DON'T CRY FOR RAYMOND
Ray Romano says the series finale of "Everybody Loves Raymond" will be just like any other episode.
"We don't have a lot of loose ends to tie up," the actor told AP Radio. "We don't do story [plotlines], and we don't have [any] cliffhangers."
While Romano wouldn't divulge any secrets, he promised that the ending won't be sappy.
"The expectation is for it to have a little emotional resonance, but it won't be overly done," he said. "We just want it to be funny."
On that note, Romano says he'll be appearing on David Letterman's show when the finale airs next Monday.
"I think we're going to have a viewing party that night," he said. "The cast is going to be there also, and the writers — we're all going to watch it together. When we watch it on May 16 — I'm trying to envision that, and I see that as being a landmark in my life."
"Everybody Loves Raymond" airs its final episode on May 16th (9 p.m. EST).
Lucas glad to leave Star Wars behind
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (AP) — A wilted monolith of establishment politics. An entrenched ruling class fearful of change. And one man who stealthily rebels from within, turning the system on its head and bending it to his will.
George Lucas' story is the benign reverse image of the palace coup engineered by the foul emperor of his Star Wars epic.
The emperor perverted a tired republic into a fascist state bearing the imprint of his boot heel, standard Richard III stuff for which history buff Lucas had many role models to study from ancient to modern times.
Lucas' accomplishments marked a one-of-a-kind revolution. He sneaked into a Hollywood that no longer had the verve or nerve to make the weird, giddy, goofy Saturday matinees of his youth. He found a lone patron among fainthearted studio executives willing to pony up cash for what was essentially an Arthurian sword-in-the-stone fantasy in space.
Then he went off and made the most rip-roaring blast of cinematic fun audiences had ever seen as 1977's Star Wars became the biggest box-office sensation of its time.
Where dollar signs twinkle, studios follow, and Hollywood has been lumbering behind Lucas ever since.
Science fiction and special effects suddenly were back in vogue, and over the ensuing 28 years, Lucas and his visual wizards have led filmmaking into a new age of virtual reality that made possible such effects extravaganzas as Jurassic Park,Titanic and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
In the '70s, there was a "technological ceiling" over fantasy and science fiction films, even epics and period pieces, Lucas told The Associated Press in an interview at his sprawling Skywalker Ranch. "The tools weren't there," he said.
As television chipped away at theater business in the 1950s and '60s, studios folded up shop on the effects departments that helped create splashy historical adventures and otherworldly tales.
"It's like trying to paint pictures without brushes," Lucas said. "Hey, I brought the brush back and said, 'You know, there's a lot of things you can do with this thing. I think there's real power here.' And by bringing that back, I think that was the biggest effect."
"Because it allowed people to do all kinds of movies that were sort of restricted because they were too expensive. That's not to say special-effects movies aren't expensive, but they're much less expensive than if you tried to do it in the old-fashioned way and have 10,000 people out in the middle of the desert with catering cars and all the things you'd have to have."
Lucas — who turns 61 Saturday, just days before the May 19 debut of Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith, the final chapter in his six-film saga — never set out to be a Hollywood pioneer, a sci-fi maven or even a populist filmmaker.
A star pupil at the University of Southern California film school in the 1960s, Lucas adapted a short student flick he made into his feature debut with 1971's THX 1138, the first film from buddy Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope outfit, a failed experiment meant to give young industry lions the freedom to make movies their way.
Starring Robert Duvall in a dark satire on consumerism and dehumanization, THX 1138 baffled distributor Warner Bros., which dumped the abstract sci-fi drama into theaters. The film has gained cult status over the decades, largely because of Lucas' subsequent fame, but at the time, hardly anyone saw it.
Coppola challenged Lucas to try something light, so he followed with a comic drama based on his car-cruising days in the '50s and '60s.
With its ensemble cast and episodic story structure, American Graffiti was another puzzler for Hollywood. Yet its killer soundtrack, nostalgia factor and the appeal of such young stars as Richard Dreyfuss and Ron Howard caught the fancy of moviegoers, who turned it into a box-office smash.
Always figuring he would specialize in documentaries and strange art films, Lucas found himself with a narrow window of clout among Hollywood bankers. He decided to take one stab at a grand soundstage production with big sets and visuals while he had the chance.
Impressed with Lucas' youthful drive and his work on American Graffiti, 20th Century Fox studio boss Alan Ladd Jr. decided to back the filmmaker's space opera about a farmboy named Luke Skywalker, a plucky princess named Leia, and a roguish pilot named Han Solo as they battled an evil galactic empire and black-cloaked villain Darth Vader.
Star Wars shot past Lucas pal Steven Spielberg's Jaws to become the colossus of the modern blockbuster era the two men helped usher in. Counting rereleases that include the 1997 special-edition version with added footage and effects, Star Wars still stands at No. 2 behind Titanic on the domestic box-office charts with $461 million.
Lucas said he originally envisioned a bigger story arc that revealed Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia to be the children of Darth Vader, who finds redemption in his last moments of life through the good heart of his son.
He scaled Star Wars back to tell only the first chapter of that chronicle. After the film succeeded beyond anyone's expectations, Lucas followed with The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
In a stroke of blind fortune that now looks like the savviest business decision in Hollywood history, Lucas retained ownership of the films and merchandising.
Lucas was getting paid next to nothing upfront and had to beg 20th Century Fox for more money to get the special effects close to what he had imagined. Ownership of the franchise was a bone the studio tossed him, and Lucas figured he would use it to make T-shirts and posters to promote the movie.
At the time, sequel and merchandise rights were about as valuable as a bucket of sand on the desert planet Tatooine, but the combined bonanza from films, toys and other Star Wars products has made Lucas one of the richest men in show business.
"He would be the first to tell you, he had no idea," said Rick McCallum, Lucas' producing partner since TV's The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles in the early 1990s. "When you're getting nothing, you'll take anything ... He knew there were sci-fi exhibitions out there that 5,000 kids would go to, so the idea was to go to anything that had to do with science where people would lend themselves to science fiction, and he could sell them T-shirts."
The Star Wars movies allowed Lucas to build an empire that includes the visual-effects house Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, which have driven moviemaking into the digital era. Lucas' THX system has become a gold standard for theater and home-entertainment audio.
Even Pixar Animation, the company behind the Toy Story movies, Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, was a Lucas offshoot he sold in the mid-1980s.
Spielberg and Lucas teamed with Star Wars co-star Harrison Ford for the swashbuckling Indiana Jones movies, the fourth installment of which they hope to begin shooting in 2006.
After Industrial Light & Magic's breakthrough with realistic digital dinosaurs on Spielberg's Jurassic Park, Lucas realized computer animation would allow him to tweak his three Star Wars movies, adding scenes, effects and creatures impossible to produce in the '70s and '80s.
The special-edition releases helped persuade Lucas to go back and tell the backstory of how headstrong youth Anakin Skywalker transformed into malignant monster Darth Vader.
Episodes I and II, The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, were hits, but they disappointed many fans who wanted to see a full-blown Vader from the outset. Instead, Lucas followed Anakin from precocious boyhood through his awkward teen years and a forbidden romance.
Revenge of the Sith finally takes Anakin to the dark side as Vader, whose fear of losing the love of his life leads him into a bloodbath against the Jedi knights who raised him.
Lucas is braced for fresh complaints about the final film, expecting many viewers to gripe that it's too dark, the ending too bleak.
"Half the people like the movies, the other half don't. There's nothing I can do about that," Lucas said. "Nobody is indifferent about them. Even the reviews, we get fantastic reviews or horrible reviews. There's no middle ground. Nobody's saying, 'They're OK, I guess.'
"You can't really worry about it. I make the movie I feel I want to make, telling the story I want to tell, and how it gets received is how it gets received. At least it's my fault. It's totally mine. I don't have to have any excuses about it. I don't have to say, 'The studio made me do this,' or 'I know that was wrong, but I had to do it.' Whatever people don't like or they do like is my fault."
Millions of fans would love a third trilogy picking up after Return of the Jedi, but Lucas said he has no story in mind and no intention of continuing the tale on the big screen.
The adventure will live on in an animated TV show and a live-action series Lucas has planned, set among minor characters from the films in the 20 years or so between the action of "Revenge of the Sith" and the original "Star Wars."
Lucas also hopes to release three-dimensional versions of all six movies in theaters starting a couple of years down the road. The 3-D editions would be created using new digital technology that adds depth perspective to two-dimensional film images.
Other than the new Indiana Jones, the creator himself said he is done with big film productions. Lucas plans to go off and make the sort of artsy little films he would have been making all along if Star Wars had not taken off.
With money set aside to cover those film projects into his 70s, Lucas said he can do whatever he wants without worrying if his movies succeed or fail, toiling in comparative obscurity and happy to be free of Star Wars.
"The analogy I can use is, it's like going away to college," Lucas said. "It's great to get out of the house. You miss your parents a little bit, but you get to see them at Thanksgiving. But it's great to be in college, great to be on your own. It's great to have a new life."
'Star Trek: Enterprise' Series Ending
LOS ANGELES - "Star Trek: Enterprise" is about to go where it has never gone before: off the air, taking the "Star Trek" franchise with it.
After the two-hour finale airs (8 p.m. EDT Friday on UPN) this will be the first time in 18 years that no first-run "Trek" series is on TV.
"Enterprise" lasted four seasons. It was the first "Trek" spinoff to last fewer than seven seasons. Plummeting ratings did what no Klingon battlecruiser or Borg collective could accomplish. And this time, network honchos didn't bow to Trekker pressure to renew the series, as they did in the face of a write-in campaign that gave the original "Star Trek" a third year on the tube (1966-69).
In fact, many longtime Trekkers stopped watching long ago. There were gripes going back at least as far as the fourth incarnation, "Star Trek: Voyager" (1995-2001), about lame or retreaded plots, goofy aliens and the weak leadership of "Voyager's" Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and "Enterprise's" Jonathan Archer ( Scott Bakula).
Sadly lacking were the rules-be-damned machismo of James Tiberius Kirk (William Shatner) or the class and thoughtful maturity of Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart).
The original "Trek" was not above a little T&A to jazz up ratings. (Who can forget Yeoman Rand's miniskirt or the green-skinned Orion dancers?) But "Voyager" may have upped the silliness ante with a Borg who wore skin-tight catsuits and high heels, while "Enterprise" had a curvaceous Vulcan officer stripping every other episode.
No villain like the unstoppable Borg cropped up for a decade, either.
Supporters say "Enterprise" had vastly improved in its final season and blame other reasons for the ratings drop: weekend reruns that drew an audience but weren't counted in the Nielsens; ditto for those who taped or TiVo'd the program. And shifting "Enterprise" to a Friday time slot didn't help.
Producer Rick Berman has cited the problem of "franchise fatigue" after decades of "Star Trek" spinoffs.
Perhaps, some Trekkers argue, it was time to take a rest. After all, it was 18 years between the original "Trek" and "The Next Generation," which went on to have a vast following.
In the meantime, there are the reruns, the DVD packages, the video games, the hordes of fans in chat rooms and conventions and the contributions to popular culture that range from Klingon language academies to the phrase "Beam me up, Scotty!"
Things have changed a lot over the years, both within and without the "Trek" universe, as scholars drew real-world comparisons to the shows.
The original series had a Cold War between the Federation and the Russians, er, Klingons and a cheerfully naive approach to solving racial and political conflicts.
"Next Generation" (1987-94) had a post-Soviet view in which the Klingons were allies, and a politically correct view that the values of other cultures, no matter how weird or repugnant, deserved respect.
Both also shared a sunny idealism that humans had overcome their own conflicts, lived in peace, and were on voyages of discovery and knowledge for the sheer joy of it.
The optimistic view of a united future humanity that the original "Trek" offered began to crumble in earnest with "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993-1999). The earnest morality of the first two series gave way to gray areas in which the good guys dirtied their hands with assassinations and other foul deeds in fighting a war for survival.
Moral relativism had crept into the sparkling "Trek" universe. Some viewers were dismayed; others enthralled.
By "Enterprise," actually a prequel set more than a century before the original series, the plots involved murky machinations and feuds spreading across the galaxy and even through time. Innocence was replaced by a somewhat gloomy view. Even the vaunted Vulcans were portrayed as pompous and dissembling.
But in the meantime, "Trek" no longer had the TV universe to itself. "Bablyon 5" (1994-1998) created a world arguably as rich and complex as the Federation's. Nowadays, science fiction fans can choose from a host of syndicated and cable shows, including "Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda" (named for "Star Trek's" late creator and produced by his widow) and the new "Battlestar Galactica."
Maybe there's just too much competition these days, and the audience is too fragmented.
Maybe even Capt. Kirk couldn't save the franchise.
Maybe, as with people, so with "Trek": the one enemy that always wins is Time.
Or perhaps, someday in the distant future, "Star Trek" will rise again. Fans can have only one response to that hope:
Make it so.
Yahoo Introduces Online Music Service
SAN FRANCISCO - Internet powerhouse Yahoo Inc. is introducing an online music subscription service that will enable consumers to download thousands of songs onto their portable MP3 players for $60 annually, undercutting the prices of the current industry leaders by more than 60 percent.
The Sunnyvale-based company planned to unveil "Yahoo Music Unlimited" Wednesday in a direct challenge to similar subscription services offered by Real Networks Inc. and Napster Inc.
Yahoo is offering unlimited downloads from a library of 1 million songs for $6.99 per month or $60 for an annual subscription. That's a sharp discount from Los Angeles-based Napster and Seattle-based Real Networks Inc., which both charge $14.95 per month, or just under $180 annually, for similar services.
By encouraging consumers to become song renters instead of song owners, Yahoo, Napster and Real Networks are pursuing a different sales approach from Apple Computer Inc.'s popular iTunes music store.
Under the rental model, consumers must pay a recurring fee and synchronize their portable music players with the subscription service at least once a month to preserve the music. If the subscription expires, the previously downloaded music becomes unplayable.
Renters also can't transfer downloaded songs to a compact disc without paying an additional fee. Yahoo will charge its subscribers 79 cents to own a song, below the 99 cents-per-song price of Apple's music store.
Yahoo's subscription service is compatible only with MP3 players that use Microsoft Corp.'s digital music format. That means the service won't work with Apple's iPod, the most popular MP3 player. The list of 10 devices that will work with Yahoo's service initially include Dell Inc.'s DJ player and Creative Technology Ltd.'s Zen Micro.
"This is all about expanding the market," said Dave Goldberg, general manager of Yahoo's music division. "We are convinced this is the way you should be listening to your music."
Yahoo expects its low-priced subscription service to make money, Goldberg said.
The company already runs one of the Internet's most profitable businesses, earning $840 million last year on revenue of $3.6 billion. Yahoo ended March with 8.9 million subscribers, most of whom pay for high-speed Internet access, online matchmaking services, or premium e-mail.
Real Networks says more than 1 million people subscribe to its online music services. Napster ended March with 410,000 subscribers.
As part of its recent music expansion efforts, Yahoo last year paid $160 million for Musicmatch Inc., an online digital music jukebox. Yahoo intends to combine Musicmatch with its new service.
Yahoo's service sets the stage for a likely price war with Real Networks and Napster, predicted digital music industry analyst Phil Leigh. "About the only thing that would prevent a price war at this point is if Yahoo's software (for downloading songs) performs badly," said Leigh, who runs a market research firm called Inside Digital Media.
Yahoo's service also poses a possible problem for Cupertino-based Apple, which so far has refused to sell monthly subscriptions for unlimited access to its iTunes store.
Many record label executives prefer the subscription approach, Leigh said, because consumers are more likely to sample songs from relatively unknown artists, a phenomenon that helps the industry create more moneymaking stars. That means if Yahoo's push into online subscriptions is successful, the record labels might gain more negotiating leverage to pressure Apple into renting songs instead of simply selling them, Leigh said.
Rolling Stones announce Cdn. dates
MONCTON, N.B. (CP) - The Rolling Stones, the ageless superstars of rock 'n' roll, will play four Canadian cities during a massive world tour that will begin this summer in North America.
The legendary rock stars, led by singer Mick Jagger, will play Ottawa on Aug. 28 at Lansdowne Park; Moncton, N.B. on Sept. 3 at Magnetic Hill; Toronto on Sept. 26 at the Rogers Centre; and Calgary on Oct. 28 at the Pengrowth Saddledome.
The Stones announced the tour in New York on Tuesday in a broadcast that was simulcast to several of the cities they will be visiting, including the southern New Brunswick community of Moncton.
The Stones performed four songs before taking questions from reporters, demonstrating that although they are all over 60 years of age, they still have the energy to deliver high-voltage rock 'n' roll.
Pencil-thin Jagger gyrated like a live wire around the stage at the Juilliard school in New York, looking more 16 than 61.
Later, he was asked the inevitable question after more than 40 years of touring and tireless performing: "Is this the last time?"
"We take each tour as it comes," he answered, adding the Stones would never set up a tour as their curtain call.
Jagger confirmed the band will rehearse in Toronto prior to the tour, but offered no other details. The Stones have rehearsed in Toronto for previous world tours in 1994, 1997 and 2002.
"We love Canada," Jagger said when asked by a British reporter if the band rehearses in Canada to avoid taxes.
"We'd never rehearse there for tax reasons."
The Stones tour will begin in Boston's Fenway Park on Aug. 21. The band has 35 dates confirmed in the United States and Canada.
The concerts in Moncton and Ottawa will be at open-air venues.
The Magnetic Hill site in Moncton can accommodate 60,000 people and is centrally located to draw fans from all three Maritime provinces, as well as from Newfoundland, Quebec and several New England states.
"They want to go to areas they've never been before," concert organizer Donald K. Donald said of the decision to play Moncton.
City officials said hotel rooms in Moncton are already almost sold out.
Word leaked out last week that the Stones would play in Moncton in early September. Thousands of fans bet that the performance would be on the Labour Day weekend and booked their accommodations.
"It will be the biggest concert ever in Atlantic Canada," predicted Ian Fowler, a municipal official.
Fowler said the spin-off benefits will be huge for New Brunswick and for the other Maritime provinces.
"It's a win for the whole region," he said.
Tickets will go on sale later this month at different locations in most provinces, as well as through on-line sites.
At least two Canadian acts will open for the Stones in Moncton - The Tragically Hip and the Quebec band, Les Trois Accords. Jagger wouldn't name the other opening acts for the tour.
The Stones have a longstanding connection to Canada, including a history of playing small club shows before launching their world tours. They headlined a SARS benefit concert in Toronto in 2003 that drew 450,000 spectators.
After the North American shows, the Stones will move on to Mexico, South America, the Far East, and Europe in the summer of 2006.
There is also a new album in the works to coincide with the tour.
Jagger said the setup for the tour will include seating for about 400 spectators on the actual stage, behind the performers.
"You'll get a great view of our bums," he said of the seating arrangement. "So we'll have to work on them a bit."
Bertelsmann buys Columbia House music club
FRANKFURT (AP) - German media company Bertelsmann AG said Tuesday it is buying the New York-based DVD and music club Columbia House.
Bertelsmann did not disclose the terms of the deal, under which the Guetersloh-based company's BMG division will acquire Columbia House. Citing people familiar with the deal, the Wall Street Journal reported it was worth approximately 312 million euros ($400.1 million US).
The U.S. retailer is 85 per cent owned by Blackstone Group. Sony Corp. and Time Warner each hold 15 per cent stakes.
"This move gives us strategic access to the growing business with DVDs, as well as broadening our customer base in the U.S. market," said Ewald Walgenbach, CEO of Bertelsmann's DirectGroup unit.
"In bringing together BMG Direct and Columbia House, we are combining two profitable businesses."
Columbia House has some eight million members in the United States, Mexico and Canada and sells music online and through the mail. BMG Direct operates its own mail order retail business, sending out 68 million catalogs annually and through its Web site.
Bertelsmann said Stuart Goldfarb, chief executive of BMG Direct, would be president and CEO of Columbia House.
Bertelsmann's reach encompasses nearly all forms of media, with publishing, music sales and broadcasting operations in approximately 60 countries worldwide.
The company, founded in 1835, owns the Random House publisher as well as a 50 per cent stake in Sony BMG Music Entertainment. It holds a 75 per cent stake in publisher Gruner + Jahr and has 90 per cent of broadcaster RTL. It also owns several book and music clubs, including DirectGroup.
Bertelsmann is not listed on the stock market. A majority stake is controlled by the Mohn family, directly and through a foundation. Group Bruxelles Lambert holds a 25 per cent stake.
'Spamalot' Receives 14 Tony Nominations
NEW YORK - "Monty Python's Spamalot," a madcap medieval musical loosely based on the zany British troupe's film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," led the field with 14 Tony nominations Tuesday, including best musical and bids for its King Arthur, Tim Curry, and Lancelot, Hank Azaria.
The musicals "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," about a couple of scam artists working the French Riviera, and "The Light in The Piazza," the lushly romantic tale of love at first sight — and its ramifications, got 11 each.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning "Doubt," John Patrick Shanley's drama of uncertainty set against the backdrop of a Catholic school in the Bronx, received eight nominations.
Kathleen Turner picked up a best actress nomination for her role as a boozy wife in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf." Also nominated were Laura Linney as a spurned woman in "Sight Unseen," Mary-Louise Parker for her portrayal of a distraught housewife in "Reckless," Cherry Jones, who played a dour, authoritarian nun in "Doubt"; and Phylicia Rashad, an ancient, mystical woman in "Gem of the Ocean."
Best actor nominees: Billy Crudup, a jailed writer in "The Pillowman"; Philip Bosco for a disbelieving juror in "Twelve Angry Men"; James Earl Jones for a cantankerous father in "On Golden Pond"; Bill Irwin, Turner's boozy, battling husband in "Virginia Woolf"; and Brian F. O'Byrne, an accused priest in "Doubt."
The nominees in the best play category besides "Doubt" were "Democracy," "Gem of the Ocean" and "The Pillowman."
The off-Broadway sleeper hit that made it to Broadway — "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" — vies with "Monty Python's Spamalot," "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and "The Light in The Piazza" as best musical.
Besides Curry and Azaria, other leading actor in a musical nominees included Gary Beach for "La Cage aux Folles," Norbert Leo Butz and John Lithgow for "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."
Nominated for leading actress in a musical were Christina Applegate, "Sweet Charity"; Victoria Clark, "The Light in the Piazza"; Erin Dilly, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"; Sutton Foster, "Little Women"; and Sherie Rene Scott, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."
In the same year he was up for an Academy Award (for his supporting role in "The Aviator") Alan Alda got a Tony nod as a featured actor in "Glengarry Glen Ross."
And Applegate — who still may be best known as a trampy teenager on the old sitcom "Married ... With Children" — received a nomination as the unlucky-in-love dance hall hostess in "Sweet Charity." She broke her right foot in March during the show's Chicago tryout, and the Broadway production was canceled after its next stop, in Boston. But Applegate's determination resurrected it.
Edward Albee, the three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who challenged theatrical convention in such masterworks as "Virginia Woolf," "A Delicate Balance" and "Seascape," was picked to receive a special Tony for lifetime achievement.
The best revival of a play category pits "Virginia Woolf" against David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross," "On Golden Pond" and "Twelve Angry Men." In the best revival of a musical category, "La Cage aux Folles" will compete with "Pacific Overtures" and "Sweet Charity."
The Couch Potato Report - May 10th, 2005
This week The Couch Potato Report features me being positive. Very positive, in fact.
When I go to the movies, or sit down at home to watch a film, I obviously want what I am watching to be good. After all, I don't want to sit for ninety minutes to two hours - or longer - and not be entertained.
Now, after more than a few weeks of reviews that were mostly negative, this week I am happy to report that I have nothing but positive things to say.
Yes, with only a few exceptions, all of this week's releases are great!
So let me start with the best of the best of this week's releases, the DVD release of the complete first season of the television show ENTOURAGE.
ENTOURAGE is a about a young and up and coming Hollywood star named Vincent and his three childhood companions-turned-employees.
As Vincent begins his career we see how things work behind the scenes and that makes ENTOURAGE a very interesting show.
But the premise is only the second best thing about ENTOURAGE. The cast of young actors, rounded out by the seasoned Jeremy Piven of SERENDIPITY and OLD SCHOOL as Vincent's foul-mouthed agent, is what makes this show a treat to watch. The four main actors are supposed to be old friends, and they seem like old friends.
Friends I like hanging around with, or watching, as it were.
The DVD of ENTOURAGE - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON features all eight episodes and every one of them is worth watching, repeatedly. In fact, I watched all of them twice, just this week.
Admittedly, ENTOURAGE isn't a show for everyone as the language is pretty raw and the morals of the characters are flexible, to say the least. But if you like smart, funny, well written shows, then spend some time with this entourage.
That show has a group of people who make up an entourage, whereas legendary actor Peter Sellers could be a group of people all on his own.
I must admit, that prior to seeing the autobiographical film THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PETER SELLERS I didn't know much about the man. For many years I had laughed at his work in THE PARTY, CASINO ROYALE and DR. STRANGELOVE and THE PINK PANTHER films, and BEING THERE is one of my favourite films of all time, but I didn't know anything about the man who was the cause of my laughter.
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PETER SELLERS allowed me, and allows us all, to get to know him, warts and all. The explanation given, and endorsed by Sellers himself, was that he was so good at impersonations and mimicry because he was lacking a personality of his own.
That point is driven home quite well in this movie.
Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush does an incredible job in his performance as one of the cinema's great chameleons, and the biopic allows us to get to know Peter Sellers a little bit more.
I don't know if we need to know more about the real man in order to appreciate what his cinematic legacy is, but if you would like to learn more, or just see a very entertaining movie about one of the world's most entertaining person, then THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PETER SELLERS is now available for you to do just that.
Peter Sellers was great at his job and he is deserving of a movie about his life.
Steve Zissou, on the other hand, might not be as deserving.
Yet, THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU is just that. A movie about the man's life.
But it is also so much more.
And it is fictional, don't let me omit that. Peter Sellers is a real person, Steve Zissou is not.
But THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU is a real movie, and it is the latest film from director Wes Anderson. Anderson made the classic film RUSHMORE in 1998 and he followed it up with the enjoyable, but not classic THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS in 2001.
Wes Anderson's career trajectory continues downward with his latest film, but, THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU is still worthy of your time. It might be a slow character study in midlife detachment, but Anderson is just such an interesting filmmaker that even when his movies aren't classics they are still worth seeing.
THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU is unique and different, and that makes it worth seeing. Plus, it stars Bill Murray! As far as I am concerned, his presence makes any film seeing.
In the film Murray plays Steve Zissou, a celebrated oceanographer, not unlike Jacques Cousteau.
Zissou and his crew set out on an expedition to find the mysterious, elusive, possibly non-existent Jaguar Shark that killed Zissou's partner.
The team is joined by a young airline co-pilot who may or may not be Zissou's son, a journalist who is writing a profile of Zissou, and Zissou's estranged wife and co-producer, Eleanor.
Along the way they face pirates, kidnapping, bankruptcy, and several other dilemmas, and each and every one of them are unique and different.
No, THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU is not a perfect film, it is too quirky to be perfect. But in a day and age when every film and TV show follows a set formula, I love that Wes Anderson's movies don't!
THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU comes highly recommended and is worth your time.
Even if you don't care for the movie at all, I assure you that you won't see anything else like it until Anderson's next movie - THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX - comes out in 2006.
I also assure you that you will see movies like IN GOOD COMPANY between now and 2006.
Movies where two people meet and immediate sparks fly between them until something happens to break them up, before they get back together with a swell of romantic music.
Yes, between now and 2006 you will see many movies like that, and IN GOOD COMPANY is a movie that has elements of that, but it also has so much more!
Topher Grace from THAT 70'S SHOW is a man in his mid-twenties with a failed marriage and a career that he knows he isn't qualified to have.
Dennis Quaid from THE ROOKIE is a middle-aged man who has a career he's qualified for, but ends up second-in-command to the youngster.
Eventually Grace meets Quaid's college aged daughter and the pair seem to have something in common. Scarlett Johansson from LOST IN TRANSLATION is the daughter and she gives another great performance.
As the story goes on, both personal and professional relationships develop between Grace and his business colleague and between his colleague's daughter. And I am happy to report that none of them go where you think they will.
Movies today always focus on a person's strengths and we rarely get to see any weaknesses. IN GOOD COMPANY lets us see all sides, and it is an enjoyable film because of that.
It is enjoyable and unpredictable, and that is a great combination.
No, it isn't unique and different like THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU, but it is different enough from most romantic comedies that it is worth recommending.
Wow, it feels good to say positive things about all four of this week's releases!
Yes, I recommend IN GOOD COMPANY, THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU, THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PETER SELLERS and ENTOURAGE - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON and they are all available now.
COMING UP IN THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT is the complete first season of SCRUBS - one of my current favourite shows on TV - and the complete fourth season of SEINFELD, one of my all-time favourite shows on TV.
TV also gave us the show SOUTH PARK and that show's creators now offer us the hilarious puppet film TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE. Yes, for the record, I said "hilarious puppet film."
KINSEY isn't hilarious, instead it is the true story of sex researcher Alfred Kinsey. Liam Neeson and the always fantastic Laura Linney star.
And finally next week, Michael Keaton returns to films after a few years away. In WHITE NOISE he is a man who tries to contact his dead wife through the white noise that comes from television.
I'm Dan Reynish and I will have more about - and on - WHITE NOISE, KINSEY, TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE, SEINFELD, SCRUBS, and some other releases in seven days.
For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next week on The Couch!
'Scrubs' Creator Diagnoses State of TV Comedy
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) It was the last day of filming on "Scrubs" for the season, and creator Bill Lawrence and star Zach Braff were feeling a little punchy.
Asked what he got for his 30th birthday (which was April 6), Braff replies: "The gift of love. I got the gift of love -- and a full-size poster of Bill Lawrence that I put above my bed."
Before anyone on the April conference call even posed a question, Lawrence set the tone. "[We're going to] be loose cannons and say things that can get us in trouble, because no one can call us Monday," he says. "We won't be here. ...
"So anyone can feel free to ask anything, even if not it's not about 'Scrubs' and you just want me to dis my bosses and get in trouble."
That sort of invitation is hard to pass up, and Lawrence got the now-familiar is-the-sitcom-dead question. His short answer: "I find that to be absolute bulls***.
"I think there's an issue going on that the networks put on crappy multi-camera material, and obviously it's not embraced. think the truth comes down to quality," he elaborates. "Whether it's a throwback multi-camera comedy like 'Everybody Loves Raymond' or a single-camera show like 'Scrubs,' shows that survive the test of time are going to have to be well-made, well-acted and ultimately have something the audience to hook into that's accessible.
"I challenge people a lot. When someone tells me sitcoms are dead, I defy anyone to tell me the last well-made, well-written, well-acted multi-camera sitcom that failed. And no one can come up with one, because they don't."
We also asked why he thinks NBC tends not to promote "Scrubs" very heavily, even to the point that it no longer gets the scenes-from-next-week treatment at the close of an episode. Rather than a rant, though, the question produces a thoughtful answer from Lawrence, a sitcom veteran ("Friends, "Spin City"), about the nature of the TV business.
"The bad part about the way TV works is, our show is on NBC, but it's 100 percent owned by Disney ['Scrubs' is produced by Disney's Touchstone TV]," he says. "I don't blame the network executives, but it's a sh***y situation. Our show did just -- it wasn't a giant hit out of the gate, but it did just well enough that it's going to stay on forever. But since they [NBC] don't stand to make any money on it in the end, they use it as a Band-aid. They move it from timeslot to timeslot ... always knowing that the core audience will follow along.
"If the question comes down to, Are we gonna promote 'Scrubs' or, in success, a show we stand to make millions of dollars on?, the answer's always gonna be, regardless of quality, the show you stand to make money on."
That fact, however, also spurred Lawrence and Braff to involve themselves heavily in the DVD release of "Scrubs'" first season; it's scheduled to hit stores May 17, a week after the show's season finale on Tuesday (May 10). In addition to commentaries from the Lawrence and the entire cast, the three-disc set includes features on cast members before they joined the show, the production process on the show's abandoned-hospital set and the cast discussing their favorite episodes.
"We really took the time to, hopefully, talk about stuff that people really into the show will care about," Lawrence says.
Adds Braff: "It's such a long time coming because we really put a lot into the first season. Everyone's been so patient -- whenever we do a Q-and-A anywhere, the first question is 'When is the DVD coming out?' The fans have been so patient, so we really put a lot into the first one."
"Scrubs" will end its fourth season -- and start its fifth in the fall -- with the interns making some big changes. J.D. (Braff) finally moves out of the apartment he shares with Turk (Donald Faison) and Carla (Judy Reyes), and one of them is faced with the prospect of taking a job at another hospital.
"The general thrust of next year will be a year that feels like the characters aren't kids learning things anymore," Lawrence says. "Because you can only do the J.D.'s scared about some kind of medical thing and then gets a big lesson from Dr. Cox [plotline] so much. ... Next year will be at least the start of the dynamic shifting, and the people that used to be our students are going to start to become teachers a little bit."
That also means the potential to introduce new characters, which can help keep a show fresh -- and also provides Lawrence a hammer to wield over his old hands, he jokes.
"It's a great thing," he says. "Any cast member gives me that fifth-year lip, they just walk out the door and a new one walks in."
Wonder Unveils Video, New Album Release Date
Stevie Wonder unveiled the first music video to feature video description technology for blind and visually impaired music fans yesterday (May 9) in Los Angeles. As previously reported, the standard and description-enhanced clip (narrated by Busta Rhymes) for "So What the Fuss" will be premiered tomorrow via Yahoo! Music.
"The whole point is that there are 10 million people who are blind or have low-vision and are not able to enjoy the experience of seeing music videos," said Wonder. "Why shouldn't we be able to experience that? I don't want this to be the last video description video; this is far bigger than me. We need to do everything to make the playing field of technology fair."
Joining Wonder were Motown president Sylvia Rhone, "Fuss" video director Paul Hunter and Linda Idoni, West Coast director of operations for the Media Access Group of WGBH. The Boston public television station pioneered the video description technology in 1990 and wrote the "Fuss" narration.
Attendees, who included members of the media and students from the Foundation for the Junior Blind, donned black blindfolds emblazoned with the title of Wonder's forthcoming album, "A Time 2 Love," to fully experience the Rhymes-narrated version. The video is set in an apartment and its surrounding neighborhood.
Talking about his new album, Wonder said the long-awaited/much delayed project is now slated for a June 14 release. The album is comprised of 16 tracks, with two bonus cuts earmarked for release in foreign markets. According to Wonder, these 18 tracks are three shy of the total number of songs on his groundbreaking double-album, "Songs in the Key of Life."
Among the album's additional selections are the title cut (co-written by labelmate India.Arie) "From the Bottom of My Heart" and "Positivity." Wonder also noted that another song he originally wrote a while back for Luther Vandross, "My Love Is on Fire," will appear on "A Time 2 Love" as well as on the Vandross tribute album being assembled by BMG North America chairman/CEO Clive Davis.
Though he declined to reveal the name of the second single, Wonder said the video for it would also feature the video description technology. As for rampant rumors that he will stage a concert this summer in New York, Wonder would say only that he "hopes to be there soon" after he delivers the album to Motown and his wife delivers a new child, due May 13 (Wonder's own birth date).
No 'Desperate' climb
A year ago, she was a relatively unknown former daytime soap actress who had just shot a pilot for a TV show. Even then, Maxim magazine saw something in Eva Longoria that inspired the editors to reserve a place for her on their annual Hot 100 list.
This year, the red-hot Desperate Housewives actress has catapulted to the top spot in the special issue, which hits stands May 19.
She follows an impressive list of previous No. 1's, including Jessica Simpson (this year's No. 9), Jessica Alba (this year's No. 5), Christina Aguilera (this year's No. 16) and Jennifer Garner (this year's No. 3).
"It's kind of exciting and shocking all at the same time, because I was No. 91 last year," says the Mexican-American beauty, 30. Longoria called in from her L.A. home shortly before taking off for Canada to begin work on the feature film The Sentinel.
"Considering all the women in the world, No. 91 isn't all that bad. But (last year) I didn't go to the (annual Hot 100 celebration) party, because I don't think anyone wants the 90s at the party."
Longoria, who appeared on the January 2005 cover of Maxim, is the only one of the Housewives on the list, but her co-stars aren't surprised. Co-star Felicity Huffman says, "What's hot about Eva is her smile, her laugh, her joie de vivre ... and following all of that, her (behind)."
"What doesn't make her a hottie?" asks Jesse Metcalfe, the lucky young buck who gets to share a bed and sometimes a bath with Longoria on ABC's hit prime-time soap. "She's pretty much flawless. She's not a diva in any way. Normally, when they're that hot, they're not that cool."
Longoria, who says she has a steady beau (but won't say who), credits her TV character with helping to elevate her Maxim ranking. "Maxim and Gabrielle go hand in hand," she says of the mag aimed at young men. "Gabrielle's sexy, confident and sensual, and I think Maxim shows those beautiful qualities in their women. When you look at the Top 10, it's singers or working actors who are doing really good things in the entertainment business."
This year, Longoria outranks such popular leading ladies as Tom Cruise's new love, Katie Holmes (No. 22); Catwoman Halle Berry (No. 41); and Star Wars queen Natalie Portman (No. 42).
Though thrilled to be No. 1, Longoria would place No. 7 Angelina Jolie — Brad Pitt's "pal" and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' goodwill ambassador — atop her own personal hot list.
"Angelina is the definition of sexy," Longoria says. "Everything about her is sexy — her empowerment, confidence, strength, beauty, character, her morals and what she stands for."
Weezer Make Believe (Geffen)
Oh, the suspense of a new Weezer album. Is Rivers Cuomo still one messed-up little rock auteur? Will he write a batch of crunchy pop-punk gems, reporting from his tortured private world about the fun he imagines the rest of us are having? Will he ever find true love? On Make Believe, the answers are yes, yes, and wake the fuck up. Make Believe is a breakthrough for Weezer, a bold step into the world of the two-word album title, with twelve songs running 45:15, positively epic by their standards. But most important, Cuomo's songs are his most plaintive and brilliant since Pinkerton, with couplets such as "I may not be a perfect soul/But I can learn self-control" narrating the latest kinks of his journey into full-fledged humanhood. Not since Brian Wilson has an L.A.-pop mastermind gotten such musical mileage out of wanting to be an ordinary guy, not realizing that his psychosexual freakitude is exactly what makes him one.
Make Believe kicks off with "Beverly Hills," the single that revisits the dork narrator of old Weezer songs like "My Name Is Jonas," ten years older but no wiser, graduating from comic books and twelve-sided dice to watching the E! channel. It's a thunderous tune, with an awesomely terrible 1970s wah-wah solo that must have been sampled from Jeff "Skunk" Baxter. The sad love songs that follow -- "We Are All on Drugs," "Hold Me" -- build on self-loathing hooks ("I know that I can be the meanest person in the world") and huge pop flourishes. The best is "Pardon Me." It sure is weird to hear Cuomo go back to his old "Buddy Holly" voice, summoning up all his strength to belt, "I apologize to you/And to anyone else that I hurt too." Um, Rivers, is this a twelve-step thing? Nobody's mad at you, honest. In fact, after listening to Make Believe, we love you more than evs.
NEW CD RELEASES FOR MAY 10, 2005
Bryan Adams Room Service (Mercury Nashville)
Keith Anderson Three Chord Country and American Rock & Roll (Arista Nashville)
Athlete Tourist (Astralwerks)
Billy Bang Vietnam: Reflections (Justin Time)
Dierks Bentley Modern Day Drifter (Capitol Nashville)
Alison Brown Stolen Moments (Compass)
John Cena & Trademarc You Can't See Me (Columbia)
Cheb i Sabbah La Kahena (Six Degrees)
Graham Collier Workpoints (Cuneiform)
Bobby Conn Live Classics, Vol. 1 (enhanced CD w/videos; recorded live before a studio audience) (Thrill Jockey)
Cranked Up! This Is a Weapon (Blackout)
A Day to Remember And Their Name Was Treason (Indianola)
Taylor Dayne Whatever You Want/Naked Without You EP (remixes and three new tracks) (Intersound)
DDM Snow on the TV (Dim Mak)
Diamond Nights Once We Were Diamonds EP (Hollywood)
The Duane Peters Gunfight (of U.S. Bombs) The Duane Peters Gunfight (Disaster)
Electrelane Axes (recorded by Steve Albini) (Beggars Group)
Estampie Signum (Noir)
FannyPack See You Next Tuesday (Tommy Boy)
Renée Fleming Haunted Heart (Decca)
The Frank and Joe Show 66 2/3 (Hyena)
Rosario Giuliani More Than Ever (Dreyfus)
Goldie Lookin Chain Straight Outta Newport (Record Collection)
Parry Gripp (ex-Nerf Herder) For Those About to Shop, We Salute You (collection of comedic advertising jingles) (Oglio)
Gush NÖRRKÖPING (Touch and Go)
GZR (Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler) Ohmwork (w/Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith) (Sanctuary)
Hal Hal (Rough Trade)
The Headphones The Headphones (Touch and Go)
The Hootz Too Hoot to Handle (hip-hop for kids) (Koch)
Javon Jackson Have You Heard (Palmetto)
Robert Earl Keen What I Really Mean (ICE #217; ICE #218) (Koch)
James Kochalka Our Most Beloved (Rykodisc)
Langhorne Slim When the Sun's Gone Down (Narnack)
Bryan Lee Live and Dangerous (Justin Time)
Fred Longberg-Holm Trio Other Valentines (Touch and Go)
Joe Lovano Joyous Encounter (Blue Note)
Dave Matthews Band Stand Up (DualDisc same day) (RCA)
Mercury Switch Time to Shine (Indianola)
Miriodor Parade + Live at Nearfest (two CDs) (Cuneiform)
Missippi The Book of Life (w/E-40 and Rick James) (Bungalo)
Calvin Newborn New Born (Yellow Dog)
Scout Niblett Kidnapped by Neptune (recorded by Steve Albini) (Beggars Group)
Nobody And Everything Else... (guests Prefuse 73, Mia Doi Todd and members of Beachwood Sparks; w/cover of the Flaming Lips' "What Is the Light") (Plug Research)
Old School Freight Train Run (produced by and featuring David Grisman; w/covers of Stevie Wonder and Randy Newman) (Acoustic Disc)
Pacifics Sunday's Chicken (Touch and Go)
Luciano Pavarotti World Tour Tribute (two CDs) (Decca)
Stephen Pearcy Fueler (Cleopatra)
Picastro Metal Cares (Polyvinyl)
Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation Mighty Rearranger (Sanctuary)
Pray for the Soul of Betty (w/American Idol finalist Constantine Maroulis) Pray for the Soul of Betty (Koch)
Present A Great Inhumane Adventure (Cuneiform)
Prince Paul Itstrumental (Female Fun)
Psychograss Now Hear This (Adventure)
The Punks Thank You for the Alternative Rock (Kill Rock Stars)
Qntal IV (Noir)
Radio Massacre International Emissaries (Cuneiform)
The Real Tuesday Weld The Return of the Clerkenwell Kid (Six Degrees)
Red Café Got a Story to Tell (Capitol)
The Robot Ate Me Carousel Waltz (Kill Rock Stars)
Sharp Things Foxes & Hounds (Bar/None)
Shrift Lost in a Moment (Six Degrees)
Spookie Daly Pride Medicine Chest (Funzalo)
Spoon Gimme Fiction (Merge)
The Starting Line Based on a True Story (Drive-Thru/Geffen)
Story of the Year Live in the Loo: Bassassins (CD/DVD combo) (Maverick)
Styx Big Bang Theory (Universal)
John Surman Way Back When (Cuneiform)
Team Sleep (Chino Moreno of Deftones) Team Sleep (guest vocals by ex-Helium's Mary Timony and Pinback's Rob Crow) (Maverick)
Through the Sparks Coin Toss EP (Skybucket)
Juliet Turner Season of the Hurricane (Valley Entertainment)
The Unseen State of Discontent (produced by Dropkick Murphys' Ken Casey) (Epitaph)
Van Zant Get Right with the Man (Columbia)
Waking Ashland Composure (Tooth & Nail)
Doug Wamble Bluestate (Rounder)
Weezer Make Believe (enhanced CD; produced by Rick Rubin) (Geffen)
Lucinda Williams Live at the Fillmore (two CDs) (Lost Highway)
X Live in Los Angeles (2004 concert; DVD same day) (Shout! Factory)
VA Atlantiquity (remixes of classics by Chic, Donny Hathaway, others by King Britt, Jurassic 5's DJ Nu-Mark and more) (Rhino/Atlantic)
VA Café De La Noche (Sunswept)
VA Dead Band's Party: A Tribute to Oingo Boingo (Indianola)
VA Imaginational Anthem (compilation of solo acoustic guitar instrumentals w/John Fahey, Brad Barr of the Slip and more) (Near Mint)
VA Jazz Lounge Remix (Cleopatra)
VA Live from the Bluebird Café Vol. 1 (Artemis)
VA Pure Techno 3 (Water)
VA Superstars #1 Hits Remixed (hits from Beyoncé, Maroon 5 and Alicia Keys remixed by Junior Vasquez, Armand Van Helden and more) (BMG Heritage)
VA The Majestic Collection: The Best of Soul Fire Records (two CDs; hits, rarities and previously unreleased material from the funk/soul/dance label) (Koch)
OST Inside Deep Throat (documentary about controversial '70s adult film) (Koch)
OST The L Word Sessions (Tommy Boy)
DVD Best of the Rock 'N' Roll Greats (recent concert w/Styx, Steppenwolf, Rare Earth, Iron Butterfly and more) (Koch)
DVD Eminem: The Glory Years (documentary) (Chrome Dreams)
DVD James Chance Chance of a Lifetime: Live in Chicago 2003 (w/bonus documentary) (DBK Works)
DVD Billy Cobham's Culturemix New Morning: The Paris Concert (Music Video Distributors)
DVD DJ Domination World Domination (Music Video Distributors)
DVD Robben Ford New Morning: The Paris Concert (w/bonus interview) (Music Video Distributors)
DVD John Kay & Steppenwolf John Kay & Steppenwolf (recent concert) (Koch)
DVD Marillion Marbles on the Road (Music Video Distributors)
DVD Donny Osmond Live in Edinburgh Castle (Decca)
DVD The Vibrators Live Energized: CBGB 2004 (Music Video Distributors)
DVD VA Black Beach Unlimited (Music Video Distributors)
DVD VA Shake City 101: Krump Dance (Music Video Distributors)
DVD Audio Porcupine Tree Deadwing (w/three bonus tracks, making-of feature and photo galleries; 5.1 Surround) (DTS Entertainment)
Renee Weds Her Country Sweetheart in Shock Ceremony
Renee Zellweger has stunned Hollywood by marrying her country sweetheart Kenny Chesney. Details are sketchy, but it's reported the Chicago star and her new man exchanged vows yesterday on the Caribbean island of St Johns, where Chesney has a holiday home. Chesney, 37, jetted off to make Zellweger his bride after performing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Saturday. He's expected back on stage in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Thursday. Since her 2000 engagement to Jim Carrey, the actress has dated a string of rockers and musicians, including The White Stripes' Jack White and Irish singer/songwriter Damien Rice. Country superstar Chesney and his new blushing bride were romantically linked for the first time earlier this month when the Bridget Jones's Diary star was spotted kissing her new beau at one of his shows. It's the first marriage for both stars.