Extras - HBO announces season 1
Meet Andy Millman, Actor. He never forgets his lines because he never gets any. Andy (Ricky Gervais) is a desperate man. He's been an actor for five years but thanks to his useless agent (Stephen Merchant), he's never done any real acting. Instead, he's a lowly film extra, making his mark in the background while the stars do their work.
The first season of Ricky Gervais' latest series, Extras, will be released by HBO on January 9, 2007. All 6 episodes, along with over 2 hours of bonus material (never-before-seen deleted scenes, exclusive outtakes, behind the scenes featurette and more) will be on this set.
'Mermaid' Swims Back Into the Spotlight
LOS ANGELES -- "The Little Mermaid," re-released on a special edition DVD, became an instant family classic when it first hit theaters in 1989, and continues to demonstrate an enduring appeal, which actress Jodi Benson attributes to many factors.
"I think [it's because it's] a classic fairy tale, the first one for our studio since 'Sleeping Beauty' in '61," comments Benson, who provided the voice of the title character. "And it's a great story in and of itself, but then to add the music to it, you know, to really make it like a Broadway musical, is what makes it so magical."
Composer Alan Menken, who won Oscars for the film's score as well as the original song "Under the Sea" with lyricist Howard Ashman, agrees that it's the combination of story -- about the mermaid Ariel who falls for a human despite her father's disapproval -- and music that make the film memorable.
"It's got a wonderful innocence about Ariel," says Menken. "As a father, I look at it as a story of a father giving his daughter away, or allowing her her independence. It's about a young woman who wants her independence and dreams of going to this other world. It's really like a rite of passage.
"It's a very heartfelt musical, a genuine musical," he adds. "It's a score that is very guileless. And it's very heartfelt in Ariel's song ['Part of Your World'] and the reprise of the song. I think it reflects the best of the Disney animated musicals, and it also brought the contemporary musical into a marriage with Disney animation."
Although Benson's childhood dreams revolved becoming an actress, not a mermaid, when the opportunity came to audition for the roles, she somehow tapped into her inner mermaid without any prompting.
"What I did is I went to the restroom at the rehearsal studio and I started talking into the mirror of what I thought she would sound like," she explains. "And I ran back in, and they had a reel to reel tape and just laid it down on that -- just put what I thought she sounded like. And [directors Ron Clements and John Musker] will tell you, 'We didn't know what we wanted till we heard it. Then we heard it, then we wanted it.' So I think it was just meant to be."
At that point, both Menken and Ashman had already known Benson for several years from her work on Broadway as a chorus girl.
"Jodi has one of those voices -- if you're going to get technical about it -- she's not a pure soprano," Menken observes. "She's got this wonderful mixed belt, which just floats, and was perfect for Ariel."
While playing Ariel changed Benson's life and boosted her career, Menken's time on the film helped change the face of the Oscars. After winning those first two Academy awards, the composer went on to win six more for "Beauty and the Beast," "Aladdin" and "Pocahontas." Despite the numerous other jobs that the two have had since "Mermaid," both credit Ashman for the shape of their success, even though he died in 1991 from AIDS.
Ashman was the one who convinced Menken to try his hand at scoring, and guided Benson how to perform her songs. In the DVD's "Behind the Scenes" featurette, archival footage shows Ashman standing next to the actress in the recording booth, feeding her the lines for "Part of Your World."
"[He did] everything -- every single line of every single character he has said, either on a tape or to your face," says Benson. "And every song, he's played all the characters. So the renditions of what he can do is just really amazing. So we all just basically copied him. Like I said, he just knew it better than anybody else."
With the passion and talent behind it, "Mermaid" seems like it was always destined to be a hit, but at the time it was made, the filmmakers and performers didn't expect it to become such a phenomenon.
"We had no idea, absolutely no idea whatsoever," reflects Benson. "It was just a complete blessing and gift. The reaction of the way it was received just took us all by storm. We just couldn't believe it. People just kind of really connect with this particular character. I've traveled all over the world and met children all over, and just to hear how this movie affects them in different ways is really precious, very precious."
"The Little Mermaid" 2-disc Platinum Edition is in stores now.
Braugher, Garrett Join 'Fantastic Four' Sequel
She'll play Frankie Raye, which is cool for Marvel fans, but nobody else
Beau Garrett and Emmy winner Andre Braugher have been added to the cast of the 20th Century Fox and Marvel sequel "Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer."
The two new additions will join the central quartet from the first film -- Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis -- in the sequel, which is already shooting in Vancouver.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Braugher will play a general entrusted with capturing the Silver Surfer, as the beloved character makes his big screen debut.
Garrett, meanwhile, will play scientist Frankie Raye. Marvel fans will recall that in addition to being a love interest to Johnny Storm/Human Torch, Raye had pyrotechnic powers of her own thanks to a lab accident as a child. Raye becomes Nova who, among other things, serves as a herald to Galactus.
Viewers may recognize Garrett from a stint on "Entourage," but probably not. She'll next be seen in Fox Atomic's "Turistas."
FX's "Thief" recently earned Braugher his second Emmy, following a 1998 win for "Homicide: Life on the Street." His recent feature credits include "Poseidon."
Stones ticket scalpers not getting satisfaction
Time is not on the side of hundreds of people trying to unload their Rolling Stones tickets, with many facing a monetary loss.
While local fans are giddy at the prospect of seeing the Stones in a few days, some people who bought tickets hoping to sell them to the highest bidder are getting worried.
The group many call the world's greatest rock band is set to play in Regina on Friday, then again on Sunday.
On Monday, the online auction house eBay was listing about 200 items for tickets to the Regina shows. The same day, the Leader-Post had more than 100 ticket holders trying to make last-minute sales. Some sellers were offering their tickets at well below face value.
It's a far cry from earlier this year. When the Oct. 8 concert was announced in the summer, some scalpers bought the maximum number of tickets they were allowed, hoping they'd make a huge profit.
Initially, some were asking $2,000 a pair on eBay.
But then a second concert was added for Oct. 6, flooding the market with another 40,000 tickets.
'It's their own fault'
Leader-Post rock critic Gerry Krochak said it's hard to feel sorry for people who had dollar signs in their eyes when they bought a pile of tickets.
"If scalpers are getting stuck with tickets, I'm not alone when I say, 'Who cares?'" he said. "It's their own fault."
Faced with the first show just a few days away, some concerned sellers are trying to be creative.
Don Peakman, who runs Murray's Limousine Service in Saskatoon, is offering a prime concert seat and a limo ride to Regina and back for $300.
"We're hoping this thing is going to happen because right now, we haven't sold many tickets," he said.
He sold four of his 20 tickets and stands to lose thousands if he can't sell more.
Randy Johnson of Regina bought a number of tickets to both concerts, but has to leave the country before the second show. With tickets burning a hole in his pocket, he's throwing in some Saskatchewan Roughrider game tickets.
"I thought it would be a unique marketing strategy to sell my tickets and include some prime seats for the Roughriders versus Montreal," he said.
So far, Johnson's received lots of calls, but no takers.
Meanwhile, there was more bad news for scalpers Monday when concert organizers announced they were going to put another 1,700 seats up for sale Tuesday.
New Song, Green Day Collab To Enrich U2 Best-Of
A new song and a cover of Scottish punk band the Skids' "The Saints Are Coming" with Green Day will be found on a U2 compilation due Nov. 21 via Interscope. The as-yet-untitled set, which will also be available in a deluxe edition, will feature "16 of U2's best-songs," according to the band's Web site.
Both the new song and the Skids cover were recorded last month at London's Abbey Road Studio with producer Rick Rubin. U2 and Green Day debuted the cover live last week at the re-opening of the New Orleans Superdome; it is available for download exclusively until Oct. 30 via Rhapsody, after which point it will hit additional download retailers. A CD single will follow on Nov. 6.
U2's most recent compilation, "The Best Of 1990-2000," was released in December 2002 and included material up through the 2000 album "All That You Can't Leave Behind."
As previously reported, the band will resume its Vertigo tour Nov. 7 in Brisbane.
Weezer: The Beer Lawsuit
Divided they stand, together they sue.
Looking for a cure for what ales them, the apparently still-together members of Weezer sued Miller Brewing Co. Friday, accusing the Milwaukee-based institution of unlawfully using the band's image in a series of print ads to promote beer and other alcoholic beverages.
According to the alt-rock quartet's complaint, the three ads that showed up in 2004 on the pages of Rolling Stone misappropriated the band's name and image by stating that Weezer--along with "other bands and musical performers with whom [Weezer] do not wish to be associated in any advertisement"--endorsed Miller products.
Not wanting anyone to destroy their image, Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo, drummer Patrick Wilson, guitarist Brian Bell and bassist Scott Shriner are seeking actual damages (they feel the misappropriation of their good name has cost them millions); all profits received by Miller and fellow defendants from the ads in question; punitive damages amounting to three times either the actual damages or the defendants' profits, whichever is higher; and an injunction against any further use of the band's image.
Weezer has also targeted marketing firm Young & Rubicam and production company Giannini Creative Imaging in the lawsuit.
Although following the platinum-level success of 2005's Make Believe Cuomo told MTV News in July that Weezer's latest break may be a break-up, an Aug. 12 posting on the band's Website referred to the members' current state as "one of positivity and growth."
"Now please, take those 'Weezer split?' headlines and place them firmly into the 'Don't believe the hype' bin," read the site a week later. As of last weekend, a live DVD project was on hold, however, and while cover art has been created for a greatest-hits album, no new songs have been recorded yet. "It if happens, it will definitely have some new tracks," the band said, adding that Cuomo has been working on some fresh material.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Maladroit boys are keeping busy while Cuomo cleanses his aura and enjoys married life after almost three years of self-imposed celibacy (he tied the knot with Kyoko Ito in June).
Bell and Wilson went retro to play Lou Reed and John Cale in the upcoming Edie Sedgwick biopic Factory Girl, starring Sienna Miller as the Andy Warhol muse. The Weezer mates also recorded a cover of Velvet Underground's "Heroin" for the film's soundtrack.
Wilson has a side band, too--The Special Goodness, with The Offspring drummer Atom Willard--and Bell fronts his own group, Space Twins, as well.
"New" Beatles album to be released
LONDON (Reuters) - A "new" album of Beatles music mixed by their legendary producer George Martin and described as a new "way of reliving the whole Beatles musical lifespan," will be released in November.
EMI Music and Apple Corps Ltd. said on Tuesday that Martin and his son Giles began work on the album, called "Love," after getting permission from Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison representing John Lennon and George Harrison.
The music has already been used as the soundtrack to the theatrical Cirque du Soleil show called "Love."
"This music was designed for the Love show in Las Vegas but in doing so we've created a new Beatles album," George Martin said in a statement.
"The Beatles always looked for other ways of expressing themselves and this is another step forward for them.
"What people will be hearing on the album is a new experience, a way of re-living the whole Beatles musical lifespan in a very condensed period."
The Martins worked from the original master tapes from the Abbey Road studios to produce a medley of Beatles music by remixing favorite songs, such as Harrison's "Within You Without You" being played to the drum-track of "Tomorrow Never Knows."
EMI Music, part of EMI Group Plc, and Apple Corps Ltd., the English company that administers The Beatles' interests, said the album would be released worldwide in November. Additional information such as the track listing will be released later.
Nirvana concert film making DVD debut
NEW YORK (Billboard) - The Nirvana concert film "Live! Tonight! Sold Out!" will make its DVD debut November 7, 12 years after it was originally issued on VHS.
The Geffen Records release was conceived by Kurt Cobain as a way to anthologize Nirvana's quick ascent to rock superstardom but was not completed until after his 1994 suicide.
The bulk of the DVD features live footage from the band's 1991-92 tour in support of "Nevermind," highlighted by versions of "Breed," "Drain You," "Dive" and "Aneurysm." According to the label, the footage has been color-corrected and digitally remastered; previously unreleased bonus performances will be included but details have yet to be announced.
"Live! Tonight! Sold Out!" also sports performances of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "About a Girl," "Love Buzz," "Negative Creep," "Come As You Are," "Territorial Pissings," "Something in the Way," "On a Plain," "Lithium" and "Sliver," among others.
The only prior Nirvana DVD was included with the 2004 boxed set "With the Lights Out."