'LIFE' IS IN THE DETAILS
"We're still finishing the movie," director Wes Anderson says offhandedly, on the phone from his hotel room. "Just some last-minute stuff. Titles and things. Simple stuff." Simple? Don't bet on it. The 35-year-old director of "Bottle Rocket," "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums" is famous - and beloved by his fans - for obsessing about every last detail. And his new movie, "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" offers a much bigger scope of things to obsess about.
The $50 million seafaring adventure stars Bill Murray as Zissou, a past-his-prime, Jacques Cousteau-type oceanographer on a quest to kill the shark who ate his best friend.
The crew - "Team Zissou" - includes quirky Anderson regulars Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston and (briefly) Seymour Cassel, as well as Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, Cate Blanchett and Noah Taylor.
Unlike Anderson's previous indie movies, this one also boasts big-budget features: pirate attacks, dynamite explosions and bizarre animated sea creatures such as back-flipping frogs, sugar crabs and jaguar sharks.
These strange undersea things exist only in the Wes Anderson universe, brought to life by veteran stop-motion animator Henry Selick, director of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "James and the Giant Peach."
"I recommend seeing the movie twice if you want to catch it all," says Selick, explaining that the creatures are sprinkled sparingly throughout the movie "like a spice."
Keep your eyes peeled for fleeting glimpses of the "Hermes eel" - an eel patterned like an Hermes scarf - and Selick's favorite, the seahorse-like "crayon pony fish."
"People tell me it must have been CG [computer generated]. But every little ripply bit of its seaweeded mane is hand animated," Selick says proudly.
There was one fish that ended up on the cutting-room floor, to Selick's disappointment: the "hydronicus inverticus."
"It's this animal that can turn itself inside out," says Anderson. "It's based on something I saw in a documentary, but when we made it, it just seemed too unreal. Sounds crazy in this context, I know - but it seemed like something out of 'Men in Black.'"
"That's the one that hurts a little bit," admits Selick. "It took so long to do." But he says working with Anderson is worth the sacrifices.
"He's a very, very particular guy," Selick says. "He needs to see a lot of things, make a lot of changes.
"But it's not based on some crazy ego trip, trying to work people to death - he really has something in mind he's going for. That extreme."
The extreme, of course, is what's earned Anderson his cult following.
In each film, the Texas-born director creates a highly stylized fictional world - like the heavily stylized version of New York City in "Royal Tenenbaums," or the eccentric student's prep school in "Rushmore."
In "The Life Aquatic," that world exists primarily on Zissou's ship, the Belafonte - for which a 50-year-old minesweeper vessel was purchased and towed from South Africa to Rome for filming.
There, the crew painstakingly built another half-ship, creating a cross-sectional view of its rooms - all filled with the dollhouse-like detail at which Anderson excels.
Drawing on the colorful, clunky look of retro sci-fi films like 1961's "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," Anderson outfitted the ship with equipment that emphasized Zissou's fading glory.
"There's this one '60s prop I really like," he says. "I don't know when anyone ever had a speaker-phone where you put the receiver on top of it, but Bill Murray's is like that. His computer stuff is [old] like that too - while Jeff Goldblum has a flat-screen monitor."
Goldblum plays Hennessey, Zissou's foppish, wealthy and slightly ridiculous nemesis. He's the owner of a state-of-the-art ship - and, to Zissou's constant annoyance, the ex-husband of Eleanor.
A longtime fan of Anderson's, Goldblum says he found the director's attention to detail contagious. "Early on, we got together at the Chateau Marmont to talk about what I might wear," he says. "[Wes] had very specific ideas about it."
Despite the aesthetic similarities to Anderson's other work, there's one major difference: Owen Wilson didn't co-write the script.
For his three previous films, college friends Anderson and Wilson have shared the writing credit, but not this time.
Instead, Anderson collaborated with screenwriter Noah Baumbach, another long-time friend. "Noah and I got to work together every day until we got the script done," Anderson says. "That hasn't been possible with Owen for a while, since he's a big actor."
Still, there doesn't appear to be bad blood between the two: Anderson cast Wilson in a lead role as Ned Plimpton, an old-fashioned Southern gentleman who just may be Zissou's son.
What's more, Wilson still managed to get his two cents in on the script, as animator Selick observed. "When Owen showed up a week or two before shooting, he clearly went in and tweaked a few lines for his character," he says. "And, well, things just got a little funnier."
As for the film's minor characters, there's a story behind almost every one of them, too. Anderson tends to rely on the same character actors, and enjoys giving parts to non-actor friends and acquaintances who simply seem right.
This time around, there's Matthew Gubler, the most prominent of the Team Zissou interns - all of whom work slavishly for no pay aboard the Belafonte.
The striking 24-year-old got the job by being Anderson's actual intern, and has said that he was mostly in the office "for comic relief."
"The whole concept of having interns is such an odd thing," muses Anderson. "I feel like somebody like Zissou would really exploit the whole intern thing."
Both major and minor cast members seem to be in agreement that being part of an Anderson film is a life-changing experience.
"You feel like you're working for somebody really special," says Huston. "He's one of those people where you're really determined to make their vision come true."
Crue Team
Motley Crue will stage reunion tour in 2005. The band's manager says a tour, a new single, and a greatest-hits album is in the works.
The bad boys of metal Mötley Crüe will be shouting at the devil at a stadium near you some time in 2005, says the band's manager, but it's still in the works. ''We're holding buildings, sitting down and negotiating with everyone, but nothing is done,'' Mötley Crüe manager Allen Kovac reports to Billboard.
Kovac's announcement was prompted by a group of fans who mailed out what appears to be a press invitation to a band event for Dec. 6 in front of the Whisky Club in Hollywood. The invitation claims that Mötley Crüe is ''coming to a stadium near you,'' though closer examination reveals it will be no more than, as Kovac puts it ''a seance trying to will [a reunion] to happen.'' The band will not appear at the event.
Kovac also reports that the band will release Red, White & Crüe, a greatest-hits album, in Feburary, featuring a new single ''If I Die Tomorrow.'' Meanwhile, original Crüe member Tommy Lee has taped a reality show for NBC. The show follows Lee at the University of Nebraska, as he goes back to college, even joining the school marching band. I wonder if that means Crüe will be adding a brass section.
Eminem 'Went Crazy' With Tupac's A Cappellas For Loyal To The Game
Slim Shady says as longtime Tupac fan, he feels 'his music, his persona, his everything.'
Tupac Shakur has always meant different things to different people. But if you ask anyone who knew him personally or followed his career, they'll all agree he was compelling, if nothing else.
Eminem, for one, was so moved by Pac that he approached Shakur's mother, Afeni, and asked to work on the deceased icon's next posthumous album, Loyal to the Game.
"I wrote to Afeni and said, 'Please consider letting me produce this album,' " he told MTV News a few weeks ago in Detroit. "I just feel, as a longtime fan of Tupac ... his music, his persona, his everything. To be able to produce one or two tracks is a dream. So I just basically dropped a little note to her letting her know what her son meant to me as well as a lot of other people in the industry. She gave me the blessing, she gave me the green light and I was like, 'Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity.' "
Eminem produced tracks for the "Tupac: Resurrection" soundtrack last year (most notably "Runnin' (Dying to Live)," which also featured the Notorious B.I.G.) and ended up providing beats for 13 tracks on Loyal to the Game. The first single is "Thugs Get Lonely Too," featuring Nate Dogg (see " 'Thugs Get Lonely Too,' Tupac Says On Eminem-Produced Track").
"I was given some Tupac a cappellas and just went crazy with them," Slim Shady said. "It's been a longtime dream for me to be able to get to a level of being able to produce not only other artists, but somebody that I looked up to in general. People will see when it comes out. It is what it is, I'm bumping it right now."
During recent weeks, more and more of the album — including the title track featuring the G-Unit, and "Po N---a Blues," which has a guest spot from Jadakiss — has leaked to the streets. Much to the chagrin of his mother's company, Amaru Entertainment, Tupac's entire LP was just illegally pirated and can now be found on the Internet.
Amaru released a statement admonishing the bootlegging with the hope of dissuading fans from downloading. "The reality of today's music industry is that Internet piracy and bootlegging run rampant like a plague," the statement read. "Tupac had always said that he could not do any of this without his fans and today is no different. It's your undying loyalty to Tupac and your undying devotion to carrying out his legacy in a respectful manner that gave us enough warning to take measures to ensure an early release of our album."
As of right now, Loyal to the Game still has a release date of December 14, according to Interscope. Afeni Shakur plans on using a portion of the proceeds to build a Tupac Amaru Shakur center for the arts in Stone Mountain, Georgia.
Get Into The Movie
New Line Cinema has acquired the nonfiction best seller "He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth To Understanding Guys" by former "Sex and the City" writers Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo.
The writers also will adapt the book for New Line. Overseeing the project for the studio are execs Mark Ordesky, Kent Alterman, Swanna MacNair and Michele Weiss.
"Not That Into You" uses a comic question-and-answer format to teach women how to stop kidding themselves when men just aren't interested. The first chapter is titled "He's Just Not That Into You If He Isn't Asking You Out." The book goes through a list of excuses including "Maybe He Doesn't Want To Spoil Our Friendship" or "Maybe He's Intimidated by Me."
Toby Emmerich, president of New Line Prods., began pursuing the property before its publication on the strength of its title and concept. "The minute I heard the title, I thought it could be a great movie," he said.
The authors chose to develop a plot line for the film before selling the book rights and devised a scenario that will focus on a woman who hosts a talk show and a man she becomes involved with after he guests on the show. "It's a great idea with two very castable parts," Emmerich said, "and it's a movie I'd like to get into production next year."
The book launched publisher Simon & Schuster's new division, Simon Spotlight Entertainment, which targets the 18-34 demographic, in September. Its first print run was 30,000; the book has gone back to press 13 times, and 1.2 million copies are now in print. "Not That Into You" and its authors have been featured twice on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
"The moment we got the concept for this book, and we're talking over year ago, we knew it was going to be the poster child book for what our imprint was all about," SSE publisher Jen Bergstrom said. "It was hip, it was fresh, and it was funny, which meant it was going to speak to our target demo. ... The book is affordable advice. It costs less than a manicure and a pedicure, and it makes you feel so much better."
HOLIDAY TUNES:
"The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On an Open Fire," written by Robert Wells and singer Mel Torme, topping the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers' annual list of the Top 25 most-performed Holiday songs.
"I love the video. I'm not impressed with the music. Call me, Britney. We'll get together, and I'll show you how to really do it."
--Bobby Brown in Star, showing us he still thinks it's his prerogative
Star Trek makes First Contact
The eighth film from the Final Frontier will come in March when Paramount Home Entertainment releases Star Trek First Contact as a two disc special edition.
They call themselves the Borg - a half-organic, half-machine collective with a sole purpose: to conquer and assimilate all races. Led by their seductive and sadistic queen, the Borg are headed to Earth with a devious plan to alter history. Picard's last encounter with the Borg almost killed him. Now, he wants vengeance. But how far will he go to get it?
No info yet on special features, but the disc will likely mirror the features and specs of past sets. The set will replace the existing one-disc version of the film which was not only the first Star Trek DVD, but the first DVD available from Paramount back in 1998.
The DVD will arrive on March 1st.
'Treasure' Retains Box-Office Booty
LOS ANGELES - The Founding Fathers keep earning interest on their loot. Nicolas Cage's "National Treasure," about a race to find a fortune hidden by the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was the top movie for a third straight weekend with $17.1 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The action flick lifted its total to $110.2 million after 17 days in release, dominating a quiet post-Thanksgiving weekend with no new movies debuting in wide release.
Mike Nichols' caustic sex drama "Closer" — starring Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen — opened strongly in narrower release, taking in $7.7 million. Playing in 476 theaters, "Closer" had a healthy average of $16,176 a cinema, compared to a $5,286 average in 3,243 theaters for "National Treasure."
The martial-arts epic "House of Flying Daggers," a strong contender for the foreign-language Academy Award, premiered well in limited release. Directed by Zhang Yimou ("Hero"), the film grossed $417,020 in 15 theaters for a $27,801 average.
The overall box office declined after three straight weekends of rising revenue. The top 12 movies grossed $80.3 million, down 10 percent from the same weekend last year.
"National Treasure," a reunion between Cage and producer Jerry Bruckheimer ("The Rock"), surprised box-office analysts with its staying power.
"Nicolas Cage and Jerry Bruckheimer are always a force to be reckoned with, but to have this film at No. 1 for three weeks, I don't think anyone saw that coming," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
The movie's box-office reign will end next weekend with the debut of the star-studded heist sequel "Ocean's Twelve," whose cast includes George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Roberts.
Distributor Sony is rolling "Closer" out slowly to build buzz through Hollywood's upcoming awards season. "Closer" placed third behind "Finding Neverland" and "The Aviator" on the National Board of Review's list released last week of best 2004 films, and the group honored the movie's cast for best ensemble performance.
"It is a very adult film, and it does seem that a slower rollout is the appropriate thing to do with it," said Rory Bruer, Sony head of distribution.
Oliver Stone's historical epic "Alexander," which opened to poor reviews, grossed $4.7 million, down 65 percent from its debut the previous weekend. "Alexander," which reportedly cost $150 million to make, took in just $29.7 million in its first 12 days.
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," $17.1 million.
2. "Christmas With the Kranks," $11.7 million.
3. "The Polar Express," $11 million.
4. "The Incredibles," $9.2 million.
5. "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie," $7.8 million.
6. "Closer," $7.7 million.
7. "Alexander," $4.7 million.
8. "Finding Neverland," $2.9 million.
9. "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," $2.8 million.
10. "Ray," $1.9 million.
Review: Crystal's 'Sundays' Hilarious
NEW YORK (AP) - "My first hero." That's what Billy Crystal calls his father, Jack, during "700 Sundays," the comedian's fond journey back to his boyhood that opened Sunday at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre.
And the show can probably remain there for as long as Crystal is willing to tell his frankly sentimental, yet very funny tale. The man may be talking about his own family, but Crystal's story is a universal one — of growing up, coming to terms with his parents (not to mention a carload of crazy relatives) and making his way in the world.
Crystal, an elfin man with an endless supply of energy, is a savvy storyteller. With the help of director Des McAnuff, he has put together an affecting memoir that is surprisingly theatrical, considering the comedian is the only performer on stage.
The man certainly has had a varied and successful showbiz career — from "Soap" to "Saturday Night Live," movies such as "Analyze This" and, of course, gigs as host of the Academy Awards.
But what he talks about here is more personal, so it's fitting that designer David F. Weiner's setting is the facade of the family home, a modest brick house in suburban Long Island. The time is post-World War II when Ed Sullivan was on television, automobiles sported big fins and Mickey Mantle was the star of the New York Yankees.
Crystal is the youngest son of Jack and Helen Crystal. Dad was a jazz musician and concert promoter who also ran the Commodore Music Shop, a legendary jazz record store in New York. Mom was a housewife. And there was a parade of colorful grandparents, uncles and aunts, "the Jewish Kennedys," according to Crystal, who would "sell you the shirt off their backs."
The performer, dressed in a casually expensive burgundy sweater and dark slacks, prowls the stage as he lovingly tells their stories. What emerges are vivid portraits of people and a time. He talks of his Uncle Milt, who founded Commodore Records and who, among other things, recorded Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit," when other record labels turned down the song about the lynching of a black man.
There are pictures, too, of those jazz and Dixieland musicians, garrulous, genial men who called the perpetually eager and always smiling Crystal "Face." He remembers going to the movies with Holiday and watching "Shane," which astonished him because it featured a little boy in a major role — child actor Brandon de Wilde.
There's Aunt Sheila and the story of her lesbian daughter's wedding in San Francisco as well as his family's encounter with a local Mafia kingpin who accidentally wrecks the family's new Plymouth, among others.
Home movies and old black-and-white photographs complement Crystal's monologue, and they show a peppy little boy, mugging for the camera and frantically tap-dancing, or adults doing the goofy things that always occur when the filming of home movies begins.
Yet the heart of Crystal's evening is Jack Crystal, a man who died too young (he had a heart attack in a bowling alley at the age of 54). His death jolts his 15-year-old son into a new appreciation of what the man accomplished and what his mother, Helen, then did to keep the family together.
The show's title, "700 Sundays," comes from a calculation by Crystal that father and son spent that many Sundays together before Jack Crystal died. Sunday was the one day of the week the two had to enjoy each other's company since Jack Crystal always held two or three jobs. Too short a time, of course, but they were enough to produce an affecting, hilarious evening of theater.
Net File-Sharing Doesn't Hurt Most Artists - Survey
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most musicians and artists say the Internet has helped them make more money from their work despite online file-trading services that allow users to copy songs and other material for free, according to a study released on Sunday.
Recording labels and movie studios have hired phalanxes of lawyers to pursue "peer to peer" networks like Kazaa, and have sued thousands of individuals who distribute copyrighted material through such networks.
But most of the artists surveyed by the nonprofit Pew Internet and American Life Project said online file sharing did not concern them much.
Artists were split on the merits of peer-to-peer networks, with 47 percent saying that they prevent artists from earning royalties for their work and another 43 percent saying they helped promote and distribute their material.
But two-thirds of those surveyed said file sharing posed little threat to them, and less than one-third of those surveyed said file sharing was a major threat to creative industries.
Only 3 percent said the Internet hurt their ability to protect their creative works.
"What we hear from a wide spectrum of artists is that, despite the real challenges of protecting work online, the Internet has opened new ways for them to exercise their imaginations and sell their creations," said report author Mary Madden, a research specialist at the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
The nonprofit group based its report on a survey of 809 self-identified artists in December 2003. The survey has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
Satirist Jon Stewart's Book Named Year's Best
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Political satirist Jon Stewart's mock look at a political science college textbook "America (the Book), a Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction," was named on Sunday the book of the year by Publishers Weekly, the trade publication of the book industry.
The magazine said, in its issue to be published on Monday, that, "in a year defined by political polemics, it seems fitting that PW's Book of the Year be one in which the authors survey the entire political system and laugh."
The book is written by Stewart, the host of the "The Daily Show" on comedy Central with colleagues Ben Karlin and David Javerbaum. It is currently number one on the New York Times best-seller list.
Publishers Weekly said, "'America (The Book)' offers more than just humor, however. Beneath the eye-catching and at times goofy graphics, the dirty jokes and the playful ingenuousness shines a serious critique of the two-party system, the corporations that finance it and the 'spineless cowards in the press' who 'aggressively print allegation and rumor independent of accuracy or fairness."'
The book is filled with satirical jabs, including tips for TV news reporters including mastering the "reporter reaction shot cutaway. You've got half a second tops to overshadow your subject. Make it count.
In its annual review of the year, Publishers Weekly listed notable books in other categories ranging from sex to politics to religion but did not give them in order of preference.
Christmas Charity Single Storms British Charts
LONDON (Reuters) - Band Aid charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?," a re-recording by top British artists of the 1984 hit that raised millions for African famine relief, soared straight to number one on the UK pop charts Sunday.
The Bob Geldof-inspired song, which features a who's who of UK recording stars including Paul McCartney, U2's Bono and Coldplay's Chris Martin, has been tipped as the favorite to claim the coveted Christmas number one spot.
Early estimates indicated the single sold about 300,000 copies over it's first week on release -- shy of the 750,000 the 1984 original sold over its first week.
Geldof and Ultravox singer Midge Ure created Band Aid, a supergroup of 40 artists, in 1984 and with the original hit single raised millions of pounds for famine relief in Ethiopia.
Proceeds from the new version will again go toward aid for Africa, particularly for Sudan's volatile Darfur region, where tens of thousands have died from disease and malnutrition.
Also new in the charts, compiled by the Official UK Charts Company, was U.S. rapper Ice Cube, who entered at number two with "You Can Do It" featuring Mack 10 and MS Toi.
Easing from two to three was "Lose My Breath" from Destiny's Child, while last week's number one, charity single "I'll Stand By You" from UK pop group Girls Aloud, dropped to number four.
Rounding out the top five was U.S. punk band Green Day with new entry "Boulevard of Broken Dreams."
Stevie Wonder Bashes Eminem for Jackson Criticism
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In a rare public outburst, Stevie Wonder has blasted Eminem (news - web sites) for ridiculing Michael Jackson in a video, and suggested the rapper was hypocritical because he owed his success to poor and black people.
Jackson himself has already lambasted Eminem's video for the song "Just Lose It," which makes light of child molestation charges against the self-styled "King of Pop."
Wonder joined the fray by telling Billboard magazine that he was "really disappointed" in Eminem.
"Kicking someone when he's down is not a good thing," Wonder was quoted as telling the music industry trade publication. "I have much respect for his work, though I don't think he's as good as (late rapper) 2Pac. But I was disappointed that he would let himself go to such a level."
Added Wonder, "He has succeeded on the backs of people predominantly in that lower pay bracket, people of color. So for him to come out like that is bullshit."
A spokesman for Eminem was not available for comment. The song, hailed by the Los Angeles Times as a "playful look at celebrity voyeurism," is expected to be among the nominees when contenders for the annual Grammy Awards are unveiled on Tuesday.