December 05, 2002 |
GOOD NEWS, MRS. DALLOWAY
The National Board of Review officially kicked off the awards season Wednesday by naming The Hours the best film of 2002. The pic, based on Michael Cunningham's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, stars Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore. Best actor kudos went to Campbell Scott for Roger Dodger and Moore was chosen best actress for Far From Heaven. Meanwhile, Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers has chosen Gangs of New York the best movie of the year. |
CHOICE KUDOS
Nominations for the 29th Annual People's Choice Awards were announced Wednesday, and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Spider-Man will duke it out for favorite motion picture. On the TV front, the fave new drama series contenders are CSI: Miami, Everwood and Presidio Med, with best new comedy nods going to Bernie Mac, Cedric the Entertainer Presents and 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. The usual suspects dominated the acting slots in both the film and TV categories, so we won't bore you with those. The Tony Danza-hosted ceremony airs live Jan. 12 on CBS. |
OH, [BLEEP]!
Today show censors were apparently asleep at the wheel this morning. During Katie Couric's interview with Bono and Ashley Judd about their Heart of America tour, Bono said "bulls--t" and it wasn't bleeped out. What is the world coming to?! Think of the children! |
UP! UP AND AWAY
Country diva Shania Twain fended off strong debuts from Tim McGraw and Jennifer Lopez to hold on to the No. 1 spot on Billboard's album charts. Twain's Up! disc sold another 625,000 copies for a two-week total of 1.5 million. Tim McGraw & the Dancehall Doctors finished a close second with sales of 602,000 copies. Lopez's fourth album, This Is Me... Then, entered the charts at No. 6 with sales of 314,000 — the best bow of her singing career. Also new to the charts: Late rapper 2Pac's Better Dayz (No. 5) and Paul McCartney's live album Back in the U.S. (No. 8). |
IT'S OUT OF THIS WORLD
Steven Spielberg has taken the Sci Fi Channel to new heights. Monday night's debut of Taken, Spielberg's 20-hour, 10-night alien abduction miniseries, attracted 6.1 million viewers — the best ratings in the history of the network. If it continues to perform well, there's talk it could return next year as a regularly scheduled series. In other Spielberg news, the filmmaker's acclaimed thriller Minority Report is being rereleased in select theaters Friday in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. 20th Century Fox is hoping the added exposure will help the film's Oscar chances. |
DR. MELFI'S AVAILABLE
Halle Berry's marriage to Eric Benet has fallen on hard times. "The truth is, yes, Halle and I are going through a personal crisis," Benet told Access Hollywood on Wednesday. "I have made some terrible mistakes." Added Berry: "Marriage is about sticking together through tough times, and we're sticking together." |
FOX, CALL YOUR LAWYERS
Wesley Snipes has signed on to play a man who suffers from severe memory loss in the sci-fi feature John Doe. Sound familiar? Well, that's the same premise of Fox's similarly-titled freshman drama series. Insiders predict that Sony, which is producing the pic, will likely be forced to change the title to avoid a courtroom showdown with Fox. |
SPIDER-MAN RETURNS!
Spider-bitten baby-dangler Michael Jackson hobbled back to court in California Wednesday to continue testifying in a $21 million lawsuit over canceled millennium concerts. While on the witness stand, Jacko compared himself to Walt Disney, saying he was a "visionary and a creative person" who relied on a team of managers, agents, lawyers and accountants to handle his business affairs. "God blessed me with certain talents," he said. "I hate to use an analogy, but Walt Disney was creative but not good with business. His brother Roy handled the books." |
THE NEXT OSBOURNES?
UPN viewers are about to find out what really goes on between Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith behind closed doors. The deliriously happy twosome have partnered with UPN to create a family comedy based loosely on their home life, Variety reports. Not surprisingly, neither performer is expected to appear on-screen. In other network development news, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Mira Nair is developing a comedy series for ABC about an upper-middle-class Indian family |
THEY LAUGHED, THEY CRIED, THEY ATE CAKE
After three years of coffee talk, a teary-eyed Lisa Ling bid farewell to The View today. Memorable clips, special guests (Carson Daly!) and heartfelt poetry filled the hour. Ling quit to take a job hosting National Geographic Explorer on MSNBC. She'll first be seen on air in March. |
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