Off The Record
Jackyl - Relentless
This is Jackyl’s first full-length album of all new material since 1997’s rather disappointing Cut the Crap. After their record-setting 100 shows in 50 days in the fall of ’98, they didn’t really do much until Rockfest 2002. This album definitely has the best production job since their debut. The guitars have finally regained their snarl. The drums smack convincingly, and you can even hear the kick-drum. Roman Glick’s bass is also easily audible, just as Tom Bettini’s was in the days of yore. And Jesse James Dupree is in his usual fine vocal fettle. If you are wondering about the chainsaw, it shows up in the song Billy Badass.  Relentless is sure to please all the Jackyl fans out there, and there’s a little tiny Jesse James Dupree inside each and every one of us, just kicking and clawing to be let out.

At The Movies
Kangaroo Jack
Two friends from Brooklyn (Jerry O'Connell, Anthony Anderson) are forced to deliver mob money to Australia. Their misadventures begin when one of them places his red jacket on a kangaroo while attempting to snap a picture. When the kangaroo bounces off, they realize the mob money is in the jacket and are forced to give chase through the Outback. This film is an unlikely action-comedy that is fast-paced enough to capture the attention of children, and smart enough to make it fully tolerable for adults. High-spirited and even endearing, with a zippy soundtrack that includes, appropriately, the 80's classic Down Under by Men at Work, Kangaroo Jack is an enjoyable and undemanding way to spend 87 minutes.

On Video
Signs
M. Night Shyamalan scared the heck out of us with The Sixth Sense and now the writer-director has gone and done it again with Signs. Here we have Mel Gibson as an ex-minister (who soured on God when his wife was killed in an accident) living with his brother (Joaquin Phoenix) and two kids (Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin) in rural Bucks County, Pa. One morning the family wakes up to find crop circles in their cornfield, and discover that the strange formations have appeared all over the planet. Is this the prelude to an alien invasion? Listen to the creepy sounds. Hear the Hitchcockian music. See the religious icons, watch the plot unfold, laugh to relieve the pressure, and be very scared.

The Buzz...
Pamela Anderson has retired from acting to concentrate on bringing up her children. The cosmetically enhanced actress, who currently suffers from Hepatitis C, is also concerned that too much work will aggravate her health.

British pop superstar Robbie Williams has been offered the chance to become the new Ozzy Osbourne - by being offered his own MTV reality show.

Creed have issued an official 'apology' to fans who were disappointed by the group's recent concert at Chicago's Allstate Arena at which lead singer Scott Stapp was reportedly high out of his mind and could not sing, nearly falling down numerous times during the performance.
 

If the thought of seeing Vince Neil in action on The Surreal Life kick starts your heart, you ought to sit down. Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx has confirmed that the band are going ahead with a movie adaptation of their infamous autobiography, The Dirt, with ‘XXX’ writer Rich Wilkes to transform the memoir into a screenplay. Sixx, currently recording six new songs with his new band Brides of Destruction, also revealed that the Crüe will not tour again until 2004, at the earliest.

This season will be the last for CBS' popular drama Touched by an Angel, according to the series' executive producer.

ABC can broadcast its new reality show I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here! because it does not copy CBS' Survivor any more than earlier TV shows borrowed from their predecessors, as per a recent court judgement.

Nicole Kidman unveiled her sidewalk star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, saying she'd "never been so excited to have people walk all over me for the rest of my life."

The surviving members of the Bee Gees are criticizing doctors' treatment of their brother Maurice Gibb, who died after emergency surgery.

John Travolta is in negotiations to star opposite Joaquin Phoenix in the Walt Disney Co.'s Ladder 49 for director Jay Russell. Written by Lewis Colick, Ladder 49 is about a firefighter named Jack (Phoenix) who awaits rescue from a burning building.

Australian actress Rose Byrne is in negotiations to join the high-profile cast of Warner Bros. Troy for director Wolfgang Petersen. The big-budget Troy, based on The Iliad, Homer's epic account of the Trojan War, is set to begin shooting in the spring in the United Kingdom, Malta and Morocco with an eye toward a release next year.

Fox will air a one-hour Married ... with Children reunion special Feb. 16, the night The Simpsons marks its 300th episode milestone.

The WB Network is staying close to home with a spinoff of one of its strongest dramas, Gilmore Girls, and a new half-hour project with one of its first big stars, Steve Harvey, vying for the fall schedule.

Ozzy Osbourne has recorded a guest lead vocal appearance on the first single off the upcoming Black Label Society CD, The Blessed Hellride, due in April via Spitfire Records.

Saliva, Seether, Nickelback, Chevelle, Hoobastank and members of Incubus and P.O.D. are among the artists who made the final cut for the upcoming Daredevil soundtrack, due Feb. 4. The disc's lead track will be Fuel's Won't Back Down.

A Russian court has upheld a $10,000 fine imposed on an advertising agency for showing a clip from the U.S. film comedy The Big Lebowski that the government says contributed to a rampage by soccer thugs in Moscow.

WB executives said they're taking a gamble on a summer variety series that will skip commercial breaks and weave advertising messages into the program.

While his fairy tale Pinocchio did a quick crash and burn in North American theaters, Roberto Benigni can take heart from his triumph in Italy, where he topped the national box office charts for 2002.

CBS is set to air a sneak preview of the small-screen spin-off My Big Fat Greek Life on February 24, after which the series will air Sunday nights, following Becker.

Following a London newspaper report saying he may be the subject of a police investigation into child pornography, Who mastermind Pete Townshend, 57, released a statement denying he was a pedophile and claiming he downloaded kiddie porn from the Net for research purposes.

Mickey Finn, drummer of British glam-rock outfit T.Rex, died in a suburban London hospital. He was 55. Finn had reportedly been suffering from kidney and liver problems.

Type O Negative are apparently near completion of their next effort, The Dream Is Dead is the current working title. An April release through Roadrunner is in the works.

Eminem upstaged newcomer Ashanti at the 30th annual American Music Awards, collecting trophies in all four categories in which he was nominated.

The sixth season of Survivor will be a battle of the sexes, with a tribe of men competing against a tribe of women for the $1 million top prize.