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(03/07/05 4:24am)
Every year for the past five or six years, the IU Student Association election has been prolonged by frivolous party complaints and Supreme Court hearings, among other things.\nBefore this year's election, the executive candidates from the four tickets (College, Connect, Kirkwood and Vote for Pedro) vowed to each other that the losing parties would not file any complaints and whoever won the election would have won fair and square. They wanted a clean IUSA election that would respect the student body's choice. We commend all the executive candidates for this.\nBut as we know, this didn't happen. And for good reason.\nWith support of the College ticket and Connect presidential candidate John Palmer, Kirkwood filed a complaint with the IUSA Elections Commission asking for a runoff election. According to section 403 in the code, a ticket's executive candidates must receive at least 40 percent of the vote or at least 20 percent more than the second highest group. This year's election was close, and Vote for Pedro won by a margin of only 51 votes, which doesn't meet the 20 percent standard. \nKirkwood decided to file the complaint because it, along with every other ticket, was misinformed about the elections code during the campaign. Apparently, the IUSA Congress removed section 403 from the code a couple of years ago, but the section was never physically removed. So the Elections Commission claims the tickets were just handed "old" versions of the code while the executive candidates of Kirkwood believe section 403 is still valid because it is in every official code found on this campus.\nThe IDS editorial board would first like to express our extreme dissatisfaction with IUSA's failing to physically remove section 403. If it was voted on, it should have been enacted. Perhaps whoever's responsibility this was two years ago didn't realize the possible effect it could have. But this neglect is inexcusable. Your actions have caused yet another messy election and you've done the exact opposite of what you intended: a disservice to the student body. \nWhat's done is done. But now the IUSA Elections Commission and the Student Body Supreme Court have both denied to even hear Kirkwood's petition because the ticket filed its complaint after the deadline. We disagree with these denials.\nYes, the complaint was filed a few days late, but we believe it is now IUSA's job to clean up the mess it created, and there's no better chance than a commission or Supreme Court hearing. Simply removing the section now without public discussion isn't a viable remedy for this situation. Kirkwood, as well as the students, deserves a clarification. The ticket has a legitimate complaint and denying the complaint just because it was filed too late is avoiding the situation altogether.\nIt's a shame that the IUSA elections didn't run smoothly this year. It's even more of a shame that the fault lies with IUSA, not the candidates. \nWe feel a bit like Chicago Cubs fans: next year will be better.
(12/08/04 4:43am)
LOS ANGELES -- Producer-turned-rapper Kanye West collected a leading 10 Grammy nominations Tuesday, including album of the year, for his innovative debut, "The College Dropout."\nWest's disc stood out in the rap landscape because of its atypical prose. It avoided the usual plotlines about sex, money and violence and touched on everything from religion to West's own insecurities.\nThe performer, who isn't afraid to sing his own praises after claiming he was "definitely robbed" when he picked up no trophies at the American Music Awards, also had a nomination for best new artist and shared a song writing bid for song of the year with his hit "Jesus Walks."\n"Ten nominations, that's amazing," said West, a nominations presenter at the Henry Ford Music Box Theatre in Hollywood. "That's like a perfect score. I'm at a loss for words."\nUsher and Alicia Keys, who collaborated on the hit "My Boo," followed West with eight nominations each, including album of the year for Keys' "The Diary of Alicia Keys" and Usher's "Confessions."\nRay Charles, whose posthumous duets album, "Genius Loves Company," became the biggest selling album of his long career, earned seven nominations including album of the year and record of the year for "Here We Go Again," sung with Norah Jones.\nGreen Day garnered six bids for its hard-driving punk-rock album "American Idiot," which satirized culture, politics and apathy. The group was nominated for record of the year and best rock song for the title track and best rock album.\nBesides Charles' and Jones' "Here We Go Again" and Green Day's "American Idiot," other record of the year contenders were the mellow love song "Heaven" by Los Lonely Boys, the jumpy party song "Let's Get It Started" by the Black Eyed Peas and Usher's massive hit "Yeah!"\nThe best new artist class spanned soul, rap, country and pop, with nominees Gretchen Wilson, country's self-proclaimed "Redneck Woman," rapper West, young soul sensation Joss Stone, Los Lonely Boys and Maroon 5.\nBids for song of the year went to "Daughters," written and recorded by John Mayer; "If I Ain't Got You," written and recorded by Keys; "Jesus Walks," recorded by West; "Live Like You Were Dying," recorded by Tim McGraw; and "The Reason," recorded by Hoobastank.\n"It hasn't sunk in yet," said Hoobastank singer Doug Robb. "I feel like I'm in a daydream."\nOld-school performers filled the best R&B album category with Anita Baker's "My Everything;" Al Green's "I Can't Stop;" and Prince's comeback "Musicology" competing against "The Diary of Alicia Keys" and Jill Scott's "Beautifully Human: Words & Sound Vol. 2."\nLoretta Lynn had five nominations in the country field, including best country album for "Van Lear Rose" (which was produced by the White Stripes' Jack White) and two bids for best country song for "Miss Being Mrs." and "Portland Oregon."\nHer album competition includes McGraw for "Live Like You Were Dying;" Tift Merritt for "Tambourine;" Keith Urban's "Be Here;" and Wilson for "Here for the Party."\nHalf of West's 10 nominations were in the rap field, including best rap album. He competes against himself in the best rap-sung collaboration with the songs "Slow Jamz," performed along with Twista and actor-singer Jamie Foxx, and "All Falls Down," which he performed with Syleena Johnson.\nAlso nominated for best rap album were Nelly's "Suit;" LL Cool J's "The DEFinition;" The Beastie Boys' "To The 5 Boroughs;" and "The Black Album" by Jay-Z, which he has said will be his last.\nIn the rock category, Green Day's "American Idiot" was named in the best rock album competition along with Hoobastank's "The Reason," The Killers' "Hot Fuss," Velvet Revolver's "Contraband," and "The Deliveryman" by Elvis Costello and The Imposters.\nBeach Boys frontman Brian Wilson's long-gestating album "Brian Wilson Presents Smile," which recently was released after years spent on the shelf following his emotional and mental problems, collected a bid for best pop vocal album. It competes with "Afterglow" by Sarah McLachlan; "Feels Like Home" by Jones; "Mind, Body & Soul" by Stone; and "Genius Loves Company" by Charles.\nJones and Stone compete against each other again for female pop vocal performance, with Stone's "You Had Me" and Jones' "Sunrise" up against "Oceania" by Bjork; No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani's solo single "What You Waiting For?;" and Sheryl Crow's cover of Cat Stevens' song, "The First Cut is the Deepest."\nIn the male pop vocal competition, Costello's cover of the Cole Porter song, "Let's Misbehave," from the movie "De-Lovely" was picked along with the inspirational song "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban, John Mayer's "Daughters," Prince's "Cinnamon Girl" and Seal's "Love's Divine."\nPosthumous was the operative word in the best pop collaboration with vocals category. Charles competes against himself with the duets "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" with Elton John and "Here We Go Again" with Jones. Also nominated was a cover of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" by Johnny Cash and the Clash's Joe Strummer, both deceased. The other two bids went to veterans: Stevie Wonder and Take 6 for "Moon River," and Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton for "Something" from the album "Concert for George," a tribute to the late George Harrison.\nThe Grammys will be awarded Feb. 13 in Los Angeles during a broadcast on CBS.
(11/17/04 4:34am)
NEW YORK -- Vladimir Guerrero won the American League MVP award Tuesday, just the fifth time a player switched leagues and earned the honor in his first season with his new team.\nThe Anaheim Angels right fielder received 21 of 28 first-place votes and 354 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.\nNew York Yankees right fielder Gary Sheffield finished second with five first-place votes and 254 points. Boston players split the remaining two first-place votes, with left fielder Manny Ramirez finishing third with 238 points and designated hitter David Ortiz winding up fourth with 174 points.\nGuerrero was prepared for a close vote.\n"I was in no way expecting it to be the way it came out," he said through a translator during a conference call from the presidential palace in the Dominican Republic.\nGuerrero, 28, signed a $70 million, five-year contract with the Angels last January after eight seasons with the Montreal Expos. He hit .337 with 39 homers and 126 RBIs as Anaheim won the AL West, and led the league with 124 runs and 366 total bases.\nHe batted .371 in September with 10 homers and 23 RBIs, and went 14-for-30 (.467) with six homers and 11 RBIs in the last six games of the season, helping the Angels finish one game ahead of Oakland.\nAnaheim manager Mike Scioscia said Guerrero was "at times carrying our team single-handedly."\n"When he came to our team, our expectations were obviously very, very high, and he met every one of them," Scioscia said. "Not many players can do what he did the last week."\nThe only other non-rookies who became MVPs in their first AL seasons were Baltimore's Frank Robinson (1966), Chicago's Dick Allen (1972) and Detroit's Willie Hernandez (1984). In the NL, Kirk Gibson accomplished the feat with Los Angeles in 1988.\nGuerrero became the second Angels player to win, joining Don Baylor (1979). He is the fourth Dominican to be MVP, following Toronto's George Bell (1987), the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa (1998) and Oakland's Miguel Tejada (2002). He became the ninth straight player from the AL West to win.\n"Vlad has got such a great temperament. For as talented as he is, he's probably the most unassuming superstar you'd ever be around," Scioscia said. "He's got probably the smallest ego of anybody that has accomplished what he has."\nGuerrero was especially happy that three of the top four finishers in the voting were Dominican.\n"It's in our blood," he said. "We grow up with baseball."
(11/12/04 5:16am)
LOS ANGELES -- Tom Hanks used experimental technology to morph into a little boy, a train conductor, a hobo and Santa Claus for the new Christmas adventure "The Polar Express."\nThis is how he was able to co-star with himself: The two-time Oscar-winner climbed into something like a black wetsuit lined with neon-blue streaks and a tight cap, and had hundreds of glistening white specks on his face. Computers recorded his movements and expressions, which were then transposed onto his various characters.\nWith just a few more technological evolutions, "The Polar Express" might change the way people consider performance -- actors would no longer be constrained by their own bodies.\nHarrison Ford could be 80 and still playing a young "Indiana Jones." Sean Connery could play himself circa "Dr. No" in a new James Bond movie. Jack Nicholson could star as a 16-year old and Haley Joel Osment could play a geriatric.\nActors could swap and trade digital bodies: Tom Cruise could perform as Humphrey Bogart; Julia Roberts could try Rita Hayworth; or Eddie Murphy could easily play every character in a film -- old, young, heavy, skinny, white, black, male, female -- without any makeup or prosthetics.\n"The Polar Express" director, Robert Zemeckis, renowned for using state-of-the-art effects in his films like the "Back to the Future" trilogy, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "Cast Away," said the breakthrough came about four years ago when Hanks sent him a copy of the slim, beloved 1985 children's book by illustrator Chris Van Allsburg.\nThe actor wanted to see if it could be made into a film.\n"I looked at these beautiful paintings and said, 'It's great, but how are we going to do a movie like this?'" Zemeckis said. "We thought about it and thought about it and realized the emotion of the book was in the paintings. The story was really interesting but the paintings are what made that book so popular.\n"We never thought it was appropriate for 'The Polar Express' to be an animated cartoon," Zemeckis added. "And to do it live action would not be absolutely true to the emotion of the book. So we came up with this process that we called 'performance capture.' It's digitally rendered, but there's no animation."\nBy that method, he said, they were able to create the soft pastel imagery of Van Allsburg's book through computer technology but the characters were not manipulated by animators to coincide with the actors' voices, as in such films as "The Incredibles" and "Shrek."\nHanks was familiar with that kind of work from playing Woody the cowboy in the "Toy Story" movies: He recorded lines, then left the body to animators.\n"This is not one of those movies," Hanks said. "Everything you see (in 'The Polar Express') performed by a human being was performed by a human being on a soundstage."\nThe sensors on Hanks' suit and face were recorded as he moved around a mostly vacant room, and those gestures and expressions were layered with a digital skin that moved in relation to the actor.\n"There's no reason to do a movie like 'Mystic River' this way," Zemeckis said, referring to last year's effects-free, gritty drama that won Oscars for Sean Penn and Tim Robbins. "But there is the chance now to let imagination run wild."\nMotion capture computerization became familiar to most moviegoers when actor Andy Serkis controlled the movements of Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings," and it's a common technique used on sports figures like Tiger Woods to animate their own moves in video games.\n"The Polar Express" pushed the technology into a new dimension by mapping the areas of Hanks' face with 152 sensors, so his instinctual movements control the faces of his characters.\n"Believe it or not, the information would extend to a computer so you could tell the difference between a frown and a smile, eyes wide open, essentially every nuance that the human face can go through," Hanks said.\nOccasionally one of the BB-sized sensors would fall off, Hanks said, which the computers rendered as if Santa's cheek or eyebrow suddenly stretched down to touch the floor..\n"The visual aspect of movies is beyond imagination," Hanks said, "but the sound is pretty much the same as in (Al) Jolson's time"
(09/15/04 4:33am)
LOS ANGELES -- R&B casanova Usher, whose album "Confessions" steamed up the charts with songs about sex, affairs and breakups, received a leading four nominations Tuesday for the American Music Awards. Many categories included last year's winners Toby Keith, Tim McGraw and Linkin Park along with previous nominees Beyonce, Avril Lavigne, Norah Jones and R. Kelly.\nRapper-producer Kanye West, whose album "The College Dropout" combines gospel, rap and braggadocio, had three nominations, the second most after Usher.\nUsher was nominated as favorite male artist in both the pop/rock and soul/R&B categories, and his "Confessions" also has best album bids in both groups.\nIn the hip-hop/rap class, West was up for favorite male artist, "The College Dropout" got a mention for best album, and his third bid came for the cross-genre award as best newcomer.\nTwo categories feature all of the same nominees as last year. The country male artist group again includes Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith and Tim McGraw (who won in 2003). It also was deja vu for contemporary inspirational music, as 2003 winner Steven Curtis Chapman competes once more against MercyMe and Third Day.\nOutKast was nominated for best rap/hip-hop group, and its Grammy-winning "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" got a bid for best rap album.\nThe awards will be presented during a Nov. 14 ceremony that will be shown live on ABC. Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel will host it. The nominations are based on sales figures and radio play. Winners are selected by a survey of about 20,000 listeners.
(09/10/04 6:03am)
LOS ANGELES -- Superheroes die all the time.\nSuperman kicked the bucket a few years ago but was back in no time soaring through the skies. Batman's sidekick Robin also bit the dust once. Capes fall and refill again, a new story begins and crime-fighting goes on ...\nSo after that, what's the worst thing that could happen to a fantastical crusader?\nA seven-part DC Comics series has become a best seller by answering that question with a brutal premise: kill off a hero's wife.\nThat is the central story of "Identity Crisis," now reaching its fourth installment, that puts Batman, Superman, the Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow and other notable characters through an emotional hell.\nThe story line has electrified comics readers by immersing the Man of Steel, the Caped Crusader and their fellow good guys in pain, guilt, anger, fear and realistic violence and consequences.\nCould these icons of righteousness sometimes commit horrible wrongs in pursuit of good? Comics fans either adore "Identity Crisis," or consider it heresy. Either way, it's the No. 1 comic in the world right now.\n"If nobody really cared, that's an insult to us," said "Identity Crisis" artist Rags Morales. "If they hate it, that's great. If they love it, that's great. But if they're like 'Ehhh ... So what? No big deal.' Those are the ones that would bother us."\nThe story begins with a well-known woman from the DC Comics universe -- someone who didn't have any special powers -- being raped and murdered: Sue Dibny, wife of Ralph Dibny, who comic book lovers know as the Elongated Man from the Justice League.\nNobody is safe: not Ma and Pa Kent, not ex-wives, not even the non-powerful acquaintances of villains are free from the serial killer's wrath.\nA few of the world's most notable superheroes may have indirectly had a hand in Mrs. Dibny's demise, or unjustly punished the wrong suspect -- and find themselves agonizing over the responsibility.\nA villain who wants to destroy the world is one thing -- but "Identity Crisis" writer Brad Meltzer said a single realistic death, in all its brutality, could have more resonance in his story as the consequences unfold in front of the reader.\n"This is not an adventure. It's a tragedy," said Meltzer, the best-selling novelist of thrillers such as "The Millionaires" and "The Zero Game" and the co-creator of the new TV drama "Jack & Bobby." "It is taking the heroes and testing everything about them, putting them in difficulties and seeing if they come out the same way."\nThe fourth installment of "Identity Crisis" is due in stores next week. The first installment, which came out at the beginning of summer, is sold out, and just a handful of the first books remain in stores.\nBoth the appeal and the outrage of "Identity Crisis" is the way it alters the characters' lore. It would be one thing to kill off the Elongated Man. It's another to keep him alive -- so grief-stricken that he literally cannot hold his body together when he breaks down.\nDC editors say any future story featuring the Elongated Man would have to reflect his newfound suffering. Similarly, the morally questionable investigative methods of Hawkman, the Green Arrow and the Flash in "Identity Crisis" will reverberate throughout their own respective comic books.\n"It has long-term ramifications for the next two years of storytelling, and we've already laid out one year," said Dan DiDio, the DC Comics editor who's overseeing "Identity Crisis." "It's a tonal shift. It's an attitude and expectation. The DC universe is a very optimistic place. It's a place you want to be living in. It's a place where you know they're building to a better future. They just have to work harder to get to that better future now, which is more reflective of the times we live in."\nThe first issue featured all the major characters arrayed around a coffin, with Superman at the center. The final installment will feature Batman on the cover.\nBoth of the stoic characters have tears in their eyes -- not the usual dramatic pose of a hero.\nSome comics fans are livid over the story. Morales said he has heard rumors about editors punching walls after reading the "Identity Crisis" script and other writers and artists who have threatened never to work with DC again, although few have come out publicly.\nDiDio said most internal comics people who are angry are waiting until the end of the series to cast judgment.\nComics readers haven't been as restrained. The popularity of the books speaks for itself.\nBut there are strong detractors.\nOne recent posting on a DC fan Internet chat-room read: "Much as I loathe 'Identity Crisis,' I don't see that it's worth quitting DC over. The best way to combat the creeping 'Identity Crisis' syndrome in the DC universe is to do good comics that point the company in another direction."\nDiDio understands the reaction, noting that the story line "in some way shatters the perception of the icons as they existed in a more pure time."\n"But the newer readers, or the people looking for much stronger and multilayered storytelling, are embracing it," he added. "This book has generated no apathy, that's for sure."\nIn some ways, this is also a response to the popularity of rival Marvel Comics, which has such characters as Spider-Man and the Hulk, whose appeal comes from battles with personal woes as well as supervillains.\nDiDio didn't want to go the "trouble with girlfriends" route, but he recognized that DC needed more emotional depth.\n"I had the belief that our characters, being superheroes and cast in heroic roles, really have to be forced to examine what their desires and motivations are to be heroes. Why do they have that need to put their lives at risk above the lives of their own family"
(09/08/04 5:34am)
LOS ANGELES -- Ten years ago, Kevin Smith became the patron saint of the slothful.\nThe aspiring New Jersey filmmaker proved that if a guy worked hard enough, he could still make his dreams come true while spending a lot of time collecting comic books, debating the merits of peculiar sex, and selling cigarettes and candy to dead-eyed consumers.\n"Clerks," a $27,000 black-and-white film he shot mainly with friends in their spare time, became an icon of independent cinema by inspiring a generation of homegrown filmmakers.\n"It's the kind of movie where you go, 'If that counts, I can make a movie, too,'" said Smith, who makes self-depreciation a kind of second career. "It's flattering on one level, but it's also a backhanded compliment because it's like, 'Dude, your movie looks so bad, that even a chimp can make a movie at this point.'"\nTuesday's new three-disc DVD titled "Clerks X" commemorates the 10-year anniversary, documenting the movie's entire history, from Smith's birth to the audition tapes to the day Miramax chief Harvey Weinstein purchased the flick at the Sundance Film Festival.\nWorking on the DVD, inspired Smith to write a sequel, "The Passion of the Clerks," which he plans to begin filming in January.\nAfter creating a cult-fanbase with his later films -- "Mallrats," "Chasing Amy," "Dogma," "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" and "Jersey Girl" -- Smith said he wanted to go back to his super-low-budget roots and revisit his fictional cash-register dwellers.\nSmith's original movie centered on two 20-something guys -- one from a convenience store, the other from a video store -- and their disintegrating morale over the course of a day as they endure customers from hell.\nIt's no coincidence that the main character's name was Dante.\n"I just wanted to make a movie that I thought was representative of me and my friends," Smith said. "A lot of movies I went to see were fun to watch and totally entertaining and escapist. But what -- I'm going to identify with John McClane in 'Die Hard'? I would never jump off a building, I would never shoot a terrorist, I would never take my shirt off in public."\nHe wanted to make a movie about what wanders into the mind of a guy who feels like he's going nowhere: "Star Wars," ex-girlfriends, hockey, porn movies.\nThe humor in Smith's movie was the kind of shameless joking guys do around a poker game, or in the back of a classroom, wherever they think no one else is listening.\nBefore the gross-out comedy craze of "There's Something About Mary," "American Pie" and MTV's "Jackass," "Clerks" opened the door.\nAlthough it featured no violence, no nudity and no on-screen sex, the coarse dialogue earned it an NC-17 rating and Miramax hired attorney Alan Dershowitz to successfully argue the ratings board down to an R.
(08/05/04 1:45am)
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Marvin Harrison defines success his own way.\nHe doesn't need to showboat after touchdowns, compare himself with other receivers or worry about his profile. In Harrison's world, anonymity is preferred to hype, productivity to publicity.\nNow entering his ninth NFL season with the Indianapolis Colts, the soft-spoken five-time Pro Bowler adheres to the same, simple philosophy with which he entered the league: Stay healthy, work hard, catch passes and win games.\n"I want to be 100 percent and I want to get better," he said Wednesday.\nFor opponents who already struggle to defend Harrison, it could be an ominous warning.\nThe NFL's best passing offense in 2003 produced two Pro Bowlers -- Harrison and quarterback Peyton Manning, the league's co-MVP -- and took the Colts to the AFC Championship game.\nNow Harrison is hoping to add a Super Bowl ring to his list of accomplishments.\n"That would mean an awful lot, not just for myself but for the organization and the city," he said. "It would put the ashes on my career."\nThat's not to suggest Harrison, who is in the final year of his contract, is going anywhere soon. He still enjoys the game too much and expects more of himself even though he's been the NFL's most consistent receiver over the past five years.\nHis league record of four straight 100-reception seasons ended in 2003 when he caught 94 passes for 1,272 yards and 10 touchdowns despite missing 1 1/2 games because of a strained right hamstring.\nTo most receivers, that would have been a career year. In Harrison's case, it's become routine.\nIn 2002, Harrison turned in one of the greatest seasons in league history.\nHis 143 receptions shattered Herman Moor's previous NFL record by 20. Harrison also finished with 1,722 yards, the fourth-highest total in league history, and nearly tied Michael Irvin's league mark for most 100-yard games in a season. Harrison had 10, Irvin 11.\nMore amazing is the fact that while defenses know Harrison will get the ball, they still can't stop him.\n"I see him as a silent assassin," backup receiver Aaron Moorehead said. "He makes all the plays he's supposed to make, and he makes all the plays he's not supposed to make. You can't ask for anything more."\nAt age 31, Harrison already has rewritten the Colts' record book. He has caught more passes for more yards and more touchdowns than any receiver in team history.\nSome contend Harrison has benefited from the Colts' wide-open attack and playing with Manning, a four-time Pro Bowler. But Harrison's teammates know better.\n"I'm most impressed with the way he practices," backup receiver Brad Pyatt said. "Most receivers look at practice and don't care if they get the ball. He wants the ball in practice."\nHarrison doesn't even like taking breaks. When backups are on the field during training camp, Harrison can usually be found moving around, stretching or discussing the next route.\nCoach Tony Dungy calls him an old-school player who fits the mold of two of his Hall-of-Fame teammates in Pittsburgh, Lynn Swann and John Stallworth.\nWhat makes Harrison different, though, isn't style; it's the fluid hips that allow him to make quicker cuts.\nTeammates and opponents often say that what Harrison does best is make every route look the same, and few are capable of imitating it -- even when they're watching his every move.\n"He's a different type of guy because of his hips," Troy Walters said. "He's got moves like none other."\nAnd while it may appear there's little left for Harrison to achieve, he expects more of himself.\nHe wants to improve his yards per reception average. He wants to catch more passes and more touchdowns. He wants to help get the Colts to Jacksonville this February.\n"There's a lot of things to experiment with and work on," he said. "You're always trying to perfect the basics and expand your game. And we can definitely expand it"
(03/08/04 4:35am)
During my post-Oscar browse this year, I noticed a small but interesting trend that has been brewing in the category of Best Actress. Over the past five years, this award has generally been presented to women who underwent dramatic physical transformations for the roles in question. Also, four years out of five, the winning roles portrayed characters based on real people. \nWhen looking at these roles, it seems that in order to be considered a top-notch actress in Hollywood today, a woman often must deliberately sacrifice her vanity at the altar of credibility. She has to become ugly, poor, miserable, sluttish, pathetic, mentally unstable, a raving lunatic or all of the above. They're not just "normal people" -- on some level, these characters have to be wretched.\nConsider the winners: this year, Charlize Theron's amazing performance as serial killer Aileen Wuornos in "Monster" got the attention, Nicole Kidman won in 2002 for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in "The Hours" and in 2001, Halle Berry took it home for playing an impoverished single mother in "Monster's Ball." Other recent winners include Julia Roberts for "Erin Brokovich" and Hilary Swank for "Boys Don't Cry."\nI am not minimizing the talent, dedication or amount of energy it took to develop these characters into such fascinating on-screen personalities. The acting for all of these roles was noteworthy. As Theron's co-star Christina Ricci stated recently in the Pasadena Star News, "You could put all the fat and prosthetics in the world on somebody, but if they can't pull off the performance, that's all you've got -- fat and prosthetics." \nHowever, one must wonder what it is we find so intoxicating about seeing these famous, beautiful women in these earthy roles? Is it a reflection of collective misogyny or sadism or jealousy? I would argue (with a hopeful attitude) that although viewers love to fantasize about the star lifestyle, they recognize that glamour is an insubstantial illusion. Celebrity eye candy is amusing, but on a deeper level, we relate more to these living embodiments of feminine perfection if they look like the people we see every day. \nI just hope none of the second-rate actresses in Hollywood take notice of this because, boy, one truly hellacious trend could erupt. Imagine all of the gorgeous young starlets suddenly deciding they want to be taken seriously and immediately dashing to their agents, begging for one of these transformative roles that test an actress's true mettle.\nCameron Diaz calls up Justin Timberlake (or whoever she's dating now) and exclaims, "Oh, sweetie, I can't wait! Tomorrow, I'm auditioning for the lead role in 'Margaret Thatcher: The Life, The Legend.'" Rachel Leigh Cook and Jaime Pressly vie for the role of the aged Mother Teresa, but the word on the street is that it will ultimately go to Heather Graham … heavens, this can only end in tears. \nThankfully, I don't think that will happen. Certain roles require true artists -- otherwise, they flop both with mainstream audiences and the art-film scene. These are not the films that rack up the big box office bucks and have you quoting the one-liners, singing the songs or dressing like the main characters for Halloween. These are the films that put the awed hush in your voice when you say, "God, that was a good movie," but have trouble finding the words to explain why.\nWe get jazzed about the award ceremonies themselves when the actresses appear in their full movie star regalia with designer gowns, up-dos and glitzy jewelry. However, the film characters are the ones getting the real attention, and often, they exist far from the world of Gucci and the red carpet. Glamour is fun, but misery, indecision and omens of impending doom are usually more interesting to watch.
(01/23/04 4:13am)
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - 5:38:30 a.m. -- That's the moment Hollywood hype turns hyperactive.\nIt's the precise time Tuesday morning when the 76th annual Academy Award nominations will be announced to the world, creating a frenzy among all who make movies, make money from movies or make time to see movies.\nAlmost a week before the clamor, a small army of behind-the-scenes men and women met in a shadowy theater on the third floor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences headquarters to plot the details of "nominations eve."\nAs the contenders are announced, big-time actors will eye the live television broadcast, hungry to hear their own names.\nThen squads of publicists, managers, agents and stylists will scramble to get the nominees: a) attention, b) better scripts, c) bigger money and d) new outfits flashy enough to make People magazine, yet subdued enough to dodge snarking from E! carpet maven Joan Rivers.\nBack at the studios, marketing executives will relaunch months-old movies with ad campaigns touting their nominations in a bid to spin hot Oscar buzz into cold box-office cash.\nAnd it all starts at the Academy. On Wednesday afternoon, about 40 staffers gathered for a read-through that outlined where employees should be and what they'll be doing prior to the nominations.\nAbove all came the warning: loose lips can spoil the fun.\n"The only reason for the secrecy is to make it more fun," said Academy Director of Communications John Pavlik. "It builds suspense"
(12/08/03 5:18am)
LOS ANGELES -- "The Last Samurai" came in first at the weekend box office as the Tom Cruise war epic cut down the competition with $24.4 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.\nIn the film, Cruise plays a downtrodden Civil War veteran who reclaims honor by forging a bond with samurai warriors -- despite having been brought to Japan to quash their rebellion by training a mercenary army for the Japanese emperor.\nCruise's other recent films have opened stronger, such as the $35.6 million debut for "Minority Report" and the $57.8 million opening of "Mission: Impossible II."\n"Samurai," which is nearly two-and-a-half hours long, had a similar opening gross to "Vanilla Sky," which collected $25 million in its first weekend.\n"It's almost a lock that every time he opens a movie it comes in at No. 1. This guy is box office insurance personified," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "For an R-rated film, a very long film, a period epic -- I think this speaks to Tom Cruise's drawing power."\nThe debut of "Samurai" toppled last week's No. 1 movie, "Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat," which fell to fifth place with $7.3 million.\nSo far, "Cat" has earned a total of $85.5 million, according to Universal Pictures, placing it far behind the studio's 2000 Jim Carrey comedy "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas," which had collected about $172 million at the same point in its release. "Grinch" ultimately earned $260 million by the end of its run.\nThe Jessica Alba aspiring-dancer melodrama "Honey," the only other new movie opening in wide release, ranked second this weekend with $14 million despite generally poor reviews, some of which compared its story to the infamous Mariah Carey bomb "Glitter."\nIt's a strong opening for the former star of TV's "Dark Angel," and distributor Universal Pictures said the audience for "Honey" was about 75 percent under 21 and 74 percent female. That proved to be wise counterprogramming against "Samurai," which had audiences skewing older and predominantly male, Dergarabedian said.\n"Universal selected just the right movie to go up against 'The Last Samurai,' the two movies couldn't be more different," he said.\nIn only 126 theaters, a rerelease of "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" added $431,000 to that film's total gross, bringing it to $313.8 million. New Line Cinema is reissuing the previous two films to a handful of theaters in advance of the Dec. 17 debut of the final "Rings" installment: "The Return of the King." This coming week, "The Two Towers" will be in theaters again.\nThere's a moviegoing vacuum that usually follows the weekend after the Thanksgiving holiday, and many of the top holdover movies saw ticket sales drop by more than 60 percent this weekend. Snowfall in the northeastern states may also have kept people at home and away from theaters.\nNonetheless, the overall box-office was up about 34 percent. The top 12 movies took in $91.8 million from Friday to Sunday compared to $68.5 million from the same weekend last year, when "Die Another Day" and "Analyze That" topped the box-office.
(10/31/03 4:55am)
NEW YORK -- Hundreds of Broadway actors huddled under the rain in Times Square Wednesday, blasting producers who take shows like "Miss Saigon" on the road while paying performers lower, nonunion wages.\n"They're left-brained money men!" actress Sandy Duncan said into a microphone set up just behind the TKTS discount ticket booth. "And you're being held ransom for doing what you desperately want to do!"\n"The producers are charging almost the same ticket prices, but the actors are getting only one-third the money," said Flora Stamatiades, Equity's national director of labor organizing.\n"Miss Saigon" employed union members while the musical played on Broadway, but as a new non-Equity tour travels to major cities, its actors are earning about 450 dollars a week instead of the more than 1,300 dollar wages under the Actors' Equity production contract, said Maria Somma, spokeswoman for the protest's road campaign.\n"Non-Equity shows used to go to smaller markets. But 'Saigon' is hitting major cities; that's a change," Somma said.\nNext week, the New York-based Big League Theatricals is taking "Miss Saigon" to Newark's New Jersey Performing Arts Center, after stints in Boston and Philadelphia. Big League also took a nonunion "Music Man" on the road.\nBig League's executive producer, Dan Sher, said the weekly non-Equity salaries in "Miss Saigon" are more than 450 dollars but he refused to name a figure, saying only: "We pay many of our actors more per week than a lot of Equity minimum contracts do across the country."\nBesides, he said, taking this show on the road is expensive, and includes costs for rights to the production, stage crews and transportation costs. "We pay actors what we can afford to pay based on the budget," Sher said.\nAnd ticket prices, he said, are set by respective theaters, not by the production company.\nStamatiades said her union is not demanding ironclad wages, especially if a producer is facing an economic crunch. Equity has forged dozens of what she calls "deals" for salaries that allow a show to survive.\nShe said that of the 45,000 Equity members nationwide, most support the protest action against nonunion productions.\nDuring Wednesday's protest, Equity members presented "The Jobless Chronicles," a one-act musical showcasing unemployment stories, and the fictionalized story of a "Miss Saigon" cast member who runs away from the production.
(10/31/03 4:52am)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The nominees for next week's country music awards are a bit more old school than some predecessors and a lot more brawny.\nFor the first time in some 20 years, male singers took all five slots in both the entertainer of the year and newcomer categories.\nSome say the nominations reflect a shift from pop-leaning, crossover acts such as Faith Hill and Shania Twain to the more male-dominated, traditional sounds of Joe Nichols and Buddy Jewell.\n"I think the pop crossover songs are going to be out there. It's still an important part of the overall picture of the country music format, but the difference now is those songs will have to be phenomenal to cut through," said Joel Burke, program director for Denver country station KYGO-FM.\nThe Country Music Association's 37th annual awards show airs live from the Grand Ole Opry House at 8 p.m. EST Wednesday on CBS.\nThis year's nominees chosen by 5,000 industry insiders who belong to the CMA include a few classic country artists and several others who continue that tradition. Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Patty Loveless, Randy Travis, George Strait, Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley and Johnny Cash are up for awards, as well as newcomers Jewell, Nichols and Gary Allan.\nToby Keith, who's had a string of testosterone-charged hits with "Who's Your Daddy," "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue" and "Beer For My Horses," leads all artists this year with seven nominations.\n"We see that pendulum we're always talking about swinging again," said Ed Benson, the CMA's executive director. "In the last year or so, there's been a return to traditional country in sound and production. And I think the voters are trying to recognize a more real, traditional side."\nMen are leading the way. During the first six months of this year, female artists accounted for only four of the 34 top 10 hits on Billboard magazine's country singles chart, according to Billboard. Only the Dixie Chicks managed a No. 1 hit.\nThe story was similar last year, with females scoring five top 10s and two No. 1s in the same period.\nBut in the first six months of 2000, women were strong on the charts 10 top 10 singles by female artists, three of which hit No. 1. Back in 1998, women scored 14 top 10s in that period, half of them No. 1s.\nBenson thinks the trend toward men began with a spate of patriotic anthems after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Country artists --mostly men -- were among the first to capture the mood in song.\nBenson also believes males have became a larger share of the country music listening and buying audience.\nWhatever the reasons, "the state of the female country singer is a little scary right now," said Dawn Michaels, assistant program director at country station WYGW-FM in Cincinnati.\nIn this year's CMA female vocalist category, Loveless and Parton are nominated with Terri Clark, Martina McBride and Alison Krauss. But Hill and Twain -- each with successful albums and tours -- received not a single nomination.\n"I don't think country audiences were responding to it," Michaels said. "The Faith project especially. There were a lot of big ballads. Nothing like 'This Kiss' songs that are fun."\nMeanwhile, Loveless and Parton have received critics' praise in recent years for music that veers toward bluegrass, but neither has been a commercial force in a long time. Loveless' latest album, "On Your Way Home," came out in September and is her first mainstream country record in two years.\n"I never expected to be nominated in that category, especially not this year," Loveless said. "The CMAs are about country music, and for two years there I was in the bluegrass and acoustic music world."\nBut McBride, the most pop-oriented artist in the female vocalist category, said the strength of industry-voted awards like the CMAs is that they recognize diversity within the genre and are not based on sales. Like motion pictures' Oscars, country music's CMAs don't always go to the big-budget blockbusters.\n"It shouldn't be a popularity contest," McBride said. "I think it's great that these classic artists are still being recognized for their art"
(09/25/03 6:16am)
LOS ANGELES -- When The Rock makes a fist, it's usually time to back off but this time he's clenching his oversized mitt to give the thumbs-up to his favorite movies.\nIn honor of his new adventure flick "The Rundown," The Associated Press asked the wrestling superstar for a rundown of the buddy, adventure, boxing, sci-fi, kung fu films and Westerns that inspired him to brawl on the big screen.\nIn "The Rundown," 6-foot-5, 255-pound wrestler-turned-actor stars as Beck, a bounty hunter who refuses to use guns. Armed only with his wits and fists, he battles various foes while hunting for a wisecracking amateur archaeologist ("American Wedding" star Seann William Scott) whose father is a ruthless loan shark.\nThe Rock described the film as a combination of his favorite "old school" action-adventure movies, the kind filled with "fisticuffs and knuckle sandwiches."\nSome of The Rock's favorites:\nBuddy Film: "48 Hrs.," 1982. Eddie Murphy played a loudmouth convict released from jail for two days to help gruff cop Nick Nolte track down a psycho. "They were two opposites and they didn't get along, and that conflict drives the story," said The Rock, whose "Rundown" character mirrors some of Nolte's grouchiness. "His comedy came from his straightness."\nWestern: "Unforgiven," 1992. Clint Eastwood snarls as an aging, repentant gunfighter forced to pick up his weapons again to slay a corrupt sheriff. "When we knew that my ("Rundown") character would have a true aversion to guns, I would always say `We gotta have a Clint Eastwood moment,'" which means succumbing to the urge to blow people away. "It's not until the end of the movie, but it reminds me of `Unforgiven' when (Eastwood) decides to go back into town, that reluctant fighter who is boxed in."\nMartial Arts: "Enter the Dragon," 1973. Bruce Lee competes in a kung fu competition and gets revenge on the man responsible for his sister's death. Their fighting styles are very different, but The Rock considers Lee an expert at delivering simple, menacing lines. His favorite: a villain tries to intimidate Lee by smashing a plank of wood, and the star intones, "Boards don't hit back." "Aww, that was awesome," The Rock gushes. "Bruce Lee is just, like, cool."\nAdventure: "Raiders of the Lost Ark," 1981. Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, archaeologist extraordinaire, who roughs up Nazis in a quest for a mystical treasure. "The Rundown" includes a quest for an ancient artifact as an homage to "Raiders." "I saw it when I was 8 years old and we were late to the theater, so I had to sit right in the very front row," Rock said. "As a little kid I was looking directly up, vertical, and it was literally larger than life to me."\nBoxing: "Rocky," 1976. Sylvester Stallone's hardscrabble fighter finds love and honor while throwing punches in the ring. "It's a feel-good, standup type of movie," The Rock said. "I love the story of a guy who fights the odds, and he doesn't have to win _ and he doesn't win."\nSci-Fi: "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back," 1980. The second installment in the landmark space opera about rebel Luke Skywalker's battle against Darth Vader. Like "Rocky," The Rock liked the hero's struggle to overcome his weaknesses. "There he was going to see Yoda and training to become a Jedi knight, and failing so many times," Rock said.\nScariest Action: "Predator," 1987. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a commando on a jungle mission whose crew is stalked by a chameleonlike alien hunter. The Rock enjoyed the story's mystery: "You're completely out of your element and you're fighting the unknown. Then one by one all his buddies got picked off."\nFunniest Action: "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," 1969. Paul Newman and Robert Redford star as two Western outlaws fleeing the law. "This was just fun," The Rock said, although he wasn't a fan of the "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" musical montage. "It was just this music, this horrible music ... I hated that, but I watched these guys have fun and that was great"
(09/16/03 5:21am)
LOS ANGELES -- Johnny Depp has made another transformation: oddball actor to box office moneymaker.\nThe star known for playing eccentrics in cult favorites such as "Ed Wood" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" is establishing himself as a major box office draw with two films this weekend in the top five.\n"Once Upon a Time in Mexico," starring Antonio Banderas as a mariachi-musician gunslinger and Depp as a sleazy CIA agent, debuted in first place with $24 million, according to industry estimates Sunday.\nIt was Depp's second consecutive No. 1 debut after the summertime hit "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl."\n"Pirates," still performing strongly in its 10th week of release, came in at No. 5 with $4.6 million. So far, it has earned $288 million, making it the second highest-grossing movie of the year, behind "Finding Nemo."\nAnalysts said Depp's comical sashaying swashbuckler in "Pirates" may have helped sell audiences on "Once Upon a Time in Mexico," which was written and directed by Robert Rodriguez as a sequel to his films "El Mariachi" and "Desperado."\n"Johnny Depp's career has been very interesting but he's normally not in the big blockbusters," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Exhibitor Relations Co. "Suddenly, he's in the No. 1 and No. 5 movie in the same weekend. For any actor that's great, and for Johnny Depp it's totally unexpected and welcome."\nDepp has had blockbusters before, such as "Sleepy Hollow" (1999) and "Chocolat" (2000), and modest hits like "Edward Scissorhands" (1990) and "Donnie Brasco" (1997), but they have been few and far between the respected but little-seen cult films like "Dead Man," "Ed Wood," "Benny & Joon" and "Fear and Loathing."\nThe first weekend's ticket sales for "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" nearly matched the total $25.4 million theatrical gross for 1995's "Desperado," which starred Banderas but not Depp.\nThe Nicolas Cage caper "Matchstick Men," about a con man and his daughter, opened in second place with $13.3 million, a modest debut consistent with some of Cage's recent underperforming films such as "Windtalkers" and "Captain Corelli's Mandolin."\n"This wasn't the kind of film that could strike across-the-board appeal," said Brandon Gray, proprietor of BoxOfficeMojo.com. "He opened this about as well as it could be opened."\nThe cheaply made trapped-in-the-woods horror film "Cabin Fever" opened in third place with $8.5 million.\n"It's a great weekend for horror and it's been a good season for horror," Dergarabedian said, citing the success of such recent slasher-monster films as "Jeepers Creepers 2" and "Freddy vs. Jason."\nTicket sales overall bounced back from last weekend's dismal earnings of $50.5 million, the lowest box office weekend in two years with "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star" at No. 1. This weekend, "Dickie Roberts" fell to fourth place with $5 million.\nThe Bill Murray dramedy "Lost in Translation" debuted with $901,143 in just 23 theaters, posting an outstanding per-screen average of $39,180. The film opens in 125 theaters next weekend.\nThe top 12 movies grossed $73.5 million, up 45 percent from last week and about 1 percent from last year, when "Barbershop" and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" topped the box office.
(09/09/03 5:08am)
Two sides in Bob Knight lawsuit argue meaning of contract\nIU fulfilled its obligation to former basketball coach Bob Knight by continuing to pay him after he was fired, an attorney for the University said Monday.\nAttorney Dave Mattingly asked Monroe Circuit Judge Kenneth Todd for an order that would effectively dismiss Knight's lawsuit without a trial. Todd did not indicate when he would make a ruling in the lawsuit against the University.\nMattingly said Knight's contract allowed the University to end his employment, for any reason, as long as the school continued paying him through the rest of the contract. If the University had fired Knight for cause, he said, the compensation would have stopped immediately.\nKnight was fired in 2000 for violating a "zero tolerance" behavior policy by grabbing the arm of a student who he said greeted him by his last name. Knight sued two years later, claiming the University violated his employment contract. \nRussell Yates, a Denver lawyer who represents Knight, said Knight effectively was fired for cause.\n"The president of the University goes on national TV in front of 40 million people and says, 'Bob Knight's personal conduct is bad, and therefore I'm going to fire him,'" Yates said in arguments to the judge. "Everyone in the world, with the exception of the people at Indiana University, knows this man was terminated for cause."\nHe said IU had to pay Knight until his contract expired regardless of whether he was fired for cause.
(09/05/03 6:19am)
LOS ANGELES -- The glory of being a famous cute kid can fade faster than the pages of an old Tiger Beat magazine.\nWhat often remains is nostalgia, taunting and the occasional pummeling in a celebrity boxing tournament.\nSome are bitter. Some have made peace with their pasts and found new successes. Others still seem a little dazed from the long-extinguished limelight.\nThe Associated Press sat down to talk about the former child star phenomenon with Barry Williams (Greg on "The Brady Bunch"), Danny Bonaduce (Danny on "The Partridge Family"), Dustin Diamond (Screech from "Saved By the Bell"), Leif Garrett (teenage heartthrob singer of "I Was Made for Dancin'") and Corey Feldman (Mouth from "The Goonies.")\nAll five play themselves as poker buddies in the new David Spade comedy "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star."\nAP: Do you feel like your childhoods were that weird? The whole point of 'Dickie Roberts' is that he's too messed up to function.\nBonaduce: They weren't as weird as Dickie's, but they were weird. I was 10 and would get up to go to work and there would be 400 people in my front yard with signs only because they couldn't find David Cassidy's house. (Laughter.) That's weird!\nWilliams: The abnormalities come in with the kind of attention we had. Touring, making records, showing up at the set every day. You have publicity machines, you have agents ...\nAP: How do the fans treat you now?\nDiamond: You can't really go out to regular places and not get recognized and not get hassled.\nBonaduce: Everybody recognizes me, but they don't care.\nDiamond: When I go to the movie theater, right when the lights go down people shout out 'Screeeech!' If someone notices me and wants to get an autograph or something else, usually they're loud about it.\nAP: What do you do? Sink down in your chair and wait for it to end?\nDiamond: Sometimes I'm a smart-ass about it. I try not to be, but sometimes it weighs on you. You're in a theater. 'What are you doing here?' 'I'm bowling.' What do they think I'm doing? I'm seeing a movie, I'm not shopping for groceries.\nBonaduce: (To Diamond) You know what I do? I have this novel approach. When they come up to me, I say 'Thanks.'\nDiamond: That's because you were smoking crack. That's totally different. I have more dignity than that. (Note: Bonaduce was arrested for buying crack in 1990.)\nBonaduce: (To Diamond) You were in one of the coolest movies. What was that movie with those two guys? 'Made.' (2001, with Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau.) You were in 'Made!'\nDiamond: Playing myself.\nBonaduce: Hey, I've been every sitcom in America as a (stupid) version of me, with every transvestite joke and 'Partridge Family' joke you can think of. (Note: Bonaduce was arrested in 1986 for beating up a transvestite prostitute.)\nAP: Why have you all stayed in entertainment? A lot of people don't when they grow up.\nGarrett: A lot of them didn't want to in the first place. They were forced into it by their families. But I like being an entertainer.\nBonaduce: I swear to God, I'm not joking: I just don't know how to do anything else.\nFeldman: I was doing it because it was what my parents told me I had to do. And by the time I was old enough to make a choice not to, everybody in the world knew who I was. So it was impossible to go work at Taco Bell.\nBonaduce: Without fame, I'm just some 5-foot-6 guy with red hair and freckles. But with fame, I've had sex with some quality women.\nWilliams: Mine was the opposite. I finally confronted my parents at 11, and I said, 'You are standing in the way of my destiny. I want in to this business.' They finally relented.\nBonaduce: I was playing Atlantic City. I didn't do anything, but they put together this kind of song and comedy act … but I couldn't really sing and I wasn't particularly funny. My name was up in huge lights, huge ridiculous lights. And I turn around and my dad, for some reason had to take me, and before I can say anything he just clocks me. (Punches fist.) I said, 'Why?' And he said, 'Your name? Above Duke Ellington's?'\nAP: Imagine what Duke Ellington's dad would have done.\nBonaduce: (Laughs) Yeah, Duke Ellington's dad beat his ass for getting billing below me!\nWilliams: I can't imagine what that would do to your self-esteem at that age.\nDiamond: I'm not taking digs at anybody. There are people out there with wise advice, but they've been at points that are so low that I've managed to avoid. I'm proud that I've avoided these things. I've never been arrested. \nFeldman: Those kind of problems have nothing to do with show business. I can find you 20 kids right now on crystal meth in a trailer park.\nDiamond: But how many of them can afford massive amounts of it and get away with it because of who they are? Because people will protect them? Because 'There's a lot of money on this film and we're not going to let our actors get busted?' It's hard to get busted by the cops when you're on a locked private set in your own dressing room with people pampering you.\nAP: How do you guys feel about making fun of your past?\nWilliams: There's nothing meanspirited in ('Dickie Roberts.') In my opinion if I can't make fun of myself or have fun with the image and all that stuff, I'd be dead.\nGarrett: Just because we use our names, lend our names, that doesn't mean that that's us. It's like a caricature of us, in a certain way. Everything is a performance.\nAP: Do these things ever get meanspirited?\nFeldman: If you're going to make a joke, it better be funny. If it's stupid and demeaning, then it's just stupid and demeaning.\nDiamond: If you let people knock you down, and you just go for the quick buck, you might not work again. ... If all I do is Screech, then that's all I'll be known for ever. And I will never get another job except for Screech. You will never rise to the next level as a great actor.\nFeldman: Gary Coleman sums it up. The bottom line is, if you look at Gary Coleman (child star of 'Diff'rent Strokes' 1978-1986) and his career, forget about the governor thing for a minute, everything that guy has ever done is taking a shot at himself. Everything. Emannuel Lewis (child star of 'Webster' 1983-1987) has got the same things going against him, but he has got a great attitude. He's intelligent.\nBonaduce: So is Gary.\nDiamond: But Gary has a terrible attitude.\nBonaduce: (To Diamond.) You know what? Here is where you and I separate. You consider yourself an actor. I was a cute kid. I was never an actor. I didn't know you were that serious.
(08/27/03 6:17am)
LOS ANGELES -- Maybe you were the beer-belching omnivore Bluto, the fun-loving yet responsible Katy, the smooth ladies' man Otter, the cackling anarchist D-Day or the geeky romantic Pinto.\nAnd you probably remember someone like the priggish ROTC horseman Neidermeyer, or the snooty Southern belle Babs.\nWorst-case scenario: You crossed paths with the blockheaded authoritarian Dean Wormer, who declares, "The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot ... is me."\nIn honor of the 25th anniversary of "Animal House," Universal Studios Home Video released a new DVD package set Tuesday-- subtitled "Double Secret Probation Edition," a reference to Dean Wormer's covert fraternity house punishment. The disk also includes a "mockumentary" about the characters as adults.\nThe studio hosted a reunion on Hollywood Boulevard for the cast and crew last week to recreate the comedy's parade climax, complete with a cake float, a live elephant, cheerleaders and a performance of "Shout" by Otis Day and the Knights.\nAs the castmates reminisced about the antics a quarter-century ago that led to one of Hollywood's most enduring comedies, most agreed that "Animal House" became popular because people could see parts of themselves in its array of lovers, losers, jocks, preppies and wannabes.\nThe most sympathetic of them all was Flounder, said the now-slim Stephen Furst -- who played the portly, shy newbie. "He was the guy who just wants to be like everybody else and just isn't quite as cool as everybody else. But it was great because the only requirement of being a Delta was wanting to belong."\nThe Deltas, of course, were the fictional fraternity that put the "animal" in "Animal House," a group of relentless partiers who sacrificed their dignity, grade-point averages and millions of brain cells on an altar dedicated to loose women, booze and bad taste.\n"Animal House," promoted under the banner of the National Lampoon comedy magazine, went on to earn $141.6 million at the box office and inspired countless imitators, including the short-lived TV series "Delta House," and a legion of oft-repeated catch phrases.\nTwisted Sister used Neidermeyer's barked insult "You are all worthless and weak!" in its song "We're Not Gonna Take It" and the title comes from John Belushi's rallying cry as Bluto.
(06/02/03 12:35am)
LOS ANGELES -- The deep-sea adventure "Finding Nemo" hooked the top spot at the box office Sunday with an estimated $70.6 million opening weekend.\nThe Disney-Pixar comedy about a worrisome clownfish searching for his aquarium-trapped young son sank the Jim Carrey God-comedy "Bruce Almighty" to second place with $35.6 million, according to studio estimates.\nMeanwhile, the Mark Wahlberg caper remake "The Italian Job" opened in third place with $19.3 million, while "The Matrix Reloaded" continued to plunge after its spectacular debut three weeks ago, landing in fourth place with $15 million.\nThe horror flick "Wrong Turn," starring Eliza Dushku as one of several lost teenagers hunted by woodland mutants, was the only other film to open in wide release. It earned a weak $5.01 million for seventh place.\n"Finding Nemo" scored the biggest debut ever for an animated film, swimming past the $62 million opening for previous record-holder "Monsters Inc.," which was also a Disney-Pixar collaboration.\nAll of the companies' previous collaborations have opened at No. 1.\n"This is as much of a sure-thing at the box office as you can get," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.\nThe blockbuster debut of "Finding Nemo" is even more impressive considering many tickets sales for the family-themed movie were discounted for children or matinee shows, he added.\n"The $70 million represents a lot more tickets for that G-rated film than for an R-rated film, where all the tickets reflect an adult admission price," Dergarabedian said.\nThat's not to say "Finding Nemo" lacks grown-up fans. The film collected near-unanimous praise from film critics, and Disney distribution chief Chuck Viane said demand from adult moviegoers filled many late-night screenings.\n"The Italian Job," a remake of the 1969 Michael Caine heist-thriller, also garnered a wealth of positive reviews, and Paramount spokeswoman Nancy Kirkpatrick said the studio is hoping good word-of-mouth will help turn it into a sleeper hit over the long-run.\nMany summer films open big and fade fast. Last weekend, "The Matrix Reloaded" shed more than 60 percent of its audience, and "Bruce Almighty" saw ticket sales fall by 48 percent in its second week.\n"The Matrix Reloaded" remains the highest-grossing film of the year, however, with $232 million. The final part of the trilogy, "The Matrix Revolutions," is scheduled to open in November.
(01/15/03 3:39am)
LOS ANGELES -- The biggest winners turned out to be MIA at the 30th annual AMAs, including Eminem, winner of a leading four American Music Awards.\nOthers absent when their names were called at Monday night's American Music Awards were the bands Creed and the Dixie Chicks, who won two awards apiece.\nTim McGraw, who sang a "Tiny Dancer" duet with Elton John at the start of the nationally televised show, left for Nashville before winning favorite male country artist, and Mary J. Blige -- another absentee -- was named favorite female hip-hop artist.\nEminem won in every category in which he was nominated: favorite hip-hop and pop-rock male artist and favorite hip-hop and pop-rock album.\nCreed was honored for favorite rock group and alternative performance, and the Dixie Chicks won for favorite country band and country album for "Home."\nR&B ingenue Ashanti -- who did attend the event -- won two honors for favorite new hip-hop/R&B artist and new pop artist.\n"Definitely got to say, thank God for giving me the strength to do this," said Ashanti, best known for the singles "Foolish" and "Happy."\nShe entered the competition with a leading five nominations, including two in categories Eminem won, favorite pop/rock album and favorite hip-hop/R&B album.\nThe rapper, recognized for his album "The Eminem Show," designated his "8 Mile" co-star Mekhi Phifer to accept the hip-hop prize on his behalf.\n"Hey y'all, this is Eminem on the phone!" Phifer said as he carried a cell phone onstage after the rapper's first win.\nThe show, broadcast on ABC, was hosted by the frequently foul-mouthed Ozzy Osbourne and his family -- wife, Sharon, and children Kelly and Jack -- who gave network censors a workout.\nThe family's four-letter words were bleeped throughout the show, so much so during their opening introduction that it was hard for television viewers to follow what they were saying. Sharon Osbourne in particular kept up a running banter of outrageous comments.\nAt the beginning of the show she teased former pop sweethearts Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake about their breakup, telling Spears, "I'm going to have to take him, Britney."\nLater, she got Timberlake to kiss her dog when the two presented an award together, and she joked about adjusting her wig, an apparent reference to the side-effects of her recent colon cancer treatment.\nAimee Osbourne, the rarely seen daughter who doesn't take part in her family's reality TV show, "The Osbournes," had been scheduled to make the award presentation with Timberlake. She backed out over the weekend, show publicist Paul Shefrin said.\nOther award-winners included Sheryl Crow who accepted her favorite female pop-rock artist award with a plea for peace, arriving on stage in a T-shirt that read, "War is not the answer."\nThe singer of "Soak Up the Sun" said afterward she had the shirt made as her statement against a possible war with Iraq.\nLater, introducing a duet by Toby Keith and Willie Nelson, she told the audience: "Hey everybody, I know this is an award show but I just want to encourage everybody to get involved in some kind of movement for peace."\nAlabama, which took home the Award of Merit, had one of its biggest fans for a presenter -- former President George Bush, who made a taped announcement.\n"I'm very proud to be part of tonight's tribute honoring one of the most highly successful bands country music has ever known," Bush said. "Their name tells you a lot about them: their birthplace, their close family ties, their respect for traditional artists and music, their courage to bring new ideas to country music, and most of all, their lifelong love of home, state and country."\nOther performers included Mariah Carey, whose emotional breakdown was recounted in images of news reports flashed across a screen before she came on stage to perform her perseverance ballad, "Through the Rain." One newspaper headline read, "When you fall down, you get back up."\nAnother performer was Christina Aguilera, modestly dressed compared with some of the flesh-baring outfits she's been wearing as she has promoted her album "Stripped."\nComedian David Spade introduced her by saying, "Here she is for the first time in public with her clothes on, Christina Aguilera"