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| 7/31/04 |
'Cursed' to be released in 2005 Variety has reported a trio of new/updated release dates for major genre films. Lions Gate has shifted SAW (pictured) from September 17 to the October 1 berth that, as we reported earlier this week, was vacated by Dimension’s CURSED. That Wes Craven film is now set to open February 25, 2005—for now, anyway...
Retail Notebook: The buying power of tweens -- 'it's
all about them' ...At Club Libby Lu, girls can create their own lip gloss, nail polish and magic fairy dust at self-service stations or don jewelry and tiaras at a fantasy dress up area... Some moms, though, don't embrace everything in the store. In addition to the stuffed animals and glittery tank tops, Club Libby Lu sells purses inscribed with "Mrs. Timberlake" and "Mrs. Pitt" (references to pop starJustin Timberlake and actor Brad Pitt). Several shelves stock makeup kits packed with eye shadow, lip gloss and nail polish. Coin purses carry such sayings as "A little bit spoiled" and "Let's talk about me." Tami Rogers, who visited the store earlier this week with daughters Samantha and Molly Dubow, ages 9 and 10, worried that some of the products encouraged her daughters to grow up too quickly...
Music created `from the heart' outshines glitz Not too long ago Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera were the queens of pop and Justin Timberlake was the prince, swooned over by millions of young teen girls. The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin — that was just music for old people. But young people are getting frustrated with sell-out mainstream music icons who can't even write their own songs or play an instrument. Now, kids are looking for something with staying power. Suddenly, their parents' — or, rather, their grandparents' music — is cool again. "Older music is better because the bands actually wrote it. It's from the heart and not manufactured like Britney Spears or Avril Lavigne," says Marissa Richler, 14. "When you're listening to music because you're angry or whatever, if it's fake or marketed, how can you relate to that? "Older music was more about the music than the image. They were writing about what they were feeling. Even when AC/DC screams into the microphone, there's feeling in that..."
TV loves reality shows, not reality On one side of the equation are old-fogy crackpots like me writhing with what-is-the-world-coming-to agony over the TV networks all but ignoring the political conventions. These pageants of democracy are important, we whine, and it is right to pay homage to the process every four years or so. On the other side of the equation are thoughtful network executives, whose companies make billions annually from the free use of the public's airwaves, explaining why conventions are unworthy of prime time. Conventions have become scripted shows for the political parties, they say, and thoughtful network executives just can't stand for it because it would be to the nation's detriment to air such slick marketing schemes. Thoughtful network executives say this with profound seriousness, then turn to the business of producing things like the AOL TopSpeed Super Bowl Halftime Show (Remember that one? Justin Timberlake pulled off a solo of sorts)...
America is divided; Neither side seems to want a
truce IN A WAY, Democratic vice presidential hopeful John Edwards is right: Today, there are two Americas. But rather than being divided by economic lines, as Edwards says, Americans define themselves by their beliefs. One America was appalled by the arrogance of Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake's hyping their careers at the expense of family viewers watching a football game, and was heartened by efforts to make the airwaves safe for children. That America also made Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" one of the most successful films of all time and Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins' "Left Behind" novels best-sellers, with more than 45 million copies sold. It believes governments don't need to oppressively oversee corporations, but that Christians should examine the heart of each American. The other America wasn't wild about the notorious wardrobe malfunction, either, but champions freedom of speech and is concerned that government intervention will reduce the substance of our airwaves to intellectual pablum. It also wonders why parents so concerned about kid-appropriate media took their children to the gory R-rated "Passion" (some, nonetheless, took their kids to another R-rated film, Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11"). It believes individuals should follow their own moral compasses but that the machinations of corporations require government regulation. Two things unite these Americas (beside the fact that both sides drive SUVs): They're both convinced that their world views are absolutely right, and the other side is egregiously misguided. And not only do they disagree with the other side, but they have no interest in hearing its opinions voiced...
Bass: Striped or strummed? With a tip of the ol' fishing hat to the Bassmaster Classic at Lake Wylie, we explore the many connections between bass (nautical) and bass (musical): ...Lance Bass sings with boy band 'N Sync (are they even still around?). Had he formed a group with Loretta Lynn and John Lee Hooker, they could have called themselves Sync, Lynn and Hooker...
Broadway's Season of Name-Dropping Over the last few years, there have been certain absolutes to summertime in New York. The Yankees will be winning, no doubt, and Mets fans will be in therapy. There will be Shakespeare in Central Park, festivals at Lincoln Center, and an assortment of very odd theater at the Fringe. And of course, on the city's biggest stage of all — Broadway — summertime means you will inevitably find a bevy of former television stars, lapsed pop idols and other vaguely familiar names. Just a quick gaze at today's theater listings can give a person the distinct sensation of watching a particularly poignant episode of "I Love the 90's." There's Joey Fatone, formerly of the boy band N'Sync, playing a meek shopkeeper with a plant problem in "Little Shop of Horrors." There's Melanie Brown, a k a Scary Spice from the Spice Girls, playing an H.I.V.-positive performance artist in "Rent." There's Joey McIntyre, once the littlest New Kid on the Block, in "Wicked," and the R&B specialist Deborah Cox in "Aida," and the childrens' television star Christy Carlson Romano in "Beauty and the Beast.". . . You get the idea. As soon as the temperatures rise, it seems, many Broadway producers start speed-dialing recognizable names regardless of how little acting experience they have. This summer's cast of "Rent," for example, has not only featured Ms. Brown (or Ms. Scary, depending on how well you know her), but also Frenchie Davis, a former "American Idol" star, and Jai Rodriguez, the culture specialist from "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." In their defense, some of the celebrity stand-ins have some stage experience — Mr. Rodriguez was a "Rent" chorus guy before he was a queer eye — while others have actually surprised skeptical critics. When Mr. Fatone played the supersensitive narrator Marc in "Rent" in August 2002, another summertime casting, Bruce Weber of The New York Times had some nice things to say about his singing and acting, among them that he was "wisely and appropriately modest in his performance." While that's not exactly a rave, its not really critics that the producers are trying to impress. It's tourists. "Because the audiences during the summertime are much more likely to be from outside the tristate area, they may be drawn to shows that they know nothing about but will go to because of the familiarity of the leads," said Jed Bernstein, the president of the League of American Theaters and Producers, a Broadway trade group. "And a lot of them are doing pretty good jobs." Indeed, during the summer months, with many natives fleeing for the beach or the country on the weekends, most theatergoers are out-of-towners, who may not closely follow the theater but who know that Mr. McIntyre can carry a tune (not to mention wreack havoc on preteen hormones). This summer has been particularly popular with overseas tourists, producers say, because of the weak dollar. "In the winter, you better please the theatergoers of the tristate area," said Barry Weissler, a lead producer of "Chicago," where Paige Davis, of the television remodeling show, "Trading Spaces," is currently playing Roxie Hart. "But during the summer, naturally there are more tourists in town, especially Friday through Sunday, so you want to please them, too." There are a couple of other reasons for the seasonal surge, including the availability of television stars, who are generally on hiatus during the summer. Producers of older shows — like "Beauty and the Beast," which has played on Broadway for more than 10 years — also see the summertime as a prime opportunity to introduce their shows to younger theatergoers, who might not have been aware of the word "drama" when the production opened. "We're looking for talent and looking for people to rediscover our show," said Kevin McCollum, a producer of "Rent," which has been on Broadway for eight years. "And celebrities help us do that." The trend is not limited to Broadway. David Hasselhoff, he of television's epic "Baywatch," is doing a summertime stint as the slick lawyer Billy Flynn in the London version of "Chicago," while the lesser-known Vanessa Oliveras, a finalist in "American Idol" last year, is playing the heavy-set lead, Tracy Turnblad, in the Toronto production of "Hairspray." |
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