Madsen admits 'Sideways' a career booster

TORONTO (CP) - For two decades Virginia Madsen has been regarded as a Hollywood actress far better than the parts that came her way. Then last year, as she crossed over the big four-oh line, along came the role of Maya in Alexander Payne's Academy Award-nominated indie film Sideways.

And that has made all the difference.

"Oh my God, everything's changed," exclaims Madsen in a telephone interview from Los Angeles to promote Tuesday's home video release of Sideways.

"I'm making money now. And I also, for the first time, have three films lined up, and I've never had that luxury in my career, ever. You know, to be booked for a while, that's every actor's dream."

The blond Chicago native with one green eye and one half-green, half-brown, broke into the movies in the mid-1980s in such promising titles as Dune, Electric Dreams and Candyman. But in the '90s her rising star seemed to get eclipsed by her brother with the tough-guy image, Michael Madsen (the scary ear-slicer in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs).

Then along came Payne's Oscar-winning script for Sideways, about the misadventures of Miles and Jack, two middle-aged buddies who embark on a last-chance wine-tasting tour through California vineyard country.

In her Oscar-nominated supporting role, Madsen plays a wine-savvy local waitress who has already been beaten up by life and who falls for divorced, failed writer Miles (American Splendor's Paul Giamatti).

While many filmgoers were skeptical that the appealing Maya could like such a sad sack, Madsen finds it entirely plausible, insisting Maya was definitely not "settling."

Her character, she notes, was drawn to Miles's simple honesty, compared with her former professor husband who she found to be a "fraud."

"A lot of the women pick up on that particular word, because it means he was a fake, none of the things she thought (Miles) was.

"Some of us like nice guys. You know, I'm not 25 anymore. I'm not looking for James Dean on a bike, you know. I've got a 10-year-old son, I don't need another one."

So the Sideways role, to Madsen, puts the lie to the Hollywood theory that there are no good parts for women over 40.

"I've had the best roles of my life at this age," she maintains. "I don't think there's very good roles for women in their 20s. There's an abundance, but not many realistic portrayals of 23-year-olds."

She says while she can play a woman like Maya, she would have found it difficult at 25 or 30 trying to play, say, a mother and a lawyer, a character who had lived life.

As for moviegoers who found it difficult watching a film with two "heroes" who were so deeply flawed and outright obnoxious, Madsen says perhaps they should go see Scooby Doo and analyse it for its characters' imperfections.

"If you really examine the character of Shaggy, you will find a sad little man whose best friend is a dog and who has a serious eating disorder!"

Sideways, she adds, is about flawed people because writer-director Payne has admitted he doesn't know any likable heroes.

"We're all sideways people, we're all twisted and we all have our eccentricities and we've all done terrible things and good things. Martha Stewart, for God's sake, just went to prison for lying."

Frankly, she admits, she was braced for a different kind of debate about the film, convinced Mothers Against Drunk Driving, for example, would launch a vigorous campaign protesting the drinking and driving that went on during Miles and Jack's pilgrimage though the grapes.

As for reports the film has singlehandedly raised public awareness of, and interest in, wine-making and wine-tasting, Madsen says it's because wine has evolved from an elitist pastime to an approachable experience in American culture.

"Wine's become so affordable. You can get a really nice bottle of wine for $20 and you can have wine-tasting parties at home, and it's a real communal experience, a fun thing to share with friends."

Madsen says she has been filming in Vancouver recently and is scheduled to visit B.C.'s Okanagan Valley for a wine-tasting.

"I haven't found one (B.C. wine) that I like yet. Everyone of course in Canada really wants to turn me onto it, so I'm getting a new bottle practically every day in my hotel and I'm kinda like, 'I don't like that one, either' but I'm willing to give it a try."

When in Toronto recently, she says she was given a nice bottle of Ontario wine - she couldn't recall the name - but California wines remain her favourite.

Pamela Anderson Newest Face for M.A.C.

NEW YORK - Pamela Anderson is the newest face of the VIVA GLAM V lipstick and lipglass, the primary fund-raising tools for the M.A.C. AIDS Fund.

The former "Baywatch" actress joins the roster of the VIVA GLAM V lipstick advertising campaign that includes Christina Aguilera, Missy Elliott, Linda Evangelista, Chloe Sevigny and Boy George.

"M.A.C. VIVA GLAM V is a great campaign to be involved with," Anderson said in a statement. "I feel privileged and empowered to help raise funds and awareness of the importance for getting tested.

"After being diagnosed with hepatitis C, I knew the importance of knowing your status. Only then can you make informed and wise decisions for your health and life."

Anderson was to be introduced Thursday at a Manhattan news conference. John Demsey, chairman of the M.A.C. AIDS Fund, was among those expected to attend.

The M.A.C. AIDS Fund, created by the professional cosmetics company in 1994, has raised more than $44 million, according to the fund's Web site.

The company says 100 percent of the sales of the lipglass and lipstick directly benefits the fund.

ABC's Koppel Leaving 'Nightline'

NEW YORK - Ted Koppel, who has provided a late-night alternative to laughs as anchor of ABC News' "Nightline" since it began 25 years ago, said Thursday he will leave the network when his contract expires in December.

Koppel, 65, said he's not retiring. His departure casts doubt on the future of "Nightline," although Koppel and ABC News President David Westin expressed confidence that it will continue.

The broadcast's longtime executive producer, Tom Bettag, will leave ABC News with Koppel.

Westin had made it clear that he wanted to expand "Nightline" to an hour and air live each weeknight (sometimes it's taped). Koppel was offered the chance to continue, or perhaps switch jobs with Sunday morning's "This Week" host George Stephanopoulos, but told Westin upon returning from a vacation this week that he wanted to leave.

"I would have preferred Ted to have stayed a few more years, but I respect his decision and I admire his courage to walk away," Westin said.

Koppel and ABC News executives had worked out a transition plan when he signed his last contract five years ago, but it blew up in 2002 when ABC's entertainment division made a secret bid to lure David Letterman from CBS. Letterman chose to stay, and the incident made "Nightline" employees question ABC's commitment to their show.

Koppel said Westin has assured him that he was not being pushed out the door.

"But who knows?" Koppel said. "Maybe it was. I'm too much a reporter and a realist, and have been in this business too long, not to recognize that my salary is very high, particularly for someone who only does three days a week now."

He said he understands that it is harder to keep an audience and make money in a fragmented television market where there are many more options than when he started "Nightline." As a direct competitor to Letterman and NBC's Jay Leno, the show's viewership has dropped from an average of 6.3 million a decade ago to 3.8 million this season, according to Nielsen Media Research.

"Maybe they feel that it's time to give somebody younger and willing to go downmarket a chance, but I'd only be speculating," he said. "I hope they don't go downmarket."

ABC has tested some new "Nightline" ideas at the network's Times Square studio in New York, and current "Nightline" staffers have submitted a proposal to keep it in Washington. Stephanopoulos and Chris Bury lately have served as subs on nights Koppel is absent.

"It will be a somewhat different program, but it will be a program that the `Nightline' audience will recognize and, I believe, embrace," Westin said.

Westin is working from the assumption that "Nightline" will continue, although it's ultimately ABC President Anne Sweeney's decision. It's also hard to imagine Robert Iger, incoming chief executive of ABC parent Walt Disney Corp. and a former ABC executive, won't weigh in.

Many in ABC's news division are hopeful, believing ABC's entertainment division and corporate cousin ESPN have no better alternatives for the 11:35 p.m. time slot.

"Nightline" began as a series of special reports during the Iranian hostage crisis in November 1979 (originally anchored by Frank Reynolds). Then ABC News President Roone Alredge seized on the opportunity to wrest the time from affiliates, and it became a regular newscast the following March.

Koppel's use of technology to conduct live interviews with subjects all around the world and show remote shots from far-flung places like Mount Everest — now television staples — were groundbreaking when "Nightline" started.

He also said he's proud of the show's efforts to investigate subjects that often didn't get much attention on television, such as the criminal justice system. "Nightline" did some 40 shows on the AIDS crisis over the years, he said.

Koppel had been ABC News' chief diplomatic correspondent for the decade before "Nightline" began. He joined ABC News as a general assignment reporter in New York at age 23 in 1963.

Koppel "is just a terrific reporter and as good an interviewer not only as there is today but as there has ever been in network news," Westin said. He's "a symbol for the best that we aspire to be."

Bettag, who has been Koppel's off-screen sidekick for 14 years, said the two men anticipate sticking together in some future projects.

"We're genuinely jumping off a cliff and declaring to the world eight months before our contract is up that we're out there looking to do good work," Bettag said.

They may not have to look long. Koppel said a news release announcing his departure was e-mailed to the world at 10:59 a.m. on Thursday and he got his first job offer at 11:01 (he won't say from whom).

"It was sort of lovely," he said. "I was disappointed that it didn't come in at 11, of course."

Noah Wyle to Leave As 'ER' Regular

LOS ANGELES - The doctor is out: Noah Wyle is leaving "ER" as a regular cast member at the end of this season, NBC said Thursday. Wyle, 33, the only original star who remained with the medical drama through its 11 years, will return for four episodes in each of the next two seasons. "ER" has been renewed through the 2007-08 season.

True love steals away his character, Dr. John Carter, who reunites in the May 12 episode with girlfriend Kem (Thandie Newton), a health administrator he met doing volunteer medical work in Africa.

Carter leaves Chicago's County General Hospital in the May 19 season finale.

"It's very sad for me. Noah and I have a lot of history together," "ER" executive producer John Wells told USA Today. "He's a wonderful actor and a wonderful man, and it's been great to watch him grow up and get married and have a family."

In 2004, Wyle said he intended to leave "ER" when his contract ended this season.

"I've just got other stuff going in my life right now," Wyle told "E! News Live" last September. "I've got a son, I've got family and friends that said goodbye to me 12 years ago and are wondering when I'm coming back, and this little urge to scratch a different kind of itch in my career, and it's just coming to the end of the character's run."

When the series debuted in September 1994, Wyle played the impressionable young resident in a cast that included Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Eriq La Salle, Julianna Margulies and Sherry Stringfield.

As they departed, Wyle turned into the show's centerpiece.

Stringfield returned to her role as Dr. Susan Lewis in 2001 after a five-year break.

The drama has been a durable performer for NBC, although it lost its No. 1 ratings status to newcomers including Fox's "American Idol." In head-to-head competition with CBS' "Without a Trace" at 10 p.m. EST Thursday, it trails in total viewers.

Sony's PSP Selling Well But Not Sold Out - Analyst

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sony Corp.'s new handheld video game unit, the PlayStation Portable, is selling well but is far from sold out at stores nationwide, an analyst said on Thursday.

One week after the $249 PSP package was launched in the United States, American Technology Research found that only 50 of 150 stores surveyed nationally in the last two days were sold out. Another 15 stores had three or fewer units left.

Sony pushed hard to have as many as 1 million units available for the U.S. launch, postponing the device's European debut indefinitely so it could have enough hardware to meet that U.S. goal. Supplies have been thin in Japan as well, where the PSP debuted in a frenzy late last year.

The PSP, which also plays movies and music in addition to games, is Sony's first entry into handheld gaming, a market controlled since 1989 by Nintendo Co. Ltd. . Nintendo's established Game Boy Advance SP sells for $79, and its new dual-screened DS sells for $149.

Analyst P.J. McNealy said the specialty gaming retailers have already sold through two waves of hardware, but "big-box" retailers like Target Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. got more units than expected at launch and have inventory remaining.

McNealy estimated the PSP sold as many as 575,000 units in its first week, with up to 300,000 left in the inventory channel.

"The PlayStation Portable (PSP) has been solid but not spectacular. We believe that the PSP launch, while not the blow-out event expected, will be considered successful as retailers continue to sell through existing inventory levels," McNealy said in a note.

With sales of console games slowing as manufacturers prepare for the next generation of game hardware, the industry is counting on the handheld market to pick up much of the sales slack in calendar 2005. Most analysts expect U.S. software sales growth to be flat to up 5 percent this year.

Eccleston quits Doctor Who role

Actor Christopher Eccleston has quit as Doctor Who after just one episode of the new series has been screened, the BBC has confirmed.

Eccleston, whose first appearance as the ninth Time Lord attracted around 10 million viewers, feared being typecast.

Talks are taking place to replace him with Casanova star David Tennant.

A second series of the new Doctor Who, which will again be written by Russell T Davies and produced by BBC Wales, has already been commissioned.

Billie Piper, who plays Dr Who's assistant Rose, is expected to star again.

Eccleston - whose last appearance is expected to be in a Christmas special - said he was also planning new projects and that he found filming the series gruelling.

"The audience's response for the new Doctor Who has been incredible and I am really proud to be part of it and I hope viewers continue to enjoy the series," he said in a statement issued through the BBC.

A BBC spokesman said the corporation would issue a formal statement later on Thursday and that it had hoped, rather than expected, that Eccleston would continue in the role.

He said that although talks to make David Tennant the 10th Doctor were taking place, other names may be put forward.

Bill Nighy was also considered for the Eccleston role, while Richard E Grant starred in a BBC web drama version of Doctor Who.

Period drama Casanova, which moves to BBC1 from BBC3 on Monday, added to Tennant's reputation after his success in the drama Blackpool.

The BBC announced on Wednesday that it had commissioned the second Doctor Who series, which will again feature 13 episodes.

Billie Piper will once again play Rose in the new series

Russell T Davies said: "It's fantastic news. It's been a tense and jittery time because the production team has been working on plans.

"It's particularly good for BBC Wales. This is a major flagship show for the region, and their staff and crews are the best you could find. It's a tribute to them that Doctor Who is returning."

Dr Who was relaunched last Saturday weekend following a 16-year hiatus.

With 9.9 million viewers, it beat Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.

Corgan Teams With Smith

Former Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan will release his debut solo album, TheFutureEmbrace, on June 21st.

"It's guitar-driven and loud, but not aggressive," Corgan tells Rolling Stone. "The videos, music and tour will be really new and different. No one will accuse me of sitting on my past."

Recorded in Chicago, Future was co-produced by Corgan and features eleven new songs, including the first single, "Walking Shade," as well as an unlikely cover of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody," with the Cure's Robert Smith on backing vocals.

"The Cure is one of my favorite bands of all time," Corgan says. "Robert is a good friend of mine, so it's a dream come true. That song's sort of a gem that not everyone will know."

As for Corgan's aforementioned past, more than 200 Pumpkins' songs will be made available digitally on April 1st, including their six studio albums and dozens of B-sides. "The band was really aggressive about recording B-sides," Corgan says. "There's a song called 'Set the Ray to Jerry' that Flood, our producer, didn't think much of, but many Pumpkins fans think it's one of the best things we ever did."

Corgan just finished shooting the video for "Walking Shade" in Los Angeles and he plans to launch a world tour in July.

Huey Lewis & The News celebrate 25 years with live set, tour

Huey Lewis & The News will mark their 25th anniversary with a recently recorded live set and another round of tour dates.

Titled "Live at 25," the new collection is due in stores May 17, and will be available as an audio CD and video DVD. The group recorded the set during a two-night stand in Chico, CA, last December.

In addition to the recently recorded live material, "Live at 25" will also include some bonus material from the group's archives. A final track listing has not yet been released.

As "Live at 25" heads to stores, Lewis and his band plan to log some miles during a tour that so far stretches from early April into late September. The itinerary is included below.

Best known for their '80s-era batch of hits, Huey Lewis & The News have continued to tour steadily over the years. The group's most-recent studio album is 2001's "Plan B," which is its first collection of new material since 1991's "Hard at Play."

"Sports," released in 1983, remains the group's most commercially successful album to date. It features the Top 10 hits "I Want a New Drug," "The Heart of Rock & Roll," "If This Is It" and "Heart and Soul," and has been certified seven-times platinum, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

Tour Itinerary

April 2005
3 - Saint Louis, MO - Fox Theatre
8 - Boca Raton, FL - Mizner Park Amphitheatre
9 - Orlando, FL - Universal Studios
10 - Saint Petersburg, FL - FunFest
29, 30 - Lincoln City, OR - Chinook Winds Casino

May 2005
28 - Kelseyville, CA - Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa
29 - Sparks, NV - John Ascuaga's Nugget

June 2005
4 - Las Vegas, NV - Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino
10, 11 - Hankinson, ND - Dakota Magic
23 - Rama, Ontario - Casino Rama
30 - San Rafael, CA - Marin County Fair

July 2005
2 - Kettering, OH - Fraze Pavilion
3 - Cleveland, OH - Scene Pavilion
4 - Dublin, OH - Coffman High School
29 - Dubuque, IA - Dubuque County Fair
30 - West Bend, WI - Washington County Fair

August 2005
3 - Sterling Heights, MI - Jerome Duncan Ford Theatre
4 - Clio, MI - Clio Amphitheater
18 - Boston, MA - Bank of America Pavilion
19 - Hampton Beach, NH - Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
20 - Mashantucket, CT - Foxwoods Casino
21 - Vienna, VA - Wolf Trap Filene Center
24 - Atlanta, GA - Chastain Park Amphitheatre
26-28 - Atlantic City, NJ - Hilton Hotel & Casino

September 2005
6 - Livermore, CA - Wente Concerts at the Vineyard
8 - Tucson, AZ - Desert Diamond Casino
9 - Alpine, CA - Viejas Concerts in the Park
10 - Sante Fe Springs, CA - To be announced
15 - Santa Ynez, CA - Chumash Casino
16, 17 - Saratoga, CA - Historic Mountain Winery
24 - San Francisco, CA - Blues Festival

Online 'Hitchhiker' Trailer Visits 'Sin City'

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - A trailer for "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" that was made exclusively for the Internet will make an unprecedented leap to the big screen on Friday, April 1st. No foolin'.

Because of overwhelming online buzz since debuting mid-February, the promo will piggyback onto the theatrical release of Robert Rodriguez's action-packed "Sin City," which opens Friday.

"The response to the online trailer has been nothing short of phenomenal, with more than 7,000 discussions about the film posted since its debut. Many of those discussions urged us to put the trailer on the big screen," says Oren Aviv, president of marketing at Buena Vista Pictures. "The trailer is great fun for movie fans of all ages, whether they've read the Douglas Adams books or not, and it takes a very lighthearted, engaging and irreverent approach towards introducing the film."

The preview sets up the adventures of humble Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman of "The Office" and "Shaun of the Dead") after he becomes the only human to survive the demolition of Earth by the Vogons, who intend to use it for hyperspace freeway development. He joins a ragtag bunch of intergalactic travelers who are trying to discover the meaning of life.

Based on the best-selling novel by Douglas Adams, "Hitchhiker's Guide" opens nationwide on Friday, April 29. The film also stars Mos Def, Sam Rockwell, Zooey Deschanel and Bill Nighy.

MAYBE THE TWIST ENDING THIS TIME IS THAT GIAMATTI WILL ACTUALLY GET AN OSCAR NOMINATION!

Days after setting his next film, "Lady in the Water," at Warner Bros., M. Night Shyamalan is moving quickly to set Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard in the starring roles.

Shyamalan has for several days been courting Giamatti to play a building super who finds a sea nymph in his apartment building's pool, and he has tapped Howard to play the title character.

WB will make formal offers to both thesps today for an August start date and a July 2006 release.

Sam Mercer is producing the project through Shyamalan's Blinding Edge shingle.

Pic will mark a reteaming for Shyamalan and Howard, who starred in his last film, "The Village." She replaced Nicole Kidman in the Lars Von Trier-directed "Manderlay" and next stars for Kenneth Branagh in the HBO Films-financed theatrical feature "As You Like It." She also will play the title role in "Mary Queen of Scots" for Warner Independent Pictures.

Giamatti is coming off "Sideways" and will next be seen starring opposite Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger in the Ron Howard-directed "Cinderella Man."

Showdown Between 'Lost' and 'Idol'

In a decision that is likely to boost the sales of TiVos and other digital video recorders, ABC plans to air the season finale of Lost as a two-hour special on May 25, the last night of the May sweeps and the 2004-05 season, opposite the two-hour season finale of American Idol.. In an interview with Daily Variety, ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson said that the decision "was driven by the creative," TV jargon for content, adding that the show's producers and writers "have worked really hard to deliver for this first season, and to have it come to this great climax. They've delivered at the highest level, and it made sense to put it on regardless [of the competition]." Fox said that it had always planned to air the Idol finale on May 25.

'Miami Vice' Squad Books Gong Li as Love Interest

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Chinese-born actress Gong Li has joined the cast of Michael Mann's big-screen update on the 1980s TV crime drama "Miami Vice" for Universal Pictures.

Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx star, respectively, as Detectives Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs in the film being adapted from the hit NBC series. Mann, who executive-produced the TV show, is writing, directing and producing the feature.

The actress will play Isabella, the Chinese-Cuban wife of the leader of a transnational crime syndicate and Crockett's love interest.

"Vice" is set for a July 28, 2006, release.

Li, whose credits include "Raise the Red Lantern" and "Farewell My Concubine," appears in the upcoming films "2046," "Eros" and "Memoirs of a Geisha."

Run DMC Star to Spread the Word on Reality TV Show

NEW YORK (Reuters) - What happens when rappers grow up? A new reality show starring former Run DMC star Joseph "Reverend Run" Simmons aims to show you.

And you might be surprised.

"It's about Run, formerly Run DMC, who grew up on MTV, all grown up," said the rapper and father of five who now wears a white collar and preaches at an evangelical church.

"We grow up, we're fathers, we're family men. People don't see that side of rappers," Simmons told Reuters Television in an interview. "Rap has come a long way and you see that on this reality show," he said, adding that a pilot has been made and he expected to get the green light from MTV soon.

Simmons, who also has his own sneaker line and continues to make music, teamed up with Sean "P. Diddy" Combs to make the show which he hopes will help his mission of spreading the word of God through rap -- a genre better known for the crime, cursing and hard-living of many of its protagonists.

"I can go to church and preach to the saved and that's good, but they're saved. Or I can make a record and take my time and figure out how to catch everybody," said Simmons, who was accompanied to the interview by his mentor Bishop E. Bernard Jordan, founder and head of the Zoe Ministries church.

Combs approached him with the MTV idea. "He said ... I'm P. Diddy, you are Frank Sinatra ... I'll put you on MTV."'

"Run DMC were the first group on MTV that was black besides Michael Jackson so it's kind of perfect for me to be on MTV and say 'Look, rappers grow up,"' Simmons added.

For Simmons, the cause of the problems that make rap such a controversial art is the breakdown of the family and the fact that so many black Americans grow up in single parent homes.

Already under fire for lyrics that glorify violence and drugs, the rap world made headlines again recently over a feud between 50 Cent and The Game which erupted into a shootout at a New York radio station before the two called a truce.

Simmons said rap was misunderstood. "They're just showing what's going on in their neighborhood. It's not a pessimistic or optimistic view of the world, it's just like that."

The reality show aims to offer another view of the world, and offer an alternative black role model to the comedian Bill Cosby whose 1980s sitcom showed the lives of an affluent, professional family in New York.

"You will see Bill Cosby on steroids," Simmons said. "You'll see a lot of funny stuff, you'll see a lot of daddy knows best stuff, you'll see a lot of me and my wife trying to hold the family together."

Get Cooler

On June 7th, only three months after its theatrical premiere, MGM Home Entertainment will release Be Cool, the 2005 sequel to Get Shorty. John Travolta returns as Chili Palmer and is joined by his Pulp Fiction costar Uma Thurman; he's an ex-gangster turned movie exec turned music exec. The film earned back a tad under its production costs at the box office; I expect it to find new life on DVD. The anamorphic video presentation and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track will be supplemented with "Be Cool, Very Cool" Making-of Documentary; Deleted Scenes; a Gag Reel; a Music Video by The Rock as Elliot Wilhelm, "You Ain't Woman Enough to Take My Man"; Close-Up Featurettes entitled Dance Partners, The Rock, Andre 3000, Cedric the Entertainer, and Christina Milian; and, the Original Theatrical Trailer. The SRP is $27.98.

Extended Stripes

Decades after its release, Ivan Reitman has revisited the military comedy Stripes with an extended cut of the film adding twenty minutes to the runtime thanks to Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Bill Murray stars as John Winger who loses his job, his car, his apartment and his girlfriend - all in one day. His solution to the desolation of his life is to hitch up with the Army, talking his friend Russell (Harold Ramis) into enlisting with him. John convinces Russell that they'll get in shape, travel the world, and, most importantly, meet girls.

The DVD will be presented in widescreen and will contain a new audio commentary by director Ivan Reitman. The DVD also contains a new documentary and six deleted scenes.

The DVD will arrive at the barracks on June 7th and carry a $19.94 suggested list price.

Great Big Sea's Alan Doyle produced, co-wrote CD for Russell Crowe

TORONTO (CP) - Russell Crowe's next musical venture will have a distinctly Canadian flavour.

Great Big Sea frontman Alan Doyle helped produce and co-write the actor's next CD, tentatively titled My Hand My Heart. The pair began collaborating last summer after meeting backstage following a Great Big Sea concert in Toronto.

"(He) asked if I'd like to come by the hotel some time and write some songs," Doyle recalled from his studio in St. John's, Nfld.

Crowe was in Toronto at the time filming Cinderella Man. The rest of the production took place at Crowe's home studio in Australia.

"It was great fun. It was excellent," Doyle said. "He's got such a history of writing and recording music himself that it was great to actually sit with somebody who's been at it as long, or longer than me, but comes from a completely different part of the world and a completely different perspective on music."

Doyle praised Crowe's writing, saying the actor knows how to "deliver a good song" and is a "spectacular lyricist."

"I've never met anyone who pays more attention to the word than Russell Crowe," Doyle said. "I don't know if that's a result of him being a very attentive musician or being the best actor in the world ... somebody who's been exposed to the best dialogue in the world."

Crowe, who has been singing for several years, was equally impressed by Doyle.

"Alan Doyle is the first magical musical collaboration I have ever experienced," Crowe said in a statement. "We had the type of synergy I have experienced with other actors or directors, but which has always eluded me in music. I have poured my heart into these songs."

Doyle is back at work with Great Big Sea on a new CD.

Cochran Dead at 67

Johnnie Cochran Jr., arguably America's most famous criminal lawyer, died Tuesday.

The attorney, best known for defending O.J. Simpson against double-murder charges in the 1990s, was 67.

MSNBC reported Cochran's death early Tuesday afternoon. "He had had a brain tumor, and he had gone through a long process of dealing with it," attorney Rikki Klieman, legal analyst for NBC's Today show and expert on E! News' own The Michael Jackson Trial, told the cable network.

Cochran had been ill for years with a rare brain disorder that caused his tumor, per reports. He died at his home in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles around 12:30, according to a statement released by his family.

Although he was already a famous figure in legal circles in the 1980s, the legal eagle became a superstar during Simpson's sensational murder trial in the early 1990s. His signature line from the trial, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit," became a catchphrase, and his lawyering helped clear his best-known client on murder charges.

Simpson's current attorney, Yale Galanter, released a statement just hours after the former football star learned of Cochran's passing.

"O.J. Simpson sends his deepest regrets and sympathies to Johnnie Cochran's family and loved ones," Galanter said. "Johnnie and O.J. were friends before the trial and remained friendly after the trial. O.J. sends his sincerest condolences. Johnnie was a true friend."

Simpson himself told CNN Tuesday that he loved Cochran as a "good Christian man."

"I knew him as that...he was a great guy," Simpson added.

Simpson told the cable news outlet he last saw his former lawyer at an Los Angeles Lakers game. He said Cochran seemed in good spirits despite his serious medical condition at the time.

Although Cochran was well-known before the O.J. trial, television coverage of the case made him a star overnight. He went on to become part of America's collective subconscious--inspiring several entertainment sketches on shows like Saturday Night Live.

He is also the inspiration for one of Seinfeld's most beloved recurring characters, Jackie Chiles, Kramer's fast-talking attorney on the 1990s sitcom.

Cochran even appeared as himself in the film Showtime and did the occasional cameo on televsion shows like The Hughleys.

Some in the television news industry credit Cochran's theatrics, in part, with the rise of Court TV and cable news' subsequent infatuation with celebrity lawyers and legal analysis as entertainment.

Before he was stricken with his brain tumor, Cochran had been working on a variety of cases, including a large-scale effort for African-American slavery reparations.

The UCLA grad's last criminal law case was successfully defending Sean "P. Diddy" Combs on weapons charges in New York in 2000.
Over his career, Cochran represented serveral big names from the entertainment world, including actor Todd Bridges on attempted murder charges, Tupac Shakur on a weapons charge and Snoop Dogg on a murder rap.

Cochran is survived by his son Jonathan Cochran and his daughters, Tiffany Cochran Edwards and Melodie. His wife and two sisters were with him at the time of his death.

Redford Readying "Robinson" Biopic

The Natural is moving from the diamond to the dugout.

Robert Redford, who played a fictional Babe Ruth-esque hero named Roy Hobbes in 1984's classic baseball film, The Natural, is ready to take on another sports legend.

The actor-director will essay the role of Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey in a biopic of Jackie Robinson, the first black man to play in the Major League.

According to Daily Variety, Baldwin Entertainment, the producers of Ray, will team up with Redford's Wildwood Enterprises to produce the picture.

Redford has been developing the project on the Civil Rights pioneer with the consent of Robinson's widow and Rickey's son.

"It's a simple story, and one that most don't know about—how the color barrier was broken and changed the face of baseball and ultimately the country," Redford told Variety.

The still-untitled film will focus on Robinson's trials and tribulations after signing with the Dodgers in 1947, as he battled bigotry from both players and fans to stake out equal rights for African Americans, while laying the groundwork for the end of segregation.

The story will trace the athlete's youth in Southern California through his days starting for the Dodgers under Rickey, where he prevailed despite receiving death threats from fans, encountering tension from his teammates and facing the threat of a strike by the rival St. Louis Cardinals.

(Robinson, by the way, ended up playing himself in The Jackie Robinson Story, a 1950s film about his wild entry into the majors.)

Kirk Ellis, who nabbed an Emmy for writing the TV movie Anne Frank: The Whole Story, and who also wrote The Beach Boys: An American Family, will pen the screenplay.

No word yet who'll portray Robinson. However Baldwin Entertainment Chief Howard Baldwin is definitely eyeing Ray star, Jamie Foxx, a no-brainer considering Foxx won a Best Actor Academy Award portraying Ray Charles, in last year's biographical film about the music icon.

Baldwin--who's a veteran producer of sports flicks including Mystery Alaska and the upcoming The Game of Their Lives--told Variety the movie will reportedly end when Robinson takes the field for the Dodgers.

Aside from getting the Robinson movie up and running, Redford meanwhile recently revealed his intention to reunite with his most famous onscreen partner, Paul Newman, for one last go-round before Newman's promised retirement after two more pictures.

The two, who invented the "buddy picture" with 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and 1973's The Sting, are looking to team up for a film adaptation of Bill Bryson's A Walk In The Woods.

"That might be something for Paul Newman and me, if we're not too old," said Redford. "That's if Paul can hang on long enough, and we can get him on the Appalachian Trail before he gets in a wheelchair."

The thespian's next project however will be starring opposite Jennifer Lopez in the drama An Unfinished Life for director Lassë Hallstrom.

Lost Affleck Cameo in 'Elektra' DVD

Hollywood star Ben Affleck's deleted cameo in girlfriend Jennifer Garner's latest movie Elektra is set to be included in the forthcoming DVD of the Daredevil spin-off. Affleck began dating the Alias beauty shortly after he visited the Vancouver, Canada set of the action movie last summer. Despite filming a small role in Elektra, producers removed Affleck's scene from the final cut after they discovered the two actors were dating, fearing a similar backlash to Affleck's films Gigli and Jersey Girl, in which he starred alongside then fiancee Jennifer Lopez. Movie site RopeofSilicon.Com has posted the deleted scene, entitled "Come Back," in a DVD preview of Elektra.

Orlando To Bloom As Young 007?

Orlando Bloom's dream of becoming the next James Bond looks set to become reality - but he'll be playing the young 007. The Pirates Of The Caribbean actor has confirmed he has been in negotiations to star in Young 007. He says, "I love the idea, in principle, as he can be far more adventurous and do more stunts. This is as near as I think I will get to playing the grown up James for the next 20 years." The first Young 007 movie will be based on new novel Silverfin and will be set in the 1930s, years before Bond discovered he likes his Martinis shaken, not stirred. The film will follow the young Bond from school at Eton, England, to his uncle's house in the west Highlands.

Fisher To Reveal 'Star Wars' Secrets

Actress-turned-novelist Carrie Fisher is set to expose the secrets of the original Star Wars films in a behind-the-scenes expose of the classic sci-fi trilogy. Fisher, 48, kept a diary during the late 1970s and early 1980s, when she played Princess Leia Organa opposite Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill. She explains, "My publisher has told me not to talk about it... oh what the hell. When I was in Star Wars, I kept diaries. Big books full of what went on, what I thought, what I did. I am going to write them all up as a narrative. It will be riveting. Once I get started, that is. I'm months behind already."

Slash to handle anthems, Trailer Park Boys first pitch at Jays home opener

TORONTO (CP) - Laurel Lindsay knows it sounds cheesy but she can't help herself.

"You want to make a splash and you make a splash with Slash," she said with a laugh Tuesday after the Toronto Blue Jays announced plans to have the former Guns N' Roses guitarist perform the national anthems before the club's April 8 home opener against the World Series champion Boston Red Sox.

"Opening night isn't your typical night," added Lindsay, vice-president, consumer marketing for the Jays. "It's about entertainment and it's the one game of the year when you can be different from other nights."

With the three main characters of the Canadian cult TV hit Trailer Park Boys on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, Blue Jays fans can be certain of that.

Rather than the safe, staid choices who typically perform the anthems at the Rogers Centre - it was R&B artist Keshia Chante at last year's opening day and Shawn Desman a year before that - Slash is a riskier, more memorable choice.

The renowned guitarist, famous for wearing top hats that sit precariously atop his wild curls and strumming with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, was a longtime member of rebel heavy metal band Guns N' Roses before joining rock supergroup Velvet Revolver.

Deb Belinsky, who is in charge of in-game entertainment for the Jays, pitched the idea to Slash last summer when he was in Toronto with Velvet Revolver for a show. He'll make a side trip from the group's current tour to play the home opener.

"He loved it," said Lindsay. "He loved the fact of coming here to perform solo and do the anthems. He's never done it before."

As for those worried about what Slash might do to O Canada, Lindsay says not to worry.

"It's going to be similar to a Jimi Hendrix style of anthem," she said. "It's going to be his rendition. He's been supplied with all the music and I know he's already practising."

The ceremonial first pitch, however, might not be as incident-free.

Showcase's Trailer Park Boys revolves around the troubled lives of Julian (played by John Paul Tremblay), Ricky (Robb Wells) and Bubbles (Mike Smith), who will take the mound in character and perhaps bring the shenanigans from the show with them.

"We'll know when they get to the mound," said Lindsay. "I have a feeling with these guys, you can't really predict a lot."

Actor Eugene Levy threw out the first pitch last year.

Disney Ends Weinsteins' 25-Year Run at Miramax

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Walt Disney Co. and Harvey and Bob Weinstein on Tuesday finally agreed that the brothers would step down from the helm of the Miramax Films unit they founded 25 years ago and which produced Oscar winner "Chicago" and box office hits like "Spy Kids."

The Weinsteins, who named Miramax after their parents Miriam and Max, will form The Weinstein Co. and take some of their best-known directors with them, but will also continue to produce some films in conjunction with Disney after they leave Miramax at the end of September.

The decision ends a fiery relationship between the Weinsteins and Disney's outgoing Chief Executive Michael Eisner, which burst into public many times, notably last year when Disney refused to release Michael Moore's anti-Bush hit "Fahrenheit 9/11."

The end of the long breakup comes just weeks after President and Chief Operating Officer Bob Iger was named Eisner's successor.

Disney said the Weinsteins will give up their positions as co-chief executives of Miramax but continue as co-chairmen of the company they founded through Sept. 30, completing current film productions and overseeing marketing and distribution.

Miramax Films and a 550-title library that includes the hit "Scary Movie" titles and Oscar winners like "The English Patient" will remain at Disney, which can exploit them on DVD or new digital formats of the future.

The Weinsteins and Disney pledged to collaborate on new films in the lucrative "Spy Kids" and "Scary Movie" franchises, as well as more than 25 other projects, but The Weinstein Co. will release films from directors Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith with whom the Weinsteins have long relationships.

Disney and the Weinsteins did not disclose financial terms. Published reports had speculated Disney would pay more than $100 million in performance bonuses to the Weinsteins for 2004 and 2005, but that could not be confirmed.

HARVEY'S BITTERSWEET MOMENT

Disney acquired Miramax in 1993 for what at that time was reported to be between $70 million and $80 million. Twelve years and 220 Academy Award nominations later, Miramax was worth $2 billion, according to Harvey Weinstein.

In a conference call with reporters, Walt Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook called the Weinstein brothers "two of the most creative and passionate" executives in the movies.

Reflecting on what was a bittersweet moment, Harvey Weinstein said giving up a company that bore the names of his parents "was the toughest part of the entire negotiation."

"Maybe the whole chapter hasn't been written on that; maybe it has," Weinstein added.

He and Bob Weinstein will retain the Dimension Films label, which has been a popular brand for mass market movies aimed at kids and teenagers -- two core markets for film companies.

Miramax, by contrast, targets adults, art house crowds and lovers of foreign language films with its slate of movies.

Disney's Cook said decisions on the size, structure and strategy for the new Miramax Films would be made by July 2005, and he declined to divulge further details.

Likewise, Harvey Weinstein declined to say how much money he and his brother would raise for The Weinstein Co., or how large it would be when formed.

Their new company will be "a fully integrated media company" with broadcasting, film distribution and even Internet components, Harvey Weinstein said.

He said the reasons for the breakup were many, but singled out deals he brought to Disney to acquire the Bravo and IFC cable channels, as well as film distributor Artisan Entertainment that were nixed by Disney corporate executives.

"In the new Disney, I think, those entrepreneurial efforts will be met with a stronger response," Weinstein said. "That is the irony of this deal." Iger will succeed Eisner as chief executive on Sept. 30 -- the same day the Weinsteins depart Miramax.

Close encounters of William Shatner

Wanna make a movie with Captain Kirk?

That was the dilithium crystal carrot used to lure hundreds of Star Trek followers and other geeks out to Riverside, Iowa -- future birthplace of James T. Kirk.

Starting tonight, the actual town is the setting for Invasion Iowa, a prank reality series from the network and the producers behind The Joe Schmo Show.

The miniseries, which stars Kirk himself -- William Shatner -- begins tonight at 9 p.m. and airs all week on the U.S. superstation Spike (channel 32 locally on Rogers), concluding Friday -- April Fool's Day.

According to Trek lore (so it must be true), Kirk was born on March 22, 2228.

Iowa was mentioned as the birthplace on one Trek episode and some "enterprising" local decided Riverside was as good a place as any to fleece tourists.

For the past 20 years, Trekkers have been trekking to the small rural town (pop. 978) to celebrate all things Kirk.

Enjoying a career rebirth at 73 as a Boston Legal weasel, Shatner beamed aboard last January's Spike network press conference to promote the series.

Last fall, the Montreal-native and a film crew descended upon Riverside and punk'd the locals under the ruse that they were casting extras for a new sci-fi movie he was directing.

The townspeople (and others tracking the venture on the Internet) lined up for their shot at Hollywood -- only to eventually find it was all a big fat hoax.

"We didn't really dash their dreams. They're on television from Tuesday to Friday," said Shatner.

"Many of my motion pictures didn't last that long."

Cap't Hambone, as always, goes way over the top, arriving in town with a pseudo entourage including a fake spiritual advisor, a "nephew" body double (supposedly a bastard son of a wardrobe assistant on the original Star Trek) and a neurotic assistant -- all played by improv actors.

The people of Riverside prove there's no end to the number of humiliating stunts civilians will do in order to go Hollywood. One little old lady becomes Shatner's cue card holder. Others get tricked into pointless stunt duty. The town is told Sean Connery is jetting in to co-star.

It was all done in fun, Shatner insists. No locals were harmed in the making of this film. "Did we hurt their feelings, did we stunt them with the truth?" Shatner asked rhetorically, as only Shatner can.

Invasion Iowa was more of a love-in, he insists. By the end, a thousand people showed up cheering and crying. "We gave the town a lot of money," he explained. ($100,000 U.S., loser money on Survivor but still a haul in cable cash.)

The hoodwinked townspeople won all sorts of other individual prizes. Dreams came true for several folk, Shatner insists. "We're not laughing at them, they're laughing at us," he said.

It's a kinder, gentler Spike. No more Shmos, just regular folks basking in love and cash. Set phasers for fun.

The producers left behind hundreds of "Shats" green, yellow and red "mood" berets. They came, they pranked, they shat. Like there already wasn't enough shat on TV.

No Freddie, But for Queen the Show Must Go On

LONDON (Reuters) - British rock band Queen has kicked off its first tour since the death of Freddie Mercury in 1991, hoping that the strength of the songs makes up for the absence of the charismatic frontman.

Two of the original band members strutted the stage at a south London venue late on Monday accompanied by Paul Rodgers, the man handed the unenviable task of filling Freddie's shoes.

The crowd of 4,700 did not seem to mind as Brian May on guitar and drummer Roger Taylor led them through classic anthems "I Want to Break Free" and "Fat Bottomed Girls" before winding up with a rousing rendition of "We Are the Champions."

Bass guitarist John Deacon has decided not to join the band on the tour, which begins with dates around Europe before extending to the rest of the world.

Surviving Queen members have played concerts since Mercury died of AIDS, including in South Africa earlier this month, but this is the first tour since the flamboyant rocker performed in front of more than 100,000 fans at Knebworth, England, in 1986.

Wary of Mercury's lasting popularity, the tour has been called "Queen + Paul Rodgers," and May has been at pains to point out that Rodgers, vocalist on Free's 1970 classic "All Right Now," would not be imitating anyone.

"I was always against the idea of putting someone in there trying to impersonate Freddie in any way," May said.

"Then suddenly I'm looking at this guy who doesn't in any sense try to take the place of Freddie."

Die-hard fan Phil Stanyer, waiting for the curtain to go up at the Brixton Academy, said: "It would be better if Freddie was here, but it's the music that keeps us going.

"As they say -- the show must go on."

Internet chat rooms filled with followers defending the band's decision to tour, although there were some dissenters.

"Queen 1991; Freddie 1991. RIP," read one contribution.

QUEEN LIVES ON

Queen, with hits including "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "The Show Must Go On," are one of Britain's most successful bands, selling more than 150 million records worldwide since the early 1970s.

Despite Mercury's death, their success continued with compilations and prizes and the popular tribute musical "We Will Rock You" which has played to London audiences for over two years.

The Brixton preview will be followed by 32 more dates in Britain and Europe, and band management said the tour would be taken worldwide afterwards.

Rodgers recalled how the idea of the tour came together.

"We did a couple of songs together - 'We Will Rock You' and 'We Are the Champions' ... It just felt so amazing that when we came off stage everyone just looked at each other and said: 'Well, let's take it on the road,"' he said before the Brixton gig.

Queen will not be the first band to try to resurrect itself after the death of its most famous member.

America's The Doors attempted it after Jim Morrison died of heart failure in 1971 and Australian group INXS has said it will seek a replacement for Michael Hutchence, found dead in a hotel room in 1997, via a reality television series.

Online Music Case Outcome Rests on VCR Technology

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When Internet file-sharing services and the entertainment industry square off in the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, the outcome will likely rest on a nearly obsolete technology -- the videocassette recorder.

Backers of "peer to peer" networks like Grokster will argue that the software makers deserve the same protections as VCR manufacturers, because both can be used for good or ill.

Record labels and movie studios will argue that Grokster should be held responsible when its millions of users illegally copy movies and music directly from each others' computers.

Both sides will agree one one thing -- the court could harm their ability to produce innovative new products if it doesn't rule in their favor.

"If nothing is changed and these services continue to operate, it will have an impact on the creative process. For the movie industry, it will mean less risk will be taken in terms of the creation of new material," said Dan Glickman, president of the Motion Picture Association of America.

"The way new technology is created and funded is it's a high-risk affair. It's not going to get funded if there's a sword of litigation hanging over it," said Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics Association, which supports Grokster.

The Supreme Court in 1984 ruled that Sony Corp. couldn't be held responsible if users of its Betamax VCR copied television shows without permission, because it also could be used for legitimate purposes such as taping a show to watch later.

Lower courts have said that ruling applies to Grokster as well.

The Betamax ruling has allowed consumer-electronics makers to develop products without getting permission from Hollywood first -- a key to the industry's success that could be upset if the court rules against Grokster, backers say.

"Every technology from the CD burner to the personal computer to the iPod has emerged in part because of the clarity of the (Betamax) rule," said Fred von Lohmann, a senior attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation who is representing Morpheus.

Grokster backers point out that the entertainment industry has a long history of initially opposing new technology, from the player piano to the VCR, that has ultimately benefited it in the long run.

But that doesn't change the fact that Grokster makes its money almost entirely by encouraging people to illegally copy music and movies, the entertainment industry argues.

Using that logic, a single instance of "legitimate" use can justify millions of illegal transactions, they say.

"Nobody would suggest that the iPod is a business based on infringement," said Cary Sherman, president of the Recording Industry Association of America. "Grokster, on the other hand, was conceived for the very purpose of encouraging and profiting from infringement."

Though the vast majority of traffic over peer-to-peer networks involves copyrighted material, legitimate uses have begun to emerge in recent years.

Independent artists like Steve Winwood have released their music over peer-to-peer networks, while scientists and government bureaucrats have used peer-to-peer technology to distribute information cheaply without central server computers.

Record labels have begun to licensing their music to a new breed of peer-to-peer networks like Mashboxx that will let copyright owners exert some control over their material.

The court will also hear arguments about whether cable companies should have to allow rival Internet service providers to use their high-speed pipeline.

The Couch Potato Report

Returns Thursday, March 31st

New CDS: Beck, Beanie

Reviews of "Guero," "The B. Coming" and more

Beck Guero (Interscope)

After the final out of the 2004 World Series, NBC played Beck's "The Golden Age" during the closing credits. It was a weird choice -- they obviously picked the song to celebrate the Red Sox victory, judging it by the title but ignoring the fact that it's a heinously depressing breakup ballad. Jesus, talk about a buzz-kill. But it was a perfect Beck moment, given the strange way he's spent his career foraging through American junk culture. On Guero, his eighth album, he returns to what he does best, hopping from genre to genre, hustling for scraps of beat and rhyme. He has reunited with the Dust Brothers, the producers behind his 1996 masterpiece, Odelay, for his liveliest and jumpiest music in years. Suggested ad slogan: The slack is back!

Ever since Beck hit his peak with Odelay, he's stood firm in refusing to make a sequel, or even an album that sounded remotely like one. His MO has been to push one of his tricks all the way to album length. So he became a morose folkie on Mutations, a comedy-funk party yutz on Midnite Vultures and a broken-down love junkie on Sea Change. All these records had their good and bad moments, and all had their fervent admirers. But they erred too far on the side of consistency, and whoever wanted consistency from Beck? Guero is the first record since Odelay where Beck mixes up the medicine the way he did in his Nineties prime -- we get stun-gun rock guitar ("E-Pro"), cracked country blues ("Farewell Ride"), psychedelic bossa nova ("Missing"), goth atmospherics ("Scarecrow") and laid-back fire-hydrant-Seventies R&B ("Earthquake Weather").

Throughout Guero, Beck dips deeply into Latin rhythms, reveling in the street culture of the East L.A. neighborhood where he grew up. "Que Onda Guero" is a walk through the barrio, with traffic noises and overheard Spanglish voices over Latin guitars and hip-hop beats. Guero is slang for "white guy"; Beck's an outsider here. The song ends with some stranger saying, "Let's go to Captain Cork's -- they have the new Yanni cassette!" "Hell Yes" and "Black Tambourine" sound like they were knocked off in a session that began, "Hey, let's do some of those wacky, zany numbers we used to do," but they're still pretty great.

Guero will get Beck accused of copying Odelay, but it has a completely different mood. Tune in "Missing" or "Earthquake Weather," and you can't miss the melancholy adult pang in the vocals. The closest he comes to a funny line on the album is "The sun burned a hole in my roof/I can't seem to fix it." Which isn't too close. Beck is thirty-four now and can't pretend to be the same wide-eyed, channel-surfing kid who buzzed with wiseass charisma on Mellow Gold, Odelay and Stereopathetic Soulmanure. On Guero, he sounds like an extremely bummed-out dude who made it to the future and discovered he hates it there. The lyrics are abstractly morbid -- lots of graves, lots of devils. Nearly every song has a dead body or two kicking around. At times, Guero feels as emotionally downbeat as Mutations or Sea Change. But there's a crucial difference: The rhythmic jolt makes the malaise more compelling and complex, with enough playful musical wit to hint at a next step. Beck isn't trying to replicate what he did ten years ago; instead, on Guero he finds a way to revitalize his musical imagination, without turning it into a joke.(ROB SHEFFIELD)

Beanie Sigel The B. Coming (Damon Dash Music Group)

Back in 2000, Beanie Sigel was poised for stardom, before his life and career were derailed by the street life he documents so well. In November, he began a year in prison on federal gun charges. The Philly MC's flow is still among the best -- it recalls the smooth delivery of his mentor, Jay-Z, mixed with a young Ice Cube's growl -- and The B. Coming starts strong. "Feel It in the Air" and "I Can't Go On This Way" weren't produced by Kanye West, but may as well have been, with soulful female vocal hooks softening Sigel's ruminations. The B. Coming eventually flattens out into dark, brooding territory -- it was, after all, originally going to be called The Great Depression. The stoner anthem "Purple Rain," with electric guitars reverberating into space, is an only slightly apologetic ode to painkillers and cough syrup. And many a track waxes longingly about the guns that landed him a sentence. "Don't Stop" is vintage Neptunes, with Snoop Dogg purring above drifting organs and a cowbell sound. "Let's toast to the man that when he get out/He gonna do them things that he rappin' about," says Snoop. And then comes Beanie: "Hatas, stay out my face/And know that thing still by my waist." (BILL WERDE)

Morrissey Live at Earls Court (Attack/Sanctuary)

It's been nearly twenty years since the Smiths broke up, but the band's passionate, sensitive fans have never quite gotten over it. On this live set from 2004, Morrissey -- who is slowly turning into a British New Wave version of Frank Sinatra -- heals some of the heartache by revisiting his old group's anthems in excellent, swaggering renditions. Between the shuddering opening riff of "How Soon Is Now?" and the final cymbal crash of "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me," Moz takes on "Shoplifters of the World Unite" and "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" to rapturous applause. But Live at Earls Court isn't just an exercise in nostalgia. The best songs from last year's return-to-form You Are the Quarry -- the ironic "I Have Forgiven Jesus" and the fiery "Irish Blood, English Heart" -- hold their own against the Smiths' classics. (JONATHAN RINGEN)

The Bravery The Bravery (Island)

After the success of the Killers and Franz Ferdinand, the world is crawling with rock dudes who've suddenly discovered their deep and abiding respect for the Cure's Robert Smith. Enter the Bravery, who got together in New York barely more than a year ago but who already have fans drooling for their heavily anticipated debut album of synth-heavy goth pop. Singer Sam Endicott looks like a cross between Morrissey and the bald punk guy who befriends Eric Stoltz in Some Kind of Wonderful. The Bravery do a jockier version of the New Wave competition, pumping the drums in straight-ahead tunes such as "An Honest Mistake" and "The Ring Song." But the peak is "Swollen Summer," which combines the best of early Love and Rockets with late Flesh for Lulu. (ROB SHEFFIELD)

ROLLING STONE
(Posted Mar 28, 2005)

New White Stripes Album Due In June

Rock duo the White Stripes will release their next studio album on June 14 via Third Man/V2. The as-yet-untitled set was recently recorded in the group's Detroit home base. It will be the follow-up to 2003's "Elephant," which debuted at a career-best No. 6 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 1.7 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

A handful of live dates have already been announced ahead of the album, including a three-night run in Mexico that begins May 11 in Monterrey. As previously reported, the group will also play June 10 at Atlanta's Music Midtown festival.

Beyond the White Stripes disc, singer/guitarist Jack White has also been working on an album with fellow Detroit native Brendan Benson. The project, which also features Greenhornes bassist Jack Lawrence and drummer Patrick Keeler, will most likely not see the light of day until the end of the year or early 2006, according to a V2 spokesperson.

"It's kind of a little of everything," Benson told Billboard.com in December. "I've got songs that I've pretty much written and he added lyrics to it. And he brought some songs, or actually made a bunch of 'em up on the spot. It's cool, different stuff. Some of it sounds like Jack and some of it just sounds like Cat Stevens or something."

Entertainment groups predict more movies, songs over Internet

WASHINGTON (AP) - The music and film industries will continue to offer digital copies of songs and movies online for a price even if they lose a landmark Supreme Court case focusing on consumers who steal copyrighted material over the Internet, those industries' chief lobbyists said Monday.

"Consumers want a legal, hassle-free, reasonable-cost way to get their products online," said Dan Glickman, head of the Motion Picture Association of America. "There's no question you'll see a lot more opportunity for people in their homes to enjoy music and movies and other creative material."

Glickman and Mitch Bainwol, chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America, met with editors from The Associated Press on the eve of arguments in the upcoming Supreme Court case, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios vs. Grokster.

Regardless of the case's outcome, Bainwol predicted a rise among Internet music-subscription services, which permit consumers to listen to more than one million songs for a flat monthly fee.

"Subscriptions will really take off," Bainwol said.

In the Supreme Court case, entertainment companies want the court to permit them to sue manufacturers of file-sharing software popular among computer users for trading music and movies over the Internet.

Lower U.S. courts have twice ruled that such file-sharing software can be used for "substantial" legal purposes, such as giving away free songs, free software or government documents.

The lower court rulings - effectively shielding the manufacturers of file-sharing software - have compelled entertainment companies to sue thousands of people caught illegally distributing songs and movies over the Internet.

"There's no question it's far more efficient and far more sensible to go after the people whose business is built on infringement," said Cary Sherman, the president of the recording industry association.

Lisa Marie Presley Firms Tour Dates for 'Now'

NEW YORK (Billboard) - With the release of her sophomore full-length album nearing, Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley, has confirmed a spring tour that will kick off April 26 in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Thirteen dates have been confirmed through a May 15 show in Asbury Park, N.J., with more expected.

Presley's second album, "Now What," will be released April 5 via Capitol. The set features 10 original songs and a cover of Don Henley's 1983 hit "'Dirty Laundry" and guest appearances by pop singer Pink and Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones.

Here are Presley's tour dates:

April 26: St. Petersburg, Fla. (Jannus Landing)
April 27: Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (House of Blues)
April 29: West Palm Beach, Fla. (SunFest)
May 1: Memphis, Tenn. (Beale Street Music Festival)
May 2: Nashville (The Cannery)
May 4: North Myrtle Beach, S.C. (House of Blues)
May 5: Norfolk, Va. (NorVa Theatre)
May 8: Boston (Paradise Club)
May 9: Alexandria, Va. (Birchmere)
May 10: New York (Supper Club)
May 12: Rama, Ont. (Casino Rama)
May 14: Atlantic City, N.J. (Trump Marina Casino)
May 15: Asbury Park, N.J. (Stone Pony Landing)

'Corner Gas' closes for season

Keep your eye on Nancy Robertson, who plays Wanda the cashier on CTV's hit comedy Corner Gas.

Nancy Robertson's favourite scene so far on Corner Gas? Kicking The Tragically Hip out of the garage.

"It was nice bossing The Hip around," she says. "Don't think I didn't take advantage of that."

Robinson plays Wanda, the blond mighty mite behind the cash register on Canada's No. 1 sitcom. She was in Toronto two weeks ago to promote the season finale of Corner Gas, airing tonight at 8 p.m. on CTV.

There'll be no shock ending, she reports. "Nothing that's cliffhangy. Just finding out more and more about the characters."

The cheery Vancouver native almost didn't audition for the series. Wanda was originally envisioned as an older character. When series creator Brent Butt and the other producers were having trouble finding Wanda, the casting director suggested they re-think the role for Robertson. She auditioned in Vancouver, got the good news on a Monday and had to be in Regina that Wednesday to start work on the series.

While she had met Butt before on the comedy circuit, the Corner Gas cast member she knew best was Fred Ewanuick, who plays Hank. The two co-starred in The Delicate Art Of Parking, a mocumentary about parking attendants which won Best Canadian Film at the 2003 Montreal Film Festival.

Robertson, a mainstage member of the Vancouver Theatresports Improv League, has worked shows like Addams Family and Cold Squad in the past. She's in CTV's upcoming Robeson Arms and had a small part in Ice Cube's Are We There Yet? "Blink and you miss me," she jokes.

Corner Gas has been the Canadian success story of the past two years, averaging over a million-and-a-half viewers and flirting with two million on a couple of occasions. That's despite several pre-emptions and scheduled shifts (mainly to accommodate the ins and outs of American Idol).

"You could see the possibilities because the scripts were funny," says Robertson. "A lot of times you go to audition for a part and it says it's a comedy and as an actor you go, 'No it's not.' "

She credits Butt and the other writers for establishing a "very specific rhythm" for the show.

And while it is set in fictional Dog River, Sask. (and shot near Regina), she thinks the fact that it could be any rural Canadian outpost broadens the appeal. Several recent Canadian comedies were industry shows (An American In Canada, Made In Canada, The Newsroom, etc). Corner Gas has nothing to do with television. "Everybody can identify with it," she says.

It also helps that it appeals to all age groups, she says. "You'll talk to people and they'll say my grandson or my grandmother watch it," she says. "It's not offensive, not in your face. It has wackier humour, all different kinds of humour. It's real escapism."

Has she ever had a job like Wanda's? Just once, and it lasted a day, says Robertson. "A friend got me a job at a T-shirt store when I was 17," she says. "It was a Sunday and the boss wasn't supposed to be there. I was a cocky girl and decided to unwind in the back room and read a few magazines. The boss walked in and there I am with my feet up, reading Playgirl."

Sounds like a future Corner Gas episode. "Sure, that's just what the writers need," says Robertson. "You gotta second? Can we go for a walk?"

ALSO TONIGHT: CTV picks up John Stamos' new comedy, Jake In Progress, already in progress on ABC. It makes its Canadian network debut tonight at 8:30 p.m., followed by back-to-back episodes Thursday starting at 8 p.m. (providing there's no voter screw-up on American Idol this week). Also at 8:30, Ken Finkleman gets animated on the series finale of The Newsroom (CBC). Jerry O'Connell's kid brother Charlie is the latest rose tosser on The Bachelor (ABC/CITY-TV, 9 p.m.) And Dave Bidini skates with Alexander Yakushev and other former Soviet stars in The Hockey Nomad Goes To Russia (CBC, 9 p.m.).

LOOK WHO'S BOBCAT

Bobcat Goldthwait is calling the shots at "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and has been working as the show's di rector for six months.

Remember Bob cat? The chubby- cheeked wild man from the 1980s who shrieked his way to fame as a stand- up comic and later as a mo- vie star.

De spite six months of solid and stable ratings under his watch and things on "Kimmel" running smoother and funnier than ever before, ABC officials have remained mum about Bobcat's new job.

"If I ran a network, I don't know how quick I would be to announce that I was the guy now at the reins of your late-night talk show," jokes Bobcat, 42. "Look, it would probably make them look like they were crazy."

Then again, Goldthwait says he's never made much of an attempt to change his wild public image.

"People really don't have any idea hard-working and how serious I take this or any of my directing jobs," he says. "I've always been a Groucho Marx fan and I never wanted to hear or see Groucho talking serious, so I've never presented that side of me to the public — I can understand why people would perceive me as an insane person."

But instead of the growling, snarling loon people remember, Bobcat is now soft-spoken and slim — but still gut-busting funny. And aside from donning a different, strange hat every day at work (he greets a visitor after the show wearing a large, black Mexican sombrero), he leaves all the strange stuff to Kimmel.

Whatever his secret, it's working.

Since Bobcat joined the show, the ratings have soared, especially among the network's most coveted group of viewers (ages 18-39). The numbers even jumped 50 percent with tough-to-attract teens — maybe not such a good thing for a show that starts at 12:05 a.m. on school nights.

His late-night gig began on an unpromising note: The show's former director had a heart attack on Bobcat's first day on the job. "I had nothing to do with it," he laughs. "Seriously."

Kimmel says the cast and crew love having Bobcat in charge.

"He knows where to go with things and more important where not to go," Kimmel says. "He comes to writer's meetings; he understands subtlety; and he adds funny moments to the show, whereas a lot of other people wouldn't."

Goldthwait is no stranger to calling the shots behind the scenes.

He spent four years directing at Kimmel's old Comedy Central gig "The Man Show" and called the shots for segments of "Chapelle's Show."

7 DEADLY SINS

Jessica Alba really wanted to be in the new movie "Sin City," but she hesitated when she first looked at the cult-classic Frank Miller comic books it's based on.

Her character, Nancy, is a stripper - and not just a topless one.

"She's bottomless, too," Alba tells The Post.

"I really couldn't be bottomless for my dad. He would disown me."

In the end, Alba kept on both parts. Co-directors Miller and Robert Rodriguez ("Spy Kids") let her film the strip-dance scene in a cowgirl outfit that covered the naughty bits.

But Alba still looks stunning in "Sin City," and the movie doesn't skimp on beautiful women (or nudity).

Along with an all-star cast of guys, including Bruce Willis, Benecio Del Toro, Clive Owen and Mickey Rourke, the movie (opening Friday) features a drool-worthy harem of some of Hollywood's most gorgeous young actresses.

That's only right for this visual feast, which uses cutting-edge special effects to create a super-stylized film-noir world that looks almost exactly like the dramatic drawings in Miller's cartoons.

Miller and Rodriguez planned each shot using panels from the books as a storyboard, and they didn't compromise on Miller's hyper-violent and sexy vision.

Their movie tells three interconnected tales about gritty characters in a dark, rainy and grim place called Basin City, where the dirtiest neighborhood, Old Town, is run by prostitutes - the Old Town Girls - who will machine-gun any john who gets out of line.

"They're fantasies," Miller tells The Post. "Sometimes they're dark fantasies. Sometimes they're alluring fantasies. Sometimes they're both."

Real-life women may never live up to the fierce and erotic women that Miller draws in his books, but the "Sin City" actresses came awfully close.

"I swooned over them all," Miller recalls.

"Doing this movie was like falling in love again and again."

JESSICA ALBA IS NAUGHTY AND NICE AS NANCY...

"I'm not someone who goes out clubbing and to raves," Jessica Alba tells The Post. "I'm not really a dancer."

But Robert Rodriguez wanted Alba to come up with her own exotic dance for "Sin City," just like Salma Hayek did in his 1996 movie "From Dusk Till Dawn."

"And that's the sexiest woman's dance ever put onscreen!" says Alba, 23, who plays the lovely but unattainable strip-club angel Nancy.

"Those are big shoes to fill."

So Alba plunged into research, including several nights spent watching pros perform at strip clubs in L.A. and New York.

On the "Sin City" set in Austin, she learned how to twirl a lasso from real-life cowboys, and there were plenty of mishaps along the way.

"I was practicing on everybody," she recalls. "Bruce Willis would walk by, and I'd say, 'Wait, Bruce, can I lasso you? Just close your eyes and put your hands over your face.'

"I hit a lot of people in the head. I felt bad about it."

In the end, Alba improvised the strip dance in front of a green screen, listening to CD of music she had brought in, "with everything from Emmylou Harris to Kylie Minogue." (Rodriguez added different music for the final cut.)

Alba says she didn't actually learn that much from the pro strippers she watched. "All they're doing," she says, "is trying to get tips."

And she isn't in a hurry to get back to one of their clubs.

"The only person it would be appropriate to go with is my boyfriend," Alba says, referring to Cash Warren, the 25-year-old Yale grad she met last year on the set of this summer's "Fantastic Four," where he was an assistant to the director and she was playing the Invisible Woman.

"But I don't want Cash looking at other people," she says.

"I want him to think about me naked - not some woman he can throw money at."

ALEXIS BLEDEL IS DECEPTIVE AS BECKY ...

The final cut of "Sin City" is mostly black-and-white, with flashes of unnatural color added by computer: a pair of candy-apple-red shoes, a splash of bright-yellow blood. But Rodriguez and Miller actually shot in color, and they used it for a small handful of details in the final cut - most memorably, Bledel's wide blue eyes.

But while the "Gilmore Girls" star (who's dating her former on-screen boyfriend Milo Ventimiglia) looks innocent, her "Sin City" character Becky isn't what she seems. In one gnarly scene, she enrages Dawson's character so much that she seems to take a bite out of Bledel's neck and spit the flesh on the floor.

"It didn't hurt at all," says Bledel, who was wearing a prosthetic skin piece, "but it looked disgusting."

BRITTANY MURPHY IS SASSY AS SHELLE ...

"Brittany isn't afraid to go lower class," Miller says of Murphy, who has the trailer-trash thing down, after eight years as the voice of beauty-school dropout Luanne Platter on "King of the Hill" and co-starring with Eminem in "8 Mile."

That made her perfect for the sassy "Sin City" waitress Shellie, a brash broad who Murphy calls "a throwback to the '30s or '40s."

In real life, Miller says, Murphy is a perfectionist who's sometimes too nice for her own good.

"One time on the set, she was walking with her coffee and accidentally spilled it all over these cables," Miller recalls. "She goes, 'Get me a paper towel!'

"We had her ushered out, because the last thing we needed was an important actress playing with wet electrical cables."

ROSARIO DAWSON IS ROUGH AS GAIL ...

"I wanted a real New Yorker with a genuine edge," Miller says of the character Gail, the leader of the kick-ass Old Town Girl prostitutes.

He found it with Dawson, who's best known as Colin Farrell's wife in "Alexander" but was discovered 10 years ago sitting on her Lower East Side stoop and cast in the notorious skate-punk movie 1995 "Kids."

Dawson got the "Sin City" idea right away.

"It's a tough town where a man punches a girl across the face, and she chops his [penis] off," says Dawson, 25, who recently snagged the role of Mimi Marquez in the movie version of "Rent."

"Rosario's just cool no matter what she does," Alba says.

That's lucky, because in "Sin City," she had to wear a barely-there outfit that even Miller calls "ridiculous" and a Mohawk that Rodriguez admits is "a very weird hairstyle."

"The outfit was unbelievable," Dawson says. "The costume designer gave me a bunch of flowers when I decided I was going to actually wear it."

JAIME KING IS SWEET AS GOLDIE ...

"I always wanted to be in a movie with Rosario," says King, who has known Dawson for 10 years, since the days when King was a 16-year-old beauty from Omaha making big waves in New York fashion world with modeling gigs for Vogue, Mademoiselle and Allure.

The two hung out in the same cool-teens crowd - "mostly the guys who were in 'Kids,'" King recalls - and reconnected on "Sin City," in which King plays Goldie, a hooker with a heart of gold.

DEVON AOKI IS CUTTING AS MIHO ...

She's an heir to the Benihana steak-house fortune, so you'd think this New Yorker would know how handle knives. But when Aoki showed up on the "Sin City" set last year to play Miho, a hooker who slices up men with a samurai sword, it quickly became clear that she was clueless when it came to martial arts. "I made her my special project," Miller recalls of the model, actress, Page Six fixture, and budding hip-hop star (who recently signed to record for a new company). "I got a couple of trainers to work with her and had her come in early and stay late every day. "Robert was laughing at me," Miller says. "He called me Devon's soccer dad, because I was so hard on her. But I was so proud when it worked."

CARLA GUGINO IS NO-HOLDS-BARRED SEXY AS LUCILLE ...

None of the "Sin City" actresses is more in-your-face sexy than the 33-year-old Gugino, who plays Lucille, "a fast-talking, deadpan dame," as Gugino calls it, and does her first scene clad in nothing but "a G-string and strategically placed shadows."

The nudity might come as a surprise to those who remember Gugino as the spunky mom from the "Spy Kids" movies.

But she doesn't mind taking her clothes off.

"I'm more European in that way," says Gugino, who tried the scene with a bra before the directors decided it actually looked less sleazy when she was naked.

Duran Duran Not Giving Up On 'Astronaut'

Despite lukewarm sales for highly anticipated reunion album, "Astronaut," the members of Duran Duran aren't about to give up on the Epic disc. Released late last year, the set has sold 219,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

"I don't think any of us are satisfied with how that record has done and that's really why we're planning on staying on the road for most of this year," bassist John Taylor tells Billboard.com. "Because I think it's an album that is deserved of a bigger audience than what it already has, our job in part is to turn people on to the new music and that's what the touring is about."

Currently finishing up an American tour that runs through April before going to the U.K. and Europe in May, Duran Duran is planning a late July Stateside return aimed mainly at outdoor amphitheaters and markets in which the band didn't play on its first leg. Also in the works is a concert DVD, which was recorded last spring at London's Wembley Arena and is due out this summer.

As for guitarist Andy Taylor's unexpected departure from the tour last week to be at his ailing father's bedside, the band decided to continue touring with Dominic Brown replacing him in the interim. John Taylor said the band agonized over how to properly handle the situation.

"Yeah, [there were] some very heavy discussions, actually, and tables were thrown," Taylor says. "The decision was made to continue with the tour and we felt that we had a momentum because it's not just about the shows, it's about the station tie-ins. And you have people who have made plans to travel from all over the country. We all knew that we were sacrificing something and Andy wanted us to go on and I'm fairly sure he'll be back with us by Cleveland [March 29]."

Included in the band's current set are new tracks "(Reach Up for the) Sunrise," "Nice" and "Bedroom Toys," along with past hits like "Hungry Like the Wolf," "Rio" and "Ordinary World." Taylor says the band is also digging into its treasure chest for instrumental "Tiger Tiger," "Hold Back the Rain" and even "Wild Boys," which was never properly toured before Duran Duran's original members began their exodus to various side projects.

But fans hoping to hear a song or two from Power Station (John and Andy Taylor) or Arcadia (Simon LeBon, Roger Taylor and Nick Rhodes) shouldn't hold their breath.

"I don't think so," Taylor says. "I can't speak for Arcadia but I think with the death of [singer] Robert [Palmer], [drummer] Tony [Thompson] and [producer] Bernard [Edwards], that book is really closed. The project was never represented better than it was on record. In fact, there is a DVD coming out. And it has the only performance that we did with the original lineup, which was on 'Saturday Night Live.' So if you missed that, it's worth seeing because it's quite a laugh, actually."

That self-titled CD/DVD set features seven bonus tracks and remixes and is scheduled for an April 26 release via Capitol.

Springsteen Single To Premiere Monday

The title track and first single from Bruce Springsteen's upcoming album, "Devils & Dust," will premiere beginning 12:01 AM Monday (March 28) via AOL Music's First Listen initiative. The next day, it will be exclusively available for download from Apple's iTunes Music Store for a week.

As previously reported, "Devils & Dust" is due April 26 via Columbia as a DualDisc with the audio tracks on one side and various bonus content on the DVD side. A deluxe edition will also be available, featuring expanded packaging, as well as a double-vinyl version.

On the heels of a playback session of six tracks at Waterloo Records in Austin, Texas, last week during the South by Southwest music festival, listening parties are expected to commence within the next week-and-a-half in a handful of North American cities.

Springsteen is also expected to announce details of an acoustic tour in support of the new album.

Duh nah...Duh nah...

Universal has officially announced the DVD release of a Jaws: 30th Anniversary Edition for 6/14 (SRP $22.98).

This will be a 2-disc set containing the film in anamorphic widescreen video, with both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 audio.

The second disc will be all extras (no word yet on what they are).

Word is you'll also get something called Jaws: The Commemorative Photo Journal - probably a commemorative book.

This 2-disc set will also be available in a full frame version, and it looks as though a single-disc Jaws: Anniversary Collector's Edition version will also be available in full frame and anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 and anamorphic widescreen with DTS 5.1 (SRP $14.98).

Crowded House drummer, Paul Hester, found dead in Australian park

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - The drummer from popular 1980s Australian rock band Crowded House has been found dead in a park in southern Australia, a newspaper reported Monday.

Paul Hester, 46, failed to return home after taking his two dogs for a walk late Saturday, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Police found the drummer's body Sunday in a park near his home in the southern city of Melbourne, the newspaper said.

The newspaper did not explain how Hester died, but reported that police said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

Hester played in several small bands before joining the New Zealand group Split Enz in 1983. He and Split Enz singer Neil Finn formed Crowded House in 1985 with bass player Nick Seymour.

Crowded House was one of Australia's most successful bands in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with international hits such as Don't Dream it's Over and Weather with You.

Currently touring in London, Finn mourned the loss of his one-time band member.

"I am deeply saddened by the loss of a close friend," Finn told the Daily Telegraph.

Hester is survived by his girlfriend Mardi Sommerfield and their two daughters, ages eight and 10.

'Guess Who' Debuts As Top Movie With $21M

LOS ANGELES - Two guesses on who topped the weekend box office. The Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher comedy "Guess Who," an update to the 1967 classic "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," debuted at No. 1 with $21 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Sandra Bullock's sequel, "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous," opened in second place with $14.5 million for Friday to Sunday. That brought the movie's total to $17.6 million since it opened Thursday to get a head start on Easter weekend.

The previous weekend's top flick, "The Ring 2," slipped to third with $13.8 million, lifting its 10-day total to $58 million.

It was a solid but unremarkable Easter weekend, generally a slow time at theaters because families are preoccupied with holiday gatherings. The top 12 movies took in $90.1 million, off 7 percent from Easter weekend last year, when "The Passion of the Christ" was No. 1.

"Guess Who" stars Mac as a black father who learns his daughter's boyfriend, Kutcher, is white. It is a reversal of the scenario of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," which starred Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn and Sidney Poitier in the story about a white woman engaged to a black man.

While the original was heavy on social commentary amid the civil-rights movement, "Guess Who" plays the interracial romance angle for slapstick laughs.

"'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' is the inspiration, but this is very broad comedy that plays really well in kind of the buddy mode as well as the romantic comedy mode," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony, which released "Guess Who."

In "Miss Congeniality 2," Bullock returns to her role as a tomboy FBI agent who gets a fashion makeover. This time, she is teamed with a surly partner, Regina King, to track down a kidnapped beauty queen.

The sequel had a better opening weekend than the original, which debuted with just over $10 million on Christmas weekend 2000, then hung on through word of mouth to become a $100 million hit.

Woody Allen's comedy-drama hybrid "Melinda and Melinda" had a strong expansion from its debut at one New York City theater the previous weekend. The film, which stars Radha Mitchell in dual roles, widened to 95 theaters in 12 cities and took in $790,000.

"The Ballad of Jack and Rose," starring Daniel Day-Lewis, debuted well in limited release, taking in $60,461 in four theaters. Written and directed by Rebecca Miller, Day-Lewis' wife and the daughter of playwright Arthur Miller, the film centers on the relationship between a dying environmental idealist and his troubled teenage daughter.

The blood-soaked South Korean vengeance thriller "Oldboy," runner-up to "Fahrenheit 9/11" for the top prize at last spring's Cannes Film Festival, debuted solidly in limited release with $75,000 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. "Guess Who," $21 million.
2. "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous," $14.5 million.
3. "The Ring 2," $13.8 million.
4. "Robots," $13 million.
5. "The Pacifier," $8.5 million.
6. "Hitch," $4.3 million.
7. "Hostage," $4.1 million.
8. "Ice Princess," $3.7 million.
9. "Be Cool," $2.85 million.
10. "Million Dollar Baby," $2.6 million.

Carey's New Album Puts Vocals Front and Center

NEW YORK (Billboard) - On this severely cold March night, Mariah Carey is inside a studio at MTV taping an interview for an upcoming broadcast. Walking out of the studio, she is heard muttering to no one in particular, "The abuse I endure is never-ending."

Minutes later, ensconced in one of the cable network's many conference rooms, Carey smiles and laughs. "I'm a little dramatic at times," she says, referring to the "abuse" comment. "I know, I know, it's tough to believe. But it's true."

Sure, the multimillion-selling, two-time Grammy Award winner has experienced great highs and lows in the course of her 15-year career. But on the eve of the April 12 U.S. release of her eighth studio album, "The Emancipation of Mimi," Carey is confident, upbeat and spirited.

"The Emancipation of Mimi" -- the title comes from the singer's nickname -- arrives March 30 in Japan and April 4 in the rest of the world outside the United States.

In all territories, the set will sell as a standard CD and as a limited-edition Digipak (including a pull-out poster) with different cover art.

The album is decidedly pop and R&B, with flourishes of hip-hop. Carey co-wrote the set's 14 tracks.

The album features collaborations with several heavy hitters, including Jermaine Dupri, the Neptunes, Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, Twista and James "Big Jim" Wright.

RETURN TO FORM

The collection of songs rightfully places her voice front and center. It is as if Carey is returning to the place that put her on the map. Which helps explain the campaign in major markets like New York and Los Angeles that proclaims "The return of the voice."

Giggling (again), Carey says, "Oh, so you've seen the posters? That's good."

On a more serious note, she says, "The voice has been here all along. Even if you listen to the oh-so-dissed 'Glitter' (soundtrack), there is a song called 'Lead the Way,' which is one of my best vocal performances ever."

She continues, "People who only heard certain singles would be like, 'Why is she singing so breathy?' Some people are of the opinion that if you have a big voice you should use it all the time."

Though Carey admits she is a fan of big-voiced singers, she says, "I don't want to hear someone scream at me all the time."

When Carey sings, she says, it's not about "showing off so everybody can hear me singing at the top of my lungs. But truth be told, I feel that my voice is in a better place than it has been in years."

She credits this to her Charmbracelet tour in 2003: "It was my longest tour ever, and it got me in great shape vocally."

This strength is not lost on Island Def Jam Music Group chairman Antonio "L.A." Reid. "We are feeling her voice again," he says. "She has an incredible voice -- and she is using that voice on this album."

Island president Steve Bartels agrees. "There is a level of comfort with Mariah and these songs. She is digging deep into her soul."

CONNECTING WITH FANS

Because of this, Reid believes Carey will touch people again.

This is already happening. The album's lead single, "It's Like That," is a top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. And the David Morales uptempo remix was recently sent to club DJs.

The second single is the anthemic power ballad "We Belong Together." And Island plans to send the album's closing track, the inspirational and spiritual "Fly Like a Bird," to gospel radio outlets.

To further showcase Carey and that voice, a tour is being discussed.

"Over the past several years, the (music) industry has produced many stars -- not all of (whom) can sing," Reid says. "Mariah can sing. Hers is an extraordinary gift."

'Doctor Who' Culprit Fired

A Canadian TV worker has been sacked after a brand new episode of sci-fi series Doctor Who was leaked onto the internet.

The 45-minute episode, entitled "Rose," appeared on the web on March 7, three weeks before the series was due to premiere on British TV channel BBC One.

BBC Worldwide claim its broadcast partner in Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC), harbored the culprit who had access to an preview copy of the eagerly awaited first episode.

BBC bosses remain tightlipped about the identity of the individual to blame, but revealed that the person worked for a "third-party company in Canada". BBC Worldwide, which is taking legal action, released the following statement: "After a thorough investigation by BBC Worldwide's Canadian broadcast partner, the source of the leak of episode one of the new Doctor Who series has been traced to a third party company in Canada which had an early preview copy for legitimate purposes.

The individual responsible for the leak has had their employment terminated by that company as a result. BBC Worldwide is considering further legal remedies and takes extremely seriously any unlawful copying or misuse of its copyright material."

Definitions of easter on the Web:

- A Christian celebration of the Resurrection of Christ; celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn

- The festival that commemorates the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the third day after he was crucified. It is called Easter Day in our prayer book, but has come to be called (redundantly) Easter Sunday by the media, most laity, and some clergy, all of whom ought to know better. Easter is a movable feast, which means it does not always fall on the same day each year. Easter is always the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox (first day of Spring). By this calculation, Easter could occur anytime from March 22, to April 25. The length of Epiphany and the Season after Pentecost, as well as the dates of Ash Wednesday, Holy Week, Ascension Day, Pentecost, and Trinity Sunday are all determined by the date of Easter. Easter is also a Church season, spanning the 40 days (six Sundays) after Easter, to Ascension Day.
www.holycross.net/anonline.htm

- Kempe spent Easter in Rome probably in 1415. That she would mention that she waited "until Eastertime had come and gone" to begin her return to England reflects the enormous solemnity of the celebrations connected to Easter. Holy Week had its great moments, but Easter was the quintessential great feast of Christian practice. Whether for monastic establishment or parish church, Easter was the moment when the finest mass vestments and service for the altar (chalices, crosses, etc) were taken from church treasuries for the most elaborate ceremonies of the year. The folded altarpieces were open to reveal the most significant paintings. Specific songs were rehearsed by choirs and sung. In some churches, a boy's choir would sing from the towers of the church at dawn, imitating the angel of the Resurrection. [Chapter 9] [Chapter 30] [Chapter 42] [Chapter 54] [Chapter 81] [II: Chapter 3]
www.holycross.edu/departments/visarts/projects/kempe/text/gloss2.html

- The oldest feast of the Christian church celebrating the resurrection of Christ; Easter Day falls on or between 21 March, and 25 April.
www.lichfield-cathedral.org/glossary.htm

- The feast day of the resurrection of Christ, known also as "the Feast of Feasts." It is the greatest Orthodox festival, celebrated the Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring equinox. It is a movable feast and the dates of the other movable feasts of the Orthodox Church are calculated from it.
essenes.crosswinds.net/odict.htm

- April was called Ostermonath - the month of the Ost-end wind (wind from the east). Easter is therefore the April feast, which lasted eight days. Our Easter Sunday must be between March 21st and April 25th. It is regulated by the paschal moon, or first full moon between the vernal equinox and fourteen days afterwards. (Teutonic, ostara; Anglo-Saxon, eastre.) Easter. The Saxon goddess of the east, whose festival was held in the spring.
www.bootlegbooks.com/Reference/PhraseAndFable/data/401.html

- Falls on the Sunday first after the paschal full moon. The paschal full moon is the full moon which falls on or first after 21st March - the vernal equinox. The date of Easter is however calculated, and is therefore fixed by reference to a theoretical moon.
privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~kent/calisto/guide/glossary.htm

- The day of celebrating the Lord's resurrection, and the weeks which followed until He went up to heaven to be with God. This season continues until Pentecost.
www.natpresch.org/Glossary.shtml

- The day of Jesus Christ's resurrection after renunciation of His body on the cross.
www.sanatan.org/en/glossary/e.htm

- The celebration of Christ’s Resurrection ("rise to life again") from the Dead after being crucified. (BCP pp. 170 – 174, 222 – 225)
www.eca-sj.org/text/terms_and_definitions.htm

- This is the most important Christian festival on the Church calendar. It is the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Easter eggs have become associated with the celebration, symbolising the bursting forth of new, resurrection life from the tomb.The name Easter comes from the pagan, Saxon goddess Eostre whose sacred animal was the rabbit.
www.fitzwimarc.org.uk/glossary/e.htm

- The feast day of the resurrection of Christ, known also as "the Feast of Feasts." It is the greatest Orthodox festival, celebrated the Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring equinox. It is a movable feast and the dates of the other movable feasts of the Orthodox Church are calculated from it.
www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/misc/litsas_dictionary_orthodox_terminology.htm

- The feast of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ; the major feast of the calendar; a movable feast falling on the Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox
www.anu.edu.au/history/medieval/resources/churchglossary/glossarye.htm

- The major festival in the Christian church which celebrates the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
www.geocities.com/brentwoodursuline/dictionary.htm

Happy Easter to one and all!!

Definitions of easter on the Web:

- A Christian celebration of the Resurrection of Christ; celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn

- The festival that commemorates the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the third day after he was crucified. It is called Easter Day in our prayer book, but has come to be called (redundantly) Easter Sunday by the media, most laity, and some clergy, all of whom ought to know better. Easter is a movable feast, which means it does not always fall on the same day each year. Easter is always the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox (first day of Spring). By this calculation, Easter could occur anytime from March 22, to April 25. The length of Epiphany and the Season after Pentecost, as well as the dates of Ash Wednesday, Holy Week, Ascension Day, Pentecost, and Trinity Sunday are all determined by the date of Easter. Easter is also a Church season, spanning the 40 days (six Sundays) after Easter, to Ascension Day.
www.holycross.net/anonline.htm

- Kempe spent Easter in Rome probably in 1415. That she would mention that she waited "until Eastertime had come and gone" to begin her return to England reflects the enormous solemnity of the celebrations connected to Easter. Holy Week had its great moments, but Easter was the quintessential great feast of Christian practice. Whether for monastic establishment or parish church, Easter was the moment when the finest mass vestments and service for the altar (chalices, crosses, etc) were taken from church treasuries for the most elaborate ceremonies of the year. The folded altarpieces were open to reveal the most significant paintings. Specific songs were rehearsed by choirs and sung. In some churches, a boy's choir would sing from the towers of the church at dawn, imitating the angel of the Resurrection. [Chapter 9] [Chapter 30] [Chapter 42] [Chapter 54] [Chapter 81] [II: Chapter 3]
www.holycross.edu/departments/visarts/projects/kempe/text/gloss2.html

- The oldest feast of the Christian church celebrating the resurrection of Christ; Easter Day falls on or between 21 March, and 25 April.
www.lichfield-cathedral.org/glossary.htm

- The feast day of the resurrection of Christ, known also as "the Feast of Feasts." It is the greatest Orthodox festival, celebrated the Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring equinox. It is a movable feast and the dates of the other movable feasts of the Orthodox Church are calculated from it.
essenes.crosswinds.net/odict.htm

- April was called Ostermonath - the month of the Ost-end wind (wind from the east). Easter is therefore the April feast, which lasted eight days. Our Easter Sunday must be between March 21st and April 25th. It is regulated by the paschal moon, or first full moon between the vernal equinox and fourteen days afterwards. (Teutonic, ostara; Anglo-Saxon, eastre.) Easter. The Saxon goddess of the east, whose festival was held in the spring.
www.bootlegbooks.com/Reference/PhraseAndFable/data/401.html

- Falls on the Sunday first after the paschal full moon. The paschal full moon is the full moon which falls on or first after 21st March - the vernal equinox. The date of Easter is however calculated, and is therefore fixed by reference to a theoretical moon.
privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~kent/calisto/guide/glossary.htm

- The day of celebrating the Lord's resurrection, and the weeks which followed until He went up to heaven to be with God. This season continues until Pentecost.
www.natpresch.org/Glossary.shtml

- The day of Jesus Christ's resurrection after renunciation of His body on the cross.
www.sanatan.org/en/glossary/e.htm

- The celebration of Christ’s Resurrection ("rise to life again") from the Dead after being crucified. (BCP pp. 170 – 174, 222 – 225)
www.eca-sj.org/text/terms_and_definitions.htm

- This is the most important Christian festival on the Church calendar. It is the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Easter eggs have become associated with the celebration, symbolising the bursting forth of new, resurrection life from the tomb.The name Easter comes from the pagan, Saxon goddess Eostre whose sacred animal was the rabbit.
www.fitzwimarc.org.uk/glossary/e.htm

- The feast day of the resurrection of Christ, known also as "the Feast of Feasts." It is the greatest Orthodox festival, celebrated the Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring equinox. It is a movable feast and the dates of the other movable feasts of the Orthodox Church are calculated from it.
www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/misc/litsas_dictionary_orthodox_terminology.htm

- The feast of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ; the major feast of the calendar; a movable feast falling on the Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox
www.anu.edu.au/history/medieval/resources/churchglossary/glossarye.htm

- The major festival in the Christian church which celebrates the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
www.geocities.com/brentwoodursuline/dictionary.htm

Happy Easter to one and all!!

Ottawa moves to restrict music sharing with proposed copyright reform

TORONTO (CP) - Those who enjoy swapping music, books and movies online may want to reconsider.

The federal government inched closer Thursday to cracking down on file sharing by announcing several proposed amendments to the Copyright Act. The changes would include implementing elements of two World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties and forcing Internet service providers to keep records of those who share high volumes of copyright-protected material such as songs, Hollywood movies and TV shows.

The amendments would "clarify that the unauthorized posting or the peer-to-peer file-sharing of material on the Internet will constitute an infringement of copyright," say documents released jointly Thursday by Canadian Heritage and Industry Canada.

"It will also be made clear that private copies of sound recordings cannot be uploaded or further distributed."

The reforms, which will be introduced in the House of Commons later this spring, would give the music industry greater power to stop such behaviour through the courts via lawsuits. Currently, it is not illegal in Canada to upload material to programs like Kazaa and BearShare.

"Clearly, once we get implementation there'll be no doubt . . . it'll be illegal to engage in unauthorized file-sharing," said Graham Henderson, who heads the Canadian Recording Industry Association, which represents the country's record labels.

Adding Canada's name to the list of 50 countries already using the WIPO treaties would make it illegal to distribute and trade music online.

It would also become a crime to remove or circumvent copyright protections on CDs.

The amendments also ask that ISPs such as Rogers, Shaw and Bell "play a role in curbing the misuse of their facilities for copyright infringement."

ISPs would have to notify subscribers when illegal activity is detected via their Internet connection. They would also be required, as is the case in the United States and parts of Europe, to keep a log of such warnings in case of a lawsuit - although a court order would be needed to make the names and addresses known to prosecutors.

In pre-committee meetings the copyright amendments were approved by all political parties.

New ways for indie artists to distribute music at stake in file-sharing case

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Recording industry executive Andy Gershon sees opportunity in the online file-sharing networks that most of his rivals decry as havens for music pirates.

As president of V2 Records, home to such established acts as The White Stripes and Moby, Gershon mines such Internet distribution channels for new fans and revenues.

"The cat is so far out of the bag and so far gone that it's pointless to keep fighting it," Gershon said. "I might as well make as many people fans of our music, whether they illegally download it or not."

A number of mostly independent recording artists and labels have experimented with and embraced the freewheeling digital distribution that the Internet affords. And many worry that a victory by major recording companies in a landmark file-sharing case now before the U.S. Supreme Court could short-circuit the very technologies that they believe are making a more level playing field of the music business.

The U.S. high court is to hear arguments next Tuesday on whether the entertainment industry can hold file-sharing software firms Grokster Inc. and StreamCast Networks, which distributes Morpheus, liable for what computer users do with the technology.

Lower courts have sided with the software makers, which argue their so-called peer-to-peer technology is as legitimate as a videocassette recorder or a copy machine.

Several artists'-rights associations, music publishers and well-known musicians, including Don Henley, Sheryl Crow and the Dixie Chicks, are backing the major recording labels, which accuse Grokster and StreamCast of profiting from a business model that depends on piracy.

From 1999 to 2004, the total value of the U.S. recording industry fell $2.4 billion to $12.1 billion US - a decline the industry blames primarily on file-sharing.

But some artists, including Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, see an upside to file-sharing.

"I look at it as a library. I look at it as our version of the radio," Tweedy said. "It's a place where basically we can encourage fans to be fans and not feel like they're being exploited, which is basically what the whole industry is geared to do."

Tweedy encourages fans to tape Wilco shows and has distributed tracks over the Internet for free months before releasing them on CDs.

He agrees artists should be compensated, but "you try to encourage people to feel more like a patron of the arts instead of a consumer."

V2 Records taps file-sharing networks and other Internet distribution means by selling songs and offering free promotional materials like music videos. Though results are difficult to quantify, Gershon credits ads on Web sites and song giveaways with raising the profile of The Blood Brothers.

"The CD sales have stayed steady," said Gershon. "For a band like this, a lot of the steadiness of the sales is based on people being turned on to it online."

Mitch Bainwol, chairman of the Recording Industry Association of America, says artists and labels can be creative with online distribution and promotion but those decisions should not be left up to listeners.

"If you want to give up your property for free as a way of trying to drive other commercial advantages, that is certainly a strategy one can employ," Bainwol said. "But it should be the individual (artist's) choice."

About 20 independent recording artists, including musician and producer Brian Eno, rockers Heart and rapper-activist Chuck D, filed a legal brief with the high court in support of Grokster and StreamCast. They insist file-sharing and related technologies help expose new audiences to their music - outside established channels of the recording labels.

The artists argue that file-sharing "has the immediate potential to develop into a significantly more prevalent alternative distribution and promotion system." But a ruling that outlaws or limits it "will block that potential from ever being fully realized," the brief contends.

Some are concerned about the possibility of requiring file-sharing companies to filter out unauthorized works, a move the major labels consider crucial to legitimizing file-sharing as a distribution system.

"It definitely would greatly reduce the amount of traffic," said Chip Schutzman, head of online marketing at Sovereign Artists Inc.

Santa Monica-based Sovereign has promoted and sold tracks by Heart using the online Weed file-sharing format, in which listeners can hear a song for free several times before having to buy it. Weed files are distributed to Web sites and across file-sharing networks.

For Sananda Maitreya, who also joined the legal brief, online music distribution gives him the freedom he says he lacked when he was signed with a major label in the 1980s under his former name, Terence Trent D'Arby (news). Back then, Maitreya recalled, committees had to sign off on any music released.

"The Beatles could not have faced that criteria and come up with anything other than the most mediocre, conservative music," said Maitreya, who now lives in Italy.

Maitreya and the rap group Fine Arts Militia, featuring Chuck D, have released albums through Weed. Representatives of the groups declined to give specific sales figures.

John Beezer, president of Weed-creator Shared Media Licensing Inc. in Seattle, estimates that fewer than 100,000 tracks have been sold in the 18 months since the software went into use. Beezer said more than 7,000 artists have offered their songs through Weed, and the vast majority aren't signed with recording labels.

But even for unsigned bands, the potential to cheaply target the pool of music fans on file-swapping networks can be tantalizing.

Kevin Martin, vocalist for the 1990s band Candlebox, credits a file-sharing song promotion involving the Yoo-hoo drink brand with generating online interest and some sales for his new LA-based band, Kevin Martin and the Hiawatts.

"We're not doing 10,000 records a week," he said, "but to see yourself go from 15 records to 62, it's pretty exciting."

NBC Announcer Retires After 62 Years

NEW YORK - Through the eras of John Chancellor, Tom Brokaw and now Brian Williams, Howard Reig's voice also was heard when viewers heard they turned on the news.

"This is NBC Nightly News," the clear baritone would say, ushering in headlines from Watergate to terrorism. Now 84, with a career that spans the very life of television itself, Reig retires Friday as NBC's last staff announcer.

A gnomish figure who walks the halls of NBC's Rockefeller Center office with the help of two hearing aids and a pacemaker, he's been working for NBC and its parent General Electric for nearly 62 years.

His role as staff announcer is usually limited to those few key words each day. Sometimes he'd even pretape them.

Former "Nightly News" anchorman Tom Brokaw recalled Reig's nightly opening having a settling effect.

"It would be chaos around here, with things happening all over the place and big news breaking, and I'd hear Howard's voice and know it was time to settle down and go to work," Brokaw said Thursday.

With all his announcing work through the years, Reig is proud to be identified with the "NBC Nightly News."

"I'm a news addict," he said. "I love being associated with the news. I think it is the most important part of our business — unfortunately surrounded by a tremendous amount of garbage."

His career began in 1943 when, as a high school English teacher, he took a summer acting job at the GE-owned radio station WGY in Schenectady, N.Y., and its new sister station WRGB-TV.

"They made me the first GE staff announcer — and the last," he said. (At one time NBC once had several announcers on staff, with duties that ranged from reading commercials to reading the news. Reig's voice will continue to be heard on tape awhile.)

When he started, WRGB-TV didn't have a regular schedule.

"The TV station went on the air whenever we pleased," he said. "Somebody would get on the phone and call the 200 or 300 people who had sets and tell them to turn on their TVs."

Some days he'd arrive at the radio station for his morning music program, then do newscasts until noon, a talk show in the afternoon, and an evening variety show on television.

He subsequently won a national announcing contest, which earned him a job with NBC in New York.

He almost didn't last long. Reig was host of a classical music radio program that aired between midnight and 6 a.m. at WNBC. One night in 1952 he cued an hourlong symphony on the turntable and fell asleep. His engineer also dozed off; so did the person working the transmitter.

For seven minutes, listeners heard the sound of a needle scratching at the end of a record.

"I was sure I was going to get fired," he said.

He was yelled at, but spared.

Not bad for a man born with a heart condition and told by his parents that he'd probably only live to about 10 or 12.

"I consider that I've lived a life of small miracles and some large," he said.

He plans to move to Florida and live with one of his three sons, and dote on five grandchildren.

"You have to face facts," he said. "When you're 84 the end of the road is not that far away and I want to spend as much time as I can with my grandchildren."

NBC's 'Third Watch' Ends Shift

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - It's official -- NBC's "Third Watch" will not be returning for a seventh season.

The network has opted not to bring back the Warner Bros. TV/John Wells Prods. drama about cops, paramedics and firefighters serving the graveyard shift in New York.

Peabody-winning "Third Watch," on hiatus to make room for midseason entry "Law & Order: Trial by Jury," will return with the remainder of its sixth season, ending its run with a series finale.

'Congeniality' Guns for Top Spot

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Warner Bros. Pictures is taking the unusual step of opening the broad comedy "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous" on Thursday, the day before Good Friday.

That move should put the welcomed sequel in the top spot at the boxoffice for the Easter weekend. But Sony Pictures also will be out to lure a wide audience this weekend with its racially themed comedy "Guess Who."

The original "Miss Congeniality," which opened during Christmas 2000, grossed $106 million domestically. The sequel could double the original's opening four-day weekend take of $13 million.

This time around, Sandra Bullock is forced to go undercover in Las Vegas to find pageant host Stan Fields (William Shatner) and Miss United States Cheryl Frazier (Heather Burns). Gone from the sequel is Bullock's original co-star Benjamin Bratt, who is replaced by Regina King as Bullock's ballsy new partner. The film was directed by John Pasquin, whose credits range from Tim Allen's "Joe Somebody" and "The Santa Clause" to the Bullock-produced TV show "George Lopez."

The screenplay is from Marc Lawrence, who in addition to writing a number of Bullock features -- including "Two Weeks Notice" and the original "Miss Congeniality" -- serves as a producer along with Bullock. The PG-13 film will bow in 3,183 theaters Thursday (March 24).

Sony Pictures' "Guess Who" reinvents the iconic 1967 film "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" as a modern-day comedy starring Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher. Flipping the issue of race relations on its head, "Guess Who" stars Mac as a protective father who is horrified when his daughter brings home fiance Kutcher.

Working with a screenplay by Jay Scherick and David Ronn ("National Security," "I Spy") and Peter Tolan ("America's Sweethearts," "Analyze This"), Kevin Rodney Sullivan ("Barbershop 2: Back in Business," "How Stella Got Her Groove Back") directs the two comedic stars.

Mac, who has had significant success on the small screen, has yet to score big as a feature lead. In his most recent time out, in Buena Vista's "Mr. 3000," he failed to bring in much of an audience, with the film generating only $21.8 million after opening to a disappointing $8.6 million.

Kutcher, who is slated to star in several films this year, has had significant success in various genres, including last year's supernatural thriller "The Butterfly Effect," which grossed $57.9 million, and the romantic comedy "Just Married," which grossed $56.1 million.

Industry insiders expect "Guess Who" to open in the $15 million range. It is set to open Friday in 3,147 theaters.

SECRET AGENT GIRLS

In limited release, Samuel Goldwyn Films will open "D.E.B.S." in seven markets with 45 runs. Rated PG-13, the film is based on the short film of the same name by writer-director Angela Robinson. It revolves around four plaid-skirted high school girls who are drafted to be secret agents because of their unique abilities to lie, cheat and fight. The film bowed at last year's Outfest film festival.

IFC this weekend will open Rebecca Miller's drama "The Ballad of Jack and Rose" in New York and Los Angeles. The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, stars Daniel Day-Lewis as a single father raising his teenage daughter, Rose (Camilla Belle), on a secluded island in the Pacific Northwest. Catherine Keener co-stars in the R-rated film.

"Mondovino," from ThinkFilm, is opening Friday in New York. The PG-13 documentary centers on the wine industry and how American capitalism has affected this centuries-old business.

Tartan Films is opening "Oldboy" on Friday in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. From Korean director Chan-wook Park, "Oldboy" was the grand prize winner at the 2004 Festival de Cannes. The thriller centers on a man who, after being kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years, must find his captor in five days.

DualDisc Format Takes Off

Six months after the low-key launch of the CD/DVD hybrid known as DualDisc, major labels are planning a big show of faith in the fledgling format: Two of April's highest-profile releases -- Bruce Springsteen's Devils and Dust and Rob Thomas' solo debut, Something to Be -- will be available only as DualDiscs. The format pairs a standard CD on one side of a disc with a DVD on the flip side that offers video content and, often, a surround-sound mix of the record.

DualDisc versions of the new Nine Inch Nails and Bon Jovi albums are in the works, and a flood of extras-packed reissues -- from AC/DC's Back in Black to David Bowie's Reality -- are already exploiting the format. "In the long term, we definitely see a transition from CD to DualDisc," says Thomas Hesse, president of global digital business for Sony BMG. Sony, which owns Springsteen's label, Columbia Records, formed a consortium last year with the other three major record companies to promote the new discs.

DualDisc's video content echoes the bonus material on movie DVDs. Devils and Dust, for instance, includes arty footage of Springsteen performing his new songs solo, shot by famed rock photographer Danny Clinch. As with regular music DVDs (record labels' fastest-growing sales category), fans can't easily trade the videos online. "DualDisc is certainly part of the process of helping to stop piracy," says Paul Bishow, a vice president of marketing at Universal Music Group, which is releasing the NIN and Bon Jovi records.

The first album to debut on DualDisc, Simple Plan's Still Not Getting Any..., has gone platinum since its release last fall. Recent albums by Omarion, Jennifer Lopez and Judas Priest are available on both DualDisc and standard CD; each has sold at least thirty percent of their total in the new format. "Retailers have been surprised at how big DualDisc sales are," says Best Buy VP Jennifer Schaidler.

But DualDisc prices, which can be one to three dollars more than standard CDs, may be an obstacle to wider acceptance. In part because of additional manufacturing costs (seventy cents more per disc, one executive says), labels charge higher wholesale prices for DualDiscs. "Our feeling is it should be the same price as a CD," says Russ Eisenman, senior vice president of marketing at Tower Records. "But if that extra dollar pays for content that the consumer finds valuable, then it's fine."

Five DualDiscs You Need:

Bruce Springsteen - Devils and Dust

What's cool: Springsteen tells the stories behind powerful new songs like "Long Time Comin'."

Highlight: Bonus footage of an acoustic Springsteen performance shot by photographer Danny Clinch.

AC/DC - Back in Black

What's cool: A spiffed-up mix means "Hells Bells" rings louder than ever. Includes interviews and rare live footage.

Highlight: The Young brothers show how they wrote "You Shook Me All Night Long."

Good Charlotte - The Young and the Hopeless

What's cool: Enhanced sound and a backstage documentary beef up Good Charlotte's snot-nosed 2002 album.

Highlight: The MTV-style doc shows them getting tattoos, going to the zoo and meeting preteen fans.

David Bowie - Reality

What's cool: Bowie's 2003 comeback album is amped up with a 5:1 surround-sound mix and video extras.

Highlight: A surreal short film in which the singer conducts an interview with himself.

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

What's cool: Reznor revisits his 1994 masterpiece with souped-up sound and three music videos.

Highlight: The "Hurt" video, an intense, spooky solo performance from the Downward Spiral tour.

'Next Gen' Stars Visit 'Enterprise' Finale

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Two stars of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" will help bring the four-season voyage of the current "Trek" series, "Enterprise," to an end.

The final two episodes of the show are scheduled for Friday, May 13, and will focus on the forming of the Federation and the role the Enterprise plays in it. "Next Generation" regulars Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis will appear as their characters from that series, William Riker and Deanna Troi.

The network announced in February that this season of "Enterprise" would be its last, resulting in howls of protest from "Trek" fans and a drive to raise enough money to finance another season of the series. Thus far the effort, organized at TrekUnited.com and SaveEnterprise.com, has raised just over $3.1 million, with $3 million of that coming from a trio of deep-pocketed anonymous donors.

The group hopes to raise $32 million, the cost of production for a full 22-episode season.

The final episodes will explore how the United Federation of Planets came to be. The first, which concludes a two-episode arc, finds the Enterprise trying to stop a human isolationist leader (guest star Peter Weller, "RoboCop") who's threatening to destroy Starfleet Command.

The finale will flash ahead six years, as Capt. Archer (Scott Bakula) and his crew return to Earth for the decommissioning of the ship and the signing of the Federation charter. Frakes and Sirtis will appear in a sequence set on the holodeck.

Seinfeld's TV Dad Dies

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Barney Martin, who played Jerry Seinfeld's father Morty on more than 20 episodes of "Seinfeld," died on Monday (March 21) at the age of 82.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Martin suffered from cancer.

An Air Force pilot in World War II, Martin served as a New York policeman before beginning a Broadway career that included such classics as "South Pacific" and the original production of "Chicago." Among Martin's film credits are a memorable part in "The Producers" and the role of Liza Minnelli's father in "Arthur" and its sequel.

Although Phil Bruns originated the part of Morty Seinfeld, Martin took over the character in the show's second season in the episode titled "The Pony Remark" and made regular appearances until the show's 1998 finale.

A regular television guest star throughout the '70s and '80s, Martin cameoed on some of the decades' best, such as "The Odd Couple," "Hill Street Blues," "St. Elsewhere," "Murphy Brown" and "The Wonder Years."

Madchen Amick Has Three Loves

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) "I'm representing the single women out there," says actress Madchen Amick, "dating around, trying to find the right guy who respects you and appreciates you. Maybe I'll settle down somewhere. Gotta keep looking."

Starting Thursday, March 24, Amick begins a five-episode stint on NBC's "Friends" spin-off "Joey" (other announced airdates are April 21 and 28), playing Sarah, the new love interest for Hollywood neophyte Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc).

"It's actually new territory for Joey," Amick says, "because the audience never really saw him engage any one girl. This is the first time you really see him romantically involved and everything that goes with that. It's time for Joey to grow up."

Amick has also been playing the recurring role of social worker Wendall Meade, the latest love interest of Dr. John Carter (Noah Wyle), on NBC's "ER."

And, Amick appeared in the pilot for ABC's "Jake in Progress," playing Kylie, the date of the title character, played by John Stamos. In the original idea, the whole season was to track this single date.

"It didn't work out that way," Amick says. "It's too bad, I thought that was a great idea."

Asked which of these three TV hunks is the best kisser, Amick says, "Hmmm, I didn't get to kiss Noah very often; didn't get to kiss Stamos at all. But I've had a lot of kisses with Matt, so I have to say, it goes to Matt."

In the meantime, Amick is doing what almost every other actor without a steady gig is doing -- auditioning for pilots. She's not thrilled with what she's seeing.

"It seems like the pilots, in general, are written well," she says, "but I didn't see any concepts that were different than anything else. It was very heavy in dramas as well, not that many comedies. But they always follow the trend of what's on right now."

Amick speaks from experience when it comes to TV projects that are out of the ordinary. During the 1990-91 season on ABC, Amick played Shelly Johnson on "Twin Peaks," created by Mark Frost ("Hill Street Blues") and film auteur David Lynch ("Dune," "Blue Velvet," "Mulholland Drive").

"'Twin Peaks' hit big and fast," Amick recalls. "It was one of the first things I had done. I was fresh out of Reno, Nev., innocent and young, came to Hollywood."

Kyle MacLachlan starred as FBI Agent Dale Cooper, who arrives in the bizarre Pacific Northwest hamlet of Twin Peaks to investigate the mysterious death of prom queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee).

Although the show, a late midseason replacement, only aired two seasons (the first was quite brief), it has continued to live on in TV lore and among its devoted fans as one of the strangest, but most original, series to ever air on network television.

"As far as I understand," Amick says, "Lynch never intended it to be more than one season. It was not a good mixture with the network. The network never believed it; never stood behind it. They just wanted to bury it. They put us against 'Cheers' on Thursday night."

While Amick may have worked on more conventional hits since, she says, "Everything hasn't ever really lived up to that. It was such a rare, special thing. It changed television for its time. It introduced me to a world and a creator like David Lynch, which is completely different than everyone and anything else, but completely brilliant at the same time.

"It can work. It can be brilliant, and it can be embraced. It's like he went into Hollywood and said, 'No, no, it can work. I've seen it. It doesn't have to be your average, cookie-cutter, safe thing. It can work.'"

Michael J. Anderson, who made memorable appearances as the backward-talking little person in the "Twin Peaks" series and subsequent movies, now is one of the stars of HBO's Depression-era dark fantasy "Carnivale." While Amick says she doesn't follow that show, she did audition for its Sunday-night timeslot neighbor, the gritty Western "Deadwood."

"When they were casting it," she says, "my representation was trying to get me on it. But they wanted to go very different, very quirky. They didn't want any conventional beauties in it. I'm not a conventional beauty. Visit me when I wake up in the morning -- I'll fit in."

With the show very likely to return for a third season, Amick hasn't given up hope. "I'll be a drifter who blows through town," she says. "I could come in, lighten things up and then saunter off into the sunset."

Weezer Fleshing Out Spring Tour Plans

Weezer has begun confirming North American tour dates around its previously announced April 30 appearance at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., kicking off April 26 in Vancouver. Twelve dates are on tap through May 14 in Atlanta, to be followed by another 12 in Europe and Japan through mid-August.

The group will be out in support of its new album, "Make Believe," due May 10 via Geffen. First single "Beverly Hills" can be streamed from the band's official Web site. The mid-tempo track, with shades of 1994 hit "Say It Ain't So," is already garnering airplay at KROQ Los Angeles, WXRK New York and KNDD Seattle (which has played it more than 20 times since last Friday).

Billboard.com understands that "Make Believe" is still not fully mixed. The set will be the follow-up to 2002's "Maladroit," which debuted at No. 3 on The Billboard 200 and has sold just shy of 580,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Here are Weezer's North American tour dates:

April 26: Vancouver (Commodore Ballroom)
April 27: Seattle (Moore Theatre)
April 29: San Francisco (Warfield)
April 30: Indio, Calif. (Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival)
May 3: Minneapolis (First Avenue)
May 4: Chicago (Aragon Ballroom)
May 5: Detroit (State Theatre)
May 6: Toronto (Kool Haus)
May 8: Boston (Avalon Ballroom)
May 10: Philadelphia (Electric Factory)
May 11-12: New York (Roseland)
May 14: Atlanta (Tabernacle)

Jolie sizzles atop 'FHM' sexiest list

Move over, Britney Spears!

Actress and activist Angelina Jolie, 29, has been voted the sexiest woman in the world by readers of FHM, a men's magazine. Spears, who topped the "100 Sexiest Women" list last year, did not even make the cut for 2005.

FHM editor Scott Gramling blames the Spears snub on her marriage to Kevin Federline. "She was taken off the market. It broke the hearts of men 18 to 35."

Jolie, who was No. 2 last year, "is mysterious, outspoken, outlandish, very smart."

In the biggest comeback, Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher, 40, came in at No. 7; she last appeared at No. 55 in 2001.

Other ranked hotties: tennis star Maria Sharapova (No. 19); rocker Gwen Stefani (No. 30); the Olsen twins (jointly No. 32); Housewives' Eva Longoria (No. 38); and actress Roselyn Sanchez (No. 100).

Here is the complete list

1. Angelina Jolie
2. Jennifer Garner
3. Paris Hilton
4. Charlize Theron
5. Halle Berry
6. Alyssa Milano
7. Teri Hatcher
8. Pamela Anderson
9. Scarlett Johansson
10. Lindsay Lohan
11. Keira Knightly
12. Salma Hayek
13. Cameron Diaz
14. Leeann Tweedon
15. Mariah Carey
16. Jessica Simpson
17. Beyonce Knowles
18. Carmen Electra
19. Maria Sharapova
20. Jennifer Love Hewitt
21. Jessica Biel
22. Jessica Alba
23. Brooke Burke
24. Jenna Jameson
25. Heidi Klum
26. Vida Guerra
27. Christina Aguilera
28. Kristin Kreuk
29. Faith Hill
30. Gwen Stefani
31. Jennifer Lopez
32. The Olsen Twins
33. Shania Twain
34. Beth Ostrocky
35. Many Moore
36. Josie Maran
37. Janet Jackson
38. Eva Longoria
39. Adriana Lima
40. Reese Witherspoon
41. Jennifer Aniston
42. Jamie-Lynn DiScala
43. Tara Reid
44. Maggie Grace
45. Elizabeth Hurley
46. Eliza Dushku
47. Kate Hudson
48. Anna Benson
49. Natalie Portman
50. LeAnn Rimes
51. Penelope Cruz
52. Mischa Barton
53. Eva Mendes
54. Jenny McCarthy
55. Katherine Heigl
56. Lucy Liu
57. Jennie Finch
58. Maggie Gyllenhaal
59. Amanda Righetti
60. Kate Bosworth
61. Estella Warren
62. Anna Kournikova
63. Landi Swanepoel
64. Sarah Michelle Geller
65. Gisele Bundchen
66. Neve Campbell
67. Uma Thurman
68. Catherine Zeta-Jones
69. Nicole Kidman
70. Emaa Bunton
71. Kate Beckinsale
72. Katie Holmes
73. Morgan Webb
74. Heather Graham
75. Evangeline Lilly
76. Shakira
77. Rachel Bilson
78. Kaley Cuoco
79. Amanda Beard
80. Sofia Vergara
81. Ashanti
82. Denise Richards
83. Molly Sims
84. Alessandra Ambrosio
85. Kelly Ripa
86. Mayra Veronica
87. Jamie Pressly
88. Jennifer Connelly
89. Monica Bellucci
90. Kristi Leskinen
91. Logan Tom
92. Kelly Clarkson
93. Jennifer Hanson
94. Courtney Hansen
95. Alicia Keys
96. Brande Roderick
97. Natalie Gulbis
98. Milla Jovovich
99. Rebecca Romijn Stamos
100. Roselyn Sanchez

Singer Whitney Houston Enters Rehab Again

NEW YORK - A year after her first reported stay in rehab, Whitney Houston has again checked into a rehabilitation facility. "Whitney Houston has re-entered a rehabilitation facility today," her publicist, Nancy Seltzer, told The Associated Press Wednesday. She declined to provide details.

The news was first reported by syndicated entertainment TV show "Access Hollywood."

In March 2004, Houston checked herself into an undisclosed rehabilitation center.

After years of denying drug use, the pop diva said she had used cocaine, marijuana and pills in an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC's "Primetime" in 2002.

She has said she was using the power of prayer to help her get over drugs.

In January 2000, Houston left behind a bag at an airport in Hawaii that allegedly held less than half an ounce of marijuana and three partially smoked marijuana cigarettes; a petty misdemeanor drug charge was dismissed when a counselor said Houston didn't need treatment for substance abuse.

Houston, 41, has been working with producer Clive Davis on a comeback album.

The Grammy-winning singer is known for her rendition of "I Will Always Love You" and her role in the 1992 film "The Bodyguard." Houston and R&B singer Bobby Brown have been married since 1992 and have an 12-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina.

Brown has a history of drug and alcohol arrests.

The couple live near Alpharetta, a suburb north of Atlanta.

Costello's 'King' Receives Rhino Revamp

NEW YORK (Billboard) - "King of America," the 1986 album that saw Elvis Costello ditch the Attractions and turn introspective and even rootsy, is the latest of the artist's catalog titles lined up for reissue via Rhino.

Due April 26, the Warner Bros. set is expanded to two discs, the second of which boasts a host of Costello's solo demos, as well as rare Coward Brothers and live recordings.

The set was originally credited to the Costello Show Featuring the Attractions and Confederates, since one song -- "Suit of Lights" -- survived scrapped recordings with Costello's longtime band that were intended to make up half of the album.

The rest of the set features a crack lineup of musicians that includes guitarists T-Bone Burnett and James Burton, drummers Jim Keltner, Mickey Curry, Ron Tutt and Earl Palmer, bassists Ray Brown and Jerry Scheff, keyboardist Mitchell Froom and multi-instrumentalist T-Bone Wolk.

A critical success, "King of America" found mediocre commercial acceptance upon release, reaching No. 39 on The Billboard 200.

Although a cover of the Animals' "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" received the lion's share of rock radio's attention at the time, several songs on the album are top favorites among fans, including "Brilliant Mistake," "Indoor Fireworks," "The Big Light" and "Glitter Gulch."

The new edition's 21-song second disc relies heavily on solo demo recordings to differ it from Rykodisc's 1995 reissue of the title. In addition to several songs that made it through to the original album, there are other notable demos, including "Having It All" and "I Hope You're Happy Now." Only one new live recording not on the Ryko edition appears on the new set, a version of Buddy Holly's "True Love Ways."

While the recordings of "They'll Never Take Her Love From Me" and "The People's Limousine" by the aforementioned Coward Brothers, which consisted of Costello and Burnett, were included on Ryko's version of "King of America," they are still a necessary inclusion relating to this period of Costello's career.

During a Q&A session at last week's South By Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, Costello insisted that reissuing his catalog again is not a ploy to confuse or milk the cash of his diehard fans.

"It is for those who missed it the first time around," he said, not for "those obsessed with having everything."

Start growing those muttonchops again, Hugh Jackman!

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Jackman is confirmed to return as Wolverine in X-Men 3. In talks with Twentieth Century Fox to return as well are franchise stars Halle Berry (Storm), Patrick Stewart (Professor Xavier), and Ian McKellen (Magneto).

This time, they'll be working for a new director. It's relative newbie Matthew Vaughn, the British producer-turned-director who may be better known for being married to supermodel Claudia Schiffer than for his film career.

Vaughn's sole directing credit to date is 2004's Layer Cake, which has yet to be released on this side of the pond; it's a stylish London-set gangster movie in the vein of the ones he produced for Guy Ritchie.

Vaughn also has a deal with Warner Bros. to direct a big-screen version of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., the 1960s TV spy series that starred Robert Vaughn, whom Matthew believed was his father until paternity tests proved otherwise a few years ago.

It's not clear who else from the first two X-Men movies will return.

One actor who probably won't be coming back is James Marsden (Cyclops).

Director Bryan Singer, who left the Fox franchise last summer to direct Warner's upcoming Superman Returns, took Marsden with him.

He'll play Richard White, who'll compete with Clark Kent (Brandon Routh) as a love interest for Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth).

Superman Returns began shooting this week and will continue through August, while X-Men 3 is due to shoot in July. It has a scheduled release date of May 26, 2006.

Harry Situation

In court affidavits filed last week, a Teton County prosecutor swore that Kelly Frank confessed to the FBI that he had plotted to kidnap David Letterman's toddler Harry from the Late Show host's Montana ranch. Nonetheless, the Associated Press reports, Frank pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to felony charges surrounding the alleged plot to kidnap 16-month-old Harry and his nanny and ransom them for $5 million. He was ordered to remain jailed pending bail of $600,000, with his next court date scheduled for April 5.

Frank, who's on probation for a felony conviction for intimidating a woman, was fingered by erstwhile friend and coworker Robert Gondeiro and arrested last Monday. Gondeiro told investigators that Frank, a handyman and painter who had worked at the Letterman ranch, tried to enlist him in the kidnap plot. Frank was charged with felony solicitation, felony theft (authorities said he confessed to overcharging Letterman between $1,000 and $1,500), and misdemeanor obstruction (for his initial denial to investigators).

Frank's attorney, Jim Hunt, acknowledged to AP that his client had discussed the kidnap scheme, ''but with no purpose of carrying it out.'' He called the discussion a ''lighthearted conversation.'' His explanation echoed that of Frank's fiancée, Laurie Johnson, who told reporters over the weekend that Frank's remarks had been taken out of context, and that Gondeiro turned him in because of a grudge he'd been carrying against Frank ever since a squabble they'd had at work.

Letterman, who'd issued a statement of gratitude to the police and FBI investigators on Friday, spoke for the first time about the plot on Monday's Late Show, his first broadcast since reports of Frank's arrest surfaced last Thursday.

''Last week, my family and I were involved in a little legal activity, and fortunately everything turned out fine, but I want to just take a second here to thank some people,'' Letterman told his audience. He specifically thanked four of the lawmen involved, as well as "the great people of Choteau, Montana.'' Curiously unmentioned was Gondeiro.

Canadian Idol runner-up Sokyrka to release debut CD next month

TORONTO (CP) - Canadian Idol runner-up Theresa Sokyrka is set to release her first album next month.

Sokyrka, the bespectacled Saskatoon songstress who placed second to Idol champ Kalan Porter, has signed a distribution deal with MapleNationWide to get her indie release in stores for April 26.

The CD, entitled These Old Charms, will include folk songs, jazz standards and some original compositions.

As runner-up Sokyrka has struggled to find an outlet for her music while Porter's win gave him an automatic record contract with powerhouse label BMG, which recently merged with Sony Music.

Sokyrka's new deal is hardly lucrative. She'll be on the hook for advertising and promotion.

Sokyrka is currently touring Ontario, where she remains low key.

Sadly, she remains very, very over-exposed in her home province.

Sideways co-star Thomas Haden Church squares off against Spidey

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Filmmakers have unveiled Spider-Man's newest nemesis, who will be played by Thomas Haden Church. Just which villain he'll play remains a mystery, though.

Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios, which announced Church as the bad guy for Spider-Man 3 on Tuesday, were keeping mum on the actual character he will bring to life from the many enemies the superhero has fought in the comic-book series.

With Tobey Maguire returning as the hero and Kirsten Dunst back as girl-next-door Mary Jane Watson, Spider-Man 3 begins filming early next year and is due in theatres May 4, 2007.

Church follows Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin in Spider-Man and Alfred Molina as Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2.

"In addition to the ongoing relationship between Peter Parker and M.J., these films are driven by the great actors who have brought our villains to life," said Sam Raimi, director of the Spider-Man flicks. "Thomas Haden Church will be a fantastic and challenging new nemesis."

A co-star in the 1990s sit-com Wings, Church earned a supporting-actor Academy Award nomination for his role as a randy bachelor on a last fling in the road-trip tale Sideways.

Blake Says He Has Clear Conscience

LOS ANGELES - Actor Robert Blake says he has a clear conscience after his acquittal on charges he killed his wife, but he also has an empty bank account and owes a fortune in taxes.

Blake's remarks, scheduled to air Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America," were from his first television interview since the acquittal. Portions of the interview also aired Tuesday.

Blake told interviewer Barbara Walters the public still is debating his guilt or innocence.

"People right now either love me or hate me," he said. "The other day I went to the farmer's market, and everybody was hugging me and stuff, but there were people on the outside saying, 'Murderer.'"

"Is your conscience clear?" Walters asked.

"Of course it's clear," Blake replied.

Asked about a wrongful death lawsuit filed against him by children of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, Blake said that "they're going to have to stand in a long line" to collect any money.

"Right now, I'm worth a million dollars, and I owe Uncle Sam a million-and-a-half dollars, and I made a deal with him," he said. "I said, 'Uncle Sam, I'm going to pay you 25 grand a month.'"

The ex-"Baretta" TV star is scheduled to give a videotaped deposition in the lawsuit April 5. The trial is scheduled to begin July 7.

Bakley was shot twice as she sat in the couple's car in 2001 outside a restaurant where they had just dined. Blake contended that he had gone back inside to retrieve a gun he carried for protection and that some unknown assailant killed his wife in the few minutes he was away.

Bakley was the mother of Blake's young daughter. She had been married several times, had a criminal record for mail fraud and reportedly made a living scamming men out of money with nude pictures of herself and promises of sex.

In part of the interview that aired Tuesday, Blake said he did not know who killed his wife but suggested it could have been "somebody whose father was taken for a ride or something like that."

"She made a lot of enemies," he said.

Jurors acquitted Blake of first-degree murder and one count of solicitation of murder. A judge dismissed a second solicitation charge after jurors deadlocked.

Blake had previously appeared in a separate interview with Walters before his acquittal, claiming he had reason to live for his daughter, Rosie, who is currently in the custody of Blake's adult daughter.

"It's all about Rosie. It's always been about Rosie," Blake said in that interview. "The greatest gift in the world, and I'm going to try to mess it up by being selfish?"

'Ring' Earns $36 Million to Win Box Office

LOS ANGELES - Naomi Watts ran rings around the competition as her horror sequel "The Ring 2" took in $36 million to debut as the top weekend movie.

The movie's take was more than double the $15 million that the original surprise horror hit grossed at its 2002 opening.

"Robots," the previous weekend's No. 1 movie, slipped to second place with $21.8 million, lifting its 10-day total to $66.9 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Disney's family hit "The Pacifier" held up well in third place with $12.5 million, pushing its three-week total to $72.3 million.

But with those two child-friendly flicks remaining strong draws, Disney's new family movie "Ice Princess" had a tough time finding a toehold. "Ice Princess," starring Michelle Trachtenberg as a science geek who abandons the physics classroom to pursue a new dream as a figure skater, premiered at No. 4 with $7 million.

Trailers for "Ice Princess" ran before "The Pacifier," so audiences who caught that movie may be encouraged to see "Ice Princess" during spring break or over the Easter holiday, said Chuck Viane, Disney head of distribution.

"It's a double-edged sword. It helps you and it hurts you a little," Viane said.

For thrill seekers, "The Ring 2," offers Watts returning to her role as a journalist and single mom trying to save herself and her son from the curse of a killer videotape, whose viewers die horrible deaths within a week.

The original, based on a Japanese hit, became a word-of-mouth surprise success, holding strong as it steadily climbed to a $129 million total domestic gross. The sequel is expected to mirror the pattern of other horror hits, which open big, but take steep drops.

"Sequels just don't play the same way. You have to expect a good drop," said Jim Tharp, head of distribution for DreamWorks, which released both "Ring" flicks. "Obviously, we would hope to get that $100 million club, but we don't do any of those projections this early in the game."

Woody Allen's "Melinda and Melinda" — which stars Radha Mitchell in dual roles in a comic and tragic retelling of the same story — opened strongly with $74,048 on three screens at one New York City theater.

The film, which co-stars Will Ferrell, Chloe Sevigny and Amanda Peet, gradually expands into nationwide release through April 8.

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 Ring 2," $36 million.
2. "Robots," $21.8 million.
3. "The Pacifier," $12.5 million.
4. "Ice Princess," $7 million.
5. "Hitch," $6.6 million.
6. "Be Cool," $5.8 million.
7. "Hostage," $5.797 million.
8. "Million Dollar Baby," $4.1 million.
9. "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," $3.5 million.
10. "Constantine," $2.3 million.

'King Kong' Crew Marks End of Filming

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Peter Jackson was one of those monkeying around during a party for the film crew remaking the classic movie "King Kong."

The remake of the 1933 classic by New Zealander Jackson, who directed the fantasy trilogy "Lord of the Rings," was likely to go into post-production within a couple of weeks, publicist Melissa Booth said Monday.

The weekend crew party on a back lot set built to replicate 1930s New York "was essentially our wrap party," she told The Associated Press. Everyone involved in the movie — from Hollywood stars to construction staff — was invited.

The party was "just like a proper carnival" with giant fairy tale characters wandering the streets and a Ferris wheel and merry-go-round for children, partygoers said.

A never-ending supply of bananas was on hand as a tribute to the giant primate.

Filming of the $145 million remake, funded by Universal Pictures, began Sept. 6. The movie is due for release in December.

The cast includes Australian actor Naomi Watts, who plays damsel in distress Ann Darrow; Oscar winner Adrien Brody, the movie's romantic hero Jack Driscoll; and offbeat comedy actor Jack Black, who plays raconteur and filmmaker Carl Denham.

Steve Carell Braves His 'Office' Job

LOS ANGELES - "Nothing to me feels as good as laughing incredibly hard," says Steve Carell of NBC's new mockumentary series "The Office." "If a movie or a TV show or a book makes you laugh until you cry, you just feel better."

A lot of folks did just that with the original BBC version of "The Office," created by and starring Ricky Gervais as lacking-all-social-graces David Brent, manager of a paper supply company.

Now it's up to Carell to get audiences doubling-up with similar glee watching NBC's adaptation of the Golden Globe-winning import, which premieres 9:30 p.m. EST Thursday.

Best known as the news correspondent on "The Daily Show," the anchorman in "Bruce Almighty," and the weather guy in "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," Carell plays Michael Scott in "The Office," a cringe-inducing boss, adept at little except the inappropriate.

"Steve's brave. It really has a lot to do with courage," says co-executive producer Greg Daniels. "It's big shoes to fill."

Daniels says they picked Carell for the lead role because, "He's very likable. He's got a goofy side to him and so it doesn't come out that he (Scott) is trying to be hurtful. It comes out like he's unintentionally being hurtful, which is the joke."

Carell had not seen the original series and before auditioning, he watched only a bit of the pilot episode "to get a taste of the tone." From everything he'd heard, Gervais created "an iconic character," so "I thought the best way for me to approach it would be with a clean slate."

He briefly met Gervais and original co-creator Stephen Merchant, who have co-producer credit on the American version. They didn't set any guidelines; they merely provided encouragement. "It was kind of like they were just giving us a toy to play with, to do whatever we wanted with," Carell says.

He says Scott is "well meaning, but generally all those good intentions go awry. He has a social blind spot. He doesn't know when to stop himself from saying something. He doesn't understand when he is being offensive. He doesn't understand how people truly perceive him."

Both Carell and Daniels believe the concept of the half-hour show, which is shot single-camera without an audience, has universal appeal, so they haven't tried to reproduce the original series, just catch its essence.

"I think the spirit of the British show is that the reality of office life is that it can be like a prison. You don't get to choose who you are sitting next to, so you have to deal with characters that are irritating, and that's within everybody's experience," says Daniels.

"I think it's a little more real than people might be expecting," notes Carell. "NBC has allowed us to leave in those uncomfortable pauses that I think are so important ... it has to be awkward, kind of nails-on-a-chalkboard at times."

Carell, 41, grew up in Concord, Mass. His first comic forays were to try to make "my older brothers' girlfriends laugh by doing something odd ... like dressing up as an alien for no apparent reason and coming down to dinner."

His first paying job was at Chicago's Second City comedy troupe, where he honed his improv skills and met his wife, actress Nancy Walls.

In the upcoming movie "Bewitched," he's practical joker Uncle Arthur, a character etched in the original TV series by Paul Lynde. In the planned film version of another classic TV series, "Get Smart," he'll also step into the shoes of a well-known character — inept spy Maxwell Smart, first played by Don Adams.

Carell never deliberately sought to play TV journalist roles or characters nailed by other actors.

"It's not a master plan to do every remake and every recreation of icons," he says. "It's just what I've been hired to do."

UK Courts Crack Down On File Sharing

The UK courts are cracking down on illegal online file sharing and ordering ISPs to give names and addresses of sharers.

The names and addresses of 31 accused people will be given to The British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The BPI will then write to the individuals and offer them a a chance to settle before taking them to court.

According to a CNET article, the ISPs involved in the case now have 14 days to provide the names sought by the BPI. The individuals named will then be invited to settle the charges, probably by paying a fine of around $3,820 (2,000 pounds).

The BPI hopes that the amount of publicity generated by last week's court success will deter Internet users from uploading copyright material to file-swapping networks.

"We're reluctant to say, 'OK, the job's done. Let's spend money on making records,'" the BPI spokesman said. "I suspect that the problem won't go away just because we've launched two rounds of litigation."

'Lost' Team Discusses Upcoming Death and Mysteries

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Saturday (March 12) night's "Lost" lovefest at the William S. Paley Television Festival ended a little after 9 p.m. and no sooner were the closing words out of the moderator's mouth when an audible "Whoosh" could be heard in Director's Guild of America Theatre. Fans, some of whom had arrived at 6:30 in the morning to queue up for the event, surged the stage, lunging by exiting patrons to get close to their favorite cast members and creative talent.

As this pent-up enthusiasm -- to say nothing of boffo ratings, overflowing Internet boards and boundless critical adoration -- suggests, "Lost" has, in short order, become a genuine obsession for those who follow its every unsolved mystery. So serious was the crowd on Saturday that much of the conversation was fueled by issues of life and death, particularly for one "Lost" character. While co-creator J.J. Abrams has made it clear that one member of the show's core ensemble won't make it through May sweeps, getting more information out of him might take the kind of interrogation skills that Naveen Andrews' Sayid picked up in the Republican Guard.

Abrams would only say that the character's death hit him hard.

"I wasn't really surprised that the death of this character was as hard in real life as it was on the show," Abrams said.

Showrunner Carlton Cuse added, "We felt that on a story level, we needed to retain the life-and-death stakes," noting, somewhat humorously, that with a bursting-at-the-seams cast of series regulars, ABC wouldn't have minded some additional casualties during the season.

None of the "Lost" producers would elaborate on which character would die, how they would die or even when the episode would air. The only hint on the latter point was Abrams' admission that he'd seen at least a rough cut of the big episode, suggesting that the episode will come before the yet-to-be-completed two-part finale which will air as a standard episode and then as a 90-minute conclusion. The eight cast members in attendance were able to kid about the upcoming death, with Jorge Garcia acknowledging that his own mother was less interested in Hurley's fate than in one particular fan favorite.

"I said 'I one of us is gonna die this year,' and she said, 'Not Sawyer,'" Garcia said, a joke that earned both laugher and nods of agreement from more than a few of the session's female attendees.

For Abrams, one of the evening's major themes was passing along credit for the show's breakout success. In absentia, former ABC bigwig Lloyd Braun, co-creator Damon Lindelof and frequent director Jack Bender got shout-outs. Abrams also frequently toasted the actors and at various points asked casting director April Webster, composer Michael Giacchino and a motley crew of writers to stand up in the crowd to receive applause.

Abrams also made sure to show love to the "Lost" fans, a choice that he may have made even if some of the more passionate followers didn't seem just a bit rabid.

"The thing about the fans of 'Lost' is that they're so smart and so aware," he said, adding, "We can't believe that people get the connections they get, whether they're there or not."

Although Abrams laughed (appropriately) at a question about when frequent "Alias" plot device Rimbaldi would become a factor on "Lost," he admitted that the show's staff is very conscious of viewer response on sites including "The Fuselage." Thankfully Abrams dismissed the popularly held theory that the castaways are stranded in Purgatory, though he claimed to like the idea.

"I'm so grateful and beholden to the fans and to not listen to them would be moronic," Abrams said, fueling many a webmaster ego.

It was a spirited session, characterized by cast banter and collegial teasing. Toward the end, the performers were asked to give their own suggestions for upcoming plot lines.

"I think Sawyer should throw a party," suggested Josh Holloway. "He's got all these goods."

Making another reference to "Alias," Harold Perrineau suggested, "I hope we find out Michael works for SD-6."

For his part, Dominic Monaghan said that he'd pitched an episode that concluded with burnt-out rocker Charlie sipping tea with the island's previously unseen monster.

"I just feel like Season Six we're gonna flash back to, 'Hey, remember that crash we were all in'" cracked Garcia.

Nobody, though, knows where things will really go. Even Abrams says as much.

"I would be an absolute liar if I said every single thing was planned out from the beginning."

'The Lone Gunmen' Return to Life

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Yes, they're dead -- or at least as dead as anyone in "X-Files" creator Chris Carter's universe -- but the conspiracy-hunting, computer-geek trio known as the Lone Gunmen is back on America's TV screens, for the price of a DVD box set, that is.

On Tuesday, March 29, 2005, a little more than four years after it premiered on FOX, "The Lone Gunmen," the short-lived "X-Files" spin-off, comes out in a three-disc (using double-sided discs) DVD box set from Fox Home Entertainment.

Along with all 13 original episodes -- plus "Jump the Shark," a season-nine "X-Files" episode that concludes the Gunmen's plotline -- the set features commentaries, a "Making Of" documentary and TV spots.

Created by the writing team of Glen Morgan and James Wong for a first-season "X" episode called "E.B.E," the Gunmen are Richard "Ringo" Langly (Dean Haglund), Melvin Frohike (Tom Braidwood) and John Fitzgerald Byers (Bruce Harwood).

According to "X" lore, they were inspired by the sort of technically savvy but socially inept conspiracy theorists that sometimes frequent UFO conventions, and were introduced as the go-to info buddies of FBI Agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny).

On March 4, 2001, during season eight of "The X-Files," the three spun off in a seriocomic series of their own, created by "X" producers Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz, Vince Gilligan and John Shiban, and co-starring Zuleikha Robinson ("Hidalgo") and Stephen Snedden ("Coyote Ugly").

Despite the concern of some fans, the pilot of "The Lone Gunmen" is indeed part of the boxed set. This would seem like a no-brainer, until you realize that the central conspiracy in the episode involved the high-tech electronic hijacking of a commercial airliner with the intent of crashing it into the World Trade Center.

Although the episode was conceived and shot in 2000, and aired six months before the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, the eerie coincidence sent shock waves through cast and producers.

"I'll never forget that," says Spotnitz, calling in from the set of the pilot for his remake of "Kolchak: The Night Stalker." "That was such a disturbing thing. It was very upsetting. As I say in the DVD featurette, you write something like that, and you assume that if you can think of it, being a Hollywood writer, then somebody in the government has thought about it already.

"Obviously, that wasn't the case. Just the idea that a plane could fly into a building, and the building would be unprotected was just ... anyway, it was upsetting."

Although their scenario involved using sophisticated electronics to remotely control the plane and had nothing to do with suicidal terrorists, Spotnitz had some long moments on the fateful September morning.

"I was directing an episode of 'The X-Files' when that happened," he recalls, "so I woke up a little late because we'd been shooting the night before. It was the first thing I saw on TV, one of the Trade Towers burning. The first thing that went through my head was, 'Oh my God, I hope this doesn't have anything to do with what we did, that it wasn't somehow inspired by anything we did.'

"Nobody knew who had done it or that had happened, but we knew it was an airplane. It became obvious that it didn't have any connection to what we did."

Haglund, a frequent guest at sci-fi conventions, had noted a brisk business in "Gunmen" bootlegs over the years. He attributes some of that to the pilot.

"Once the pilot and the 9/11 thing came together," Haglund says, "all the conspiracy theorists started passing around that pilot at conventions and UFO conventions and started propelling that forward. These guys are all asking questions about, 'How much did we know?', 'Who wrote the script?', that kind of thing.

"Other than small, middling details, what's odd about that 'Gunmen' pilot is the larger details they got right. I assume somebody will look through the rest of the episodes and see what other details may be right. I can assure you, I don't think there is a legion of super-smart military chimps out there."

While it's unlikely "The Lone Gunmen" series will return -- and the characters would have to somehow be resurrected to be in any future "X" movie -- Spotnitz hopes that DVD sales, if brisk, could have a positive impact in the future.

"It could have a very healthy effect on the whole thing," he says, "because network executives might have to think twice before they rush to cancel something. We didn't know until the very end whether or not they were going to cancel the show, because the numbers were actually OK. What they ultimately said is they wanted to try something else and see if they could do better."

Asked what eventually replaced "The Lone Gunmen" on Friday at 9 p.m. ET on FOX, Spotnitz says, "I believe it was 'Pasadena.'"

For the record, FOX axed that show even faster than "The Lone Gunmen."

"It's heartbreaking," Spotnitz says, "when you're the guy that got canceled. They rolled the dice, and sometimes it works, most times it doesn't."

For those who want the straight skinny on the fate of the "Gunmen," Haglund says, "I'm actually drawing a comic book, autobiographical, about why 'The Lone Gunmen' was canceled."

DMB Takes A 'Stand' On New Album

Dave Matthews Band has christened its new album "Stand Up," which will be released May 10 via RCA. First single "American Baby" will premiere at midnight tomorrow (March 15) exclusively via AOL Music's First Listen initiative. "Stand Up" was previewed for a select crowd last night in DMB's Charlottesville, Va., home base.

The album is the follow-up to 2002's "Busted Stuff," which debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 1.9 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

DMB has given fans a peak into the sessions via video clips on a dedicated new album Web site. The latest posting shows the band working through an up-tempo new song with an acoustic guitar lead in the vein of the early hit "Satellite."

"This is one of the best experiences ever we've had in the studio," bassist
Stefan Lessard says. "Things happened so organically and I think we've really captured the essence of what makes us gel so well as a band."

Although a track list has not yet been confirmed, among the songs expected to make the final cut are the vocal harmony-laden "Dream Girl," "Stolen Away," "Smooth Ride," "Hello Again," "Joy Ride," "Die Trying" and "Old Dirt Road."

As previously reported, DMB will embark on its annual summer tour beginning June 1 in Maryland Heights, Mo. The first Australian dates of the group's career begin March 21 in Melbourne.

With Oscars over, another race is on

The awards season may have ended for last year's films, but now the Oscar nominees and winners are seeking new accolades: winning sales on DVD.

First to cash in on its Oscar win is best animated picture The Incredibles, out Tuesday. It's an early favorite to be top-selling DVD of the year. "I wouldn't be surprised if we are looking at 18 million to 20 million units" for The Incredibles, says Ralph Tribbey, editor of The DVD Release Report.

That would put The Incredibles in rare company, approaching sales of the two best-selling DVDs of all time: Disney/Pixar's Finding Nemo and DreamWorks' Shrek 2, both of which have sold more than 21 million DVDs.

The Incredibles has topped the best-selling-DVD list at online retailer Amazon.com (which allows customers to order DVDs before their release date) since Feb. 28, the day after the Oscars, the company's Jeff Somers says.

DVD sales "are clearly rolling off of a fantastic theatrical run and the Oscars," Somers says.

Though Disney and Pixar are expecting superheroic sales, other studios are waiting to find out whether DVD releases will pique interest in their movies, which found limited success in theaters.

Combined, 2004's best-picture nominees — winner Million Dollar Baby, The Aviator, Ray, Sideways and Finding Neverland— have brought in $365 million, $12 million short of the box-office take for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King alone. Return of the King was last year's best-picture winner.

None of those films, nor such movies as Closer, Being Julia, Vera Drake and Hotel Rwanda, which were up for other Oscars, had the epic feel of Return of the King, although The Aviator cut a wide swath. The smaller scope of the films actually might make them a better fit for home video.

That should prove true, Tribbey says, "certainly for (best-foreign-film winner) The Sea Inside, which has taken in less than $1 million in its domestic box-office run. Million Dollar Baby, Sideways and Finding Neverland all have a legitimate shot at scoring bigger DVD numbers than they have in the theatrical venue."

Video rental leader Blockbuster is anticipating enthusiastic interest in Oscar-related releases. "People are looking forward to watching these films in their homes," says Jerianne Thomas, director of brand public relations.

Since the Academy Awards, Amazon.com has been tracking demand for Oscar winners:

• Pre-orders for Finding Neverland, due March 22, helped the DVD jump to the top 10 from No. 83 on the chart.

•Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, already in stores, went from No. 30 to No. 14 after the Oscars.

• Hotel Rwanda, which is due April 12, went from No. 299 into the top 100.

Best-actress nominee Imelda Staunton is happy if the nominations (director, original screenplay) help Vera Drake reach more viewers, whether on DVD or in theaters.

"Our film, and other films like Maria Full of Grace, The Sea Inside and Hotel Rwanda, are not mainstream, but we have been put in the Hollywood arena," she says. The awards attention "does our films a lot of good."

'The Incredibles' unleashes the extras

Being home alone with The Incredibles' baby Jack-Jack was once meant to be in the film, but the scene didn't make the final cut.

Director Brad Bird lets DVD viewers see what babysitter Kari faces when Jack-Jack's superpowers are revealed while the rest of the family is off battling Syndrome.

The 4-minute, 40-second Jack-Jack Attack is just one of the extras on The Incredibles DVD out today ($30, Buena Vista). There's also:

• The Oscar-nominated short Boundin', which played in theaters with the movie.

• An alternate opening with the Parrs, Bob (Mr. Incredible) and Helen (Elastigirl), at a neighborhood barbecue. It's shown in storyboard form with Bird and story supervisor Mark Andrews commenting. During the cookout, Helen takes offense at someone who downplays her homemaker role. Like the film's work-vs.-family themes, this resonated for Bird and his wife, Elizabeth, who worked in the film industry. They decided that she should stay home with their three sons if he could support them. "She started finding that people were treating her differently because she was no longer part of the professional world," Bird says.

• An animated behind-the-scenes documentary.

Craig T. Nelson, who voices Mr. Incredible, says he was told that there wouldn't be a sequel, but Bird is keeping an open mind.

"I have a lot of bits that I would love to see with these characters," says Bird, who is taking a break before his next film. "If I can ... come up with an idea worth exploring and get the original team reassembled, I would like to" do a sequel.

NEW CD RELEASES FOR MARCH 15, 2005

Akron/Family Akron/Family (three CDs; produced by Michael Gira of Swans) (Young God)

Angels of Light Sing Other People (Young God)

Keren Ann Nolita (Metro Blue/Blue Note)

The Avila Brothers (producers for Usher, Toni Braxton and Earth, Wind & Fire) The Mood: Soundsational (Thump)

Baby Bash Super Saucey (Universal Motown)

The Bad Plus Blunt Object: Live in Tokyo (w/covers of Queen's "We Are the Champions" and Blondie's "Heart of Glass") (Columbia)

Ron E. Beck Soul Cry (Thump)

Benevento/Russo Duo Best Reason to Buy the Sun (Ropeadope)

Tab Benoit Fever for the Bayou (guest Cyril Neville) (Telarc)

Biirdie Morning Kills the Dark (Pop Up)

The Blind Boys of Alabama Atom Bomb (Real World)

Blood or Whiskey Cashed Out on Culture (guest Cait O'Riordan of the Pogues) (Punkcore)

Bottom you'rNext (Small Stone)

John Butler Trio Sunrise Over Sea (Atlantic)

Celtic Fiddle Festival Play On (Green Linnet)

Chipz da General Next Up (Renegade)

James Combs Nice Dream If You Can Get It (Disingenious)

Coughs Fright Makes Right (Load)

Daft Punk Human After All (Virgin)

Matt Darey Point Zero (enhanced CD) (Varèse Sarabande)

Dash Rip Rock Re-Cyclone (retrospective) (Alternative Tentacles)

Devin Davis Lonely People of the World, Unite! (Mousse)

Dr. Dog Easy Beat (National Parking)

Wilhelmenia Fernandez Sings George Gershwin (Milan)

Curtis Fuller Keep It Simple (Savant)

Al Green Everything's OK (Blue Note)

Mary Haskell Inspired Standards - Good for the Soul (w/cover of Dolly Parton's "Try") (Insight)

Holy Shroud Ghost Repeaters (Level-Plane)

Hope 7 Hope 7 (Trauma)

Kaiser Chiefs Employment (Universal Motown)

The Konks The Konks (Bomp)

Miranda Lambert Kerosene (Epic)

Nguyen Le Walking on the Tiger's Tail (HighNote)

Charles Lloyd Jumping the Creek (ECM)

Long-View Mercury (Columbia)

Los Lobos Live at the Fillmore (w/limited edition bonus CD) (Hollywood)

Curtis Mayfield Mayfield: Remixed - The Collection (Rhino)

Marian McPartland & Friends 85 Candles: Live in New York (two CDs) (Concord)

Ted Nash La Espada de la Noche (Palmetto)

New Monsoon Live at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival (SCI Fidelity)

Jim Payne Energie (Savant)

The Peoples The Peoples (Ninthwave)

Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals singer) Yr Atal Genhedlaeth (limited special edition also available) (Sanctuary)

Sex Museum Directo (Locomotive)

Joanne Shenandoah Skywoman (Silver Wave)

Snoop Dogg Maximum (audio biography) (Chrome Dreams)

The Soundtrack of Our Lives Origins, Vol. 1 (Universal Motown)

Steely Dan Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz (recent appearance on NPR radio show featuring interview and live performance by Becker and Fagen) (Concord)

Paul Taylor Nightlife (Peak/Concord)

Tierra Santa Apocalipsis (Locomotive)

Trivium Ascendancy (Roadrunner)

U2 Collectors Box (three CDs; interviews and audio biographies w/booklet, posters and more) (Chrome Dreams)

Ultralyd Chromosome Gun (Load)

Urban Knights VI (Narada Jazz)

Brooke Valentine Chain Letter (Virgin)

Velvet Revolver Maximum (audio biography) (Chrome Dreams)

Webb Wilder & the Nashvegans About Time (first album in eight years; guest members of Bob Dylan's band and Los Straitjackets) (Landslide)

Patrick Wolf Wind in the Wires (Tomlab)

K. Young Learn How to Love (CD/DVD combo) (Bungalo)

VA DJ Afrowax Presents: eVolution (VI Music)

VA Drum Nation 2 (w/Terry Bozzio, Dennis Chambers, Josh Freese, Clyde Stubblefield and more) (Magna Carta)

VA NOW 18 (Epic)

VA Soldiers of the 213 (enhanced CD) (Thump)

VA Subdivisions (tribute to Rush w/performances by Skid Row's Sebastian Bach, Daniel J., Kip Winger and more) (Magna Carta)

OST Constantine (Keanu Reeves film based on DC Comics character; score by Brian Tyler) (Varèse Sarabande)

OST NASCAR in 3D: The IMAX Experience (w/Sheryl Crow, Collective Soul, P.O.D. and more) (Shout! Factory)

OST Robots (animated film; score by John Powell) (Varèse Sarabande)

OST Stubbs the Zombie (video game soundtrack; exclusive covers of ’50s-era songs by Flaming Lips, Death Cab for Cutie, The Walkmen, The Raveonettes, Cake and more) (Aspyr Media)

DVD Asleep at the Wheel Live at Billy Bob's (Image)

DVD Collin Raye Live at Billy Bob's (Image)

DVD Diane Reeves Live in Montreal (Image)

DVD Sex Museum Fly By Night (2003 concert w/covers of Deep Purple, the Who and AC/DC; bonus features include interviews, backstage footage and more) (Locomotive)

DVD VA Magic Moments: The Best of ’50s Pop (PBS special from 2004 featuring Patti Page, the Four Lads, the McGuire Sisters and more) (Shout! Factory)

U2, Pretenders Among Rock Hall Inductees

NEW YORK - When he's not haggling with politicians over Third World debt, U2's Bono can sing a pretty mean rock 'n' roll song. His band, U2, joins the Pretenders, the O'Jays, Percy Sledge and Buddy Guy as inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday.

The Irish quartet, which is quickly selling out arenas for a fall concert tour, is one of those rare acts still at the forefront of the music scene at the time of its induction.

Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. won a best rock performance Grammy last month for "Vertigo." U2 has kept creatively restless since forming as Dublin teenagers, starting with rock anthems like "Sunday Bloody Sunday," exploring American roots music, performing introspective ballads like "One" and reaching the top with "Beautiful Day."

Needing at least 25 years as recording artists to be eligible, U2 was voted in to the rock hall in its first year on the ballot.

Known for his free-form induction speeches for others, Bono will have the tables turned on him by Bruce Springsteen, whom he inducted in 1999. That year, Bono recalled how Springsteen never embarrassed himself: "No bad hair period, even in the '80s."

The Pretenders came from the same rock generation as U2. Ohio native Hynde was a tough but tender role model for women, singing "Brass in Pocket," "Precious" and "Back on the Chain Gang."

The band formed after Hynde moved to London to be a part of its fertile music scene. She's soldiered on, with drummer Martin Chambers, after guitarists James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon died as drug casualties.

Also from Ohio, the O'Jays are best know for their work with Philly soul producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. "Back Stabbers" was a big hit in 1972, with "Love Train" and "For the Love of Money" as other well-known songs.

Original members Eddie Levert and Walt Williams are still active, and they'll be inducted with the late William Powell, retiree Bobby Massey and Sammy Strain.

If nothing else, Sledge's voice has been the backdrop to countless romantic encounters. The Southern soul singer is best known for "When a Man Loves a Woman."

Guy dominated the Chicago blues guitar scene, and he'll be ushered into the hall by some pretty decent guitar players themselves — Eric Clapton and B.B. King.

Highlights of the induction ceremony, held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, will be televised 9 p.m. Saturday on VH1.

Frank Barsalona, credited with creating the first big rock 'n' roll booking agency, and Sire Records founder Seymour Stein, were going into the nonperformer category.

Musicians, industry professionals and journalists vote on the inductees. Hall of fame members are permanently enshrined in Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas Readies Solo Tour

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Matchbox 20 lead singer Rob Thomas will promote his upcoming Atlantic solo debut, "...Something To Be," with an 11-date club tour next month.

The trek will begin April 15 in San Francisco and wrap April 30 in Washington, D.C.

"...Something To Be" is due April 19. First single "Lonely No More" is No. 3 on Billboard's Adult Top 40 chart this week, as well as No. 14 on the Top 40 Mainstream tally and No. 18 on the Adult Contemporary survey.

Thomas has a number of other songwriting collaborations in the can, including the track "Not Enough Love" for Daryl Hall's next solo album.

Of his collaboration with Hall, Thomas told Billboard recently, "He's always had that classic style to him, deep into the Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, and the song's got that kind of soul to it that I never would have found if I hadn't written with him."

The artist and OutKast's Big Boi recently completed a song called "My Man," slated for Carlos Santana's new album and performed by Big Boi and Mary J. Blige. "I still have not yet met Big Boi," Thomas said with a laugh. "He sent me a track and I sent it back and I redid some stuff, he redid some stuff, and now it looks like they're going to actually record it. How funny is that?"

Here are Rob Thomas' solo dates:

April 15: San Francisco (Fillmore)
April 16: Ventura, Calif. (Ventura Theatre)
April 19: Los Angeles (Avalon)
April 20: Las Vegas (the Joint)
April 22: St. Louis (Orpheum Theatre)
April 23: Columbus, Ohio (PromoWest Pavilion)
April 24: Chicago (Vic Theatre)
April 26: Philadelphia (Electric Factory)
April 27: New York (Irving Plaza)
April 29: Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)

Disney, Pixar Talks Seen Likely After Eisner Exit

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pixar Animation Studios Inc. likely will reopen talks on a distribution deal with the Walt Disney Co. now that Disney CEO Michael Eisner is set to depart in September, analysts said on Monday.

Eisner, who will be replaced by Disney President Robert Iger, was seen as the main stumbling block for Disney to renew its lucrative partnership with Pixar because of his turbulent relationship with Pixar Chief Executive Steve Jobs.

Pixar, which produced such blockbuster films as "Toy Story," "Finding Nemo" and "The Incredibles" in its partnership with Disney, was also seen as holding a better bargaining position with Iger at Disney's helm.

"I just think this puts a lot of pressure on the Walt Disney Company," Fulcrum Global Partners analyst Rich Greenfield said. "Bob Iger, once he takes over, will be faced with this negotiation as one of his first acts as CEO ... Disney needs (Pixar) very badly."

Greenfield said Jobs would likely press his advantage to get better terms than he could have squeezed from Eisner. Pixar films have taken in about $3 billion at the box office worldwide, and Disney has had the bigger share of profit.

"The pressure is on Disney, not Pixar," Greenfield said.

Last month, Jobs told analysts that Pixar "likely ... will not forge a new relationship with Disney beyond our current deal," but did not elaborate about how far talks with Disney had progressed or where else Pixar might look for a partner.

Pixar has pushed back its target date for finding a new distributor a number of times and said that "musical chairs" in Hollywood was part of the reason, giving some hopes that a new Disney deal was possible.

Anthony Sabino, a business and law professor at St. John's University in New York, warned that Pixar would play an important part in helping Iger win the board's confidence.

"One of his top priorities and maybe his top priority has got to be to reach out to Pixar and negotiate with them again," Sabino said.

Lehman Brothers analyst Anthony DiClemente called the development at Disney "not ... a huge surprise to Pixar investors" and in a research note said a deal was "less likely" between the two companies.

Pixar's partnership with Disney expires with the June 9, 2006, release of its seventh film, "Cars," and it must have a new distributor in place before its eighth film is released in summer of 2007.

Pixar spokesman Tom Sarris on Monday said the company had no further comment on the distributor search or about developments at Disney. Sarris would not say whether Jobs and Iger had ever met.

Shares of Pixar closed up $1.98, or 2.2 percent, at $90.96 on Nasdaq.

Would you pay 5 cents for a song?

An academic at McGill University has a simple plan to stop the plague of unauthorized music downloads on the Internet. But it entails changing the entire music industry as we know it, and Apple Computers, which may have the power to make the change, is listening.

Peering out from under his de rigueur cap, music-industry veteran Sandy Pearlman, a former producer of the Clash and now a visiting scholar at McGill, spoke with a kind of nervous glee while describing his idea at the Canadian Music Week conference in Toronto last week.

Pearlman proposes putting all recorded music on a robust search engine -- Google would be an ideal choice, but even iTunes might work -- and charging an insignificant fee of, say, five cents a song. In addition, a 1 per cent sales tax would be placed on Internet services and new computers -- two industries that many argue have profited enormously from rampant file-sharing, but haven't had to compensate artists.

The assumption is that if songs cost only 5 cents, people would download exponentially more music. Daniel Levitin, a McGill professor also associated with the project, said that a simple computer program, such as those already in use on Internet retail sites, could track people's purchases and help them to dig through what would become a massive repository of music on the Web.

The extra windfall for musicians and those who own the publishing rights to the songs could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, or more, Pearlman said his study predicts.

It may all sound like a pie-in-the-sky idea, academically elegant but impractical. Or is it?

The head of the British recording industry, who also spoke at the conference, made much the same point: music companies need to get used to the idea of selling more music to more people more often, but for less money. It was a notion repeated often during the conference.

Users of file-sharing services made roughly 25 billion unauthorized downloads last year, dwarfing the legitimate music industry, and it's only getting worse. Some upstart technology companies are trying to figure out ways to profit from file-sharing, but the potential market is limited.

Pearlman added that nothing concrete is in the works with Apple beyond talks, and he has not yet spoken with Google. Still, Apple is listening, and this is the company that has already changed the industry by creating, many believe, the best working model for on-line downloading services.

Pearlman argued that his plan isn't a revolt against the industry. It's merely a pricing decision. Apple should simply be charging 5 cents instead of 99 cents a song, he said. This would bring in millions upon millions of more customers. And he believes that the best place to test this would be in Canada, which has laws he regards as being more supportive of artists and accommodating to an initiative such as this.

Yet, Pearlman went further. He said that since this plan puts the onus on a massive Internet presence to distribute all the music in the world, why not have such computer companies as Apple and such major Internet companies as Yahoo simply buy up the world's four major record labels? Pearlman was careful to add, though, that he doesn't see his plan killing off demand for CDs.

The recording industry is against Pearlman's plan. Richard Pfohl, general council for the Canadian Recording Industry Association, refuted Pearlman on numerous points at the conference forum, arguing that the plan would violate every international intellectual property law that Canada has signed in the last 100 years. It would also obliterate musicians' choices on how their music could be sold by conscripting them into a 5-cents-a-song system. And it would destroy record companies' incentive to invest in new acts, Pfohl said.

Pearlman said that Pfohl misunderstood the idea. Then again, another record-industry type, casually speaking to Pearlman after the talk, had perhaps the most succinct counter suggestion. Why not charge 10 cents, instead of 5, and double the revenue?

Tarantino wins British film award

LONDON (AP) - Quentin Tarantino, director of cult movies Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, was named Film Icon of the Decade at an awards ceremony in London on Sunday.

Tarantino was among a cast of Hollywood and British movie talent recognized during the Empire Awards, which were voted for by more than 12,000 readers of Empire Magazine.

Accepting his award, the 41-year-old announced plans to retire from movie directing in 15 years to become a movie theatre manager.

"The fact that England has embraced me as one of its own is really cool," Tarantino said. "I hope to give you at least 15 more years of movies, I'm not going to be this old guy that keeps cranking them out.

"My plan is to have a theatre by that time in some small town and I will be the manager - this crazy old movie guy.

"I've made enough money that nobody even needs to show up at the theatre. It's just having something to do."

Other award recipients included Matt Damon, who was voted Best Actor for his role in The Bourne Supremacy. The action thriller was also named Best Film.

Julie Delpy was awarded Best Actress for Before Sunset, Kate Winslet's performance in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind won her the Best British Actress award.

Best British Actor went to Paddy Considine for his role in Dead Man's Shoes.

Supermodel Claudia Schiffer collected the Best British Director award on behalf of her husband Matthew Vaughn, who directed British gangster film Layer Cake.

James Bond Down To Two Candidates Now!!

Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...

That’s right. Two very different James Bonds are being considered at the moment. Expect the choice to come from this group of guys. It’s really down to Amy Pascal’s final choice, and as I understand it, she’s in the midst of making her mind up right now. Whoever gets picked starts work soon with Martin Campbell on CASINO ROYALE.

Does she want to go with Julian McMahon, star of TV’s NIP/TUCK and this summer’s FANTASTIC FOUR, who seems like a more movie star glamorous choice, or with Daniel Craig, star of LAYER CAKE and ROAD TO PERDITION, who seems like a hard-ass take-no-shit kind of Bond?

Either way, I think I like those choices. They show more imagination than the knee-jerk “Clive Owen” contingent, and I think there’s the potential for either of these two guys to bring something new to the series, a must if it’s going to remain relevant.

Briefly: Bruce Springsteen

New Jersey's Asbury Park Press reports that Bruce Springsteen was rehearsing at Asbury Park's Paramount Theater on Thursday (3/10) in preparation for a tour supporting his forthcoming album, "Devils & Dust."

After a four-hour rehearsal that reportedly included E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren, Springsteen signed some autographs.

Dates for the tour--which Springsteen is expected to embark upon without the E Street Band--are still being finalized, but the new album is due April 26.

Gorillaz Battle 'Demon Days' On New Album

Cartoon quartet Gorillaz will on May 24 release its sophomore Virgin album, "Demon Days." A video is in production for first single "Feel Good Inc.," featuring De La Soul. Album track "Dirty Harry," which features what sounds like a children's choir, has been making the rounds on the Internet for several weeks.

The brainchild of Blur frontman Damon Albarn and "Tank Girl" creator Jamie Hewlett, Gorillaz comprises the characters Noodle, Murdoc, 2-D, and Russell who inhabit a virtual world on Gorillaz.com.

The 15-track "Demon Days" is the follow-up to Gorillaz's worldwide smash self-titled debut, which has sold more than 1.54 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and six million worldwide, according to Virgin.

Accurately described as "darker" and "more intense" than its predecessor, but no less eclectic, the album was co-produced by Albarn and Danger Mouse. "Last Living Souls" is marked by acoustic strumming and piano melodies, while "Kids With Guns" threads a sample of Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It" through a multi-faceted musical backdrop.

The collective puts a weird spin on seductive soul with "Every Planet We Reach Is Dead," while "White Light" starts off in similar territory as Blur's raucous "Song 2" before being interrupted by an angelic interlude. For an extra dash of oddness, actor Dennis Hopper offers spoken-word intonations atop "Fire Coming Out of a Monkey's Head."

The London Community Gospel Choir can be heard on the title track, while guest spots by rock legend Ike Turner, the Happy Mondays' Shaun Ryder and underground rapper MF Doom are sprinkled throughout other cuts.

Here is the track list for "Demon Days":

"Intro"
"Last Living Souls"
"Kids With Guns"
"O Green World"
"Dirty Harry"
"Feel Good Inc."
"El Manana"
"Every Planet We Reach Is Dead"
"November Has Come"
"All Alone"
"White Light"
"DARE"
"Fire Coming Out of a Monkey's Head"
"Don't Get Lost in Heaven"
"Demon Days"

Defiant doughnut survives diet trends

Doughnut, anyone? Of course you want one, maybe two if they're hot. Fact is, the USA is a nation of glazed gastronomes who gobble 10 billion doughnuts — that's $2 billion worth of fried dough — each year.

Indeed, doughnut shops served about 150 million more people in 2004 than in the previous year, according to food-industry surveys.

"It's not a big mystery," says Sally Levitt Steinberg, author of The Donut Book: The Whole Story in Words, Pictures & Outrageous Tales (Storey Publishing, $14.95). "Everybody likes sweet, fried cakes." Blame the country's obsession on Steinberg's grandfather, Adolph Levitt, aka the Doughnut King, who invented the doughnut machine after he started frying cakes in a pot in Harlem. "Everybody has a doughnut story, about the first or the best doughnut they ever ate," Steinberg says, explaining why she wrote the book. "You don't find this kind of commitment to, say, lemon meringue pie." Here, she demystifies the doughnut as she chews the fat with USA TODAY.

Q: What is the enduring appeal of doughnuts?

A: The answer is not in their taste; it's about their shape. The circle is so universal, and the doughnut is very appealing physically and metaphorically. Of course, there are doughnuts that are not shaped in circles, and fritters are really doughnuts, but we don't categorize them like doughnuts. The doughnut is in a class by itself; it transcends mere food appeal.

Q: Can you explain the increase in consumption at a time when many people are trying to eat healthier and decrease their fat and carb intake? Why is the doughnut impervious to diets?

A: Doughnuts represent a timeout from dietary considerations. They are not a staple; they're a treat. And sometimes, diet or not, you just have to have a doughnut.

Q: Do doughnut machines produce better doughnuts than those made by hand?

A: No, not better, but a doughnut machine is more efficient in terms of standardization of doughnuts produced and quantity. My grandfather could not make enough by hand, so he figured out a way to mass-produce them. Still, the best-tasting doughnuts are handmade. And the hot ones are the big things now. Fried stuff, especially dough, is good hot because the fat becomes heavy (when cold).

Q: Can home bakers buy doughnut machines?

A: Yes, there is a company called Lil' Orbits (lilorbits.com), which offers home doughnut-making equipment such as fryers and cutters that can be used with the machine that mixes the mix, cuts the dough and the hole, drops the doughnut in oil, fries it, then places it on a conveyor belt.

Q: You say in the book that doughnuts are very persnickety, needing perfect humidity and temperature for just-right rising and frying. How can home cooks ever hope to create them?

A: It's really so hard, I don't even do it. My kids and husband made them once, and it was a huge mess. Back in the old days on American prairies, women cooked and baked constantly and then did it so many times they got good at it. Frying doughnuts in vegetable oil is tricky (old-timers use lard) because the dough is so delicate yet it has to absorb so much.

Q: What is your favorite kind of doughnut in general?

A: I love a glazed raised (yeast) doughnut, provided it doesn't have too much sugar in it. It's easier to find good raised doughnuts. But if you can get a good cake doughnut, it's an amazing and wonderful experience.

Q: There's a lot of controversy about the origin of the doughnut's hole. Is there a definitive answer?

A: There are many stories, and in the 1940s, a big debate erupted between two camps: Did a whaling captain stick a piece of dough on his ship's wheel to create the hole? Or was it a Native American who shot a doughnut out of a pioneer woman's hand? All I know is that the hole has been around for a long time, and there is evidence in paintings that round cakes with holes existed in Europe in the 17th century. In America, there has been a doughnut with a hole since the 19th century.

'Sideways' director, actress wife split

NEW YORK (AP) — Director Alexander Payne and wife Sandra Oh have gone from Sideways to parting ways, a spokeswoman told People magazine Saturday.

The Hollywood couple "have mutually decided to separate," the spokeswoman said. "They will remain friends."

The couple met five years ago and married in 2003.

Payne wrote and directed Sideways, the comedy about two friends on a wine-tasting road trip through California.

The film was nominated for five Oscars, and he shared the Academy Award with his writing partner for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Oh, a former co-star on the HBO series Arli$$, was one of the stars of the film.

Revenge of the Spoilers?

Warning: This story does NOT contain spoilers about the new Star Wars movie. Just common Jedi sense.

"All fans should know how it ends," says Philip Wise of TheForce.Net. "Anakin turns into Darth Vader."

But all fans don't know how once innocent Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker turns into the black-helmeted overlord of the Empire (and the three original Star Wars movies). Although, with spoilers abounding on everything from the Internet to tie-in merchandise, they could get a pretty good idea.

"There is always someone who thinks they know something and has to share it with the world," says Chris Mikkelsen, cofounder of California's South Bay Star Wars Fan Club.

On Thursday, George Lucas did some sharing himself, unveiling the first full-length trailer for Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith during Fox's The O.C.. As of Thursday night, it was also available on America Online. And then on Friday, it was set to debut in theaters, attached to prints of Robots.

Lucas continues the tease on Sunday. In an interview to air on CBS' 60 Minutes, the Star Wars guru says that Revenge of the Sith, opening May 19, is so "dark" in chronicling Skywalker's descent into the pits of hell--literally, there's "lava at the end" and everything--that it'll likely draw the kid-friendly sci-fi franchise's first PG-13 rating.

But Lucas only teases, he does not spoil. He does not do what one Website did last month: Lay out the movie, from beginning to end, in pictures apparently scanned from a children's tie-in book. (At last check, the site, which also had what appeared to be actual footage of a light-saber battle, was down.)

Wise, who runs the leading unofficial Star Wars fan site (one that doesn't trade too heavily in spoilers), says the amount of "visual information" out there on the new film is unprecedented.

"It's one thing to read about it, but to see a picture of [spoiler deleted], that's different," Wise says. "Even many people who are spoiler-friendly probably wish they hadn't seen it."

Mikkelsen knows from experience about knowing too much too soon.

The fan club organizer says he read way too many spoilers in advance of seeing The Phantom Menace in 1999. For 2002's Attack of the Clones, he tried to stick to officially disseminated Lucasfilm product.

"I would love to have the conviction to go into EIII blind, and just experience it for the first time, but I know that I can't do that," Mikkelsen says.

Though TheForce.Net pulled back from spoilers once it began working more closely with Lucasfilm, Wise says he knows many of his users still want them. Badly.

"There are people who make great sport of this, who want to know every single details, periods and exclamation points, about the movie," Wise says.

Lucasfilm did not want to comment on Revenge of the Sith spoilers. Well, except for the well-known one.

Owing to the new film's chronological pecking order--its story must end, more or less, where the first Star Wars movie begins--there is a big given.

"The whole premise of the movie is that this is the movie that finally answers all the questions as to why Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader," says Lucasfilm spokeswoman Lynn Fox.

The devil--and the suspense--is in the details. Assuming you can resist temptation.

'Robots' Rules the Box Office With $36.5M

LOS ANGELES - "Robots" ruled the box office as the animated family flick debuted with $36.5 million — a solid opening, but well below the $46.3 million premiere of the filmmakers' previous hit, "Ice Age."

While "Ice Age" opened with little competition for the family crowd, "Robots" faced Vin Diesel's hit "The Pacifier," the previous weekend's No. 1 movie. "The Pacifier" finished a strong second with $18.1 million, lifting its 10-day total to $54.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The weekend's other new wide release, the Bruce Willis police thriller "Hostage," debuted at No. 4 with $9.8 million.

Mel Gibson's religious blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ," which grossed $370 million last year, made barely a ripple at theaters in a recut version that toned down the blood and violence. "The Passion Recut" played in 957 theaters but took in just $239,850.

In sharp contrast to the firestorm over the original film, the new version of "The Passion" arrived quietly, with little fanfare. The fact that the original is available on DVD limited theatrical prospects for the recut edition.

Gibson said he recut the movie for people who were put off by the brutality of the original, which explicitly depicted Christ's scourging and crucifixion.

"We certainly had higher expectations than what we got," said Rob Schwartz, head of distribution for Newmarket Films, which released "The Passion of the Christ" and the new cut. "We were trying to get the film out there hoping it would reach an audience that it didn't reach the first time around. It doesn't seem to have worked out quite as well as we had hoped."

Newmarket executives hope more movie-goers will turn out as Easter approaches, Schwartz said.

"Robots," featuring the voices of Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, Robin Williams and Mel Brooks, is the second feature-length cartoon tale from "Ice Age" directors Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha. The movie tracks the adventures of an idealistic robot inventor who moves to the big city.

While "Robots" did not enter theaters with the profile of "Shrek 2" and "The Incredibles," which opened to sky-high numbers, it had been expected to rival the opening weekends for 2002's "Ice Age" and last year's "Shark Tale."

But competing with "The Pacifier," "Robots" fell about $10 million short of both those debuts.

"Those other movies didn't have anything that was working the families with this strength, so I am very, very pleased," said Bruce Snyder, head of distribution for Fox, the studio behind "Robots." "The holidays are coming up, kids are getting out of school, so it's positioned wonderfully."

In limited release, the Joan Allen-Kevin Costner comic drama "The Upside of Anger" opening strongly with $225,783 in nine theaters. The film, centering on a boozy mother embittered over the abrupt departure of her husband, expands to about 150 theaters this weekend.

"Millions," a British family film from director Danny Boyle ("Trainspotting," "28 Days Later") grossed $72,987 in five theaters. The movie follows two young brothers momentarily distracted from grief over their dead mother after a suitcase of cash lands in their laps. It expands gradually over the next six weeks.

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. "Robots," $36.5 million.
2. "The Pacifier," $18.1 million.
3. "Be Cool," $10.3 million.
4. "Hostage," $9.8 million.
5. "Hitch," $8.7 million.
6. "Million Dollar Baby," $5.1 million.
7. "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," $5 million.
8. "Constantine," $3.7 million.
9. "Man of the House," $1.8 million.
10. "Cursed," $1.6 million.

'Sound' to Precede Third Coldplay Album

LONDON (Billboard) - Coldplay's long-awaited third studio album, "X&Y," is set for release in June.

The Capitol set hits U.S. stores June 7, after its international launch the previous day, via Parlophone.

The first single, "Speed of Sound," will be sent to radio in April and go on sale May 23.

"X&Y" was recorded over the past year with Danton Supple (Morrissey, Elbow), Ken Nelson (Badly Drawn Boy, Kings of Convenience) and members of the band on production duties.

"We wanted to try new things out, to move our sound along," comments Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland, "but the focus remains on the songs, and Chris (Martin)'s voice is sounding amazing. Everyone is playing at the top of their game."

Coldplay scrapped its first batch of new material last summer, after it had begun rehearsing the songs for a planned tour. "We realized that we didn't really have the right songs, and some of them were starting to sound better because we were playing them than they did on record, so we thought we better go back and record them again," Martin recently told BBC Radio One.

"X&Y" will be supported by the band's largest world tour, starting June 15 at Volks Park in Hamburg, Germany. Among the bands confirmed for supporting slots at various points are Doves, Interpol, Elbow, Supergrass and Morning Runner.

Coldplay will make its first public live appearance since 2003 on Saturday (March 12) during a KCRW benefit at Los Angeles' Universal Amphitheater. In addition to its April 30 headlining appearance at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., the band will play a rare club show the previous night in Las Vegas.

Sources say another club show is on tap in New York, similar to a gig at the city's Bowery Ballroom around the release of Coldplay's 2002 breakthrough, "A Rush of Blood to the Head."

Iger to Succeed Eisner as Disney CEO

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - On Sunday the Walt Disney Company ended its contentious search for a new leader without leaving the house that Mickey Mouse built, naming current company president Robert Iger to succeed chief executive Michael Eisner, who will step down a year before he planned.

The company also said that Eisner -- once the highest paid chief executive in the United States -- will end his more than 20-year reign on Sept. 30, and turn over control of the vast entertainment conglomerate to his preferred successor, a former TV weatherman who worked his way to the top of Disney.

However, two former directors who led a 2004 shareholder protest, including namesake Walt Disney's nephew Roy, were furious with the board's choice, saying investors had been "conned." They also accused the board of failing to find major outside candidates.

Eisner began his reign in glory, revitalizing a company whose business had turned flat. But he now leaves against a backdrop of embarrassing lawsuits from former Disney executives and a bitter shareholder protest that saw a 45 percent vote against him at the 2004 annual meeting.

The 63-year-old Eisner will remain on the Disney board until the company's 2006 annual meeting.

Disney Chairman and former U.S. Senator George Mitchell said: "We definitely had choices -- we made the right choice."

On a conference call, Mitchell told reporters that Iger deserved partial credit for the company's recent stock market gains and financial improvement after Disney hit a rut in the late 1990s.

Mitchell also said the process was thorough and the vote for Iger was unanimous despite "vigorous discussion" by directors.

LOYAL SUCCESSOR

Iger, 54, is a longtime media executive who began his career as a weatherman before starting a steady advance at television network ABC and then Disney.

The dapper Iger is credited with helping turn around ABC and managing much of Disney's day-to-day operations, as well as a new focus on technology and expansion into Asia, where Disney is building one theme park and considering others.

But he has also been Eisner's loyal lieutenant and hand-picked successor, and dissident shareholders Roy Disney and Stanley Gold have said Eisner influenced the process heavily -- a contention the board has denied.

Iger had been the frontrunner, but the timing of the announcement came sooner than expected since the board had set a June 2005 target date to find a new chief. Eisner himself had said he would step down as CEO in September 2006.

Charles Elson, director of the Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, said the board decision was not as transparent as he would have preferred and would not silence critics.

"Having gone within the company to someone closely associated with the current CEO, and that the current CEO will be there a bit longer, will only fuel dissent," he said, referring to Eisner's presence on the board for another year.

Eisner said on Sunday he would not seek to be renominated to the board after the 2006 annual meeting or seek the job of chairman and Mitchell said he would take Eisner at his word.

Disney shares fell between 1998 and 2002, but soared 43 percent in 2003 and another 19 percent in 2004. The shares are off about 1 percent so far this year.

DISSENT SIMMERS

Investors have no direct means to change management since that is the job of the board. Dissident shareholders could try to change the board, although not for another year, and analysts say the process would be long and expensive.

A spokesman for Gold and Disney declined to elaborate on their statement, which said, "(Disney) shareholders should seriously consider replacing this board and starting anew."

But among other things, analysts say Iger had the potential to mend fences with Pixar Animation Studios Inc., the maker of "Toy Story" and "The Incredibles," which is ending its profitable partnership with Disney.

"This was not a broken situation," said Larry Haverty, a portfolio manager at Gabelli & Co., who has supported management for the last year or so. "I think that the board did the right thing."

Iger has been president and chief operating officer of the company since January 2000. His career at ABC started in 1974 in New York as a studio supervisor. In 1996, he joined Disney after the company acquired Capital Cities/ABC.

Rivals for the Disney job apparently included Meg Whitman, eBay Inc.'s chief executive, who bowed out of the race, according to media reports.

Others considered as potential candidates included Peter Chernin, the chief operating officer of News Corp.; Viacom Inc. co-presidents Tom Freston and Leslie Moonves, and Yahoo Inc. Chief Executive Terry Semel.

Paul Newman Winding Down Acting Career

LONDON - Paul Newman, the movie legend whose piercing blue eyes have lit up screens for five decades, says he'll give up the activities he once described as his two great passions — acting and motor racing.

"I think both are winding down," Newman told The Associated Press during an interview Friday. "I'll probably race for another year."

Fans need not despair just yet. The iconic star of "The Hustler" and "Cool Hand Luke" says he plans to make one last film — "for good luck."

He won't say what it is, but hints that a long-rumored reunion with Robert Redford, his co-star in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "The Sting," may yet happen.

"I hate to talk about anything until the papers are drawn up, but we've been looking for something for 20 years and now we're looking harder," Newman said. "I hope something will come of it."

Newman, whose film career began in 1954 with "The Silver Chalice" — a costume drama he quickly disowned — has been a motorsports fan since he starred in the 1969 racing film "Winning" and still competes regularly. In January he escaped injury when the car he was testing caught fire following a spin at Daytona International Speedway.

But he plans to give up the thrill of the track to spend more time with his wife of 47 years, Joanne Woodward.

"Joanne is the artistic director of the Westport Country Playhouse (a theater near the couple's Connecticut home) and her duties will stop this year," Newman said. "If my racing stops, the two of us will be together, spend some time just horsing around."

In London to promote a deal between his Newman's Own range of salad dressings and fast-food giant McDonald's, Newman sat Friday in a McDonald's branch on London's busy Oxford Street, surrounded by fast-food executives and a British TV crew.

The actor, who turned 80 in January, moves a little stiffly and strains to hear occasionally. But his clear skin and sparkling eyes are as vivid as ever, and his passion for his business and his charitable work is undimmed.

Newman's salad dressings, pasta sauces and popcorn have raised $175 million for charity since he and friend A.E. Hotchner started the company as a lark in 1980, offering Newman's homemade dressing for sale in a few shops near his Westport, Conn., home.

The company now produces dozens of products. Newman says he still tastes every batch of their products, and all profits go to charity.

The company has supplied McDonald's restaurants in the United States with salad dressing since 2003; a range of low-fat Newman's Own dressings will be available in British, Irish and Danish branches of the chain starting in June.

Regularly voted among the greatest movie stars of all time — he ranked No. 1 in a 2001 British survey of screen legends — Newman has been nominated nine times for acting Oscars, and won the best actor prize in 1986 for "The Color of Money."

But he says he's proudest of his charity work, especially the summer camps for seriously ill children in the United States, Britain, Ireland Israel, France and southern Africa.

Weekend Box Office: Battle of Machines Against Men

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - 20th Century Fox and its Blue Sky Studios at one point might have been looking at a potential weekend blowout for the new animated feature "Robots."

But then Buena Vista's "The Pacifier" opened unexpectedly strong last week. Suddenly, with "Pacifier's" second weekend claiming a share of the family audience, the "Robots" challenge just got tougher.

Hoping to establish itself as the next animation powerhouse a la Pixar Animation and DreamWorks, Blue Sky is out to prove that its 2000 hit "Ice Age" was not just a fluke. "Robots" -- from "Ice Age" director Chris Wedge and with a voice cast that includes Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, Robin Williams and Mel Brooks -- has been well received so far by critics and fans, but it still could be hard-pressed to match "Ice Age's" phenomenal $46 million opening.

Standing in its way is "The Pacifier," which astonished boxoffice prognosticators with its $30 million bow. The Vin Diesel starrer is likely to drop to the $15 million-$17 million level, but that's still a serious chunk of money that will be diverted from the "Robots" coffers.

As a result, the mechanically minded "Robots" -- in which a young genius inventor sets off on a journey to meet his idol, the master inventor Bigweld -- is likely to reap in the $30 million range for the three-day period. The PG-rated animated movie, which was made for $75 million, will bow in 3,776 theaters, with 58 of those being Imax.

RELEASING 'HOSTAGE'

Miramax Films' uncertain future is not precluding the specialty distributor from releasing films. This weekend, the company will bow the R-rated "Hostage," which Miramax reportedly was shopping around last year when it was trying to trim the fat. The thriller promises audiences Bruce Willis in a role that summons up memories of his "Die Hard" films.

Willis plays a former hostage negotiator who is forced back into the game when his family is threatened. French helmer Florent Siri makes his English-language debut with the film, which is an adaptation of the Robert Crais novel. It will bow in 2,123 theaters and likely will generate an opening in the $10 million range.

Meanwhile, Newmarket Films and producer-director Mel Gibson are resurrecting "The Passion of the Christ," with some edits that tone down its originally R-rated violence. Gibson and the distributor resubmitted the film, now billed as "The Passion Recut," to MPAA's ratings board with five to six minutes of cuts, hoping for a more family-friendly PG-13 rating. But when the board again rated it R, they decided to release it without a rating.

That could cause some confusion because "unrated" films generally signify content more violent than an R rating, and some theaters will be treating the film as if it had been rated R. The new cut will bow in 954 theaters and is likely to run through the March 27 Easter holiday. Last year, the film earned an extraordinary $370 million domestically.

'ANGER' LIMITED

In limited release, New Line Cinema will bow "The Upside of Anger" in nine theaters in Los Angeles and New York. The R-rated dramedy pairs Kevin Costner and Joan Allen and has been touted for its strong performances. Written and directed by Mike Binder, best known as the writer-director-star of HBO's "The Mind of the Married Man," the film centers on a suburban wife and her daughters who must deal with the sudden disappearance of their husband and father.

Fox Searchlight opens Danny Boyle's "Millions" today. The "28 Days Later" and "Trainspotting" helmer changes gear this time by offering a feel-good movie revolving around two young boys who come across loot from a bank robbery and only have a week to spend it before the United Kingdom switches to the euro. The PG-rated film bows in five theaters in Los Angeles and New York.

Sony Pictures Classics will release "In My Country" on nine screens in Los Angeles and New York. Based on the novel "Country of My Skull," the R-rated film deals with South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the 1990s. Directed by John Boorman, "Country" stars Samuel L. Jackson and Juliette Binoche.

Blalock Says She's Not Happy With Finale

Executive Producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga might be calling it a "valentine for Star Trek fans," but actress Jolene Blalock said she's not looking forward to the series finale of "Star Trek: Enterprise."

"I don't know where to begin with that one," Blalock told the Toronto Star about the episode, reportedly titled "These Are the Voyages." "The final episode is ... appalling."

Blalock, who plays T'Pol in the series, said that she was not shocked when UPN finally cancelled the series.

"It is said," she said. "I think most of us here are still in active denial. But you've got to know, going in, that these last few days are going to be highly emotional."

When the series first debuted, it brought it more than 13 million viewers. Blalock said she didn't understand how they could've "somehow managed to drive 11 million of them away."

But Blalock wasn't all negative. She said this past season was a treat.

"It was an unexpected surprise to have the scripts that we did," she said about the fourth season. "And I am grateful and thankful for that. It was fun to come to work again. And it was certainly much better than spending another season doing what we had been doing. It said a lot about the potential of the show."

Blalock also saluted the fans that are trying to bring the show back, like the Save Enterprise group and TrekUnited.

"I really am touched by their [outpouring] of support, and their display of passion for the show. i was sort of caught off guard. I didn't now that they were so adamant. But, you know, they really aren't saying anything new. They're just saying it louder."

"Star Trek: Enterprise" airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on UPN.

Duchovny Maintains 'X-Files 2' In The Works

Will there or won't there be an "X-Files 2" movie?

Questions have been raised over the validity of David Duchovny’s recent claims that a second movie is in the works based on the popular Fox television series, "The X-Files."

The actor, who starred in the series for 10 years, previously stated that the movie was in the works and scheduled to begin shooting early this year for an early launch in 2006. But now it seems the movie won’t be kicking into gear until December.

"We're all happy to do it: Gillian and I, Chris Carter," Duchovny said in a recent interview with Empire magazine. "So, it's just a matter of getting everybody in the same spot."

Duchovny again confirmed that the movie will stand alone from the show and will not deal with the alien colonization plot, an arc which became popular in the 1990’s.

Instead, the film will be more like a supernatural thriller. Duchovny said it will resemble the 2003 Vivendi Universal video game release based on the show, "Resist or Serve," which featured the central characters battling zombies and the undead.

"There's an idea in place, but Chris won't show it to anybody," Duchovny said.

"I think what's important in looking to do the show in a movie form is that it's accessible. The first one was conspiracy-oriented, alien-oriented, and I think that alienated some people. They were like, 'I don't know the show, I can't watch it.'"

"I think if you go at it as a supernatural thriller, then it can stand alone, on it's own," said the actor who played FBI agent Fox Mulder. "It should be something like 'The Forgotten,' very much like an X-File, but you don't need to know anything before going into it. Then I think it's more welcoming, so it's not only for the fans, but for new people who might not know the show."

Jendresen: Star Trek Needs Epic Adventure

Next year, it will be 40 years since Gene Roddenberry's vision of "Star Trek" first came to life on the small screen.

Through those years, there's been plenty of ups and downs for the millions of fans who have followed the adventures of Capt. James T. Kirk, Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, Capt. Benjamin Sisko, Capt. Kathryn Janeway, and even Capt. Jonathan Archer -- whose time aboard "Star Trek: Enterprise" ends early this May on UPN.

With Star Trek not pulling in the viewers and the revenue as it once did, is Paramount still willing to keep the Roddenberry torch burning?

Erik Jendresen thinks so. Name doesn't ring a bell? Soon it will, as he has been commissioned by Paramount to write the 11th Star Trek film. And for the first time in history, a new slate of characters, as well as a new cast, will be introduced on the big screen. But that's just the beginning of the new Star Trek.

"I can certainly say that the story concept, the basic idea of this thing, is pretty damn big," Jendresen recently told SyFy Portal's Michael Hinman. "It's a noble enterprise, pun intended."

Jendresen -- probably best known for his Emmy-award winning work as a producer and lead writer for HBO's "Band of Brothers" -- said he wasn't too interested in stepping into science-fiction. And when Paramount officials first came to him about doing Star Trek, his answer was an immediate no.

"I was not a diehard Star Trek fan," he said. "When they first approached me, I wasn't really interested. But they said, 'What if we could approach this as a blank slate, and here's a notion.' When I heard the notion, I realized that the people I was talking to were serious, and genuinely dedicated. I started to really think about it, and, ultimately to develop a story. And it's a pretty good one."

Reports of the next movie have it taking place after the events of "Star Trek: Enterprise" and before the adventures of James Kirk in the original "Star Trek" series. Jendresen confirmed that the movie would take place more than a century before Kirk, but acknowledged that it would not be an "Enterprise" spinoff.

Although he had only some passing knowledge of Star Trek in the past, Jendresen said he really started to look into the heart of Roddenberry's vision to find the lost path of telling good science-fiction.

"I read an interesting piece online about the relevance of Star Trek," Jendresen said. "It posed the idea that maybe it's not relevant anymore. It was an impressive argument, but a fine story is always relevant, and I think solid storytelling that's rooted in the absolute spirit of the original series is what it was all about to begin with."

The original series you say?

"In the original series, there were big ideas, and they were delivered each week with a lot of verve," Jendresen said. "The crew in particular, lead by a commanding officer who had a certain sense of timeless style, boldness and vision. He had a pioneering spirit, the spirit of all great explorers, that was captured by the original series."

After the original series went off the air in the 1960s, Jendresen said a lot of that was lost, with a few exceptions. And now that four decades have passed, he said it's time to find it again.

"'Star Trek,' the original series, borrowed in an often elegant way from classic mythology and great ancient storytelling," he said. "There's something kind of epic - almost mythic about the prequel (movie)."

Bringing in Jendresen was an attempt to go outside of the current realm of Star Trek, and focus more on an actual story, Jendresen said. It's similar to what happened in the early 1980s when Nicholas Meyer came on board to create "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." There was a realness about it, and moviewatchers had to stop and think.

But that's something that doesn't have to be relegated to the past.

"There's an old tradition in space films, if you think about it, where war and conflict are very sterile," Jendresen said. "Death doesn't hurt, it's not really ugly. You can get killed by a phaser and just … disintegrate.

"We're going 160-odd years before Kirk is born. It's an earlier time, and I think it would be really refreshing to feel something in the course of telling this tale, instead of being wowed by special effects, or presenting another crew in jeopardy where, in the end, the captain does something brilliant, and all’s right with the world.”

And that means not everything will end with a chuckle, laugh and some smiles when this film is over.

"By the end of this story, everyone isn't fine," Jendresen said. "I can safely say as a storyteller with certain standards…my intention is literally as a writer, as a storyteller, as a filmmaker, to go boldly where no one has gone before."

With the cancellation of "Enterprise," and reports of what actress Jolene Blalock (Cmdr. T'Pol) described as an "appalling" finale, Jendresen said he's well aware that there's a lot of anger out there. But he said he definitely is working on something that fans can look forward to.

"There is a lot of misinformation out there, negative speculation and ill-will,” Jendresen said. "Everybody just needs to just take a Romulan chill pill and have some faith. Everything that has gone down over the last few years has not been lost on the gentlemen involved in this effort. I think it would be wonderful to bring a whole new generation into this world."

In the meantime, while "Star Trek XI" moves forward in the pre-production stage, Jendresen is staying busy with other projects. He recently wrote "Journey to thte Center of the Earth" for Twentieth Century Fox, and has worked on other screenplays for Paramount, Dreamworks, and even National Geographic Feature Films.

Reports have "Star Trek XI" being released sometime in 2007. No director and no cast has been brought in, but it is clear that characters from other Star Trek properties will not be included.

''Seinfeld'' Season 4 DVD debuts May 17.

The catchphrase-spawning fourth season of Seinfeld will arrive on DVD on May 17.

The 1993-1994 season ''may be the finest season of any sitcom ever,'' a clearly biased Howard West, the DVD's producer, told USA Today.

The fourth season includes such memorable episodes as ''The Contest,'' in which Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer have an abstinence contest to become ''masters of their domain,'' as well as ''The Outing,'' in which Jerry and George are mistaken by a reporter for being a gay couple — ''not that there's anything wrong with that.''

The DVD will include 13 hours of bonus features, which will hopefully settle the debate: Moors or Moops?

Oddsmaker Installs Anwar as New 'Idol' Favorite

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) After many weeks of audition episodes and three more weeks of semi-final action, "American Idol" reached its Final 12 on Wednesday (March 9) night. Antigua-based Internet sports betting site Intertops.com has set Anwar Robinson as the favorite, leading three men with the lowest odds.

Anwar, a 25-year-old music teacher from New Jersey, closed Monday night's show with a bang as his version of "What a Wonderful World" had the crowd on its feet and has 5/2 odds from InterTops. Rocker Bo Bice, told by judge Simon Cowell that this is his competition to lose, is the second choice with 3/1 odds, followed by the 7/2 odds for New York City's Mario Vazquez.

"If music is the food of love, then at Intertops.com we are hungry for Anwar!" ejaculates Intertops.com Chief Operations Officer Michael Maerz. "He has true idol potential in his voice, stage presence and personality. But it is the American public who will decide who they want to see on that pedestal... billboard... CD cover... TV program ..." Two weeks ago, Intertops' competitor BetWWTS.com installed Oklahoma songstress Carrie Underwood as the early favorite, but apparently some on the luster has gone off of the golden girl after a couple so-so performances. Carrie has 11/2 odds, which makes her the second pick among the "Idol" women after only Nadia Turner, who gets 9/2 odds.

With the men dominating the ranks of favorites, it's little surprise that both longshots are women. Intertops can't spell "Lindsay" Cardinale's name, but the site doesn't figure it needs to, offering prohibitive 40/1 odds on the Louisiana thrush. Las Vegas wild girl Mikalah Gordon is next lowest with 30/1 odds. Round Mound of Sound Scott Savol has the worst odds among the men at 25/1.

Aerosmith Gears Up For Tour, Live Set

Aerosmith will reconvene in late August or early September to prepare for a tour that will begin in the fall, guitarist Joe Perry tells Billboard.com. The group has also begun sifting through material for a prospective live CD/DVD. "We're trying to find a show that has been recorded from beginning to end," Perry says. "That's something the fans have been requesting: a stone cold live record with a video."

"Some of the shows we're looking at are from the last year, but who knows," the guitarist continues. "We just heard about somebody who had a bunch of tapes from 1972. It might be fun to watch some of that on the B-side."

As for the follow-up to 2004's blues-inspired collection "Honkin' on Bobo," Perry reveals that Aerosmith will try to return to the studio "during a break in the tour sometime next year." And while "Bobo" was recorded at Perry's basement studio, the Boneyard, the next set will likely be put to tape in a new facility the band built within their Boston-based office.

"On the one hand, it was a lot of fun to do it here, but the studio is truly in the basement," Perry says. "It's right in the house, so the drums just thunder. The whole family is involved [laughs]. For countless nights, they would go to bed hearing the band rocking out downstairs. That was a dream come true; to come full circle from having a garage band in the basement of my parents' house to doing the same thing with Aerosmith now."

"The one limitation we have is the size," he continues. "We have to record in a style where we're limited to one way of playing. What we did by putting the other studio in is allow a lot more flexibility for drum and guitar sounds. The next project we do we'll definitely do the majority of it there, but I'll probably do guitars here. I have some great old stuff here that they don't have there."

As previously reported, Perry utilized the free time since Aerosmith's last round of touring to complete his self-titled solo debut, due May 3 via Columbia. Without revealing specifics, he hinted that the upcoming projects may encompass Aerosmith's final bout of major activity.

"We're closer to the end than the beginning, and again, that's part of why I wanted to put this record out," he says. "I don't know how long we're going to keep going, but I feel really good about it. I really wanted to get it out. I don't know if I'll be as excited about putting out solo records or even going out on the road in five years. Time goes by fast."

Lucas Says New 'Star Wars' May Rate PG-13

NEW YORK - George Lucas says the newest — and final installment — of his "Star Wars" films may get a PG-13 rating.

"I don't think I would take a 5- or a 6-year-old to this. It's way too strong," Lucas says of "Star Wars Episode III — Revenge of the Sith" on CBS' "60 Minutes," to air Sunday (7 p.m. EST). "My feeling is that it will probably be a PG-13, so it will be the first `Star Wars' that's a PG-13."

"Revenge of the Sith," the third prequel to the "Star Wars" trilogy, will open May 19. The movie features Anakin Skywalker's transformation to Darth Vader, a descent based on Lucas' vision of hell, a mythical planet composed entirely of erupting volcanos.

"We're going to watch him make a pact with the devil," says the director. "The film is more dark ... more emotional. It's much more of a tragedy."

Despite critical pans of Episodes I and II, Lucas says in the interview: "Actually, I am very happy. I'm very pleased with the whole thing."

The Couch Potato Report - March 10th, 2005

This week The Couch Potato Report has a ladder 49 and the pre-Fab four.

There are few professions that are as noble as police officers and firemen.

Over the years there have been many great movies about police officers - including DIRTY HARRY, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, THE FRENCH CONNECTION, FARGO and SERPICO, just to name six.

Unfortunately the equally noble firefighting profession hasn't been as well represented on the silver screen.

THE TOWERING INFERNO, BACKDRAFT and now LADDER 49 were all valiant, yet ultimately failed attempts to dramatize some of life's most gracious servants.

After watching the new DVD release of LADDER 49 I was left feeling like the men and women who risk their lives for us will just never get their cinematic due.

And they are due a great amount as they are models of heroism.

To its credit, LADDER 49 is very faithful to that heroic side of the men and women who fight fires. It actually does a great job of portraying the harsh and dangerous side of their job.

However, as realistic as the scenes with fire are, the dramatic side of LADDER 49 is full of clichés and uninspiring melodrama.

LADDER 49 stars John Travolta as a tough but compassionate Chief who looks upon his fellow firefighters as a family.

Joaquin Phoenix from GLADIATOR and SIGNS plays the movie's central character, an everyday hero who looks back on his life while he is trapped in a burning building.

LADDER 49 has an honourable premise and it could have been a great movie, and a tribute to the daunting lives of firefighters.

Instead, it is a cliché filled, boring movie with uninteresting characters.

As police officers do, firefighters risk their lives every day and they deserve our respect and admiration, both in real life and in the movies.

I look forward to the day that firefighters get their respect from the movies, in the same manner that police officers have for years.

There was a time in the mid-1990's that I looked forward to a sequel to the 1978 mockumentary THE RUTLES: ALL YOU NEED IS CASH.

Now that the day has arrived, all I want is the original.

The original RUTLES film was an affectionate spoof of The Beatles and their lives.

It was a collaboration between the casts of Monty Python and Saturday Night Live, and Neil Innes of the Bonzo Dog Band.

The soundtrack featured songs like "Ouch!" - instead of "Help!" - and "Get Up And Go" - replacing "Get Back" and the combination of the cast and the participants in the film made for an unforgettable viewing experience.

The original RUTLES film ALL YOU NEED IS CASH was brilliant.

Even though some of the original magic is there, THE RUTLES 2 - CAN'T BUT ME LUNCH isn't brilliant on its own.

It is just a rehash of the original RUTLES film, devoid of any new wit. Yes, there is new footage, but no new wit, well except for the comments from comedian Billy Connelly.

Monty Python-alum Eric Idle is back directing and starring in this sequel. However, instead of wit he brings along his famous friends Tom Hanks, David Bowie, Carrie Fisher, Jewel, Mike Nichols, Conan O'Brien and Steve Martin to comment on the fictional band.

I am a huge Rutles fan, and I was greatly anticipating this release.

Unfortunately, THE RUTLES 2 - CAN'T BUT ME LUNCH is just clips from the first film, edited differently to tell the same story.

Yes, it has its moments, but it offers nothing new of substance for Rutles fans.

But don't let this disappointing new release stop you from getting to know The Rutles, and from seeing The Beatles in a whole new light.

Just seek out the original 1978 release THE RUTLES: ALL YOU NEED IS CASH and enjoy.

THE RUTLES: ALL YOU NEED IS CASH, THE RUTLES 2 - CAN'T BUT ME LUNCH and LADDER 49 are all available now on video and DVD.

COMING UP ON APRIL 2nd IN THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT

Is Pixar's THE INCREDIBLES; The Oscar nominated FINDING NEVERLAND featuring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet in the story of J.M. Barrie's attempt to create Peter Pan.

Renee Zellweger is back as Bridget Jones in BRIDGET JONES: THE EDGE OF REASON and movie that I didn't like at all!

But, I did like Oscar nominee Annette Bening's work in BEING JULIA and the performance of the wonderful - and Oscar nominated Imelda Staunton in VERA DRAKE.

And on the next Couch Potato Report I will also speak about CLOSER, erotically charged tale of love, loneliness and betrayal with the all-star cast of Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, Jude Law and Clive Owen.

I'm Dan Reynish and I will have more on CLOSER, BEING JULIA, THE INCREDIBLES and those other releases, in twenty-one days.

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

Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here April 2nd on The Couch!

'Meet the Parents' Actress Dies After Two Misdiagnoses

The actress who was famously smashed in the face by a volleyball in the Meet The Parents comedy died last month after two medics misdiagnosed her pneumonia. Nicole DeHuff, who played Teri Polo's sister in the hilarious 2000 movie, checked into three Los Angeles hospitals, but only when her problems became inoperable did doctors realize what was wrong with her. The actress' mother Patsie says, "By the time she reached the third hospital, it was too late. She was unconscious." The grieving mother reveals her daughter was rushed to hospital on February 12 but was sent home by medics and told to take painkiller Tylenol. Patsie DeHuff recalls, "The next day my daughter was worse." Again, the actress went to hospital, but this time medics prescribed antibiotics for bronchitis. Two days later, paramedics rushed to her home after she collapsed, gasping for breath. The tragic actress died on February 16.

Titanic: Special Edition!

Paramount is holding a special event next week to announce the fall DVD release of the Titanic: The Definitive Special Edition.

Our sources tell us to expect a 2-disc and 4-disc set, patterned after New Lines Lord of the Rings DVD releases.

The 4-disc will have the film spread over 2 discs for maximum anamorphic widescreen video quality, along with deleted scenes, literally hours of behind-the-scenes material, audio commentary and much more.

Dan Rather signs off as CBS Evening News anchor after 24 years

NEW YORK (AP) - Dan Rather echoed a word he once briefly used to sign off the CBS Evening News - courage - in anchoring the program for the final time after 24 years Wednesday.

In a brief statement at the end of the broadcast, Rather paid tribute to Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist victims, tsunami survivors, American military forces, the oppressed, those in failing health and fellow journalists in dangerous places. "And, to each of you," he said. "Courage."

He seemed to savour each word of his signoff: "For the CBS Evening News, Dan Rather reporting. Good night."

Rather's reporting career spanned the Kennedy assassination to this winter's tsunami, and he's been the public face of CBS's legendary news division since replacing Walter Cronkite on March 9, 1981.

His first newscast included a story about English girls imitating the hairstyle of Prince Charles' bride-to-be, Diana. On Wednesday, the lead story was oil prices causing a bad day on Wall Street.

He's the second of the three men who dominated network news for more than two decades to step down in four months. NBC's Tom Brokaw exited in November, leaving ABC's Peter Jennings remaining at World News Tonight.

Bob Schieffer is Rather's temporary replacement starting Thursday. CBS expects to name a permanent anchor team to succeed Rather in the coming months.

Rather, 73, is returning to full-time reporting for CBS's 60 Minutes broadcasts.

He flashed a steadfast defiance in reminding viewers of the phrase "courage." He was mocked by some for using the word to end his broadcasts for a week in September 1986 before giving up on the idea.

For its first 20 minutes, Rather's final broadcast was all business. No one - Rather or correspondents John Roberts and Anthony Mason - acknowledged it was a special night. Rather wore a dark blue pinstriped suit and striped red tie. His voice was hoarse.

His exit comes at a low ebb in his career. Rather took much of the public blame for a discredited 60 Minutes story last fall about President George W. Bush's military service, and he's a distant third in the ratings behind NBC's Brian Williams and Jennings.

He has been a target for decades of conservatives who accuse the media of bias, since his coverage of the Nixon White House during the Watergate era, and many have exulted in his recent misfortunes.

But he had his supporters, too.

Marian MacNeil of Windsor, Calif., said she watched Rather regularly and admired him. "I feel terrible the way he's being treated now," MacNeil said. "I think they're smearing a good reputation and overshadowing his 50 years. I hope he's able to rise above this."

Both Jennings and Williams paid tribute to Rather at the end of their broadcasts. Williams called him a "very tough competitor" and a friend of nearly 20 years.

On World News Tonight, Jennings noted the National Guard story and said ABC took no pleasure in the pain it caused its competitors.

"For many of us, being a reporter turned out to be a calling," Jennings said. "It is an identity for Dan. He would be the first to reflect - as all serious reporters do - that this opportunity to work on behalf of the public interest has been an unusual privilege.

"Dan and I are also friend," he said. "It goes without saying that we wish him nothing but the best."

When the lights went down at CBS' broadcast centre on Manhattan's West Side, CBS News president Andrew Heyward and correspondents Ed Bradley, Vicky Mabrey, Jim Axelrod and Rita Braver offered toasts, a spokeswoman said.

Rather drank from a glass of Wild Turkey bourbon.

Meanwhile, a CBS affiliate in northern Michigan that had said it would let its viewers decide whether it should run Wednesday's prime-time CBS tribute to Rather backed off those plans. The station in Cadillac, Mich., said Wednesday its poll had been grossly misinterpreted.

"We were simply trying to maintain the great tradition of local viewer input that is the foundation of our modern day broadcasting system," said William Kring, the station's general manager. "It was never our intent to embarrass Mr. Rather or the CBS network."

Text of Dan Rather's final signoff as anchor of the CBS Evening News on Wednesday:

"We have shared a lot in the 24 years we've been meeting here each evening. And before I say good night this night, I need to say thank you. Thank you to the thousands of wonderful professionals at CBS News, past and present, with whom it has been my honour to work over these years.

"And a deeply felt thank you to all of you, who have let us in to your homes night after night. It has been a privilege and one never taken lightly.

"Not long after I first came to the anchor chair I briefly signed off using the word 'courage.' I want to return to it now, in a different way, to a nation still nursing a broken heart for what happened here in 2001, and especially to those who found themselves closest to the events of September 11th.

"To our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines in dangerous places. To those who have endured the tsunami, and to all who have suffered natural disasters and who must now find the will to rebuild.

"To the oppressed and to those whose lot it is to struggle in financial hardship and failing health. To my fellow journalists in places where reporting the truth means risking all.

"And, to each of you, courage.

"For the CBS Evening News, Dan Rather reporting. Good night."

Coldplay Reveals More Album Details

NEW YORK (Billboard) - U.K. band Coldplay debuted several tracks from its as-yet-untitled new album last Friday (March 4) during an intimate concert for fans and industry personnel in London.

New songs "Speed of Sound," "A Message" and "What If" were unveiled, while time constraints prevented a fourth tune, "Fix You," from being played.

Frontman Chris Martin also described another song, "Square One," as "designed to be played live" during a Monday interview with BBC Radio One. The band previously said tracks such as "The Hardest Part," "X&Y" and "'Till Kingdom Come" were contenders to make the final cut.

The artist elaborated on why Coldplay scrapped its first batch of new material last summer, after it had begun rehearsing the songs for a planned tour.

"We realized that we didn't really have the right songs, and some of them were starting to sound better, because we were playing them, than they did on record. So we thought we better go back and record them again," he said.

Martin said the new album was days away from being finished, and that only one song was left to mix. The set will arrive in June via Capitol. One new song, "Talk," has been circulating online in the past few days. Reports suggest it may be earmarked for a B-side.

Coldplay will make its first public live appearance since 2003 on Saturday (March 12) during a KCRW benefit at Los Angeles' Universal Amphitheater.

Martin admitted Coldplay is nervous to trot itself back out in front of audiences. "We've been away for so long now, and the only public feedback we get is tabloid gossip, which is generally vitriolic," he said. "So at this point we feel so unpopular and so out of the loop."

In addition to its April 30 headlining appearance at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., Coldplay will play a rare club show the night before in Las Vegas. The group will begin a European tour June 15 in Hamburg, Germany.

Robert Plant Gets Trippy

Robert Plant won't argue with listeners who hear traces of Led Zeppelin on Mighty Rearranger, due May 10th. His first album of original material in twelve years, it's a formidable mix of tribal beats, bluesy guitar crescendos and mystical balladry.

"I've really always had an idea to develop this melange of North African music and the Plant side of Led Zep -- to push the two together," says Plant. "But there's as much Roni Size and Portishead on this album as there is Zeppelin."

Plant is even more inspired by another band lately: his own new quintet, the Strange Sensation, which he's been playing with since 2002's well-received covers collection Dreamland. He credits their energy with inspiring the new CD's "committed collection of songs." "It's a democracy," says Plant, who adds that his young bandmates no longer find his stature intimidating. "After three and a half years, they do pass wind when I'm around."

Rock Radio Not Rolling

Just before midnight on February 24th, Y100, the last modern-rock station in Philadelphia, played the final notes of Pearl Jam's 1992 breakthrough hit "Alive" and faded to silence. When the music resumed a few minutes later, Y100 had become the Beat -- Philly's newest hip-hop station.

In the past six months, three other major-market rock stations have folded -- Washington, D.C.'s WHFS, Miami's WZBT and Houston's KLOL. And more closings are coming: New York's K-Rock is reportedly considering a format flip after morning-show DJ Howard Stern leaves for satellite radio in 2006. Ratings for rock radio have been in decline for at least six years, with audiences shrinking by nearly twenty percent. With urban and Hispanic formats increasing nationwide, rock is getting squeezed out.

In Y100's twelve years on the air, it helped break artists such as Beck, Weezer and Good Charlotte. When the station switched formats, Interpol's scheduled interview to promote a Philadelphia gig was canceled. "It's a huge blow for fans and for bands that Y100 closed and that other stations are closing," says Interpol manager Brandon Schmidt, a Philadelphia native. "To think that the sixth-largest radio market in the country has no place to play new bands is kind of hard to believe."

Mainstream rock has been hit the hardest: Album-oriented rock stations that rely on staples like Three Doors Down have seen listenership fall seventy percent since 1998. Meanwhile, stations that play harder bands like Godsmack and Alter Bridge haven't developed a larger audience. The poor numbers have left programmers complaining about the quality of recent music. "Some good new bands are getting airplay," says Dave Wellington, program director at Boston's WBCN, a station that plays a mix of modern and classic rock. "But nothing has really emerged as the new grunge, a single style that creates a massive radio movement."

Rock radio's larger struggle may have more to do with America's shifting demographics. Baby boomers, who fueled FM radio's rise in the 1970s, are aging beyond the twenty-four-to-fifty-five-year-old demographic that advertisers pay premium rates to reach. Rock listenership has fallen close to twenty percent in that demographic since 1998, according to Arbitron, which measures radio play.

Meanwhile, the Hispanic population became the county's largest minority population in 2003, and a February Arbitron report says Hispanic buying power is increasing at twice the rate of other demographics. Spanish-language radio ratings are up thirty percent since 1998. In September, Clear Channel -- which owns more than 1,200 radio stations -- announced plans to convert up to twenty-five stations to Spanish language by mid-2006. "The number-one TV station in most Hispanic markets is the Hispanic station," says Phil Quartararo, president of music marketing at EMI. "Radio broadcasters are applying the same theory. It's 'I've got three rock stations slicing up a ten percent market share, while forty-five percent of the population is Hispanic.'"

Finally, hip-hop and R&B have a stronghold on teens and young adults. Only six percent of teenagers are listening to rock at any given time, compared with nearly twenty percent listening to urban radio and forty percent listening to Top Forty radio stations, which are dominated by hip-hop and R&B.

Concert-biz and record-label executives worry that they're losing a key promotion avenue for rock. Electric Factory Concerts in Philadelphia, a frequent Y100 advertiser, promoted recent shows by Franz Ferdinand and My Chemical Romance on the station. "Y100 really tapped into a community feeling," says Electric Factory's Jim Sutcliffe. Adds RCA vice president Richard Sanders, "A Top Twenty market that doesn't have a modern-rock station hurts us. There's nothing like getting thirty or forty spins on a radio station to sell records."

Rock radio stations might be changing formats just as the music is beginning a renaissance. A new wave of bands including the Killers, Modest Mouse and Franz Ferdinand are gaining play on stations across the country. "Five years ago, I stopped listening to radio completely," says Franz Ferdinand bassist Bob Hardy. "Now there's dozens of new bands I'm keen to hear. It's all just part of the natural cycle of music."

Rock fans are fighting for their stations. In Houston and D.C., listeners raised such a ruckus that the stations returned to the air, albeit with weaker signals elsewhere on the dial. Now Philadelphia's rock fans are mounting their own battle online at Y100rocks.com, teaming with former station employees to stream alternative rock twenty-four hours a day. One listener, seventeen-year-old Ben Kennerly, set up an online message board, which was flooded with 40,000 posts in its first week. "I've been listening to the station since I was twelve," says Kennerly. "It's worth fighting for." Another listener, thirty-nine-year-old Richard Cardona, donated nearly $3,000 worth of Web-site development. "I'm hoping we can get a station with lower ratings to flip their format and play what Y100 is playing online now," says Cardona. "People ought to be able to hear rock on the radio."

'Harry Potter 6' Cover Revealed

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - What has Harry Potter gotten himself into this time?

Judging from the cover -- yes we dare -- of the latest J.K. Rowling book, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the world's favorite boy wizard will confront something eerie and possibly glowing.

The image of the book's cover, which Scholastic released on Tuesday, March 8, depicts Harry and Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore peering into a basin emanating a green light. It's possible that Harry and his mentor are scrying, or trying to divine the future. Scrying is often done with a crystal ball, mirror or something reflective like liquid that shows images of the future.

"For the cover of 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,' the mood of the art is truly eerie," says artist Mary GrandPre, who also created the artwork for the U.S. versions of the first five books in the series. "I wanted the colors to be strong and I chose upward lighting and dramatic shadows to convey a kind of surreal place and time."

"Individually, each jacket is like a concentrated visual taste of the book inside, and collectively they form a portrait gallery of a boy growing up very much in the public eye" says Arthur Levine, Vice President, Arthur A. Levine Books, Scholastic and editor of the Harry Potter books.

"Half-Blood Prince" is the penultimate volume in the seven-book children's series that picks up where the previous installment left off, with Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge finally acknowledging what a 16-year-old Harry and his pals have known for five years: evil wizard Lord Voldemort didn't die after all and is wreaking havoc once again.

The book will be released on July 16, along with the simultaneous release of the deluxe edition, which includes a 32-page insert featuring near scale reproductions of GrandPre's interior art, as well as a never-before-seen piece of full-color-art for the frontispiece. The deluxe edition, which retails for double the regular book at $60.00, will also come in a foil-stamped cardboard slipcase and will include a blind-stamped cloth case, full-color endpapers printed with the jacket art from the regular edition, luxurious foil, and a wraparound jacket featuring exclusive, suitable-for-framing art by GrandPre.

The "Harry Potter" books have been adapted for the silver screen, with the fourth book, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" heading to theaters on Nov. 18.

Now that he's killed Bill, Quentin Tarantino may be ready to tackle Jason.

The maverick Oscar-winning writer-director is meeting with New Line Cinema executives to discuss resurrecting hockey-masked slayer Jason Vorhees for a new installment in the studio's highly profitable Friday the 13th franchise that would resurrect hockey-masked killer Jason Voorhees.

A source close to the talks told E! Online that Tarantino first mentioned the idea of reinventing the big-screen slasher to Cabin Fever director Eli Roth, saying he had always dreamed of doing a Jason movie and already had a story and opening montage worked out in his head.

But the studio didn't seriously consider approaching the Pulp Fiction filmmaker until its plans fell through to make a follow-up to its 2003 hit Freddy vs. Jason.

That campy flick saw Jason go weapon-to-weapon against New Line's other horror icon, dream-weaving slayer Freddy Kruger of A Nightmare on Elm Street series fame and was the last celluloid foray for the Friday the 13th baddie.

New Line had originally set out to persuade director Sam Raimi to license his Evil Dead hero, Ash, for a sequel aptly titled Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash, but those dreams were dashed when the deal fell apart. Raimi has plans for his own Dead remake.

Tarantino would be tasked with reviving the moribund Friday franchise, which had long ago stumbled into self-parody as Mr. Voorhees bid adieu to the cozy confines at Camp Crystal Lake and set out for the big city (Jason Takes Manhattan), paid a visit to the underworld (Jason Goes to Hell) and even managed a trip into space (Jason X).

Not unlike Jason, the cinematically sadistic Tarantino is known for dreaming up creative ways to dispatch characters, from the ear-offing scene in Reservoir Dogs to the brain-splattering in Pulp Fiction to the blood orgies of Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. New Line is undoubtedly hoping the Pulpmeister would help Jason recapture his scariness and make a killing at the box office.

And don't think directing a Friday the 13th would be beneath the Tarantino: He's an avowed fan of low-brow fare.

The director, who helmed the 1995 blood-soaked "Mother" episode of ER, signed on two weeks ago to write and direct the season finale of CBS' hit series CSI. He's also aiming to shoot another kung fu saga--this one entirely in Mandarin--that will hit theaters in 2006.

Before getting the Friday feeler, Tarantino had volunteered to direct an installment of the James Bond franchise. Although the notion was seconded by erstwhile 007 Pierce Brosnan, Tarantino's offer was turned down by the Bond producers who have tapped GoldenEye helmer Martin Campbell to direct the upcoming Casino Royale.

If all goes according to Hoyle, a Tarantino Friday the 13th movie would be the first flick he would make outside of Miramax. However, reps for both New Line and the director are cautioning fans not to get their hopes up just yet.

"It's premature at this point," says a studio spokeswoman. "It's just a meeting."

CBC investigates leak of Doctor Who episode onto Net; series debuts April 5

TORONTO (CP) - The CBC says it is investigating how a Doctor Who episode ended up on the Internet a month before the new sci-fi series begins airing on television, although a spokesperson says the network is not the source of the leak.

A 45-minute episode of the BBC-produced series appeared on the Net on Monday, the BBC reported on its website, calling it "significant breach of copyright."

"The source of it appears to be connected to our co-production partner (the CBC)," the report said.

CBC spokesperson Ruth-Ellen Soles said Tuesday "we're currently undertaking a vigorous investigation to determine how the leak occurred - and our investigations to date indicate that CBC was not the source of the leak."

Soles added that "CBC took all necessary and appropriate precautions to preserve the confidentiality of the program."

News of the leak emerged, coincidentally, the same day the CBC announced that the 13-part series will make its North American debut April 5 on CBC-TV.

British actor Christopher Eccleston (eXistenZ) stars as Doctor Who, and pop singer Billie Piper plays his companion Rose Taylor.

The original Doctor Who series developed cult status, ending in 1989 after 26 years on the air.

The new series is "a smartly written, contemporary, full-blooded drama that embraces the original series' heritage and introduces the characters to a modern audience," the CBC said.

"Travelling through time and space, the Doctor and Rose come face to face with a variety of new and menacing monsters, as well as battling with the Doctor's arch-enemy, the Daleks."

Sony Unveils Line of Cheaper Flash Memory Walkmans

TOKYO/HANOVER (Reuters) - Sony Corp. on Tuesday launched a new lineup of cheaper Walkman portable music players in another attempt to grab back share from market leader Apple Computer and its popular iPod device.

The cheapest models, which come with a 256-megabyte flash memory chip, will retail below 100 euros ($132.20) or 70 pounds, a price point the electronics conglomerate hopes will address complaints that its products are overpriced.

"Until now, the complaint was that Sony products sold at a major premium," said Gregory Kukolj, general manager of the personal audio group in Europe.

Sony invented the Walkman cassette player 26 years ago and dominated the personal audio market for two decades. But it has watched that lead slip away due to the runaway success of the iPod and growing competition from Asian manufacturers.

Sony's new flash memory players are equipped with chips capable of storing 256 megabytes, 512 megabytes or one gigabyte of data. The most expensive one-gigabyte model will go for about 240 euros and can store the equivalent of 45 compact discs.

Kukolj conceded that Sony's new Walkmans would still be more expensive than some brands on the market as the cheapest players can be had for less than 50 euros. But he said the new Walkmans would win over customers with superior features and designs.

Apple's recently launched iPod Shuffle, its first flash memory player after initial hard-disk based iPods, sells for 99 euros, but unlike Sony's players, it has has no display.

Sony said some of the new models would come equipped with organic electroluminescence (OLED) displays while some would be able to generate three hours of playback time with just three minutes of recharging.

"The digital player market is still in its early stages. In the European Union alone the personal audio market is 20 to 22 million devices a year. More than 10 million of those are CD portable players ... there is a huge opportunity," Kukolj said.

Sony's new players will be launched around the world starting later this month. They will be on show at the CeBIT electronic trade fair in Hanover, Germany, this week.

Kirstie Alley Begins New Career as 'Fat Actress'

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Fat Actress" isn't a label many people in Hollywood would embrace, but former "Cheers" star Kirstie Alley is reveling in it.

She even enjoyed seeing what she admits is a very unflattering shot of her ample rear end on a 100-foot movie screen at the premier party for her new sitcom "Fat Actress," which premiers on the Showtime cable TV network on Monday.

"We were explaining to a guest of ours it was on this huge wide screen and then midsentence I was, 'Oh my God,"' Alley said in an interview the day after the premier. "I was a little apprehensive, thinking it's going to be 100 feet wide."

Alley plays herself in the show, an overweight and out-of-work actress. The first episode opens with her wailing hysterically on the floor of her bathroom having realized that the reason she can't get a job is her size.

"My message wasn't 'Oh wow, don't I look beautiful even though I'm hefty.' That's not what I was trying to accomplish," Alley said. "I was trying to accomplish somebody pathetically realizing that they're really fat."

There are no punches pulled in the show, which was unscripted beyond a detailed outline of the plot. The actors improvise, apparently trying to outdo each other in how politically incorrect they can be.

In one scene Alley has a meeting with the head of NBC Universal Television, Jeff Zucker, who plays himself, to discuss a new sitcom. Zucker is visibly shocked at her size and, when she leaves the room, calls her agent to complain about it.

"I don't think it's an attack on Hollywood," she said.

"It's a comment on how if any woman walks into any interview overweight they would be all nicey nice and when she left they would go, 'Oh my God, she's so fat.' It's not exclusive to Hollywood," she said.

FAT MEN WITH SKINNY WIVES

In another scene Alley is shouting down the phone to her agent about the injustice of a system where men have no pressure to be thin and stars like James Gandolfini of "The Sopranos" positively thrive on it.

"I know very, very few actresses who are not called in to be reprimanded about their weight," Alley said in the interview. "And that can't be true of men because if you just turn on the TV ... most men are fat."

"Apparently it's a prerequisite ... to having a sitcom. Men have to be fat and their wives have to be 20 years younger and skinny." Alley said when she was starring in "Cheers" and later "Veronica's Closet," she was constantly under pressure if she gained any weight.

"I think on 'Veronica's Closet" I started at around 140 (pounds) and got up to 160 on and off, and still at 5-(foot)-8 that's not tubby-go-lardy," she said.

But she added: "It doesn't make me angry. We create our own lives." She said she is just as likely to laugh at a fat person, or animal, as anybody else.

"It does denote laziness. To me, I was lazy. I got lazy and complacent like a big fat deer," said the actress who has now signed a contract with diet guru Jenny Craig to promote the diet plan which she says has so far helped her lose 20 pounds.

Under the terms of the deal Alley declined to say how much she weighs now. At age 54 and with two children, she is larger than most of her peers in showbusiness but hardly out of the ordinary in a country where obesity is a growing problem.

Even as she strives to slim down, Alley says she is baffled by the preoccupation with looks and the body in society.

"I think it needs to be made fun of. You can't be preachy and have them learn, so you have to do it in a way that you have them laugh," she said. "Is it the worst problem in the world that I need to lose 50 pounds? I don't think so."

The first season of "Fat Actress" has guest stars such as John Travolta and Kid Rock. Showtime has signed a deal with Yahoo to stream it to viewers on the Internet.

"You can't do fat jokes forever but you can certainly do them for seven shows," Alley said, promising more plot twists in the second season after she has lost weight. "I become completely promiscuous and become so in love with myself, and of course that's setting myself up for another big fall."

Alanis among Walk of Fame inductees

TORONTO (CP) - Singer-songwriters Alanis Morissette and Paul Anka, who both hail from Ottawa, are among nine Canadians who will be celebrated on the country's ever-growing Walk of Fame this year.

The list also includes boxer George Chuvalo, ballet dancer Rex Harrington and actors Kiefer Sutherland (who now joins his acting parents Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas on the Walk) and the late Fay Wray. Also there are two figures prominent in the entertainment field but who are not familiar faces to the public: concert promoter Michael Cohl and TV producer Pierre Cossette. Finally, Daniel Lanois, who has produced several albums for Irish supergroup U2 and is a performer in his own right, will be inducted.

"This is a very exciting year for Canada's Walk of Fame," said chairman and founder, Toronto businessman Peter Soumalias. "We are proud to induct Canadians that have changed the face of Canadian arts and culture."

Since its inception in 1998, 84 Canadians have been honoured with a personal "star" - actually a stylized maple leaf - embossed in cement on an ever-growing stretch of sidewalk in Toronto's downtown theatre district.

The tribute gala this year will be held on Sunday, June 5, and will switch from Global to CTV as the host broadcaster under a new three-year contract.

And again, Ottawa comic Tom Green will serve as emcee.

Green was present Tuesday at the inductee unveiling and joked that there had been intense negotiations with Soumalias over a contract to have him return this year.

"Eventually we settled on $20,000. And as soon as I wrote the cheque he said I could host. So I appreciate that, Peter."

Green, known for a penchant for gross-out humour, such as bringing a rotting roadkill carcass onstage, also had fun with that reputation.

"I haven't told you this yet, Peter, but I do plan on throwing some dead raccoons into the audience this year, which I'm very excited about. Is that OK, if we have some dead raccoons?"

Soumalias said there will be four days of ceremonies in downtown Toronto this year, starting June 2 and culminating in the gala on the 5th. He revealed that a partnership had been formed with the Mary Pickford Foundation of Los Angeles to develop what will be an annual national competition for young filmmakers.

Details will be revealed in a few weeks but the debut competition will involve Fay Wray, who at 96, was unable to attend last year's induction event and died shortly thereafter. The Alberta-born star of the 1933 classic King Kong will be inducted posthumously into the Walk this year.

Soumalias said the filmmakers will be asked to creatively package the screen legend "in a way that she would be presented in today's multimedia entertainment environment."

Soumalias also said there are still a handful of Canadian personalities from Hollywood's early years that they're trying to connect with. If they are successful, he said, one of them might join the festivities.

Last year saw the posthumous induction of several film pioneers who had Canadian roots: Pickford, Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner and Mack Sennett.

To be eligible, a nominee must have been born in Canada or spent their formative or creative years here, had a minimum of 10 years experience in the field and had a national or international impact on Canada's cultural heritage.

Each year, the public at large submits thousands of recommendations, which then go to a review committee of Canadian peers. After the committee's evaluation, the names go before the Walk of Fame board of directors, which makes the annual selection.

Soumalias said well over 20,000 names were submitted by the public this year, which were then boiled down to 200, then to a dozen and finally to the nine. And he conceded there were still enough Canadians to keep the Walk going for years.

"We've got to get to Don Messer and Lorne Greene and Ruby Keeler and Giselle MacKenzie," he said. He declined to identify some of the crazier proposals, but conceded there are two perennial responses from the public.

"There's 'How could you possibly have put this person on the Walk of Fame?' and the other. . .'If you ever consider this person let me give you five reasons why you should not.' "

He said the funnier ones he's saving for a book some day.

-

Here are the 2005 inductees into Canada's Walk of Fame announced Tuesday. The annual induction gala will take place June 5:

-Paul Anka. The singer was raised in Ottawa and started out as a teen crooner in the 1950s. With more than 124 albums, he's considered one of the most successful songwriters of all time (including authorship of the famous Tonight Show theme).

-George Chuvalo. Born in Toronto, the heavyweight boxer became a Canadian champion from 1958 to 1979. In 1966 he fought Muhammad Ali, who won but still called Chuvalo the toughest man he ever fought.

-Michael Cohl. Toronto born and raised, he has for years promoted concerts, musicals, prize fights, skating shows and tennis matches. He organized Rolling Stones tours and was the man behind the 2003 SARSstock concert in Toronto.

-Pierre Cossette. A Montreal native, he started his own record label and launched many music careers in the U.S. In TV he produced Emmy-winning variety shows for the likes of Dick Clark and Sammy Davis Jr., as well as the annual Grammy Awards since 1971.

-Rex Harrington. Born in Peterborough, Ont., "sexy Rexy" entered the National Ballet School in Toronto and joined the National Ballet of Canada upon graduation. He had a long-term partnership with Karen Kain. Harrington retired last year but still is actively involved with the National Ballet company.

-Daniel Lanois. He was born in Hull, Que., but moved to Hamilton, Ont., where he developed an interest in music at an early age. He helped produce U2's Unforgettable Fire album in 1984, launching him into a music producer career. He's worked with Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Bob Dylan and the Neville Brothers.

-Alanis Morissette. The Ottawa-born singer-songwriter began her career in 1991 as an instant pop sensation for her hit song Too Hot. Her Jagged Little Pill CD, however, launched her into superstardom, selling more than 30 million copies and earning her multiple Grammy awards. She's also acted in films and directed.

-Kiefer Sutherland joins his acting parents on the Walk this year. Born in London, England, he began his acting career in Toronto. He's appeared in more than 50 films, including The Lost Boys and Stand By Me, and is now the star of Fox TV's hit thriller series 24, of which he is also an executive producer.

-Fay Wray. The Alberta-born actress is probably best known as King Kong's leading lady in the 1933 classic film. She was supposed to be inducted last year but at 96 was unable to make the visit to Toronto and died shortly thereafter. She gets her Walk star posthumously.

Brian Wilson again shares 'Smile' with North American audiences

Recent Grammy-winner Brian Wilson hits the road this summer for more shows behind his critically acclaimed album "Smile."

The former Beach Boy launches the run in the Northeast in early August, and wraps things up on the West Coast in early September. Details are shown below.

At each stop, Wilson and his band will perform "Smile" in its entirety. Originally planned as the follow-up to The Beach Boys' landmark "Pet Sounds" album, "Smile" surfaced last September.

Wilson and lyricist Van Dyke Parks, who collaborated on the "Smile" sessions in 1966 and 1967, re-teamed in late 2003 after Wilson announced plans to complete the album and perform it at a series of concerts in London. The pair, along with Darian Sahanaja of Wilson's touring band, began preparing music for the performance, which led Wilson and Parks to start working on new material as well.

The process spawned the newly recorded version of "Smile," material from which made its public debut during a February 2004 concert at London's Royal Festival Hall. The original version of "Smile" was never released, but several tracks that were recorded for the album were issued on other Beach Boys albums.

LSL Productions plans to issue a DVD titled "Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of 'Smile'," a film that documents the making of the album, according to Wilson's website. A release date has not been announced.

Last month, Wilson won his first solo Grammy for the "Smile" cut "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow," which won in the Best Rock Instrumental Performance category.

"I waited 42 years for this Grammy and it was well worth the wait," Wilson said in a statement. "It represents triumph and achievement in music that I feel that I deserved, and I'm really glad I won."

Tour Itinerary

April 2005
24 - New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Jazz Festival

August 2005
9 - Boston, MA - Bank of America Pavilion
10 - Vienna, VA - Wolf Trap Filene Center
12 - Holmdel, NJ - P.N.C. Bank Arts Center
13 - Wantagh, NY - Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theater
14 - Saratoga Springs, NY - Saratoga Performing Arts Center
16 - Philadelphia, PA - Mann Center
17 - Wallingford, CT - Oakdale Theatre
18 - Montreal, Quebec - Place des Arts
23 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
24 - Saint Louis, MO - Roberts Orpheum Theatre
25 - Kansas City, MO - Starlight Theatre
28 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
29 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Queen Elizabeth Theatre
31 - Portland, OR - Arlene Schnitzer Hall

September 2005
1 - Jacksonville, OR - Britt Festivals @ Britt Pavillion
3 - Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre
4 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl

Def Leppard, Bryan Adams to tour minor league ballparks

Def Leppard and Bryan Adams, two acts that had enormous success in the '80s, will team this summer to co-headline a tour of minor league ballparks dubbed the "Rock 'N Roll Double-Header Tour."

The outing kicks off June 1 in Portland, OR, and will visit 26 minor league ballparks. All concerts take place on non-game days.

In each ballpark, the stage will be set up in the outfield. Fans can either bring a blanket to sit on the field or sit in the stands, according to a press release.

Def Leppard and Adams each plan to release a new album in 2005.

On May 17, Mercury/UMe will issue "Def Leppard--Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection," a two-disc best-of album that features the new single "No Matter What," which originally was recorded by Badfinger. Two of Def Leppard's albums--"Pyromania" and "Hysteria"--have sold more than 10 million copies each in the U.S.

"Room Service," the latest album from Canada's Adams, will hit stores this spring. It already debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's European album chart. He'll also release a new book of photography this spring, dubbed "Calvin Klein--American Women."

(FYI - The Adams disc actually came out in Canada last September, 2004)

Among Adams' No. 1 singles are "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You," "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?," "Heaven" and "All For Love" (with Rod Stewart and Sting).

Tour Itinerary

June 2005
1 - Portland, OR - PGE Park (Beavers)
3 - San Jose, CA - Municipal Stadium (Giants)
4 - Fresno, CA - Fresno Grizzlies Stadium (Grizzlies)
5 - San Bernardino, CA - Arrowhead Credit Union Park (Inland Empire 66ers)
7 - Mesa, AZ - HohoKam Park (Sidewinders)
8 - El Paso, TX - Cohen Stadium (Diablos)
10 - Oklahoma City, OK - SBC Bricktown Ballpark (RedHawks)
11 - Ft. Worth, TX - LaGrave Field (Cats)

July 2005
1 - Camden, NJ - Campbell's Field (RiverSharks)
2 - Lancaster, PA - Clippers Magazine Stadium (Barnstormers)
3 - Wappingers Falls, NY - Dutchess Stadium (Renegades)
5 - Lakewood, NJ - FirstEnergy Park (Blueclaws)
6 - Brockton, MA - Campanelli Stadium (Rox)
8 - Aberdeen, MD - Ripken Stadium (Rock Cats)
9 - Brooklyn, NY - KeySpan Park (Cyclones)
10 - Rochester, NY - Frontier Field (Red Wings)
29 - St. Paul, MN - Midway Stadium (Saints)
30 - Schaumburg, IL - Alexian Field (Flyers)
31 - Davenport, IA - John O'Donnell Stadium (Swing)

August 2005
2 - Lincoln, NE - Haymarket Park (Salt Dogs)
3 - Kansas City, KS - Community America Ballpark (T-Bones)
5 - South Bend, IN - Coveleski Stadium (Silver Hawks)
6 - Eastlake, OH - Eastlake Stadium (Captains)
7 - Charleston, WV - Appalachian Power Park (Alley Cats)
9 - Dayton, OH - Fifth Third Field (Dragons)
10 - Lansing, MI - Oldsmobile Park (Lugnuts)

Weezer To Play 'Make Believe'

Weezer is eyeing a May release for its fifth studio album, "Make Believe." As previously reported, the Geffen set will be preceded in the coming weeks by the single "Beverly Hills," a video for which was shot two weekends ago at the Playboy mansion in Los Angeles.

According to the band's official Web site, the Marcos Siega-directed clip should "start shaping up" by "the end of the weekend."

"The song speculates about living the life of movers and shakers, but concludes that there's no way to cross over from the 'real world' to the 'fantasy world' (even if one who is 'normal' has indeed become 'famous')," the site says. "But for a few minutes the idea is tossed about, taken to the level of longing for a life of extreme celebrity."

At deadline, Weezer's only confirmed U.S. show is April 30 at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Seven European dates are on tap in June.

Here are Weezer's tour dates:

April 30: Indio, Calif. (Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival)
June 3: Nurburgring, Germany (Rock am Ring Festival)
June 4: Nuremberg, Germany (Rock im Park Festival)
June 5: Hamburg (Grosse Freheit)
June 10: Nickelsdorf, Austria (Nova Rock Festival)
June 13: Birmingham, England (Academy)
June 14: London (Brixton Academy)
June 17: Glasgow (Carling Academy)

NEW CD RELEASES FOR MARCH 8, 2005

50 Foot Wave (w/Kristin Hersh) Golden Ocean (ThrowingMusic/BMG)

Above This Fire In Perspective (Life Sentence)

Ak-momo Return to N.Y. (Parasol)

All Rattle and Dust Cold Hard City Blues (Lumberjack)

Alove for Enemies The Harvest (Lumberjack)

Alston Voodoo for Fun and Profit (Repossession)

The Alter Boys The Exotic Sounds of (Lumberjack)

The Amazing Pilots Hello, My Captor (Undertow)

Architects Keys to the Building (Anodyne)

Nic Armstrong The Greatest White Liar (New West)

Ash Meltdown (w/bonus DVD) (Warner Bros.)

Asphalt Jungle Enjoy This Trip (Hypnotic)

Black Label Society (w/Zakk Wylde) Mafia (Artemis)

Black Tie Dynasty This Stays Between Us EP (Idol Records)

Andrea Bocelli Massenet: Werther (two CDs) (Universal Classics)

Boom Bip Blue Eyed in the Red Room (Warp)

Lynn Bryant Woman Enough (Infinity Music)

Eddie Bush Eddie Bush (Infinity Music)

Brad Byrd The Ever Changing Picture (Free Agency)

The Capitol Years Let Them Drink (Burn & Shiver)

Deanna Carter The Story of My Life (Vanguard)

Civet Massacre (Disaster)

Combichrist Everybody Hates You (Metropolis)

Chris Cotton I Watched the Devil Die (Yellow Dog)

John Davis (of Superdrag) John Davis (Rambler)

Del Cielo Us vs. Them (Lovitt)

Des_Ark Loose Lips Sink Ships (Lumberjack)

Desperate Measure Never Enough Time (Youngblood)

Devil in a Woodpile In Your Lonesome Town (Bloodshot)

Diary of Dreams MenschFeind (Metropolis)

John Digweed Fabric 20 (mix CD) (Studio Distribution)

The Disease Dyslexic Experts in Reverse Psychology (Alone)

DJ Hell NY Muscle (w/Suicide's Alan Vega, James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, and Kings of Convenience's Erlend Oye; w/bonus track and video, cameos by P. Diddy and Princess Superstar) (Gigolo)

DJ Revolution The ABC's of High Fidelity (Studio Distribution)

The Elanors A Year to Demonstare (Parasol)

Tommy Emmanuel Endless Road (Favored Nations)

The Evens (Ian MacKaye of Fugazi) The Evens (Dischord)

Fascinating Aida Fascinating Aida (First Night)

Pedro Luis Ferrer Rústico (Escondida)

Fog 10th Avenue Freakout (Warp)

Forever Changed Need to Feel Alive (Floodgate)

French Toast (James Canty of Make Up and Nation of Ulysses) In a Cave (Dischord)

Full Scale Full Scale (Columbia)

Reeves Gabrels (David Bowie guitarist) Rockonica (Favored Nations)

Jay Geils Plays Jazz (covers of Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Roland Kirk and more) (Stony Plain)

Go It Alone Vancouver Gold EP (Straight On)

Gratitude (ex-Far frontman Jonah Matranga) Gratitude (Atlantic)

Guapo Black Oni (Ipecac)

The Gun Shys The Gun Shys (Aeronaut)

Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion (daughter of Arlo/granddaughter of Woody) Exploration (featuring members of the Jayhawks and Son Volt; includes cover of Pete Seeger's "Dr. King" w/Seeger's grandson Tao Rodriguez) (New West)

Steve Hackett Genesis Revisited (new renditions of classic Genesis tunes) (Snapper)

The Holy Ghost Welcome to Ignore Us (w/members of Bright Eyes' band) (Clearly)

Hugh Hopper Band Meccano Pelorus (Cuneiform)

Hot Club of San Francisco Postcards from Gypsyland (produced by Norah Jones guitarist Adam Levy) (Lost Wax Music)

Hot Karl The Great Escape (guests MC Serch, Will.I.Am and 9th Wonder) (Headless Heroes)

Glenn Hughes (of Deep Purple) Soulfully Live in the City of Angels (two CDs/DVD combo) (Deadline/Cleopatra)

Ian Hunter Strings Attached (two CDs; DVD same day) (Sanctuary)

Icarus Witch Roses on White Lace (Cleopatra)

Instrumental Icons The Music of Lil Jon (instrumental versions of hip-hop hits) (Koch)

Into the Moat The Design (Metal Blade)

Kaddisfly Buy Our Intention; We'll Buy You a Unicorn (Hopeless)

KAOS (ex-Terranova) Hello Stranger (Studio Distribution)

Kasabian Kasabian (RCA)

The Kills No Wow (RCA)

Kimone The Mill (Lumberjack)

Kings of Tomorrow Trouble (Studio Distribution)

Jimmy LaFave Blue Nightfall (Red House)

Lights Out Get Out (Youngblood)

Living Legends Classic (Basement/Legendary Music)

Make Move The Evidence EP (Straight On)

Mando Diao Hurricane Bar (Mute)

Milton Mapes Blacklight Trap (Undertow)

Danny McGuinness 809 (Heatshield)

The Merediths A Closed Universe EP (Debauchery)

Amy Miles Noble Hatch (Redeye Distribution)

Marcus Miller Silver Rain (Koch)

Thee Missouri In Voodoorama (Blue Disguise)

Monade (Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier) A Few Steps More (Beggars Banquet)

Craig Morgan My Kind of Livin' (w/enhanced video) (BBR)

Morrison-Williams (members of Perfect Stranger) Morrison-Williams (Palo Duro)

Nitty Player's Paradise (Universal Motown)

Our Turn Catch Your Breath (Youngblood)

Over It Silverstrand (Lobster)

Paint It Black Paradise (Jade Tree)

Julius Papp Heartbeat, Vol. 2 (mix CD) (Studio Distribution)

Luciano Pavarotti Verdi (Universal Classics)

Pigeon John Sings the Blues! (Basement)

Richard Pinhas East/West (Cuneiform)

Pit er Pat Shakey (Thrill Jockey)

Pitch Black This Is Modern Sound (Revelation)

Sam Prekop Who's Your New Professor (guest John McEntire of Tortoise) (Thrill Jockey)

Nelson Rangell My American Songbook (Koch)

Rat Cat Hogan We're Bicoastal! (Scrocki)

Ray J Raydiation (Sanctuary)

Duke Robillard and Ronnie Earl The Duke Meets the Earl (originals and covers of T-Bone Walker, Magic Sam and B.B. King) (Stony Plain)

RZA & Keb Darge Kings of Funk (two CDs; mixes of new and classic funk from Sly & the Family Stone, Ohio Players and more) (Studio Distribution)

Scars of Tomorrow Design Your Fate (Lumberjack)

Secret Garden Earthsongs (Universal Classics)

Set Your Goals Set Your Goals EP (Straight On)

Shapes The Big Picture (two CDs) (Burning Down the House)

Sarah Sharp Fourth Person (Redeye Distribution)

Sides of the North The Incurable Romantic (Word of Mouth)

Slipper (ex-members of Loop Guru) When Hot Dogs Fly (Elsewhen/Voiceprint)

Soilwork Stabbing the Drama (Nuclear Blast)

Stars Set Yourself on Fire (Arts & Crafts)

Thugged Out Na What The EP (Blood Rush)

Unearth The Oncoming Storm (2004 release w/two new bonus tracks) (Metal Blade)

Usher Rhythm City Volume 1: Caught Up (CD/DVD combo; includes mini-movie, live interview w/Lionel Richie, behind-the-scenes footage and more; CD includes three new songs) (J Records)

Louie Vega Dance Ritual (mix CD w/Thievery Corporation, Masters at Work and more) (Studio Distribution)

Rhonda Vincent & the Rage Ragin' Live (DVD same day) (Rounder)

Kristine W. The Wonder of It All (Remixes) (Tommy Boy)

When Tigers Fight When Tigers Fight (Lumberjack)

Kenny White symphony in sixteen bars (Wildflower)

Winter Solstice The Fall of Rome (w/Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying on "To the Nines") (Metal Blade)

Yellow Second Altitude (Floodgate)

Zaperoko 3 (Libertad)

VA Acoustic Tribute to Tim McGraw (Tribute Sounds)

VA Code of the Streets (w/Mobb Deep, M.O.P., the Game and more) (Fastlife)

VA Dancehall Delinquents (dancehall reggae compilation; DVD same day) (Sanctuary)

VA Dopegame: The Compilation (w/Keak da Sneak, Bone Crusher, Lil Flip Cormega, E 40 and more) (Rah)

VA Hip-Hop Tribute to Metallica (Tribute Sounds)

VA Hitmakers: The String Quartet Tribute to the Matrix (Vitamin)

VA Latin Empire (hip-hop compilation) (Independent Music)

VA Love Song: The Piano Tribute to the Cure (Vitamin)

VA Pickin' On Tracy Byrd (CMH)

VA Return to Glory Vol. 1 (CD/DVD combo; includes film plus soundtrack w/Duke Ellington, Jazz Crusaders and more) (True Life Jazz)

VA Revive the Soul (two CDs; electronica compilation w/the Postal Service, Kid Koala, Lali Puna and more) (Revive the Soul)

VA Smooth Sax Tribute to Alicia Keys (Tribute Sounds)

VA Smooth Sax Tribute to Shania Twain (Tribute Sounds)

VA Soul Piano Tribute to Anita Baker (Tribute Sounds)

VA The Guitar Tribute to Boston (Tribute Sounds)

VA The String Quartet Tribute to Rush's 2112 (Vitamin)

VA The String Quartet Tribute to Switchfoot (Vitamin)

VA Violently: The String Quartet Tribute to Björk (Vitamin)

OST Face (w/new songs from Naughty By Nature, Bahamadia, the Pharcyde's Tre Hardson and more; score by Leonard Hubbard of the Roots) (Studio Distribution)

OST Melinda and Melinda (Woody Allen film w/Will Ferrell) (Milan)

DVD Bob Dylan World Tours 1966-1974: Through the Camera of Barry Feinstein (documetary w/rare photo gallery and exclusive interviews; soundtrack by tribute band Highway 61 Revisited) (Music Video Distributors)

DVD Danu One Night Stand (Shanachie)

DVD Ford Blues Band In Concert - Ohne Filter (Music Video Distributors)

DVD Beth Hart Live at Paradiso (2004 Amsterdam concert) (Koch)

DVD Jin The Making of a Rap Star (Image Entertainment)

DVD Leatherface Boat in the Smoke (live in London, 2004; bonus band interview) (Music Video Distributors)

DVD Mike + the Mechanics + Paul Carrack Live... (2004 London concert) (Eagle Rock)

DVD Alanis Morrissette Soundstage Presents (Koch Vision)

DVD Pepper Live (bonus features include all the band's music videos, short film and one previously unreleased track, "Green Hell") (Volcom Entertainment)

DVD Usher The Glamorous Life (documentary) (Chrome Dreams)

DVD Steve Winwood Soundstage Presents (Koch Vision)

The rush to DVD

With the domination of DVD frequently exceeding box office, there is an accelerated rush to release content on our favorite little discs. The most aggressive delay between theatrical release and DVD release is a mere three months. It also occurred to me that since there have been problems previously with the duplication and sale of pirated DVDs made from screeners distributed to Academy voters, that the studios might be inclined to release even earlier.

I thought it might be interesting to have a quick look at when this year's Academy Award nominated films (excluding documentaries) are released to DVD. So without further ado . . .

Title
DVD Release Date
Studio

A Very Long Engagement
Unknown
Warner

Being Julia
3/22/05
Sony

Closer
3/29/05
Sony

Finding Neverland
3/22/05
Miramax

Hotel Rwanda
4/12/05
MGM

House Of Flying Daggers
4/19/05
Sony

Kinsey
5/17/05
Fox

Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events
4/26/05
Paramount

Million Dollar Baby
Unknown
Warner

Sideways
4/5/05
Fox

The Aviator
5/24/05
Warner/Miramax

The Incredibles
3/15/05
Buena Vista

The Phantom Of The Opera
5/3/05
Warner

Vera Drake
3/29/05
Warner

Star Trek Insurrection is coming in June

Paramount Home Entertainment has announced a special edition of the ninth Trek film Star Trek Insurrection for release in June.

From the beginning of the Federation, the Prime Directive was clear: no Starfleet expedition may interfere with the natural development of other civilizations. But now Picard is confronted with orders that undermine that decree. If he obeys, 600 peaceful residents of Ba'ku will be forcibly removed from their remarkable world, all for the reportedly greater good of millions who will benefit from Ba'ku's Fountain of Youth-like powers. If he disobeys, he will risk his Starship, his career, his life. But for Picard, there's really only one choice. He must rebel against Starfleet...and lead the insurrection to preserve Paradise.

The two disc set will follow in the footsteps of its predecessors as Star Trek fans make their DVD collections almost complete. The video is presented in anamorphic widescreen and is accompanied by both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 sound. A text commentary is included, although there is no word on an audio commentary. Twelve featurettes: It Takes a Village, Location, Location, Location, The Art of Insurrection, Anatomy of a Stunt, The Story of Insurrection, Making Insurrection, Director's Notebook, Westmore's Aliens, Star Trek's Beautiful Alien Women, Shuttle Chase, The Drones and The Duck Blind are included along with seven much talked about deleted scenes including Ru'afo's Facelift, Working Lunch, Flirting, The Kiss, Status: Precarious, Disabling the Injector and an alternate ending, galleries of storyboards and production photos, teasers and trailers, an EPK featurette and Borg 3-D ads.

The DVD will arrive on June 7th with a suggested retail price yet to be announced.

IPod Battery Life May Get a Boost - [General]

Apple Computer may soon be able to demolish criticisms of the battery life of its IPod family, thanks to PortalPlayer. PortalPlayer has begun shipping a new processor, the PP5022 System-on-chip (SoC). This is the next generation of the processor IPods use today--and needs a lot less power to run. PortalPlayer claims devices using the new processor could benefit from three times their current battery life.

PortalPlayer's vice president of sales and marketing Michael Maia says: "Our goal with the PP5022 was to offer a solution that balances lowest operating power while continuing to increase system performance. "We achieved this goal and will continue to deliver the lowest operational power during playback and encoding of rich media content-the PP5022 is our most innovative SoC to date, resulting in best-in-class battery life in hard drive jukebox systems."

Additional features include integrated USB 2.0 support--to the extent that designers could enable devices built using the processor to be compatible with peripherals, such as digital cameras. The company also introduced its first processor for the flash-based music player market, the PP5024 System-in-Package. This fully-integrated solution is designed to meet the need for high-capacity flash memory-based personal media players. It combines the media processor, peripheral input/output (I/O) controllers, and analogue audio and power management functions on one processor. "This enables high-performance audio jukebox features such as subscription music services and database caching support in a low-power flash platform," the company explains.

Shannon Elizabeth to Split From Husband

LOS ANGELES - Shannon Elizabeth, who starred in "American Pie," and husband Joseph Reitman have decided to split, People magazine reported Monday.

"The couple will remain friends," spokeswoman Nicole King told the magazine. The two continue to share a Los Angeles home, she said.

Elizabeth, 31, and Reitman, 36, also an actor, married in June 2002 in a ceremony on a beach in Mexico, People said. They have no children.

Reitman has appeared in films starring Elizabeth, including "American Pie 2" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back."

The couple co-founded Animal Avengers, a nonprofit animal rescue organization.

Ed McMahon Hospitalized After Fall in Home

LOS ANGELES - Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson's former sidekick, was hospitalized after a fall in his Beverly Hills home left him with a mild concussion and a gash in his head that required stitches, his publicist said Monday.

"Mr. McMahon's prognosis is excellent and he is expected to be released from the hospital in the next few days," spokeswoman Susan DuBow said. The name of the Los Angeles area hospital wasn't disclosed.

McMahon, who turned 82 on Sunday, tripped and fell Friday afternoon, DuBow said.

He was taken to a hospital where he received several stitches in his forehead, she said, adding that he had suffered a mild concussion.

McMahon is best known as Carson's sidekick on "The Tonight Show." Carson, who retired in 1992, died Jan. 23 of emphysema at age 79.

McMahon was also co-host with Dick Clark of the "Bloopers" shows and appeared year after year on Jerry Lewis' Labor Day telethon.

Springsteen Spiffs Up 'Dust' for Spring

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Bruce Springsteen's new album, "Devils & Dust," will be released in DualDisc format on April 26.

In addition to the standard audio tracks on one side, the DVD side will sport acoustic renditions of the title track, "Long Time Comin'," "Reno," All I'm Thinkin' About" and "Matamoras Banks," filmed last month in New Jersey.

In addition, Springsteen has added his extensive introductions to the tracks. The DVD also boasts a 5.1 Surround Sound mix of the album.

"Devils & Dust" will be available as a deluxe edition, with exclusive photographs and what the label describes as "unique, song-specific elements" for each of the 12 tracks. This version also will be issued as a DualDisc.

The new album follows the format of Springsteen's '90s studio work, in which he eschewed the presence of the full E Street Band and was instead surrounded by a rotating cast of collaborators. The core band features only Springsteen on guitar, producer Brendan O'Brien on bass and Steve Jordan (Steely Dan, Keith Richards) on drums.

An acoustic tour is in the works, but no dates have yet been announced.

Swank Was Third Choice for 'Baby'

Actress Hilary Swank has Sandra Bullock and Ashley Judd to thank for her Best Actress Oscar for Million Dollar Baby - because the role was refused by both actresses.

The movie's producer Albert S. Ruddy's first choice for the part of a tragic female boxer was Bullock, who turned down the part when she was told she could not pick the director - Ruddy next approached Judd, whose salary demands would have busted the budget.

After Ruddy finally settled on Swank, Bullock's agent called him and said she would do the picture after all, but, "Al just said, 'Too late,'" a source told website Pagesix.Com.

U2 announces fall leg of tour

U2 has announced the details of the upcoming fall leg of their “Vertigo 2005” tour, and it includes three Canadian stops.

According to U2.com, the Irish rockers will begin the four-month, 33-date stint in September with two shows at Toronto’s Air Canada on September 12 and 14, and will make their way to Ottawa’s Corel Centre on November 25 and Montreal’s Bell Centre on November 26.

At this time, no other Canadian dates have been scheduled.

The fall leg will wrap up south of the border at Portland's Rose Garden on December 19.

Tickets will go on sale this week for select dates. No opening act has been announced for the 3rd leg as yet.

U2 will play two sold out shows at Vancouver’s GM Place on April 28 and 29.

U2 are touring in support of their latest album, “How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.”

Here’s the full 3rd leg itinerary, according to U2.com:

12th September Toronto - Air Canada Centre
14th September Toronto - Air Canada Centre
20th September Chicago - United Center
21st September Chicago - United Center
23rd September Minneapolis - Target Center
25th September Milwaukee - Bradley Center
03rd October Boston - Fleet Center
04th October Boston - Fleet Center
07th October New York - Madison Square Garden
08th October New York - Madison Square Garden
10th October New York - Madison Square Garden
16th October Philadelphia - Wachovia Center
17th October Philadelphia - Wachovia Center
19th October Washington - DC MCI Center
20th October Washington - DC MCI Center
22nd October Pittsburgh - Mellon Arena
24th October Detroit - Palace of Auburn Hills
28th October Houston - Toyota Center
29th October Dallas - American Airlines Arena
01st November Los Angeles - Staples Center
02nd November Los Angeles - Staples Center
13th November Miami - American Airlines Arena
16th November Tampa - St. Pete Times Forum
18th November Atlanta - Philips Arena
25th November Ottawa - Corel Centre
26th November Montreal - Bell Centre
07th December Hartford - Civic Center
09th December Buffalo - HSBC Arena
10th December Cleveland - Gund Arena
14th December St. Louis - Savvis Center
15th December Omaha - Qwest Center
17th December Salt Lake City - Delta Center
19th December Portland - Rose Garden

'Mrs. Doubtfire' Sequel in Doubt

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) -- Robin Williams says he doubts his famous drag role of "Mrs. Doubtfire" will be made into a sequel.

Although Fox dusted off the idea for a sequel to the 1993 comedy which made $219 million last year, Williams tells Zap2it.com he questions whether it will happen.

"No, I don't think so," Williams says. "But they're trying to write it."

Williams starred in the original as the husband in a bitter divorce who poses as a female housekeeper to spend time with his kids. The original film also starred Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan and Harvey Fierstein. Williams' friend Bonnie Hunt is taking a stab at the screenplay.

"I think if she can do it right, it'll be OK," Williams says. "If they don't do it right, it's not worth doing it."

The big question is why his character would dress up again. "How will she get away with it? The first one was so much fun because the conceit was pretty good and the makeup was great. The really good news now is that that make-up has come along. The make-up's just gotten better and better and better."

The film won the Oscar for best make-up and Williams won a Golden Globe for the character.

Dan Rather Signs Off

The sailing hasn't always been smooth, but there's no doubt an era is ending as Dan Rather leaves the "CBS Evening News" anchor desk.

The much-awarded journalist leaves that role Wednesday, March 9 -- 24 years to the day he assumed it. "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer then takes over on an interim basis as CBS management decides how, and with whom, it wants the program to proceed over the longer haul. Rather will stay with CBS News, returning full time to investigative reporting for the newsmagazine "60 Minutes."

"I feel good," Rather says about approaching the end of his nightly run. "I've had a very interesting several weeks of work. I went to the tsunami zone, flying out on New Year's Eve and spending the next seven to 10 days there. I came back for the presidential inauguration, then went to Iraq for 10 days. I was particularly pleased I was able to get outside Baghdad into the so-called Triangle of Death.

"Then I covered the elections in Iraq and flew back in time for the State of the Union address. It's the kind of work I like ... grab a notebook and a pen, get a crew, and get out of the office and do some reporting."

Rather says his time in the anchor chair has been "much, much longer than I ever believed possible when I came into the job. My strongest sense is one of humility, being able to have such a responsibility and challenge and honor for as long as I have. I'm eager to move on to a new phase of my professional life and have more command of my work time."

Since joining CBS News in 1962, Rather has been part of history at the scenes of events such as John F. Kennedy's assassination, the Vietnam War and the clash at Tiananmen Square. Recently, he was the focus of controversy for reporting a "60 Minutes" story on President George W. Bush's National Guard service record. Source documents were questioned; an internal examination was finalized in January, by which time Rather had announced he was leaving "CBS Evening News." The report's producer was fired, and three executives were asked to resign.

"Look, I can be as dumb as a brick wall about some things," Rather claims, "but I'm smart enough to realize if you fight long enough, every fighter gets hit and sometimes knocked down. If you try to practice journalism as I have and I do, you're gonna take your licks.

"Sometimes they hurt, but that's a small price to pay for the tremendous satisfaction I've had from being able to make a living doing what I dreamed of doing. I've tried to pour myself into my work with passion, respect for the truth, and ethical behavior. My mantra is 'Keep coming, keep fighting, keep trying, keep smiling.'"

Famous for his unique turns of phrase, Texas native Rather isn't sure how his last "CBS Evening News" will reference his exit. "I hope not too much will be made of it," he says. "I want it to be something graceful and classy, because that's how I think of CBS News."

Although the waters have been choppy lately, Rather reasserts his "sense of appreciation and loyalty to CBS News. I recognize some people think it's been to a fault; I do not agree with that. I trust the people I work with, I believe in them, and I've tried to communicate that to every man and woman who works here. I stand by them and stand with them, and always proudly so. There's been a whole lot more sunshine than there have been storms."

'The Office' Crosses "The Pond" in Both Directions

The British comedy hit The Office, starring Ricky Gervais, is coming full circle. After launching on the BBC and finding a home on cable channel BBC America, where it won two Golden Globes awards last year, rights to the show were snatched up by NBC, which plans to air a U.S. version of the comedy, starring Steve Carell in the Gervais role, beginning March 24. (Gervais is an exec producer.) Now, the BBC announced today (Friday), the U.S. version will cross the Atlantic in the opposite direction and begin airing on the digital channel BBC Three later this year.

'The Pacifier' Tops Weekend Box Office

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Vin Diesel's family-friendly comedy "The Pacifier" pulled in $30.2 million on its opening weekend to rank as the nation's top-grossing movie, turning his action-star image — and box-office expectations — upside down.

Proving he's more than biceps and tattoos, Diesel's performance as a Navy SEAL turned baby sitter easily outdistanced the weekend's other major opening, "Be Cool" with John Travolta.

"Be Cool," the sequel to the 1995 comedy "Get Shorty," took in $23.5 million for Travolta's largest weekend opening, according to studio estimates.

"'Pacifier' did better than anyone expected, but you can't underestimate the family audience," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co., which tracks box-office figures. "I think people like to see a fish-out-of-water story — an action star in a very unexpected role."

In the Disney comedy, Diesel plays a tough guy who's brought down to size when he's forced into the role of a father figure. The PG-rated makeover recalled another action star's detour into comedy — Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Kindergarten Cop," in which the actor known for the violent "Terminator" and "Conan" roles played a police officer facing a classroom of kids.

Diesel proved "the old axiom that funny is money," said Chuck Viane, Disney's head of distribution. Moviegoers want "to laugh and escape for a few hours."

The film earned an average $9,653 per theater, well ahead of "Be Cool," which averaged $7,307.

Holding the third spot was Will Smith's romantic comedy "Hitch," which took in $12.5 million to push its four-week total to $138 million.

"Diary of a Mad Black Woman," the top film last weekend, dropped to fourth place. Its $12 million box office was off 45 percent from the previous week. The drama-comedy is based on a script by Tyler Perry from his play of the same name and features him as a cross-dressed, gun-toting grandmother.

Big-studio films often plunge 50 percent or more in the second weekend.

In its 12th week, "Million Dollar Baby" appeared to get a lift from its haul of Academy Awards, including best picture. The film grossed $8.5 million to secure the fifth spot at the box office, up from $7.2 million and No. 6 in last weekend's rankings.

Miramax's "The Aviator" dropped out of the top 10, falling to 11th with $2.3 million.

Among film's with limited release, Warner Independent's "The Jacket," a time-travel story with Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley, was No. 10 with $2.7 million.

Final figures were to be released Monday.

Revenue from the top 12 movies was estimated at $111 million, down 16 percent from the same weekend last year, when Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" banked $53 million in its second weekend.

Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations:

1. "The Pacifier," $30.2 million.
2. "Be Cool," $23.5 million.
3. "Hitch," $12.5 million.
4. "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," $12 million.
5. "Million Dollar Baby," $8.5 million.
6. "Constantine," $6 million.
7. "Cursed," $3.9 million.
8. "Man of the House," $3.5 million.
9. "Because of Winn-Dixie," $3.4 million.
10. "The Jacket," $2.7 million.

'Be Cool' Set to Ice 'Pacifier' at Box Office

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The weekend box office will be a horse race between John Travolta in "Be Cool" and Vin Diesel in "The Pacifier."

With Travolta reliving his Chili Palmer character made famous in the 1995 hit "Get Shorty," the veteran film star seems to have the edge over Diesel's turn as a disgraced Navy SEAL assigned to protect a family. Also opening nationally Friday is "The Jacket," a horror film starring Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley.

With a huge publicity campaign highlighting the film's stars, including Uma Thurman, Danny DeVito, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Cedric the Entertainer, "Be Cool" should mark MGM's first No. 1 hit of the year. From director F. Gary Gray, the PG-13 film is skewing heavily toward men.

MGM also would like to be responsible for Travolta's biggest opener. The versatile actor has not been able to top the opening gross of his 1997 film "Face/Off," which reaped $23.4 million for Paramount. "Be Cool" should far exceed that mark, with studio insiders placing the opener in the high-$20 million range, enough to top existing champ "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," which opened with $22 million last weekend.

Disney will bow "The Pacifier," its second film from director Adam Shankman (2003's "Bringing Down the House").

"Pacifier" revisits the formula of Sony's "Man of the House," which got off to an inauspicious start last weekend with a three-day take of $9 million. In Diesel's rendition of tough-guy-thrown-into-unfamiliar-role, the actor best known for his extreme roles in "The Chronicles of Riddick" and "XXX" plays Shane Wolfe, a SEAL assigned to protect five children from enemies of their recently deceased father. The formula seemed to work for Sony's "Are We There Yet?" -- the Ice Cube starrer that has earned $76 million -- but less well for Tommy Lee Jones in "Man of the House." Insiders place the Diesel vehicle in the low-$20 million range, skewing heavily toward women and the family audience.

Warner Independent Pictures is betting heavily on "The Jacket," an R-rated thriller from Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney's production company Section 8. "The Jacket" premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival, and insiders put its opening gross in the $4 million-$5 million range. From British director John Maybury, "The Jacket" centers on Brody as an institutionalized Gulf War veteran who becomes convinced that he's traveling through time in search of his fated lover.

In limited release, Palm Pictures will unveil its documentary "Gunner Palace" in eight theaters in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington. Fresh from controversy over its ratings appeal, the PG-13 "Palace" might open to some significant numbers considering the extra publicity.

Miramax Films will bow two movies, "The Best of Youth" and "Dear Frankie," in an attempt to clean its slate as it engages in divorce proceedings with parent Disney. The six-hour Italian drama "Youth" opened Wednesday in New York in one theater. The Scottish drama "Dear Frankie" will bow in New York and Los Angeles on five screens.

Spielberg Eyeing Fresh Double-Date with Oscar

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The next Oscar season could carry a distinct whiff of deja vu. Just as he did in 1993, director Steven Spielberg will have two films that could well be in the running.

This week the whirling dervish of a director is expected to complete principal photography, shooting in Southern California locations, on "War of the Worlds," his adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel about a Martian invasion, that stars Tom Cruise.

The movie, a Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks co-production, will be released by Paramount on June 29 with every expectation that it will dominate the summer's Fourth of July weekend.

By then, Spielberg will be filming in Europe, working on a project about the aftermath of the 1972 Munich Olympics, where Arab terrorists massacred 11 Israeli athletes. Although the film does not yet have a title, it has a release date -- Universal Pictures, which is co-producing with DreamWorks, has scheduled its bow for Dec. 23.

Back in 1993, Spielberg accomplished the same one-two punch -- releasing both a big summer entertainment and a serious end-of-the-year drama -- when "Jurassic Park" opened June 11 and "Schindler's List" arrived Dec. 15.

Between them, the two movies ensured the director an Academy Awards juggernaut. "Jurassic," whose computer-animated dinosaurs broke new visual effects ground at the time, was nominated in three categories -- visual effects and the two sound categories -- and won all three. "Schindler's List" was nominated in 12 categories and took home seven awards, including best picture and best director.

If Spielberg manages to release two movies, as promised this year, and if they meet with similar acclaim, he will have overcome even larger challenges than he met in 1993.

For history isn't repeating itself exactly. "Jurassic" began shooting early in the fall 1992, completing principal photography that December, which allowed for about six months of postproduction. "War of the Worlds" is facing less than four months of post. Acknowledges Spielberg's spokesman Marvin Levy, "This is probably the tightest film (schedulewise), in terms of really big effects, that Steven has ever done."

On the other hand, the overlap between "War" and the Munich project does not appear as onerous as that of "Jurassic" and "Schindler." In that case, Spielberg shot "Schindler" by day, and looked at edits, special effects and score on "Jurassic" by night. This time around, the director should be finished working on "War" before he begins shooting the Munich project in early summer. Notes Levy, "Steven will have finished one movie and so will be able to go into the other."

Of course, it also remains to be seen if the Munich project ultimately impresses the Academy as much as "Schindler" did. Few details on the picture, to which Eric Bana ("The Hulk") is attached, have been released. But with "Angels in America" playwright Tony Kushner doing a rewrite on the project, it promises to have the requisite moral seriousness.

And if there is one other omen that bodes well for the possibility of another Spielberg double-header it is that the Academy already has demonstrated its interest in movies about the 1972 Munich Olympics.

In 2001, Arthur Cohn and Kevin Macdonald's documentary account of those events, "One Day in September," was the surprise winner of the best documentary Oscar. And that at least sets up the possibility that next year, Spielberg could once again be fielding multiple Oscar nominations for two very different movies.

10 Years On, Alanis Unplugs 'Little Pill'

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - As she neared the 10th anniversary of her landmark album "Jagged Little Pill," Alanis Morissette began pondering how to commemorate the occasion.

She ultimately decided to do it all again. Together with the album's producer/co-writer, Glen Ballard, she is in the middle of recording an acoustic version of the career-defining set.

"It just sounded much more appealing than creating my own awards show," Morissette, 30, said with a laugh. "There's no better way to honor things than through music."

The as-yet-untitled album will come out on June 13 -- exactly 10 years to the day after the original release. It will initially be sold only at Starbucks' 4,500 North American outlets for a six-week exclusive period, after which it will hit traditional retail outlets on July 26.

The collection, which will feature the songs in their original order, will include previously unreleased video footage from that era plus different artwork.

In the decade since its release, "Jagged Little Pill" has sold 30 million copies across the globe, according to her label, Warner Music Group's Maverick Records. In the United States, it has sold 14.4 million units, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The album is the best-selling debut by a female artist and the 14th best-selling album ever in the United States, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. It also yielded four Grammys, including album of the year.

The album featured a number of hits, many of which are still in recurrent rotation on adult top 40 stations, including "You Oughta Know," "Hand in My Pocket," "You Learn," "Head Over Feet" and "Ironic."

But perhaps the biggest "irony" is that Morissette barely remembers the 18 months surrounding the project's peak period. "When the album came out, I feel like I immediately went into survival mode to keep the 'overwhelm' that comes from being famous at bay," she said. "Ten years later, I have the luxury of time and distance to formally honor it."

In fact, that era is so dazzling for Morissette, reality was unrecognizable. "The one vivid memory is of being in the van touring around America and I remember almost willing myself to get back to sleep, to get back to reality. Waking life was a little too overwhelming."

Morissette estimates that she's acoustically worked up 75% of the songs from "Jagged Little Pill" over the years in concert, but she still looks forward to what she can bring to them now.

"My voice has changed over the last 10 years in a way that I'm just loving," she said. "I have access to notes that I never had access to. Even if we were to do the songs arranged the same way as the original, the way I approach them emotionally is different and I bring 10 years of life experience to them."

Ballard stresses that the songs will definitely be recognizable, "they'll just express their DNA slightly differently." He added, "We're limiting our palate to more acoustic instruments, but there's a great wealth of instruments to try. I have a hurdy gurdy in there. It's fun to explore. My goal is, we make an album that's interesting so that even if someone had never heard the original, they'd still dig it."

Morissette will also tour acoustically behind the album, playing theaters in June and July. "We'll play the album from start to finish," she said, "although we'll probably play around some with the order. We'll also throw in some other songs from the last 10 years." But Morissette adds she is in no way saying goodbye to these songs: "I'll be playing them until I'm dead."

The acoustic project will be followed by a greatest-hits set with at least one new song due by Christmas.

Morissette, who inked a new deal with Maverick in 2001, says she's ready to start a new project. "I have four journals-full at this point and I usually start a new album after two journals-full," she said. "So I'm very pregnant with songs."

Polar Express

Will Ferrell may star in ''Elf'' sequel. He'd earn $20 million for ''Elf 2,'' which Jon Favreau may return to direct.

GOOD BOY Ferrell may get a big Christmas present for ''Elf 2'': $20 million

Guess it takes a long time to send messages back and forth to the North Pole. It's been nearly a year and a half since the release of Will Ferrell's hit comedy Elf, but only now is the deal coming together to make a sequel.

According to Variety, New Line hopes to reunite the creative team behind the 2003 movie, including Old School screenwriter Scott Armstrong (who did an uncredited draft of Elf) and director Jon Favreau (second-choice helmer is New Line production veep Kent Alterman, reportedly a favorite of Ferrell's). Of course, the studio is in talks with Ferrell to reprise his starring role in Elf 2, for which he'd earn $20 million.

''We're only going to make this if it's with Will,'' New Line production chief Toby Emmerich told Variety. Which is good, since otherwise, the result might be Son of Elf, starring Jamie Kennedy.

'Trial by Jury' Fiddles with 'Law & Order' Blueprint

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" opens in pretty much the same manner as its brethren in the highly successful NBC brand.

The voice-over announcer intones "In the criminal justice system ...," followed soon after by the distinctive, two-note "chunk-chunk" sound before the first scene. The show's theme music, as in "SVU" and "Criminal Intent," is a variation on the original show's theme.

But once they're inside the show -- which premieres at 10 p.m. ET Thursday (March 3) and moves to its regular home on Friday -- viewers will find its rhythm a little different from its predecessors. Whereas the "L&O" mothership and "SVU" are for the most part whodunits told from the cops' and prosecutors' point of view, and "Criminal Intent" is a cat-and-mouse game between detective and perpetrator, "Trial by Jury" widens its scope to take in all aspects of a criminal trial.

"What's interesting about this is that it's sort of a non-form," says series star Bebe Neuwirth ("Cheers," Broadway's "Chicago"), who plays prosecutor Tracey Kibre. "There's no rigidity to it -- it can go anywhere on different aspects of any case."

That's the idea, says executive producer Walon Green: "It's an omniscient view, and this show will go where the story wants to take you. That's kind of the way we view each case and each episode -- where's the interest? And if the interest is with the judge, if it's with the jury, the prosecutor, the defense, that's where we go."

The show will revolve around cases tried by Kibre and fellow ADA Kelly Gaffney (Amy Carlson, "Third Watch"). They get a hand from DA's investigators Hector Salazar (Kirk Acevedo, "Oz") and, for the first couple of episodes, Lennie Briscoe ("L&O" vet Jerry Orbach, who was working on the show until a few weeks before his death in December).

In a departure from the other members of the franchise, though, "Trial by Jury" also spends considerable time with defendants and their lawyers, which allows for some meaty guest-star roles. Lorraine Bracco ("The Sopranos"), Annabella Sciorra ("Jungle Fever," "The Sopranos") and Peter Coyote ("The 4400") show up in early episodes.

Green, who worked on the original "Law & Order" from 1992-94 and has since written for "ER" and "NYPD Blue," among other projects, likens the structure of "Trial by Jury" to a game of chess, with viewers seeing each side plot its next move in response to something the other has done.

"It becomes more of a puzzle show than a show with red herrings and very traditional crime-drama elements," he says. "That was very exciting to me. I always like to try to do something I haven't done before. That's what makes writing really exciting."

Five movies to nosh on

Trying to find something worthy to watch in the dead of winter can be the moviegoer equivalent of Dumpster diving. You stooped almost as low as Tommy Lee Jones to watch him baby-sit cheerleaders in Man of the House. You endured the strained courtship interludes in Hitch just to savor the slapstick savoir-faire of Kevin James. You cursed yourself for going to Cursed.

Meanwhile, the hunger for true sustenance gnaws on.

We've got the perfect pick-me-up for those starved for a super-size tub full of cinematic snackability. Here's a preview of five big pictures that are sure to pop your corn in 2005. And when we say big, we mean big. Big budgets, big concepts, big directors, big effects — especially that hairy beast who goes ape in King Kong, and we don't mean Jack Black. Intentionally omitted is the most anticipated film event of the summer, the opening May 20 of Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, in which George Lucas finally brings his multigenerational space opera to a close. The only suspense is whether this prequel goes out with a bang or a bust.

Batman Begins (June 17)

•What's popping? Director Christopher Nolan (Memento) wipes the Bat slate clean and explores the origins of the Caped Crusader with Christian Bale (American Psycho) inside the rubber suit.

A young Bruce Wayne witnesses the murder of his parents and seeks retribution. He goes to the Far East and learns martial arts from mentor Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson). Upon his return, the heir to the Wayne estate finds that Gotham City is overrun by crime. With an assist from loyal butler Alfred (Michael Caine), he assumes an alter ego and exacts justice from his foes.

•A few more kernels. Banished are Bat nipples, hammy villains and a comic-book hero adrift in his own adventures. Nolan ignores the four predecessors that began with 1989's Batman to expose his avenger's dark roots. "To tackle an icon who has never been explained before is a tremendous opportunity," says the British director, who watched the campy '60s TV series as a kid. "It's a mythic story that draws upon Hamlet and The Count of MonteCristo."

How does Nolan hope to compete with the state-of-the-art feats in the Spider-Man films? "The strength of Batman is his reality," he explains. "He's a guy without superpowers. Bruce Wayne uses detection, psychology and martial arts. Any one of us can be him."

•Bonus treat. The Batmobile, a muscular hybrid of a Humvee and a Lamborghini Countach sports car that sits atop monster-truck wheels

•Yum factor. A dream cast led by the brooding Bale, a filmmaker who is a master of neo-noir and a script that sounds solidly entertaining.

War of the Worlds (June 29)

•What's popping? A close encounter of the deadly kind. Tom Cruise re-teams with Minority Report director Steven Spielberg in a retelling of author H.G. Wells' paranoia-propelled sci-fi fantasy from 1898. Space invaders (who are NOT Martians) are out to annihilate the Earth in general and — borrowing the setting from Orson Welles' 1938 radio play that panicked the nation — New Jersey in particular.

But what is a Spielberg thriller without a dose of domestic drama in the midst of mass terror and destruction? Cruise is a divorced blue-collar dad who's forced to face up to his responsibilities when he has to save his family, including moppet-of-the-moment Dakota Fanning as his daughter.

•A few more kernels. Remember when Spielberg was the go-to guy for cuddly aliens such as E.T.? Zap that thought. "I have not seen Steven have this much fun in a long time," says producer Kathleen Kennedy of his return to sci-fi action. "He's uniquely suited to this genre in a way no one else is."

Remember how Spielberg dropped nerve-rattling hints that a dino rampage was afoot in his Jurassic Park movies? Expect the same. "There are tons of those moments," Kennedy says. In fact, there's one in the first 15 minutes that "will knock your socks off."

•Bonus treat. The leggy alien war machines that shoot out lethal beams of light. "Let's just say that they are five times the size of a T. rex," Kennedy says.

•Yum factor. Spielberg hasn't gone the thrill-ride route for a while. But if anyone can make us care about attacks by intergalactic beings in these fretful post-9/11 times, it's the filmmaker who made us all shark-phobic with Jaws.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (July 15)

•What's popping? Director Tim Burton and Johnny Depp join forces for the fourth time with this trippy take on author Roald Dahl's deliciously subversive fable, which also inspired the 1971 Gen-X fave Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

As before, good-natured Charlie Bucket (12-year-old Freddie Highmore, who reunites with his Finding Neverland co-star Depp) and his Grandpa Joe (David Kelly of Waking Ned Devine) win a chance to tour Wonka's wondrous candy factory.

They are joined by four gluttonous children who suffer sticky comeuppances, thanks to the wily Mr. Wonka. Willy's dad, Wilbur (Christopher Lee) — a new character — shows up in flashbacks.

•A few more kernels. The pop-art trailer suggests a psychedelic sugar rush is in store. But those salivating to hear The Candy Man, forget about it. "The only music is when the Oompa Loompas (the factory's tiny handymen) sing chants after each child encounters problems," says producer Richard Zanuck. As for the 1971 version, he says, "this not a remake. This is Tim's version of Dahl's book."

Burton is doing his best to bring Dahl's semi-sweet fantasy to high-caloric life, building a candy land on 17 soundstages at London's Pinewood Studio. Besides a chocolate river with an 80-foot waterfall, "there's a nut room with 200 squirrels at work," Zanuck says. Yes, actual rodents. "From birth, we sent them to training school for six months."

As for Depp's interpretation of the mysterious Wonka as a Carnaby Street mod hatter with a propensity for saying, "Let's boogie," Zanuck notes, "All I can say is that it lives up to his sense of the bizarre."

•Bonus treat. In the first movie, the Oompa Loompas were played by dwarfs. Now they are all played by the same 42-inch-tall actor, Dee Roy, who is shrunk via camera tricks to a mere 30 inches.

•Yum factor. Johnny Depp and chocolate outdoes peanut butter and chocolate any day.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Dec. 9)

What's popping? On a quest for its own Lord of the Rings, Disney launches a potential fantasy franchise with a deluxe treatment based on C.S. Lewis' stories of a magical kingdom ruled by the messianic lion Aslan.

The film adventure, based on the best-known book in the seven-part series, follows four London siblings during World War II who are sent to stay in the country home of a kindly professor (Jim Broadbent). They discover a hidden passage in a wardrobe that leads to Narnia, a strange world blanketed by snow and inhabited by mythical creatures and talking animals.

The foursome learns that a frozen spell has been cast by the White Witch (Tilda Swinton of Constantine), and it's their destiny as future kings and queens of Narnia to help Aslan break the wintry curse.

•A few more kernels. He's from New Zealand, where Wardrobe was shot. He has achieved monstrous box office success. And he knows his way around digital effects. No, not Peter Jackson of Rings fame, but close: Andrew Adamson, the director behind both Shrek films. Like Jackson, he is an avid fan of his source.

"One of the things I loved about the books is that the children are so empowered," Adamson says. "In Narnia, they are treated as kings and queens. They're not children anymore." Unlike the wordy Rings trilogy, Lewis leaves more to the imagination. "The challenge for me is to live up to my memory of the books as well as everyone else's," says Adamson, who first read the collection at age 8 in just 10 days.

Circumstances are often serious, but there's much spirited fun to be had in the children's encounters, especially with the homespun heroics of Mr. and Mrs. Beaver (the voices of Ray Winstone and Dawn French).

Lewis didn't write his tales only to entertain, however. They also work as Christian allegories. Though the movie won't downplay the religious themes, neither will it trumpet them. "We're setting out to tell a good story," producer Mark Johnson says. "The allegory is there if you look for it. But it's also in The Matrix, too."

•Bonus treat. No Beatrix Potter whimsy. All the digital animals, especially Aslan (voiced by Brian Cox of Troy), look and act like real-life counterparts.

•Yum factor. Johnson produced the enchanting 1995 family film A Little Princess. Wardrobe aspires to the same exquisite quality.

King Kong (Dec. 14)

•What's popping? After 17 Oscars and more than $3 billion in worldwide box office, Peter Jackson puts his Lord of the Rings clout to good use by making his childhood dream come true: He's redoing his favorite film, 1933's great-ape adventure King Kong, shot in his home base of New Zealand.

The basics are the same. During the Depression, maverick showman Carl Denham (Jack Black) discovers starving actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) and sails off with his crew to a faraway island to shoot a film. Those who survive the monsters that stalk the treacherous jungle terrain rescue Ann from the clutches of a giant gorilla. They transport the captured 24-foot-tall Kong, the last of his kind and one lonely brute, to Manhattan.

The thrills and chills will reach heights beyond the crudely effective stop-motion animation of the original. Skull Island is creepier. Kong and his dinosaur rivals are fiercer. And the romance is swoonier, thanks to Watts and Oscar winner Adrien Brody, whose Jack Driscoll is a sensitive playwright working on the movie script.

•A few more kernels. Jackson admires the original but realizes there is room for improvement. "We are taking everything we love about the 1933 movie, but then applying a 21st-century character development," he says. "It wasn't a priority back then. What they did have was a wonderful adventure." The script especially expands the bond between Ann and Kong beyond her screams and his grunts.

Stars like Brody and Watts certainly will make the humans in the cast more memorable. But the Internet was abuzz when Jack Black, best known for his head-banging buffoonery in School of Rock, was cast as larger-than-life Denham. Not to fret. "He's an actor at the end of the day," assures Jackson. "A very good actor, as I am discovering more and more as we go along."

•Bonus treat. When Kong goes berserk, there will be little stinting on the violence. "We obviously are being PG-13," says Jackson, in his low-key Kiwi way, "but I want to try to get a head being bitten off somewhere in there, sneak one in past the ratings board."

•Yum factor. Beauty, beast and Black? That's one killer B-movie.

...Tim McGraw Tops ACM Nominees With Six

Tim McGraw leads the nominations for the 40th annual Academy of Country Music Awards with six nods, including entertainer and male vocalist of the year. The nominees for the ACMs -- to be broadcast live on CBS May 17 from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas -- include perennial favorites, trailblazing newcomers and critical darlings.

Kenny Chesney, Gretchen Wilson and Alison Krauss each received five nominations. Earning four each were reigning ACM entertainer of the year Toby Keith, Brad Paisley and Keith Urban. First-time nominees Big & Rich are up for three accolades.

Besides McGraw, nominees for entertainer of the year are Brooks & Dunn, Chesney, Keith and Urban. Terri Clark, Sara Evans, Martina McBride, Wilson and Lee Ann Womack are up for top female vocalist, while Alan Jackson, Chesney, Keith, McGraw and Urban are competing for top male.

Diamond Rio, Neal McCoy and Brad Paisley are nominated for the fourth annual ACM/Home Depot Humanitarian Award. Fan voting in that category begins today (March 3) at Homedepot.com and will continue through the second hour of the telecast.

Nominees and winners are voted on by the 3,800-plus members of the ACM.

Alberta and Saskatchewan Centennial songs get poor rating from Canadian Idol judges

by TIM COOK

REGINA (CP) - There is not a whole lot that rhymes with Saskatchewan or Alberta and it's tough to write a tune celebrating oil, wheat and potash all at the same time.

Maybe that's why the Canadian Idol judges aren't overly impressed with the songs that mark the provinces' 100th birthdays.

The Canadian Press asked Jake Gold and Zack Werner, two of the four judges on the hit CTV show, to listen to the Saskatchewan and Alberta centennial songs and weigh in with their brutally honest opinions.

"I'd say it was one big cheese-fest," said Gold. "I wouldn't buy either one and I don't think I would be playing them at home. Personally, I wouldn't recommend people sing them."

Werner was a bit kinder.

"I think they are both valid pieces of writing and it's nice to see that people bothered to do that sort of thing. It's kind of silly to put it down," he said.

"There is nothing wrong with good cheese."

Both Alberta and Saskatchewan invited citizens to enter a contest to write centennial songs. Hundreds of entries poured in and each province picked a winner.

Alberta's song - simply titled Alberta - celebrates the province's landscape and natural resources. "Livin' right, I'm feelin' free," is the tag line.

Saskatchewan's song focuses more on the co-operative spirit in the province. The lyrics talk about sharing laughter and sharing tears. "We love this place, Saskatchewan," is the refrain.

Both songs have a twangy quality. The Saskatchewan song's primary arrangement is performed by country artist Brad Johner, while there are two mixes of the Alberta song - pop and country - that both sort of sound like country.

Over the years, centennial songs that stuck usually had a lilting quality that burned its way into people's brains.

Few who were around will forget the Bobby Gimby classic Ca-na-da from 1967. Then there was Ontario's centennial song that featured the jaunty refrain: "A place to stand, A place to grow, Ontari-ari-ari-o." Gold took issue with the fact that the Alberta and Saskatchewan songs don't have such a catchy element.

"You sing that Ontario song and everyone remembers that one hook and I think that is what you have to do," Gold said. "Whether it was kind of a cheesy song, it doesn't matter because it had a hook."

He thinks the songs play into stereotypes of the West because of their country overtones.

"I don't know who they are trying to appeal to because I don't see these appealing to the younger generation," he said. "It sounds like they were just trying to make something for everybody, but when you do that you end up failing."

Werner said he thought the Saskatchewan song seemed a little too generic, while the Alberta one might have missed a few cultural references.

"But then I started thinking about O Canada and started wondering where is the Canada in there?"

Alberta songwriter Mary Kieftenbeld did not return phone calls, but Saskatchewan songwriter Stan Garchinski chuckled when the critique was relayed to him.

He said he was actually on the couch watching the American version of Idol when he was called.

"When I wrote the song, I wanted to keep it quite simple so most people could sing it," Garchinski said.

"As a songwriter you write for yourself and if you can please yourself that's pretty well all that you can expect."

Garchinski said the feedback he has received has been positive. He said one man call him at 11:30 one night to tell him how much he liked the song.

"I've gotten lots of mail and people are happy for me," he said. "I'm pretty proud of my song and I hope the people of Saskatchewan are as proud of it as I am."

Denise Richards, Charlie Sheen to Divorce

LOS ANGELES - Actress Denise Richards has filed for divorce from her actor-husband Charlie Sheen, citing irreconcilable differences, according to court papers filed Wednesday.

Richards, 34, is six months pregnant with the couple's second child. They also have a daughter, Sam, who will be a year old next week.

The couple married in June 2002 and co-starred in "Scary Movie 3." Richards and Sheen, 39, met while shooting the independent film "Good Advice" in 2000.

They began dating after Richards guest-starred on Sheen's former series "Spin City." The marriage was Sheen's second and Richards' first.

Sheen, who now stars in the CBS sitcom "Two and a Half Men," is best known for his work in the movies "Platoon," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Hot Shots."

Richards, a former Bond girl, has appeared in a host of movies, including "Wild Things" and "Starship Troopers."

Homer Simpson: Made in Korea

SEOUL (Reuters) - Homer Simpson, his dysfunctional family and his friends from the middle-of-the-road American town Springfield were sent to Seoul long before exporting job overseas became a hot-button political issue in the United States.

A stone's throw away from a highway that tears through Seoul and upstairs from a convenience store called "Buy the Way," Homer, Marge, and the rest of "The Simpsons" have been brought to life for about 15 years at South Korea's AKOM Production Co.

The company has been animating "The Simpsons" at its studio in western Seoul since it premiered as a TV series in 1989.

Behind every blunder by police chief Wiggum, beer downed by Barney and wisecrack by Bart is a team of about 120 Korean animators and technicians who create the 22-minute episodes based on an elaborate storyboard and animation instructions from the show's creators, Film Roman, in the United States.

AKOM gets the storyboard, camera and coloring instructions, as well as the voice tracks. It then turns out the episode about three months later. Music and other finishing touches are added back in the United States.

South Korea is one of the leaders in what is known as original equipment manufacturing (OEM) animation where a cartoon is drawn according to a storyboard provided by a client.

Nelson Shin, chief executive officer of AKOM, said "The Simpsons" ended up in Seoul because of the high quality of work.

Analysts say cheap labor also helped and industry estimates show that South Korean animators are paid about one-third of what their U.S. counterparts make.

"HEY MAN!"

When Shin first took a look at the yellow characters with bulging eyes and four fingers he thought it would be easy to animate the Simpsons. But now he thinks otherwise.

"When it comes to Bart's spiky hair, if you make one mistake in drawing or pencil thickness, the animation looks funny," Shin said. The elaborate stories and the range of emotion shown by each character, it turns out, make "The Simpsons" an exceedingly difficult show to draw, he said.

"The characters are really delicate and subtle," Shin said.

For example, a typical cartoon has about six different mouths that can be attached to a stock face figure for talking. On "The Simpsons" the main characters have about 27 different mouths, Shin said.

If AKOM has trouble finding the correct way to show something, such as Krusty's scar from heart surgery, another take of the scene will be produced after a phone call with the United States.

After several hundred episodes, production runs smoothly. On one floor, a staff of mostly young women sit at computers as they scan animation cells, add colors and put the final technical touches on the show.

They work with storyboards that show pictures drawn in the United States.

But dialogue can pose a problem.

At first, the Korean staff had difficulty understanding the show's humor and the cultural references, Shin said.

"There was so much slang in the show. I looked up those phrases in my dictionary and I couldn't find the meaning," Shin said. "Bart speaks to his father and says 'Hey, man.' This is so disrespectful for us with our Confucian culture."

DREAMS OF DUFF BEER

Shin sits in an office, decorated with cartoon figures, where his dogs bark for attention and an Emmy Award for his studio's work on "The Simpsons" sits on a shelf.

Two floors below him is a room with dilapidated furniture and out-of date audio visual equipment. Attached to the desk of animation director Kim Jun-bok is a hand-drawn picture of a six pack of Duff Beer, the preferred brand of Springfield's ludicrous lushes.

Over one of Kim's shoulders is a drawing that includes almost all the show's characters and on a shelf above his desk is a book in which each character is drawn at various angles, as if standing in a police line-up.

"I cannot really say there is one character I like more than others. They are all just one family to me," Kim said.

"The Simpsons" is one of several U.S. animated TV shows made in South Korea, and in recent years other Korean animation studios have also been animating "The Simpsons" along with AKOM.

Shin, who teaches animation at a university, is one of the pioneers of the craft in Korea. He went to the United States in the 1970s and worked on shows such as "Scooby Doo" and was also responsible for animating the light sabers in the first "Star Wars" movie.

He started AKOM in 1985 and one of his biggest projects -- a full-length animated film based on a Korean tale called "Empress Chung" -- will hit cinemas in South Korea later this year.

There are worries in South Korea that OEM work is filtering out to other parts of Asia such as China and the Philippines where labor is cheaper.

But for now, fans of "The Simpsons" should know that each time they see Homer choking Bart and Lisa belting out the blues on her saxophone, there is an animator in Seoul who brought that image to life.

Garbage buries the hatchet, new album and tour ahead

Four rocky years after the release of the group's third album, Garbage is returning with new material and a North American club tour.

"Bleed Like Me," the group's follow-up to 2001's "Beautiful Garbage," is due in stores April 11. The outing in support of the new set gets underway April 8 in Seattle, and so far is scheduled to visit a dozen cities.

"To me, personally, the very fact that [the new album] got finished is a miracle," singer Shirley Manson said in the band's record label biography.

Garbage essentially broke up after serving as the opening act on U2's 2001 tour. In the midst of the tour, drummer Butch Vig was diagnosed with Type A hepatitis and Manson later lost her voice, for which she eventually underwent successful surgery to remove a cyst on her vocal cord. When the group finally got around to working on new material, things didn't fall into place.

"On a psychological level, my heart just wasn't in it," Vig said in a statement. "It was like, 'I gotta go.' If we're gonna finish this record we gotta take a break and re-build the creative juices."

Five months later, the group was ready to get to work on new material.

Said Manson: "All the bands that came out back when we did are gone, but we're still standing, wanting to make records, regardless of success or expectations or other outside forces. That's a really empowering feeling, and I think it helped us make the record that we wanted in the end."

Tour Itinerary

April 2005
8 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theater
10 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield
11 - Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern Theatre
14 - Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
16 - Philadelphia, PA - Theater of Living Arts
17 - Boston, MA - Avalon
19 - New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
21 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
24 - Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis
25 - Toronto, Ontario - Kool Haus
27 - Detroit, MI - State Theatre
28 - Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Ballroom

May 2005
1 - Madison, WI - Orpheum Theatre
4 - Chicago, IL - Metro

What's next, after the gold rush

The Oscars can add a jolt of adrenaline to an actor's career.

An Oscar winner's follow-up movie has been in the works long before the Academy Award is given out, so judging how an actor capitalizes on the win can be tricky.

Stars such as Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster transformed Oscar prestige into lasting respectability. But even Oscar winners have flops, such as Halle Berry's Catwoman and Hanks' The Ladykillers.

Here's a look at what is in the works for this year's winners:

Best Director - Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby

Eastwood is already at work on a World War II drama about the men who participated in the iconic flag-raising after the battle of Iwo Jima. Flags of Our Fathers, from his Million Dollar Baby screenwriter Paul Haggis, is set for release next year.

Eastwood says he's directing, and he will co-produce with Steven Spielberg.

Eastwood's Oscar-winning co-star in Million Dollar Baby, Hilary Swank, says she'd love to join the cast — but there are no female characters. She won her last Oscar for playing a woman who lives as a man in Boys Don't Cry. Swank jokes, "I've played a boy before!"

Best Supporting Actress - Cate Blanchett, The Aviator

The only upcoming work from Blanchett is an Australian drama Little Fish, in which she plays a former drug addict trying to rebuild her life. No release date has been set. A sequel to her Oscar-nominated Elizabeth, titled The Golden Age, is no longer on her schedule, her representatives say.

In 2006, she plans to bring her stage performance of Hedda Gabler to Broadway. Otherwise, Blanchett is reading scripts and enjoying her sons, Dashiell, 3, and Roman, 11 months. Roman co-starred with her in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou - as her pregnant belly.

Best Supporting Actor - Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby

Freeman also wins the prize for the most films already awaiting release. He plays a blind mentor to Jet Li's abused fighter in Unleashed (May 13), the Batmobile's inventor in Batman Begins (June 17), Robert Redford's Vietnam veteran friend in An Unfinished Life and a burned-out reporter opposite Justin Timberlake in Edison (both scheduled for this year).

His next project will be a biopic about South African leader Nelson Mandela, which Freeman describes as a "big task." He's signed for the role, and "it looks like it's now very close to production."

Best Actress - Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby

Swank has acknowledged some middling choices after her first Oscar win for 1999's Boys Don't Cry. She did the costume weeper The Affair of the Necklace and the disaster flick The Core. "I realized how few and far between the great roles are," she says.

She's trading her Million Dollar Baby boxing gloves for satin ones: Her next role will be as a femme fatale wrapped up in a notorious 1940s murder mystery in Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia, from L.A. Confidential author James Ellroy. No release date has been set.

She also plays a South African attorney in the political drama Red Dust, on the festival rounds.

Best Actor - Jamie Foxx, Ray

He'll next appear as a pilot trying to take down a bomber controlled by artificial intelligence in Stealth (July 29) and is shooting the Gulf War drama Jarhead, which is being positioned for next year's awards consideration with its release Nov. 11.

After that, Foxx will take on the role of Detective Ricardo Tubbs in a movie version of the '80s crime show Miami Vice. He promised it wouldn't be a jokey remake à la Starsky & Hutch.

He says he also is in talks to play the male lead in Dreamgirls, a film based on the musical about a Supremes-like trio. He's also recording an R&B album for music mogul Clive Davis, publicist Alan Nierob says.

Scorsese going back to badfellas

After losing the directing Oscar for a fifth time, Martin Scorsese is working on his next movie, The Departed, which brings him back to the world of violent wiseguys that earned him so much acclaim.

Even Scorsese says winning an Oscar after a 30-plus-year career "would be very nice," but his allure — and clout — in Hollywood remains undimmed.

"If he gets an Oscar, it'll do more for the Oscar than it will do for him," says friend David Ehrenstein, author of 1992's The Scorsese Picture. "He's just too far out, and too far in, and too edgy. Ultimately, people recognize his achievements, but they take a while to settle in."

Even rivals praise him.

"I was a little bit disappointed when they started building a competition between Marty and myself," Clint Eastwood said after winning best director and picture for Million Dollar Baby. "I have the greatest respect for him, for the films he's done over the years, and right up through The Aviator."

For all the talk about whether Scorsese deserved it this time, or for Goodfellas, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver or his other pictures, Departed screenwriter William Monahan says Oscar can be arbitrary.

"I just saw a 25th-anniversary screening of Raging Bull," Monahan says. "Without malice, I don't see any 25th-anniversary screenings of Ordinary People," the movie that trumped Scorsese for director and picture in 1981.

"The academy sometimes seems to vote on 'best director of the kind of film we prefer,' " Monahan says.

Departed reunites Scorsese with Aviator's Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays a police officer going undercover as a gangster. Matt Damon plays a gangster trying to infiltrate the police force, and Jack Nicholson is a Boston crime lord

Lord of the Rings director sues over claims his company shortchanged

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Peter Jackson's production company has sued New Line Cinema, claiming it was shortchanged on profits from the first film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Wingnut Films alleges in a federal lawsuit filed in Los Angeles that New Line and subsidiary Katja Motion Pictures failed to properly calculate revenue, including revenue from DVD sales, from 2001's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

The lawsuit doesn't specify an amount sought in damages but claims the movie grossed more than $314 million US in box office receipts in the United States and more than $556 million overseas, plus revenue from video and merchandise sales.

The lawsuit accuses the studio of giving affiliates favourable licensing deals. It seeks a court injunction against New Line from reaching deals related to the film with affiliates "without first seeking the most competitive and beneficial deals from unaffiliated third parties in a free and open market."

GET LOST

Buena Vista Home Entertainment releasing Lost: The Complete First Season on DVD Sept. 20. The six-disc set includes deleted scenes, casting tapes, bloopers and other featurettes and retails for $60.

New Star Wars trailer to premiere March 10 during The O.C.; film opens May 19

NEW YORK (AP) - Darth Vader is coming to The O.C.

The trailer for Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith will premiere during the March 10 episode of the Fox show. The final instalment of the Star Wars saga will open in theatres on May 19. The new trailer will be released in movie theatres beginning March 11.

Revenge of the Sith is the third prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy. It continues the chronicle of young Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), who eventually turns to the dark side and becomes Darth Vader.

As an avid superhero fan, Seth Cohen, the main character of The O.C. played by Adam Brody, would likely relish the event.

The O.C. airs Thursdays (8 p.m. EST).

Coldplay Announces New Album, World Tour

NEW YORK - It's shaping up to be a cold summer. The members of Coldplay announced Tuesday that they will release their as-yet untitled third album in June, followed by a world tour, which will kick off in their native Britain later that month.

"We've spent a long time in the studio and haven't played a gig for 18 months so we can't wait to get out on tour and play our new songs live," said Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland.

Coldplay's last album, "A Rush of Blood to the Head," sold millions of copies and garnered the group a Grammy for record of the year for their song "Clocks."

Since then, the group's frontman, Chris Martin, has been busy with another project — fatherhood. His wife, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, gave birth to daughter Apple last year.

Travolta, Thurman Chill Out for 'Be Cool'

LOS ANGELES - They went on one of the coolest movie dates ever, at least until she OD'd and he rammed an adrenaline needle through her breast to jump-start her heart. Eleven years after "Pulp Fiction," John Travolta and Uma Thurman are back on the dance floor in "Be Cool," a follow-up to Travolta's 1995 crime caper "Get Shorty."

Travolta returns as super-smooth loan-shark-turned-producer Chili Palmer, this time abandoning the fickle movie industry to try his hand in the music business.

Thurman plays Edie, owner of a small record label where Chili brings his latest discovery, a singer-songwriter with the voice of an angel and the face of a cover-girl pop diva.

While Chili's not the wholly respectable type and Edie's record company has its shadier sides, the two are model citizens compared to addict and hit man Vincent and coke-head Mia, whom Travolta and Thurman played in Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction."

Vincent and Mia's evening out progressed from cozy dinner at a kitschy restaurant, to an off-kilter take on "The Twist" in a dance contest, to Mia's misstep in snorting Vincent's heroin, believing it's cocaine.

A more conventional romance develops between Chili and Edie, who do share some time on the dance floor, spinning to the Black Eyed Peas' cover of a 1960s tune by Brazilian songwriter Antonio Carlos Jobim.

Travolta, 51, and Thurman, 34, sat down together with The Associated Press to discuss the new flick and reminisce about old times.

AP: What was it about Vincent and Mia that made them work so well together?

Travolta: Certainly, Quentin's imagination.

Thurman: And she is a speed freak and he is a junkie, so there's no conflict. Nobody's trying to take up anybody else's space.

Travolta: Those characters, I say they were hellbent for death, and these characters are hellbent for life. I think these guys really want to survive. And the difference is, we're both higher than a kite during the whole film in "Pulp Fiction," and when we went up to dance, we're doing novelty dances, gimmick dances from the '60s. Here, we're doing something much more traditional, which kind of adds to that.

AP: Did the two of you find you had instant chemistry?

Thurman: I wouldn't even have thought sitting with John when we met, I was kind of a gnarly little 23-year-old, I wouldn't have known that we had such screen chemistry.

Travolta: I don't think it's something you can even predict. It's innate.

Thurman: And a lot of times, people have intense chemistry in life, like people who are infatuated with each other and become lovers, and they end up not having screen chemistry at all. They're dead to watch, in a way. Couples often are very boring to watch.

AP: Were you able to fall right back into your old chemistry when you started "Be Cool"?

Travolta: I have to say, I wasn't aware. I have such innate affinity for Uma. I get happy when I'm around Uma. I can't wait to talk to her, I can't wait to catch up. I'm comfortable. So what the effect of that is on others while watching, I don't know how to explain that, but I know how I feel — that I'm just excited to be with Uma, whether we're acting or talking. A lot of the time, the takes were interrupting our conversations.

Thurman: It's absolutely true. What was really a lovely thing about getting to step into this movie was to start from a place of so much more trust, a sense of the bond and time. Someone who really did know you 10 years ago. Something about it I find very touching, and it reaffirms life for me in a way to reconnect.

AP: Uma, dancing with the guy who did "Saturday Night Fever," were you intimidated?

Thurman: Always. When I'm luckiest, I spend the best part of my time being intimidated and inspired. That's when I'm doing good. It means I'm picking the right partners in life. ... I never had any advanced level of dance training. I'm just a huge fan and always fantasized about dancing, though I'm very shy about it. I don't really like to dance socially, but whenever I get a chance to dance where I feel like it's my job, gotta dance, I'm so happy, and the fear factor as soon as I start to dance goes away.

AP: You're co-starring with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane in the remake of Mel Brooks' "The Producers." Do you get to sing and dance?

Thurman: I'm dancing every day now. I'm in heaven. I'm in absolute hog-pig heaven. I'm really, literally having the best experience.

Travolta: Are you dancing alone or with people?

Thurman: I have a big sort of Ginger Rogers number with Matthew, which is kind of like the whole shebang.

Travolta: Is that a movie-within-the-movie dance number?

Thurman: It's kind of a love-scene dance number. He kind of sings the song to himself, and she, the big, dumb Swedish bimbo, is trying to get his attention. She's very comfortable, she knows who she likes, and she likes him, and so she's trying to get his attention, and they have this sort of big, magical dance sequence.

Travolta: I'm envious. I would love to be doing that.

Thurman: It's to die. You've done it, so you know.

AP: Chili's warned that music is a tougher business than movies. John, you've recorded albums. Which is harder?

Travolta: Music is tougher. It's more fleeting. You can be here for one hit. I think that everybody in the movie industry, if they have a hit, gets about two more chances. I think in the music industry, that's it.

Thurman: You have a hit, and what they say is, thank you, really. Right?

AP: And show you the door?

Travolta: Yeah, it's always been that way. So I think it's a tougher business, and it is more gangster, it's more Mafioso. We exaggerate it in this movie for entertainment's sake, but there is a truth to that. I think the movie industry is much more white collar. It's much more mainstream, Wall Street.

Thurman: Corporate, in a way. You feel its corporateness, whereas you feel a maverick quality in the music business more.

Travolta: Because it's everybody's game.

Thurman: Kind of lawless.

Travolta: It is lawless.

'NYPD Blue' turns in badge

Would there be a Sopranos without NYPD Blue? Faggedaboutit.

NYPD Blue, the gritty, award-winning ABC drama, goes quietly into the sunset tonight with its final episode, Moving On (CH, ABC, 9 p.m. ET).

Ratings for the 12-year-old series slumped the past few seasons to the point that only a partial season was ordered. ABC isn't even bothering to end the series during a February or May sweeps.

As a result, NYPD Blue isn't getting enough credit for putting a realistic, adult spin on prime-time network drama.

Last month, executive producer Steven Bochco met the press on the Fox lot in Los Angeles. With him were fellow producer Mark Tinker and cast members Dennis Franz (Det. Andy Sipowicz), Gordon Clapp (Det. Greg Medavoy), Bill Brochtrup (John Irvin), Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Det. John Clark), Henry Simmons (Det. Baldwin Jones), Bonnie Somerville (Det. Laura Murphy), Jacqueline Obradors (Det. Rita Ortiz) and Canadian-born addition Currie Graham (squad boss Lt. Bale).

Bochco, who created the series with David Milch (Deadwood), wanted to turn Blue blue with language and nudity to stem the adult audience flow to HBO. ABC nervously agreed and, suddenly, there were bare butts on TV.

Bochco downplayed the notion that NYPD Blue broke the mold, although he agreed that you "couldn't launch it today." Fines following Janet Jackson's 2004 Super Bowl fiasco have sent a chill throughout Hollywood still being felt today.

Just this season, scenes of partial nudity (including Clapp's bare butt debut) were blurred after the fact.

When the show debuted in 1993, Bochco gave it a month. ABC was skittish about the language and nudity. Some affiliates and advertisers bailed on the edgy pilot.

The buzz, of course, helped turn the show into an instant hit. Then came the bombshell: After a year in the spotlight, original co-star David Caruso (Det. John Kelly) thought he was a movie star and abruptly quit the series. Caruso predicted that the series would tank. Instead, Blue soared with replacement Jimmy Smits (Det. Bobby Simone) and Caruso was laughed out of Hollywood after two flop films. (CSI: Miami brought him back from the dead.)

While Bochco didn't rub it in, he didn't mince words about Caruso, either. He blames the actor for creating a hostile environment on the set. "Life's too short for that," he said. "We learned we could pretty much survive the loss of anyone."

As a result, Blue had one of the busier revolving doors in television, with Nicholas Turturro, James McDaniel, Kim Delaney, Sharon Lawrence, Amy Brenneman, Sherry Stringfield, Gail O'Grady, Rick Schroder and Esai Morales all coming and going.

The series won 20 Emmy Awards (scoring 27 nominations in its first season alone), including four to Franz for his portrayal of seen-it-all detective Andy Sipowicz.

When he read the first script, Franz, a carryover from Bochco's Hill Street Blues, feared no one would ever "give a damn" about squad screw-up Sipowicz. "You will find a way to make him likable," Bochco predicted.

Don't look for Sipowicz or any of the other regulars to exit on a slab in tonight's finale. Bochco wanted it to feel like "a well-earned end to the show."

None of the stars from years past are back (although Charlotte Ross, who plays Sipowicz's cop wife Connie, was invited). "This is our core group," Bochco said, pointing to the cast on stage. "I'm happy to dance off into the sunset with these folks."

The finale will be preceded at 9 p.m. by the one-hour special -- hosted by Smits -- NYPD Blue: Final Tribute.

The Couch Potato Report - March 1st, 2005

This week The Couch Potato Report has Bambi, Bob, and Ed Grimley, well that's certainly decent don't you know?

Walt Disney's classic film BAMBI was originally released on August 13th, 1942.

Let me say that again, BAMBI was originally released 63 years ago on August 13th, 1942.

The new PLATINUM EDITION of the classic film doesn't show it's age, instead the film has never looked or sounded better.

But the fact that it has been given a digital makeover still won't change the fact that the youth of today probably won't be able to appreciate this film the way that I, and my generation do.

The movies of today - animated or otherwise - are just so faced paced, and the edits are so quick and swift, that there is precious little time to just watch something and let it sweep over you.

And BAMBI certainly isn't fast paced. It is just a well-crafted, leisurely view of one year in the life of a young deer.

In the course of the movie's 69-minute running time, that one year measures the life cycle itself, from birth to adulthood, and from childhood's freedom to grown-up responsibility.

There is a lot of territory covered in BAMBI - parental love, loss and grief; friendship; loyalty; risk versus need; living in harmony with Nature, and romantic love - but the film never force feeds you anything.

BAMBI is storytelling in it's purest, basic form.

Plus, the film has been completely digitally restored for DVD and almost every trace of dirt and damage is gone and the sound is incredible.

Since the film is being released as a PLATINUM EDITION 2-disc set, there is a wide array of bonus features.

They include a look at the authentic art materials stored in the vaults, a making of feature; a Disney Time Capsule from 1942; facts about the real animals that are portrayed in the film and a "dramatic reenactment" reading of early discussions of the film between Walt Disney and his team.

Patrick Stewart, of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION fame, hosts that latter segment.

No, BAMBI doesn't move with the speed of THE INCREDIBLES, contain as many colours as FINDING NEMO, and isn't as funny as the SHREK films, but I hope this generation of kids will be able to enjoy it.

It is an elegant work of art that belongs on the shelf beside all of those films in your DVD library.

In a time when the world "classic" gets used too often, BAMBI is the definition of that word.

Want proof? Watch the movie.

I'm not sure if anyone will be saying THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE is a classic when that film celebrates it's 63rd anniversary in 2067, but as I sit here today, I know many kids - and an adult or two - who believe it to be a modern day classic of the highest regard.

To quote an old soap commercial, "And I like it too!"

If you don't know who SpongeBob is, please allow me to explain:

"SpongeBob SqaurePants" is an animated television show.

Deep down in the Pacific Ocean in the city of Bikini Bottom lives a square yellow sea sponge named SpongeBob SquarePants. SpongeBob lives in a pineapple with his pet snail, Gary, loves his job as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab, and has a knack for getting into trouble without really trying.

When he's not getting on his cranky neighbor Squidward's nerves, SpongeBob's usually smack in the middle of a strange situation with his best starfish buddy, Patrick, or his thrill-seeking squirrel pal, Sandy Cheeks.

Like the TV show, THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE has some jokes that operate on different levels for kids and adults.

In the movie, SpongeBob and Patrick take leave from the town of Bikini Bottom to track down King Neptune's stolen crown.

It isn't Dostoyevsky but it is sure fun to watch!

No, the film isn't as great as the best of the TV episodes, but THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE is a silly, goofy movie that is fun for both children and adults.

And to paraphrase an old soap commercial, "Yes, I like it too!"

I also like SCTV and SCTV - VOLUME 3 is the latest release of this classic Canadian show.

Inside the 5-disc box set are nine 90-minute episodes that were originally broadcast in 1982.

In addition to the work of John Candy, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara, Joe Flaherty and Eugene Levy, this set contains the introduction of the great Martin Short as a cast member.

By the time these episodes aired in 1982, the show had built on it's cult following and was flirting with mainstream success.

They had won an Emmy Award for writing and there was worldwide "Hoser-mania" triggered by the surprise breakout success of "The Great White North" segments featuring Bob and Doug McKenzie.

But SCTV managed to stay fresh and innovative and gave Bob & Doug their own special called "The Great White North Palace" and brought Tony Bennett in to guest star.

This set also includes "The People's Global Golden Choice Awards," "The Battle of the PBS Stars," "Chariots Of Eggs," and the introduction of the soap-opera parody "The Days of the Week," as well as the Schmenge brothers.

Plus, Martin Short joins the legendary ensemble, and makes an instant impression, with such masterful bits as his devastating "Jerry Lewis Live on the Champs Elysees," and gives us the unforgettable Ed Grimley.

Plus, Bill Murray, Carl Perkins, Jimmy Buffett and Hall And Oates offer classic performances.

The set's bonus features include commentaries, a John Candy profile and photo gallery, a retrospective, SCTV at the Museum of Television & Radio, a bonus audio CD: From the Second City Stage and a 16-page booklet

Yes, in a day and age when the world "classic" gets used too often, SCTV remains a classic television show and BAMBI is a classic film.

And to the kids today, THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE is a classic as well.

All three of those classics are available now at a movie store near you.

COMING UP IN THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT

In LADDER 49 a trapped firefighter reevaluates his life and priorities. John Travolta , Joaquin Phoenix and Morris Chestnut star.

Academy Award winner Cliff Robertson stars in CHARLEY. This 1968 film that was adapted from Daniel Keyes's novel Flowers for Algernon is finally being released on DVD.

And so is THE RUTLES 2 - CAN'T BUT ME LUNCH. Yes, the Pre-Fab Four are back, and severely earnest television journalist S.J. Krammerhead is hot on their story once again. This is a welcome sequel to Monty Python star Idle's 1978 mockumentary THE RUTLES - ALL YOU NEED IS CASH.

I'm Dan Reynish and I will have more on THE RUTLES, and those other releases in seven days.

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

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

Cuthbert humbled by support

TORONTO -- For the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation it's all about money. For Chris Cuthbert it was never about money.

It was about the work. It was about sports. It was about being part of a team.

And when he initially began his CBC odyssey 21 years ago, it was about something as simple as a jacket.

"That was my goal in my career, to wear a powder-blue jacket," said Cuthbert referring to the old Hockey Night In Canada uniforms that were so popular when he broke into the ranks in 1984. Despite looking like something comedian Will Ferrell wore in "Anchorman," the coat was as much a symbol of sporting excellence for journalists, as the Maple Leaf was for hockey players. "I wasn't hip and I wasn't much of a fashion guy, but if I could wear that powder-blue jacket everything was going to be good in my career and that's why it's heartbreaking to think that that part of it is over."

If you haven't heard, Cuthbert's contract was terminated this week. After more than two decades of loyal service, the 47-year-old award-winning broadcaster was unceremoniously dumped. He wasn't even given the courtesy of a phone call. Instead he had to hear of his dismissal from his agent and in a letter, written by boss Nancy Lee, delivered surreptitiously via courier to his Brampton, ON home.

For Cuthbert it was worse than a punch in the gut.

"It was a kick a little lower than the gut," said the Saskatchewan native, who read that his newly unemployed status was due to the NHL lockout, that has cost the CBC millions in lost revenues. Lee, who was conveniently an ocean away in Italy when Cuthbert was sacked, finally got around to calling her former employee a full day later.

"We obviously disagreed on the merits of her decision," downplayed Cuthbert, who admitted his head is still swimming. "She insisted it was the most logical financial decision that she could make because of the lockout and what I was trying to point out was that in my contract we had anticipated a lockout and there was a renegotiation clause there that was the answer to that problem. The worst-case scenario was for me to be asked to go away and come back when hockey resumed and I could take a sabatical and it wouldn't have cost them anything."

Sounds reasonable, so why didn't the network see it that way? It's hard to imagine the CBC risking the mutiny of an entire sports department over a few hundred thousand dollars. Especially after morale was already at an all-time low from the loss of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and 30 other layoffs in the department.

It was reported in the Globe and Mail that Cuthbert makes a little more than $300,000. While Cuthbert refutes the Globe's figure, he admits he was well compensated.

"I do make a great living and part of the reason I do earn a high salary is that I'm technically a contract freelancer for CBC Sports and I've had opportunities to do other work and they have denied me access to that work, invoking exclusivity, and so they have actually paid me not to do other things.

"That salary could have been a lot lower, had they allowed me to do work elsewhere. You get what the market gives and they were the ones that actually ramped it up to satisfy their demands of exclusivity."

Sounds eerily familiar to the NHL situation. And like hockey players, Cuthbert was even willing to give back some of his salary during these economically depressed, hockeyless times. And it's not as though Cuthbert didn't make significant sacrifices for the job. You try being on the road for 45 of 52 weekends a year and see if it doesn't take a toll on your family life. Over the years his wife, Dianne, has basically had to raise their two kids, Jennifer and Justin, by herself.

"There's been an investment for her too, a trust that has been breached and I think from her perspective that's something that she has a right to be as angry about as I do. We're fine, but it certainly resonates hard."

What seems clear is that his employers don't care and just wanted to trim some fat and for whatever reason his head was first on the chopping block.

Some have suggested Cuthbert made himself more of a target because he voiced his opposition to the brass's decision to cancel the popular Hockey Day in Canada segment. Or maybe he just wasn't hip enough for a public broadcaster desperately trying to appeal to the internet generation.

"If you were telling me George Stroumboulopoulos is replacing me, then yes, George probably could do it," laughs Cuthbert. "It's a funny question, because on HNIC I'm one of the younger guys, which maybe is a statement about the show. I hate to speak condescendingly of my teammates at HNIC, but the only guy who may be hip among the whole group is Cherry."

One thing is for sure, Cuthbert's ouster has severely affected the mood of his colleagues at the CBC, especially in the embattled sports department.

"I think most of us are devastated to be honest with you," said HNIC analyst Greg Millen, Cuthbert's partner in the booth. "I'm disappointed, but my hope is that there's some sort of a window and he can come back on our team, but at the moment that's not the case."

Millen, who has been toughened to the business side of sports from his days as an NHL goalie, was still reeling from his friend's dismissal. He likened it to when former teammate Ron Francis was traded from the Hartford Whalers.

"I've played with a lot of players and I've been blessed to work with a lot of terrific people, and in terms of character and passion and work ethic and commitment to his job, to his employers, to his fellow workers, he's right up at the top of the list," insisted Millen, who travelled constantly with Cuthbert during the NHL season and even without hockey still talks to him two-three times a week. "We've shared a lot of different things together over the years, personally, and have been very close in terms of our families. We have kids the same age and we've certainly compared notes and it's been a wonderful experience for me."

To that end Millen is not surprised by the outcry over Cuthbert, on behalf of the media, players and fans. Millen described Cuthbert as possessing a rare ability - for someone who never played hockey professionally - to understand the sport's intricacies and nuances. It was that ability and Cuthbert's trademark humility, that made fans out of players like Millen.

It's what made prominent sports people like former CFL star Chris Walby, Olympic medallist Adam van Koeverden, Ottawa Senators CEO Roy Mlakar and NHLPA executive chairman Bob Goodenow send their condolences in the days since Cuthbert was let go.

"They say when you give, you often get it back at some point. He's given an awful lot and people are giving it back," said Millen, who needed a day to compose himself emotionally before responding to any media requests about Cuthbert. "It's a tough business right now. It's not been pretty for anybody and this is just another example of it."

Cuthbert has been heartened by the outpouring of affection towards him and credits it with helping him get over the hurt. He was especially honoured by CBC major duomo Peter Mansbridge making a terse mention of the termination on Tuesday night's National newscast.

"For him to think that my story warranted even 15 seconds on the national news, was a real honour. I would have preferred not to have been a news story, but for him to think it was of that significance meant something to me for sure."

He also has appreciated HNIC pals, in particular Ron MacLean and Scott Russell, vocalizing their displeasure with his firing in a staff meeting. Scott Oake and Kelly Hrudey also called as soon as they heard the news.

Cuthbert described the last 48 hours as "uplifting" and said he has even begun entertaining new employment offers. The broadcaster's comfortably nasal delivery has become a staple for sports fans across the country and it's hard to imagine Cuthbert will be out of work for too long. While it's still a ways away, Cuthbert would be a perfect choice to lead the CTV/Rogers/Bell Globe Media Olympic coverage in Vancouver. The irony would almost be too cruel for the CBC, who suffered a crushing defeat when they were significantly outbid for those Games earlier this month.

"There's a lot of different stuff that could happen and hopefully I'll have a little time to digest it all and make the right decision," said Cuthbert, who has had three job propositions already, one of which he will have further talks next week. "The first hour you get it, you aren't sure you're ever going to work again, but by the end of the first day I had enough people step up and reassure me there were going to be opportunities."

You'd think the CBC would have learned something from the Ron MacLean and Don Cherry fiascoes, but it seems incapable of learning from its mistakes. Hockey broadcasters in Canada have a cherished history among the masses. Generations of Canadians have grown up to the familiar calls of Foster Hewitt, Danny Gallivan, Dick Irvin, Dave Hodge, Bob Cole and Cuthbert. Their voices have become as much a part of the cultural landscape, as the beaver, a grain elevator, a fishing dory or the maple leaf.

To mess with them is to mess with us.

In a year where the Stanley Cup will not be awarded for the first time since 1919, we need reminders that the game is still special and untouchable. We don't need any more reminders that it's just a business.

ORBACH'S LAST SCENE

Ailing Jerry Orbach made it through his final scenes with a little help from his friends.

The brave actor's last appearance on TV will be seen this Friday night on NBC in the second episode of the new "Law & Order" spinoff, "Trial by Jury."

In his last words on camera after a lifetime in show business, the 69-year-old trouper exclaims, "They got him!" following the conviction of a cop killer near the end of the episode.

The moment is particularly poignant in light of the effort it likely took for Orbach to raise his voice to say those three words.

That's because the actor's voice that day was particularly weak from ongoing cancer treatment, an NBC spokeswoman recently revealed.

But Orbach's fellow actors would not allow their courageous friend's raspy voice, which was barely above a whisper, derail the filming of his last scenes.

In a touching example of the generosity of actors, Orbach's colleagues — including co-star Kirk Acevedo — agreed also to whisper in the scene, the spokeswoman disclosed.

And since the scene takes place in a hallway just outside a courtroom door, the dialogue conducted in low voices will seem natural to viewers who are unaware of the heartbreaking story of loyalty and friendship behind the scenes.

Orbach, the Bronx-born Broadway song-and-dance man, died Dec. 28 following a decade-long, private battle with prostate cancer.

He had left "Law & Order" last season with the retirement of his character, Det. Lennie Briscoe. But he was brought back, as Briscoe, to help launch the new "Trial By Jury," starring Bebe Neuwirth as a tough, shrewd New York City prosecutor.

Partnered with Acevedo's character — D.A. investigator Hector Salazar — Briscoe is once again doing detective work for the district attorney's office.

Orbach filmed two episodes before he became too sick to work — the premiere episode airing this Thursday night at 10, and the second episode airing Friday night at 10, the show's regular time period.

The second episode — titled "Forty-One Shots," about the shooting by police of a suspect who fatally shot a police detective — was filmed just a few weeks before Orbach died.

His death — and Briscoe's — will be dealt with later on, in the fourth or fifth episode, according to executive producer Walon Green.

"We are actually handling Jerry Orbach's death and handling the character's death very much in the same way Jerry handled his own death," Green said last week. "Jerry and, in this case, Briscoe, was somebody who kept on the job and who worked until the final hour."

Casino Royale - James Bond Begins?

"Casino Royale", the 21st James Bond film due out in 2006, will be taking 007 back to his roots according to an interview with director Martin Campbell.

"Casino Royale" was Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, and it seems the film series will be rewinding back to 007's early career when he first started out in the Double-O section.

Speaking to the New York Daily News, Martin Campbell (who also directed the 1995 Bond film "GoldenEye) revealed the concept behind "Casino Royale" and how the character will be unlike anything we have seen before...

"There are things that will have to be changed from the original novel. The Cold War elements will have to be reconfigured, for example, but 'Casino Royale' will be a grittier, tougher and more realistic Bond movie. We'll be getting away from the huge visual effects kind of films."

"In the new film, Bond is essentially starting out in his career, and has just recently become part of the double-0 section. The idea is to put a bit of the dash back in Bond. By the end of the movie, the character will have been forged into the wiser, harder Bond we know."

"The door is open for Bond, emotionally. "He's in love with Vesper [Lynd] and he sees there's another side to all of this, that life might be far more pleasurable, more gratifying, than being a secret agent. And ultimately that door is slammed in his face, which makes him the tempered steel kind of guy that we know."

On the subject of the graphic torture that Bond suffers at the hands of Le Chiffre, Campbell said "I don't know what we're going to do about that. It ranks up there with the teeth-drilling scene in 'Marathon Man.' I'm looking forward to humanizing Bond a bit. In the novel, Bond smokes 70 cigarettes a day - unbelievable. And he gets a little drunk."