Steve Martin Adds to 'SNL' Record
Steve Martin, who's hosted "Saturday Night Live" more than anyone else in history, will add to his record next month.
Martin, who last hosted the show in September 1994, will take his 14th turn as frontman for the venerable NBC comedy show on Saturday, Feb. 4. He'll be joined by musical guest Prince, who'll be making his second appearance on the show -- almost 25 years after his first.
As so often happens, both host and musical guest have things to promote via their appearance. Martin is starring as Inspector Clouseau in a remake of "The Pink Panther" due for release the week after his "SNL" gig, and Prince is set to release a new album, "3121," in March.
Martin helped give "Saturday Night Live" its identity in the mid-1970s, teaming with Dan Aykroyd to create the Festrunk brothers, two "wild and crazy guys" from behind the Iron Curtain, and fronting the classic King Tut sketch, among many others. He has made uncredited cameos on the show a couple of times in recent years but hasn't stepped out to host in more than a decade.
Prince last appeared on "SNL" in February 1981, during his "Little Red Corvette" days. He has, of course, since gone on to become one of the more revered, and enigmatic, figures in pop music.
Dud DVDs Doom "Munich" at Brit Oscars?
No views might have been bad news for Munich.
With most voters of the so-called British Oscars reportedly unable to watch Steven Spielberg's docudrama about the aftermath of the terrorism-marred 1972 Summer Olympics because of a DVD screener snafu, the movie was absent from Thursday's nominee field.
Hometown favorite The Constant Gardener had better luck with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). The U.K.-produced John Le Carre thriller led the way with 10 nominations, including one for Best Film.
Golden Globes favorite Brokeback Mountain added more notches to its belt with nine nods, including ones for its usual suspects-- Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams and director Ang Lee. Crash, an all-star parable about racism in Los Angeles, also scored nine nominations.
It was not known definitively if Munich's screener troubles sealed its fate with BAFTA. To be sure, the $70 million epic has struggled for weeks to gain footholds at the box office (grossing just $34.2 million domestically through Tuesday, per BoxOfficeMojo.com) and at Hollywood's pre-Oscar events. At Monday's Globes, it went oh-for-two.
With all that, if there was one film that could ill afford one false move it was Munich. And according to reports, it suffered two false moves as it tried to make its pitch to BAFTA voters.
"It's been quite a cock-up," a BAFTA member said last week in the U.K. newspaper, The Guardian. "We were promised that they were going to send screeners before Christmas, but they never arrived. Now we finally have a copy but there is no way we can watch it."
In the newspaper, the film's U.K. publicity firm blamed the bum DVDs on human error--"someone pushed the wrong button" during encoding--making the discs incompatible with Region 2 players. And even if British-based BAFTA voters wanted to pay to see the movie, they couldn't--it doesn't open in theaters there until Jan. 27.
Universal Pictures, Munich's Hollywood studio home, did not return a call for comment Thursday.
Focus Features, Universal's art-house division, however, was in the crowing mood, issuing a press release Thursday noting Brokeback Mountain's BAFTA--and box office--success.
On Tuesday, one day after its four Globe wins, Brokeback broke to the top of the movie chart. Its gross wasn't stunning--it made all of $742,412--but it was good enough to best its competitors for the first time in six weeks in theaters. The R-rated tale of gay cowboys will move up to nearly 1,200 screens on Friday, per BoxOfficeMojo.com.
Though on the downside of its own theatrical run, Good Night, and Good Luck remains a hot ticket on the awards show circuit. George Clooney's take on CBS Newsman Edward R. Murrow is up for six BAFTAs, including Best Film and Best Director. Clooney is a double nominee for Best Supporting Actor, for his role as CBS news producer Fred Friendly in Good Night and, as was his golden lot at the Globes, for his paunchy turn in Syriana.
In addition to Good Night, and Good Luck and The Constant Gardener, the BAFTA Best Film field is rounded out by Brokeback Mountain, Crash and Capote.
Other top nominees are Pride & Prejudice and Memoirs of a Geisha, with six each. This is Geisha's best award-show showing yet. Like the Oscars, the BAFTAs honor the craft fields, enabling the sweeping Geisha to pick up nominations for cinematography, production design and costume design.
Likewise, BAFTA's special effects categories helped Hollywood's blockbusters finally break into the nominee circle. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Chronicles of Narnia, Batman Begins and King Kong each scored multiple nods.
Notably absent from that list is Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith, the top-grossing movie of 2005, which was thoroughly snubbed, Munich-style--except in the case of Sith, voters probably saw it.
Here's a complete list of 2006 BAFTA nominations:
Best Film:
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
The Constant Gardener
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Best British Film:
A Cock and Bull Story
The Constant Gardener
Festival
Pride & Prejudice
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Best Actor:
David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Ralph Fiennes, The Constant Gardener
Best Actress:
Charlize Theron, North Country
Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents
Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
Reese Witherspoon, Walk The Line
Ziyi Zhang, Memoirs of a Geisha
Best Supporting Actor:
Don Cheadle, Crash
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck
George Clooney, Syriana
Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
Matt Dillon, Crash
Best Supporting Actress:
Brenda Blethyn, Pride & Prejudice
Catherine Keener, Capote
Frances McDormand, North Country
Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain
Thandie Newton, Crash
The David Lean Award for Achievement in Direction:
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Bennett Miller, Capote
Fernando Meirelles, The Constant Gardener
Paul Haggis, Crash
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck
Original Screenplay:
Cinderella Man, Cliff Hollingsworth and Akiva Goldsman
Crash, Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco
Good Night, and Good Luck, George Clooney and Grant Heslov
Hotel Rwanda, Keir Pearson and Terry George
Mrs. Henderson Presents, Martin Sherman
Adapted Screenplay:
Brokeback Mountain, Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana
Capote, Dan Futterman
The Constant Gardener, Jeffrey Caine
A History of Violence, Josh Olson
Pride & Prejudice, Deborah Moggach
The Carl Foreman Award for Apecial Achievement by British Director/Producer or Writer in First Feature Film:
David Belton (producer), Shooting Dogs
Peter Fudakowski (producer), Tsotsi
Annie Griffin (director/writer), Festival
Richard Hawkins (director), Everything
Joe Wright (director), Pride & Prejudice
Best Foreign-Language Film:
De Battre Mon Coeur S'est Arrete
Le Grand Voyage
Kung Fu Hustle
Joyeux Noel
Tsotsi
The Anthony Asquith Award for Achievement in Film Music:
Brokeback Mountain, Gustavo Santaolalla
The Constant Gardener, Alberto Iglesias
Memoirs of a Geisha, John Williams
Mrs. Henderson Presents, George Fenton
Walk The Line, T Bone Burnett
Cinematography:
Brokeback Mountain
The Constant Gardener
Crash
March of the Penguins
Memoirs of a Geisha
Editing:
Brokeback Mountain
The Constant Gardener
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
March of the Penguins
Production Design:
Batman Begins
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
Costume Design:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Memoirs of a Geisha
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Pride & Prejudice
Sound:
Batman Begins
The Constant Gardener
Crash
King Kong
Walk the Line
Achievement in Special Visual Effects:
Batman Begins
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
King Kong
Makeup and Hair:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Memoirs of a Geisha
Pride & Prejudice
Short Animation Film:
Fallen Art
Film Noir
Kamiya's Correspondence
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello
Rabbit
Short Film:
Antonio's Breakfast
Call Register
Heavy Metal Drummer
Heydar, An Afghan in Tehran
Lucky
Report: Disney in Talks to Acquire Pixar
LOS ANGELES - The Walt Disney Co.'s possible acquisition of Pixar Animation Studio could make Pixar CEO Steve Jobs a member of Disney's board and its single largest shareholder, a newspaper reported Thursday.
Shares of both companies rose slightly Thursday after The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources familiar with the plan, reported Disney was in serious talks to buy Pixar.
Both companies declined comment to The Associated Press Thursday.
Pixar has made several hit movies, including "Toy Story" and "Finding Nemo." Jobs is its largest shareholder, with more than 60 million shares, or 50.6 percent, according to Pixar's filings with securities regulators last year.
At its current share price, his stake is worth about $3.44 billion.
Jobs also heads Apple Computer Inc., the maker of the hugely successful iPod music and video player.
"Investors may hope that Mr. Jobs' successful track record at Pixar and Apple will rub off more broadly on Disney," Richard Greenfield, an analyst at Pali Research, wrote in a report Thursday.
Greenfield estimated that Jobs could gain a 6 percent stake in Disney as the result of a merger. Disney's largest reported individual shareholder now is former CEO Michael Eisner, who owns 1.8 percent of outstanding shares.
Pixar shares rose $1.61 a share, or 2.81 percent, to close at $58.87 Thursday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Disney shares gained $1.04, or 4 percent, to $26.24 at the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Disney CEO Robert Iger has made it clear that technology will be a cornerstone of Disney's success in the future. Having Jobs on Disney's board could strengthen the link between Disney's content and the technology that links TV shows, movies and music to consumers.
"In our view, no company understands both technology and the consumer better than Apple," analyst Kathy Styponias of Prudential Equity Group wrote.
Reports of a possible Disney-Pixar merger first surfaced several weeks ago after shares of Pixar jumped, leading analysts to speculate that Jobs might become Disney's chairman.
Disney and Pixar have been talking for months about a new relationship.
Disney has co-financed and distributed Pixar's animated films for the past 12 years, splitting the profits. But that deal expires in June after Pixar delivers "Cars."
The company, based in Emeryville, is already at work on its next several films but has yet to decide if Disney or another studio will distribute them. The studio makes one movie a year.
Many analysts expect a new distribution deal soon but dismissed the idea of Disney buying Pixar as so expensive that it would dilute Disney's earnings for several years.
Others said that if Disney paid only a slight premium for Pixar's shares, as the Journal report suggests, Disney could recover fairly quickly, especially if Pixar increases its production to two films per year.
"Despite dilution in the near-term and the likely negative impact Disney's stock would take should it acquire Pixar, we believe the deal would make sense both strategically and, eventually, financially," Styponias wrote.
Rick Moranis channels his inner 'Cowboy'
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Anyone who came of age in the 1980s is well-versed in the filmography of Rick Moranis, thanks to such memorable roles as the accountant/nerd extraordinaire in both "Ghostbusters" films, the evil/clueless overlord in "Spaceballs," the windsurfing tourist in "Club Paradise" and the bumbling inventor in "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids."
But the 52-year-old Toronto native also frequently demonstrated his musical talents, most notably as doomed florist Seymour Krelborn in the 1986 film version of the musical "Little Shop of Horrors." He also made an art out of satirizing pop music during his stint with famed Canadian sketch comedy show SCTV, impersonating everybody from Elton John to Michael McDonald and Gordon Lightfoot.
Having phased out his acting career in the late '90s while raising his children in New York, Moranis is now garnering acclaim for an album of humorous country songs, "The Agoraphobic Cowboy," which he released last fall via his Web site (http://www.rickmoranis.com). It will vie for a Grammy Award next month in the comedy album category.
Moranis recently inked deals for wider distribution of "Cowboy," which was made available via online retailers on Monday and in stores on February 7.
Moranis recently filled Billboard.com in on his musical roots and his inspirations for the material on "The Agoraphobic Cowboy."
DID YOU SING OR PERFORM AT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL CAREER?
Well, the very first thing I did professionally was working with a partner, a guy I'd gone to summer camp with. We wrote an act and played the improv clubs in Toronto in 1975. I'd already been in radio for awhile, but when we wrote our act and performed live, I used my guitar in that act. We split and I started doing standup, and carried my guitar for a year doing standup. It was before I'd seen Steve Martin, but somebody said, 'You should see him. He does what you do, but with a banjo.' I was doing similar, non sequitur kinds of musical bits. I don't know if I have any of them recorded. Some of them were parodies of rock music. You know that Boz Scaggs song, 'Lowdown?' It has that slap bass sound. That was a hugely popular song in 1976, and I would do the entire song just playing this one note. Or, I would say, 'I need a volunteer from the audience, somebody tall.' Somebody would come up and I'd play the opening few lines of (Simon & Garfunkel's) 'Sounds of Silence"' Then, I'd turn to him and go, 'Come on, Art. What's going on?' I'd get into a fight with him and split up with him.
THEN YOU JOINED SCTV, WHICH FEATURED SO MANY HYSTERICAL MUSICAL-THEMED BITS.
When I first got onto SCTV, we were working in a vacuum. We had no idea there was an audience. We were just making each other laugh. I had done, for example, a parody of Canadian Content where I'd re-written a song of Gordon Lightfoot's. (Cast member) Dave (Thomas) did all these bogus K-Tel commercials, so we came up with the sketch 'Gordon Lightfoot Sings Every Song Ever Written.' Then, they had the budget to get a local country-sounding band in Edmonton to do a few bars from every single one of these songs I wanted. When I read that at the table, it was very clear what it was. It was a bit everybody could understand. That's the way things happened, doing a post-production show like that.
SO HOW DID THIS PROJECT START TO TAKE SHAPE? WERE ANY OF THESE SONGS THINGS YOU HAD LYING AROUND PREVIOUSLY?
Well, what happened was, around two years ago, I had been doing more sort of op-ed piece kind of writing and essay writing. I pretty much pulled out of shooting anything in the mid to late '90s, because I couldn't stand the travel anymore. I'm a single parent and my kids were young, so I just needed to take a break. After I started spending more time at home, I realized I didn't miss what I was doing. I hadn't enjoyed the last few years of what's called acting. I'm really not an actor. The reason we performed was because we'd written the material. I never studied acting. When I was acting in other people's things, I knew how to enjoy myself. It was lucrative and it fit into life. But I wasn't enjoying the work. After I stopped, I really wasn't missing it.
My kids, particularly my daughter, started listening to a lot of alternative country, jam bands and some bluegrass. I had played that stuff to them when they were little kids. They'd play me something I knew the original of, so I'd tell them, 'So and so did this a long time ago.' It got under my skin. On any given day, if I would hear a turn of phrase or get a funny idea or something, instead of trying to write a piece I could sell to the New York Times, I started writing a song. I wrote one, and then another one. I was singing them to a couple of friends, and they'd be relatively amused. After I had a few, they said I should do something with them. That's really how I wound up having that many songs. I just kept doing it. When I got to the point where I had enough to do a whole album, I stopped writing and started pursuing recording them. Once the recording process started, I wrote another couple of things.
WOULD YOU SAY THAT IF SOMEONE ASKED, 'WHAT HAS RICK BEEN DOING LATELY?', THIS ALBUM PROVIDES THE ANSWERS, LIKE GOLFING, HANGING OUT AND ENJOYING LIFE?
(Laughs). There's a bunch of golf references in there. I couldn't resist. People are hearing different things in this. Some have heard a theme. Some have heard a lot of self-deprecation. A lot of technology. It's very much me. I'm writing what I know and what I'm feeling, but beyond that, I leave it to you guys to figure out where it fits.
I NOTICED A DONALD FAGEN THANK-YOU ON THE CD. DID YOU EVER PONDER COLLABORATING WITH HIM?
Initially, I was working on a screenplay a long, long time ago that never got produced. I wanted him to do the music for it, and that's how we started talking. We just stayed in touch. Whenever Steely Dan would perform I'd go see them. As I was writing this stuff, I knew he'd get a kick out of it. He really encouraged me a lot to do something with this.
SINCE YOU FINISHED THE ALBUM, HAVE YOU KEPT WRITING MUSIC?
Yeah. I've written a couple of jazz songs that I guess could be arranged as bluegrass songs, and I've gone back to writing the kinds of songs I was writing before this album. Those are a bit more rock-ish, and not as on the nose lyrically as these are, and not as comedic. The jazz ones are comedic like this, but the other ones are a different kind of thing. I'm not good at making plans, because I never have been. I never do things with an idea of where they may wind up.
Vampire thriller set to bite box office rivals
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The new Kate Beckinsale horror film "Underworld: Evolution" is expected to lead the weekend box office, while Golden Globes glory should boost business for "Brokeback Mountain" and "Walk the Line."
It looks to be a pitched battle for No. 2 between incumbent champ "Glory Road" and "Hoodwinked," which were separated by a mere $48,187 last weekend during the four-day Martin Luther King holiday.
Screen Gems' "Underworld: Evolution" is a sequel to the 2003 hit "Underworld," which opened to $21.8 million and went on to glean $51.5 million. Additional success on home video should help the sequel approach -- and maybe surpass -- that opening level.
The R-rated film centers on an ancient feud between vampires and werewolves and interweaves a forbidden interspecies romance between the groups. As with its predecessor, the film was directed by Len Wiseman, Beckinsale's husband.
Disney's college basketball movie "Glory Road" has been performing strongly during the week, and the film generated exceptionally high exit-poll scores, which should contribute significantly to positive word-of-mouth. It bowed to $16.93 million last weekend. As the only new family-oriented film in the marketplace, the Weinstein Co.'s computer-animated "Hoodwinked" should be a player as well.
The four Globe wins Monday for "Brokeback" helped spur the gay cowboy romance to some hardy midweek grosses; it was the No. 1 film across North America on Tuesday and Wednesday. This weekend, distributor Focus Features is almost doubling its theater count to 1,194 outlets (vs. 3,207 for "Underworld: Evolution," 2,396 for "Glory Road" and 3,002 for "Hoodwinked").
Fox's Johnny Cash bipic, which picked up three Globes, adds 242 runs in its ninth weekend, taking the total to 1,106. It should be enough to propel the film past $100 million.
The only other new picture to arrive in wide release is Rocky Mountain Pictures' "End of the Spear," which opens in 1,162 theaters. The drama, based on a true story, largely takes place in the eastern rain forests of Ecuador. It centers on a member of the Waodani tribe whose life is changed when five missionaries are killed, which, in turn, transforms the entire tribe and touches the lives of all involved, including the missionaries' children.
After a brief limited run in December for Academy qualification, New Line Cinema's "The New World" will arrive in about 800 theaters. Terrence Malick directed and wrote the screenplay for the PG-13 drama, which stars Colin Farrell and is based on the story of Pocahontas and the cultural collision between the European explorers and American Indians.
Warner Independent Pictures will release "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World" in 161 locations. Albert Brooks stars in, wrote and directed the PG-13 comedy, which has met with some controversy because of its title and subject matter but has garnered positive reviews and reportedly has been well received in Muslim communities.
Howard in talks for 'Spider-Man 3'
Actress Bryce Dallas Howard ("The Village") is in talks to play Gwen Stacy in "Spider-Man 3."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Howard's character would be involved in a love triangle with Spider-Man's alter ego, Peter Parker, played by Tobey Maguire, and Mary Jane Watson, portrayed by Kirsten Dunst.
In the comics, Gwen was Peter's first love. The character ended up being kidnapped by the Green Goblin and was killed during a bridge battle. Mary Jane replaced Stacy in the film version, but she ends up surviving the bridgetop scene.
James Franco will reprise his role from the two previous installments while Topher Grace ("In Good Company") and Thomas Haden Church ("Sideways") have been added to the cast as villains.
Sam Raimi, who directed the first two "Spidey" movies will direct the film with shooting to begin this month.
Howard will next appear in Lars von Trier's film, Manderlay set for release on Jan 27.
Clarkson Relents, Lets 'Idol' Use Songs
PASADENA, Calif. - Former "American Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson, subject to a scolding from Simon Cowell for not letting her songs be used by new contestants on the show, has agreed to do so, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Roger Widynowski, from Clarkson's Sony BMG record label, said Clarkson's management was negotiating with the show over which songs will be used.
A day earlier, he said Clarkson was not allowing any of her songs to be licensed for other purposes. He said on Wednesday that he had not been informed by her management that negotiations were under way, and that Clarkson would allow it on a "case-by-case basis."
That was also a day after "American Idol" judge Cowell sharply criticized her.
"I think that by ignoring the show you're ignoring the audience who put you there," Cowell said Tuesday.
Clarkson has become a major star in the past year, with her hit "Since U Been Gone" earning both massive sales and critical respect, particularly from a rock community that has looked upon "American Idol" contestants warily. Her album "Breakaway" earned a Grammy nomination for best pop vocal album.
"American Idol" must obtain permission from owners of song licenses before the music can be used on the show. While many love the exposure, some artists — the Beatles, for one — like to rigidly control use of their music.
Clarkson, in an interview with The Associated Press last year, said she knows she'll always be identified as an "American Idol," and she has no problems with that.
"That's where I got my start," she said. "They always talk about the big first thing that you did. I think the only thing that I do mind is I don't want people to only focus on that."
Wilson Pickett dies of heart attack at 64
RESTON, Va. (AP) -- Wilson Pickett, the soul pioneer best known for the fiery hits "Mustang Sally" and "In The Midnight Hour," died of a heart attack Thursday, according to his management company. He was 64.
Chris Tuthill of the management company Talent Source said Pickett had been suffering from health problems for the past year.
"He did his part. It was a great ride, a great trip, I loved him and I'm sure he was well-loved, and I just hope that he's given his props," Michael Wilson Pickett, the fourth of the singer's six children, told WRC-TV in Washington after his death.
A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Pickett -- known as the "Wicked Pickett" -- became a star with his soulful hits in the 1960s.
"In the Midnight Hour" gave him his greatest success. In 1965, he linked with legendary soul producer Jerry Wexler at the equally legendary soul label Stax Records in Memphis, and recorded one of his greatest hits, "In the Midnight Hour," for Atlantic Records. A string of hits followed, including "634-5789," "Funky Broadway" and "Mustang Sally." His sensuous soul was in sharp contrast to the genteel soul songs of his Detroit counterparts at Motown Records.
As Pickett entered a new decade, he had less success on the charts, but still had hits, including the song "Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You."
In later years, he had legal problems and battled substance.