Off The Record

Sum 41 - Does This Look Infected?

Punk rock lost its anti-establishment status once Green Day broke through the platinum sound/sales barrier and ushered in an entire league of earnest punkers more interested in delivering what is essentially the Beach Boys on speed, than a dire picture of their own existences. Sum 41's second album careens with the impassioned joy of young men less interested in taking the system down than in entertaining their fellow mallrats. They sing about "No Brains" and being "All Messed Up." Sounding like Southern California punk rock, these guys actually come to us from Canada. Crazy, catchy, and clever, Sum 41 have another hit on their hands.

At The Movies

Treasure Planet

Walt Disney Pictures gives us both swashbuckling and space adventure in this adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Set in the future and on a distant world, Jim Hawkins is a teen aged thrill seeker who dreams of having big adventures despite his hum drum life at a small space way station for weary intergalactic travelers. His big opportunity comes when Billy Bones, a turtle-like alien crash-lands outside the diner and just before dying, gives Jim a map that contains the location of the legendary Captain Flint's treasure trove.  With the help of the dog-like Dr. Delbert Doppler, Jim sets out to claim the treasure. Even when set in the future, Stevenson's classic adventure works, and will entertain the entire family.

On Video

Men In Black 2

It's been five years since the MIB averted an intergalactic disaster, and agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) has since returned to the comforts of civilian life while agent Jay (Will Smith) continues to work for the Men in Black, the unofficial government agency that regulates all things alien on Earth. Kay and Jay reunite to battle a sinister seductress named Serleena (Lara Flynn Boyle), an intergalactic blob that morphs into a curvaceous woman and who threatens the world if she doesn't get what she wants and only Kay knows where it's hidden.  Clever repartee between Jones and Smith carry the film.

The Buzz...

Three of the major movie studios, the country's biggest video chain and two record labels will all be advertising their wares during the revamped Hollywood Christmas Parade this year.

Nicolas Cage filed for divorce from Lisa Marie Presley, ending the union of the Oscar-winner actor and the daughter of Elvis after just three months. Per usual, irreconcilable differences were cited.

A European museum exhibit devoted to 007 is making its U.S. debut next year in Dearborn, Michigan. Bond, James Bond, which features more than 100 objects from 20 Bond films, will be on display at Dearborn's Henry Ford Museum from June 20 through December 31.

"WHACK JOB" GOES BROADWAY

Sopranos star Joe Pantoliano, whose character Ralphie Cifaretto was killed off two weeks ago, is costarring with Rosie Perez in Broadway's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune beginning January 1. They are set to replace Edie Falco and Stanley Tucci in the blue-collar romance.

Britney Spears' cajun-themed Big Apple eatery, Nyla, is switching to Italian since apparently watered-down Louisiana gumbo didn't go over well with New Yorkers.

Actor Parley Baer, best known for playing the mayor of Mayberry on The Andy Griffith Show as well as voicing the Keebler cookie elf in TV ads, died after suffering a massive stroke. He was 88.

Elvis Presley Enterprises, the business arm of Graceland, is reversing its previous decision to sever its support of festivals featuring Elvis impersonators after both fans and clones of the King wrote letters of protest.

Wrestler Hulk Hogan's "Hollywood Hulk Hogan," is now in bookstores and is the first autobiography from World Wrestling Entertainment's new book deal with Simon & Schuster.

System of a Down and the Vines are among the rock illuminati who have made the cut for Rolling Stone magazine's People of the Year list.

Rock star Jackson Browne and two other songwriters settled a lawsuit that claimed they were underpaid for their contributions to one of the Eagles' most popular albums. According to the lawsuit, the songwriters were supposed to be paid a fluctuating royalty rate for their contributions to Eagles - Their Greatest Hits, 1971-1974.

21 Jump Street, the Gen-X Fox police drama which starred Johnny Depp and gave FOX its first ratings success, might get the big-screen treatment courtesy of Paramount Pictures. Series mastermind Stephen J. Cannell, the man behind such hit '80s shows as The A-Team, Wiseguy and The Commish, and co-creator Patrick Hasburgh will adapt Jump Street into a feature film, in a deal reportedly worth more than seven figures if the flick gets made.

Steven Spielberg and his longtime producing partner, Kathleen Kennedy, are in talks to acquire the feature-film rights to Tintin in hopes of launching a movie franchise based on the popular European comic strip about a fearless young reporter.

Leonardo DiCaprio has signed to star in Universal Pictures' The Good Shepherd, an epic tale about the history of the CIA as seen through the eyes of James Wilson, an idealistic young man who is recruited out of Yale to become one of the founding officers of the agency.

Joan Cusack has joined the cast of two Paramount Pictures projects, the comedy School of Rock and black comedy The Stepford Wives, both produced by Scott Rudin.

This fall's box office total shattered the previous high of $1.19 billion set in 2001 by an extraordinary 32%, or nearly $400 million.

Furthering its commitment to Frankie Muniz, who stars in its action-comedy Agent Cody Banks, MGM is re-teaming with the young actor on an untitled bachelor-party pitch.

The Game Show Network has acquired the primetime version of Weakest Link and Love Connection, both of which begin airing in January.

Showtime will add two new hour long series, Dead Like Me and Out of Order, to its summer 2003 primetime schedule.

David Zucker has come aboard to direct Dimension Films' Scary Movie 3: Episode I-Lord of the Brooms. The project, the third installment of the spoof franchise, is expected to go into production in March.

Diane Keaton has closed a deal to star opposite Jack Nicholson in an untitled Columbia Pictures comedy written and to be directed by Nancy Meyers.