The Couch Potato Report - February 28th, 2006
This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on Johnny Cash, Jane Austen and a lady, and her tramp.
When I was a kid my Dad's friend Mark Walsh used to always talk about and play music for us by Johnny Cash.
I have no idea where Mark Walsh is today, but I will never forget him for introducing me to Johnny Cash.
Even though I never met Mr. Cash, I feel as if I know him, because I know so much about him.
I know his real name is JR, I know about his drug problems, his religious beliefs, his wives, his children, and his music.
Most of all, I know about his music.
And it is because I feel like I know Johnny Cash that watching the film WALK THE LINE was so tough.
WALK THE LINE is a well made, engaging film that - on its own - isn't tough to watch, but because Johnny and June Carter Cash are the subjects of the film, it was tough to watch because I know the subject so well.
That is unlike last year's successful music biopic RAY.
I love Ray Charles' music, but I didn't know that much about his life, so all of RAY was new and interesting, and it inspired me to find out more.
However, there were a few times in WALK THE LINE when I found myself saying, "That's not how that happened!"
But, I still loved WALK THE LINE.
That is primarily due to the Man In Black himself, but also because this is an exceptionally entertaining film.
WALK THE LINE looks at Cash's life from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm, through his rise to fame and marriage to June.
Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon give superb performances, and they do their own singing as well. The Academy Award nominations they received for their work are truly justified.
Johnny and June's love story is at the heart of WALK THE LINE, but it is Johnny Cash's music that is the film's centre.
That music will always remain honest and true, just like Johnny Cash himself.
WALK THE LINE is a superb film, even if you find yourself saying: "That's not how that happened!"
If you are a fan of Jane Austen the way that some of us are fans of Johnny Cash, you might find yourself saying something similar to "That's not how that happened!" when you see the new film adaptation of her book PRIDE & PREJUDICE.
While this youthful retelling of the story about five sisters in Georgian England, and their mother's attempt to marry them off, is very faithful to the original text, some purists may have some problems with the changes.
Purists can rest easy though because a few things haven't changed; Elizabeth is still strong-willed and opinionated, and Mr. Darcy is still wealthy and a good romantic match for Elizabeth.
Keira Knightley from LOVE ACTUALLY and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL was given an Academy Award nomination for her work in PRIDE & PREJUDICE and even if I don't believe she is entirely deserving of the honour, the film she is in is entirely deserving of your time.
When PRIDE & PREJUDICE was released in theatres last November the studio promoted it as "the greatest love story of all time."
With all apologies to the folks at Universal, but isn't the greatest love story of all time Walt Disney's LADY AND THE TRAMP?!?!
Well, I think it is!
The classic animated film LADY AND THE TRAMP is about a young Cocker-Spaniel named Lady and her meeting with Tramp, a dog who lives life to the fullest, and their adventures together.
It is the perfect film for everyone because the animation is beautiful and the film is fun.
And now it is time to celebrate the film once more with the 50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION of LADY & THE TRAMP.
Disney's new two-disc DVD set includes an all-new digital restoration with enhanced picture and sound; two never-before-seen deleted sequences; The making of Lady and the Tramp; plus you can learn about the real-life breeds that inspired the characters in the movie; and there is also an all-new "Bella Notte" music video.
As LADY AND THE TRAMP teaches us, no dog is above the law. But the new 50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION of Walt Disney's masterpiece LADY & THE TRAMP definitely stands above all of this week's other new releases that are available now at a store near you, including PRIDE & PREJUDICE and WALK THE LINE.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
The made in Saskatchewan Hollywood film JUST FRIENDS debuts on DVD, alongside HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE, the fourth installment of that uber-successful franchise.
In JARHEAD soldiers battle the heat and enemy in the first Gulf War, PRIME features Uma Thurman and Meryl Streep and HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE is the latest film from Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki.
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!
Tyra Banks does more than talk on her daytime TV show; goes undercover
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Tyra Banks really throws herself into her job as a talk-show host, often in ways only a recently retired supermodel can.
On Wednesday's show, for instance, Banks will be shown going "undercover" as a stripper at a topless club, although the former Victoria's Secret model stops short of complete disclosure. In the past, she's posed as a Las Vegas showgirl and used her face as canvas for makeup lessons.
The stripper segment, she said, was the result of hearing friends and viewers express frustration about the men in their lives spending time and money in strip clubs.
"When I found out the majority of business is from males from married homes, I wanted to go inside the minds of the men who frequent these clubs. I wanted to see and hear why they went. And the only way to do that was to go undercover and see for myself," Banks said.
Having Banks strut her stuff incognito as a dancer (named "Chanel") can only be a ratings plus for the syndicated The Tyra Banks Show, exactly the point in a sweeps month used to set local TV ad rates (check local listings for time).
But Banks, 32, said she considers her program, which typically draws a heavily young and female audience, a vehicle to educate as well as entertain.
For one segment, she donned an elaborate disguise that turned her into a 350-pound woman and then ventured into stores and on blind dates to test people's reactions to obesity.
"I feel like it's the last form of discrimination that's openly acceptable. I wanted to experience that firsthand to share that with my audience," Banks said. She also did a show in which people confronted their phobias (for her, it's dolphins and birds).
There are further issues she wants to explore, she said, both through her show and the Tyra Banks Foundation, which sponsors an annual summer camp program intended to help boost self-esteem in girls.
Women can "have a hard time trusting each other. ... It's something very important to me to change that," she said. Encouraging self-sufficiency is another goal.
"I think that's very important, whether you're a house mom or a working mother, that you have that independence so you're not stuck in a situation you're not comfortable in for financial reasons or emotional reasons," she said.
Banks lacks the therapy credentials for such topics - she brings experts on her show when the going gets deep - but she's certainly got the resume of a successful woman.
She started modelling at age 15 and ended up smashing boundaries: she was the first black model on the covers of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit edition, GQ and the fabled Victoria's Secret catalogue.
Before she jumped into the talk show arena as host and producer, she successfully launched America's Next Top Model, the UPN reality series which may end up with even more clout when the network merges with WB to form the new CW network.
Did she imagine her career would extend beyond modelling?
"Yes," she said, laughing. "When I was 18 years old I was doing an interview for Italian television and I told them I was going to have my own talk show. I try to teach my girls on Top Model that modelling is temporary and you have to find what your true passion is.
"And I found out this is mine," Banks said of her daytime show.
She took her last runway stroll for the Victoria's Secret show last December, finally deciding to shut the lingerie drawer on modelling. Does she regret the decision at all?
"Oh, gosh, no. I have no second thoughts. My mom told me to always leave at the top, and that's what I did."
Pamela Anderson to host Juno Award telecast; Nickelback among performers
HALIFAX (CP) - The Juno Awards will undoubtedly be a sexier affair than in previous years with the announcement Monday of Pamela Anderson as host of the April 2 bash.
The actress will pilot the two-hour show, which will feature performances by Nickelback, Michael Buble and Broken Social Scene. It'll air on CTV. "Canadian music rocks," Anderson said in a statement.
"No matter where I am in the world I can listen to Canadian music and feel like I'm at home. This is going to be one kick-ass awards show."
Anderson is no stranger to the world of music, having been married to Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee and later engaged to country-rocker Kid Rock.
She's also dabbled in singing. The former Baywatch babe joined Bryan Adams on his latest CD for a duet of his 1998 hit When You're Gone.
Adams has already signed on to perform on the show, during which he'll be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
"She's pretty rock 'n' roll," Adams has said of Anderson, who grew up in Ladysmith, B.C.
No word on whether singing will be part of her hosting duties.
Matt Mays and El Torpedo win big at ECMAs
Matt Mays & El Torpedo dominated Monday evening's East Coast Music Awards, taking four honours at the Charlottetown ceremony.
In addition to being named best group, the Nova Scotia rockers won best single for their song Cocaine Cowgirl while the band's self-titled album won best rock recording and best album.
Mays thanked family and friends for "letting us do what we do," and later added that "basically, we'd just like to thank everybody who puts up with us, wearing what we want, being ourselves. Thanks a lot!"
Joel Plaskett won two prestigious honours: male artist of the year and songwriter of the year for his song Happen Now, from his album La De Da.
"I wrote Happen Now on my father's tenor guitar so I have to thank him for buying it," Plaskett said, adding extra thanks to his band, the Emergency.
Celtic singer Mary Jane Lamond was also a double-winner, taking trophies for female artist of the year and roots/traditional solo recording of the year for Storas.
Up-and-coming rockers The Novaks were one of the first winners of the televised broadcast, with the Newfoundland quartet winning the Galaxie Rising Star Award and thanking Matt Mays and The Trews for "teaching us how to tour."
Nova Scotia-born country star George Canyon won the fan-voted entertainer of the year trophy.
"These things always get me so emotional," Canyon said. "This is such a huge honour. My hat's off once again to my fans for allowing me to stay in this business."
The annual celebration of the best in Atlantic Canadian music featured both established and emerging artists taking the Charlottetown Civic Centre stage.
Dapper PEI pop-rockers The Chucky Danger Band, who won the best pop recording category, kicked off the ceremony with an energetic performance of their hit, Sweet Symphony.
The music-heavy national broadcast also included performances by Matt Mays & El Torpedo, The Novaks, Canyon, folk recording winner J.P. Cormier with blues guitarist Matt Andersen and francophone singer Christian "Kit" Goguen.
The evening's hosts — Julian (John Paul Tremblay), Ricky (Robb Wells) and Bubbles (Mike Smith) of TV's Trailer Park Boys — popped up throughout the evening to introduce acts and entertain the audience, including a performance of Bubbles's song Liquor and Whores. However, any expletives from the typically foul-mouthed trio were carefully bleeped out.
After the boys discovered that Prime Minister Stephen Harper was sitting in the front row, Bubbles led the crowd in a singalong version of the Beatles song Don't Let Me Down, directed to Harper.
The broadcast also included a video highlight package of Halifax-born singer Sarah McLachlan, who was presented with the Director's Special Achievement Award last June.
Cape Breton fiddle legend Buddy MacMaster won the ECMA Lifetime Achievement Award.
Fiddler Natalie MacMaster delivered a stirring performance in honour of her uncle, who then joined her for a fiddle duet onstage before receiving a standing ovation.
"It's wonderful to receive this award. I am honoured and at the same time, I do feel humbled," the 81-year-old MacMaster said. "I have to thank all the listeners and everybody. Thank you all very much."
The awards ceremony, an annual celebration of music spearheaded by the East Coast Music Association, was the grand finale of a five-day event, which also featured concerts, workshops and industry meetings.
WINNERS OF THE 2006 EAST COAST MUSIC AWARDS
Album:Matt Mays & El Torpedo, Matt Mays & El Torpedo
Single:Cocaine Cowgirl, Matt Mays & El Torpedo
Group:Matt Mays & El Torpedo
Female Artist:Mary Jane Lamond
Male Artist:Joel Plaskett
Entertainer:George Canyon
Rising Star:The Novaks
Songwriter:Joel Plasket, Happen Now
Video:So She's Leaving, The Trews
Aboriginal Recording:,Halifax Indie Rock, Jonathan Andrews
African-Canadian Recording:Gary Beals, Gary Beals
Alternative Recording:Where are they Going?, Slowcoaster
Bluegrass Recording:Just in Case, Crooked Stovepipe
Blues Recording:The Story, Matt Minglewood
Children's Recording:Celtic & Traditional Lullabies from our Cape Breton
Classical Recording:Folklore, Denise Djokic
Country Recording:Sunday Morning, Sons of Maxwell
Francophone:Ode a l'Acadie, Ode a l'Acadie
Folk Recording:The Long River: A Personal Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot, J.P. Cormier
Gospel Recording:Always There, The Quintons
Instrumental Recording:Duane Andrews, Duane Andrews
Jazz Recording:Piano Trios, Tom Roach
Pop Recording:6-pack, The Chucky Danger Band
Rap/Hip-Hop Recording:5th Element, Classified
Rock Recording:Matt Mays & El Torpedo, Matt Mays & El Torpedo
Roots/Traditional Group Recording:The Hard and the Easy, Great Big Sea
Roots/Traditional Solo Recording:Storas, Mary Jane Lamond
Urban Single Recording:Gonna Get Down, Jamie Sparks
Vince Vaughn Heads to the North Pole
Vince Vaughn is heading for the North Pole in his next movie, as Santa's troubled brother in the holiday comedy, Fred Claus. Variety reports Warner Bros. is confident Vaughn can dish-up the laughs as a comic-lead, after his performance in Wedding Crashers proved such a hit to the funny-bone with moviegoers. The film will re-team Wedding director, David Dobkin, and his Crasher star, as Santa's on-the-oust sibling, who heads to the North Pole in hopes to make amends with his famous brother. Vaughn also has another upcoming comedy in the works, playing a thief who heads home to the mid-west to face the consequences, in Other Side Of Simple.
The Peter Travers Oscar Scorecard
The lowdown on who's gold and who's cold on Hollywood's hottest night from Rolling Stone magazine's film critic.
Brace yourself for the toughest Oscar race in years. With no sure things, the competition is fierce. Who will go home with the gold during the ABC Oscar telecast on March 5th? You'll find my best guesses, along with barbs about where the 6,000 members of the Academy screwed up. This year the big surprise is they got it right more often than not. Some contests are so close, such as the Best Actor race between Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote), that a tie seems the only fair solution. Let the bottom-line types grouse about the lack of blockbusters in the Best Picture category. The fact that small, independent-minded films, such as Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Crash, Munich and Good Night, and Good Luck, made the cut should give every genuine movie fan a cause for celebration. So check my choices, pick your own fights and get ready to rumble.
BEST PICTURE
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich
The front-runner Unless Academy voters develop a case of galloping homophobia, Brokeback Mountain, the gay-cowboy movie, will ride off with the Oscar, a golden boy with no genitalia. Don't even think about what John Wayne would have said about the cute butts on co-stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. No matter how much fun Oscar host Jon Stewart has at the film's expense, this tragic love story has lassoed the most nominations (eight) and the biggest claim on voter tears.
The spoilerCrash, about racial tension in present-day Los Angeles, is developing more avid fans on DVD than it ever had at the multiplex. It's the underdog to watch on Oscar night.
BEST DIRECTOR
George Clooney -- Good Night, and Good Luck
Paul Haggis -- Crash
Ang Lee -- Brokeback Mountain
Bennett Miller -- Capote
Steven Spielberg -- Munich
The front-runner Lee leads. But the director was favored for 1995's Sense and Sensibility and lost nomination and Oscar to Braveheart Mel Gibson. Moral: Beware actors who direct.
The spoiler Like Gibson, Clooney is a first-rank movie star who did a first-rank job of directing.
BEST ACTRESS
Judi Dench -- Mrs. Henderson Presents
Felicity Huffman -- Transamerica
Keira Knightley -- Pride and Prejudice
Charlize Theron -- North Country
Reese Witherspoon -- Walk the Line
The front-runner Witherspoon helped bring June Carter out from the shadow of her husband, Johnny Cash, in Walk the Line. She will be hard to beat.
The spoiler If anyone can cause a Reese upset, it's Emmy-winning desperate housewife Huffman, playing a man who wants to be a woman in Transamerica.
BEST ACTOR
Philip Seymour Hoffman -- Capote
Terrence Howard -- Hustle and Flow
Heath Ledger -- Brokeback Mountain
Joaquin Phoenix -- Walk the Line
David Strathairn -- Good Night, and Good Luck
The front-runner In the toughest category, Hoffman's Truman Capote is first among equals.
The spoiler Ledger stays with you as Brokeback's grieving heart.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Crash -- Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco
Good Night, and Good Luck -- George Clooney and Grant Heslov
Match Point -- Woody Allen
The Squid and the Whale -- Noah Baumbach
Syriana -- Stephen Gaghan
The front-runner Here's a chance for Oscar to show Crash some love. Syriana, which is even stronger, is too much of a political hot potato.
The spoiler Not that Oscar cares, but Baumbach's The Squid and the Whale -- a take-no-prisoners comedy about the effect of divorce on a family -- actually is the year's best original screenplay.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
George Clooney -- Syriana
Matt Dillon -- Crash
Paul Giamatti -- Cinderella Man
Jake Gyllenhaal -- Brokeback Mountain
William Hurt -- A History of Violence
The front-runner I love hearing Hurt say, "Jesus, Joey" in A History of Violence, but the race is between Cinderella Man's Giamatti, working off Academy guilt for ignoring him in Sideways, and Syriana's Clooney, for gaining thirty pounds and playing a CIA operative with touching gravity.
The spoiler Call me crazy, but a never-better Dillon is out there repping all of Crash's non-nominated performances.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams -- Junebug
Catherine Keener -- Capote
Frances McDormand -- North Country
Rachel Weisz -- The Constant Gardener
Michelle Williams -- Brokeback Mountain
The front-runner Weisz in The Constant Gardener is the most deserving.
The spoiler Ironic, huh, if Williams, playing a straight character, takes the acting honors for a gay movie.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Brokeback Mountain -- Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana
Capote -- Dan Futterman
The Constant Gardener -- Jeffrey Caine
A History of Violence -- Josh Olson
Munich -- Tony Kushner and Eric Roth
The front-runner Brokeback Mountain is a model of screen adaptation for the way McMurtry and Ossana ease Annie Proulx's tightly wound short story onto the screen with lyrical expansiveness.
The spoiler Munich keeps taking hits from the political right and left, which suggests moral confusion on the topic of terrorism. Pay closer attention and you'll find that the script by Kushner and Roth is a focused provocation of uncommon intelligence and compassion.
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Howl's Moving Castle -- Hayao Miyazaki
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride -- Tim Burton and Mike Johnson
Wallace and Gromit: the Curse of the Were-Rabbit -- Nick Park and Steve Box
The front-runner The British Wallace and his mute dog Gromit are a comfy comic fit for the Academy as well as for audiences.
The spoiler Burton's Corpse Bride is a twisted wonder, even if Oscar voters can't warm to its tale of necrophiliac love.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Batman Begins -- Wally Pfister
Brokeback Mountain -- Rodrigo Prieto
Good Night, and Good Luck -- Robert Elswit
Memoirs of a Geisha -- Dion Beebe
The New World -- Emmanuel Lubezki
The front-runner Brokeback Mountain benefits from the wide-open spaces and the way Prieto's camera lets nature invade this love story with beauty and harshness but not a hint of judgment.
The spoiler To my mind, the black-and-white play of light and shadow that Elswit brings to Good Night, and Good Luck evokes 1950s TV journalism as crucially as the acting, writing and directing.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Brokeback Mountain -- Gustavo Santaolalla
The Constant Gardener -- Alberto Iglesias
Memoirs of a Geisha -- John Williams
Munich -- John Williams
Pride and Prejudice -- Dario Marianelli
The front-runner Can Academy members not vote for John Williams? He's been nominated forty-five times and will probably win this year for Geisha instead of Munich. Here's my unsolicited advice: Stop it!
The spoiler Santaolalla for Brokeback Mountain. Why? For openers, it's a better and more resonant score.
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
King Kong
War of the Worlds
The front-runner It's hard not to be knocked out by the spectacular sequence from War of the Worlds in which the evil Tripods sink the ferry.
The spoiler King Kong, or at least it should be. Must Peter Jackson continue to be punished for making a crowd-pleaser that performed below greedy box-office hopes? His beast is a beauty well deserving of Oscar gold.
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Don't Tell -- Italy
Joyeux Noel -- France
Paradise Now -- Palestine
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days -- Germany
Tsotsi -- South Africa
The front-runner Hany Abu-Assad's Paradise Now deserves credit for digging deep into what drives two Palestinian men into becoming suicide bombers on a mission in Tel Aviv.
The spoiler Gavin Hood's Tsotsi, about a South African street thug who shoots a woman and then cares for her baby, hits hard at the tear ducts. A more pertinent question is why superior foreign films, such as France's Cache, Korea's Oldboy and Hong Kong's 2046, aren't on the honor roll.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Darwin's Nightmare
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
March of the Penguins
Murderball
Street Fight
The front-runner Are you kidding? It's those damn penguins, falling in love and acting all humanlike. Never mind that the four other nominees take on tougher questions. March of the Penguins is the highest-grossing doc after Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 -- it's real good for business.
The spoiler Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room couldn't be more pertinent to the corporate corruption -- listen up, Academy -- infiltrating all our lives. It's just the kind of thing that doesn't win Oscars.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"In the Deep" -- Crash
"It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp" -- Hustle and Flow
"Travelin' Thru" -- Transamerica
The front-runner Given the Academy's jones for musical legends (Springsteen, Dylan, Eminem) -- it makes the voters look hip -- Dolly Parton should travel through to the podium for her Transamerica ditty.
The spoiler In a year when box-office grosses sank badly, "It's Hard Out Here" could stand as Hollywood's national anthem.
OSCAR'S SHAMEFUL SNUBS
A History of Violence got the brushoff for Best Picture, actors Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello and Ed Harris, and, most egregiously, world-class director David Cronenberg. One more piece of evidence to add to A History of Oscar Stupidity.
Joan Allen She gives what may be her finest performance to date in The Upside of Anger, and Oscar wears blinders. And yet Charlize Theron makes the cut for smudging her sexy puss with coal dust in North Country, as does Judi Dench for phoning it in via Mrs. Henderson Presents. Sheesh!
Russell Crowe He boxes his way to triumph in Cinderella Man. Then he throws a phone at a guy at a Manhattan hotel, and Oscar starts confusing acting with etiquette.
Scarlett Johansson First Oscar rebuffs her for Lost in Translation (did Bill Murray do it alone?), and now she's ignored for powering Woody Allen's comeback with Match Point. Jeff Daniels I can't be alone in thinking he gave the performance of his career in The Squid and the Whale. But Oscar thinks I am.
Grizzly Man Werner Herzog makes the year's best documentary, and the Academy decides cute penguins trump lethal bears.
Danny Elfman He writes wicked, wonderful tunes for Corpse Bride, and Oscar snubs them all, reducing nominees in the category from five to three. The bright side? Less of the torture of watching songs being butchered on the Oscar telecast.
New CD Releases For February 28, 2006
Bayside Acoustic (CD/DVD combo) (Victory)
Bizzy Bone Thugs Revenge (enhanced CD) (Thump)
Bombay Dub Orchestra Bombay Dub Orchestra (Six Degrees)
Shannon Brown Corn Fed (produced by Big $ Rich's John Rich) (Warner Bros. Nashville)
Michael Camilo Rhapsody in Blue (Telarc)
The Capes Hello (Hard Soul)
Cyrus Chestnut Genuine Chestnut (Telarc)
Jessi Colter Out of the Ashes (produced by Don Was; guests Shooter Jennings, Tony Joe White and previously unreleased '80s recordings with Waylon Jennings) (Shout! Factory)
Elvis Costello and Metropole Orkest My Flame Turns Blue (two CDs; July, 2005 concert at the Netherlands' North Sea Jazz Festival; includes classic Costello songs, jazz covers and previously unreleased compositions) (Deutsche Grammophon)
El Da Sensei The Unusual (Fat Beats)
James Hand The Truth Will Set You Free (Rounder)
Hawthorne Heights If Only You Were Lonely (Victory)
Tom Heyman Deliver Me (w/members of Wilco, American Music Club, the Mother Hips and more) (Jackpine Social Club)
Tom Hunter Here I Go Again (FS Music)
Intronaut Null (Goodfellow)
Alan Jackson Precious Memories (Arista Nashville)
Kid Rock Live Trucker (Atlantic)
La Peste Better Off La Peste (Bacchus Archives)
Jeannette Lambert Sand Underfoot (Jazz from Rant)
Latterman Turn Up the Punk, We'll Be Singing (Deep Elm)
Ian Love (ex-Rival Schools) Ian Love (Limekiln)
Carmen Lundy Jazz and the New Songbook: Live at the Madrid (two CDs; DVD same day) (Afrasia)
Rhett Miller The Believer (Verve)
Bob Mintzer Big Band Old School, New Lessons (guests Kurt Elling and the Yellowjackets) (MCG Jazz)
Ne-Yo In My Own Words (Def Jam)
Nine Black Alps Everything Is (Interscope)
Alecia Nugent A Little Girl...A Big Four-Lane (Rounder)
Bobby Osborne and the Rocky Top X-Press Try a Little Kindness (Rounder)
Michael Parenti Rulers of the Planet (CD/DVD combo) (Alternative Tentacles)
Phobia Cruel (Willowtip)
Plumb Chaotic Resolve (Curb)
Ranaldo/Giffoni/Moore/Cline (Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore and Wilco's Nels Cline) Four Guitars Live (2001 performance) (Important)
Ursula Rucker Ma'at Mama (!K7)
Samite Embalasasa (Artemis)
Say Anything ...Is a Real Boy (two CDs; includes 2004 indie release plus bonus disc of demos and new, acoustic versions of older songs) (J Records)
Tom Scott Bebop United (w/Phil Woods) (MCG Jazz)
Serapis Serapis (One Day Savior)
Skylines Identity (Blood & Ink)
Smoking Popes at Metro (DVD same day; live album) (Victory)
Spitfire Self-Help (Goodfellow)
Spyro Gyra Wrapped in a Dream (SACD same day) (Heads Up)
Tresspassers William Having (produced by Dave Fridmann) (Nettwerk)
Steve Tyrell Once Upon a Dream - The Disney Standards (w/Dr. John, Dave Koz and more) (Disney)
Uncurbed Welcome to Anarcho City (Sound Pollution)
Hank Williams III Straight to Hell (Curb)
VA Hotel Chill (two CDs) (Water Music)
VA Munk Presents Gommagang 3 (electronica compilation; includes remixes and previously unreleased tracks) (Gomma)
OST Freedomland (score by James Newton Howard) (Varése Sarabande)
DVD Nardwuar the Human Serviette Doot Doola Doot Doo...Doot Doo (two DVDs) (Alternative Tentacles)
Mariah's Cinematic Comeback
Mariah Carey apparently subscribes to the old adage: "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."
After making a musical comeback with her award-winning, chart-topping album The Emancipation of Mimi, Carey is ready to take another shot at the big screen.
The singer has signed on to star in the independent film Tennessee, playing a waitress who teams with her two brothers to search for their estranged father in an effort to help the youngest brother, who has leukemia.
If you're thinking that whomever made this casting decision must not have seen Glitter, it just so happens you're right.
Tennessee producer Lee Daniels admitted that he never took in the box office flop that earned his star the Razzie Award for Worst Actress in 2001, but said he decided to cast Carey based on her work in 2002's WiseGirls and the success of The Emancipation of Mimi.
"I never saw Glitter, but I liked her work in the other film," Daniels told Daily Variety. "Because this character is interracial and struggles with all sorts of issues because of that, I thought she was perfect."
The film is scheduled to begin shooting this spring in Tennessee and New Mexico.
Carey's return to acting comes at a time when her diva ego can afford a few blows.
In recent months, she notched the top-selling album of 2005, with 4.97 million copies sold and tied Elvis Presley's record of 17 number one singles.
Carey also picked up three Grammys, four Vibe Awards, five Billboard Awards, four Radio Music Awards and four World Music Awards, to name a few.
On Saturday, she added to her haul, taking home Best Album at the 37th Annual NAACP Image Awards.
'Gunsmoke' Actor Dennis Weaver Dies
LOS ANGELES - Dennis Weaver, the slow-witted deputy Chester Goode in the TV classic western "Gunsmoke" and the New Mexico deputy solving New York crime in "McCloud," has died. The actor was 81.
Weaver died of complications from cancer Friday at his home in Ridgway, in southwestern Colorado, his publicist Julian Myers said.
Weaver was a struggling actor in Hollywood in 1955, earning $60 a week delivering flowers when he was offered $300 a week for a role in a new CBS television series, "Gunsmoke." By the end of his nine years with "Gunsmoke," he was earning $9,000 a week.
When Weaver first auditioned for the series, he found the character of Chester "inane." He wrote in his 2001 autobiography, "All the World's a Stage," that he said to himself: "With all my Actors Studio training, I'll correct this character by using my own experiences and drawing from myself."
The result was a well-rounded character that appealed to audiences, especially with his drawling, "Mis-ter Dil-lon."
At the end of seven hit seasons, Weaver sought other horizons. He announced his departure, but the failures of pilots for his own series caused him to return to "Gunsmoke" on a limited basis for two more years. The role brought him an Emmy in the 1958-59 season.
In 1966, Weaver starred with a 600-pound black bear in "Gentle Ben," about a family that adopts a bear as a pet. The series was well-received, but after two seasons, CBS decided it needed more adult entertainment and cancelled it.
Next came the character Sam McCloud, which Weaver called "the most satisfying role of my career."
The "McCloud" series, 1970-1977, juxtaposed a no-nonsense lawman from Taos, N.M., onto the crime-ridden streets of New York City. His wild-west tactics, such as riding his horse through Manhattan traffic, drove local policemen crazy, but he always solved the case.
He appeared in several movies, including "Touch of Evil," "Ten Wanted Men," "Gentle Giant," "Seven Angry Men," "Dragnet," "Way ... Way Out" and "The Bridges at Toko-Ri."
Weaver also was an activist for protecting the environment and combating world hunger.
He served as president of Love Is Feeding Everyone (LIFE), which fed 150,000 needy people a week in Los Angeles County. He founded the Institute of Ecolonomics, which sought solutions to economic and environmental problems. He spoke at the United Nations and Congress, as well as to college students and school children about fighting pollution and starvation.
"Earthship" was the most visible of Weaver's crusades. He and his wife Gerry built a solar-powered Colorado home out of recycled tires and cans. The thick walls helped keep the inside temperature even year around.
"When the garbage man comes," Jay Leno once quipped, "how does he know where the garbage begins and the house ends?"
Weaver responded: "If we get into the mindset of saving rather than wasting and utilizing other materials, we can save the Earth."
The tall, slender actor came by his Midwestern twang naturally. He was born June 4, 1924, in Joplin, Mo., where he excelled in high school drama and athletics. After Navy service in World War II, he enrolled at the University of Oklahoma and qualified for the Olympic decathlon.
He studied at the Actors Studio in New York and appeared in "A Streetcar Named Desire" opposite Shelley Winters and toured in "Come Back, Little Sheba" with Shirley Booth.
Universal Studio signed Weaver to a contract in 1952 but found little work for him. He freelanced in features and television until he landed "Gunsmoke."
Weaver appeared in dozens of TV movies, the most notable being the 1971 "Duel." It was a bravura performance for both fledgling director Steven Spielberg and Weaver, who played a driver menaced by a large truck that followed him down a mountain road. The film was released in theaters in 1983, after Spielberg had become director of huge moneymakers.
Weaver's other TV series include "Kentucky Jones," "Emerald Point N.A.S.," "Stone" and "Buck James." From 1973 to 1975, he served as president of the Screen Actors Guild.
Weaver is survived by his wife; sons Rick, Robby and Rusty; and three grandchildren.
DVDs: Oscar special
Sunday is Oscar's golden moment so it is no surprise that a slew of Oscar-nominated films are coming to DVD.
One crucial factor is that most of the 2006 Academy Award nomination leaders are art films and/or edgier material, not mainstream studio blockbusters. So they need awards to fuel their financial success, in theatres and on DVD.
Of the 35 films that received at least one Oscar nomination in the feature categories for 2005, 12 have already been released and the rest are pending.
Here are the titles that are available:
WALK THE LINE
Out on DVD tomorrow. James Mangold's stirring biopic of legendary country music couple Johnny Cash and June Carter earned five Oscar noms but missed out in the best picture category. Both Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are acting contenders, with Witherspoon cited as the likely best actress winner. Both actors are excellent dramatically and -- because their vocal stylings invoke the originals -- ace the singing, too.
The DVD is available in the basic one-disc release, in separate full and widescreen editions. It has Mangold's excellent, thoughtful commentary plus 10 deleted scenes with optional commentaries.
Better is the widescreen-only, two-disc Collector's Edition that, in addition to five souvenir postcards, has the same first disc plus a second disc of first-rate bonus materials. There are extended versions of three songs, with Cocaine Blues the star entry. Strong featurettes background Cash & Carter, focus on the upheavals of 1968 as the year of crisis and redemption for Cash and explain how Mangold struggled for a decade to make this film.
The crucial thing missing is live performances by Cash & Carter. For that, and a lot of religion, turn to tomorrow's widescreen DVD release of Gospel Road: A Story Of Jesus (1973), in which Cash talks/sings through a docu-drama about the life of Jesus, with Carter as Mary Magdalene. It is crudely done but heartfelt.
PRIDE & PREJUDICE
Out tomorrow as well. Joe Wright's lovely reworking of Jane Austen's classic novel earned four nominations, key among them Keira Knightley as best actress. The DVD is available in separate full and widescreen editions that boast good extras.
Wright's droll commentary is articulate, as is his participation in the four featurettes which delve into the history of Austen and the making of the film. The highlight is listening to Donald Sutherland wax poetic about Knightley, whom he adores and respects, and watching Brenda Blethyn with her bubbly brood of girls on set.
GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK
Out on DVD March 14. George Clooney's sly second film as a director is less a conventional narrative and more of a poetic mood piece about a political era: The upheavals of Joe McCarthy's Communist witchhunts of the 1950s. It earned six noms -- including best picture, Clooney as best director and the wonderfully subtle David Strathairn, who plays crusading TV journalist Edward R. Murrow, as best actor.
The widescreen DVD will feature a sometimes funny, even silly, but often useful commentary shared by Clooney and co-writer/co-star Grant Heslov. The DVD is good but this is a title that demands more, perhaps even a civics lesson. A special edition DVD would be welcome.
CAPOTE
Out on DVD March 21. Bennett Miller shocked Hollywood with the subtle yet explosive quality of his biopic about colourful writer Truman Capote and his controversial research for In Cold Blood. The film earned five noms, including as best picture and Philip Seymour Hoffman as best actor. Hoffman is the front-runner for not merely his mimicry of Capote's high-pitched voice but his embodiment of Capote's tragic internal conflicts.
The widescreen DVD will contain a lineup of excellent extras, none of them hype and all created with the same clear-minded care as the film. Among insights, Miller says of casting Hoffman: "It was a huge risk for Phil to take. The possibility of profound humiliation is always there."
CRASH
On DVD since Sept. 6 last year; a special edition due April 4. Paul Haggis, who was born in London, Ont., leapt into the public eye by writing Million Dollar Baby. Now his remarkable L.A. race drama has six noms, including as best picture, with Haggis named as best director and for best original screenplay (shared with Bobby Moresco).
The original DVD, available in full or widescreen, has a commentary shared by Haggis, Moresco and Don Cheadle, as well as a punchy featurette on the making of the film and its ambition to illuminate the race struggle. "This is a passion piece," Haggis says. That is why the special edition due in April is appropriate. Even more is a good thing.
OSCAR'S DVD LIST
Release dates for selected Oscar nominees:
Crash: Sept. 06, 2005
Batman Begins: Oct. 18, 2005
Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge Of the Sith: Nov. 1, 2005
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory: Nov. 8, 2005
War Of The Worlds: Nov. 22, 2005
Cinderella Man: Dec. 6, 2005
The Constant Gardener: Jan. 10
Hustle & Flow: Jan. 10
Junebug: Jan. 17
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride: Jan. 31
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit: Feb. 7
North Country: Feb. 21
Walk The Line: Feb. 28
Pride & Prejudice: Feb. 28
Howl's Moving Castle: March 7
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire: March 7
Good Night, And Good Luck: March 14
A History Of Violence: March 14
Capote: March 21
The Squid And The Whale: March 21
Memoirs Of A Geisha: March 28
King Kong: March 28
Brokeback Mountain: April 4
Crash: April 4 (Special Edition)
The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe: April 4
Munich: TBA
Match Point: TBA
Syriana: TBA
Mrs. Henderson Presents:TBA
Transamerica: TBA
The New World: TBA