Vol. 9
No. 28
Pick Hits
At The Movies
The Pirates of the Caribbean
Captain Jack Sparrow’s (Johnny Depp) life capsizes
after his nemesis, Captain Barbossa steals his ship,
the Black Pearl, and later attacks the town of Port
Royal, kidnapping the Governor's beautiful daughter,
Elizabeth. Elizabeth's childhood friend, Will joins
forces with Jack to commandeer the fastest ship in the
British fleet, in an attempt to rescue her and
recapture the Black Pearl. Unbeknownst to Will, there
is a curse that has doomed Barbossa and his crew to
live forever as the undead. The curse they carry can
be broken only if a once-plundered treasure is
restored. Stunning visual effects bring these
formidable foes to life as our valiant heroes clash
mightily with Barbossa and his invincible pirates of
the Caribbean. This film is an intoxicating delight
that abounds with woozy charm and delectable
spiciness.
On Video
Phone Booth
An exciting thriller that takes place almost entirely
in a phone booth. Colin Farrell plays Stu, a sleazy,
fast-talking jerk who enters a phone booth in
Manhattan to call what he hopes will be his new
girlfriend. He doesn't use his cell phone since his
wife might find out. When he's done with his call, the
phone rings, and on the other end is the voice of a
man who informs Stu that if he hangs up he'll be
killed, the caller (Kiefer Sutherland) has a
high-powered rifle aimed at him. When the NYPD show up
Stu is not allowed to explain what's going on and the
police have to figure things out before someone gets
killed. An offbeat and thrilling outing.
Caught In The Act
Grand Rock Music Festival
For the inaugural event in a brand new park, the
organizers pulled of a first rate event. Fueled by the
diverse sounds of a who’s who of Canadian music (Sum
41, Great Big Sea, Treble Charger just to name a few)
this three-day spectacle showcased the Grand Moon Park
& Amphitheatre, a naturally treed amphitheatre and
camping area within a 10 min. drive of Grand Beach,
Manitoba. The thousands of fans seemed quite content
to relax in the sandy landscape while watching the
show unveil. With a maximum capacity of 40,000,
phenomenal sound and plenty of campsites, GMP&A will
be a premiere locale for large upcoming events in
central Canada. Sum 41 put the lid on the event with a
frenzied show featuring all of the bands infectious
power punk tunes.
The Buzz...
A nugget of news carefully extracted from the halls of
Lucasfilm was that Natalie Portman will be
contributing to additional scenes for the original
trilogy. Apparently, while shooting Episode III,
George Lucas will be leading Portman off to shoot
some footage for Return of The Jedi, which will make
its appearance on the eventual DVD release.
Nickelback will film the video for Someday, the
first single from the band's as-yet-untitled fourth
album, July 8 and 9 in Vancouver, British Columbia,
with director Nigel Dick (Britney Spears,
Guns N' Roses). The follow-up to the four-times
platinum Silver Side Up is due September 23 through
Roadrunner Records.
Following months of rumours of an utter cinematic
disaster, the third Terminator sequel has risen from
the ashes to prove that there's still plenty of life
in the cyborg series. Opening in the US over the 4
July holiday weekend, Terminator 3 raked in a whopping
$44 million – making it the fourth biggest holiday
opening of all time in the States.
DC Comics' Teen Titans is set to make its animated
debut on Cartoon Network in less than a month.
Batman's sidekick Robin leads fellow young teens
Cyborg, Beast Boy, Starfire and Raven in the all-new
high-adventure series. Fans will see it for the first
time on Saturday, July 19, at 9 p.m.
The official website of the America West Arena,
home of this year's WWE SummerSlam, is promoting Triple H vs.
Goldberg as the main event, dubbing it as "One of the Most
Anticipated Matches in History!” This has been the planned main event for a few
months now even though there was talk of a Mick
Foley replacing Goldberg.
TBS hopes to cash in on Cartoon Network's success as the cable channel announced
yesterday it plans to add repeats of Futurama and Family Guy to its daytime
schedule this week. The fellow Turner-owned network will run Futurama weekdays
at 2:00 and Family Guy at 2:30. Both animated comedies have been
monster successes for Cartoon Network since debuting on the channel three months
ago, particularly in the key 18-34 demographic.
Evanescence will team up with Cold, Revis, Cauterize
and Finger Eleven for the upcoming Nintendo Fusion Tour beginning in
early August. The trek will feature live music as well as a host of Nintendo
games.
Ashton Kutcher is inking a
deal to stay with That 70s Show through 2004-05. It's estimated he'll earn $5
million to $7 million for that season.
Warner Bros. is still sorting out exactly what they want to do to relaunch the
Batman franchise. Ashton Kutcher is the studio's top pick to put on the
Bat-suit, but director Christopher Nolan disagrees. Nolan reportedly has
until late August/early September to find another actor and he's planning to
screen test a number of lesser known actors who are in their mid-to-late 20s.
Rumors of Star Trek's demise appear to have been greatly exaggerated and more
movies may appear in the future. That will come as good news to Trekkies
everywhere who thought Nemesis marked the end of the road. However, with the
Next Generation crew insisting their involvement is over, we're left with
Scott Bakula's Enterprise cast.
Universal Pictures announced today that principal
photography on The Chronicles of Riddick is getting
underway. The sci-fi action-adventure epic, which has
Vin Diesel reprising his Pitch Black role as
Richard B. Riddick, is now shooting in Vancouver.
TNN clearly didn't need the name Spike TV to spike its ratings. Rolling out its
men-only format last week, the cable network drew the biggest audience in its
history, especially with its debut of a Thursday animation bloc that saw 2
million viewers tuning in at 1:00 p.m. to see Stripperella, starring Pamela
Anderson.
Vince Neil has once again
reiterated that he is done with Mötley Crüe and he is no longer pushing
to see the group reunited. "My Crüe days are over. I'm having way too much fun
not having to deal with those guys as personalities."
Fans who are wearing out their thumbs playing The Hulk video game will want to
head back to theaters and watch the movie one more time. Hidden in the film is a
"supercode" which unlocks the ability
to re-play the interactive game as the Gray Hulk. The code that unlocks Gray
Hulk appears in a scene right before Bruce Banner transforms into the Hulk for
the first time.
Former Smashing Pumpkins
guitarist James Iha has reportedly been approached to replace Danny
Lohner (Nine Inch Nails) in the current A Perfect Circle
lineup.
On the heels of Hulk Hogan's walkout, Kevin
Nash has been complaining that the WWE writers
have no clue what to do with his character now that
his feud with Triple H is over.
Ubi Soft revealed that it's currently planning to get the sequel to smash hit
Splinter Cell (titled Pandora Tomorrow) on store shelves by March 2004. The next
Splinter Cell game will feature an online multiplayer component and a more
cinematic feel than its predecessor.
It's the validation you've all been
waiting for: The Eleventh Edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary now
officiates the word Headbanger to describe a hard rock musician/fan.
Nicholas Cage is set to star
in a Hollywood adaptation of video game Dead to Rights. He will also share
producing responsibilities on the film, which will share the same name as the
game.
Keanu Reeves is set to star in Constantine the movie version of
DC/Vertigo's popular John Constantine: Hellblazer comic. Reeves is attached to
star as an Americanized version of the caustic sorcerer character. Constantine
is due in theaters next summer.
The League of Extraordinary
Gentlemen soundtrack in the U.S. is only available at Apple's iTunes Music
Store. The soundtrack will be an online only release, not to be issued on any
physical medium or associated with any label.
Superstars Jennifer Lopez and
Ben Affleck are big money before they've even set a wedding date -
Britain's OK! magazine are offering them a small fortune (as high as $1.5
million) for rights to cover the event.
Lucy Liu is warning sensitive
fans to avoid her new movie Kill Bill because the dramatic violence will make
them physically ill. The Charlie’s Angles babe stars alongside Uma Thurman
in cult director Quentin Taratino’s long-awaited fourth film, and
predicts audiences will either flee from the cinema or vomit in their seats when
they watch the extreme action.
Puddle of Mudd have finished recording their sophomore disc Life in
Display, which is due in early September. The band recorded 18 songs with
producer John Kurzweg, who worked on the group's debut as well as
Creed's three albums.
