Michael Moore calls CBC lockout 'abhorrent'

TORONTO (CP) - Famed American documentarian Michael Moore demanded Friday that the CBC drop plans to air this weekend his Academy Award-winning film, Bowling for Columbine, because of the month-long lockout at the public broadcaster.

"I do not want my film being broadcast on the network unless it is willing to let its own workers back in to work and promises to bargain with them in good faith," Moore said in a statement Friday.

"CBC has locked out its union workers, an action that is abhorrent to all who believe in the rights of people to collectively bargain. Why the great and honourable CBC is behaving like an American corporation is beyond me."

Bowling for Columbine, an examination of America's obsession with guns and violence, is scheduled to air Sunday night on CBC and a spokesman for the broadcaster said the documentary will be shown despite Moore's objections.

"We've promoted the film heavily and our audiences are expecting it to be on," said Jason MacDonald. "We will broadcast it."

Moore won an Oscar for best documentary for the film in 2003.

He used his acceptance speech at the Oscar ceremony as an opportunity to launch a broadside against President George W. Bush and his participation in the war in Iraq, which had been launched only a few days earlier.

Gruesome twosome in 'Big Brother' finale

It's a depressing déjà vu for 'Big Brother'. In a repeat of the fourth season that saw despised HouseGuests Jun Song and Alison Irwin reach the finals, 'Big Brother 6' is on its way to another gloomy finish.

On Friday night's live eviction telecast, Disciple Alliance members Maggie Ausburn, the 27-year-old emergency room nurse from Las Vegas and Ivette Corredero, the 25-year-old waitress from Miami, became the finalists when Ivette won the last Head of HouseHold Competition and evicted the last Outcasts Alliance member Janelle Pierzina, the 25-year-old cocktail waitress from Miami Beach.

Ivette defeated Janelle in the second tiebreaker round of a complete-the-sentence challenge with video featuring members from the 'Big Brother 6' jury.

"You know what's coming," Ivette said to Janelle as she cast her vote for eviction. "Aside from being a beautiful woman, you are an amazing, amazing player and have given me a total run for my money. I have to evict you Janelle because I have a promise." Ivette's compassionate words on the live broadcast were in stark contrast to the persistent name-calling and bashing of Janelle that the Disciples had participated in throughout the entire season.

With Ivette and Maggie detested for their gossiping, trash-talking and scheming ways, disappointed die-hard fans, many of whom watched the shenanigans all season long on the 24/7 Internet feeds from the 'Big Brother' house, were quick to pull the plug on the season.

"Why don't they just change the name of the show to 'The Biggest Asshole", wrote 'mthebrat' on the popular Joker's Updates site which was flooded with threats of feed subscription cancellations and sign-offs for the season immediately after the airing of Friday night's episode.

"I will now bow out and leave these pathetic Nerd Herders to shine in their own glory because as soon as they get out in the real world and realize how the majority of people found them to be tacky, dirty and very small-minded people, the shine will be no more. They can then take their winnings and enjoy it. It's all that they will get," wrote 'KataGarbo' on the same site.

Some applauded Ivette for keeping her promise to Maggie despite the fact that Maggie is surely more popular with the 'Big Brother 6' jury. Some called Ivette's decision the dumbest move in the history of the reality show since Ivette most probably had the votes to win 'Big Brother 6' if she had selected Janelle as the majority of the jury members are from the Disciples Alliance.

"I knew if Ivette won she would probably evict me because she has made promises to her friends in the house. I knew she would evict me. I am not surprised," Janelle told host Julie Chen on the Couch of Shame.

Thinking for sure she would be bounced early on in the game, Janelle was surprised she had made it so far.

"What do you make of the fact that Ivette chose Maggie to make it to the final two with her," Chen asked Janelle.

"It was a poor decision, I believe. She cannot beat Maggie. I think Maggie will win the money," said Janelle stating also that Ivette didn't want to break her promise and picked friendship over money. Janelle admitted that Ivette's decision to do so might sway her jury vote.

The season finale of 'Big Brother 6' will air next Tuesday night at 9:00 p.m. EDT on CBS. At that time, the 'Big Brother 6' jury will vote on whom the grand prize will be awarded to. The winner will take home $500,000 U.S. The second place finisher will score $50,000 U.S.

New 'Day' dawns for Bon Jovi

NASHVILLE (Billboard) - To Jon Bon Jovi, each new Bon Jovi album is a musical diary chronicling moments in time. But for the band's new set, "Have a Nice Day," the veteran rocker says he looked further within himself and at the world than he has in the band's 20-year history.

"There are songs that are socially conscious, especially in light of what happened both (in the) pre- and post-election period in our country, when I witnessed polarization that I have never seen before," Bon Jovi says. On a personal level, he says, "songs like 'I Wanna Be Loved' are more introspective than I've ever been."

It is that combination of personal revelations and universal themes that has attracted a global audience and spurred record sales past the 100 million mark worldwide for the quartet.

And now, the band that has always been a lot rock 'n' roll may even be a little bit country. The title track of the Island Def Jam album -- which will hit stores Tuesday (September 20) -- is No. 17 on the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart and No. 12 on the Heritage Rock chart. And there are plans for IDJ's sister label, Mercury Records Nashville, to promote the song "Who Says You Can't Go Home?" to country radio. The song is a duet with Jennifer Nettles, frontwoman for hot country group Sugarland.

Bon Jovi and bandmates Richie Sambora, David Bryan and Tico Torres taped an episode of "CMT Crossroads" with Sugarland that is airing repeatedly on CMT in September. The album will include versions of the song with and without Nettles, who Bon Jovi calls "an incredible talent."

In part, via the country exposure, Bon Jovi hopes the new CD will find a wide audience but says he does not create music with that goal in mind. "The magic is, we don't gun for anybody," he says. "What happens, happens naturally ... We were as surprised as anyone when 'It's My Life' found a whole other generation of people, really young kids. Who knew?"

He sees such new songs as "Welcome to Wherever You Are" and "Last Man Standing" (a tribute to Bob Dylan) appealing to adult listeners while Bon Jovi's 10-year-old son "and his friends on their surfboards are cranking 'Have a Nice Day' and will play that next to a Green Day record."

RADIO IMPACT

Though there are multiple marketing components fueling the album's launch, Bon Jovi feels radio is still crucial. He quantifies radio's impact by saying a hit record makes the "difference between stadiums and arenas. When we have hits, we can sell two or three nights at Giants Stadium, and when we don't have a hit single, (we) can do one. That's not too shabby, but a hit makes a difference."

The band's last top 40 hit was "It's My Life" in 2000.

The night before the album's release date, Bon Jovi will be the first band to play the new Nokia Theater Times Square. The show will be broadcast live to AOL users, XM Satellite Radio subscribers and to 100 movie screens.

There is also an innovative campaign involving the video for "Have a Nice Day" and the smiley-face graphic that has been dubbed "smirk face" and pops up throughout the video. Island Def Jam is launching a Web site, smirkwatch.com, where fans can report sightings of the graphic.

"Have a Nice Day" will be the first DualDisc from Island Def Jam, and that CD/DVD version goes on sale Tuesday (September 20) as well. It will include five live performances, the video for "Have a Nice Day" and an electronic press kit.

The band will be highly visible with a slate of media appearances, including "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and "Today." Jon Bon Jovi will gain additional visibility with his latest acting role, in the film "Cry Wolf," which opened Friday (September 16).

The band kicks off its tour November 2. As much as he enjoys the road work, Bon Jovi is not sure he wants to follow the Rolling Stones' example.

"I don't know if I'm going to want to be touring like this at 62 or 65," he says. "I'm not an applause junkie. What excites me more than anything is writing the song. If it's a good one, you'll know it will be there forever. That, to me, is the magic."

Fantasy deal reunites Fogerty with his songs

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - John Fogerty laughs when he says his next album of new material will be on Fantasy Records. "That's a phrase I never thought I'd say," he notes with glee.

In a turn of events almost impossible to believe, due to Concord Records' acquisition of Fantasy, the singer/songwriter has been reunited with the catalog of his rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival after a 30-plus-year battle. And he has signed a long-term deal for his future recordings with the label.

In a well-told tale, Fogerty fought for years with former Fantasy owner Saul Zaentz, who went so far as to sue Fogerty for plagiarizing himself. Fantasy owns the masters to such CCR classics as "Proud Mary," "Bad Moon Rising" and "Fortunate Son."

To buy his freedom from Fantasy, to which he owed at least 30 more albums, Fogerty struck a deal that meant he would never receive artist royalties from CCR recordings.

For years Fogerty was so embittered by the fight with Zaentz that he refused to perform the hits live, although he has for several years now.

When Concord first contemplated buying Fantasy late last year, Fogerty and his manager/wife Julie approached the label, initially just to say, "I'm the guy who wrote all the music you're thinking of purchasing," he says.

After the $80 million deal closed early this year, Fogerty's talks with Concord resumed, resulting not only in collaboration on his beloved catalog but on new material. Fogerty was without a label after Universal's purchase of DreamWorks a few years ago.

INVITED TO THE TABLE

"The folks at Concord really had respect for my work. That was quite different for me," he says. "For 35 years I've been treated like a hired hand that kind of snuck his way into the dinner table, and that wasn't very nice."

The reunion with his babies -- his songs -- has left him delighted and filled with many emotions. "I just had no reason to even dare hope this could happen," he says. "That's my first emotion. But No. 2 is that it shouldn't have been that way in the first place. But I'm not going to dwell on that one for very long because I spent so many years feeling like it was wrong. I'm just going to accept what it is and be very, very happy about it."

One of Concord's first moves was to offer to pay Fogerty artist royalties on his CCR material going forward. The checks should start rolling in after the release of his first complete career retrospective, "The Long Road Home," out November 1.

A live DVD, taped September 15 in Los Angeles, will follow. Then, Fogerty says, he will turn to writing new material.

Concord president Glen Barros says he knows his label cannot fix the past for Fogerty, but he believes it can create a happy future. "A big part of that was reuniting him with what he did with CCR. While we're looking forward to his new music, we also want to make sure we promote the great body of work. Now he can feel good about everything he can do with this music."

Showdown at Signal Hill over Terry Fox special

Picketing by CBC employees in St. John's, Nfld. has stalled management plans to use replacement workers for a scheduled television special on Terry Fox.

Nearly two dozen locked-out employees showed up around 10 a.m. Thursday to block a satellite truck and several freelance technical workers from entering Signal Hill, the planned location for Friday's broadcast of 25 Years of Hope: The Legacy of Terry Fox.

The two-hour special, which is intended to commemorate the anniversary of Fox's Marathon of Hope, is scheduled to air live from the national historic site at 8 p.m. EST on both the main network and CBC Newsworld.

The show was meant to be the grand finale of a summer-long series of broadcasts honouring Fox's memory. It had been produced in cooperation with CBC employees who had been involved in its planning since the spring.

On Wednesday, Canadian Media Guild officials in St. John's discovered that CBC management had secretly arranged to use workers from an independent production company to air the special.

In a letter addressed to Federal Minister of Labour Joe Fontana, CMG president Lise Lareau said the corporation violated labour laws by continuing to employ three people in order to air the program about Canada's national hero.

"The CBC knew full well in the days leading up to Aug. 15 that it had to make alternate arrangements if it wanted to lock out our members while making it possible to honour the legacy of Terry Fox with dignity," she stated.

CBC spokesperson Jason MacDonald said the program wasn't using replacement workers, and accused CMG of attempting to score political points just as talks between the two sides enter a crucial stage.

"For the record, these are not scabs. It is an outside, independent production company producing a program that is going to be broadcast on the CBC," he told the Canadian Press.

"We're disappointed and sad that the guild would resort to using this program, which is intended to benefit the Terry Fox Foundation, and a program from which the corporation derives no commercial revenue."

The CBC has not commented on how the picket line will affect their planned broadcast.

The CMG argues the hires are the same people that began work on the project months ago, before the corporation locked out 5,497 union members on Aug. 15, and believes it is the same contract.

The St. John's local of the Canadian Media Guild said it would continue to treat people working on the show as replacement workers crossing the line.

"On Friday we will be faced with a scab situation," said local president Bob Sharpe. "And if that wasn't bad enough, CBC management is dragging Terry Fox, a much-loved Canadian hero into the middle of this lockout."

CMG officials said they intended to contact Terry Fox's family to explain the replacement worker situation, and make sure they understand their dispute is with CBC management, not them.

Scrubs is going for seconds

The TV comedy series Scrubs is returning to DVD this fall. Buena Vista Home Entertainment has slated The Complete Second Season for release on November 15.

Featuring all episodes of the show’s second season the DVD box set will also contain a good number of bonus materials, such as One-On-One with John McGinley. The Featurette “Music Stylings” will discuss the role of music in the show while “Secrets And Lies” will go behind the scenes to uncover anecdotes and jokes form the show’s set.

A selection of Deleted Scenes is also included on the release as well as a number of hilarious Outtakes.

“Scrubs: The Complete Second Season” will be waiting for you on November 22 with a $39.99 price tag attached.

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory sweetens your November

Warner Home Video has just unveiled details about the upcoming release of the latest Tim Burton movie, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. Acclaimed director Tim Burton brings his vividly imaginative style to the beloved Roald Dahl classic “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” about eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp) and Charlie, a good-hearted boy from a poor family who lives in the shadow of Wonka's extraordinary factory. Long isolated from his own family, Wonka launches a worldwide contest to select an heir to his candy empire. Five lucky children, including Charlie, draw golden tickets from Wonka chocolate bars and win a guided tour of the legendary candy-making facility that no outsider has seen in 15 years. Dazzled by one amazing sight after another, Charlie is drawn into Wonka's fantastic world in this astonishing and enduring story.

The film will be available in two versions, a 2-disc Deluxe Edition and a Single-Disc Version. The single-disc version will contain two bonus materials, Challenges: Oomp-Loompa Dance Machine and a Documentary, named “Becoming Oompa-Loompa: How Did They Turn One Man into Thousands of Oompa-Loompas?!?”

In addition to these features, the Deluxe Edition will also contain a Biographic Featurette about Roald Dahl, as well as additional Challenges such as “The Inventing Machine,” “The Bad Nut,” and “Search For The Golden Nugget.”

Also included is the Featurette “Becoming Oompa-Loompa” in which you can see how actor Deep Roy was turned into an army of Oompas. Another Featurette is “Attack Of The Squirrels” featuring a look at the trained nut-sorting squirrels, and other featurettes.

You can unwrap “Charlie And The Chocolate Factory” on November 8. The single-disc version carriers a suggested retail price of $28.98 while the Deluxe Edition will carry a $30.97 price tag.

DreamWorks Celebrates Hit Film by Returning To Madagascar

DreamWorks Animation's Madagascar has become a bona fide money magnate, earning over $500 million at box offices around the world. According to Comingsoon.net, those kind of earnings are apparently hard to ignore, as the studio says it's now going to produce a follow up film to the animated comedy hit.

Of course the characters wouldn't be the same without the talented cast of actors behind the critters, but don't fret: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett Smith are all set to return to bring the lovable Lion, Zebra and Hippo to life. DreamWorks hints it might also give those scene stealing penguins their own animated fun, with plans for sliding them direct to video.

Santa Clause Meets Jack Frost, Comes Up Short

Martin Short will be taking his turn as the bad-guy for his next role, in Walt Disney Pictures' The Santa Clause 3. Variety is reporting Short will play none other than Jack Frost, who has his icy sights set out to take over Christmas from Santa Clause, since Christmas falls within his winter domain.

Tim Allen will be returning for his seasonal split personality role, as Scott Calvin and The Santa Clause himself. Allen will have a bit more work on his cookie-plate this time around as Calvin must work to keep Frost away from Christmas, all while trying to maintain a happy regular family life at home.

Michael Lembeck, who directed Tim Allen in the first two Santa Clause films, is also coming back for the third chapter of the Santa-saga, which starts shooting November 14th, for release Christmas 2006.

Renee Zellweger and Kenny Chesney Split

LOS ANGELES - Bridget Jones is untying the knot. Renee Zellweger, who played the lovelorn Brit in "Bridget Jones's Diary," and country music star Kenny Chesney will have their four-month-old marriage annulled, Chesney's publicist, Holly Gleason, and Zellweger's Los Angeles-based publicist Nanci Ryder, confirmed to The Associated Press on Thursday.

In court papers filed Wednesday, Zellweger listed "fraud" as the reason for the breakup but did not elaborate.

A phone call to her attorney was not immediately returned, nor was a call to Gleason later in the day regarding the fraud claim.

People magazine and "Entertainment Tonight" first reported the breakup, which brings to an end a whirlwind romance that began shortly before a surprise wedding in May.

The 36-year-old actress and Chesney, 37, wed in a small ceremony on the Caribbean island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It was the first marriage for both.

Photos of the couple barefoot on the beach were widely distributed.

They first met at the Concert of Hope tsunami relief benefit Jan. 15, where Chesney was singing and Zellweger was answering telephones, the syndicated television news magazine "The Insider" had reported.

Zellweger won a best supporting actress Oscar for "Cold Mountain." She was nominated for Oscars for her work in "Chicago" and "Bridget Jones's Diary."

Chesney was named Country Music Association entertainer of the year in November, while his "When the Sun Goes Down" was named album of the year. His hits include "Me and You" and "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy."