U2 to work on new album this summer
U2 are plotting a return to the studio this summer to work on the follow-up to 2004's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb."
In an interview conducted last week with the U.K's Guardian newspaper, Bono revealed that he has been writing a number of songs geared for the next disc.
"I've got a lot of songs, oddly enough, from taking piano lessons," he said. "My kid's piano teacher, Dawn, has been teaching me the piano. And every time she gives me a lesson, I write a new song. So next week, when (the band and I) meet up, I have all these songs to play for them. So I'd like to thin out my schedule in terms of the politics and activism and just get lost in the music again - that's what I'm really looking forward to for the summer."
No release date has been announced for the album.
Recently, Bono has put his music career on hold to concentrate on his humanitarian mission in the U.S. and Africa to create global AIDS awareness through his initiative Product RED.
Beatles play second fiddle on Brit hit list
Definitely Maybe, the debut album by Oasis, has been named greatest album of all time in a British music survey, pushing the Beatles into second place.
The poll of more than 40,000 music lovers from around the world was done for annual publication British Hit Singles & Albums.
The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band took second place and Revolver was in third, with three other Beatles albums in the top 100.
Definitely Maybe, which came out in 1994, featuring hits such as Live Forever and Supersonic, won the majority of votes in the poll. Another Oasis album came in at number five.
The publication's editor, David Roberts, says voters could name as many as 10 albums.
About 95 per cent of the voters were British and the list was heavily skewed to favourite British bands, including Queen and Coldplay, and Irish favourites U2.
The biggest surprise was The Libertines' debut album, Up the Bracket, at number 15, a showing Roberts attributes to singer Pete Doherty's well-publicized drug arrests and involvement with supermodel Kate Moss.
The only Canadian entries were Joni Mitchell's Blue, ranked number 73 and Alanis Morisette's Jagged Little Pill, at number 93.
The top 10 on the list:
1 - Definitely Maybe, Oasis
2 - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, The Beatles
3- Revolver, The Beatles
4 - OK Computer, Radiohead
5 - (What's The Story) Morning Glory?,Oasis
6 - Nevermind, Nirvana
7 - The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses
8 - Dark Side Of The Moon, Pink Floyd
9 - The Queen Is Dead, Smiths.
10 - The Bends, Radiohead
'Entourage' settles in
LOS ANGELES — From the Hollywood mansion that serves as the fictional home of HBO's Entourage, you can see the series depicted on a real billboard.
The comedy about rising movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his New York boyhood buddies kicks off its third season June 11 (10 ET/PT). And as the show's visibility has grown, particularly in the entertainment world, the sitcom seems less a case of art imitating life than paralleling it — and even influencing it.
In an episode last year, Bono gave a birthday shout-out to actor Johnny "Drama" Chase (Kevin Dillon), Vince's far-less-famous brother, at an actual U2 concert. Talent agents have been known to discuss the make-believe antics of Entourage agent Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) even as some field more job offers for the real-life actors. And location shoots — ranging from Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive to a West Hollywood coffee shop — have become more likely to be interrupted by passersby who call out to the characters.
Jerry Ferrara, who plays Turtle, the Brooklyn-to-the-core driver, says that during a recent shoot at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, "all 250 people started screaming 'Turtle.' I felt like I was dreaming."
With Sex and the City gone, Entourage is HBO's next great comedy hope. The critically praised series' audience rose as last season ended. "We are thrilled with the way the show has been growing creatively," HBO entertainment president Carolyn Strauss says.
Nevertheless, Entourage has far to go to fill Sex's Manolo Blahniks in the ratings. Its largest audiences have yet to hit 3 million viewers; Sex regularly doubled that number, and its 2004 finale topped 10 million.
But Strauss says the show is generating buzz both inside and outside the entertainment business, important for a subscriber-based network. "It's that kind of show that seems in the offseason to pick up momentum and collect new viewers," she says.
Band of brothers
Entourage, based on executive producer Mark Wahlberg's experiences as a star, already is a survivor in a sea of sunken behind-the-scenes takes on Hollywood, including HBO's The Comeback. Perhaps that's because, as creator Doug Ellin contends, Entourage is more about the relationships among a group of likable guys than showbiz minutiae. "It's not a Hollywood show. It's a show about friendship," he says. "I watched Diner 400 times. That was the tone I wanted."
But the real Hollywood always figures into the calculation. When deciding how to handle the box-office fate of Vince's film, Aquaman, Ellin had to consider Titanic director James Cameron, who plays himself as Aquaman's director. "You don't want to make (Cameron) have a bad movie," he says.
The season explores how the guys deal with success' twists and turns. Relationships evolve, including the rivalry between Ari and Vince's smart but green manager, Eric (Kevin Connolly). And viewers will see how Ari relates to his wife and daughter at home.
James Woods plays an over-the-top media image of himself in the first episode, joining numerous celebs who have portrayed (and occasionally parodied) themselves on the show, including Wahlberg, Jessica Alba, Mandy Moore, Scarlett Johansson, Bob Saget, Gary Busey, Hugh Hefner and the rapper Saigon.
Entourage also serves as a travelogue of chi-chi LA, at the Malibu beachfront, a Lakers game, the Playboy Mansion, the babe-infused Urth Caffe and numerous nightspots.
"There was a fear in the beginning that we'd be too inside," says Piven, whose Ari is rebuilding his career after being booted from his agency. But "people have displayed a hunger for the backstage life of artists. We're being as specific as we can with that world. People within (the business) recognize it. Outside of it, they're curious about it."
Hollywood, a big boy's toy box full of snazzy sports cars, never-ending parties and a sugar high of arm candy, gives the series a fantasy appeal that even wows the cast members. Grenier (who also can be seen in The Devil Wears Prada June 30) says he and his castmates don't have the time or inclination to party as relentlessly as their alter egos do. "Even I watch the show ... and live vicariously through the characters," he says.
Connolly, whose Eric is usually referred to as E, notes the show doesn't focus on Vince's work on set. "Who does live that lifestyle? The guys wake up, eat breakfast, hit golf balls, jump in a $150,000 car, eat a nice dinner, go to a club, grab the hottest girls and bring them back for a party," he says.
Drama weaves into the comedy, but Entourage isn't a satire and doesn't go heavily into the dark side of showbiz. "I think it nails the fun part of Hollywood," he says.
Although the actors may not club as much as their characters, they are hardly strangers to Hollywood nightlife. Connolly dates socialite Nicky Hilton and has been mentioned in celebrity news accounts hitting the town with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire.
And they live it up with one another. "Whatever you see on television, how much fun it looks like we're having and how good we get along, times that by 100 when the cameras aren't rolling," says Ferrara, who attended Dillon's recent Las Vegas wedding, as did Connolly.
Doors are opening for cast
The main nightlife planned this Friday before the Memorial Day weekend is a long day-into-night shoot. The four buddies are doing a kitchen breakfast scene in the rented Mediterranean-style manor that snakes up a hillside, offering views from Hollywood to the Pacific. (Twenty episodes are being filmed, 12 of which will run this summer.)
The estate is worth millions, but its décor is hardly a candidate for Architectural Digest. "The main criteria was that it shouldn't feel overdesigned. This suits them more. They're into comfort, not presentation of lifestyle," says director Julian Farino, a filmmaker with a documentary background who pushed for filming in the house's interior rooms rather than creating sets on a soundstage.
Shooting here "makes it so much more real," says Dillon, seated on a patio that overlooks a pool and offers a panorama of the city. For viewers, "it feels like you're there."
For Dillon — brother of actor Matt Dillon —Entourage got a bit too real when he broke his arm during a recent basketball scene. He had a plate and 10 screws put in, and was back two days later for a photo shoot, sans sling. "I'll probably look totally out of it."
All the other breaks have been positive. Grenier says Entourage opened the door to Prada. Dillon and Piven, who earned an Emmy nomination last year, also say it has helped them get roles, Dillon in Poseidon, Piven in Keeping Up with the Steins and the upcoming Smoking Aces. "Now, I'm getting their attention" for meatier roles, Piven says.
The higher profile helps around town, too. "I used to be the guy trying to tip the (nightclub) doorman 10 bucks to get in and having him laugh at me," Ferrara says. "Now I go into a club and I don't have to bring a wallet. The parallels (with the show) are unbelievable."
And helpful. As Grenier deals with his fame, "I'm learning from Vince. He's teaching me all about the do's and don't's of celebrity."
"X-Men" set to extend box office reign
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - In the relative calm after a box office storm called "X-Men: The Last Stand," the romantic comedy-drama "The Break-Up" is the lone new wide release in the marketplace this weekend.
The real-life relationship between the film's stars, Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston, could drive ticket sales. Not surprisingly, "Break-Up" is skewing female, but Vaughn appeals to both sexes.
After its $123 million opening last weekend, 20th Century Fox's third "X-Men" movie is a shoo-in for the top spot again, while Universal's "Break-Up" will vie for the second slot with Sony's "The Da Vinci Code" and Paramount's "Over the Hedge."
Fox's "The Omen" -- a remake of the 1976 film about a boy named Damien who is destined to become the Antichrist -- will debut Tuesday, The unusual release date of 6/6/06 ties in with the devilish digits featured in the film. The ensemble cast includes Julia Stiles, Liev Schreiber, Mia Farrow and David Thewlis. Newcomer Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick plays Damien.
Roger Ebert to have more cancer surgery
CHICAGO - Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert, who has battled cancer in recent years, will undergo cancer surgery again, according to a published report.
In Thursday's Chicago Sun-Times, where Ebert has been the movie critic for nearly 40 years, columnist Robert Feder reported that Ebert will have surgery June 16 to remove a cancerous growth on his salivary gland.
"It's not life threatening, and I expect to make a full recovery," the 63-year-old critic and host of the nationally syndicated movie review show, "Ebert & Roeper," told Feder. "I'll continue to function as a film critic during this time."
Ebert has undergone cancer surgery three times before — once in 2002 to remove a malignant tumor on his thyroid gland and twice on his salivary gland the next year.
But Feder reported that Ebert is not expected to require radiation treatment as he did when he underwent the previous procedures.
"This is known as a slow-growing and persistent cancer," Ebert said. "You live with it."
Ebert recently returned from the Cannes Film Festival in France. He said he plans to tape enough shows with Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper that the program will continue to air during his recovery.
Ebert has been a film critic at the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967. He won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1975, the same year he teamed up with Gene Siskel of the rival Chicago Tribune to launch their movie-review show. Siskel died in 1999.