BITS AND PIECES 07/31 Part 3
Billie
--Kurt Russell lending his voice to an animated feature based on director John
Carpenter's famed Escape from New York vigilante, Snake Plissken, according to
the Hollywood Reporter. The film is set for a 2004 release.
--A comic book series, John Carpenter's Snake Plissken Chronicles, also is
expected to debut alongside the special edition DVD of Escape from New York.
--Writer-director Paul Schrader in talks to take over the helm of the untitled
prequel to The Exorcist from late filmmaker John Frankenheimer. Shooting on the
prequel, which will star Liam Neeson and Gabriel Mann, is slated to begin in
November.
--HBO venturing into feature-film distribution in October with the release of
Real Women Have Curves, this year's Sundance audience award-winner directed by
Patricia Cardoso.
--The rescue of nine Pennsylvania miners drawing audiences roughly six times
what cable networks CNN and Fox News Channel normally would get on a weekend
night. CNN averaged a whopping 2.3 million viewers Saturday night, up from its
usual 319,000, while Fox pulled in 2.1 million.
--Spin magazine naming Guns N' Roses' 1987 debut album Appetite For Destruction
the greatest heavy metal album of all time. Led Zeppelin's untitled 1971
release was second, followed by Black Sabbath's Paranoid in third.
--World Wrestling Entertainment creating a Los Angeles-based division that will
develop film and TV programming for its WWE-branded characters.
www.zap2it.com....
--Oscar-nominated actor Eric Roberts will guest star on the TNT original series
"Witchblade." The episode, entitled "Parabolic," airs Monday, Aug. 12 at 9 p.m.
ET. "Witchblade" stars Yancy Butler as Sara Pezzini, a New York detective
destined to wield an ancient weapon powerful enough to battle Earth's darkest
forces. Roberts will play the leader of an international hate group accused of
killing a young woman's parents. The young woman seeks Sara's help in obtaining
revenge upon Roberts' character. Roberts also has a regular upcoming gig on the
new ABC comedy "Less Than Perfect," that premieres Tuesday, Oct. 1 as Will
Butler, a chauvinistic news anchor who hires a perky temp (Sara Rue) as his new
assistant. Once more famous than his sister Julia, Roberts has had a prolific
film career, including roles in "Star 80," "The Pope of Greenwich Village" and
"Runaway Train," the latter earning him an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting
Actor in 1986.
--Former NFL coach Bill Parcells will be joining ESPN on a full-time basis as a
studio analyst on the "Sunday NFL Countdown," the network announced Wednesday.
Parcells is no stranger to the show, having made four guest appearances on "NFL
Countdown" last season. Previously, Parcells spent two years as a studio and
game analyst for NBC Sports between 1991 and 1993. He joins host Chris Berman
and fellow analysts Tom Jackson, Sterling Sharpe, Steve Young and reporter
Chris Mortensen on the pre-game show airing Sundays at 11 a.m. ET. ESPN
executive vice president Steve Anderson says of Parcells, "His combination of
expertise, candor and larger-than-life personality are unsurpassed in the
sport. Bill is a perfect fit with our existing crew and we are delighted to
have him aboard on a full-time basis." In his 15-year career Parcells won a
total of 149 NFL games, which ranks as the 13th most in NFL history. He guided
his teams to 10 winning seasons, eight separate playoff berths and an 11 and 6
postseason record, including two Super Bowl titles with the New York Giants and
a Super Bowl appearance with the New England Patriots. Parcells last coached
the New York Jets from 1997-1999. Of his new role on ESPN, Parcells says, "I
look forward to expanding my analysis to include the viewpoints of a former
head coach, a former general manager, and someone who was responsible for
acquiring personnel on NFL teams. Hopefully these perspectives will give the
studio an added flavor."
--Cynthia Watros will be the new leading lady on ABC's comedy, "The Drew Carey
Show." Watros starred on the now defunct FOX sitcom, "Titus," and will be
filling the void left by Christa Miller, who departs "Carey" on the second
episode this fall. Watros will be appearing in all 26 episodes of the new
season as Alison, a woman who had a crush on Drew in high school. When she
returns to Cleveland divorced and unemployed, Drew gets her a job waiting
tables at the Warsaw Bar. Carey, the show's star and executive producer, tells
The Hollywood Reporter, "Drew's relationship with Alison is like being each
other's gay best friend ... though neither party is gay -- not that there's
anything wrong with that." A new lady friend is not the only big change planned
for Drew this season. Winfred Louder, the store where he works, will now be
Winfred Louder.com, an Internet shopping site, dragging Carey and the other
employees kicking and screaming into the dot com era. The show itself will be
faced with a new time slot this year. It will move to Mondays at 8 p.m. before
"Monday Night Football" on ABC. The new season of "The Drew Carey Show" begins
Sept. 9.
--Award-winning actress, Anjelica Huston, has signed on to star in HBO's
made-for-television feature, "Iron Jawed Angels," according to The Hollywood
Reporter. "Angels" is the story of Alice Paul, a leader of the
turn-of-the-century women's suffrage movement, played by Hillary Swank. Huston
will portray Lucy Burns, who, co-founded the Congressional Union for Women
Suffrage with Paul and others in 1913. The organization staged hunger strikes
and White House demonstrations to gain public attention for their cause. After
women achieved the vote in 1920, Burns retreated from public life as Paul
continued to crusade on various political causes. Huston has fared well in
televised films, earning an Emmy nomination this year for her supporting
performance in TNT's "The Mists of Avalon." She has three previous Emmy nods,
one for directing "Bastard Out of Carolina" in 1997 and lead actress
nominations in 1995's "Buffalo Girls" and 1989's "Lonesome Dove."
--The WB has ordered six-episodes of new drama series "The Black Sash" for
midseason, and will be expanding the pilot to a full hour, the network
announced Wednesday. The show stars Russell Wong ("Romeo Must Die" ) as an
American cop who was wrongfully imprisoned in Hong Kong. After his release, he
returns to the U.S. and opens a martial arts school, where he develops a mentor
relationship with his students. WB Network Entertainment President Jordan Levin
believes the show will appeal to a wide audience. "'The Black Sash' is a very
flexible piece," he says. "It has both female and male as well as
multiple-generational appeal, and from that standpoint, it made it very
flexible to schedule." If the series becomes a hit, The WB could expand its
order past the original seven episodes. The series comes from Warner Bros.
Television and Tollin/Robbing Productions, which produces "Smallville," "Birds
of Prey" and "What I Like About You" for the network.
ASSOCIATED PRESS.....
--Minnesotans can finally see what juicy film role lured Gov. Jesse Ventura
away from the state the day after the Minnesota Twins were targeted for
elimination last fall. Ventura plays a thief who steals the Liberty Bell in the
comedy "The Master of Disguise." In a cameo role, he joins a plot to steal the
world's precious symbols. As star-struck security guards toting their own Jesse
Ventura action figures look on, Ventura hefts the historic bell. "Thanks for
the Liberty Bell, guys," he says. "I'll bring it right back." Then he reminds
the guards that those aren't dolls they're carrying, they're action figures.
After the heist, he pauses for a moment of contemplation with an evil
companion: "My skills were meant for the betterment of mankind, not for greed
and evil," Ventura says. That line drew laughs at a preview in Edina on Tuesday
night. The movie, starring comedian Dana Carvey, opens Friday. Top aides
couldn't say where Ventura was last fall when he took vacation days the day
after Major League Baseball put the Twins in its sights for contraction. The
Minnesota State Patrol, which provides his security, and studio officials later
revealed that he was shooting a movie.
--Martin Sheen is the favorite to win a best-actor Emmy — at least at some
Las Vegas casinos. Oddsmakers at Bally's and the Stardust both like Sheen,
who's nominated for his third consecutive year as President Bartlet on NBC's
"The West Wing." Johnny Avello, race and sports book director at Bally's, has
Sheen at 6-5 to win, followed by first-time nominee Kiefer Sutherland of Fox's
"24" at 2-1. Joe Lupo, race and sports book manager at the Stardust, has him
favored at 2-1, followed by Peter Krause of HBO's "Six Feet Under" at 3-1.
"Martin Sheen is just a top quality actor," Avello said Tuesday. "I think he's
real likable and that he can win again." Sheen received an Emmy in 1994 as a
guest actor on "Murphy Brown." Both agree that "The West Wing" also will win
outstanding drama series at the Sept. 22 ceremony. For outstanding comedy
series, Avello likes NBC's "Friends" at 8-5, while Lupo has NBC's "Will &
Grace" topping the category at 2-1. Nevada law prohibits wagering on events in
which the outcome is already known, but Las Vegas oddsmakers handicap such
contests as the Academy Awards or "Survivor" for entertainment purposes. On the
Net:
Emmys Web site: http://www.emmys.com/primetime/2002/index.html
--To install a blockbuster show of French painter Pierre Bonnard, the Phillips
Collection will close its main building Aug. 6 until the show opens Sept. 22.
An annex next door will remain open until Aug. 19. Then two of its three floors
will close to prepare a selection from the museum's holdings for a two-year
tour of the United States. The second floor will reopen Sept. 17 and the third
floor in early October. "Pierre Bonnard: Early and Late" will include about 130
works of the post-impressionist artist — drawings, prints, photos and
sculpture as well as paintings. In 1930 the Phillips, which calls itself the
first American museum of modern art, gave Bonnard his first one-man museum show
in the United States. He died in 1947.
--ABC is developing series projects with a pair of veteran scribes who created
two of the network's more memorable series of the 1980s: Glenn Gordon Caron
("Moonlighting") and John Sacret Young ("China Beach"). Both hourlong dramas
are intended for the fall 2003 lineup. Caron, who created the critically
acclaimed but short-lived CBS hour "Now and Again," has just started work on
the script for his tentatively titled "Meant to Be." "It's a romantic comedy
set in the afterlife," Caron said, noting he's always been "tickled by the
idea" of what happens to people after they pass on. He said not all the action
will take place in Heaven. Caron said it's too early in the development process
to get more specific about the series, since there's a good chance the show
will change as he begins writing it. "But there will be millions of extras and
lots of nudity," Caron promised, tongue planted firmly in cheek. Young is
working on a drama dubbed "B.O.S.S.," which deals with a group of female vice
cops whose beat encompasses everything from white-collar crime to prostitutes
and drug addicts. The title refers to a unit many police departments call the
Bureau of Special Services. "(It's) the one place in law enforcement where
women run point," he said. "(The) highest percentage are there, and the best
are there, often undercover." "It's not all set on Hollywood Boulevard," ABC
Entertainment president Susan Lyne said. "Their jobs take them from the highest
levels of corporate America to really dark street crimes."
By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith
MEANWHILE: While his "Spy Kids 2" is about to be released, filmmaker Robert
Rodriguez is "editing and scoring, and doing lots of different things" in
post-production of "Desperado 2: Once Upon a Time in Mexico." He reports that
the tale of a drug lord who pretends to overthrow the Mexican government - with
Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek and Johnny Depp - has been set for a March 2003
debut. Notes Rodriguez, who also writes and creates visual and digital effects
on his pictures, "It's easier for me to do different things at the same time
than to do them one after another."
--THE WRITE AND WRONG OF IT: "Fried Green Tomatoes" author Fannie Flagg is
hitting the road to promote her latest potential best seller, "Standing in the
Rainbow," and admits, "I'm terrified." She loves the personal appearances but
hates the flying, she says. "I'm scared of planes. I was that way before there
were terrorists. It's just not natural for something that heavy to be up in the
air - and I'm set to visit 17, 18 cities so far." She's receiving rave notices
for "Rainbow." It's set in a small Midwestern town from 1946 to 2000, many of
them years, says Fannie, "When everyone loved us - even the French liked us."
However, she admits, the novel has taken a shot as "another of Flagg's
feel-good books." "Why would anyone spend four years writing a 'feel bad'
novel?" she asks. "There's enough negativity and hatred in the world. Why would
anyone want to contribute to it?" She faults Hollywood for creating movies that
lean on crime, drugs and the decadent rich and says, "I'm beginning to feel
America is so hated because of the negative image of our country created by
movies. The fact is, there's a huge group of people not robbing banks."
--Hip-hop star Eve has a new look in her upcoming feature film, MGM's
"Barbershop." "My hair, first of all, is long," notes the outspoken recording
artist, who keeps her own locks close-cropped. "Then there's my boobies. I had
Jellies in my bra, so I look a bit bigger. But don't spread any rumors - I
didn't get a breast job!" Eve plays the only woman barber in a South Side
Chicago shop in the ensemble comedy, which also stars Ice Cube and Cedric the
Entertainer. "I didn't have to dig too deep to find that character inside
myself. She's very similar to me in real life. I'm the only female involved
with (record producers) Ruff Ryders, so I'm used to being surrounded by
testosterone all the time. I have to be tough the same way my character is in
the shop."
--If you're a gorgeous girl in your 20s and you really, really like to swim
underwater, Viacom and Pax may have a job for you in the TV movie/back-door
series pilot "Mermaids," which is about three sisters who are... you guessed
it. June works as a researcher at an aquarium and keeps her mermaid life
secret. Venus works as an underwater dancer in a seedy bar, where she's being
held prisoner. And Diana enjoys the mermaid life and doesn't understand why her
siblings spend any time in the human world. The trio gets together to solve
their father's murder - on land. They'll shoot on Australia's Gold Coast.
--An independent feature titled "Rice Girl" is en route to production, a tale
of an Asian actress pretending to be a prostitute as preparation for a movie
part. She's mistaken for an actual hooker - by a pair of undercover cops who
are pretending to be pimps. Based on a true story. (Just kidding.)
--Those awaiting the release of a new CD from songstress Anita Baker shouldn't
hold their breath. Though keyboardist/producer George Duke says he was
contacted by Baker to produce some tracks for her album "probably over a year
ago," he doesn't know when - or if - the work will begin. "I heard she's having
personal problems. I'd also heard that she'd cut six songs with Barry Eastman,
but beyond that I haven't heard anything from her." Baker's last CD was 1994's
"Rhythm of Love" - her triumphant comeback after the breakdown she suffered
following two miscarriages. Duke's quite busy with three of his own projects.
Outside of headlining the 15th annual Long Beach Jazz Festival, which takes
place Aug. 9-11, his "Face the Music" CD from his self-owned BPM (Big Piano
Music) Records hits record store shelves Sept. 3, and he's producing a CD for
his cousin, jazz singer Dianne Reeves. But Duke says he's most excited about
working with Grammy-winning hip-hop super producer Dr. Dre on a project that
will put together jazz veterans like himself and Stanley Clark with hip-hop
acts such as Dre, Battle Cat and Pete Rock. Says the 56-year-old Duke, "The
hip-hop generation is really insular, and I think the only way to make change
happen in the music is to expand the types of people with whom you work. We
have a lot of information and new material to impart to these young brothers."
--Steven Spielberg and his DreamWorks have dropped out of the film adaptation
of Hampton Sides' best seller about the Bataan Death March, "Ghost Soldier,"
which was being planned in partnership with Universal. It seems that Miramax
has a similar project in development with a smaller budget. While Spielberg was
involved, Tom Cruise was talking about signing up for "Ghost Soldier" duty.
"STUPIDITY IS NOT A HANDICAP. Park elsewhere!"
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