- Another weekend, another box office win for Shrek Forever After, which grossed $25.3 million to raise its overall tally to $183 million. However, the film is still lagging well behind the previous three installments of the Shrek franchise and has a long way to go to match the original Shrek’s $267 million, which stands as the lowest-earning of the three films. In second place was Get Him to the Greek, which earned an $17.4 million in its opening weekend in theaters on the strength of, um……a lackluster cast fronted by Jonah Hill, Russell Brand and Diddy. It has a ways to go in order to break even with its $40 million budget, but should make it there. Next on the list was Killers, featuring Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher as a married couple in the spy business, with $16.1 million and mostly awful reviews. Finishing fourth for the weekend was Prince of Persia, earning another $13.8 million for a running total of $59.4 million. Still, it seems that the ladies just aren’t flocking to see Jake Gyllenhaal like they once did. Yet Persia was still stronger than the still-disappointing Sex and the City 2, which fell 59 percent for the weekend, earned a paltry $12.6 million and continued to fall well short of expectations. It’s total gross stands at $73.4 million, far behind its predecessor, which grossed $152.6 million two summers ago. Close behind was Marmaduke, the animated flick fronted by the voice cast of Owen Wilson and George Lopez, earning $11.3 million for the weekend for a sixth place finish. It may have done better had Twentieth Century Fox even tried to promote it, but that didn’t seem to be in the budget. Seventh place went to top 10 mainstay Iron Man 2, which made another $7.8 million in its fifth weekend in theaters to push its overall gross to the brink of the coveted $300 million mark ($291 million and counting). The R-rated Splice held down eighth place with a take of $7.4 million despite the name value of leading man Adrian Brody. Splice was the lowest-earning of the new releases and disrupted the normal success achieved by films that do well at Sundance. Ranking ninth for the weekend was Robin Hood with another $5.1 million, putting its domestic total at $94.3 million, further cementing the trend of Crowe’s films doing better on the international scene. Rounding out the top 10 was Letters to Juliet, starring Amanda Seyfried. The film lost 49 percent of its value and has now made $43.3 million overall. In total, box office earnings were down 24 percent compared to last year at this time, when The Hangover began began running wild. Check back in next week to see if The Karate Kid can kick the competition up a notch…………
- Of all the broadcasters in the game right now, there aren’t many who are more respected than CBS Sports’ Jim Nantz. The guy has called nearly every sport there is to call and he does them all with class, professionalism and skill. Up until now, the only place I ever found fault with the guy was the curmudgeon-y ass he used to call a partner, Billy Packer. However, if Nantz wants to continue having my (and anyone else’s) respect, he should probably stop quoting Bette Midler’s lyrics on air. Broadcasting as part of CBS’ coverage of this past weekend’s Memorial Championship, Nantz was searching for just the right words to describe Justin Rose’s comeback victory. Now, it can be difficult to summon up just the right words to fit the moment, so announcers typically deserve a little leeway on these things. Still, it’s their job to be eloquent and well-spoken in big moments. Maybe this is just me, but quoting Bette Midler’s “The Rose” doesn’t fit either of those criteria. Quoth Nantz: “This is the putt that wrapped it up. And what’s that Bette Midler song? How does that go? Think about his journey here. When the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long … Just remember in the winterfar beneath the bitter snows lies the seed that with the sun’s love in the spring becomes the rose.” Umm…..awkward. I don’t have the exact numbers in front of me as far as CBS’ demographics for its golf broadcasts, but I’m guessing that there may have been two or three people watching the tournament who had any idea what the heck they had just heard. Also, I’m certain that Rose would have loved a quote from any other song ever written to commemorate his first PGA Tour victory. Go with “Every Rose Has Its Thorns” by Posion, go with anything but what you went with, Jimbo Nantz. But if you’re going to make that indefensible choice that will endear you only to older women and blatantly gay dudes (neither of whom are notorious for being huge golf fans), you should probably go the extra mile and sing those lyrics out proud, just the way Bette herself would do………..
- Good call, White House reporter Helen Thomas. Riding off into the sunset with a wave of racial carnage behind you is probably a good move, lest people remember you only as a bitter, bigoted and senile old woman who was caught on video telling a rabbi that Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and go back to Germany and Poland. Thomas made those regrettable remarks last week during a White House event and likely because she’s old as dirt (and looks it) and still isn’t down with that new-fangled video stuff the kids are all talking about, she was virtually oblivious to the fact that the exchange was caught on tape. She then showed that Betty White isn’t the only senior citizen who can go viral, with the video spreading rapidly online and earning her plenty of unflattering evaluations not befitting of someone who has spent decades covering the White House with skill and tact. In light of her hateful words, her employer, Hearst News Service, announced Thomas’ resignation and she issued a statement apologizing for what she said. "I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians," Thomas said a statement. "They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon.” What, you mean the sort of mutual tolerance you exhibited by hatefully declaring that one of those parties should get the hell out of Palestine and go back to where they used to reside? Call me cynical, but I think following your example will actually kick the hostilities in the Middle East up a notch or ten, H. Predictably, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs condemned Thomas' remarks Monday. "Those remarks were offensive and reprehensible," Gibbs said, noting that her sentiments "do not reflect certainly most of the people here and certainly not those of the administration." Right behind Gibbs in the line to denounce Thomas was the White House Correspondents Association, which called the comments "indefensible," adding that the board "firmly dissociates itself from them.” Thomas also canceled a graduation speech and was dropped by her speaking agency, Nine Speakers. Why? What group of proud graduates wouldn’t have their special day made that much better with a racist, senile old woman coming to talk to them about the world as she sees it? Again, the sad thing for Thomas is that she was once known as a trailblazer who has covered the White House since the end of the Eisenhower administration, was the first female member and president of the White House Correspondents Association and became the first woman to be an officer of the National Press Club. Now? She’s that crazy old kook who is throwing out hate speech against Jews and telling them to go back where they came from…………
- This next story is why the world would be much better off if the Guinness Book of World Records had never existed. That book inspires idiots to attempt feats like cooking the world’s largest hamburger. The kooks inspired to make that attempt reside in Sydney, Australia and they have cooked up a 178-pound patty that took 12 hours to cook and four men to flip. Sydney cafe owners Joe and Iman El-Ajouz are claiming victory in the race for the biggest hunk of greasy meat on a bun after grilling up a monster burger that weights in at 198 pounds in total, besting the previous record of 185 pounds, set in Michigan. "Just flipping the patty was the main challenge for us, but it all went well," Iman El-Ajouz said. “My husband had to prepare special metal holders and a metal plate, he had one at the bottom one at the top, locked them together and they flipped the burger with that.” The burger consisted of one giant beef patty, 120 eggs, 150 slices of cheese, more than three pounds of beetroot, five and a half pounds of tomatoes and almost four and a half pounds of lettuce, all topped off with a special sauce on a giant sesame seed bun. And no, it was not eaten in one sitting by Rosie O’Donnell or Kirstie Alley, although I’m thinking that was because they simply weren’t notified in time to attend. Instead, café employees chowed down on the massive hunk of meat and tested it out in preparation for its addition to the café’s menu next year in order to meet the conditions for a Guinness world record. It will be on the menu, but it will take a patron with both a deep pocketbook and a FAT bank account to buy this burger. The cost of $1,220 should prohibit most would-be buyers, but eventually someone is going to purchase one and then have their meals taken care of (lots of leftovers!) for the next year or so……………
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