Yet Another Unnecessary Re-release!
Universal has also announced The Blues Brothers: 25th Anniversary Edition on 8/30 (SRP $22.98) which will include 2 versions of the film - the director's cut that appeared on the original DVD release and the theatrical cut (released for the first time on DVD). Other extras will include an introduction by Dan Aykroyd, a behind-the-scenes documentary, concert footage and more (much of this will likely be recycled from the previous DVD). This DVD will be available in both full frame and anamorphic widescreen versions.
Filmmaker Ismail Merchant Dead
Ismail Merchant, the producer whose venerable partnership with director James Ivory led to such Oscar-winning costume dramas as A Room with a View, Howard's End and The Remains of the Day, died in a London hospital Wednesday. He was 68.
A spokesman in his London office said Merchant passed away surrounded by family and close friends.
The filmmaker had reportedly been suffering from stomach problems over the past year, including undergoing an operation recently for abdominal ulcers.
The Merchant-Ivory machine, which also included German-born screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, produced a string of highly polished international hits, often derived from acclaimed literary sources and featuring all-star ensembles.
Merchant-Ivory's films frequently plumbed the depths of upper-crust English society at the turn of the century, with the best examples being two adaptations of E.M. Forster novels--1986's A Room with a View, which launched the career of a young Daniel Day-Lewis, and 1992's Howard's End, starring Anthony Hopkins, Vanessa Redgrave and Emma Thompson.
The Remains of the Day (1993), adapted from a book by Kazuo Ishiguro, reunited Hopkins and Thompson, and delved into the life of a repressed butler who devotion to his employer prior to World War II is challenged by a fellow housekeeper, with whom he falls in love.
The three dramas racked up a total of 25 Academy Award nominations, including three Best Picture nods, and winning a total of six Oscars, including two for Jhabvala for Best Screenplay. Merchant personally received four Oscar nominations during his career, but never won.
His producer credits included 1983's charming Heat and Dust, based on Jhabvala's own novel, and 1984's The Bostonians, adapted from the novel by Henry James and starring Christopher Reeve and Jessica Tandy.
Born in Bombay (now Mumbai) in December 1936, Merchant came to New York University in 1958, and earned a business degree. While there, he developed an affinity for cinema and produced his first film, 1960's The Creation of Woman, a 14-minute short that an official U.S. entry at the Cannes Film Festival that year and eventually earned Merchant his first Oscar nomination.
A year later he met Ivory at a screening of the latter's documentary The Sword and the Flute, and the two struck up a friendship. They soon decided to go into business together making English-language costume dramas for the Indian market.
Their first film outing was The Householder, a comedy-drama about young Indian newlyweds based on a novel by Jhabvala.
In 1974, Merchant got behind the camera for with the Indian short Mahatma and the Mad Boy. It wasn't until 1993 that he finally made his feature-helming debut with In Custody, but for the most part, he stuck to the business side.
Even after their heyday in the late '80s through early '90s, Merchant-Ivory continued to churn out well crafted period stories, most notably 1995's Jefferson in Paris, starring Nick Nolte and Gwyneth Paltrow, 1996's Surviving Picasso and 2001's The Golden Bowl.
More recently, they teamed up for 2003's Le Divorce, a comedy of manners featuring Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts.
Before his death, Merchant was working on several projects, including The Goddess, a Bollywood-style musical with Tina Turner, and The White Countess, a costume drama about an American diplomat in 1930s Shanghai starring Ralph Fiennes and Natasha Richardson. The latter is due out in November.
Aside from his producing duties, Merchant was also a chef and author of several cookbooks, among them, Ismail Merchants Indian Cuisine.
Merchant's family is expected to announce funeral arrangements in the coming days.
Carrie Underwood Wins 'Idol' Contest
LOS ANGELES - Carrie Underwood, the country sweetheart who beguiled national television audiences with her strong voice and bright smile, is this year's "American Idol," defeating Southern rocker Bo Bice in the show's finale Wednesday night.
The Oklahoma native received more viewer votes than runner-up Bice, of Alabama, after Tuesday's final round, snaring the title and a record contract.
A tearful Underwood choked out a brief "thank you," then spoke with a song. She reprised "Inside Your Heaven," which both she and Bice performed in Tuesday's final round. The judges thought Bice outsang her; the voting audience obviously disagreed.
A 22-year-old college senior, Underwood became the talk of her hometown of Checotah — and the choice of fourth-season "Idol" voters — as she delivered almost uniformly consistent performances each week.
"She has more of the star quality," said Cindy Monteleone of Chicago, who was among hundreds of people who dropped by the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood to watch former "American Idol" contestants arrive for the show's taping.
Underwood couldn't compete with rock 'n' roller Bice on his style of music ("I'm not sure I'm loving the rocked-out Carrie," judge Randy Jackson said after one attempt) but shone in her favorite genre, country.
Friends and family describe Underwood as a polite, quiet, small-town girl who is dedicated to music.
Bice, 29, of Helena, Ala., would have been the oldest "Idol" winner. He brought an unexpected rock edge to the show's usually mainstream pop style, shining on songs such as the 1970s hit "Vehicle."
"He's just so sincere and he projects that," fan Donna Leoni, who was pulling for Bice, said outside the theater.
The live two-hour finale was padded by clips from throughout the season, interviews with the judges and the finalists, and concert and product plugs (the finalists received gift cars, which were featured in a big-screen video close-up).
There were also, finally, songs. A series of duets featuring the top 12 finishers and guest artists included Anthony Fedorov and Anwar Robinson performing with Kenny G; Scott Savol and Nico Smith with George Benson; and Vonzell Solomon with Billy Preston.
During the season, although onstage performances were unaffected, an offstage drama played out involving judge Paula Abdul and former contestant Corey Clark.
Clark claimed he and Abdul had an affair while he was competing in 2003 and that she coached him on how to do better on the show. Abdul has called the allegations "lies" and an attempt at character assassination.
In a bit of hard-edged comedy Wednesday, "Idol" fired back at ABC News' recent "Primetime Live" detailing Clark's claims. TV newsman Steve Edwards presented a satirical report, "Bad Judgment," which purported to reveal Cowell's "secret relationship" (the punch line: it was Cowell's love affair with himself).
"We won't let the truth get in the way of our ratings," the faux report said in an obvious dig at ABC, although the network and the Abdul controversy weren't specifically mentioned.
"American Idol" thrives on controversy, with disgruntled fans complaining over the years about overloaded phone lines, technical glitches and untalented contestants with amazing survival skills.
Viewership didn't suffer from Clark's claims: "American Idol" is the No. 1 series for the season in viewers (as opposed to households), averaging 27.3 million viewers a week. The finale, on the last day of the TV season, could guarantee Fox a first-ever ratings win among viewers age 18 to 49.
Viewers Find Few Answers on 'Lost' Finale
NEW YORK - The "Lost" castaways managed to open the mysterious hatch. But after they blasted it open with dynamite, what did they find? Not so fast! Viewers will have to wait through a long, hot summer for that answer.
During the thrilling first season of "Lost," fans of this information-stingy ABC serial may sometimes have felt a little lost themselves. No wonder they were hoping to find a few more clues as the two-hour season finale aired Wednesday night.
Sorry. The episode — fascinating and frustrating, as usual — mostly compounded the mystery.
It also left the audience with one particularly agonizing cliffhanger.
That came in the face of what seemed like a long-awaited rescue. The raft that took off from the island last week carrying four of the refugees encountered a rickety shipping boat in the dead of night.
Jin (Daniel Dae Kim), Sawyer (Josh Holloway), Michael (Harold Perrineau) and his young son Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) were ecstatic — until a rough-looking sailor on board the other vessel ordered harshly, "Give us the boy."
A fight broke out, then the bad guys snatched Walt, plowing away through the inky water as they set our heroes' raft ablaze.
You'll be waiting until fall to learn Walt's fate, too.
In its first season, the breakout hit "Lost" has tantalizingly tracked the adventures of some four dozen survivors of a jetliner crash on a tropical island who-knows-where (turns out the plane's last transmission before splitting apart in midair pegged its location as hundreds of miles from where it came down).
On a recent episode, a freak accident claimed the life of one of the main refugees.
But there were plenty more, as portrayed by a large cast of featured regulars including Matthew Fox (as the sexy doctor, Jack), Evangeline Lilly (a dishy jailbird), Terry O'Quinn (the mystical outdoorsman, Locke), Dominic Monaghan (a rock-star junkie), Jorge Garcia (the fat guy, Hurley, who says "dude" a lot) and several others.
As they have struggled to determine where they were and how to get away, these characters have also forged some semblance of a civilized community, however fractious at times.
Meanwhile, details of their past have been filled in with flashbacks leading up to that doomed Oceanic Flight 815. Wednesday's episode had numerous scenes from the Sydney airport as characters unknowingly crisscrossed each others' paths on their way to their assigned seats on the plane.
Yes, the finale delivered a promised glimpse of the polar bear-like creature that, since the premiere, has stalked the castaways, but until now was never really seen (at least by viewers). But on the finale it was almost an embedded joke, appearing in one drawing of a comic book Hurley was seen reading on the plane.
The main thrust of the episode was the trek through the jungle to reach the strange hatch installed into the ground.
Discovered in a recent episode, it has held out a promise of safety — or at least some answers.
"What do you think is inside the hatch?" Hurley said.
"I think hope's inside," Locke replied.
Then a bit later, he told Jack, "The path ends at the hatch. All of it happens so we can open the hatch."
"No," argued the more practical-minded Jack. "We're opening the hatch so that we can survive."
"Survival is all relative, Jack," Locke replied.
If you wanted clear answers, you could have watched the conclusion of "American Idol" on Fox, against which "Lost" boldly went head-to-head.
For mesmerizing drama, however stingy its disclosures, you couldn't beat "Lost" Wednesday night.
'M:I 3' cast gets an overhaul
Former "Boston Public" star Michelle Monaghan has been added to the cast of "Mission: Impossible 3," according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Monaghan will play the love interest of Tom Cruise's character, secret agent Ethan Hunt.
Irish actor Jonathan Rhys-Meyers ("Bend It Like Beckham," "Elvis") is in negotiations for a role in the film.
Numerous delays in the J.J. Abrams-directed movie forced Scarlett Johanssen, Carrie-Ann Moss and Kenneth Branagh to drop out of the project.
Ving Rhames, who appeared in all three installments of the action franchise, will be back as Hunt's sidekick Luther Stickel.
Recent reports linked teen star Lindsay Lohan and current Cruise girlfriend Katie Holmes to the film, but their involvement has not been confirmed.
"Mission: Impossible 3" will begin shooting in Caserta, Italy on July 18.
Michelle Monaghan appears in the upcoming Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie film, "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," which opens June 10.
'American Idol' Contestants Face Off
NEW YORK - Long-locked Alabama rocker Bo Bice and Carrie Underwood, the country fan from Oklahoma, squared off with soaring ballads and gospel choirs in the "American Idol" finals Tuesday.
Millions of voters will decide whether Bice's audacious claim of one of Underwood's songs will trump Simon Cowell's last-minute endorsement of her.
The winner of the nation's most popular talent contest will be announced on Fox Wednesday.
Bice, from Helena, Ala., wanted to bring some rock 'n' roll street cred to the competition. He looked every bit the hippie with his flowing white shirt, red sunglasses and shoulder-length hair on his opening song, an original called "The Long Long Road."
It almost backfired. Cowell called it a "very dreary song" and said Bice, 29, looked like his chemistry teacher.
"You're going to have to do a hell of a lot better than that to walk away with this title," he said.
He rebounded with a more rousing Chicago number and later sang "Inside Your Heaven," a song Underwood had performed only minutes earlier. It was a gutsy choice, giving voters a chance to compare him directly with his competitor on the same song.
Judge Randy Jackson declared Bice "forever in my dog pound" and Cowell thought he outsang Underwood.
Underwood, a 22-year-old college senior from Checotah, Okla., has made plain her love of country music and sang Martina McBride's "Independence Day" among her final three songs.
Easy-to-please judge Paula Abdul liked — we think — her version of "Inside Your Heaven."
"You sang the song beautifully," she said. "You hit a couple of not-so-great notes, but who cares?"
Her final song, "Angels Brought Me Here," was made for belting out and Underwood let fly. Her voice cracked with emotion during the final few notes.
"I think you've done enough to win this competition," Cowell said.
A victory means a guaranteed recording contract. But as Clay Aiken found out, losing doesn't have to mean obscurity.
One sure winner will be Fox. The finale — on the last day of the television season — is likely to guarantee the network its first-ever ratings championship among 18-to-49-year-old viewers.