Foo Fighters gear up for Grammys

NEW YORK (AP) - Dave Grohl's Foo Fighters, once described by bassist Nate Mendel as an "accidental" band, now have ten years under their belt, are playing bigger shows than ever and are up for five Grammys for their two-disc opus In Your Honor.

With power chords, rock riffs and a fun-loving attitude that would have been unthinkable to Nirvana, Grohl's prior band, the Foo Fighters have become an unlikely torchbearer for arena-sized rock 'n' roll.

On Feb. 8, the band will have a chance to add to its previous-earned four Grammy awards, its nominations including best rock album, best rock song (Best of You) and best pop collaboration for the unlikely duet with Norah Jones on Virginia Moon.

The ambitious In Your Honor - half rock and half acoustic - could make Grammy night an eventful evening for the band, but Grohl, speaking by phone from Paris, says whether you walk out with a trophy or not, the show's mainly for the "fam."

"You get the fam all dressed up, put 'em in the same room as Mariah Carey," the 37-year-old says, "and all of a sudden your career is validated."

Grohl answered the following questions the interview.

AP: With these five Grammy nominations, I imagine you're most pumped for the best surround-sound album one?

GROHL: You know, to be completely honest, that is the one that we're the most excited about. I mean, it's great to get the best rock record and the best rock song and all that other stuff, but something as wickedly technical and bad-ass as a true 5.1 surround record, that's pretty kick-ass. That just reeks of Pink Floyd or something like that.

AP: In other categories you're up against Neil Young, U2, the Rolling Stones . . .

GROHL: Dude, the competition is stiff. I didn't even know who else was in our category. . . . We're clearly the underdog. . . . We might stand alongside Coldplay (the other best rock album nominee), but that's about it. That's where that line is drawn.

AP: Does this album feel like your crowning achievement?

GROHL: Well, they all do in a way. Every album that we've ever made has made sense at the time. Having been a band for 10 years and watched this steady ascent, everything has just sort of grown at this really natural rate. And it's been . . . great. We've never lost it; we've never freaked out; we've never really wanted to stop. . . . But this album is probably the most ambitious record we've ever made musically. It was really our intention to widen the dynamic and broaden the scope of songs, rather than just go in and make another 10-or 11-song album that they'll pull a couple singles from and you make a new T-shirt and you hit the road. It was really more about injecting some new life into the band.

AP: You played drums for Nirvana and often drum for other bands like Queens for the Stone Age. Do you consider yourself a drummer first and foremost?

GROHL: Kind of, yeah. It's not my first instrument, but it's the one I'm most connected to for whatever reason. It's just easier for me, I can turn my brain off. . . . But when I'm hanging out with six or seven drummers, it's like they don't consider me one of them, because I'm the singer of the Foo Fighters. There's a whole drummer thing that's like Highlander. When two Highlanders are in the same room with each other, they just know. That's kind of what happens with drummers, but not with me.

AP: You're currently touring Europe. Do you find American and European crowds different?

GROHL: Not so much. When you play rock music to rock kids, it doesn't matter if you're Japanese or German, everyone pretty much reacts the same. Some countries go into football chants, other countries throw Mentos at you.

AP: Is it true you guys don't play Big Me anymore because crowds throw Mentos at you? (The Foo Fighters' video for Big Me famously featured parodies of Mentos commercials.)

GROHL: About maybe two weeks into the tour, Rivers (Cuomo), the Weezer singer, knocked on our door and asked if he could come in. He's shy - it was weird, I don't think anyone had ever knocked on our dressing room door before. And he said, "Hey, I was wondering if you guys would mind if we played your song Big Me?" And we hadn't played that song in six, seven years, and we thought, "Yeah, have at it." And they played it every . . . night. And we actually started to miss it. So once that tour ended and we went back out on our own, we kinda threw it back into the set list. But we did stop playing that song for a while because, honestly, it's like being stoned. Those little . . . things are like pebbles - they hurt.

AP: In some sense, that kind of reaction is something to be proud of.

GROHL: Yeah, but I wish they were like marshmallows or something.

Spears to Guest Star on 'Will & Grace'

NEW YORK - Britney Spears will guest star on an episode of "Will & Grace," NBC announced Tuesday. The pop star will appear as a Christian conservative sidekick to Sean Hayes' character, Jack, who hosts his own talk show, on the April 13 episode, the network said.

Jack's fictional network, Out TV, is bought by a Christian TV network, leading to Spears contributing a cooking segment called "Cruci-fixin's."

As a young girl, the 24-year-old Spears was a regular on "The Mickey Mouse Club." After becoming a pop singer, she starred in the critically panned 2002 film "Crossroads."

Last September, Spears gave birth to her first child, son Sean Preston, with husband Kevin Federline.

"Will & Grace," which also stars Eric McCormack, Debra Messing and Megan Mullally, is in its eighth and final season. It airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. (EST).

'Walk the Line' Snubbed for 'Best Picture'

NEW YORK - Here are some of the surprises from Tuesday's Academy Award nominations:

• WALK ON BY: Despite earning acting nominations for stars Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line" was snubbed in the best-picture and best-director categories. The crowd-pleasing, critically acclaimed story of Johnny Cash and his lifelong on- and offstage partner, June Carter, looked like a shoo-in among the top spots. Witherspoon, though, will likely end up in a two-woman race for the best-actress award with "Transamerica" star Felicity Huffman.

• ITS PLACE IN HISTORY: Taking the spot expected to go to "Walk the Line" among the best-picture nominees is "Munich," about the aftermath of the killing of 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympics. The film earned five nominations, including best director for Steven Spielberg and best adapted screenplay. "Munich" had won no major awards leading up to Tuesday, and despite receiving solid reviews, it wasn't considered a serious Oscar contender.

• MAN VS. HIMSELF: One of the nominations "Munich" received was for John Williams' original score — but he'll be competing against himself. Spielberg's longtime musical collaborator also was nominated this year for his work on "Memoirs of a Geisha." The veteran composer has found himself in this situation before, including 1978 when he was up for his iconic music from both "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "Star Wars." (He won for the latter.)

• THE FORCE IS WEAK: Speaking of "Star Wars," seems that barely anyone was among Academy voters. "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith," the sixth and (hopefully) final installment in George Lucas' epic galactic saga, failed to earn a nomination for best visual effects. All five previous movies either were recognized in the category or received a special achievement award for their high-tech visuals, the work of Lucas' company Industrial Light & Magic. "Sith" did get a nomination for best makeup, though — and it made over $380 million at the box office.

• WHERE IS THE LOVE?: Also receiving a surprising solitary nomination was "Match Point," for Woody Allen's original screenplay. The drama about a torrid affair between a social-climbing British tennis pro and an American actress had been hailed among film critics as a return to form for Allen, and it was the subject of a highbrow, high-profile awards campaign.

• THE INTRIGUE CONTINUES: Joining Allen among the original-screenplay nominees is writer-director Stephen Gaghan for "Syriana," a complex international tale of oil, power and corruption. That his script was nominated comes as no surprise — it's intricate, intelligent and extremely relevant. Where it was nominated is the unexpected part. "Syriana" has always been considered an adapted work, based on a memoir by former CIA officer Robert Baer, the basis for George Clooney's character. It's up for best adapted screenplay at this year's Writers Guild awards. The motion picture academy, however, chose to place the film in the original screenplay category.

• HUSTLE & BLEEP: Perhaps the most surprising nomination of all, and the one we're the most excited about, is in the original-song category: the insanely catchy "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," from the movie "Hustle & Flow" starring Terrence Howard as a Memphis pimp-turned-rapper. Since he performs the song in the movie, you know he's got to do it live on stage during the awards ceremony, right? Just like Faith Hill or Celine Dion or anyone else with a nominated song? And since Howard is up for a best-actor Oscar, you know he'll already be there. (Unfortunately, most of his graphic flow will be hustled away in the name of good taste.)

Dan Predicts

The Oscar won't actually be given out until March 5th, but if they were given out today, here are the people that I (Dan Reynish) think would win in the Six Major categories.

These predictions are based on industry buzz, the way the nominees have been acting during Hollywood's annual awards season, who has won either a SAG or Golden Globe award, and finally, on the performance in or of the film.

BEST PICTURE
Brokeback Mountain

Best Actor
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote

Best Actress
Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line

Best Supporting Actor
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man

Best Supporting Actress
Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener

Best Director
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain

Reaction to Academy Awards Nominations

Reaction to nominations for the 78th Academy Awards:

"We didn't make the film for any kind of political movement. We never expected to change people's minds. But if it does affect people's hearts, if perceptions can get altered, that's a good thing." — Heath Ledger, nominated for best actor for the gay romance "Brokeback Mountain."

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"I'll really enjoy it because it will never happen again." — Michelle Williams, on being nominated for best supporting actress alongside fiancee Ledger.

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"... I'm not certain that there's ever been a film that has a gay romance that's been embraced this way. But on the other hand the film is about a lot more than that. I've said this before, but it's sort of like saying 'Lonesome Dove' is just a story about a cattle drive." — Diana Ossana, nominated with Larry McMurtry for adapted screenplay for "Brokeback Mountain."

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"... I think I'm amazed how people everywhere have had the sensitivity to want to get into the complexity of the issue, the probability of love, the illusion of love, all those things." — Ang Lee, best director nominee for "Brokeback Mountain."

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"I'm just really delighted that this little film with big ambitions got the recognition it deserved. The only thing I wish is that some of my fellow cast members could have been recognized too." — Matt Dillon, best supporting actor nominee for "Crash."

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"I guess I'll go have a drink. I don't think my year could get much better." — Paul Giamatti, best supporting actor nominee for "Cinderella Man."

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"My eyes are so covered in tears, I couldn't see half the television. I didn't expect to cry. I thought I would be all right." — Terrence Howard, best actor nominee for "Hustle & Flow."

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"I am so thrilled to be nominated for something I loved working on every single day. I'm in such good company." — Judi Dench, best actress nominee for "Mrs. Henderson Presents."

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"It's just beyond my wildest dreams ever. Especially having five nominations for the picture, it's a dream come true." — Michael Ohoven, producer of best picture nominee "Capote."

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"I'm feeling very euphoric, I have a glass of champagne in front of me. It is the high point of my professional life so far. I say so far because winning it would be even better, but I'll settle for this for now." — Jeffrey Caine, nominated for adapted screenplay for "The Constant Gardener."

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"We're sharing the news with a lot of people, including a lot of people in Rwanda. The news is incredibly meaningful because they realize that people care about what happened to them." — Kimberlee Acquaro, co-director of "God Sleeps in Rwanda," nominated for best documentary short.

Globes Versus Oscar!

OSCAR - Best Picture:
"Brokeback Mountain"
"Capote"
"Crash"
"Good Night, and Good Luck"
"Munich."

GLOBES - Best Motion Picture - Drama
A History Of Violence
WINNER - Brokeback Mountain
The Constant Gardener
Good Night, And Good Luck
Match Point

GLOBES - Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Pride & Prejudice
The Producers
The Squid And The Whale
WINNER - Walk The Line

Here is the main proof the the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (who give out the Golden Globes) and the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are two different groups with two different agendas. Yes, the HFPA do have two categories and more nominations, but only two Golden Globe nominees were Oscar nominees: BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.

OSCAR - Actress:
Judi Dench, "Mrs. Henderson Presents"
Felicity Huffman, "Transamerica"
Keira Knightley, "Pride & Prejudice"
Charlize Theron, "North Country"
Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line."

GLOBES - Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Maria Bello – A History Of Violence
WINNER - Felicity Huffman – Transamerica
Gwyneth Paltrow – Proof
Charlize Theron – North Country
Ziyi Zhang – Memoirs Of A Geisha

GLOBES - Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Judi Dench – Mrs. Henderson Presents
Keira Knightley – Pride & Prejudice
Laura Linney – The Squid And The Whale
Sarah Jessica Parker – The Family Stone
WINNER - Reese Witherspoon – Walk The Line

On the other hand, all five Oscar nominees had been nominated for a Globe as well. Many people have said that this would be a tough year to find 5 worthy Oscar nominees, and that seems to be true with past winners - and Oscar favourites - Judi Dench and Charlize Theron nominated again. In the end, however, they did nominate the five best.

OSCAR - Actor:
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"
Terrence Howard, "Hustle & Flow"
Heath Ledger, "Brokeback Mountain"
Joaquin Phoenix, "Walk the Line"
David Strathairn, "Good Night, and Good Luck."

GLOBES - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Russell Crowe – Cinderella Man
WINNER - Philip Seymour Hoffman – Capote
Terrence Howard – Hustle & Flow
Heath Ledger – Brokeback Mountain
David Strathairn – Good Night, And Good Luck

GLOBES - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Pierce Brosnan – The Matador
Jeff Daniels – The Squid And The Whale
Johnny Depp – Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
Nathan Lane – The Producers
Cillian Murphy – Breakfast On Pluto
WINNER - Joaquin Phoenix – Walk The Line

In this category there were more to choose from and the AMPAS members nailed the right five. Yes, the fact that Russell Crowe wasn't nominated is interesting as he is a favourite as well, but the film did underperform, and he did get arrested when it came out for throwing a phone at a hotel clerk, so that explains that. Otherwise, this is the perfect category and the race is on!!

'Brokeback Mountain' Gets 8 Oscar Nods

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - The cowboy love story "Brokeback Mountain" led the Academy Awards field Tuesday with eight nominations, among them best picture and honors for actor Heath Ledger and director Ang Lee.

Also nominated for best picture were the Truman Capote story "Capote"; the ensemble drama "Crash"; the Edward R. Murrow chronicle "Good Night, and Good Luck"; and the assassination thriller "Munich."

The Johnny Cash biography "Walk the Line," considered a likely best-picture nominee, was left out of that category, though Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon earned acting nominations.

Three films were tied with six nominations each — "Crash," "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Memoirs of a Geisha," though "Geisha" was shut out in the top categories.

"Munich," which had fallen off many awards analysts' best-picture picks after a lukewarm reception, scored well with five nominations, including director for Steven Spielberg.

"King Kong," directed by "Lord of the Rings" creator Peter Jackson, earned only technical nominations, losing out in the major categories.

George Clooney picked up three nominations: as supporting actor for his role as a steadfast CIA undercover agent in "Syriana" and best director and co-writer for "Good Night."

It was the first time ever that a contender was honored with acting and directing nominations for two different movies.

Along with best-actor contender Ledger, and directing nominee Lee, "Brokeback Mountain" scored nominations for Michelle Williams as supporting actress, Jake Gyllenhaal as supporting actor and Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana for their screenplay adaptation of Annie Proulx's short story.

Director Lee said he was gratified at the reception both homosexual and heterosexual audiences have given "Brokeback Mountain," which has proven a steady box-office draw across the country.

"I didn't know there were so many gay people out there. Everywhere, they turn up," Lee said. "More importantly, I think I'm amazed how people everywhere have had the sensitivity to want to get into the complexity of the issue, the probability of love, the illusion of love, all those things. It's not simple things you can categorize as right or wrong."

The acting categories were a mix of familiar Oscar faces such as past winners Judi Dench and Charlize Theron, veterans like Clooney, Witherspoon, Rachel Weisz, David Strathairn and Felicity Huffman gaining their first academy attention, and young performers such as Williams and Amy Adams as a big-hearted Southern waif in "Junebug."

Philip Seymour Hoffman, the best-actor favorite for his remarkable embodiment of Capote, joined Ledger in the best-actor category. Hoffman has triumphed at earlier film honors, including the Golden Globes.

Along with Hoffman, Ledger and Phoenix, the other nominees were Terrence Howard as a small-time hood turned rap singer in "Hustle & Flow" and Strathairn as newsman Murrow in "Good Night, and Good Luck."

The best-actress race presumably will shape up as a two-woman contest between Huffman in a gender-bending role as a man about to undergo sex-change surgery in "Transamerica" and Witherspoon as singer June Carter, Cash's musical companion and future wife, in "Walk the Line."

Huffman won the Golden Globe for best dramatic actress, while Witherspoon earned the Globe for best actress in a musical or comedy. Witherspoon beat Huffman on Sunday for the best-actress prize at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Also nominated for the best-actress Oscar: Dench as a society dame who starts a nude stage revue in 1930s London in "Mrs. Henderson Presents"; Keira Knightley as the romantic heroine of the Jane Austen adaptation "Pride & Prejudice"; Charlize Theron as a mine worker who leads a sexual-harassment lawsuit against male co-workers in "North Country."

"I am so thrilled to be nominated for something I loved working on every single day," Dench said.

"Brokeback Mountain" led a wave of independent films that scored big in the nominations, instead of the studio fare that normally dominates the Oscars. Other than "Munich," most bigger budget movies that had been on the best-picture radar, such as "Walk the Line," "Memoirs of a Geisha" and "Cinderella Man," were overlooked in the top Oscar category.

The year's biggest hit, "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith," earned only one nomination (for makeup) — but was shut out otherwise — including the visual-effects category, a blow to George Lucas and his Industrial Light & Magic outfit that has pioneered special effects. The visual effects nominees were "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe," "King Kong," and Spielberg's "War of the Worlds."

With key prizes at earlier Hollywood honors, "Brokeback Mountain" heads into the March 5 awards as the best-picture front-runner, potentially the first film with explicit gay themes to claim the grand prize at the Oscars.

The film stars Ledger and Gyllenhaal as Western roughnecks who share a summer of love while tending sheep together in the 1960s, then carry on a lifelong romance they conceal from their families. Williams co-stars as Ledger's wife, who overlooks her husband's affair to try to hold her family together.

Weisz, playing a humanitarian-aid worker in "The Constant Gardener," won the supporting-actress prize at the Golden Globes and SAG awards, giving her the inside track for the same honor at the Oscars.

Along with Weisz, Williams and Adams, supporting-actress bids went to Catherine Keener as "To Kill a Mockingbird" author Harper Lee in "Capote"; and Frances McDormand as a miner coping with debilitating disease in "North Country."

Besides Gyllenhaal and Clooney, nominees for supporting actor were Matt Dillon as a racist cop in "Crash"; Paul Giamatti as a boxing manager in "Cinderella Man"; and William Hurt as a ruthless mobster in "A History of Violence."

Hurt was a bit of surprise since he only appears for a few minutes at the end of the film in scene-stealing role.

Lee, who won the Directors Guild of America honor Saturday for "Brokeback Mountain," is the clear favorite to win the best-director Oscar.

Along with him, Spielberg and Clooney, other directing nominees were Paul Haggis for "Crash" and Bennett Miller for "Capote."

It was the first time since 1981 that the same five movies were nominated for directing and best picture.

And for the first time since the animated feature film category was added in 2001 that no nominees were made using computer-generated imagery. The nominees: the hand-drawn "Howl's Moving Castle," and the stop-motion films " Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" and "Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit."

"Wallace & Gromit" creator Nick Park said he was thrilled by the nomination.

"It's fantastic," Park said, toasting the nomination with champagne at Heathrow Airport as he waited for a flight to Los Angeles. "You never know with these things. It's so unpredictable.

"You make the film for its own sake really. You don't make the film for this reason. It's just a great bonus."

Oscar nominees in most categories are chosen by specific branches of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, such as directors, actors and writers. The full academy membership of about 5,800 is eligible to vote in all categories for the Oscars themselves.

ABC will broadcast the Oscars live from Hollywood's Kodak Theatre, with Jon Stewart as host.

Here is the complete list of the 78th annual Oscar nominations announced Tuesday in Beverly Hills, Calif., by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences:

1. Best Picture: "Brokeback Mountain," "Capote," "Crash," "Good Night, and Good Luck," "Munich."

2. Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"; Terrence Howard, "Hustle & Flow"; Heath Ledger, "Brokeback Mountain"; Joaquin Phoenix, "Walk the Line"; David Strathairn, "Good Night, and Good Luck."

3. Actress: Judi Dench, "Mrs. Henderson Presents"; Felicity Huffman, "Transamerica"; Keira Knightley, "Pride & Prejudice"; Charlize Theron, "North Country"; Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line."

4. Supporting Actor: George Clooney, "Syriana"; Matt Dillon, "Crash"; Paul Giamatti, "Cinderella Man"; Jake Gyllenhaal, "Brokeback Mountain"; William Hurt, "A History of Violence."

5. Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, "Junebug"; Catherine Keener, "Capote"; Frances McDormand, "North Country"; Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener"; Michelle Williams, "Brokeback Mountain."

6. Director: Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"; Bennett Miller, "Capote"; Paul Haggis, "Crash"; George Clooney, "Good Night, and Good Luck"; Steven Spielberg, "Munich."

7. Foreign Film: "Don't Tell," Italy; "Joyeux Noel," France; "Paradise Now," Palestine; "Sophie Scholl -- The Final Days," Germany; "Tsotsi," South Africa.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana, "Brokeback Mountain"; Dan Futterman, "Capote"; Jeffrey Caine, "The Constant Gardener"; Josh Olson, "A History of Violence"; Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, "Munich."

9. Original Screenplay: Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco, "Crash"; George Clooney & Grant Heslov, "Good Night, and Good Luck"; Woody Allen, "Match Point"; Noah Baumbach, "The Squid and the Whale"; Stephen Gaghan, "Syriana."

10. Animated Feature Film: "Howl's Moving Castle"; "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride"; "Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit."

11. Art Direction: "Good Night, and Good Luck," "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," "King Kong," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Pride & Prejudice."

12. Cinematography: "Batman Begins," "Brokeback Mountain," "Good Night, and Good Luck," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "The New World."

13. Sound Mixing: "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," "King Kong," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Walk the Line," "War of the Worlds."

14. Sound Editing: "King Kong," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "War of the Worlds."

15. Original Score: "Brokeback Mountain," Gustavo Santaolalla; "The Constant Gardener," Alberto Iglesias; "Memoirs of a Geisha," John Williams; "Munich," John Williams; "Pride & Prejudice," Dario Marianelli.

16. Original Song: "In the Deep" from "Crash," Kathleen "Bird" York and Michael Becker; "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow," Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard; "Travelin' Thru" from "Transamerica," Dolly Parton.

17. Costume: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Mrs. Henderson Presents," "Pride & Prejudice," "Walk the Line."

18. Documentary Feature: "Darwin's Nightmare," "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," "March of the Penguins," "Murderball," "Street Fight."

19. Documentary (short subject): "The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club," "God Sleeps in Rwanda," "The Mushroom Club," "A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin."

20. Film Editing: "Cinderella Man," "The Constant Gardener," "Crash," "Munich," "Walk the Line."

21. Makeup: "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," "Cinderella Man," "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith."

22. Animated Short Film: "Badgered," "The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation," "The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello," "9," "One Man Band."

23. Live Action Short Film: "Ausreisser (The Runaway)," "Cashback," "The Last Farm," "Our Time Is Up," "Six Shooter."

24. Visual Effects: "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," "King Kong," "War of the Worlds." More to come....

Academy Award winners previously announced this year:

Honorary Award (Oscar statuette): Robert Altman.

The Gordon E. Sawyer award (Oscar statuette): Gary Demos.

The Couch Potato Report - January 31st, 2006

This week The Couch Potato Report includes movies that somehow entertain us, so we like them.

Sometimes we like movies and television shows just because we like them.

Regardless of their artistic merits, quality, or integrity, they entertain us and we like them.

That is definitely true for me when it comes to the work of Tim Burton.

Regardless of how successful - or unsuccessful - his films are with audiences, I usually find myself enjoying them.

That all started in 1985 with PEE WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE and it continues now with his latest film CORPSE BRIDE.

Much like TIM BURTON'S 1993 film A NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, CORPSE BRIDE uses the highly enjoyable stop-motion animation process to bring it's characters to life...and in this case, death.

In CORPSE BRIDE Johnny Depp provides the voice of Victor, a man who is about to marry a woman named Victoria.

When he can't seem to remember his vows he is sent into the woods to practice.

It is there where he finally gets it right, and he then places the ring on a twig that is sticking out of the ground.

The twig turns out to be the finger of a deceased bride who claims to be Victor's lawful wife. She then takes him to the Land of the Dead so they can begin their new life together.

In addition to Johnny Depp the vocal cast of CORPSE BRIDE also includes Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson, Tracey Ullman, Joanna Lumley, Albert Finney, Richard E. Grant and Christopher Lee. Every voice fits the character design and the film is fun!

Yes, it is about a bride who is a corpse, and that is a subject matter that might not be for everyone, but CORPSE BRIDE entertained me and I liked it.

I also liked KNIGHT RIDER, the 1982 to 1986 television series about a lone crimefighter who fights injustice with the help of an indestructible and artificially intelligent talking car.

Actually, I still like it! It never fails to entertain me, so I like it!

And now, the third season of KNIGHT RIDER is available in a three-disc box set.

In the history of the show season three is probably the one that is the best example of how entertaining the show is.

The camaraderie and working relationships between all of the main characters is strong, plus the actual KITT car has some upgrades as well.

No, KNIGHT RIDER was never the best show on television, but for some reason, it entertained me when it was first on, and the KNIGHT RIDER - SEASON THREE box set entertained me this week. So I like it!

I also like the 1984 science fiction film DUNE, although it is only an interesting, yet unsatisfying movie.

In fact, the new on DVD EXTENDED CUT is so bad, that director David Lynch took his name off of it.

When you watch the film, if you watch the film, it is listed as "An Alan Smithee Film."

Alan Smithee was a pseudonym that was used between 1968 and 1999 by Hollywood film directors who wanted to be dissociated from a film for which they no longer wanted credit. It was used when the director could prove to the satisfaction of a panel of members of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers that the film had been wrested from his or her creative control. The director is also required to keep the reason for the disavowal a secret. The pseudonym cannot be used to hide a director's failures.

In 1997 the Director's Guild decided to choose a pseudonym for each case separately, rather than re-use a particular pseudonym.

The extended version of the David Lynch film Dune was credited to Alan Smithee when Lynch objected to edits made to the film by its producers.

With or without Lynch's blessing, That EXTENDED VERSION of DUNE has finally made its way to DVD, and if you like the original version, which still has David Lynch's name on it, it is included on the disc as well.

Both versions of DUNE are set in the far future. A duke and his family are sent to a sand world, a world that produces a spice that is essential for interstellar travel. The fact that they are sent to this world is meant to destroy the duke and his family, but his son escapes and he seeks revenge, using the world's ecology as one of his weapons.

From the first time I saw the movie years ago I never thought it was very good, but somehow it entertained me, and I like it.

But as I said about REPO MAN last week, I now say about DUNE: "DUNE will never be considered a classic by anyone who didn't see it when it first came out, and it is for those people that this new EXTENDED EDITION is aimed at."

So, in a nutshell, it is aimed at me.

If you are like me, you'll be happy to hear that the EXTENDED VERSION of DUNE is available now available at your favourite local video store, along with the KNIGHT RIDER - SEASON THREE box set and TIM BURTON'S CORPSE BRIDE.

Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report

In Cameron Crowe's ELIZABETHTOWN Orlando Bloom is a man who must deal with losing his job and his father at the same time. Kirsten Dunst and Susan Sarandon also star.

WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT features the wonderful animated characters in their first full-length movie, and BAMBI II is the sequel to the classic Disney film.

In JUST LIKE HEAVEN Mark Ruffalo from YOU CAN COUNT ON ME plays a man who falls in love with a woman who is a ghost. That ghost is played by Reese Witherspoon.

In DOOM The Rock and Karl Urban play Marines who must go to Mars to battle experiments gone bad.

And WAITING is the story of a group of young people working in a restaurant.

I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.

For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next time on The Couch!

New CD Releases January 31

Daniel Agust Swallowed a Star (One Little Indian)

Ernie Andrews How About Me? (HighNote)

Andrea Bocelli Amore (Decca)

Boston T Party Boston T Party (fusion album w/Dennis Chambers, Dave Fiuczynski and more) (Tone Center)

Chino XL Poison Pen (two CDs; w/Killah Priest, the Beatnuts, D-12's Proof and more) (Audio Fidelity)

John Corbett John Corbett (Fun Bone)

Degree Absolute Degree Absolute (Sensory)

DJ Cam Revisited by... (remixes by DJ Premier, Thievery Corporation, J Dilla and more) (Recall)

Dozer Through the Eyes of Heathens (Small Stone)

Bobby Few & Avram Fefer Sanctuary (CIMP)

William Gagliardi 5tet Memories of Tomorrow (CIMP)

Heather Headley In My Mind (DualDisc same day; produced by Babyface and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis; guests Lil Jon and Shaggy) (RCA)

The High Violets To Where You Are (Reverb)

Tom Hunter Here I Go Again (FS Music)

Wanda Jackson I Remember Elvis (Goldenlane)

Jamey Johnson The Dollar (BNA)

Ernie Krivda 5tet Stellar Sax (CIMP)

Byard Lancaster 4tet Pam Africa (CIMP)

Adam Lane Trio Music Degree Zero (CIMP)

Eliot Lipp Tacoma Mockingbird (Hefty)

Barry Manilow The Greatest Songs from the Fifties (DualDisc same day; covers of songs by the Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and more) (Arista)

Lisa McClendon Live from the House of Blues (Columbia)

Michael McGoldrick Wired (Compass)

Media Lab Bleeding Memory (Sunland)

Moreau (formerly known as Cousteau) Nova Scotia (One Little Indian)

Anna Nalick Wreck of the Day (DualDisc) (Columbia)

David "Fathead" Newman Cityscape (HighNote)

P.O.S Audition (Rhymesayers)

Planet Asia The Sickness, Part One (Copter)

Lee Rocker (ex-Stray Cats) Racin' the Devil (Alligator)

Scotch Greens Professional (Brass Tacks/DRT)

She Wants Revenge She Wants Revenge (Geffen)

Matthew Shipp One (Thirsty Ear)

Stoned Emotion Stoned Emotion (AEC/Big Daddy)

Temptations Reflections (new recordings of classic Motown songs) (New Door/Mercury/Universal)

Termanology Out the Gate (Street/Showoff)

Train For Me, It's You (Columbia)

Larry Willis The Big Push (HighNote)

Rev. Billy C. Wirtz Sermon from Bethlehem (DVD same day) (Blind Pig)

Wolfmother Dimension EP (Interscope)

Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3 ...tick...tick...tick (Down There)

VA Breakfast Club: Paris (Water Music)

VA Dream Brother: The Songs of Jeff and Tim Buckley (w/Sufjan Stevens, the Magic Numbers, the Earlies and more) (Rykodisc)

VA Gangster Love Volume 3 (Thump)

VA Nicolette Larson Tribute (Rhino)

VA Rock for Relief (Rounder)

OST Baker Street (Decca)

OST Manderlay (Lars von Trier film w/Willem Dafoe, Danny Glover and Lauren Bacall) (Milan)

OST Mulholland Drive (Silver Screen Series) (Milan)

OST The Family Stone (score by Michael Giacchino) (Varése Sarabande)

OST Three Burials of Melquidades Estrada (Tommy Lee Jones/Dwight Yoakam film; songs by Yoakam, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard and more) (Recall)

OST Tristan & Isolde (score by Anne Dudley) (Varése Sarabande)

DVD And 1 Ball Access: Asia Pacific (Penalty/And 1)

DVD Alison Moyet One Blue Voice (Sanctuary)

DVD VA It's All About Dancing: Jamaican Dancehall Style (Penalty)

UMD Good Charlotte Live at Brixton (Epic)

Scrubs - Season 3 is coming in May!

I haven't heard anything from Disney, but Amazon.com put up a listing for the third season of Scrubs, due out on May 9.

The 3 disc set will contain all 22 episodes from the third season, and will sell for $39.99 (Amazon is taking preorder for $27.99). We hope to have more information, and artwork, when the set is officially announced.

Episodes include:
My American Girl
My Journey
My White Whale
My Lucky Night
My Brother, Where Art Thou?
My Advice to You
My Fifteen Seconds
My Friend the Doctor
My Dirty Secret
My Rule of Thumb
My Clean Break
My Catalyst
My Porcelain God
My Screw Up
My Tormented Mentor
My Butterfly
My Moment of Un-Truth
His Story II
My Choosiest Choice of All
My Fault
My Self-Examination
My Best Friend's Wedding

Golden Globes to Add Animation Category

LOS ANGELES - Animated movies will finally have a Golden Globe to call their own.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association will add a category to its awards program — best animated feature film — beginning with the 64th annual Golden Globe Awards in 2007, HFPA President Philip Berk announced Monday.

"Animated features have become an important component of the studio lineup," Berk said in a statement, "so there was an overwhelming consensus that this new category be added."

Animated films have been recognized with Golden Globe nominations in the best picture, musical or comedy category. "The Incredibles" was nominated in 2004 and "Finding Nemo" in 2003. Neither won best picture.

The new category is open to feature-length animated films 70 minutes or longer. If fewer than eight films qualify in a given year, the award will not be given, Berk said.

CBS' Latest "Amazing" Globetrotters

And they're off...

CBS has revealed the identities of its latest batch of Amazing Race-rs, including college sweethearts, bohemian best buds and a mother-daughter pairing.

The three-time Emmy-winning reality show will forgo last season's gimmick of four-member family teams and return to its original format for its ninth season, pitting 11 two-person teams against each other in a race around the world for a million-dollar prize.

Phil Keoghan again hosts the globe-trotting adventure series, which this season will span five continents and include stops in the Middle East, Moscow and Sicily, among other exotic locales, CBS announced Monday.

The 30-day trek requires contestants to compete in a series of mental and physical challenges at each destination, and only when each task is complete do they learn the location of their next mission. Each week, the team that's made the least amount of progress is eliminated.

Among the 22 contestants for The Amazing Race 9 are Tyler MacNiven, one-half of the self-proclaimed bohemian best-bud pairing, once walked the 2,000-mile length of Japan in order to impress a local woman, while married couple Fran and Barry Lazarus, both in their 60s and the race's oldest competitors, claim to have traveled to more than 45 countries and climbed all of Colorado's mountains.

Here's the complete list of competitors:

BJ Averell, 26, online tutor, Los Angeles; Tyler MacNiven, 25, filmmaker, San Francisco (best friends)

Scott Braginton-Smith, 41, sales rep, West Harwich, Massachusetts; John Lowe, 38, wealth manager, Dorchester, Massachusetts (lifelong friends)

Yolanda Brown-Moore, 27, science teacher, Chicago; Ray Whitty, 31, attorney, Chicago (dating)

Monica Cayce, 23, student, Fayetteville, Arkansas; Joseph Meadows, 23, homebuilder, Fort Smith, Arkansas (dating)

Desiree Cifre, 24, writer, New York; Wanda Lopez-Rochford, 44, corporate trainer, Smyrna, Georgia (mother/daughter)

Michelle Garner, 36, homemaker, Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Lake Garner, 37, dentist, Hattiesburg, Mississippi (married parents)

Joni Glaze, 44, children's minister, Katy, Texas; Lisa Hinds, 48, realtor/artist, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida (sisters)

Barry Lazarus, 63, retired physician, Silverthorne, Colorado; Fran Lazarus, 61, retired accountant, Silverthorne, Colorado (married 40 years)

Jeremy Ryan, 26, valet, Fort Lauderdale; Eric Sanchez, 27, waiter, Fort Lauderdale (friends)

David Spiker, 30, musician, Manhattan, Kansas; Lori Willems, 25, Pizza Hut manager, Manhattan, Kansas (dating)

Dani Torchio, 22, recent college grad, Staten Island; Danielle Turner, 22, recent college grad, Staten Island (childhood friends)

"Son of the Mask," Couch-Jumping Cruise Razzed

As if we needed the Razzie folks to tell us how superlatively sucking Son of the Mask was.

Nonetheless, the Jim Carrey-less sequel stands atop the field of 2005's craptacular cinema, notching a leading eight nominations for the 26th Annual Razzie Awards: Worst Picture, Worst Actor for star Jamie Kennedy (filling in for Carrey), Worst Supporting Actor for Alan Cumming and Bob Hoskins, Worst Screen Couple (for Kennedy and anybody sharing the screen with him), Worst Director, Worst Screenplay and Worst Sequel/Remake.

And while its lameness isn't up for debate, Son of the Mask actually has some serious competition for the distinction of Worst Film, namely: Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, House of Wax, The Dukes of Hazzard and Jenny McCarthy's blink-and-you-missed-it "comedy," Dirty Love.

Not only was it a disaster year for Hollywood at the box office, but with Hollywood's most reliably bankable star jumping the couch on Oprah, Razzie organizers decided to add a brand-new category: Most Tiresome Tabloid Target.

Naturally, the list is headed up by Tom Cruise (who doubled his displeasure with a Worst Actor nomination for War of the Worlds). He'll square off against another double nominee, Paris Hilton (whose "performance" in House of Wax garnered a Worst Supporting Actress nod), as well as Britney Spears and Kevin Federline (nominated as "Mr. & Mrs. Britney) and the Simpsons, which in this case include Jessica, Ashlee and Nick.

Cruise's betrothed didn't escape the Razzies wrath, either. Katie Holmes nabbed a Worst Supporting Actress nomination for Batman Begins.

Joining Cruise and Kennedy in the Worst Actor race were Will Ferrell, dinged for the twin bill of turkeys Bewitched and Kicking & Screaming, Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson for Doom and Rob Schneider for foisting a Deuce Bigalow sequel on the world.

On the actress side, McCarthy (who also is up for Worst Screenplay and Worst Couple) will face off against Jessica Alba (Fantastic Four and Into the Blue), Hilary Duff (Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and The Perfect Man), Jennifer Lopez for Monster-in-Law and Tara Reid for playing a "genius anthropologist" in Alone in the Dark.

Formerly know as the Golden Raspberry Awards, the Razzies were founded in 1980 and chosen by 725 film professionals, film journalists and film fans willing to pay a $25 fee.

Per tradition, the Razzie ceremonies will be held the night before the Oscars, Mar. 4, at the Hollywood's Ivar Theater.

Here's the complete list of Razzie contenders:

Worst Picture:
Son of the Mask
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigalow
House of Wax
Dirty Love
The Dukes of Hazzard

Worst Actor:
Tom Cruise (War of the Worlds)
Rob Schneider (Deuce Bigalow: European Gigalow)
Jamie Kennedy (Son of the Mask)
Will Ferrell (Bewitched and Kicking & Screaming)
The Rock (Doom)

Worst Actress:
Jenny McCarthy (Dirty Love)
Jessica Alba (Fantastic Four, Into the Blue)
Hilary Duff (Cheaper by the Dozen 2, The Perfect Man)
Jennifer Lopez (Monster-in-Law)
Tara Reid (Alone in the Dark)

Worst Supporting Actor:
Alan Cumming (Son of the Mask)
Bob Hoskins (Son of the Mask)
Hayden Christensen (Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith)
Eugene Levy (Cheaper by the Dozen 2, The Man)
Burt Reynolds (The Dukes of Hazzard, The Longest Yard)

Worst Supporting Actress:
Paris Hilton (House of Wax)
Katie Holmes (Batman Begins)
Carmen Electra (Dirty Love)
Jessica Simpson (The Dukes of Hazzard)
Ashlee Simpson (Undiscovered)

Worst Director:
John Asher (Dirty Love)
Ewe Boll (Alone in the Dark)
Jay Chandrasekhar (The Dukes of Hazzard)
Nora Ephron (Bewitched)
Lawrence Guterman (Son of the Mask)

Worst Screenplay:
Jenny McCarthy (Dirty Love)
Rob Schneider, David Garrett & Jason Ward (Deuce Bigalow: European Gigalow)
Nora Ephron, Delia Ephron & Adam McKay (Bewitched)
John O'Brien (The Dukes of Hazzard)
Lance Khazei (Son of the Mask)

Worst Sequel or Remake:
Bewitched
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
The Dukes of Hazzard
House of Wax
Son of the Mask

Worst Screen Couple:
Jamie Kennedy and Anybody Stuck Sharing the Screen with Him (Son of the Mask)
Will Ferrell and Nicole Kidman (Bewitched)
Jenny McCarthy and Anyone Dumb Enough to Befriend or Date Her (Dirty Love)
Rob Schneider and his Diapers (Deuce Bigalow: European Gigalow)
Jessica Simpson and her Daisy Dukes (The Dukes of Hazzard)

Most Tiresome Tabloid Target:
Tom Cruise and...His Anti-Psychiatry Rant, Oprah Winfrey's Couch, the Eiffel Tower and "Tom's Baby"
Paris Hilton and...Who-EVER!
Mr. and Mrs. Britney, Their Baby and Their Camcorder
The Simpsons--Ashlee, Jessica and Nick

Oscars nominations may climb "Brokeback Mountain"

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - This year, the big ape doesn't seem to stand much of a chance.

The Academy of Motion picture Arts and Sciences announces its Oscar nominations on Tuesday, and the betting is that small is beautiful in a year in which a spare, bleak film about a pair of gay cowboys, "Brokeback Mountain," has stirred more movie talk than the $200 million return of "King Kong" or other costly epics.

In stark contrast to some Academy Award years, small films made by independent filmmakers who spent years fighting for financing are expected to dominate Hollywood's most closely watched awards list, instead of big budget movies by Hollywood studios that have money to burn.

After all, nobody asked President Bush if he had seen the critically acclaimed remake of "King Kong," but he was asked if he saw "Brokeback Mountain." He found himself awkwardly ducking the question, although he offered to talk about ranching.

"Brokeback," with its challenge to one of America's most masculine preserves, Marlboro Country, has achieved a much sought after status in America -- it has become the subject for much talk around office water coolers.

But whether it can win the Oscar for best picture when the Academy Awards are handed out on March 5 is another question. No film with a theme of gay love has won the prize, which is a symbol of mainstream success.

"Brokeback" has won many early critics and press group awards, but "Crash," a racially charged drama full of unexpected twists and turns, stole the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday night. Its win put a temporary halt to the "Brokeback" bandwagon and suggested to some that there might be an Oscar contest this year, after all.

However, only one night before, Ang Lee, the Taiwanese director of "Brokeback," was named the year's best director by the Directors Guild of America, and winners of the DGA have a long history of winning Oscars.

BUCKING "BROKEBACK"

"Brokeback's" competition may come from "Crash," "Walk the Line," a bio drama of the stormy love affair between June Carter and Johnny Cash, and "Good Night, and Good Luck," the story of newsman Edward R. Morrow's fight against McCarthyism.

The big question for Oscar watchers is which film will round out the top five for best picture -- will it be "The Constant Gardener," a tale of drug company chicanery in Africa, "Syriana," a complicated tale of oil politics, Steven Spielberg's "Munich," about the aftermath of the murder of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, or maybe even longshot "King Kong," Oscar winner Peter Jackson's affectionate look at the big ape.

Many Oscar experts say the fight for best actor could come down to two men, Philip Seymour Hoffman for his performance as writer Truman Capote in "Capote," and Heath Ledger for his performance as one of the cowboy lovers in "Brokeback."

Time magazine film critic Richard Schickel says that Hoffman's performance is the kind "that Oscar voters like. It is visible acting and very much against type, whereas Ledger's is naturalistic and effective."

Other possible contenders are David Strathairn for his pitch-perfect performance as broadcaster Murrow in George Clooney's film on the McCarthy era; Joaquin Phoenix for playing Johnny Cash, warts, warbles and all; and the so far overlooked Ralph Fiennes, whose portrayal of a meek British diplomat in "The Constant Gardener" was overshadowed by his co-star Rachel Weisz, a possible candidate for best supporting actress.

Reese Witherspoon, who played June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line," and Felicity Huffman, who plays a man waiting for a sex change operation in "Transamerica" are both considered shoo-ins for the best actress nomination. Other possible nominees are Dame Judi Dench for "Mrs. Henderson Presents," a comedy set in wartime London, and Ziyi Zhang, the Chinese star of "Memoirs of a Geisha."

'Brokeback' Sparks Interest in Wyo.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Fans of "Brokeback Mountain" don't seem to care the movie was actually filmed in Canada. They want the Wyoming experience. The Wyoming Business Council's travel and tourism department has received hundreds of calls asking about scenery in the movie, which is based on Pulitzer Prize-winner Annie Proulx's short story about two gay Wyoming cowboys.

"When we tell them it was shot in Canada, they're still interested in Wyoming," said Michell Howard, manager of the council's film, arts and entertainment office. "They don't hang up and call Alberta. They're intrigued in the story."

Wyoming Business Council spokesman Chuck Coon said he hasn't seen a movie generate this much interest in the state during his 15 years with the travel and tourism department.

"In terms of phone calls and Internet requests, it's usually slow this time of the year," he said. "This movie has changed that."

Tourism officials have long known that a good movie can attract tourists. Store owners in Livingston, Mont., say customers still come to see the area where "A River Runs Through It" was filmed, said Sten Iverson of the Montana Film Office; New Zealand is banking on "Lord of the Rings" tours; "Sideways" didn't just create a demand for wine tours around Santa Barbara, Calif., it boosted sales of certain wines.

Wyoming has had a hard time tapping into that market, though, because so few big-budget movies are filmed here.

Occasionally people who see reruns of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" — a 1977 movie shot near Devil's Tower — call with questions about the state, Coon said.

"But there's surprisingly much more interest in Brokeback," he said. "The subject matter has something to do with it, but most of the calls we get are asking about scenery."

Coon said Ang Lee, the director of "Brokeback Mountain," toured much of the eastern Big Horn Mountains and several nearby towns when scouting locations for the film. But because of budget concerns, Lee shot the film in Canada.

Financial incentives have drawn many film companies to Canada, which has built a $5 billion film industry in the process. Because of the high amount of production there already, companies can hire local crews instead of bringing them from elsewhere, cheapening the overall price of the project.

Wyoming, on the other hand, doesn't have enough skilled workers for most large film crews, Howard said; if a major project was shot here, crews would have to be brought in from outside.

Three movies in the last three years — "An Unfinished Life" starring Redford and Jennifer Lopez in 2003, "Brokeback Mountain" in 2004 and "Flicka" in 2005 — had stories set in Wyoming but were not primarily filmed in the state.

"Flicka," a remake of the 1950's television series "My Friend Flicka," scheduled to come out next year, was primarily shot in California. There were, however, a couple of weeks of location shooting near Sheridan, Howard said.

Wyoming business and travel leaders are trying to find ways to lure movie production companies to film in the state, including a proposal to rebate up to 15 percent of purchases made in the state by film companies that spend at least $500,000 on production there.

The bill has good support in the legislature, Howard said, "but we'll just have to see what they want to do."

If it passes, Howard also wants to create a jobs program to train more Wyoming residents to work on film crews.

"It's kind of like the chicken and the egg, though," she said. "You don't want to train people until you know there will be work for them."

'American Idol' favored for gold over Olympics

TV's February sweeps, usually a hotly contested month full of specials and stunts, is an Olympic feat this year.

The ratings period that starts Thursday, which is used by local stations to set future ad rates, will instead be marked with a triple-axel asterisk: NBC's Winter Olympics competes on 17 of its 28 days.

Never mind that CBS will air the Grammy Awards and ABC has the season's top-rated Super Bowl.

Fox has a little talent competition called American Idol, which, at its torrid pace, probably will become the first series in eight years to outmuscle the Olympics. The show faces the Games on five nights.

"I do think it will beat the Olympics," says Magna Global USA analyst Steve Sternberg, except during figure skating finals that involve the U.S. team.

All of which leaves rivals combing for leftovers, especially among young viewers and men, who tend to be less interested in winter gold.

"We're not throwing in the towel; we're still programming aggressively," ABC scheduling chief Jeff Bader says. "But the combination of the Olympics and American Idol creates some time periods where those programs will dominate no matter what airs against them."

Still, ABC plans mostly original series opposite the Games, although it will air a repeat of Lost's pilot Feb. 22 opposite the Olympics and a two-hour Idol.

In addition to Idol, which adds a Thursday semifinals results show for three weeks starting Feb. 23, Fox plans new episodes of 24 all month. WB's series will sit out the second week of the Olympics, and the network will air a weeklong movie marathon.

CBS plans a rerun-filled lineup, along with Survivor, some new comedy episodes and a Valentine's Day special in which Dr. Phil offers love advice to Paula Abdul.

In deciding where to parcel out fresh episodes, "you probably don't get maximum value against the Olympics," CBS scheduler Kelly Kahl says. "Even though it's sweeps, they're probably better utilized somewhere else." On the bright side, look for fewer repeats than usual in March.

Despite NBC's Olympics marathon, analysts say, the network is too far behind to count on the Games to vault it anywhere close to first place. Instead, Sternberg predicts that ABC, CBS and, by mid-March, Fox will be in a razor-thin race for first among young-adult viewers.

So none can afford to sit out the month entirely. Says Sternberg: "The network races are so close, whoever's ahead season-to-date (as February ends) has a very good chance of winning the season."

Tom Cruise front-runner for worst acting award

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Tom Cruise may have survived a Martian attack in last year's remake of "War of the Worlds," but he has failed to elude Hollywood's movie police.

The actor was among the contenders announced on Monday for the annual Razzie Awards, which "honor" the worst achievements in film.

Cruise will compete for the year's worst actor award with Will Ferrell ("Bewitched," "Kicking & Screaming"), Jamie Kennedy ("Son of the Mask"), Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson ("Doom") and Rob Schneider ("Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo").

The nominees were announced by The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation, a tongue-in-cheek organization that claims more than 700 voting members.

Foundation head John Wilson said in an interview he did not think Cruise's portrayal of a working-class man in "War of the Worlds" was particularly credible.

While there were arguably worse performances, Cruise's off-screen antics, either in support of Scientology, or in the throes of passion with new girlfriend Katie Holmes, ensured he made the grade, Wilson said.

Indeed, Cruise was nominated twice in the new category of most tiresome tabloid target, which salutes "the celebs we're all sick and tired of," Wilson said.

Cruise is already a Razzie winner, sharing the honor with Brad Pitt for worst screen couple in "Interview with the Vampire." He was also nominated for the film "Cocktail."

Actresses Jenny McCarthy and Jessica Simpson also picked up three nominations. McCarthy was cited for worst actress, worst screen couple and worst screenplay for "Dirty Love." Simpson will also vie for worst screen couple, as well as worst supporting actress as Daisy Duke in "The Dukes of Hazard."

"Son of the Mask," a sequel to the 1994 Jim Carrey hit, led the nominated films with eight mentions. Unfortunately for the producers, Carrey did not reprise his role in the new film and no one went to see it.

"Dukes of Hazzard," which did well at the box office, received seven nominations.

Winners will be announced on March 4, the day before the Academy Awards. Last year's announcement was attended by Halle Berry, graciously taking her lumps for "Catwoman."

Jessica Alba picked as best girlfriend material by AskMen.com

NEW YORK (AP) - More guys want Jessica Alba for their girlfriend than any other woman, according to AskMen.com's top 99 list for 2006.

The 24-year-old actress tops the website's list ranking female celebrities on their "long-term relationship material." Alba is followed by Alfie star Sienna Miller and the ubiquitous Angelina Jolie.

The list will be posted Tuesday.

James Bassil, editor-in-chief of AskMen.com, told The Associated Press the list was determined by the rankings of 2.5 million readers and by the site's staff.

Readers of the online magazine were asked to vote according to the woman they would most want a relationship with, would consider marrying or thought best-suited to be the mother of their children.

Of course, few have ever accused Alba, Miller or Jolie of being short on movie star glamour.

"We encouraged readers not to go on looks alone," Bassil said. "I don't believe it's an entirely accurate reflection of what a reader strives for in their long-term relationships, but at the same time, it's not a sheerly surface appreciation."

The rest of the top 10, in order, is Brazilian model Adriana Lima (No. 1 last year), Access Hollywood correspondent Maria Menounos, Charlize Theron, Jessica Biel, singer Amerie, Natalie Portman and Eva Longoria.

Britney Spears - a mainstay of such lists in previous years - failed to chart.

Rescuers Save 67 Canadian Miners

ESTERHAZY, Saskatchewan - Rescuers retrieved 67 western Canadian potash miners who had been trapped underground by a fire, but several more miners were still in subterranean emergency chambers Monday waiting for help.

Seventy-two miners were trapped early Sunday when a fire started in polyethylene piping more than a half-mile underground.

When toxic smoke began to fill the tunnels, the miners retreated to so-called refuge stations — spacious chambers that can be sealed off and are equipped with supplies of oxygen, food and water.

Thirty-two miners were brought to the surface at about 3:30 a.m., said Mosaic Co., which owns the mine. Another 35 emerged a few hours later. No serious injuries were reported.

"They are glad to be on the surface," said Brian Hagan, director of health and safety for Dynatech, the contractor that employed the miners. "They protected themselves and that is what they are trained to do."

Marshall Hamilton, a spokesman for Mosaic Potash, said Monday morning that the five remaining miners were safe and expected to be brought to the surface shortly.

Rob Dyck, one of the members of the rescue team, said the fire created a lot of smoke.

"It was hot, dusty, but our training came through," Dyck said. "We've been in smoke before, but probably nothing this complicated."

The miners were not exposed to the smoke, Hagan said.

"A lot of them said they had a good sleep down there in the refuge station," he said. "They were pretty calm. They had water, they had food, they had all the stuff that they needed."

The mine, which was Saskatchewan's first potash operation when it opened in 1962, is located about 125 miles northeast of Regina.

Voice actor Carlson dies

For a generation of Canadians, he was the soothing TV voice that proffered recipes involving products such as Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallows and Miracle Whip.

The voice of Kraft foods from the '70s and '80s, Len Carlson died Thursday of a heart attack at age 68. He was one of the country's most prolific voice actors.

Carlson was the narrator in the popular Canadian cartoon Rocket Robin Hood, the voice of several Marvel cartoon characters including Captain America and Spider-Man's enemy The Green Goblin, and the voice of Bert Raccoon in CBC's The Raccoons.

"He was very physically active, so his death was a shock," said his agent Richard Menich. Menich said Carlson began as a pro athlete, a running back for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and a pitcher for the minor League Seattle Pilots. He turned to acting after injuries ended his sports career.

Carlson was a voice character in two YTV series still in production, Atomic Betty and Cyberchase.

The actor is survived by his wife Judy and daughter Corrine. Funeral services will be held Tuesday at Marshall Funeral Home in Richmond Hill.

Documentary revisits Cdn. pop from 60's

Canuck music history doc boasts never-before-seen performances

One of the clips in Shakin' All Over is an old footage of the Squires with Neil Young, top left corner, jamming together.

You won't believe the sight of David Clayton Thomas and the Shays performing on American television in 1965.

That's not the only reason to watch the two-hour documentary Shakin' All Over: Canadian Pop Music In The 1960s. But the Thomas clip will stick in your noggin because it's so damn bizarre.

The producers of the NBC musical-variety show Hullabaloo must have thought, "Hell, these guys are Canadian, so let's go with a hockey theme. Anything else might scare 'em."

So there's the group, performing the song Walk That Walk on a ridiculous set that is painted like a hockey rink. Large logos of the six NHL teams that were in existence in '65 hang in the background, alongside a scoreboard.

The most goofy thing of all? There are some stoic female models -- mannequins maybe? -- wearing hockey jerseys and posing stiffly with sticks, amid the musicians.

The girl standing guard in front of the net is donning a Maple Leafs sweater, so feel free to make up your own joke about the current quality of the club's goaltending.

Anyway, it all comes across as comical but slightly demeaning. These days hockey has been romanticized so much that Canadians might take such treatment as a compliment, but that's a rant for another day.

The whole point of Shakin' All Over is not to demean Canadian music, but to celebrate it. The documentary deals specifically with the era prior to the 1971 Canadian-content laws that force Canadian radio stations to play a minimum percentage of Canadian music.

The great thing about Shakin' All Over is the rare clips. Even if you're familiar with standard rock 'n' roll archives, there will be dozens of performances here that you never have seen before.

But be forewarned: While there are segments reserved for big-time acts like the Guess Who, Gordon Lightfoot, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Anne Murray and Neil Young, a lot of this stuff is very obscure. That might turn you off, or on, depending upon your level of fascination with Canuck musical history.

You'll see a group called the Great Scots, fully attired in kilts.

You'll see Tom Baird, keyboard player for the Classics, playing solitaire with one hand and piano with the other.

You'll hear Jerry Mercer, the drummer for Mashmakhan (which had a big hit with As The Years Go By), recalling that the band went from playing in a church basement in Montreal on a Wednesday to a full stadium in Japan on a Saturday. "We were almost like the Beatles there," Mercer says.

Yeah, almost.

A small criticism of Shakin' All Over is that it doesn't end in a particularly succinct way. One minute Crowbar is playing a concert with a stripper, then boom, the closing credits are running.

Overall, though, Shakin' All Over is a sharp showcase for a bygone era. And whether you're a hardcore music nut or someone who just likes watching weird archival footage, you never, ever will forget the hokey hockey set on Hullabaloo. Groovy, man.

Sirius, XM expose Canadian acts to Americans

TORONTO (Billboard) - Canadian acts picking up airplay on the country's new satellite-based subscription radio services are also getting much-coveted U.S. exposure.

Sirius Canada launched December 1, with XM Canada following December 12.

Sirius Canada is a partnership among Canadian Broadcasting Corp., Toronto-based Standard Broadcasting Corp. and New York-based Sirius Satellite Radio. It offers 100 channels for a monthly subscription price of $14.99 Canadian ($12.85).

Its package includes 10 Canadian-produced channels, with four of them dedicated to music: English-language Iceberg Radio and CBC Radio 3 and French-language Rock Velours and Energie 2. The music channels are all available to Sirius subscribers in the United States.

XM Canada is operated by publicly traded Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings with a minority stake held by Washington, D.C.-based XM Satellite Radio Holdings. Its $12.99 Canadian ($11.14) monthly package contains 80 channels, eight of them Canadian-produced.

All of its Canadian channels can be heard on XM's U.S. service. They include three music strands: the English-language outlet Unsigned and French-language Air Musique and Sur Route.

"XM and Sirius are being aggressive in seeking domestic content," says Derrick Ross, EMI Music Canada VP of national promotion and media relations.

Among the acts being heard on XM's triple A-based Unsigned are alternative acts Broken Social Scene, the Novaks, Metric and Luke Doucet. Sirius' triple-A/Americana-styled Iceberg has been playing roots-based Blackie & the Rodeo Kings and singer/songwriters Feist and Colin Linden.

"XM Canada has really gotten behind the Novaks, and, to a lesser extent, Luke Doucet," Warner Music Canada VP of radio promotion Steve Coady says. "These are acts on labels we distribute that we were struggling to get airplay on."

With Unsigned, XM Canada VP of programming Ross Davies says he is "discovering this incredible depth of music that hasn't been played before on Canadian radio."

Sources at XM and Sirius say that subscriptions at both Canadian operations are running ahead of expectations, but the companies decline to provide details.

"In Canada, there aren't many people listening yet," Standard Radio president Gary Slaight admits. "Most of the people listening to us are in the U.S. The big benefit right now for Canadian acts is in the United States."

Coady says, "I suspect the effect in the U.S. will be apparent as artists start getting hits on their Web sites from Oklahoma City or elsewhere."

But according to Iceberg program manager Liz Janik, Canadian labels are not yet taking advantage of the two satellite companies reaching "over 3 million subscribers on Sirius in the U.S. and almost 6 million on XM there."

With a few exceptions, she says, "the Canadian labels are asleep at the wheel" with servicing.

Broadcast regulator the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission granted the two satellite licenses in June 2005.

Under their license terms, the satellite providers can carry less Canadian content than commercial radio overall, but must offer at least eight Canadian-produced channels with 85% Canadian programming. They can also have a maximum of nine U.S.-based channels for each Canadian channel.

That ruling looks likely to be a central topic at hearings during the review of commercial radio slated to start May 15 in Ottawa. The Canadian Assn. of Broadcasters has said it will push for modifying Canadian content quotas at the review.

"Heading into the review of radio, we're very concerned how the satellite decision will (have an) impact on Canadian content levels," says Cori Ferguson, executive director of the Canadian Independent Record Production Assn.

Sources say that media spillover from Howard Stern's launch on Sirius in the United States has increased awareness of the satellite broadcaster in Canada.

However, Sirius Canada does not carry Stern, and it seems unlikely he will be heard in Canada anytime soon.

Under the satellite licenses, XM Canada and Sirius Canada's programming falls under CRTC radio regulations dealing with abusive comment. Both services also have to abide by the standards and codes of the Broadcast Standards Council.

"If there was complaint over Stern, and the Broadcast Standards Council found the programming in contravention to their codes, Sirius would have a big headache," one source notes.

"I don't think it would be a problem," Slaight counters. "People have to pay for service and can opt out of a channel. We're still evaluating the channel lineup and how Howard is doing in the U.S."

One Huge "Momma"

Everyone seemed to head to Big Momma's House 2 this weekend.

The chance to see Martin Lawrence redon the fat suit as an undercover agent playing nanny to some kids was too tempting for moviegoers, who shelled out an estimated $28 million for tickets to the sequel, making it the biggest draw of the weekend over fellow newcomers Nanny McPhee and Annapolis.

Big Momma was apparently buoyed by good word of mouth. Fox happily pointed out that business for the PG-13 flick was 47 percent higher Saturday than it had been on Friday. The movie averaged $8,586 per screen at 3,261 sites and its gross was the second best ever for January, beaten only by Star Wars: Special Edition's $35.9 million.

Additionally the sequel bested the opening of the original Big Momma's House, which debuted with $25.6 million in June 2000. For Lawrence, it's his second best opening, way behind Bad Boys II, which was bolstered by the presence of costar Will Smith and debuted with $46.5 million in the summer of 2003.

Emma Thompson's anti-Mary Poppins tale Nanny McPhee was about half the woman Big Momma was. Literally. The family comedy about a warts-and-all nanny tending to Colin Firth's unruly kids earned $14.1 million in second place, while playing at considerably fewer theaters.

Universal declared itself extremely happy with "the well above expectation" haul for the PG adaptation of the Nurse Matilda books, which also stars Angela Lansbury. Already a huge hit on its home turf in the U.K., Nanny McPhee check in at just 1,995 sites in North America and averaged $7,068.

Nikki Rocco, Universal's distribution president, noted that while "family films work right now" this movie had the additional appeal because "it's not violent, it's a fantasy, and children really like it." Rocco's says she hopes Nanny McPhee will "linger in the marketplace for a while."

It will undoubtedly linger longer than Annapolis. The lightweight Officer and a Gentleman wannabe, set in the U.S. Naval Academy and starring James Franco, foundered in fourth place with $7.7 million.

A PG-13 entry from Disney, Annapolis averaged just $4,802 per screen at 1,605 sites. It's been a rough go for Franco of late. A Golden Globe winner in 2002 for a James Dean TV movie, Franco's Dark Ages romance Tristan & Isolde has dropped out of sight after 17 days.

Meanwhile, last week's top movie, Underworld: Evolution dropped 59 percent to third place, earning $11.1 million. Kate Beckinsale's vampire sequel has tallied $44.3 million in two weeks.

But the movies in the fifth and six slots continued to hang in strongly. The fractured fairy tale 'toon Hoodwinked dipped just 29 percent in its third week with $7.3 million and has now grossed $37.6 million. And the favorite going into Tuesday's Oscar noms, Brokeback Mountain, fell off just 19 percent with $6.3 million. The film, which earned Ang Lee the top DGA Award Saturday, has an eight-week tally of $50.8 million.

Moving up 18 slots into 10th place was another critically praised movie, The Matador, starring Pierce Brosnan as a mixed-up hit man and Greg Kinnear as a distressed salesman. Adding 819 sites to play at 885 in its fifth week, the film gained 838 percent with $3.8 million, bringing its total to $5.5 million.

In limited release, the top per-screen average was $14,704 for Disney's Roving Mars, the documentary about Spirit and Opportunity's quest for water on the red planet, which unspooled at 27 large-screen sites and grossed $397,000.

At just eight sites, Fox Searchlight's Imagine Me and You, a British comedy about a lesbian love affair in the face of a traditional marriage, averaged $6,604 per screen for $52,830.

Overall, business was up 5 percent from last weekend, but, in a bad sign for the movie biz, down 5 percent from this time last year.

Here's a rundown of the top 10 films, based on estimates compiled Sunday by Exhibitor Relations (final figures are due Monday):

1. Big Momma's House 2, $28 million
2. Nanny McPhee, $14.1 million
3. Underworld: Evolution, $11.1 million
4. Annapolis, $7.7 million
5. Hoodwinked, $7.3 million
6. Brokeback Mountain, $6.3 million
7. Glory Road, $5.1 million
8. Last Holiday, $4.8 million
9. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, $4.4 million
10. The Matador, $3.8 million

Rocker Bryan Adams in Pakistan for quake relief gig

KARACHI (Reuters) - Canadian rocker Bryan Adams thrilled 10,000 fans at a concert in Karachi on Sunday, the first big show by a Western singer in Pakistan in decades, to help students affected by country's October 8 earthquake.

Adams, who performed most of his hits and moved the audience with "Summer of 69," said he was glad to discover new fans in Pakistan.

"I am here because this city has a special love for music," the singer greeted his fans at the Arabian Sea Club on the outskirts of Karachi, as hundreds of Pakistani police guarded roads and checked vehicles leading to the venue.

The Canadian rocker said before the show that he was excited to help the victims of the earthquake in northern Pakistan.

"The whole idea of coming to Pakistan is very exciting on many levels ... we are the first Western artists to come and play a big concert here," he singer told a news conference.

"We are going to raise a lot of money hopefully to help rebuild some schools in the areas that have been devastated."

Over 17,000 of the more than 73,000 killed in the quake were children who died in schools destroyed in the quake. About 3 million people were left homeless by the disaster.

Adams, who will meet President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in Islamabad on Monday, said he had no worries about coming to Pakistan.

Musharraf was instrumental in Pakistan joining the U.S.-led war on terrorism in 2001, a move that sparked a violent anti-Western reaction by Islamist radicals.

The hard-line Islamists oppose Western influences in Pakistan, especially rock music, dress and movies, which they consider immoral influences counter to Islam.

Witherspoon, Hoffman, 'Crash' lead SAG honours

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Reese Witherspoon as singer June Carter in Walk the Line and Philip Seymour Hoffman as author Truman Capote in Capote won lead-acting awards Sunday from the Screen Actors Guild, while the ensemble drama Crash, directed by Canadian Paul Haggis, pulled off an upset win over Brokeback Mountain for the overall cast award.

The best-actress honour for a television drama series went to Canadian Sandra Oh for the medical drama Grey's Anatomy.

Rachel Weisz of the murder thriller The Constant Gardener and Paul Giamatti of the boxing drama Cinderella Man received supporting-acting honours.

"Oh, my God, y'all. Sometimes, I can't just shake the feeling that I'm just a little girl from Tennessee," said Witherspoon, who plays Carter during her long, stormy courtship with country legend Johnny Cash. "I want to say my biggest inspiration for this movie obviously was June Carter. She was an incredible woman."

Hoffman, considered the favourite for the best-actor Oscar as Capote amid the author's struggles to research and write the true-crime novel In Cold Blood, had gushing thanks for his Capote co-stars.

"It's important to say that actors can't act alone, it's impossible. What we have to do is support each other," Hoffman said. "Actors have to have each others' backs. It's the only way to act well is when you know the other actor has your back, and these actors had my back, and I hope they know I had theirs."

Oh, who won a Golden Globe earlier this month, said she was gratified at how the casting of the show reflected real-world diversity.

"This is unbelievable. I thank every single actor out there. I'm so grateful for having a job," Oh said. "To all my fellow Asian-American actors out there, I share this with you, and be encouraged and keep shining."

Brokeback Mountain has been considered the best-picture front-runner at the Oscars, whose nominations come out Tuesday, with awards presented March 5. Its loss to Crash could prove a speed-bump on the film's path toward becoming the first explicitly gay-themed movie to win a best picture award at the Oscars, but Brokeback Mountain has dominated earlier Hollywood honours so it will likely continue to be considered the favourite.

It led the Jan. 16 Golden Globes with four wins, among them best dramatic film and director for Ang Lee, who took the same prize Saturday from the Directors Guild of America.

Adapted from Annie Proulx's short story about old sheepherding buddies who conceal a homosexual affair from their families, Brokeback Mountain also has earned top honours from key critics groups and the Producers Guild of America.

Sean Hayes, won for best actor in a TV comedy for his role as a gay man in Will & Grace, had a ready wisecrack about Brokeback Mountain.

"First of all, I would like to thank Ang Lee for taking a chance on me," said Hayes, who is not in Brokeback Mountain.

Last year, the wine-country romp Sideways won SAG's ensemble prize, while Million Dollar Baby went on to earn best-picture.

Crash follows the lives of a far-flung cast of characters over a chaotic 36-hour period in Los Angeles.

"This celebrates the definition of what an ensemble is all about. There's 74 of us," Crash co-star Terrence Howard said of the film's huge cast.

Weisz won supporting-actress for her role as a rabble-rousing aid worker, while Giamatti was honoured as supporting actor for playing the manager of Depression-era fighter Jim Braddock. Both had gracious thanks for their fellow actors.

"I can't imagine a greater honour than being acknowledged by my peers," Giamatti said. "Being an actor is a hell of a thing. It's a hell of a thing. It's up and down. It's great, but I found the best thing about it is hanging around the craft-service table with other actors and crew people, eating doughnuts."

"It's so special to be honoured by fellow actors, so thanks very much to the tribe," said Weisz, who also won the Golden Globe supporting-actress prize.

Felicity Huffman, who has been considered the best-actress Oscar front-runner for her gender-bending role in Transamerica, lost to Witherspoon but won the guild prize for best actress in a TV comedy for Desperate Housewives, which also won for best comedy ensemble.

"I love actors. I married one. OK, I married a fantastic one," Huffman said, of her husband, William Macy. "But even more than acting, I love the community of actors. I love the green room. I love the hair and makeup trailer. . . . I'm so happy I can make a living at it, because I was never very good at math."

Kiefer Sutherland won as best actor in a TV drama for the action series 24, while the airplane-disaster show Lost won for TV dramatic ensemble.

"A friend of mine always says if you don't have something nice to say about someone, say it," said Lost co-star Terry O'Quinn, surrounded by fellow cast members. "This is the saddest collection of climbing, grasping, paranoid, back-stabbing, screen-grabbing schmoozers and losers that you ever saw in your life. But we love each very much."

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Here is a complete list of winners of the 12th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards:

Movies:

Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote.

Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line.

Supporting actor: Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man.

Supporting actress: Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener.

Ensemble cast: Crash.

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Television:

Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries: Paul Newman, Empire Falls.

Actress in a Television Movie or Miniseries: Epatha Merkerson, Lackawanna Blues.

Actor in a Drama Series: Kiefer Sutherland, 24.

Actress in a Drama Series: Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy.

Actor in a Comedy Series: Sean Hayes, Will & Grace.

Actress in a Comedy Series: Felicity Huffman, Desperate Housewives.

Drama ensemble: Lost.

Comedy ensemble: Desperate Housewives.

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Lifetime Achievement: Shirley Temple Black.

Mozart hometown welcomes fans for bash

SALZBURG, Austria (AP) - Hot rock and cool jazz mixed with the classics in Salzburg on Friday, as Mozart fans spilled from museums and concert halls into a floodlit main square in an exuberant 250th birthday bash echoed by thousands of other commemorations worldwide.

As the city of his birth, Salzburg claimed first rights in the international celebrations, showcasing him in a dozen events that displayed not only his musical mastery but his life, loves and pastimes.

Salzburg church bells pealed at 8 p.m., the hour of his birth. Posters sprinkling the city proclaimed Happy Birthday Mozart, while the daily Salzburger Nachrichten displayed a full-page portrait of a serious-looking "Wunderkind" sitting at the harpsichord, with the headline: Salzburg Celebrates Its Great Son.

But it was mostly Mozart just about everywhere else as well, as people celebrated his musical gift to the world with uncounted concerts, opera performances, marathon classical broadcasts and other events.

In Vancouver, CBC Radio One's studios invited the public to a 12-hour celebration called Mozart Noon and Night, culminating in a birthday cake to be presented at 10 p.m. At Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, along with actor Colm Feore and several soloists, planned a literary and musical journey through Mozart's life as portrayed in his letters and the vocal music they inspired. Edmonton declared Friday to be Mozart Day.

The Google internet search machine rose to the occasion with programmers bedecking an "o" with a Mozartian wig and replacing a "g" with the treble clef.

Giants of classical music sang the praises to the creator of more than 600 works, including some of the most beautiful music ever written; the lover of scatological jokes; the impertinent youth who talked back to Austrian Emperor Joseph II after he criticized his Abduction From the Seraglio.

"He comes from another star," declared conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt as he grappled to define Mozart in his entirety.

Others put it more simply.

"I have CDs of him playing all day," said medical company sales director Peggy Taylor of Richmond, Va., as she prepared to go Mozart hopping from Salzburg to Vienna. "He brings me back into balance."

And for Salzburg cabbie Andrea Gautsch, "Mozart came with mother's milk."

While paying homage to Mozart, Austrian President Heintz Fischer evoked another Jan. 27 - the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp from the Nazis 61 years go.

"Austria not only gave birth to Mozart but to (Adolf) Eichmann," he said, alluding to a key henchman of Adolf Hitler - himself an Austrian.

In Sweden, state radio set up an Internet radio station broadcasting Mozart music for 24 hours playing "Wolfie's hits & misses." Public television also honoured Mozart with a 12-hour special.

Orchestra halls and opera houses performed his works in Moscow, Washington, Prague, London, Paris, Tokyo, Caracas, Quito, Havana, Mexico City, Taipei, Budapest, Beijing and scores of other cities worldwide.

America's oldest orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, got a jump on the birthday by playing an all-Mozart program on Thursday night. The program, being repeated Friday and Saturday, included the orchestra's first-ever performance of the uplifting Coronation Mass, which Mozart wrote in 1779. The New Jersey Symphony was nearing the conclusion of a three-week Mozart festival that included a community play-in of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik on Saturday afternoon at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.

Many classical radio outlets worldwide were reprogramming for the day to play only Mozart. Hundreds of marionettes took to the stage in excerpts of his operas in the German city of Augsburg, where his father was born.

Croatia's central post office stamped letters with special Mozart images. In Helsinki, Finnish music buffs were treated to 1,650 Mozart pastries before a special concert.

The square in front of the Austrian Embassy in the Slovene capital, Ljubljana, was declared "Mozart Square" for the day. In Brussels, Manneken Pis, the storied statue of the tinkling boy, was bedecked in a Mozart costume.

In Austria, the celebrations added special spice to the rivalry between Salzburg - where Mozart was born on Jan. 27, 1756 - and Vienna, where he died 35 years later.

Vienna was staging a new production of his Idomeneo in one of the city's three opera houses and reviving The Magic Flute in another. The Gothic St. Stephen's Cathedral was the venue for a performance of his Coronation Mass, and chamber music ensembles spread across town to perform some of his better known works.

Vienna Mayor Michael Hauepl took note of both cities' ties to the Austrian master as he reopened the baroque downtown house where Mozart wrote The Marriage of Figaro, declaring: "Mozart was incontestably a Salzburger, but today he also becomes a Viennese."

Back in Salzburg, visitors to the ornate Neue Residenz museum eyed Mozart's clothes brush and tobacco tins as they scurried through the Viva Mozart exhibit. Others at the interactive presentation joined in a minuet, under the watchful eyes of a dancemaster, dressed in 18th-century garb.

In an evening climax, thousands of bundled-up revellers packed the floodlit Kapitel Square. Flanked by baroque church spires, they sipped mulled wine and champagne and grooved to the sound of Mozart classics, Austrian rock and jazz against the backdrop of the city's majestic hilltop fortress.

"Momma" set to open big

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Martin Lawrence is expected to lead the weekend box office with his comedy sequel "Big Momma's House 2," one of four films opening Friday.

Horror fans should keep incumbent champ "Underworld: Evolution" in the mix. After opening at No. 1 last weekend with a sterling $26.9 million, the creature-filled R-rated sequel should cast a shadow among the top rankings.

Industry observers expect "Big Momma's House 2" to open slightly lower than the original film's $25.7 million bow in 2000 because it's a sequel and the first picture debuted in the heat of summer.

Lawrence reprises his role as master-of-disguise FBI agent Malcolm Turner, and Nia Long returns as the love interest. This time, Big Momma takes a turn as a nanny as Turner attempts to find his ex-partner's killer. But while undercover, he starts to grow attached to the prime suspect's three children. John Whitesell ("Malibu's Most Wanted") directed the sequel.

Universal Pictures' "Nanny McPhee," aimed at the family audience, will find its primary competition coming from the Weinstein Co.'s animated "Hoodwinked." Emma Thompson stars opposite Colin Firth and Kelly MacDonald in "McPhee," which has grossed about $34 million internationally, with $29 million coming from the U.K. The film was adapted from Christianna Brand's book series, which follows a magical nanny who tames the seven naughtiest children in the history of the world.

Disney's "Annapolis," referred to as a younger person's "An Officer and a Gentleman," appeals mostly to men but has been tracking well with female teens, James Franco stars as a young man from the wrong side of the tracks who gains admission to the prestigious U.S. Naval Academy.

The Weinstein Co.'s "The Matador" expands to 885 theaters Friday, up from the previous session's 66 sites. The

The comedy-drama, starring Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear, has generated $1.5 million from its limited-release run. Richard Shepard wrote and directed.

Magnolia Pictures' small-town murder mystery "Bubble" is the first of six films that will be released in near-simultaneous day-and-date on cable TV and DVD. The distributor will debut "Bubble" in 32 locations, about 60% of which are Landmark Theatres, the exhibition chain co-owned by billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner. Cuban and Wagner's 2929 Entertainment produced the film, which Steven Soderbergh directed.

"Bubble" will run twice tonight on HDNet Movies, the high-definition cable network co-founded by Cuban and Philip Garvin, and will be available Tuesday in video stores.

Disney's "Roving Mars," a large-format Imax release from Walt Disney Pictures, debuts in 27 theaters. The G-rated picture documents NASA's Mars rovers and their voyage to explore the Red Planet.

Fraggle Rock - A 2nd Season Set In September!

Muppet Central News is reporting that Fraggle Rock - Season 2 is being prepped by HIT Entertainment for release on DVD on September 5, 2006!!

Here is the word, direct via a Muppet News Flash from MuppetCentral.com:

HIT Entertainment has announced that Fraggle Rock Season 2 is officially coming to DVD. The scheduled release date is Tuesday September 5, 2006.

Fraggle Rock Season 1 was released last September and has sold well. Fans around the world will be thrilled that HIT is continuing with releasing subsequent Fraggle Rock seasons on DVD.

Over the weekend, Muppeteer Dave Goelz was the featured guest at a Fraggle Rock theatrical screening in Dallas. He confirmed that The Jim Henson Company has begun scanning the archives for bonus material for the second season box set.

Stay tuned for further updates and we'll keep you informed!

Ex-PM's in reality TV show

Stephen Harper may have the honour of being Canada's newest prime minister, but four of the nation's past leaders will have the great privilege of being judges in a new reality TV show.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, "The Next Great Prime Minister" will feature former prime ministers Kim Campbell, Joe Clark, Brian Mulroney and John Turner judging five young Canadians' public speaking and debating abilities.

The winner will receive an internship in a Canadian public policy think tank.

The show will air on CTV beginning Feb. 4.

Mozart Rules From Salzburg to Santiago

SALZBURG, Austria - This cobblestoned and turreted city of his birth is pulling out all the stops to celebrate Mozart's 250th birthday Friday. But not only Austria is seized with Mozart madness.

Symphony orchestras and opera houses worldwide are going through final rehearsals while radio program directors line up their Mozart CDs. Piano students are polishing pieces for Mozart marathons and puppeteers are preparing for jubilee performances as hundreds of cities across five continents prepare to pay their respects to the musical genius.

For many, Mozart Central will be Salzburg, where he was born on Jan. 27, 1756.

Always a trove for Mozart souvenirs, Salzburg has outdone itself this year. Store shelves are stocked with Mozart beer and wine, Mozart baby bottles, Mozart milkshakes, Mozart knickers and Mozart jigsaw puzzles — along with the usual T-shirts, calendars and coffee mugs.

But on Friday, the music's the thing. Among the most interesting Salzburg offerings: Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Vienna Philharmonic play Mozart's Piano Concert No. 18, before Riccardo Muti takes to the podium and leads the orchestra — and renowned signers — through their paces in a collage of his works.

Vienna, which claims Mozart in his later years, is staging a new production of his "Idomeneo" in one of the city's three opera houses and reviving "The Magic Flute" in another.

Both cities are offering either musical or culinary tours built around Mozart's works, his favorite restaurants, his friends and enemies, and his approach to art and love.

But the immortal Mozart will rule elsewhere as well.

He'll be the focus of a 12-hour Swedish documentary, his works will be performed by orchestras or opera houses in Moscow, Washington, Prague, London, Paris, New York, Tokyo, Caracas, Quito, Havana, Mexico City, Taipei, Budapest and scores of other cities worldwide.

Even Nashville, more famous for country music than Mozart, will tip its hat to Amadeus, with the city's symphony orchestra performing his Piano Concerto No. 21.

And there are hundreds of other offerings.

Many classical radio outlets in the United States and elsewhere are reprogramming for the day to play only Mozart. Hundreds of marionettes will take to the stage in excerpts of his operas in the German city of Augsburg, where his father was born.

Vienna has set up 50 bright red "Calling Mozart" booths to allow visitors to listen to his works and information about his life and times. It will formally reopen the restored house where he wrote "The Marriage of Figaro."

Salzburg visitors are advised to watch the calories. Bakers were putting the icing Thursday on a gargantuan birthday cake — about 300 pounds.

Too much hoopla? Consider this: Mozart wrote his first symphonies before turning 10 and his first significant opera at 12. He was instrumental in changing opera into the form we know and enjoy today.

He was prolific like few others, creating nearly two dozen operas and other stage works and hundreds of solo and orchestral pieces before his death at 35. Other greats like Beethoven and Wagner publicly recognized their debt to him.

There is some comfort, however, for those who feel Mozart mania is out of control — he had his detractors.

Some history books depict his tenure in Salzburg ending ingloriously in 1781 with a kick in the bottom from a servant of Mozart's patron, the city's imperious archbishop, after Mozart refused to follow orders on how to compose.

But for mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager, Mozart is "a gift from God" and "the light I orient my life around."

Others describe him in more down-to-earth terms (and his letters certainly reveal an exuberant personality and scatological sense of humor) as they explain why he can reach out even to those normally immune to classical music.

Two 'Narnia' versions to hit DVD in April

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Disney has big DVD plans for "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," preparing two versions of the blockbuster hit for release on April 4.

Both the single-disc version ($19.99) and a two-disc edition ($29.99) will include two commentaries with director Andrew Adamson, one in which he's accompanied by other filmmakers and the other, by children. Both versions also will come with pop-up windows throughout the film with facts on the movie and "Narnia" author C.S. Lewis.

The double-disc "Narnia" also will come with a booklet, concept art, storytelling diaries of the filmmakers, a "making of" featurette, an interactive map of Narnia and other extras.

Also in the works from Disney is a single-disc version of "Chicken Little," the studio's first computer-animated film produced in-house rather than by Pixar. The DVD will be out March 21 and include music videos, "making of" featurettes on the animation process and the vocal talent, and deleted scenes, including an early take in which Chicken Little is a girl voiced by Holly Hunter.

Disney also has begun showing an 11-minute preview of the direct-to-video sequel "Bambi II" on the film's Web site (http://www.bambi2DVD.com) in advance of the February 7 street date. The belated sequel to the 1942 animated classic will be in stores only 70 days before it is placed on moratorium.

Kidman Accepts Role As Goodwill Ambassador

UNITED NATIONS - Nicole Kidman has a new role — working to advance women's rights around the globe as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. The Oscar-winning actress will work with the United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM, on critical gender concerns such as ending violence against women.

"I hope that I can act as a conduit, that I can be the person who tells some of these stories," Kidman told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday. "The way in which I was raised and the things I've seen in my life has led me toward this."

Kidman, 38, looked relaxed throughout the interview, wearing a fitted black pants suit and wearing a ring on her left ring finger. The actress, who is divorced from Tom Cruise, has been romantically linked to country singer Keith Urban.

When asked what led her to volunteer for what she says will be a lifetime commitment to women's causes, Kidman said her parents were a big influence during her childhood in Australia.

"My family, we sat around the dinner table, we had political conversations. My father always said, `You need to be involved. Don't be a voyeur, be a participator,'" Kidman said.

She first heard about the work of UNIFEM after her mother listened to a BBC report about the group's work in Cambodia and told her about it.

Additionally, her work on the movie "The Human Stain" — in which she played a woman exposed to abuse — led her to real-life brushes with the issue.

"I went to meet with a lot of women in shelters — abuse shelters — and the stories I heard there ... were so disturbing," Kidman said at an earlier news conference Thursday.

She said that experience led her to try to find a way to help such women.

Since the 1950s, U.N. agencies have enlisted the help of prominent personalities from the arts and sports worlds to highlight key issues, including Angelina Jolie, who has traveled widely as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency.

Kidman said she didn't know if she would be able to travel as much as Jolie. Having older children in school makes it more difficult, she said, but she hopes the actresses' celebrity status might work together to benefit their respective causes.

"Angelina is dealing with a certain issue, I'm dealing with different issues. I hope all of it comes together in some way," she told the AP.

The first countries Kidman plans to visit are Sudan, Congo, Liberia, Afghanistan and Cambodia.

UNIFEM's Executive Director Noeleen Heyzer said Kidman will help greatly with the group's cause.

"She's a very profound actress and artist and I was very, very touched by her commitment to make sure she used her gifts for women everywhere in the world," Heyzer said.

Heyzer noted that it was Kidman who contacted UNIFEM and that her decision to work with the group has already generated a lot of attention from women around the globe.

"I have to say that today many women celebrate this event and welcome you as a sister, a sister of commitment," Heyzer said. "I've been receiving messages from all parts of the world to say that this is a special day to them as well."

Kidman won an Oscar for her role in 2002's "The Hours."

Her screen credits include "The Interpreter," a 2005 thriller in which she played a U.N. interpreter caught up in a cloak-and-dagger assassination attempt.

The Couch Potato Report - January 26th, 2006

This week The Couch Potato Report includes a flightplan, the aristocrats and three films from the 1980s.

I am now and I have always been a fan of Jodie Foster and her work.

Ever since 1976, when I first saw her onscreen as Tallulah in BUGSY MALONE, and as Annabel Andrews in FREAKY FRIDAY, I have been hooked.

Since then I have thoroughly enjoyed Jodie's work in FIVE CORNERS, STEALING HOME, LITTLE MAN TATE, CONTACT, THE ACCUSED, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and PANIC ROOM, just to name a few of her films.

Much to my chagrin, Jodie only appears these days in a new film about once every 18 months.

Last September I was very excited to watch Jodie's 2005 effort, the thriller FLIGHTPLAN.

But make no mistake, I don't usually love a movie just because an artist I admire is in it. And yes, I admire Jodie Foster, and I find some enjoyment in all of her movies due to that fact, but in order for me to recommend it to you in this forum, FLIGHTPLAN has to stand on its own as a film.

Sadly, it doesn't.

In the film Jodie plays a woman who is flying on a jumbo jet with her daughter from Berlin to America.

Along the way, at 30,000 feet above the ground, the child disappears without a trace and no one is able to confirm that the child was ever actually there.

I love that premise, and my opinions on Jodie Foster are well stated, but FLIGHTPLAN just has too many holes in the plot to allow me to recommend it.

Yes, you will remain curious throughout the movie as there is a great deal of suspense, and it is well paced with a running time of 98 minutes, but FLIGHTPLAN doesn't answer all the questions that it asks, and the end result is only a mediocre thriller.

One that I can't recommend to you, no matter how much I love the star.

Unfortunately, I also can't recommend this week's other major new release to you.

That film is THE ARISTOCRATS.

In this film one-hundred comedians, including George Carlin, Robin Williams, Drew Carey, Dave Thomas, John Stewart, Eric Idle, Chris Rock, Tim Conway, Whoopi Goldberg, Sarah Silverman, and many, many more, each tell "the dirtiest joke of all time" in their own unique way.

The joke starts off with a person telling a Manager that they have the greatest show business act of all time, and it ends with the words "The Aristocrats."

Everything in between is what the comedians fill in.

And comedians have been filling in the middle part for years as it originated during the vaudeville years.

Unfortunately, not much of what they use in the middle is repeatable here as they use outrageously obscene scenarios to try and make other comedians laugh.

And if you watch the film you will laugh at least once. I laughed many, many times.

Yet, I can't recommend the film.

That is because the scenarios that these comedians conjure up are so dirty, so foul and so disgusting that I don't want anyone checking this film out because they heard it would make them laugh.

Yes, THE ARISTOCRATS will make you laugh, but it might also offend you.

Thus, I don't recommend it, but it is a very, very funny film that I enjoyed immensely!

I have also enjoyed DEAD POET'S SOCIETY and GOOD MORNING VIETNAM.

Both of them star Robin Williams - who you can also see in THE ARISTOCRATS - and both of them are now available as SPECIAL EDITION DVDs!

In DEAD POET'S SOCIETY Williams stars as English professor John Keating. He works hard to entertain and inspire his students to form a love of poetry, and more importantly to "seize the day."

The SPECIAL EDITION DVD features a commentary by Director Peter Weir, a collection of uncut, deleted scenes, a look back at the making of the film and more.

DEAD POET'S SOCIETY remains a superb film seventeen years after it's release, but if we are talking about superb Robin Williams films, and we are, that list will always feature GOOD MORNING VIETNAM at the top of it!

In that film Williams plays real life person Adrian Cronauer, an unorthodox and irreverent radio announcer who breathes life into the stale and stiff US Armed Services Radio station in Vietnam.

He does the type of things on his show I would love to do!

The GOOD MORNING VIETNAM SPECIAL EDITION DVD includes a thirty-four minute production diary, six behind-the-scenes features, and the real Adrian Cronauer explains how he created the "Good Morning Vietnam" sign on.

There is also about thirteen minutes of raw Williams performance footage, from which many of the movie's best comedic moments were taken.

GOOD MORNING VIETNAM remains one of my favourite movies of all time, and this SPECIAL EDITION is a great addition to my movie library.

Finally this week is the new COLLECTOR'S EDITION of the 1984 film REPO MAN. Emilio Estevaz plays a young punk named Otto in the movie who becomes a repo man after helping to steal a car. Once he begins his new job he soon finds himself in the middle of a world that contains aliens, government agents and a huge repossession bounty on a 1964 Chevy Malibu.

REPO MAN will never be considered a classic by anyone who didn't see the film when it first came out. It is for those people that this new COLLECTOR'S EDITION is for, especially since this is the fourth time that the film has been released on DVD.

I am not one of the people who love REPO MAN, but it remains a unique, cult film from my youth. Plus, it is the sort of obscure science fiction film that they don't make anymore, and that makes it worth seeing, at least once.

The REPO MAN - COLLECTOR'S EDITION is now available at your favourite local video store along with GOOD MORNING VIETNAM, DEAD POET'S SOCIETY, THE ARISTOCRATS and FLIGHTPLAN.

Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report

I'll talk about Tim Burton's completely enjoyable stop-motion animation film CORPSE BRIDE; the third season of the TV show KNIGHT RIDER and I tell you what the name Alan Smithee means in the movie world as it relates to the EXTENDED EDITION of the 1984 movie DUNE.

I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.

For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next time on The Couch!

'C.R.A.Z.Y.' nabs a 12 Genie noms

TORONTO (CP) - C.R.A.Z.Y., Jean-Marc Vallee's funny but poignant story of an extraordinary young man growing up in Quebec, leads the nominations for the 26th annual Genie Awards, which celebrate the best in Canadian cinema.

It has 12 nods, including best picture. The comedy is also Canada's official submission for the best foreign-film Oscar this year. The four other best-picture contenders include Deepa Mehta's Water, the third in her elements trilogy which previously included Earth and Fire.

Familia, another Quebec film and Louise Archambault's first feature, about what constitutes real family bonds, also made the cut, as did Michael Dowse's It's All Gone Pete Tong, a frenetic tale about a coke-addicted superstar DJ who learns he is going deaf.

The other best-picture entry is Michael McGowan's Saint Ralph, about a Catholic teenager in the 1950s who decides to enter the Boston Marathon foot race, hoping for a miracle to cure his ailing mother.

Surprisingly, 2005 features from two of Canada's most internationally famous directors, Atom Egoyan and David Cronenberg, are not in the best-picture race.

Cronenberg's A History of Violence was foreign financed and so did not qualify under the Genies' complex Canadian content rules. Egoyan's Where the Truth Lies was eligible and did get five nominations, including best adapted screenplay for the director.

The 2006 Genies will be handed out March 13.

Paul Gratton, chairman of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, which oversees the awards, says the nomination of C.R.A.Z.Y., which is also Canada's top-grossing film of 2005, was no surprise.

"A gay coming-of-age story that's been given a different and totally delightful original spin based on style and the use of pop music," is how Gratton described it.

He also had praise for Mehta's Water, recalling how the production had to shut down in India because of threats of violence from fundamentalists who objected to its story of the treatment of widows under ancient religious laws.

"I think it's Deepa's most accomplished and most beautiful film to date. It has a lyrical quality. . .and it builds subtly to a very moving climax."

Water was a nominations runner-up with nine, including best director. It's All Gone Pete Tong enjoyed eight, while Luc Picard's L'Audition and Familia had seven each.

Best-actor nominees include Picard, Paul Kaye for Pete Tong and Adam Butcher for Saint Ralph. Campbell Scott and Gordon Pinsent are best supporting actor contenders for Saint Ralph.

Best actress nominees include Arsinee Khanjian for Sabah - A Love Story and Macha Grenon and Sylvie Moreau for Familia.

Academy president and CEO Maria Topalovitch called the nominees an "eclectic, wonderful group of films" and declined to comment on the absence of Egoyan and Cronenberg, whose films appeared together at both the Cannes and Toronto International Film Festivals last year.

Topalovitch conceded that while things are improving, Canadian films still have a struggle getting exposed to Canadian theatre-going audiences.

"We're in a unique situation, situated right next to the largest entertainment machine in the world," she said. "But the Genie Awards are part of a national passion to raise awareness."

She said the nominated titles are actually doing quite well, especially C.R.A.Z.Y. and Familia which are doing huge box office in Quebec, and she will be watching to see if C.R.A.Z.Y. makes the foreign-film category when Academy Award nominations are announced next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Genies will be telecast for the third year in a row on CHUM stations across Canada (Citytv, Bravo, Star and MusiMax). CHUM continues to tinker with the format, last year setting it in a nightclub atmosphere. This year the one-hour telecast will actually begin in an after-the-awards party setting. The handing out of the hardware will take place first, with excerpts played back during the live backstage show.

Marcie Martin, executive producer at CHUM, believed that would make for a better show, especially after last year when the awards were top-heavy with Quebec winners who chose to make their acceptance speeches in French, which, Martin says, didn't make for the best English-language TV and didn't do as much to help promote the titles for anglophone audiences.

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Here are the nominees in key categories for the 2006 Genie Awards, honouring the best in Canadian-made cinema:

Best Motion Picture: C.R.A.Z.Y. (Pierre Even, Jean-Marc Vallee); Familia (Luc Dery); It's All Gone Pete Tong (Elizabeth Yake, Allan Niblo, James Richardson); Saint Ralph (Michael Souther, Teza Lawrence, Andrea Mann, Seaton McLean); Water (David Hamilton)

Direction: Luc Picard (L'Audition); Jean-Marc Vallee (C.R.A.Z.Y.); Louise Archambault (Familia); Michael Dowse (It's All Gone Pete Tong); Deepa Mehta (Water)

Actor in a leading role: Luc Picard (L'Audition); Michael Cote (C.R.A.Z.Y.); Marc-Andre Grondin (C.R.A.Z.Y.); Paul Kaye (It's All Gone Pete Tong); Adam Butcher (Saint Ralph)

Actor in a supporting role: Denis Bernard (L'Audition); Remy Girard (Aurore); Bernard Starlight (Hank Williams First Nation); Campbell Scott (Saint Ralph); Gordon Pinsent (Saint Ralph)

Actress in a leading role: Macha Grenon (Familia); Sylvie Moreau (Familia); Arsinee Khanjian (Sabah - A Love Story); Gina Chiarelli (See Grace Fly); Seema Biswas (Water)

Actress in a supporting role: Suzanne Clement (L'Audition); Marianne Fortier (Aurore); Danielle Proulx (C.R.A.Z.Y.); Micheline Lanctot (Familia); Babz Chula (Seven Times Lucky)

Original Screenplay: Luc Picard (L'Audition); Jean-Marc Vallee, Francois Boulay (C.R.A.Z.Y.); Louise Archambault (Familia); Michael Dowse (It's All Gone Pete Tong); Deepa Mehta (Water)

Vintage Springsteen Show Headed To CD

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Nov. 18, 1975, show at London's Hammersmith Odeon will be released as a two-disc set Feb. 28 via Columbia. The show first appeared on DVD last fall as part of the label's 30th anniversary edition of Springsteen's "Born To Run" album.

Touted as the first complete E Street Band concert to be released on CD, "Hammersmith Odeon, London '75" is highlighted by exuberant runs through tracks like "She's the One," "Rosalita" and "It's Hard To Be a Saint in the City." The show was Springsteen and company's first on English soil and came just ahead of the release of "Born To Run."

"This was a young band that just finished a new album. 'Born To Run' is not an anthem yet -- it's in the middle of the set," director Thom Zimny said of the show in November. And while the 24-track audiotapes of the show had long been known to exist, Zimny spent months synching them up with unlabeled cans of silent film to complete the DVD.

Having completed his solo touring in support of his 2005 studio album, "Devils & Dust," Springsteen will next be seen on stage at an event honoring 2006 MusiCares Person of the Year James Taylor, which will be held Feb. 6 in Los Angeles.

Here is the track list for "Hammersmith Odeon, London '75":

Disc One:
"Thunder Road"
"Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out"
"Spirit in the Night"
"Lost in the Flood"
"She's the One"
"Born To Run"
"The E Street Shuffle"
"It's Hard To Be a Saint in the City"
"Backstreets"

Disc Two:
"Kitty's Back"
"Jungleland"
"Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)"
"4th of July Asbury Park (Sandy)"
"Detroit Medley"
"For You"
"Quarter to Three"

No Reunion for 'Friends'

Producers of the hit show Friends have hit out at claims the six stars are set for a money-spinning reunion. According to reports, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow and Courteney Cox met in secret before Christmas and each agreed a $5 million deal with NBC bosses in Los Angeles, to reprise their roles in four special one-hour episodes. But a Warner Bros spokesperson insists, "There is absolutely no truth to it. There is nothing planned of any kind."

'Family Guy's' Stewie hosting Web talk show

LAS VEGAS (Hollywood Reporter) - Heeeeere's Stewie!

The tyrannical tyke in the Fox animated series "Family Guy" will be the virtual host of a talk show being developed strictly for the Internet later this year.

Stewie