Off The Record...
The Wallflowers
Breach
This is an album born backwards into a world awash in teen pop, hip-hop, and rap-rock. It's something of a miracle that it lands squarely on its feet, making a much-needed case for folk-based rock of the sort that frontman Jakob Dylan's daddy used to make, and indeed, pioneered. Songs such as Some Flowers Bloom Dead and Letters From the Wasteland are of the sort found on the previous album, full of killer hooks and accessible, yet thoughtful, lyrics. Breach is one of the most anticipated rock releases of the year, and it clearly is worthy of all the talk it has generated.
 

At The Movies...
Meet the Parents
Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) is head over heels in love with his girlfriend Pam, and is ready to pop the big question. When his attempt to propose is thwarted by a phone call with the news that Pam's younger sister is getting married, Greg realizes that the key to Pam's hand in marriage lies with her formidable father, Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro). Meet the Parents proves, there's plenty of comic possibility in the delicate subject of in-laws, and while this movie is no great advance in cinema comedy, it is rewardingly silly.

On Video...
Pitch Black
An interstellar space ship carrying an assortment of travelers including a genetically enhanced killer convict with night vision crashes on a desolate planet with three suns and no night. The only signs of life are huge bones lying around everywhere. When the survivors finally come upon a deserted encampment, they discover the horrible truth. Every 22 years there's a total eclipse, and strange flying creatures repelled by light and attracted to blood enter the night, relentlessly hunting for prey. Will the castaways, now lead by the convict get off the planet before their numbers are decimated?

The Buzz...

‘N Sync is talking about taking its act to the silver screen, and they may have decided that the project to pursue will be Grease 3. The group didn't detail which of the band's members would serve as the movie's male lead or who would be tapped to play opposite him, but Britney Spears has also been rumored to be attached to the flick. 

A representative for Garth Brooks confirmed that the country superstar and his wife have decided to divorce. As for the future, he stressed that touring is no longer in his plans. Late in 1999, he announced that he was taking a break from the music business and considering retirement altogether. It is still undecided as to when, and even if, he'll drop his next studio album.

More than 160 videogamers from 14 countries are in Seoul, South Korea, to take part in the World Cyber Game Challenge. Players will compete in Fifa 2000, Quake III, Starcraft, or Age of Empires II tournaments, with the ultimate goal of bringing home one of the four $25,000 prizes to be handed out to each of the winners.

Brian Henson will direct the upcoming CBS miniseries Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story. Running four hours, the unconventional retelling of the classic fairy tale will use characters created by the Jim Henson Company's Creature Shop.

Cleopatra 2525 fans have posted an online petition to save the recently axed syndicated series from oblivion. 750 people have already signed the petition that will be printed off and sent to the show's producers, Studios USA and Renaissance Pictures.

Director Sam Raimi confirmed that John Malkovich will portray the Green Goblin in the upcoming Spider-Man movie.

World Wrestling Federation Entertainment announced that it would establish its own record label, SmackDown! Records, with Ron McCarrell, a former BMG Entertainment exec, as its president.

Don't look for Batman Beyond: The Return of the Joker this Thanksgiving. The DVD's release has been pushed back to Dec. 12.

Motley Crue have been in the studio recording a new song called Nobody Knows What It's Like To Be Lonely that will be included with the band's upcoming autobiography, The Dirt, due out next spring through the HarperCollins imprint ReganBooks. 

House of Blues Entertainment Inc. will open nine new amphitheaters and clubs in eight U.S. cities by next year, expanding the number of locations by about a third.

Actors urged consumers to ignore three well-known brands made by Procter & Gamble Co. because the company used nonunion actors during a strike against the advertising industry. Consumers were urged to boycott Tide detergent, Crest toothpaste and Ivory soap products.

Bette Midler says she tried to woo Jack Nicholson onto her new television show, but the veteran actor resisted.

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