'Ernest' Actor Jim Varney Dies At 50
- "Jim Varney, the rubbernecked comic who portrayed
his rube character ``Ernest'' from hundreds of television
commercials to a series of movies, died Thursday. He was
50. Varney died of lung cancer at his home in White House,
Tenn., about 20 miles north of Nashville, said his
attorney Hoot Gibson..."
Movies
- Commentator Andrei Codrescu
hates that feeling of emerging
from a film into the daylight.
Reality is, he says, so less
interesting than the silver
screen. He tells about friends who
spend much time in theaters... 
MGM,
Blockbuster in Net film deal - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Inc., which owns one of the
world's largest film libraries,
and Blockbuster Inc. said they
will develop a system to make some
MGM films available to consumers
on the Internet..."
HAS
KIRK GONE CRAZY?
YES! AND HE CAN'T SING - "WHY can't you ever
find a Vulcan when you need one?
Clearly, Captain Kirk has become
totally illogical, or maybe it's
just that William Shatner has
finally flipped that giant wig of
his. What else could explain the
fact that the once proud captain
of the Starship Enterprise has
chosen (presumably of his own free
will) to rap -- yes, rap yet! --
to the 1970's CB trucker hit,
"Convoy" (among other
tragic song choices) for
Priceline.com..."
Tim
Burton signs with Shockwave - "Director of 'Batman'
and 'Nightmare Before Christmas'
plans to make original animation,
including a character called
'Stain Boy.' Tim Burton, the
director of dark, edgy films like
"Edward Scissorhands"
and "Beetlejuice," has
signed a pact with Shockwave.com,
the entertainment site of software
developer Macromedia Inc., to
develop original
animation..."
Web
sites snap up short films at Sundance -
"Two years ago at
the Sundance Film Festival, Jason Reitman found only theoretical
interest in his short-film entry. This year, he found an eager
buyer for his new short subject amid bidders hungry for quick-hit
entertainment to distribute over the Internet and through other
new channels..."
Sopranos
Raises Curiosity About Real-Life N.J. Mob - HBO
remains true to the mob's famous code of silence when it
comes to revealing if any special "experts" are
working as consultants for the hit show The Sopranos.
"We are going to prefer not to comment on these
questions," HBO publicist Tobe Becke said, answering a
query from FOXNews.com on whether any real-life mobsters,
wise guys or cops were on the payroll for the show. "We
like to retain some air of mystery and let our writers do
their job without getting into specifics on exactly how and
where they get the information..."
