Today's Buzz stories
From staff and wire reports |
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Howard's Western return
LOS ANGELES, Howard (AP) -- Ron Howard's new film "The Missing" is his first Western but the Oscar winner has been interested in the genre for a long time.
Before stepping behind the camera, Howard was an actor and one of his early big screen appearances was opposite John Wayne in 1976's "The Shootist." He is best known for his television roles, Opie Taylor on "The Andy Griffith Show" in the 1960s and Richie Cunningham on "Happy Days" in the 1970s.
Howard also was set to direct the upcoming film "The Alamo" but backed out after budget and creative disputes.
"Every time we are about to renew our contracts, Ron brings up a Western," said Brian Grazer, Howard's longtime producing partner at Imagine Entertainment. "I always say, 'OK, OK.' But I never thought he'd actually do one."
"The Missing," set to open this month, stars Tommy Lee Jones and Cate Blanchett in a tale of a pioneer mother who reunites with her wayward father to hunt for her abducted daughter.
Trampoline's greatest hits
(CNN) -- Why did the Wallflowers' Rami Jaffee, the Jukebox Junkies' Marc Dauer and Pete Yorn start their own record label, Trampoline Records?
Because they wanted to give music a chance.
"We were jazzed about a friend's band, and they'd just been dropped by Universal," Jaffee told CNN.com in a phone interview from Los Angeles. "We said, what a shame in this day and age that labels don't build bands the way they should."
Hence Trampoline, which recently released its second compilation, "Trampoline Records Greatest Hits Vol. II." The disc contains 18 songs, including ones by the Wallflowers, Yorn, Liz Phair, Dan Wilson and Trampoline act Nadine.
Compilations are part of Trampoline's overall plan, says Jaffee, since it's more difficult to attract attention for full albums by unknowns and "there's less red tape to get one song from somebody."
The price is also right: Barnes & Noble is selling the disc for $9.99. Songs can also be downloaded from the Trampoline site (www.trampolinerecords.com) for a fee.
Jaffee is well aware that it's not a good time to be a record label. The majors are suffering from slowing sales and downloading challenges, and the indies find their distribution goals and exposure hampered by tight radio playlists and closing record stores.
But he's optimistic about the future.
"I think it's up to us musicians to create a new model," he said. "The guys in suits are scared, and they don't have the knowhow. ... I think you just have to make [music] available. This generation has computers, and you have to take advantage of that."
Jerry Springer meets himself
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Jerry Springer flew into London to meet himself on Monday and very much approved of what he saw.
"It's unbelievable," the talk show host said of Hollywood actor Michael Brandon's portrayal of him in the loud-mouthed and profane "Jerry Springer -- The Opera."
The host of one of America's most lurid talk shows, that has been screened on 100 U.S. television stations and in more than 20 countries, said of Brandon: "He has the real physical sense of me."
Brandon, who achieved fame as a brash cop in the hit 1980s TV series "Dempsey and Makepeace," joined Springer at a news conference to mark the opera's West End premiere in London.
Springer, who first saw the opera by British composer Richard Thomas at last year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival, confessed: "It was physically uncomfortable. It is hard to sit in the theatre and have people turning round and looking at you."
The opera portrays scenes such as a diaper fetishist confessing all to his true love and a dance routine by the Ku Klux Klan. Another number shows a corpulent lover telling his future bride that he is sleeping with her best friend as well as a transvestite. Jesus and the Devil in a swearing tirade is a mere aside.
For Thomas it was ideal format: "It's got tragedy. It's got violence. There are people screaming at each other and you can't understand what they're saying. It's perfect for opera."
Aretha's Star settlement
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (AP) -- Nobody's saying whether R-E-S-P-E-C-T is on the table, but Aretha Franklin and the Star are sitting down to discuss settlement of the soul superstar's lawsuit against the supermarket tabloid.
Last year, Franklin sued the Star and its parent company, American Media Inc., over an article that alleged she had a drinking problem.
Barry Langberg, Franklin's Los Angeles lawyer, has said everything in the article published in March 2000 was false.
Franklin -- best known for such hits as "Respect," "Natural Woman," "Chain of Fools" and "Think" -- and the lawyers for both sides left court late Friday afternoon with no word of the progress toward settlement. Langberg's office said he would not be available for immediate comment.
Langberg has said he could reasonably have sued the Star in any state because it is sold nationwide. He has not specified why he chose New Mexico as the venue for the lawsuit.
The
Associated Press &
Reuters contributed to this report.
