Canada cracks down on online pirates
WASHINGTON (AP) - In an investigation that covers 11 countries, including Canada, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday a crackdown on large-scale Internet pirates who illegally distribute first-run movies, video games and other copyrighted materials.
FBI agents and investigators in the other countries conducted 90 searches starting Wednesday, arresting four people and shutting down at least eight major online distribution servers for pirated works, a Justice official said.
Authorities also seized hundreds of computers in raids in the United States, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Portugal and Britain.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales planned a news conference Thursday afternoon to announce the arrests and other measures that law enforcement officials are taking as part of Operation site Down.
Among those arrested was Chirayu Patel of Fremont, Calif., on charges of violating U.S. federal copyright protection laws, said a law enforcement official. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to pre-empt the official announcement.
Patel is alleged to be a member of a "warez" group, a kind of underground Internet co-op that is set up to trade in copyrighted materials. Warez (pronounced "wares") groups are extraordinarily difficult to infiltrate because users talk only in encrypted chat rooms, their computer servers require passwords and many are located overseas, the FBI has said.
Warez groups differ from popular file-swapping networks, where millions of files are shared without such precautions.
Last month, authorities shut down a popular website that facilitated the downloading of movies and other materials. Investigators said many of the copyright movies were available through the Elite Torrents site even before their commercial release. No arrests were announced at the time.
President George W. Bush signed a new law last month setting tough penalties of up to 10 years in prison for anyone caught distributing a movie or song prior to its commercial release.
Esthero returns with eclectic album
You've got to hand it to Esthero -- when she comes back, she does it with a bang.
The Toronto singer, born Jenny Englishman, hadn't put out a record since her highly touted 1998 debut, Breath From Another, when she emerged last fall with two teasers in advance of its followup, Wikked Lil Grrrls (out June 28).
First there was the expletive-heavy club hit O.G. Bitch. Then came the notorious EP We R In Need Of A Musical Revolution, on which she sings, "I'm so sick and tired of the s--- on the radio and MTV," and "Tell me why a grown man can rape a little girl but we still hear his s--- on the radio." You could hardly plot a better way to get a semi-forgotten artist back into the spotlight.
"It's true," Esthero laughed during an interview recently. "I'm such a child that way. There's a side of me that screams, 'Pay attention to me!'"
People certainly will, particularly if the racy, naked video for the latter song, Wikked's first single, gets any airplay.
"I hope MuchMusic plays it and carries on the tradition of supporting artists and setting themselves apart from MTV," she said. "And I hope MTV is just vain enough to play anything with its name in it!"
Luckily for Esthero, Wikked Lil Grrrls has enough going for it to get noticed anyway. It's a big, 17-track album, recorded in L.A. and Toronto with help from a diverse group including Sean Lennon, Spooky Ruben, Cee-Lo Green, Jemini and Outkast's Andre 3000 (although his contributions didn't make the final mix because the labels couldn't come to terms). So maybe it needed all seven years to emerge.
"I can't force stuff," she said. "It didn't always come when I wanted it to, and I went through times when I didn't have anything to say. It felt like it took forever, but now it seems completely natural.
"In the beginning I had all sorts of plans, but lack of funds and time prevented them from happening. At one point I thought, 'This is a mess, but it's my second album and everyone expects it to suck.' But I realized that in this weird way it did have a theme -- of constant change. I'd managed to take pictures of parts of my life, and Musical Revolution was like a bow on top that makes sense of it all."
It does, if eclecticism is Esthero's own musical revolution. The album sprawls across hip-hop, jazz, pop, Latin and R&B, with incursions into big-band and even klezmer music.
"I wish there was a section in record stores that wasn't rap or hip-hop, but urban in the sense of a city of culture," she said. "I'd put it in jazz if I didn't think the jazz police would come after me. I guess I think of it as a pop record."
And as she moves among genres, Esthero takes on different personas to match.
"I get into character when I hear the music," she said. "I create this fantasy world and expound upon it to make a good story. In If Tha Mood I'm this ultravixen character -- not me, but a part of me. And I knew Wikked Lil Grrrls had to be sung very cheekily, very Andrews Sisters. I kept thinking about Cabaret and top hats and canes. For Gone I pretended I was an 80-year-old southern man who'd had a hard life, and for Musical Revolution I tried to become Bono, or the singer from Tears For Fears. I sang like a man in that '80s style. So it's about using those characters and making my own.
"People try so hard to be original, but I've realized that it's not our influences that make us unique, it's our combination of influences. Lots of people are influenced by U2 and Marvin Gaye, but not so many by U2 and Marvin Gaye and Patsy Cline and Brandy, you know?"
Affleck, Garner Wed, Expecting Baby By JAKE COYLE, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - After months of speculation, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner have tied the knot — and she's pregnant.
Representatives for both actors confirmed the marriage to The Associated Press on Thursday. Their publicists, Ken Sunshine and Nicole King, also confirmed that Garner is pregnant with her first child.
Sunshine and King would not give any other details.
The confirmation came after Us Weekly reported that Affleck, 32, and Garner, 33, were wed Wednesday at the Parrot Cay resort in the Caribbean islands of Turks and Caicos. The National Enquirer also released photos it claimed showed Garner arriving on the islands with her "Alias" co-star Victor Garber.
In stark contrast to Affleck's much publicized relationship with Jennifer Lopez, he and Garner have been tightlipped about their romance. Aside from appearing at a Boston Red Sox game last fall, they have stayed out of the public eye.
Reports in April about an engagement were never confirmed. In May, E! News reported that Garner was pregnant and the baby was due in November, but neither star confirmed that report.
This is first marriage for Affleck and the second for Garner, who divorced actor Scott Foley in March 2004 after 3 1/2 years of marriage.
Affleck and Lopez called off their September 2003 wedding and broke off their engagement in January 2004. Lopez married singer Marc Anthony later that year.
Garner and Affleck met while they were shooting the action flick "Daredevil," but they didn't begin dating until last year.
She has been filming the drama "Catch and Release" in Vancouver, Canada. Affleck will star as George Reeves, television's Superman, in the upcoming movie "Truth, Justice, and the American Way."
Canadians watching less television: CRTC
Canadians are watching less television, but what they do watch is increasingly from Canadian broadcasters, according to a new report from the CRTC.
The study, released Wednesday, contains numbers from Nielsen Media Research and the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement, which both monitor the habits of this country's TV viewers.
While the two organizations differ on how many hours the average Canadian watches every week – Nielsen says 25.8, BBM 21.4 – they agree that viewing went down in 2004 when compared to 2003.
The average viewer watched about 20 fewer minutes of TV, roughly the length of one sitcom.
The good news for the TV industry is that even though people are watching less TV, more of what they watch is broadcast from Canada.
Outside Quebec, the audience share for Canadian stations increased to nearly 72 per cent in 2004 from 67 per cent in 1993.
In Quebec, meanwhile, audience share for domestic broadcasters went up to 90 per cent in 2004 from 88 per cent in 1993.
The survey, called the Broadcasting Monitoring Policy Report, also shows that dramas and comedies are the most popular forms of programming, accounting for 43 per cent of all viewing.
In addition, the study found that the total revenues of English-language specialty, pay and pay-per-view channels were nearly $1.7 billion – equal to the total revenues of conventional English-language networks. That's the first time specialty numbers have been on par with regular broadcasters.
According to the report, Canadians have access to 679 TV outlets – 511 English-language services, 115 French, and 53 third-language services.
The CRTC – the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission – is Canada's federal broadcast regulator.
Big Brother players, twist revealed
Big Brother is now a team game. This season, Big Brother will be a battle of teams not an individual game as in previous instalments.
CBS announced today that the 14 contestants are actually seven teams of secret partners from the outside world. Friends, co-workers and significant others will play the Big Brother game as covert duos. The twist is that each team believes they are the only such partnership in the house.
As an added stipulation, if one team can keep their secret and end up being the last two people in the house, the winner will win $1,000,000 with the second place finisher winning $250,000. If a twosome does not make it to the final two, the winner will win $500,000. The pairings will be revealed to TV viewers during the first live broadcast on July 14th.
This year’s theme is the Summer of Secrets. There are secrets in the new two-storey house, secrets in the game and every houseguest has a secret too which will all be unveiled throughout the summer.
The series debuts on Thursday, July 7 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS. Following the premiere, BIG BROTHER 6 will be broadcast each week on Tuesdays (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT), Thursdays (8:00-9:00 PM, live ET/delayed PT) and Saturdays (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT). The Thursday broadcast, hosted by Julie Chen, will feature the live eviction of one of the houseguests. Real Networks will also be offering 24/7 live feeds from the Big Brother house by subscription. It has been reported that viewers can buy the entire season of the Big Brother 6 live feeds for $29.95 U.S. with the RealOne SuperPass or pay $12.99 per month.
Today, CBS also made public the identities of the 14 Big Brother HouseGuests. Most are in their twenties with the oldest HouseGuest being Eric Littmann, the 36-year-old firefighter from Boston. Unlike previous seasons, their professions are pretty mundane ranging from an emergency room nurse to a horse breeder.
Following are the 14 houseguests, listed across in alphabetical order, who will compete in Big Brother 6:
Maggie Ausburn, 26, Emergency Room Nurse
Beau Beasley, 25 Personal Shopper
Ivette Corredero, 25, Waitress
Michael Donnellan, 28, Artist
Ashlea Evans, 22, Fashion Design Student
Howie Gordon, 34, Meteorology Student
Sarah Hrejsa, 22, Retail Manager
April Lewis, 30, Pharmaceutical Sales Rep
Eric Littmann, 36, Firefighter
Janelle Pierzina, 25, Cocktail Waitress
Rachel Plencner, 33, Horse Breeder
James Rhine, 29, Loss Prevention Manager
Kaysar Ridha, 24, Graphic Designer
Jennifer Vasquez, 27, Arena Football League Dancer
THEY'RE OUT THERE
Tom Cruise telling a German newspaper that "of course" he believes in aliens. "Are you really so arrogant as to believe we are alone in this universe?" Cruise said in the interview. "No, there are many things out there, we just don't know." Cruise's alien-themed War of the Worlds opens today.
'War' Unlikely to Halt Box-Office Slide
LOS ANGELES - Even the combined powers of Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise and H.G. Wells may be unable to snap Hollywood's longest modern losing streak. "War of the Worlds," Spielberg and Cruise's take on Wells' alien invasion classic, opened Wednesday as a longshot to end a slump in which domestic movie revenues have declined for 18 straight weekends compared to 2004.
The year has produced about as many hits as Hollywood typically musters, but they are not proving quite the draws that last year's top films were.
The Jedi and villains of the year's biggest hit, "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith," held less appeal than the fairy-tale creatures of last year's "Shrek 2." The talking animals of "Madagascar" had less pull than the whiz kids of " Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban."
As big a debut as "War of the Worlds" may have, it opens over the same long weekend as last year's "Spider-Man 2," whose record $180.1 million in its first six days paced the industry to its best Fourth of July ever.
"It's too early to say if this is something endemic. The most apparent answer still seems to be the movies themselves have lacked the same excitement, to put it mildly," said Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo, an online site that tracks movie grosses. "But the audience is still there, as evidenced by `Revenge of the Sith' breaking nearly every record in its first week. If Hollywood builds it, audiences will come. But Hollywood hasn't been building it lately."
The industry has lacked the big surprises that get moviegoers buzzing, such as last year's "The Passion of the Christ" and "Fahrenheit 9/11," which combined for nearly $500 million in receipts, 5 percent of 2004's domestic theater revenues.
Also missing is a strong undercard of out-of-the-blue independent hits. Last year, a handful of films that emerged from the Sundance Film Festival — "Napoleon Dynamite," "Open Water" and "Garden State" among them — padded the box office by more than $100 million.
There's been a good mix of genres: family films, action flicks, romantic comedy, horror tales and drama. So studios cannot be blamed for failing to offer something for everyone.
Early on, Hollywood bean counters attributed this year's revenue decline to a succession of ho-hum movies that did not click with audiences.
Studio executives still hope that's the case and revenues will rebound with better movies. But the fear is that with growing competition for people's time and money from DVDs and other home-entertainment options, theater business may be on the wane for good.
"In the beginning, I said yes, it was the movies, but now I don't know," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, which has had a disappointing summer with such underachieving movies as "Cinderella Man" and "Kicking & Screaming." "I am concerned myself, especially when you have such a variety out there for everybody every weekend."
Other summer duds included "XXX: State of the Union," "Kingdom of Heaven," "House of Wax," "The Honeymooners" and "The Lords of Dogtown." Reviews for those movies were mixed to bad, yet plenty of past movies that got the cold shoulder from critics still became hits.
Familiarity may have bred some contempt among movie fans.
Russell Crowe's "Cinderella Man" was designed to repeat the success of the horse-racing flick "Seabiscuit," another serious, uplifting, Depression-era sports drama released amid summer blockbusters. While well-received by critics, Crowe's boxing tale drew may have looked like a "Seabiscuit" retread on two legs instead of four.
Will Ferrell's sports comedy "Kicking & Screaming" essentially was a soccer version of "The Bad News Bears," the baseball romp with a remake of its own hitting theaters in late July.
Audiences were apathetic toward Ice Cube stepping into Vin Diesel's shoes to take over the "XXX" action franchise or Cedric the Entertainer putting his stamp on Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden in "The Honeymooners."
"House of Wax" seemed like the latest in a can't-miss formula of horror remakes, but its skimpy box-office returns may be a sign that fright fans are growing tired of retreads — or co-star Paris Hilton.
The makers of "Kingdom of Heaven" had hoped to repeat the magic of Crowe's "Gladiator." Same director, Ridley Scott, same release period of early May, same concept of a reluctant hero battling impossible odds. Orlando Bloom's leading-man status proved far less potent than Crowe's, while the Crusades epic did not have the same luster as the glory of gladiatorial Rome.
If revenues are off again over the Fourth of July, it would extend Hollywood's slump to 19 weekends. A 1985 slump of 17-straight weekends had been the longest since analysts began keeping detailed box-office figures.
Domestic movie revenues climbed to a record $9.4 billion in 2004, but factoring in higher ticket prices, actual admissions were down the last two years. So far this year, revenues are at $4.2 billion, down 6.4 percent from 2004, and admissions are at 654 million, off 9.2 percent, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.
The summer season, Hollywood's busiest time, looks even bleaker. Since early May, movie grosses have totaled $1.5 billion, a 9.2 percent decline, and attendance is at 233 million, down 12 percent.
Moviegoing begets more moviegoing as people are exposed to posters and trailers for upcoming films. With fewer people heading to theaters, that ripple effect has diminished.
"There's no better marketing tool than a satisfied moviegoer," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations. "They become marketing foot soldiers, but you've got to get them in the theater, make them happy, and send them out happy, so they're going out to tell other people about movies."
Live 8: Moscow Joins Roster, Young To Play Canada
Live 8 has added a concert in Moscow's Red Square, ensuring that all of the G8 industrialized nations will be represented at Saturday's (July 2) event. At deadline, the only act confirmed for the show was the Pet Shop Boys. Last week, a concert was added in Tokyo, featuring Bjork, Good Charlotte and McFly.
Live 8 will now encompass 10 shows in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Philadelphia, Barrie, Ont., Johannesburg and Eden Project in southwest England. AOL Music will cybercast each show live.
It was also confirmed today that the Barrie show will be closed by Neil Young, making one of his first live appearances since suffering a brain aneurysm in March. He will be accompanied for select songs by the Fisk University Jubilee Choir.
Meanwhile, Sheryl Crow has dropped off the Paris bill due to "substantial logistical and personal challenges," according to her official Web site.
Simpson, Southern Rock Lead 'Hazzard' Soundtrack
Led by Jessica Simpson's rendition of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots are Made for Walkin'," Columbia will on July 19 release the soundtrack to the upcoming film "The Dukes of Hazzard." Fans can sample the song and view the accompanying Brett Ratner-directed video on Simpson's official Web site.
The soundtrack opens and closes with a joke from Uncle Jesse, played in the film by Willie Nelson. In between are a bevy of southern/blues rock favorites, including Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's "Pride and Joy," the James Gang's "Funk #49," Molly Hatchet's "Flirtin' With Disaster" and a live version of the Allman Brothers Band's "One Way Out."
In addition, Nelson has recorded a new version of "Good Ol' Boys," the Waylon Jennings-voiced theme song for the "Dukes of Hazzard" TV show. As previously reported, Volcano/Legacy today (June 28) reissues the original 1981 soundtrack from the show.
Simpson stars in "The Dukes of Hazzard" as Daisy Duke, sister to Bo (Seann William Scott) and Luke (Johnny Knoxville). Burt Reynolds stars as Boss Hogg. The film opens Aug. 5 in U.S. theaters.
Here is the track list for "The Dukes of Hazzard":
"Uncle Jesse Tells a Joke," Willie Nelson
"These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," Jessica Simpson
"One Way Out" (live), Allman Brothers Band
"Pride and Joy," Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
"Call Me the Breeze," Lynyrd Skynyrd
"The South's Gonna Do It Again," the Charlie Daniels Band
"Flirtin' With Disaster," Molly Hatchet
"Hillbilly Shoes," Montgomery Gentry
"Black Betty," Ram Jam
"Soul City," Southern Culture On The Skids
"Change My Mind," the Blueskins
"Burn It Off," Blues Explosion
"Funk #49," James Gang
"Good Ol' Boys," Willie Nelson
"Uncle Jesse Tells Another Joke," Willie Nelson
De Palma To Retouch The Untouchables
Movie mogul Brian De Palma is revisiting his epic gangster film The Untouchables almost 20 years after it became a huge hit. The filmmaker is keen to make prequel The Untouchables: Capone Rising in time for the 20th anniversary of the 1987 original. The story will focus upon the young Al Capone as he rises to become a Chicago, Illinois criminal kingpin. The original film centered upon lawmaker Elliot Ness' efforts to arrest the infamous gangster, played by Robert De Niro.
ABC to broadcast Live 8 concert special
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - ABC television has locked up U.S. broadcast rights for the upcoming worldwide series of Live 8 concerts for African debt relief, with plans to air two hours of highlights from the shows in prime time, the network said on Tuesday.
The Walt Disney Co.-owned network licensed TV rights to the Live 8 performances from America Online, a unit of Time Warner Inc., which also owns North American and European Internet rights to the shows, an AOL spokesman said.
AOL plans to stream six of the eight concerts simultaneously on the Web, free of charge, making the event one of the most ambitious tests of live online entertainment, organizers said.
The shows also will be archived and made available on demand for about six weeks after the concerts in Philadelphia, London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Toronto, Tokyo and South Africa.
The concerts, organized by Irish rocker Bob Geldof, are intended to raise awareness of poverty in Africa and to press world leaders at the Group of Eight summit of the world's richest nations to increase humanitarian aid and ease Third World debt.
Highlights for ABC's two-hour special, airing July 2, will include performances by Paul McCartney, U2 and the chart-topping British rock band Coldplay, the network said.
The Live 8 extravaganza will be aired in about 160 countries in all, reaching an estimated 5.9 billion potential television viewers, organizers said.
"It's the biggest entertainment event in television history," said Kevin Wall, an executive producer of the Live 8 broadcast.
'Kong' apes the original
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — The weight of King Kong is bearing down on its creator.
"We are in the middle of cutting," says Peter Jackson, 43, his voice raw and weary on the phone last week. "We won't have a movie you can sit down and watch until the middle of July. We are battling on all fronts at the moment."
Everyone is waiting to see the $150 million follow-up to the Kiwi director's Oscar-sweeping triumph The Return of the King, the finale to his Lord of the Rings trilogy. The effects crew, the miniatures department, the world.
Also hanging over his head is the ongoing lawsuit against New Line Cinema over Rings profits.
And, if that's not enough, company is coming.
"Universal will show up for the first time in any sort of mass arrival to look at scenes," he says of the studio that paid him a cool $20 million in advance to direct, write and produce Kong, an unheard-of amount shared with work and life mate Fran Walsh and writer Philippa Boyens. "We have a million things to talk about, such as releasing strategy. In an ideal world, at this point, everyone would go away and have a nice holiday in Fiji. That would give us uninterrupted time and let us cut."
Rewind to eight months ago. A cleansing rain has come and gone as the morning sunlight bounces off the turquoise waters of Lyall Bay. The mid-October air is brisk and the mood is buoyant.
It's a perfect day to sprint away from imaginary brontosaurs.
After a month spent on stuffy soundstages, the cast and crew behind the remake of King Kong, the 1933 classic about a giant gorilla's ill-fated fling with a fetching blonde, are shooting outdoors for the first time. With makeshift tents protecting valuable equipment, it feels more like a camping trip.
Besides, the Dec. 14, 2005 opening is more than a year away. And the first trailer, which premiered on TV Monday night, is a mere twinkle in Jackson's eye.
The postcard-perfect landscapes of Jackson's homeland that once stood in for Middle-earth are now doubling as the forbidding Skull Island, where a Depression-era team of filmmaking adventurers led by the indomitable Carl Denham, played by School of Rock wild man Jack Black, have landed. Today's scene: Black's impresario/director is hellbent on capturing footage of the extinction-defying dinos. Even if his cast and crew, including Adrien Brody of The Pianist as screenwriter Jack Driscoll, would rather run for their lives.
"Don't they have a stand-in for this kind of thing?" inquires Kyle Chandler as Denham's leading man Bruce Baxter, who quakes as he faces a huge blue screen where a digital herd of about-to-charge brontos will eventually be inserted. Black, his face crazed with excitement, keeps cranking the camera.
Principal shooting on Kong ended in mid-April, but with an effects-loaded project, the hard slog begins now, in post-production.
Not that Jackson is complaining. This is his payback for achieving Hollywood history with The Lord of the Rings. Doing his own King Kong is his childhood dream come true. Ever since he saw the classic 1933 version on TV at age 9, he knew he wanted to make movies. And ever since he crudely tried to re-create King Kong in his backyard with a cardboard Empire State Building at age 13, he knew he wanted to make THIS movie.
"The most honest form of filmmaking is to make a film for yourself," says Jackson, who began work on a new Kong in 1996. But Universal pulled the plug when other studios announced similar remakes of Godzilla and Mighty Joe Young. "The worst type is dictated by demographics or what is hip or what kids are into. Kong isn't driven by that. No way would a studio think this is the year that people want to see a big gorilla movie. I've come to realize that, as much as anything, I am making this for the 9-year-old Peter."
At least one hurdle is over. The teaser trailer premiered on 10 NBC-owned outlets last night, featuring the first look at the film's main attraction in action. The preview also will be attached to War of the Worlds when it opens Wednesday. "We're pleased with how Kong is turning out," Jackson says. Though he and his Weta Digital wizards continue to perfect the ape, "what you see in the trailer is pretty close to the finished Kong."
You can practically hear the keyboards pounding away like jungle drums, with the Internet geek tribe delivering its verdict on whether Jackson's computerized primate is primo or not. In other words, is he a Gollum (thumbs up) or a Hulk (thumbs down)?
Then there are the old-time Kong nuts, ready to roar in protest over any signs of desecration to their sacred fur-bearing idol, previously performed by a stop-motion puppet. After all, Hollywood already has done Kong wrong with a cheesy 1976 remake, in which Jessica Lange's buxom disco-era starlet inquires of the lusty great ape, "What sign are you?"
But many believe that Jackson might be the only 21st-century filmmaker to pull off a Kong that could approach its predecessor.
"As far as beating the old film, no one ever will," says Bob Burns, film historian and prop collector who owns the 18-inch armature used as the frame for 1933's stop-motion Kong. "But if anyone could make it close, it's Peter. It's the film that got him into the business, and he will treat it with the utmost respect."
"Let's face it," says Naomi Watts, who signed on to do her first real popcorn flick, in the actress role made famous by scream queen Fay Wray, because of Jackson. "Peter is at the top of his game with effects. It doesn't get any better than that."
One positive sign: The director would agree to do the remake only if he could set it in the same early-'30s time period as the original.
"I'm wanting the film to be deliberately old-fashioned," he says. "An old-fashioned adventure, a mysterious escapist film like the ones I used to love as a kid. The Tarzan movies or the ones with a forgotten world full of dinosaurs. I'm sounding like an old man now. It's all computers and modern and postmodern and post-apocalyptic. That is where fantasy and science fiction is today. I want a throwback to scary natives and island monsters."
At the moment, it's the Kong publicity push that is getting a critical drubbing. A similar mass unveiling of a movie trailer, a promotional ploy dubbed a roadblock, was used in early May by Disney when ABC networks premiered the preview for its Dec. 9 release, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Nary a negative word was heard. Yet the Kong campaign is being slammed as hype overkill.
Invoking 1998's dismal Godzilla update, Peter Howell in The Toronto Sun wrote on Friday, "I'm starting to fear a similar misfire with King Kong, based on the overwhelming build-up and the underwhelming results we've seen to date." His reaction was based on a mere 10-second snippet of the trailer online.
But can anyone really blame Universal for thumping its chest a bit over its best bet for massive success this year? Especially since one of its better hopes for Oscar attention, Cinderella Man, was knocked out of the box-office ring by the moviegoer malaise that has plagued Hollywood this summer.
Jackson, who is miles away and blissfully unaware of any box-office slump, doesn't see Kong being a best-picture contender as his last three films were.
"It's not an Oscar type of movie," he says, although it could get mentioned in technical categories. "But from a writing, directing and producing point of view, I have no aspirations whatsoever. Voters will see it as a monster-on-the-loose movie."
Given the year so far, Universal probably would prefer counting millions in green box-office bananas than holding a fistful of little gold men. "King Kong is the 800-pound gorilla of the holiday season," declares studio vice chairman Marc Shmuger. "There's immense anticipation in the media and within the industry about how Peter Jackson will follow up his epic Rings trilogy. King Kong is even more ambitious than those movies were."
Jackson is employing the same philosophy he used in his Rings films. Keep it real, no matter what mythical creatures are chewing each other up onscreen. He and co-writers Walsh and Boyens are putting as much if not more effort in expanding upon the relationship between Kong and Watts' Ann Darrow — something hardly developed in the original — as they are in the ape's performance.
"You can't ignore the sexual subtext, the huge hand and the screaming woman," Boyens says. "But it's so not about that. It is about contact. This is a creature who has been alone all his life, and so has she. This is the first creature he has had any connection to in ages. She reawakens something in him."
However, some elements of the 1933 version just can't be improved upon.
Take the scene where Kong is knocked out and captured. The much-depleted crew of the ship is supposed to somehow wrestle this gigantic animal aboard and sail away to the isle of Manhattan. But director Merian C. Cooper was no fool. He just cuts from the beach to a close-up of a Broadway marquee proclaiming Kong as "The Eighth Wonder of the World."
What's Jackson's plan? The same.
"It's one of the most audacious cuts in film history. I just couldn't resist doing that. It's unnecessary to show how they get him to New York."
Besides, he giggles, "I figure they lift him by all gathering around, bending at the knees and keeping their backs straight."
Groups want CRTC pay-radio ruling nixed
OTTAWA (CP) - The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has approved three subscription radio licences allowing satellite broadcast operators to bring pay-radio services into the country.
Sirius Canada Inc., Canadian Satellite Radio Inc. and CHUM Ltd. were granted the licences for satellite and conventional radio services Tuesday following the CRTC's June 16 decision to admit pay radio.
The move comes a day after a coalition of media and labour groups called on the federal cabinet to overturn the CRTC's ruling.
Friends of Canadian Broadcasting and eight other groups said the Liberal government must overturn the ruling if it wants to preserve years of effort to protect and promote Canadian programming that would be threatened by the satellite pay-radio services.
The ruling cleared the way for Canadian Satellite Radio and Sirius to provide pay-radio service - already operating in the United States - to the Canadian market via satellite.
It also gave an all-Canadian entry, made up of CHUM Ltd. (TSX:CHM) and Astral Media Inc. (TSX:ACM.SV.B), permission to deliver pay radio. But that programming would be distributed via a ground-based digital network, rather than by satellite.
The coalition had no objection to the CHUM-Astral project.
"These decisions foster the objectives of the Broadcasting Act and balance the interests of Canadian consumers, the radio industry and the music industry," CRTC chairman Charles Dalfen said Tuesday in a release.
"These licences will harness new technologies for Canadians and give Canadian talent exposure to listeners across Canada and indeed, North America - both through new Canadian channels and air-play on U.S. channels."
Canadian Satellite Radio is a partnership between Toronto businessman John Bitove and Washington-based XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.
Sirius Canada is a joint venture of the CBC, Standard Radio and U.S.-based Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.
Under the rules laid out by the CRTC, each group must provide at least eight Canadian channels, two of them in French. But they could carry nine foreign channels for every Canadian one they deliver.
The CHUM-Astral team is planning 50 Canadian channels that will be follow standard Canadian-content rules of 35 per cent for popular music and, for French stations, 65 per cent of musical selections in French.
In addition to those conditions, at least 25 per cent of the music on the Canadian channels must be "new Canadian musical selections" and another 25 per cent must be by "emerging Canadian artists," the CRTC said.
The licensees must also contribute at least five per cent of their gross annual revenues to "initiatives for the development of Canadian talent," such as FACTOR or MusicAction funds, which helps new artists.
Both Sirius and XM posted net losses last year, although both reported revenues in the hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars.
The new services will provide choice and diversity to Canadian consumers, particularly in rural and remote areas, the CRTC said.
Smile! Your 'Candid' DVDs are due Aug. 2
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Candid Camera" is coming back yet again.
The oft-resurrected TV show, which dates to the 1940s, will make its latest appearance on DVD. Peter Funt, son of the hidden-camera show's creator, Allen Funt, has teamed with Rhino Home Video to create a 10-disc collection of the classic TV series.
"Candid Camera: Five Decades of Smiles" arrives in stores Aug. 2. It contains 44 full-length "Candid Camera" episodes that originally aired from the 1960s and '70s through the present. The package also includes many hours of bonus materials, including the show's NBC premiere from May 1949; a two-hour "Greatest Moments" disc produced exclusively for this DVD set; the 25th and 40th anniversary specials; celebrity appearances over the years, featuring the likes of Woody Allen, Muhammad Ali, Buster Keaton and Jayne Mansfield; and five featurettes, hosted by Peter Funt, that put the show in context with the times.
"It's interesting to see how we've changed, how television has changed and, in many respects, how society has changed," Funt said. "That's one of the marvels of our hidden-camera work; we really chronicled society during that period."
Funt said the 1949 premiere is one of the few surviving broadcasts from the early days of "Candid Camera," when much of television was live and little of what was shown was preserved.
"I saw it for the first time eight months ago, and let me caution you, it's not particularly funny, certainly not by our own standards of later years," he said. "Back then, the fascination was the mere fact that you could hide a camera and microphone and record people doing anything. There wasn't necessarily a joke connected with it."
Funt's favorite "Candid Camera" gag of all time?
"I guess I'm violating my own rule not to choose, but if I had to pick it would be the classic car-without-a-motor sequence from the fall of 1960, when the show premiered on CBS," Funt said. "Dorothy Collins was in a convertible from which the engine had been removed. The car was towed to the top of a street, up the hill from a gas station, so that it was possible for Dorothy to roll down and ask the guy at the station to check under the hood."
That's not only his favorite episode, Funt said, but also one of the most popular fan favorites. "If it wasn't for DVD," he said, "I don't think we would have been able to assemble this stuff in a way for home viewers to have a library they can sample at will."
File-sharing decision quashed by U.S. Supreme Court
Internet file-sharing services can be held accountable for billions in lost revenue if they intend their software to be used to swap songs and movies illegally, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday.
The ruling could open the door for lawsuits from the entertainment industry against file-sharing services for copyright infringement.
The Supreme Court decision sends the case back to the lower court, which had favoured Grokster Ltd. and StreamCast Networks Inc., companies that operate file-sharing services, by saying they could not be sued by entertainment conglomerate MGM.
The lower courts based their judgments on a 1984 Supreme Court decision that Sony could not be sued because consumers used its VCRs to make illegal copies of movies. As well, they said the file-sharing services were not legally responsible because they don't have central servers pointing users to copyrighted material.
Monday's ruling directs the lower courts to re-examine the Grokster/StreamCast case. The high court says there is enough evidence of "unlawful intent" for the case to go to trial. It means the services may have to pay out billions to music and movie artists if they are found to have promoted illegal downloading. It will become a test case for the issue of file-sharing.
"We hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright ... is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties," Justice David Souter wrote for the court.
Souter directed the lower courts to examine certain factors such as how companies marketed the product or whether they took steps to reduce the use of their software for illegal purposes.
Monday's judgment gives the entertainment industry an alternative to going after individual online file-swappers. Recording companies have already sued thousands of users, settling about 600 cases for roughly $3,000 each.
However, the problem of piracy is unlikely to go away as software programs created abroad aren't subject to U.S. copyright laws.
Music and production companies claim as much as 90 per cent of songs and movies copied on the file-sharing networks are downloaded illegally.
Grokster and other similar services contend they do not have direct control over what online users are doing with the software they provide for free.
Live 8 Adds Philly Acts, Inks DVD Deal
Alicia Keys, Toby Keith, Josh Groban and the Black Eyed Peas have been added to the lineup for the Philadelphia edition of Live 8. They join previously confirmed acts such as Stevie Wonder, Dave Matthews Band, Destiny's Child, Jay-Z, Lincoln Park, Rob Thomas and Maroon 5 for the July 2 event at the city's Museum of Art.
In addition, such film stars as Chris Tucker, Natalie Portman, Jimmy Smits, Salma Hayek and Jennifer Connolly have signed on as presenters.
AOL Music will carry all six of the worldwide Live 8 concerts live and EMI has inked a deal to release the event on DVD in November. The company will tailor the content of the releases to each worldwide market.
"I hope this will be the biggest selling DVD of all time. It deserves to be," says Live 8 organizer Bob Geldof. "More importantly perhaps, it should be, for it will help us achieve our goal of changing the lives of the extreme poor for the better and making our generation the one that helped end the disgrace of poverty."
NEW CD RELEASES FOR June 28, 2005
1 Cause 1 Effect Dropped the Axe (Bungalo)
3 Doors Down Seventeen Days (DualDisc) (Universal Motown)
Amerie Touch (DualDisc) (Columbia)
Arcana Le Serpent Rouge (Projekt)
Astral Doors Evil Is Forever (Locomotive)
Atreyu The Curse (re-release of 2004 album; includes all of the band's videos) (Victory)
B Angie B B Angie B (CD/DVD combo) (Bungalo)
A Band of Bees Free the Bees (Astralwerks)
Bantam Suicide Tourist (Heavy Nose)
BBQ Tie Your Noose (BOMP!)
Bering Strait Pages (Universal South)
Bizarre (of D-12) Hannicapp Circus (w/Eminem, Outkast's Big Boi, Devin the Dude, dead prez and more) (Sanctuary)
Caldwell Accidental Renovation (Indianola)
Cassidy I'm a Hustla (DualDisc same day) (J Records)
Bill Charlap Plays George Gershwin: The American Soul (w/Phil Woods, Nicholas Payton and more) (Blue Note)
Cky An Answer Can Be Found (enhanced CD) (Island)
The Clayton Brothers Back in the Swing of Things (Hyena)
George Clinton/Parliament/Funkadelic Live at Montreux 2004 (two CDs) (Eagle Rock)
Communic Conspiracy in Mind (Nuclear Blast)
Rita Coolidge And So Is Love (Concord)
Crossover Cryptic and Dire Sallow Faced Hoods Blast Off Into Oblivion (International DeeJay Gigolos)
Darkest Hour Undoing Ruin (Victory)
Debbie Davies All I Found (Telarc)
Donna De Lory The Love & the Beloved - Radio/DJ (Ajna)
Raheem DeVaughn The Love Experience (Jive)
DevilDriver The Fury of Our Maker's Hand (Roadrunner)
The Early November Ten Acoustic EP (Sanctuary)
Richard Elliot Metro Blue (ARTizen)
Esthero Wikked Lil' Grrrls (Reprise)
Jane Francis Skeletons for Tea (Eskimo Kiss)
Sean Gemini Inner Me (Parthinie/Lightyear)
Terry Gibbs Feelin' Good (Mack Avenue)
Goat All of My Friends (w/Bob Dylan guitarist Larry Campbell and Chris Whitley) (Judgement/Lightyear)
Gorerotted A New Dawn of the Dead (Metal Blade)
The Graves Brothers Deluxe Light (Good Forks)
The Great Jazz Trio S'Wonderful (Columbia)
Vivian Green Vivian (Columbia)
The Greencards Weather and Water (guest Patty Griffin) (DualTone)
Hot Apple Pie Hot Apple Pie (Dreamworks Nashville)
Ben Human The Out of Towner (Unique)
Isle of View Gentle Firefly Radio (Undecided)
Ray J Raydiation (Sanctuary)
Clay Jones (of bluegrass band Mountain Heart) Mountain Tradition (Rural Rhythm)
Sean Jones Gemini (Mack Avenue)
Femi Kuti Live at the Shrine (CD/DVD combo; live concert and documentary) (Palm Pictures)
Ladybug Mecca (of Digable Planets) Trip the Light Fantastic (Nu-Paradigm)
Lanky Odd Hour Work Week (Imposter)
Laurel Laurel (Ajna)
The Lee Boys Say Yes! (Arhoolie)
Kevin Lettau Bye Bye Blackbird (MCG Jazz)
Jamie Liddel Multiply (Warp)
A Life Once Lost Hunter (Ferret)
Lina Inner Beauty (Hidden Beach/RUMM)
Little Barrie We Are (Artemis)
Longwave There's a Fire (RCA)
Lauren Lucas The Carolina Kind (Warner Bros.)
Manic Hispanic Grupo Sexo (BYO)
Pat McGee Band Save Me (enhanced CD w/five bonus tracks, video and new packaging) (Kirtland)
Erin McKeown We Will Become Like Birds (Nettwerk)
Shannon McNally Geronimo (Back Porch/EMI)
David Mead Wherever You Are (Eleven Thirty)
Monolake polygon_cities (Monolake/Imbalance Computer Music)
N2Deep 24, 7, 365 (Bungalo)
Noiseshaper Rough Out There (Sounds from the Roof)
Open Road Lucky Drive (Rounder)
Joan Osbourne One of Us (Artemis)
P$C (aka Pimp Squad Click) 25 to Life (Atlantic)
Papa Reu Life and Music (Sanctuary)
Pilotdrift Iter Facere (Good)
The Posies Every Kind of Light
Flora Purim Flora's Song (Narada)
Ernest Ranglin Surfin' (Telarc)
Shindig When Words Aren't Enough EP (Undecided)
Skeletons and the Girl-Faced Boys Git (Ghostly International)
Skopic Skopic (Lunaticworks)
The Soviettes LP III (Fat Wreck Chords)
John Stevens (American Idol contestant) Red (Maverick)
George Strait Somewhere Down in Texas (MCA Nashville)
The String Cheese Incident One Step Closer (SCI Fidelity)
Ten 33 Nightmare on Grace St. (Blood & Ink)
Throw Rag 13 Ft. & Rising (BYO)
Throwdown Vendetta (Trustkill)
Thunderstone Tools of Destruction (Nuclear Blast)
Tsar Band-Girls-Money (TVT)
Two Tons of Steel Vegas (w/cover of the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated") (Palo Duro)
Vio-Lence Eternal Nightmare (two CDs; includes "Live in San Francisco" performance) (Megaforce)
Patricia Vonne Guitars & Castanets (CoraZong)
Steve Walsh (Kansas frontman) Shadowman (w/Joel Kosche of Collective Soul) (MuseWrapped)
World Leader Pretend Punches (Warner Bros.)
Ying Yang Twins U.S.A. (United State of Atlanta) (guests Lil Jon, Floetry, Timbaland and more) (TVT)
VA Club Rai (Fuel)
VA Murs 3:16 Presents: Walk Like a Man (DVD same day; film w/songs by Murs, Atmosphere, E-40 and more) (Legendary)
VA Slow Motion (Razor & Tie)
VA Spectral Sound Vol. 1 (two CDs; fifth anniversary of label; includes mix CD) (Spectral Sound)
VA Wendy Williams Brings the Heat, Vol. 1 (compilation curated by DJ/radio host Williams; w/songs by M.O.P., Brooke Valentine, Mario Winans and more) (Virgin)
OST Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (children's 3-D film) (Varèse Sarabande)
OST Devil's Rejects (DualDisc; includes classic tunes from the Allman Brothers, Joe Walsh, Three Dog Night and more, plus making-of documentary on the horror film) (Hip-O)
OST The Boy Friend (Decca)
OST War of the Worlds (Steven Spielberg film w/Tom Cruise; score by John Williams) (Decca)
DVD Letter to the President (documentary on political history of hip-hop; narrated by Snoop Dogg) (Image)
DVD Chicago/Earth, Wind & Fire Live at the Greek Theatre (two DVDs; 2004 concert; separate and combined sets from both bands) (Image)
DVD Low In Europe (tour documentary) (Plexifilm)
DVD Bette Midler The Divine (documentary w/exclusive interview, early TV appearances, scenes from her movies and 17 song performances) (Shout! Factory)
DVD Niacin Live in Tokyo (Eagle Rock)
DVD Peter and the Test Tube Babies Paraliticio (Locomotive)
DVD Lee Ritenour and Friends Overtime (two DVDs) (Eagle Rock)
DVD Tom Russell Hearts on the Line (HighTone)
DVD Twisted Sister Live at Wacken - The Reunion (CD/DVD combo) (Eagle Rock)
DVD Keller Williams Sight (live performance) (SCI Fidelity)
DVD VA Eminem Presents the Anger Management Tour (performance and behind the scenes footage from 2002) (Aftermath/Interscope)
Bob Dylan in exclusive CD deal with Starbucks
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Counterculture legend Bob Dylan on Monday became the latest musician to sign up with Starbucks Corp. in an exclusive CD deal that follows the runaway success of a Ray Charles album sold by the coffee maker.
"Dylan: Live at the Gaslight 1962," co-released with Sony BMG Custom Marketing Group, will hit Starbucks coffee shops Aug. 30. It features 10 previously unreleased tracks from performances at New York's Gaslight Cafe over four decades ago, including "A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall" and "Don't Think Twice It's Alright."
Starbucks is moving aggressively into the music scene by selling CDs consumers can't buy elsewhere.
The company does not disclose how much CD sales add to profits. One analyst said the music business has been more helpful in driving customer traffic than contributing meaningfully to sales.
"I wouldn't say music has been a big driver," JMP Securities analyst Kristine Koerber said. "They are still a coffee retailer, that's their primary focus."
Starbucks will carry "Gaslight" exclusively for 18 months, its longest such agreement yet. The CD will cost $13.95 at Starbucks' 4,600 U.S. stores.
Dissatisfaction with Top 40-oriented traditional music retailers, particularly among older consumers who are more likely to be Dylan fans, has allowed Starbucks' music business to flourish, company executives said.
"That disenfranchised customer is very much a part of the Starbucks customer base," Ken Lombard, president of the chain's entertainment division, said in an interview.
He added that the chain is uniquely placed to catch customer interest, as buying coffee at Starbucks has become a part of many consumers' daily routine.
Starbucks' biggest music success has been the Grammy-winning Ray Charles CD "Genius Loves Company." Since its release last fall, Starbucks has sold more than 775,000 copies, accounting for 26 percent of its overall U.S. sales, the company said.
That success has helped the chain win over other big name artists, such as Alanis Morissette and Joni Mitchell.
"That success continues to position us for great projects like the Dylan project and others," Lombard said.
It is not the first time Dylan, known for his politically and socially charged lyrics, has partnered with a major corporation to promote his music.
Last year, an exclusive compilation CD of his work was sold at lingerie retailer Victoria's Secret, a unit of Limited Brands Inc. Dylan even appeared in one of the chain's television ads, prompting some critics to say he had sold out.
The release of "Gaslight" coincides with the premiere of a documentary film about Dylan's life by director Martin Scorsese called "No Direction Home: Bob Dylan." The chain will also be selling the soundtrack to that film, though not exclusively.
The Couch Potato Report - June 27th, 2005
This week The Couch Potato Report features a 1981 movie with 18 more minutes, a useless sequel, and we'll go beyond the sea.
An unfortunate trend in the video and DVD industry right now is reissues.
Movies that are already available on DVD are constantly be re-released in new "Deluxe", "Special", "Super Platinum" "Director's Cut" and "Extended" editions.
That is unfortunate because you and I are forced to buy the movies we love over and over again, if we want to know more about our favourite films.
Personally, I have decided that I won't buy any films again that I already own, no matter what the extra features or bonus materials are.
My decision was put to the test recently when an "Extended Cut" of the classic Bill Murray film STRIPES was released.
I failed the test.
But I have to admit that I have no problem with failing in this case because unlike most "Special Editions" that are priced around $25, the EXTENDED CUT of STRIPES is priced around $14, in fact I have seen it for $10 at some stores.
So my new rule is if I love a movie, if it is a classic to me, and it is cheap, I will buy the reissues.
And so I bought STRIPES.
When STRIPES came out in 1981 it was Bill Murray's follow up to CADDYSHACK, and he followed the film with a small role in TOOTSIE and the large success of GHOSTBUSTERS.
Classics one and all.
In STRIPES Murray plays a chronic loser who decides to join the army. All great comedians eventually do an Army picture, and this was Murray's.
The film has many moments that are both full of absolute insanity and are wonderfully original. Yes, it falters a bit during the last third of the film, but when it isn't faltering, it is very, very funny.
In addition to Bill Murray the cast features Harold Ramis, John Larroquette, Sean Young, Judge Reinhold and the late, great John Candy.
This EXTENDED CUT of STRIPES has 18 minutes of extra footage - including 6 never-before-seen deleted scenes, an hour long documentary with interviews with the cast, and a tribute to John Candy.
If you already own STRIPES on DVD the extra scenes don't make the movie better, but since this disc is low priced, and it contains both the theatrical version of the film AND the Extended Cut, it is worth it for you to buy it again.
And here's hoping the studio doesn't ever release the movie again! Twice is enough.
Actually, when it comes to the film BE COOL, once is enough. Once might even be too much.
BE COOL is the utterly useless sequel to the well written, well acted, and well made 1995 film GET SHORTY.
In that film John Travolta was Chili Palmer, a mob collector who was also a movie fan.
When his business took him to Los Angeles, he decided to leave his old life behind and become a movie producer.
Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, Dennis Farina, Renee Russo, James Gandolfini and Delroy Lindo also starred in the film and everything they did was pure cinematic magic.
GET SHORTY remains one of the best comedies of the 1990s.
BE COOL is a useless sequel and one of the most disappointing films of 2004.
After getting bored with the movie business, Travolta's Chili Palmer decides to go into the music business.
His decision makes sense, but his decisions after that seem coincidental and not plausible in any way.
When he needs an insider to help him out, enter widowed music executive Uma Thurman. He needs Steven Tyler from Aerosmith to help him out, well there he is too!
In GET SHORTY the things that happened, coincidence or not, all seemed possible.
In BE COOL, even with a great cast that also includes Vince Vaughn, Harvey Keitel and Cedric The Entertainer, the film fails on every level.
Only wrestler turned actor The Rock and André Benjamin from the band Outkast will benefit from their participation in the film.
BE COOL is so utterly boring, useless and pointless, that you should avoid it at all costs.
Instead, look down the shelf from BE COOL at the store and you'll find BEYOND THE SEA.
BEYOND THE SEA is Kevin Spacey's labour of love biography/tribute to 1950s pop singer Bobby Darin and his wife Sandra Dee.
Spacey stars, co-wrote and directed the film, and he also sings all of Darin's songs on the soundtrack.
I admire and respect Spacey because of his performances in SEVEN, THE USUAL SUSPECTS, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL and AMERICAN BEAUTY, so I was prepared to give BEYOND THE SEA a lot of leeway, even though I had heard that it wasn't very good.
And that statement is true, BEYOND THE SEA isn't very good.
It is a film full of Kevin Spacey's passion for Bobby Darin, and because of that it does take more than a few cinematic risks, but in the end the whole movie just isn't very satisfying.
No, I didn't like BEYOND THE SEA as a biography, but I do admire the movie and Kevin Spacey's passion about Bobby Darin.
There is no reason to think I will ever see it again, but I am pleased I saw it this first time.
BEYOND THE SEA, BE COOL and THE EXTENDED VERSION OF STRIPES are all available now at a store near you.
COMING UP IN THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT
You will hear all about the 30th Anniversary edition of Steven Speilberg's classic summer film JAWS and the 10th Anniversary Edition of Martin Scorsese's CASINO.
Plus, in THE PACIFIER action hero Vin Diesel from XXX and PITCH BLACK stars as a Navy SEAL who is called upon to baby sit a group of kids. Good, bad or horrible? Tune in and find out!
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!
'Three Tenors' could sing again for 2006 World Cup
ROME (Reuters) - "The Three Tenors" could join up again to mark the 2006 Football World Cup in Germany, 16 years after they brought opera to the masses with their first concert at the Terme di Caracalla in Rome.
Placido Domingo, at a news conference on Friday to mark his return to the famous Roman venue, said he, Luciano Pavarotti and Jose Carreras could sing together again.
"We have difficulty finding a time when we can all be together ... But it's always been linked to football -- 2006 has been mentioned, so let's see," the maestro told a room packed with journalists close to Rome's Piazza Campidoglio.
Opera and football first teamed up in the "Three Tenors" concert on the eve of the 1990 World Cup final at the Terme di Caracalla, the ruins of the public baths of ancient Rome.
The event was broadcast around the world and the tenors' performance of "O, Sole Mio" and "Nessun Dorma" brought opera to a new audience of millions. Sales of recordings broke classical music records.
Domingo at the time said opera and football were a winning combination because they were the most universal things in the world.
The three tenors have since sung around the world, but it was thought they may never perform together again because Pavarotti has said he wants to retire.
Domingo's return to Rome marks the reopening of the Terme di Caracalla for operatic performances. The Spanish maestro will direct Giuseppe Verdi's Aida at the 7,000-seat venue in a run beginning on July 23.
The Terme di Caracalla was shut more than a decade ago due to fears that large concerts could damage the site, but Rome's head of archeological ruins has given the go-ahead to reopening the venue for music.
TV commercials create the latest hip playlists
CANNES, France (Reuters) - You've seen the ads, now get the soundtrack.
Advertising firms are relying increasingly on the vast libraries of pop, rock and roll and dance tracks to accompany TV spots and commissioning less original music that can turn into an unforgettable jingle. The phenomenon has helped launch new bands like never before as artists have overcome a previous reluctance to have their music associated with corporate brands.
An iPod commercial featuring the song "Jerk It Out" catapulted Swedish band Caesars into wider recognition and British sensation Coldplay only got discovered in the United States after TV network NBC used "Yellow" in a promotion. Companies targeting younger consumers use independent music from around the world to make their products seem hipper.
"A major marketing move for bands has been getting on a commercial," Chris Milk, a TV commercial and music video director, said this week at the advertising industry's annual get-together in the south of France.
"In the past, a song on a commercial made you a sell-out, but now because the cool indie rock bands are doing it, it's opened it up for everyone," Milk said.
Indeed, everyone from James Brown and Led Zeppelin to Jimi Hendrix and Elvis have had their music used to flog cars, computers, beverages and soap. Important turning points for music in ads were Nike's use of the Beatles' "Revolution" in 1987 and Microsoft's Windows 95 launch to the tune of the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up."
Techno star Moby licensed every song off his 1999 album "Play" for commercial use.
Apple's iTunes online music store now has a section devoted to popular songs used in advertising, making it easier for fans to buy something they have heard on television.
U2 recently changed its tune by agreeing to an iPod campaign to help launch its latest album, but rocker Bruce Springsteen and rapper Eminem are among the remaining few holding out.
GET RICH ON DOWNLOADS?
The increasing use of music libraries has made it even cheaper for ad firms and their clients to license a song, as has the perception that record companies and bands will get rich selling CDs and downloads after the commercial airs.
But that could just be a successful negotiating ploy.
"I think there can be a tremendous benefit to a new band, and when it works, it's fantastic, but it happens rarely," said Barbara Zamoyska, head of film, TV and advertising for Universal Music Publishing in Britain.
"A lot of new artists are used in commercials but it doesn't sell lots of records for most of them," she said.
Some in the ad industry are railing against the use of existing music and trying to persuade companies to get more creative and commission their own original songs.
The highly regarded Honda "grrr" ad for a cleaner diesel engine, which is widely favored to take the top prize this weekend at the International Advertising Festival, uses an original song by radio host Garrison Keillor with an infectious whistling refrain.
"Don't think because music doesn't come off a CD that it's less beneficial," said Michelle Curran, founder of Amber Music, which helps advertisers with sound design and who worked on the "grrr" commercial.
She said she is frustrated that advertisers are reluctant to pay the usually higher price to commission original music, even though it can make their ad stand out, and that they're willing to spend more on expensive locations and other facets of an ad.
"It also becomes something the client owns without it being seen as nasty and tacky," Curran said.
Another common problem that holds back the writing of an original jingle is that music is often left as an afterthought when creating a commercial, or at least relegated to the very end of the process when pressure is higher to finish it.
"Most advertising doesn't realize music's full potential," said Craig Davis, the chief creative officer for JWT Worldwide, a unit of WPP Group. "When done right, music packs emotional power and has a profound effect on the end product."
'King Kong' goes digital
Meet Kong. King Kong. You've seen him before, but never like this. He might look older than the 1933 original, but he's still a hairy brute with a nasty temper and a weakness for blondes.
Director Peter Jackson's King Kong could prove to be a box-office slump buster, though it isn't due until Dec. 14. But its teaser trailer will be unveiled on TV Monday and in theaters Wednesday as War of the Worlds opens. The preview of the action thriller starring Adrien Brody, Naomi Watts and Jack Black will be seen on 10 NBC-owned networks just before 9 ET.
Jackson has reached into the same Oscar-winning bag of tricks he used on the Lord of the Rings trilogy to turn the tragic monster from a Depression-era puppet to a 21st-century digital terror.
Andy Serkis, the human behind the computerized creature Gollum in Rings, provides Kong's movements and acted opposite the actors on the set. "There's a connection between him and Ann Darrow that's really important," Serkis says. Watts takes over Fay Wray's scream duties as the struggling actress who ends up in Kong's clutches.
As impressive as he is in the trailer, Kong is still a work in progress, says Jackson, calling from his native New Zealand. "We are deciding on the length of his fur, how tangled it should be, how much gray to work around the eyes."
Photos of silverback gorillas were superimposed on Kong's image, and tweaks were made. "He's not the Hulk of gorillas. That's the charm of Kong," the director says. "He is past his prime and isn't the super-virile ape of 30 years ago."
Serkis, who studied gorilla behavior in Rwanda, also does grunt work on Kong's behalf. "We developed a Kong-alyzer that allows him to make a lot of gorilla noises through a machine," Jackson says.
The primate stands 25 feet (real gorillas top out at 6 feet) and is 120 to 150 years old (30 is normal in the wild, 50 in captivity). The most notable feature on the battered beast is his snaggletooth. "We had the notion that Kong's jawbone was smashed in an ancient fight and mended itself at a crooked angle," he says.
Watts says her relationship with Kong is more evolved than in the original or the derided 1976 remake with Jessica Lange. "He's not picking off my clothes or blowing me dry with his breath," she says. "It's much more tender. There is something incredibly attractive about his power and masculinity. And isn't that what we all want in a man?"
Paul Winchell, voice of Tigger, dies in Calif.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Paul Winchell, a famed ventriloquist best remembered as the voice of the irrepressible Tigger in the Winnie the Pooh series, has died, an associate said on Sunday. He was 82.
Winchell died on Friday in the Los Angeles area, according associate Johnny Blue Star and a Web site operated by Winchell's daughter, the actress April Winchell.
Winchell was a fixture in American children's television in the 1950s and 1960s in a string of shows featuring him giving voice to the sidekicks he created and made famous, the dummies Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff.
But it was his voice work on a wide range of cartoons and animated features that captivated a later generation of viewers, including turns as Gargamel of "The Smurfs," Dick Dastardly of "Wacky Races" and Fleegle on "The Banana Splits Adventure Hour."
Winchell was most famous for his voicing to the hyperkinetic Tigger in a series of appearances in Walt Disney Co. Winnie the Pooh productions for over three decades beginning in 1968.
He won a Grammy in 1974 for "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too," including the movie's signature song "The Wonderful Thing about Tiggers."
On the award-winning soundtrack, Winchell gives a throaty, bouncy rendition to the memorable lyric: "The wonderful thing about tiggers, is tiggers are wonderful things! Their tops are made out of rubber, their bottoms are made out of springs!"
Jerry Mahoney, who began with an appearance in a 1936 radio audition, was inspired by ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his sidekick, Charlie McCarthy, Winchell said.
In 1986, Winchell won a nearly $18 million verdict against Metromedia Inc., which he claimed destroyed the only surviving tapes of his "Winchell Mahoney Time" children's show from the mid-1960s after a dispute over ownership rights.
Born in New York City in 1922, Winchell devoted energy in his later years to pursuits like publishing on Christian theology and promoting fish farming in Africa, said Johnny Blue Star, who collaborated in a screenplay based on the autobiography "Winch."
Winchell was also an inventor with a patent for a prototype artificial heart he built in the 1960s in the same workshop in which he created his ventriloquist dummies, Blue Star said. He also created an "invisible" garter belt, a flameless cigarette lighter and an early version of the disposable razor.
"He was more or less a self-taught renaissance man," he said.
U.S. Box Office Hits Longest Modern Slump
LOS ANGELES - "Batman Begins" took in $26.8 million to remain the top movie for the second straight weekend, but it could not keep Hollywood from sinking to its longest modern box-office slump.
Overall business tumbled despite a rush of familiar new titles — "Bewitched," a "Love Bug" update and the latest zombie tale from director George Romero.
Revenues for the top 12 movies came in at $116.5 million, down 16 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Fahrenheit 9/11" opened as the top movie with $23.9 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
It was the 18th weekend in a row the box office declined, passing a 1985 slump of 17 weekends that had been the longest since analysts began keeping detailed figures on movie grosses.
"Batman" lifted its 12-day total to $121.7 million.
Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell's sit-com update "Bewitched" debuted in second place with $20.2 million.
Audiences were lukewarm toward the weekend's other major premieres. "Herbie: Fully Loaded," with Lindsay Lohan behind the wheel of the speedy VW "Love Bug," was No. 4 with $12.75 million, raising its total since debuting Wednesday to $17.8 million.
"George Romero's Land of the Dead," the fourth installment of the flesh-munching zombie saga from the director of "Night of the Living Dead," debuted at No. 5 with $10.2 million.
In narrower release, the documentary "Rize," about the south-central Los Angeles dance form known as krumping, opened at No. 12 with $1.6 million.
In limited release, the nature documentary "March of the Penguins" had a strong debut of $121,788 in four theaters. "Yes," starring Joan Allen, Simon Abkarian and Sam Neill in a drama about an affair between an Irish-American married woman and a Lebanese man, opened with $29,437 in seven cinemas.
Theater revenues have skidded about 7 percent compared to last year. Factoring in higher ticket prices, movie admissions are off 10 percent for the year, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
If the slump continues, Hollywood is on course for a third straight year of declining admissions and its lowest ticket sales since the mid-1990s.
"We're working with a pretty huge deficit that would take a lot of business to overcome," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "Just breaking the slump is not enough. We would have to reverse the trend and see attendance on a big uptick."
Even with a big Fourth of July weekend expected from Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise's "War of the Worlds," which opens Wednesday, Hollywood still may not snap its losing streak. Over the same weekend last year, "Spider-Man 2" pulled in $180 million in its first six days, leading the industry to a record Fourth of July.
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. "Batman Begins," $26.8 million.
2. "Bewitched," $20.2 million.
3. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," $16.75 million.
4. "Herbie: Fully Loaded," $12.75 million.
5. "George Romero's Land of the Dead," $10.2 million.
6. "Madagascar," $7.3 million.
7. "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith," $6.25 million.
8. "The Longest Yard," $5.5 million.
9. "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D," $3.4 million.
10. "Cinderella Man," $3.3 million.
MAKING HIS POINT
Tom Cruise telling Today host Matt Lauer during a Friday interview that Brooke Shields "doesn't understand" the history of psychiatry and that there is no such thing as a "chemical unbalance." The actor also expressed his belief that "vitamins and exercise" can cure most problems.
WAR OF THE WORDS
Calling it a "violation of basic constitutional rights," German film critics protesting Paramount for implementing a worldwide embargo preventing reviewers from publishing their critiques of Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds until the film's global release date next Wednesday.
"Idol" Gets Starstruck
Fox is rolling out the red carpet for an all-star spinoff of its top-rated reality show.
Instead of watching gifted nobodies battle for fame and glory on American Idol, fans of the talent search may soon be able to watch their favorite stars duke it out on the newly minted Celebrity Idol.
Producers FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment have given the thumbs-up to the project, which would be produced by the Idol team made up of Simon Fuller, Nigel Lythgoe, Cecile Frot-Coutaz and Ken Warwick.
Ten famous folk would make up the cast, pitting their vocal stylings against one another for a $1 million prize, which would go to the winner's charity of choice. As the series would be dealing with fragile celebrity egos, as opposed to the egos of the Average Joe or Jane, there would be no embarrassing auditions to determine who made the cut.
The show would reportedly be broadcast as a 10-episode miniseries of sorts over a two to three week period. Viewers would still vote by phone to determine which contestant would be eliminated and the results would be revealed on the next performance show.
Producers are working on attaching Idol judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, as well as host Ryan Seacrest, to the project.
Fox exec Mike Darnell told Daily Variety that the plan was "to go for the biggest talent possible," in terms of the celebrities who would make up the cast.
"We're looking for people who can sing but aren't known for singing," Darnell said.
Celebrity editions of reality shows have, in the past, found themselves reaching when it came to their "stars." (See: I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here.)
However, ABC's Dancing with the Stars, featuring such "celebs" as former Bachelorette Trista and heavyweight Evander Holyfield cutting a rug with (gasp!) ordinary dance instructors, has proved to be a huge hit for the network, proving that A-list talent isn't necessary to win ratings wars.
Fox isn't the only network to come up with the bright idea of showcasing the musical chops of celebrities not known for their singing skills.
Earlier this week, NBC announced its latest reality series, I'm a Celebrity But I Want To Be a Pop Star. The show will feature celebs from the worlds of film, television and sports doing their best imitations of rock stars for an audience who will determine their fates.
"Everyone secretly wants to get on stage and become a pop star--and celebrities are no different," NBC exec Craig Plestis said in a statement. "This new series will allow viewers to see who's really entitled to live out that dream."
Apparently, celebrities looking to expose their inner rock god will have plenty of options.
There's also a new Idol option for wannabes looking to show off their voices...but not on television.
FremantleMedia has given the go-ahead to a new Web-based service called American Idol Underground, which will give participants the chance to upload their vocals onto the Internet for a fee, where they'll be judged by listeners. The best tunes will go on to be judged by celebrity experts who will determine the winners.
Prizes won't be on the scale of the million-dollar recording contract earned by Idol winners, but participants can expect rewards such as added exposure for their music.
In other Idol news, Fox reportedly continues to investigate the claims of former contestant Corey Clark, who claimed to have had an affair with Abdul while competing on the show.
Though Clark had previously said he had no interest in assisting Fox in the network's probe, he recently began singing a different tune.
"It is painfully clear that unless my fellow AI season two contestants and I are directly involved with Fox executives during the investigation, we will never know if an investigation ever really took place," Clark said in a statement earlier this month. "With that said, I will not only fully comply with a Fox investigation of American Idol, but I will refrain from discussing my information concerning the questionable conduct with anyone except the officials handling the questioning once the investigation begins.
"I realize now that without my direct participation in a Fox probe, we will never find out what the fans, the sponsors, and the network deserve...the truth."
Meanwhile, a group of less irate ex-Idols are currently preparing for the Pop Tarts Present American Idols Live! tour, featuring the 10 finalists from season four, which kicks off July 12 in Sunrise, Florida, and will travel to 41 cities in all.
Newly crowned Idol Carrie Underwood has already met with success with 129,610 copies of her debut single, "Inside Your Heaven/Independence Day," sold, putting the Oklahoma native at the top of the charts.
Auditions for the fifth season of American Idol are taking place this summer in Austin, Memphis, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver and Boston.
Studios target older, richer DVD buyers
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - A lifelong fantasy and sci-fi fan, Jeff Slankard didn't see any of the recent "Star Wars," "Lord of the Rings" or " Harry Potter" movies in theaters, as he would have done before his children, aged nine and two, were born.
But he doesn't feel deprived -- he's got them all on DVD.
"They're coming out so soon now," he said. "I really enjoy watching movies at home after the baby's gone to bed. It's not exactly the same experience, but with the new home theater systems, it's pretty darn close."
Slankard, a 52-year-old wine buyer from Oceanside, Calif., is hardly alone. While much of Hollywood -- and most everyone else -- continues to zero in on the lucrative 18-34 demographic, studio executives say they're seeing a strong uptick in DVD purchasing by the over-45 crowd.
Universal Studios Home Entertainment president Craig Kornblau cites internal research that shows older adults this year are buying 10% more DVDs than they were in the hit-filled fourth quarter of 2004. They're also renting 5% more.
"Don't underestimate the power of the older consumer," Kornblau said. The studio is taking square aim at the 45-and-up consumer by stepping up anniversary editions of older films. Recent releases include a 30th anniversary edition of "Jaws" (for those who missed out on the 25th anniversary edition), and a 10th anniversary edition of "Casino" -- as well as such older TV shows as "Dragnet" and "Quincy, M.E."
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment also is catering to the older DVD consumer with classic TV shows like "M*A*S*H" and, later this year, a 40th anniversary edition of "The Sound of Music."
"The early adopters were a highly technophilic group of young males, and they've been in the market a long time now," Fox president Mike Dunn said. "Now you're starting to get the less enthusiastic consumers of media into the marketplace, and they're older. And one thing we're seeing is they do buy movies and they do buy TV."
Indeed, Universal's Kornblau said two of his studio's biggest overperformers for the year, "Ray" and "Friday Night Lights," generated staggering DVD sales numbers in large part because of high demand from older consumers. "Ray" earned nearly $150 million from DVD sales and rentals, twice its box office, while "Friday Night Lights" took in $100 million against a theatrical gross of just $60 million.
"Look at how this works when you hit them with the right product," Kornblau said. "You're seeing it over and over again -- the biggest overperformers are titles that hit the older demographic."
Benjamin Feingold, president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, said he was astounded at how well the Sony Pictures Classics title "Being Julia," starring Oscar nominee Annette Bening, sold after its March 22 release.
"Sell-through was much bigger than it would have been a few years ago," he said. "We saw a lot of action through accounts like Borders and Barnes & Noble."
What's driving the older consumer to the video store -- or the DVD department of a bookstore or other big retail establishment?
Shorter windows between a film's theatrical bow and its video release are certainly one factor. Another is that many of the people who have held out buying a DVD player until now are older.
"The older demo has traditionally shied away from change, but DVD hardware is so affordable and easy to use" that they're finally crossing over, said Brant Berry, vp at R2 Entertainment, which specializes in releasing classic TV talk and variety shows on DVD.
A third factor is the proliferation of home theater systems. Older consumers are typically more affluent, and once they sink a lot of money into home theater systems, they're determined to enjoy them.
"They're adapting to the DVD lifestyle," Kornblau said. "They've been slow on the uptake, but now that they've discovered DVD and incorporated home theater systems into their lifestyles, they've become aggressive buyers."
SCTV's fifth season comes with 33% more content!
SCTV's fifth season (Volume 4) finds the show renewed on NBC and still in the 90-minute format. Three cast members have departed, Dave Thomas, Rick Moranis and Catherine O'Hara-although Catherine makes a memorable return in "The Christmas Show," but Martin Short's star rose in their absence.
His inimitable character Ed Grimley finds his way into many of the sketches.
The Shmenges are back and John Candy introduces Mr. Mambo.
The Volume 4 box set features four Emmy-nominated shows ("Towering Inferno," "Christmas Special," "Midnight Cowboy" and "Sweeps Week") plus Robin Williams as a guest in the "Jane Eyrehead" episode; it also includes musical guests John Mellencamp, Joe Walsh, and Crystal Gayle.
The DVD set will include an extra DVD with three extra episodes, bringing the DVD set total up to 12 episodes - 33% more content at the same price as the first 3 volumes! The set will also come with a collectible set of character trading cards.
As extras, the release will offer Commentary Tracks with Martin Short and Catherine O’Hara, a new Martin Short Interview and a selection of Featurettes called “The Producers: Part 2,” “The Firehall” and “Sammy Maudlin Today.”
The Shout! Factory will release SCTV Volume 4 on September 13.
Live 8 organizer defends lineup for Canadian concert
Canadian Live 8 organizer Michael Cohl shot back Wednesday at critics who are complaining that the lineup for the July 2 concert in Barrie, Ont., is rife with has-beens.
"These are our best artists. It's not all of them, but it's sure a substantial portion of them," the concert promoter said of the bill for the July 2 event, which includes the likes of Bruce Cockburn, Burton Cummings, Gordon Lightfoot and Tom Cochrane.
"These are people who have competed on the world stage successfully," he told the Canadian Press.
Writing in the Toronto Star on Wednesday, pop-music critic Ben Rayner was among those who expressed disappointment with the lineup.
The artists on the bill "have all made a significant dent in the Canadian and international consciousnesses at various points during their careers, but the days of their greatest visibility and popular success are long behind them," Rayner said.
Even a group like Our Lady Peace is "yesterday's news to the kids," he argued.
"Our concert just feels like a lazily programmed, rather half-hearted afterthought," he added, comparing the Canadian concert to the ones being staged at venues around the world on the same day.
Cohl said he had talked to between 50 and 60 acts about appearing at the concert.
"My job is to put together the best cross-section of talent that will draw the best audience both in terms of live, and in terms of the television audience, so that more people will get the message," he said.
He added that he expects there to be "overwhelming demand" when the free tickets for the show become available on Thursday.
Rayner wasn't the only one who used Tuesday's announcement as an opportunity to criticize Live 8.
National Post columnist Bruce Garvey also responded harshly in a front-page column headlined "A rock & roll fantasy."
Garvey noted that the goal of 1985's Live Aid had been to alleviate the famine then raging in Africa. "Well, it didn't. So here we are again, treading the same well-worn trail that leads to nowhere," he wrote.
Calling Geldof a "long-since failed rocker from a one-hit ... bar band called the Boomtown Rats," Garvey told his readers not to "expect Live 8 to make a whit of difference to anyone's life in Africa." He also questioned the wisdom of making the concerts free.
Those comments are in sharp contrast to the optimism that was in evidence on Tuesday among the artists who are slated to appear.
Musicians like Jeremy Taggart, the drummer for Our Lady Peace, said they have high hopes for Live 8.
"If this is done properly and enough awareness is raised, this could change the world," Taggart said.
"As musicians, we're in a unique position where we can raise awareness, perhaps more than just about any other body of people in the world," echoed Great Big Sea's Alan Doyle.
"It allows us to feel like we're contributing to society other than great tunes and great dancing. We have the opportunity to turn people on to great causes," noted Tyler Stewart, a member of Barenaked Ladies.
Stewart also responded Tuesday to one other criticism of the concert: the choice of venue. Barrie is located about one hour north of Toronto along highway 400, the route many Toronto residents take to visit their summer homes.
"Toronto really needs to take a chill pill and just drive up the 400," he said in response to the city's disappointment at losing the concert to Barrie.
"You're going to the cottage anyway. Just stop in at the frigging show."
Disney needn't fear; "Underdog" is here.
The Mouse House and Spyglass Entertainment are putting the final touches on a deal to bring the classic TV cartoon to the bigscreen as a live-action feature.
Disney has high hopes for the property as a possible franchise for its Walt Disney Pictures label.
Spyglass' Roger Birnbaum, Gary Barber and Jonathan Glickman are producers on the pic, along with Jay Polstein ("Frida"), who brought them the project.
Spyglass optioned the property from rights holder Classic Media three years ago with a preemptive bid of mid-six figures against north of $2 million (Daily Variety, June 12, 2002).
"Anything where you have a dog in that superhero context, that's appealing on a global basis," Barber said. "Those films do very well, and there's no better brand than Disney for this kind of movie."
Disney and Spyglass have had good results from their joint ventures of late. "The Pacifier" exceeded expectations, while "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" was a solid performer in relation to its costs.
Executive producers on "Underdog" are Classic Media topper Eric Ellenbogen and former Classic veep Bob Higgins, who is now at the Cartoon Network.
Nina Jacobson, Brigham Taylor and Louanne Brickhouse are shepherding the pic for Disney. Erin Stam oversees for Spyglass.
Spyglass hopes to start prep in November and begin shooting in January in Canada, possibly in Vancouver.
The tongue-in-cheek "Underdog" skein, created by Buck Biggers and Chet Stover, made its debut in 1964 on NBC and ran until 1973. The character was an unlikely superhero: a beagle who sheds his milquetoast identity of Shoeshine Boy to become a caped superdog who speaks in rhymed couplets. Wally Cox provided his voice.
Original episodes have been rerun recently on Cartoon. Underdog also is featured in a popular Visa Check Card commercial, appearing opposite an array of Marvel Comics heroes.
In the feature script, by Joe Piscatella and Craig A. Williams, a diminutive hound named Shoeshine gets superpowers after a lab accident. When he's adopted by a 12-year-old boy, the two form a bond around the shared knowledge that Shoeshine is really Underdog.
"We want to keep many elements from the classic cartoon," said Birnbaum, including mad scientist Simon Barsinister and Underdog's love interest, Sweet Polly Purebred.
Unlike "Scooby-Doo," another toon favorite that was made as a live-action feature, this pic will use a real dog for the title role, though with CGI enhancements. Underdog will talk and fly, just as in the cartoon. Spyglass is pondering a nationwide talent search for the next dog star.
Aside from Disney's plans for its new Underdog, Classic Media maintains an aggressive licensing and promotion campaign for the original toon, including a recent NASCAR tie-in and plans for a videogame.
Oscar Rejects Stunt Performers
The men and women who routinely leap from buildings, set themselves on fire, drive automobiles recklessly in dangerous conditions and so on, all for the entertainment of the movie-going public, have been denied their request for a stunt-based Academy Award.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday that its Board of Governors had voted against granting stunt performers a category at the 78th Academy Awards.
"At a time when the Academy is trying to find ways to reduce the numbers of statuettes given out, and looks at categories with an eye more focused on reduction than addition, the board is simply not prepared to institute any new annual awards categories," Academy President Frank Pierson said in a statement Wednesday.
Stunt performers pushed the issue the best way they knew how. Last week, about 75 men and women demonstrated outside Academy headquarters, performing stunts to draw attention to their movement.
"Stunt coordinators are the reason that action sequences come to life on screen," Jack Gill of Stunts Unlimited told Daily Variety last week. "They are responsible for every aspect in the film from the smallest comedic pratfall to the most elaborate 100-vehicle car chase."
Gill has been pushing for a stunt Oscar since 1991. On Wednesday, he expressed his dejection upon learning that the Academy had rejected the request once again.
"I'm disappointed," Gill told the Associated Press. "Everyone believes we should have a category except the board of governors."
Hollywood types such as Screen Actors Guild president Melissa Gilbert, Robert De Niro, Steven Spielberg and Dustin Hoffman had backed the stunt coordinators on their quest.
However, in the past 25 years, the Academy has created only two new award categories: Best Makeup in 1981 and Best Animated Feature in 2000.
In a further movement to pare down the number of little gold men handed out at the awards ceremony, the Academy announced Wednesday that it will determine which producers will be given credit in the Best Picture category and that the number of statuettes handed out in the category would be limited to three.
"What we're doing is further reducing the possibility of someone receiving one of our highest awards without really having done the job of a producer," Pierson said.
For the first time, a limitation was also placed on the number of songwriters that can receive an Oscar in the Best Original Song category. The Academy said that it would normally only award two Oscars in the category, but would reserve the right to award three, should three individuals have contributed equally to the winning song.
The 78th Annual Academy Awards will be held March 5, 2006 at Hollywood's Kodak Theater.
Pumpkins' Smashing Return
Today is the greatest day for fans of the Smashing Pumpkins.
Taking out full page ads in Tuesday's Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times, Billy Corgan announced plans to reform his seminal alt-rock out five years after disbanded the group.
"For a year now, I have walked around with a secret, a secret I chose to keep," the bald-pated singer-songwriter writes in an open letter to fans. "But now I want you to be among the first to know that I have made plans to renew and revive the Smashing Pumpkins. I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams.
"Rock on and may God bless you! Billy Corgan."
Corgan makes no mention of whether the other three original Pumpkins--guitarist James Iha (currently with A Perfect Circle), bassist D'Arcy Wretzky or drummer Jimmy Chamberlin--share his enthusiasm, especially considering their acrimonious split. Nor did Corgan indicate exactly when the reunion would take place.
Known for his nasal whine and '70s-echoing guitar licks, Corgan was the principal songwriter and driving force (some would say taskmaster) behind the Windy City-based quartet. He broke the news of the reunion on the same day his first solo album, The Future Embrace, arrived in stores.
Over an 11-year career, the Smashing Pumpkins released five studio albums and won two Grammy Awards. The band first made noise with the 1991 college-rock fave Gish, followed by the breakout major-label debut, 1993's Siamese Dream, which rode the grunge wave and catapulted them into alt-rock superstars with radio-friendly songs like "Today" and "Disarm."
The Pumpkins followed up with 1994's Pisces Iscariot, before scoring their biggest success with 1995's double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. The band's magnum opus sold 4.7 million copies on the strength of such hits as "Bullet with Butterfly Wings," "Tonight, Tonight" and "1979."
The band nearly imploded in 1996 following the death of touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin from a heroin overdose. Corgan fired Chamberlin for shooting up with Melvoin, using a rotating series of drummers for the next Pumpkins release, 1998's electronic-infused Adore, and subsequent tour.
In 1999, Chamberlain rejoined the lineup right before Wretzky, who would later battle her own drug problems, called it quits to try her hand at an acting career. She was replaced briefly by former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur for the band's final tour and album, 2000's hard-charging Machina: The Machines of God.
The band gave its final performance at a Dec. 2, 2000, 36-song marathon show at Chitown's legendary Metro.
Corgan immediately threw himself into various projects. He and Chamberlin formed a new band, Zwan, and released an album, Mary Star of the Sea, in 2003 but disbanded shortly thereafter. He also put out a bestselling book of poetry before getting to work on The Future Embrace, again with Chamberlain backing him up.
In his Tuesday dispatch, Corgan says the new album "represents a new beginning, not an ending" and "picks up the thread of the as-yet-unfinished work and charter of the Smashing Pumpkins."
He embarks on a solo tour Wednesday in Atlanta.
Mel B a Maybe for Live 8
Thanks to Scary Spice, Live 8 is in danger of a girl power deficit.
Melanie Brown, the Scary fifth of the former international chart-topping pop group the Spice Girls, is the lone holdout for a reunion at next month's London concert, according to organizer Bob Geldof.
Geldolf appeared on the U.K. TV show Richard & Judy (Britain's equivalent to Live with Regis and Kelly) and said that Mel B. was having "difficulty going back to something she did in the past. I'll call her during the week and if she can't do it, she can't do it."
He said that Brown was working on unspecified project in California.
Geldof says if he fails to convince Scary to join the aid effort, she will not be replaced. The other four Spices-- Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham, Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton, Melanie "Sporty Spice" Chisholm and Geri "Ginger Spice" Halliwell, agree it should be the original lineup or nothing at all.
"It's got to be all or nothing," Geldof told the BBC this week.
The Spice Girls debuted in 1995, evolving from a giddy Brit novelty act to a worldwide pop sensation. With singles like "Wannabe" and "Say You'll Be There," their debut disc, Spice, sold some 7.3 million copies in the U.S. alone.
They followed up with another hit album, Spiceworld, which also was parlayed into the campy, Hard Day's Night-inspired film, Spice World.
But things went from spicy to downright salty in 1998, when Halliwell quit the group amid internal tension. As a quartet, the remaining girls trotted out their third and final disc, Forever, in 2000. The album tanked and their subsequent solo careers fizzled.
With or without the Spice Girls, Geldof's free Live 8 shows will feature an unprecedented lineup of stars--including Paul McCartney, Dave Matthews Band, Stevie Wonder, U2, Coldplay, Madonna, Mariah Carey, the Who and a reunited Pink Floyd--performing to raise awareness of Third World problems.
Concerts will take place July 2 in London, Philadelphia, Paris, Berlin, Rome and, as of last week, Tokyo, Johannesburg and Toronto. On Tuesday, organizers announced that the Toronto show take place at Park Place (formerly Molson Park) and feature Canadian acts like the Barenaked Ladies, Bryan Adams, the Tragically Hip, Simple Plan and, appearing via satellite from Las Vegas, Celine Dion. Native sons Dan Aykroyd and Tom Green will host the show. Motley Crue and Deep Purple are also on the bill.
There will be an additional Live 8 gig in Edinburgh on July 6 featuring Annie Lennox, Dido and Travis.
The concerts are expected to be carried live on AOL and Viacom-owned cable stations, including MTV.
AFI Ranks Top Movie Quotes
Frankly, my dear, even those who have never seen Gone with the Wind can still identify Rhett Butler's final words to Scarlett O'Hara.
The level of instantaneous recognition inspired by Clark Gable's final line to Vivien Leigh--"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn"--led the American Film Institute to deem it number one on its list of the top 100 movie quotes.
The listmakers extraordinaire over at the AFI revealed the latest compilation in their 100 Years series--100 Movie Quotes: America's Greatest Quips, Comebacks and Catchphrases--in a three-hour CBS television special Tuesday hosted by Pierce Brosnan.
The winning lines were selected by 1,500 jurors from a list of 400 nominees. Voting criteria included a nominated quote's cultural impact on the national lexicon and whether it was used to invoke the legacy of the film in which it appeared.
In close contention for the top spot on the list were two of Marlon Brando's most famous lines--"I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse," from 1972's The Godfather and "You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am," from 1954's On the Waterfront--which finished second and third, respectively.
In fourth place was Judy Garland's naive proclamation to her loyal canine in 1939's The Wizard of Oz: "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."
Humphrey Bogart's remark to Ingrid Bergman in 1942's Casablanca, "Here's looking at you, kid," was looking at fifth place on the list, but was one of six quotes overall chosen from the film. Others included Bogart's "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" (20th), "We'll always have Paris" (43rd), "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine" (67), and Bergman's "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By' " (28th).
Gone with the Wind also had multiple entries in the top 100. Leigh's "After all, tomorrow is another day" made the list at number 31, and her "As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again" was number 59.
The earliest quote was Al Jolson's "Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain't heard nothin' yet," (71st) from 1927's The Jazz Singer. The most recent was Andy Serkis' "My precious," (85th) from 2002's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
Numerous sci-fi films inspired list-making quotes, including Harrison Ford's "May the Force be with you" (8th) from 1977's Star Wars, Arnold Schwarzenegger's "I'll be back" (37) from The Terminator and a certain friendly alien's insistence that "E.T. phone home," (15th) from 1982's E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.
On the lighter side, John Belushi's exclamations of "Toga! Toga!" from 1978's Animal House made the list at number 82, while Cuba Gooding Jr.'s rallying cry of "Show me the money!" from 1996's Jerry Maguire placed 25th on the list.
Then there were the lines that inspired fear in the hearts of all but the most intrepid moviegoers, such as Jack Nicholson's "Here's Johnny!" (68th) from 1980's The Shining, and Haley Joel Osment's "I see dead people," from 1999's The Sixth Sense (44th).
Patrick Swayze's solemn declaration that "Nobody puts Baby in a corner," from 1987's Dirty Dancing squeaked onto the list at number 98 and Margaret Hamilton's witchy vow, "I''ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!" from The Wizard of Oz came in at number 99.
Rounding out the top 100 was Leonardo DiCaprio's passionate shout-out from 1997's Titanic: "I'm king of the world!" (And, please, let that be the last we hear of it.)
The complete list of 100 Movie Quotes: America's Greatest Quips, Comebacks and Catchphrases can be viewed at www.afi.com.
Here's a rundown of the top 25 most memorable movie quotes as determined by the AFI:
1. "Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn." Gone with the Wind, 1939
2. "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse." The Godfather, 1972
3. "You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am." On the Waterfront, 1954
4. "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." The Wizard of Oz, 1939
5. "Here's looking at you, kid." Casablanca, 1942
6. "Go ahead, make my day." Sudden Impact, 1983
7. "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." Sunset Boulevard., 1950
8. "May the Force be with you." Star Wars, 1977
9. "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night." All About Eve, 1950
10. "You talking to me?" Taxi Driver, 1976
11. "What we've got here is failure to communicate." Cool Hand Luke, 1967
12. "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." Apocalypse Now, 1979
13. "Love means never having to say you're sorry." Love Story, 1970
14. "The stuff that dreams are made of." The Maltese Falcon, 1941
15. "E.T. phone home." E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, 1982
16. "They call me Mister Tibbs!" In the Heat of the Night, 1967
17. "Rosebud." Citizen Kane, 1941
18. "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" White Heat, 1949
19. "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" Network, 1976
20. "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Casablanca, 1942
21. "A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti." The Silence of the Lambs, 1991
22. "Bond. James Bond." Dr. No, 1962
23. "There's no place like home." The Wizard of Oz, 1939
24. "I am big! It's the pictures that got small." Sunset Boulevard, 1950
25. "Show me the money!" Jerry Maguire, 1996
'Family Guy' Movie Gets September DVD Release
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - "Family Guy" will return to the world of DVD after owing its network revival in part to brisk DVD sales of the series.
Creator Seth MacFarlane is set to release a direct-to-DVD movie based on his irreverent animated FOX series on Tuesday, Sept. 27, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story" centers on Stewie -- the precocious Griffin baby with the football-shaped head -- having a near-death experience. He decides to mend his evil, world-dominating ways and sets out on a road trip to find his real father.
MacFarlane promises that a "special gag" will feature the voices of "Beverly Hills, 90210" stars Jason Priestley, Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling, along with celebrity guest voices Drew Barrymore and Ron Livingston. Numerous special features are planned, including deleted scenes, still galleries, animatics and a commentary from MacFarlane to accompany the 83-minute, unrated movie.
"We also sandwiched special features around the movie," explains MacFarlane. "It begins with an animated movie premiere, with the family arriving to watch it, and then there's an after-party at the end."
MacFarlane says that "Untold Story" is a thank you to many fans who purchased the series' DVDs and contributed to FOX renewing the series two years after it was canceled in 2003. The temporarily canceled show also found fans in reruns on Cartoon Network. "Family Guy" resurrected in May, with 11.85 million people catching the fourth-season premiere.
Barrie wins Canadian Live 8 concert
After several weeks of rumours and speculation, organizers have announced Barrie, Ont., as the location of the upcoming Canadian Live 8 concert.
Concert promoter Michael Cohl, who was recently inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame, made the announcement at a news conference in downtown Toronto Tuesday morning. Cohl, who helped organize the Rolling Stones SARS benefit concert in 2003, announced that the free concert will take place on July 2 at Barrie's outdoor Park Place concert venue, formerly known as Molson Park.
Performers will range from Canadian icons like Gordon Lightfoot, Bruce Cockburn, Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings to bands like the Barenaked Ladies, Blue Rodeo, Our Lady Peace, the Tragically Hip and Great Big Sea.
Set to begin at 11am and end at 8pm, the July 2 concert will be hosted by Dan Ackroyd and Tom Green.
Free tickets, limited to two per person, will be distributed beginning Thursday via the Ticketmaster website.
Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, the main proponents of 1985's Live Aid campaign to raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief, reunited to organize the upcoming star-studded concerts. Their aim is to raise awareness about the poverty facing nations in Africa and elsewhere in the world. Also they want to pressure the Group of Eight leaders – meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland, from July 6-8 – to increase their foreign aid budgets and cancel debts owed by poor countries.
Geldof originally announced five free Live 8 concerts to be staged on July 2: in Philadelphia, London, Paris, Rome and Berlin. Last week, the former Boomtown Rat singer revealed four more venues: Toronto, Tokyo, Johannesburg and Cornwall, England.
Geldof and Ure also added a subsequent concert and protest rally in Edinburgh on the first day of the G8 summit.
There has been a huge appetite for the Live 8 concerts. For instance, more than two million people applied by text message for the 150,000 available tickets for the highly anticipated London show in Hyde Park. When the free tickets were distributed by lottery, some immediately turned up for sale on online auction site eBay. The tickets drew rapidly rising bids topping more than $1,000 and vocal criticism from Geldof, who urged people to enter bogus bids to inflate the prices to astronomical levels.
Though they specified that auctioning charity tickets is not illegal in the U.K., eBay officials eventually removed the Live 8 tickets from sale less than a day after they first appeared.
TIME FOR A '24' MOVIE
Harried anti-terrorism agent Jack Bauer could be headed to the silver screen in a "24" movie.
"It could still be two years from now, so it's far too early to say," "24" director/producer Jon Cassar told the Calgary Sun.
As it stands now, Cassar said the film would only partially unfold in the unique "real-time" format that's helped turn "24" into a white-knuckled success.
"The last I heard, the first hour will not be in real time," Cassar said. "But then something big will happen and real time will kick in. It still has to be worked out — it's at a stage where they really need to write it."
The script, he said, is likely to depend on what's happening on the show before the movie comes out.
On "24," Kiefer Sutherland plays Bauer, a federal agent who constantly finds himself as the only one who can save the world from various nefarious terrorist plots. Each one-hour episode of the series represents a high-octane hour in Bauer's ongoing struggle to beat the bad guys.
After three seasons, "24" has become one of the most popular dramas on television.
"The reason I think it worked is because of how it is shot and the scripts," Cassar said. "The writers are amazing — they have been able to come up with yet another bad day for Jack two years in a row."
He also attributes part of the show's success to his style of filming it. Unlike most TV and film makers who frequently yell "cut!" Cassar shoots each scene uninterrupted.
Cassar said he was shocked at first when "24" turned into a hit, almost overnight. His first impression of the series' real-time format was that it was going to be a dud.
Cassar remembers thinking, "God, that would be so boring, who's going to want to watch that?"
Tom Cruise Proposes to Katie Holmes
PARIS - Tom Cruise popped the question to Katie Holmes at the Eiffel Tower early Friday and then announced the news to the world — they're getting married.
Cruise turned to Holmes: "What did you say, darling? She said, `Yes.' ... I've never actually been to the Eiffel Tower and I just, it's Paris, you know. It's beautiful, a beautiful city. It's very romantic. I'm excited to be here."
No wedding date has been set, Cruise said. "We haven't discussed that — one step at a time."
The couple, who went public with their romance in April, often shared smiles and blushes as Cruise turned to look at Holmes, who was seated nearby. The 26-year-old actress, who was wearing a massive diamond ring on her finger, didn't speak to reporters.
"Today is a magnificent day for me, I'm engaged to a magnificent woman," the 42-year-old Cruise said.
"It was early this morning at the Eiffel Tower, so I haven't slept at all."
At one point, he whispered to Holmes: "Are you OK?" Afterward, they hurried into a car before leaving for a promotional event in Marseilles, southern France.
Cruise was in Paris to promote the French release of "War of the Worlds" next month. Holmes was in London earlier this week to publicize her new movie, "Batman Begins." Both actors have dismissed speculation their romance is a publicity stunt.
"I wish them the happiest marriage that anyone has ever had," said 11-year-old Dakota Fanning, who sat next to Holmes during the news conference. Fanning is Cruise's co-star in the Steven Spielberg film.
It would be the third marriage for Cruise and the first for Holmes. He was married to Mimi Rogers and Nicole Kidman; Holmes had been engaged to actor Chris Klein.
Holmes has said she's embracing the Church of Scientology — Cruise's religion. The former star of television's "Dawson's Creek" has said she grew up wanting to marry Cruise.
CRTC approves satellite radio
The CRTC on Thursday approved applications for three subscription-based radio services, but imposed strong Canadian content rules.
"These licences will harness new technologies for Canadians and give Canadian talent exposure to listeners across Canada and indeed, North America...through new Canadian channels and airplay on U.S. channels," said Charles Dalfen, chairperson of the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission.
The commission placed Canadian content rules on two of the services, which include two of the largest U.S. satellite radio companies.
Services from Canadian Satellite Radio and the CBC, partnered with Sirius, must offer:
* At least eight original channels produced in Canada. A maximum of nine foreign channels may be offered for each Canadian channel.
* At least 85% of the musical selections and spoken word programming broadcast on the Canadian channels must be Canadian.
* At least 25% of the Canadian channels must be in the French language.
* At least 25% of the musical selections on the Canadian channels must be new Canadian musical selections.
* A further 25% of the selections must be by emerging Canadian artists.
Canadian Satellite Radio has partnered with Washington-based XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., while the CBC and Standard Broadcasting have partnered with New York-based Sirius.
The third pay service, to be run by CHUM and Montreal-based Astral Media, will use land broadcast towers to broadcast their digital service.
That service must comply with current regulations under the Broadcasting Act, including 35% Canadian content and for French channels, a minimum of 65% French music.
The lobby group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting opposes the decision, saying it may appeal to federal cabinet or through the courts.
"Today's decision creates a pipeline for U.S. radio programs direct to Canada, with little in return for our country," said group spokesperson, Ian Morrison.
High-quality, cross-country service
Satellite radio offers commercial-free, near CD-quality sound no matter where listeners are in the country. It's delivered by a network of satellites, and not through the AM or FM band, which have distance and quality limitations.
Listening to satellite radio requires specialized equipment, such as a receiver for your home or car. In the United States, where satellite radio has been in operation for several years, receivers are a dealer option in some cars.
The proposed subscription fees are around $13 per month.
Laura Nenych, with Ryerson University's communications department, said the niche channels appeal to people who spend a lot of time in their vehicles, such as commuters or salespeople.
Americans Prefer Watching Movies at Home
LOS ANGELES - The parking's easy and there are no lines at the concession stand: Most Americans would now rather watch films at home than in theaters, according to an AP-AOL poll. At the same time, almost half think movies are getting worse.
Hollywood is in the midst of its longest box-office slump in 20 years, and 2005 is shaping up as the worst year for movie attendance in nearly a decade if theater business continues at the same lackluster rate.
In the poll released Thursday, 73 percent of adults said they preferred watching movies at home on DVD, videotape or pay-per-view. With more than two-thirds also saying movie stars are poor role models — Russell Crowe's phone-throwing being the latest example — it may take more than a blockbuster or two to reverse Hollywood's slide.
Just 22 percent said they would rather see films in a theater, according to the poll conducted by Ipsos for The Associated Press and AOL News. One-fourth said they had not been to a movie theater in the past year.
"I just prefer to stay home and watch movies," said Mark Gil, 34, a mortgage broker in Central Square, N.Y. "It's cheaper. You can go rent a movie for three bucks. By the time you're done at the movie theater with sodas and stuff, it's 20 bucks."
Films are getting worse, said 47 percent in the AP-AOL poll. A third said they were getting better.
"I don't like movies as much as I used to," said Tracy Drane, 38, a computer-technology worker who lives outside Dallas. "I'm a fan of old musicals and old AMC channel stuff. I could watch movies without thinking I'm going to see people in bed together and a lot of cussing. It has gotten much worse."
Many of this year's big films — "Kingdom of Heaven," "The Honeymooners," "XXX: State of the Union," Crowe's "Cinderella Man" — have fizzled.
Those in the poll were most likely to be fond of comedies, followed by dramas and action-adventure movies.
Some in Hollywood think the slump — 16 straight weekends of declining revenue compared to last year — is a momentary blip due to so-so movies. They maintain the box office will rebound when better films arrive.
Others view the slide as a sign that theaters are losing ground to home-entertainment options, particularly DVDs available just months after films debut in cinemas.
But the poll found that people who use DVDs, watch pay-per-view movies on cable, download movies from the Internet and play computer games actually go to movies in theaters more than people at the same income levels who don't use those technologies. That suggests the technology may be complementing rather than competing with theatergoing. Eight in 10 in the poll said they use DVD players at home.<