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Vol. 9 No. 6
Pick Hits
Read It
Meet the
Strangers
North American customers have
proved they are eager to discover what comics from Europe have to offer, and
fan-favorites Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier have earned a vast
international following for their many comics, stories, and articles. In March,
they'll add to their reputations by bringing a group of intergalactic heroes
across time, space, and the Atlantic Ocean in Strangers, a new tale coming to Canadian audiences from
France via Image
Comics. Strangers #1 will introduce the alien-possessed NASA physicist Homicron,
the fugitive slave Starlock, the mysterious Futura, the telepathic spy Jaleb,
and the deadly killing machine Jaydee as they are brought together by the future
being known as Tanka, who is charged with guarding the present from destruction.
The book is scheduled to ship on March 26 with two covers, one by Garcia and a
second by Formosa.
At The Movies
Shanghai
Knights
After taming the Wild West in
the comedy Shanghai Noon, Chon Wang (Jackie Chan) and Roy O'Bannon (Owen
Wilson) are back in the saddle. When a Chinese rebel murders Chon's
estranged father and escapes to England, Chon and Roy make their way to London
with revenge on their minds. Chon's sister, Liu, has the same idea, and uncovers
a worldwide conspiracy to
murder the royal family. With
the help of a kindly Scotland Yard Inspector and a 10-year-old street urchin,
the acrobatic Chon gives Britain a kick in the pants as he attempts to avenge
his father's death and keep the romance-minded Roy away from his sister. This is
The Apple Dumpling Gang if Tim Conway knew kung fu, and like those cheesy
Disney classics, Shanghai Knights is just cornball fun.
On Video
The Master
of Disguise
Widely panned during its
release, Dana Carvey plays Pistachio Disguisey, a sweet-natured Italian
waiter who works at his father Fabbrizio's (James Brolin) restaurant.
Pistachio can't figure out why he compulsively mimics his customers and wants to
change his appearance. What he doesn't know yet is the Disguisey family secret:
a long legacy of masters of disguise who can become almost anyone or anything by
harnessing the great power known through the ages as Energico. This talent gets
Fabbrizio and Pistachio's mother kidnapped by his former archenemy Devlin
Bowman, a criminal mastermind. Now Pistachio must learn to make the most of his
inherited gift, track down Devlin and save his parents. Silly and stupid, but
fun for the younger kids.
The Buzz...
Metallica has rumored
plans for a stadium tour with Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park for this
summer. Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park will be touring in support of new spring
releases. Linkin Park’s sophomore album, Meteora, is scheduled for release on
March 25th and Limp Bizkit’s forthcoming album, Less Is More, is expected to hit
stores on April 1st. A release date for Metallica’s new studio effort has yet to
be set.
American Idol semifinalist
Jaered Andrews got the boot after a Fox background check revealed that the
singer was a former member of Youngstown-based hip-hop band Ordinary Peoples.
Prosecutors in
Oakland County,
Michigan, have obtained a subpoena to question Aretha Franklin. The
officials want to ask the tight-lipped singer about a suspicious blaze that
destroyed her home last fall.
Eminem's new music video
Superman from the Eminem Show album will only be available to fans on the 8 Mile
DVD on sale March 18. The Universal release will also contain 25 minutes of
outtakes from the film's rap contests.
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JANE MILLIONAIRE? |
Diehard Joe
Millionaire fans think they’ve figured out the twist that’s sure to come at the
end of this reality series, and it puts brunette Zora Andrich in the
control seat.
Everyone knows Fox’s publicized premise for the show --the male star Evan
Marriott is looking for love by telling a group of 20 he’s worth $50 million
even though he’s really dirt poor. But how about this for an ending. What if
Andrich is really a millionaire instead? And what if the whole show has been
scripted by her and she’s actually testing Marriott to determine his true
feelings?
Vince Neil's stint on
the reality series "The Surreal Life" and bassist Nikki Sixx's Brides
of Destruction project aren't stopping Mötley Crüe from putting out
records, or at least, re-releasing them. According to the band's Web site, the
Crüe have inked a deal with Universal Music to reissue their entire catalog,
with bonus tracks, on April 1. The band will also release another greatest-hits
album (March 4) and a box set later in the year.
He breathed new life into noir
thrillers with "Memento," and now Warner Bros. is asking Christopher Nolan
to do the same for their stalled Batman franchise. The acclaimed
writer/director will helm the caped crusader's next movie, but there's no word
yet who'll play the superhero or which of the many Batman scripts will be used.
Don’t forget to watch the new
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon which debuts this Saturday at
10:30 AM on the Fox Cable Network's "Fox Box" block of shows!
The fourth installment of
Mel Gibson's Mad Max: Fury Road, will hit theaters
July 23, 2004.
As winter winds down, Marvel
Comics' Ultimate line will turn up the heat with a new edition of a
blockbuster collection, the
eagerly awaited climax of a chart-topping mini-series event, and the latest
issues of two hit monthly series.
Zakk Wylde cleaned up on
the 2003 Guitar World Reader’s Poll earning #1 Most Valuable Player,
#2 Best Metal, and 1919*Eternal
came in at #3 for Best Metal Guitar Album respectively.
Budding R&B divas Ashanti
and Amerie pulled in three nominations apiece Monday for the 17th Annual
Soul Train Music Awards.
Deftones will contribute
an as-yet-undetermined new song to the Matrix Reloaded soundtrack, due out this
spring. The band's contribution will be culled from the group's self-titled
fourth album, which is expected to surface in May via Maverick Records.
Following Saturday's
Columbia
disaster, Paramount Pictures has yanked its latest promo for the studio's
upcoming sci-fi thriller The Core because it contains a scene depicting an
imperiled NASA space shuttle trying to make an emergency landing.
Just days after getting dissed
by The Bachelorette, Greg Todtman was busted at New York's John F.
Kennedy airport and charged with trying to smuggle drugs onto his American
Airlines flight to Los Angeles.
WB is closing the curtains on
the Dawson's Creek, the series that anchored it as the number one teen
destination. The show's launch generated the WB's highest ever ratings in
January 1998 and was tops among young demos. Lately, however, the show had seen
a ratings dip and, with the cast's contracts up on the show, a mutual decision
was made to pull the Creek's plug.
An as-yet-untitled, three-CD
box set of the Billy Idol-fronted vintage punk band Generation X
is due in stores April 8. The package will include a compilation disc of Gen X's
singles and B-sides, a live performance recorded in Japan in 1978 and the band's
unreleased, lost album, Sweet Revenge.
Courtney Love was
arrested as she arrived at Heathrow airport on a trans-Atlantic flight. Love had
been verbally abusive to cabin crew during a Virgin Atlantic flight from
Los Angeles.
Kingpin, a new TV drama about a
drug cartel run by a Mexican family, was criticized by a civil rights group as a
slap against Hispanics that will reinforce prejudices.
Carson Daly will host
the first-ever TRL Awards, which take a wacky look at celebrity appearances on
MTV's Total Request Live.
Calvin Klein model Travis
Fimmel is swinging into action with the WB Network. After an extensive
search of four countries, the 22-year-old Australian has been tapped for the
title role in the network's drama pilot Tarzan.
Father-and-son rappers
Master P and Lil' Romeo will star together in the urban family comedy
Uncle P, with video helmer Bernard Gourly making his feature film
directorial debut.
Fox has struck a deal with
Susanne Daniels' First Move Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television and New
York-based Classic Media, to bring Richie Rich to the network. The latest
incarnation of the poor little rich boy, who first appeared in comic-book form
in 1953, will find Richie Rich as a teenager living in present-day New York.
Zora Neale Hurston's
classic 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is set to become the network's
next entry in the Oprah Winfrey Presents telefilm series. Halle Berry
is attached to star in the production, which is eyeing a summer start date for
telecast next season.
Offering a look at the future
of movie-watching, Vivendi Universal signed a deal with the high-tech arm of
Regal Entertainment Group to create all-digital short films for the largest
movie theater chain in the U.S.
The daughter of Orson Welles
is suing two Hollywood studios, saying they should either pay her royalties on
her father's masterpiece Citizen Kane or hand over the rights to the movie.
Despite a soft economy, sales
of console video game hardware, software and accessories brought in a record
$10.3 billion in the United States last year.
Ben Kingsley has signed
to star in the live-action film version of the 1960s cult U.K. television puppet
series Thunderbirds for Working Title Films and Universal Pictures. Kingsley
will star as the Hood, the movie's evil international master criminal.
Oscar and Grammy winner
Cher will star opposite Greg Kinnear and Matt
Damon in 20th Century Fox's Stuck on You for Bobby and Peter Farrelly. The
project begins shooting this month in
Miami.
KISS bassist/vocalist
Gene Simmons has officially re-launched Simmons Records and is currently
seeking to sign artists in all popular music genres.
Former WCW Champion Sting
said he has not closed the door on working for the WWE. He has talked to
Vince McMahon over the last year and would entertain the idea if the
storyline was right. |
