Neil Young to release 14th CD of the year
The latest release in a blizzard of activity from Neil Young will be a solo acoustic album that takes a "closer look at" the 10 songs that became Young's bestselling Harvest Moon.
The album, announced on NeilYoung.com, will be released "on or about Nov. 2nd, 17 years after the original release of Harvest Moon. "A closer look at Harvest Moon songs, all performed solo acoustic before the release of Harvest Moon, Dreamin' Man contains intimate live performances recorded in concert halls during 1992."
Assuming this is Young's final release of 2009 (not an entirely safe bet), Dreamin' Man will be the 14th CD he's put out this year alone. That total includes the studio album Fork in the Road (April), the eight CDs that comprised the audio-only version of his massive Archives, Vol. 1 project (June), and reissues of Neil Young, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After the Goldrush and Harvest (July).
Dreamin' Man includes all of the songs that ended up on Harvest Moon, albeit in different order, plus "Old King Rap," which one presumes is an elaborate intro to "Old King."
The track listing for Dreamin' Man:
1. Dreamin' Man
2. Such a Woman
3. Old King Rap
4. Old King
5. One of These Days
6. Harvest Moon
7. You and Me
8. From Hank to Hendrix
9. Unknown Legend
10. Natural Beauty
11. War of Man
Shania Twain slowly stepping back into spotlight
WASHINGTON – Country music singer Shania Twain is slowly stepping back into the spotlight after the break up of her marriage to Robert "Mutt" Lange in May 2008.
Twain has been keeping a low profile, aside from a brief appearance at the Country Music Association awards last November. But this week she will be a guest judge on "American Idol" during the Chicago auditions, and she has reached out to fans by posting a personal letter and video travelogue on her Web site.
Reba McEntire hopes this will mark Twain's reemergence onto the scene.
"The country music industry is ready for Shania Twain to come back, definitely," said McEntire. "You could see that at the CMA Awards. They gave her a standing ovation when she walked out on stage."
Taylor Swift recently gave credit to Twain "for always making theatrical videos," during an acceptance speech at the Country Music Television awards. Swift said, "I take my cues from you."
Twain posted the letter and video on her Web site Friday, her 44th birthday, to show what she and her son have been up to in the past year.
"I hit a very big bump in the road," she wrote. "But Eja and I are doing well and with all the concern you, my fans, have shown over this difficult period, I want you to see for yourself that we are doing fine, by sharing these personal images with you."
Twain's marriage to Lange fell apart last May following his alleged affair with Marie-Anne Thiebaud, a longtime secretary and manager of the couple's chateau in Switzerland. Since then, Twain has relied on Thiebaud's ex-husband, Frederic Thiebaud to heal.
"A dear friend and true gentleman by the name of Fred, has been the most constant companion of support for both Eja and me," Twain wrote. "And having gone through the suffering of his family splitting apart at the same time under the same extreme circumstances, he understood me better than anyone."
Twain said she has made a point of surrounding herself with "loved ones I can trust."
"When I reflect on it all," Twain said. "It's clear how remarkably active my life has been since last December — a time in the life of someone working hard to "move on" and succeeding."
There's no word on when she might come out with new music. But she said her experiences are helping her find inspiration through seeing new and fascinating things. And she's putting that inspiration in to writing.
Rambo 5 gets the green light
The punch-drunk Rocky may have finally wobbled into the sunset, but it seems Sylvester Stallone isn't quite ready to send his second-most famous character out to pasture.
A fifth Rambo movie has officially been given the go-ahead, Variety reports. The storyline this time has John Rambo "fighting his way through human traffickers and drug lords to rescue a young girl abducted near the U.S.-Mexico border."
Though the self-titled fourth film in the series, released last year, grossed a relatively modest $42 million in the U.S. and Canada, its overseas take was considerably higher. Variety pegs it at $113 million, though BoxOffice.com says that figure represents the film's total worldwide gross, including $70 million overseas.
Stallone, who turned 63 in July, can at least be credited with keeping the movies' settings timely, if not downright prescient. Last year's entry was set in war-torn Burma. The preceding film in the series, released in 1988, took place in Afghanistan.
Regardless of the setting, Stallone will have a tough time ratcheting up the series' escalating kill count. In figures collated by the movie website FirstShowing.net, that statistic has risen from 1 in the first movie to 69, 132 and a 236 in last year's entry. That works out to 2.59 kills per minute (3.04 if you don't count the time taken up by the end credits).
The number of sex scenes in each film, meanwhile, has remained constant: 0.
Rambo No. 5 is scheduled to start shooting next spring. The Internet Movie Database reports that Mickey Rourke is rumoured as Stallone's co-star. It gives a projected release date of 2011.
Before that, Stallone will show up as star, writer and director of The Expendables, whose cast includes Rourke, Jason Statham and Jet Li, as well as a veritable who's who of '80s genre stars: Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts and Steve "Stone Cold" Austin. Those luminaries portray a band of mercenaries trying to overthrow a dictator in South America. It hits theatres April 23.
CBC-TV launches 90-minute supper hour news
CBC-TV's supper hour newscasts expand to 90 minutes on Monday, part of the public broadcaster's efforts to increase local coverage.
The extended newscasts will feature new hosts in Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Montreal, Halifax, Calgary and Toronto.
The news will run from 5 p.m. to 6.30 p.m., with stories updated throughout the 90 minutes.
"This is designed so that busy people at that time of day can join whenever they can and they'll still get a big dose of the top news stories of the day at 5 and 5:30 and 6," said Liz Hughes, CBC's director of news for the centres, said in an interview.
"It has been close to two decades since this much local news was offered by the CBC on television."
The 90-minute program is essentially three half-hour newscasts that include a mix of international, national and local stories, with an emphasis on breaking local news.
"For the brand overall, CBC News, part of what we're trying to push in our relationship with Canadians is that we're there for them locally, especially on television, to the same extent that we are on radio," said Jennifer McGuire, general manager and editor in chief of CBC News.
"It's a huge priority for people."
The new format, she said, is "consistent to how people are more and more using news — they graze. Most people don't start at the beginning and go to the end."
CBC is launching this critical part of its news renewal process in a year when resources are tight and $7 million has been cut from the English-language news service.
The new thrust to local news has meant changing the way resources are used, McGuire said.
The changes varied market to market, with some cities getting more resources for live local coverage and some extending the range of their coverage. It's also meant juggling existing resources.
"We're fully integrating news gathering resources. Instead of having a radio newsroom and a television newsroom and an online newsroom in terms of news gathering. It is an integrated assignment process that looks at … how to tell the story across platforms and that will extend our reach," McGuire said.
A restructured syndication service will have reporters who can do local versions of national stories — shorter than items they might create for The National, and with a focus on the local angle if there is one.
"What you'll see from the inside is an investment in a syndicated service supporting local news with much more tailored content, content more in line with the values of local news," she said.
"If I'm telling the big parliamentary story of the day and sending it to Vancouver, it's not the pan-Canada version, it's the Vancouver version."
An important part of the change is what CBC is calling integration — in which local radio reporters might do hits for TV and television reporters might contribute to radio.
This is a growing trend in the way reporting is done, Hughes said, and new technologies are making it easier.
"It doesn't take much for reporters who are already crafting a story for radio to sit in front of a camera and give Newsworld the benefit of their expertise on a story. The efficiencies of integration in that way are enormous," Hughes said.
While CBC has more changes coming in October, the launch of the 90-minute supper hour newscasts is a big step in its news renewal process.
New hosts include:
Toronto: Aaron Saltzman joining Diana Swain.
Montreal: Jennifer Hall and Andrew Chang.
Calgary: Nirmala Naidoo.
Halifax: Amy Smith joining Tom Murphy.
New Brunswick: Terry Seguin and Genevieve Tomney.
Saskatchewan: Kaveri Bittira joining Costa Maragos.
Bad Boys III Set To Explode
The original Bad Boys back in 1995 was a big, slick shoot-em-up… and lots of fun. Along with Independence Day it was the first in a wave of movies which would propel Will Smith from rapper and sitcom star to biggest box office draw in the world. The sequel, Bad Boys II, is less well regarded but made even more money since by then, Will had achieved his mega-star status. Now just imagine how much a third movie would make. Yeah, so of course they’re making one.
THR says Columbia Pictures is developing a third installment in the Bad Boys franchise. Their hope is to not only bring back Will Smith and Martin Lawrence (and let’s face it, they won’t have any trouble getting Martin Lawrence) but producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay as well. It’s a high-octane recipe, sure to result in car chases, bikini girls, and ridiculous explosions. None of them has a deal yet, but Columbia has a bag of money they're ready to throw at them.
The Bad Boys series is kind of like Lethal Weapon, if Mel Gibson were a vague, black stereotype. Will is the slick, badass ladies man and Martin Lawrence is the reluctant, I’m too old for this shit family man. They’re like oil and water, except when it comes to kicking criminal ass! Or something like that. Actually all kidding aside, the first one really is a good cops and criminals shoot-em-up. The second one not so much, but if they can recapture the pyrotechnic magic of the first one I’m on board. Love him or hate him, Michael Bay really is good at this mindless, guns blazing cop stuff. Maybe he crossed a line in Transformers 2, but with Will Smith there using his star power keep his feet on the ground, Bad Boys III could work out well enough. Sit back and enjoy the spectacle.
Disney to buy comic book powerhouse Marvel for $4B
LOS ANGELES – The Walt Disney Co. said Monday it is buying Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing such characters as Iron Man and Spider-Man into the family of Mickey Mouse and WALL-E.
Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters. Many of them, including the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, were co-created by the comic book legend Stan Lee.
Analyst David Joyce of Miller Tabak & Co. said the acquisition will help Disney appeal to young men who have flocked to theaters to see Marvel's superhero fare in recent years. That contrasts with Disney's recent successes among young women with such fare as "Hannah Montana" and the Jonas Brothers.
"It helps Disney add exposure to a young male demographic it had sort of lost some balance with," Joyce said, noting the $4 billion offer was at "full price."
Disney said Marvel shareholders will receive $30 per share in cash, plus 0.745 Disney shares for every Marvel share they own. That values each Marvel share at $50 based on Friday's closing stock prices.
Marvel shares jumped $10.17, or 26 percent, to $48.82 shortly after the market opened. Disney shares fell 47 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $26.37.
Disney said the boards of both companies have approved the transaction, but it will require an antitrust review and the approval of Marvel shareholders.
Disney last made a big purchase in 2006 when it acquired Pixar Animation Studios Inc., the creator of the "Toy Story" franchise, for $7.4 billion in stock.
Disney CEO Robert Iger said the latest acquisition combines Marvel's "strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters" with Disney's "unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties" and ability to maximize value across multiple platforms and territories.
Marvel earned a net profit of $206 million last fiscal year, up 47 percent from a year earlier, on revenue of $676 million, as it took movie production in house instead of just cutting licensing deals.