Extra Special Bonus Issue
Disinfotainment Today
By Michael Dare
'Best of 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.
Starring...the car!
"Spy Hunter" will star wrestler/actor/franchise The Rock as a super-spy with an ultra high-tech car. Based on the popular video game.
Prediction: Dwayne has proven that he's no slouch when it comes to the movie star game, and he's chosen his next feature project wisely. His demographic - young, testosterone-driven males – will wet themselves over this one, which is basically Bond meets Fast and Furious on Viagra.
*****
Mother's love
Julia Roberts will produce and might star in "Strange Son," about two moms whose kids suffer from autism. The women, who live very different lives, discover that the medical profession can't hold a candle to family devotion.
Prediction: Julia has graduated from America's sweetheart to the sadder-but-wiser gal to this new incarnation – mother figure. With her teary, doe-eyed histrionics, quivering lip and firm jaw, she will face off against the bureaucratic doctors and as God is her witness, she'll prevail. Look for a hefty box office number as all those moms out there rush to get their Oprah-ized fix of bitter and sweet.
*****
That guy from Alien
"Alien Vs. Predator" will feature Lance Henriksen as a wealthy man who demands to come along on an Antarctic expedition he finances. Naturally, the expedition yields otherworldly surprises.
Prediction: Get ready for some fast-moving dolly shots. This will be one of those creature-lurking-behind-every-corner movies, a real cinematic thrill ride. If they finish post in time for a summer release, they'll see long lines for two weeks.
*****
To the dogs
"Riley" will star Dean Cain playing second fiddle to a talking golden retriever (voiced by Jon Lovitz). Story has something to do with money and an evil lawyer played by Tim Curry. Also stars Jennifer Tilly.
Prediction: Dean Cain's career just might take a hit it can't stand if this one plays the way it sounds. And with Jennifer Tilly and Jon Lovitz trading whines from the sidelines, audiences might stay away in droves.
*****
Vroom
Vin Diesel's out and Ice Cube is in for the sequel to XXX. No plot to report because, hey, what difference does it make?
Prediction: Huge opening weekend, a less than 15% dropoff for weekend number two and then solid business to a fast and furious 125 million.
*****
#5 in a series...
Drew Barrymore's in yet another MOR romantic comedy. This one's called "Date School," and it revolves around a woman who's unlucky in love who puts herself in the hands of a dating instructor. Let's see now...what might happen here? Hmm...could Drew possibly fall in love with...the dating instructor?? Naw, they'd never let that unbelievable plot twist through development, would they?
Prediction: Dreamworks'll be lucky to see the sunny side of 50 million with this one unless they pull out all the hysterial, longing-for-love stops and make those teenybopper girls out there feel Drew's pain so she can win for them by proxy. In other words, it's doable, but there will be much heavy lifting.
*****
Down on me
They're talking about casting Renee Zellwegger in a movie about Janis Joplin's tempestuous life.
Prediction: This could come off as the biggest misuse of a star since they cast Stallone in anything other than monosyllabic parts. Sure, Renee pulled off the big one with "Chicago" but this role calls for a bone-weary soulfulness and a kind of reverberating fear/moxie that Ms. Z has not thus far exhibited. Plus she does that pouty-mouth thing that just ain't Janis. A part like this one shouldn't be handed over simply because of someone's star power, the studio has a responsibility to capture the real essence of the girl from Texas who set the music world on fire. Better to hold off judgment until the first dailies come in.
~ The Artful Dodger
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
from Mark
Little Billy
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Bit warmer today.
Did the CostCo run today. Looks like the grocery clerks will be going on strike this coming weekend, and supplies must be laid in.
The kid is having a better classroom experience than last year. Much better.
Letterman had a great clip of Leno checking his watch as Ahnold speechified. Dave also does a wicked Leno inpersonation.
Tonight, Thursday, CBS opens the night with a FRESH 'Survivor: Pearl Islands', followed by a FRESH
'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation', then a FRESH 'Without A Trace'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave are George Clooney and Merle Haggard.
Scheduled on a FRESH Craiggers are Jack Black, Vivica A. Fox, and Dido.
NBC begins the evening with a FRESH 'Friends', followed by a FRESH 'Scrubs', then a FRESH
'Will & Grace', followed by a FRESH 'Coupling', then a FRESH 'ER'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Cate Blanchett, Tom Papa, and Dolly Parton.
Scheduled on a FRESH Conan are Uma Thurman and James Carville.
Scheduled on a FRESH Carson Daly are Val Kilmer, Roselyn Sanchez, and Kill Hannah.
ABC starts the night with a FRESH 'Threat Matrix', followed by a FRESH 'Extreme Makeover', then 'Primetime Thursday'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel are Quentin Tarantino, Stephanie McMahon, and the Sounds, with this week's guest co-host Bobcat Goldthwait.
The WB offers a FRESH 'Steve Harvey's Big Time', followed by a FRESH 'Jamie Kennedy', then a FRESH
'What I Like About You', followed by a FRESH 'Run Of The House'.
Faux has 'MLB Baseball', and once again, the left coast primetime will be filled with 'Simpsons', 'King Of The Hill', and 'King Of Queens' RERUNs.
UPN has 'WWE Smackdown!'.
Check local PBS listings for the Season Premiere of 'Frontline'.
A&E has 'Biography' (Robert Mitchum), followed by the movie 'A Fish Called Wanda'.
AMC offers the movie 'The Glory Brigade', followed by the movie 'In Harm's Way', then the movie 'The Searchers'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Grey;
[7pm] 'Ground Force' - Cambridge;
[7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Hull;
[ 8pm] 'House Invaders' - Shoreditch;
[8:30pm] 'House Invaders' - Rotherby, Leicster;
[9pm] 'Faking It' - Cellist Turns DJ;
[10pm] 'Coupling' - Sex, Death and Nudity;
[10:40pm] 'Behind the Screen' - Coupling;
[11pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Kelly Osbourne;
[11:30pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Lindsay Wagner/Charlie Dimmock;
[12am] 'Faking It' - Cellist Turns DJ;
[1am] 'Coupling' - Sex, Death and Nudity;
[1:40am] 'Behind the Screen' - Coupling;
[2am] 'House Invaders' - Shoreditch;
[2:30am] 'House Invaders' - Rotherby, Leicster;
[3am] 'So Graham Norton' - Kelly Osbourne;
[3:30am] 'So Graham Norton' - Lindsay Wagner/Charlie Dimmock;
[4am] 'Faking It' - Cellist Turns DJ;
[5am] 'Coupling' - Sex, Death and Nudity;
[5:40am] 'Behind the Screen' - Coupling; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'West Wing'< followed by the movie 'The Package', then 'Queer Eye', and more 'West Wing'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jon Stewart is Tim Robbins.
History has 'Modern Marvels', followed by 'The Last Days Of World War II', then 'Sex In World War II'.
SciFi has the movie 'The Running Man', followed by the movie 'Total Recall', then the movie 'Conan The Destroyer'.
TCM celebrates Clark Gable all day, and
Donald Sutherland all night.
[6am] 'Sporting Blood' (1931);
[7:30am] 'Possessed' (1931);
[9am] 'Laughing Sinners' (1931);
[10:30am] 'Hell Divers' (1932);
[12:30pm] 'Strange Interlude' (1932);
[2:30pm] 'Chained' (1934);
[4pm] 'Parnell' (1937);
[6pm] 'Lone Star' (1952);
[8pm] 'The Great Train Robbery' (1979);
[10pm] 'The Dirty Dozen' (1967);
[1am] 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' (1978);
[3am] 'Kelly's Heroes' (1970); and
[5:30am] MGM Parade Show #19 (1955). (ALL TIMES EDT)
George Harrison's widow Olivia and son Dhanni arrive for the DVD screening of 'A Concert For George' at Odeon West End in central London, Wednesda,y Oct. 8 2003. The DVD features a tribute concert held for former Beatle George Harrison which was held last November at the Royal Albert Hall, and features performances by Eric Clapton and Jools Holland.
Photo by Andy Butterton
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
NYPD PO'd
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen closed out his recent world tour with three shows at Shea Stadium, where he reportedly aggravated city police by performing "American Skin (41 Shots)" — a song inspired by the 1999 shooting of West African immigrant Amadou Diallo by four officers.
After Springsteen played the song during the Oct. 1 opening night, a high-ranking police official ordered that there would be no post-concert police escort for the Boss after his next show, the Daily News reported.
After Springsteen debuted the song during his 2000 tour, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association — representing 27,000 police officers — urged its members not to attend Springsteen's 10 Madison Square Garden concerts.
Bruce Springsteen
www.brucespringsteen.net
Thanks, Alex!
Man With An Opinion
Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin came bearing a gift when he attended a fund-raiser for Texas House Democrats: a box of dog biscuits for Republican Gov. Rick Perry.
"I wanted to give this to Tom DeLay's lap dog, Rick Perry," the actor said Tuesday. "I thought maybe he had worked up a big appetite up there on the Capitol so Governor Perry, AKA Tom DeLay's lap dog in the Texas state Legislature, this box of dog biscuits is for you and I hope you enjoy it while you're toiling away at a redistricting plan."
"Everything that Bush touches turns to manure in public policy and they're coming down here and they're telling Rick Perry what to do," Baldwin said.
Alec Baldwin
A visitor reads information about Russian Lomographic photography as he stands in front of a wall with hundreds of lomographic pictures at the first day of the Frankfurt book fair October 8, 2003. The world's largest book fair opens today and runs until October 13, 2003. Lomos, simple cameras originally developed in the former soviet Union, have attracted enthusiasts who use them to take impressionistic snapshots, sometimes shooting from the hip, over their heads, through legs, from the floor, upside down of facing backwards.
Photo by Kai Pfaffenbach
Hosting Cancer Fund-Raiser
Kristin Davis
Kristin Davis of HBO's "Sex and the City" will be the host of QVC's "FFANY Shoes on Sale," a televised fund-raiser for breast cancer research. The three-hour event will be held Oct. 15.
More than 100,000 pairs of shoes from makers such as Nine West, Anne Klein, DKNY and Timberland will be offered at half the suggested retail price. The Fashion Footwear Association of New York holds the event to coincide with its annual gala in New York.
The sale will benefit the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Gillette Center for Women's Cancers at Dana-Farber Institute, the Joyce Eisenberg Keefer Breast Center at John Wayne Cancer Institute, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Strang Cancer Prevention Center and the Entertainment Industry Foundation's Women's Cancer Research Fund.
Kristin Davis
www.qvc.com
Gets Star On Walk O'Fame
Randy Quaid
Randy Quaid left Houston in 1971 to pursue an acting career in Hollywood — against his parents' wishes.
Now he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, right near the spot where he ended up more than 30 years ago.
Several cast members of Quaid's new CBS series, "The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H.," attended the ceremony, including Ann Cusack, Elizabeth McGovern, Mare Winningham and John Carroll Lynch. Quaid's films include "Kingpin" and the "Vacation" movies.
Randy Quaid
Lends A Helping Hand
Barry Manilow
The New York Post is reporting that Barry Manilow is donating $25,000 to a relief fund which was set up for the victims of a fire this past weekend Saturday (October 4) in the singer's hometown of Williamsburg, New York--a neighborhood in Brooklyn.
The fire left 18 people without shelter and four firefighters with minor injuries. Although he wouldn't confirm the exact amount, Neil Gorman, a spokesperson for the Greater New York Red Cross, told LAUNCH that Manilow gave a "sizeable donation." He added that the Red Cross appreciates celebrity support because it helps spread the word about fire safety.
Barry Manilow
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
NBC Shuffles
Friday Lineup
Two weeks into the fall TV season, NBC is shuffling its Friday prime-time schedule by taking the struggling "Boomtown" off air and moving the critically acclaimed "Miss Match" up by one hour to face lesser rivals.
NBC said "Miss Match," starring Alicia Silverstone as a divorce lawyer and romance matchmaker, would move from 8 p.m. Fridays, where it faced heavy competition from the new CBS family hit "Joan of Arcadia," to 9 p.m.
A network spokesman said NBC will air an episode of sister cable network Bravo's smash hit "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" this Friday at 8 p.m., and will air news magazine "Dateline NBC" next Friday at 8 p.m. Beyond that, he said, the future of the 8 p.m. slot has not been determined.
"Boomtown," the critically well-regarded but low-rated crime drama in its second season, will lose its new Friday 10 p.m. slot to repeats of highly successful "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," which last year aired in the 10 p.m. period.
Friday Lineup
Employee Ruth Schoellhammer displays what she says is the heaviest and largest book of the world at the Book Fair in Frankfurt, central Germany, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2003. 'Revolution and Painting' is the title of the book that weighs 34 kg (74.8 pounds) and costs 5,000 Euro (US$ 5,800).
Photo by Michael Probst
Vivendi-GE Sign to Create
NBC Universal
French media firm Vivendi Universal and U.S. conglomerate General Electric said on Wednesday they had signed a final deal to combine GE's NBC television unit with Vivendi's Universal Studios and cable channels, creating a $43 billion entertainment powerhouse.
Under a deal whose broad outlines were unveiled last month, shareholders in Vivendi Universal Entertainment will receive $3.8 billion in cash, with $3.3 billion of that going directly to Vivendi Universal.
The new company, to be called NBC Universal, will compete with entertainment giants such as Walt Disney Co. and Viacom Inc..
NBC Universal
$48 Million Spent
Recall Ads
Candidates and their supporters spent an estimated $48 million on television ads in the five largest California media markets during the recall election, with Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger leading the pack, a political analysis group said Wednesday.
That figure was $15 million more than originally expected by TNS/Media Intelligence's Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG).
Schwarzenegger, the Republican who won Tuesday's historic election, and his supporters spent about $16 million on TV spots, compared with $13.5 million by ousted Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and $13 million by Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante. Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock spent slightly more than $1 million.
Recall Ads
Man Charged With Stalking
Sheryl Crow
A Queens man was arraigned Wednesday on charges of stalking and harassing singer Sheryl Crow at an arena where she was rehearsing.
Ambrose Kappos was arrested Monday after security guards at the Hammerstein Ballroom on West 34th Street intercepted him, according to a felony complaint filed in Manhattan Criminal Court.
According to the complaint, a security guard at the Hammerstein Ballroom said Kappos entered the area where Crow, 41, was rehearsing Monday evening and told him, "I'm here to see Sheryl, I'm Ambrose."
A second security guard at the ballroom said Kappos told him, "I spoke to her father. I'm her twin. We're spiritually connected. I am going to meet her. I'm Ambrose," according to the complaint.
Sheryl Crow
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Cleared To Launch Second Tour
R. Kelly
R&B singer R. Kelly received a clearance from Judge Vincent Gaughan on Friday (October 3), to launch a second tour, according to MTV.com. The singer, who is currently out on bail, will tour during the month of October but must be back in his home state of Illinois by November 4. The singer is scheduled to return to court on December 1.
R. Kelly is currently awaiting trial in Illinois's Cook County on 21 counts of child pornography, with charges relating to a videotape that allegedly shows the singer engaged in sexual acts with a minor. He also faces child-pornography charges pending against him in Florida, stemming from photographs authorities say they found on his digital camera.
R. Kelly
A boy looks at a Chinese-made space suit on display at the Science Museum in Beijing October 8, 2003. China's first manned space voyage is provisionally planned for October 15 and will be seen live on national television and by paying tourists at the desert launch site, state television and travel sources said.
Photo by Andrew Wong
Restricted At Guantanamo
Journalists
U.S. military officials imposed strict reporting limits Tuesday on the first journalists to go to the U.S.-run detention camp for terror suspects since the arrests of a Muslim army chaplain and two interpreters.
The reporters were required to sign "ground rules" for coverage that banned questions about the investigations on pain of being removed from the U.S. Navy camp located at Guantanamo Bay, on the eastern tip of Cuba.
Reporters were presented with a statement to sign as they prepared to board a flight chartered by the military from Jacksonville, Fla., on Tuesday. A new paragraph was added to earlier requirements:
"Asking questions or perspectives about ongoing and/or future operations or investigations can result in restricted access on Gitmo, removal from the installation, and/or revocation of DoD (Department of Defense) press credentials."
Signing the statement was a requirement to board the military flight to Guantanamo. Among those who signed were reporters for The Associated Press, The New York Times and Fox Television. The Associated Press and New York Times reporters signed only after protesting.
Asked why journalists are being warned of consequences if they ask questions, Army Lt. Col. Pamela Hart said, "Why ask a question that you're not going to get an answer to?"
Journalists
Still No Charges Filed
Phil Spector
The New York Daily News reports that legendary '60s record producer Phil Spector, who was arrested in February on suspicion of killing actress Lana Clarkson at his California mansion, may have plans to flee the U.S. before his October 31 hearing.
Los Angeles law enforcement officials reportedly received a tip from a member of Spector's camp. A source told the newspaper, "Spector has a private jet. The sheriff's office has been told that he might use it to take off. The police said they appreciated the information, but that they didn't have the manpower to keep watch on him 24 hours a day." Just last week, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge extended Spector's $1,000,000 bail to the date of his hearing.
In September the L.A. County coroner ruled Clarkson's death a murder. Spector is the only suspect in the case.
Phil Spector
Faces Drug Charge in L.A.
Courtney Love
Singer-actress Courtney Love was charged with a misdemeanor drug count Tuesday, less than a week after she allegedly tried to break into a Los Angeles home.
Love is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Los Angeles, said Frank Mateljan, spokesman for the city attorney's office. Love's drug tests were still pending, he said.
Love, 39, was arrested Oct. 2 outside a Los Angeles home where she had allegedly broken the windows in an attempt to enter, according to police.
Hours later, police and paramedics in Beverly Hills responded to an emergency call and took Love to a hospital to receive treatment for an overdose, police said.
Courtney Love
Jenofur Lopez, right, and Suede Kitty Penny Lane, a five month old Sphynx, rest Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2003 at New York's Madison Square Garden. Over 40 breeds will compete with this weekend during a cat competition for ribbons, trophies and best-in-show honors.
Photo by Frank Franklin II
'The Osbournes'
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