- Who was going to see movies this weekend? No, that’s not a
rhetorical question. It really is worth asking who went to see movies this
weekend because based on the earnings numbers, there were few enough butts in
theater seats that counting everyone and getting names shouldn’t take long.
“Nightcrawler” topped the earnings list in its debut with $11 million, but it
was an underwhelming debut for Jake Gyllenhaal’s much-hyped new movie. Reigning
earnings king “Ouija” slid to second place by the slimmest margin with $10.9
million and through two weeks, the horror movie made for $5 million has earned
$35 million domestically. “Fury” stayed third for the second weekend in a row
with $9.1 million, giving the World War II-themed movie $60.4 million in its
first three weeks of release. “Gone Girl” kept being present in the top five
with $8.8 million in its fifth weekend for fourth place, giving one of the top
earners in recent months $136.6 million through five productive weeks. In fifth
place was “The Book of Life,” which raked in $8.3 million and has a three-week
tally of $40.5 million. It was a steep fall for “John Wick,” owner of sixth
place with $8 million as it fell off 44 percent from its opening weekend and
has snagged $27.5 million in two weeks in theaters. “St. Vincent” was next in
seventh place as it added 270 theaters and earned $7.7 million for a four-week
domestic take of $19.5 million. Eighth place and the award for most
interminably long name both went to “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible,
No Good, Very Bad Day” with $6.5 million and a cumulative domestic total of
$53.6 million. “The Judge” rose one spot to ninth place thanks to a $3.4
million weekend, giving Robert Downey Jr.’s latest $39.5 million overall. The
last top 10 spot went to “Dracula Untold” with $2.9 million, good for a running
tally of $52.8 million. “The Best of Me” (No. 11) tumbled out from last week’s
top 10………..
- It’s that time again and the world is once again better
for it. Spain’s sheep-herding protestors are back and boy, are they a sight for
sore eyes. This has become something of an annual tradition, the sight of
shepherds guiding a flock of 2,000 sheep through Madrid's streets in defense of
ancient grazing, droving and migration rights increasingly threatened by urban
sprawl and modern agricultural practices. Granted, the world pretty much
forgets about these guys before the last pile of sheep turds have been scooped
up off the streets of the Spanish capital, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a
special treat for tourists and locals to see the capital's traffic cut to allow
the ovine contingent to bleat its way through town, bells clanking past the
many iconic locations throughout the city. Shepherds paused at the town hall
for a symbolic gesture as the chief herdsman handed authorities 25 maravedies —
copper coins first minted in the 11th century — as payment for the crossing. It
was an anachronistic display that fit perfectly with the spirit of the day and
with that pointless task complete, the sheep parade continued past central
Puerta del Sol square and the Bank of Spain headquarters on their way to Retiro
Park. Some of Spain’s herding routes have been used annually for over 800 years
and Madrid’s urban sprawl has consumed one that dates all the way back to 1372,
more than a century before that directionally challenged dolt Columbus
sailed the ocean blue. Here’s looking forward to next year’s sheep march, which
remains Spain’s coolest parade even though no candy is involved and unwanted
manure is dispersed throughout Madrid’s lovely streets in its aftermath……..
- College basketball season isn't off to a flying start for
the Indiana Hoosiers. Tom Crean’s crew has yet to play a regular-season game,
but one of their players has already turned in one of the biggest bonehead moments
of the year. Enter freshman Emmitt
Holt, who was over the legal limit for blood-alcohol content for someone under
the age of 21 – 0.025 at the age of 18 – who has been cited for illegal
consumption and operating a vehicle under the influence after plowing over
teammate Devin Davis, leaving Davis hospitalized with a head injury and the
Hoosiers with a major headache. . The school released a statement that Davis
was injured after being struck by a vehicle driven by Holt just moments after
exiting it, noting that Davis was taken to IU Health Bloomington Hospital and
is listed in serious condition. Holt was cited for illegal consumption and
operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol content above 0.02. According to Sgt.
Jeffery Canada of the Bloomington Police Department, Holt and passengers in his
SUV told police they had dropped Davis off in the parking lot outside the
stadium about 12:45 a.m. Saturday. As those inside the car explained it, Holt
was driving away "when, for unknown reasons, Mr. Davis came into the
roadway and struck the side of the vehicle near the front passenger
windshield.” When police arrived, they e found Davis unconscious with a head
injury on the street just off campus. Holt’s Jeep Liberty had sustained damage
to its passenger side, front fender and windshield, Canada said. Both players
are 6-foot-7 forwards who weren't expected to be major players for IU, but
Crean called off Saturday's open practice and scrimmage in light of the
incident. Way to keep the eyes on the prize, fellas……….
- Los Angeles remains a ginormous freak magnet and no one
really expects that to change any time soon. The question is merely which
freaks are in town for their convention on a given weekend and this time
around, it was the grown men and women who worship at the altar of a cartoon
cat that wears an omnipresent pink bow in her hair and could have well been
drawn by a 7-year-old on her lunch break after making a prescient
pudding-for-fruit-roll-up trade in the cafeteria. Yes, it was the first-ever
Hello Kitty convention in the City of Angels to celebrate the global cartoon
sensation’s 40th birthday. Sadly, it wasn’t just schoolgirls with Hello Kitty
backpacks crowding the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Los Angeles, but
rather a motley crew of adults and children with neither self-respect nor dignity
who were trying to get inside for a look at the sold-out event featuring
merchandise for sale and even a tattoo parlor. By the time the event came to a
close Sunday night, it had drawn some 25,000 fans and even worse, this debacle
was merely a harbinger of something much dark and sinister looming on the
horizon. Yes, there are already plans for Hello Kitty’s world tour next year.
“For the first-time ever, there’s going to be so much eye-candy and so much to
see and do and take pictures of. If you love Hello Kitty, you’re going to be
very, very happy,” David Marchi of Sanrio, Inc. Eye candy? Dave-O, if you think
of Hello Kitty as eye candy, then there is little hope for you in a world where
actual eye candy abounds and people with a modicum of self-worth can find
non-humiliating things to get tattooed on their bodies in places where the
population isn't comprised primarily of 9-year-old girls in pigtails………
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