The Couch Potato Report - October 4th
This week The Couch Potato Report is still only doing a summary.
BUT, this is the last week for that! I guarantee that!
Y'see, I work for CBC radio and in addition to producing The Couch Potato Report for this website, I also do it for my show - Saskatchewan Weekend.
For the past 8 weeks I have been locked out by my employers, and thus I haven't been able to receive the films in my usual manner, so I haven't been able to watch and review them.
Yes, for the past two weeks I have been stating that "starting next week the full Couch Potato Report will return!!!"
Well, since my Union and CBC's management have come to terms and reached a deal, which I suspect my fellow Union members will ratify in the next few days, I will have the full Couch Potato Report here next week!!
I am going back to work, so I will be getting back to doing the work I love, and that includes The Couch Potato Report!!
For now, please bare with me, bear with me even, and enjoy these summaries:
I love her, but I must admit that I have yet to see Nicole Kidman's work in THE INTERPRETER. I hope to see it once the lockout is over, and I certainly hope it is better than what she has given us of late.
Lately she has been terrible in the many remakes she has done.
Even though I haven't seen it, I can tell you that in THE INTERPRETER she plays a UN translator who overhears an assassination plot. Sean Penn also stars.
So, at this point, I can't tell you if THE INTERPRETER is a classic.
However I can easily state that the 1950 Disney film CINDERELLA is a classic!
And now the CINDERELLA SPECIAL PLATINUM EDITION DVD is available for you to share with your family.
Enjoy it!
Personally, on first viewing, I didn't enjoy the second season of the classic Canadian TV show CORNER GAS as much as the first.
But now that I have spent some time with the CORNER GAS - SEASON TWO DVD set I must admit that I am enjoying them now, upon second viewing.
And that is one of the many benefits of DVDs!!
For the uninitiated, CORNER GAS is set in the fictional town of Dog River Saskatchewan, and focuses on the life (or lack thereof) of gas station owner Brent LeRoy, coffee shop proprietor Lacey Burrows and the folks who populate the area.
It is funny, entertaining, and along with THE INTERPRETER and the CINDERELLA SPECIAL PLATINUM EDITION DVD, CORNER GAS - SEASON TWO is now available at a store near you.
Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report is the return of full reviews (I promise!!!), including my comments on:
KICKING AND SCREAMING - Will Ferrell is at his full, frenzied power as Phil Weston, a married, uncoordinated would-be sportsman with an uncoordinated would-be sportsman son--and an unresolved relationship with his coach father, Buck (Robert Duvall), who has very little tolerance for the uncoordinated. When Buck trades his own grandson to a real loser of a little league soccer team, Phil naturally takes over underdog coaching duties and the two men butt heads. You could easily, and perhaps rightfully, dismiss all of this as a dumb, demented Meatballs or Bad News Bears rip-off, but it's pleasantly dumb and sometimes hysterically demented.
SOUTH PARK - THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON - The sixth season of South Park saw creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone using the animated Comedy Central cash cow to poke fun at anyone (Jared from the Subway commercials for one), everyone, and really, anything that pops into their heads. Included in the Season 6 DVD set is "The Return of Lord of the Rings to the Two Towers" episode, one of the funniest South Park episodes ever!
Coming up in Two weeks are BATMAN BEGINS and THE BIG LEBOWSKI - THE COLLECTOR'S EDITION!!
I'm Dan Reynish, enjoy whatever you choose to watch and I'll meet you back here next week on The Couch!
Tentative deal must be ratified before CBC programming returns to normal
TORONTO (CP) - Although CBC and its workers have finally reached common ground in their contract dispute, it will be a while before things return to normal and all the familiar voices and faces - including chief anchor Peter Mansbridge - are back on the air.
"What has to happen is that the union members would have to vote on the agreement," said CBC spokesman Jason MacDonald. "Assuming that they do vote in favour of it, we would then be in a position to bring people back to work as quickly as possible."
About 5,500 employees were locked out Aug. 15, and the public broadcaster filled radio and television airtime with re-runs and managers reading the news. Portions of the fall schedule were delayed, including the broadcast of a Trudeau miniseries.
A memorandum of agreement was reached early Monday and negotiators continued to hammer out a back-to-work protocol.
If a vote is affirmative, MacDonald said workers would be phased in over a few days.
"We would like to have people back to work and our regular schedule up by the end of next week," he said Monday.
Many of the new shows CBC was touting were scheduled to debut in mid-season anyway, including Mary Walsh's six-episode comedy Hatching, Matching and Dispatching, and a series from Ken Finkleman about the inhabitants of a strange hotel.
Canadian Media Guild negotiator Arnold Amber indicated it takes time to get schedulers and assignment desks up and running.
"There are literally a whole number of people that will have to go back as soon as possible to prepare the groundwork for the rest of the people to return," he said.
Winnipeg folk group sues to block the latest Harry Potter film from being shown in Canada
A Winnipeg folk group is suing Warner Brothers, British rock groups Radiohead and Pulp for 40 million dollars and trying to block the latest Harry Potter movie from being shown in Canada.
The group called the Wyrd Sisters alleges the Harry Potter movie due out next month contains a fictional band called the Wyrd Sisters who are actually members of Radiohead and Pulp.
In their statement of claim the Winnipeg group says the movie infringes on their trademark rights and will damage their reputation. The allegations have not been proven in court.
Neither Warner Brothers nor the musicians involved have filed statements of defence. However, Radiohead fans are fighting back and have posted dozens of messages on the Internet, calling the lawsuit a desperate attempt to get money and fame.
Krasinski Puts in Another Day at 'The Office'
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Watching even a few minutes of "The Office," it's apparent that the NBC show is not a typical TV comedy. Characters don't speak in punchlines, for one thing, and its documentary style captures people who are pretty much exactly life-sized, rather than the outsized folks who populate much of the television landscape.
It can make for uncomfortable laughs, which is exactly what the show's writers have in mind, says John Krasinski, who plays the sardonic nice guy Jim Halpert on the show. "What people don't realize is every 'Umm,' every 'but,' every awkward pause is completely scripted," he says.
Krasinski and his fellow cast members also go through a ritual before filming to "sink right into that office feel," he says. "We do a lot of warming up of, you know, 45 minutes just sitting at your desk doing absolutely nothing while the camera kind of roams around and finds certain things they want to find.
"You really do kind of lull yourself into that boredom and that kind of monotony. So once you get going and into your scenes, you're pretty prepped and ready to go for just living through the situation."
So it's just like a regular office job, then? "Yeah, exactly."
Krasinski's Jim gets a moment in the sun in Tuesday's (Oct. 4) episode. When boss Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and toady Dwight (Rainn Wilson) leave the Dunder-Mifflin office to close on Michael's new condo, Jim and his unrequited office love Pam (Jenna Fischer) blow off work and lead their fellow employees in an "office Olympics."
"He kind of becomes the ringleader of the office for that one day, and it's a big moment for Jim, because I think it shows his potential to be a manager or a leader of the office -- which is something I don't think he wants to do at all," Krasinski says. "But it's something that comes naturally to him when the stresses of work aren't there."
Krasinski figures Jim maybe didn't quite finish college and fell into his job selling paper supplies at the Scranton, Pa., branch of Dunder-Mifflin. He's content with the money he makes, but though he could probably leave whenever he wants to, "the thing that keeps him there is Pam."
"He really believes he's found someone he really, really cares about. It's not just a crush," he says. "I think you realize over the course of the episodes that it isn't something he enjoys, it's something he finds that he needs. ... [The job] is not about the excitement for him, it's about, Do I have everything I need, and every time he runs though that checklist, he's got it."
Talking on the phone, Krasinski comes across not unlike his low-key character. He apologizes for background noise -- "I'm on a city street here" -- and says he finds it "sort of outrageous" that he earned a part in Christopher Guest's latest movie, the Hollywood satire "For Your Consideration," due next year.
But he also talks passionately about "The Office," and the way that Carell's Michael, though he's an insufferable ham who makes his employees cringe, has also turned into a recognizably human character over the course of the show's eight episodes thus far (NBC last week ordered seven more episodes, bringing the total for this season to 13).
"It's fun to have a boss who's that asinine, but you need to show the softer side of him, and not in some kind of dramatic, thematic way, but in a way that's more accessible," Krasinski says. "If he was such an ass, no one would hire him. ...
"I think they really play a lot with the fact that Jim knows that. Even in the first season, Jim never really outwardly made fun of him. He could turn and just make fun of [Michael] to his face, but he never does. It's always in a subtle way, maybe a little bit behind his back, but it's kind of innocent, because [Jim] knows he's just more of a boob than anything else. There's a little bit of compassion in that, almost like you feel bad for him. That's really what we're building on."
NEW DVD RELEASES FOR OCTOBER 4, 2005
Aiden Nightmare Anatomy (Victory)
Tha Alkaholiks Firewater (Koch)
All-Stokz A Bronx Tale (Papercha$e)
America Is Waiting In the Lines (Wrong)
Amestory Amestory (Portia)
Arild Andersen Electra (ECM)
Ian Anderson Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull (two CDs; DVD same day; w/the Frankfurt Philharmonic Orchestra) (Benz Street)
Fiona Apple Extraordinary Machine (DualDisc) (Epic)
Army of Me Fake Ugly (Pop Up)
Atmosphere You Can't Believe How Much Fun We're Having (Rhymesayers)
Anita Baker Christmas Fantasy (Blue Note)
Caroleen Beatty You're Only as Pretty as You Feel (w/Mushroom as backing band; covers of Jefferson Airplane, Bill Withers and more) (Black Beauty)
Andy Bell (of Erasure) Electric Blue (includes duets w/members of Scissor Sisters and Propaganda) (Sanctuary)
Clint Black Drinkin' Songs & Other Logic (Equity Music)
Gus Black Uncivilized Love (DualDisc) (Immergent)
James Blunt Back to Bedlam (Atlantic)
David Borgo Ubuntu (Cadence)
Boris Believe (mix CD) (Moist Music)
Ronnie Bowman The Mountain (Koch)
Jim Brickman The Disney Songbook (enhanced CD) (Walt Disney)
Brimstone Butterfly Normality Killed the Cat (DualDisc) (Silverline)
Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene (includes limited edition EP, "ep to be you and me") (Arts & Crafts)
Cindy Bullens dream #29 (guests Elton John, Delbert McClinton and more) (LetsPLAY/Blue Lobster)
Sonny Burgess Stronger (CPI)
Chris Cagle Anywhere but Here (Capitol Nashville)
Cerberus Shoal The Land We All Believe In (North East Indie)
Chevreuil Sport (Sickroom/Southern)
Colder Heat (Output UK/Studio Distribution)
Cranebuilders Sometimes You Hear Through Someone Else (Azra)
Cream Royal Albert Hall, London, May 2-3-5-6 (two CDs) (Reprise)
Cross Canadian Ragweed Garage (limited edition CD/DVD combo available same day) (Universal South)
Drew Davis Band Drew Davis Band EP (Windswept)
Benjy Davis Project The Angie House (guest Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown) (Real)
DJ Dan Lift (two CDs; includes remixes of New Order and Pussycat Dolls feat. Busta Rhymes) (Thrive)
DOO Cold Shower (Le Maquis/Dreyfus)
Will Downing Soul Symphony (GRP/Verve)
Dwele Some Kinda... (guests Slum Village) (Virgin)
Ebony Eyez 7 Day Cycle (Capitol)
Linda Eder By Myself: A Tribute to Judy Garland (Angel)
Mark Eitzel Candy Ass (Cooking Vinyl)
Electrocute Troublesome Bubblegum (Rykodisc)
Sara Evans Real Fine Place (RCA)
The Fall Heads Roll (new studio album) (Narnack)
Fates Warning Chasing Time/Still Life (three CDs) (Metal Blade)
Kirk Franklin Hero (Jive)
Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better...with (Epic)
Paula Frazer Leave the Sad Things Behind (w/members of American Music Club, Kronos Quartet, Court and Spark and more) (Birdman)
William Gagliardi 5tet Memories of Tomorrow (CIMP)
Stephen Gauci Trio First, Keep Quiet and Long Night Waiting (Cadence)
The Gentry Sweet Gossip (Ninthwave)
Robert Glasper Canvas (Blue Note)
The Go! Team Thunder, Lightning, Strike (Columbia)
Goldblade Rebel Songs (Anarchy Music)
Delia Gonzalez and Gavin Russom Days of Mars (DFA/Astralwerks)
Goodie Mob Mix Tape (Koch)
Kevin Gordon O Come Look at the Burning (Crowville Collective)
David Hanley & Julian Priester For Sale: Five Million Cash (Cadence)
Eric Hansen Across the Universe - A Beatles Journey (solo acoustic guitar versions of Beatles tunes) (Neurodisc)
Happy Mondays Step on (2004 Barcelona concert) (Snapper)
Hi-5 It's a Hi-5 Christmas (enhanced CD) (Koch)
Jana Hunter Blank Unstaring Heirs of Doom (Gnomonsong)
The (International) Noise Conspiracy Armed Love (re-release of 2004 album) (American/Reprise)
Jemima James Book Me Back in Your Dreams (first album in 15 years) (Tomato)
Liz Janes and Create Liz Janes and Create EP (Secretly Canadian)
Jimmy Eat World Stay on My Side Tonight EP (Interscope)
Anders Jormin XIEYI (ECM)
Journey Generations (Sanctuary)
Cledus T. Judd Presents Boogity, Boogity - A Tribute to the Comedic Genius of Ray Stevens (Koch Nashville)
Lucy Kaplansky The Tide (Red House)
Chris Kelsey Beyond Is and Is Not (Cadence)
Chris Kelsey Trio Wishing You Were Here (CIMP)
Royal Wade Kimes Snow (Christmas songs) (Wonderment)
Kiss Me Deadly Misty Medley (Alien 8/Southern)
KRS-One The Lost Album (Koch)
Smokin' Joe Kubek Served Up Texas Style: The Best of (Rounder)
Ladytron The Witching Hour (Rykodisc)
Kenny Lattimore and Chante Moore Uncovered (Jive)
Steve Lawler Lights Out 3 (two CDs) (Global Underground)
Les Nubians Presents Echos (Artemis)
Let Go Let Go (The Militia Group)
Sylvie Lewis Tangos & Tantrums (Cheap Lullabye)
Zöe Lewis Small Is Tremendous (Wildflower)
Little Big Town The Road to Here (Equity Music)
Living Things Ahead of the Lion (Jive)
Look What I Did Minutemen for the Moment (Combat/Koch)
Stephen Lynch The Craig Machine (W.A.R.?)
The Magic Numbers The Magic Numbers (Capitol)
Make Believe Shock of Being (Flameshovel/Southern)
Michael Mangia The Invisible Wall (Loft Box)
Martha's Trouble Forget October (Aisling)
Leland Martin Leland Martin (Aspirion)
Mason You Were Supposed to Be Beautiful (School Night/Undecided)
Deneen McEachern Hard Dark Love (Tomato)
Eric McFadden Trio Joy of Suffering (Terminus)
Marian McPartland and Bruce Hornsby Piano Jazz (Concord)
Joe McPhee/Dominic Duval/Jay Rosen Trio-X Moods: Playing with the Elements (CIMP)
Rich Medina Connecting the Dots (Kindred Spirits US)
Don Menza Jack Rabbitt (Cadence)
Metric Live It Out (Last Gang)
Morricone Youth Silenzio Violente (Country Club)
Barbara Morrison Live at the Dakota (Dakota Live)
Mugison Mugimama, Is This Monkey Music? (Ipecac)
My Morning Jacket Z (RCA)
Nickelback All the Right Reasons (w/appearance by ex-Pantera/Damageplan guitarist Dimebag Darrell) (Roadrunner)
O.A.R. Stories of a Stranger (produced by Jerry Harrison; guests Bernie Worrell of P-Funk and Toby Lightman) (Lava/Atlantic)
Sinéad O'Connor Throw Down Your Arms (reggae album w/Sly & Robbie; includes covers of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Burning Spear and more) (Sanctuary)
Liam O'Maonlai (Hothouse Flowers vocalist) rian (rian records)
O-Solo The Last Level of Rap (TVT)
The Occasion Cannery Hours (Say Hey)
Jeffrey Osbourne From the Soul (covers of songs by Curtis Mayfield, Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack and more) (Koch)
Oscar G. Made in Miami (two CDs; mix compilation w/tracks by Basement Jaxx, Funky Green Dogs and more) (Star 69)
Sista Monica Parker Can't Keep a Good Woman Down (Mo Muscle)
Pastor Troy & Nino Hood Hustlin' - The Mix Tape Vol. 2 (South Central)
Paths of Possession Promises in Blood (guest George Fisher of Cannibal Corpse) (Metal Blade)
Liz Phair Somebody's Miracle (Capitol)
PorkBelly Futures Way Past Midnight (produced by David Gray) (Wildflower)
Joel Press Quartet How's the Horn Treating You? (Cadence)
Prince Lasha & the Odean Pope Trio The Mystery of Prince Lasha (CIMP)
Randy & the Bloody Lovelies Lift (Cheap Lullaby)
Enrico Rava/Stefano Bollani/Paul Motian TATI (ECM)
Red Café Got a Story to Tell (Capitol)
Tobias Rene Living Dreams (Aspirion)
Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys Dominos (Rounder)
The Ripple Effect (Jack DeJohnette and Third Zomby's Ben Surman) Hybrids (Golden Beams/Kindred Rhythms)
Jay Rosen Songs for Samuel (CIMP)
Sa-Ra Second Time Around (w/Pharoahe Monche and J Dilla) (Sound in Color)
Sean T Ain't Playin (guests the Game, Keak Da Sneak and more) (Sumday)
Craig Sellers Something Worth Fighting For (Cozy)
Jake Shimabukuro Dragon (Hitchhike)
Shinedown Us and Them (Atlantic)
Simple Plan MTV Live at the Hard Rock (performance w/bonus material, including acoustic tracks) (Atlantic)
Soulfly Dark Ages (Roadrunner)
Sound Tribe Sector 9 ARTiFACT: Perspectives (remixes by Bill Laswell, Ming + FS, Mr. Lif and more) (1320 Records)
Steve Spacek Space Shift (Sound in Color)
Sponge The Man (w/ex-Guns N' Roses' Gilby Clarke) (Idol)
The Standard Albatross (Yep Roc)
Straylight Run Prepare to Be Wrong (Victory)
T-Luni Street Credibility (moe doe/Sumday)
Tera Melos Tera Melos (Springman)
George Thorogood 30th Anniversary Tour: Live (CD/DVD combo) (Eagle Rock)
Ticonderoga The Heilig-Levine LP (54º40' or Fight!)
Tiger Saw Sing! (Kimchee)
Tokyo Rose New American Saint (guest Fred Mascherino of Taking Back Sunday) (SideCho)
The Tom Collins Daylight Tonight (Terminus)
The Tossers The Valley of the Shadow of Death (Victory)
Tragedy Khadafi Thug Matrix (w/Raekwon, Cormega, Mobb Deep's Havoc, the Alchemist and more) (Koch)
Trife da God 718: Stapleton to Somalia (w/Ghostface Killah) (Koch)
Trina Glamourest Life (guests Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child and more) (Atlantic)
Tunnel Rats Both Sides (Thump)
Twista The Day After (w/Kanye West, Timbaland, the Neptunes' Pharrell Williams, Jamie Foxx, Pitbull and more) (Atlantic)
Twisted Sister Live at Wacken - The Reunion (CD/DVD combo) (Eagle Rock)
V The Revelation Is Now Televised (guests Jill Scott and DJ Jazzy Jeff) (BBE)
The Very Hush Hush Mourir C'est Facile (Sao Bento Music)
Richard "Humpty" Vission Automatic (two CDs) (Thrive)
Hezekiah Walker Praise and Worship (DVD same day) (Verity/ZLG)
We Are Wolves We Are Wolves (Fat Possum)
Kirk Whalum Performs the Babyface Songbook (w/Babyface, Dave Koz, Christian McBride and more) (Rendezvous)
Young Sicc Spread the Word (PR)
VA 40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas (w/Vanessa Williams, Toni Braxton, Chaka Khan, Brian McKnight and more) (Concord)
VA Armageddon Over Wacken Live 2004 (three CDs; two DVDs same day; w/Anthrax, Dio and more) (Magick)
VA Butterfly Melodies: The Piano Tribute to Mariah Carey (Vitamin)
VA Celtic Crossroads (w/Sinéad O'Connor, Mick McAuley and more) (Putumayo)
VA Corporate Love Breakdown: The Bluegrass Tribute to Radiohead (CMH)
VA Destinacion Nada: Tributo A Maná (Snake Machine)
VA Destination Lounge: New York City (two CDs w/bonus DVD; downtempo electronica collection) (Revive the Soul)
VA Eclectic Café (Thump)
VA Goth Electro Tribute to Depeche Mode (w/Tina Root of Switchblade Symphony, Soil & Eclipse and more) (Cleopatra)
VA Guitar Tribute to Howie Day (Tribute Sounds)
VA I Believe to My Soul (produced by Joe Henry; w/Mavis Staples, Billy Preston, Allen Toussaint and more) (Work Song/Rhino)
VA Merry Mixmas: Christmas Classics Remixed (songs by Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole remixed by Mark Rae, Ursula 1000, Q-Burns and more) (Capitol/EMI)
VA NOW Latino (BMG Heritage)
VA Pickin' on Lonestar (CMH)
VA Pickin' on Rascall Flatts Volume 2: Fast Cars and Long Roads (CMH)
VA Show/D.I.T.C. Presents: Street Talk (exclusive tracks from Fat Joe, Big Pun, M.O.P. and more) (Lumberjack)
VA Smooth Sax Tribute to Brian McKnight (Tribute Sounds)
VA String Quartet Tribute to Relient K (Vitamin)
VA The Queensbridge Project (Koch)
VA The Sound of Young New York & Toronto (w/Death from Above 1979, Radio 4 and more) (Plant Music)
VA The String Quartet Tribute to Billy Joel (Vitamin)
VA Tribute to Gorillaz (Tribute Sounds)
VA Ultimate Samba Collection (two CDs) (Sunswept)
VA Wipeout Pure: The Official Soundtrack (electronica compilation w/Aphex Twin, LFO, Photek and more) (Distinctive)
VA Ewan Pearson Sci-Fi-Hi-Fi (mix CD w/tracks by Brazillian Girls, Feist and more) (Soma)
DVD Music Box Biographical Collection: Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin and U2 (MVB Films)
DVD The Black Keys Live (Fat Possum)
DVD Body Count featuring Ice-T The Smoke Out Festival Presents (Eagle Rock)
DVD Cream Royal Albert Hall, London, May 2-3-5-6 (two DVDs) (Rhino)
DVD DMX The Smoke Out Festival Presents (Eagle Rock)
DVD Ian Hunter Just Another Night: Live at Astoria (2004 concert) (Music Video Distributors)
DVD Murphy's Law Up with Us, Down with Them (live concert footage) (Music Video Distributors)
DVD Pixies Sell Out (reunion tour footage from seven 2004 shows) (Rhino)
DVD VA EXTRA: A Collection of Outstanding Electronic Music Videos (w/DJ Shadow and Mos Def, RJD2, Felix da Housecat and more) (!K7)
Roy's "Magic Is Back"
Two years after a white tiger sunk its teeth into his neck and dragged him off stage, Roy Horn is feeling "splendid."
In an interview published Sunday in the Las Vegas Sun, Horn said he's also feeling constant pain.
"I'm trying to live with this," he told the paper. "You just have to accept it."
On the whole, Horn, the shorter, dark-haired half of Siegfried & Roy, has persevered. After almost dying--twice, he says--the illusionist can talk, shake hands with a firm grip, and walk with a cane and sometimes without, the Sun reports. This, despite being left partially paralyzed by a stroke after Montecore, a 380-pound cat (originally listed at 600 pounds), went off script on Oct. 3, 2003, during a performance at the Mirage in Vegas.
Monday marked the second anniversary of the mauling, as well as the 61st birthday of Horn.
"The magic is back," the performer told the Sun, proving his gift for the soundbite likewise had returned.
In the interview, a more upbeat assessment than the "I cry to sleep" update he offered Maria Shriver and NBC last year, Horn said he works out at a rehab facility every day, and walks a quarter of a mile every night. His goal is to move about sans walker, wheelchair, cane or any other assistance.
"It will be soon," he said in the paper. "I will surprise everybody. I like surprises."
Pre-mauling, Horn and Siegfried Fischbacher, his longtime partner in magic, were top draws on the Strip, and, as of 1990, resident headliners at the Mirage. Post-mauling, the show closed, and Horn's social calendar largely consisted of visits with his animal friends, including Montecore, at the Siegfried & Roy Secret Garden habitat, also based at the Mirage. But in recent weeks, Horn has become a public figure anew.
In August, Horn earned a standing ovation by rising from his wheelchair as he took in a Seal concert at the Mirage. It was his first appearance inside a casino showroom since the attack. And in September, he foisted a beer with Fischbacher at an Oktoberfest photo-op in Las Vegas.
There was no word from Siegfried & Roy's publicist Monday on how Horn planned to celebrate his birthday.
An optimistic Horn told the Sun that, after recently being "cleansed" of painkillers, he "could do the show again tomorrow, that's how good I feel." But instead of a comeback date, the paper said Horn was due back in Germany for more physical rehab.
All in all, Horn is in better place than he was two years ago, when he told the Sun, he lie on an operating table, seeing "bright lights," his deceased mother, his long-dead brother and his dearly departed four-legged coworkers.
"They were not ready for me," Horn told the paper of the afterlife. "They were not ready for me to do the show upstairs. Not yet."
Next-Generation DVD Format Wars Heat Up
LOS ANGELES - The battle to become the next-generation DVD standard has escalated, with Paramount Pictures becoming the first major movie studio to support both rival formats.
Until Paramount's announcement, the six major studios were evenly split between the Blu-ray technology backed by Sony Corp. and HD DVD supported by Toshiba Corp.
Both formats deliver movies in sharp high-definition and can store more data than traditional DVDs, which will allow them to offer interactive features such as games.
But the formats are incompatible and will force consumers to choose one over the other, a potentially costly decision if one format ultimately wins in the marketplace, the case when VHS defeated Betamax for home video in the 1980s.
Faced with a choice between two competing formats when discs do appear on the U.S. market next year, "consumers will stay away from that. They just will," said Ted Schadler, a Forrester Research analyst.
Decisions by studios to provide content is considered key to the fate of the emerging formats. Paramount's decision, announced Sunday, tips the balance in favor of the Blu-ray camp — at least for now.
The Walt Disney Co., Sony's Columbia Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox, which also support Blu-ray, have not said whether they will also release films in HD DVD.
Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. remain in the HD DVD camp.
"Universal has not changed its position," Lea Porteneuve, a studio spokeswoman, said Monday. "However, we continue to evaluate all potential opportunities."
Warner Bros. did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
The consortium backing HD DVD, which includes chip maker Intel Corp. and software giant Microsoft Corp., said they did not see the Paramount decision as a setback.
"While we are concerned that our established HD DVD partner has chosen to make this announcement at this time, we remain supremely confident in the superiority of the HD DVD format," Mark Knox, adviser to the group that supports HD DVD, said in a statement.
The Blu-ray camp, which includes Apple Computer Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc., was quick to trumpet Paramount's decision.
"It's a a pretty clear statement that Blu-ray has got some major momentum going on," said Andy Parsons, senior vice president of advanced product development at Pioneer, a major Blu-ray backer. "From a consumer's point of view, if you buy a Blu-ray player, you're going to have a much easier time finding content than ever before."
While Paramount still intends to release its films on HD DVD, the company said new information about the cost of manufacturing Blu-ray discs led it to reconsider its decision to support only one format.
Most critical to Paramount's decision was the availability of a Blu-ray drive on the new PlayStation 3 video game console, which will go on sale early next year.
"We have been intrigued by the broad support of Blu-ray, especially the key advantage of including Blu-ray in PlayStation 3," said Thomas Lesinski, president of Paramount Pictures, Worldwide Home Entertainment.
Toshiba, which had predicted it would have an HD DVD player ready for this holiday season, has delayed the launch in the United States until spring, bringing it closer to the expected availability of the PlayStation 3.
Toshiba still plans on selling an HD DVD player in Japan this year.
Formal talks between the two rival DVD camps about a possible joint format have stalled. Paramount's decision is unlikely to restart those talks and a format war, which studios dread, is as likely as ever, analysts said.
"We think the game's not over," said Richard Doherty, research director for the Envisioneering Group, a firm of technology analysts.
ABC Keeping Kimmel Through 2006
Jimmy Kimmel can expect to have a steady paycheck for at least the next year.
ABC announced Monday it is renewing Jimmy Kimmel Live through January 2007.
"ABC is on a roll. It seemed inevitable that they'd do something like this to screw it up," the Brooklyn-born host of the show joked in a statement.
Since Kimmel's show bowed in early 2003, it has steadily gained a loyal following despite its late post-Nightline start time of 12:05 a.m.
"The show continues to grow creatively, and Jimmy is at the top of his game right now, delivering a hilarious show night after night. We're thrilled he will continue to be part of ABC's current and future success," said ABC's executive vice president of alternative programming, specials and late night, Andrea Wong.
Per Monday's press release, Jimmy Kimmel Live averages about 1.5 million viewers per night. Early last month, the show delivered its largest audience in almost a year.
Indeed, Kimmel's witty and irreverent opening roundup of news events mixed with offbeat and popular segments like writer Jonathan Bines' "The Pizza" (a parody of R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet") and security guard Guillermo's recurring "Hollywood Round-Up" have won over many late-night viewers.
"I think one good measure of our success is the number of our bits that get circulated over the Internet after they've aired on the program," Bines told E! Online Monday.
Bines' "The Pizza" and genre-pushing Kimmel segments like "Unnecessary Censorship," which Bines contributes to, have been hits on Websites like Ifilm.com.
The show's creative renaissance has not gone unnoticed by Hollywood's A-list either. Jimmy Kimmel Live's guest lineup has seen improvement over the past year, with such big-name stars as George Clooney and Robin Williams dropping by the talk show's studio inside Hollywood's historic El Capitan theater.
Jimmy Kimmel Live may be best known, however, for its stellar booking of engaging musical acts. Over the last three years, the show has hosted such artists as Eminem, Weezer, 50 Cent and Green Day.
The show even built an outdoor stage adjacent to the theater in a parking lot for bigger-name acts to perform on in front of a live audience as part of the Pontiac-sponsored Jimmy Kimmel Live concert series. Performances from the series can be downloaded by music fans online.
While Kimmel has enjoyed nearly three years of success on ABC since he debuted his nightly talk show after Super Bowl XXXVIII, his time on the network has not been entirely without controversy.
Kimmel found himself in a bit of hot water with residents of Detroit after he made incendiary comments about the Motor City during the 2004 NBA Finals.
The 38-year-old apologized twice for the incident and has long since been forgiven by Michigan affiliate stations that yanked him off the air after he told a sportscaster during half-time of Game two of the 2004 NBA Finals, "They're going to burn the city of Detroit down if the Pistons win, and it's not worth it."
Despite the Detroit dustup, Kimmel is making amends by taking his entire show to the Motown the week preceding the Super Bowl early next year.
A new script for Fox, ESPN as baseball playoffs begin
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - It's a postseason with all the elements: big-market teams, some of the game's greatest stars, a Chicago White Sox team trying to end its own curse and a possibility for a rematch between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.
Eight teams -- also the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves -- will vie in the Divisional Series that begins Tuesday on Fox and ESPN.
"We've been saying for years -- you can't script October," Fox Sports president Ed Goren said. "For two years going into three, baseball has provided sports fans, I think, with memories for a lifetime."
Fox and ESPN, which have TV rights to the postseason, see plenty of possibilities that could boost ratings. There's the curse of history that has denied the White Sox a World Series win since 1917 as the South Siders are hoping for some Red Sox magic this year. There's the redemption sought by the Cardinals, who were swept by the Red Sox in last year's Series. And there's the always potent ratings combination of the Red Sox and Yankees, the two teams with arguably the most national appeal.
"You could write so many story lines on October 3," Goren said. "We'll just see how they play out."
"It probably worked out in terms of ratings and interest the way it did," said Tim Scanlan, senior coordinating producer of ESPN's Divisional Series baseball coverage. ESPN's telecasts begin Tuesday at 1 p.m. EDT with the Cardinals-Padres; it continues at 4 p.m. with the Red Sox-White Sox.
Fox's primetime game will be the Yankees-Angels from Anaheim. Fox has the choice to pick its primetime game.
"Both games are outstanding matchups," Goren said Monday. "We will have the Red Sox and the White Sox on our air moving forward, but it was pretty much a tossup. Market size is a factor, but again, you can make an argument that it's a wealth of riches, whether it's Yankees-Anaheim or Red Sox-White Sox."
Not that there aren't nightmare ratings scenarios even with this crop. Fox and Major League Baseball can't be happy with the possibility -- however small -- of a San Andreas Fault Series: the Angels vs. Padres, a small-market team with the worst record of any team in the playoffs.
After the lowest-rated World Series in history between the Angels and San Francisco Giants in 2002, baseball rebounded to score big ratings in 2003 and '04, particularly built around the thrilling seven-game Yankees-Red Sox series that sent the Yanks to the World Series in 2003 and the greatest comeback in baseball history in 2004 that sent the Red Sox to their first World Championship since 1918.
The postseason rights deal between MLB and Fox ends soon; Goren said he's interested in getting the deal done as soon as they can. But he didn't think that another year of big ratings will have an effect on the negotiations.
"There are a lot of positive things happening with baseball," Goren said. "We have a 10-year history. I don't see one year making a difference."
Music shipments down despite legal downloads rise
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Legal music downloads more than doubled in the first half of the year, but total music shipments dipped slightly, reversing last year's rising trend, amid fresh concerns over Web piracy, a record group said on Monday.
The Recording Industry Association of America said 343.9 million CDs, DVDs, cassettes or digital downloads were shipped to consumer outlets, down 2.4 percent from a year earlier.
Legal downloads of digital music files rose sharply in the first six months with 148.7 million digital singles downloaded, or nearly 2.5 times the 58.6 million songs last year. The estimated value of the digital singles and albums shipped in 2005's first half was $198 million compared with $73 million in the same period one year ago.
But shipments of CDs and other physical products fell by 5.8 percent. The value of those shipped products fell to $4.78 billion from $5.05 billion last year, and the RIAA blamed illegal file-sharing, unauthorized copying and traditional counterfeiting for the decline.
"Even as we continue to transform ourselves and transition to the digital marketplace, the music community is still suffering enormously from the impact of various forms of music theft," said Mitch Bainwol, chairman and CEO of the RIAA.
The decline is a sharp contrast to the first half of 2004 when CDs and other audio and video music products rose by 8.5 percent to 289 million units from 267 million in 2003.
Last year was the first since 2000 in which full-length CD shipments rose from the year before.
The music industry had been battered in recent years by slow sales of CDs as consumers turned to computer networks and downloaded illegal copies of digital songs.
But Web sites offering legal copies of songs have grown in prominence with the popularity of portable music players like Apple Computer Inc's iPod. Their rising use has helped boost the use of computer networks offering legal downloads.
'The Wiz' Actor Nipsey Russell Dies at 80
NEW YORK - Nipsey Russell, who played the Tin Man alongside Diana Ross and Michael Jackson in "The Wiz" as part of a decades-long career in stage, television and film, has died. He was 80.
The actor, who had been suffering from cancer, died Sunday afternoon at Lenox Hill Hospital, said his longtime manager Joseph Rapp.
Born in Atlanta, Russell launched his television career as Officer Anderson in the 1961 television series "Car 54, Where are You?" He also appeared in the 1994 film version.
He became a fixture on popular television game and talk shows, where he was welcomed for his poetic delivery that earned him the moniker the "poet laureate of television." He also took his signature four-line poetry on the road for readings and performances.
Russell also appeared in the films "Nemo" in 1984, "Wildcats" in 1986 and "Posse" in 1993.
He settled in New York after graduating from the University of Cincinnati and serving as an Army captain in Europe during World War II, Rapp said.
Russell never married. "He always said, 'I have trouble living with myself, how could I live with anyone else,'" Rapp said. "But he was a wonderful guy, very quiet, never bragged."
CBC, staff reach tentative deal
OTTAWA (CP) - A memorandum of agreement was reached early Monday between the CBC and more than 5,000 employees who have been locked out for seven weeks.
The basic concepts behind a tentative agreement were reached late Sunday under the supervision of federal mediators, but both sides will continue to work out the details and language of the deal, said Canadian Media Guild spokesman Arnold Amber. While the agreement will be signed Monday, it was not immediately clear when the CBC workers would return to work because both sides must still work out a return-to-work protocol.
In a statement released late Sunday, the union said picket lines were still in effect until further notice.
The Crown corporation locked out some 5,500 unionized employees seven weeks ago in a contract dispute that centred on a CBC plan to hire more contract workers, a move the union says would destroy job security.
"The most important thing about the tentative agreement - there's a cap of 9.5 per cent of contract workers compared to full-time staff employees," Amber said.
"That's the issue that we went out on, that we were kicked out on, locked out on."
Labour Minister Joe Fontana asked both sides to move negotiations from Toronto to Ottawa last week as political pressure mounted on the Liberal government to find a solution.
Discussions have been gong on under the supervision of Elizabeth MacPherson, head of the federal mediation and conciliation service, close to Fontana's office in Gatineau, Que.
"Canadians want their national public broadcaster back," CBC's president and CEO Robert Rabinovitch said in a statement early Monday.
"The last seven weeks have been difficult for all involved but we now have an agreement that equips us to serve Canadians as a public broadcaster should.
The breakthrough came close to a deadline on a news blackout, Amber said. The deadline had been extended several times as talks continued over the weekend.
"One of the mediators came up with a solution that led to the development of this cap process at 9.5 (per cent)," he said. "So that was . . . one of the turning points in the conversation."
The lockout resulted in cancelled newscasts, Canadian Football League games without announcers and complaints from areas of the country where the CBC was the only service available.
The agreement was announced two days before the National Hockey League season begins.
Under the tentative agreement, wages will increase by 12.6 per cent over the life of the contract to March 31, 2009, the union said. There would also be full retroactivity for all employees on the payroll prior to the lockout - including contract and temporary workers - and a $1,000 signing bonus, it added.
Amber said discussions on the back-to-work protocol would begin Monday and will work out the details sometime this week.
The agreement will then be taken to CBC employees for ratification, he added.
"There is a lot of resentment about what happened, but one hopes that there'll be efforts made on both sides," he said.
The upcoming NHL season - set to start on Wednesday - may have been an impetus behind the agreement, a season eagerly awaited after the league locked out its players last year.
In late September, the CBC announced it would broadcast 60 regular-season contests regardless of the lockout, which included on-air sports staff. Its first scheduled broadcast was scheduled for Saturday.
The corporation had been forced to broadcast CFL games without commentators and audio provided through public-address announcements.
The bitter dispute also saw Liberal MPs jumping into the fray, prompting some to suggest that the federal government re-examine the Crown corporation's right to lock out employees in the future. That would mean either changing labour laws or re-examining the mandate of Crown corporations.
Various unionized CBC groups have been locked out three times in the past five years.
Backbenchers also complained that due to the lockout, many Canadians were not getting the public service they deserved, particularly those living in rural areas.
Fontana congratulated the two sides and the federal mediators early Monday.
"This is great news for the Canadian people, who have been voicing their concern over the length of this dispute," he said.