'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
The Artful Dodger
THE HOLLYWOOD HUSTLE
Here are some recent screenplay deals that might make it through development hell and show up on your local movie screens in a few years.
I see dead branches
M. Night Shyamalan has a new thriller in the works. "The Woods," starring Adrien Brody, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver and Joaquin Phoenix, centers around folks who live near a forest filled with strange creatures.
Prediction: Shyamalan obviously knows his way around a spooky tale and this one sounds perfectly creepy. Will open at the top and stay there for a while.
*****
Rappin' robber
Rap star Ja Rule will star in "One Time," a drama about a man and woman who pretend to be cops with the intention of stealing from big-time drug dealers.
Prediction: Skull-thumping action, skull-thumping music, skull-thumping double-digit opening weekend, followed by a fast, fast fade.
*****
Passion for fashion
Alec Baldwin is "Simply Halston," in a flick about the fashion maven and his very public friendship with diva Liza Minelli.
Prediction: The 70's are so over...but "Boogie Nights" beat the jinx, so why not a movie about wretched excess and disco-driven hedonism? Not sure how it'll play in Flyover Country...
*****
The cult of Keanu
Keanu Reeves delves into the dark arts in the thriller "Constantine." He'll play a man who partners with a female cop seeking the truth about her sister's suicide.
Prediction: Former biggies from the Warner Brothers lot are behind this one, so look for major tub thumping. Could be worth the top spot on opening weekend unless WB drops the ball with the campaign.
*****
Mad about your husband
Helen Hunt travels to Italy to seduce a younger man who's already married. "A Good Woman" was written by Howard Himelstein, with Michael Barker directing.
Prediction: This will be Helen Hunt's first genuinely sexy role so all industry eyes will be on her as she attempts to Sarandon-ize her career.
*****
Teens in trouble
Alexa Vega, who starred the mega-successful "Spy Kids" franchise, will try her hand at a teen comedy next. "Sleepover" tells the story of several soon-to-be high school girls who have a slumber party that turns into a wild adventure.
Prediction: Chick Flick Extraordinaire. Much prepubescent popcorn munching. Bigger than "Legally Blonde."
*****
Another epic from the Robster
Rob Schneider will star in "Blind Sided," a comedy about a blind guy who suddenly regains his sight, only to realize that the world isn't quite what he thought it was.
Prediction: This one has undergone rewrites for a few years now, so it's anybody's guess if they can glue the pieces back together well enough to get a green light. Even if they do, business should only be so-so. Is anybody desperate for another Schneider flick?
*****
Love, land and the links
Michelle Pfeiffer is a real estate agent who wants Kevin Costner to sell his property so it can be developed into a golf course in the comedy "Taming Ben Taylor." It's a remake of an Italian movie from the 80's, written by Scott Sturgeon and Amy Lasser.
Prediction: Give Costner credit for never giving up. He's had more second chances than Darryl Strawberry and his tenacity may be paying off. Might not dominate first weekend, but should have a steady build to respectability.
~ The Artful Dodger
He's Been Busier Than Usual!
The Worried Shrimp
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
from Mark
Another Bumpersticker
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Very nice day, weather-wise.
Car is still at the shop, so we used the back-up set of wheels & went down to Seal Beach.
Local TV is trying to scare the populace with tales of sharks in local waters. Seems the beach folk have named the sharks 'Sparky' & 'Fluffy.'
Tonight, Thursday, CBS opens the night with a RERUN 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation', followed by another RERUN
'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation', then a RERUN 'Without A Trace'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave are John McEnroe and Rooney.
On a RERUN Craiggers are Luke Wilson, Gabrielle Union, and Guster.
NBC starts the night with a RERUN 'Friends' (that runs over 5 minutes), followed by a RERUN 'Will & Grace' (that runs about 40 minutes), then a RERUN
'Scrubs' (that runs about 45 minutes), followed by a RERUN 'ER'.
On a RERUN Jay are Ben Affleck, fighter Bob Sapp, and Nappy Roots.
On a RERUN Conan are Jerry Lewis, Harland Williams, and Buddy Guy.
On a RERUN Carson Daly are Angelina Jolie and Kenna.
ABC begins the evening with the RERUN 'Entertainment Tonight Presents: Laverne & Shirley Together Again', followed by a RERUN
On a RERUN Jimmy Kimmel (from 7/25/03), are L.A. Laker Karl Malone, Vanessa Ferlito, and Boyd Tinsley, with guest co-host Lil' Max$o.
The WB offers a RERUN 'Jamie Kennedy', followed by a RERUN 'What I Like About You', then another RERUN 'What I Like About You'.
Faux has a FRESH 'Keen Eddie', followed by the Season Premiere 'Temptation Island 3'.
UPN fills the night with 'WWE Smackdown!'.
A&E has 'Biography' (Nick Nolte), then 'Columbo: A Bird In The Hand'.
AMC celebrates disaster films with 'Airport 77', followed by the movie 'Earthquake', then the movie 'Poseidon Adventure'.
BBC -
[7pm] 'Ground Force' - Putney;
[7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Catford;
[8pm] 'House Invaders' - Shirley, Birmingham;
[8:30pm] 'House Invaders' - Longford, Coventry;
[9pm] 'Faking It' - Vicar Turns Second Hand Car Salesman;
[10pm] 'Faking It' - Hot Dog Vendor to Chef;
[11pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Roger Moore;
[11:30 pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Susan Sarandon;
[12:00 am] 'Faking It' - Vicar Turns Second Hand Car Salesman;
[1am] 'Faking It' - Hot Dog Vendor to Chef;
[2am] 'House Invaders' - Shirley, Birmingham;
[2:30am] 'House Invaders' - Longford, Coventry;
[3am] 'So Graham Norton' - Roger Moore; and
[3:30am] 'So Graham Norton' - Susan Sarandon. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'West Wing', the movie 'Twister', 'Queer Eye', and 'West Wing'.
On a RERUN Jon Stewart is TBA.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'After Saddam: Basra', 'Deadmen's Secrets', and 'Modern Marvels'.
MTV has '2003 MTV Video Movie Awards' with Chris Rock hosting.
SciFi has the movie 'Stephen King's It'.
TCM pays a 24-hour tribute to Spencer Tracy.
[6am] 'Riffraff' (1935);
[8am] 'The Sea Of Grass' (1947);
[10:30am] 'Captains Courageous' (1937);
[12:30pm] 'Bad Day At Black Rock' (1955);
[2pm] 'Northwest Passage' (1940);
[4:15pm] 'Fury' (1936);
[6pm] 'San Francisco' (1936);
[8pm] 'Adam's Rib' (1949);
[10pm] 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' (1967);
[12am] 'A Guy Named Joe' (1943);
[2:15am] 'Boys' Town' (1938); and
[4am] 'The Seventh Cross' (1944). (ALL TIMES EDT)
Friday - 8/29
TCM celebrates Paul Newman, all day & all night.
[6am] 'Sweet Bird Of Youth' (1962);
[8am] 'The Rack' (1956);
[10am] 'The Prize' (1963);
[12:30pm] 'Exodus' (1960);
[4pm] 'Somebody Up There Likes Me' (1956);
[6pm] 'Lady L' (1965);
[8pm] 'Cool Hand Luke' (1967);
[10:15pm] 'The Mackintosh Man' (1973);
[12am] 'Absence of Malice' (1981);
[2am] 'The Color of Money' (1986); and
[4am] 'Until They Sail' (1957). (ALL TIMES EDT)
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Revellers lie in tomato pulp during the annual 'Tomatina' battle in Bunyol on August 27, 2003. The biggest tomato fight in the world takes place when the town erupts into a fiery blaze of tomato-hurling on the last Wednesday of every August.
Photo by Desmond Boylan
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Blasts US Iraq Policy
Harrison Ford
At a safe distance from his homeland, veteran Hollywood actor Harrison Ford launched a broadside at US policy on Iraq, his country's gun laws -- and the film industry for producing "video games" for teenagers.
"I'm very disturbed about the direction American foreign policy is going," said Ford, with US post-war casualties having exceeded those during the actual conflict.
"I think something needs to be done to help alleviate the conditions which have created a disenfranchised and angry faction in the Middle East.
"I don't think military intervention is the correct solution. I regret what we as a country have done so far," said Chicago-born Ford, 62.
For a lot more, Harrison Ford
Hits the Ground Running
'The West Wing'
President Josiah Bartlet has a lot of explaining to do when the fifth season of "The West Wing" gets under way.
Last season ended with the president's daughter, Zoey, being kidnapped from a nightclub as she was celebrating her graduation. Martin Sheen, who plays the president, said he doesn't want "to spoil it" — but they go after the kidnappers and try to get her back.
With football season and the fall television season fast approaching, Sheen has sports on his mind when describing the show without Sorkin.
"It's like having the same players, with a new playbook and a new coach."
"The West Wing" season premiere is Sept. 24.
'The West Wing'
www.nbc.com/The_West_Wing/index.html
Joe Strummer's Final Album
'Streetcore'
Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros' final album, "Streetcore," will be released Oct. 21 and will include eight original tracks, plus a cover of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song."
The album will also include a cover of "Before I Grow Too Old" by Bobby Charles, re-titled "Silver and Gold." A video has already been shot for the track "Coma Girl."
Strummer even had a hand in the album cover because he had made elaborate notes and drawings several weeks before he died.
For more, 'Streetcore'
Joe Strummer site
Amina Lawal walks to an Islamic courtroom with her child Wasila, in Katsina, northern Nigeria, Wednesday Aug. 27, 2003. Lawal, who has been indicted by lower and upper Shariah courts and sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, is appealing for a reversal of verdict at Shariah Appeals Court.
Photo by Saurabh Das
Oregonian Writer Gets Late Night Call
O'Really
by Peter Ames Carlin
So, I pick up the phone to check my messages last Wednesday morning, and the first thing I hear is this gruff, Long Island-bred voice.
"Mr. Carlin. This is Bill O'Reilly calling. I just finished reading your article."
H was speaking about the column I had written about O'Reilly's Aug. 18 appearance in the Rose Garden.
"Kind of fair," O'Reilly continued, musing on the story. "A little heavy on the conservative stuff, as usual for you guys. No offense intended."
Offense? Heck, I get accused of being a part of vast political conspiracies all the time. And besides, I know when a powerful person is trying to knock me off balance. O'Reilly was just softening me up for what was really bugging him:
"For you to write in your column that I repeatedly said I won a Peabody Award is absolutely untrue, all right?" he snapped. "I know you would want to correct something like that."
For the whole story, O'Really
Guesting On 'Boston Pubic'
Dennis Miller
Dennis Miller will break into TV drama with a three-episode appearance on "Boston Public" this fall.
He will play an investment banker convicted of securities fraud. Rather than go to prison, however, he accepts a sentence of community service - teaching math at Winslow High.
Miller, who won five Emmys for his HBO show, has done some acting in the past, playing a computer exec in the Demi Moore movie Disclosure (1994) and a cop in the suspense film
Murder at 1600 (1997).
Dennis Miller
Other films to avoid are Madhouse (1990), The Net (1995), Never Talk to Strangers (1995), Bordello of Blood (1996), and Joe Dirt (2001)
Star on Walk of Fame
John Singleton
John Singleton has turned Hollywood Boulevard into his 'hood.
The "Boyz N the Hood" director accepted a star Tuesday on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to celebrate the 12th anniversary of the acclaimed gangland drama about three friends growing up in South Central Los Angeles.
Among the celebrities attending the ceremony outside the historic Chinese Theatre were Laurence Fishburne, who played the tough father in "Boyz N the Hood," and actor-model Tyrese, who starred in Singleton's 2001 drama "Baby Boy."
Singleton's other credits include "Poetic Justice," "Shaft," "Higher Learning" and "2 Fast 2 Furious." An anniversary edition of "Boyz N the Hood" debuts on DVD Tuesday.
John Singleton
Recruiting Video for CIA
Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Garner said she has been asked to contribute to an official video promoting the CIA.
Chase Brandon, film industry liaison for the CIA, confirmed that the project was in the works.
Garner would provide an introduction to the video that the CIA shows to prospective agents. "It talks about the nature of the work, the context and the qualities we're looking for," Brandon said. "Her participation would add a human touch to the message we're trying to convey."
Jennifer Garner
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Dismisses Recall
Woody Allen
Woody Allen gave the thumbs down to fellow film star Arnold Schwarzenegger's bid to become governor of California, politely dismissing musclebound Arnie as a lightweight when it comes to politics.
"He's an extremely nice, likeable person. California has many problems and you know, it's hard to imagine that -- not having any political background and not having any experience -- he would be able to make a big difference there. But you never know. So I can't really say."
"I don't think that they should be allowed to get rid of the government they have no matter how dissatisfied they are with it in the middle of its term," he told reporters.
"But it's just hard to imagine that the complex problems of the state and the financial trouble that California is in, would not require someone with many more years of political experience," he added about Arnie.
"Still, he is likeable and I'm sure his heart is in the right place."
Woody Allen
Wedding News
Janis Ian
American singer-songwriter Janis Ian, famed for the Grammy-winning tune "At Seventeen," married her lesbian partner in Toronto on Wednesday, her publicist said.
Ian, 52, and Nashville attorney Patricia Snyder, her partner of 14 years, tied the knot during a brief civil ceremony at Toronto's city hall, according to a statement from Tamara Saviano. It was the second marriage for both.
Ian, born Janis Eddy Fink in New York City, wrote her first hit, "Society's Child," when she was 14. The controversial saga of interracial love hit No. 14 on the U.S. pop charts in 1967. She returned to the forefront in 1975 with a million-selling album and Grammy-winning single "At Seventeen."
Janis Ian
Pilgrims look at a huge silk portrait of the Sakyamuni Buddha with incense burning on a hillside above the Drepung Monastery in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2003 in China. Thousands of pilgrims climbed the hillside to view the 42 meter-high portrait, or tanka, which was unveiled in a ceremony to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Buddha. The ceremony has been performed annually at the monastery since the 15th century.
Photo by Eugene Hoshiko
Surgery Postpones Acting Debut
Serena Williams
Serena Williams' dramatic acting debut has been postponed because of her recent knee surgery.
The tennis star had been scheduled to shoot scenes for the Showtime series "Street Time" in mid-August for an episode to air Oct. 1. Now she's expected to begin shooting Sept. 8 for an episode airing on the cable channel at 10 p.m. EDT Oct. 22.
Williams, the 2003 Wimbledon winner, will play a reformed gang member on parole.
Serena Williams
www.sho.com/streettime/
Ends Salary Strike
Brad Garrett
Ending a salary revolt that stymied production for the upcoming eighth season of CBS television's top comedy, actor Brad Garrett will return to the set of "Everybody Loves Raymond" on Wednesday, more than two weeks after he walked off the job demanding more money, the network said on Tuesday.
The Hollywood Reporter earlier said the network had offered to raise Garrett's per-episode salary to $250,000, on top of a newly granted stake in the show's profits. It said the half-percentage point given to each of the three other co-stars would be worth at least $5 million over the next few years.
"Raymond" is a major cash cow for CBS and its producers, reportedly expected to generate upward of $500 million during its first five years of syndicated reruns. Last season, the show ranked as the fourth most watched scripted series on prime-time TV and the No. 2 comedy behind NBC's "Friends." It was the No. 1 sitcom on CBS.
Brad Garrett
Unveils Tracking Methods
The RIAA
The recording industry provided its most detailed glimpse to date Wednesday into some of the detective-style techniques it has employed as part of its secretive campaign to cripple music piracy over the Internet.
The disclosures were included in court papers filed against a Brooklyn woman fighting efforts to identify her for allegedly sharing nearly 1,000 songs over the Internet. The recording industry disputed her defense that songs on her family's computer were from compact discs she had legally purchased.
The RIAA's latest court papers describe in unprecedented detail some sophisticated forensic techniques used by its investigators. These disclosures were even more detailed than answers the RIAA provided weeks ago at the request of Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., who has promised hearings into the industry's use of copyright subpoenas to track downloaders.
For example, the industry disclosed its use of a library of digital fingerprints, called "hashes," that it said can uniquely identify MP3 music files that had been traded on the Napster service as far back as May 2000. Examining hashes is commonly used by the FBI and other computer investigators in hacker cases.
The recording industry also disclosed that it is examining so-called "metadata" tags, hidden snippets of information embedded within many MP3 music files. In this case, lawyers wrote, they found evidence that others — including one user who called himself "Atomic Playboy" — had recorded the music files and that some songs had been downloaded from known pirate Web sites.
The RIAA has said it expects to file at least several hundred lawsuits seeking financial damages as early as next month. U.S. copyright laws allow for damages of $750 to $150,000 for each song offered illegally on a person's computer, but the RIAA has said it would be open to settlement proposals from defendants.
The RIAA
San Diego Benefit
Pop Punks
Blink-182 and Taking Back Sunday will stage a benefit concert next week for professional surfer Jason Bogle. The Sept. 6 benefit at San Diego's 4th & B will raise funds to aid Bogle's fight against Ewing Sarcoma, a form of bone cancer. Tickets to the show are $20.
Friends and family have already raised $15,000 to help pay the cost of the uninsured Bogle's treatment. The surfer, who was born and raised in Kailua, Hawaii, is being treated at California's Stanford Hospital.
September will also see a silent auction at the Kaneohe Bay Yacht Club to benefit the Friends and Family of Jason Bogle Cancer Fund. For more information, visit jasonboglefund.com (http://www.jasonboglefund.com/).
Pop Punks
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Sunshine Breaking Weather Records
Seattle
Seattle set a modern record at 12:07 p.m. Tuesday when the thermometer at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport hit 70 degrees, marking the 50th consecutive day with a high temperature of at least 70. The previous record was established in 1958.
The sunny stretch is expected to last well into September, said meteorologist Jeff Rood with the National Weather Service.
Wednesday's high was expected to be in the mid-70s. The forecast called for gradually climbing temperatures over the Labor Day weekend, in time for the 33rd annual four-day Bumbershoot Arts Festival, named for an umbrella in a wistful bid at reverse psychology for the weather gods.
Seattle
Online Music Broadcasters Sue RIAA
Webcaster Alliance
An alliance of online music broadcasters sued the recording industry in federal court Wednesday, alleging major record labels have unlawfully inflated webcasting royalty rates to keep independent operators out of the market.
Webcaster Alliance, an organization claiming some 400 members, filed the suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, claiming the major labels and the Recording Industry Association of America have maintained a monopoly over their music.
The suit alleges the negotiations for arriving at royalty rates to broadcast songs over the Internet violated federal antitrust laws and seeks an injunction that would prevent the major labels from enforcing their intellectual property rights and collecting royalty payments.
Webcaster Alliance
www.riaa.com
www.soundexchange.com
www.webcasteralliance.com
www.8ballradio.com
Anselmo Silva from Brazil prepares to start during the semifinal of the men's 110m hurdles at the 22nd Summer Universiade Games in Taegu August 26, 2003. Silva qualified for the final with a time of 13.74 seconds.
Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon
Games to Be Broadcast in HDTV
Major League Baseball
Major league baseball games will be broadcast in high definition by In Demand starting next month.
In Demand intends to launch its high-definition network Sept 15, and baseball broadcasts will start the following day with the New York Yankees' game at Baltimore, the commissioner's office said Wednesday.
Major League Baseball
Friends, Family Share Memories
Bob Hope
Former President Gerald Ford and former first lady Nancy Reagan were among hundreds of friends and family who attended a memorial Mass for comedian Bob Hope on Wednesday as Hollywood said farewell to its "king of jesters" and "hero to America's heroes."
Eulogies at St. Charles Borromeo Church, where Hope regularly worshiped until his death of pneumonia at age 100 on July 27, were delivered by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and TV producer Larry Gelbart, one of Hope's long-time writers.
Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony, who presided over the two-hour Mass, said Hope lived up to his name.
The British-born Hope converted to Catholicism in 1996, according to Hope's longtime spokesman Ward Grant.
Among the more than 500 people attending the Mass were close friends Phyllis Diller, who appeared in three of Hope's movies, and Barbara Eden, who joined Hope on his last overseas show for U.S. troops during the 1991 Gulf War.
Among other show business figures attending the Mass were Lonnie Anderson, Brooke Shields, Ed McMahon, Tom Selleck, Connie Stevens, and Raquel Welch.
Bob Hope
Ordered Jailed on Probation Violation
Bobby Brown
Entertainer Bobby Brown was ordered to serve nine additional days in jail on Wednesday for violating his probation from a drunken driving conviction.
The singer appeared in a DeKalb County court wearing an orange jail uniform. He had been in custody since Friday night, when he was arrested at a suburban Atlanta restaurant while dining with his wife, pop diva Whitney Houston.
Judge Wayne Purdom ordered Brown to serve 14 days of jail time, with credit for five days already served. Purdom also said Brown must be under house arrest for 60 days after any substance abuse treatment and complete community service in Georgia. He also ordered Brown not to drive.
Purdom warned of harsher consequences if Brown failed to fulfill terms of the probation. "If you come back to court, you'll be sentenced to 120 days and you'll probably serve 90," Purdom said.
Bobby Brown
Writes, Records Rudolph Ballad
Gospel Singer
Gospel singer Gene Collett says he took a message from God and turned it into a song about accused serial bomber Eric Robert Rudolph.
He has released "The Ballade of Eric Robert Rudolph" to 1,270 gospel and country radio stations.
At least one radio station in Western North Carolina is interested in the song.
"We need to jump on that big time," said Vann Campbell, of WRKR 1320 AM in Murphy, the Cherokee County town where Rudolph was arrested May 31. "His song is really neutral. It's not overly judgmental and it doesn't make (Rudolph) out to be a hero."
Gospel Singer
Listen to a clip
Painting Stolen from Scottish Castle
Leonardo Da Vinci
Thieves stole a painting credited to Leonardo Da Vinci from a castle in Scotland on Wednesday after posing as tourists and overpowering a security guard, police said.
They said two men walked into Drumlanrig castle, near the southern Scottish town of Dumfries, overpowered a guard, disabled an alarm and pulled Leonardo's "Madonna of the Yarnwinder" off the wall.
They escaped in a white Volkswagen car with two accomplices.
The Madonna, painted in the first decade of the 16th century, has a checkered and disputed history.
For the whole story, Leonardo Da Vinci
Competitors ride yaks during a race during the annual Shoton (Yogurt) Festival in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2003.
Photo by Gesang Dawa
'Ark of Darkness'
"The Ark of Darkness", a Political/Science-Fiction work, in tidy, weekly installments (and updated every Friday).
The Ark Group reunites and Flazer fulfills his destiny.
'The Osbournes'
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 5
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 4
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
