Vol. 8 No. 24
Pick Hits
Off The Record
Avril Lavigne -
Let Go
Many are predicting this 17-year-old from Napanee, Ont., is going to be the
latest Canadian female to make it big south of the border. She was signed
directly to Arista in the U.S. by label head Antonio Reid, and her
pop-rock debut album hit stores Tuesday with a top 20 song blazing the way.
Lavigne has an impressive, big voice reminiscent of Alanis Morissette,
but it's mixed with the pop sensibility and soul-searching songwriting of youth.
It proves to be a powerful combo on such songs as Losing Grip, I'm With You, and
her current smash single, Complicated. Time will tell if Lavigne has the legs to
be the next big thing, but for now she is cute, bubbly and fun to listen to.
At The Movies
Scooby Doo
Mystery Inc is fed up with the
mundane aspects of their mysteries. Daphne gets captured, Velma and Fred have a
plan, Shaggy and Scooby muck everything up, and, at the end, the supernatural
phenomena they've been fighting is someone in a mask. After a time it gets
pretty boring, and the gang breaks up. But they're called back together to solve
a mystery. They go to Spooky Island, an amusement park on a tropical island,
where mysterious things are happening. And this time, they have to face real
supernatural forces at work with real monsters, demons and in the end, save the
world. Everybody loved Scooby growing up. He's the inner goof and coward in all
of us.
On DVD
The Mothman Prophecies
John Klein’s (Richard Gere)
perfect life is disrupted when his wife swerves to avoid a strange figure in the
road, and both wind up in a terrible car accident. She dies, leaving behind only
some odd sketches. Although he has no idea what the unusual black, winged figure
is in the drawings, the images are burned into his memories. As a couple years
pass, John finds himself having to drive to conduct an interview, but instead of
arriving as planned, he has somehow traveled four hundred miles in less than two
hours. This is just the first of many unexplainable events. The film starts off
in one direction, and throws in several more twists, before deciding to show us
its cards, which is well worth the wait.
The Buzz...
Police in St. Paul, Minnesota, are on
the lookout for Lucy, one of the 100-odd statues around St. Paul for its annual
celebration of the beloved Peanuts characters. The statue is five-feet tall and
weighs 400 pounds.
On what would have been his 85th
birthday, Ohio celebrated its first Dean Martin Day in the entertainer's
hometown.
Some Eminem fans may soon be
able to take a ride in the Detroit-area rapper's old car. A purple Ford Mustang
that once belonged to Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, was
traded in last week at Russ Milne Ford.
Brendan Fraser has been tapped
to star alongside Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and other contract players in Warner
Bros. Pictures' live-action/animated feature Looney Tunes: Back in Action,
directed by Joe Dante.
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J-LO DITCHES HUBBY
FOR P. DIDDY?
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Sean "P. Diddy" Combs has
denied rumors that he is involved with former flame Jennifer Lopez. The
rap mogul, whose current hit is I Need a Girl, has been mentioned in some
reports as the cause of Lopez' separation from her husband of eight months,
dancer Cris Judd.
Edward Norton will star
opposite Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron in Paramount Pictures'
The Italian Job for director F. Gary Gray and studio-based DeLine
Pictures.
Steven Spielberg's A.I.
Artificial Intelligence emerged with five wins at the 28th annual Saturn Awards.
The event recognizes outstanding achievement in the science fiction, horror and
fantasy genres in film and television.
Johnny Depp is in negotiations
to sign a two-picture deal with the Walt Disney Co. that will see the actor
working on back-to-back action projects for the producer, Pirates of the
Caribbean and Takedown.
The Wonder Twins' powers have been
reactivated. Apparently thinking what's good for Spider-Man is good for Jayna
and Zan, Warner Bros. is teaming with Gaylord Films to develop a live-action
flick about the teen titans from the planet Exxor, that were featured on the
Saturday morning cartoon, Superfriends.
The Rolling Stones will roll
out this tour with the Pretenders and No Doubt opening for
selected shows. Singer Mick Jagger is to be knighted by Queen
Elizabeth II for his service to music.
CBS has given producers the go-ahead
to make a four-hour miniseries about the rise to power of Adolf Hitler,
based on a best-selling book.
The average age of the casual video
gamer is now 28, up from 18 a decade ago, according to one recent survey. More
than 60 percent of those who've played video games for less than a year are
women. |