00 AMERICAN IDOL (Season Premiere Jan. 18)
9:00 HOUSE

Wednesdays
8:00 THAT '70s SHOW
8:30 THE SIMPLE LIFE 3: INTERNS (Season Premiere Jan. 26)
9:00 AMERICAN IDOL (Season Premiere January 19; 1-hour episodes through February)

Thursdays
8:00 THE O.C.
9:00 POINT PLEASANT (Series Premiere Jan. 20)

Fridays
8:00 THE BERNIE MAC SHOW (All-new episodes start Jan. 14)
8:30 THE BERNIE MAC SHOW (Encore episodes start Jan. 14)
9:00 JONNY ZERO (Series Premiere Jan. 14)

Saturdays
8:00 COPS
8:30 COPS
9:00 AMERICA'S MOST WANTED: AMERICA FIGHTS BACK
11:00 MADtv

Sundays (through January)
7:00 KING OF THE HILL
7:30 MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE
8:00 THE SIMPSONS
8:30 ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
9:00 MY BIG FAT OBNOXIOUS BOSS

Pierre Berton, Canadian cultural icon, enjoyed long and colourful career

(CP) - When hardly out of his teens, Pierre Berton's adoring mother wrote a book about him called It's a Boy! No one would publish it, since he was a total unknown.

Berton changed all that, publishing dozens of books and casting a towering media shadow across Canada as newspaper columnist, Maclean's magazine editor and broadcast personality. He died Tuesday at age 84 of heart failure at Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital.

The hallmark of the Berton image was his enthusiasm and immense energy. He loved flamboyant style - thick white sideburns, huge butterfly-like bow ties and dramatic opera cloaks.

In his heyday, he sometimes churned out 15,000 words a day - including a 1,200-word daily column for the Toronto Star - while also reading and answering all his mail and taking calls from anyone who phoned.

"You never know when you're going to get a usable idea," he said.

On the side, Berton wrote the erotic novel Masquerade under the pseudonym Lisa Kroniuk, began a 40-book series of paperback histories for children and produced several books of children's fiction, most notably the perennial bestseller The Secret World of Og. His longtime friend and colleague Elsa Franklin says The Secret World of Og, which was about his children, was his favourite book.

Of all his honours and accolades, Berton particularly cherished a letter from a young Og fan: "I'm six years old, and this is the best book I ever read in my whole life."

During his long and varied career, Berton became rich - he hit millionaire status relatively early - and was showered with awards.

"I was underpaid for the first half of my life," he said. "I don't mind being overpaid for the second half."

He had at least 12 honorary degrees, three Governor General's Literary Awards for non-fiction, two National Newspaper Awards and two ACTRA Nellies for broadcasting. He was a Companion of the Order of Canada and chancellor of Yukon College.

Eminent among his books, several of which gained international prominence, were The Mysterious North and Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush, both of which won Governor General's Awards.

Later came The Comfortable Pew, a controversial and critical volume on the Anglican Church, the railway books The National Dream and The Last Spike and the War of 1812 works titled The Invasion of Canada and Flames Across the Border.

In 1995, the second volume of his autobiography, My Times, was published, spanning 1947-1995. It opens with his move to Toronto to join Maclean's magazine and covers his most famous and prolific period.

It coincides with a time of tremendous social change in Canada and abroad and Berton clearly sees himself in the thick of it. Sometimes he takes credit for being the catalyst for reform, though he also notes his exposes of certain injustices were often ignored.

His final book was Prisoners of the North, published in September.

Berton was not without his critics, those who chided him for writing pop-history that was more flamboyant than serious, for relying on others to do the drudgery of historic research and for using his TV and radio image to help promote his books.

But he endeared himself to some younger Canadians just this year, when he said publicly he had been smoking marijuana since the 1960s. He even demonstrated for the CBC satire show, Rick Mercer's Monday Report, his technique for rolling the perfect marijuana joint.

Pierre Francis de Marigny Berton was born July 12, 1920, in Dawson City, Yukon, a frontier environment that stimulated his sense of adventure and hunger for facts, excitement and achievement.

As he recalled in Starting Out: 1920-1947, the first volume of his autobiography in 1987, it was the promise of the 1898 gold rush that lured his parents, Frank and Laura, to the Yukon where his father worked as a government mining recorder.

Berton also wrote of his young life in the Yukon in Drifting Home, the 1973 book considered by many to be his best.

The family of four, including younger sister Lucy, moved to Victoria in 1932 after the Depression forced Frank Berton to retire on half pension of $48 a month.

Friends of his teenage years remember a six-foot Boy Scout with a large, ruddy face, a natural show-off who loved to sing and recite verses, often applauding himself.

He entered the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and served an apprenticeship on the student newspaper, where he also met Janet Walker, his future wife.

"His mouth got him into trouble," recalled a friend of that time. "He was much brighter than anyone else, and irrepressible."

Berton's parents were horrified when Pierre announced he would become a journalist rather than a scientist. He joined the Vancouver News-Herald upon graduation and at 21 became the youngest city editor on any Canadian daily.

"You won't have a red cent as long as you live," warned his disappointed mother, who with her son's help wrote I Married the Klondike in the 1950s.

During the Second World War, Berton spent four years in the army, rising from private to captain.

Married on March 22, 1946, Pierre and Janet moved a year later to Toronto where he hit the fast track to a long and exciting career.

At 31 he was promoted to managing editor of Maclean's. In 1957 he became a key member of the CBC's public affairs flagship program Close-Up and a permanent panelist on Front Page Challenge, to become TV's longest-running program.

When Maclean's threatened to fire him if he refused to give up his broadcasts, he resigned and joined the Toronto Star as associate editor and columnist.

He left in 1962 to start his own TV program The Pierre Berton Show, which ran until 1973. He also appeared as host and writer on My Country, The Great Debate, Heritage Theatre and The Secret of My Success.

Berton also rejoined Maclean's as freelance columnist in 1962. But he was soon in trouble again, writing that "premarital sex isn't always a bad thing (and) what is bad is the sense of guilt, shame and sin."

Some readers praised his honesty but so many expressed vehement digust that Maclean's fired him.

Nevertheless, the magazine said in 1987, "more than any other writer, Berton has turned Canadian history, once considered dull, into a pageant as colourful as his famous plaid jackets."

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he wrote a column in the Toronto Star.

Sometimes they were about crazy adventures with his growing family - the children were Penny, Pamela, Patricia, Peter, Paul, Peggy and the adopted Perri. But he also reported on underworld thugs and exposed how unscrupulous businesses ripped off their customers.

While young parents with a modest income, the Bertons moved to Kleinburg north of Toronto, gradually establishing a rustic but rambling estate.

In the early years they coped with a concrete floor, bare walls and single-paned windows. Carrying on the P tradition, friends calls Janet Pjanet or, as more than one put it, PoorJanet.

"My luxury is my home and my property," Berton said of the simple, book-filled house that grew and grew and the spread that eventually included trees, shrubs, man-made hills, ponds, fish, ducks, old railway cars, a swimming pool and baronial barbecue to feed 150 friends.

He donated to the United Church of Canada and contributed generously to the New Democratic Party.

Although always generous to his family, Berton did not believe in inherited wealth and some years ago arranged to leave his 3.5-hectare property to the Ontario Heritage Foundation to be used as a retreat for struggling writers.

On his 80th birthday, he became the subject of a media event when reporters and photographers were invited to his regular workout at his favourite Toronto health club. Stepping off the treadmill he remarked on how, as a kid, he never thought he'd live to be 45, much less 80.

"Eighty? The year 2000? Impossible!" is what he said his view was in college. "Yet here I am. A survivor."

He avoided computers and insisted on banging out his prose on one of six old Smith Corona electrics he somehow continued to keep in working order. He said the books are what he wanted to be remembered for.

"Because I enjoy them," he said. "I can hardly wait to get there and do my work, because I've been thinking about it all night. I have it all in my head so I sit down and type it up."

He attributed his longevity to growing up in the ruggedness and fresh air of the Yukon and to having parents who were also long lived. But he said he was fairly philosophical about growing old.

"I think when you're dead, you're dead. No need to worry about it."

Here are some books that were written by Pierre Berton:

1954 - The Royal Family

1956 - The Mysterious North

1958 - Klondike - The Last Great Gold Rush

1959 - Just Add Water and Stir

1960 - Adventures of a Columnist

1962 - Fast, Fast, Fast Relief

1963 - The Big Sell

1965 - The Comfortable Pew

1966 - The Cool, Crazy, Committed World of the Sixties

1968 - The Smug Minority

1970 - The National Dream - The Great Railway 1871-1881

1971 - The Last Spike - The Great Railway 1881-1885

1973 - Drifting Home

1975 - Hollywood's Canada

1976 - My Country

1977 - The Dionne Years - A Thirties Melodrama

1978 - The Wild Frontier - More Tales from the Remarkable Past

1980 - The Invasion of Canada - 1812-1813

1981 - Flames Across the Border - 1813-1814

1982 - Why We Act Like Canadians

1983 - The Promised Land

1986 - Vimy

1987 - Starting Out: 1920-1947

1988 - The Arctic Grail

1989 - The Mysterious North (Revised)

1990 - The Great Depression 1929-1939

1992 - Niagara, A History of the Falls

1995 - My Times: Living with History 1917-1995

1996 - Farewell to the 20th Century: A Compendium of the Absurd

1996 - The Great Lakes

1997 - 1967: The Last Good Year

2002 - The Secret World of Og

2004 - Prisoners of the North

Comments on the death Tuesday of Pierre Berton:

"Pierre Berton was the most remarkable writer of Canadian historical events in the last 50 years. So much of our nationhood and our collective identity as Canadians were created by him." - Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson.

"(He was) such an important writer in the days when there weren't any. He was also an enormously generous man." - Author Alice Munro.

"He emphasized the importance of our history as distinct from American history or British history or French history. ... And without having written down that record of life within this country, we would all be poorer." - Writer Alistair MacLeod.

"I just called him and asked him if he would come on the show and teach Canada how to roll a joint. He immediately said 'Yes, come up to the house. I'd be happy to do so.' " - Rick Mercer, recalling his invitation to Berton to appear on CBC-TV's Monday Report in October.

"He chronicled the history of Canada, and he made history exciting." - Mercer.

Indie Filmmakers Toast Wine-Tasting Comedy

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A wine-soaked road comedy and a cocaine-fueled drama led the list of contenders on Tuesday for the Independent Spirit Awards, the American art-house world's version of the Oscars.

Writer/director Alexander Payne's "Sideways," starring Paul Giamatti as a sad-sack bachelor who travels around California wine country with his manic buddy, picked up six nominations.

The Spanish-language drama "Maria Full of Grace," about a Colombian woman who seeks a better life in America by becoming a drug courier, followed with five. The film marked the feature debuts of its writer/director, Joshua Marston, and lead actress, Bogota native Catalina Sandino Moreno.

The Spirit Awards, now in their 20th year, honor low-budget films based on such criteria as original, provocative subject matter and the degree of independent financing. Winners will be unveiled on Feb. 26, the day before the Academy Awards.

Four films nabbed four nominations apiece: "Brother to Brother," a drama about a young gay black man forced to live on the streets; "Primer," a $7,000 tale of discovery that won the top prize at the Sundance Film Festival; "Robbing Peter," which ponders the natural human tendency toward crime; and "Kinsey," starring Liam Neeson as famed sex researcher Alfred Kinsey.

Some high-profile indie films found themselves lower in the pack, including the Che Guevara road venture "The Motorcycle Diaries," and the upcoming "The Woodsman," starring Kevin Bacon as a pedophile, with three nods each, the offbeat high-school comedy "Napoleon Dynamite," and the dramas "Garden State" and "The Door in the Floor," all with two each.

The nominations are a huge boost for art-house movies, which must compete with big-budget flicks for theater screens and media attention, said "Sideways" producer Michael London.

"These awards, for better or worse, they mean everything," he said, adding they were a "huge first step" toward getting recognition from other awards.

"Sideways," released by Fox Searchlight Pictures, has earned $10 million at the North American box office after spending a month in limited release. The film cost about $16 million to make, London said.

Marston, who visited imprisoned drug couriers in the United States and South America during his three years of research for "Maria Full of Grace," said the nominations were "perfectly timed" since the DVD goes on sale next Tuesday. The film grossed about $6.5 million from North American theaters. It was released by Fine Line Features.

"Sideways" and "Maria Full of Grace" will compete against each other in the feature, director, screenplay and supporting female (Virginia Madsen and Yenny Paola Vega, respectively) categories. Additionally, "Sideways" was cited for supporting male (Thomas Haden Church) and male lead (Giamatti). "Maria" star Moreno was cited for female lead.

Other feature contenders were "Baadassss!" "Kinsey," and "Primer." The respective directors of "Baadassss!" and "Primer," Mario Van Peebles and Carruth, were listed in the director's race as was Brazilian Walter Salles for "The Motorcycle Diaries."

Historic Game Show Winning Streak Comes to End

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The longest winning streak in television game show history ended on Tuesday when "Jeopardy!" champion Ken Jennings lost after he collected more than $2.5 million in 74 victories.

Jennings walked away with $2,520,700 in cash, in what the syndicated TV show's distributors said was a record for the most money ever won on a television game show, as well as the most victories.

The 30-year-old software engineer from Salt Lake City started his winning streak in June, fielding questions on everything from Shakespeare to hip-hop music in an impressive run that made him a household name and boosted "Jeopardy!" audience ratings by 22 percent over the same period last year.

He was brought down by what seemed a relatively easy question: Which U.S. company's white-collar employees mostly worked only four months a year?

Jennings answered FedEx. His opponent, California realtor Nancy Zerg, gave the correct answer -- tax preparer and financial services company H&R Block.

Some commentators noted Jennings' losing episode was broadcast at the end of the key November "sweeps," when U.S. networks roll out their best shows to boost audience ratings that are used to set advertising rates.

"Industry wags speculated that producers must not have had enough Jennings episodes to get through the sweeps and wanted to make sure his final appearance coincided with its end," wrote Washington Post TV columnist Lisa de Moraes.

Asked about his defeat, Jennings said: "Nancy was great. Her timing was just right on. It was not a fluke. She knew things I didn't know."

Jennings said he had made a lot of safe choices before appearing on the show. "I never took a chance or did something that for me would be a dream. And being on 'Jeopardy' has been that dream."

"Jeopardy!" debuted on U.S. television in 1984 and can be seen in several countries around the world.

Kazaa owners launch defence in file-swap copyright infringement case

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - The owners of file-swapping giant Kazaa claimed Tuesday their software, which allows users to exchange copyrighted music and movies online, is no different from video recorders as they launched their defence in a landmark music piracy case in Australia.

Lawyer Tony Meagher was outlining his defence strategy on the second day of a civil case in which the Australian recording industry is suing Kazaa's owners for widespread copyright infringements by the global network's estimated 100 million members.

Kazaa members download three billion files each month, record industry lawyers said Monday. Those files can include songs, movies and other copyrighted material.

Meagher cited a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said electronics giant Sony wasn't liable when people used its Betamax videocassette recorder to copy movies illegally because the technology had significant uses that did not violate copyrights.

The same case was cited in August when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that two other leading file-swapping networks, Grokster Ltd. and StreamCast Networks Inc. were not legally liable for the songs, movies and other copyright works their users swapped online.

"It is plain (Kazaa) has lawful uses," Meagher told Federal Court judge Murray Wilcox.

In another key element of the defendants' defence in the three-week trial, Meagher said that even though the peer-to-peer software that underpins Kazaa allows users to breach copyright, the owners of Kazaa do not authorize piracy and cannot stop it.

"We are not in a position to control and we do not control use," Meagher said.

A licence agreement that all Kazaa users have to agree to before downloading the Kazaa software tells them they must not use the network to distribute copyrighted material, but the record industry says Kazaa makes no effort to enforce the agreement.

Mindy McCready pleads guilty to drug charge

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) -- Mindy McCready, who had a No. 1 hit in 1996 with "Guys Do It All the Time," pleaded guilty Monday to purchasing painkillers with a false prescription.

The country singer was fined $4,000, sentenced to three years of supervised probation and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.

McCready, who turns 28 today (Tuesday), was accused of fraudulently obtaining OxyContin at a Brentwood pharmacy in February, using a friend's name on the prescription.

Her other hits include "Ten Thousand Angels" and "A Girl's Gotta Do (What a Girl's Gotta Do)."

OUT OF LINE

Hot-blooded hotel heiress Paris Hilton is making an unauthorized stop in "South Park" this week.

On the Comedy Central show, the girls of South Park's fourth grade idolize Hilton, and each one owns Paris' "very special toy set" - a kit that comes complete with video camera, night-vision filter, play money and losable cell phone.

When word reaches the girls that Paris might visit South Park, they try to impress their idol by getting the town's boys to help make their own "videos"

The real Hilton - who made waves last year when a pornographic video of her surfaced on the Internet - did not participate in the making of the "South Park" episode.

JENNINGS' LAST 'JEOPARDY' LEAKS ON 'NET

The Ken Jennings watch continues — with rampant speculation about when the record-setting "Jeopardy!" whiz will finally lose.

Jennings, who's amassed nearly $2.5 million in 74 consecutive victories since last June, is widely expected to bow out sometime this week.

Kottke.org, the Web site that broke the story of Jennings' defeat last September, has now posted what it claims is audio of Jennings losing — complete with groaning from the studio audience and an excited Alex Trebek lauding a new "Jeopardy!" champ.

Jennings has been confirmed as a guest on tonight's "Late Show with David Letterman," which could be indicative that something big is about to happen — or has already happened.

Jennings, a 31-year-old software developer from the Salt Lake City area, began his "Jeopardy!" run early last June. After a short summer hiatus, he returned in early August and picked up right where he left off, racking up win after win.

Jennings has been able to continue his winning ways because the show dropped its old "five-and-out" rule (winners could only win five consecutive games before being forced to leave).

Ratings for the show, which were strong to begin with, have risen dramatically since Jennings began his streak — and have dipped on the few "theme" weeks when Jennings wasn't on the show.

The apparent end of Jennings' run has conveniently coincided with the November sweeps period, which is used by networks and local stations to set advertising rates.

Meanwhile, Jennings is getting the "Biography" treatment from A&E, which will air a segment on Jennings tomorrow at 10 p.m.

Jennings himself is interviewed for the "Biography," along with his wife, Mindy, and past "Jeopardy!" champs including Robin Carroll, Eddie Timanus and Brad Rutter.

The Couch Potato Report - November 30th, 2004

In The Couch Potato Report this week, there is a movie about a hero that isn't called hero and one movie about a hero that is.

When the original SPIDER-MAN movie was released in 2002 I enjoyed it, but I didn't really like it. My problem was with the fact that every time the lead character broke the plane of gravity his actions looked fake.

Even though director Sam Raimi and his cast did do a great job of bringing the legendary comic book character to the big screen, I just wasn't able to get past how fake I thought the computer effects were.

I still can't. Most of the original SPIDER-MAN film looks fake, and even though I like the movie, I find it hard to watch.

So you can imagine my trepidation when SPIDER-MAN 2 came out in theaters this past June. Oh, how I wanted the computer effects to be great!

I am happy to report that even though there are still a few parts of the film that look less that realistic, the overall movie is superb!

Now, should you be unfamiliar with the Spider-Man story thus far, here is a brief recap. Not a recap of the legacy created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in the Marvel comic books, but a recap of the first movie.

Tobey Maguire is Peter Parker, a brainy high school outcast who transforms into an amazingly agile, web-shooting superhero named Spider Man, after he is bitten by a "super-spider."

The radiant Kirsten Dunst is Mary Jane Watson, Parker's girl-next-door unrequited sweetheart. At the end of the first movie, he shunned her for fear that she would get hurt if his enemies knew he loved her.

In the first movie, that enemy was The Green Goblin. Spidey's nemesis in SPIDER-MAN 2 is the deranged, mechanically tentacled "Doctor Octopus" or "Doc Ock."

But it isn't the foe that is the most compelling part of SPIDER-MAN 2, it is the dilemma that Peter Parker has to face within.

He has to decide if he should continue his obligatory, lonely life of crime fighting, or pursue love and happiness with Mary Jane?

And in a rare move here on The Couch Potato Report, I'm going to tell you the ending of the movie.

Yes, he throws away his super human gifts and movies into the suburbs with the girl of his dreams to live happily ever after.

Oh no, wait, that is THE INCREDIBLES. Oops!

Of course I'm not going to tell you the ending of SPIDER-MAN 2, or any other movie for that matter.

But I will tell you that the action sequences in this movie are great!

Yes, there are times when the computer effects aren't good enough to keep up with the action and the superb storyline, but they are so few and far in between that they never stop the film in its tracks, unlike the effects in the first SPIDER-MAN.

What also pleased me about SPIDER-MAN 2 is the fact that the script stays true to the original Marvel comic book mythology.

Spider-Man in the movie is as he was on the page for so many years before, a kid who just happens to have super powers.

SPIDER-MAN 2 is fast-paced, witty, and even a bit poignant at times. Most of all, it is fun! I liked it a lot.

I also liked the film HERO a lot.

And not the 1992 film HERO with Dustin Hoffman, Geena Davis and Andy Garcia about a down on his luck man who rescues passengers from a crashed jet but sees someone else take the credit.

No, I am speaking of the superb 2002 martial arts film HERO that finally got a North American theatrical release this year, and is debuting on DVD and video this week.

That is the HERO I am referring to.

In that HERO, a nameless warrior - played by Jet Li from ROMEO MUST DIE - arrives at an emperor's palace with three weapons. Each one of them belonging to a famous assassin who had sworn to kill the emperor.

The nameless man explains how he acquired the weapons.

Then the emperor counters with his own interpretation of what might really have happened.

In a wonderful cinematic achievement each of the stories unfolds in red, blue, white or another dominant color.

HERO is a true delight for the eyes at it combines sweeping cinematography and superb performances. It also possesses emotion that deepens with every well choreographed action sequence.

Yes, I liked the film HERO a lot and if you are a fan of the Academy Award winning film CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON from a few years ago, I think you will enjoy HERO as well.

And they say that a hero can save us.
I'm not gonna stand here and wait.
I'll hold on to the wings of the eagles.
Watch as we all fly away.

SPIDER-MAN 2 and HERO are now available at your favourite local video store.

COMING UP IN THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT

DODGEBALL: A TRUE UNDERDOG STORY was one of the funniest and most entertaining films of the year, and it's about exactly what you think it is: dodgeball. Vince Vaughn of OLD SCHOOL and a group of misfits rise to the challenge at dodgeball tournament. Ben Stiller of MEET THE PARENTS is Vaughn's nemesis.

Assassin Jason Bourne has many nemeses, or adversaries in THE BOURNE SUPREMACY. Matt Damon reprises his role as the title character and in this second of two stories he takes on the CIA for his own survival.

Survival is the goal in every hour of the TV series 24. Now, 24: SEASON THREE is a seven disc box set that features the complete third season of the series 24. Kiefer Sutherland, Elisha Cuthbert, Dennis Haysbert as star.

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!

DVD KICKS 'MATRIX'

Some critics weren't big fans of "The Matrix" movies — and they speak their mind freely on the new 10-disc DVD "The Ultimate Matrix Collection."

The eccentric Wachowski brothers, who directed the three "Matrix" movies and who have never spoken publicly about their work, instead invited three critics to do the talking for them, asking them to provide feature-length commentaries for the DVD set (which will be released Dec. 7).

And in what's believed to be an industry first, they mostly trash the films — particularly the trilogy's second and third installments — in the nearly seven-hour-long commentary track.

"Is anyone else as stupefied by this as I am?" asks John Powers of Vogue magazine when the hero Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, meets with the Oracle (Gloria Foster) in the second film, "The Matrix Reloaded."

"It's just dreadful," says David Thompson, a British critic who wrote "The Autobiographical Dictionary of Film."

The harshest criticisms in "Reloaded" come during the notorious rave sequence, where hundreds of people writhe sexually in the underground Zion City.

"Now comes one of the funniest scenes in contemporary cinema," says Powers. "It looks like a beer commercial with all the slow-mo."

Todd McCarthy, chief film critic of Variety, harshly pans a lengthy car chase for which directors Larry and Andy Wachowski had a 1.6-mile section of freeway built outside San Francisco.

"In narrative terms," McCarthy gripes, "not much has happened at all."

They are slightly kinder to "The Matrix Revolutions" — but not much.

"I'd rather play The Matrix video game than watch this," complains a bored Powers during the climactic battle in the Zion docks.

The critics reserve most of their praise for the original "The Matrix" and opine that the sequels were pointless.

"I think if the whole series ends there, you've got nearly a masterpiece," says Thompson.

"You've got a hell of a film, a film that could stand alone for having a vision you couldn't shrug off."

But the publicity-shy Wachowskis don't let the critics have the last word.

In addition to the commentary track from the critics, the DVD set includes a second commentary track contributed by a pair of philosophers: Ken Wilbur, whose works include "Sex, Ecology, Spirituality," and Princeton University Professor Cornel West, who makes cameo appearances in the second and third films as a member of Zion City's ruling council.

The philosophers, not surprisingly, defend the films.

"Most of the critics are just too lazy to figure [them] out," says West.

Andy Patrizio, who comments on DVDs for the ign.com Web site, says the unusually critical commentary tracks are sure to spark controversy among fans.

"Some of their comments will probably not go over with the easily offended crowd," he wrote.

Channel-surfers paying less attention to TV

Viewers are watching prime-time programming almost as much as they did 10 years ago, but they appear to be paying less attention, according to a new study by Knowledge Networks, a consumer-research company whose clients include networks and advertisers.

Growth in channel switching, up 42% since 1994, and multitasking, such as talking and eating, "indicate lower attentiveness," says company vice president David Tice.

Increased channel switching, most often during ad breaks and between programs, may indicate viewers are more intent on controlling what they watch.

Trends in prime time are moving too slowly to cause alarm among advertisers, Tice says: "Viewing behavior is changing, but not drastically." The July survey of 696 viewers ages 18-49 (comparisons with 1994 are limited to the first hour of prime time) found:

• More people are watching alone, partly a result of more TVs in the home. More TVs mean more viewing, a plus for networks and advertisers, but solo viewers are more likely to switch channels.

• Viewers are more likely to change channels during reality shows than scripted programs.

• Growth in other prime-time TV uses, like video games (up from 1% in 1994 to 6%) and recording shows (from 14% to 17%), have reduced viewing of regularly scheduled shows (from 85% to 82%).

Jeffrey Cole, head of the Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California, says channel switching, multitasking and digital video recorder usage threaten traditional commercials. "I think TV advertising is in its final phase as a medium that delivers national audiences to advertisers in 30-second blocks."

But Artie Bulgrin of ESPN, a Knowledge Networks client, says TV generally remains a passive medium, and if advertisers "understand who their audience is and make their messages relevant to that audience, the 30-second spot will be around a while."

OSCAR ON MY MIND

Universal is rushing Oscar contender "Ray" to DVD just in time for Oscar balloting February 1.

The biopic of singer Ray Charles will hit vidstores just 13½ weeks after it debuted at the box office, where it has grossed nearly $60 million thus far.

The single-disc DVD will be priced at $29.98, with a limited two-disc special edition also available for $44.98.

No details about bonus features were immediately available.

Last year Universal released "Seabiscuit" in December, enhancing the studio's awards campaigning for the film.

MGM is putting its awards candidate "De-Lovely" on DVD December 21, timed with a limited theatrical re-release, and DreamWorks is releasing the DVD of "Collateral" on December 14.

I Love Music!

Here are the new music releases for Tuesday, November 30th, 2004.

-- 4MULA 1 Let's Get It (Sobe)
-- Afroman Jobe Bells (Christmas album) (Hungry Hustler)
-- Arch Enemy Dead Eyes See No Future (EP) (Century Media)
-- Carpathian Forest We're Going to Hollywood for This: Live (Special Limited Edition) (Music Video Distributors)
-- The Chapters Bleeding All Over This Town (Has Anyone Ever Told You?)
-- Kelly Clarkson Break Away (RCA)
-- Dirty Vegas ONE (Capitol)
-- Robert Downey Jr. The Futurist (Sony Classical)
-- Drovers Dreamland (Fundamental)
-- The Egon All Theory and No Action (Has Anyone Ever Told You?)
-- The Exies Head for the Door (Virgin)
-- Fairburn Royals The Whistler (Two Sheds)
-- Dino Felipe I'm You (Schematic)
-- Finesse & Runway Finesse & Runway (Schematic)
-- The Flesh The Flesh (Gern Blandsten)
-- Gerald Levert Do I Speak for the World? (Atlantic)
-- Jay Z & Linkin Park MTV Ultimate Mash-Ups Presents: Collision Course (CD/DVD combo) (Roc-A-Fella/Warner Bros.)
-- Local Division Pure Electric Light (EP) (Aeronaut)
-- Wynton Marsalis Unforgivable Blackness (Blue Note)
-- Modern Day Zero Coming Up for Air (Bullet 339)
-- Paradise Boys The Young and the Guest List (Princehouse)
-- Patton/Kaada Romances (Ipecac)
-- Rupee 1 on 1 (Atlantic)
-- S'Cool Girls S'Cool Girls S'Cool Girls S'Cool Girls (EP) (Aeronaut)
-- Sleepytime Gorilla Museum Sleepytime Gorilla Museum of Natural History (Web of Mimicry/Revolver)
-- Styrofoam Nothing's Lost (Morr Music)
-- T.I. Urban Legend (Atlantic)
-- Urban Mystic Ghetto Revelations (Warner Bros.)
-- Various Artists African Underground Vol. 1 - Hiphop Senegal (Nomadic Wax)
-- Various Artists The Free Design ‘Redesigned' (Vol. 2) (Light in the Attic)

"Silly customer, you cannot hurt a Twinkie!"

— Apu, Fox's The Simpsons

More Information About SPIDER-MAN 3

Even if SPIDER-MAN 3 is still in the early stages of conception, Sam Raimi can bring up-to-date the fans about the upcoming sequel.

Raimi and his brother have finished a 50-page document to flesh out SPIDER-MAN 3. Sam Raimi is now ready to work with a storyboard artist to work out some of the visuals and with Alvin Sargent to work on a first draft of the screenplay.

There may be 50-pages worth of work done so far but Raimi he's still toying around with different possibilities for a chief villiain or villains to confront Spider-Man. Raimi says he still needs to figure out what life lessons Peter Parker will experience, what obstacles will be in his path and if he'll be able to overcome these conflicts.

SPIDER-MAN 2 will be released on DVD on November 30 while SPIDER-MAN 3 is set to hit theaters on May 4, 2007.

Det. Mike Logan Back On TV?

NBC is considering Chris Noth for a role on Law and Order: Criminal Intent, according to Broadcasting and Cable magazine.

Lucas Wants TV 'Star Wars' Film Banned

Moviemaker George Lucas wants his first Star Wars sequel banned, as he is so disappointed with its quality. The one-off, two-hour-long The Star Wars Holiday Special was originally screened on the CBS network in 1978 and tells the story of Chewbacca's journey home with Hans Solo to celebrate Life Day with his family.

During the course of the much-maligned movie, Carrie Fisher's beautiful Leia is seen reducing Hans Solo and Luke Skywalker to tears with a song.

A contributor on the Star Wars website comments, "The Holiday Special has always been the red-headed step child of the Star Wars family." While a source at LucasFilm adds, "The Holiday Special was the biggest f***-up ever. The Force was definitely not with Mr. Lucas the day that doozy was born."

Tommy Douglas 'father of universal health care' voted Greatest Canadian

TORONTO (CP) - T.C. (Tommy) Douglas, former Saskatchewan premier, former leader of the federal New Democratic Party and touted as the father of the country's universal health-care system, has been voted The Greatest Canadian.

The late politician emerged victorious in the public contest initiated by CBC Television this fall and which climaxed in an hour-long prime-time special Monday night. "I feel that Tommy Douglas is getting the recognition he deserves," declared a jubilant George Stroumboulopoulos, the TV host designated as Douglas's official advocate. "When we started this campaign in the summer, folks had never even heard of Tommy Douglas."

Douglas's victory came at the end of a show in which the other advocates were asked to throw their support, political leadership convention style, to another candidate when theirs was voted off. But it was a moral support only, not affecting the public tally.

Despite an impassioned two-hour debate among designated celebrity advocates for the top 10 contenders, which CBC aired Sunday night, the post-weekend standings remained virtually unchanged.

In second place was one-legged runner Terry Fox, with former prime minister Pierre Trudeau placing third.

The remaining finalists, in order of ranking, were Nobel Prize winner Sir Frederick Banting (co-inventor of insulin), environmentalist and science broadcaster David Suzuki, former PM and Nobel Peace Prize winner Lester Pearson, CBC hockey broadcaster Don Cherry, the country's founding prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald and, bringing up the rear, telephone pioneer Alexander Graham Bell and hockey great Wayne Gretzky.

A total of 1.2 million votes were cast by the Canadian public via telephone, e-mail or text messaging. Since Saturday, more than 342,000 ballots were turned in before the Sunday midnight voting deadline, according to a CBC spokesperson. The only change triggered by Sunday night's impassioned TV debate was that both Pearson and Trudeau enjoyed 37 per cent increases in their tallies, the official said.

Executive producer Mark Starowicz said he had high hopes for the enterprise but that it turned out even better than he expected. He insisted there really was a national groundswell of support for the project, that it wasn't just CBC-induced hype.

"We had 4,000 schools plugged into this entire thing," Starowicz said. "Practically every school's got projects, demonstrations. You've got the city of London, Ont., mobilizing, Toronto naming Tommy Douglas Day. People got carried away. It's great."

Douglas was born in Scotland in 1904 and moved to Canada with his family in 1919. An ordained minister, his first church was in Weyburn, Sask., where he witnessed the suffering caused by the Depression and decided that political action was needed.

He was a member of Parliament from 1935 until 1944, when he became premier of Saskatchewan as leader of the CCF, forerunner to the NDP. He announced the medical insurance plan in 1959.

Liz Jeffrey, director of the McLuhan Global Research Network at the University of Toronto, felt the Greatest Canadian exercise itself was more significant than the outcome. She was also particularly fascinated by the orators' negative attacks in the final debate.

"All those silver-tongued presenters were far better at the attack ad than they were at presenting the merits of their own candidate."

Speaking prior to learning the outcome of the voting, Jeffrey said if Douglas won it was because of the symbolism of his chief accomplishment in health care.

"He gets the visionary side of this, of coming up with the idea, at least at a political level," said Jeffrey. "You can't blame Tommy Douglas for the health-care crisis."

She said that was expressed when, during the Sunday debate, Stroumboulopoulos, whipped out his red-white plastic health card and waved it about.

To delirious cheers, Stroumboulopoulos dramatically argued that if Douglas, who died in 1986, were removed from the national equation "you remove the caring, sharing legacy of everything that we value. . .you remove this, and this is our most treasured, treasured national characteristic!"

Not surprisingly, Jeffrey said she and her colleagues at U of T's McLuhan program were rooting for Marshall McLuhan himself but were shocked when the internationally renowned media guru failed to make even the earlier top 50 CBC list.

The series debuted Oct. 18 and aired twice weekly from then on with prime-time specials advocating each of the 10 finalists.

The Final Showdown, the debate special also hosted by Wendy Mesley and Shaun Majumder, was taped Saturday for Sunday night telecast, on a specially built set with a live studio audience. It featured highlights of the various campaigns as well as celebrity guests who helped back up the candidates' official advocates.

Starowicz dismissed the inclusion of at least two CBC employees on the final 10 list, Cherry and Suzuki.

"It's a big country. Half of it's been on the CBC payroll, it seems, anyway," he replied with a laugh. "Trudeau worked for it once."

As he watched the boisterous studio audience that gathered for the final weekend debate, the veteran CBC producer was impressed with the energy that was demonstrated.

"I love seeing what you normally don't think is a typical CBC audience. I mean this was Canada from ordinary suburbs, ordinary places, sports mixed with politics."

He said that as far as he was concerned, it didn't matter in the slightest who won, that what was important was that Canadians got engaged on the issue of what values they wished to treasure in their country.

"Unity, diversity, compassion, caring for each other. I mean this is not an American list. There's nothing Darwinian in this room. I was a very generous list."

The final standings in CBC-TV's The Greatest Canadian contest:

1. T.C. Douglas.

2. Terry Fox.

3. Pierre Trudeau.

4. Sir Frederick Banting.

5. David Suzuki.

6. Lester Pearson.

7. Don Cherry.

8. Sir John A. Macdonald.

9. Alexander Graham Bell.

10. Wayne Gretzky.

George Clooney Sidelined by Ruptured Disk

LOS ANGELES - George Clooney is suffering from a ruptured disk that kept him from promoting his new film, "Ocean's Twelve," this week.

Clooney had been scheduled to travel to New York Sunday for appearances on shows including "Good Morning America," "The Daily Show" and "Charlie Rose," his spokesman, Stan Rosenfield, said Monday.

But Clooney told Rosenfield on Saturday that his condition had worsened and he would be unable to travel. Rosenfield said he didn't have information on how or when the injury occurred.

The former "ER" star, whose sequel to the caper film "Ocean's Eleven" opens Dec. 10, was being treated by a doctor, Rosenfield said. He declined to provide details.

Asked when Clooney, 43, might be back on the publicity trail to talk about the movie, Rosenfield said, "Hopefully next week."

"Ocean's Twelve" co-stars Julia Roberts, who gave birth to twins, a boy and girl, on Sunday.

CRTC incentives will increase ads

OTTAWA (CP) -- Viewers could end up watching a lot more TV ads under an incentive program designed to encourage broadcasters to produce more Canadian dramas.

Depending on how and where the dramas are made, TV stations could broadcast up to eight minutes more advertising for every hour of original Canadian drama they produce, says the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

The exact amount of additional advertising would depend on such things as the level of Canadian participation in the production, how much is spent and when the drama is broadcast.

"Broadcasters who choose to take advantage of this incentive program will apply for conditions of licence that will allow them to broadcast additional minutes of advertising if they meet the commission's criteria," the CRTC said in a news release Monday.

Under the plan, broadcasters could earn the right to air between 30 seconds and eight minutes of additional advertising for each hour of original Canadian drama they broadcast.

For instance, broadcasters who increase their Canadian drama audience share by a set amount could increase the amount of advertising they air by 25 per cent.

They'd get a further 25-per-cent increase if they spend a pre-determined amount of money producing the drama.

The CRTC estimates the changes will give the biggest broadcasters $80,000 for each additional advertising minute they air during prime time.

For the largest English-language networks, the incentives would apply only to qualifying drama in excess of 26 hours per year. Drama programs that do not receive funding from the Canadian Television Fund would be exempt.

"This will encourage broadcasters to invest directly in the creation of new independently-produced drama projects," said the CRTC.

The commission promises additional measures soon to help French-language TV maintain original French drama programming in peak viewing hours.

Band Aid Single Released in Britain

LONDON - A new, star-studded recording of the 1984 charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" hit British record stores Monday, many of which opened early in anticipation of large crowds.

The single features artists including Coldplay's Chris Martin, former Beatle Paul McCartney, U2's Bono, and Dido, and will raise money for victims of the ongoing strife in the Sudan, where fighting has killed thousands of people and created 1.8 million refugees.

HMV Records, one of Britain's largest music retailers, opened more than 200 stores an hour early, at 8 a.m., and reported strong early-morning sales for the single.

"There wasn't a huge rush of people, but a steady stream of customers this morning," said Gennaro Castaldo, a spokesman for HMV. "I don't know that it's going to be the smash success that the original was, but I think it will do quite well and raise quite a bit of money for Africa."

Castaldo said he expects the single to sell at least one million copies and to top the singles charts in Britain for several weeks.

Twins Sarah and Kirsty Burgess, 21, were the first in line to buy the single at HMV's flagship store in London on Oxford Street, the city's main shopping street.

"I thought I would come along because it's a great cause," said Kirsty. "I was about one when the first single was released, but I've heard it about 100 times. Hopefully, this one will raise lots of money, too."

HMV and other retailers were selling the song for 3.99 pounds ($7.55). The song retails for 1.49 pounds ($2.82) at online distributors.

Apple's iTunes, the popular online music store, was not carrying the single because it declined to sell the song for more than the service's $1.50 base price. An Apple spokesman in London declined on Monday to comment on its dispute with the Band Aid trust over the cost of the recording.

The original single was released 20 years ago and was a smash success, raising millions of dollars for victims of starvation in Ethiopia. It featured artists including Boy George, Duran Duran, and Phil Collins. Bono is the only artist to appear on both versions of the song.

The new track also includes Robbie Williams, Jamelia, Ms. Dynamite, Will Young and members of the bands Busted, the Darkness and Sugababes.

A 'Band Aid' solution

It's Christmas time, and there's no need for bickering. But that hasn't stopped Bono and The Darkness' Justin Hawkins. Both singers participated in Band Aid 20, the re-recording of Do They Know It's Christmas, a generous and genuine act.

But while Coldplay's Chris Martin was re-doing the song's opening lyric and Blur's Damon Albarn was serving tea to the likes of Joss Stone and the Sugarbabes, Bono and Justin were arguing over who would sing the line: "And tonight thank God it's them, instead of you!"

They really shouldn't have bothered. The line made famous by Bono's passionate delivery in the original version -- and ultimately redone by the U2 singer is a ridiculous sentiment -- is a perfect example of why the tune shouldn't have even been re-recorded at all.

It feels wrong to knock Do They Know It's Christmas. Since its release during the horrific Ethiopian famine in 1984, the single has sold more than 50 million copies and raised millions to help "feed the world." Who could possibly be against helping starving Africans?

Not me. But I think there are better ways to do it than with a patronizing piece of pop pap.

Bono knows it, which is why he campaigns to get First World governments to drop the debt of underprivileged nations. Chris Martin also understands that it takes more than a $5 donation and a sing-along to balance out our world of plenty: He works with Oxfam to Make Trade Fair.

Certainly, these worldly artists can see how this beloved holiday song glosses over the tragedy of global hunger like a tasty yet nutritionally void turkey glaze.

Think about some of these lyrics: "Do they know it's Christmas time?" Uh, most Ethiopians are Muslims. I doubt they care much about Jesus' birthday on a good day. "There won't be snow in Africa this Christmas time." Really? Is that because of the drought? And of course, that famous "thank God it's them" line Bono and Justin both wanted to sing. What kind of prayer is that?

That kind of naivete should be left in the '80s, like wearing satin shorts with sport socks. Today, it just seems ignorant. Like so many holiday pleas, it's also a blatant call to care only when your God is watching.

Do They Know It's Christmas v.2004 is as much about marketing a new crop of British pop stars as it is about changing the world. Teenage singer Joss Stone wasn't even born when the original topped the charts -- she referred to world-famous Band Aid organizer Sir Bob Geldof as "Bob Gandalf." Sir Paul McCartney was allowed to play bass, but was considered too old to sing. Rapper Dizzie Rascal added some lines (e.g.: "Give a little help to the helpless") that do nothing to expand the song's meaning and are generally considered a blemish.

I bought the original Band Aid 7, but won't be paying to download the new version. And not just because I now know it's a bad song.

The fact there are still starving children means too many of us washed our hands once the song dropped off the charts. Some money raised from Band Aid 20 will be directed to Sudan, where they are starving not from drought but displacement caused by a civil war, one brewing since 1985, when we were all feeling smug watching Live Aid.

Buying a CD to make the unpleasant images on the news go away for a while so we can open our presents guilt-free is not the way to "feed the world." It's nothing more than a band-aid.

NATALIE'S NAUGHTY BITS

In "Closer," Natalie Portman shows audiences a side of her they haven't seen before - but not quite as much of it as director Mike Nichols had originally planned.

Her character, Alice, makes a living as an exotic dancer, and Portman threw herself into preparing for the role before shooting began.

To research a scene involving a chance encounter with Clive Owen's character, Larry, at the strip club where she works, Portman visited a few clubs and took lap- and pole-dancing lessons.

When it came time to bare all, the raven-haired beauty insists, "It felt pleasing."

It may have felt that way, but it certainly didn't look pleasing - not to Portman, anyway.

When Nichols' original cut featured a full-frontal shot of the 23-year-old actress, she reportedly ordered him to remove the offending frames.

Nichols, who has been like a second father to Portman ever since their first collaboration on an all-star production of "The Seagull," agreed that the footage was gratuitous and needed to go - much to the disappointment of male fans everywhere.

"He's as or more protective of me than my parents are," Portman has said. "So doing sexual, physical stuff for him felt very uncomfortable."

English Canada's greatest Canadians different from Quebec list

QUEBEC (CP) - While English-speaking Canada argues over the greatest Canadian, a survey suggests Quebecers believe their greatest ever citizen is Rene Levesque, the legendary premier who shaped the sovereignty movement for so many years.

Levesque's top billing differs greatly from his No. 69 ranking in a list of greatest Canadians as compiled by people across the country - a position that puts him far below singer Shania Twain and actor William Shatner.

CBC-TV will reveal its greatest Canadian on Monday following a Sunday afternoon Newsworld marathon featuring the top 10 finalists and a debate Sunday evening on the main network.

While the CBC's Greatest Canadian contest was promoted in English and French ads and a bilingual website, early plans to broadcast it in both languages were abandoned.

Former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau is the only Quebecer who cracked the top 10 in the Greatest Canadian list, with others like NHL great Maurice (Rocket) Richard and singer Celine Dion coming in further down.

A Leger Marketing survey conducted Nov. 19-22 for TVA suggests Levesque, who helped co-found the Parti Quebecois in 1968 and was premier from 1976-85, is the most admired Quebecer ever.

The top five in Leger's poll of 4,253 Quebecers was rounded out by veteran TV personality Janette Bertrand, paralympic athlete Chantal Petitclerc, Dion and Rev. Emmett Johns, who has been helping street kinds in Quebec for years.

Trudeau was in eighth position, while Richard was No.10 in the survey, which was released Thursday.

Levesque rose to power in the 1960s, giving a democratic expression to an emerging Quebec separatist movement just as it threatened to bring armed insurrection to Canada.

But Levesque's appeal reaches far beyond the sovereignty movement in French-speaking Quebec, where his name pops first to mind among sovereigntists and federalists on the streets, in cafes or in the halls of government.

"It was more about restoring pride to our people, about giving us the confidence to take our proper place in the world," Eric Tanguay, a 31-year-old former sovereignty supporter, said as he did some Christmas shopping recently in a Quebec City mall.

"Now ask me who was the worst Quebecer and Canadian, and I'll tell you: Pierre Elliott Trudeau," Tanguay said. "He had nothing but disdain for Quebecers. He had no respect for us."

A native of Montreal who frequently clashed with Levesque over their competing visions of Quebec and Canada, Trudeau is as controversial in Quebec as he is in Western Canada, with a legion of admirers and critics.

It's impossible to think of Trudeau without Levesque, according to Benoit Bouchard, a former Conservative cabinet minister and political enemy of both men.

"Since the beginning of Confederation, these are probably the two Quebecers who have made the greatest mark on Quebec and the country as well," said Bouchard, who is retired in Saguenay, Que.

"It's difficult to find people who have that many dimensions to them."

Many other men and women who spring to Quebecers' minds after Levesque did not make the Canadian top 100.

Playwright Michel Tremblay's groundbreaking Les Belles Soeurs was translated into 20 languages and is performed with the classics at acting schools across Canada. He's not on the list.

Joseph-Armand Bombardier invented the snowmobile, still the only means of winter transportation in vast tracts of northern Canada. He also created the Canadian transportation empire that still carries his name. He did not make the top 100.

Oscar-winning director Denys Arcand is arguably Canada's most important filmmaker and he still lives and works in Canada, unlike a dozen other Canadian entertainers who made the top 100.

Even with Quebecers who made the preliminary list of 100, it's easy to find controversy.

If Wayne Gretzky is top-10 material, why do Richard and Mario Lemieux, a player arguably as talented as the Great One, rank 23rd and 38th respectively?

In Quebec, Richard's suspension from the 1955 Stanley Cup final was seen as a slap by the English-speaking masters of the NHL against a francophone hero.

"Richard was a great man, and a great man right to the end," said retiree Nicole Gosselin.

"He played for not much salary, he played with great heart and through tremendous adversity. What better hero is there than him?"

Added Bouchard: "Lemieux was probably the best hockey player in terms of talent, in terms of genius, artistry, magic. Gretzky had what I would call national charisma. Gretzky remains a national image."

Bouchard said language and cultural barriers prevent many great Quebecers from becoming great Canadians.

"It's incredible," he said. "That's where we see that values, environment, culture, everything, is different.

"You have to be a Quebecer running a government in Ottawa to see just how deep the divisions go."

While four women reached the top-10 Leger Marketing list, no women are on the top-10 Greatest Canadian list.

Dion, one of the best-selling singers of all time, has her supporters in her home province.

"If I had to pick one person, it would be her," said Andree Boucher, a physical fitness consultant in Quebec City. "I would give anything to spend one day in her skin."

Back on the political front, some people say former premier Jean Lesage, widely considered as the architect of the Quiet Revolution, should have been recognized.

Lesage took control of schools away from the Roman Catholic Church and made the first serious demands that Ottawa give more power to Quebec. He modernized Quebec through investment and education.

Gerald Larose, leader of the Conseil de la souverainete, said it's difficult to find political leaders who would be considered great in Quebec and Canada.

"Unlike Trudeau, Brian Mulroney tried to reconcile Quebecers with Canadians when he was prime minister and he was hated for it," said Larose.

The former labour leader said ex-premier Jacques Parizeau would get his vote for his part in the Quiet Revolution, just above Lesage and Levesque.

Most Quebecers who made the top 100 CBC list are known for international accomplishments.

Retired general Romeo Dallaire, admired for his stand against the Rwandan genocide, does not spring to mind as a great historical figure among many Quebecers.

Writer Mordecai Richler is resented by many francophones for his biting commentary.

New book is about blunt realities of dating: He's Just Not That Into You

NEW YORK (AP) - So you've been dating this guy, and it seemed to be going so well. Long dinners. Cuddly walks in the park. Flirty text messages. And then, suddenly, he just stopped calling.

Your mind races for an explanation. Is he lying in a hospital bed? With amnesia? Did his house burn down with his address book inside it? Or maybe he's wounded from a previous relationship and just needs a little time?

Oh, for heaven's sake, say the authors of a hugely popular new book. Enough with the excuses! Face the truth, girlfriend, and the truth will set you free:

HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU.

With that simple message, emblazoned on the cover of a slim, pink volume, Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo have shot up bestseller lists. Launched in September with a printing of 30,000, He's Just Not That Into You is now in its 14th printing, at 1.2 million copies and counting. It's been featured (twice) on The Oprah Winfrey Show, with Winfrey shouting over and over to dating-challenged women in the audience: "He's Just Not That Into You!!"

So what, you might ask, is so revolutionary about advice that's so common sense it could be coming from your mother?

"It's just a wake-up call," says Tuccillo, a former writer for Sex and the City who also happens to be single and dating in New York. "It's just a clear-as-a-bell, funny, simple wake-up call."

It all began with a story meeting at Sex and the City. Behrendt, a standup comic and writer, had been serving as consultant to the show. A woman on the staff started talking about a guy she liked who'd been running hot and cold. The other women launched into thoughtful analyses of the man's every action, and Behrendt just blurted out - you guessed it! - "He's just not that into you."

"We all started shrieking!" Tuccillo says. "Because women never talk to their friends like that. We started playing 'Stump Greg' ... like what about the guy who's caring for his sick mother? And he answered, 'If that was me, you'd be the bright spot in my day, and I'd make sure you knew it."'

As die-hard Sex and the City fans know, the incident became a much-discussed episode, with Cynthia Nixon's character, Miranda, on the receiving end of the blunt verdict delivered by Berger, a boyfriend of Carrie's (Sarah Jessica Parker).

But even more important, Tuccillo says, it became obvious that this should be a book. Behrendt recalls that he went home and told his wife, "You know that crazy Liz? She wants me to write a book with her on this. And my wife said: 'She's right. You should."'

It is not like most self-help books you've seen. Only 165 pages, it is funny and blunt. Its cover delivers the message succinctly: an answering machine, set to a big fat zero. There are pithy chapters on all the ways a man can show you that he's just not ... well, you know.

-He's Just Not That Into You if ... He's Not Calling You. ("With the advent of cellphones and speed dials it is almost impossible NOT to call you. Sometimes I call people from my pants pocket when I don't even mean to.")

-He's Just Not That Into You if ... He's Not Asking You Out. ("Sadly, not wanting to see you in person is massive as far as dating obstacles go.")

-He's Just Not That Into You if ... He's Not Having Sex With You. ("Get a big red crayon. Colour in this flag. You've just made a big red flag. Good, because that's what a man not wanting to have sex with you is.")

The book also lays waste to some tried-and-true excuses women often let men get away with. Like, he's just too busy. ("The word 'busy' is the relationship Weapon of Mass Destruction. It seems like a good excuse. ...") Or, he doesn't want to ruin the friendship. ("Unfortunately, in the entire history of mankind that excuse has never ever been used by someone who actually means it.")

And, not to focus solely on male behaviour, it leaves women with some key advice on how to act when feeling hurt and angry. "One simple rule, ladies, always be classy. Never be crazy. It will ensure that you never have that awful memory of cutting his clothes in half or leaving his dog by the side of the road."

Although Behrendt and Tuccillo say they've received mostly excellent feedback, inevitably some people don't like the book. They don't get the humour, they don't like the title, they don't like the tone. "But hey," Behrendt says, "it's just advice, it's not a mandate. I'm not a doctor or a therapist." Though, he adds, some therapists have praised the book, too.

And asked why the book is directed only at women - hey Greg, aren't there guys out there who need to hear "SHE'S Just Not That Into You?" - Behrendt has a simple reply.

"Sure, we could have written that book," he says. "And about eight guys would have bought it."

'National Treasure' Retains No. 1 Spot

LOS ANGELES - "National Treasure" continued to strike box-office gold, taking in $33.1 million from Friday to Sunday to retain the No. 1 slot over the busy Thanksgiving weekend.

"The Incredibles" remained in second place with $24.1 million, while Tim Allen and and Jamie Lee Curtis' holiday comedy "Christmas With the Kranks" debuted at No. 3 with $22.7 million over the three-day weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Premiering Wednesday, "Christmas With the Kranks" took in $32 million over the five-day holiday period.

The weekend's other new wide release, Oliver Stone's historical epic "Alexander," had a so-so debut of $13.4 million, coming in sixth behind two holdovers, "The Polar Express" (No. 4 with $20.1 million) and "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" (No. 5 with $17.8 million).

Since debuting Wednesday, "Alexander" grossed $21.6 million.

In limited release, the French-language film "A Very Long Engagement" opened strongly with $106,000 in four theaters. A love story set in World War I and its aftermath, the film stars Audrey Tautou, reuniting with her "Amelie" director Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

It was a healthy holiday for Hollywood, with the top 12 movies grossing $215 million from Wednesday to Sunday, the second-best Thanksgiving period ever behind 2000's haul of $232.2 million.

With "National Treasure" and "The Incredibles," distributor Disney had the top two films over one of the busiest moviegoing weekends of the year. The one-two punch has helped lift Disney from a box-office slump that lasted most of 2004, with such duds as "The Alamo," "Around the World in 80 Days" and "King Arthur."

Starring Nicolas Cage as an adventurer who steals the Declaration of Independence to uncover clues to a hidden fortune, "National Treasure" raised its 10-day total to $87.9 million.

The cartoon superhero tale "The Incredibles," from "Finding Nemo" creator Pixar Animation, pushed its total since debuting Nov. 5 to $214.7 million, the fifth movie released in 2004 to top $200 million.

Action-packed but carrying family-friendly PG ratings, "National Treasure" and "The Incredibles" have drawn broad audiences.

"`National Treasure' is a blessed movie. It plays matinees loaded with kids and families, and evenings just loaded with adults," said Disney head of distribution Chuck Viane. "It happened with 'The Incredibles' in the same exact way."

With six of the top 10 movies rated PG or G, competition for the family crowd was fierce, but the movies all managed to find a solid slice of the audience.

"Christmas With the Kranks" succeeded despite poor reviews, and distributor Sony and producer Revolution Studios expect its holiday theme will sustain the movie through the end of the year.

The movie benefited from the family appeal of Allen, who starred in the holiday hit "The Santa Clause" and its sequel, and Curtis, fresh off last year's comic romp "Freaky Friday."

"Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis are the poster adults for children's movies," said Tom Sherak, a partner in Revolution Studios, whose founder, Joe Roth, directed "Christmas With the Kranks." The movie is based on John Grisham's novel "Skipping Christmas."

"Alexander," starring Colin Farrell as the Greek conqueror, also got bad reviews, but the R-rated movie served as counterprogramming over a weekend dominated by family flicks.

"We're certainly different than any other movie out there," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which released "Alexander."

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. "National Treasure," $33.1 million.
2. "The Incredibles," $24.1 million.
3. "Christmas With the Kranks," $22.7 million.
4. "The Polar Express," $20.1 million.
5. "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie," $17.8 million.
6. "Alexander," $13.4 million.
7. "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," $6.8 million.
8. "Finding Neverland," $4.7 million.
9. "Ray, $3.9 million.
10. "After the Sunset," $3.3 million.

Actress Julia Roberts Gives Birth to Twins-Report

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Julia Roberts gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, in a Los Angeles hospital on Sunday, People magazine reported on its Web site, citing an anonymous source.

A magazine spokeswoman said Roberts, 37, gave birth around 3 a.m. PST (6 a.m. EST) to Phinnaeus Walter and Hazel Patricia.

A spokeswoman for the star did not return phone calls.

Roberts, who won an Oscar for her role in "Erin Brockovich" (2000), married the twins' father, cameraman Danny Moder, 35, in 2002 on Roberts' ranch in Taos, New Mexico.

The two had been splitting their time between homes in Taos, New York, and the Los Angeles area.

The actress was hospitalized late last month after experiencing early contractions. Doctors advised her to remain on bed rest until she gave birth.

Roberts, who has starred in scores of films including "Pretty Woman" (1990) and "My Best Friend's Wedding" (1997), will appear in two films opening next month: "Ocean's Twelve," with George Clooney and Brad Pitt, and "Closer," directed by Mike Nichols.

Roberts, who has no other children, was married to country music star Lyle Lovett from 1993 to 1995.

Julia Roberts Awaiting Birth of Twins

TORONTO - A pregnant Julia Roberts was confined to bed last month after experiencing a series of early contractions.

The 37-year-old actress is expecting twins — a boy and a girl — in early January.

With two films coming out in early December — Mike Nichols' "Closer" and "Ocean's Twelve," the Steven Soderbergh-directed sequel to 2001's star-studded heist caper — Roberts is conducting phone interviews while contemplating her pregnancy.

"I'm enormous," she says. "Let me tell you something, my babies weigh 6 pounds each. That's 12 pounds of just baby in me right now and I still have miles to go before I sleep with them. They're bionic. It's pretty amazing."

"Closer" is a romantic drama about two couples played by Roberts, Clive Owen, Jude Law and Natalie Portman. The movie contains some explicit sexual language.

"It becomes about the emotion and not about bad words or hard words to say or raunchiness or shock value or anything else," Roberts said. "It becomes about two people in this house whose lives are kind of falling apart. Then it's like afterward when you're able to have a coherent thought that you go, `I can't believe that I just said all of those bad words.'"

As to the pregnancy — "I feel great," she said.

Roberts married cinematographer Danny Moder in July 2002 at her home in Taos, N.M. The twins would be the first children for Roberts, who won the best actress Oscar in 2001 for "Erin Brockovich."

"Closer" is set for release Dec. 3. "Ocean's Twelve," also starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, will be in theaters Dec. 10.

Hey, Teacher! We All Need Some Compensation

LONDON (Reuters) - A group of former London schoolchildren who sang on Pink Floyd's 1979 classic "Another Brick In The Wall" have lodged a claim for unpaid royalties.

Twenty three teenage pupils from Islington Green School secretly recorded vocals for the track, which became an anthem for children with the chorus "We don't need no education."

On hearing the song, the headmistress banned the pupils from appearing on television or video -- leaving them no evidence and making it harder for them to claim royalties -- and the local school authority described the lyrics as "scandalous."

The album sold over 12 million copies and the single became number one in Britain and America.

Royalties expert Peter Rowan told Reuters he was appealing to a music royalties society on behalf of one former pupil and was working with other members of the class. He said he was still trying to contact the majority of the group.

"They are owed their money and we lodged the first claim last week," Rowan told Reuters. "I've been working on it for almost two years."

Music teacher Alun Renshaw took the schoolchildren to a nearby recording studio without the permission of the headmistress after being approached by the band's management.

The lyrics "We don't need no education, we don't need no thought control, no dark sarcasm in the classroom -- teachers leave them kids alone" were described by the Inner London Education Authority as scandalous.

The school was paid 1,000 pounds ($1,860) and later given a platinum record of the song but the pupils were paid nothing.

Rowan said the money would come from a music royalties society and not Pink Floyd. He expected the 23 pupils to receive about 200 pounds each.

The application for royalties was initially hindered by the lack of evidence but Renshaw said Margaret Maden, then the school headmistress and now a university professor, had supported their application.

"We had to provide evidence to show they were part of the song and Mrs Maden helped us with that," he said.

Renshaw told the Evening Standard newspaper the band's offer had been "an interesting sociological thing and also a wonderful opportunity for the kids to work in a live recording studio.

"I sort of mentioned it to the headteacher, but didn't give her a piece of paper with the lyrics on it."

'Baywatch' Voted Worst U.S. TV Import

LONDON - "Baywatch," the sun-bleached saga of Californian life guards, was voted the worst-ever U.S. television import in a British survey released Thursday.

"Baywatch," which starred Pamela Anderson and David Hasselhoff, ran from 1989 to 2001 and was once ranked the world's most popular program, with viewers in 140 countries.

Broadcast magazine's poll of about 20 program buyers from British terrestrial, cable and satellite channels acknowledged the appeal of a "series about a muscular lifeguard and his crew of pneumatic young helpers with raging hormones," but condemned "Baywatch" for scripts "of mind-numbing predictability: beachgoer is saved from drowning."

Second place in the poll went to "The Anna Nicole Show," the reality program featuring Playboy Playmate turned model Anna Nicole Smith.

Southern-fried 1970s hit "The Dukes of Hazzard" ranked third, followed by futuristic James Belushi vehicle "Wild Palms" and anthropomorphic action series "Manimal."

The same survey ranked the 25 best U.S. imports, with "The Simpsons," "Dallas," "MASH," "24" and "The Larry Sanders Show" leading the pack.

"Broadcast'"s 10 Worst U.S. Imports:

1. "Baywatch"
2. "The Anna Nicole Show"
3. "The Dukes of Hazzard"
4. "Wild Palms"
5. "Manimal"
6. "The Jerry Springer Show"
7. "Knots Landing"
8. "Falcon Crest"
9. "The Bold and the Beautiful"
10. "Extreme Makeover"

Top-Selling Author Arthur Hailey Dies in Bahamas

NASSAU, Bahamas (Reuters) - Top-selling British author Arthur Hailey, whose novels sold 170 million copies around the world, died in his sleep at his Bahamas home, his wife said on Thursday. He was 84.

The author of several bestsellers that became blockbuster movies, like "Airport" and "Hotel," had been ailing since suffering a stroke two months ago. But he had enjoyed dinner with two of his six children just a few hours before he died.

"He had a wonderful life. His greatest ambition was to see his name on a book and he certainly achieved that," said his wife Sheila.

Born in Luton, England, in 1920 as the only child of working class parents, Hailey began writing after World War II, when a meal served on a DC-4 flight triggered a story idea that was to propel him to fortune.

He began to wonder what would happen if the flight crew went down with food poisoning and penned his story "Flight Into Danger" -- the first of his successful works.

Hollywood producers bought several of his books and he flirted with script writing himself before deciding that novels were his forte. He was known for his intricate research and wanted his readers to be both entertained and informed.

He went on to see his books published in 38 languages in 40 countries.

"Wheels," "The Moneychangers" and "Strong Medicine," were some of his other novels that were made into movies.

Hailey emigrated from Britain to Canada after the war and worked in marketing and public relations before launching his literary career.

It took him about three years to complete each book. After publishing "Detective" in 1997, when he was 77 years old, he decided to retire.

He and his wife lived at Lyford Cay, Nassau, for more than 40 years.

Hailey was never influenced by critics or literary awards. During his career, he chiseled out just 600 words a day. "I have never been able to write quickly or easily. I am too self-critical for that. I am never satisfied," he once said.

R.E.M. To Reissue Catalog

R.E.M. will reissue their entire Warner Bros. catalog on February 15th, with each two disc set including the original album and a bonus DVD featuring the record remixed in 5.1 surround sound, as well as unreleased documentary and video footage.

The reissues span from R.E.M.'s 1988 Warner debut Green to this fall's Around the Sun, and mark the band's transition from indie favorites to one of the world's biggest bands.

"These days, there are R.E.M. fans who think 'Stand' or even 'Losing My Religion' is the first song the band ever wrote," bassist Mike Mills told Rolling Stone in 1991. "The people who listen to Top Forty are generally not R.E.M. record buyers -- or they weren't until the last year or two. It's kind of surprising to listen to the fourteen-year-old girls call up and go, 'How long have you been together? I like your first record.' And it's like 'No, no. See, the first record came out when you were about one year old.'"

Typical of the bonus material is the extra disc for Out of Time, which includes the unreleased documentary Time Piece, a blend of band member interviews and commentary on songs from the album that made R.E.M. a household name.

R.E.M. finish their U.S. tour Sunday with a show at Albuquerque's Kive Auditorium, before heading to Europe in January.

There Will Be A Fierce Year-End Competition

With the crucial holiday-sales season already under way, the record labels may be relying on an unsuccessful strategy to boost their year-end numbers: releasing all of their biggest records in just a few weeks in November. Though new albums from System of a Down and Beck have been delayed until next year, retail experts say that the crush of major acts including Eminem, U2, Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg and Destiny's Child threatens to keep all but a couple of artists from scoring blockbuster sales.

"We believe the consumer has only a certain amount of money to spend," says Virgin Megastores' Jerry Suarez. "Just because the labels release a lot of records doesn't mean the consumer inherited a lot of money. Everything can't sell a million copies its first week, and consumers have to make a choice." Suarez notes that Destiny's Child, who bumped up their release date one day, to November 15th, following a leak, may have fared better had their album come out in October, rather than going head-to-head with an unbeatable Eminem.

"The retailers were hoping we'd stagger the releases more," says one label exec. "But no matter how you look at it, we do our biggest volume at the end of the year. There are more people in the stores, and everyone thinks their artist has a chance to rise above the clutter."

Releasing big albums for the holidays is nothing new. But in previous years, blockbusters were spread out over three or four months, rather than three or four weeks. "We've had seven or eight weeks this fall where sales have gone down," says Billboard charts editor Geoff Mayfield. "If some of these albums had dropped sooner, the artists would have had a better chance of at least one week at Number One."

Worse yet, the pressure is on for the labels not to squander their first chance since 2000 to end the year with a rise in sales. In the first nine months of 2004, sales were up 5.8 percent from last year. But following a soft September and October, that margin has narrowed to four percent. "By the time we're done," says Mayfield, "we may only be up two or three percent. But I don't want to be too much of an alarmist; it's better than three years of decline."

Godzilla's Farewell at 50?

It's taken 50 years, 29 movies and, owing to one monster-sized tail, who-knows-how-many accidentally knocked over craft-service tables, but Godzilla is finally getting his Hollywood coming-out party.

In the coming days, the made-in-Japan leading lizard will ride in a parade, get starred on Hollywood Boulevard and storm the red carpet for a Grauman's Chinese Theatre movie premiere.

He'll also say goodbye. Or so it's been said.

"It's the latest last movie," says Ed Godziszewski, publisher of Japanese Giants magazine.

"It" is Godzilla Final Wars, billed as "the last Godzilla film."

Well-versed in kaiju eiga (that's Japanese for "monster movie"), Godziszewski is skeptical that audiences have seen the last of the big guy.

"Even when Godzilla is killed in a movie he's never really dead," Godziszewski says.

There is no indication that Godzilla breathes his last atomic breath at the end of Final Wars. But there are pledges from his bosses at Japan's Toho Studios that their star is headed for retirement.

The move comes as fandom wraps a year spent commemorating Godzilla's golden anniversary. It was 50 years ago this month--on Nov. 3, 1954--that Gojira, a serious-minded, black-and-white horror film about a giant creature who doesn't mind where he steps in Tokyo, opened in Japan. In 1956, the movie was redubbed, recut, recast - with Raymond Burr no less - and exported to the United States under its new title: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!.

Toho has gone on to produce 28 cult-inspiring films, including Final Wars. In all, Godzilla has starred in 29 films if you count 1998's U.S.-made Godzilla, which most fans frankly don't.

As Godziszewski points out, Godzilla has taken breaks before--he's even been killed before--only to return to make life heck for puny humans and assorted atomic freaks of nature.

"No matter what happens in the end to conclude the movie, Godzilla will never actually die," Godziszewski says.

Tsutomu Kitagawa, however, is emphatic that Godzilla is going away for good this time. Kitagawa is the ultimate Godzilla insider, in that he's been inside the Godzilla suit for five of the last six Japanese-produced films.

"[Shogo] Tomiyama, the producer, and the staff of the movie are doing their best to make this the best movie because it's the final movie," Kitagawa said this week of Final Wars, through a translator. "They put everything in this movie."

Indeed, few parts of the world are safe in Final Wars, with New York, Paris, Shanghai and Sydney all taking hits.

Kitagawa will be on hand, and in character, for Monday night's Grauman's Chinese invite-only screening, the first time a Japanese-made Godzilla movie has premiered outside of Japan. (The movie opens for paying customers in Japan on Dec. 4.)

Other Godzilla firsts: Monday morning's unveiling of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; Sunday night's scheduled appearance (in float form) at the 73rd annual Hollywood Christmas Parade; Thursday's Thanksgiving at Peggy Aiken's house in Sacramento, California.

Technically, that last one's a first for Kitagawa, not Godzilla--although how many holiday dinners can a skulking monster possibly have been asked to attend?

Stateside for the last week attending a Godzilla film festival in San Francisco, Kitagawa will be at Casa Aiken at the invitation of Keith Aiken, of the Japanese fantasy film and TV site, Henshin!Online (www.henshinonline.com). Peggy Aiken is Keith Aiken's understanding maternal unit.

"She said, 'Well, you've been a fan since you were a kid, so I guess it's come to this,' " Aiken said of his mother's reaction to having Godzilla over for dinner.

Aiken said the traditional turkey and fixings will be served.

After 50 years, and another looming retirement, Godzilla deserves the drumstick.

Musicians demand Ottawa protect them from music piracy

OTTAWA (CP) - Some of Canada's best know musicians gathered on Parliament Hill on Wednesday to call on the federal government to update its antiquated copyright law.

Artists such as Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo, rocker Tom Cochrane and blues singer Jully Black said the industry is being devastated by Internet piracy and counterfeit CDs. The Copyright Act, drafted in 1908, is ill-equipped to address the issues of the 21st century and what the president of the Canadian Recording Industry Association called "some of the biggest loopholes that any business has ever had to contend with."

"The current Copyright Act . . . damages the industry, the economy and our artists' careers," said Graham Henderson, noting even the Supreme Court of Canada has recommended the federal government update copyright law.

"Downloading, file-swapping, peer-to-peer networks - these are all euphemisms for piracy, pure and simple. It is devastating to the Canadian music industry."

A spokeswoman for Heritage Minister Lisa Frulla said the minister met early Wednesday with representatives of the musicians and discussed the issue.

"Copyright has to balance the rights of creators with the needs of users," said Marianne Goodwin.

Last March, a joint report from the Heritage and Industry departments suggested copyright reform is needed and they would be seeking authority from cabinet this fall to begin drafting amendments.

"Work is proceeding on that timetable," said Goodwin.

Henderson said music sales have dropped by a third - almost $500 million - in just a few years.

The industry tracked illegal downloads of Tragically Hip music for a month this year. Henderson said there were 2.8 million attempts to download Tragically Hip music, compared with 1,000 legal purchases through the online music store Puretracks.

"That translates to about a quarter-million records in a month," said Henderson.

The practice is hard enough on established artists; it can be devastating to debut acts.

One artist, Hawksley Workman, had to contend with 1.7 million illegal attempts to download music from his second album.

"That type of piracy has the effect of a brick wall on a career," said Henderson. "The sales of his records were nothing like what they could have been but for that piracy."

Henderson said piracy has also cost the industry thousands of jobs and countless lost career opportunities.

"The laws are so out-of-date in Canada that you can do those sorts of things with music and, even if we catch you, chances are the courts are going to let you go," he said.

The Liberals promised during the federal election campaign to protect artists with new legislation.

"We are asking ministers and MPs to move forward immediately with this new, vital legislation," Henderson said.

But Prof. Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa law school, says proposed reforms will directly affect millions of Canadians who may have no interest in music.

"Millions don't download," said Geist, "yet the reforms will have a direct and adverse impact on their interests, including education, research, libraries, consumer rights, and privacy."

Rather than pushing for harmful copyright reforms, Geist said the industry would be better off pushing for greater government support for the creation of music, what he called the true engine driving the Canadian industry.

"Canadian artists in particular have fared remarkably well under the private copying system with millions in income generated as compensation for the private copying that occurs," Geist said.

The reasons for reduced sales are far more complex than simply music downloading, he added.

The artists, members of the Music in Canada Coalition, also noted that the three-year, $95-million Canada Music Fund expires this year. They called on Ottawa to provide long-term sustainable funding to the music industry.

Eminem Tops Charts Ahead of Holiday Season

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Eminem topped music charts for a second week, warming up a recent cold spell for record companies who hope the rapper and big releases from acts like U2 and Gwen Stefani will ignite a hot holiday season

"It's been soft, but things are getting better and I think we're going to have a good fourth quarter," John Sullivan, chief financial officer of Trans World Entertainment Corp., a retail music chain operator, said on Wednesday.

Eminem's "Encore" sold about 871,000 albums in the United States in the week ended Nov. 21, according to Nielsen SoundScan, bringing his 10-day total to 1.6 million units.

That just about matched the first 10-day sales tally of Eminem's last album, "The Eminem Show," in 2002, which has gone on to sell a total of 9.3 million units.

Overall U.S. album sales for the week totaled 15.3 million compared with 16.6 million in the year-ago week, marking the industry's 10th consecutive down week.

Total year-to-date U.S. album sales have increased, however, totaling 545.8 million units compared with 529.0 million last year.

Ranking second behind Eminem was Destiny's Child's "Destiny Fulfilled," selling 497,000 units, while Lil' Jon and the Eastside Boyz landed at No. 3 with "Crunk Juice," which sold an estimated 363,000 units. Rounding out the top five were Clay Aiken's "Merry Christmas With Love," which sold 270,000 units and Shania Twain's "Greatest Hits," which sold 232,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Retailers expect to reverse the recent downtrend starting this week, the kick-off to the holiday retail season.

"The past few weeks have been weak, but this week looks like it's going to be quite strong with both Eminem and U2," said Duncan Brown, chief operating officer for Newbury Comics, a Boston-based operator of 25 stores in New England. "And here in Boston, we're also blessed to have the world championship baseball team," he added, citing brisk sales of new DVD titled "2004 World Series-Boston Red Sox vs. St. Louis Cardinals."

"The DVD's really been helping sales," he said.

U2's new album, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," the band's follow-up to its 2002 Grammy winner "All That You Can't Leave Behind," was released to stores on Tuesday and is expected to hit 1 million units in its first week, helped by a promotional campaign of epic proportions.

Media appearances, free concerts and the group's tie-in with Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod and iTunes music service have created more buzz than for any other album this year. Under Apple's deal, its iTunes Music Store got exclusive rights to the band's new songs during their first weeks in release. Apple is also selling special edition U2 iPods.

"I would imagine that with the visibility U2 has, we will be selling a lot of records," Brown said.

Gwen Stefani's debut solo album "Love, Angel, Music, Baby" is also is expected to draw a big tally, and is predicted to land around No. 3, behind Eminem this week.

Critics Blast 'Alexander' But Novelist Defends It

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - While critics savaged Oliver Stone's long-waited epic "Alexander," novelist and social activist Gore Vidal rallied to the $160 million movie's defense saying it was "barrier-breaking" because of its frank depiction of bisexuality.

Stone's film opened on Wednesday to near universal pans from critics who called it everything from a "noble failure" to an "indifferent epic."

The Charlotte, North Carolina, Observer said the movie was "an act of hubris so huge, that, in Alexander's time, it would draw lightning bolts from contemptuous gods."

Vidal said the critics failed to see it was a seminal movie because of its treatment of Alexander's bisexuality.

The film, based on historical accounts, deals matter-of-factly with the ancient Macedonian king's affairs with both men and women -- an issue many in Hollywood predicted would harm its box office chances.

In an interview with Reuters, Vidal said the film was "a breakthrough in what you can make films about. Movies are always the last to register changes in society and this movie does it."

Vidal's novels and plays, including the hit drama "The Best Man," often deal with once taboo gay themes. He said American filmmakers had thrown up a wall against showing bisexuality out of fear of alienating the public.

"But I don't see why they should be so upset since the public practices it," he said.

Daily Variety called the film, "at best an honorable failure, an intelligent and ambitious picture that crucially lacks dramatic flair and emotional involvement."

The Los Angeles Times said "'Alexander' could have been a movie worth remembering. what we get is an indifferent epic."

HBO FINDS A 'FRIEND'

Lisa Kudrow is the second former "Friends" cast member to land a new show.

HBO has ordered 13 episodes for a series starring Kudrow as a one-time sitcom star who is trying to revive her career.

Kudrow and former "Sex and the City" executive producer Michael Patrick King co-wrote the pilot script for the new series, to be called "Comeback," and will executive produce the series.

In the pilot, directed by King, Kudrow was joined by co-stars Robert Michael Morris, Damian Young, Laura Silverman, Malin Akerman and Robert Bagnell

"Comeback" is the first half-hour show picked up by HBO since "Sex and the City" bowed out last spring.

Matt LeBlanc stars in "Joey," a "Friends" spin-off.

FIGHTING IRISH U2 resist the Rock Hall honor

U2 are almost certain to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in December, entering the Hall in their first year of eligibility. But the band, one of 16 nominees for up to seven new inductions in the class of 2005, doesn't want the honor — not yet, anyway. ''We're definitely too young,'' bassist Adam Clayton, 44, tells USA Today. ''We tried very hard to get out of it,'' says Bono, also 44. ''Our respect for the people on that [selection] committee is the only reason we'd turn up. Others deserve it before us. We are humbled by the support for us and the esteemed company, but this is no time to look back.''

Acts become eligible for the Hall 25 years after the release of their first albums. (In U2's case, that 1980 debut was Boy.) With Tuesday's release of the band's much-hyped How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, the musicians say they're not ready for a career summation award. ''We're in the middle, so this doesn't quite seem credible,'' says guitarist The Edge, 43. ''We've got another 25 years,'' says drummer Larry Mullen Jr., 43. ''They need to change the rules. We're still creative and still out there competing on every level. It would be great to get this when we're 75 and we can bring the grandkids along.''

Signs that fans still eagerly await the band's new music were apparent on Monday, as the band crisscrossed Manhattan on the back of a flatbed truck, performing for crowds on the sidewalks, as they filmed their video for the new single ''All Because of You.'' The parade ended in Brooklyn's Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, where the band drew an estimated 6,000 fans to a free, 45-minute concert that included six songs from Atomic Bomb. MTV taped the concert and will air it on Dec. 10.

After extended hiatus, Was (Not Was) is again

After more than a decade of dormancy, eclectic Detroit funk act Was (Not Was) is preparing to re-emerge with a December/January club tour, a best-of album and a new studio set.

The brief tour gets underway Dec. 27 in Southern California, and so far is scheduled to visit nine cities. According to the group's publicist, the lineup will include Don Was, David Was, vocalist Sweet Pea Atkinson, sax player David McMurray, guitarist Randy Jacobs and a drummer to be determined.

The outing, dubbed the Life After Meth tour, will help pave the way for the planned spring 2005 release of a new Was (Not Was) album, tentatively titled "Boo!", as well as the best-of collection. Release dates haven't been announced for either set.

Was (Not Was) issued its self-titled debut album in 1981, and followed it with 1983's "Born to Laugh at Tornados," which featured guest vocals from both Mel Torme and Ozzy Osbourne.

The group's most commercially successful album was 1988's "What Up, Dog," which spawned the hits "Walk the Dinosaur" and "Spy in the House of Love." It was followed by 1990's "Are You Okay?"

Don Was (Don Fagenson) and David Was (David Weiss) went their separate ways in 1993. Don went on to produce Bonnie Raitt's Grammy-winning "Nick of Time" album, and also worked with Elton John, Kris Kristofferson, the B-52's, Elton John and others. David produced two soundtracks for "The X-Files" and scored two network dramas.

The pair began working on new Was (Not Was) material in 2002, and the live band re-formed for a gig at the Sundance Film Festival in the winter of 2004.

Tragically Hip to become latest members of Canadian Music Hall of Fame

WINNIPEG (CP) - Tragically Hip guitarist Robby Baker was suitably honoured and humbled by Tuesday's announcement that the renowned rockers will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

But he was also a little nervous about what the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences might be trying to tell the group of Kingston, Ont., natives after more than 20 years in the business.

"Do we get a watch or something?" Baker asked at a news conference in Winnipeg to name the latest inductees.

"If you're putting us out to pasture, it's not going to work. Our best work is right now and what's lying ahead of us, so we're not retiring.

"But thank you, it's a real honour."

The Hip will be inducted into the hall of fame at a gala Juno Awards dinner April 2 and during the televised awards broadcast April 3 in Winnipeg.

Academy president Melanie Berry said the band is being recognized for redefining music in Canada.

"They have created a genre that stands alone and transcends musical stereotypes," said Berry.

Baker, frontman Gordon Downie, drummer Johnny Fay, guitarist Paul Langlois and bassist Gord Sinclair have earned widespread critical acclaim throughout their career.

Their lyrics are known for their patriotic roots, from their hit song named after the small Ontario village of Bobcaygeon to hockey references peppered throughout their 10 albums.

They also lent their support to the Canadian Football League's championship Grey Cup game Sunday with an energetic half-time performance outdoors in Ottawa.

They have sold over six million albums in Canada and are currently touring the country to promote their latest release, In Between Evolution. Tuesday's announcement corresponded with a tour stop in Winnipeg.

When Langlois learned the band was being inducted into the hall of fame, his first reaction was surprise, followed by modest hope they were not leapfrogging ahead of other worthy musicians.

"We don't necessarily feel old enough to receive this kind of award," said Langlois.

He credited the band's highly regarded live performances as the key to its longevity, noting the group has also successfully developed its own sound that is ever-evolving.

"We've just done our own thing and let people decide and let them figure out how to describe us."

The Hip has largely steered clear of "industry functions" such as the Junos in the past.

But Langlois said the band is pleased with the academy's transformation in recent years that has seen the awards show travel the country, focus on live performances and become more accessible to fans.

He shares Baker's insistence that the group is not looking at their hall of fame induction as a winding down of their career.

"We do feel at the top of our game," said Langlois. "The main thing on our minds right now is presenting this new record on tour, but then the next thing after that is the (next) new record and writing new songs."

The Hip will join more than 30 other hall of famers, a group that includes Glenn Gould, Joni Mitchell, Anne Murray, the Guess Who, Oscar Peterson, Rush and Neil Young and the Band.

Nirvana's Box Set Finally Released

SEATTLE - Nirvana's box set, delayed three years by litigation, was finally released Tuesday, introducing hundreds of thousands of fans to rare recordings and even living-room video of the grunge rockers.

The four-disc set, "With the Lights Out," includes 81 tracks, 68 of them previously unreleased. It was initially planned for release in 2001 — for the 10th anniversary of the album "Nevermind" — but a dispute between Courtney Love, the widow of frontman Kurt Cobain, and the surviving bandmates delayed the project. The sides settled their legal issues in September 2002, allowing work on the box set to resume.

"I'm personally delighted to see it out," said Love's lawyer, O. Yale Lewis. "Between the greatest hits, released earlier, and this box set ... it will provide the fans forever (with) a good mosaic of the music of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana."

Universal's Geffen label recorded close to 400,000 advance orders of the box set, which officially listed at $60 but was selling at about $40 at many music stores. Another 100,000 copies were expected to sell by the end of the first week. The set will be followed in a few years by a "best-of-the-box" release, Lewis said.

The set features three CDs, beginning with a Led Zepplin cover recorded in 1987, and a DVD of rare performance and rehearsal footage — including nine songs rehearsed at the home of bassist Krist Novoselic's mother when Cobain was only 20. The DVD also includes the first performance of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," the song that launched Nirvana and Seattle's grunge scene onto the national stage in 1991.

"It is a true Nirvana fan's dream," said Seattle disc jockey Andrew Harms, whose station, 107.7 FM, devoted the weekend to the rare tracks. "You get to see how the band progresses. The whole box set tells a story, and it goes all the way to the end."

Cobain biographer Charles Cross agreed that the set tells Nirvana's story aptly — a story that ended with Cobain's spiraling heroin use and suicide in 1994.

"It's not always a pretty story," he said. "The band wasn't always pretty, or always in tune. This is not Nirvana unplugged. It's Nirvana unedited."

Seattle music writer Gillian Gaar first heard Nirvana when she was reviewing a Sub Pop Records compilation album in the late 1980s. She was so unimpressed she didn't bother to mention the band in her piece, though she discussed almost every other song on the compilation.

That changed when she heard the band's first album, "Bleach." She wound up becoming a big fan — and would later spend six years working on the box set, tracking down rare recordings and helping create a 60-page booklet that accompanies every edition.

"I started working on it in 1998 and never imagined it would take six years," she said. "We were working with a 2001 release date, for the 10-year anniversary of Nevermind. Then the lawsuits happened. All this work we had done was put on hold, and we thought, 'Are we ever going to get back to this?'"

Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl wanted to release the box set earlier, but Love disagreed, arguing that a best-of-Nirvana CD should come out first. They wound up in court, but settled; the box set was delayed to make way for the best-of disc.

Gaar found the final product satisfying, but sad.

"The DVD starts with them in this little room rehearsing, then at the end they're again in a little room rehearsing," Gaar said. "There seems to be an underlying sadness coming through. That was part of the soul of the band in a way, that there was always a melancholy bittersweet feeling running through their music. Even the title, 'With the Lights Out,' seems to me to be a little sad."

The title comes from "Smells Like Teen Spirit," which includes the refrain: "With the lights out/ it's less dangerous/ here we are now/ entertain us."

'Alexander,' 'Kranks' Join Holiday Parade

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Alexander," Oliver Stone's ode to a Grecian warrior, rides into battle Wednesday, when the R-rated epic about the young conqueror will face a phalanx of films with broad family appeal, including the Thanksgiving holiday weekend's other newcomer, the Tim Allen comedy "Christmas With the Kranks."

Last weekend, two PG-rated Disney releases -- "National Treasure," an adventure movie from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and Pixar Animation's "The Incredibles" -- proved potent competitors. "Treasure" opened at No. 1 with a $35.1 million haul, and previous champ "Incredibles" took in $26.5 million to place third in its third weekend.

On Monday, the two films claimed the first and second positions, respectively, for the day. With "Treasure" collecting nearly $3 million and "Incredibles" $1.7 million, the weekend's No. 2 movie, "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie," from Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon Movies, slipped to third place, with $1.5 million.

Although no one appears quite sure how the pecking order will play out this weekend, the top-grossing film is likely to command a figure in the $40 million range for the five days. The other contenders in the top five are expected to register numbers in the $20 million-$30 million spectrum.

Sony Pictures' "Kranks," which not only hails from Revolution Studios but was directed by Revolution founder Joe Roth, will compete with the other family-oriented PG films as it opens Wednesday in 3,933 theaters. Based on a John Grisham novel with a screenplay by Chris Columbus, it also stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Erik Per Sullivan and Dan Aykroyd in a tale about a family that tries, unsuccessfully, to ignore the holidays.

Allen has established credentials as a holiday draw. His 1994 comedy "The Santa Clause" opened on a nonholiday weekend in November to $19.3 million, and its sequel, "The Santa Clause 2," opened on another nonholiday weekend in November 2002 to $29 million.

"Alexander," on the other hand, will be one of the few R-rated films in wide release. Among those movies, its main competition is Universal Pictures' "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," which was fifth last weekend with $10 million.

But the sword-and-sandals saga, produced by Intermedia Films and released by Warner Bros. Pictures, also has a running time of nearly three hours, which will limit the number of times it screens at the 2,445 theaters where it will be playing. In May, Warners opened another big fat Greek movie, the Brad Pitt starrer "Troy," to a three-day gross of $46.8 million. But "Troy" entered a relatively open market, which is not the case for "Alexander," which stars Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer and Anthony Hopkins.

Meanwhile, Miramax Films' Oscar hopeful "Finding Neverland" will expand into 513 theaters. And Warner Independent Pictures' "A Very Long Engagement," led by the "Amelie" twosome of director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and actress Audrey Tautou, opens in limited engagements in hopes of establishing its awards season credentials.

Rather to Resign 'CBS Evening News' Post

NEW YORK - Dan Rather, whose nearly 24-year tenure as anchor of the "CBS Evening News" was clouded by a recent questionable report on President Bush's National Guard service, said Tuesday he will step down in March.

Rather said his last broadcast as anchor would be March 9, the 24th anniversary of when he assumed the position from Walter Cronkite.

The 73-year-old newsman said he will continue to work for CBS, as a correspondent for both editions of "60 Minutes."

"I have always been and remain a `hard news' investigative reporter at heart," he said in a statement. "I now look forward to pouring my heart into that kind of reporting full time."

He made no mention of the National Guard story in announcing the change, saying he had agreed with CBS executives last summer to leave sometime after the Nov. 2 election. But he was forced to fight for his professional life after anchoring a September "60 Minutes Wednesday" story about Bush's service that turned out to be based on allegedly forged documents.

A report on what went wrong with the National Guard story, from a two-man independent investigative panel, is due imminently.

CBS didn't talk about potential successors. Newsmen John Roberts and Scott Pelley have long been considered in-house candidates, but the network will also probably look outside.

Rather has been with CBS News for more than four decades and made his name as a reporter covering the Nixon White House.

"He has been an eyewitness to the most important events for more than 40 years and played a crucial role in keeping the American public informed about those events and their larger significance," CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves said.

Rather's announcement comes eight days before his NBC rival, Tom Brokaw, steps down as "Nightly News" anchor and is replaced by Brian Williams.

The triumvirate of Rather, Brokaw and ABC's Peter Jennings has ruled network news for more than two decades. Rather dominated ratings after taking over for Cronkite during the 1980s, but he was eclipsed first by Jennings and then by Brokaw. His evening news broadcast generally runs a distant third in the ratings each week.

His hard news style was mixed with a folksy Texan style that led him to rattle off homespun phrases on Election Night. But odd incidents dogged him: In 1987 he walked off the set, leaving CBS with dead air, to protest a decision to let a tennis match delay the news. And his claim that he was accosted on the street by a strange man saying, "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" led rock band R.E.M. to write a song with the same name.

Brokaw said Monday that he was "pleased for Dan that he's come to a conclusion about his own life, as I have in my case."

"Dan and I have known each other competitively and personally for a long, long time," Brokaw said. "Occasionally on the competitive side, it would be tiny bumps in the road, but when you think of all that we've been through, we have a pretty strong relationship. So I wish him well."

ABC News said Jennings was traveling and could not immediately be reached for comment.

CBS thought it had an important scoop with the National Guard story this past September, reporting that President Bush had received preferential treatment to get into the guard and stay in the United States during the Vietnam War, and had failed to satisfy the requirements of his service.

But critics immediately questioned the story, saying a document purportedly written by Bush's late squadron leader appeared to be a fake. Rather apologized before CBS appointed the investigative panel.

"We made a mistake in judgment," Rather said, "and for that I am sorry."

The Couch Potato Report - November 23rd, 2004

In The Couch Potato Report this week there are two cultural icons and two Oscar winners.

SEINFELD is a television show that ran from 1990 until 1998. Actually, when it first aired it was called THE SEINFELD CHRONICLES, but more on that in a moment.

Stand up comedian Jerry Seinfeld stars in the show as a stand up comedian.

The premise of this show is Jerry and his friends going through everyday life, discussing various quirky situations and things that everyone can relate to.

Shirts, water, bosses, shrinkage, being the master of your domain, parking, babies, puffy shirts, soup. No topic or issue was too mundane or off limits.

I still have the videotape that includes the very first episode of SEINFELD, or THE SEINFELD CHRONICLES as it was called that first night, July 5, 1989.

Kramer was called Kessler and there was no Elaine, but from the minute the credits rolled I was an immediate fan of the show.

I, and many, many people remain a fan of SEINFELD to this day.

And now, finally, SEINFELD - SEASONS 1, 2 & 3 are available on two separate 4
disc box sets or in one big box set that features all 41 episodes from
the first three seasons of the show, plus an Original Script, Salt &
Pepper Shakers, and Playing Cards.

Earlier this year, twice earlier this year actually, I proclaimed that the SCTV BOX SETS were the comedy releases of the year!!!

The SEINFELD box sets came a very close second.

On these incredible releases we get to relive Kramer's first not-so-grand entrance, Jerry's first contemptuous "Hello, Newman," and Elaine's first "Get Out!" shove.

We also get "The Pony Remark", "The Chinese Restaurant", "The Boyfriend," with Keith Hernandez and the J.F.K. parody, "The Library."

And lets not forget "The Pez Dispenser" and "The Keys," with an L.A.-bound Kramer winding up on Murphy Brown.

In addition to the original, full-length episodes the sets also come with an incredible array of extras.

There are interviews with the cast and creators about what was happening behind the scenes as the episodes were created and filmed; deleted scenes, out-takes and bloopers; an hour-long look at how Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David first came up with the idea for the show, and much, much more.

In it's heyday SEINFELD was called "a show about nothing." On this day I agree. It was a show about nothing, but it was nothing but entertaining!

I am more than pleased to finally own SEINFELD - SEASONS 1, 2 & 3 on DVD, and other than the two SCTV BOX SETS, SEINFELD is the comedy release of the year!!!

Yadda, yadda, yadda.

I suspect that anyone who likes SEINFELD is feeling a certain kinship with me right now.

Soon, those who love Harry Potter will feel a certain disdain with me, because I just don't get the whole Harry Potter phenomenon.

And I could very well be alone in that because there have been over a quarter of a billion Harry Potter books sold in over 200 countries in 61 different languages.

The Harry Potter films have been just as successful with the three that have been released so far earning a combined 2.6 billion dollars world wide.

Yes, I've read the books, and I've seen the movies. No, I still don't get the whole Harry Potter phenomenon.

But that's okay, as long as it is bringing joy and pleasure to others, it doesn't have to please me as well. After all, not everyone likes SCTV and SEINFELD either.

This week's new Harry Potter title is HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN and the now 13-year-old students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry must face a new challenge, one named Sirius Black.

If you love Harry Potter and his adventures, you already know the rest of the story and plot and you've already bought or rented HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN.

If you are indifferent to the series, you don't need me to say anymore.

I do feel compelled to admit that even though I don't get the whole Harry Potter phenomenon, I still thought the first two films in the series were entertaining.

I found HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN quite boring. Yes, the filmmaking, cast and special effects were superb, but the pace of the film is just so slow that I was twitching in my seat more than a few times during the movie's two hours and twenty one minute running time.

But then again, not everyone likes SCTV and SEINFELD either.

If you are a fan of Harry Potter, and you get get the whole Harry Potter phenomenon, then for you, HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN is a must own.

If you don't come over here with the rest of us muggles and you can read JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL with us.

Now that is a book and phenomenon I do get and Susanna Clarke's book JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL is a great read if you have a long plane ride ahead of you.

Actually, at 782 pages it is a great book to have with you if your flight gets delayed or cancelled and you get stuck in an airport terminal.

And as clever it may be or not, this week's final new release in The Couch Potato Report is a movie called THE TERMINAL.

Tom Hanks from FORREST GUMP and CATCH ME IF YOU CAN stars as an Eastern European who arrives at New York's Kennedy Airport just as his fictional homeland has fallen to a coup, forcing him, with no valid citizenship, to take indefinite residence in the airport's expansive International Arrivals Terminal.

Along the way Hanks character becomes friends with the terminal's staff and falls for a flight attendant.

Catherine Zeta-Jones from CHICAGO is the flight attendant and the film was directed by Steven Spielberg.

With the talent behind THE TERMINAL, I expected it to be a modern day classic. Sadly, even though the film does have an understated grace, THE TERMINAL never really takes off.

Especially once the film's secrets are revealed. Even then, the movie just doesn't get going.

At the end of THE TERMINAL, I actually felt as if I had just been stuck in an actual airport terminal as I was cranky, tired of sitting around, and I just wanted to get to my destination.

If you are in the mood for a romantic film with great aspirations, that never quite reaches them, then check out THE TERMINAL.

It is available at your favourite local video store alongside SEINFELD - SEASONS 1, 2 & 3 and HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN.

COMING UP IN THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT

Peter Parker faces a new foe and personal struggles as Spider-Man in
the wildly entertaining sequel SPIDER-MAN 2.

And in the superb martial arts film HERO a nameless warrior does battle
with a ruthless emperor.

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 Tunage

Here are reviews for the major music releases for the week of November 23, 2004:

U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (Interscope)

Halfway through the excellent new U2 album, Bono announces, "I like the sound of my own voice." Well-said, lad; well-said. Ever since U2 started making noise in Dublin several hundred bloody Sundays ago, Bono has grooved to the sound of his own gargantuan rockness. Ego, shmego - this is one rock-star madman who should never scale down his epic ambitions. As the old Zen proverb goes, you will find no reasonable men on the tops of great mountains, and U2's brilliance is their refusal to be reasonable. U2 were a drag in the 1990s, when they were trying to be cool, ironic hipsters. Feh! Nobody wants a skinny Santa, and for damn sure nobody wants a hipster Bono. We want him over the top, playing with unforgettable fire. We want him to sing in Latin or feed the world or play Jesus to the lepers in his head. We want him to be Bono. Nobody else is even remotely qualified.

U2 bring that old-school, wide-awake fervor to How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. The last time we heard from them, All That You Can't Leave Behind, U2 were auditioning for the job of the World's Biggest Rock & Roll Band. They trimmed the Euro-techno pomp, sped up the tempos and let the Edge define the songs with his revitalized guitar. Well, they got the job. On Atomic Bomb, they're not auditioning anymore. This is grandiose music from grandiose men, sweatlessly confident in the execution of their duties. Hardly any of the eleven songs break the five-minute mark or stray from the punchy formula of All That You Can't Leave Behind. They've gotten over their midcareer anxiety about whether they're cool enough. Now, they just hand it to the Edge and let it rip.

During the course of Atomic Bomb, you will be urged to ponder death ("Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own"), birth ("Original of the Species"), God ("Yahweh"), love ("A Man and a Woman"), war ("Love and Peace or Else") and peace ("City of Blinding Lights"), which barely gives you time to ponder whether the bassist has been listening to Interpol. "Vertigo" sets the pace, a thirty-second ad jingle blown up to three great minutes, with a riff nicked from Sonic Youth's "Dirty Boots." "City of Blinding Lights" begins with a long Edge guitar intro, building into a bittersweet lament. "Yahweh" continues a U2 tradition, the album-closing chitchat with the Lord. It's too long and too slow, but that's part of the tradition.

Like all U2 albums, Atomic Bomb has false steps, experimental bathroom breaks and moments when the lofty ambitions crash into the nearest wall. As America staggers punch-drunk into another four-year moment we can't get out of, it would be a real pleasure if the political tunes had any depth. (How long? How long must we sing this song?) But Bono scores a direct hit on "One Step Closer," an intimate ballad about his father's death from cancer in 2001; "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" is the song U2 did at the funeral. When Bono sings, "You're the reason why I have the operas in me," his grief and his grandiosity seem to come from the same place in his heart. It's a reminder that what makes U2 so big isn't really their clever ideas, or even their intelligence - it's the warmth that all too few rock stars have any idea how to turn into music. (ROB SHEFFIELD)

Gwen Stefani Love, Angel, Music, Baby (Interscope)

No Doubt singer flies solo and hits the dance floor for her first solo album, Gwen Stefani could have gone the solemn schlock route. But fortunately, she obeys her disco instincts on Love, Angel, Music, Baby. It's an irresistible party: trashy, hedonistic and deeply weird. Stefani's gum-snapping sass brings out the beast in her beatmasters, especially the Neptunes in "Hollaback Girl" and Andre 3000 in "Bubble Pop Electric." Dr. Dre and Eve appear in the Fiddler on the Roof goof "Rich Girl." She sings repeatedly about her obsession with "Harajaku Girls," until she sounds like a Japanese pop princess in Valley Girl drag. And anyone who can get New Order on the same track as Wendy and Lisa ("Real Thing") is some kind of visionary. (ROB SHEFFIELD)

Nirvana With the Lights Out (Geffen)

Excessive? Definitely. But so was everything else about Nirvana. They tried too hard, screamed too loud, made a mess out of all they touched. Kurt Cobain jammed his tunes with more emotional intensity than they could hold, blowing his cool at a time when the rock world was into playing it safe. His band rocked so exuberantly, it made other bands sound halfway committed. They pushed it too far. They checked out too fast. Excess, both the heroic and the stupid kinds, was Nirvana's whole story. And they made it sound like sick fun.

With the Lights Out is total excess: three discs of outtakes, B sides, acoustic demos and boombox rehearsal tapes, plus a DVD of raw early footage. Loads of these songs haven't even been rumored on the hardcore Nirvana-bootleg circuit. For starters, there's Cobain's 1989 home recordings, with a scary version of Leadbelly's "They Hung Him on a Cross." From Nirvana's first show, in March 1987, there's an awesomely inept blast at Led Zep's "Heartbreaker." There's an early demo of "Sliver," sad enough to slice up your heart, with the scared little kid in the song singing, "Grandma, take me home" through Cobain's barely adult voice.?

But the prizes are the full-fledged Nirvana songs that got away: "Verse Chorus Verse," "Old Age," "Anorexorcist," "I Hate Myself and I Want to Die," the B side "Curmudgeon," the hilarious stoner goof "Moist Vagina." "Do Re Mi" is an acoustic lament Cobain taped in his bedroom just weeks before his death. The long-bootlegged "Blandest" is one of Nirvana's toughest songs ever - Cobain yowls about a girl he likes ("You're my favorite/Of my saviors") over frantic electric fuzz. Every time he takes it to the bridge, he signals the band with that beaten-dog yelp - "Hey!"- that defines his voice the way "Good God!" defines James Brown. Everything Cobain was trying to articulate about toxic love is right there in that "hey!" Who besides Nirvana could have blown off a song this great?

The DVD footage is nuts - check the 1988 jam at Krist Novoselic's mom's house, with Cobain screaming "The Immigrant Song" at the wall as a friend tries to create a strobe effect by flicking a light switch on and off. But you can't top the naked demo of "Heart Shaped Box," which has doomier lyrics ("I wish I could catch your cancer/When I am bad") and a bent noise-guitar solo. Like all boxes, heart-shaped and otherwise, With the Lights Out is for true-blue fans only. But if you think you want it, you do. More, please. (ROB SHEFFIELD)

By the way, these discs are also coming out today:

CREED Greatest Hits (Wind-Up/Sony)
IRON MAIDEN The Early Days (DVD) (EMI)
JESSICA SIMPSON ReJoyce The Christmas Album (Columbia)

The Year's Best DVDs

Rolling Stone Magazine's Peter Travers picks the top 25 of 2004.

Check out my list of this year's best DVDs. Then we can argue. It's part of the fun. Are the best DVDs all about the quality of the movie itself? Or is it more about the wow factor in image and sound that lets your home-theater system rock the house? Or is it those rare bonus features that go beyond hype to actually reveal something about how movies are made? You hardly ever get all three in one package, but here are the twenty-five DVDs that come the closest.

1. Star Wars Trilogy

George Lucas' sci-fi trilogy (1977's Star Wars, 1980's The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Return of the Jedi) arrived on DVD at last, with an incredibly crisp picture and a spectacular sound mix to become the DVD event of the year. One caveat: Lucas tweaked each movie, spruced up the special effects, modified lines of dialogue to better fit with his prequels and even replaced actor Sebastian Shaw with prequel star Hayden Christensen to portray the ghost of Anakin (Darth Vader) Skywalker at the end of Jedi. Heresy or artistry? You decide.

Extras: A fourth disc has more than three hours of documentaries, plus photos. Lucas explains how hyperspace works, what Darth Vader really wants from Luke and why the bad guys are dressed in black and white.

Killer Scene: The forest chase in Return of the Jedi is one of the greatest-ever DVD demo sequences. Trees whiz by, speeder bikes explode and you hold your breath and duck.

2. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

The extended edition (accept no substitutes) adds fifty minutes to the Oscar-winning third part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. But it's the movie itself, presented here with state-of-the-art attention to sound and image, that bowls you over. And so what if the ending goes on forever? Peter Jackson makes screen history.

Extras: The bonus features are so copious they'd take you nearly a day to watch. Among the deleted scenes, the big thrill is watching Gandalf (Ian McKellen) face off with Saruman (Christopher Lee). Why was it ever cut?

Killer Scene: The battle of Minas Tirith is one for the DVD time capsule. But when Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) leads the final attack with a cry -- "For Frodo!" -- he becomes the king we've all been waiting for and charges the movie right at the heart.

3. Shrek 2

This computer-animated sequel, the top box-office hit of 2004 to date, comes to DVD brimming with perverse pleasures that show no respect for the rules of kiddie-cartoon form, which is all to the good. Not only is Shrek 2 double the fun of the original, it's more technically assured -- a fact intensified by repeated DVD viewings. And the voices, led by Mike Myers as the ogre hero, are all on the comedy money. But new character Puss in Boots, voiced by Antonio Banderas as a feline Zorro, steals the show.

Extras:The Tech of Shrek 2 is a deep-dish look at the film's innovations in animation. And a parody of American Idol, in which the cast mixes it up with a cartoon Simon Cowell, is a hoot.

Killer Scene: Anything with Puss in Boots -- he's pure catnip.

4. Fahrenheit 9/11
5. Super Size Me

It's not pushing it to call 2004 the Year of the Partisan Documentary. Muckraking is back in style, and, boy, do we need it now. These done-on-the-run provocations don't have Lord of the Rings production values, but they're alive with passion. Here are two of the finest:

Fahrenheit 9/11 Michael Moore's emotionally rich and ferociously funny film is more than Dubya drubbing; it's a shocking look at the human toll that U.S. foreign policy -- since 9/11 and the war in Iraq -- is taking on the disenfranchised.

Extras: More than an hour of deleted scenes. Pay special attention to footage of a storm-trooper-like roundup of suspected insurgents in an Iraqi suburb.

Killer Scene: Moore's interview with Lila Lipscomb, the mother of a son killed in Iraq, puts a human face on a global tragedy.

Super Size Me Morgan Spurlock's indisputably hilarious experiment -- to consume Big Macs, fries and sugary soft drinks for thirty days -- is a subversive indictment of fast-food propaganda and the willingness of adults and kids to swallow it.

Extras: An interview with Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, stings smartly and cuts deep.

Killer Scene: Spurlock administering a test to schoolchildren, who can't identity Jesus or American presidents but know instantly who Ronald McDonald is.

6. The Passion of the Christ

Drenched in gore, Mel Gibson's violent depiction of Christ's final hours is unrelentingly intense and, for many, also spiritually cathartic. With an exquisite picture transfer and a vivid soundtrack, the DVD accentuates the film's most powerful moments.

Extras: There aren't any. Maybe Gibson thought having us read subtitles while the actors speak Aramaic and Latin was enough.

Killer Scene: Ironically, a glimpse of Jesus (Jim Caviezel) quietly praying in the garden of Gethsemane is the most stirring image of him as human and as divine.

7. Spider-Man 2

A real looker among the year's DVDs, this sequel keeps springing surprises as Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) reveals his secret Spider-Man identity to Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst). The movie's distinction is its heart, but you can't blame the fan boys for preferring the action. There's plenty, and director Sam Raimi dishes it out with a surer hand than he did in the first film. From the opening scene of Peter delivering pizza to Spidey foiling a bank robbery, the effects are top-notch and gorgeously rendered on DVD.

Extras: There are two discs stuffed with commentaries, behind-the-scenes peeks and blooper reels. Best is the "Ock-umentary" on Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), the tentacled villain.

Killer Scene: The fight between Spidey and Doc Ock on a runaway train has all the bells and whistles. It's a kick just to watch the doc's smart arms as they move like sinuous belly dancers and seduce the doc to the dark side.

8. Kill Bill

Each of the two Kill Bill volumes -- both released this year -- pulsates with action. But put them together, which director-writer Quentin Tarantino promises to do at a later date, and get ready to be knocked for a loop. In Vol. 1, the Bride (a never-better Uma Thurman) sets up her revenge on Bill (a superb David Carradine) and his squad of assassins. In Vol. 2, she completes her mission of death.

Extras: Not that much to speak of, just clips from a premiere, promotional puffery and Tarantino talking about his B-movie inspirations. Perhaps QT is waiting for the ultimate Kill Bill collection to unspring the real goodies. There is one great deleted scene -- a miniature masterpiece -- on Vol. 2: a fully executed kung-fu duel featuring Carradine and five attackers.

Killer Scene: In Vol. 1, it's the opening battle in a suburban home, as Thurman and Vivica A. Fox trash the living room but stop and pretend to be friends when Fox's young daughter comes home from school. You hear every broken shard of glass hit the floor, and you hear Thurman and Fox breathing, no matter how loud the crashing becomes.

In Vol. 2, it's the fight in the trailer between Thurman and Daryl Hannah. Watch out for the snake and the sound you hear when Thurman squishes Hannah's eye between her long, lethal toes.

9. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

The best of the three Potter films to date -- thanks to the dark magic of director Alfonso Cuaron -- is also the best DVD. The first two films were slogs due to the candy-bright view of director Chris Columbus. Cuaron works in the shadows, where mystery, sex and trauma do their mischief. The crisp transfer catches what goes bump in the night.

Extras: There are interactive challenges for the kids. But the interview with author J.K. Rowling is the no-bull surprise.

Killer Scene: It won't be just kids who get nightmares from the attack of the killer tree. And poor Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), who thinks a prisoner (Gary Oldman) is the key to his parents' murder, is in for a shock from soul-sucking creatures called Dementors.

Most Comprehensive DVD Package

10. The Matrix Trilogy

The metaphorical and innovative 1999 action film and its two disappointing but challenging sequels (The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, both released in 2003) make for a mind-bending ten-disc DVD experience. Watching Keanu Reeves as Neo negotiate his love for Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and his loyalty to Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) for three movies, you might think you're living in someone else's reality, which may be just what visionary filmmakers Larry and Andy Wachowski want you to think.

Extras: Each film comes with two commentary tracks, one by a pair of philosophers who admire the films, and one by a trio of movie critics who don't. The made-for-DVD anthology, The Animatrix, which explains the trilogy's back story, is included, as are two potent supplements: One examines the trilogy's underpinnings in Western and Eastern philosophy, and one asks whether we are all wired to a virtual world.

Killer Scene: The docking-bay battle in the final film is spectacular, but the most thrilling blend of action and character involves Neo and Trinity in the first Matrix, running up a wall to dodge bullets and rescue Morpheus from a fate worse than bad dreams: machines.

11. The Day After Tomorrow

As drama, this end-of-the-world fable is dribbling drool. It's the weather-on-acid special effects that give your audiovisual system a wild ride as a $125 million budget and an army of computers show the horrors of global warming: A tidal wave drowns Manhattan. Multiple tornadoes destroy Los Angeles. Hailstorms pound Tokyo. Hurricanes whack Hawaii. The only thing scarier is the monumental ineptitude of the acting, writing and directing.

Extras: Forget the commentary tracks. The best extra? A chance to break apart the seven different audio components that make up the soundtrack for the helicopter-crash sequence.

Killer Scene: A Russian freighter floating down Fifth Avenue has a haunting stillness.

12. The Bourne Supremacy

Globe-trotting spy thrillers rarely come as satisfying as this sequel to 2002's Bourne Identity. Starting with a knockout performance from Matt Damon as an amnesiac CIA assassin, the film delivers whiplash action without compromising its realistic atmosphere and emotional precision.

Extras: There are about forty-five minutes of documentaries, the best of which reveals the secrets of the car chase.

Killer Scene: The most innovative movie car chase in the last three decades. Jack up the sound and it will bring to life every nightmare auto accident you've ever been in or witnessed.

13. The Battle of Algiers

Gillo Pontecorvo's systematic rendering of a terrorist revolt against the colonial French government in Algeria is as relevant and gripping as it was in 1965.

Extras: Two additional discs are loaded with bonus material. The most vital extra features two former intelligence officers, Richard A. Clarke and Michael A. Sheehan, talking about the parallels between the film and the latest war on terrorism, and how history is repeating itself.

Killer Scene: In a crowded cafe, a terrorist leaves a bomb that explodes on cue. The film is so documentarylike that you can't believe it's only movie stunt people being buried in the rubble.

14. Dawn of the Dead

Director Zach Snyder's remake of George Romero's 1978 zombie classic is a gore freak's delight and much better than we had any right to expect. And it's the unrated director's cut you want to get your hands on, not the wimp version that played multiplexes.

Extras: More than twelve minutes of pukeworthy deleted scenes. But the special feature on how to explode a head is alone worth the DVD price.

Killer Scene: They're all killer scenes, baby. Chow down.

15. Garden State

Scrubs star Zach Braff debuts as a screenwriter and director in a hilarious and heartfelt love story, bolstered by his sweet chemistry with co-star Natalie Portman.

Extras: The actor comments are tart and funny. Portman praises Braff for not being the kind of male who would write her role as "hot, naked a lot and crazy about sports."

Killer Scene: Braff in a shirt that matches his bathroom wallpaper. Watch. You'll see.

16. Hellboy: Director's Cut

Guillermo del Toro's faithful, enthusiastic rendering of Mike Mignola's comic-book tale about a big red demon (Ron Perlman) who works for the U.S. government is best seen in this recut version, which adds thirteen minutes of material, including one action scene and a lot of eccentric character development.

Extras: Two additional discs hold three hours of documentaries and behind-the-scenes footage. The most rewarding segment is hearing Del Toro talk about his love for comics since childhood.

Killer Scene: In Dolby 5.1 sound, the all-stops-out fight in the subway seems to come crashing down on top of you.

17. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Jim Carrey races through a dreamscape to hold on to his memories of Kate Winslet (in peak form), memories that Mark Ruffalo and Kirsten Dunst zap electronically.

Extras: Deleted scenes reveal a compelling but excised subplot; what stands out is a fifteen-minute segment on Carrey, who gives his most effective dramatic performance to date. Carrey talks reflectively and cogently on the gravity of his role, and yet there he is between takes keeping the cast and crew in stitches.

Killer Scene: A car falls from nowhere, and store signs begin to get fuzzy the first time you realize that not all of the film is taking place in the real world. This scene and many like it are tributes to the visual wizardry of director Michel Gondry.

18. Mean Girls

Tina Fey wrote and co-stars in this witty take on fem rivalries in high school. And Lindsay Lohan scores as the the innocent who gradually turns bitchy-mean.

Extras: Fey offers delicious commentary, and there are very funny bloopers, but the best segment is Rosalind Wiseman, author of the novel on which the film is based, talking about social pressures on teen girls.

Killer Scene: When Fey, in the role of a teacher, tells the girls, "Stop calling each other sluts and whores. It just makes it all right for guys to call you sluts and whores."

19. John Cassavetes: Five Films

Essential movies from the pioneer of American indies, starting with his first film, 1959's Shadows, and including his 1974 landmark, A Woman Under the Influence, in which his wife (the sublime Gena Rowlands) gives the performance of her career.

Extras: Each movie is accompanied by retrospective interviews with cast and crew members. And a three-hour documentary about Cassavetes appears on a separate disc. Significantly, the original cut of The Killing of a Chinese Bookie makes its first appearance since its 1976 debut.

Killer Scene: In Faces, Seymour Cassel really jams his fingers down Lynn Carlin's throat after her character nearly ODs on pills. It's the sort of raw, gripping filmmaking that comes from a more daring age.

20. I, Robot

This sci-fi thriller is constructed around a murder mystery that keeps Will Smith hurtling forward and us caring what happens next. Grand special effects heighten the rousing fights and chases.

Extras: On the commentary track, director Alex Proyas and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman skillfully deconstruct the detective genre.

Killer Scene: Driving a hot-looking car of the future, Smith is trapped in a tunnel between two trucks that suddenly spill open from the sides to let robots leap out and crawl over his car like giant insects.

21. Collateral

This head-spinning ride through one hellish Los Angeles night gave Tom Cruise, as a hit man, and Jamie Foxx, as the cabbie he forces to drive him on a murder spree, a chance to break type and fire up the screen. That they do. But the movie belongs to director Michael Mann, who orchestrates action and mood with a poet's eye for urban darkness.

Extras: A superb making-of documentary shows how Mann risked shooting eighty percent of the film on high-definition digital video to penetrate the murky night. It's a risk that paid off with groundbreaking results.

Killer Scene: Three coyotes cross in front of the cab in mockery of the city's thin hold on civilization. It's Mann's peek into hell.

22. Napoleon Dynamite

Here's the little comedy that came out of nowhere to gross $40 million and build an avid cult of repeat viewers. Newcomer Jon Heder is geek perfection as the white boy in a tight red Afro who helps his Mexican friend Pedro (the hilariously deadpan Efren Ramirez) run for class president.

Extras: Since to watch this bizarro movie is to need to know where it came from, you'll enjoy the commentary from Heder and first-time director Jared Hess, who wrote the script with his wife, Jerusha. The sweetest extra is the five-minute "Wedding of the Century" epilogue that Hess added to the movie when it went into wide release.

Killer Scene: It has to be Napoleon's dance near the end when he amazes his high school with his slick moves. Where did the nerd find rhythm? The same place where Hess picked up the the talent to make silly soar.

23. School of Rock

Jack Black, in a star-making comic turn, plays Dewey Finn, a phony substitute teacher who enlightens a group of fifth-graders on the art of rock & roll. Combo Black with a deft script from Mike White (The Good Girl) and pitch-perfect direction from Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused), and you have a movie that hits all the right notes. "I serve society by rocking," Dewey tells his class. Who's going to argue with that?

Extras: Black is on one commentary track, and the kids are on another. It makes for chaotic fun. There is a clip of Black begging Led Zeppelin to let their songs be used in the film. He also cuts loose in a lengthy Comedy Central piece. In the funniest instructional segment (stupidly relegated to DVD-ROM), Black names his favorite bands and offers his very personal interpretation of the history of rock & roll.

Killer Scene: Black shows the kids how to turn anger, about anything, into a decent rock song.

24. Hero

"Breathtaking" does not begin to describe the action in this Oscar-nominated film from director Zhang Yimou. Martial-arts legend Jet Li stars as the nameless hero who claims to have killed three assassins to protect Qin, a conqueror out to unite the warring states of China in the third century B.C.

Extras: The storyboards fascinate, but so does a conversation between Jet Li and Quentin Tarantino on what makes a hero.

Killer Scenes: For poetry, it's the fight set against falling leaves. For spectacle, it's the spray of arrows that fall like a hailstorm. For every scene, it's the talent of cinematographer Christopher Doyle (In the Mood for Love) that makes this movie look lit from within.

25. DodgeBall

For sheer stupid, raunchy fun, you can't beat this parody of sadistic sports movies. DodgeBall pits Vince Vaughn and his Average Joes against Ben Stiller and his Purple Cobras. No crotch joke is missed. The surprise? Most of them are funny.

Extras: Bloopers, deleted scenes and an alternate ending can't compete with the hilarious segment on dodgeball training.

Killer Scene: Rip Torn, as coach Patches O'Houlihan, throws wrenches at players' heads to toughen them up for the game.

'The Contest' Picked As Favorite 'Seinfeld' Moment

If only one episode of NBC's "Seinfeld" could reign as the master of its domain and as the king of its castle, it's no surprise that viewers would pick "The Contest." The episode, from the popular comedy's fourth season, topped an AOL member poll of favorite "Seinfeld" moments.

Launched in anticipation of the DVD release of the show's first three seasons, the AOL poll provided user with 25 possible classic moments from the classic comedy, which went off the air in 1998. That list of 25 was narrowed down to five possible moments and after more than 550,00 votes, "The Contest" came out the rather predictable winner.

"Seinfeld had so many wonderfully imaginative episodes and segments, so it's fascinating to see which were the favorites among AOL members," Lexine Wong, executive vice president of marketing for Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, which is releasing the DVD.

Perhaps no "Seinfeld" episode produced as much water cooler discussion at "The Contest," which premiered on Nov. 18, 1992. In the half-hour, Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) and George (Jason Alexander) begin a contest of self-denial and the rest of the gang jumps in on the action. Larry David won an Emmy for writing the euphemism-heavy episode, in which the word "masturbation" is never mentioned. Tom Cherones, who directed the episode, was also nominated for an Emmy and the series picked up the trophy for outstanding comedy that year.

The other top moments were less episodes so much as moments or catch phrases. George's explanation of "shrinkage" received the second most votes, followed by George's famous encounter with the Soup Nazi. Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) dancing finished fourth beating out the immortal and wildly overused catch phrase "Yada, yada, yada."

The "Seinfeld" DVD hits shelves today (Tuesday, November 23), while NBC will air a retrospective with the major cast members two nights later on Thursday.

NO GRAY WIG REQUIRED THIS TIME AROUND

Mrs. Doubtfire isn't finished yet. Eleven years after the Robin Williams drag comedy appeared on the big screen, a sequel to the hit film is in the works at Fox 2000. Williams is in early talks to reprise his role as Mrs. Doubtfire and resume producing duties with Marsha Williams. Bonnie Hunt also is in talks to pen the project. In the original, directed by Chris Columbus, Williams played an estranged father who poses as a Scottish nanny, Euphegenia Doubtfire, in order to get access to his children and successfully bypass his ex-wife (Sally Field).

The film grossed $219 million domestically. The film garnered two Golden Globes in 1994, one for best picture (comedy/musical) and one for Williams as best actor in a comedy/musical. The film also won an Oscar for best makeup for Williams' elaborate transformation into a frumpy, bespectacled older woman. Williams' recent credits include David Duchovny's "House of D" and Christopher Nolan's "Insomnia." The Oscar-winning actor has just been announced to receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. at the 62nd annual Golden Globes on Jan. 16.

ALIAS Is On The Move

As speculated by most when ABC picked up DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES for a full season, ALIAS will move to Wednesdays after LOST making the night a J.J. Abrams night!

ALIAS will kick its fourth season on Wednesday, January 5 with a two-hour premiere from 9 to 11 p.m. The following week, it'll settle into its regular time slot at 9 p.m. following the other J.J. Abrams' show, LOST.

ALIAS season premiere is titled "Authorized Personnel Only" and is rumoured to shake up Sydney Bristow's life.

"Here's to those who wish us well, and those who don't can go to hell."

— Elaine Benes, from SEINFELD

Puss In Boots To Get Own Movie

SHREK 2's kitty will get a direct-to-video movie centered on himself. DreamWorks has tapped Ed Decter and John Strauss to write PUSS IN BOOTS.

The storyline for the movie has not been outlined yet nor was it announced that Antonio Banderas would return to voice the character.

Willis Cries Foul over "Tears"

Bruce Willis, accused of being a "pain in the ass" on the set of Tears of the Sun, says its filmmakers were a pain, too. A pain in the head.

Willis has sued the studio behind the 2003 action-war movie over a combat sequence that the star alleges hurt his forehead and caused "extreme mental, physical and emotional pain and suffering."

The lawsuit, filed Oct. 20 in Los Angeles, was made public Monday by The Smoking Gun. Revolution Studios and Joe Pancake, a crew member identified on IMDb.com as the special-effects foreman of Tears of the Sun, are named as defendants.

Revolution said Monday it could not address the lawsuit. Pancake could not be located for comment.

At issue are the movie-making events of Oct. 21, 2002. In the complaint, Willis says he took "a projectile" to the forehead as he shot a scene simulating a spray of bullets. Willis blames the injury on a negligently placed and detonated squib, a special-effects explosive that substitutes for real, live gunfire.

Willis accuses Revolution and Pancake of negligence and of exposing him and others to "ultrahazardous activity." His lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

Movie star injuries on set are not uncommon; lawsuits are. Halle Berry (broken arm on Gothika, debris to the eye on Die Another Day) and Nicole Kidman (cracked rib, bum knee on Moulin Rouge) are two banged-up actors who didn't limp off to court. (At least not yet.) Hollywood's most infamous on-the-set accident--the 1982 helicopter mishap on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie that killed Vic Morrow and two child actors--resulted in the most serious kind of legalese--a manslaughter trial.

Specifics on Willis' injury were not known, outside of the lawsuit noting that the Die Hard icon is still incurring medical expenses. A call to Willis' publicist was not returned Monday.

Tears of the Sun, shot mainly in Hawaii, was released in March 2003. It grossed an underwhelming $43.7 million domestically, and another $42.3 million overseas--the cumulative take still short of the $110 million spent on its producing and marketing, per BoxOfficeMojo.com.

In the film, Willis, "a universally known motion picture star and celebrity," per his lawsuit, played a Navy SEAL officer sent to war-torn Africa to rescue a doctor (Monica Bellucci).

Willis and director Antoine Fuqua clashed during production, with Fuqua telling BBC.com that Willis was the biggest "pain in the ass" he'd ever worked with.

"We just didn't get along," Fuqua said. "We got along off camera, but shooting, we just didn't get along."

Alleged forehead issues aside, the 49-year-old Willis has recovered from the box-office bruising he endured with Tears of the Sun. By IMBb.com's count, he has five films in production or post-production, including Alpha Dog, a true-crime drama costarring Justin Timberlake.

Michael Moore Tops List of Least-Intriguing Stars

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Director Michael Moore, whose anti-Iraq war film "Fahrenheit 9/11" sparked a firestorm of controversy before becoming a post-election footnote, topped an annual list on Monday of Hollywood's "coldest" celebrities.

The outspoken documentarian, who seemed to be everywhere during the 2004 U.S. presidential campaign, urging defeat of President Bush, ranks No. 1 on this year's "Frigid 50" roster of lackluster stars published by online movie magazine FilmThreat.com.

The Web site, known for an anti-establishment take on the entertainment industry, said its list names the stars it found to be the "the polar opposite of the hottest celebrities: these are the least powerful, least-inspiring, least-intriguing people in Hollywood."

Ranked No. 2 was actress Halle Berry, who followed up her Oscar-winning turn in "Monster's Ball" with less critically lauded roles in such films as "Gothica" and "Catwoman."

"The Frigid 50 ice pack have left audiences cold with their overbearing personalities, poor career choices and chronic inability to stop making fools of themselves," the site said.

Moore qualified because of what the editors saw as an oversized ego. "Message to Michael: Remember, it's not always about you. Lose the chip on your shoulder," the editors said.

"Fahrenheit 9/11," hailed by Democrats for its scathing critique of Bush and the U.S.-led war in Iraq but condemned by Republicans as a distorted piece of propaganda, grossed nearly $120 million at the U.S. box office, a record for a political documentary. Moore has said he plans to make a sequel before the next election.

Walt Disney Co. chief executive Michael Eisner was ranked No. 3 on the list, which cited this year's revolt by dissident shareholders, a hostile takeover bid by Comcast, public spats with Pixar and Miramax and a string of such flops as "Home on the Range, "The Alamo" and "Hidalgo."

He was followed at No. 4 by director M. Night Shyamalan whose latest thriller, "The Village" and its "surprise ending" were widely seen as falling far short of the pre-release hype.

Comic actors and frequent co-stars Ben Stiller & Owen Wilson were jointly listed at No. 5 for their appearances in a recent string of "mass-produced mediocrity."

Rounding out the top 10 were: Reese Witherspoon (a "Little Miss Cutesy-Wutesy" whose recent "Vanity Fair" role offered a "disastrous full view of her limitations as an actress"); Jimmy Fallon ("The guy most notorious for blowing his lines on 'Saturday Night Live' crossed over to the big screen in 'Taxi' -- and nobody cared"); Paris Hilton ("She's like a computer virus out of control and she must be stopped") and Ben Affleck ("He's been cursed with the incredible shrinking career").

Ozzy Osbourne in Fight with Intruder

LONDON (Reuters) - Two burglars broke into the English country home of rocker and reality TV star Ozzy Osbourne just before dawn on Monday and stole a large amount of jewelry, police said.

A source close to the family said Osbourne, 55, grabbed one of them, but the intruder struggled free and jumped out of a first-floor window.

Neither Osbourne nor his wife, Sharon, were hurt during the incident, the source said. Their three children together were not in the house at the time. The value of the missing jewelry is still being assessed, the source added.

The burglars used a ladder to climb into the Osbournes' mansion at Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire, north of London, police said, adding that more details would be given at a news conference on Tuesday in nearby Gerrards Cross.

Ozzy Osbourne first shot to fame in the 1970s as frontman of ground-breaking heavy metal band Black Sabbath.

He has since mellowed from wild man of heavy rock to comical much-loved star of MTV's popular reality show "The Osbournes," which offers a peek into his life at home with his family.

Frequently in the news in Britain, he injured himself badly in a quad bike crash a year ago. He fractured eight ribs and a vertebra in the accident and spent several days on a ventilator.

KRAMER ON KRAMER

Michael Richards may be forever re membered as Kramer — the wackiest of the four friends on "Seinfeld" and the originator of countless get-rich-quick schemes — but that doesn't mean he doesn't drive a hard bargain in real life.

There was some very tough negotiating involved before the beloved "show about nothing" could finally come out tomorrow on DVD, where it is expected to be one of the top sellers in the medium's history.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

As of last December, Richards was holding out for more money to film new on-camera appearances and record commentary tracks — as were former castmates Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine) and Jason Alexander (George).

Seinfeld himself and the series' co-creator, Larry David, were already assured the lions' share of DVD residuals.

"At the last minute they came through," Richards told The Post, referring to compensation offered by the DVD's distributor, Columbia/Tri-Star, as well as its producer, Castle Rock Productions.

"We're cutting new ground for residuals on DVD, just as we did [for syndication] when we signed contracts to renew for the series in 1997.

"We knew that if we put up a united front, eventually they would come through with what we wanted," Richards said with a laugh.

He wouldn't give specifics on the deal, but Richards, Louis-Dreyfuss and Alexander reportedly received $13 million apiece for the show's last season.

There's plenty of yada yada — both audio and on-camera commentaries — on the DVDs. The season-three set also includes a documentary devoted to Richards' development of the Kramer character, as well as an interview with Kenny Kramer, the real-life neighbor of Larry David who inspired the TV Kramer.

Recording the commentaries — which fans expected for the DVD release — "was kind of fun, and it was kind of like a reunion," said Richards, who confessed he had never seen most of the episodes before.

Richards was recruited for the show by David, with whom he had worked on a late-night series called "Fridays," over the initial objections of Seinfeld. Jerry wanted another actor to play Kramer, who was called Kessler in the pilot because of legal concerns.

During the series' nine seasons, Richards always wore the same pair of shoes — which were constantly resoled — and demolished three copies of the door to Jerry's apartment during his energetic trademark entrances.

Perhaps the most serious actor of the four leads, Richards admits he sometimes lost his cool after his co-stars blew their lines, which was often — but in a large selection of bloopers, Richards is never, ever seen breaking character.

By the end of the show's fourth season, Seinfeld-mania had reached such heights in the U.S. that Richards decided to get away from it all and took a trip to Bali.

"But even when I went deep into the tropical jungle, they were calling me 'Kramer, Kramer.' " he says with a laugh.

Complete Nirvana

New box set has plenty to satiate any fan looking for rarities

With the Lights Out, the new Nirvana box set out Nov. 23, is an exhausting and exhilarating listen. The three-disc, 81-track collection (plus DVD) is difficult to sit through in its entirety, either for the raw, squelshy sound of the early recordings or the sense of doom that marks the band's latter works. But that's nothing compared to what it took to actually compile the set: Everyone involved getting along.

After six years of rumours and legal wrangling, Courtney Love, the surviving members of the group, and the record companies finally came to an agreement over the rights to Nirvana's catalogue. Of course, the one person who had no say was singer Kurt Cobain, whose suicide in 1994 led to the demand for rarities and the tug-of-war over his work's ownership.

"It's no longer an issue. We all got over it," explains the box's project consultant, producer Jack Endino. "He's not here. The guy took himself out. So (sighs) you can't worry about what he would have thought about it. The fact was that he didn't like much of anything. He was very negative and depressed about a lot of stuff. He probably wouldn't want anyone to hear any of this. So ... we're not asking his opinion on this anymore. Courtney approved it all. Krist (Novoselic) and Dave (Grohl) and (early drummer) Chad Channing were all in on it. Nobody is pulling a fast one."

Endino speaks bluntly, but not flippantly. As a well-known and respected producer on the Seattle scene, he was there from the start of Nirvana's career and, in the absence of the band members, is as good a spokesman as anyone. He recorded Nirvana's debut album, Bleach (for $600) and seven tracks that appear on With The Lights Out. He was also instrumental in locating many of the other rare recordings.

"We started talking about this in 1998, in a phone conversation with Krist," he says. "He said, 'We're thinking of doing a box set.' I said, 'I know where a lot of this stuff is because I've got a lot in my own personal collection of cassettes.' Of course, Krist had lost a lot or didn't keep copies. So I started making copies for him, which started a long process of detective work."

Novoselic, Endino and Seattle journalist Gillian G. Gaar started compiling material for a possible 2001 release, coinciding with the 10-year anniversary of Nirvana's smash album Nevermind.

Then Courtney Love got cranky. In 2001, Cobain's widow stated on her own Web site "Nirvana is mine" then set about stopping Novoselic and Dave Grohl from releasing a new Nirvana track, You Know You're Right, by suing for dissolution of their legal partnership. She later sued the record label, Universal, for control of Nirvana's master recordings. So much for the box set.

But after all the bickering, it was the fans who came out winning: With The Lights Out is twice as long as the original planned box set, and contains several demos from Courtney's personal vault. The tracks are arranged chronologically, from a live recording of the band's first ever show, through to acoustic demos from just before Kurt's death. The rapid progression from noisy hacks to full-fledged songwriters is astonishing, really. Kurt's voice, in particular, emerges early on as a distinct force, melodic and mournful while full of fury. You can practically hear the world of music changing on Disc One's late-'80s material.

According to this audio history, the "Nirvana sound" first appears in 1998 on If You Must and Pen Cap Chew, two of Endino's recordings, "their first demo we did." He also worked on Blandest the first song they recorded with drummer Chad Channing. But Endino says his greatest find, the Holy Grail of his investigative efforts is a track called Verse Chorus Verse, an out-take from Nevermind.

"We knew the song existed because there were a couple of really bad bootlegs," explains Endino. "The problem was that Kurt never settled on lyrics. This version is from the Nevermind reels in the Geffen vaults. The instruments are there but you can't really tell what he's singing. But the melody is there. The placement is there. There was enough that the decision was made that we should put it on here. That was one of those super rare songs."

For the casual Nirvana listener, even ones with all the official albums, most of With The Lights Out is super rare. Obsessive bootleg collectors will hopefully be satiated and satisfied with this comprehensive collection.

"It's not a hits collection," says Endino. "I don't know if any of this will get played on the radio. That's not what we were thinking of. The bootleggers kept the music alive and it kept the pressure to make the box set, because the fans knew it was out there, but I think people can give it a rest now because there isn't much left that's terribly interesting. What's left is either really, really lo-fi or really, really redundant. I don't think there are any lost songs of much significance that are not on the box set."

With The Lights Out Picks:

Sifting through With The Lights Out is a four-hour long job. Each song will be somebody's favourite, but a few stand out for musical or historical significance. For maximum enjoyment, jump right to:

Heartbreaker (Live): Impromptu Led Zeppelin cover at the band's first ever show, a house party in Raymond WA. With guitar solo. Yes, Zeppelin fans. A blow to Alternative Rock snobs everywhere.

If You Must (Demo): First appearance of the "Nirvana sound" -- rock raucous slowed down to what would later be called "grunge." Endino claims Kurt hated the song. "I think he thought it was a little too heavy metal. It's the only song he used the diminished fifth on, the heavy metal devil's interval. But it's got a great vocal! The vocal is killer!"

Beans (Solo acoustic demo): Oddball 90 seconds of Kurt doing a (helium induced?) Chipmunk vocal number about beans. There's humour all over the box set but this is the funniest.

Where Did You Sleep Last Night (Acoustic demo): Beautiful and quiet Leadbelly cover, this home demo from 1989 eclipses the version on MTV's Unplugged.

Smells Like Teen Spirit (Rehearsal demo): If you think Kurt's vocals are hard to make out on the record ... This first ever recording of Nirvana's masterpiece is extremely raw but you can still hear the brilliance in it.

Do Re Me (Solo acoustic): Home demo of, apparently, the "last song Kurt ever wrote." It's hard to make out the lyrics ("I might be dreaming?" "If I may, If I might ...wake me up?") but the melody itself is lovely. Could have been a classic.

'Evil Dead' Will Rise Again

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Cult favorite "The Evil Dead" is about to be resurrected.

The original film's producers -- Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell and Rob Tapert -- will remake the horror flick through Ghost House Pictures and Senator International, report new sources.

The 1981 film, written and directed by "Spider-Man" helmer Raimi, centers on a group of friends who vacation in a remote cabin in the woods where they discover an archaeologist's taped translation of an ancient text, The Necronomicon. Upon playing the tape, an unspeakable evil is unleashed that turns each of the teens into deadly zombies. The only holdout is Ash (Campbell) who must fend off the "Evil Dead."

"The 'Evil Dead' is such a special film to Sam, Rob, Bruce and horror fans that we are going to take great care in renewing this franchise," says Joe Drake, president of Senator International. "By keeping its original formula intact and given audiences' appetite for horror, we expect that we'll have a real hit on our hands."

"Evil Dead" gained its cult following from its graphic violence and spawned two sequels, "Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn" and the more tongue-in-cheek "Army of Darkness."

Raimi won't direct the remake, leaving it to Ghost House to find a helmer. It hasn't been determined if Campbell will make an appearance in the update.

Raimi, 45, recently executive produced "The Grudge," which is a remake of the Japanese horror flick "Ju-on" and is a producer on the upcoming "Boogeyman," which is scheduled for release in February. He is currently prepping "Spider-Man 3."

Campbell, 46, recently made a cameo in Raimi's "Spider-Man 2" and is currently filming the family superhero adventure "Sky High." He next appears in the horror film "The Woods," which will be released in September.

'National Treasure' Drowns 'SpongeBob'

LOS ANGELES - Nicolas Cage's treasure hunt soaked up more box-office cash than a cartoon sponge. Cage's "National Treasure" debuted as the No. 1 weekend movie with $35.3 million, coming in just ahead of "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie," which opened in second with $33.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

After two weekends in the No. 1 spot, the animated superhero tale "The Incredibles" slipped to third with $26.8 million. The film has made $177.8 million in three weeks.

Tom Hanks' Christmas adventure "The Polar Express" came in fourth with $15.2 million in its second weekend. Costing $170 million to make, the movie has had a cool reception from audiences, taking in $51 million in 10 days.

After a healthy $8.7 million debut in narrower release of 530 theaters a week earlier, Renee Zellweger's "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" had a so-so expansion, taking in $10.1 million in 2,450 cinemas. A sequel to the 2001 romantic comedy hit, the movie came in at No. 5.

Hollywood had a second straight weekend of rising revenues after a slump that lasted most of the fall. The top 12 movies grossed $144.8 million, up 15 percent from the same weekend last year.

Industry officials hope the strong revenues provide a good springboard into Thanksgiving, one of Hollywood's busiest weekends. A crowd of family films — including Tim Allen's "Christmas With the Kranks," opening Wednesday — should prove a powerful draw over the long holiday weekend, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

"With this many family films, it's going to be a bloodbath," Dergarabedian said. "'The Incredibles' is going to be a huge factor, 'Spongy' is going to be a huge factor. Even 'Polar Express,' which people were trashing on, will be a factor because it's a holiday movie."

"National Treasure," Cage's fourth collaboration with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, centers on a plot to steal the Declaration of Independence to obtain the hidden clues to a colossal fortune stashed by the Founding Fathers.

Unlike Bruckheimer action flicks aimed at the adult-male crowd, "National Treasure" has a softer PG rating to appeal to family audiences. The movie drew solidly among all age groups and scored well among women, too, said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney, which released the film.

"Jerry's core audience goes in looking for a great piece of action, and it delivered on that," Viane said. But the PG rating "expands the size of your audience so you get a much bigger spread of folks coming in."

"The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" is the first big-screen adventure for the Nickelodeon TV cartoon bottom-dweller, a cheery sponge who lives among his aquatic pals. The movie was generally well-received by critics, unlike "National Treasure."

A big part of SpongeBob's appeal is that he is eternally optimistic, presenting a good role model for children, said Wayne Lewellen, head of distribution for Paramount, which released the movie.

In limited release, Pedro Almodovar's "Bad Education" had a stellar opening, grossing $147,366 in three theaters. The movie's convoluted plot centers on the relationship of two boys whose budding romance is destroyed by a jealous priest.

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. "National Treasure," $35.3 million.
2. "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie," $33.5 million.
3. "The Incredibles," $26.8 million.
4. "The Polar Express," $15.2 million.
5. "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," $10.1 million.
6. "After the Sunset," $5.3 million.
7. "Ray, $4.6 million.
8. "The Grudge," $3.8 million.
9. "Seed of Chucky," $3.1 million.
10. "Saw," $3 million.

McCartney Set for Super Bowl Halftime Show

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Paul McCartney will be the featured performer in the next Super Bowl halftime show and organizers promised there won't be any breast baring this time.

Last February's broadcast on CBS in which Janet Jackson's breast was bared during a duet with pop star Justin Timberlake spurred hundreds of thousands of complaints to federal regulators. Jackson blamed the incident on a "wardrobe malfunction."

National Football League spokesman Brian McCarthy told Reuters on Sunday there won't be any such malfunctions during the 12-minute performance, which will air on the Fox network.

He said the Feb. 6 show will have wide audience appeal and bridge several generations of fans.

"We're very cognizant we'll be under spotlight with this year's halftime show and we've looked at all facets of the show including talent selection, song selection and costume selection, to ensure we wouldn't have a repeat of what happened last year," McCarthy said.

"We're very comfortable that this year's show will be acceptable to a mass audience and won't have any issues."

CBS was fined $550,000 by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission after the last show but Viacom Inc. co-President and CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves planned to fight the fine.

This will be McCartney's second Super Bowl appearance. He provided a memorable pregame Super Bowl performance in 2002, the first Super Bowl after the Sept. 11 attacks.

"There's nothing bigger then being asked to perform at the Super Bowl," former Beatle McCartney said in a statement. "We're looking forward to rocking the millions at home and in the stadium."

Watched by more than 144 million viewers in the United States last year, the Super Bowl is the nation's highest-rated TV program and the most-watched single-day sporting event. The game will be broadcast in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Parisse Is Latest 'Law & Order' Prosecutor

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Annie Parisse, co-star of box office champ "National Treasure," is set to play the new assistant district attorney on NBC's "Law & Order."

Parisse, the sixth actor to play the role of the ADA on the long-running crime drama, succeeds Elisabeth Rohm, who said in June that she would depart the series after the first 13 episodes this season.

Parisse's character, who will work alongside executive ADA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston), will be introduced in Episode 14.

Parisse also co-starred in the feature "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." She also co-stars in two upcoming films: opposite Jennifer Lopez in "Monster-in-Law" and opposite Uma Thurman in "Prime."

Terry Melcher, Shaper of California Surf Sound, Dies

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Reuters) - Terry Melcher, a producer, composer and songwriter who worked with the Beach Boys and helped shape the '60s era California surf music sound, has died, according to his publicist. He was 62.

Melcher, son of actress-singer Doris Day, also produced several hits for the Byrds including "Mr. Tambourine Man."

Melcher died Friday at his Beverly Hills home after a long battle with cancer, publicist Linda Dozoretz told Reuters on Sunday.

Day was in Carmel on Sunday and unavailable for comment. "She and Terry were extremely close and close in age because she was 17 when she had him," Dozoretz said.

"They were amazing together. There wasn't a day that went by when Terry wasn't involved with one of his mother's projects," she said.

In 1969, Melcher's name was associated with convicted murderer Charles Manson and the deaths of actress Sharon Tate and her friends. The murders took place in a house that Melcher had sublet to Tate. Manson had known about the house through an acquaintance with Melcher.

Melcher had auditioned Manson for a recording contract but turned him down. After the murders, rumors swirled that in choosing the Tate house for his gang to commit murder, Manson had intended to send a message to Melcher. Spokeswoman Dozoretz said police later discounted this theory.

Born Terry Jorden, Melcher was the son of Day and her first husband, Al Jorden. He was later adopted by Day's third husband, Martin Melcher, and took his name.

He began his career as "Terry Day," capitalizing on his mother's famous name. However he later became known in his own right, singing background tracks, writing lyrics, playing the piano, composing, and producing.

Melcher teamed with future Beach Boy Bruce Johnston in the early 1960s. The duo eventually formed the group the Rip Chords, who recorded the 1964 hit "Hey, Little Cobra."

He also wrote songs with Bobby Darin and Randy Newman. But it wasn't until the mid-1960s, when he joined Columbia Records as a producer, that he made his mark on the California sound.

He was instrumental in helping craft the Byrds' groundbreaking fusion of rock and folk and produced several of the group's hits including their versions of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and Pete Seeger's "Turn, Turn, Turn."

Melcher also co-wrote the hit "Kokomo" for the Beach Boys. The song, used in the movie "Cocktail," was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1988 for best original song.

During his career Melcher also worked with Paul Revere and the Raiders, Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder, Glen Campbell, Gram Parsons and the Mamas and the Papas, among others.

Melcher later worked more frequently with his mother. From 1968 to 1972, he served as the executive producer of her "The Doris Day Show" on CBS. He also co-produced "Doris Day's Best Friends," which ran in the 1980s, Dozoretz said.

Melcher is survived by his mother, his wife, Terese, and one son, Ryan.

Colin Firth rules out third Bridget Jones film; 'not averse' to playing 007

NEW YORK (AP) - Colin Firth is done being Bridget Jones's nice guy, but he's not against donning British agent 007's tuxedo.

"At the moment, I can't think of anything I would be less attracted to," says Firth about the possibility of a third Bridget Jones film. However, the 44-year-old actor tells Entertainment Weekly magazine that he'd seriously consider taking over the James Bond franchise from Pierce Brosnan. Unlike another famous Colin - Colin Farrell, who says he's not interested in the role despite being Brosnan's choice - there's been no talk of Firth grabbing Bond's Walther PPK.

"No one has approached me, but I would not be averse to it," Firth tells EW in its latest issue.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, the sequel to the 2001 original, stars Firth as the stiff tacky sweater-wearing lawyer Mark Darcy and Renee Zellweger as Bridget Jones.

Firth, whose screen credits also include Love Actually and Shakespeare in Love, said he isn't interested in Mark Darcy-like roles.

"I'm attracted to dark stuff," he said, "and I'm in that mode right now."

Will Fans Find SpongeBob Movie Absorbing?

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pop culture phenomenon SpongeBob SquarePants, which began life as a humble 11-minute cartoon and went on to become a television sensation and ubiquitous merchandising image, is expanding his universe.

He is about to become a Hollywood star, not bad for a buck-toothed, google-eyed sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea.

A movie starring the irrepressible yellow sea sponge opens nationally on Friday and is expected to further derail the poorly received "Polar Express" and challenge mega-hit "The Incredibles."

It is rare to have three major animated films fighting for the top spot at the American box office. Outgoing Paramount Pictures chief Sherry Lansing recently told Reuters she was counting on the underwater comedy to counter the impression her studio was in the doldrums.

So far, Pixar's "The Incredibles" has pulled in more than $143 million in just over two weeks. Warner Bros.' "Polar Express," which opened last week, made $30 million, in what many have labeled a dismal showing for a film that cost $170 million to make.

While "Polar Express" has been lambasted for landing with what the Los Angeles Times called an "Edsel-like thud," most experts think SpongeBob will soak up cash at the box office.

"The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" is the latest incarnation of a once-humble TV show that has attracted about $4 billion in merchandising revenue since its launch five years ago and drawn 60 million viewers a month to cable network Nickelodeon.

SpongeBob's first feature film has the same mixture of innocent optimism and grown-up wit that has made the cartoon series a hit with adults and children.

The familiar denizens of Bikini Bottom, including Patrick Star, Squidward, Mr. Krabs and tiny villain Plankton, are joined by star vocal talent Alec Baldwin, Scarlett Johansson and Jeffrey Tambor, while David Hasselhoff plays himself.

A hip soundtrack with contributions from Avril Lavigne, The Flaming Lips, Wilco and Motorhead also keeps the underwater tale rocking.

Young SpongeBob, the spatula-wielding short order cook for the Krusty Krab restaurant, sets out with dimwitted buddy Patrick to foil another plot by Plankton to steal the secret Krabby Patty recipe for his rival eatery, the Chum Bucket.

For the past two years, SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenberg, who co-wrote and directed the movie, has been working to expand the sponge's universe over the course of 75 minutes.

Tom Kenny, who does the voice and maniacal, high-pitched laugh of SpongeBob, told Reuters: "It's still character-driven, but big, more of a quest. It's a bigger canvas with the challenge of not losing those subtle little character touches in the bombast. I thought they did a great job."

Friday marks a big day for SpongeBob fanatics for two reasons -- the opening of the film and Hillenberg's revival of the TV series.

"He put the show on the back burner for nearly two years," according to Kenny, who said they would begin working on a new season of episodes after the New Year. "He didn't think he could do both at the same time without losing his mind."

Hanks Hesitates to Commit to 'Toy Story 3'

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - The toys are back in town, but Woody may sound a little different.

Although Walt Disney Studios intends to begin developing a third installment to Pixar's "Toy Story" franchise, Tom Hanks may not return to lend his voice to the lead cowboy doll.

At a recent press conference, the Oscar winner expressed doubts about doing a third "Toy Story."

"I don't know. The creative team that put together the original 'Toy Story' movies was very specific and quite organic ... to the success of the process -- not that there aren't other talented people that would be involved," says Hanks. "That would be a bridge to cross when I come to it."

Pixar CEO Steve Jobs and executive VP John Lasseter, who also wrote and directed the first two "Toy Story" films, aren't keen on yet another follow-up that might change the integrity of the "Toy Story" characters.

With Pixar planning to end its distribution relationship with Disney -- which holds the rights to make "Toy Story" sequels -- after 2005's "Cars" is released, Disney is looking for a way to continue the CGI-animated box-office magic. The studio is setting up its own digital animation facility in Glendale, Calif., to produce "Toy Story 3."

The original 1995 film introduces Woody (Hanks), a little boy's favorite toy -- until the new astronaut doll Buzz Lightyear enters the picture. The second installment centers on Woody's abduction by a toy collector who wants to put the doll on display in a museum. Both projects grossed approximately $437.5 million at the domestic box office.

Hanks, 48, currently appears in Warner Bros.' holiday film "The Polar Express." He's also considered the frontrunner to play the lead in the big-screen adaptation of Dan Brown's best-selling novel "The Da Vinci Code."

Tenacious D's 'Destiny' In Sight

The highly anticipated film "Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny" will likely begin shooting in March, group member Kyle Gass tells Billboard.com. Beforehand, Gass and partner Jack Black will hit the studio with the Dust Brothers' John King to record new songs for the soundtrack, which is expected to double as the next Tenacious D album.

The script was penned by Black and Gass with director Liam Lynch. "It's definitely the funniest movie on paper that I've ever read," Gass says. "It starts off as kind of how the D was formed. It goes into a quest for 'the pick,' a magical pick that will supposedly help us rock like the rock gods we so admire. It's a zillion laughs."

Gass is itching to get moving with production for a variety of practical reasons. "I do know if we continue waiting, I'll have to hire someone to play me," he says with a laugh. "I will be too old to play me. The wheels of Hollywood grind very slowly so I'm going to have some collagen or some sort of plastic surgery."

Among the finished songs earmarked for the soundtrack are "Dude, I Totally Miss You" and the Gass-penned "The Pick of Destiny," which he describes as "a rockin' anthem. I'm imagining it playing over the end credits. You'll be so jazzed after seeing a great movie and then you'll hear this rockin' song at the end."

Even more integral to the storyline is an as-yet-unnamed song at the beginning of the film, which will be performed by a childhood-era Black. "He's in Kickapoo, Ark., growing up," Gass says. "Hopefully we'll get Meat Loaf to play his dad. Jack tries to rock for his parents, but even as a child he's working blue. He gets in trouble and goes up to his room and starts talking to a poster of Ozzy Osbourne. Ozzy talks back and inspires Jack to sing this incredible rock song about how he's going to rock the world. We'll have to find some crazy child whose parents won't mind him swearing!"

Gass says the D may try to recruit some of the stars that played on the duo's self-titled 2002 Epic debut for the upcoming sessions. "We'll try to beg Dave Grohl to come back," he says. "Best drummer ever. We liked all the old players. But let's face it. Everyone is dying to play with us, so we can just get on the phone. I'd love to go in and play all the instruments, but I just don't know how."

The D will tune up for the studio with four shows late next month in Australia and New Zealand, where Black is filming his role in Peter Jackson's remake of "King Kong." And although the specific dates are still in flux, Gass has Tenacious D's master plan already set in stone.

"I'm sure New Line would love to have the movie come out by Christmas next year," he says. "Then, we'll embark on the Tenacious D world tour. Then, we'll make the really bad sequel. But we'll make zillions of dollars. Then, one more crappy album and that is it. We are done. The goal is to not ever have to do it again."

AFI Takes on Movie Quotes With New List

LOS ANGELES - Humphrey Bogart, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jack Nicholson are competing in a war of words. The American Film Institute is surveying Hollywood types for the top 100 quotes from U.S. movies, with contenders including Bogart's "Here's looking at you, kid" from "Casablanca," Schwarzenegger's "I'll be back" from "The Terminator" and Nicholson's "You can't handle the truth!" from "A Few Good Men."

Chosen from 400 classic lines of dialogue, the winners will be revealed in the CBS special "AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movie Quotes" in June.

"Great movie quotes become part of our cultural vocabulary," said Jean Picker Firstenburg, AFI director.

The top 100 will be chosen through ballots sent to 1,500 directors, screenwriters, actors, critics and others in the film business.

Other contending quotes include Clark Gable's "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" from "Gone With the Wind," Mae West's "Why don't you come up and see me?" from "She Done Him Wrong," Tom Hanks' "Houston, we have a problem" from "Apollo 13," Cuba Gooding Jr.'s "Show me the money" from "Jerry Maguire" and the "Star Wars" gang's "May the Force be with you."

The quotes range from the first full sound feature film with Al Jolson (news)'s "Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain't heard nothin' yet" from 1927's "The Jazz Singer" to creepy creature Gollum (Andy Serkis) hissing "My precious" in 2002's "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers."

The TV special is the eighth top-100 list for the AFI, whose previous specials included best U.S. films, comedies, love stories, movie tunes and heroes and villains.

"Casablanca," which was No. 1 on AFI's list of best love stories and ranked second on the list of top overall films, leads the competition with seven quotes among the 400 nominees, followed by "The Wizard of Oz" with six.

Bogart has the most quotes on the ballot with 10, followed by Al Pacino and the Marx Brothers with six each. Billy Wilder leads screenwriters with 13 nominated quotes.

Disney Relaunches Muppets on Web Site

LOS ANGELES - Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo and their pals are starring in their own Web site — the first in a series of new creative efforts launched by The Walt Disney Co. since buying the Muppets in April.

"Today is the first day of the Muppets being back," said Chris Curtin, general manager and vice president of Muppet Holding Co., the group formed by Disney to manage the characters.

The site, which debuted Wednesday, features games, biographies of the Muppet characters, screensavers and news about current projects, including the new film "The Muppets Wonderful Wizard of Oz," slated to air on ABC next May.

The movie is the first since "It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie," which aired on NBC in 2002. It features singer Ashanti as Dorothy, Queen Latifah as Auntie Em and director Quentin Tarantino in a cameo role as himself.

The film had been proposed some time back to ABC executives, but was not approved until Disney bought the characters.

The characters have been grouped together under The Muppets Holding Co., which is teaming with Disney's film studio, television network, Internet operations and other divisions to create new films, videos and TV shows in the future.

The sale to Disney, announced last February, also includes a four-year consulting arrangement with The Jim Henson Co. to provide strategic advice on the use of the characters and a three-year production deal to develop movies, television shows and other projects using the characters.

The deal does not include the Sesame Street characters, which were sold earlier by EM.TV to the Sesame Workshop.

People Names Jude Law 'Sexiest Man Alive'

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - British actor Jude Law, currently starring as the irresistible cad in the remake of "Alfie," was named this year's "Sexiest Man Alive" by People magazine on Wednesday.

The chiseled-featured, 31-year-old actor was the top pick of the magazine's editors to succeed their leading male sex symbol of 2003, Johnny Depp.

Law appears on the cover of People's Nov. 19 issue, which hits newsstands on Friday.

"His warmth is what makes him sexy, and it radiates through his eyes," actress Nicole Kidman, his "Cold Mountain" co-star, told the magazine. Rachel Weisz, who appeared with him in "Enemy at the Gates," added: "He has the most beautiful eyes you've ever seen."

Law has built a reputation as a serious actor with a list of credits ranging from the role of a robot gigolo in Steven Spielberg's "Artificial Intelligence: AI" to a murderous photographer in "Road to Perdition."

Law, who earned a Tony nomination on Broadway co-starring with Kathleen Turner in "Indiscretions," first gained wide notice with movie audiences and an Oscar nomination playing a spoiled young playboy and the object of Matt Damon's obsession in "The Talented Mr. Ripley."

He earned a second Academy Award nomination for his role as a Confederate deserter in the popular Civil War drama "Cold Mountain." But his most recent films -- "I Heart Huckabees," "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" and "Alfie" -- have been commercial duds.

Law, who has three young children by his ex-wife, British fashion designer and actress Sadie Frost, will next been seen in Mike Nichols' upcoming romantic drama "Closer."

People bestowed its first "Sexiest Man Alive" honors in 1985 to Mel Gibson. Other winners have included John F. Kennedy Jr., Sean Connery, Denzel Washington, Richard Gere and Ben Affleck.

Comedian John Morgan, star of Royal Canadian Air Farce, dead at 74

TORONTO (CP) - John Morgan, who played the dim-witted Mike from Canmore on CBC's The Royal Canadian Air Farce, was remembered Tuesday as "eccentric, talented, prolific and funny."

Morgan died Monday of a suspected heart attack at his home in Toronto. He was 74.

"He was . . . the most memorable friend and colleague any of us will ever have," Morgan's Air Farce colleagues, Roger Abbott and Don Ferguson, said in a statement.

"He was a performer with whom audiences loved to laugh."

When Air Farce moved to television in 1993, it quickly became one of the network's top shows. Before that Morgan, Abbott, Ferguson, Dave Broadfoot and Luba Goy had become a staple of Canadian radio.

Besides Mike from Canmore, Morgan's other Air Farce creations included Jock McBile and the Prophet on the Mount.

"He was surprised to find himself a television star at an age when most men are thinking about retirement," said Abbott and Ferguson.

When asked once about the success of the show, Morgan said: "You know what they say: we use satire against our leaders; Americans shoot theirs."

In 1992, the Air Farce team became the first Canadian inductees into the International Humour Hall of Fame.

Ferguson, who knew Morgan for 34 years, said he was a natural clown.

"He was a terrific raconteur. He was really completely engaged in life. He flew a plane, drove a sports car, he loved opera," Ferguson said in an interview Tuesday.

"He knew everything there was to know about tangos. He didn't dance, but he knew the music ... he had these weird interests - you know, you wouldn't expect a guy who was a comedy writer to fly a plane and be an expert on tangos, but he was."

As well, Morgan was a voracious reader.

"Every time he sat down to write a comedy sketch he had all of his little peculiar quirks and interests floating around in his brain, and he could draw upon all kinds of information - arcane and otherwise - to make a script work," Ferguson said.

Morgan also co-created the CBC Radio series Funny You Should Say That and wrote the pilot of the popular TV series King of Kensington.

He served as script consultant and writer for several other CBC-TV comedy series.

In England, he had his own BBC Radio series called It's All in the Mind of John Morgan.

Morgan retired from Air Farce in 2001, telling colleagues that after 35 years of writing comedy it was time to step down.

He had been healthy in his retirement, and his death came as he was preparing to go on a Bermuda vacation with his son.

The news came as a shock to his CBC colleagues.

"We've been between tears and laughter all day ... one minute we're all reminiscing about what John said and we're killing ourselves laughing, and then in an instant we start weeping," Ferguson said.

Ferguson said Morgan had spent his winters in Europe since retiring, and had been planning to go there again at the end of November.

Morgan, who was born in Wales, was an only child. His wife died in the early 1990s and he never remarried. He is survived by his daughter Sarah, who lives in New York, and his son Chris.

There was no immediate word on funeral arrangements.

"I know that John wanted something very small - small enough to be invisible would have been his preference," said Ferguson. "He was a reluctant celebrity. He hated all the fuss."

David Lee Roth Trains to Become Paramedic

NEW YORK - Rocker David Lee Roth, the former Van Halen frontman, is taking up a new trade.

Instead of screaming "Jump," he'll be yelling "Clear!"

Roth, 50, has been riding for several weeks with a New York ambulance crew in training to become a paramedic, The New York Post reported Tuesday.

"I have been on over 200 individual rides now," said Roth. "Not once has anyone recognized me, which is perfect for me."

The singer, who spent a decade with Van Halen before embarking on a solo career, except a collaboration with the band for two new songs on a greatest hits album, has been riding along with crews in the Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn several nights a week.

His training seems to be going well.

Several weeks ago, Roth saved the life of a heart attack victim in the Bronx by using a defibrillator.

He takes his work so seriously that he did not want publicity so that it would not "diminish what I am trying to do here." He has said that he did not want the neighborhoods he was working in named so that he would not draw attention to himself or co-workers.

"You would never know you were dealing with a rock-'n'-roll guy," said Linda Reissman, Roth's EMS consultant and tutor. "His commitment really is touching. He wants to help people."

The Couch Potato Report- November 16th, 2004

If you are a person who likes to laugh and enjoys music from the 80's, then you will be pleased with what's in The Couch Potato Report this week.

If you like former SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE star Will Ferrell's films, then you will really be pleased with The Report this week.

Because Ferrell's holiday gift from last year is now available on video and DVD.

That holiday gift is a wonderful film called ELF.

ELF is a well written comedy about Buddy - a 6 foot tall human who is adopted and raised by Santa Claus and the Christmas elves.

Eventually Buddy returns to the human world to find his father, and both comedy, melodrama and heart ensue.

James Caan from THE GODFATHER and MISERY is Buddy's reluctant father and the lovely Zooey Deschannel is buddy's love interest.

Both actors warmth and personalities help make the movie wonderful, but without Will Ferrell's incredible performance it wouldn't be nearly as great as it is.

It seems his work in OLD SCHOOL, ANCHORMAN and ZOOLANDER was just the tip of his comedic iceberg. In ELF he lets us see the whole thing.

Thus, instead of coming across like just another fish-out-of-water character, Ferrell's Buddy is an endearing outsider in a world that doesn't understand him.

And the result of that is funny. Very, very funny

If you think of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, A CHRISTMAS STORY and CHRISTMAS VACATION as perennial Christmas movie favourites, then you now have one more to add to your list.

ELF is a very funny movie with some much needed Christmas spirit.

There is nothing about THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK that is needed, unless you were a fan of the film PITCH BLACK.

That film came out in 2000 and it was the one set in the distant future, where a spaceship crash landed on a hot, humid distant planet. The people then had to survive deadly creatures from the planet and a convict from the spaceship named Riddick.

Vin Diesel from THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS reprises the character of Riddick as his career continues it's downward trajectory.

In the movie Riddick is now a hunted man who finds himself in the middle of two opposing forces in a major crusade.

Canadian actor Colm Feore plays a warrior priest who is the leader of a sect that is waging the tenth, and perhaps final crusade, 500 years in the future.

Dame Judi Dench - yes, the same Oscar winner Dame Judi Dench from SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE and CHOCOLAT! Dench plays an ambassador from the Elemental race. She is an ethereal being who helps Riddick unearth his origins.

Now, it isn't that THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK is a bad movie, but PITCH BLACK was just a poor man's version of ALIEN and no one I know ever saw it. Here we have a sequel to a movie no one saw. The fact that hardly anyone went to see the film in theaters confirms my thoughts that the movie is a bit unnecessary.

But, if you've seen PITCH BLACK then you should see THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK.

If you haven't, I can't think of one reason why you would need to see this movie.

I can, however, this of many reasons for you to watch this week's other major new release.

Many of them involve laughing.

The brilliant and devastating comedy of The Office is brought to a satisfying conclusion in THE OFFICE SPECIAL, set three years after the end of the faux-documentary's second season.

This may be the funniest thing you watch this month. Pick it up, press play and enjoy!

On July 13th, 1985, we all enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime concert event, even though we knew there were serious connotations behind it.

Now, LIVE AID is available as a 4-DVD Box Set so we can enjoy it again.

The set has over 10 hours of performances, including sets from David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Sting, The Who, U2, Neil Young, and many, many more.

All of the royalties from the sale of the set will go to benefit the Band Aid Trust, which continues to provide direct hunger relief in Africa.

ELF, THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK, THE OFFICE SPECIAL and LIVE AID are all available now at your favourite local video store.

COMING UP IN THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT

SEINFELD - SEASONS 1, 2 & 3 will finally be available on two separate 4 disc box sets or in one big box set that features all 41 episodes from the first three seasons of the show, plus an Original Script, Salt & Pepper Shakers, and Playing Cards. Other than the SCTV BOX SETS, this is the comedy release of the year!!!

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN sees Harry and his friends enter their third year at Hogwarts. The original cast of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson is intact.

And in THE TERMINAL a Balkan immigrant who is confined to an airport falls in love with a flight attendant. Steven Spielberg directs Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones in this film that never really takes off.

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!

Townshend, Daltrey plan new Who album

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Who may be returning, again.

In a posting on his Web site, Pete Townshend says that he and singer Roger Daltrey are planning to get together for the first Who studio album in over two decades.

"Roger and I (will) meet in mid December to play what we have written," Townshend, the guitarist and primary songwriter of the group, writes. "If we move ahead from there, we may have a CD ready to release in the spring. My working-title for the project -- Who2 -- is only partly tongue-in-cheek."

Despite famously proclaiming "hope I die before I get old" in the song My Generation, The Who have frequently reunited to perform since disbanding in 1983. But the new album would be the British band's first studio recording since 1982's It's Hard.

The possible new album, Townshend says, would not be a rock opera like the band's Tommy or Quadrophenia. A concept-less album, he says "is, in itself, a concept for me."

Townshend, 59, is also working on an autobiography, which he says, "offers me a chance to lay down my life story and place recent events in proper context."

In 2003, Townshend was arrested as part of a crackdown on Internet child pornography -- but was eventually cleared of possessing pornographic images of children.

The rock guitarist was placed on a national register of sex offenders as part of the formal police caution that he received for accessing a website containing images of child abuse. Townshend has said he only visited the site for research purposes.

The other two members of the original Who, drummer Keith Moon and bassist John Entwistle, died in 1978 and 2002, respectively.

Mann Channels The '70s On 'Forgotten Arm'

Singer/songwriter Aimee Mann revisits an earlier time and place on her next Superego album, "The Forgotten Arm," due in March. "It's a concept album and the concept, the vibe of the album, kind of dictated it," she tells Billboard.com. "It takes place in the '70s, and there were these sort of pictures in my mind that led me to a really specific sound."

The Superego release marks a departure from past Mann albums in that it was recorded very quickly and with a live studio band, which required very few overdubs. Tracks include "Dear John" and "That's How I Knew This Story Would Break My Heart."

"I'm really excited about it," says Mann. "For me, it's a very different way to record and I think the songs are a little bit different. I never know if that difference really translates to other people, but to me it seems pretty radically different from my other records."

"The Forgotten Arm" is the follow-up to 2002's "Lost in Space," which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart. Mann says she will likely begin touring around the release date, which may include an appearance at the annual South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas.

However, fans can get a sneak preview of sorts on the recently released DVD/CD "Aimee Mann Live at St. Anne's Warehouse," which includes new album tracks "Going Through the Motions" and "King of the Jailhouse."

Mann says filming the obligatory behind-the-scenes and interview footage for her maiden DVD was a unique experience.

"It's always hard for me to believe that people really want to know the minutiae of what my favorite song is or what the band thinks about playing with me," she admits. "It's hard for me to think that would be interesting for anyone but I have to remind myself that anyone who buys a live DVD is probably interested in the artist enough."

Mariah 'Emancipated' On New Album

Mariah Carey returns to her pop and R&B roots on her new album, "The Emancipation of Mimi," albeit with major dollops of hip-hop. On several tracks previewed for Billboard.com, Carey offers less vocal acrobatics then on recent efforts, proving that less can indeed be more.

Due March 29 via Island Def Jam, the new set will be preceded by the single "Say Something," produced by the Neptunes and featuring Snoop Dogg. Due to hit radio outlets in January, the slinky, sensual hip-hop jam sports intermittent machine gun-styled beats,

A longtime supporter of club remixes, Carey has commissioned David Morales, Peter Rauhofer and former Pound Boys member David C. to remix "Say Something."

Other album tracks previewed for Billboard.com include the Jermaine Dupri-produced "Get Your Number," a feel-good, dancefloor-primed R&B number that smartly references Imagination's early-'80s top 30 R&B hit, "Just an Illusion." It spotlights the vocals of Dupri, who also helmed the track "Shake You Off."

Carey handled the bulk of the writing on "The Emancipation of Mimi" and also produced the power ballad "Mine Again." Less adult contemporary and more Gladys Knight, the old-school song is signature Carey.

The album also features contributions from producer Kanye West and rappers Nelly and Twista. It's the follow-up to 20002's "Charmbracelet," which debuted at No. 3 on The Billboard 200 and has sold more than 1.1 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

New Tunage!

Here are the new music releases for Tuesday, November 16th, 2004

Pete Anderson Daredevil (Little Dog)
Audio Caviar Transoceanic (Thump)
Axehandle Axehandle (Small Stone)
Badlands The Killing Kind (Victory)
David Ball Freewheeler (Wildcatter)
The BellRays Red, Black & White (Alternative Tentacles)
By the Grace of God Three Steps to a Better Democracy (Initial)
Cherish the Ladies On Christmas Night (Rounder)
Chingy Powerballin' (Capitol)
The CMA All Over (Legendary)
Collective Soul Youth (El Music Group)
Lee Coombs Breakfast of Champions (Finger Lickin'/K7)
Corrosion of Conformity America's Volume Dealer (Silverline)
Destiny's Child Destiny Fulfilled (Columbia)
Detroit Jr. Blues on the Internet (Delmark)
E. Town Concrete Made for War (Ironbound)
Earth, Wind & Fire Live at Montreux, 1997 (bonus material from ‘98) (Eagle Vision)
Eighteen Visions Vanity (Trustkill)
Eminem Encore (Aftermath/Interscope)
Fitalic Disillusions/Fields of Motion (EP) (Pangea)
Freya/Hoods Split (EP) (Victory)
Glory of This Adoration (Indianola)
Goo Goo Dolls Live in Buffalo July Fourth 2004 (w/bonus DVD) (Warner Bros.)
The Green Pajamas Ten White Stones (Hidden Agenda/Parasol)
Robert Henke Signal to Noise (Berlin-based electronica) (Imbalance)
Josh Hodges Sexton Blake (In Music We Trust)
The Innocence Mission Now the Day Is Over (Badman)
Joy & the Boy Soaking Wet (Liquid 8)
Mike Keneally Dog (Exowax)
Lansing-Dreiden A Sanctioned Beam (Hollywood)
Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz Crunk Juice (TVT)
Lil' Wayne Tha Carter: Screwed & Chopped (Universal)
Lydia Lunch Smoke in the Shadows (Atavistic)
Man Man The Man in the Blue Turban Without a Face (Ace Fu)
The Methadones Not Economically Viable (Thick)
Mocky Are & Be (Fine)
The Monoxide Project For Smokers Only (Psychopathic)
Ofer Moses Short Story Long (BWR/Doghouse)
Ms. Kra-Z Lyrically Insane (Setting the Page)
NOFX Ten Years of Fuckin' Up (Fat Wreck)
OM Trio Gospel Positioning Record (Black Beauty)
Lee "Scratch" Perry and the White Belly Rats Panic in Babylon (Selekta / Dampf Music)
Rammstein Reise, Reise (Universal/Republic)
Red Giant Devil Child Blues (Small Stone)
The Royals Dubbing with (Pressure Sounds)
Rusted Root Live (DKE)
Roni Size Return to V (Thrive)
Skating Club The Unfound Sound (Kimchee)
Luke Slater Fear & Loathing 2 (Resist)
Dave Specter & Steve Freund Is What It Is (Delmark)
This Providence Our World's Divorce (Rocketstar)
Transmissionary Get Down (FILMGuerrero)
Rufus Wainwright Want Two (Geffen)
Wayne Warner Doing Something Right (B-Venturous)
VA Alias - Season 2 (music composed by Michael Giacchino) (Varèse Sarabande)
VA Axis of Justice: Concert Series Volume I (w/Pete Yorn, Flea, Chris Cornell and more) (Columbia)
VA Cuban Lounge (V1)
VA Moro No Brasil (Milan)
OST Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (Geffen/UME)
OST Danny the Dog (music by Massive Attack) (Virgin)
OST National Treasure (Angelo Badalamenti score) (Hollywood)
OST Ultra Noir (Milan)
DVD Jamie Cullum Live at Blenheim Palace (Verve)
DVD The Darkness The Long Wince Home (Atlantic)
DVD Hilary Duff Learning to Fly (Hollywood)
DVD Erasure The Tank, the Saw and the Balloon Live! (Mute)
DVD Steve Hackett Once Above a Time: Live in Concert (Eagle Vision)
DVD Norah Jones and the Handsome Band Live 2004 (Blue Note)
DVD Edwin McCain Tinsel and Tap Shoes: Live at the House of Blues (DRT)
DVD Nocturnus A Farewell to Planet Earth (Music Video Distributors)
DVD A Perfect Circle aMOTION (Virgin)
DVD Primus Hallucino-Genetics Live 2004 (Prawn Song/Fizzle Fry)
DVD Rooney Spit & Sweat (Geffen)
DVD Snoop Dogg The Puff Puff Pass Tour (Eagle Vision)
DVD Story of the Year Story of the Year (Maverick)
DVD XDoaneX The Shape of Videos to Come (Victory)

Saga of 1951 Stanley Cup hero Bill Barilko retold in new Kevin Shea book

After all these years, the saga of Bill Barilko is as compelling as ever.

Barilko scored the overtime goal to earn the Toronto Maple Leafs the Stanley Cup in 1951 and died in a plane crash that summer at the age of 24. The Leafs did not win the NHL title again until 1962, the year Barilko's remains were discovered in the Northern Ontario bush outside his home town of Timmins, Ont.

The tale has been previously told in print, put to music in The Tragically Hip's 1992 recording, Fifty-Mission Cap about the club's failure to win the NHL title during the 11 years after Barilko's disappearance and the current Leafs had BB 16 embroidered on caps during their playoff run last spring.

Now, Kevin Shea has written Barilko: Without a Trace, which is the most complete presentation of the hockey icon's brief life. Film rights were recently purchased.

Shea's project came about after a conversation around a coffee machine at the Hockey Hall of Fame, where Shea works as manager of special projects and publishing.

"Somebody said that he couldn't believe that Bill Barilko was still a topic of conversation, and a third request had come in that day for the photo of the Barilko goal," Shea explains. "I'd long been fascinated with the Barilko story, and Bill's sister is a volunteer with us here at the Hall so . . . "

Anne Klisanich's extensive scrap book collections of practically every newspaper and magazine article ever written about her brother proved invaluable to Shea's research. Her insights into the Barilko family also were prime assets with which to work.

"The story has been told so many times that I wanted to put a new face on it," says Shea. "I wanted to find out more about the person than the guy who scored that one goal.

"Talking to neighbours and minor-hockey teammates in Timmins and his pro teammates was fascinating. It was intriguing to find out about the guy behind the goal."

Shea, Klisanich and Mayor Victor Power will participate in Bill Barilko Day in Timmins on Nov. 19. Then it's off to Alfie's Cigar Store for book signings.

Shea's previous hockey books include one on the Smythe Family and one on former Leaf Ron Ellis.

"I enjoyed this one so much," says Shea. "But it also was the hardest one, not necessarily to write, but just that there were so many Barilko stories out there and I was getting people calling up right till my deadline.

"It was just wonderful to have that happen, to try and fit it all in was a wonderful task."

Barilko and his chums frolicked on outdoor rinks in the Porcupine gold mining region in the 1930s. Those were hard times and he quit school at age 15. He'd listen to Foster Hewitt's play-by-play of Leafs games on radio and always dreamed of making it to the NHL.

But he was no teen star. When he turned pro at 18, the Leafs sent him to a fourth-tier affiliate in Los Angeles, where he played for the Hollywood Wolves. From the wilds of Canada to Tinseltown - that was a trip.

A tough defenceman who could rock opponents with hip checks, he picked up nicknames such as Bashin' Bill and The Basher.

He got a huge career break when Toronto boss Conn Smythe, looking to rebuild with young players, promoted him ahead of more experienced players at the team's top affiliates. Barilko was playing for the Wolves in February 1947, and sipping champagne from the Stanley Cup that spring.

"It's that great Canadian story - from rags to riches," says Shea.

Barilko's 1951 Cup-winning goal, scored while he was in the air horizontal to the ice, was captured by the late Nat Turofsky's photo that is the most requested from the HHOF archives. The goal gave the Leafs a fourth title in the five springs Barilko was with the team.

Dr. Henry Hudson, a dentist friend, piloted a light aircraft that he and Barilko rode in towards James Bay for a last fishing trip before the start of a new NHL season. His mother pleaded with him not to go. They were leaving on a Friday, and Barilko's father had died on a Friday five years earlier. She didn't want her son flying into the bush on a Friday.

Barilko and Hudson weren't heard from again. A massive search turned up nothing.

"The family never gave up hope," says Shea. "They washed his shirts and would put them on the clothesline."

The wreckage was spotted May 31, 1962, just north of Cochrane by a pilot inspecting timber. The remains were removed on June 6 and interred in Timmins Memorial Cemetery on June 15. A gravestone is decorated with twin maple leaves, hockey sticks and pucks. Under the surname is a head-and-shoulders photo of Barilko wearing a Leafs sweater.

"He was becoming an outstanding player," Shea says of what might have been. "He was getting better and better and probably would have eventually been in the Hall of Fame. But that's all conjecture."

Barilko memorabilia in the possession of the HHOF includes the sweater he was wearing when he scored the unforgettable goal, the puck that went in the Montreal Canadiens net, a stick he used during that season, a pair of his skates, a fishing rod he once used and a small bench with a wolf's head carved on each end that he made when he was a boy.

'Timeless' Marilyn Monroe Exhibit Opens

NEW YORK - She was Playboy's first centerfold, and Joe DiMaggio's second wife. Marilyn Monroe possessed a knack for the big splash, particularly if there was a camera nearby — and it seemed there was always a camera nearby.

The actress turned enduring American icon was intoxicated by the pop of flashbulbs; during her too-short lifetime, she was photographed drinking and dining, smiling and sleeping, dressed and undressed.

The camera "was to her what water is to a fish," director Billy Wilder once said. "She exulted in it."

More than 200 Monroe pictures from 39 photographers — including such celebrated lensmen as Richard Avedon, Gordon Parks, Robert Frank and Andy Warhol — are on view at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in a new exhibit, "I Want to Be Loved by You: Photographs of Marilyn Monroe."

The photos "are timeless," said Marilyn Kushner, one of the exhibit's curators. "She died young, so she remains forever young. As time goes by, she looms larger and larger."

The exhibit traces the evolution of small-town girl Norma Jeane into sex goddess Marilyn. In a 1945 picture, the unknown 19-year-old stands alone on a Long Island beach, leaning undisturbed over an open parasol.

A decade later, a coy Monroe stands smiling on a Grand Central subway platform as a man to her left stares in bug-eyed disbelief.

The centerpiece of the collection, owned by Leon and Michaela Constantiner, is a set of 59 Monroe pictures shot by photographer Bert Stern in the weeks before the actress' 1962 drug overdose. "The Last Sitting" features an assortment of behind-the-scenes shots of Monroe, who sipped nine-year-old Dom Perignon to create a mood. The actress posed laughing, with a diamond necklace draped across her bare shoulders, and topless behind a transparent scarf.

More than four decades later, her larger-than-life persona still emanates from each shot, setting the bar for subsequent "blonde bombshells," from Loni Anderson to Madonna to Pamela Anderson.

"Her relationship with the camera was the most important one she had," Kushner said of Monroe. "She saw the camera as a friend."

The most enduring image of Monroe, her infamous photo op for "The Seven Year Itch," is well represented. There are 14 different shots of Monroe's white dress scandalously billowing above her waist as she stood over a Lexington Avenue subway grate.

An infuriated DiMaggio stormed off during the shoot, leaving Monroe alone. Another picture from the exhibit shows a sobbing Monroe leaving in a car after announcing her 1954 divorce from the Yankee Clipper.

Monroe's Playboy centerfold, shot by photographer Tom Kelly, holds a prominent position in the exhibit, with the naked actress seductively posed atop a blanket of red velvet. When a reporter asked Monroe what she had on during the shoot, she memorably replied, "I had the radio on."

There are dozens of other shots offering glances into the off-screen Monroe: Marilyn reading a book at home, shooting craps with director John Huston, slow-dancing with second husband Arthur Miller.

While photographs make up the bulk of the exhibit, the multimedia presentation offers other rarely seen glimpses of Monroe, from a 1950 commercial for Union Oil of California to her provocative serenade of President John F. Kennedy at his 45th birthday in May 1962.

"I can now retire from politics after having had `Happy Birthday' sung to me in such a sweet, wholesome way," Kennedy deadpanned. Within 18 months, neither he nor Monroe would be alive.

One of the most moving pictures doesn't feature Monroe at all. Shot by Robert Frank in 1962, it shows a woman lying on a beach beneath an American flag. She's reading the Daily News, and the giant-type headline is clearly visible:

"MARILYN DEAD."

Hanks Cracks 'Da Vinci' Cast

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Tom Hanks is expected to step into the scholarly shoes of Robert Langdon, the professor who unravels the mystery of the Holy Grail in the film version of Dan Brown's phenomenally successful novel "The Da Vinci Code."

Hanks has emerged as director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer's top choice for the lead role in the film, which Columbia Pictures hopes to begin shooting next year. And talks have begun for the actor to join the project.

"Tom is an exciting actor to watch thinking," Howard was quoted as saying in the latest issue of Newsweek. "We probably don't need his status from a box office standpoint, but he gives Langdon instant legitimacy."

Hanks, who currently can be seen onscreen in animated form in Warner Bros. Pictures' "The Polar Express," previously worked with Howard in 1995's "Apollo 13" and 1984's "Splash."

Howard is currently completing work on "The Cinderella Man," a boxing drama starring Russell Crowe, which Universal Pictures will release in the summer.

Akiva Goldsman, who wrote the screenplay for Howard's "A Beautiful Mind," is working on the screen adaptation of Brown's Doubleday novel, which has spent 86 weeks on the New York Times' hardcover fiction best-seller list.

Martin collects lifetime achievement honour

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- Too much praise can turn Steve Martin into a wild and insincere guy.

The star of The Jerk and Bringing Down the House accepted the American Cinematheque career achievement honour Friday with mock cynicism.

The frequent Saturday Night Live guest host played aloof with friends in the audience, including Robin Williams, Jon Lovitz, Kevin Nealon, Martin Short, Dana Delany, Eugene Levy, Carl Reiner and Ron Howard.

"There are so many familiar faces tonight, people I've worked with, people I haven't seen in years and I just thought, 'Why can't we wear name tags? What would be so wrong?'" Martin joked.

"But this evening is especially meaningful to me," Martin added, "because when I was a kid my friends and I used to meet after school and get all dressed up and play 'American Cinematheque awards show.'"

Friends cheered him and movie clips showcased his joking, dancing, dramatic acting and singing.

Rick Nicita, chairman of the organization's board, said they chose to honour Martin because he is a "Renaissance man" who has excelled not only as an actor and comedian but as a playwright, novelist, art collector -- even banjo player.

A telecast of the evening is to air Jan. 23 on the cable channel AMC.

Nicole Kidman was last year's honouree, and previous recipients include Eddie Murphy, Mel Gibson, Sean Connery and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

American Cinematheque, a non-profit arts organization, operates the landmark Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and uses proceeds from its annual awards ceremony to host screenings and other events.

Kilborn Gets SHAGGY

Craig Kilborn's first project since he left THE LATE LATE SHOW will be a Disney movie. The talk show host will turn actor in the remake of THE SHAGGY DOG. Kilborn appeared in OLD SCHOOL and will also be seen in CURSED this February.

The movie is about a man who turns from human to sheepdog and back again throughout the film. Tim Allen will play the human/sheepdog, Kristin David was cast as his wife, Kilborn will play their neighbor. Also recently added to the cast is SAW star Danny Glober, who'll play a district attorney in DOG.

THE SHAGGY DOG will be directed by Brian Robbins and shooting will begin next week. "Varsity Blues" director Brian Robbins will direct the project, which will begin shooting Nov. 14.

'Incredibles' Derails 'Polar Express'

LOS ANGELES - Santa Claus could not conquer "The Incredibles." The cartoon hit retained the top slot at the box office for a second weekend, taking in $51 million to fend off animated newcomer "The Polar Express," a Christmas tale that debuted at No. 2 with $23.5 million.

The heist flick "After the Sunset," with Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek and Woody Harrelson, opened in third place with $11.5 million, studio estimates showed Sunday.

Getting a jump on its full premiere next weekend, Renee Zellweger's sequel "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" began in narrower release and came in at No. 4 with $8.9 million. The film debuted in 530 theaters, compared to 3,650 for "The Polar Express."

The horror tale "Seed of Chucky," a follow-up to the "Child's Play" movies about a bloodthirsty doll, debuted in fifth with $8.8 million.

Hollywood broke out of a box-office slump that has lingered most of the fall. The top 12 movies took in $136 million, up 11 percent from the same weekend last year.

Pixar Animation's "The Incredibles," about a family of superheroes pressed into action after years of civilian life, lifted its 10-day total to $144.1 million. That matched the 10-day total of Pixar's "Finding Nemo," which went on to gross $340 million last year.

The film's revenues held up strongly, down just 28 percent from its opening-weekend gross, indicating it should have a strong shelf life through the holidays.

"I've always learned not to make long-range forecasts, but this is obviously going to go on to be a huge success," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney, which released "The Incredibles." "If it happens to mirror 'Nemo,' that would be the best of all worlds for us."

"The Polar Express," based on the children's book about a boy's train trip to the North Pole, has grossed $30.8 million since opening Wednesday. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the movie features Tom Hanks in multiple roles, including Santa.

With a reportedly $170 million budget, "The Polar Express" needs strong holdover business through the holidays to avoid becoming a box-office train wreck.

The movie received wildly mixed reviews: Some critics called it a potential Christmas classic and others said its hyper-realistic human figures resembled dead-eyed zombies.

Distributor Warner Bros. is confident "The Polar Express" will follow the usual pattern of Christmas family flicks, holding up well through Thanksgiving weekend and beyond, said Dan Fellman, the studio's head of distribution.

"Momentum for us is on the climb, which is exactly what our strategy was, to get ourselves some money in the bank and have some great word of mouth before we really hit the holidays," Fellman said.

"The Polar Express" also should become a perennial revenue producer on video and television in future holiday seasons, Fellman said.

Two limited-release films debuted strongly in New York City and Los Angeles. Johnny Depp's "Finding Neverland," in which he plays "Peter Pan" creator J.M. Barrie, grossed $240,016 in eight theaters. Liam Neeson's "Kinsey," a film biography of sexuality researcher Alfred Kinsey, premiered with $175,026 in five theaters.

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 Incredibles," $51 million.
2. "The Polar Express," $23.5 million.
3. "After the Sunset," $11.5 million.
4. "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," $8.9 million
5. "Seed of Chucky," $8.8 million.
6. "Ray," $8.4 million.
7. "The Grudge," $7.1 million.
8. "Saw," $6.4 million.
9. "Shall We Dance?" $4.1 million.
10. "Alfie," $2.8 million.

UK Music's 'Who's Who' Re-Record Band Aid Song

LONDON (Reuters) - Twenty years after the release of one of the biggest singles of all time, leading British artists gathered on Sunday to re-record the Bob Geldof-inspired charity hit "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

Paul McCartney, Coldplay's Chris Martin, Jamelia and The Darkness were among those at a London studio to record the single, which bookmakers have already tipped for the Christmas number one spot. "It's time to recreate the magic, and perhaps add a little of our own," The Darkness singer Justin Hawkins told Xfm radio.

Geldof and Ultravox singer Midge Ure created Band Aid, a supergroup of 40 artists, in 1984 and with the hit single raised over 10 million pounds ($18 million) for famine relief in Ethiopia.

Ure has described the latest line-up as a "who's who of coolness" after he managed to get big names like Robbie Williams and Dido on board for the slightly re-arranged song. Artist Damien Hirst is making the CD's cover. Proceeds will again go toward aid for Africa, particularly for Sudan's volatile Darfur region, where tens of thousands have died since March from disease and malnutrition.

"I just returned from Africa ... and it sickens me that every day of hunger they see as normal," Geldof told BBC television, as he urged people to buy the single.

Geldof, who traveled to Ethiopia earlier this month as part of the British-sponsored Commission for Africa group, became the public face of Band Aid and the subsequent Live Aid concert which raised over 60 million pounds.

He emphasized funds raised from the new band Aid single, due out on November 29, will go straight to those who need them.

"The money will keep those who are hungry not hungry," he said.

The "Do They Know" song has already been re-recorded once, in 1985.

Rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard Dies Suddenly in New York

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard, whose criminal lifestyle and strange behavior overshadowed his work as one of the founding members of rap collective Wu-Tang Clan, collapsed and died in New York Saturday, his record label said.

The artist, whose real name was Russell Jones, was found in a recording studio complaining of chest pains, a source told Reuters. Paramedics were called but were unable to save him. A label spokeswoman said the cause of death was unknown.

Jones, 35, had a history of drug abuse. But a spokesman said he was clean at the time of his death and had been taking court-mandated drug tests.

"Russell inspired all of us with his spirit, wit, and tremendous heart," said a statement from Roc-A-Fella Records, the label founded by rapper Jay-Z. "The world has lost a great talent, but we mourn the loss of our friend."

In the hip-hop genre, where many performers attract the attention of the law and most spare no expense flaunting their extravagant lifestyles, Jones was in a class of his own.

Jones fathered 13 children, according to Blender magazine. His other stage names included Dirt McGirt and Big Baby Jesus, the latter moniker inspired by his belief that "I always been Jesus."

He was released from a New York state prison in early 2003 after serving almost three years for drug offenses and probation violation, and subsequently received treatment at a mental hospital.

His life on parole was filmed for a documentary broadcast by music cable channel VH1.

GRAMMY STUNT

Following a 1999 arrest for possession of crack cocaine, he reportedly asked the police to "make the rocks disappear" because it would hurt his standing as a role model. During one of his many court appearances, he called a female prosecutor a "sperm donor."

His rap sheet also included arrests for making terrorist threats, wearing a bulletproof vest, and involvement in a shootout with police.

In 1998, he stormed the stage during the live telecast of the Grammy Awards to complain that Wu-Tang Clan should have won a prize in part because he went to the trouble of buying an expensive new outfit.

Jones, who was born in the New York borough of Brooklyn, co-founded Wu-Tang Clan with cousins Gary Grice (aka GZA) and Robert Diggs (aka RZA) in 1992.

With the personnel clocking in at nine members, the group released its debut album, "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)," the following year and it peaked at No. 41 on the U.S. pop album charts. Its 1997 follow-up, "Wu-Tang Forever," boasting some bizarre ranting by Jones, debuted at No. 1.

Members of the loosely knit group engaged in solo projects, with Jones' first effort, "Return to the 36 Chambers," peaking at No. 7 in early 1995. In 1999, "Nigga Please" peaked at No. 10.

A spokesman said Jones had almost completed a new album.

In addition to his children, Jones is survived by his mother, Cherry Jones, who said in a statement that her son was the "kindest, most generous soul on Earth."

Usher, OutKast Win Three American Music Awards

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - R&B singer Usher and hip-hop duo OutKast each won three prizes by the midway mark at the American Music Awards on Sunday, with Usher on his way to a clean sweep of all four categories in which he was nominated.

Usher grabbed the prizes for favorite male artist in the soul/R&B category, and favorite album in both the pop/rock and soul/R&B categories.

"I just wanna thank all the lovely ladies," Usher said, upon receiving the latter award.

Usher, whose "Confessions" album has been the biggest seller this year with U.S. sales of 6.6 million copies, leads the contenders with nods in four categories. He also has a leading five nominations at the Vibe Awards, which take place in Los Angeles on Monday, and four nominations at the MTV Europe Awards taking place in Rome on Thursday.

OutKast won all three categories in which it was nominated: favorite album (rap/hip-hop), and favorite group (pop/rock and rap/hip-hop).

Antwan "Big Boi" Patton, one-half of the superstar combo, paid tribute to Ol' Dirty Bastard, the colorful rapper who died suddenly in New York on Saturday. He also said OutKast was working on two albums, including a movie soundtrack.

The only other multiple winner was country star Toby Keith, who took the favorite male artist and favorite album prizes in the country category. He dedicated the latter award to U.S. military personnel overseas.

Other winners included singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow, rock band Linkin Park, R&B singer Alicia Keys, rapper Jay-Z and Latin singer Marc Anthony.

Performers included No Doubt frontwoman Gwen Stefani who is preparing to release her debut solo album, and Rod Stewart in a pair of red tartan pants.

Winners are determined by a national poll of 20,000 people, with nominees drawn from retail sales and radio airplay data.

The American Music Awards last year shifted from January to November, in part to avoid competition from the more prestigious Grammys, which take place in February. Still, last year's American Music Awards attracted a record low of 12.8 million viewers, less than half the number of Grammy viewers.

TWISTED FUN

By ADAM BUCKMAN (New York Post)

Canadian actors were the obvious beneficiaries of the decision to film a Chicago disaster movie in Winnipeg.

Unfortunately, though, the locals were not able to shed their Canadian accents.

And that's a disaster for a disaster picture in which the most frequently uttered word is "blackout," which translates to "black-oat" in Canadian.

But rather than let the film's Canadian-isms bother me, I decided to turn them into a little game called "Spot the Canadian."

"There's one!" I would think triumphantly every time a fireman or an emergency worker would recite a few lines of dialogue with a Winnipegian lilt.

The game was a welcome distraction from the miniseries' many flaws — including but not limited to the prevalence of Canadian accents in a movie about Chicago.

"Category 6: Day of Destruction" — starring Brian Dennehy, Randy Quaid, Thomas Gibson and Nancy McKeon — is kind of like three disaster miniseries in one.

Instead of merely inflicting Chicago with a power outage or a series of tornadoes or one huge hurricane, "Day of Destruction" slams the town with all three at once.

And yet, the very windy city shown in "Day of Destruction" bears almost no resemblance to Chicago, despite the occasional insertion of aerial pictures of the Chicago skyline.

Instead, the only recognizable landmark to bite the dust is the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, which gets twisted into a giant pretzel in a storm scene that's a run-up to "the big one" set to hit Chicago.

I'll lay it right on the line: This miniseries is one big jumble of mistakes. The plot is implausible, the acting is unpersuasive and the script is made up of parts that don't quite fit together.

In spite of itself, however, it manages inexplicably to emerge as a real nail-biter.

And if the suspense doesn't float your boat, you can always play "Spot the Canadian."

EMINEM GOES BOTH WAYS IN HIS BRAND-NEW 'ENCORE'

With the glorious stupidity, fantastic humor and gut-wrenching horror that are his trademark, Eminem shares his "Encore" today - and this most anticipated album of 2004 doesn't disappoint.

Eggheads trying to fathom how deep rap's favorite Caucasian is will find plenty to analyze in the introspective "Yellow Brick Road" and the devotional lullaby to his daughter Hailie, "Mockingbird."

Thin-skinned prudes will cringe at his love songs "Spend Some Time" and "Ass Like That."

The politically correct will be outraged by his provocative homophobic and misogynistic rants.

And those who just love the soap opera of Em's life will be relieved that mommy dearest and his ex-wife, Kim, are still - as always - the villains.

The man does do something he has never done before - apologize - but don't think this is a kinder, gentler Eminem.

This disc is a clear continuation of his Grammy-grabbing "The Eminem Show"; that's why it's called "Encore." Vented rage, violence as the solution and broken-home whines and poses are the heart and soul of this record.

The disc draws first blood with "Evil Deeds," a semi-autobiographical track on which hip-hop's Motor City madman spills his guts about hard feelings for a father who wasn't there.

The bitterness of a dysfunctional family and a misunderstood youth twisted him into an angst-ridden, alienated adult, he says, and the song leaves Eminem stripped naked and flushed with anger.

The self-absorbed rapper then swipes at his detractors with "Never Enough," grumbling with pal 50 Cent that he never gets his due from his peers or the press.

Even though it is invisible, the racial boundary of being a white rapper is the undercurrent of "Never Enough." It's why everyone looks at his lyrics so closely; why he often feels that he gets no respect.

In fact, it's why, on the song "Yellow Brick Road," he says he's sorry for a tape he made as a kid slagging African-American women after he was dumped by a black girlfriend. The 32-year-old chalks it up to the ignorance of youth.

Thankfully, that defensiveness doesn't flood every track on the disc.

On the wide-ranging raps, he takes a whack at political discourse in "Mosh," the record's anti-Bush, anti-war piece. There's a plea to stop the violence in rap on the song "Like Toy Soldiers."

But he's at his best when he lets his inner juvenile delinquent loose, belching into the mike and poking fun at Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Pee-wee Herman and pop's power couple, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey.

Take "Puke," for instance.

Here, Eminem is fantastic as he writes the next chapter of loathing for his ex, Kim. It's familiar territory, and the hilarious comic-book tirade transcends his apparent hatred.

That's the key to understanding Eminem.

His raps are guilty pleasures. He's ironic, witty and a prankster at heart. Humor boils under his deadpan gangsta smirk and hard words.

This is also his biggest problem: Sometimes it's difficult to tell whether he's parodying life or himself - or, worse, that he's serious.

More Moore

Even though his film didn't prevent Bush's reelection, he says the war on terror will remain relevant enough to merit a similar exploration in two or three years time.

Fahrenheit 9/11 is the most lucrative documentary ever made, so a little thing like the movie's failure to sway voters from reelecting President Bush isn't going to stop Michael Moore and Miramax cochief Harvey Weinstein from making a sequel. It'll be called Fahrenheit 9/11 1/2. ''We want to get cameras rolling now and have it ready in two, three years,'' Moore told Variety, noting that the first film's issues, like terrorism and Iraq, will still be relevant. ''Fifty-one percent of the American people lacked information [in this election] and we want to educate and enlighten them. They weren't told the truth. We're communicators and it's up to us to start doing it now.''

Moore said he rejects the notion that his $119 million-grossing movie and other celebrities' overt campaigning against Bush created an anti-Hollywood backlash that helped the President. ''America loves Hollywood. When given a chance to vote for someone from Hollywood, they jump in,'' he said, though he acknowledged that almost all the stars voted into office have been Republicans. ''Who is the Democrats' Arnold? We have a number of them. What American wouldn't vote for Tom Hanks? Hollywood is full of people like that.'' (Let us know when one of them considers running for office, Mike.)

Fahrenheit 9/11 1/2 will follow Moore's next movie, an exposé of the U.S. health care system, called Sicko. In the short term, however, Moore and Weinstein will be campaigning for Oscars for the first Fahrenheit. Earlier this week, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association said the film was ineligible for any Golden Globes (which would boost its Oscar chances) because it's a documentary, but Moore acknowledged that the film doesn't neatly fit into any of the Globes' categories. ''We're not a musical, comedy, or dramatic feature.'' As for whether he might reprise his notoriously angry 2003 Oscar acceptance speech for Bowling for Columbine, he said, ''I don't know if people want to see me on the stage of the Kodak again.'' However, he noted, the Best Picture trophy goes not to the director but to the producer. ''Since my wife [Kathleen Glynn] was the producer, if I win — she speaks!''

"Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that but not with all those flies and death and stuff."

— Mariah Carey

Blue Rodeo's Stereovision DVD illustrates the band's 20 year history

TORONTO (CP) - The lifeline of most bands lies in the relationship between its members so it's no surprise that Blue Rodeo's Greg Keelor and Jim Cuddy's friendship dates back some 30-odd years to Grade 11 math class.

Freshly enrolled Keelor found scrunched up notes with scribblings about the new boy with "ridiculous shoes" written by Cuddy and a classmate. "He was new. He came from Montreal. Montreal people were always hard on Toronto so he deserved a bit of initiation, a little bit of hazing," explained Cuddy in a recent interview, as Keelor sat next to him shoeless on a well-worn red couch in the band's downtown Toronto studio.

"It set him up for a career in the arts, reading your own reviews. He never should have looked at the notes," added Cuddy.

That first encounter speaks volumes about the strength of the duo's bond which has outlasted and outsmarted the tribulations of a volatile business where fighting is often the norm, even customary in some circles.

The then-teenagers started playing guitar in the 1970s and formed several punk bands which eventually, after a short attempt to break into New York, mutated and morphed into the country-infused Blue Rodeo in 1984.

The outfit celebrates 20 years with a DVD retrospective this month, directed by acclaimed, sometimes quirky, documentary filmmaker Ron Mann.

Toronto-based Mann, who directed docs Grass and last year's Go Further with Woody Harrelson, says he wanted to take a "Salman Rushdie approach to music" rather than the talking heads, VH-1-style too often repeated.

Calling Cuddy and Keelor the "Lennon and McCartney of Canada," Mann said he wanted to showcase the full breadth of the band.

"Their career is really interesting because they've done it in Canada on their own terms," he said. "But they're really kind of a secret in a way. It's authentic music. People respond to it internationally."

Stereovision is not what you've come to expect from music DVDs.

First, there are no videos - a completely overused technique these days for making quickie music DVDs. Second, there are no ego-filled introspective chats with band members musing about their own greatness.

Instead, the DVD is filled with a cornucopia of rare nuggets including a stylized appreciation by novelist Paul Quarrington, who appears in front of a yellow screen as animated illustrations float around him.

Called Sweet Soul Music, the 11-minute short premiered at a music film festival in Prague a few weeks ago. It'll screen at Montreal's international documentary festival next week.

Quarrington, who had his own band, Joe Hall and the Continental Drift, when Blue Rodeo formed, waxes poetically about the band's influence on the Toronto music scene and offers up his analysis of "stupid" band names and the musical context which first inspired Cuddy and Keelor.

Footnotes to the segment include a New Music clip from the first time Cuddy and Keelor were interviewed as well as photos, posters and handbills.

A collection of rarities, such as a 1989 show at Toronto's Diamond Club, shows the band's transformation from greasy, slick-backed hairdos to the laid back guys of today.

Another segment sees the band's original five members reunite for an outdoor party at Keelor's Ontario farm, where they perform two new songs, Rena and Up On That Cloud, in addition to classics like Diamond Mine.

Showing their crazy, party side, the band stages a massive, psychedelic massacre of paper snowmen as the Sadies play a cover of Jim Morrison's The End.

"We wanted to do something that encapsulated the entire career and have a party," Keelor said.

His eyes widening, he admits he has a fire fetish and thoroughly enjoyed filming the burning snowmen scene.

"I love the power of fire. Whenever I have a party, there's usually a pretty big fire. This is one of the bigger fires," smirks Keelor.

Adds Cuddy: "It's no problem for Greg to call the local fire department and tell them he's going to have another event."

A Hollywood pyro technician and the Bowmanville, Ont. fire marshal were on hand for the filming of the fiery scene.

The band came together in 1984 after Cuddy and Keelor placed an ad in a Toronto freebie requesting musicians who'd "dropped acid at least 20 times, lost three or four years to booze."

But they didn't really garner attention outside the Toronto club circuit until the 1986 heart-piercing Try was picked up by radio and MuchMusic.

The emotional ballad struck a chord with listeners and launched what's become two decades of acclaimed songwriting from Blue Rodeo.

They've release nine studio albums which have sold over three million copies.

American success has always eluded the band despite a big push from Atlantic Records, a 1988 Rolling Stone magazine proclamation "the best new American band may very well be Canadian," and another from Meryl Streep who included the band in 1990s Postcards from the Edge.

"Over the years I feel quite glad that we didn't make it down there," said Keelor. "My life would be so different. I'm very content."

Poll Says Winslet Would Be Great 'Bridget'

LONDON - If Renee Zellweger has grown tired of playing Bridget Jones, British fans would like to see an English star in the role.

Kate Winslet, 29, was the most popular choice to replace Zellweger if she turned down a part in a third installment, according to a fan vote published Thursday.

"Fight Club" actress Helena Bonham Carter was among other British actresses getting votes.

Zellweger, 35, played the role of the chubby, chain-smoking, chardonnay-swilling British TV journalist in the 2001 film "Bridget Jones's Diary" and its sequel, "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," which had its red-carpet premiere in London this week.

"Titanic" star Winslet took 41 percent of the vote in a survey by Sky Movies, a pay TV channel. Reese Witherspoon, 28, was the second most popular choice in the vote by 3,476 viewers, followed by "Friends" star Jennifer Anniston.

Producers haven't said whether they plan a third film.

The "Bridget Jones" movies are based on two novels by Helen Fielding.

Asked at this week's premiere if she would take on the role a third time, Zellweger said: "You tell me if Helen Fielding writes another book. People have responded to Bridget with a lot of affection."

Hugh Grant Signals End to Acting Career

LONDON - Hugh Grant says he's lost interest in acting and is heading into retirement. Grant, who plays heartthrob Daniel Cleaver in "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," was quoted Thursday by the Evening Standard's Metro magazine as saying film acting is a "miserable experience."

"It's so long and boring and so difficult to get right," Grant said.

"I am sort of semiretired," he said. "I keep thinking I'm going to write a brilliant script."

Grant, whose screen credits include "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Notting Hill" and the first "Bridget Jones" movie, gained international notoriety when he was caught in a car with Hollywood prostitute Divine Brown in 1995.

The 44-year-old actor, who took his new girlfriend, heiress Jemima Khan, to this week's London premiere of "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," told the magazine he didn't feel pressure to settle down.

'Incredibles' Has Edge Over 'Polar' at Box Office

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Warner Bros. Pictures' costly new entrant "The Polar Express" goes up against reigning champ "The Incredibles" at the weekend box office, but is unlikely to dislodge the hit superhero cartoon.

"Polar," from writer-director Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks as several different computer-animated characters, already has been under the microscope for its innovative use of performance-capture technology as well as its astronomical budget, reported at $170 million or more.

Based on the popular children's book by Chris Van Allsburg, the film tells the story of a young boy whose doubts about Santa Claus are changed by a magical train ride to the North Pole. Warners is hoping for an instant classic and perennial holiday player.

But if "Polar's" opening-day numbers -- it bowed Wednesday in 3,650 locations -- are indicative of how the weekend plays out, then it won't be able to surpass "The Incredibles" from Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Co. "Incredibles," which earned $70.4 million its opening weekend, reaped an additional $4.5 million Wednesday, while "Polar" bowed to $2.6 million. "Polar" was expected to enjoy a bump Thursday, when a lot of children were out of school for the Veterans Day holiday.

The pairing of Zemeckis and Hanks has proved formidable in the past. With "Forrest Gump" and "Cast Away," the duo has earned more than $562 million in domestic box office receipts. But with "Polar," they'll be competing not just with "The Incredibles" but also with Paramount Pictures' "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie," which arrives next weekend.

Studios may have blanketed the children's market this weekend, but adult audiences have a few new options of their own.

Focus Features' new genre label Rogue Pictures will unveil its second release, the R-rated horror film "Seed of Chucky," in 2,061 theaters. The fifth film in the "Chucky" series should score well with horror fans. The franchise's most recent installment, 1998's "Bride of Chucky," opened to $11.8 million, and execs are looking for a similar performance this time around. The film stars Brad Dourif and Jennifer Tilly as the voices of Chucky and Tiffany; Tilly also appears as herself. It was written and directed by Don Mancini, screenwriter for the other "Chucky" films.

New Line Cinema will bow "After the Sunset" in 2,819 theaters. The Brett Ratner-directed caper stars Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek and Woody Harrelson in a story about what happens after a master thief walks away with his last big score. The film has a similar feel to Brosnan's 1999 heist picture, "The Thomas Crown Affair," which opened to $14.6 million. Brosnan may have more difficulty breaking the $10 million mark this time because of mixed reviews and a crowded marketplace.

Taking some of the heat off "Sunset" is the somewhat limited release of "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," which is opening in 530 theaters in the top 100 markets. The Working Title comedy -- a sequel to 2001's "Bridget Jones's Diary," which earned Renee Zellweger an Oscar nomination for best actress -- hopes to amass word-of-mouth buzz in this busy frame by opening slowly and building solidly. It goes wide Nov. 19. Co-starring Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, "Bridget" is tracking well with women and could gross in the $7 million-$8 million range.

In limited release are two biopics and possible Academy Award contenders: "Finding Neverland" from Miramax Films and "Kinsey" from Fox Searchlight. "Neverland" stars Johnny Depp as "Peter Pan" author J.M. Barrie, and "Kinsey" toplines Liam Neeson as controversial sex researcher Albert Kinsey.

Eric B. & Rakim Top Greatest Rap Album List

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Picking the greatest ever hip-hop album is a tall order and Entertainment Weekly admits its list marking 25 years since the birth of mainstream rap is subjective, with Eric B & Rakim at No. 1.

"Eric B. & Rakim's 'Paid in Full' made hip-hop a true art form, doing for rap what Bob Dylan did for rock in the mid-'60s," the magazine said of the 1987 album which it praised for its technical intricacy and poetic metaphors.

Some of today's big names such as Outkast and Jay-Z may be disappointed not to make it into the top 10, although the former makes it to 11 with "Aquemini" and Jay-Z's "The Blueprint" is listed at 15. Eminem is at 17 for "The Marshall Mathers LP."

"It's not a record sales list," said Neil Drumming, one of the writers at Entertainment Weekly who picked the top 25.

"Most of the people you find on the list or not on the list, rappers in general, are going to reference Eric B. & Rakim as a seminal rap group," he said.

In second place the magazine picked the 1989 album "3 Feet High and Rising" by De La Soul, followed by "Ready to Die" by Notorious B.I.G. from 1994. Public Enemy and Run-D.M.C. make up the rest of the top five.

"It's an endless source of debate even after it's published," Drumming said.

The publication of the list on Friday marks the 25th anniversary of hip-hop as a mainstream phenomenon, which the magazine dates from 1979 when the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" landed on the R&B charts, making it hip-hop's first hit single.

"A lot of people didn't believe it would last, what people are acknowledging now is that it's not a fad," Drumming said.

In Flanders Fields

By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

McCrae's "In Flanders Fields" remains to this day one of the most memorable war poems ever written. It is a lasting legacy of the terrible battle in the Ypres salient in the spring of 1915. Here is the story of the making of that poem:

Although he had been a doctor for years and had served in the South African War, it was impossible to get used to the suffering, the screams, and the blood here, and Major John McCrae had seen and heard enough in his dressing station to last him a lifetime.

As a surgeon attached to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade, Major McCrae, who had joined the McGill faculty in 1900 after graduating from the University of Toronto, had spent seventeen days treating injured men -- Canadians, British, Indians, French, and Germans -- in the Ypres salient.

It had been an ordeal that he had hardly thought possible. McCrae later wrote of it:

"I wish I could embody on paper some of the varied sensations of that seventeen days... Seventeen days of Hades! At the end of the first day if anyone had told us we had to spend seventeen days there, we would have folded our hands and said it could not have been done."

One death particularly affected McCrae. A young friend and former student, Lieut. Alexis Helmer of Ottawa, had been killed by a shell burst on 2 May 1915. Lieutenant Helmer was buried later that day in the little cemetery outside McCrae's dressing station, and McCrae had performed the funeral ceremony in the absence of the chaplain.

The next day, sitting on the back of an ambulance parked near the dressing station beside the Canal de l'Yser, just a few hundred yards north of Ypres, McCrae vented his anguish by composing a poem. The major was no stranger to writing, having authored several medical texts besides dabbling in poetry.

In the nearby cemetery, McCrae could see the wild poppies that sprang up in the ditches in that part of Europe, and he spent twenty minutes of precious rest time scribbling fifteen lines of verse in a notebook.

A young soldier watched him write it. Cyril Allinson, a twenty-two year old sergeant-major, was delivering mail that day when he spotted McCrae. The major looked up as Allinson approached, then went on writing while the sergeant-major stood there quietly. "His face was very tired but calm as we wrote," Allinson recalled. "He looked around from time to time, his eyes straying to Helmer's grave."

When McCrae finished five minutes later, he took his mail from Allinson and, without saying a word, handed his pad to the young NCO. Allinson was moved by what he read:

"The poem was exactly an exact description of the scene in front of us both. He used the word blow in that line because the poppies actually were being blown that morning by a gentle east wind. It never occurred to me at that time that it would ever be published. It seemed to me just an exact description of the scene."

In fact, it was very nearly not published. Dissatisfied with it, McCrae tossed the poem away, but a fellow officer retrieved it and sent it to newspapers in England. The Spectator, in London, rejected it, but Punch published it on 8 December 1915.

'Saving Private Ryan' TV controversy

NEW YORK -- More than 20 ABC affiliates around the country have announced that they won't take part in the network's Veterans Day airing of "Saving Private Ryan," saying the acclaimed film's violence and language could draw sanctions from the Federal Communications Commission.

The decisions mark a twist in the conflict over the aggressive stand the FCC has taken against obscenity and profanity since Janet Jackson flashed the world during the last Super Bowl halftime show.

Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning movie aired on ABC with relatively little controversy in 2001 and 2002, but station owners -- including several in large markets -- are unnerved that airing it Thursday could bring federal punishment. The film includes a violent depiction of the D-Day invasion and profanity.

"It would clearly have been our preference to run the movie. We think it's a patriotic, artistic tribute to our fighting forces," Ray Cole, president of Citadel Communications, told AP Radio. The company owns three ABC affiliates in the Midwest.

Other stations choosing to replace the movie with other programming are located in Atlanta, Dallas, Honolulu, New Orleans, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Orlando, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C. They are owned by a variety of companies, including Cox Television, Tribune Broadcasting Corp., Hearst-Argyle Television Inc., Belo Corp. and Sinclair Broadcast Group.

"We regret that the FCC, given its current timidity in dealing in this area, would not grant an advance waiver, which would have allowed stations like ours to run it without any question or any concern," Cole said.

In a statement on WSB-TV's Web site, the Atlanta station's vice president and general manager, Greg Stone, cited a March ruling in which the FCC said an expletive uttered by rock star Bono during NBC's live airing of the 2003 Golden Globe Awards was both indecent and profane.

The agency made it clear then that virtually any use of the F-word -- which is used repeatedly in "Saving Private Ryan" -- was inappropriate for over-the-air radio and television.

The Bono case "reversed years of prior policy that the context of language matters," Stone said. He added that broadcasters could not get any clarification from the FCC on whether the movie violates the standard.

ABC, which broadcast the film uncut in 2001 and 2002, issued a statement saying it is proud to broadcast it again. The network's contract with director Spielberg stipulates that the film cannot be edited.

"As in the past, this broadcast will contain appropriate and clear advisories and parental guidelines," the statement said.

The network has about 225 affiliates.

Several stations said ABC had rejected their requests to air the movie after 10 p.m.

An FCC spokeswoman said Wednesday that the agency does not monitor television broadcasts, but responds to complaints. The agency received a complaint after the 2001 broadcast of "Saving Private Ryan," but it was denied, she said.

WSOC-TV of Charlotte said it received complaints about language in the movie when it aired in 2001 and 2002.

"Now, after much concern and discussion about family viewing over past months, and with Americans at war across the world, it is the vivid depiction of violence combined with graphic language proposed to begin airing at 8 p.m. that has forced our decision," said Lee Armstrong, the station's vice president and general manager.

ABC has told its affiliates it would cover any fines, but Cole, of Citadel, said the network could not protect its affiliates against other FCC sanctions.

The FCC has stepped up enforcement of its decency standards for certain content following this year's Super Bowl halftime show, in which one of Janet Jackson's breasts was exposed.

Profane speech, which is barred from broadcast radio and television between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., is defined by the FCC as language that is "so grossly offensive to members of the public who actually hear it as to amount to a nuisance," or epithets that tend "to provoke violent resentment."

The guidelines say the context in which such material appears is of critical importance.

Cole cited recent FCC actions and last week's re-election of President Bush as reasons for replacing "Saving Private Ryan" on Thursday with a music program and the TV movie "Return to Mayberry."

"We're just coming off an election where moral issues were cited as a reason by people voting one way or another and, in my opinion, the commissioners are fearful of the new Congress," Cole said.

Big-Budget 'Polar Express' Draws Mixed Reviews

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Warner Bros.' big-budget movie for children, "The Polar Express," pulled into theaters on Wednesday with a load of mixed reviews, ranging from praise for an instant holiday classic to jeers for a huge disappointment.

The computer-animated movie, which reportedly cost about $270 million to make and market, is a major financial risk for the studio and a creative risk for the new "performance capture" technology used to make it.

Whether the film could be headed for box office success won't be known until this Sunday's weekend box office estimate and then whether it does well during the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. As for the quality of the film's story and animation, film critics were divided.

Influential Chicago Sun Times critic Roger Ebert, said the movie "has the quality of a lot of lasting children's entertainment." But New York Times reviewer Manohla Dargis called it "a grave and disappointing failure, as much of imagination as of technology."

The Los Angeles Times' Kenneth Turan called it "something of a devil's bargain." He praised the visual recreations of Chris Van Allsburg's book from which the movie was made, but knocks "scenes of indifferent slapstick and unnecessary spookiness."

In the movie, a young boy questions his belief in Santa Claus until he is magically transported to the North Pole aboard the Polar Express train to meet him.

The movie's plot worked for many critics.

"To not adore it is to feel like a scrooge," the Washington Post said. The Hollywood Reporter called it "a runaway thrill when the train cascades, roller coaster-like through cavernous peaks."

The animation in several scenes drew praise, especially one in which a young girl loses her train ticket and it swirls through the air over a lush, snow-covered landscape.

But the computer-generated characters, which director Robert Zemeckis based on tracking the movements of real-life actors, drew mostly negative comments.

The movie "may succeed ... replicating human movement ... but it fails to capture the subtlety of facial expressions or to fabricate sympathetic, evocative figures," said Daily Variety, a newspaper that covers the entertainment industry.

Zemeckis has said the humans were not meant to look real, but were supposed to recreate the book's illustrations.

"We had no intention of doing anything photo real," he said at a demonstration of the technology. "Photo real" is a term to describe digital characters designed to look authentic.

The Couch Potato Report - November 10th, 2004

In The Couch Potato Report this week, a worthy sequel and a not unworthy remake.

Have you ever wondered if the characters in films you love have stayed together?

Ever wondered what happened years after that happy ending?

For instance, did Vivian and Edward live happily ever after PRETTY WOMAN?

Is Harry still meeting Sally?

And are Bill and Ted still with the princesses they met while on their excellent adventure?

Okay, perhaps that last one wasn't your standard romantic comedy. But then again, neither was BEFORE SUNRISE.

And if you've ever wondered what happened to Jesse and Celine after that film, you now have your answer.

BEFORE SUNRISE came out in 1995 and it remains a passionate and intelligent film about a chance encounter between two people on a train that incites a spontaneous expedition to Vienna.

In the course of their 14-hour Viennese relationship, Jesse and Celine walked, talked, and got to know each other in what was a unique cinematic meeting of romance and intelligence.

Then, just before sunrise, the pair agreed to meet back in Vienna six months later.

Have you ever wondered if the characters in films you love have stayed together?

This year's release of BEFORE SUNSET definitively answers whether or not Jesse and Celine ever made it back to Vienna to see each other again.

I loved BEFORE SUNRISE, and I was anxious to find out more about Jesse and Celine nine years later.

BEFORE SUNSET didn't let me down. I completely enjoyed seeing the pair together again.

I also enjoyed the fact that the original creative team of actors Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy and writer/director Richard Linklater have returned to make the film. I would have felt cheated if another writer or director was giving us this follow-up.

In this follow-up, Jesse has written a book about the pair's Vienna trip and he is in Celine's home town of Paris on his book tour.

She comes to see him and the two get together and begin to catch up on how the other has been doing with the other's life in the eighty minutes that Jesse
has before his flight back to the United States.

The fact that he only has eighty minutes is important to point out because the entire film plays out in real time. There is not a single wasted moment between the end of the opening credits and the start of the closing credits.

Once again we get to watch the two as they walk and talk about everything from career to sex to misconceptions about the last time they were together.

Do they stay together at the end of this encounter? Did they meet up six months after their first meeting?

You won't get any answers from me. I don't want to rob you of one second of the ongoing or back story story that is revealed in BEFORE SUNSET.

What I will reveal is the fact that BEFORE SUNSET is a unique cinematic window that lets us look at two lives intersecting years after a hopelessly romantic fling.

On its own, BEFORE SUNSET is moving and wonderful. If you watch it - as I did - right after BEFORE SUNRISE, it will break your heart.

And it might also get you thinking about the one, or ones, that got away. Either in real life or in the movies.

Years from now, I'm sure the actors, writers and cast of the remake of THE STEPFORD WIVES will be thinking about their movie. A movie that got away.

Nicole Kidman from THE HOURS and MOULIN ROUGE is a woman who gets fired as president of a television network and has a nervous breakdown.

Matthew Broderick from ELECTION and YOU CAN COUNT ON ME is her husband. He decides to move the family to a simple Connecticut town called Stepford to recuperate.

But in Stepford the less than perfect husbands congregate at a closed-doors men's club, while the wives do nothing but cook, clean and exercise to keep their hourglass figures.

Along with her friends Bette Midler and the very funny Roger Bart, Kidman soon discovers that the mastermind of Stepford has used cybernetics to
"perfect" womankind.

If the name THE STEPFORD WIVES sounds familiar thats because this is a remake of a movie from 1975.

The original was sociopolitical horror flick. This new version doesn't know what it wants to be. Serious, comedic, campy, dramatic?

It doesn't know and since the tone of it is all over the place, it is a movie that is very hard to like, or recommend.

But THE STEPFORD WIVES isn't as bad as I, or anyone thought it was going to be. No, it isn't great, but it isn't horrible.

This is one of those movies that benefits from the fact that people's expectations going in are quite low, and thus, it isn't great, but it isn't horrible is how its described.

No, THE STEPFORD WIVES isn't a complete waste of your time, but it isn't a must see either.

THE STEPFORD WIVES and BEFORE SUNSET are both available now at your
favourite local video store.

COMING UP IN THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT

In the new holiday classic ELF Will Ferrell from OLD SCHOOL and
ANCHORMAN is a young human is raised as an elf at the North Pole. James
Caan and Mr. Bob Newhart round out the cast with the lovely Zooey
Deschannel.

Also next week, the washed up Vin Diesel stars in THE CHRONICLES OF
RIDDICK as an escaped convict who finds himself in the middle of a war.
For some reason Dame Judi Dench and the very talented Thandie Newton
also agreed to star in what is a really bad movie.

The brilliant and devastating comedy of The Office is brought to a
satisfying conclusion in THE OFFICE SPECIAL, set three years after the
end of the faux-documentary's second season.

LIVE AID is the 4-DVD Box Set of the July 13th, 1985, concert event.
Over 10 hours of performances are featured, including sets from David
Bowie, Eric Clapton, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Sting, The Who, U2, Neil
Young, and many, many more. Royalties will benefit the Band Aid Trust,
which continues to provide direct hunger relief in Africa.

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 Tunage

Here are the new music releases for the week of November 9th, 2004:

Tuesday November 9.
MAXWELL new album (Sony)
NEKO CASE The Tigers Have Spoken (Mint Records)
SHANIA TWAIN Greatest Hits (Universal Music)

Wednesday November 10, 2004
VARIOUS ARTISTS Live Aid (DVD) (Warner International)

Friday November 12, 2004
EMINEM Encore (Shady Records/Interscope)

McGraw's 'Live Like You Were Dying' Wins

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying" won song of the year and single of the year, and Kenny Chesney took entertainer of the year and album of the year honors at the Country Music Association awards Tuesday night.

"Of course the song is special to me, but I think it is special to a lot of people," McGraw said. "The song to me is not about death, it's an affirmation about life."

Chesney, whose album "When the Sun Goes Down" took top honors, noted that he's "been making records and been on the road 12 years now, and this is my first CMA award. ... I'm very proud of it."

Other winners included Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson, Brad Paisley, Martina McBride and Rascal Flatts.

Written by Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman, "Live Like You Were Dying" spent eight weeks this summer at No. 1.

The song, about living life to its fullest, was special for McGraw, who lost his father, former New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Tug McGraw, to cancer in January.

The lyrics tell of a man in his early 40s who learned he doesn't have long to live and is asked how he handled the news. McGraw sings, "Someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying."

It was chosen for song of the year over Wilson's "Redneck Woman," Josh Turner's "Long Black Train," Alan Jackson's "Remember When" and the Paisley-Alison Krauss duet "Whiskey Lullaby."

"Whiskey Lullaby," written by Bill Anderson and Jon Randall, won for musical event of the year and music video of the year. It's a dark tale about a woman who breaks a man's heart, watches him drink himself to death and then is so guilt-stricken that she too — as the songs says — "put that bottle to her head and pulled the trigger."

"I want to thank country radio for playing this," Paisley said. "It says a lot about the great people in our format who will take a chance on a double suicide in a drinking song."

In one of the evening's surprises, Urban won the male vocalist award. The rising star was up against veterans Jackson, George Strait, Toby Keith and Chesney.

"I thought I was just rounding out the category," Urban said.

During the show, Keith and his daughter, Krystal, performed "Mockingbird," and Kix Brooks of the duo Brooks & Dunn paid tribute to the late Ray Charles.

"He really was one soulful country singer. Bless you, Ray Charles," Brooks said.

Keith had six nominations for the Country Music Association awards, but was shut out for the second straight year.

"I have the worst record in the history of the CMA," he said recently.

Jackson, who led all nominees for the ceremony with seven, also left empty-handed.

McBride won female vocalist of the year, her fourth in that category and third in a row.

"When I was a little girl in Kansas I had some big dreams, but I don't think I ever dreamed this big," he said.

Dolly Parton presented the entertainer of the year award to Chesney, joking: "Once upon a time I won the entertainer of the year award, and if any of you out there remember when that was you keep your mouth shut."

Others who've won the award include Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson and Loretta Lynn.

Wilson, who has sold 3 million copies of her debut album, "Here For the Party," won the Horizon Award for best new artist. She fought back tears as she accepted.

"I came here last year and sat way back there in the very back and dreamed of standing up here someday. I just had no idea it would happen this fast for me," she said.

Rascal Flatts won the vocal group award for the second consecutive year.

"It's overwhelming," said bass player Jay DeMarcus. "We had big hopes and aspirations when we started out in this business ... to have something like this in hand at the end of the day sort of gives validity to what you want to accomplish."

Singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson was inducted into the Country Hall of Fame. His friend Willie Nelson introduced him and sang Kristofferson's "For the Good Times." Faith Hill performed his "Help Me Make It Through the Night" and Randy Travis did "Sunday Morning Coming Down."

Kristofferson, who has been outspoken during his career on political and social issues, sang "Me and Bobby McGee," a song made famous by Janis Joplin.

He thanked the late Johnny and June Cash "for endorsing me back when nobody knew me and defending me later when everybody did and for standing up for truth and justice and human rights."

Lohan 'Speaks' on Debut Album

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Teen queen Lindsay Lohan will release her debut album, "Speak," Dec. 7 via Casablanca.

The set's first single, "Rumors," jumps from No. 37 to No. 31 this week on Billboard's Top 40 Mainstream chart and debuts at No. 24 on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 singles tally. The cut reached a new peak last week at No. 17 on the Hot Digital Tracks chart.

The artist's Web site (http://www.lindsaylohanmusic.com) is hosting a video for "Rumors," in which the actress/singer escapes menacing paparazzi on her way to writhing in an elevator and frolicking in a dark nightclub.

"Speak" finds Lohan collaborating with such producers as Desmond Child, Cory Rooney (Destiny's Child, Jennifer Lopez), Andreas Carlson (Britney Spears, 'N Sync) and Jon Shanks (Ashlee Simpson).

Lohan is expected to perform "Rumors" Dec. 6 on ABC's "Good Morning America." Other appearances are being lined up on "Regis & Kelly" and "The Late Show With David Letterman."

Best known for her starring roles in "Mean Girls," "Freaky Friday" and "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen," Lohan has been heard as a vocalist on soundtracks for the latter two films. She also contributed a song to the soundtrack for this summer's "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement."

As an actress, Lohan is immersed in six film projects in various stages of development, including a revival of the "Herbie" franchise, a starring role as a young fashion designer in "Fashionistas" and an as-yet-untitled project with fellow musician/actor Nick Cannon.

U.S. Court Upholds Beastie Boys' Musical Sampling

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court has handed a victory to pioneering punk-rap group the Beastie Boys in a dispute over the growing musical practice of sampling, in which recording artists incorporate snippets of other songs into their own work.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined on Tuesday to reconsider its decision last year allowing the group to use a six-second segment of music from jazz flutist James Newton's 1978 composition "Choir."

A three-judge panel of the court held in 2003 that the band had abided by copyright protections by paying a license fee for a sample of Newton's recording and therefore did not have to pay an additional fee to license the underlying composition.

That finding upheld a lower-court dismissal of the case in favor of the Beastie Boys, and the 9th Circuit on Tuesday refused to reconsider its ruling before a larger 11-judge panel.

"We hold that Beastie Boys' use of a brief segment of that composition, consisting of three notes separated by a half-step over a background C note, is not sufficient to sustain a claim for infringement of Newton's copyright," Chief Judge Mary Schroeder wrote in her opinion.

The Beastie Boys used the sample in their song "Pass the Mic" on their 1992 album "Check Your Head."

Representatives for Newton and the Beastie Boys were not immediately available for comment.

The Beastie Boys helped spark the modern sampling trend in popular music with the 1989 album "Paul's Boutique," which incorporated bits of music from sources as diverse as Johnny Cash, Bob Marley and the Beatles to create new music. Sampling has since become a staple of many artists, especially in the rap and hip-hop genres.

The Beastie Boys have also emerged as leading advocates of a new approach to licensing known as the Creative Commons, in which artists record songs that listeners are invited to "rip, sample, mash and share" over file-sharing online networks like Kazaa or borrow to create their own compositions.

Renee Zellweger Plans a Break from Acting

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - One would not know it from the way she is all over the media promoting her latest "Bridget Jones" film, but Oscar-winning Renee Zellweger is taking an extended break from acting.

After "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" begins playing in theaters on Friday, Zellweger, 35, said she plans to step away from the limelight, stop acting for a while and learn what it is like to be "just a girl."

"I don't see myself climbing into a makeup chair any time soon and taking another role. I feel like I need to take a minute and have a little bit of life experience," Zellweger told Reuters in a recent interview.

She declined to say how her break from filming would last and she has already made a film that will open in 2005, Ron Howard's "The Cinderella man," in which plays the wife of Depression-era boxer Jim Braddock.

The first "Bridget Jones' Diary" in 2001 made Zellweger a top box office star as audiences fell in love with her portrayal of the plump, single British woman who drinks, smokes, curses and bungles her way through her love life. It racked up $254 million at worldwide box offices.

She followed "Bridget Jones" with her Oscar-nominated role as murderess Roxie Hart in musical "Chicago" and capped three years of success with the U.S. film industry's top film honor in February for best supporting actress as the hard-scrabble farm girl Ruby Thewes in U.S. Civil War drama "Cold Mountain."

But Zellweger, with a sigh, said her golden Oscar statuette was still sitting on her bedside table where she left eight months ago it because the day after she left Los Angeles for a new job.

"I put it there so when I woke up in the morning I could see that I really did bring it home," she said. "I haven't really been back until now."

SAME SEX, DIFFERENT STORY

Zellweger, who gained 30 pounds to play Bridget Jones a second time, returns to familiar territory in "Edge of Reason." As the movie opens, Bridget has had six weeks of a relationship with her "total sex god and human rights lawyer" Mark Darcy (Colin Firth).

But her old fans know the good loving can't last long when into her life returns old flame Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) with his eye back on Bridget.

The first "Bridget Jones" dealt with finding love, but "Edge of Reason" is about keeping love burning, and Zellweger said it was important for the filmmakers to avoid a sequel that covered the same old ground as the original.

"I felt like I didn't want to disappoint the fans just throwing something out there because we could, and the same went for me. I didn't want to disappoint myself," she said.

The Texas-born American faced sharp scrutiny playing Bridget in the first film but won over the hearts of the British with her spot-on portrayal.

"It's easy to relate to her," Zellweger said, "Her imperfections, her vulnerability, and the fact the audience is privy to her inner dialogue and fear about her shortcomings."

Now, the star said, it's now time for her to find out more about her own imperfections and vulnerabilities, and start her own inner dialogue.

HELLO, NEWMAN!

Six years after its final episode aired, "Seinfeld," the sitcom that redefined television, is finally available on DVD — and it's just as obsessive as the show. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

A sneak peek at the first three seasons, which will be released on Nov. 22, confirms that these are no Costanza-like make-a-quick-buck editions, nor a yada-yada rehash.

In addition to 40 gorgeously remastered episodes in their original network form (plus, for comparison, the shorter syndicated versions of two episodes), there are more than 12 hours of extras for each season, include extensive written notes in the form of subtitles for every single episode.

This innovative feature provides lines that were cut or changed (sometimes for reasons of taste), running tallies of the four main characters' boyfriends and girlfriends — and a count of the wacky Kramer's entrances, which destroyed three doorways during the series' run.

And for true obsessive-compulsives, there are biographies and credits for virtually every actor who appears as a guest star (or in a bit role), as well as detailed explanations of the series' sometimes obscure cultural references — everything from Peter Lorre and Gandhi to the book "Where's Waldo?" and New York City parking rules.

But that's only the beginning. Along with hilarious blooper reels and never-seen deleted scenes and Seinfeld stand-up routines, most episodes are preceded by new interviews with Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards, as well as behind-the-camera talent, including co-creator Larry David.

Some of these interviews are remarkably candid — Richards admits he was deeply hurt when the wacky Kramer was left out of the series' first classic episode, "The Restaurant," and worried he was going to be written out of the series.

Former NBC president Warren Littlefield confesses he was adamantly opposed to "The Restaurant," which defined "Seinfeld" as a "series about nothing" by having stand-up comic Jerry, his pushy ex-girlfriend Elaine and his whiny pal George spend the entire 22 minutes waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant.

In a separate audio commentary track, Seinfeld and David discuss how they prevailed over the nervous network to do the episode, which was held on the shelf for several months after it was filmed because NBC thought an episode with so little action would hurt the series.

Indeed, there is plenty of discussion of how the series evolved from a very shaky start — the underwhelming pilot, "The Seinfeld Chronicles," aired in July 1989, and the first season, which began a year later, was only five episodes long.

In a candid 65-minute documentary on the show's origins, Seinfeld and David say they gambled on an abbreviated first-season summer run following "Cheers," rather than a lousy spot on the schedule earlier in the season.

But despite great reviews, the ratings were relatively anemic until the show broke through in season three, when the series began coining catch-phrases like "yada yada," "master of his domain," "spongeworthy," "double-dipping" and "not that there's anything wrong with that."

David and Seinfeld, who as newcomers to the sitcom form were eager to push the envelope in unconventional ways, say there was enormous pressure from the network to have Jerry get back together with his ex-girlfriend Elaine.

They responded with the second-season closer "The Deal," in which the two have sex — and bicker endlessly as they try to establish rules for a purely physical relationship.

Seinfeld says that during the hiatus, he repeatedly asked audiences whether Jerry and Elaine should stay together — and they responded overwhelmingly against it.

"So Jerry and Elaine broke up again between the second and third seasons, and it was never referred to in the show," Seinfeld says.

Letterman Visits Philbin's Daytime Show

NEW YORK - David Letterman cracked a few jokes, showed some baby pictures and, yes, was a little cranky about going on television so early in the morning.

But, as Regis Philbin said, Letterman "did the right thing" and appeared on "Live with Regis and Kelly" Monday, especially since Philbin has been one of the CBS late-night host's favorite foils for many years.

By a "Late Show" count, Philbin has appeared 83 times on Letterman's show since it moved to CBS in 1993. He was a guest host when Letterman underwent heart bypass surgery in 2000 and recovered from an eye infection last year.

Letterman, who's rarely seen on TV outside of his own show, had visited "Live" twice before, the most recent in February 1997.

At least he had the television smarts to show up during a ratings "sweeps" month.

"This is a live Mardi Gras every morning," Letterman told Philbin and co-host Kelly Ripa.

Letterman showed pictures of son Harry, joking that the 1-year-old was looking at "mom's beer can" in one. He and Philbin traded good-natured gibes about who was most negligent about inviting the other on social occasions.

After Letterman complained that Philbin hadn't invited him to dinner, the stage curtain opened to reveal a table for two, with breakfast steaks set out.

"I want nothing to do with this phony dinner!" Letterman said.

They made some small talk about Notre Dame football, and Philbin tossed in a political question: Why did John Kerry lose?

"Geez, I have no idea," Letterman said. "I know nothing about politics. If I knew anything, why would I be here?"

But the two have an odd chemistry, and the irony-drenched Letterman clearly respects the showbiz veteran Philbin, 73, who's in the Guinness Book of World Records for logging more than 15,000 hours in front of a television camera.

"He is so quick and inventive and imaginative," Philbin told The Associated Press later. "His show is one surprise after another and I admire that tremendously. What does he see in me? I don't know."

Philbin said "Live" had asked Letterman to appear so many times that the show had nearly stopped asking.

"I know how private he is and how much he didn't want to do this," he said. "It was awfully nice of him to come by."

As for a return engagement, don't hold you're breath. That's what Letterman indicated when Philbin asked when he's be back.

"None of us will live that long," he replied.

Pirated U2 Album Hits Net, Release Date in Limbo

LONDON (Reuters) - Pirated versions of U2's new album "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" have emerged on Internet file-sharing networks two weeks before it goes on sale, throwing into question its official release date.

A London spokeswoman for the band on Monday would only say that U2 was aware of the illicit copies, but that no decision had yet been made on changing the release date.

The Irish rock band has been due to release the album on Nov. 22 in Europe and the following day in the United States. It is the first studio album in four years for the band.

Earlier this summer, a tape containing rough tracks from the upcoming album went missing from a studio in Nice, France where the band was recording. At the time, the band said it might move the release date if the tracks appear online first.

The online appearance of unsanctioned versions of an album before the official release has dogged many music acts.

Record labels fight back by sending copy-proof promotional copies to radio stations and journalists, and hiring firms to flood file-sharing networks with "spoof" tracks with poor sound quality, which crowd out better-sounding pirated versions.

"With any major release, the record companies start about a week in advance flooding the networks. That way users are more likely to download a spoofed copy," said Jim Graham, a spokesman for California-based online piracy tracking firm BayTSP.

"But over time, the pirated versions win out. It's very cat and mouse. It's like the cold war," he added.

In the past month, release dates for American rap artist Eminem and hip-hop star Snoop Dogg, both signed to Universal's Interscope Records, has been pushed forward by a few days due to the appearance of pirated tracks online.

Actor Colin Farrell Not Interested in 007 Role

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Irish actor Colin Farrell says he is not interested in becoming the next James Bond. Working as Alexander the Great seems to be enough.

In an interview with Reuters on Sunday to discuss his soon to be released film "Alexander," Farrell, 28, was asked about a suggestion by the outgoing James Bond, Pierce Brosnan, last week that he get the job because "he'll eat the head off them all."

Farrell feigned outrage at the thought of becoming the sixth James Bond in the series, joking he was shocked by Brosnan's suggestion and if he got the job, he just might employ an Irish accent to confuse fans of the suave British agent.

"The idea of me playing James Bond got into the press, but it is not true. I would not like to do it ... they should find someone the audience has no history with,' Farrell said.

Farrell stars in the upcoming Oliver Stone film "Alexander," which is slated to opened in late November. It was a role that had plenty of action for him as he broke an ankle and a wrist while filming battle scenes on location in Thailand.

Finding a successor to Brosnan as agent 007, the character who has sold nearly $4 billion in tickets since "Dr. No" hit the screens 42 years ago, has been the subject of intense speculation for months.

Brosnan fulfilled his four-film contract with "Die Another Day" in 2002. The next film is not slated to come out until 2006. Others names mentioned as possibilities to put on Bond's trademark tuxedo have been Hugh Jackman and Jude Law.

U2 Talk iPod Strategy

Band's partnership with Apple has deep roots

For two weeks before MTV debuted U2's video for the new single "Vertigo," fans had a chance to see the band perform the song on TV -- in an iPod commercial. The members of U2 are passionate proponents of Apple's iPod -- "It's the most interesting art object since the electric guitar in terms of music," says Bono -- but the band's new partnership with Apple Computer still qualifies as a surprise. In their twenty-five-year history, U2 have never licensed their music for commercial use or even accepted tour sponsorship.

With radio playlists strictly formatted and MTV showing more reality-TV shows than videos, many bands are looking for new ways to bring their music to the public. And so U2 launched the first single from their upcoming album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, with an iPod ad rather than a video. Apple is also releasing a special black U2-edition iPod for $349 with band autographs laser-engraved on the casing. Buyers get a fifty-dollar discount on The Complete U2, a $149 iTunes download package that includes more than 400 songs. "I see this as the beginning of a new era in the distribution of music," says U2 guitarist the Edge. "We're happy to be part of history and the future."

The U2-Apple partnership has deep roots. In early 2003, when U2 first heard that Apple was planning to launch an iTunes music store, the band met with Apple founder Steve Jobs at the home of Jimmy Iovine, the co-chairman of U2's label, Interscope Records. "Jimmy is a visionary and believes artists should meet with technologists," says Bono.

iPod ads have been helpful in album sales before, most notably for Jet, whose single "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" garnered widespread TV exposure before storming radio. U2 manager Paul McGuinness says, "The commercial was an attractive idea because iTunes was already selling our music, and the amount Apple will spend for airtime is out of reach for the record business." The band accepted no money for the ad but will get royalties on the U2 iPod.

And music execs are eager to see more of these partnerships. In September, the industry held its first-ever "upfront" -- a conference where the major labels showcased upcoming albums for representatives from corporations such as Procter & Gamble, Pepsi and Mercedes-Benz. "Target your brands with our bands," said Atlantic chairman Jason Flom, showing a video featuring bands on his artist roster that might appeal to baby-boomers (Phil Collins, the Doors) or soccer moms (Matchbox Twenty, the Corrs).

Commercials aren't the only route. Shows including The O.C. and One Tree Hill put music from new bands in every episode. When video-game maker Electronic Arts featured songs from Good Charlotte and Blink-182 in its sports games, it helped to break those bands. "We know there are other avenues to talk to consumers about music and other places to market to them," says Phil Quartararo, executive vice president of EMI Music North America. "Kids hear music on the radio, phone, iPod, video game and the Internet, so we have to go to where the consumers are."

As for U2, it's unclear whether their partnership with iPod will result in significantly increased exposure. After all, the band has already sold more than 120 million records worldwide. "U2 is an established act for radio and video, which is still the main driver," says Quartararo. But some think that the glow from Apple's hot product will reflect well on the band. "Whenever you're the first to do something, there's a hipness factor," says Bob Chiappardi, president of Concrete Marketing, a music-promotion firm. "It's a win-win situation." If it goes well, look for other bands to beg Apple for their own iPods too.

'Incredibles' Rakes in an Amazing $70.7M

LOS ANGELES - "The Incredibles" lived up to their name at the box office as the animated superhero adventure debuted with $70.7 million in its opening weekend, continuing an unbroken string of hits for Pixar Animation.

If numbers hold when final figures are released Monday, "The Incredibles" would have the second-best opening weekend among animated flicks, coming in just ahead of Pixar's 2003 blockbuster "Finding Nemo," which debuted with $70.3 million. "Shrek 2" holds the animated debut record with $108 million.

The horror hit "The Grudge," the No. 1 movie the previous two weekends, slipped to third with $13.5 million, lifting its total to $89.6 million.

"Ray," starring Jamie Foxx as musician Ray Charles, remained No. 2 for a second straight weekend with $13.8 million. It has grossed $39.8 million in 10 days.

Jude Law's "Alfie," a remake of the 1960s hit about an incorrigible womanizer, debuted weakly with $6.5 million, coming in at No. 5.

Despite the big opening for "The Incredibles," overall Hollywood revenues fell, continuing a box-office slump that has lingered for most of the autumn. The top 12 movies took in $136.1 million, down 5 percent from the same weekend last year, when both "The Matrix Revolutions" and "Elf" opened.

Playing in 3,933 theaters, "The Incredibles" averaged a whopping $17,971 per theater, compared to an average of $2,935 in 2,215 theaters for "Alfie."

Featuring the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson and Jason Lee, "The Incredibles" tells the story of a family of superheroes pressed back into action years after they had been forced underground as ordinary suburbanites.

The film drew a mainly family audience, though teenagers and adults without children accounted for about one-third of the crowd, according to distributor Disney.

With stellar reviews, "The Incredibles" maintained the perfect critical and commercial record for Pixar, whose previous hits were "Finding Nemo," "Monsters, Inc.," "A Bug's Life" and the "Toy Story" movies.

"It's more important to have a great story and then to use the technology to bring it to life, and they have never lost sight of that," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney, which has released the Pixar movies. "They deliver absolutely the best story first and meld it with the most unbelievable technology out there."

Disney's deal with Pixar expires after next November's release of "Cars." Negotiations to extend the deal fell apart earlier this year, though there has been speculation the two companies still might partner up again in the future.

"It's a shame they can't get this together, because it's been such a successful partnership," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "This formula has worked for years, consistently, with every movie out of this Disney-Pixar alliance."

Pixar has been talking with other studios about distributing its films.

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 Incredibles," $70.7 million.
2. "Ray," $13.8 million.
3. "The Grudge," $13.5 million.
4. "Saw," $11.4 million.
5. "Alfie," $6.5 million.
6. "Shall We Dance?", $5.65 million.
7. "Shark Tale," $4.6 million.
8. "Friday Night Lights," $3 million.
9. "Ladder 49," $2.6 million.
10. "Team America: World Police," $1.9 million.

Howard Keel, Star of Musicals, Dies at 85

LOS ANGELES - Howard Keel, the broad-shouldered baritone who romanced his way through a series of glittery MGM musicals such as "Kiss Me Kate" and "Annie Get Your Gun" and later revived his career with television's "Dallas," died Sunday. He was 85.

Keel died Sunday morning of colon cancer at his home in Palm Desert, according to his son, Gunnar.

Keel starred in Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals in New York and London before being signed to an MGM contract after World War II. The timing was perfect: He became a star with his first MGM film, playing Frank Butler to Betty Hutton's Annie Oakley in "Annie Get Your Gun."

Keel's size and lusty voice made him an ideal leading man for such stars as Esther Williams ("Pagan Love Song," "Texas Carnival," "Jupiter's Darling"), Ann Blyth ("Rose Marie," "Kismet"), Kathryn Grayson ("Show Boat," "Lovely to Look At," "Kiss Me Kate") and Doris Day ("Calamity Jane").

His own favorite film was the exuberant "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."

"It was a fine cast and lots of fun to make," Keel remarked in 1993, "but they did the damn thing on the cheap. The backdrops had holes in them, and it was shot on the worst film stock. ... As it turned out, the miracle worker was George Folsey, the cinematographer. He took that junk and made it look like a Grandma Moses painting."

When film studios went into a slump, MGM's musical factory was disbanded. Keel kept busy on the road in such surefire attractions of "Man of La Mancha," "South Pacific," "Annie Get Your Gun" and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."

Keel was in his early 60s and presumably nearing the end of his career when he suddenly became a star in another medium.

From its start in 1978, "Dallas" with its combination of oil, greed, sex and duplicity had become the hottest series in television. Jim Davis, who had played the role of Jock Ewing, died in 1981, and the producers needed another strong presence to stand up to the nefarious J.R. Ewing Jr. (Larry Hagman). They chose Keel.

"The show was enormous," Keel reflected in 1995. "I couldn't believe it. My life changed again. From being out of it, I was suddenly a star, known to more people than ever before. Wherever I went, crowds appeared again, and I started making solo albums for the first time in my career."

As Clayton Farlow, husband of "Miss Ellie" Ewing (Barbara Bel Geddes), Keel remained with "Dallas" until it folded in 1991.

When Keel was born in Gillespie, Ill., his name was Harold Clifford Leek. His father, once a naval captain, became a coal miner and drank to soothe his bitterness. During drunken rages, he beat his children. His mother, a strict Methodist, forbade her two sons from having any entertainment.

"I had a terrible, rotten childhood," Keel commented in 1995. "My father made away with himself when I was 11. I had no guidance, and Mom was six feet tall, bucktoothed and very tough. I was mean and rebellious and had a terrible, bitter temper. I got a job as an auto mechanic, and I would have stayed in that narrow kind of life if I hadn't discovered art. Music changed me completely."

At 20 he was living in Los Angeles and he was befriended by a cultured woman who took him to a Hollywood Bowl concert featuring famed baritone Lawrence Tibbett. Keel was inspired, and he started taking vocal lessons at 25 cents an hour. His first semiprofessional opportunity came as a singing waiter at the Paris Inn Restaurant in downtown Los Angeles at $15 a week and two meals a day.

Six foot three and a gawky 140 pounds, Keel was painfully shy. He worked during five years during World War II at Douglas Aircraft, and the experience helped his confidence.

He sang in recitals and opera programs and was summoned to an audition with Oscar Hammerstein II, who was looking for young singers to play Curly in the growing number of touring "Oklahoma!" companies.

Hammerstein approved, and soon under a new name Howard Keel he was singing "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" in New York eight times a week. He sometimes replaced John Raitt in Rodgers and Hammerstein's other hit, "Carousel" On occasion he would appear in a matinee of "Oklahoma!" and an evening performance of "Carousel." He played "Carousel" for eighteen months in London.

Rodgers and Hammerstein were notorious for underpaying their actors and denying them billing. Keel rankled at being paid $250 a week for the unbilled starring role in a sellout musical. As soon as his contract expired, he hurried back to Los Angeles.

Desperately in need of handsome, virile actors who could sing, MGM signed Keel to a contract that paid $850 a week.

He made it big in musicals, but also appeared in westerns: Waco," "Red Tomahawk," "The War Wagon" (with John Wayne and Kirk Douglas) and "Arizona Bushwhackers." After leaving MGM, he appeared as St. Peter in the unsuccessful "The Big Fisherman."

Keel was married and then divorced twice: to actress Rosemary Cooper and dancer Helen Anderson, with whom he had three children: Kaija, Kristine, Gunnar. In 1970 he married former airline stewardess Judy Magamoll. They had one daughter, Leslie.

He continued singing in the 1980s, explaining: "As long as I can sing halfway decent, I'd rather sing (than act). There's nothing like being in good voice, feeling good, having good numbers to do and having a fine orchestra."

Ono Combs the Vaults for New Lennon CDs

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - It's no coincidence that two new John Lennon albums, "Acoustic" and "Rock 'N' Roll," were released simultaneously earlier this week via Capitol.

As its name implies, "Acoustic" features 16 Lennon tracks recorded acoustically at home. "Rock 'N' Roll," originally released in 1975, captures Lennon singing tunes made famous by his idols.

"It's very dramatic to have 'Acoustic' and 'Rock 'N' Roll' together," Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono (news), tells Billboard. "They're the totally opposite sides of John's character."

For Ono, overseeing the projects is a way of keeping Lennon's memory alive. "We were partners, and then John kind of left it to me to take care of it. I feel honored about it," she says.

As Ono culled through Lennon's material for "Acoustic," she discovered that much of his piano acoustic works had been miked in a way that the piano overshadowed Lennon's voice and "there was no way to fix it," she says. Therefore, the 16 tunes on "Acoustic," seven of which are available officially for the first time, are all guitar-based.

Ono says she learned something new about her husband in the process. "I realized what an incredible acoustic guitar player he was," she says. "We're so used to listening to his electric guitar. But I thought this album has to go out because I want to encourage kids who want to learn guitar. And for the professionals, I think it will be inspiring to listen to his arrangements -- they're sometimes strange and sometimes beautiful."

Work on the "Rock 'N' Roll" reissue was in some ways more challenging, Ono says, recalling the struggles Lennon and producer Phil Spector went through during the project before Lennon finished the album on his own.

"When I first heard it again, I was crying because the power of these classic songs hits you anyway, but it's not just that," she says. "This is his wife saying it, but I think his versions are better than the originals because of the love he had for these songs."

As for the remaining material in the Lennon vault, Ono says there is not enough to make another album, but she expects that the songs will find other outlets, such as the new Las Vegas show planned by the Beatles and Cirque du Soleil or the upcoming musical based on Lennon's material.

HBO Ready to Bury 'Six Feet'

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - HBO is preparing a eulogy for "Six Feet Under."

The pay cabler confirmed Friday that the upcoming fifth season of "Six Feet" will be the last for the ensemble drama revolving around the trials and tribulations of a family that runs a mortuary. Series creator/executive producer Alan Ball recently informed HBO executives that he felt the show will have run its creative course by the end of the upcoming 12-episode season.

"Working on 'Six Feet Under' has been enormously fulfilling creatively, but if the show is about anything, it's about the fact that everything comes to an end," Ball said in a statement. "I will miss working with such enormously talented writers, cast, staff and crew and I'll always be grateful to HBO for allowing and encouraging us to tell the story we set out to tell in a challenging and uncompromising way."

"Six Feet" has been a critical darling for HBO, if not a commercial hit on the scale of "The Sopranos" or "Sex and the City," since its 2001 debut. The drama -- whose ensemble cast includes Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall, Rachel Griffiths, Lauren Ambrose and Frances Conroy -- has been showered with Emmy nominations -- it earned 16 Emmy bids in 2002, its first year of eligibility, and 23 noms in 2003 -- but has yet to claim the top drama series prize in the annual Emmy derby.

"Six Feet" is a project that has been particularly close to the heart of Carolyn Strauss, HBO entertainment president, who originally dreamed up the notion of doing a series set in a mortuary. She pitched the idea to Ball, who was then hot off the success of his Oscar-winning screenplay for "American Beauty," and the writer-producer fell for it immediately.

"Dealing with death seemed like a very common experience that we could all relate to, and (the mortuary setting) seemed like a great lens for a fairly ironic show," Strauss said. "It also seemed like the kind of show that only (HBO) could do."

Strauss was quick to praise Ball and the rest of the "Six Feet" crew for "all the impressive work. It's been a fantastic experience to be associated with this show," she said.

Production on "Six Feet's" fifth season is set to begin Nov. 16, but a premiere date has not yet been set, Strauss said. Word of "Six Feet's" swan song season comes at a time when HBO is already in a transitional phase after bidding farewell to "Sex and the City" this year, while its other original series tentpole, "The Sopranos," isn't due back for its final season until 2006.

HBO has the sophomore season of its wild Western "Deadwood" on tap to premiere in January, followed in March by the return of Depression-era drama "Carnivale." Other series in the production pipeline at HBO are "Big Love," starring Bill Pullman as a modern-day polygamist in Utah, and the big-budget costume drama "Rome."

'Polar Express' Brings Risky New Animation to Film

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Even at a hefty cost of around $165 million to make "The Polar Express," director Robert Zemeckis thinks an innovative new animation technique he used may have saved the Warner Bros. studio and the film's producers about $835 million.

"Polar Express" marks a huge financial risk for the studio, and Warner Bros. hopes the film about a magical train ride proves a major hit when it chugs into theaters this Wednesday.

Add distribution and marketing costs that some reports put at $105 million, and "Polar Express" would need around $500 million at global box offices to break even, based on industry standards. That figure excludes DVD, video, television and other revenues that make the profit potential hard to determine when considering only theater ticket sales.

Zemeckis also is taking creative risk for using a revolutionary animated process he calls "performance capture" to tell of a child whose belief in Santa Claus is renewed on a trip to the North Pole.

"Like anything, whenever you do something for the first time, it's risky," Zemeckis told Reuters.

Zemeckis has pushed technology boundaries before, in movies such as "Forrest Gump," and the method behind "Polar Express" allows actor Tom Hanks to play five different characters.

There was no other way to recreate on film the lush paintings in Chris Van Allsburg's 1985 book, "Polar Express," Zemeckis said. Using computer animation as in the "The Incredibles" would have been too cartoonish, and live action as in "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" would detract from the emotion and charm of the pictures, he said.

In a demonstration at the studio last month, he said making real sets and hiring actors would be "virtually impossible" and cost "in the range of a billion dollars." He and Hanks joked about saving Warner Bros. big bucks, but with Reuters Zemeckis repeated the billion dollar figure, and said it was no joke.

OLD TALE, TECHNO TWIST

The film tells the tale of a boy whose faith in Santa Claus and his belief in the Christmas spirit of giving have diminished as he has grown older.

But on this Christmas Eve, as he stays awake in bed, the roaring Polar Express comes to a stop outside his house.

In one role as a conductor, Hanks coaxes the boy onto the train where he meets other kids who have things to learn about themselves and Christmas. Their journey north is fraught with peril, but they are rewarded in a colorful send-off to Santa.

If the story sounds like tried-and-true holiday fare, the tale of making "Polar Express" is anything but standard.

In what Zemeckis has called creating human blueprints,

the actors wore black suits covered by special dots that allowed cameras and computers to track their every move. The dots -- 152, in all -- also covered their faces.

The actors' movements and expressions were digitized, loaded into computers and plugged into the animated world.

In recent years, a battle has been waged over using digitally created actors as substitutes for the real thing.

Zemeckis said the characters in "Polar Express" were never meant to look real, but were supposed to re-create the book's paintings. Among animators and critics, the result is mixed.

"Some people have been disturbed by the fact the kids didn't look realistic ... but there have been critics who loved the look of the film and said it captured Van Allsburg's work," said Ramin Zahed, editor in chief of Animation Magazine.

Whether movie fans accept that the human characters are not supposed to look human will be key to its box office success.

In 2001, Sony Pictures released "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" with computer-animated humans. Fans thought they looked fake, and it earned only $32 million in the U.S. and Canada.

'Shrek 2' DVD Debuts as 'Incredibles' Hits Cinemas

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Tales of a family of superheroes and a green ogre are expected to dominate U.S. entertainment this week with the Friday releases of "Shrek 2" on DVD and video and "The Incredibles" in theaters.

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. said there was no battle between Shrek and Pixar Animation Studio Inc's, and investors recently have boosted shares in both companies on anticipation they would be blockbusters.

DreamWorks set its "Shrek 2" DVD release for a Friday rather than a customary Tuesday to avoid being overshadowed by another national drama -- the presidential election, a spokeswoman for the studio said.

DreamWorks also had released the original "Shrek" to home video and DVD on the first Friday of November three years ago. "Shrek" sold 43 million units worldwide. The studio declined to forecast how the sequel would do.

"Shrek 2," about a cranky green ogre and his bride, made the second-highest grossing debut ever in May, behind "Spider-Man," and went on to sell more than $432 million worth of tickets to become the third-highest grossing movie in the United States and Canada.

"Shrek 2" figured in last week's successful initial public offering for DreamWorks Animation, bringing market capitalization for the offshoot of Glendale, California-based DreamWorks to $4 billion.

Shares of DreamWorks Animation were nearly unchanged on Friday, down 5 cents to $40.30 on the New York Stock Exchange, although they have climbed $1.55 since the IPO Oct. 28.

Shares of Pixar rose more than $3 to $84.39 on Friday in anticipation of the opening of "The Incredibles."

Pixar founder Steve Jobs held previews of the film for Wall Street financial analysts earlier this week, and analysts on Friday attributed the stock gains to the favorable impressions created by those previews and positive reviews of the film.

Jeffries analyst Robert Routh said he expected the film to gross $610 million worldwide.

"The Incredibles," the sixth feature created under Pixar's partnership with The Walt Disney Co, is the Emeryville, California-based company's first PG-rated film.

'Star Wars: Episode III' Trailer Debuts

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Darth Vader is coming.

George Lucas disciples will have a chance to view the new trailer for "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" on entertainment newsmagazine "Access Hollywood" on Thursday night, Nov. 4.

The preview includes a hooded Anakin Skywalker with eerie glowing red eyes, Chewbacca leading a group of Wookies in an attack and the Emperor wielding a lightsaber.

According to Internet buzz, the trailer also features a battle scene with a prototype of the X-Wing fighter and the lines "A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi knights. He betrayed and murdered your father," spoken by Obi-Wan.

"Episode III" is set two years into the Clone Wars, when Chancellor Palpatine, with the help of his clone army and Sith Warriors, prepares to rid the galaxy of the Jedis in order to declare himself Emperor of the Galactic Empire. The film sets up the mysterious circumstances in which 1977's "Episode IV" begins, namely: Anakin's capitulation to the dark side of The Force and the birth -- and subsequent separation -- of twins Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker.

"Access Hollywood" will show the "Episode III" trailer in its entirety before it's released nationwide with "The Incredibles" on Friday, Nov. 5. The final installment of the sci-fi prequel trilogy hits theaters in a galaxy not so far away on May 19, 2005.

ULTIMATE MATRIX

The ULTIMATE MATRIX COLLECTION DVD set will be the collection to own for all MATRIX fans. The 10-disc set will feature the three MATRIX movies with new supplemental materials, including new commentary tracks on each movie. It will also include a remastered version of the first movie as well as the companion pieces THE MATRIX REVISITED and THE ANIMATRIX.

Every aspect of the MATRIX universe will be included on the DVDs such as footage from the ENTER THE MATRIX video-game as well as more than 100 featurettes and documentaries.

The ULTIMATE MATRIX COLLECTION will be available on December 7 at a suggested price of $79.92. For hard-core fans, a limited edition of the collection will feature a Neo minibust figurine and an 80-page collector's book for a suggested price of $129.92.

11 Films 'Toon Up for Oscar

A family of superheroes is vying for Oscar glory. And we're not talking about the Justice League.

Disney-Pixar's buzz-heavy 'toon The Incredibles, which opens Friday, tops this year's slate of eligible contenders for this year's Best Animated Feature Film Oscar unveiled by the folks at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

But giving the superheroes a run for their money will be DreamWorks' megahit sequel Shrek 2 and undersea adventure Shark Tale (which happens to feature a lead character named Oscar), along with Nickelodeon's upcoming The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and director Robert Zemeckis' The Polar Express, featuring Tom Hanks in six animated parts.

Thursday's announcement means Zemeckis can exhale: the Oscar-winning director had feared his film might not qualify in the animation category because it uses a brand new technique called performance capture, for which Hanks and costars acted out their roles in live action, while technicians later converted the performances to CGI.

Other films qualifying include Disney's Home on the Range and Teacher's Pet; DreamWorks' cyberpunk anime thriller by Mamoru Oshii, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence; and Warner Bros.' Clifford's Really Big Movie. Sky Blue and The Legend of Buddha round out the list of contenders.

With 11 deemed eligible, the Best Animated Feature category will be activated for the fourth year in a row. The Academy's 40-member governing board will now whittle the list down to three finalists by Dec. 14.

According to Academy criteria, if more than eight but fewer than 16 flicks qualify, three films will be nominated in that category. If more than 16 qualify, then five films can be nominated. Last year, for instance, because there were fewer eligible films, only three 'toons made the grade: Brother Bear, The Triplets of Belleville and the winner, Finding Nemo.

This year's troika will be announced with the rest of the Academy Award nominations on Jan. 25.

The Academy decided to launch the Animated Feature category in 2000. The first new Oscar category in 20 years, which was created at the behest of animators who felt slighted, aims to honor those 'toons that were shut out of the Best Picture competition and/or were too long for the Animated Short category.

To qualify for Best Animated Feature, a film must be a minimum of 70 minutes, contain more than 75 percent animation and utilize one of three styles: traditional cel drawing, stop-motion or computer-generated animation. They must also open theatrically in Los Angeles prior to Dec. 31.

Reality Contest for 'Saturday Night Live' Berth

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The always fierce competition among comics to land a gig on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" is set to become the basis of a reality series for the network.

Sources said NBC is working on a reality-competition series fronted by "SNL" creator/executive producer Lorne Michaels. The project would chronicle a group of comedians vying for a grand prize that is believed to be a role on the long-running sketch comedy series.

Michaels is expected to play a Donald Trump-like role, winnowing the pool of contestants until a victor is selected. Sources indicated that the project is eyed for a possible summer launch. NBC declined comment.

Michaels got his taste of getting tough on reality series contestants in a "SNL" parody skit of NBC's reality hit "The Apprentice" last season, in which he took over Trump's role and "fired" cast member Jimmy Fallon. NBC already has a track record in turning talent searches into a successful reality series with "Last Comic Standing."

Eminem, Snoop CDs Pushed Up Due to Piracy

NEW YORK (Billboard) - High-profile albums from rappers Eminem and Snoop Dogg will be released ahead of schedule because of piracy concerns, their distributor Interscope Geffen A&M Records said Thursday.

Eminem's "Encore" (Interscope) originally scheduled for Nov. 16, has been moved up to Nov. 12. The set can already be found in its entirety on the Internet.

Additionally, Snoop Dogg's Geffen album "R&G (Rhythm & Gansta): The Masterpiece," originally due Nov. 23, has been shifted to Nov. 16.

Eminem is no stranger to shifting release dates due to online leaks. His last studio album, "The Eminem Show," was moved forward nine days from its original release date.

Bono, McCartney Join Band Aid 20 Lineup

LONDON (Billboard) - Paul McCartney, U2 frontman Bono, Robbie Williams and Dido are among the performers lined up for the new recording of the all-star Band Aid charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas."

The tune, which will be credited to Band Aid 20 in acknowledgement of the anniversary of the 1984 release, will be issued Nov. 29 in the U.K. on Mercury/Universal.

Others on board include Snow Patrol and Natasha Bedingfield. McCartney will play bass on the track and Bono will reprise one of the most famous lines in the original lyric: "Well tonight, thank God it's them instead of you."

McCartney, Williams and Dido are understood to be recording their parts separately from the Nov. 14 session at London's Air Studios; Williams recorded the whole track in Los Angeles on Monday.

British artist Damien Hirst will design the sleeve artwork for the release, which will raise money for the Band Aid Trust's famine relief in Africa, specifically in the blighted Darfur region of Sudan.

Travis' Fran Healy will play guitar on the recording. "It's dead exciting," he told Billboard.com. "When it was first recorded, I was 11 and I went everywhere looking for it and I couldn't find it, and now we're going to do the follow-up to it. It's going to be great, McCartney's doing it, Bono's going to sing his own line, (and) we're going to help out with some music, with Nigel (Godrich, who'll produce the single). I really wanted to get Franz Ferdinand involved in it -- I think they're going to do it, although I haven't spoken to (executive producer) Midge Ure for about a week now."

"Midge did a thumbnail sketch of the original with new music on it," Healy continued. "He's got the Darkness doing the guitars at the end, and he's changed the arrangement of it. He shipped that over to L.A. where Nigel was working with McCartney. If it turns out absolutely s---, it does not matter. What I will say is you've got to buy the record because it's the only record that's going to save lives this side of Christmas, and you can't ask for more than that."

Kelly Clarkson Shreds Clothing, Sweetheart Image In New Video

Hell hath no fury like Kelly Clarkson scorned. In the former American Idol's next video, she's going to rip her sweetheart image to shreds — along with a few other choice items.

To be directed by Alex De Rakoff, "Since You've Been Gone", which shoots this week, begins with Clarkson hanging out in the bedroom of a sunny apartment, casually rifling through dresser drawers and pulling out clothes while singing, "We started out as friends." According to the treatment, she's seen through an increasingly wider angle, as if we're watching her through a partially closed doorway, as she puts on lotion and mists herself with perfume, lingering over the vanity table. Everything seems normal until she gets to the bathroom and starts tossing all the pills in the medicine cabinet over her shoulder. When she gets to a container of birth control pills, she turns on the water in the sink, snaps the pills out and drops them down the drain.

Clarkson starts grabbing at other items, like a container of makeup powder, which she throws up in the air, creating a cloud of pink haze. She takes a container of facial mud masque and smears the mud on the wall. The sink overflows as she sings, "Since you've been gone," but she's already moved on to the bedroom, where she's tearing at the fabric of the pillows on the bed, filling the room with feathers. The closet is her next victim, as she tries on a few items and tears them off, ruining sweaters as she sings, "Guess you never felt that way." She then attacks the clothing with a pair of scissors.

The question of why starts getting answered when she heads to the front room, where she grabs a heavy knickknack off the bookcase and walks over to a glass table that's covered with a dozen framed photos. A closer view reveals that all the pictures show a guy and a girl — a girl who is not Clarkson. Singing "out of sight, out of mind," she lifts the knickknack and lets it drop right through the glass top of the table, shattering the glass and scattering the pictures across the floor in slow motion. With a satisfied look on her face, she grabs a tall CD rack, tilts it so that all the CDs slide out on the floor, and then releases the rack so that it falls on top of the discs.

Having decimated the place, she walks out the door and down the hallway, just as a couple walking arm in arm comes from the elevator — the same couple from the photos. Clarkson hides her face when she passes them, and they don't notice her. She gets in the elevator, looking back as the girl opens the door to her apartment and smiling as the elevator doors close.

CBS Keeps Guest Hosts Up "Late Late"

It's down to the wire in the search for the new Kilby.

CBS announced Wednesday that four recent Late Late Show guest hosts will return for another shot in the post-Letterman time slot. Pop-culture pundit/actor Michael Ian Black, comedian/sitcom star D.L. Hughley, MTV TRL host Damien Fahey and actor Craig Ferguson will all pull weeklong guest spots in November for CBS.

The Eyeball would not confirm widespread speculation that Black, Hughley, Fahey and Ferguson represented the final four in the host search.

The quartet was among the 20 fill-ins who recently subbed for the departed host of five years, Craig Kilborn. Kilby checked out in August after five years behind his very expensive Bavarian oak desk.

World Wide Pants' Rob Burnett, the producer of The Late Late Show, said in a statement Wednesday that the company "received tremendous feedback on these talented individuals during their initial short stints on the show, and we are thrilled to bring them back for more substantial engagements."

Although CBS suits had said after Kilborn's exit that they hoped to have a successor named by the end of October, on Wednesday, the network would only say that a new permanent host would be announced "shortly."

Aside from the four returnees, fill-in hosts included Aisha Tyler, Tom Arnold, Drew Carey, Adam Carolla, Amy Sedaris, Jim Rome, Late Late Show head writer Mike Gibbons and, in a one-off appearance, David Duchovny. But many have other projects in the works and are not likely in serious contention for the daily CBS yakfest.

With a big-name host unlikely to commit, this next month will like be the crucial proving ground for the four Late Late Show hopefuls. First up for guest-hosting duties is Ferguson starting Nov. 8. Hughley will follow him the week of Nov. 15., Fahey the week of Nov. 22 (his stint will be truncated due to the Thanksgiving holiday), followed by Black the last week of November into early December.

November Sweeps Is Here!

Take Lindsay Lohan, The O.C. and sheep brain pie, put them all together and what do you have? Well, a really wild party, yes. But more specifically you have the November sweeps.

The monthlong TV ratings battleground is a bit of a wild party itself, though the networks likely would rather think of their offerings as eclectic.

As such, we'll get a prime-time cameo from Lohan (That '70s Show); the season premiere of The O.C.; a Fear Factor feast of sheep-brain pie; a new reality show starring a fake, obnoxious rich guy (My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss); a new reality show starring a real obnoxious rich guy (The Rebel Billionaire); and the song stylings of Kelsey Grammer (A Christmas Carol).

The fun begins Thursday and runs through Dec. 1. Here's a look at the highlights:

SERIES PREMIERES

My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss (Sunday, Fox): Twelve would-be business moguls prostrate themselves at the altar of capitalism in this unofficial, but quite intentional goof on The Apprentice.

Life of Luxury (Monday, ABC): George Hamilton makes like Robin Leach and shows off the super-fancy homes of "Lord of the Dance" Michael Flatley and Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner.

$25 Million Dollar Hoax (Monday, NBC): In this spoof reality show, a woman tries to convince her family she's lost all good sense after winning a lottery jackpot (which she didn't) and/or agreeing to star in a spoof reality show (which she did).

The Rebel Billionaire: Branson's Quest for the Best (Tuesday, Fox): Virgin Airlines mogul Richard Branson misses the joke of My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss entirely, and makes like an adventure-seeking Donald Trump in this new reality show.

House (Nov. 16, Fox): An unconventional doctor (Hugh Laurie) breaks all the rules in this most unconventional of shows--a scripted drama.

SEASON PREMIERES

The O.C. (Thursday, Fox): The saga--and the punching--resumes with the Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie) still a no-see in the O.C.

King of the Hill (Sunday, Fox): Henry Winkler lends his voice to the 'toon's ninth-season opener.

Malcolm in the Middle (Sunday, Fox): Season six finds soldier Reese (Justin Berfield) in Afghanistan--and trying to get out.

The Simpsons (Sunday, Fox): Technically, the 15th season kicks off Nov. 14, but the show's annual Halloween tribute, "Treehouse of Horror," is the first fresh stuff from the jaundiced clan since the spring.

Arrested Development (Sunday, Fox): The sweeps-friendly Henry Winkler lends his face to the Emmy-winning comedy's second-season opener.

The Amazing Race 6 (Nov. 16, CBS): The Emmy-winning reality show returns for its sixth round of globe-trotting.

VERY SPECIAL EPISODES

Extreme Makeover (Thursday, ABC): An entire family--mom, dad, three teen kids--gets sick of looking at themselves in the mirror. Their discontent is apparently unrelated to the recent general election.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (Sunday, ABC): In a two-hankie, two-episode weepie, a teenager requests a renovated home for his deaf parents and his blind, autistic brother.

Crossing Jordan (Sunday, NBC): Josh Duhamel and Vanessa Marcil, appearing as their Las Vegas selves, get in trouble in Jill Hennessy's Boston. A two-part, crossover episode to conclude on Monday's Las Vegas.

Center of the Universe (Wednesday, CBS): In an O. Henry-esque tale, hefty John Goodman frets that he has "spread [his TV son] too thin."

LAX (Wednesday, NBC): "Thanksgiving--the busiest travel day of the year!"

The West Wing (Wednesday, NBC): Jimmy Smits joins President Bartlet's inner circle as a Texas Congressman.

ER (Nov. 11, NBC): The tale of guest-star Ray Liotta's bad tummy unfolds in "real time"--if "real time" meant taking a break every few minutes for commercials.

CSI: Miami (Nov. 15, CBS): David Caruso gets into speed dating.

Medical Investigation (Nov. 19, NBC): "When a porn star falls into a coma..."

Fear Factor (Nov. 22, NBC): Send Martha Stewart to prison and this is what TV starts serving up for Thanksgiving: "Sheep-brain pie, bile [gelatin] with cave-spider topping, nightcrawler green beans, worm-and-beetle stuffing and maggoty mashed potatoes."

Everwood (Nov. 22, WB): "Ephram (Gregory Smith) and Amy (Emily VanCamp) have sex for the first time."

The Bachelor (Nov. 24, ABC): In the two-hour season finale, Byron pops the question and/or offers a not-quite commitment ring to his chosen one, en route to their inevitable breakup.

The Apprentice 2 (Nov. 25, NBC): Donald Trump and contestants flack for a new brand of Pepsi.

Judging Amy (Nov. 30, CBS): Judge Amy (Amy Brenneman) discovers a lump in her breast. In an apparently unrelated event, Angie Dickinson guest stars.

STUNT-CASTING STUNTS

Will & Grace (Thursday, NBC): Sex and the City's Kristin Davis finds new employment.

Star Trek: Enterprise (Friday and Nov. 12, UPN): Ex-Next Generation crewmember Brent Spiner guest stars as an evil genius intent on building an army of Barry Bondses, sorry, superhuman genetic creatures.

NYPD Blue (Tuesday, ABC): New West Winger Smits returns for a guest bit as Bobby Simone--a neat trick considering the character died six years ago.

That '70s Show (Wednesday, Fox): Teen diva Lindsay Lohan takes a break from the club scene, sorry, the tabloid scene, sorry, the set of her new motion picture, Herbie: Fully Loaded, to grace the set of boyfriend Wilmer Valderrama's little show.

Hope & Faith (Nov. 12, ABC): This struggling sophomore sitcom goes for comedy gold with guest stars Robert Wagner, Jenny McCarthy and original TV angel Jaclyn Smith. Charo and the kitchen sink apparently were unavailable at taping time.

American Dreams (Nov. 14, NBC): Reigning American Idol champ Fantasia Barrino channels Aretha Franklin.

Listen Up (Nov. 15, CBS): Wayne Knight stops by to see if he can help Jason Alexander lift the Seinfeld curse.

Law & Order (Nov. 17, NBC): Pumped-up ex-Saturday Night Live comic Joe Piscopo resurfaces "as a martial arts movie star."

Two and a Half Men (Nov. 22, CBS): Denise Richards checks up on real-life husband Charlie Sheen. Their infant daughter, Sam, gets her first prime-time closeup.

Scrubs (Nov. 23, NBC): Matthew Perry finds a director who helps him break out of his Friends persona: Matthew Perry, making his TV directing debut in this episode about a would-be kidney donor, played by Matthew Perry.

ANNIVERSARIES

Fear Factor (Monday, NBC): Host Joe Rogan scares the bejesus out of the poor people of New York City to celebrate the show's 100th episode.

Girlfriends (Monday, UPN): Hurry up and start watching. You've already missed the first 99.

Everybody Loves Raymond (Nov. 15, CBS): In its last-ever November sweeps, this retirement-bound comedy turns 200 rancorous episodes old.

CSI (Nov. 18, CBS): 100 stiffs now served.

HOLIDAY TRIMMINGS

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (Nov. 25, ABC): Peppermint Patty imposes on Charlie Brown.

Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Nov. 25, ABC): Jim Carrey takes out misplaced anger on Whoville in the 2000 live-action rendering of the animated classic.

It's a Wonderful Life (Nov. 27, NBC): Jimmy Stewart learns he hasn't lived his miserable, compromised life in vain.

A Christmas Carol (Nov. 28, NBC): Freed from Frasier, Kelsey Grammer bursts out in song as Scrooge in this new musicalized take on the Charles Dickens holiday tale.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Dec. 1, CBS): Rudolph and Hermey endure their 40th annual humiliation at the hooves and hands of intolerant reindeer and elves, respectively.

Nick & Jessica's Family Christmas (Dec. 1, ABC): Nick Lachey reunites with 98 Degrees; Jessica Simpson welcomes infamous hoedown dancer Ashlee Simpson.

VERY SPECIAL NON-HOLIDAY SPECIALS

Dallas Reunion: The Return to Southfork (Sunday, CBS): Larry Hagman and former costars recall what fun it was to have jobs.

The Most Outrageous Game Show Moments 3 and 4 (Saturday, NBC): Host Bob Eubanks unearths clips of Scrabble gone wild.

Tim McGraw: Here and Now (Nov. 24, NBC): Concert footage featuring the country superstar.

The Seinfeld Story (Nov. 25, NBC): No-hugs Jerry Seinfeld gets all nostalgic about his classic sitcom in this hourlong retrospective.

AWARD SHOWS

38th annual Country Music Association Awards (Tuesday, CBS): Songs about trucks, Mama and beer honored; Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, of Brooks & Dunn, preside.

32nd annual American Music Awards (Nov. 14, ABC): Jimmy Kimmel hosts, Snoop Dogg performs, Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium locks down.

2nd annual Vibe Awards on UPN (Nov. 16, UPN): Usher leads the way with five noms and six-pack abs.

TV MOVIES

Category 6: Day of Destruction (Nov. 14, CBS): A supersize storm hits Chicago, threatening to blow star Nancy McKeon all the way back to the Lifetime channel.

Samantha: An American Girl Holiday (Nov. 23, WB): A plucky orphan makes friends in turn-of-the-20th-century New York City. Inspired by the American Girl doll collection. Really.

Star Trek season 3

The features for the third season of Star Trek have been announced and are in tune with earlier sets. The set will contain the third season as well as the unaired pilot in both black and white and color. The featurettes include:
To Boldly Go, Season 3 - cast members and production crew recall fond memories and stories of working on the third season including the threat of cancellation and the struggles behind the scenes as the series drew to its close.

Life Beyond Trek: Walter Koenig - a principal cast member is documented during their most current film and TV projects, charity event, conventions and trips and hobbies. Walter Koenig (Mr Chekov) takes viewers on an exclusive tour of his home, showcasing his valuable collections, including rare Star Trek items and mini-books.

Chief Engineer's Log - Actor James Doohan, who played Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott (Scotty), discusses his role in the TV series and feature films in this rare new interview, one of the last he gave before his retirement due to ill health in August 2004.

Memoir from Mr Sulu - In a fascinating look back over his life, George Takei discusses his return visit to the interment camp in which his family stayed during World War II amongst many other memories.

Star Trek's Impact - Eugene 'Rod' Roddenberry offers a unique, personal take on the impact of the original Star Trek series and discusses the philosophies of his father, the show's creator Gene Roddenberry.
A Star Trek Collector's Dream Come True - prop and model maker John Long tells how he documented priceless authentic Original Series communicators and phasers, then spent months making perfect recreations.

Red Shirt Logs - An entertaining collection of cast and crew anecdotes reflecting on their time spent working on Star trek. Includes interviews with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.

Additionally, the now famous Best Buy exclusive disc - which is available with the sets purchased at Future Shop in Canada - will carry a featurette on Trek collectables.

The set arrives December 14th.

PVRs allow couch potatoes to make better use of their time

TORONTO (CP) - No more missing crucial moments of your favourite television shows just because your bais crying or your mother-in-law calls. PVRs, or personal video recorders, allow TV addicts to, among other things, make television wait while real life beckons.

By the end of this year, experts predict 150,000 homes in Canada will be equipped with these leisure time-altering gadgets.

The PVR, about the size of a video DVD player, has a computer hard drive that allows the viewer to record television programs onto the drive as opposed to a tape. With a few simple manoeuvres of the remote, viewers can see a list of shows recorded on the hard drive, which can be watched without the fuss of rewinding.

And when viewers watch their favourite show, they can hit the pause button. This way they can soothe baby, answer the phone or use the washroom without missing crucial plot twists. When they're finished with the task that interrupted the program, they can simply hit play and resume watching CSI's showing of a bullet's trajectory into a victim's skull.

"Consumers can literally watch what they want to, when they want to and they don't have to worry about start times or missing one of their favourite shows," said Michael Lee, vice-president of strategy and development at Rogers Communications Inc.

And while advertisers might not appreciate it, viewers can fast forward through the commercials and catch up to the program in real time.

In effect, PVRs allow couch potatoes to make more efficient use of their TV time.

"Anyone who has used a PVR knows it's a fantastic device. It really does change the way you watch television," said Brahm Eiley, president of the Convergence Consulting Group. "The Internet has changed the way we get information and the television is now going through the same revolution. It's effectively going to be programming on demand."

Canada is a little behind in the technology as this only became available here in 2001, while the U.S. has had TiVo and ReplayTV since the late '90s.

Cable television in the U.S. had video on demand, and consumers had a voracious appetite. To compete, satellite companies in the U.S. started offering PVRs to their customers at very affordable prices - some as low as $5 US a month or $100 to buy. Then American cable companies had to offer PVRs as well, at competitive prices, said Eiley, author of The Battle for the North American Couch Potato, an extensive report on the strategies of the largest cable and telecommunications providers in Canada and the U.S.

Canadian companies didn't subsidize the price as much as U.S. companies.

When Bell ExpressVu launched the recording device in 2001, it was in excess of $600 and renting wasn't an option. Bell has since made PVRs available for a monthly rental fee.

Cable companies caught up. Rogers Cable launched its PVR technology in November 2003 and Shaw Communications Inc. made high definition PVRs available to their cable customers this year.

Star Choice, Shaw's satellite arm, will probably have high definition PVRs available to its subscribers January of next year, said Peter Bissonnette, president of Shaw Communications Inc.

Now prices can run anywhere from $15 per month to rent the box to roughly $600 to purchase a high definition PVR.

By the end of this year Eiley's report predicts there will be seven million PVRs in the United States. In Canada, he predicts 150,000.

"If you look to the U.S., they were virtually giving away PVRs to their customers and so the penetration of them would be much higher virtue of taking that approach," said Bissonnette.

Depending on where it's purchased or rented, the PVR allows viewers to watch one program while recording another. Some PVRs have the PIP function, which allows viewers to watch two shows at once. The screen shows one channel along with a smaller picture or another channel, in effect solving the dilemma of whether to watch the game or the Ewan McGregor film you didn't catch at the theatre.

Users can record between 35 to 80 hours of viewing depending on who the PVR provider is and how many shows are programmed in the memory. For example if you want a store of Spider-Man and SpongeBob cartoons for keeping children happily occupied while dinner is being prepared, you can program the PVR and every Spider-Man and SpongeBob episode will appear on your list of stored items.

One of the few downsides is the PVR is only as good as the programming schedule. If the movie you want to see is scheduled to run between 8 and 10 p.m., but starts a few minutes late and runs over 10 p.m., you will be disappointed with a movie that ends before the plot is complete. Imagine Casablanca or the Sixth Sense without the last five minutes. And forget playoff games, as the PVR does not recognize sudden death overtime.

Still, even before programming wrinkles are ironed out, industry watchers believe Canadians will clamour for the technology.

"We think there'll be more than 300,000 (PVRs) in 2005 and we think those numbers will double in 2006 because they've now finally started to bring down prices and there are rental options," said Eiley.

Beach Boys Monument to Be Dedicated

HAWTHORNE, Calif. - Just a few miles from the surf and sand the Beach Boys celebrated, the city will dedicate a monument where Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson grew up.

California Historical Landmark No. 1041 will be dedicated on May 20.

The Wilson home was razed to make room for the Century Freeway, so the monument will sit at the end of dead-end 119th Street next to a sound wall built to mute traffic noise.

The effort to get landmark status for the Wilson home site was led by Harry Jarnagan, a construction engineer and Beach Boys fan from Tracy, Calif. In August, the California Historical Landmark Commission approved Jarnagan's application.

The landmark status committee held a design competition for the monument and 16 entries were received. Jarnagan said most proposals, which can be viewed at www.beachboyslandmark.org, feature images of surfboards, waves or musical notes sculpted from brick, bronze and granite.

The winning entry will be chosen by a panel of Hawthorne officials and Wilson family members, he said. The monument will incorporate a bronze plaque designating the place as a historical landmark, and donated bricks, which have been inscribed with the names of people who have donated $100 or more to the project, Jarnagan said.

'The Simpsons' Set to Start 16th Season

LOS ANGELES - Bart Simpson is acting like himself, which is to say naughty. And he sounds like himself, with that familiar mischievous lilt.

But Bart's voice is coming out of a petite blonde wearing a fluffy, bright-pink wrap. Dumpy Homer has morphed into a lanky fellow, and mom Marge's towering blue hair is brown and tastefully cropped.

The event was a "table read," when the cast of "The Simpsons" gathered with a roomful of writers, producers and guests, using their imaginations to conjure up the animated family with the distinctive mustard hue.

It was just one of the steps toward crafting an episode of the Fox series that begins its 16th season Sunday at 8 p.m. EDT with its annual "Treehouse of Horror" special. The run is remarkable for any show — but especially for one like this.

Irreverent, witty and willing to take on anything from politics to religion to family values, "The Simpsons" has provided a rare bit of spice for the oatmeal-bland bowl of TV broadcasting.

The table read, held in an oversize trailer at the Twentieth Century Fox studio where the series is produced, itself is a symbol of the show's enduring popularity. A decade ago, it finished the season as the 67th most-watched show; it was No. 69 last season with 10.7 million viewers and won its time period among the coveted 18 to 49 age group.

Actors, producers and writers sit at a massive conference table littered with water bottles and note pads. Invitation-only visitors ring the table. (Noticeably absent are the network executives who always haunt rehearsals; "The Simpsons" has a rare stipulation, won by executive producer James L. Brooks, limiting Fox meddling.)

"It's sort of the hottest ticket on the lot," said Yeardley Smith, who voices young Lisa, the wise Simpson daughter.

"I'll look around and go, 'Hey, there's Elvis Costello,'" said Al Jean, an executive producer who's been with the series since it was spun off in December 1989 from Tracey Ullman's Fox series.

Singer-songwriter Costello, who provided his voice for one episode, popped up at the table read for another.

"People often come for the fun and bring their children," said Jean.

It's a treat for observers but serious work for the cast and producers. This is the first time a script has been performed after months of writing and revision.

This particular week it's also the first time the actors have seen the script. Finished at the last minute, it couldn't be provided until the cast arrived at the studio for the rehearsal last Thursday.

The assembled performers include Smith; Dan Castellaneta, who received his third Emmy this year for voicing Homer and whose other characters include Krusty the clown and Grampa Simpson; Nancy Cartwright as Bart; Julie Kavner as Marge; and Harry Shearer, who does an array of voices including Ned Flanders and Mr. Burns.

Absent is Hank Azaria, who was in New York rehearsing a new musical. Azaria's characters, including convenience store owner Apu and police Chief Wiggum, are voiced for now by another actor.

They're working on an episode that won't air until next season, typical for a labor-intensive animated series. A roughly 21-minute episode takes about nine months to create, including the animation work done domestically and in South Korea.

In the script at hand (written by Danny Chun), Marge and Bart are engaged in unusual mother-son bonding, breezing through Springfield on a tandem bicycle and singing "Sweet Home Alabama."

Marge: "I can't remember our last outing together."

Bart: "It was to see that court-appointed psychiatrist."

Marge: "Oh yeah. He should never have let you near that letter opener."

The actors move briskly through their lines and most of the jokes draw guffaws from the room. But one shaggy-haired figure proves a tough customer, rarely even smiling — series creator and executive producer Matt Groening.

"He's not an easy laugh, so when you get a laugh out of him you feel like, 'Yes!' It's a big deal," said Smith.

Groening follows the script carefully, jotting down notes for the writers. Among his suggestions: omit a giggle from baby Maggie Simpson in one scene, and beef up another in which Marge finds herself without a partner for her new bike built for two.

"He wanted more of a visual with Marge being lonely, so we put in a parody of 'Midnight Cowboy' where Marge and the bicycle are walking around Springfield to that harmonica music," Jean said.

After all these years, Jean has developed his own script shorthand: a check mark for a joke that gets a laugh, an "X" for one that falls flat. "Something that's sweet but doesn't necessarily get a huge laugh will stay in," Jean said.

After all these years "it's a fairly well-oiled machine," observed Smith. Actors who are out of town, like Azaria, can record their lines at a convenient studio.

When the cast is finished the animators step in. The Los Angeles-area animation house Film Roman creates a black-and-white draft, called an animatic, which reveals what works and what doesn't, Jean said.

"Sometimes we do a considerable rewrite with the animatic. Once it's in color, the cost of changing too much is prohibitive," he said.

The revised animatic is sent to South Korea for creation of the final version — or almost final. If a line remains troublesome, the characters' lip movements provide enough leeway for another phrase to be subbed in.

No matter what changes, though, the characters stay the same.

"It's a bratty boy and a sensitive, intellectual girl and a dumb but well-meaning husband and a wife who's sweet and knows a little better than him," said Jean.

The show remains a success overseas, airing in Europe, Asia, Africa and elsewhere. A reinvigorated marketing push expanded the multimillion-dollar "Simpsons" brand of products in recent years, with hundreds of companies worldwide selling figurines, board games, apparel, snacks and more.

Just how durable is "The Simpsons," which has the cast signed through season 19? There will be a 20th season at least, Jean figures, allowing it to match "Gunsmoke" as the longest-running scripted show in prime-time.

Can the comedy keep its spark? He points to the latest table read as assurance.

"I thought it still rang true and was funny," Jean said.

'Jeopardy!' Champ Breaks Earnings Record

NEW YORK - Quiz-show king Ken Jennings has broken another record on "Jeopardy!" He won $45,099 on the episode that aired Wednesday, bringing his total earnings to $2,197,000 to make him the top TV game-show winner ever.

He beat the previous record of $2,180,000, set by Michigan engineer Kevin Olmstead on ABC's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" in 2001.

Jennings, a 30-year-old software engineer from Salt Lake City, began his 66-appearances-and-counting streak on the episode that aired June 2. Since then, he has richly profited from a rule change made only last year, at the start of the syndicated game show's 20th season, that removed its five-appearance limit. Now a contestant can continue playing as long as he wins.

On the "Jeopardy!" episode that aired Sept. 15, Jennings broke the record for longest winning streak on any television game show.

Where might it all stop? No one's confirmed it, but TV Week reported in September that Jennings lost after his 75th straight win, amassing a total of about $2.5 million. "Jeopardy!" episodes are taped in advance.

During the streak, Jennings has appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," presented a Top Ten list on "Late Show with David Letterman," and been a "Person of the Week" on ABC's "World News Tonight."

He has defeated 130 challengers and given more than 2,000 correct responses, including Wednesday's Final Jeopardy question, for which the clue was: "This king was the great-grandfather of France's King Louis XV."

Jennings sweetened his day's total take by $7,499 with his reply: "Who is Louis XIV?"

Besting Olmstead's record had been Jennings' goal "for a while," he told host Alex Trebek, adding, "I actually know Dr. Olmstead a little bit, and he's been very supportive."

'Incredibles' Director Pressured by Pixar Success

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Expectations for Pixar Animation Studios' latest computer-animated creation, superhero satire "The Incredibles," are running so high that the pressure for blockbuster success is, well, incredible.

And for that reason alone, it may seem odd, if not incredible, that Pixar entrusted the film, its first centered on human characters and tailored for adults as well as children, to a director who has made just one movie -- a commercial misfire loved by the critics.

Brad Bird, who directed and conceived "The Incredibles" about a retired superhero depressed by life, says he is feeling the pressure of great expectations even though he's not worried about maintaining Pixar's hot box office streak -- five smash hits from "Toy Story" to "Finding Nemo."

"It's ridiculous ... If this thing makes $1 less than 'Nemo,' on its opening (on Friday), somebody's going to say 'it's the beginning of the end for Pixar,"' Bird told Reuters.

"The Incredibles" marks a departure for Pixar. Its past films revolved around talking toys, lovable animals and comical monsters. They were perfect characters to win over kids, and their jokes were sharp enough to make parents laugh.

However, "The Incredibles" is built around a more adult tale about a dad, Bob Parr, once the crime-busting superhero "Mr. Incredible" who has now slid into mid-life crisis.

In his earlier days, Bob (voiced by Craig T. Nelson), was known for his super strength. His wife, Helen (Holly Hunter), was "Elastigirl" and idealized for her super stretching limbs.

After an unfortunate incident, however, they were put in a government superhero protection program. Bob is now a bored insurance adjuster, and Helen is a housewife caring for their three children, Violet, Dashiel and baby Jack Jack.

Unbeknownst to Helen, Bob goes back to busting bad guys, and his ultimate target is the menacing villain named Syndrome (Jason Lee), who threatens to take over the world. But when he confronts Syndrome, Mr. Incredible finds only more trouble. Helen and the kids must save him.

GROWN-UP FILM FOR KIDS

Bird admits some of the action, which spoofs James Bond and recent comic-book films like "Spider-Man," may get too intense for young Pixar fans.

"I think a lot of kids will have a blast at this, but I think probably a lot of really small kids, or those who are easily startled, maybe should wait a few years because some of the scenes are kind of intense," he said.

Adding to the uncertainty around "Incredibles" is that Pixar's other movies were conceived and developed within the company. "The Incredibles" is Bird's creation. He comes from outside. He sold the script to Pixar and was hired to make it, based in part on his previous film "The Iron Giant" which won critical praise but made only $23 million at the box office.

He said the directors and producers at Pixar, including "Toy Story" originator John Lasseter, offered advice, but never tried to steer him away from his original ideas. Nor were they overly concerned about the box office.

"Pixar goes, 'You never know what a movie is going to do, and the bottom line is we love this movie. We made it the best way we know, and the rest is up to the movie gods,"' he said.

The film is the sixth and next-to-last film in a highly profitable but deeply troubled partnership between Pixar and the Walt Disney Co. . The pair have earned $2.6 billion in global box office receipts from 1995's "Toy Story" to last year's "Finding Nemo."

But Disney and Pixar have been unable to forge a new agreement and their relationship is slated to end in November 2005 with the premiere of their last contracted film, "Cars."

"Nemo" hauled in $70 million in its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, earning $340 million in those countries.

Some box office experts are predicting that "The Incredibles" will gross more than $500 million in world-wide box office as compared to worldwide grosses of more than $860 million for "Nemo."

Says Bird, "Many movies we think of as being groundbreaking and smash hits that came out of nowhere. Many of them were made with a struggle and people didn't believe in the makers."

He's right. That is what happened with "Toy Story" in 1995, and we all know what its outcome -- in-credible.

Feuding Kelly, Jay-Z Top U.S. Albums Chart

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Despite a nasty public feud that brought an abrupt end to their joint tour last weekend, R. Kelly and Jay-Z are chummy on top of the U.S. pop album charts.

Their second album together, "Unfinished Business" (Jive/Def Jam/IDJMG), debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 215,000 copies in the week ended Oct. 31, according to Nielsen SoundScan data issued Wednesday.

R. Kelly has filed a $75 million breach-of-contract suit against Jay-Z after being dismissed from their co-headlining Best of Both Worlds tour. The trek took its name from the duo's first album, 2002's "The Best of Both Worlds," which opened at No. 2 with 223,000 copies; it has sold 875,000 to date.

"Unfinished Business" replaced Rod Stewart's "Stardust ...The Great American Songbook: Volume III" (J), which fell to No. 4 with 134,000 copies.

Trick Daddy burst in at No. 2 with his highest charting album and a career-best sales week. "Thug Matrimony: Married to the Streets" (Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic) moved 145,000 copies, an improvement over 2002's "Thug Holiday," which bowed at No. 6 with 130,000 copies; it has sold 731,000 to date.

It's instant gratification this time around for Simple Plan, whose sophomore Lava set, "Still Not Getting Any...," opened at No. 3 with 139,000 copies. That's in sharp contrast to the Canadian pop/punk act's 2002 debut, "No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls," which was out for two months before it appeared on the big chart. It eventually peaked at No. 35 and has sold 1.8 million copies.

"Motown Two," Michael McDonald's second compilation of covers tied to the venerable R&B label, was an even bigger success than the first. The new Motown set debuted at No. 9 on sales of almost 70,000 units, while last year's "Motown" settled for a peak of No. 14. That set, which has sold 1.3 million to date, re-entered the chart this week at No. 158 with 7,000 copies.

Significant interest in the Ray Charles biopic "Ray," which opened at No. 2 at the North American box office last weekend, also translated to music sales as the WMG/Atlantic/Rhino soundtrack jumped 13 places to No. 10 with 55,000 copies. Despite the hype, the late artist's final studio set, "Genius Loves Company" (Concord/Hear Music), slipped three places to No. 8 with 96,000 copies.

Rounding out the top 10, Nelly's "Suit" (Derrty/Fo'Reel/Universal) fell three places to No. 5 with 130,000 copies, Usher's "Confessions" (LaFace/Zomba) dipped two to No. 6 with 113,000 copies, and George Strait's "50 number Ones" (MCA Nashville) dropped four places to No. 7 with 104,000 copies.

Gospel artist Michael W. Smith grabbed his highest posting on the Billboard 200 with a No. 11 debut for "Healing Rain" (Reunion). The set opened with sales of 55,000, a bit less than 2002's "Worship Again," which moved 58,000 to start at No. 14. It has sold 692,000 to date.

"Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill" gave the country artist a No. 20 start with his third Warner Bros. album based on sales of 39,000 copies. Last year's "The Dreamer" fared a bit better, opening at No. 8 with 77,000 copies; it has sold 627,000 to date.

Last week's spooky holiday fueled sales of Mannheim Steamroller's "Halloween: Monster Mix" (American Gramaphone), which jumped 144-56 to 15,000 copies. Also enjoying a notable increase was Three Days Grace's self-titled Jive set, which was reissued with a bonus DVD. The set rebounded 161-96 with 11,000 copies.

Overall U.S. album sales were down from the previous week by about 2% at 10.5 million units and about 5% lower than the same week last year. Year-to-date sales are ahead of 2003 by about 4.5% at 506 million units.

Eminem Produces Another 'New' Tupac Album

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Eminem has produced 12 songs based around previously unreleased verses from late rapper Tupac Shakur for the album "Loyal to the Game," Billboard.com has learned.

Due Dec. 14 via Amaru/Interscope, the 16-track set will be the seventh album of Shakur's music released since he was shot and killed in 1996.

Although a full track list has not been finalized, the album will include guest appearances from such hip-hop superstars as 50 Cent, Jadakiss and Lloyd Banks, as well as Nate Dogg, Eminem protege Obie Trice, Outlawz, Sleepy Brown, Young Buck and Ronald Isley.

The four tracks Eminem did not produce were helmed by Raphael Saadiq, Scott Storch and Red Spyda. Shakur's mother Afeni served as executive producer in tandem with Eminem.

Eminem previously raided Tupac's vault for the 2003 soundtrack to "Tupac Resurrection," for which he produced three songs. The track "Runnin' (Dying To Live)," which featured a verse from fellow late rapper Notorious B.I.G., reached No. 5 on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks chart.

Eminem's new studio album, "Encore," arrives Nov. 16 via Interscope and it is all over the internet already.

Lips, Shins Kick Back With 'SpongeBob'

Never a group to shy away from theatrics, the Flaming Lips have completed an appropriately oddball video to accompany "SpongeBob & Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy," their contribution to Sire's "SpongeBob SquarePants" movie soundtrack. The cut will serve as the first single from the set, due Nov. 9, and also featuring Ween, Wilco and Motorhead. The film opens Nov. 19 in U.S. theaters.

In the clip, shot recently in Austin, Texas, and directed by the Lips' Wayne Coyne and filmmaker Bradley Beesley, band members are dressed as food items inside a salivating mouth the size of a truck. Coyne also climbs inside the giant bubble he utilized to travel through the crowd in May at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif.

"['SpongeBob' creator] Stephen [Hillenburg] seems to be a fan of the weirder music of the late '80s and early '90s," Coyne tells Billboard.com. "He wanted to evoke the music he got turned onto back then. A lot of times, you contribute a song to a movie, but they have someone like U2 who is selling millions of records, and you're being attached to it but you're not really the spokesmen. But now, we're the ones who will have the single for this soundtrack."

In addition to the video, a making-of featurette was shot for future broadcast on Nickelodeon. The clip itself is expected to surface in early December.

Shins frontman James Mercer tells Billboard.com he was inspired enough by a very rough cut of the film to pen the soundtrack cut "They'll Soon Discover," which dates back to sessions for the group's 2001 Sub Pop debut, "Oh, Inverted World."

"[Music supervisor] Karyn [Rachtman] had this unfinished version of the movie, which was really interesting to see," Mercer says. "It would look like the regular cartoon for awhile, but suddenly it would cut to pencil drawings, where they hadn't finished that part of it. Sometimes the voices would disappear and it would just be the writers reading. It was really cool to see the creative process, which to me has always been very mysterious. How do you go about making a movie, much less an animated one?"

"I decided I wanted to address some of the aspects of the plot of the film, but do it in such a way that you could hear the song and not feel like it was necessarily from the soundtrack of a movie," he continues. "I have a tendency to write with vague metaphors, but some of the stuff is pretty blatantly about SpongeBob. The music was stuff I had actually put together, at least the main part, a long time ago. I'd always struggled trying to turn it into a pop song and I think I needed something like this to make it work."

"CSI" Investigates New U2

Pity the television fan who doesn't like the music of U2.

After a blizzard of Apple iTunes commercials featuring the band's new single, "Vertigo," blanketed television screens nationwide in October, the band is once again turning to the tube to usher in a second wave of exposure.

To promote their new record, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, which drops Nov. 23, the Irish foursome will pull musical guest duty on NBC's Saturday Night Live later this month. And, in an even more novel strategy, the band is teaming with CBS' runaway hit CSI to will roll out tracks from the album over the next few weeks, E! Online has confirmed.

A snippet of "Vertigo" played in last week's CSI, while the show's 100th episode on Nov. 18 will feature a special remix of the single. Another track, to be determined by the band, will appear on the Nov. 25 episode.

While the soundtracks to many TV shows feature modern rock acts to cross-promote the music and sell the show's hipness (see: Felicity, The O.C. and even The West Wing), never has a band of U2's caliber taken advantage of the tactic.

Precious few bands wield enough clout to cherry-pick shows for their promotional purposes, especially when the show of choice is the top-rated on television and will air during the high-stakes November sweeps.

"I think that U2 and their manager Paul McGuinness have been extremely smart," says music supervisor G. Marq Roswell of 35 Sound. "The show [CSI] is a proven success and this is a way to expose them to an entirely different demographic that may or may not be aware of their new release."

Roswell, who has worked as a music supervisor on films like Auto Focus and Spy Game, thinks U2 knew exactly what it was doing when the band agreed to license its music to CBS' number one drama.

"When a group like U2, who are so notoriously careful with licensing their music, agrees to rollout three tracks on a show like CSI, that's huge," he says. "That's the McGuinness way. As a manager, he's always been extremely smart in realizing how the music business is changing--and I would have to say he's usually been right about it."

Roswell says U.S. television viewers can expect to see more bands attempting to promote their new records via partnerships with television shows in the future.

"Managers are starting to realize that TV has such a huge audience," he says. "They know the demographics of the shows, and they see immediate sales spikes right after the show airs whether it is CSI or even a WB series."

Aside from the TV blitz for the band's old media fans, U2 is also using the Internet in hopes of enticing some younger music fans who may not be down with the lads from across the pond.

Last week, the band announced it has teamed with Apple to release a special-edition black iPod. "Vertigo" has been available on Apple's iTunes Music Store for weeks and is currently the most-downloaded track on the music service.

And, as if November couldn't get any busier for the biggest band in the world, U2 is considered a lock to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later this month in its first year of eligibility. The band, now almost 30 years into its career, was nominated for the Hall of Fame in September.

Shania Twain's hometown welcomes star with snow, signs, parking lot party

TIMMINS, Ont. (CP) - Country superstar Shania Twain sent hundreds of bone-chilled fans into a frenzy Tuesday as she finally returned home to cut the ribbon at a museum dedicated to her phenomenally successful singing career.

At a ceremony in the parking lot outside the Shania Twain Centre, she gushed about the "gorgeous" building and displays, and said she wouldn't change a thing.

"I think it's first class, and not because I happen to be the subject in there," said a beaming Twain, who was wearing giant hoop earrings, a ponytail and a pink turtleneck covered in a warm black vest.

"I think when fans come here from all over the world, they're going to get a really honest representation of who I am and where I'm from."

Twain, who had a private tour of the three-year-old facility, repeatedly complimented town officials, noting how clean the city looked, and she said she hoped the centre would continue to attract tourists to the region to learn "about us northern Ontario people."

After the official ceremony she answered questions from the audience and signed autographs for 150 devotees. Twain showed off her French, saying she's been taking lessons because it's her son Eja's first language. When asked if she'll soon be giving her son a sibling, she laughed and replied "No, I don't think so."

Despite flurries and sub-zero temperatures, spectators from near and far gathered for the shindig at the sprawling facility that houses Twain's many trophies, her wedding dress and a variety of flamboyant stage outfits.

The crowd was much smaller than anticipated but cold weather didn't dampen spirits as Shania-mania took over the city. Many businesses put up signs welcoming Twain. Local car dealerships had Shania Twain Day sales.

"You've got to support her," said Cindy Boucher, manager of East Side Mario's restaurant on Riverside Drive, where a billboard proclaimed Welcome Back Shania. "If I was in her shoes, I would like people to receive me as a hometown girl."

Officials had expected about 5,000 people at the ribbon-cutting event, but closer to 500 were on hand.

"She's an inspiration to us all," said Richard Sessions, 47, dancing on the spot to keep warm and hoisting a giant sign with phrases borrowed from Twain's songs: "Looks like you've made it. Look how far you've come Eilleen."

Sessions took a week's vacation, voted early in the American election and travelled from Goshen, Ind., to see the superstar.

"Everybody is initially attracted to her because of her music, and she's obviously eye candy," he said. "Beyond that, once you become familiar with her life, she instils the values that people should have in their life. She doesn't bend to peer pressure. She puts family first."

By early afternoon, hundreds of people were on hand, bundled up in parkas, with some arriving on a special transit service set up for the occasion. Some fans brought folding chairs and tried to play cards while they waited, but the snow quickly covered everything - tuques, chairs and cards.

Merchandise was being sold from a tent. Vendors said the most popular item was a coin to commemorate the date, bearing a headshot of Twain and selling for about $10. Shania Twain lip balm for $4.55 was also a hot item.

The day began with a surprise visit to Timmins High and Vocational School, which Twain attended as a teenager.

"This is awesome," said principal Wendy Adams. "I'm sure our kids are never going to forget this."

Twain's former math teacher, Gord Spylo, came to the school and "he actually gave her a little five-question quiz about some math things related to her," said Adams.

"And then they walked down to a music room ... and they went to see some of the practice rooms. When she was a student here she would go in there and write music, so she had some pretty fond memories of the music room and just wanted to see what that looked like."

As well, Twain presented a $10,000 Band Aid grant from the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for the purchase of musical instruments at an assembly of about 500 students.

The principal gave Twain hockey jerseys from the school - one for her and a "pint-sized version" for her three-year-old son.

Born Eilleen Edwards, the 39-year-old singer is a hero for many Timmins residents. She started singing around town at age eight. And almost everyone you ask is familiar with her rags-to-riches tale which saw her, at age 21, raise her younger siblings after her mother and father were killed in a car accident.

The centre first opened June 30, 2001. Twain sent her regrets at the time, blaming her pregnancy for her absence.

Sabrina Benoit, 20, a secretary at an accounting firm, took the day off work to be at the centre Tuesday, and said nobody blames Twain for the delay in visiting Timmins.

"No, not at all, she has a life too," said Benoit, who was wrapped in a big pink scarf to stay warm. "She can come open it whenever she pleases. She has a kid and a life. It's nice that she's finally able to see it. We definitely appreciate it."

The country star supports the centre, having contributed over $1 million worth of memorabilia.

The museum, which acts as a home base for an annual Shania Twain Fan Convention every August, has become the focal point of the remote northern Ontario city. All tourism brochures feature Twain's almond eyes and big smile. Even the centre's blue and gold colour scheme was designed to mesh with the city's blue and gold logo.

FYI Quick Facts:

Switzerland-based Shania Twain's stop at her hometown of Timmins, Ont., is part of a one-week blitz promoting her Greatest Hits CD, to be released next Tuesday. That same day she performs at the Country Music Awards in Nashville.

A quick look at Twain:

Born: Eilleen Regina Edwards, Aug. 28, 1965, Windsor, Ont. (Changed name to Twain when mother remarried).

Raised: Timmins, Ont.

Family: Married to British producer Mutt Lange (Def Leppard), has three-year-old son, Eja.

The Name: Shania is Ojibwa for "I'm on my way."

Current home: Lives in 18th-century home on shore of Lake Geneva in Switzerland; neighbours include Phil Collins. Recently purchased 24,700 hectares of farmland in New Zealand's South Island.

Career turning point: Video for Any Man of Mine, 1995, written with Lange. Introduced the staid country community to Twain's sex appeal.

Albums: Up!, 2002; Come On Over, 1997; The Woman In Me, 1995; and Shania Twain, 1993. Greatest Hits CD to be released next Tuesday. It contains 21 songs including three new ones, Party for Two, Don't! and I Ain't No Quitter. Twain recorded two versions of Party for Two, a pop version with Sugar Ray vocalist Mark McGrath and a twangier - better - one with country newbie Billy Currington.

Achievements: 1997's Come On Over is considered the best-selling ever by a female artist and the sixth biggest of all time, equalling AC/DC's Back in Black and The Beatles' With the Beatles.

More Shania: She co-hosts CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday from Toronto, on Friday she'll perform a four-song street gig in Nashville for Good Morning America, on Monday she'll make a stop to the U.S.'s QVC shopping channel to hawk her CD and a new DVD, and finally, next Tuesday the singer performs Party for Two at the Country Music Association Awards in Nashville. She's also in theatres with a cameo in I (Heart) Huckabees.

Charity: She recently partnered with BeneFit Cosmetics to create a lipstick, Shania Red, with proceeds going to the American Heart Association. It's been the cosmetic company's best selling shade since its launch in September.

NBC Pulls 'Father of the Pride' for Sweeps

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Broadcaster NBC has pulled "Father of the Pride," its expensive foray into computer-animated prime-time comedy, off its schedule for the key November "sweeps" ratings period, the network said.

The move came just days after "Pride" creator DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. launched a successful initial public offering on the strength of such big-screen animated properties as its "Shrek" franchise.

But for all the commercial gains DreamWorks has had with "Shrek," the much-hyped "Pride" has not fared as well. For the fall season through Oct. 24, the new comedy series about a frisky family of talking lions in Siegfried & Roy's famed Las Vegas act ranks 42nd in household ratings.

Of 13 episodes initially ordered by the network, seven have aired. An NBC spokeswoman said the show would return to the network's lineup after sweeps, though she did not pinpoint a date. Voice work has been done for all 13 episodes, though some animation is yet to be completed on a couple of episodes.

The show cost a reported $1.6 million per episode to produce. But some critics have questioned whether its ribald sense of humor, described by the network as "edgy," was tame enough for kids to watch with their parents or sophisticated enough for adults to enjoy on their own.

Networks traditionally roll out their best programming in November and two other monthlong "sweeps" periods each year to boost ratings, which in turn are used to set local advertising rates. The networks also tend to pull weaker shows off their schedules during sweeps.

The move comes amid admissions by network executives that NBC has struggled this season, with ratings for its target audience of viewers aged 18 to 49 on the decline following years of dominance in that demographic.

"We've gotten spanked," Jeff Zucker, president of the NBC Universal Television Group, told the Los Angeles Times this week, pointing to new hits on ABC and CBS.

The Couch Potato Report - November 2nd, 2004

In The Couch Potato Report this week, there are two animated releases, three TV shows released and 80 days you won't care about.

In the year 2001 a wonderful animated movie called SHREK was released.

In that film a reclusive ogre and a chatterbox donkey went on a quest to rescue a princess for the tyrannical Lord Farquaad.

The exceptional voice talents of Mike Myers are Shrek, Eddie Murphy as Donkey and Cameron Diaz as the princess, along with the witty and ingenious script, made the film a huge hit with moviegoers.

Since huge hits begat sequels, SHREK 2 debuted in theaters this past May and it came out on video and DVD yesterday.

In SHREK 2 the newlywed Shrek and Princess Fiona are invited to her homeland of Far Far Away to have the marriage blessed by Fiona's parents.

Even though they did lock her in a castle tower Fiona's parents are horrified by their daughter's transformation into an ogress.

Plus, a fairy godmother wants her son Prince Charming to win Fiona, and a feline assassin is hired to get Shrek out of the way.

And that feline assassin was an incredible addition to an already strong cast of characters!

The animation is a treat to enjoy and the voice acting is better than ever.

All of those facts combined allowed SHREK 2 to become the highest grossing animated film, and the highest grossing comedy of all time. Plus, it was universally praised as one of the rare sequels that is better than the original.

Well, it was almost universally praised as that. Personally, I don't agree.

Don't get me wrong, I do love SHREK 2! It is a great movie, but I don't think it is better than the original. The song choices all seem arbitrary in SHREK 2, whereas they felt natural in the first one. I also didn't like the character of the fairy godmother at all.

But, those facets of the movie aside, I did enjoy SHREK 2 and I think you will too. Especially during the all too brief scenes where the Gingerbread Man appears!

SHREK 2 is an incredible film, but I still like the original film better.

To put into perspective how much I like the original SHREK, I can tell you that I enjoyed it just as much as I used to enjoy watching Bugs Bunny and Looney Tunes cartoon when I was a kid.

And I enjoyed them immensely!

And now there are more of them available to own as LOONEY TUNES - THE GOLDEN COLLECTION: VOLUME TWO has just come out.

Yes, here on 4 discs you'll find 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.

Plus, the fourth disc is an all-star cavalcade of Hollywood parodies and more.

And even though there isn't even a Foghorn Leghorn short on any of the discs, this set of classic cartoons is a wonderful opportunity to relive Saturday mornings anytime you'd like!

The word "classic" will never be used in conjunction with the second cinematic telling of the wonderful Jules Verne book AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS.

Yes, the book is wonderful, this movie is not.

Jackie Chan plays a thief and Steve Coogan is a London inventor who makes a bet to go around the world in 80 days. If he wins he becomes the new minister of science. If he fails, he can never invent again. Together the pair travel around the world. You won't care.

The biggest reason why you won't care is because the movie changes gears too often. It goes from a serious film, to a comedy, to a kung fu movie, for no reason whatsoever. Other films have done that, and done it well, but Chan and Coogan just aren't up for the task and thus, you won't care.

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS isn't a horrible movie, but I can't think of one single reason why you'd want to watch it instead of reading the Jules Verne book.

So lets move on so I can briefly tell you about some new releases featuring some great old television shows.

STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES - THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON is an 8-disc set that includes all of the 26 episodes from year two of the classic Trek.

This second season not only has some of the best episodes of the franchise but also some of the most important.

Among these are "Amok Time", "The Changling", "Who Mourns for Adonis?" and the unforgettable "The Trouble with Tribbles".

There are also a wide array of special features and retrospectives from the original cast.

If you already have the yellow box set that is STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON, then you will definitely want this blue box set that makes up STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES - THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON.

STAR TREK ran on TV from 1966 until 1969.

NORTHERN EXPOSURE is a show that ran from 1990 until 1995.

Maybe when that show has been off the air for over 30 years like it will get as extensive a retrospective as the original STAR TREK is getting.

For now, fans of NORTHERN EXPOSURE will have to let a two disc set called NORTHERN EXPOSURE - THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON suffice.

Even though it is only two discs the set has more than enough extra footage and deleted scenes stuff to make even the most fanatical NORTHERN EXPOSURE fan happy.

So head back to Cicely, Alaska and enjoy the exposure today!

But if that climate is too cold for you, just head south to Santa Monica, California, and the four disc set for THREE'S COMPANY - SEASON THREE will placate your desire to own this classic television series on DVD.

This set has all 23 episodes from the 1978-79 season, including ones where Jack fakes a cold to break a date, Mr. Roper thinking Chrissy is in love with him, the roommates suspecting Mrs. Roper is having an affair with one of Stanley's buddies, and that one where the young teenager has a crush on Jack.

If you liked the show when these episodes first aired, then just go and knock on their door. They'll be waiting for you!

SHREK 2, LOONEY TUNES - THE GOLDEN COLLECTION: VOLUME TWO, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES - THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON, NORTHERN EXPOSURE - THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON and THREE'S COMPANY - SEASON THREE are all available now at your favourite local video store.

COMING UP IN THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT

The remake of THE STEPFORD WIVES stars Nicole Kidman and Matthew Broderick as a couple who settle in a town where wives are subservient. Even the most subservient fans of either actor will be hard pressed to enjoy it. Bette Midler and country singer Faith Hill also star.

In 1995 there was a great film released called BEFORE SUNRISE about a man and a woman who meet on a train and decide to spend time together talking and getting to know each other. In 2004 a sequel was released called BEFORE SUNSET and the pair meet up 9 years after their last encounter. Actors Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy return along with director Richard Linklater.

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!

Stallone's 'Get Carter' Voted Worst Remake

Sylvester Stallone's 2000 reworking of the Sir Michael Caine crime thriller Get Carter has been voted the worst film remake of all time in a new poll.

In a survey of 2,000 film fans by DVD rental company Screenselect.co.uk, a majority voted the Rocky star's version was abysmal compared to the 1971 classic.

Unfortunately for Jude Law, the recently-released Alfie film - another Caine remake - was also slammed and came in at number six in the poll.

The Anne Heche-starring 1998 version of the Psycho horror film followed Get Carter at two and this year's flop Thunderbirds entered at three.

The top ten also included Point of No Return at four, Charlie's Angels at five, Planet Of The Apes at seven, Starsky And Hutch at eight and Cape Fear at nine.

Surprisingly 2001 blockbuster Ocean's Eleven came in at ten, despite most film reviews lauding the George Clooney film as better than the 1960 original.

Plaid-clad WKRP ad man Tarlek to appear in new Rheostatics video

TORONTO (CP) - Baby, if you've ever wondered, wondered whatever became of WKRP in Cincinnati's Herb Tarlek, look no further than Toronto.

Frank Bonner, who portrayed the plaid-clad advertising salesman on the beloved TV comedy series, will be in the city Wednesday filming a video with Canadian rockers the Rheostatics.

The band has a song on its new album, 2067, called The Tarleks.

According to the Rheos' record company, Bonner frequently turns down requests to reprise the Tarlek role, but said yes to the video because he likes the new song.

WKRP in Cincinnati, which also starred Loni Anderson and Gordon Jump, ran from 1978 to 1982.

In case you've been living under a pop culture rock, the series followed the hijinks at a Top 40 radio station and featured a cast of memorably offbeat characters including Bonner's Tarlek, who was married but spent much of his time making advances towards Anderson's character, station receptionist Jennifer.

Canadian Networks To Cover U.S. Election

TORONTO -- A Canadian perspective will be available to television news junkies as the election takes place south of the border Tuesday.

On the day Americans elect their new president, the CBC's Alison Smith anchors the morning news from Washington, with Harry Forestell reporting from Missouri for the middle-America view.

A two-hour election special will air on CBC Newsworld with Don Newman anchoring, beginning at 7 p.m. ET after which Newsworld will carry a 9 p.m. ET edition of The National with Peter Mansbridge. On the main network, The National will begin at 10 p.m. ET as usual and will continue through to 3 a.m. ET with regular updates, pre-empting late-night programming.

Otherwise, extensive coverage will air throughout the evening on Newsworld with Newman at the Canadian Embassy in D.C. Henry Champ will analyse the results while David Halton will be with the George W. Bush campaign and Neil MacDonald with the John Kerry team.

Over at CTV, Lloyd Robertson will stay in Toronto to anchor the network's live nighttime newscasts from 11 p.m. ET to 2 a.m. Alan Fryer will be at the Bush headquarters in Washington and Kathy Tomlinson at Kerry HQ in Boston while Tom Clark will report from West Palm Beach in Florida, which proved to be the key battleground in 2000. Craig Oliver will offer analysis from Ottawa. Live election results will be carried throughout the evening on Newsnet with Dan Matheson and Mike Duffy.

CTV's main prime-time look at the election will be, curiously, in the form of comedy -- a special edition of Jon Stewart's Daily Show entitled Election Night 2004: Prelude to a Recount.

Global TV's Kevin Newman will broadcast from Washington providing live updates twice an hour with Troy Reeb at the Bush headquarters and Mike Armstrong with Kerry. Sean Mallen will be in Ohio.

But Global is also opting to put tongue in cheek during prime time with a marathon of past Simpsons episodes that included U.S. presidential material.

The Real Slim Shady?

After last week's Ashlee Simpson debacle on Saturday Night Live, you'd think it would be a while before anyone would dare to lip-synch on the ''live'' show again. But this past weekend, amid several comedy bits lampooning the accidental revelation of Simpson's vocal backing track, musical guest Eminem performed his song ''Mosh'' to the apparent accompaniment of a vocal track. As clips of the performance that have surfaced on the Web indicate, there was at least one moment during the song where Eminem dropped his microphone away from his face while his voice continued to boom through the speakers.

A spokesman for Interscope, the rapper's label, acknowledged that Eminem did perform with a backing track but dismissed comparisons to Simpson. ''This is not that big a deal,'' Dennis Dennehy told EW.com. ''This happens all the time. He has a double vocal track on the song. When you hear the actual [recording of the ] song, there's two vocals doing the lyrics. For Saturday Night Live, what he wanted to do was to use one vocal track to back up his live vocals.'' In any case, Dennehy said, rappers play by different rules than rock singers like Simpson. ''It's hip-hop; he can sample his own voice if he wants.''

Seven Clues About Which Way The Election Might Go

We won't know who wins the presidential race until the wee hours of November 3 — and we might not know even then. But throughout the night, we'll be getting clues about who's doing well, and how politics will change in the years ahead. Here are seven telling items to keep an eye on.

1. Florida

Bush's must-win state. The President has looked stronger here than in the Midwestern battlegrounds. His brother Jeb, the governor, is popular, particularly with Hispanics, a growing Sunshine State constituency. With Jeb's help, the President got high marks for his response to Florida's hurricanes. And he has made inroads with Jewish voters, a traditionally Democratic group in the southern part of the state. If Bush loses Florida despite all this, he'll probably lose other key swing states — and lose the election.

2. Ohio

Kerry's must-win state. Republicans have been worried about the Buckeye State all year. Al Gore gave up on it in 2000 and still came close. Ohio has been hit hard by the weak economy and, in a reverse of Florida, its Republican governor is very unpopular, which could rub off on the president. Labor unions and other Democratic groups have poured money and organizers into the state, and Kerry recently went hunting there in an attempt to appeal to Republican-leaning rural voters. Democrats have bet the farm on Ohio — if they lose it, they could lose nearby states like Wisconsin and Iowa, where voters are aren't hurting as much economically. If that happens, Bush wins.

3. Southwestern Hispanics

Democrats think that as Hispanics become a larger percentage of the electorate in the Southwest, they have a chance of picking up states in this traditionally Republican region. Gore barely won New Mexico in 2000, the state with the largest proportion of Hispanics, and Kerry should win there. But the big news would be if Kerry picked up Nevada or Colorado, states Bush won in 2000, but where Kerry has run better than expected. The Democratic Senate candidate in Colorado, Ken Salazar, is Hispanic, and the Kerry campaign hopes he'll draw Hispanics to the polls. Watch to see if there's a big jump in turnout among Southwestern Hispanics. If there is, Kerry could steal a victory in Bush country.

4. Elderly Women

Kerry can't win unless he decisively defeats Bush among women voters. One group that has caused him trouble is older women, who tend to be culturally conservative and haven't warmed to Kerry, who sounds awkward talking about his religious faith. Kerry has tried to win them over by charging that Bush would threaten Social Security, a big issue among seniors. If Kerry can't bring them to his side, he'll have trouble in Florida and Pennsylvania, both states with larger than average elderly populations.

5. Gay Marriage

Republicans have put amendments banning gay marriage on the ballot in many swing states, hoping to draw Christian conservative voters to the polls. If these amendments win big, it will give Bush a boost. It will also boost the anti-gay marriage movement in Washington, and embolden Republicans to keep pushing for an anti-gay marriage amendment to the Constitution. But in states like Ohio, where the amendment is so broad it would ban even civil unions, some Republicans — including the state's governor — are opposed. If some of the anti-gay marriage amendments are defeated, future Republican candidates may shy away from the issue.

6. Tom Daschle

Republicans are gunning for the Senate Democratic leader, who represents South Dakota, a state where Bush should win big. If Daschle goes down, he will be the first Senate leader to lose his seat in decades, and it will be a huge psychological blow to the Democrats. His opponent, former Congressman John Thune, lost to South Dakota's other Democratic Senator in 2002 by only 527 votes. If Thune wins, the Republicans will almost certainly hold the Senate, and Democrats in Washington will be in disarray.

7. You

Polls show Kerry leading among young voters. They also show that young voters care more about this election than any in recent memory. People 18-29 typically vote less than any other age group. And many pollsters factor that assumption into their models of likely voters — which is one reason most polls show Bush with a slight lead. If young people prove the pollsters wrong, and turn out at rates close to their parents, it would not only be a good night for our democracy, but could also help John Kerry.

Nirvana Box Track List Revealed

The Nirvana box set "With the Lights Out" will take a chronological look at the Kurt Cobain-led band's brief but enormously influential career, beginning with a Led Zeppelin cover from its debut show in 1987 to Cobain solo acoustic performances just prior to his 1994 suicide. The three-CD/one-DVD package is due Nov. 23 via Geffen/UME.

Kicking off with a run through Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker," disc one sports early versions of familiar tracks like "Floyd the Barber," "Polly" and "About a Girl," demo recordings of the Leadbelly tracks "Grey Goose," "They Hung Him on a Cross" and "Ain't It a Shame" and undated tracks presumed to have been recorded in 1987 or 1988, such as "Beans," "Clean Up Before She Comes" and "Don't Want It All."

Disc two includes demos for the classic "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and an alternate mix by producer Butch Vig, a 1991 live radio performance of "Dumb" two years before it appeared on the studio album "In Utero" and such covers as the Velvet Underground's "Here She Comes Now" and the Wipers' "Return of the Rat" and "D-7."

In addition to unreleased acoustic and electric versions of "Rape Me" and an undated run through "All Apologies," some of Nirvana's final studio recordings show up on disc three. Six tracks originate from a January 1993 session in Rio de Janeiro, including "Gallons of Running Alcohol Flows Through the Strip" and "The Other Improv."

Cobain's solo home demos of "Do Re Mi," "You Know You're Right" and "All Apologies" close the set.

As for the DVD, it includes nine tracks captured at a 1988 rehearsal at the home of bassist Krist Novoselic's mother, 10 previously unreleased live performances of such tracks as Jacques Brel and Rod McKuen's "Seasons in the Sun" (recorded at the Rio sessions) and "Pennyroyal Tea" and the rare 1990 video for "In Bloom."

"With the Lights Out" was originally intended for release in Christmas 2001, to coincide with the 10-year anniversary of Nirvana's breakthrough album, "Nevermind." But surviving members Novoselic and Dave Grohl were thwarted by lawsuits from Cobain's widow Courtney Love, who objected to their planned use of the previously "You Know You're Right" in the set.

The dispute was eventually settled in September 2002, with the parties agreeing to earmark "You Know You're Right" for a self-titled Nirvana compilation released the following month.

Here is the track list for "With the Lights Out":

"Heartbreaker" (1987)
"Anorexorcist" (1987)
"White Lace and Strange" (1987)
"Help Me I'm Hungry" (1987)
"Mrs. Butterworth" (1987)
"If You Must" (1988)
"Pen Cap Chew" (1988)
"Downer" (1988)
"Floyd the Barber" (1988)
"Raunchola/Moby Dick" (1988)
"Beans" (undated)
"Don't Want It All" (undated)
"Clean Up Before She Comes" (undated)
"Polly" (1988)
"About a Girl" (1988)
"Blandest" (1988)
"Dive" (1988)
"They Hung Him on a Cross" (1989)
"Grey Goose" (1989)
"Ain't It a Shame" (1989)
"Token Eastern Song" (1989)
"Even in His Youth" (1989)
"Polly" (1989)

Disc two:
"Opinion" (1990)
"Lithium" (1990)
"Been a Son" (1990)
"Sliver" (1989)
"Where Did You Sleep Last Night" (1989)
"Pay To Play" (1990)
"Here She Comes Now" (1990)
"Drain You" (1990)
"Aneurysm" (1990)
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" (1991 demo)
"Breed" (1991)
"Verse Chorus Verse" (1991)
"Old Age" (1991)
"Endless, Nameless" (1991)
"Dumb" (1991)
"D-7" (1990)
"Oh the Guilt" (1992)
"Curmudgeon" (1992)
"Return of the Rat" (1992)
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" (1991 Butch Vig mix)

Disc three:
"Rape Me" (1992 acoustic version)
"Rape Me" (1992 electric version)
"Scentless Apprentice" (1992)
"Heart Shaped Box" (1993)
"I Hate Myself and I Want To Die" (1993)
"Milk It" (1993)
"Moist Vagina" (1993)
"Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through the Strip" (1993)
"The Other Improv" (1993)
"Serve the Servants" (1993)
"Very Ape" (1993)
"Pennyroyal Tea" (1993)
"Marigold" (1993)
"Sappy" (1993)
"Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam" (1994)
"Do Re Mi" (1994)
"You Know You're Right" (1994 home demo)
"All Apologies" (undated)

DVD:
"Love Buzz" (1988 rehearsal)
"Scoff" (1988 rehearsal)
"About a Girl" (1988 rehearsal)
"Big Long Now" (1988 rehearsal)
"Immigrant Song" (1988 rehearsal)
"Spank Thru" (1988 rehearsal)
"Hairspray Queen" (1988 rehearsal)
"School" (1988 rehearsal)
"Mr. Moustache" (1988 rehearsal)
"Big Cheese" (1989)
"In Bloom" (music video, 1989)
"Sappy" (1990)
"School" (1990)
"Love Buzz" (1990)
"Pennyroyal Tea" (1991)
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" (1991)
"Territorial Pissings" (1991)
"Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam" (1991)
"Talk to Me" (1992)
"Seasons in the Sun" (1993)

"Bridget" Jonesing for Early Release

Bridget Jones will be searching for her sanity sooner than expected.

Universal Pictures is moving up the release of Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason one week, to Nov. 12, the studio announced Monday.

The Nov. 12 debut, in about 500 theaters, will pit the film against the campy horror antics of Seed of Chucky, the heist antics of After the Sunset, and the Christmas classic dreams of The Polar Express, which checks in two days earlier on Nov. 10.

Finding Neverland, starring Johnny Depp as Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie, and Kinsey, starring Liam Neeson as sex surveyor Alfred Kinsey, also open on Nov. 12, but both in limited release.

The Edge of Reason will go nationwide on about 2,500 screens on Nov. 19, its original release date.

Brandon Gray of the movie site BoxOfficeMojo.com called the rescheduling move bold, noting that films usually get held back, not pushed up, in last-minute shuffles.

"They must have good reason in terms of tracking," Gray said Monday. "The movie must have strong awareness as it is."

Strong awareness, indeed. Universal said good buzz from press screenings and sneak previews was behind the new release date.

"This will give us a jump start on the holiday business," Nikki Rocco, Universal Pictures president of distribution, said in a statement.

The Edge of Reason is the sequel to the 2001 romantic-comedy hit, plain, old Bridget Jones's Diary (no colon, no subtitle). That film grossed $71.5 million.

Then as now, Renee Zellwegger stars as a zaftig (by Hollywood standards), journal-keeping journalist. Colin Firth returns as her stodgy love interest Mark Darcy. Hugh Grant pops in to reprise Darcy's devilish rival, Daniel Cleaver.

For both films, Zellwegger acquired a British accent and about 30 extra pounds to play author Helen Fielding's chick-lit heroine.

According to Gray, Edge of Reason should have a lock on the adult, female audience until at least Dec. 10, when babe magnets George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon turn up in Ocean's Twelve.

Edge of Reason is the latest fall movie to experience a change in plans. Oliver Stone's epic Alexander was pushed back from Nov. 5 to Nov. 24. Jude Law's Alfie remake was moved from Oct. 22 to Nov. 5.

Hope Bridget's keeping track of all this in her diary.

Tarantino Plans Kung-Fu Film in Chinese

LONDON - Director Quentin Tarantino says he's planning a kung-fu film with all the dialogue in Mandarin Chinese and out-of-sync English dubbing in homage to many such films in the past.

In an interview with Total Film magazine, Tarantino said he decided to do the kung-fu movie instead of "Inglorious Bastards," the working title of his long-expected movie based on World War II.

"I enjoyed shooting all the Japanese stuff in `Kill Bill' so much that this whole film will be entirely in Mandarin," he was quoted as saying.

"If you're not up to watching it with subtitles, I really want to do a full-on dubbed version," he added.

Holidays Filled With Fact-Based Films

LOS ANGELES - Movies are getting real for the holidays. Along with such fictional folks as Santa, a Christmas grinch, a bottom-dweller named SpongeBob, a womanizer named Alfie and a romantic named Bridget, Hollywood's festive season is packed with fact-based films.

Among the real-life figures: are eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, played by Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator"; sex researcher Alfred Kinsey in "Kinsey," starring Liam Neeson and directed by Bill Condon ("Gods and Monsters"); singer Bobby Darin in "Beyond the Sea," starring Kevin Spacey, who also directed; "Peter Pan" creator J.M. Barrie, portrayed by Johnny Depp in "Finding Neverland," from director Marc Forster ("Monster's Ball"); and "Alexander," with Colin Farrell as the legendary Greek ruler in Oliver Stone's epic.

The movie has a built-in Oedipal complex, with Angelina Jolie — one year older than Farrell, 28 — co-starring as Alexander the Great's mother. Jolie gets to play a sort of Mommie Dearest of ancient times, with Alexander never quite able to cut the apron strings even as he conquers the world, Farrell said.

"She very much had Alexander in the palm of her hand for much of his life," Farrell said. "He adored her, reviled her at times, was afraid of her. She always had kind of a certain amount of control over him even when he was 10,000 miles away."

More contemporary real-life stories feature Don Cheadle as a hotel manager who risks his life and family to shelter refugees displaced by the Rwandan genocide in "Hotel Rwanda"; Javier Bardem as a paralyzed Spaniard who fights for his right to die in "The Sea Inside," directed by Alejandro Amenabar ("The Others"); and Sean Penn as a 1970s business failure who plots to kill the president in "The Assassination of Richard Nixon."

The holiday season kicks off Friday with "The Incredibles," the latest cartoon collaboration between distributor Disney and the creative team at Pixar Animation, makers of "Finding Nemo," "Monsters, Inc." and the "Toy Story" flicks.

"The Incredibles" features the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson and Jason Lee in an action comedy about retired superheroes recalled to action after 15 years of humdrum life in the 'burbs.

"The premise is that superheroes are real, they're unionized, they're members of society, and a series of unfortunate events happens where they are forced underground," said "The Incredibles" writer-director Brad Bird ("The Iron Giant"). "Almost like a witness protection program for superheroes, where they must assume normal identities and can't engage in any activities that would expose them."

Also on the animated front: "The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie," the big-screen debut for the underwater guy from the Nickelodeon series, and the Christmas tale "The Polar Express," featuring Tom Hanks in multiple roles for the adaptation of the best-selling picture book.

Director Robert Zemeckis said "The Polar Express" represents a breakthrough in computer-generated, performance-capture technology. Hanks and his co-stars performed on an empty soundstage, their movements and expressions recorded in minute detail by infrared cameras keyed to receptors all over their faces and bodies.

"It was unbelievably liberating," Zemeckis said. "It worked perfectly and it did what I hoped it would do. It allowed us to be unchained from the limits of conventional filmmaking. The actors just acted and didn't have to deal with any of the technology or archaic kind of process we have to go through to shoot a movie."

Hanks, who starred in Zemeckis' "Forrest Gump" and "Cast Away," plays a young boy whisked by train to the North Pole, the rail conductor and Santa Claus, among other roles.

The season's other holiday tale features one of Hollywood's favorite Kris Kringles, Tim Allen, in "Christmas With the Kranks," based on John Grisham's "Skipping Christmas," about a modern grinch who decides to forgo the yule festivities.

Allen, who starred in "The Santa Clause" and its sequel, said his character and his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) find themselves treated like lepers by friends and neighbors who cannot fathom why anyone would abandon the Christmas trappings.

"It's like if you have a good friend who, God forbid, just goes cold turkey on cigarettes or alcohol or even worse, starts working out and losing weight, and the rest of you don't," Allen said. "You will besiege that person because his choice calls your life into question."

The holiday season also includes: Jude Law in "Alfie," a remake of the 1960s tale about a man questioning his womanizing ways; "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," adapted from the children's books, with Jim Carrey as a villain trying to swindle three orphans; "Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera," starring Gerard Butler as the disfigured fiend in Joel Schumacher's musical adaptation; "Fat Albert," a live-action and animation combo that updates Bill Cosby's old TV cartoon; and "Closer," with Julia Roberts, Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen in a drama of passion and betrayal involving two couples.

Adapted from Patrick Marber's play, "Closer" takes director Mike Nichols back to the territory he mined in such early films as "Carnal Knowledge" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

"It's about extreme closeness. It's about falling in love, all the charming things about falling in love. And then about the difficulties and dangers that come from wanting to get closer and closer," Nichols said. "Wanting to know, `What did you do with the other guy? Was he any better?' ... You learn over the course of your life how extremely dangerous those questions are. If you can possibly shut up, my advice is to shut up, but we often don't."

Among other upcoming films: Adam Sandler in "Spanglish," a culture-clash comedy centered on a family, their new Mexican maid and her daughter; the remake "Flight of the Phoenix," with Dennis Quaid taking on James Stewart's role as a pilot working with crash survivors to build a new plane from the old one's wreckage; John Travolta and Scarlett Johansson in "A Love Song for Bobby Long," about a woman who finds her inherited house inhabited by a couple of lost souls; "After the Sunset," with Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek as retired thieves lured back into the game by an FBI agent (Woody Harrelson); "Bad Education," from Pedro Almodovar ("All About My Mother"), a twisting reunion tale focused on two boys and the priest who ruined their romance; and "The Dark," starring Anna Paquin as a teen whose family moves to a house possessed by ancient evil.

Also, Kevin Bacon in a daring role as a child molester trying to turn his life around after prison in "The Woodsman"; "Bride and Prejudice," from director Gurinder Chadha ("Bend It Like Beckham"), retelling Jane Austen's nuptial tale as a Bollywood musical; "In Good Company," with Dennis Quaid as a veteran ad man working for a new boss (Topher Grace) half his age; the boxing tale "Million Dollar Baby," directed by Clint Eastwood, who also co-stars with Morgan Freeman and Hilary Swank; "The Merchant of Venice," with Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons in an update of Shakespeare's tale of romance and vengeance; and Renee Zellweger returning in "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," with Britain's favorite lonelyheart wondering if her happy ending from "Bridget Jones's Diary" is what she wanted, after all.

"It's about finding what it is you presume will be your happiness and finding out it might not be your idealized version," Zellweger said. "It might not be what you anticipated, but does that make it less of a good thing? She's discovering her fantasy idea of love might not necessarily be what she needs in her life."

Other sequels are the heist adventure "Ocean's Twelve," reuniting George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon and the rest of the "Ocean's Eleven" gang; Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller in "Meet the Fockers," their follow-up to "Meet the Parents"; "Blade: Trinity," with Wesley Snipes returning for his third time out as the vampire hunter, squaring off against Dracula; and "Seed of Chucky," resurrecting the killer doll of the "Child's Play" horror flicks.

The season brings notable reunions between actors and filmmakers, including "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou," from filmmaker Wes Anderson and featuring his "The Royal Tenenbaums" co-stars Bill Murray, Anjelica Huston and Owen Wilson. Murray plays an oceanographer tracking a shark that ate his partner. Cate Blanchett co-stars.

"A Very Long Engagement" reteams director Jean-Pierre Jeunet with his "Amelie" star Audrey Tautou in a whimsical drama about a woman who refuses to give up hope that her missing fiance survived the trenches of World War I.

The sumptuous martial-arts epic "House of Flying Daggers" from director Zhang Yimou ("Hero") stars his frequent leading lady, Zhang Ziyi, as a ninth century rebel caught in a tragic love triangle with the two men who love her.

Nicolas Cage and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who previously collaborated on "The Rock," "Con Air" and "Gone in Sixty ," reunite for "National Treasure." Cage plays an adventurer competing with a bad guy to steal the Declaration of Independence, which bears a map in invisible ink leading to a fortune hidden by the founding fathers.

With symbols and landmarks such as the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall as clues to the treasure's whereabouts, the movie becomes a bit of a lesson in U.S. heritage and patriotism at a time when the country's values are being called into question, Cage said.

"With everything happening in the world, this movie really celebrates the tremendous history and accomplishments of our founding fathers and reinvigorates our interest again in the wonders that are right here at home," Cage said.

Brosnan Favors Colin Farrell As Bond

DUBLIN, Ireland - Pierce Brosnan, who played British agent James Bond in the last four "007" films, says he thinks fellow Irishman Colin Farrell would be his ideal successor.

Brosnan, 51, said several actors could ably fill his shoes as Bond, which he began in 1995 with "GoldenEye" and concluded with 2002's "Die Another Day."

"But I'll give it to Colin Farrell. He'll eat the head off them all," Brosnan said following an entertainment awards ceremony Saturday in Dublin.

Farrell, 28, appeared with Tom Cruise in the 2002 sci-fi thriller, "Minority Report," and has the title role in Oliver Stone's upcoming "Alexander."

Brosnan didn't specify any other actors that he thought would make a good 007.

He also said he was discussing a possible collaboration with director Quentin Tarantino, who is considering making a film of the Bond novel "Casino Royale."

"We have discussed things, Quentin and I, but I don't know if it's going to be that particular project," Brosnan said.