LOS ANGELES (AP) - A big, cheesy reptile. Another impossible mission. That nutty professor. Mutant X-men. The return of John Shaft. A new invisible man. Fred and Wilma and Barney and Betty. Rocky and Bullwinkle and Boris and Natasha.

Eyes on the prize means eyes on the past for Hollywood this summer, with a movie slate heavy on sequels, big-screen adaptations of small-screen icons, and films based on comics or best-selling books.

Unlike last summer, when anticipation was hottest for the new ``Star Wars'' movie and Stanley Kubrick's ``Eyes Wide Shut,'' the industry enters its busy season with no single film dominating.

``It's pretty much status quo this year in terms of how the wealth is spread,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, which tracks the box office. ``It reflects a traditional summer of sequels, films based on TV shows, action-adventure, comedy and animated family films.''

The lineup of derivatives includes Tom Cruise's ``Mission: Impossible 2''; Eddie Murphy in ``Nutty Professor II: The Klumps''; ``The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas,'' a second live-action version of Bedrock's loudest neighbors; ``The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle,'' combining live actors with the animated moose and squirrel; ``Hollow Man,'' a new twist on H.G. Wells' ``Invisible Man'' premise; ``X-men,'' a live-action take on the comic-book phenomenon; and Samuel L. Jackson in an updated ``Shaft.''

Richard Roundtree reprises his role as John Shaft, the tough, independent private detective from the 1970s movies series. But the action centers on Jackson as his nephew, also named John Shaft.

``It's kind of passing the baton on,'' Roundtree said. ``Sam's got an innate rawness that obviously works for the character. He can be cold-blooded but has this innate charm, as well.''

Jackson's hitman comrade from ``Pulp Fiction,'' John Travolta, stars in ``Battlefield Earth,'' a sci-fi epic based on L. Ron Hubbard's novel about humans who revolt against alien conquerors in the year 3000.

And there's ``Godzilla 2000,'' thankfully not a sequel to the overblown spectacle from 1998 that turned Japan's favorite monster into an irradiated iguana on steroids. This one's more a throwback to the beloved, guy-in-a-lizard-suit movies from the 1950s and '60s.

Hollywood typically gains nearly 40 percent of its revenue between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day. Buoyed by a stream of hits last summer, including the surprise blockbusters ``The Sixth Sense'' and ``The Blair Witch Project,'' the industry took in $3 billion for the season, a record in dollars unadjusted for inflation.

In terms of early hype, ``X-men'' and ``Mission: Impossible 2'' are perhaps a notch above the pack. Cruise's first update of the spy classic in 1996 overcame a puzzling plot and unusual twist (turning the TV series' main man, Jim Phelps, into a villain, then killing him off) to gross $465 million worldwide.

With action master John Woo directing, Ving Rhames returning and Anthony Hopkins appearing as Cruise's boss, ``Mission: Impossible 2'' has ``can't miss at the box office'' written all over it.

Paramount opens the movie for the long Memorial Day weekend, and other studios generally are keeping out of Cruise's wake. Disney, though, plans some counter-programming, moving Jackie Chan's latest action movie, ``Shanghai Noon,'' from later-summer release to the same weekend.

20th Century Fox's ``X-men'' features ``Star Trek's'' Patrick Stewart as the telepathic leader of mutants who use their powers for humanity's benefit. Other mutants, including Ian McKellen's Magneto, are not so benign.

McKellen, an Oscar nominee for ``Gods and Monsters,'' said Magneto obviously differs in style from other roles such as his lead in ``Richard III,'' but ''`X-men' owes a great deal to Shakespearean storytelling.''

``Magneto is often called one of the great comic strip villains, though he doesn't think of himself as a villain,'' McKellen said. ``He's reminiscent of the complicated feelings you find in someone like MacBeth as he pursues his ends.''

Speaking of Shakespeare, Miramax is releasing two film adaptations of the Bard's work. ``Hamlet'' brings the melancholy prince, played by Ethan Hawke, into a modern corporate setting. Bill Murray, Kyle MacLachlan and Diane Venora co-star.

``Love's Labour's Lost'' is the latest Shakespeare adaptation by another big-screen Prince of Denmark, Kenneth Branagh. The director and co-star updated the romantic comedy to the early days of World War II and turned it into a musical, with tunes by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and George Gershwin.

In keeping with recent years, studios are stretching the summer by opening big pictures as early as a month before Memorial Day.

``Twister'' helped launch that trend in 1996, premiering in early May and grossing $242 million domestically. Other early successes included ``Deep Impact'' in 1998 and last year's ``The Mummy'' and ``Entrapment.''

This year, Universal debuts its World War II submarine movie ``U-571,'' starring Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton and Harvey Keitel, on Friday (April 21), and ``The Flintstones,'' featuring Mark Addy, Stephen Baldwin and Kristen Johnson, on April 28.

DreamWorks weighs in May 5 with Ridley Scott's ``Gladiator,'' starring Russell Crowe as a deposed Roman general. The studio offers Woody Allen's latest, ``Small Time Crooks,'' on May 19, as well as ``Road Trip,'' a comedy about college buddies trying to retrieve a sex tape one of them mistakenly sent to his girlfriend.

Other early entries include Sony's ``I Dreamed of Africa,'' starring Kim Basinger as a woman who swaps a comfortable life in Italy for the hardships of Kenya; and Disney's ``Dinosaur,'' combining live-action backgrounds and computer-animated prehistoric reptiles.

June 30 is shaping up as the summer's pivotal weekend.

Marching into theaters that weekend for the Fourth of July is Mel Gibson's ``The Patriot,'' a Revolutionary War epic whose trailer wowed theater owners at their annual convention in Las Vegas in March. Gibson plays a widowed father of seven, a French-Indian war hero reluctantly drawn into the American Revolution. Sony recently previewed 45 minutes of the film for reporters, showing off what promises to be an action-filled drama that resembles ``Braveheart'' plus 500 years (or ``Lethal Weapon'' circa 1776).

That same weekend, Warner Bros. launches ``The Perfect Storm,'' featuring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg in the adaptation of Sebastian Junger's best-seller about fishermen battling a monstrous storm.

Also coming June 30 is Universal's ``The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle,'' starring computer-generated versions of the TV squirrel and moose alongside Robert De Niro, Jason Alexander and Rene Russo as their nemeses, Fearless Leader, Boris and Natasha. The three evildoers are pulled out of their animated universe and into the real world. The movie allowed director Des McAnuff to bring a 21st century sensibility to the cartoon series, which began as a Cold War spoof.

``The fun is in a post-Cold War Rocky and Bullwinkle romping around in the year 2000,'' McAnuff said. ``Fearless Leader becomes a kind of media mogul in our version as he tries to take over the U.S.''

Among other summer highlights:

CHICKEN RUN: The animated adventure features the voices of Mel Gibson, Miranda Richardson and Jane Horrocks as hens who hatch an escape from a poultry farm.

TITAN A.E.: Another animated feature, with Matt Damon, Drew Barrymore and Bill Pullman among the voice cast. A teen searches for a legendary spaceship to save humanity.

ME, MYSELF AND IRENE: Jim Carrey reunites with the Farrelly brothers (``Dumb & Dumber'') as a cop with a dual personality, both of which fall for the same woman.

GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS: Also reuniting are Nicolas Cage and producer Jerry Bruckheimer (``The Rock'') in the story of a master car thief unwillingly forced out of retirement.

NUTTY PROFESSOR II: THE KLUMPS: Murphy returns as the portly Sherman Klump, who uses the latest in DNA research to rid himself of his unwanted alter-ego, Buddy Love.

HOLLOW MAN: In another science experiment gone wrong, Kevin Bacon updates the invisible man scenario, with remarkable special effects to show the actor vanishing from skin to bones.

WHAT LIES BENEATH: Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer star in a thriller about a college professor trying to unravel the mystery of a murdered student whose ghost appears to his wife.

THE KID: Bruce Willis, the dead guy who befriended the kid in ``The Sixth Sense,'' meets his own 8-year-old self in this comic fantasy.

POKEMON: THE MOVIE 2000: Sequel to last year's animated hit based on the cartoon and Nintendo game characters known as ``pocket monsters.''

LOSER: Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari of last summer's hit ``American Pie'' re-team for a campus comedy about a dweeb who finds romance.

NUMBERS: Travolta stars as a cash-impaired TV weatherman who conspires with the station's lotto-ball lady (Lisa Kudrow) to fix the state lottery drawing.

THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE: Robert Redford directs Will Smith as a mysterious caddy who imparts golf and life wisdom. Matt Damon co-stars.

SPACE COWBOYS: Clint Eastwood's latest directing effort, about retired fighter pilots recruited to help in a satellite crisis. Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, James Garner and Donald Sutherland star.

GIRLFIGHT: Michelle Rodriguez stars in a ``Rocky''-esque drama about a teen who bucks tradition and enters the boxing ring. The gritty, gutsy movie split the top prize at January's Sundance Film Festival.

THE REPLACEMENTS: As a warmup to the football season, Keanu Reeves and Gene Hackman lead gridiron subs who step on the field when the regular players go on strike.

IMPOSTOR: Based on a story by sci-fi master Philip K. Dick, the movie stars Gary Sinise and Madeleine Stowe in a tale of a scientist suspected of being an alien intruder.

BAIT: Jamie Foxx in the story of a petty criminal, jailed for stealing prawns, who is freed to help track a master gold thief.

THE CREW: Richard Dreyfuss and Burt Reynolds lead a gang of retired mobsters in a scheme to avoid eviction from their seedy Florida retirement home.

Besides the obvious films and stars, there's bound to be a sleeper hit or two.

``As in all summers, there is a film out there that we're not looking at much in the schedule,'' said Dergarabedian. ``Movies we're aware of in name only, but we have no idea what kind of phenomenon they could become.''

PARIS (Variety) - A dearth of major U.S. studio fare, a surfeit of Asian pictures, and plenty of long, long movies are the principal markers of this year's Cannes Film Festival, whose 53rd edition unspools on the Riviera May 10-21.

Gilles Jacob, the festival's longtime programmer, said the paucity of U.S. films was due in part to American studios ``not wanting to release the ones that were up to quality.'' He also cited the increase in Hollywood's split rights deals, which often results in disagreements with foreign partners over the merits of sending a film to Cannes.

Nonetheless, the festival is making a major gesture toward non-Francophone festgoers this year by introducing electronic subtitles in English in the two main theaters, the Lumiere and Debussy, plus the new 300-seat Salle Luis Bunuel, to be used for the retro and special homage screenings. Anglophones will at least be relieved of listening to simultaneous translations over headsets.

Announcing the lineup during a press briefing at the Grand Hotel, Jacob deemed 2000 to be the second ``satisfactory'' year in a row, breaking with the frequent pattern at Cannes of alternate good and bad years.

``That's something that hasn't happened in a long time,'' he said.

The veteran programmer revealed that he had been viewing films right up until Monday night, and that the selection process was getting no easier. ``Although the official deadline for films is March 15, we cannot refuse to see good films after that date, and we are seeing them later and later,'' he complained. A total 1,397 titles were viewed, of which 681 were feature-length pictures -- an increase of 23% on last year, he said.

This year's Competition rolls out 23 titles (up two on last year), with directors ranging from established Cannes figures like Ken Loach (L.A. union drama ``Bread & Roses''), James Ivory (Henry James' ``The Golden Bowl,'' starring Nick Nolte, Uma Thurman and Anjelica Huston), and Joel Coen (the musical ``O Brother, Where Art Thou?,'' with George Clooney and John Turturro) to Swedish director Roy Andersson, whose ``Songs From the Second Floor'' is his first film in 25 years.

The lineup is heavy with veterans and Croisette favorites, such as Lars Von Trier (musical ``Dancer in the Dark''), Liv Ullmann (the Ingmar Bergman-scripted ``The Faithless''), Wong Kar-wai ('60s melodrama ``In the Mood for Love'') and Nagisa Oshima (gay-themed samurai picture ``Gohatto''), with very little new or unknown blood -- yet again casting doubt on Jacob's assertion that the selection features much in the way of ``added value'' to its auteurist bias.

Most notable is the Competition's unprecedented Asian emphasis, with about one-third of the titles hailing from the Orient or Near East. In addition to Hong Kong's Wong and Japan's Oshima, Taiwan's Edward Yang returns to the Riviera with the midlife crisis drama ``A One and a Two...''; South Korean veteran Im Kwon-taek makes his first Cannes appearance with costume drama ``Chunhyang''; and mainland Chinese actor-director Jiang Wen debuts on the Croisette with the WWII-set drama ''During That War.''

The Near East is represented by 20-year-old Iranian helmer Samira Makhmalbaf's sophomore outing ``The Blackboard'' (Makhmalbaf is the youngest helmer in competition) and ''Kippur,'' by Israeli director Amos Gitai, returning to Cannes after ``Kadosh'' last year.

Commenting that a dozen French films could have claimed a place in the lineup, Jacob named the four selected: ``Les Destines Sentimentales'' by Olivier Assayas, who is in competition for the first time; Arnaud Desplechin's ``Esther Kahn''; Austrian Michael Haneke's ``Code Inconnu,'' starring Juliette Binoche; and ``Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien,'' by Dominik Moll. The most notable absentee is Benoit Jacquot's ''Sade,'' which had been hotly tipped for selection.

Also featured are pictures by two young U.S. indie directors -- Neil LaBute, graduating from Un Certain Regard with ``Nurse Betty,'' featuring Morgan Freeman, Renee Zellweger, Chris Rock, Greg Kinnear and Aaron Eckhart; and James Gray with ``The Yards'' with Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, James Caan, Charlize Theron and Faye Dunaway.

Completing the lineup are Russian filmmaker Pavel Lounguine's ``La Noce,'' Brazilian Ruy Guerra's ``Estorvo'' and U.S.-based Israeli filmmaker Amos Kollek's ``Fast Food Fast Women,'' funded by Euro coin.

The familiar sound of vacated seats clicking up mid-screening may be more evident than ever this year, what with the preponderance of competition films with outsized running times. Champ in this regard is Japanese helmer Aoyama Shinji's ''Eureka,'' which clocks in at 217 minutes. Other marathoners include ``Les Destines Sentimentales'' (180 minutes), ``A One and a Two'' (173), ``During That War'' (164), ``The Faithless'' (155), ``Esther Kahn'' (150), ``The Golden Bowl'' (140) and ''Dancer in the Dark'' (139).

The thesp-heavy competition jury, lead by president Luc Besson, features British actors Jeremy Irons and Kristin Scott Thomas, Spanish actress Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, Gallic thesp-director Nicole Garcia and German actress Barbara Sukowa. Others on the panel are U.S. director Jonathan Demme, Italian helmer Mario Martone, Indian scribe Arundhati Roy and French writer Patrick Modiano.

The jury will be operating under a new rule stipulating that a given film may be awarded a maximum of two prizes and receive that many only when one of the nods is for acting.

American actress Mira Sorvino is among those on the short film jury, which also includes helmers Francesca Comencini (Italy), Claire Denis (France) and Abdherramane Sissako (Mauretania). Belgian director Luc Dardenne, whose ``Rosetta'' took last year's Palme d'Or, heads the five-member team.

The festival's noncompeting section, with eight titles (up two on last year), is heavy with crowd-pleasers, such as Eurythmic Dave Stewart's directing debut ``Honest,'' starring three members of the Brit girl band All Saints as gun-toting bandits; Stephen Hopkins' ``Under Suspicion,'' a remake of Claude Miller's atmospheric 1981 policier ``Garde a vue,'' with Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman; John Waters' Hollywood spoof ''Cecil B. Demented,'' with Stephen Dorff, Melanie Griffith and Alicia Witt; Brian De Palma's sci-fier ``Mission to Mars,'' with Gary Sinise and Tim Robbins; ``Pi'' director Darren Aronofsky's second feature, ``Requiem for a Dream,'' with Jared Leto, Marlon Wayans, Ellen Burstyn and Jennifer Connelly; and Ang Lee's martial arts costumer ``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,'' with Chow Yun-fat and Michelle Yeoh.

While the opening night picture, Roland Joffe's French-financed, English-language ``Vatel,'' a costume drama starring Gerard Depardieu and Uma Thurman, will offer plenty of period pomp, the closer, Canuck Denys Arcand's ``Stardom,'' is a more modest offering. Jacob, however, defended his choice as an enjoyable picture. ``It's a film about celebrity, a satire,'' he opined.

Un Certain Regard opens this year with ``Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her,'' the Sundance-premiered first film of Rodrigo Garcia, the son of Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The multipart drama features Cameron Diaz, Holly Hunter, Glenn Close and Calista Flockhart. Closer is Hugh Hudson's ``I Dreamed of Africa,'' centered on a famous ecologist played by Kim Basinger.

As usual, the rest of the Certain Regard selection is largely a mixture of the completely unknown and slowly maturing talents. Latter include Italy's Mimmo Calopresti (''I Prefer the Sound of the Sea''), South Korea's Hong Sang-soo (existential drama ``Oh! Soojung''), and American actor Griffin Dunne's latest directing effort, ``Famous.'' Among the many countries, large and small, that are represented this year, Sub-Saharan Africa is notably absent.

Outside the official selection, film fans will be able to see ``Lancelot du Lac,'' a tribute to director Robert Bresson, who died last year, and Luis Bunuel's ``Viridiana,'' winner of the Palme d'Or in 1961. Tributes will also be paid to guests of honor Gregory Peck, with the screening of Barbara Kopple's documentary ``A Conversation With Gregory Peck''; Philippe Noiret, with the screening of Bertrand Tavernier's ``Life and Nothing But''; and Sean Penn, with ``The Indian Runner.''

Among A-list stars already firmed for the Palais' red carpet are George Clooney, Calista Flockhart, Melanie Griffith, Holly Hunter, Anjelica Huston, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nick Nolte, John Turturro, Tim Roth and Icelandic thrush Bjork.

Indie is in on the French Riviera.

Bucking a trend in recent years of premiering Hollywood blockbusters of Godzilla-like proportions, Cannes officials announced Tuesday a slate of lower-key films to compete at the 53rd edition of the venerable fest next month.

Among the notable exports from the States: Neil Labute's Nurse Betty, Joel Cohen's O Brother, Where Art Thou?, James Gray's The Yards and camp-meister John Waters' Cecil B. Demented. Ken Loach (Bread and Roses) and James Ivory (The Golden Bowl) are the British directors representing.

Foreign filmmakers making a dent in this year's schedule include Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar Wai (Untitled), Swedish director Roy Andersson (Songs from the Second Floor), 20-year-old Iranian filmmaker Samira Makhmalbaf's second feature (The Black Picture) and one from Ingmar Bergman staple, Liv Ullmann (Trolosa).

Perhaps the most anticipated film of the fest is Danish director Lars Von Trier's Dancer in the Dark, a musical extravaganza pairing Icelandic pop goddess, Bjork with French icon Catherine Deneuve. Reportedly the most expensive Scandinavian film ever made, Dancer is an English-language musical telling the story of a Czech immigrant (Bjork) who works in a factory but dreams of a life in classic Hollywood musicals. Von Trier won the Grand Prize in 1996 for Breaking the Waves.

This year marks the first time Cannes organizers are not citing directors' nationalities, saying there are now so many international coproductions and combinations of language, setting and financing that it makes it increasingly difficult to attribute such films to one country.

In all, 23 films will compete for the top prize, the Golden Palm, which will be chosen by a 10-member jury headed by French director Luc Besson and including the likes of Jonathan Demme, Jeremy Irons and Kristin Scott Thomas. Virginie Ledoyen, who wooed Leonardo DiCaprio in The Beach, will be the master of ceremonies.

Roland Joffe's period costume drama Vatel will kick things off May 10, while Denys Arcand's Stardom will close out the festivities May 21, when the awards will be announced.

Making their debuts at the fest out of competition will be Pi helmer Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream and actor Griffin Dunne's Famous.

Despite the glut of indie features, Hollywood won't be completely sidelined from the fest this year. Brian De Palma's Mission to Mars and Hugh Hudson's I Dreamed of Africa, starring Kim Basinger and Vincent Perez, are among the big-budget studio flicks playing the Palais out of competition.

Here's a rundown of the complete Cannes slate:

In Competition:

Songs from the Second Floor, Roy Andersson
Eureka, Aoynama Shinji
O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Joel Cohen
Kippur, Amos Gitai
The Yards, James Gray
Estorvo, Ruy Guerra
Chunhyang, Im Kwon Taek
The Golden Bowl, James Ivory
Guizi Lai Le, Jiang Wen
Fast Food Fast Women, Amos Kolleck
Nurse Betty, Neil LaBute
Bread & Roses, Ken Loach
La Noce, Pavel Lounguine
The Black Picture, Samira Makhmalbaf
Gohatto, Nagisa Oshima
Trolosa, Liv Ullmann
Dancer in the Dark, Lars Von Trier
Untitled, Wong Kar Wai
Yi Yi, Edward Yang

Out of Competition:
Mission to Mars, Brian DePalma
Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, Rodrigo Garcia
I Dreamed of Africa, Hugh Hudson
Famous, Griffin Dunne
Requiem for a Dream, Darren Aronofsky

PARIS (Reuters) - The Cannes Film Festival, to be held this year from May 10 to 21 in the French Riviera city, on Tuesday released the list of films in its main competition.

Among the directors were Ken Loach (Bread & Roses), Lars von Trier (Dancer in the Dark) and actress Liv Ullmann (The Faithless). French director Luc Besson will head the jury.

Festival organizers did not cite the directors' nationality, saying there were now so many international co-productions and combinations of language, setting, director and finance that it was increasingly difficult to put a single nationality to them.

The films in the main competition for full-length works and their directors are:

1. Sanger fran Andra Vaningen (Songs From the Second Floor)- Roy Andersson
2. Eureka -- Aoyama Shinji
3. O brother, where art thou? -- Joel Coen
4. Kippur -- Amos Gitai
5. The Yards -- James Gray
6. Estorvo (Muddle) -- Ruy Guerra
7. Chunhyang -- Im Kwon Taek
8. The Golden Bowl -- James Ivory
9. Guizi Lai Le -- Jiang Wen
10. Fast Food Fast Women -- Amos Kollek
11. Nurse Betty -- Neil Labute
12. Bread & Roses -- Ken Loach
13. La Noce -- Pavel Lounguine
14. Takhte Siah (The Black Picture) -- Samira Makhmalbaf
15. Gohatto (Taboo) -- Nagisa Oshima
16. Trolosa (The Faithless) -- Liv Ullmann
17. Dancer in the Dark -- Lars von Trier
18. Untitled -- Wong Kar-wai
19. Yi Yi (A One And a Two) -- Edward Yang

THE Hollywood rumor mill is buzzing that the reported rift between Winona Ryder and Matt Damon occurred because she slept with his hometown rival Mark Wahlberg.

Damon - who, like Wahlberg, is from Boston - supposedly became obsessed with the former Calvin Klein underwear model, to the point where Damon began tracking Wahlberg's movements around the country and even his meals, talking about him constantly.

According to insiders, Damon feels that Wahlberg is more "real," coming from the streets of Boston instead of a Harvard background, and Matt is concerned Wahlberg will get parts that directors feel the "Talented Mr. Ripley" star is too prissy to play.

Damon's growing obsession with Wahlberg became unsettling to Ryder, sources say, so when he made a recent trip to L.A., she found out where Wahlberg was staying and went to talk to him about defusing the situation.

"Wahlberg was oblivious," says our source. "She took it upon herself to go and talk to him about it." Unfortunately, after she'd spent some time with the hunky actor in his suite at the trendy Argyle Hotel on Sunset Boulevard, she succumbed to his charms.

Later, she was unable to conceal her infidelity from Damon, who was doubly furious that she'd cheated with the object of his now apparently justified paranoia.

"This is ridiculous," says Ryder's rep Mara Buxbaum. "I've never heard anything about this. I have no idea. I can't get in touch with her because she's out of the country."

Wahlberg's manager, Steve Levinson, did not return calls.

"This sounds like the dumbest story I've ever heard," says Damon's rep Jennifer Glaisek. "It's ridiculous. I was with Matt for three weeks in Europe last month and I never heard Mark Wahlberg's name brought up once." Glaisek says Damon and Ryder are on vacation together. "I can't tell you where."

The vacation may be an attempt to patch things up before it's too late; there have been reports of an Oscar-time rough patch occasioned by an over-insistent Russell Crowe. [See Liz Smith, Page 16.] Winona and Matt are one of Hollywood's reigning young glamor couples, along with Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck, who have had their share of ups and downs as well.

Fans are hoping they'll be able to reconcile their differences and make it to the altar, as Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman were able to do.

In the rehab drama 28 Days, British actor Dominic West plays Sandra Bullock's wayward boyfriend.

When it comes to making American films, West can't believe how naive and trusting he is.

"When we were filming A Midsummer Night's Dream, the director (Michael Hoffman) explained that the four lovers would be doing a nude scene," recalls West.

"When the fated day arrived, I mustered up all my courage and walked out there starkers. To my horror, Christian (Bale), Calista (Flockhart) and Anna (Friel) had discreet little body things on.

"They'd had it written into their contracts or something. Worst still, they all doubled over in laughter when they saw me, but then I get that a lot when I'm naked."

West is currently filming Metal God with Mark Wahlberg, in which he plays the lead guitarist in a Judas Priest-like band called Steel Dragon. West is the one who hires Wahlberg to be the band's lead singer.

"They gave me these long, hair extensions and these horrible spandex pants because it's set in 1985. When I got to the set, the other band members were all in these fantastic leather outfits.

"Apparently they'd rebelled when they saw the original costumes and went out and bought their own, but the director thought it was a great visual joke to keep me in the spandex." 

In 1995, Grohl released ''Foo Fighters,'' an album recorded in six days and on which he sang and played all of the instruments. After completing the project, he formed a band and headed out on tour. Despite several personnel changes, the group has gone on to release two more platinum-selling albums: 1997's ''The Colour & the Shape'' and last year's ''There Is Nothing Left to Lose.'' The current lineup--comprised of Grohl, drummer Taylor Hawkins, bassist Nate Mendel and rhythm guitarist Chris Shifflet--is now on tour with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Riding high on the crest of his second wave of success, Grohl still comes across as an unpretentious and good-humored guy. He's someone you can easily picture hanging out with at a house party. Perhaps that's because Grohl's life basically is a house party. After ditching his former digs in Los Angeles--a city he openly hates--Grohl settled in Virginia, built a recording studio in his house and invited Hawkins and Mendel to move in with him. (Shifflet joined the group just prior to the current tour.) There, the three barbecued, drank beer, listened to a variety of '70s-era rock and recorded ''There Is Nothing Left to Lose.''

Speaking by phone from his Virginia home, Grohl talked to Jon Zahlaway of LiveDaily sister site phoenix.citysearch.com about the unexpected success of his Foo Fighters project, his preference for living on the East Coast and why you won't see him gracing the silver screen anytime soon.

Jon Zahlaway: On your first album, 1995's ''Foo Fighters,'' you wrote and performed all the songs yourself. At that point, did you intend to put together a band, make more albums and tour?

Dave Grohl: No, the first record was kind of an experiment. I had been recording stuff on my own for about four or five years before that. I had an 8-track studio in my basement and I would go down there and write and record songs all day long. I'd record the drums first and layer guitars and bass and vocals over it. For years, I'd been building up this mass of songs--maybe 40 or more songs--some good, some of which totally sucked. I would experiment with different styles. I'd say, ''Let's make a heavy metal song,'' or ''Let's do a punk rock song,'' or ''Let's do an acoustic thing.'' In 1994, I decided to go down the street to this really nice 24-track recording studio and record them there on my own. I was gonna release it as a vinyl-only release on my own label, maybe 10,000 or 15,000 copies--I wasn't going to put my name or picture on it--and call it ''Foo Fighters'' so it sounded like a group of people. I wanted people to grab it, listen to it and judge it solely for its musical content and quality.

Look back at that point in time and then compare it to where Foo Fighters is today. How do you feel about the transformation that has taken place?

It's kind of surprising. I never expected it to go this long. I never knew it was going to last for five years. After we finished our previous album, I said, ''This is gonna be our last record.'' We didn't have any songs written for this record and we weren't under contract. I thought, ''We could stop it now. We don't have songs. We're not under any contract. We could just quit. We could retire at 30. That'd be great.''

So your deal with Capitol was just for your first two albums?

No, actually, we had another one that we were supposed to give them, but we had a ''key-man'' clause in our contract wherein it stated that if the president, Gary Gersh, were to leave, then we were allowed to leave too. He was an old friend of ours. He actually signed Nirvana to Geffen. So he split and we thought, ''F***, let's go. Come on. Let's get outta here.'' Anything you can do to get out of contract, you should do it. So we got out of that contract and built a studio in my house and made a record. Then, once we finished the record, we started negotiating with labels. Now we've signed a two-record deal, so we have to make one more record, and I think that's definitely going to be our last record ... or this is going to be our last record ... or the next one will be our last record [laughter]. It just kind of keeps going. Someone reminded me recently that, in an interview I did three years ago, the interviewer asked how long this band would last, and I said, ''I think I'll stop doing this when I'm 33.'' I just pulled that number out of my ass. And now, s***, that's two years away, man! I don't want to go back on my word, so I guess the day I turn 33, we'll stop being a band.

So you're going to stick to that?

Who knows? No, because I'll probably sign some other contract for more money and get stuck in it till I'm 50.

I assume you'll just keep doing it for as long as you're having fun with it.

Exactly. We're definitely having fun.

That's so obvious from watching your videos. They're a riot. Have you given any thought to acting in films?

I just got asked to be in a movie with Mark Wahlberg. They wanted me to be a truck driver. F*** that! I think that rock people who wind up in movies are f***ing jerks. The last thing in the world I want to see in a movie is some rock guy. Like Jon Bon Jovi? I don't want to see him in a movie. It'll ruin it for me. He's Jon Bon Jovi! He's not anybody else. If I go to see a movie, I want to sit down and lose myself in a film. If Mick Jagger walks through the scene, it's gonna ruin it for me. As a musician, you spend your life trying to establish yourself as an individual. That's what being a musician is all about. You're growing as an individual, musically. Actors and actresses spend their lives being other people. What the f*** is that? So f*** that. I don't want to be in a film. I'm rich enough. I don't need to act in any movies.

This seems like a natural point to discuss your distaste for L.A.

Yeah, I hate it. That's why I live in Virginia now. There's just something about the East Coast. It's been here for a while. People are used to it and are comfortable with being human beings. That's just the way it is. Everybody that I know here and everybody that I bump into everyday seem like good f***ing American human beings to me--whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. In Los Angeles, it's so f***ing superficial and people are so concerned with everything on the outside. I had some great friends there and I had a lot of fun there, but do I want to live there? No. Do I want to consider that my home? No. Do I want to be ''from'' Los Angeles? F*** no! Everyone who lives in Los Angeles is like, ''God, I f***ing hate it. I can't wait to get out.'' Well, go! Jesus Christ. If I did anything other than being a musician, I probably wouldn't have as much trouble there, but being in Los Angeles and seeing its seedy influence infiltrate the soul of rock music makes me sick because I hate the ''Los Angeles rock scene,'' per se. I just hate it!

You're not that ''hang at the Rainbow'' guy?

F*** no! That's so gauche. When I first moved down there in the beginning of 1997, this friend of mine worked at the Viper Room. I'd go to the Viper Room and get f***ed up almost every night. I went through this raging tequila phase for about two months. For those two months, it was great. I had a blast. It's where I discovered the comedy group Tenacious D, met a lot of really nice people and made a lot of very cool friends. But after that, I just said, ''Ugghhh.'' It's like waking up from a really nasty hangover when you've got someone or something all over you and you just want to take a shower and f***ing run home, you know?

In addition to playing guitar and singing, you played five of the drum tracks on ''There Is Nothing Left to Lose.'' What instrument do you enjoy playing the most?

I feel most confident playing the drums. Next to that, I like playing guitar because it's portable and relaxing. And I f***ing hate singing.

Really?

Absolutely.

Why are you doing it?

'Cause I get paid [laughter]. No, I don't know. It was supposed to be this great challenge at first, and it's still very challenging. I just don't like the sound of my own voice. I don't know many people that do like the sound of their own voice.

You guys have a good vocal sound and good melodies.

Well, the important thing is to find an interesting melody line. I think that as long as the hook is there, then people will forget that the sound of your voice is like fingernails on a chalkboard.

Taylor's been singing a song or two in concert during this tour, right?

Yeah. Dude, I think what should happen for the next record is that Taylor should be the singer of the Foo Fighters and I should be the drummer. Then I can drop out of the band and Nate, Taylor, Chris and some other drummer can continue being the Foo Fighters. Then I can go see the band play--and still get a percentage of ticket sales and T-shirt prices.

Is Chris Shifflet a full-fledged Foo Fighter now?

Yes, he is. We've been recording all week. We did a new, beautiful '70s cover. ''Lonely Boy'' by Andrew Gold. It's good.

I've noticed you're into the '70s vibe.

Well, dude, c'mon. How old are you?

I'm 30.

Well, you know the '70s vibe. It was fun. I love the AM '70s soft rock. That's what I grew up listening to driving around in my mom's Ford Maverick with her on her way to yoga class playing Phoebe Snow or something like that. We're working on our stage costumes right now. It's going to be a full Bruce Springsteen '70s vibe. I'm telling you, it really is. You just wait. You're in for a surprise.

Black Label Society singer/guitarist Zakk Wylde is taking a break from the music industry and working on the upcoming comedy "Metal God" with Mark Wahlberg ("Boogie Nights," "The Corruptor") and Jennifer Aniston ("Friends").

"It is a lot of fun on the set and hanging out with Mark Wahlberg," says Wylde, who for the past decade or so has played guitar for the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Guns N' Roses and Pride & Glory. "Mark is a closet metal fan. We are having so much fun, just playing metal music and drinking beers."

The film's story revolves around a singer in a cover band of a popular metal act called Steel Dragon, who eventually gets to sing for the real band after their singer leaves. 'Metal God' is directed by Stephen Herek ("101 Dalmatians", "Mr. Holland's Opus") and is slated for a December release.

"It is a hilarious movie, really funny," says Wylde. "The movie is really about the story between Jennifer Aniston and Mark Wahlberg, with the band story line just being the vehicle for the movie. It isn't like Spinal Tap at all with the focus just in the band. There is a story to this and all of the music business stuff that comes with it."

"We just shot a video for our song 'Counterfeit God' (off their latest record Stronger Than Death) and Mark appears in the video," chuckles Wylde discussing his band's work on his days off from shooting. "I said to him, 'You got me in your movie, so the least you can do is f***ing be in our video.' We have him playing bass. It is too funny."

 And since he got Mark Wahlberg playing bass in his video, how about Wylde doing a guest spot on Aniston's popular sitcom "Friends"?

Laughing, Wylde says, "You never know. I could be the drug-addict guy or something like that. You know, the complete lush who comes over and hangs out in the apartment. Yeah, right. I'd probably only last one damn show."

Oscars be damned.

The best picture of 1999 was Three Kings, a film that could sit comfortably in the war, comedy, action, adventure or drama sections of your local video store. It's all of the above and a timely, surgically precise satire on the absurdities of war in the late 20th century. Think: Gunga Din Meets Catch-22 in the Gulf War.

Special forces Captain Archie Gates (George Clooney) is killing time waiting for a ceasefire to be made official after the U.S. has cleaned house in Kuwait. When he comes into possession of a treasure map which may lead to a cache of Kuwaiti gold stolen by Iraq, he recruits an unlikely group consisting of an army reserve soldier (Mark Wahlberg), a Christian baggage handler (Ice Cube) and a redneck (Spike Jonze) to take the gold for themselves.

Other movies that refer to the Gulf War (Courage Under Fire, for one) skirted the issues of that war in favour of safer themes. Writer-director David O. Russell (Spanking the Monkey) hits the issues head-on, with particular emphasis on the plight of anti-Saddam Iraqis, presumably American allies, who were left out hung to dry when the U.S. came to terms with Hussein.

It's provocative stuff filmed with stylish bravado, which is presumably why the Academy froze the film out of Oscar contention this year. Don't make the same mistake of ignoring it. Place it on the top of the For Your Consideration list at the video store.

Rating 4.5 out of 5

Hollywood is hot for South Boston and Michael Patrick McDonald's take-no-prisoners look at his home town, ``All Souls: A Family History of Southie.''

McDonald's book about growing up amidst the drugs, racial violence, crime and suicides with his mini-skirted, accordian-playing floozy of a single mom and nine brothers and sisters is the most sought-after script in Tinseltown right now.

Actors Susan Sarandon, Mark Wahlberg, Whoopi Goldberg, Denis Leary, ``Goodfellas'' gal Debby Mazur and Southie homegal Sue Costello all want a piece of the action.

Ditto for directors Neal Jordan, who helmed ``The Crying Game''; Ron Shelton of ``Tin Cup'' and ``Bull Durham'' fame; and Jim Sheridan, who directed ``My Left Foot'' and ``Agnes Browne.''

``There seems to be quite a bit of interest,'' said McDonald's agent/attorney, Elaine Rogers of Palmer & Dodge. ``Susan Sarandon wants to play the mother, Mark Wahlberg's very interested in the rights and Whoopi really has a plan for how this book should be developed.''

Rogers said she hopes to have a deal put together within the next couple of weeks and that she and McDonald are taking meetings with all the suitors to see which one is best suited to tell the tale.

"It's a very personal story, Michael's life story,'' she said. "We want to make certain that whomever we close a deal with shares the same vision for the story as Michael and that they feel comfortable with one another.''

Right now, we hear McDonald and Whoopi are getting on famously, but the race isn't over yet. So do stay tuned.

File under: All Soul-d?