Month: November 2011

Categories
Music

Okay, I will save save my money then!!!

Costello urges fans to save money, recommends Louis Armstrong’s music

British singer-songwriter Elvis Costello has told fans not to buy a pricey limited edition box set of his music on sale next month, recommending they purchase some Louis Armstrong instead.

Costello, real name Declan MacManus, said in an official blog post that the online retail price for “The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook” of $202.66, appears to be either a misprint or a satire.

“If you want to buy something special for your loved one at this time of seasonal giving, we suggest, ’Ambassador Of Jazz’ — a cute little imitation suitcase containing 10 re-mastered albums by one of the most beautiful and loving revolutionaries who ever lived — Louis Armstrong.”

The music, he added, was “vastly superior,” and cost less than $150.

While Costello’s comments may embarrass his record label, they have also generated considerable publicity for the “super deluxe” edition, which is available from Dec. 6.

The 57-year-old pointed out that the same music would be available in the New Year at more affordable prices, and took the opportunity to plug his live appearances in the United States and Europe next year.

Categories
People

So…obviously they aren’t listening then!!

Nickelback Take on Haters: ‘We Don’t Hear Many Complaints’

IIt’s been a challenging fall for Nickelback.

As the Canadian quartet prepared for the Nov. 21 release of its seventh album, “Here and Now” (Roadrunner Records), the band was named the No. 1 musical turn-off in a poll conducted by Tastebuds.fm, and found itself the target of an online petition seeking to have it removed from a halftime performance at the Detroit Lions’ annual Thanksgiving football game. Launched by a Michigan music fan, the online petition drew more than 40,000 signatures and international attention.

But the band remained unfazed, and played the Thanksgiving Day game anyway.

“We get that all the time. We’ve never really been a critics’ darling or anything like that,” says frontman Chad Kroeger, who formed Nickelback in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta, with his brother Mike on bass and guitarist Ryan Peake. Drummer Daniel Adair joined in 2005. “The people speak. We sell a lot of records and fill a lot of arenas, and we don’t hear many complaints.”

The statistics certainly bear Kroeger out. Nickelback has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, according to the label, and the band’s last four releases have debuted in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 — and at No. 1 in its homeland. Add 17 top 10 mainstream and alternative rock hits, 11 of which have also made the top 10 at adult top 40, and you have a durability and consistency rarely seen anymore.

“Here and Now” finds the band getting “back to basics,” Kroeger says, following 2008’s triple-platinum “Dark Horse.” “This isn’t our ‘The Wall’ or anything like that,” he adds. “This is just four guys jumping back in the studio to write and record 11 new songs and make sure each one of them gets as much attention as they need.”

Working with Roadrunner, the group launched “Here and Now” with two singles — the rowdy, hard-rocking “Bottoms Up,” which is already a top five hit at mainstream rock, and the more melodic, socially conscious “When We Stand Together,” which is top 15 on the Adult Top 40 chart. They’ve sold a combined 245,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

“We thought, ‘Why not do it all at one time — a song to please the rock fans and a pop song for that side — and get the train rolling, make two videos and two campaigns and build it up,” says manager Bryan Coleman of Union Entertainment Group. “It’s maybe the only band out there that can really do that, successfully, on a major scale.”

“Most people assumed this is something they’d done all along, throughout the band’s career,” Roadrunner president Jonas Nachsin says. “They’re surprised it hadn’t been done before, but it’s the result of over a decade-long career of having so many hits at these formats.”

Nickelback is gearing up for a busy period around “Here and Now”‘s release. The band performed on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Nov. 22 and is set to make an appearance on the WWE’s “Tribute to the Troops,” which airs Dec. 13 on USA and Dec. 17 on NBC. The band will also appear during halftime at the 99th Grey Cup Canadian Football League championship in Vancouver, which will air on TSN and RDS in Canada.

Roadrunner senior VP of marketing and creative services Madelyn Scarpulla says that online, “Here and Now” will “have comprehensive visibility via multiple third-party partners and extensive online advertising.” That includes a widget that’ll let album buyers access exclusive online content, a custom Facebook app for “Bottoms Up” and a Gold Marketing Pack on Spotify. ITunes also began streaming the album on Nov. 15.

The two-prong radio release will carry over to online and traditional ad campaigns, including TV and radio spots, outdoor billboards and lifestyle and event marketing as seen in Thanksgiving parades in the United States and at movie theaters and malls on Black Friday.

Nickelback’s tour, meanwhile, will wait until the spring. “We’re trying to go a few singles deep, possibly three or four, before we go out,” Kroeger says. “We want to make sure there’s familiarity. We don’t want to be that band that everybody comes to hear all their favorites, and when there’s a new one they all run up to the concourse to get a beer.”

Also looming on the horizon is Nickelback’s future recording home. The group signed a 360 deal with Live Nation in 2008, and “Here and Now” is the final studio effort under its deal with Roadrunner. “Roadrunner has been an amazing partner for 12 years,” Coleman says. “We have a great relationship and may continue that . . . but we need to see how the landscape looks and test the free-agent market.”

Nachsin says Roadrunner will release a Nickelback greatest hits album “at some point” and plans to make a hard push to keep the group in its stable. And part of that, he says, is making a solid push for “Here and Now.”

“We’re approaching this album campaign like we would any other,” Nachsin says. “We’re highly motivated to promote and market this new album to the best of our abilities . . . and then we’ll see what happens. The future is untold. We can only remain hopeful that it involves us in some capacity.”

Categories
Awards

I do so enjoy this time of year – it is AWARDS SEASON!!!

NY Film Critics Choose ‘The Artist,’ Its Director and Brad & Meryl

The New York Film Critics Circle, which moved its awards announcement from mid-December to late November in a transparent attempt to have more clout in the awards conversation, has thrown that clout behind “The Artist,” choosing Michel Hazanavicius’s black-and-white silent movie as the best film of 2011.

The French director was also named Best Director, completing what had been a very good morning for the Weinstein Company film. Less than two hours before the NYFCC announcement, “The Artist” tied “Take Shelter” as the most-nominated film at the Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Other winners include two mainstream choices in the lead actor and actress categories. Brad Pitt was named Best Actor for his roles in both “Moneyball” and “The Tree of Life,” while Meryl Streep was named Best Actress for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady.”

Supporting honors went to Albert Brooks as the villain in “Drive,” and Jessica Chastain for three of her many films in 2011: “The Tree of Life,” “Take Shelter” and “The Help.”

The Iranian film “A Separation” was named Best Foreign Language Film, while Werner Herzog’s 3D documentary “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” was honored as Best Nonfiction Film.

Aaron Sorkin shared the Best Screenplay award with Steven Zaillian for “Moneyball” a year after surprisingly not winning it for “The Social Network,” while Emmanuel Lubezki was given the prize for Best Cinematography for “The Tree of Life” in what was apparently a very fast vote. The NYFCC tweeted the results as they happened, and Lubezki’s honor was announced on Twitter only three minutes after the previous award.

The NYFCC made its choices without having seen Stephen Daldry’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” which was not ready to screen for the group before it voted. Its members saw David Fincher’s “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” on Monday, one day prior to voting.

If the group was trying to send a message to the Academy with its timing and its selections, the principal beneficiaries were probably Albert Brooks and Brad Pitt, both of whose films were released earlier in the year. The Academy certainly does not need nudging to pay attention to, say, “The Artist” or Meryl Streep.

The results could be seen as something of a blow to “The Descendants” and “The Tree of Life,” which were considered favorites to win the top NYFCC award — though in a year unlikely to show much critical unanimity, the Oscar influence of any particular critics’ group is limited.

Last year, three of the NYFCC’s 12 selections went on to win Academy Awards: actor Colin Firth (“The King’s Speech”), supporting actress Melissa Leo (“The Fighter”) and documentary “Inside Job.”

Categories
Batman

Can…not…WAIT!!!!

Nolan to remove ‘Knight’ shroud

LOS ANGELES – Filmmaker Christopher Nolan is finally ready to remove the shroud from his much-anticipated final “Batman” movie.

While the director’s “The Dark Knight Rises” isn’t due in theaters until July 20, fans will be reunited with Bruce Wayne — and rival Bane — via a prologue hitting IMAX screens Dec. 21, Empire magazine reported Monday.

Nolan told the British film magazine that the prologue is “basically the first six, seven minutes of the film” and will serve as “an introduction to Bane, and a taste of the rest of the film.”

Nolan also told Empire that “The Dark Knight Rises” would be set eight years after its predecessor.

Christian Bale’s hero is “an older Bruce Wayne; he’s not in a great state,” Nolan said. “Perhaps surprisingly for some people, our story picks up quite a bit later, eight years after ’The Dark Knight.”’

The filmmaker also discussed the movie’s villain.

“With Bane, we’re looking to give Batman a challenge he hasn’t had before,” Nolan added. “With our choice of villain and with our choice of story we’re testing Batman both physically as well as mentally.”

The “Dark Knight Rises” prologue will be screened in advance of Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol“ and be rated PG-13.

This isn’t the first time Warner Bros. has whetted Batman fans’ appetites in this fashion.

In December 2007, the prologue to “The Dark Knight” was shown along with some IMAX screenings of the sci-fi film “I Am Legend.”

Categories
People

May he rest in peace!!!

Actor John Neville dies at 86

John Neville, a veteran Canadian actor and stage director who appeared in a multitude of productions, including the hit TV series The X-Files, has died at the age of 86.

Neville, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, died in Toronto Saturday surrounded by family, said a statement from the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, where Neville worked as an artistic director in the 1980s.

Neville appeared in dozens of movies, television shows and theatre productions during a career that spanned six decades.

His career experienced a big lift when he was cast in the title role in the 1988 film The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Although the film was a financial failure, Neville’s performance was well-received and it led to a plethora of film and television roles.

Perhaps the one that gave him the most prominence came in the ’90s when he landed the recurring role of the “The Well-Manicured Man” in the The X-Files.

He also did stints as artistic director for Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre in the 1970s and of Halifax’s Neptune Theatre from 1978 to 1983.

Charisma and charm

“John Neville was a superb actor, an outstanding director and a terrific artistic leader of our Festival,” Des McAnuff, the current artistic director of the Stratford festival, said in a statement.

“His charisma and charm were matched by the generosity of his spirit.”

Neville was born in England, emigrating to Canada in 1972 and later he became a citizen.

He was named a member of the Order of Canada in 2006 for his work in Canadian theatre and drama. He became an officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1965.

Neville received one Gemini nomination in 1999 in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role category for his performance in the 1998 TV series Emily of New Moon.

He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Caroline, six children and six grandchildren.

A private funeral is to be held immediately and plans for a memorial are to be announced in the new year, the statement said.

Categories
Television

Should be a great month of shows!!!

Katy Perry, Jimmy Fallon and More Book Saturday Night Live Hosting Gigs

Talk about a teenage dream come true: Katy Perry has been tapped to host Saturday Night Live.

The “California Gurls” singer will bust out her acting chops in the Dec. 10 installment of NBC’s late-night staple, TVLine has confirmed.

However, unlike a handful of past music-based hosts, Perry will not pull double duty. Musical guest honors belong to Swedish songstress Robyn.

Perry — who has a cameo in the new Muppets movie — is no stranger to the small screen. The colorfully coiffed performer guest-starred in a February episode of How I Met Your Mother, playing the hot cousin of Jennifer Morrison’s Zoey.

NBC also announced Monday that former SNL cast member Jimmy Fallon will make his hosting debut on the episode airing Dec. 17, with musical guest Michael Bublé, while Boardwalk Empire star Steve Buscemi will take the stage for a second time on Dec. 3 with performers The Black Keys.

Categories
Bruuuuuuuuce!!

I guess I know what I am doing next year now!!!

Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band to tour in ’12

NEW YORK (AP) — Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are set to go on the road in 2012.

Springsteen announced plans to tour the United States and Europe on his official website Sunday. Dates were to be announced later.

He also wrote the band is “incredibly excited” about the new year, adding their new music is “almost done” and “still untitled,” but with an undetermined release date.

This will be the first tour for the E Street Band since saxophonist Clarence Clemons died in June from complications of a stroke.

Springsteen’s last tour was the “Working on a Dream” tour, which ended in 2009.

Categories
The Couch Potato Report

Pick some up today!!!

The Couch Potato Report – November 19th, 2011

Inside this week’s Couch Potato Report are a vampire, werewolf and ghost – who are roommates – and some Looney Tunes.

Being that vampires, werewolves and ghosts continue to be hot commodities in books and films, it should come as no surprise that there is a British television series that features all three of them living together, sharing an apartment in modern times, trying to live a “normal” life, working hard to blend in amongst the humans around them.

Yes, to be clear, BEING HUMAN is about a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost who are roommates!

The British version of BEING HUMAN has been on the air since 2008, and earlier this year a North American version of the show debuted, and now the complete first season of the made-in-Montreal series is available to own.

The characters in BEING HUMAN are not evil, they are the good kind of vampire, werewolf and ghost…yet from time to time they do have to deal with their evil sides…and that is where some of the drama comes from in the show.

The rest of it is full of mid-twenties melodrama…and those times were the least interesting to me.

But when they are threatened with exposure or persecution, with pressure from other supernatural creatures, then the show works…and works well.

THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON of BEING HUMAN is never great, and the Special Effects are very low budget, but it has enough good stuff for me to mildly recommend.

What I don’t recommend, mildly or otherwise, is season one of a Canadian television series called TRIUMPH OF THE WILL…the latest from Kenny Hotz, of KENNY VS. SPENNY fame.

In that show, two “friends” competed against each other to see who could win a variety of contests.

In TRIUMPH OF THE WILL Kenny tries to accomplish things on his own…by any means necessary…but he is still the same jerk that he’s always been.

In this series Kenny tries to get his widowed mother a date, he decides to be a cannibal, tries to get the Jewish community to build a Mosque for Muslims, and tries to stop eating his favourite food, pigs…all of them very good ideas for a show of this sort…but he is the wrong guy to be doing it, he is not a nice or likeable guy…plus, in order to accomplish some of his goals – he steals.

I will admit that there are some laugh out moments in TRIUMPH OF THE WILL…but most of it is only for people who consider themselves huge – AND I MEAN HUGE FANS – of Kenny Hotz.

Otherwise, skip this one, it isn’t worth your time.

If they do a SEASON TWO of TRIUMPH OF THE WILL, I probably won’t waste my time on it…I hope I won’t anyway…but I did want to see SEASON TWO of V!!

V for Visitors, V for Victory, V for Very Entertaining…when it first began.

V originally aired in 1983 and was a two-part science fiction television miniseries about aliens known as “The Visitors” trying to gain control of Earth.

The original V was followed in the 1980s by V: The Final Battle and a short-lived series.

And now, in the twenty-first century, there is new version of the series…and it looks to be short-lived too, although it managed to do something the original never did…get a second season.

But Season Two of the remake of V didn’t lead to a third…and after watching all of that second season this week, I can completely understand why.

THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON of V is boring.

V is filmed in and around Vancouver and while SEASON ONE had some unique stories, there are very few of them in the second go ‘round, and the very good cast is wasted…even they look bored at times as they go through the paces.

I loved the original V, and I liked SEASON ONE of this new version, but SEASON TWO was a major disappointment.

As I have said many, many times – I will watch any science fiction films or television shows, good and bad, and as it goes into the history books that is what the remake of V is – SEASON ONE is good, THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON is bad.

I won’t use the words “good” or “bad” while talking about the made-in-Vancouver-and-Toronto mystery/anthology series THE HITCHHIKER…the word I’ll use to conclude this review is “dated”.

THE HITCHHIKER aired from 1983 to 1991 and each episode was introduced and concluded by a mysterious wanderer known only as “The Hitchhiker.” Not unlike THE TWLIGHT ZONE or TALES FROM THE CRYPT the show tells stories about the dark side of humankind.

The reason I will use the word “dated” is because horror has become commonplace in the entertainment industry since this show first aired…and so not of the stories here are very shocking.

In its day…yes!! Today, not so much.

It is also “dated” because it is a product of its time…it was shot in the eighties, so it looks like it is from the eighties.

But, if you remember watching and enjoying THE HITCHHIKER when it originally aired, then the six-disc set that features every episode – THE COMPLETE COLLECTION – is a must own.

I personally enjoyed watching them again – dated and all – but it is unlikely that I will ever watch them again.

I can guarantee you that I will never watch the heist picture FLYPAPER again…I am actually shocked I made it all the way through it the first time.

Just like science-fiction films, I will watch any heist picture – good and bad – and FLYPAPER is definitely bad!

It stars Patrick Dempsey from GREY’S ANATOMY as a man who wanders into a bank, just as two – count ‘em – two bank robberies are taking place.

He is there to get some change, and because he is secretly in love with a bank teller played by the beautiful Ashley Judd…and they have some good scenes together.

But the film as a whole doesn’t work…this is one of those movies that thinks it is funny, clever and that it will keep you guessing, but you won’t care. It is never involving and ultimately you won’t care who is behind the robberies, and you certainly won’t care anything at all about the robbers.

This FLYPAPER doesn’t stick…skip it!!!

I have never once – not ever once – told anyone that they should skip the Hong Kong action thriller INFERNAL AFFAIRS…and I certainly won’t do that while taking about the new Blu-ray/DVD combo of it that has just come out!!

INFERNAL AFFAIRS was re-made in Hollywood as THE DEPARTED, and that version is fantastic as well, but this one – about a police officer who is undercover as a member of a gang, and a gang member who is a high ranking police officer – is the original…and it is hard to beat the original most times.

INFERNAL AFFAIRS is smart, well made, has some tremendous twists and turns, and if you have never seen it – you absolutely should!!

It is a fantastic action film!!

No matter where you live, its beginning to look a lot like Christmas…ev’rywhere you go. Take a look in the five and ten, glistening once again, with candy canes and silver lanes aglow.

Christmas is now only a little bit more than a month away, and so some of the classic films are starting to be released – and re-released – in high definition on Blu-ray…and that is a great gift for all movie fans…especially when one of those films is the classic IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE.

Frank Capra’s 1946 film stars Jimmy Stewart as a businessman who is shown what life would be like if he had never been born.

The new IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE 2-DISC COLLECTOR’S EDITION GIFT SET comes with both the original version of the film in glorious black and white and the colourized version, a commemorative booklet and an exclusive Bell Ornament.

Personally, I just need the film – in black and white – but the goodies here are a nice addition. I love this film – more every year, it seems – and I easily and very highly recommend it!

One story told every holiday season is “A Christmas Carol”, written by Charles Dickens. It was first published on December 17th, 1843 and is the story of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge’s ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come.

The novella met with instant success and critical acclaim, and so have most film versions…with the possible exception being the 1970 musical starring Albert Finney as Ebenezer Scrooge.

This one is definitely not for everyone – primarily because the songs aren’t that good – but also because with the exception of Finney, the performances are all mostly unforgettable.

SCROOGE has its moments, and if this is the version that you first saw as a kid then you will love how great it looks in HD. Otherwise, skip it. I had never seen it before this week…so I enjoyed it, but I won’t ever sit through it again.

I will – however – sit through another version of Dickens’ story again…and again…and again!! I have already seen the 1988 Bill Murray version about a hundred times, and I could watch it again right now!!

SCROOGED is definitely not for the whole family as Murray’s take is a very sarcastic take on the tale, playing a selfish TV executive who must learn the error of his ways.

But it is for me…I love this film, and the blu-ray looks amazing!! Sadly, there are no Special Features…other than the original theatrical trailer…but I love SCROOGED anyway!!

It my house, THIS is a Christmas classic!!

The final release this week, is the release of the week…a title that is fun, funny, informative, and educational…but also serious at times as it shows us right and wrong, when to fight and when to just let something go.

This release has it all, nicely packaged in a three blu-ray set…and it stars Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Road Runner, and Wile E. Coyote, Tweety, Sylvester, Marvin the Martian, the Tasmanian Devil, and many others…all stars, in their own right!!

This absolutely incredible set features fifty of the greatest Looney Tunes cartoons ever made, along with hours of extras, including over five hours of content saluting animator and director Chuck Jones, and the great Mel Blanc, who voiced most of the characters.

Since they are seventy years old – and older – not all of the cartoons in LOONEY TUNES – PLATINUM COLLECTION – VOLUME ONE are in pristine condition, but they are all still amazing to watch.

This is a set full of pieces of entertainment that will last forever…and I absolutely love it!!

VOLUME ONE of the LOONEY TUNES – PLATINUM COLLECTION, the Christmas films SCROOGED, SCROOGE and IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, the great Foreign Film INFERNAL AFFAIRS, the not very good FLYPAPER, THE COMPLETE COLLECTION of THE HITCHHIKER, THE COMPLETE SECOND – and final – SEASON of V, SEASON ONE of Kenny Hotz’s less than entertaining Toronto-made series TRIUMPH OF THE WILL, and THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON of the North American version of BEING HUMAN are all available now, either on disc or on demand.

Coming up inside the next Couch Potato Report

The made-in-Montreal comedy STARBUCK, about a man with 534 children, the action film THE DEVIL’S DOUBLE, and the science fiction thriller SUPER 8 about a group of friends in 1979 who are dealing with some unexplained events in their small town following a train crash.

I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.

For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here again next time on The Couch!

Categories
Music

Well deserved, one and all!!

Grammys honouring 25 recordings

The Grammys’ greatest-hits playlist just got a little longer.

The American Recording Academy will induct 25 new songs and albums into its Hall of Fame collection for 2012, organizers have announced.

New additions to the list of 906 classics range from Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 LP Born in the U.S.A., The Rolling Stones’ 1972 double-album Exile on Main St. and Grandmaster Flash’s 1982 rap landmark The Message to Cole Porter’s Anything Goes, Bill Cosby’s 1964 comedy album I Started Out as a Child and Dr. Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech from 1963. Canadian Neil Young is on the list for Deja Vu, his 1970 album with David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash.

Recordings must be at least 25 years old and exhibit qualitative or historical significance to be considered for the list.

This year’s additions will be officially inducted into the collection during Grammy Week in Los Angeles in February. Nominations for the 54th annual Grammy Awards will be announced Wednesday, November 30th, in conjunction with the annual Grammy Nominations Concert Live!!

Countdown to Music’s Biggest Night TV special airing on on CBS and Global at 10 p.m. (9 p.m. Central).

The hardware will be handed out at Staples Centre in Los Angeles on Feb. 12.

The full list of 2012 Grammy Hall of Fame inductees:

• Exile on Main St. | The Rolling Stones (1972)

• Born in the U.S.A. | Bruce Springsteen (1984)

• Deja Vu | Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (1970)

• Graceland | Paul Simon (1986)

• Santana | Santana (1969)

• Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 | Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 (1966)

• The Message | Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five feat. Melle Mel & Duke Bootee (1982)

• What’s Love Got to Do With It | Tina Turner (1984)

• I Will Survive | Gloria Gaynor (1978)

• Wasted Days & Wasted Nights | Freddy Fender (1975)

• Anthology of American Folk Music | Various Artists (1952)

• Foggy Mountain Jamboree | Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs (1957)

• Deep in the Heart of Texas | Gene Autry (1942)

• Anything Goes | Cole Porter (1934)

• Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be) | Doris Day (1956)

• Fixin’ to Die | Bukka White (1940)

• Key to the Highway | Big Bill Broonzy (1941)

• How Long, How Long Blues | Leroy Carr (1928)

• Kassie Jones | Furry Lewis (1928)

• Precious Lord, Take My Hand | Mahalia Jackson (1956)

• I Started Out as a Child | Bill Cosby (1964)

• I Have a Dream | Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1963)

• Roy Harris Symphony No. 3 | Serge Koussevitzky, cond.; Boston Symphony Orchestra (1940)

• St. Louis Woman | Original Broadway Cast (1946)

• Mexicantos | Los Panchos (1945)

Categories
Muppets

No movies for me this weekend…but next weekend…THE MUPPETS!!!!

‘Breaking Dawn’ rises to $283.5M worldwide debut

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “The Twilight Saga” has staked out another huge opening with a $139.5 million first weekend domestically and a worldwide launch of $283.5 million.

The domestic total gives “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1” the second-best debut weekend for the franchise, after the $142.8 million launch for 2009’s “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.” ”Breaking Dawn” did more than half of its business, $72 million, on opening day Friday, while the movie’s debut weekend was the fifth-best on record.

Opening in 54 overseas markets, “Breaking Dawn” pulled in $144 million internationally, according to studio estimates Sunday.

But the Warner Bros. dancing penguin sequel “Happy Feet 2” stumbled in its debut, pulling in just $22 million over opening weekend. That’s barely half what the first film in the animated franchise earned in its 2006 opening.

The comparison is even worse considering the original did not have the sequel’s price advantage for 3-D screenings, which cost a few dollars more than 2-D shows.

The previous weekend’s No. 1 movie, Relativity Media’s action tale “Immortals,” fell to third-place with $12.3 million, raising its domestic haul to $53 million.

George Clooney had a great start with Fox Searchlight’s comic drama “The Descendants,” which broke into the top-10 despite playing in just a handful of theaters.

“The Descendants” finished at No. 10 with $1.2 million in 29 theaters, averaging a whopping $42,150 a cinema. That compares to an average of $34,351 in 4,061 theaters for “Breaking Dawn.”

Directed by Alexander Payne (“Sideways”), the film stars Clooney as a distressed dad tending to his daughters after his wife falls into a coma from a head injury. The film expands to about 400 theaters Wednesday.

In an industry whose main audience is young males, “Twilight” is a rare blockbuster franchise driven by female viewers. Distributor Summit Entertainment reported that women and girls made up 80 percent of the audience for “Breaking Dawn.”

The popularity of “Twilight” has left many men scratching their heads, even those involved in releasing the movies.

“I’m 53 years old, and I haven’t figured it out yet,” said Richie Fay, head of distribution for Summit. “It relates really to young girls and things that are important to them, their romantic ideas of love and relationships, without getting so physical, at least on screen, that it becomes a worry for their parents.”

“Breaking Dawn” has brooding teen Bella (Kristen Stewart) marrying vampire lover Edward (Robert Pattinson), whose family strikes an uneasy alliance with jealous werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner) to protect the bride and the baby she’s carrying.

The movie’s big start points to even better business for next year’s “Breaking Dawn — Part 2,” the finale in the five-film series based on Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling novels.

“Breaking Dawn” was a windfall for Hollywood in general, whose domestic revenues continue to trail 2010’s despite rosy projections last spring of a record box-office year.

Domestic business totaled $222 million, up 14 percent from the same weekend last year, when “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” led with $125 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

The penguins of “Happy Feet 2” were left in the cold compared with the big debut for the first film, a critical favorite that won the Academy Award for feature animation.

The sequel, featuring returning voice stars Elijah Wood and Robin Williams, received mixed to bad reviews. Still, Warner Bros. reported it earned high marks from audiences, which could keep it afloat in the coming weeks.

“We honestly feel we’ll pick up some steam and play some catch-up as we get into the holidays,” said Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner.

But the competition for family audiences turns intense in the next few days with Martin Scorsese’s youthful adventure “Hugo,” the musical comedy “The Muppets” and the animated holiday tale “Arthur Christmas” all opening Wednesday for the busy Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

The newcomers, combined with “Breaking Dawn,” could lift Hollywood above the Thanksgiving record set in 2009, when “New Moon” paced the industry to a $273 million domestic haul from Wednesday to Sunday.

“This could be one of the greatest movie-going weekends ever in the midst of a year that has really had its ups and downs at the box office,” said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1,” $139.5 million.
2. “Happy Feet 2,” $22 million.
3. “Immortals,” $12.3 million.
4. “Jack and Jill,” $12 million.
5. “Puss in Boots,” $10.7 million.
6. “Tower Heist,” $7 million.
7. “J. Edgar,” $5.9 million.
8. “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas,” $2.9 million.
9. “In Time,” $1.7 million.
10. “The Descendants,” $1.2 million.