The Couch Potato Report - June 20th, 2006
This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on Neil Young, some dogs and Alfred Hitchcock's "rope."
Neil Percival Kenneth Robert Ragland Young was born in Toronto, and he lives in Northern California now, but he grew up in Winnipeg.
He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1982 and he has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: first in 1995 for his solo work and again in 1997 as a member of Buffalo Springfield.
His credits - both in the music and humanitarian worlds - are unrivaled and unequaled, so I won’t list them. All I will say is this: Neil Young is a Canadian Icon.
On March 31, 2005, Young was admitted to a hospital in New York for treatment for a brain aneurysm. I am very happy to say that he was treated successfully by a minimally invasive procedure.
Sadly, Neil was forced to cancel a scheduled appearance at the Juno Awards in his hometown of Winnipeg.
Prior to undergoing the procedure, and then again after, he worked on a new album that he released in September of 2005 called “Prairie Wind.”
In addition to the songs that were inspired by Young's aneurysm, and the death of his father in June of 2005, “Prairie Wind” is also a beautiful ode to the Canadian prairies.
In the summer of 2005 Neil Young took that music inspired by Canada to Nashville's famed Ryman Auditorium, the home of the original Grand Ole Opry.
Oscar winning director Jonathan Demme filmed the shows and the result is a superb new DVD called NEIL YOUNG: HEART OF GOLD.
Young and his band and friends perform “Prairie Wind” in its entirety in the 103 minute film, and they also give us some classics, including the film’s title song and “Harvest Moon.”
If you are already a fan of Neil Young, I suspect that you already have HEART OF GOLD in your collection, and if you don’t you should.
If you aren’t a fan of Neil Young, and that is okay too, I still recommend this film as it offers a chance to listen to some beautiful music from a man who - by God’s grace - is still with us.
HEART OF GOLD stars the acoustic Neil Young, not the man who is known as The Godfather Of Grunge Music, and the music is full of beautiful backing vocals and simple, elegant melodies.
And at the end, it's just Neil on the stage with no crowd and no bandmates for one last, beautiful song.
NEIL YOUNG: HEART OF GOLD is an incredible showcase of a great Canadian icon.
Neil, my friend, long may you run!
NEIL YOUNG: HEART OF GOLD is no dog, it is superb! Our next two movies aren’t dogs either, but they do have dogs in them.
EIGHT BELOW is an Antarctic explorer who is reluctantly forced by brutal cold to leave his team of eight sled dogs behind as he fends for his own survival, and the survival of the other people at their base.
The humans in the film are good, but it is the dogs who are the stars of the film as they attempt to find food and stay alive in the harsh below freezing temperatures.
EIGHT BELOW is based on a true story and while it isn't a superb film, due to the amount of time it takes for the humans to find a way to return to rescue the dogs, but it is an above average movie that the whole family can enjoy.
This week's other dog movie is LADY AND THE TRAMP II: SCAMP’S ADVENTURE.
Scamp is the son of Disney’s legendary Lady & The Tramp.
Seeking the freedom to be a wild dog, the son of Lady and the Tramp runs away to join a gang of junkyard dogs.
The original film was released in 1955 and it remains a classic to this day.
The sequel came out in 2001 and while it isn't anywhere near a classic it is pretty good.
If you could only see either LADY & THE TRAMP or LADY & THE TRAMP: SCAMP’S ADVENTURE I would suggest you stick with the original, but if you loved the original and want to see more, then check out the sequel as well.
Finally this week, Universal Home Video has re-released some of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic films on DVD, calling each “An Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece.”
Normally when a studio does that I just tell you that they have done it and then briefly recap the titles.
But I thought I would do something differently with these re-releases and them one at a time for the next few weeks.
I'll start this week with ROPE, Hitchcock’s 1948 film about two men who commit a murder just to see what it's like.
After the murder the men hide the body in their large apartment, and then throw a dinner party.
The film’s thrills come not in the murder of the execution of it, but in the suspense of whether or not the body will be discovered.
ROPE is based on a play, and the film does play out like something you would see on stage. Credit for that is shared with Canadian born actor and writer Hume Cronyn who adapted it for the silver screen.
While ROPE it might not be one of Hitchcock’s films that you can watch over and over again, it is still full of suspense.
Plus, this is the film where James Stewart made his first starring role for Hitchcock. That collaboration would eventually yield the masterpieces REAR WINDOW and VERTIGO.
ROPE, LADY AND THE TRAMP II: SCAMP’S ADVENTURE, EIGHT BELOW and NEIL YOUNG: HEART OF GOLD are all available now on DVD.
Coming up in two weeks in the next Couch Potato Report
ANNAPOLIS is set at the well-known Naval Academy and it centers on a young man from the wrong side of the tracks whose dream of attending becomes a reality.
I’ll continue our tribute to ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S FILMS with the Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY and take a look at the TV shows THE ROCKFORD FILES - SEASON TWO and COACH - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON.
I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in fourteen 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!
Carolina edges Oilers to win Stanley Cup
RALEIGH, N.C. - This time, the Stanley Cup gets to stay on Tobacco Road. A couple of low-scoring Carolina defensemen put Edmonton's comeback on ice and Cam Ward stopped nearly everything that came his way, giving the Hurricanes their first NHL championship with a 3-1 victory in Game 7 on Monday night.
Aaron Ward and Frantisek Kaberle found the net for the Hurricanes — a couple of unlikely players to carry the offense, considering they were each six-goal scorers during the regular season and had combined for only four in the playoffs.
Then there's the guy who made sure two goals were enough. Cam Ward, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the most valuable player in the playoffs, wasn't even Carolina's No. 1 goalie at the beginning of the postseason, but the 22-year-old rookie got the call when Martin Gerber struggled in an opening round against Montreal.
The young star wound up winning more games in the playoffs (15) than he did backing up Gerber during the regular season (14).
"I mean, this is a dream come true," Ward said. "I couldn't be with a better group of guys. They definitely deserve it."
Justin Williams finished off the Oilers, scoring an empty-net goal with 1:01 remaining after Edmonton had cut the lead in half early in the third period.
Edmonton defenseman Chris Pronger, a stalwart throughout the series, gave up the puck in the Carolina zone and wound up making a helpless dive to block Williams' gimme into the goal.
Bret Hedican, among a contingent of 30-something Carolina players who had never won the cup, leaped in the air after Williams' shot went in. The crowd of nearly 19,000, which stood throughout the game, went into a frenzy.
"We want the cup!" they chanted over and over.
They got it, bringing the trophy to territory best known for college basketball.
"I can't describe it," said Hedican, who lost in two previous trips to the finals. "Both times were gut-wrenching. I've got the scars. But tonight, all that work, all that hard work, and our team winning, it all paid off."
It paid off, too, for captain Rod Brind'Amour, Glen Wesley, Doug Weight and Ray Whitney. Along with Hedican, they had been in the league for a total of 78 seasons without winning the cup.
Now, they'll all have their names on it.
The Hurricanes were born in the old World Hockey Association as the Boston-based New England Whalers, and entered the NHL in 1979 playing out of Hartford. When their demands for a new arena were turned aside, the team headed south in 1997.
The first two years in Carolina were a dismal experience, the team forced to play 80 miles away in Greensboro while a new arena was built in Raleigh. Few fans turned up in the beginning and the upper deck was curtained off, the demand for tickets so light.
Now, the Hurricanes are champions, capitalizing on their second trip to the finals. Four years ago, they were beaten in five games by Detroit.
The Oilers have nothing to be ashamed of, making it all the way to the final game of the season after barely getting into the playoffs.
Fernando Pisani did it again for Edmonton, scoring his playoff-leading 14th goal just over a minute into the third to make a game of it, and goalie Jussi Markkanen had another strong game with 25 saves.
The series looked as if it would be a rout when Carolina rallied from a three-goal deficit to win Game 1 and blew out the Oilers 5-0 in Game 2. The Oilers also had to cope with the loss of playoff star Dwayne Roloson, who had played every minute of the postseason in goal until he went out with a knee injury in the opener.
But, led by Markkanen and Pisani, the Oilers rebounded from a 3-1 deficit. They pulled out an overtime win in Carolina — with the cup somewhere in the bowels of the RBC Center, waiting to be handed out if the Hurricanes won.
Edmonton returned home and blew out Carolina 4-0 in Game 6.
That's where the comeback ended. Brind'Amour made sure of that, urging on his teammates to finish what they started.
Appropriately enough, the captain was the first one to get the cup. Brind'Amour broke down in tears of joy as he lifted it up.
"He's the leader of this team," Cam Ward said. "Once again, he came up huge for us."
Right from the start, Carolina seized the momentum with the sort of energy and passion that had been missing since Game 5.
Erik Cole delivered a big hit at center ice to force Edmonton into a turnover, and Matt Cullen took off the other way with the puck. He swept in on Markkanen, who made a good save off his chest.
The Hurricanes didn't let up, keeping Edmonton bottled up in its own zone. Mark Recchi got possession behind the net and attempted a pass to Andrew Ladd standing in front, only to have the ricochet back to Aaron Ward moving in from the point.
That worked out just fine for Carolina. The defenseman delivered a slap shot that skidded through a half-dozen players scrumming in front of the net and on through the legs of Markkanen, who appeared to be screened.
It was the Hurricanes' first goal in 95:01 since the second period of Game 5.
Carolina thought it had another goal in the final seconds of the period. Brind'Amour flipped a pass to Craig Adams, who fanned on his first shot but then backhanded the puck off Markkanen's stick.
The goalie fell facefirst to the ice, the puck spinning over him and toward the post. Defenseman Steve Staios dove into the net and stuck out his right glove in an attempt to keep the puck out.
It was hard to tell exactly where the puck was on most of the replays, but one angle appeared to show the puck sliding under Staios and just across the goal line. However, the officials ruled that play was dead as soon as Staios struck the puck with his hand since a delayed penalty had been called on Edmonton's Ethan Moreau — a huge break for the Oilers with 4.1 seconds left in the period.
Carolina finally made it 2-0 with just over four minutes gone in the second. Kaberle fired a slap shot over a diving Jason Smith, whose sweater appeared to catch part of the puck and cause it to dip under Markkanen's left pad when he had his glove out to make the save.
Pisani gave the Oilers hope at 1:03 in the third, crashing the net to knock in a loose puck after Cam Ward had already made one save and turned aside a rebound try.
Edmonton was the first eighth-seeded team to reach the finals under the current format, knocking off three higher-ranked teams — including regular-season champ Detroit — along the way.
The Oilers were in the finals for the first time since 1990, when they won their fifth cup in seven years. For most of the '80s, Edmonton was the center of the hockey world with star-studded teams led by Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey and Grant Fuhr.
But spiraling salaries and changing economics sent the Oilers into a tailspin, putting their very future in doubt. Now, in the first season of the new salary cap-protected NHL, they made a title run with a blue-collar team featuring few big names.
But Edmonton failed in its bid to bring the Stanley Cup back to Canada for the first time since Montreal's championship in 1993.
Instead, the cup is remaining in Dixie. Tampa Bay won in 2004 and now the trophy belongs to Carolina after an entire season was lost to a lockout.
Country rocker Toby Keith's hit "How do You Like Me Now?" blared out in the arena as the Hurricanes passed around the cup.
A fan held up a sign, "Hockey, The New Southern Sport."
Notes:@ It was the first time that three straight Stanley Cup finals have gone to Game 7. ... Bill McCreary and Brad Watson were picked as the referees, working their second game in a row. This was the 11th straight finals appearance for McCreary.
Whedon Gives Wonder Woman Update
Wizard magazine has published a great interview in which Brian Michael Bendis asked Joss Whedon questions about a variety of subjects. The Wonder Woman came up:
WHEDON: I am having enormous trouble with the ["Wonder Woman" movie] script. It's going very well and I'm loving life, but because it's only at script stage and there will be no discussion of casting before, I don't really deal with that. No, it's weird, I'm in my office and it's just me.
WHEDON: It's kept me busy for a long time. I'm finally finishing the second draft. I'm very happy with it, but wow! Wow, this one was like pulling teeth. It's tough. I would watch "Batman Begins" and just grumble, just b*tch and moan, because he's got everything. He's got so much of the work done for him. He's got the best rogues' gallery. He's got the best origin story. Wonder Woman is a lot more to figure out. But it's coming together.
Lowdown: Kreviazuk sings 'Ghost Stories'
Chantal Kreviazuk is back on the Canadian charts, but this time it's not with a song she co-wrote for Kelly Clarkson, Gwen Stefani or Avril Lavigne.
The Winnipeg-born singer-pianist has released her first solo single since becoming a multi-platinum-selling songwriter for other artists. The album, "Ghost Stories," is due August 29 on Sony BMG Music Canada.
After two weeks at radio, "All I Can Do" debuted at #46 on the Hot AC spins chart and #42 at Hot AC audience, according to Nielsen BDS Canada.
"All I can do is love you to pieces / Give you a shoulder to cry when you need it," she sings in the chorus.
It's a beautiful, bright piano pop song that includes the line "What a lovely day to shape your dreams / And you don't even have to sleep / You can make it what you want to be."
"I wrote it for my kids. I can't listen to it," Kreviazuk says, getting emotional, as it plays in a room at her Toronto record label. "It sounds a little bit different than the rest of the record. That's the only issue I have with it. That one's very big. It's a big pop/rock song."
Produced by her husband, Raine Maida of rock band Our Lady Peace, she says the couple made sure they did a few little things to tie the song in with the rest of the album. Like this she demonstrates, singing the "Ahhhh-oh-oh Aaaaalllll all I" that leads into the last chorus. "Which is a little bit gospel," she concludes, "because a lot of the record has a gospel theme to it."
Kreviazuk is at Sony BMG Music Canada, meeting with many of the staff for the first time since Sony and BMG merged in 2004. Until then, she had released three solo albums for Columbia/Sony -- 1997's "Under These Rocks," which scanned 175,000 units in Canada, according to Nielsen Soundscan Canada; 1999's "Colour Moving And Still," which scanned 195,000; and 2002's "What If It All Means Something," which scanned 70,000 amid the corporate confusion that was happening at the label when the joint venture and pending layoffs were announced.
"If can be completely honest, I'm really excited about Lisa Zbitnew being my record company president," says Kreviazuk.
It was Zbitnew who arranged for her to perform at Sony BMG's annual Managing Directors Conference in Miami, FL back in March, after she heard the song "Ghosts Of You." The MDC is attended by the heads of all the record labels in the Sony BMG family, including Clive Davis and Donny Ienner.
"It was the first song we sent around, just to prove we were making a record, because everybody was like, 'Where's your album?' We're like, 'F*** off, we'll hand it in when it's done,'" Kreviazuk laughs. "I think they wondered if we were even doing anything. So we handed them 'Ghosts' and everybody flipped out. So Lisa had me play for the entire world convention and the only other people that played were the Dixie Chicks."
"I was like, '(Play) just this one song?' And they were like, 'Well, you have to play another one.' I assumed that it would be an old one because then people would remember me from my other records and they called me a couple of days before and they were like, 'Nope, you've got to play another new one.' I was like, 'S**t, I really don't have a record, I really don't (laughs).' So I finished 'All I Can Do' and performed that one as well and it was great."
"Ghosts Of You" is Jonathan Ramos' favourite, the director of A&R whispers to this reporter after his first proper in-person meeting with Kreviazuk. He was hired at the label last year, after years in management and as a concert promoter, and didn't A&R the album.
He didn't have to. Now that Kreviazuk has had placed songs on albums by multi-million-selling artists -- and Maida most notably produced Lavigne -- they are a proven, self-contained unit that doesn't need to be closely monitored in the studio.
"Me coming in after she started the record, it wasn't really my place to do that, but my role in this was to help manage it and help it along," explains Ramos, who set up the mixing dates with Chris Lord-Alge (Green Day, Three Days Grace, Jewel), who did the single, and Michael Brauer (Coldplay, Bob Dylan, Stabilo), who did the album.
"Because I didn't A&R it in the traditional sense of the word, and Lisa would ask me, 'What's going on with Chantal's record? What's going on with the Chantal record?' all I could really do was reach out to (Nettwerk) management and say, 'What's going on with Chantal's record?'
"But the first single I ever got was 'Ghosts Of You' and when I heard it, it knocked me out, and not just that's my job as an A&R, but it was so different, such a departure from what I thought she was - because there's a theme running through all her music, in terms of you just recognize it.
"We were expecting quite a bit (from her) because of who she's become now, as a writer, and she's surprised a lot of people -- me included, as how prolific she is and who she's worked with and just how accomplished she is, so now we're like, 'Now, this is her; stop giving these songs away.'
"But then I'm like, 'Are we going to get a compilation-sounding album that sounds like a Gwen Stefani track, a Kelly Clarkson or Avril Lavigne track, but, really, it's all her. And this 'Ghosts' track - because she did a lot of strings on the album - it just blew me away and I told Lisa, 'This is what the album is going to sound like? We're good.'"
She and Maida started on the album about two years ago in their home studio in Los Angeles, but didn't buckle down until February and March of this year. She co-wrote the majority of the songs with him and the rest on her own.
Writing between 150 to 200 songs the past two years and scoring hits for Lavigne, Clarkson and Stefani had made her a more practiced, artful songwriter, but she never once thought of making a pop record herself. And yet she did dig into her repertoire of songs that had been pitched to other artists.
"Ghosts Of You," in fact, started off being a song for Stefani that the No Doubt singer didn't end up using on her solo debut, so Kreviazuk changed it up considerably "so it turned into my song," she says. It's about her connection with her late cousin, Brenda, her best friend who passed away at age 36.
"It's the most simple lyric," says Kreviazuk, and begins to recount it: "We were occupied / Never had to go outside / I was your alibi / We were planning our escape / We stayed up all night with Lucy and the diamond sky/drank cheap red white and talked ourselves to sleep / Please don't go / These ghosts of you/the only thing that helped me get through the day / Please don't go / 'cause I love you / You're the only thing that will stay the same.'"
She says that she selected the album title "Ghost Stories" -- verses naming it after the song "Ghosts Of You" which her label, she says, preferred initially -- because there is an overall ghost theme to the songs. "The ghost thing, it does reflects the death of my cousin, but it also reflects the things we pretend aren't there; the things that we make disappear, like poverty, war, the misfits, the useless.
"Things are pretty direct. There's a couple of quite abstract things. Like there's one abstract song called 'Spoken Tongues' where it, to me, relates to the ghost stories theme because it's about a ghost of a relationship.
"There's a lot of remembering and grieving and a lot of is spiritual too, so in that sense I think 'Ghost Stories' really pulls it together well."
What's most unique about the album is there is not one guitar on the album.
"I think Raine was sick of my first three albums, people trying to take this piano-singer and then do something with it, but always using guitars. He's be like, 'Why are you doing that?' And the funny thing is that this album rocks way more than anything I've ever done and there's not one fuckin' guitar lick in it.
"Yeah, it's so amazing," she enthuses. "Raine is the most unbelievable producer. He's phenomenal. He's the guy. He's f****g amazing."
On the album, Maida played some bass, Kreviazuk recreated some bass on keyboards and Jason Lader, who engineered much of "Ghost Stories," also played some. Randy Cooke played a lot of the drums and string players were also brought in.
Kreviazuk realizes her success as a songwriter gave her the freedom to make this album with her husband without any interference from the label.
"Actually this is a funny story," she begins. "A couple of years ago, before we did all sorts of other projects, I remember calling up management or the label or something and saying, 'I've got the songs, I'd really like my husband to produce them' and I remember the response was, 'Well, do the demos and get them to us.' I remember thinking, 'That's such bullshit, what bullshit.' And then all it took was having a hit or being on these massive records and now nobody bats an eye. Now, you do what you want to do.
"But we're human and this is not a perfect world. You have to pay your dues and earn your status. And so thankfully, now that that's happened, a) it allows me a creative freedom, and it allows me this privacy to do some great things. So it's the greatest thing I've done because I didn't feel pressure. I just wrote music I felt. It's so exciting and b), if it doesn't do what I think it should do, I kind of don't care. I do, but I don't. Financially, I don't. So I just go back to my drawing board and keep creating and maybe work on someone's record."
Track listing (order not finalized)
Ghosts Of You
Too Late (Wonderful)
I Know You Blame Yourself But Don't
Out of the Shadows
All I Can Do
Spoke in Tongues
Grow Up So Fast
Waiting For The Sun (Mad Mad World)
Mad About You
Asylum
The Wendy House
Amy Lee opens up about new Evanescence disc
TORONTO - Just like one of the gang, Evanescence frontwoman Amy Lee emerges from a hotel suite, strides up to a pristinely arranged table of cold cuts and crackers, and declares herself famished.
Garbed in a pixie-like outfit, which sees her sporting a sleeveless heather-grey tee, over a black, pink frilly edge skirt and slightly worn Cons, the 24-year-old California native then joins her handlers in trying to figure out who'd be wearing what to Sunday night's MuchMusic Video Awards.
Moments later, now fully energized, the fresh-faced singer/ songwriter tucks herself comfortably into a plush couch in her Yorkville hotel, eager to talk about her band's latest disc, "The Open Door," due in stores October 3.
"It's just killing me," she says with a mock laugh. "I wish we could put it out right now."
"I mean, who knows what's going to happen by October? We may all be worshipping polka people by then."
Three years after their major label debut, the multi-platinum, Grammy-winning "Fallen," Lee says the new record lets her finally stretch herself in ways even she didn't think possible.
"The Open Door," the band's first album since the departure of lead guitarist and main songwriter Ben Moody in 2003, finds Evanescence rocking out way more, she says.
"I think if people expect this album is going to be softer and more feminine and more wimpy, they're going to be surprised," she begins carefully. "It's not an album full of "My Immortal"-like songs. Every song is completely different and I feel like at times it definitely goes heavier than we had the capacity to do before. But in a way that's still new and fun and unique and not trying to be like anything else that's out there."
Sidestepping Moody's abrupt departure for a moment, Lee admits that her work on the disc, which was recorded in Los Angeles earlier this year, helped her discover how to be a better artist.
"This time around I was in control completely and didn't have any real limits," she says. "I felt like I could do things that I didn't know I could do before and that's an incredible feeling. And I realized I could do a lot more things than I thought I could, as a singer, as a music writer, even as an engineer."
"It was nice to be able to write something and not have it shot down," she says, taking a mild swipe at Moody, who met Lee at a youth camp while they were teens, before forming the band in Arkansas in the late '90s.
It was also nice to collaborate with a different musician, she says, enthusing about Moody's replacement, former Cold guitarist Terry Balsamo.
"I've never really written with someone before. I don't know if Ben and I ever wrote a song together. It was always, I would write and he would write and then we would bring our ideas together."
"But the writing process with Terry was really, really great and different. We would just sit in a room and make demos. We'd work together and talk to each other and encourage one another. This whole writing together thing is good for me. I needed Terry to make it happen the way it did. I trust him and we trust each other to just try whatever."
Besides, since she started writing the album more than a year ago until now, Lee says she's been deaf to the cat calls of people who say she can't make it without Ben.
"Those I hate the most," she moans. "But I don't bother with any of it. It's not even worth it. All I have to say is, people who don't think I can do it - I can do it."
Again teamed with "Fallen" producer Dave Fortman (Mudvayne), the record - which features 13 tracks including the propulsive "Weight Of The World," the full-bodied, "Lithium," the haunting "Good Enough" and the gut-spilling first single, "Call Me When You're Sober" - is everything Lee had ever wanted to try both as a singer and songwriter.
"On this record, I tried things that I couldn't do before because I'm better now as a musician. And anything that I had wanted to try, but before was afraid to do, I tried that too. Because of that, I feel this album steps out. It's grown up."
Curling herself into the couch, streams of the late afternoon sun streaking its way across the room, she says that what's going to surprise people most about the new record is that the reincarnated Evanescence can do it all.
"You can't make a record thinking about sales or things like that," she says softly. "It's got to be natural. It's got to be that you're writing because you want to make music, not because you want to sell records. So, I just thought to myself, 'I'm going to write songs. I'm just going to write something that I can love. Period.'"
"The Open Door" will be in stores October 3.
Price a sticking point as Apple negotiates for movie downloads
Apple Computer Inc. is negotiating with most of Hollywood's studios to offer movie downloads on its iTunes website, potentially by the end of 2006.
The major sticking point to the talks seems to be price, according to Variety magazine.
As with the recording studios, who have been pressuring Apple to offer different pricing for different songs, the studios want to charge more for their most popular products.
But Apple chief executive Steve Jobs wants a flat price of $9.99 per movie.
The flat price format has worked well for music at iTunes. Its simplicity appealed to consumers, who adopted legal downloading in large numbers with the advent of Apple's iTunes music store.
In May the recording studios agreed to renew their contracts with Apple with the same flat price scheme, which gives them 70 per cent of the revenue.
But Hollywood has so far rejected the concept of flat pricing, Variety reports, saying executives want a range of prices, such as consumers might see at stores selling video and DVDs.
Hollywood movies have a limited online market now at websites like Movielink and CinemaNow, and Warner Bros. recently agreed to make movies available via BitTorrent. But no site offering films yet has the wide exposure of iTunes.
Several European countries are worried about iTunes' dominance in the music downloading market.
Scandinavian consumer action
France is trying to introduce a law that will force Apple to make its iTunes music operable on any portable player.
Last week consumer agencies in Norway, Sweden and Denmark sent a joint letter to Apple, accusing it of having illegal restrictions on product usage.
Apple is violating contract and copyright laws by ignoring consumer rights to copy music they've bought into any format, they said.
The regulators have given the company until to Aug. 1 to respond and say they will take Apple to court if they're not satisfied with the answer.
They also objected to Apple's practice of constantly changing software and its contract with consumers, which waives the company from responsibility for damages related to its service.
"Consumers must be free to choose the equipment and software they want to use. Access to content should not be limited by accidental choices of technology," Torgeir Waterhouse, a senior adviser on the Norwegian Consumer Council, wrote in a complaint to the Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman.
Superman Returns Reviews Fly In
Early 'net reactions say it soars
The cape is ironed, the boots polished and the pants still outside the tights.
Superman Returns arrives in theatres next week and -almost all - early reaction to Bryan Singer's re-jigging of the world's most famous superhero says it's a flyer.
"A worthy successor to Superman: The Movie and Superman II, if never quite as much fun. A darker take on Superman, the polished, character-driven narrative and Routh’s fine performance ensure that the Man Of Steel will remain a magnet for moviegoers" - Empire
"Grandly conceived and sensitively drawn Superman saga. Sure to rate with aficionados alongside "Spider-Man 2" and, for many, "Batman Begins" on the short list of best superhero spectaculars...One can praise newcomer Routh very highly indeed" - Variety
"This is one summer blockbuster whose 150 minute-running time will fly by as fast as Superman himself" - Mike Goodridge, Screendaily.com
"This is the film I was hoping and dreaming for...The film is filled with love for more than just the previous movies, but the comics and even the classic George Reeves television show. This honors them all, while doing its own wonderful thing" - Harry Knowles
"Singer has made a much better film than [Superman] part I or part II -- craftier, a bit dryer, more fully rendered, less comic book-y, and more deeply felt" - Jeffrey Wells, Hollywood Elsewhere
And because there's always one...
"Where to start on Superman Returns? It's terribly cast, poorly conceived, extremely light on action, features a romance that is not remotely romantic, doesn't feature a single memorable, "gosh, that was great" repeat-to-your-friends moment in a positive way (the blunder bits start early and often), will be crushed by Pirates of The Caribbean II and played out completely before August 1" - David Poland, Movie City News
New Releases, June 20: Nelly Furtado, Madonna, Keane
Nelly Furtado "Loose"
"Loose," Canadian singer Nelly Furtado's first new album since 2003's "Folklore," looks like it will mark a recovery from the disappointing sales of its predecessor. The new cut "Maneater" is now spending a second week at No. 1 on the UK singles chart, helping to lead the album to a No. 5 debut on the UK album chart.
In the US, lead single "Promiscuous," a duet with her "Loose" collaborator Timbaland, currently sits at No. 2 on Billboard's Hot 100.
Furtado made a splash in 2000 with her hit "I'm Like a Bird," from her debut set, "Whoa Nelly."
* * *
Madonna "I'm Going to Tell You a Secret"
If you didn't get what you wanted on Madonna's Confessions tour--namely, the old hits--you might want to give this CD/DVD set a spin. The Material Girl delivers the goods with "I'm Going to Tell You a Secret," which documents the pop star's Reinvention World Tour of 2004. The collection includes such fan favorites and chart toppers as "Vogue," "Like a Prayer," "Music" and "Into the Groove." The disc also includes a version of John Lennon's "Imagine."
Unlike some CD/DVD sets, which offer more for the ears than for the eyes, "I'm Going to Tell You a Secret" could be well worth watching. The Reinvention tour was one of the most elaborately staged productions of recent years.
* * *
Keane "Under the Iron Sea"
Don't call Keane a bunch of slackers. In 2004-05, the band toured its native UK four times and made five treks through the US, which included opening for U2. The group also visited Mexico, Japan, and Australia, and played at the massive Live 8 show in London.
Somehow, amid all this touring activity, the band found time to record a follow-up to 2004's "Hopes and Fears." The first single from this 11-track new set is titled "Is it Any Wonder?"
* * *
Corinne Bailey Rae "Corinne Bailey Rae"
Corinne Bailey Rae is already a big star in Great Britain. The singer's eponymous debut entered the UK album chart at No. 1 back in March--making Bailey the first female British artist to accomplish that feat with a debut record of original songs. Since that impressive start, "Corinne Bailey Rae" has gone on to achieve double-platinum certification in the UK.
Now, Rae is hoping to capture the hearts of fans living on the other side of the Atlantic. The vocalist, who has been compared to both Norah Jones and Macy Gray, is certainly getting plenty of valuable exposure. Notably, she is scheduled to appear June 27 on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," and iTunes recently selected Rae's song "Put Your Records On" as its Single of the Week.
* * *
Gram Parsons "The Complete Reprise Sessions"
Gram Parsons helped write the book on country-rock with his solo albums "GP" and "Grievous Angel." "The Complete Reprise Sessions," a set that no self-respecting alt-country fan should be without, presents remastered and expanded versions of both of those landmark albums.
The inclusion of a third disc in the set--which features alternative takes from the recording sessions for those two albums--is what will really have big Parsons fans standing in line to buy "The Complete Reprise Sessions."
* * *
Guster "Ganging Up on the Sun"
Guster, a group that manages to appeal to both Phish-heads and frat boys, returns with its first studio album in three years. "Ganging Up on the Sun" was co-produced by Ron Aniello, who is the same guy who helmed the controls for Guster's last outing, "Keep It Together."
* * *
More new releases:
Marc Cohn, "Greatest Hits" (Rhino)
Paula Cole, "Greatest Hits" (Rhino)
Counting Crows, "New Amsterdam: Live at Heineken Music Hall February 6, 2003" (Geffen)
Cute Is What We Aim For, "The Same Old Blood Rush with a New Touch" (Fueled by Ramen)
Dragonforce, "Inhuman Rampage" (Roadrunner)
Front Line Assembly, "Artificial Soldier"
Donell Jones, "Journey of a Gemini" (Le Face)
Salif Keita, "M'Bemba" (Decca)
Carlos Libedinsky, "Narcotango" (Tademus)
Lordi, "Arockalypse" (BMG)
Willie Nelson, "Willie Nelson: The Complete Atlantic Sessions" (Rhino)
Old 97's, "The Best of Old 97's" (Rhino)
Diana Ross, "Blue" (Motown)
Walter Trout, "Full Circle" (Ruf)
Underoath, "Define the Great Line" (Tooth and Nail)
Soundtracks and scores:
Battlestar Galactica: Season 2 (La-La Land)
Justin Timberlake Looks To The 'Future'
Justin Timberlake has penciled in a Sept. 12 North American release date for his second solo album, "FutureSex/LoveSounds." The Jive set will be preceded by the single "SexyBack," which will be delivered July 7 to U.S. radio outlets. The track was co-written and co-produced by Timberlake with Timbaland and Nate Hills.
As for the new album, additional production was supplied by Rick Rubin and JAWBreakers, Timberlake's behind-the-boards duo with the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am.
will.i.am was at a loss to describe the project's musical direction when asked in January by Billboard.com. "I can't explain it, that's how dope it is," he said with a laugh. "He just surprised me again. I was surprised that I was even going to like Justin Timberlake. Then he turned me into a fan, and I've become a fan. That means you are so talented that you are changing people's vocabulary."
"FutureSex/LoveSounds" is the follow-up to 2002's "Justified," which debuted at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 and has sold more than 3.5 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Timberlake is planning a U.S. club tour in August to unveil the new material.