Off The Record

Shania Twain - Up!

Having established herself as a true superstar with the success of Come On Over, Canadian country icon Shania Twain has decidedly raised the ante with her new album. Featuring songs written by Twain and husband/ co-producer Mutt Lange, Up is quite a slick affair, packed with the brass and sassy tunes and double entendres one associates with Twain. It's a little bit pop and a little bit country, (even mixed on two different CD's for that purpose) but its pure Shania. With a collection this strong and including the smash hit I'm Gonna Getcha Good! the only way for Shania to go is Up!

At the Movies

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Toula (Nia Vardalos) is 30, unmarried and is destined to work in the Greek restaurant owned by her parents. But Toula is intent on changing her life and takes a job at her aunt’s travel agency, meets a handsome, high school teacher Ian Miller (John Corbett) and falls in love. But what will upset her parents more, the fact that Ian is not Greek, or that he’s a vegetarian? Twist open the Ouzo! A vibrant whirlwind of love, family and all that goes with it, My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a non-stop funny feast of warmth, color and cringe. The sleeper hit of 2002.

On Video

Austin Powers in Goldmember

In the third installment of this popular series, the evil plot at hand this time around comes from Goldmember, a Dutch criminal madman from 1975, who plans to use a tractor beam to bring a meteor of solid gold crashing into the Earth, flooding the planet, and killing all of humanity. To stop him, Austin Powers must travel back in time to team up with his old girlfriend, Foxxy Cleopatra (Beyonce Knowles), where he also discovers that his father (Michael Caine) has been kidnapped as part of Goldmember's evil scheme. It's a vast conspiracy that eventually leads Austin to seeking the unlikely help of Dr. Evil. Like all of the Austin Powers films, this video is a must buy since it takes several viewings to absorb all of the fast-paced humor. Tons of cameos, and the funniest of the series so far.

The Buzz...

Cheech and Chong are still smoking. Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong are reuniting to do their last film together. The script was written by Tommy's daughter, Rae Dawn.

Director Kevin Smith is giving Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck a custom-made video game to thank them for costarring in his recently wrapped movie Jersey Girl. The game, Jen Saves Ben, features an animated Lopez who must find and rescue Affleck, who has been kidnapped and chained to a warehouse wall.

SPIDER-MAN 2 SUPER-VILLAIN?

Various Hollywood rumor sites are reporting that both The Rock and Vin Diesel are being considered to play Venom (the alien symbiote super-villain) in the next Spiderman movie. If The Rock is chosen, that will mean more missed WWE time for him.

Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst has settled a $5 million battery lawsuit filed by a lighting technician who claimed he broke her nose during the group's Anger Management Tour.

Puddle of Mudd are finalists in five categories at the upcoming 2002 Billboard Music Awards. Creed and Nickelback will compete in three categories each. Other finalists include Staind, Linkin Park, System of a Down, Godsmack and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Fox will air the awards live from Las Vegas on Dec. 9.

Aerosmith already are in the planning stages for the follow-up to last year's Just Push Play album, with studio time booked in March.

Looks like Tommy Lee's going to face the music in court. A Los Angeles judge has set a trial date of April 2 for the wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the parents of a four-year-old boy who drowned last year while attending a birthday party at the ex-Motley Crue drummer's Malibu residence.

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr reunited in London for a tribute concert that also featured the likes of Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Joe Cocker.

Former talk-show queen Rosie O'Donnell became a mommy for the fourth time when her partner Kelli Carpenter gave birth to a baby girl.

NBC has confirmed it's in talks to make Harry Connick Jr. a regular cast member on the network's Thursday night sitcom Will & Grace.

The Backstreet Boys are back in court. The popsters have filed a $100 million breach of contract lawsuit, accusing Zomba Recording, in part, of attempting to undermine their collective career by promoting Backstreeter Nick Carter's solo one.

Solid Thanksgiving weekend business lifted Hollywood to a new domestic revenue record of $8.44 billion, up from the previous high of $8.35 billion set last year, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Michael Jackson testified in a $21 million breach-of-contract case that he could not recall details about his canceled millennium concerts.

The top-ranked show for the week was Everybody Loves Raymond, which helped CBS win the week with 13.4 million viewers, followed by NBC with 11.9 million viewers. ABC had 11.4 million viewers, while Fox drew 9.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Peter Garrett, the energetic lead singer of Australian rock band Midnight Oil, has quit the band after 25 years.

Whitesnake and The Scorpions will share the bill for a tour set to kick off in early January and last through the end of March. Dokken is slated to open.

Slipknot bassist Paul Gray has teamed up with American Head Charge vocalist Martin Cock in a new band tentatively dubbed F.O.R.

A French author who suggests that the Sept. 11 attacks were devised by a faction of the U.S. military is planning to promote his book on a tour that will begin in New York City.