The Couch Potato Report - February 15th, 2005
In The Couch Potato Report this week, there are six Academy Award nominees.
We are now less than two weeks away from the 77th Annual Academy Awards.
I’ll give you my predictions on who will win in the six major categories next week.
This week I thought I would remind you about some of the nominated films that are now available on video and DVD, just in case you’d like to see them prior to their appearance on Hollywood’s biggest night.
Lets start in the BEST PICTURE category, with a movie that also features the actor leading the BEST ACTOR race. The actor is Jamie Foxx, the movie is RAY.
RAY is a warts-and-all look at the man, the musician and the businessman who was Ray Charles.
Yes, RAY does celebrate Ray Charles, but it doesn't shy away from detailing his frequent infidelities, the hostility that Brother Ray suffered due to the racism of 1950s and '60s in America, and Ray's heroin addiction.
In addition to the great music, one other reason to watch RAY is so you can bear witness to the amazing performance of Jamie Foxx in the title role.
For once, all of the hype you are hearing about a performance is completely justified.
Foxx is absolutely amazing in the picture!
Ray Charles had an unprecedented 50-year career, and when we lost him last year, we lost a powerful musician, and a great man.
It was my pleasure to watch RAY, and I take pride in admitting to you that RAY is a fitting eulogy to a great artist.
Jamie Foxx became a great artist in 2004 with his work in RAY, but he also received a nomination as BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR in COLLATERAL.
Tom Cruise strays away from a career of good guys to play a contract killer named Vincent who hires an unsuspecting cab driver to drive him through a nocturnal tour of Los Angeles.
COLLATERAL is just a tad shy of superb. It is an excellent movie and Jamie Foxx is as well.
But “excellent” doesn’t even begin to describe the film that features Kate Winslet’s performance that got her nominated for an Oscar as BEST ACTRESS.
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, the new film from writer Charlie Kaufman.
His previous works include BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, ADAPTATION, HUMAN NATURE and CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND.
The one thing that all of those films have in common is that they are all brilliant, odd and not for everyone.
Kaufman is a writer who exists on a different plane than most of us, and that makes his vision a bit askew.
In ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND Canadian comedian Jim Carrey is a man who tries to erase his ex-girlfriend from his memory.
Be warned, this isn't your typical Jim Carrey movie. And as I've alluded to, this isn't your typical movie.
The luscious Kate Winslet plays the girlfriend and while Carrey is undergoing the procedure to erase her, he changes his mind. He wants to keep the memories, but since this is all going on inside of his head the erasure team cannot hear his request that they stop.
No, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND isn't your typical movie.
But it is the kind of film that I truly love. A movie that keeps you guessing and shows you things you haven't seen before.
At it's core ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND is a love story. A love story that juggles morality, identity, and heartbreak all at once, but a love story nonetheless.
I enjoyed it on every conceivable level and highly recommend it, even though I know many people will not like it at all.
Something that many people do like is fast food, especially McDonald's.
If you enjoy fast food, then you absolutely have to see the documentary SUPER SIZE ME.
In this very entertaining film Morgan Spurlock subjects himself to a steady diet of McDonald's cuisine for 30 days, just to see what will happen.
What happens is not good.
No, SUPER SIZE ME is not a perfect film, but it will entertain you. It is nominated in the BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE at the Academy Awards and it is available on video and DVD.
So is SPIDER-MAN 2. In fact it has a trio of nominations in the SOUND EDITING, SOUND MIXING and VISUAL EFFECTS categories.
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?
The action sequences in SPIDER-MAN 2 are great! It is fast-paced, witty, and even a bit poignant at times.
And it is nominated for three Academy Awards.
BEFORE SUNSET, on the other hand, is only nominated for one Academy Award, and that nomination is for WRITING - ADAPTED SCREENPLAY.
The original creative team of actors Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy and writer/director Richard Linklater have all returned to make BEFORE SUNSET.
In the movie Jesse has written a book about the pair's time together and his book tour comes to an end in Celine's hometown of Paris.
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 Jesse and Celine stay together at the end of this encounter?
Did they meet up six months after their first one?
Have you ever wondered if the characters in films you love have stayed together?
You won't get any answers from me. I don't want to rob you of one second of the ongoing or back 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.
BEFORE SUNSET was also one of the best films of last year, and it deserved more nominations.
But I don’t decide who does or doesn’t get nominated for Academy Awards. All I can do is remind you that the Oscar nominated films BEFORE SUNSET, RAY, COLLATERAL, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, SUPERSIZE ME and SPIDER-MAN 2 are all available on video and DVD.
COMING UP IN THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT
I will give you my predictions on who will win the Oscar in the Best Actress, Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, and Director categories. I will also tell you if THE AVIATOR, FINDING NEVERLAND, MILLION DOLLAR BABY, RAY or SIDEWAYS will be named Best Picture.
Plus, I’ll speak about I HEART HUCKABEES, a movie that stars Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin as a married couple who help others solve existential predicaments. The film’s all-star cast also includes Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Naomi Watts and Shania Twain.
And with the release of SOUTH PARK - THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON you can join Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny as these four characters embark on the adventure of growing up in a small mountain town. In the fifth season, the boys discover a government secret, accidentally get sent to Afghanistan and get into an extreme slugfest when 'Big Gay Al' returns, among many more hilarious adventures. Some of the episodes are: It Hits the Fan, Cripple Fight, Super Best Friends, Scott Tenorman Must Die and Cartmanland.
I’m Dan Reynish and I'll have more on those releases, and my Oscar Predictions, 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!
Eyeing IPod sales, phone makers like Sony Ericsson announce music push
CANNES, France (AP) - With a covetous eye on the success of portable music players, mobile phone makers are going after would-be IPod buyers by building high-quality players into their handsets.
Sony Ericsson announced Monday it would soon market music-player mobiles under its parent's Walkman brand, drawing on the music catalogue of a sister company, Sony BMG, the world's No. 2 record company.
And Nokia Corp., the world's leading phone maker, announced an alliance with Microsoft Corp. to allow mobile subscribers to load music from a PC onto their phones - much the way that a digital music player works.
Unlike owners of dedicated MP3 players, Nokia users will also be able to download tracks directly onto their handsets through the wireless phone network and transfer them to computer for storage or burning onto a CD.
At a news conference on the first day of the 3GSM World Congress, a major mobile industry gathering on the French Riviera, Nokia also unveiled a new 3G phone with an integrated music player and high-quality stereo output.
"Music is the next big thing in mobile multimedia," said Anssi Vanjoki, head of Nokia's multimedia division.
Mobile phone makers and networks are looking for ways to boost their revenue given difficulties finding new customers in saturated industrialized markets and even in some developing countries.
Free voice calls over the Internet - which are already available on broadband-equipped PCs and could soon migrate to portable wireless devices - pose a further threat to revenues, forcing mobile operators to look to entertainment and data services for their future profitability.
With high-speed 3G networks now widespread, companies like Nokia hope demand for pricier, more sophisticated phones and airtime will be spurred by new features from wireless gaming and instant messaging to pay TV and remote banking services.
The uptake of 3G phones last year fell short of earlier predictions, but Nokia said Monday it still expects the number of people using them to reach 70 million people at year's end, up from 16 million in December.
The company unveiled three new models Monday: two 3G "smartphones," the 6680 and 6681, and the 6101 folding camera phone that can be heavily customized to suit operators' needs and branding.
Each of the smartphones features two cameras - a lens close to the screen for VGA-quality video calls and a 1.3 megapixel camera and flash on the back for still images.
In addition, the 6681 has a music player delivering high-quality audio through a stereo output as well as software for organizing music tracks into IPod-style playlists.
With up to a gigabyte of storage - or a quarter of the capacity of the IPod Mini from Apple Computer Inc. - the 6681 can hold more music than many of the flash-based MP3 players currently on the market.
Nokia has partnered with Seattle-based Loudeye Corp. to provide a download service to make songs available, and it hinted that deals with recording labels could follow.
"We see music-to-mobile as fundamentally transformative of the music business," said Michael Nash, senior vice-president of digital strategy at Warner Music, in a video statement played at the Nokia news conference.
Jonas Guest, Nokia's vice-president for entertainment, said the company is already "in talks" with unspecified mobile network operators about implementation.
Smaller rival Sony Ericsson also announced two new 3G phones on Monday: the K600 designed for business applications such as video conferencing and seamless e-mailing; and the Z800i, a clamshell design with an MP3 music player and user-friendly playlists.
But the bigger news was the imminent arrival of the new Walkman phones, which the company said will be unveiled in March.
Sony Ericsson president Miles Flint said the phones will handle open standards including MP3 and AAC, but refused to be drawn on which networks were likely to launch them commercially.
"I think it's fair to say that we're talking to many and the reaction's been positive," Flint said.
Nokia, Microsoft, Sony Ericsson and others believe a strong musical offering - unlike ringtones and other essentially cosmetic downloads - has the potential to win over new customers for mobile networks and the handset brands they offer.
The success of Apple's iconic music player, which sold more than 4.5 million units in the quarter ended Dec. 25, has whet appetites in the mobile industry, analysts say.
Now key players are betting they can win a slice of the IPod's phenomenal business by providing their own selection of high-quality music downloads from a single handheld - with a phone thrown in.
Kurt Loder On The Grammys: Can We Get Some Answers?
The 47th annual Grammy Awards show was a collection of indelible moments, moments we'll not soon forget. Not for the next day or two, anyway. I do have a few questions, though.
How do Maroon 5 qualify for the Best New Artist award? The band was formed in 1995 (under the name Kara's Flowers), and released its first album in 1997. Songs About Jane, the group's first and, so far, only album as Maroon 5, was released in 2002. Just wondering.
Wasn't it a little embarrassing, in a show dedicated to "the 50th birthday of rock and roll" (if indeed it is the 50th birthday of rock and roll — a questionable assertion), to have to hand out pat-on-the-back "lifetime achievement" awards to rock pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis and to Led Zeppelin because their actual music never won a Grammy? Or, even more vaguely, to have to name Brian Wilson a "person of the year" because his classic band, the Beach Boys, was never deemed worthy of a Grammy Award, either? On the other hand, it was nice to see Iggy Pop making his first appearance on the Grammy stage — on the "Lust for Life" T-shirt worn by Ellen DeGeneres.
Since the RZA clearly has the ear of Quentin Tarantino (having scored his "Kill Bill" movies), shouldn't he maybe advise Quent to pull back on the gangsta look a little? He may be thinking Eminem, but I was thinking Ali G.
Is mortality a new Grammy motif? "Nothin' in this life is promised," said Kanye West, "except death." The Blind Boys of Alabama came equipped with an actual coffin. And then there was the Jennifer Lopez/ Marc Anthony duet, which is the kind of thing you might see after you die. Unless you go to heaven.
— Kurt Loder
'Scrubs,' Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) It's 6 p.m. on a Friday in January. On a smallish, stuffy soundstage in suburban L.A., the cast and crew of "Scrubs" film part of Tuesday's (Feb. 15) episode.
The show's creator, Bill Lawrence, is making jokes about how he's jealous of star Zach Braff's talent and hopes he "does horrible" during the evening's shoot. Somewhere backstage, guest star Clay Aiken is being made to look like a sad-sack hospital employee.
None of this would be all that out of the ordinary for the show, were it not for the 300 or so people sitting to one side of the stage, taking it all in. "Scrubs," which in every one of its previous 84 episodes has strived to look and feel nothing like a traditional sitcom, will this night become the sitcommiest sitcom around.
"All the patients in the beds will be models and very handsome, very attractive," Lawrence says a few days prior to the shoot, which harkens back to his time working on shows like "Spin City" and "Friends." "All the female doctors will, for some reason, be wearing low-cut scrubs. Everything that a sitcom might do."
The sitcom premise is an extended fantasy sequence by J.D. (Braff), who's treating a man who once wrote for "Cheers" (Ken Lerner, himself a sitcom vet). Lawrence also wants the episode to be a thank-you to the show's audience by inviting some of them to watch the show being made -- something that doesn't happen during a normal week, when "Scrubs" is shooting at an abandoned hospital in North Hollywood.
"What we're trying to do in the middle of it, even though we're doing sitcommy stories and sitcommy things, is ultimately have a great experience for the fans," he says. "Which means we're still writing funny jokes. So I hope people will like it on two levels -- hopefully they'll watch it and laugh because we took time to write really funny stuff, and on some level be enjoying the fact that we're tweaking the format a little bit."
Lawrence will enlist those of us in the studio audience in that format-tweaking. He asks us for raucous applause when Aiken first appears, and for Kramer-like huzzahs when the Janitor (Neil Flynn) makes his entrance.
"We're doing all the sitcom conventions," he says. "One of the stories is they have to raise some money, so of course there's a hospital talent show with a big cash prize. If people pay attention early on, they'll realize one of the cafeteria workers is Clay Aiken, which is such a sitcom moment.
"You can already put it together."
Lawrence has a practical reason for doing the episode as well. He's executive producing several multi-camera comedy pilots this development season, and he wants to use the "Scrubs" crew for those shows as well. "Part of this is sitcom practice for the crew, so they're ready to do those pilots and shows with me," he says.
That doesn't really matter during the shoot, though, as Ted the hospital lawyer (Sam Lloyd) and his a cappella group, the Worthless Peons, entertains the crowd with renditions of TV theme songs during one break, and former Men at Work frontman Colin Hay, who's appeared on the show in the past, sings during another.
Lawrence admitted to being a little worried about how the experiment would come off, but following the taping, tie loosened and shirt untucked, he looks pleased with the outcome. He's autographs a couple dozen scripts for audience members, thanking each one for supporting the show. "Sitcom practice" has gone off without a hitch.
---
The multi-camera episode of "Scrubs" airs at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday on NBC.
New Tunage
Here are the new CD releases for Tuesday, February 15th, 2005:
The A-Lines You Can Touch (produced by Billy Childish) (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
American Head Charge The Feeding (DRT Entertainment)
Astarte Sirens (Cleopatra)
Cal Bennett Live at the Blue Note, Las Vegas (Thump)
Blue Merle Burning in the Sun (Island Def Jam)
Zach Brock and the Coffee Achievers Chemistry (Secret Fort)
Buttersprites Buttersprites (Dionysus)
Copperpot Chapter Seven (EV Productions)
Daniel Crommie Sargasso Manuscript (New Weave)
Damon & Naomi The Earth Is Blue (20/20/20)
Ethan Daniel Davidson Free the Ethan Daniel Davidson Five (w/cover of John Prine's "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore") (Times Beach)
Joey DeFrancesco and Jimmy Smith Legacy (Concord)
Dierdre One (Six Degrees)
Electric Six Senor Smoke (w/cover of Queen's "Radio Ga Ga") (Warner Bros.)
Dodd Ferrelle & the Tinfoil Stars Murder of Love (w/cover of ABBA's "S.O.S.") (Two Sheds)
Five Minute Ride The World Needs Convincing of All That It's Missing EP (Rise)
Franklin Delano Like a Smoldering Gun in Front of Me (w/members of Califone and Red Red Meat) (file13)
Mary Gauthier Mercy Now (produced by Gurf Morlix) (UMG Nashville)
Goldfinger Disconnection Notice (Warner Bros.)
Grayskul Deadlivers (guests Aesop Rock, Mr. Life, Canibus and Abstract Rude) (Rhymesayers Entertainment)
Marcia Griffiths (of I-Threes) Shining Time (newly recorded classics and originals; w/Shaggy and Cutty Ranks) (V.P. Records)
Gunmetal Grey Solitude EP (Indianola)
Hatemail Killerz Pipe Bombs and Anthrax (Six Weeks)
Hermano (ex-Kyuss frontman John Garcia) Dare I Say... (Meteor City)
Hollow Points Black Spot (Disaster)
Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers (Universal Motown)
LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem (two CDs) (Capitol)
Jeff Lorber Flipside (Narada)
Mommy and Daddy Fighting Style Killer Panda (Kanine)
Hunter Moore South of St. Louis (Wind River)
Cyril Morin Western Pansori (Milan)
The Music Welcome to the North (repackaged) (Capitol)
My Way My Love Hypnotic Suggestion: 01 (file13)
John O'Gallagher A Line of Sight (w/Tony Malaby) (Fresh Sound)
One Mile South One Mile South (Infinity)
Opera IX Anphisbena (Cleopatra)
Plate Fork Knife Spoon (members of Crown City Rockers and Soulive's Eric Krasnow) Plate Fork Knife Spoon (guest David Boyce of Broun Fellinis) (Wide Hive)
Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower Love in the Fascist Brothel (Revelation)
Chris Rock Never Scared (CD/DVD combo) (Geffen)
Deion Sanders The Encore Remix (CD/DVD combo) (Bungalo)
Pete Schlegel Strong Stuff (Infinity)
Trygve Seim Sangam (ECM)
Shade Empire Sinthetic (Cleopatra)
John Stevens (American Idol contestant) Red (Warner Bros.)
Striker Spekulantsvinet (Six Weeks)
SubNoize Souljaz (Kottonmouth Kings and labelmates) SubNoize Souljaz (Suburban Noize)
They Might Be Giants Here Come the ABCs (children's album; DVD same day) (Walt Disney)
Throes of Dawn Quicksilver Clouds (Cleopatra)
VMW VMW (Coalition)
Watershed 5th of July (Idol Records)
The Wedding Present Take Fountain (first album in eight years) (Manifesto)
The White Mice Assphixxxeatateshun (Load)
The Willowz Are Coming (includes songs from previously released EP plus new recordings) (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
VA Just Go Destroy Everything in Sight! (compilation of Japanese punk bands) (Dionysus)
VA Lowrider 2005 Tour (Thump)
VA Suite 706: Hyatt Regency Paris (electronica comp.) (Milan)
OST Cursed (Wes Craven horror film; rare and exclusive tracks from Collective Soul, Dashboard Confessional, Crystal Method and more) (Treadstone)
DVD Al Di Meola One of These Nights (Music Video Distributors)
DVD Incognito In Concert: Ohne Filter (Music Video Distributors)
DVD Audio R.E.M. Around the Sun (w/bonus CD) (Warner Bros.)
A Year at the Movies 2005
Thrillers
Asylum: Natasha Richardson plays a psychiatrist's wife, drawn to a patient (Marton Csokas) at the institution her husband helps run. Magneto also stars. As long as you can guarantee me this movie will have nothing in common with GOTHIKA, maybe I'll consider it. But keep in mind I'm still scarred from GOTHIKA.
Paramount Classics, May/June.
Casshern: Director Kazuaki Kiriya presents an anime film that also adds some manga-like live-action bits, too. The pic is set in the mid-21st century after a half-century of chemical, biological and nuclear warfare.
Go Fish Pictures, fall.
The Constant Gardener: Ralph Fiennes, who seems to gravitate toward movies that have less-than-exciting titles, does so again. Of course, his instincts are usually good, and since this is based on a John Le Carré book, co-stars Rachel Weisz and is directed by CITY OF GOD's Fernando Meirelles, that seems likely here, too.
Focus Features, TBA.
Eternal: "A hard-boiled Montreal vice detective's fascination with an attractive aristocrat leads him to a bloody trail of women's bodies. Conrad Pla and Caroline Néron star. Directed by Wilhelm Liebenberg and Federico Sanchez."
here!/Regent Releasing, Spring.
Fascination: Jacqueline Bisset (and I'd recommend you rent THE DEEP if you're not familiar with Jackie) gets remarried a little too soon after her husband dies, causing her son, Adam Garcia, to get suspicious over the new guy and his daughter.
MGM, Jan. 28.
Fear X: John Turturro is a Wisconsin mall security guard who becomes obsessed with the seemingly random murder of his wife in this film co-written by the guy who wrote REQUIEM FOR A DREAM.
Silver Nitrate, Jan. 28.
Flightplan: Jodie Foster's daughter disappears on a flight and no one believes that she was ever on there. Why does this remind you of THE FORGOTTEN? It doesn't--in fact, that movie needs to be forgotten, it was so bad. This one, well, let's hope it's better.
Touchstone Pictures, Sept. 30.
A History of Violence: Based on a comic, yes, but don't worry, you'll never know it. Viggo Mortensen plays a man whose quiet lifestyle is turned upside-down after a bloody incident forces him to return to his secret past to save his family. First of all, you know that Viggo's not going to live a quiet lifestyle for long--he just ain't built that way. And since it's directed by freaky David Cronenberg and features freak-ass actor William Hurt, you know it's going to be even weirder than that. With Maria Bello and Ed Harris, too.
New Line Cinema, TBA.
The Interpreter: As much as Sean Penn threatens to overwhelm a movie with his uber-acting, this one looks good from the trailer (which shows too damn much). Nicole Kidman is a U.N. worker who overhears a death threat, getting her involved in all kinds of intrigue. Directed by Sydney Pollack.
Universal Pictures, April 22.
The Island: No, not a remake of the Michael Caine Peter Benchley adaptation (although that one freaked me out as a kid), this is instead set in the future as Young Ob-Wan and Scarlett Johansson try to escape from an island where clones are being harvested. Directed by Michael Bay, so expect an explosion or six.
DreamWorks, July.
The Jacket: Adrien Brody, who's done as much impressive post-Oscar work as Halle Berry (which means, not much, although he might break that streak here) is an amnesiac Gulf War veteran charged with murdering a police officer and confined to a mental institution where he is subjected to an extreme form of treatment. Keira Knightley and Kris Kristofferson are along for the ride, too.
Warner Independent Pictures, March 4.
Kontroll: "The labyrinthine Budapest subway is the setting for a race against time among three people, one of whom is a killer. With Sándor Csányi, Zoltán Mucsi and Csaba Pindroch. Directed by Nimród Antal." These kinds of movies always make me feel claustrophobic, but in a good way.
ThinkFilm, April.
Layer Cake: A producer of LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS directs his first movie here, about a drug dealer who has a couple things to take care of before he can retire. Hopefully one of which is giving this movie a better name.
Sony Pictures Classics, April 15.
Mindhunters: How long has this been delayed? Not long enough, I don't think. Christian Slater continues his push for obscurity, and drags down LL Cool J and Val Kilmer here, too. Eight FBI profilers in a remote locale come to realize that one of them is a serial killer blah blah blah. Directed by Renny Harlin.
Dimension Films, May 13.
Night Watch: The next great trilogy? In Russia, if not here? "The forces of dark and light face off in this adaptation of the first of Sergei Lukyanenko's sci-fi trilogy set in contemporary Moscow. Directed by Timour Bekmambetov."
Fox Searchlight, TBA.
November: Monica from FRIENDS plays some role or other as she tries to move beyond the murder of her boyfriend in a grocery-store holdup, but you know all you're gonna be able to see is Monica from FRIENDS acting dramatic.
Sony Pictures Classics, July 22.
Nowhere Man: "After discovering his fiancée's porn-star past, a distraught man cuts short the engagement — but she exacts a really painful revenge." He never wondererd how she could do all those tricks in the bedroom before?
First Run Features, March 11.
The Other Side of the Street: Not quite REAR VIEW WINDOW: "Fernanda Montenegro stars as an elderly Brazilian woman who believes she witnessed a murder in her neighborhood and proceeds to get involved with the suspect." Directed by "Central Station" screenwriter Marcos Bernstein.
Strand Releasing, March 4.
Red-Eye: Wes Craven tries for more "thriller" than "horror" with this tale of a woman, Rachel McAdams, on a flight to Miami when she learns that the guy next to her plans to kill a wealthy businessman, and she's the key to the murder. Co-starring The Scarecrow from the upcoming BATMAN BEGINS movie, Cillian Murphy.
DreamWorks, TBA.
The Skeleton Key: Kate Hudson tries to develop a second expression as she appears in a thriller where she works as a live-in nurse to Gena Rowlands. Peter Sarsgaard hopefully knows what he's doing here.
Universal Pictures, July 8.
Syriana: This movie's going to get more attention for being the one where George Clooney had big health problems, but it's also got a decent supporting cast (Chris Cooper, Matt Damon, Amanda Peet) and a good political storyline.
Warner Bros., Summer.
The Underclassman: Nick Cannon stars as a young detective who goes undercover at a top prep academy to break up an auto-theft ring. I'm sorry, but expecting me to think of a guy named Nick Cannon as anything but a porn actor is asking a lot.
Miramax Films, TBA
Horror
The Amityville Horror: They're going to have to work hard to make this movie seem scary. I thought the James Brolin one was freaky... until I saw it again. Flies and a room painted red? An invisible pig-ghost? Yep, good luck to you, Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George. The day this movie opens is scarier to a lot of people.
MGM, April 15.
The Cave: "A group of American cave explorers finds more than it bargained for in the dark caverns hidden below a 13th century Romanian abbey." Cole Hauser, Morris Chestnut, Piper Perabo and Eddie Cibrian star, which tells you what the budget on this one is.
Screen Gems, April 8.
Cursed: Was there ever a more fortuitously named movie? Kevin Williamson tries to conjure up another SCREAM, but not if the word on this movie is any indication. Delays, on-set fights, bad test-screenings, you name it. Nevertheless, Christina Ricci, Jesse Eisenberg and Joshua Jackson star in what's supposed to be aun updated werewolves movie.
Dimension Films, Feb. 25.
Dark Water: THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES director, Walter Salles, directs Jennifer Connelly in this flick as a mom driven to extreme measures to protect her daughter when their new apartment takes on a life of its own in this remake of a popular Japanese film. It's way too late for a HOT SPOT sequel, isn't it?
Touchstone Pictures, TBA.
Devil's Rejects: Rob Zombie's sequel to HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES is sure to offend some people, if he's done his job right.
Lions Gate Films, Aug. 12.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose: I like this twist on an old tale: "Laura Linney plays an attorney defending priest Tom Wilkinson in the death of a young girl officially recognized by the Catholic Church as being possessed." And it's got some good supporting actors, too, in the form of Campbell Scott and Shohreh Aghdashloo co-star.
Screen Gems, Sept. 9.
The Fog: Well, I was okay with the last John Carpenter remake, ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, even if most critics weren't, so let's see how this one, about some deadly, er, fog, works out.
Columbia Pictures, Oct. 14.
George A. Romero's Land of the Dead: Romero is back to reclaim his place as King of the Zombie Movies. This one, which picks up years after DAWN OF THE DEAD (and which is soon to be a comic adaptation from... someone), features a modern-day society in which the walking dead inhabit a wasteland outside the walls of the fortified city that houses the living. Asia Argento, John Leguizamo and Dennis Hopper star.
Universal Pictures, Oct. 21.
Hellbent: A gay slasher film set on Halloween night in the middle of West Hollywood's outrageous street celebration. Yep, this one's got a good chance of getting some press for one reason or another. Can't imagine everyone will be GLAAD to see this.
here!/Regent Releasing, June 17.
High Tension: "The quiet weekend of studying planned by two French college students is disrupted by a late-night visitor with a knife. Cécile De France, Maïwenn and Philippe Nahon star. Directed by Alexandre Aja."
Lions Gate Films, June 3.
House of Wax: There are so many good Paris Hilton jokes that can be made here, but I'll pass on them, even though she co-stars here in this remake. It also features Elisha Cuthbert, so, you know, I might have to give it a look.
Warner Bros., June 3.
Saw 2: Writer-director James Wan and writer-actor Leigh Whannell offer this follow-up to last fall's hit about a serial killer.
Lions Gate Films, Oct. 28.
Undead: Always happy to see more zombie movies. Meteorites rain on a sleepy fishing village, triggering a zombie feeding frenzy. Felicity Mason and Mungo McKay star. Directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig.
Lions Gate Films, July 1.
Underworld: Evolution: Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman are both back, but if Speedman is still in that ridiculous blue half-vamp/half-wolf costume from the end of the first, well, good luck to it. Still, it's a good premise if only they deliver on the potential.
Screen Gems, Dec. 9.
The Woods: It's not a movie with Morris Chestnut or the original title of M. Night's last movie, but it is a new Bruce Campbell movie, anyway. Agnes Bruckner plays a lonely teenager dumped by her parents at a creepy boarding school where she begins to have gruesome visions.
United Artists, Sept. 2.
Documentary
Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt: "The late, highly influential Texas singer-songwriter is profiled by filmmaker Margaret Brown. Willie Nelson, Steve Earle and Guy Clark are featured."
Palm Pictures, summer.
Blossoms of Fire: "Maureen Gosling's film illuminates the colorful culture of Mexico's Isthmus Zapotecs, known for their work ethic and powerful matriarchy."
New Yorker Films, TBA.
Deep Blue: "Michael Gambon narrates this natural history of the oceans that was culled from the BBC documentary series "The Blue Planet." Directed by Andy Byatt, Alistair Fothergill."
Miramax Films, April.
Dust to Glory: "'Step Into Liquid' director Dana Brown steps onto dry ground for this chronicle of the Baja 1000, a point-to-point endurance race that includes motorcycles and trophy trucks."
IFC Films, April 8.
Gunner Palace: "In the months after the end of "major combat operations" in Iraq, U.S. soldiers housed in Uday Hussein's bombed-out Adhamiya Palace fight a daily life-and-death struggle for survival. Directed by Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein."
Palm Pictures, March 4.
A League of Ordinary Gentleman: "Bowling legends Wayne Webb and Walter Ray Williams Jr. are among those featured in this look at attempts to revitalize the Professional Bowlers Assn. tour. Directed by Chris Browne."
Magnolia Pictures, March 25.
Murderball: "Highly competitive quadriplegic athletes engage in a fast-paced, full-contact sport that tests their abilities to transcend their physical limitations. Directed by Henry-Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro."
ThinkFilm, summer.
Mondovino: "Director Jonathan Nossiter ("Sunday"), who also happens to be a sommelier, consultant and wine writer, traveled across three continents to uncork the complexities and subtleties involved in the production, distribution and consumption of wine."
ThinkFilm, April.
Naked Fame: "After a successful career as a gay adult film star, Colton Ford attempts to make the leap into the music industry as a singer-songwriter. Directed by Christopher Long."
here!/Regent Releasing, Feb. 25.
The Nomi Song: "New Wave singer Klaus Nomi sang pop music like opera and was an underground club sensation before dying from AIDS-related complications in 1983. Directed by Andrew Horn."
Palm Pictures, Feb. 4.
Rock School: "Pint-sized guitar gods learn the riffs and licks of Pink Floyd and Frank Zappa from their exacting teacher in a Philadelphia music program."
Newmarket Films, March.
Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus: "Roaring through the South in a beat-up 1970 Chevy Impala, alt-country singer-songwriter Jim White gives a guided tour to some of the off-the-interstate locales and milieus that inspire his music. Directed by Andrew Douglas."
Shadow Distribution, April.
Tell Them Who You Are: "Director Mark Wexler explores his intricate relationship with his father, cinematographer and director Haskell Wexler."
ThinkFilm, May.
Up for Grabs: "Barry Bonds' record-setting home run ignites a free-for-all over ownership of the baseball — and more important, the right to sell it. Directed by Mike Wranovics."
Crooked Hook Productions, April.
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill: "A homeless San Francisco street musician's relationship to these exotic, escaped pets who breed in the wilds of the city leads him in an unexpected direction. Directed by Judy Irving."
Shadow Distribution, March 4.
Year of the Yao: "Chinese basketball star Yao Ming makes the difficult transition to the NBA as a rookie center for the Houston Rockets. Directed by Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern."
Fine Line Features, spring.
Musical
The Boys and Girl of County Clare: "Sibling rivalry tears at three Irish brothers when they meet up at a ceili music competition 30 years after they went their separate ways. Colm Meaney and Andrea Corr star. Directed by John Irvin)."
IDP/ Samuel Goldwyn Films, March 11.
The Producers: Once this is made, hopefully it can then go away in all forms, because, man, I'm kinda sick of it. Will Ferrell shows up alongside Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, reprising their roles in Mel Brooks' astonishingly successful Broadway musical based on his 1968 movie about two schemers with the perfect plan to make a fortune by putting on a sure-fire flop. Stage director Susan Stroman makes her feature film debut.
Universal Pictures, Dec. 21.
Rent: I'm pretty sure this is based on the musical that appeared in TEAM AMERICA last year, but maybe I'm getting that wrong... "Jonathan Larson's popular rock opera based on "La Bohème" (yep, I had that wrong) makes it to the screen with much of the original cast. Rosario Dawson joins Taye Diggs, Jesse L. Martin and Idina Menzel. Directed by Chris Columbus."
Columbia Pictures, Nov. 11.
Romance and Cigarettes: James Gandolfini singing? Susan Sarandon and Kate Winslet also star in writer-director John Turturro's working-class love story about an ironworker who loses his way. He lost this viewer, too.
United Artists, TBA.
Backstreet Boys set to return with new song on March 18
(CP) - The Backstreet Boys were eager to show the paparazzi they were back together, appearing at parties and red carpets throughout Grammy weekend.
The quintet has just completed a CD, set for release in late spring. One of the new songs will hit radio on March 18, said member Kevin Richardson.
"We're all excited again," he said. "We just needed a break to recharge our batteries and step back and absorb it all, and realize what happened to us over the last 10 years."
The so-called Boys have grown considerably since their reign of the teen world. AJ McLean has overcome his alcohol and drug addictions, and Brian Littrell has a new baby, said Richardson.
Boy bands have gone out of flavour so it will be a challenge for the singing group to find a place in the current market, especially since most of their teen fans have moved on to other types of music.
Richardson said other "boys" have managed to stay the course and so will they.
"You still have the Beach Boys and the Beastie Boys," quipped Richardson.
Thankfully, he admitted the crew will be leaving their aerobic dance moves behind.
"We're practising what they call 'dancing without dancing' right now," he explained.
Foxx, Farrell Take on 'Miami Vice' Duty
LOS ANGELES - Add Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell to the roster of stars resurrecting TV shows for the big screen. Foxx and Farrell will star in a movie version of the cop series "Miami Vice," which will be written and directed by Michael Mann, an executive producer on the show that ran on NBC from 1984-89.
Shooting is scheduled to begin this spring, with the movie tentatively due in theaters July 28, 2006.
Other upcoming movie updates of TV shows include Cedric the Entertainer's "The Honeymooners," Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell's "Bewitched" and "The Dukes of Hazzard," with Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott, Jessica Simpson and Burt Reynolds.
Foxx, who co-starred with Tom Cruise in Mann's hitman thriller "Collateral" last summer, will play Detective Ricardo Tubbs, a role originated for TV by Philip Michael Thomas. Farrell is playing Detective Sonny Crockett, the part created by Don Johnson.
Universal Studios, which is releasing the movie, recently released a DVD set with the first season of "Miami Vice."
Coming off a breakout year, Foxx is the favorite to win the best-actor prize at the Academy Awards on Feb. 27 for his spot-on emulation of Ray Charles in "Ray." He also earned a supporting-actor Oscar nomination for "Collateral."
Foxx's next film is "Jarhead," a Persian Gulf War drama due out this fall from director Sam Mendes ("American Beauty").
Farrell is coming off the epic flop "Alexander." He next stars in another historical saga, "The New World," a tale of John Smith, Pocahontas and the conflict between Indians and 17th century settlers. Terrence Malick ("The Thin Red Line") is directing the film, due out in fall.
Oscar Show Host Chris Rock Stirs Controversy
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Producers of the upcoming Academy Awards are getting what they paid for when they hired sharp-tongued comic Chris Rock to host the Oscars -- a bit of pre-show controversy that could boost TV ratings.
Recently published remarks by Rock poking fun at the awards sparked talk in Hollywood that the Oscar host-in-waiting was living up to the title of his celebrated 1996 HBO special "Bring the Pain."
Internet gossip columnist Matt Drudge posted an item on his Web site over the weekend quoting unnamed members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expressing outrage at some Oscar-bashing comments by Rock in an Entertainment Weekly interview. Rock said he had rarely watched the Oscars, and called award shows "idiotic."
"Come on, it's a fashion show," Rock told the magazine. "What straight black man sits there and watches the Oscars? Show me one. And they don't recognize comedy, and you don't see a lot of black people nominated, so why should I watch it?"
Drudge, whose item ran under the headline, "Host Chris Rock Shock: Only Gays Watch Oscars," cited unnamed sources as saying angry academy members were privately calling for Rock to be removed as host.
But Oscar producer Gil Cates issued a statement on Monday saying he and the academy stand behind Rock, and denying that anyone at the academy had taken offense.
"The Academy is excited about Chris Rock hosting this year's Oscar telecast and looking forward to a very funny evening with him," Cates said. "Chris's comments over the past few weeks are meant to be humorous digs at the show that some people, obviously including Chris himself, think may be a bit too stuffy."
Likewise, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation issued a statement in defense of Rock. "Chris Rock isn't making fun of gays -- he's poking fun at the Oscars," GLAAD executive director Joan Garry said. "It's shtick ..."
When Oscar organizers picked Rock as host it was because of his provocative brand of humor. Industry observers have said his selection made sense in light of efforts by the ABC network to draw more interest in the show, especially from younger viewers.
ABC, a unit of the Walt Disney Co., will broadcast the 77th Academy Awards on Feb. 27, with a time delay of several seconds.