National Post du lieu suivant : Toronto, Ontario, Canada • 29

NATIONAL POST, THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2001 ARTS LIFE B5 CNN goes for glam, hires former NYPD Blue star BROADCAST NEWS network, has an average audience of 171,000 viewers CNN Headline News is looking for star power to boost its ratings, hiring former NYPD Blue actress Andrea Thompson for a news job. Thompson will be an anchorwoman for the network, said a CNN executive who spoke on condition of anonymity. CNN also announced Tuesday it had hired former ABC News reporter Sheila at MacVicar, a Canadian, as a London-b ed interna- of tional correspondent. Thompson played detective Jill Kirkendall on NYPD Blue. Her character left the ABC show in 1999 after marital problems interfered with David Starkey (HarperCollins, $39.50) 8.

(-, 1 week) Buddha by Karen Armstrong (Viking, $28.99) 9. (5, 3 weeks) Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (Houghton Mifflin, $38.95) 10. (7, 6 weeks) The Darwin Awards: Evolution in Action by Wendy Northcutt (Dutton, $23.99) TOP PAPERBACK NON- FICTION RON TOM ABC Thompson left the show to become a journalist. BEST -SELLERS TOP HARDCOVER FICTION I Figures in brackets represent position in last week's chart and number of weeks on the chart. 1.

(2, 3 weeks) The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart $34.99) 2. (-, 1 week) Death in Holy Orders by P.D. James (Knopf Canada, $36.95) 3. (4, 2 weeks) Lone Eagle by Danielle Steel (Delacorte Press, $36.95) 4. (-, 1 week) Stanley Park by Timothy Taylor (Knopf Canada, $32.95) 5.

(3, 3 weeks) Warlock by Wilbur Smith (Macmillan, $36.95) 6. (2, 5 weeks) Dreamcatcher by Stephen King (Scribner, $39.95) 7. (6, 27 weeks) Vinyl Unplugged by Stuart McLean (Viking, $32.99) 8. (5, 3 weeks) The Skies of Pern by Anne McCaffrey (Del Rey, $38) 9. (-, 1 week) A Common Life: The Wedding Story by Jan Karon (Viking, $35.99) 10.

(7, 8 weeks) The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan (Putnam, $37.99) TOP PAPERBACK FICTION 1. (1, 7 weeks) No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod $17.99) 2. (3, 2 weeks) Before I Say Good-Bye by Mary Higgins Clark (Pocket Books, $10.99) 3. (-, 1 week) Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje (Vintage Canada, $19.95) 4. (5, 2 weeks) The Empty Chair by Jeffery Deaver (Pocket Books, $10.99) 5.

(2, 3 weeks) Carolina Moon by Nora Roberts (Jove, $10.99) 6. (6, 3 weeks) Havana Bay by Martin Cruz Smith (Ballantine, $10.99) 7. (-, 1 week) The Falls by Ian Rankin (Orion, $24.95) 8. (14, 3 weeks) Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding (Penguin, $19) 9. (4, 3 weeks) After the Fire by Belva Plain (Dell, $10.99) 10.

(11, 14 weeks) Chocolat by Joanne Harris (Doubleday Canada, $19.95) TOP HARDCOVER NON- FICTION 1. (-, 1 week) The Last Amigo by Stevie Cameron and Harvey Cashore $36.99) 2. (1, 23 weeks) The Dog Rules (Damn Near Everything) by William J. Thomas (Key Porter, $21.95) 3. (2, 12 weeks) Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole by Jerri Nielsen (Hyperion, $32.95) 4.

(6, 4 weeks) Bones: Discovering the First Americans by Elaine Dewar (Random House Canada, $34.95) 5. (4, 72 weeks) Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom (Doubleday, $31.95) 6. (10, 6 weeks) Jane Austen by Carol Shields (Viking, $28.99) 7. (3, 10 weeks) Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne by so far this year, according to Nielsen Media Research; her police work. She switched careers and was that's virtually unchanged from last year.

Headline hired last May as a reporter and fill-in anchor at News runs a complete news report in half-hour cycles television station KRQE in Albuquerque, N.M. around the clock. MacVicar, a graduate of Carleton She said at the time she wanted a job that al- University in Ottawa, was cut loose this year from lowed her more time with her child and to study ABC, where she had reported on Africa, Europe and economics. Her hiring may signal a flashier new era the Middle East for World News Tonight and NightCNN. The network recently came under the control line.

She will start reporting for CNN on May 7, said Jamie Kellner, former chief at the Fox and WB net- Eason Jordan, chief news executive for the CNN works, and he told USA Today Tuesday that he is News Group. "I am thrilled to be joining CNN, which looking for more star power at the news networks. is committed to serious international news coverage," CNN Headline News, an offshoot of the main CNN MacVicar said. The Associated Press Oh, the car is in there somewhere 1. (1, 12 weeks) Dropped Threads edited by Carol Shields and Marjorie Anderson (Vintage Canada, $22.95) 2.

(2, 9 weeks) A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (Vintage Canada, $19.95) 3. (4, 10 weeks) Vagina Monologues: The V-Day Edition by Eve Ensler (Villard, $19.95) 4. (7, 20 weeks) Clear Your Gutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston (Broadway, $16.95) 5. (11, 27 weeks) Too Close to the Falls by Catherine Gildiner (ECW Press, $18.95) 6. (3, 2 weeks) Darwin's Ghost by Steve Jones (Doubleday Canada, $22.95) 7.

(10, 32 weeks) Sisters in the Wilderness by Charlotte Gray (Penguin, $18.99) 8. (5, 56 weeks) The WorstCase Scenario Survival Handbook by Joshua Piven David Borgenicht (Chronicle Books, $23.95) 9. (14, 15 weeks) Empty Promises and Other True Cases by Ann Rule (Pocket Books, $10.99) 10. (6, 95 weeks) Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer (Anchor, $9.99) I Book charts are compiled by BookManager from sales of more than 160 independent bookstores across Canada. STEVIE CAMERON HARVEY CASHORE The Amigo Karlheinz Schreiber and the Anatomy of a Scandal 800 JOHN LEHMANN NATIONAL POST Stevie Cameron is the co-author of The Last Amigo: Karlheinz Schreiber and the Anatomy of a Scandal, which cover non-fiction BMW commissions five A-list directors for film series featuring Bimmers BY BRENDA BOUW BMW is expected today to launch The Hire, a series of five short digital films from such A-list Hollywood directors as John Frankenheimer, Ang Lee and Guy Ritchie.

The series, which can only be viewed online, at www.bmwfilms.com, stars British actor Clive Owen (Croupier) in each episode, as well as guest appearances by such celebrities as Madonna, Tomas Milian (Traffic), Mickey Rourke (Get Carter) and Victoria's Secret model Adriana Lima. Frankenheimer's 1998 action film Ronin is said to be one of the inspirations for the series, which has been paid for by the German car and motorcycle manufacturer. It is also Frankenheimer's film, Ambush, that starts off the series. In Ambush, the bad guys pursue the Hire, who is driving his client in a 740i Sport. The client claims to have swallowed in uncut diamonds" and begs the driver not to abandon him because the bad guys will destroy him.

The bad guys end up shooting the BMW full of holes, but, because the car is the real hero here, they do not stop it. A new episode from another of the five directors will be added every two weeks. The second film, Chosen, is directed by Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), followed by The Follow, from Wong wai (In the Mood for Love), Star, from Ritchie (Snatch), and Powder Keg, by Alejandro Gonzalez (Amores Perros). David Fincher (Seven, The Game) is the executive producer of the series. While each film is an individual project, the common thread will be the BMW models driven by Owen.

For car fanatics, the real celebrities will be the seven different Bimmers that star in the series, including the 740i, 540i, 330Ci, Z3 roadster, 530i and X5. The last film, which is scheduled to air online in June, will feature the all-new 745i, making it the world's first glimpse of the car maker's new 7-series. BMWs have been stars in Hollywood films in the past, such as the 1995 James Bond film Goldeneye, in which Pierce Brosnan drives a Z3. That appearance was followed by the BMW 750iL and R1 200C motorcycle in 1999's Tomorrow Never Dies and the Z8 in last year's The World Is Not Enough. The Hire is BMW's first Internet project.

The company teamed up with Los Angeles-based multimedia group Anonymous Content to produce the online film series. "We have never done anything like this before," said BMW spokeswoman Karen Vonder Meulen, adding that The Hire is a way for the company to "meld art, entertainment, technology and commerce This is a non-traditional way to do something different, and I think people expect BMW to be innovative." She said BMW chose this method of after studies commissioned by the company showed that of people who buy BMWs (people she described as being "high-energy, type-A go online before making the purchase. Vonder Meulen refused to comment on how much the directors were paid for The Hire or whether they received BMWs as part of their compensation. However, media reports say Ritchie will make for directing his spot and his wife, Madonna, will be paid for her appearance in his ad. Vonder Meulen said BMW gave the directors creative control over their films and asked only that they include one of their cars.

"Of course they will have a role in it," she said of the BMWs. Clive has to drive something." Vonder Meulen added the films are not just about BMWs, pointing to Lee's spot, which she said focuses very little on the car. "It is more about the story, more of an art-house film." Each of the films also have a different tone, ranging from Frankenheimer's action spot to the funny film shot by Ritchie. There are also other makes of cars in the series, which crash, as do the BMWs. "But only where it is appropriate," Vonder Meulen said.

She said trailers for The Hire will be shown in theatres to promote the series, but there are no plans to put the movies themselves on the big screen. "Although we would never say never." National Post BOB DYLAN DOWN THE HIGHWAY THE LIFE OF BOB DYLAN HOWARD SOUNES The five runner-up winners listed below will each receive a copy of DOWN THE THE LIFE OF BOB DYLAN. Carina Watts, Vancouver, BC Joel Zifkin, PO Pat Barlosky, Mississauga, ON Cory Bartlert, Cambridge, ON Kim Knight, Uxbridge, ON Winners will be contacted by National Post Promotions MAGASIN DE MUSIQUE steves. MUSIC STORE www.stevesmusic.com Top, Clive Owen and John Frankenheimer on the set of The Ambush; above, Adriana Lima and a Z3 roadster star in The Follow. TRIVIA CONTEST WINNERS Congratulations to WALLACE HAMMOND of St.

John's, NE, the Grand Prize winner of the Bob Dylan Trivia Contest. Wallace will receive a FENDER STRATOCASTER GUITAR, a HOHNER HARMONICA, and a GIG BAG, courtesy of STEVE'S MUSIC STORE. Also, a copy each of DOWN THE THE LIFE OF BOB DYLAN and BOB DYLAN: A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST'S EARLY YEARS, courtesy of PUBLISHERS GROUP WEST. HERE'S A RECAP OF THE QUESTIONS THEY ANSWERED AND THE CORRECT ANSWERS: 0: What year did Bob Dylan create a sensation at the Newport Folk Festival by "going 1965 What is the name of Dylan's debut album? BOB DYLAN Dylan won an Oscar last month for the song "Things Have For the soundtrack of which movie was it written? WONDER BOYS Name the BBC Television play (now lost) in which Dylan acted in 1962. THE MADHOUSE OF CASTLE STREET PG THE NEWS.

YOU HAVE OUR WORD POST ON IT. NATIONAL 1.800.668.POST www.nationalpost.com enters the hardchart at No. 1. Such self sacrificing love and unswerving loyalty deserve to be LOvE You like she's been telling you for years Mum just Tell your mother you love her in National Post's To place your message or inquire about rates, call 1-866-256-7678 or e-mail special Mother's Day classifieds. before May 5th.