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Vol. 9
No. 20
Pick Hits
At The
Movies
The
Matrix: Reloaded
The machines have found the last human city, Zion,
located in the Earth's core, and an army of Squiddies
is sent to destroy it. Neo (Keanu Reeves) must race to
beat them there and then launch a final battle pitting
the last remaining unplugged humans against the
machines. The two Matrix sequels of 2003 will make
mega box office and cement the Wachowski brothers’
techno-action franchise as the logical heir of Star
Wars for the 21st century. There's no escape that The
Matrix's groundbreaking visual effects has left a
permanent mark upon genre cinema for decades to come.
By the time you reach the cliffhanger ending that sets
up November's finale, The Matrix Revolutions, you're
more than ready for a break from this visually
stunning, mind bending, action packed adventure.
Play It
Enter The Matrix
Enter the Matrix was developed under the creative
direction of the Matrix filmmakers Larry and Andy
Wachowski, including film footage shot exclusively for
the game and the writing of the game's script. With
balletic gunplay, slow motion “bullet time”, over the
top, mind blowing martial arts and a deep and twisted
storyline gamers everywhere are in store for a real
treat. Based on the plot of The Matrix: Reloaded,
Enter the Matrix stars only two protagonists from the
film, Niobe and Ghost. Highly trained specialists in
both their range of skills, together, these two will
set out on an adventure to stop the deadly agents of
The Matrix planning to wipe them out of existence. The
story-within-the-story, this game isn’t just set in
the Matrix universe, it’s an integral part of the
entire Matrix experience.
Coming Soon
Need For Speed: Underground
EA
has taken a page from the Fast and the Furious on the
next installment of their acclaimed Need For Speed
franchise: NFS Underground. EA hopes to immerse the
player into the world of illegal street racing and
give the game that over the top Fast and the Furious
look replete with highly detailed backdrops, 20 fully
modifiable licensed cars (Toyota, Subaru and
Mitsubishi among others), and a ton of aftermarket
performance parts. The customize element enables
players to earn cash in races to pay for upgraded body
kits and a wide selection of car mods and parts to
create their perfect ride. NFS Underground will be
available early 2004 on PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube,
PC and even GameBoy Advance.
The Buzz...
TNN will be changing to Spike TV on Monday, June 16th.
The goal of the change is to make a network geared
towards men, in other words this will be a male
Lifetime. WWE RAW will of course be its flagship
program, but will also feature new programs such as Gary
the Rat, Zilch & Zero, A Guy and His Stuff, Top 10
Things Every Guy Should Experience, and the return of
new Ren and Stimpy cartoons. Spike TV will also be
working with Men’s Health magazine to produce segments
on fitness or relationships, and CBS Marketwatch to
provide financial updates for the station.
The
peculiar charm of American Idol continues to enthrall TV
viewers across the country. A look at the viewer
demographics reveals that women account for a whopping
70% of the interest in the sponsor-laden extravaganza.
While the ubiquitous crowd shots show hordes of
sign-wielding teens rooting for their favorite crooner,
the 35-54 female bracket accounts for most of the
interest. Perhaps the lack of a true teen dreamboat
drives away the youngsters and jump-starts a middle-aged
crowd interested in watching clean-scrubbed, inoffensive
singers belt out Bee Gees medleys.
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THE PUNISHER
RETURNS TO THE BIG SCREEN |
The
mildly anticipated new adaptation of Marvel comic
character The Punisher, which stars Thomas Jane
as Frank Castle, a vigilante with more firepower than
most Afghan warlords, will begin shooting this summer.
Marvel Studios promises that we'll see a teaser very,
very soon that “will bring down the house whether you
know who the character is or not.”
For those who haven't heard, the official date for the
wedding of Stephanie McMahon and Triple H
is October 25th.
Original
Led
Zeppelin
album cover artworks from their 20-year career will be
displayed at a gallery in Birmingham, England beginning
on May 27. Storm Thorgerson and Hipgnosis
partner Aubrey Powell were responsible for five
of the covers: Houses of the Holy, Coda, Presence, The
Song Remains the Same and In Through the Out Door.
Aerosmith
are offering members of their fan club, Aero Force One, a choice of three
premium-ticketing packages for the band's upcoming co-headlining tour with
KISS, the most extravagant of which costs $595. That price will get the
buyer early entry into the venue, backstage access to a pre-show VIP party, and
a guaranteed seat in the first five rows.
May is no longer just a three
letter word, it's now 'MAYTALLICA!' Metallica has hooked up with radio
stations across the US to bring you this massive event. Each station has their
own special promotions - you could win a trip to see Metallica play at the
Fillmore, a brand new Metallica-ized truck, Summer Sanitarium tickets, t-shirts,
Fan Club memberships and more. Along with 'Maytallica' special promotions, each
station will broadcast recent interviews with the band members and of course the
best part – music from their new album St. Anger!!!
Scott Weiland
has recorded a second song, Set Me Free, with his new band featuring ex-Guns
'n Roses members for The Hulk.
Rob Zombie
has signed on to write and direct a sequel to his feature-film debut, House of
1000 Corpses. The as-yet-untitled follow-up flick is set to start shooting in
the fall and hit theaters in April 2004.
Hairspray
dominated the 2003 Tony Award nominations with 13, while
Movin' Out,
Twyla Tharp's all-dance tribute to Billy Joel set during
the Vietnam War, received 10.
Dozens of percussionists
gathered to celebrate the birthday of
Zildjian,
the world's best-known maker of cymbals and a company whose roots in 1623
Constantinople give it a claim to be the world's longest running family owned
business.
The
Osbournes are looking for a new home.
No, rock's first family isn't packing up and moving out
of its
Beverly Hills abode. It's
the search for a new label home for Kelly and Ozzy that has the clan pounding
the pavement.
Both Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne are leaving Epic Records and
will soon be free to seek a new label home.
Gavin Rossdale's
collaboration with Blue Man Group on their track The Current will appear
on the soundtrack to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
Pat Summerall,
the veteran play-by-play man, who has spent the last nine seasons covering NFL
games for Fox Sports, has announced he was ending his five-decade broadcasting
career, effective immediately. His decision to quit came after his agent and the
network could not reach a deal regarding his schedule for next season.
Munich-based company, EM.TV,
which three years ago paid $680 million for the rights to the
Muppets,
has sold them back to the Jim Henson Co. for a bargain basement price of
about $89 million.
The Royal Mail plans to
print Prince William's
picture on a series of stamps in honor of his upcoming 21st birthday.
NBC is turning to
Whoopi Goldberg,
John Larroquette
and a racy British import next fall in an effort to develop new comedies. Three
new dramas, including one starring Rob Lowe, will also be on the
schedule.
Ray Romano,
star of the popular CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, is getting a raise.
Romano will be paid around $1.8 million per episode for the upcoming season in a
deal that makes him the highest-paid actor in television. The agreement with CBS
and Raymond producers Worldwide Pants will pay Raymond around $40 million for a
22-episode eighth season, up from his current $800,000 per episode.
Miss Elizabeth,
former valet of wrestling superstar
Randy "Macho Man" Savage, died at 42 under very suspicious
circumstances.
MTV has renewed
Carson Daly's
contract for two more years. The new contract calls for Daly to continue hosting
and serving as an executive producer on TRL.
Jennifer Garner
(Alias, Daredevil) and
Scott Foley
have filed for divorce stating the ever-popular irreconcilable difference.
Struggling ABC will revive
its TGIF Friday night comedy lineup this fall. One of the new comedies will be
Hope & Faith,
starring Kelly Ripa
as a washed-up soap star going back to live with her sister, played by Faith
Ford.
NBC is asking for Super
Bowl-sized advertising rates for the two-hour finale of Friends in May 2004. The
network is looking for $2 million per 30-second spot on the show, while a
30-second spot generally goes for about $450,000.
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