Oilers honour the 'Moose'
EDMONTON (CP) - Once everything else was behind him - the street naming, civic celebration, a gala evening with old friends - Mark Messier skated onto the ice at Rexall Place in full equipment and hoisted the Stanley Cup for an Oilers crowd that seemed to cherish him more than ever.
A man and the city's adoring fans. That's what this week was really about in Edmonton. When Messier took a final lap of the ice after his No. 11 jersey had been raised to the ceiling on Tuesday, the old building almost shook on its foundation while the sold-out crowd saluted him in a manner that bordered on strident.
It was a stirring moment on an emotional day for Oilers fans, who earlier had been given the shocking news that assistant captain Ryan Smyth had been traded to the New York Islanders.
A few fans shouted encouragement for Smyth during the Messier ceremony, but the night still belonged to the Moose.
He was already in tears when he finished his skate with the Stanley Cup and placed it on a table at centre ice. His three-year-old son Douglas, wearing a vintage Messier jersey, promptly jumped into his arms as the crowd again cheered.
"I want to thank each and every one of you for all of your support," Messier told the 16,839 in attendance. "(The Oilers are) an institution in the world of sports."
That institution started with the dynasty teams of the 1980's.
Messier, who grew up nearby in St. Albert, was the emotional leader of those talented teams that featured the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey, Grant Fuhr and Al Hamilton - the men who have all previously had their jerseys retired in Edmonton.
Only one player will ever have worn No. 11 in the history of the Oilers. His name is Messier.
"One of the reasons that made it so special to play here is that I was born and raised here," he said to the crowd. "To be honoured in this way, standing down here, is a humbling experience."
Former teammates, friends and family joined him on the ice for the roughly 40-minute ceremony. It started with a video tribute that highlighted the many highs of Messier's fine career.
Six Stanley Cups, two Hart Trophies, one Conn Smythe Trophy and a point total of 1,887 that leaves him second all-time in league history. The most important thing for Messier is the mark he left on the city of Edmonton and the people he played with.
"I'd like to thank all the Oiler fans for properly honouring the greatest leader sport has ever produced," said current Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish, a former teammate of Messier's. "Mark, that skate brought back great memories.
"Welcome back to centre ice with the Edmonton Oilers."
While these ceremonies have become a regular occurrence around the league, they never seem to tire for the fans who attend them. It's part hero worship and part longing for a bygone era.
Messier is 46 now, yet it seems so easy for many to remember the glorious moments he produced for the Oilers more than two decades ago.
Even though the timing of the ceremony created a strange atmosphere because it coincided with the Smyth deal and the NHL's trade deadline, Messier thanked the team for it.
The Oilers had selected Feb. 27 so coach Gretzky and his Phoenix Coyotes could be there - just as they were when Coffey's No. 7 was honoured last season.
"Tonight would not have been the same without Wayne being here," said Messier. "Wayne was our leader. He was our inspiration. He was the guy we leaned on and he never let us down and never put himself above anybody."
Still, the Oilers regretted that the events had to coincide.
"When this day first came up months ago, I thought, 'Whatever we do on deadline day is not going to impact the evening,"' said GM Kevin Lowe. "I never in my wildest dreams ever imagined this sort of thing happening so I don't want to appear insensitive to the impact of the deal on the whole event."
Even Smyth himself wanted the day to be about Messier.
He refused to speak to reporters after news of the trade broke because he didn't want to take any of the spotlight.
"I want this to be a great night for Mark Messier," he said Tuesday morning before being traded. "For what he's done for this city. For what he's done for the run of five Stanley Cups."
Fortunately for all involved, Messier still had his moment. And it brought back a lot of memories seeing him holding the Stanley Cup.
Murphy "Storms Out" After Oscar Loss
Dreamgirls star Eddie Murphy was so devastated after losing the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award to Alan Arkin he stormed out of the ceremony, according to press reports in the US, including Roger Friedman of FoxNews.com.
Murphy was the favorite to win the Oscar, which instead was awarded to Little Miss Sunshine star Arkin.
The 45-year-old tried to downplay his disappointment telling American publication Us Weekly, "It's fine. It happens. It's OK."
But shortly thereafter, Murphy and girlfriend Tracey Edmonds left the show and didn't return.
Murphy missed out on his Dreamgirls cast mates Beyonce Knowles, Jennifer Hudson and Anika Noni Rose performing songs from the film, as well as Hudson's win for Best Supporting Actress.
Scorsese Departs on Post-Oscar Project
Los Angeles (E! Online) - Martin Scorsese has finally found a winning formula—and it seems he plans on sticking with it.
Fresh off his first Oscar win for directing The Departed, Scorsese has reteamed with the gritty gangster flick's Oscar-winning screenwriter William Monahan for the epic rock 'n' roll feature The Long Play.
The endeavor already reeks of credibility: Aside from Scorsese and Monahan jumping on board, Mick Jagger, a man who knows a thing or two about rock 'n' roll, will coproduce the flick through his Jagged Films.
The film will chronicle two friends over their 40-year ride in the music business. The Long Play will also highlight the rise and fall of musical genres along the way, touching on everything from the salad days of R&B to rock and up through contemporary hip-hop.
The movie is based on an idea from the Rolling Stone frontman that was originally earmarked for Disney. The Mouse House passed on the script because it didn't quite jibe with their family-friendly reputation.
The picture has since moved on to Paramount, where Scorsese signed a four-year first-look deal in November. Monahan has signed on to rewrite the screenplay, and while no start date has been set, it will be the next project for both men. The Oscar-winning twosome had reportedly been discussed some kind of sequel to The Departed, though that very tentative plan has now been pushed back.
The movie will not only mark Scorsese's second go-round with Monahan but also his second with Jagger.
Last fall, Scorsese shot a Rolling Stones concert documentary, in the vein of The Last Waltz, in New York City, which Paramount is prepping to release this fall.
In the meantime, Scorsese isn't the only Departed player angling to reteam with Monahan.
Oscar nominee Leonardo DiCaprio has also attached himself to the Monahan-penned flick Confessions of Pain, per the Hollywood Reporter. Like The Departed, Confessions is also based on a Hong Kong thriller.
The original, released last year, centers on two detective friends, one working for the police and one in private practice, who partner up to investigate the murder of the cop's father-in-law. There's no word yet on which lead role DiCaprio will take, though the actor is also set to produce the film through his company, Appian Way.
DiCaprio and Scorsese, meanwhile, are planning on yet another collaboration, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, with DiCaprio playing the youthful, prepresidential Roosevelt. The project is in development and no start date has been announced.
2008 OSCARS' 'BEST' BETS
February 26, 2007 -- The red carpet at the Kodak Theatre hasn’t even been rolled up, and Tinseltown is already talking about next year’s Oscar race.
That would be the Best Picture cliffhanger between a big-screen version of the Broadway musical "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" - starring Johnny Depp and Meryl Streep - and "Charlie Wilson’s War," an Afghanistan-themed political drama with two other Hollywood heavyweights, Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.
Or maybe, experts say, the big showdown will come down to Steven Soderbergh’s "Che," showcasing Benicio Del Toro as the Cuban-guerrilla leader, and Ridley Scott’s ’60s Harlem crime saga "American Gangster," starring Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington.
Others are anticipating a duel for the gold that would pit "His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass" - the first installment in a pricey "Lord of the Rings"- style fantasy franchise with Nicole Kidman as the villain - against "The Golden Age," in which Cate Blanchett reprises her Oscar-nominated role as England’s first Queen Elizabeth.
Welcome to Hollywood’s version of fantasy baseball, where insiders try to dope out the Oscar prospects of films that largely haven’t been completed, or in some cases don’t have a confirmed release date - or even a U.S. distributor.
During Oscar Week a year ago, DreamWorks and Paramount invited press to the set of the still-filming "Dreamgirls," which was then rated as the one to beat for Best Picture. (It didn’t even get nominated.)
The other unseen favorite at that point was "Flags of Our Fathers," which didn’t make it into the final five either. "Letters from Iwo Jima," the other Clint Eastwood picture that did get nominated, wasn’t even on the 2007 schedule.
One veteran Oscar campaigner has a list of 45 possible Best Picture contenders for next year, which, the consultant says, looks "very weak" at this point.
"It’s a big list, but it’s not a very clear list in any way," says David Poland, who tracks Oscar contenders at his Movie City News Web site. "Every year, two or three movies jump out at you, but this year that’s not true. ‘Sweeney Todd’ has the size and Johnny Depp and Meryl Streep, both of whom the Academy love, but director Tim Burton is not exactly Oscar bait."
"Little Miss Sunshine," up for Best Picture last night, started at the Sundance Film Festival, which has been growing in importance as an Oscar launching pad for lower-budget films.
The consensus is that the strongest candidate from Sundance this year is "The Savages," a darkly funny drama about self-absorbed middle-aged siblings (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney) coping with their father’s last months.
Two Sundance titles may make it into the acting races. The Weinstein Co. bought "Grace is Gone" specifically with the intention of mounting a Best Actor campaign for John Cusack, brilliant as the widower of a female soldier killed in Iraq.
And ThinkFilm, the tiny distributor that snagged a Best Actor bid for Ryan Gosling of "Half Nelson," is backing Julie Christie as a woman drifting into dementia in "Leaving Her."
But mostly, handicappers - and even studios - at this point are largely going on the past Oscar performances of actors, directors and writers involved in individual projects, as well as whether the subject matter fits into that of past Oscar nominees.
Teen sex comedies and, for the most part, summer event films need not apply. But there are several contenders with connections to the war in Iraq.
"Hanks is a lock for a nomination, Del Toro is a lock, Blanchett is a lock, and Depp is a lock if the movie is any good at all," Poland says. "But while a lot of the films on the list have a lot of pedigree, who the hell knows if they’re Oscar movies? The studios won’t decide until June and July, when they’ve got a look at significant footage, how much money they want to put behind backing these movies."
Paul Haggis, who directed last year’s winner, "Crash" (and also
wrote the previous year’s winner, "Million Dollar Baby"), is back with "In the Valley of Elah," starring Tommy Lee Jones, Susan Sarandon and Charlize Theron in a drama about a hunt for a missing Iraq-war soldier.
And there is buzz, or at least intense curiosity, surrounding Francis Ford Coppola’s "Youth Without Youth," a World War II drama that doesn’t even have a distributor.
New Releases, February 27: David Bromberg, Maynard Ferguson, Dean & Britta
David Bromberg "Try Me One More Time"
The acclaimed vocalist/guitarist is finally back, with his first new CD in 17 years. Bromberg, who had been previously focusing his energy on the craft of violinmaking, was last heard on 1990's "Sideman Serenade."
"Try Me One More Time" features a number of covers, including songs originally penned by Reverend Gary Davis, Elizabeth Cotton, Tommy Johnson, Blind Willie McTell and Bob Dylan. It also includes some original compositions.
Bromberg, who is equally comfortable with folk, blues, bluegrass and other musical genres, was known early in his career mostly as a session player and sideman for such stars as Dylan and Jerry Jeff Walker.
* * *
Maynard Ferguson "M.F. Horn 2"/"M.F. Horn 3"/"M.F Horn 4 & 5 - Live at Jimmy's"/"Wow: Formative Years"
Trumpeter Walter "Maynard" Ferguson, whose work includes the Grammy-nominated "Rocky" movie theme "Gonna Fly Now," died Aug. 23 2006 at the age of 78. These new reissues celebrate the jazz artist's impressive career.
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Dean & Britta "Back Numbers"
Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips are best known for being, respectively, the vocalist/guitarist and bassist for Luna. That band called it quits in 2004, but the two musicians are still collaborating.
The duo now returns with its second offering, "Back Numbers." That should help all the fans who cried over Luna's passing. For more help, check out the 17-song retrospective, "The Best of Luna," which was released by Rhino Records last year.
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Do Make Say Think "You, You're a History in Rust"
The Toronto-based psychedelic indie-rock band, which got its start in the late '90s, returns with a follow-up to 2003's "Winter Hymn, Country Hymn, Secret Hymn." It's the band's fifth release overall.
* * *
Nick Warren "Global Underground 030: Paris"
The pioneering DJ, an early champion in trance music, releases his latest in a line of worldly offerings. His past efforts have included 2003's "Global Underground: Reykjavik" and 2005's "Global Underground: Shanghai."
* * *
More new releases:
Paul Brown, "White Sand" (Peak)
John Denver, "The Essential John Denver" (RCA)
Dr. Dog, "We All Belong" (Park the Van)
Bill Engvall, "15 Degrees Off Cool" (Warner Bros.)
4hero, "Play With the Changes" (Milan)
Kenny Loggins, "How About Now" (180 Music) 9Target stores only)
Manowar, "Gods of War" (Circle Song)
Chieli Minucci and Special EFX, "Sweet Surrender" (Shanachie)
Money Mark, "Brand New by Tomorrow" (Brushfire/Universal)
Onetwo, "Instead" (There)
Pagoda, "Pagoda" Ecstatic Peace
Andy Palacio and Garifuna Collective, "Watina" (Cumbancha)
Jennifer Pena, "Dicen Que El Tiempo" (Univision)
Darryl Singletary, "Straight From the Heart" (Shanachie)
Patrick Simmons, "Arcade" (Wounded Bird)
Slim Thug and Boss Hogg Outlawz, "Serve & Collect" (Koch)
Otis Taylor, "Definition of a Circle" (Telarc)
Matt Wertz, "Everything in Between" (Nettwerk)
Rev. Timothy Wright, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus" (Koch)
Joe Zawinul, "Brown Street" (Heads Up)
After 50 years, a tip of the hat to one cool 'Cat'
He's still the fanciest feline in literature and and it's still a classic "home alone" story.
A brazen cat strolls uninvited into the home of a boy and girl whose mother is out. To the children's horror, he proceeds to trash the house — he calls it "lots of good fun that is funny!" Miraculously (with the help of Thing One and Thing Two), he manages to tidy up before Mom comes home.
He's the Cat in the Hat, and he turns 50 on Thursday.
The Cat in the Hat was published jointly by Houghton Mifflin and Random House on March 1, 1957. It was the 13th children's book by Theodor Seuss Geisel, who came to be known as Dr. Seuss. It made him a household name and his trickster furball a pop-culture icon.
Random House (now the sole U.S. publisher) estimates it has sold 10.5 million copies. Millions more — no one knows how many — have been sold by mail-order book clubs.
The Cat in the Hat was a product of the postwar baby boom. In 1957, 29 million children were in kindergarten and elementary school. The "Dick and Jane" primers used to teach reading were considered dull and uninspiring.
Challenged by a Houghton Mifflin executive to write a story that "first-graders wouldn't be able to put down," Geisel created The Cat in the Hat. The rest is publishing history.
"Teaching children how to read with The Cat in the Hat was a real breath of fresh air," says Philip Nel, whose The Annotated Cat: Under the Hats of Seuss and His Cats (Random House, $30) was recently published. "The rhymes just propel the reader along."
Geisel was asked to use only 223 words from a list of 348 words for beginning readers. He ended up using 236. Even though it has been around for half a century, Cat is still popular with kids (and parents) and sells hundreds of thousands of copies a year.
It became a much-maligned movie starring Mike Myers as the cat in 2003.
"Reading it is like listening to a great song," says Nancy Karpyk, who teaches kindergarten in Weirton, W.Va. "When I read it to my students, the rhythm of it makes them feel good. They love the rhymes, and they love the way the cat struts in the illustrations."
But it's what the cat gets away with that may have clinched his legacy.
"He's a rebel, and Americans identify with rebels," Nel says. "He's a con artist who creates a sense of possibility like the Wizard of Oz or Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man."
Some Cat facts:
•Geisel thought he could write the book in a week, but it took him a year and a half.
•The cat's face is said to have been inspired by that of a Houghton Mifflin elevator operator who Geisel thought had "a secret smile" and who wore gloves.
Calling All Hosers
From the producers of the upcoming McKenzie Brothers documentary:
Me Jane Films is currently producing a special one hour documentary for CBC called "The Two-Four Anniversary of Strange Brew." That's right, Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas will be reuniting as Bob and Doug McKenzie for what may be their last show from the Great White North...and we want to hear from you!
We are looking for the best, most entertaining home video footage, photographs, collections of memorabilia, and Hoser stories. Do you have an entire room in your house dedicated to Bob and Doug? Do you or someone you know consider toques and parkas as wardrobe essentials? Have you ever tried to stuff a mouse inside a beer bottle...and videotaped it? Are your children named Bob and Doug...and they are both daughters?
You get the picture. We want to see how those original Hosers - and their comedy classic, "Strange Brew" - have impacted your lives.
E-mail us at info@mejanefilms.com and let us know if there's anything you'd like us to consider using in the show. Be sure to include your phone number because when we receive your submission we may need to contact you for more information.
Depending on the nature of your submission, we may request that an item be sent to us, such as a DVD or photo - or even better, you may be asked to participate in an on-camera interview! Payment may be available for some types of footage.
So put down that bottle of beer and jelly doughnut because here's your chance to show the rest of Canada (maybe even the world, eh!) just how much these two unforgettable Canadian Hosers mean to you.
Looking forward to hearing from you, eh!