ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.
MOVIES & TV
Oscar Watch: The Producers Guild of America--the last major group to get its own nominations in before this morning’s announcement of the Academy Award nominations--has picked the teams behind “Almost Famous,” “Billy Elliot,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Erin Brockovich” and “Gladiator” as contenders for the producer of the year award, an honor similar to Oscar’s best picture prize. In the TV series categories, the producers of NBC’s “ER,” “Law & Order” and “The West Wing,” along with HBO’s “Oz” and ABC’s “The Practice,” are up for best drama, while the comedy nominees are the producers of Fox’s “Ally McBeal,” HBO’s “Sex and the City” and NBC’s “Frasier,” “Friends” and “Will & Grace.” The winners will be announced March 3. Meanwhile, some 38 radio and TV outlets were planning to carry today’s Oscar nominations announcement live, the movie academy said Monday.
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Anti-Oscar Picks: John Travolta’s box-office bomb “Battlefield Earth” was nominated in eight of nine categories for the annual Golden Raspberry (Razzie) Awards, a dubious distinction singling out the year’s “worst” film achievements. Its competition in the worst picture category: “Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2,” “The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas,” “Little Nicky” and “The Next Best Thing.” Razzie “winners” will be named on March 24--Oscar Eve.
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Bushes and Geeks: “That’s My Bush!,” Comedy Central’s new live-action comedy from “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker that’s based on the new White House regime, premieres April 4, and will be seen Wednesday nights at 10:30. Actor Timothy Bottoms (“The Last Picture Show”), who also has a recurring role in ABC’s “Gideon’s Crossing,” will play central character George W. . . . Fox’s “X-Files” spin-off “The Lone Gunmen” premieres March 4 in “The X-Files’ ” Sunday 9 p.m. time slot. The show--featuring the trio of computer-hacking conspiracy geeks played by Bruce Harwood, Tom Braidwood and Dean Haglund--will air there for three weeks, and will begin running in its regular Friday 9 p.m. berth on March 16. “The X-Files” will return on April 1, with new episodes featuring original series star David Duchovny, who’s been scarcely seen this season.
POP/ROCK
Grammy Hall of Famers: The Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” Louis Armstrong’s “Hello, Dolly,” Henry Mancini’s “The Pink Panther,” Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces,” the Supremes’ “Stop! In the Name of Love” and the Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreamin’ ” were among 31 recordings added Monday to the Grammy Hall of Fame. Other inductees include the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s “All Along the Watchtower,” Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools,” Dusty Springfield’s “Dusty in Memphis,” Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues,” Hank Williams’ “Hey Good Lookin’,” Ray Charles’ “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald’s “Porgy and Bess,” the Champs’ “Tequila,” the Byrds’ “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season),” James Taylor’s “You’ve Got a Friend” and “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” by the Teenagers featuring Frankie Lymon. The Grammy Hall of Fame, established in 1973 to honor albums and singles of “enduring quality and relevance or historical significance,” now includes 530 titles.
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Cash Hospitalized Again: Singer Johnny Cash, 68, was in serious but stable condition at Nashville’s Baptist Hospital on Monday after being admitted Sunday morning for pneumonia. Cash has been hospitalized at least three times before for pneumonia. In 1997, he was diagnosed as suffering from a nervous system disease called Shy-Drager’s syndrome, but said later that he’d been told by doctors that that was a misdiagnosis.
QUICK TAKES
Classical dancers Jacques d’Amboise and Arthur Mitchell will share the $250,000 Heinz Award for Arts and Humanities in recognition of their “remarkable efforts in enhancing the lives of hundreds of thousands of children.” D’Amboise was cited for creating the National Dance Institute, while Mitchell was honored for co-founding the Dance Theatre of Harlem. . . . Norwegian actress-director Liv Ullmann will head the jury at the 54th Cannes Film Festival in May, replacing Jodie Foster, who bowed out to play the lead in David Fincher’s latest film, “The Panic Room.” Foster was offered the part after Nicole Kidman dropped out with a knee injury. Ullmann’s last film, “Faithless,” was in last year’s Cannes festival, but was ignored by the jury, then headed by French director Luc Besson. . . . NBC has ordered 13 episodes of “The Weakest Link,” a version of a successful BBC game show in which a panel of contestants answer general knowledge questions and vote off players whom the group deems “the weakest link.” A midseason premiere is planned. . . . Paul Haggis, the co-creator and executive producer of CBS’ “Family Law,” will receive the Writers Guild of America, West’s special Valentine Davies Award on March 4. The WGA cited Haggis for having “rarely missed an opportunity to give voice to those who go unheard or unnoticed, often championing unpopular causes and challenging audiences to rethink long-held beliefs and biases.” . . . Hip-hop singer Lauryn Hill has settled a lawsuit over the production credit on her Grammy-winning album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” for an undisclosed amount, a spokesman for Sony Music Entertainment said. Four musicians--Vada Nobles, Rasheem Pugh, Tejumold and Johari Newton--claimed Hill promised to credit them for their work, but reneged and listed herself as the sole producer. Hill’s representatives portrayed the lawsuit as an attempt to cash in on her success. . . . Multi-platinum rapper Busta Rhymes has joined Arista founder Clive Davis’ new label, J Records.