Beating all records for opening weekend known to mankind, The Dark Knight stormed into the box office with a fierce vengeance. Closing its 3-day weekend run with a cool $155 million (over $30 million more than its production cost), the film’s producer, Chuck Roven, went on to gush aboutHeath Ledger’s fatal performance as the villainous Joker.
With Oscar buzz all around mounting over Ledger’s portrayal and some going as far as to say, his “method acting” antics put him over the edge (who buys that, really?), no one’s arguing that Ledger’s the real draw in all this movie-going mania frenzy, even with Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes and Katie giving some bogus excuse as to why her love for Tom Cruise Scientology prevented her from resuming her role in the follow-up sequel.
Last time I checked the Summer movie line-up however, this year has been a doozy as far as decent films in the theatres so maybe we could all use a little reality check here.
Ilana Donna goes to visit the folks in Florida and bites off a little more than even she can chew with the characters she encounters (and no, I’m talking about her family).
Amy Winehouse and her producer Mark Ronson won’t be teaming up for any theme songs to any motion pictures anytime soon. The two were slated to make some more beautiful music together - this time for the upcoming James Bond film, “Quantum of Solace.” Unfortunately for the Bond franchise and Amy fans, Ronson doesn’t feel Winehouse is ready to resume recording sessions for the song.
“We tried to work for a little bit,” he told Sky News. “I’m not sure she’s ready to work on music yet.”
Ronson, who produced much of the troubled singer’s Back to Black album, also said it was unlikely work on the Quantum of Solace track would continue “unless by some miracle of science it gets recorded and someone sings a vocal on it”.
He added: “We did work on it but we never finished it so that’s about it.”
The Oscars air tonight and since I’ve seen at least some of the films nominated, I have more of a vested interest in who wins and who doesn’t. The SAG and Golden Globes are usually somewhat of an indicator as to who will sweep, but as past years have shown, it’s not always a fool-proof litmus test.
But what about the other awards show of late?
Besides the fact that the Spirit (Independent Spirit) awards are the “coolest”- people get to actually show up in birkenstocks/tevas and it takes place along the beach after all in Santa Monica, there are the Razzies aka the “crappiest” (as my nephew would say) films of the year which were handed out just yesterday. At the top of the list was Eddie Murphy for worst actor, supporting actress, and supporting actor for his multiple roles in the flop, Norbit. Perhaps the most telling award was Lindsay Lohan picking up “Word Actress” for her role in I know Who Killed Me which may as well be called, I Know Who/What Killed My Career!
But back to the Oscars because while they might not be the hippest or funniest awards show, they are still the most prestigious for now and the ones that get the most play on national TV. Below is my list of this year’s winners. I’m not clairvoyant or anything, but I’d love to be a betting woman on these since I think I could accumulate some serious dough here…In bold is my pick for winner and with accompanying asterisk is my pick for “who knew” (either about the movie or why this person was nominated).
How dare I even ask… Of-course it’s on tonight, in fact, not one, but two episodes will air, one after the other. Now don’t get me wrong here, I like TV, and I like TV series. But there is something about Lost that I just can’t stand. Maybe it’s this collection of amazing people, who just happen to be together on the same plane when it crashes on that island, or maybe it’s just that the acting is not so good, or the story is boring, or all of the above, and then some more. I am aware of the fact that other Amaldo’s Blog writers absolutely adores the show, but every Thursday for two hours, I actually appreciate the fact that we have another TV set at home.
At least after Lost there is a new Eli Stone episode.
If you’re a Lost fan, it’s hard imagine what next after a season finale which featured never-before-seen previews of the life after the island (yes, they do manage to get off somehow); a climactic showdown between the show’s two bitter rivals/archenemies; the death of a beloved, yet flawed character who left us with a fateful message or one that’s construed as such anyways; and a possible pregnancy forcing the Jack/Sawyer/Kate love triangle storyline to its near breaking point.
With build-up in tension like that, it’s easy to see the rationale behind ABC waiting 8 mos to launch a new season of their most popular show and even more so why there was no way the premiere could hold a candle to the fireworks that ignited back in May.
Still, my biggest pet peeve about the Lost season premiere on Thursday was the lack of imagination and forethought into the characters’ development. And most of all, this overplay of the same 2-dimensional theme that the island holds some magical force which perpetuates good and that once you’re off the island you become dysfunctional and your entire sense of equilibrium gets shifted off-kilter to the brink of insanity.
Case-in-point: the anti-burly Hurley aka Hugo. Read More…
More proof that he writers’ strike is putting a serious dent on the availability of celebrities for late night appearances on talk shows: A guest on her longtime boyfriend, Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show last night, Sarah Silverman had a seriously scandalous confession to make to her honey.
I’ll give you a hint: While Jimmy Kimmel’s home drinking diet snapple, Sarah is [insert blog subject header] on the bed and on the floor.
Ilana Donna’s new video is sure to give some amount of thought to the validity of psychic networks, but really how much of your future do you want dictated to you? In short, is there any consolation to be found in knowing your fate or is there something to be said about a the element of the unknown when it comes to romantic entanglements?
I’m a lover scorned. A meerkat whose mother has been viciously killed by a snake leaving me to make my way thru the wild without any well-trained defenses or line of attack. I’m Rambo without any ammo and Schwarzenegger without the Kennedy connections and steroids that made him.
I’m also fed up with the writers’ strike and feeling pangs of loss that can best be expressed thru the myriad of metaphors above.
And how it could potentially affect my January, no wait my FEBRUARY? That’s right, Lost fans will have to wait till February now to see just where things left off post-Looking Glass. Given that the show’s executive producer is claiming that only 8 shows have been written out of the regular 16, and that the final 8 will tie up all the loose ends presented in the first 8 (and that I happen to LIVE for resolutions), you can understand why the writers’ strike is getting me down.
I can do without Leno and his glib comments to Halle Berry, grimace at Tina Fey as she takes to the picketing stands (she is an executive producer after all) and bands with her fellow starving artists (?), but seeing writer/creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof lament the plight of writers (and himself) not getting their/his share of the moola generated by all the new media around makes me wanna lose the one I’m with and start a new relationship.
We understand fame and new-found fortune is enough to even make a decent man turn to debauchery. But really, how long do the producers at Lost think that they can play with their fanbase before their numbers of viewers start to diminish?
The Oscars air tonight and since I’ve seen at least some of the films nominated, I have more of a vested interest in who wins and who doesn’t. The SAG and Golden Globes are usually somewhat of an indicator as to who will sweep, but as past years have shown, it’s not always a fool-proof litmus test.
How dare I even ask… Of-course it’s on tonight, in fact, not one, but two episodes will air, one after the other. Now don’t get me wrong here, I like TV, and I like TV series. But there is something about Lost that I just can’t stand. Maybe it’s this collection of amazing people, who just happen to be together on the same plane when it crashes on that island, or maybe it’s just that the acting is not so good, or the story is boring, or all of the above, and then some more. I am aware of the fact that other Amaldo’s Blog writers absolutely adores the show, but every Thursday for two hours, I actually appreciate the fact that we have another TV set at home.
