Well, there we go! That is the end of 2007!!
Thanks for your visits to our site this year, and here's to a great 2008!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Dan & Dave
anythingbut.com
Year End: 2007 music news in review
Bouts of rehab and canceled tours riddled the headlines of 2007, most notably by one-time pop princess Britney Spears and British soul singer Amy Winehouse. But the last 12 months proved fruitful for many musicians, including the newly reunited. Both the Spice Girls and Van Halen extended their tours due to successful rounds of sold-out shows while others, like Blind Melon, replaced lost original members with talented newbies for another chance at stardom. A handful of artists--Audioslave's Chris Cornell, Staind frontman Aaron Lewis, Lonestar's Richie McDonald--took the plunge into solo status.
Here's a month-by-month look at the major news stories of 2007.
January
Texas folk singer Patty Griffin launched a mini-tour of North America preceding her February release, "Children Running Through," and a tackled a heartier spring tour schedule. The preliminary lineup for the eighth annual Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival revealed the reunion of Rage Against the Machine and Crowded House for the three-day event. British singer Lily Allen announced a short club outing sponsored by MTV, deemed the "Discover and Download" tour. The Who extended their first full-fledged concert tour since the 2002 death of founding bassist John Entwistle. Sparklehorse announced plans for a headlining tour in support of 2005's "Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain," the band's first full US tour in five years. Legendary reclusive rocker Roky Erickson announced his first San Francisco concert appearance in 25 years at the city's Noise Pop Festival.
February
Fall Out Boy teamed with MTV for the Infinity Flight 206 trek, a three-city, one-day tour supporting their new album, "Infinity on High." Singer/songwriter Marc Cohn played his first Colorado shows since a 2005 carjacking incident during which he was shot in the head. Apple Inc. and The Beatles-owned Apple Corps Ltd finally settled their lengthy trademark dispute. Former Beach Boy Brian Wilson premiered a commissioned song-cycle piece consisting of four rounds interspersed with spoken word at London's Southbank Centre. Veteran Australian rockers Hoodoo Gurus mapped out their first US tour since 1994 in honor of their reissued debut recording, 1984's "Stoneage Romeos." The Dixie Chicks took home several Grammys, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year for "Not Ready to Make Nice." Frontman Chris Cornell formally quit Audioslave, opting to take on future projects alone, while Ian Astbury announced his departure from Riders on the Storm, the band he helped create with former Doors members. Pop princess Britney Spears checked herself into Eric Clapton's Crossroads Centre in Antigua, and out the following day before returning to Malibu, shaving her head and entering Promises Malibu Treatment Center for a month of rehab. Tool postponed the start of their spring tour after drummer Danny Carey tore a bicep.
March
The Allman Brothers upheld their annual tradition established in 1989, playing a two-week, 13-show residency at New York's Beacon Theatre. Country Music Hall of Famer Charlie Louvin kicked off a nationwide tour backing his self-titled release, his first new album in 10 years. R.E.M. announced that the group would return to the recording studio following their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame mid-month. Jam band Leftover Salmon revealed plans to take the stage at several summertime festivals, ending a two-year hiatus. Lonestar frontman Richie McDonald disclosed that he would split with the group at the end of 2007 to pursue a solo career. Paul McCartney and Starbucks Corp. teamed up, making the former Beatle the first performer to release an album on the coffee company's Hear Music label. Justin Timberlake expanded his "FutureSex/Love Show" tour with an additional 15-date North American leg.
April
EMI agreed to sell selections from the label's catalog DRM-free via Apple's iTunes Music Store. Prince's Las Vegas residency at the Rio Hotel & Casino's 3121 nightclub came to an end so the singer could focus on touring. Sheryl Crow and global-warming activist Laurie David paired up for the "Stop Global Warming" college tour, preaching social change at more than 10 universities. Two of the three original members of the Meat Puppets reunited behind the new release "Rose to Your Knees" and toured together for the first time in more than a decade. The String Cheese Incident unveiled dates for the 14-year-old jam band's final tour. The Drive-By Truckers maintained a busy tour schedule despite the departure of longtime guitarist/vocalist Jason Isbell. Carrie Underwood topped the list of CMT Music Award winners for the second straight year with two wins for the video to her hit song "Before He Cheats." Country sweethearts Faith Hill and Tim McGraw expanded their "Soul2Soul" tour to comprise 44 dates with several two-night runs.
May
Britney Spears took to the stage for the first time in nearly three years in a brief, surprise performance at San Diego's House of Blues. Alt-rockers My Chemical Romance called off a handful of dates when several band and crew members became violently ill from food poisoning. Las Vegas' Colosseum at Ceasars Palace announced that Bette Midler will replace Celine Dion as the club's resident performer. Classic rock outfit Ten Years After announced a 40th anniversary world tour scheduled to touch down in several North American cities. The reformed Smashing Pumpkins unveiled a portion of their world tour behind "Zeitgeist" which included two residencies comprising nine shows in Asheville, NC, and eight in San Francisco. Kenny Chesney took home his third consecutive Entertainer of the Year trophy at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Music legend Bo Diddley survived a stroke he suffered following a concert at Harrah's Casino in Council Bluffs, IA. The Police celebrated the launch of their reunion tour with the debut of their first double-disc "best of" set. The Black Crowes shelved plans for a new album and subsequent world tour, opting instead to continue on with their already-scheduled North American dates. Justin Timberlake joined forces with Interscope Records to chair his own label, Tennman Records.
June
Christian punk/metal outfit MewithoutYou announced headlining concert dates coupled with engaging potluck dinners preceding the each show. Bad Brains released a handful of dates in support of "Build a Nation," the band's first studio release since 2002. Wilco ruffled some fans' feathers by licensing the use of songs from "Sky Blue Sky" in various Volkswagen commercials. Liza Minnelli embarked on a world tour that kicked off in Brazil before hitting Europe and scattered cities throughout the US. Staind frontman Aaron Lewis packed intimate venues across the nation during his solo acoustic jaunt dubbed the "Have Guitar, Will Travel" tour. Arlo Gutherie revealed plans for a yearlong solo tour scheduled to hit more than 60 cities in the US and Canada. Several Internet radio broadcasters went dark for 24 hours in protest of an approved increase in the amount of royalties they would soon be required to pay artists and record labels. Alt-rockers The Used dropped off the Vans Warped Tour so that frontman Bert McCracken could undergo an operation on his vocal cords. After six years of separation, The Spice Girls announced a world tour to coincide with a greatest hits album.
July
A series of worldwide concerts, known as Live Earth, brought more than 150 artists together in one 24-hour period to call attention to climate change. They Might Be Giants released their 12th album and launched a subsequent national marathon tour. Punk-pop outfit Superdrag revealed plans for the reunion of the original lineup for a short run of fall shows. Slayer joined forces with Marilyn Manson for a summer tour. Dave Matthews used his celebrity status to petition Congress to ensure traumatized US troops get medical and psychiatric help. Icelandic singer Bjork added a North American leg to her trek in support of "Volta," including a set at the Austin City Limits Festival. The White Stripes completed their mission of playing every province and territory in Canada with a final, one-note show in Newfoundland. Jennifer Lopez and husband Marc Anthony announced a fall co-headlining tour that marked the duo's first professional appearance together since they wed in 2004. R&B crooner Etta James recovered from complications stemming from her mid-June abdominal surgery. KISS frontman/guitarist Paul Stanley missed the group's San Jacinto, CA performance due to a "cardiac event" from which he recovered. Ozzy Osbourne underwent minor surgery to remove a blood clot following an Ozzfest performance at Coors Amphitheater in Englewood, CO.
August
Stevie Wonder unveiled plans for his first major tour in a dozen years. Baltimore's two-day Virgin Festival attracted heavy-hitters like The Police, Panic! at the Disco, Beastie Boys, TV on the Radio, Smashing Pumpkins. Fats Domino, whose New Orleans' home was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina, received 20 reproduced sales awards for his chart-topping hits in the '50s and '60s. Wilco postponed two gigs to allow guitarist Nels Cline to recuperate from a bout of chicken pox. Alt-rockers The Jesus and Mary Chain, in the midst of a comeback tour, confirmed reports of a new album on the horizon. Veteran rockers Genesis, fresh off a European jaunt, announced "Turn It On Again," the group's first North American tour in 15 years. The Cure pushed back a previously announced September/October tour to April and May of 2008 so the group could focus on finishing up their double album. Amy Winehouse, who had reportedly been in and out of rehab, postponed her North American tour alongside Paulo Nutini, who opted to continue on without her.
September
Kelly Clarkson, who canceled her summer arena tour due to poor ticket sales, announced a keyed-down fall trek, scheduled to hit more intimate venues. Blind Melon revealed a tour schedule behind an in-the-works album with singer Travis Warren filling the spot left by Shannon Hoon, who died of a drug overdose in 1995. Britney Spears attempted a career comeback when she opened the MTV Video Music Awards with a lackluster performance of her latest single, "Gimme More." The Pixies' Frank Black launched a brief tour as Black Francis, backing his 13th studio release, "Bluefinger." Singer/songwriter Colbie Caillat, who propelled to fame thanks to MySpace, launched a club and theater tour in support of her debut album, "CoCo." Austin City Limits Festival continued despite a slew of major cancellations including The White Stripes, Rodrigo y Gabriela and Amy Winehouse. Disney made the executive decision to take their popular TV show, "High School Musical," to the live stage. The album-sales rivalry between Kanye West's "Graduation" and 50 Cent's "Curtis" came to a head when West outsold 50 Cent by nearly a third during the albums' first week in stores. Veteran rockers Van Halen took the stage for the first time in 22 years with original frontman David Lee Roth.
October
The Wallflowers reemerged after a two-year hiatus to play a handful of intimate shows on the East Coast. Coheed and Cambria hit the road behind "No World for Tomorrow," the final chapter in a five-part CD saga. Cartoon Network's Adult Swim program launched a pair of campus concert tours, a hip-hop version featuring Ghostface Killah and a rock version headlined by ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. Radiohead released their latest studio album, "In Rainbows," allowing fans to pick their own price when ordering the digital-download version. The Spice Girls sold out their London O2 arena show in 38 seconds, prompting the British quintet to schedule three more London shows. Isaac Hanson, the oldest brother of the pop group Hanson, checked into a Dallas hospital for chest pains, the result of a pulmonary embolism. Madonna signs a deal with concert promotions giant Live Nation encompassing recorded music, merchandise, ticketing, fan websites, broadcast/digital media rights, sponsorship and marketing. The American Music Awards opened voting up to the public for the first time in the show's 35-year history. Country crooner George Strait released another hits album, "22 More Hits," ahead of his massive US arena tour. Miley Cyrus announced that her hot-selling "Best of Both Worlds" tour, which also featured her Disney Channel character Hannah Montana, would be captured on film and screened at 3D movie theaters in early 2008. MySpace launched the first ever MySpace Music Tour, headlined by Say Anything and Hellogoodbye. A rash of wildfires forced several acts to cancel scheduled gigs in Southern California. Sum 41 canceled several tour dates due to frontman Deryck Whibley's issue with a herniated disc.
November
"Long Road Out of Eden"--the first album of new material from the Eagles in 28 years, debuts at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 chart--despite being sold exclusively at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. The Decemberists canceled their fall US tour after just two fulfilled dates due to a member's undisclosed illness. Rosanne Cash announced all remaining 2007 tour dates would be canceled so she could undergo brain surgery for a benign condition. Celine Dion revealed plans for a world tour once her five-year Las Vegas residency at Ceasars Palace ends. Soul singer Robin Thicke postponed his stateside tour because of a vocal ailment. John Mayer released information about Mayercraft Carrier, a three-day concert cruise planned for February. Van Halen mentioned extending their successful road trip well into next year. Quiet Riot frontman Kevin DuBrow was found dead in his Las Vegas home from an accidental drug overdose. Josh Groban's Christmas-themed "Noel" returned to No. 1 on The Billboard 200 chart after his surprise appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Trent Reznor launched his own website to allow for fan-posted remixes after his former label turned down the idea.
December
Garth Brooks set a venue sales record with his five-show stand at LA's Staples Center. Journey named their third lead singer in less than two years, with Arnel Pineda replacing Jeff Scott Soto as the rock group's frontman. Led Zeppelin rocked London's O2 arena in their first full-length concert in nearly three decades. Paul Potts, the soft-spoken winner of "Britain's Got Talent," announced plans for his first trek across the US scheduled for spring 2008. Dolly Parton unveiled the first set of dates for her 2008 world tour behind her forthcoming album, "Backwoods Barbie," her first studio effort since 2005. Music icons Madonna, Leonard Cohen, John Mellencamp, The Ventures and The Dave Clark Five led the new class of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, to be honored in March. Art Garfunkel confirmed dates for a US tour that will mix solo and symphony dates in support of his 12th solo album, "Some Enchanted Evening." Josh Groban's "Noel" spent its 5th straight week at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 album chart, a record for a holiday album. Radiohead announced it will perform its latest album, "In Rainbows," in its entirety during a one-hour New Year's Eve simulcast over cable television and the web.
2007 Deaths
Notable deaths in the music world throughout 2007 included Michael Brecker, Joe Hunter (The Funk Brothers,) Brad Delp (Boston,) Don Ho, Lee Hazlewood, Max Roach, Luciano Pavarotti, Casey Calvert (Hawthorne Heights,) Kevin DuBrow (Quiet Riot,) Ike Turner, Chad "Pimp C" Butler (UGK), Dan Fogelberg Joe Dolan and Oscar Peterson.
Robin Williams to open Letterman's show
NEW YORK - Robin Williams will be David Letterman's first guest upon the return of his "Late Show" on CBS Wednesday, while NBC's writer-less "Tonight" show welcomes GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.
The appearance of a Hollywood A-lister who can talk a mile a minute may be Letterman's way of quickly trying to draw a distinction between his show and his late-night rivals, who are working without striking writers and may also have trouble booking major entertainers.
The most closely watched late-night duel will be between NBC's Jay Leno and Letterman.
Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants, reached an agreement Friday to have his show return with writers despite the ongoing writers strike, which began Nov. 5.
Leno, along with Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O'Brien, return Wednesday under an air of mystery. They won't have writers and are restricted under union strike rules from performing many familiar comic bits, including traditional monologues.
Meanwhile, Letterman's signature "top 10" list arrives intact.
Hollywood's major actors' union has put out signals encouraging its members to visit Letterman and fellow CBS host Craig Ferguson. Ferguson's show is also owned by Worldwide Pants and is covered by the same special deal with writers.
"Screen Actors Guild members will be happy to appear on the `Late Show' with David Letterman and the `Late Late Show' with Craig Ferguson with union writers at work and without having to cross picket lines," said Alan Rosenberg, Screen Actors Guild president.
The Los Angeles-based union represents nearly 120,000 actors.
Until the Huckabee announcement, neither Leno nor late-night shows hosted by Kimmel and O'Brien had said anything about who they will book.
There's no word on whether Huckabee will bring along his electric guitar. Leno's return after two months of strike-related reruns couldn't come at a better time for the politician, the night before the Iowa caucuses and six days before the New Hampshire primary.
Donald Trump, previously booked for Letterman on Wednesday, has been bumped to Friday.
Comedy Central's topical nightly comedies, "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart and "The Colbert Report," are set to return on Jan. 7 without striking writers.
DVD gets Zapped!
Zapped!, the '80s paranormal sex romp starring Scott Baio will go digital with a new DVD release in February.
The disc carries an anamorphic widescreen transfer and the original stereo sound mix. No extras have been announced, but with a tagline like They're getting a little behind in their classwork, what more could you possibly ask for.
Arriving February 12th from MGM Home Entertainment, the disc retails for $14.98.
Digital album packaging should improve in 2008
DENVER (Billboard) - There is a reason people still buy CDs more than they do digital albums. Actually there are several, but viruses that come along with music via peer-to-peer sites (P2P) and a concern over digital rights management (DRM) aren't the only culprits.
Digital music files just don't provide the same amount of content that a CD package does. That includes liner notes, extended album art and lyrics. Buy a digital album today and all you get are a list of tracks and (maybe) a thumbnail image of the album cover that you can't even read.
It's one of the reasons music fans still turn to P2P networks for their music. In addition to providing music free of charge and free of DRM, P2P sites in many cases also include digital copies of such extras typically found in the CD. According to label sources and pirate network tracking firms, fans downloading full albums from BitTorrent sites almost universally choose files that include scans of the CD booklet over those that don't.
Of course, there is little that can be done with those scans other than view them on a computer. Imagine if the music industry and the digital music services got together and offered an official way to access the same content, but make it available on portable devices as well as make it interactive.
There are two ways to accomplish this. One is working directly with a digital music service and hardware developer to ensure all this new content has an outlet. The other is to go it alone.
For the former, iTunes is the most likely candidate.
Although hardly life-threatening, iTunes is facing new competition from Amazon and a variety of social networking sites. While it has made great advancements with the iPod, iTunes' innovation has been slow. The service looks and operates much like it always has. The only new features are in video.
In 2008, look for Apple to make nice with its label partners by offering a bit more with each download, such as lyrics and more interactive album art.
iTunes is the only music service that has a built-in video download feature. The others offer only streaming video. It's also one of the few services that feature a tightly integrated device -- the iPod. Apple is in a great position to roll out new features across its online store and its devices at the same time.
Microsoft's Zune is another place to watch for this, for the same reasons. It also has the integrated service and device, as well as ownership of the technical building blocks needed (such as Windows Media Player). And since it's still lagging far behind Apple in the digital music game, Microsoft could easily tap digital extras as a battleground for new market share.
The problem is that the four major music companies rarely work together on anything. So another angle would be for each to go it alone. If digital music services can't or won't incorporate better metadata into their downloaded files, look for third-party applications to emerge that will do so after the fact.
Early examples of this are two games developed for the iPod -- "Musicka," created by the developers of the original music rhythm game "PaRappa the Rapper," and "Phase," created by "Rock Band" and original "Guitar Hero" developer Harmonix. Both are rhythm-based games that let users "play" along to the songs on their device by pressing buttons at the right time.
The point is that if these game companies can do it, there is no reason why labels can't offer (or commission) their own iPod plug-in that will import better album art, liner notes and lyrics directly from the label or artist and ported into iTunes and the iPod.
In the year ahead, look for several efforts from both camps as digital music distribution becomes more important to the music industry as well as a point of increasing competition among service providers.
Here are a few areas to watch:
ALBUM ART
As music formats have changed through the years, album artwork has suffered. It has gone from sprawling center spreads adorning vinyl LPs to stamp-sized thumbnails accompanying MP3 files. But as digital becomes the predominant format, look for album art to evolve.
The early groundwork for this already has been laid. Last spring, Warner Music Group (WMG) added interactive booklets based on Apple's Quicktime software to about 75 albums sold on iTunes, providing photos and links to more multimedia content. The problem was it was also based on Flash technology, which the latest version of Quicktime disabled due to a security flaw.
There is additional activity on the mobile front. All labels are working with phone manufacturers on the "mobile album" concept -- a bundled digital package that includes the full song, ringtone, wallpaper image and other assets for one price.
LYRICS
While a lyrics page is quite commonplace in the pages of a CD booklet, they are nonexistent with digital music files. In fact, most digital music services only let users search for songs by artist, track or album name. None have an integrated lyrics search tool, and you certainly can't download lyrics to your iPod or other device.
Slowly, things are changing. Yahoo Music last year launched the first publisher-authorized online lyrics search page thanks to Gracenote, which has taken on the task of untangling the Gordian knot of music lyrics publishing rights for service providers.
That search page isn't integrated with the Yahoo Music Unlimited service, though. What's lacking is an affordable way to attach those lyrics to the digital file of the song they belong to. Digital music services would have to pay an extra fee per download to offer that capability, and devices would have to add a new "lyrics" tab or some other functionality for users to subsequently access the words while the song plays.
Look for Gracenote and its service provider partners to develop exactly that in the year ahead.
LINER NOTES
Perhaps the most fundamental changes coming to album extras are in the liner notes. In a CD booklet, it's all well and good to list a bunch of people to thank and leave it at that. In the digital age, liner notes become far more interesting.
Rather than thanking so-and-so producer for doing such a great mixing job or their family for support, digital albums can provide behind-the-scenes footage of the producer and band at work, or perhaps a "making of" featurette, interview Q&A, family photos/video, etc.
One area to look for such innovation is with the CDVU+ and MVI formats created by Walt Disney and WMG, respectively. Technically these are multimedia CD formats, not digital music formats. But both represent a step toward expanding the way all involved view a music product.
Both add what can best be called "digital magazines" to a CD that, when inserted into a computer, allow fans to access videos, link to online features, lyrics and more. These physical products represent the bridge between old-school CDs and the digital future. As labels focus on selling more digital albums instead of individual tracks in the new year, expect them to learn from these experiments and begin creating similar all-digital packages as well.
Mounties bust fake DVD scam in Montreal
The RCMP have seized thousands of counterfeit DVDs of popular American TV shows and arrested eight people suspected of masterminding a black-market scam to sell the videos.
Mountie investigators raided an undisclosed Montreal location Tuesday where they found thousands of illegal DVD copies of shows like The Six Million Dollar Man and Ally McBeal, as well as 200 DVD burners.
Eight people were arrested and face several fraud charges under the Canadian Criminal Code and Copyright Law.
The RCMP believe the DVDs were burned in Montreal and sold widely across North America through several internet sites.
The counterfeit DVDs were sold at market prices which led buyers to believe they were purchasing original copies.
Canada's national police force warned consumers to be vigilant when buying DVDs online. Counterfeit versions are typically of poorer quality, the RCMP said at a press conference Wednesday.
People who believe they've bought counterfeit versions can contact the RCMP at 1-514-939-8307, or the Canadian Association of Film Distributors at 1-800-363-9166.
Rowling says she's considered another Potter novel
Author J.K. Rowling says she has considered writing another Harry Potter novel, although fans may have to wait another 10 years.
The bestselling author of the teen wizard series has hinted in an interview with Time magazine that she has had "weak moments" in which she's thought of writing an eighth book.
"If — and it's a big if — I ever write an eighth book, I doubt that Harry would be the central character. I feel I've already told his story," she said.
"But these are big ifs. Let's give it 10 years."
The seventh instalment of the wizard-in-training books — Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — came out in July. It instantly became the fastest-selling book of all time, with more than 15 million copies purchased within 24 hours.
Rowling's six previous Harry Potter books sold more than 325 million worldwide.
Rowling, who Time positioned at No. 3 in its Person of the Year list, is thought to be working on an adult novel.
The 41-year-old writer hit the headlines in October after revealing that one of Harry Potter's main characters, Albus Dumbledore, is gay.
She told an audience of fans in New York City that as a young man, Dumbledore had fallen in love with Gellert Grindelwald, who later became a rival.
Rowling said her novels are really a "prolonged argument for tolerance."
The film version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth book in the series, is due for release late next year.
Canseco plans sequel to tell-all doping book: reports
NEW YORK (AFP) - Retired slugger Jose Canseco, who unveiled steroid doping by Major League Baseball stars in a 2005 book, plans a sequel to his tell-all memoir "Juiced" that promises to add names to the sport's shame.
The New York Daily News and New York Post reported Sunday that Canseco's lawyer, Robert Saunooke, said the former Oakland A's star has signed a publishing deal.
Canseco hopes to have the new book available for sale when the season opens in March at Tokyo and promises to plug what he considers holes in the Mitchell Commission report that linked more than 80 men to performance-enhancing drugs.
"It will be an unjaundiced view, without the rose-colored glasses that (Mitchell's report) obviously put on," Saunooke said.
The book has a working title of "Vindicated" but actual vindication for the once-bulky slugger is unlikely even given the massive scope of the doping plague that has tainted the past decade's results in America's pastime.
"Juiced" was Canseco's confession of dope cheating and named Mark McGwire and Jason Giambi as steroid takers, helping to spark hearings before US lawmakers in which McGwire refused to deny doping while under oath.
More hearings before US lawmakers are planned in January but without players being involved, diminishing the importance and drama that can be expected given prior threats and inaction when applying pressure to baseball officials.
'Treasure' tops weekend at $35.6 million
LOS ANGELES - Fortune-seeker Nicolas Cage, lonely guy Will Smith and a pack of talking chipmunks ended Hollywood's year on a happy note. Cage's "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" was the No. 1 movie for a second weekend with $35.6 million, followed by "Alvin and the Chipmunks" with $30 million and Smith's "I Am Legend" with $27.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Those hits along with a solid crop of other holdovers and new movies that opened Christmas Day capped a year-end hot streak for Hollywood, whose business soared the last few weeks after a sluggish fall.
"It's being spread among three or four key movies, then another six or seven or eight below that, which is great," said Mark Zoradi, president of the motion-picture group at Disney, which released "National Treasure."
The top 12 movies took in $169.2 million, up 18 percent from the final weekend of 2006, when "Night at the Museum" led the box office with $36.8 million.
Hollywood will finish the year with record revenues of about $9.7 billion, up from the previous best of $9.45 billion in 2004, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.
Since prices are higher, the revenue represents actual admissions that were up only a fraction over 2006's and fell well short of modern Hollywood's record of 1.6 billion tickets sold in 2002.
With the holidays falling on Tuesday, many people have been taking five-day weekends, a boost for the movie business. Many students are off from school until next week, too.
"It's turned into like a two-week-long weekend for the movie industry," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers.
"National Treasure," a sequel with Cage chasing historical clues to find a legendary city of gold, raised its domestic total to $124 million.
"Alvin and the Chipmunks," from 20th Century Fox, lifted its haul to $142.4 million. The Warner Bros. hit "I Am Legend," with Smith as a plague survivor who may be the last man alive, has climbed to $194.6 million.
Opening with huge numbers in limited release was Paramount Vantage's "There Will Be Blood," starring Daniel Day-Lewis in a tale of greed and violence during California's oil boom in the early 20th century. Playing at just two theaters in New York City and Los Angeles, "There Will Be Blood" took in $185,525 over the weekend and $309,703 since opening Wednesday. It expands to the top 10 markets Friday.
"There Will Be Blood" joins other films of violence and misdeeds such as "No Country for Old Men," "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" and "Michael Clayton" aiming for top honors at the Academy Awards. All scored well in this month's Golden Globe nominations.
Oscar campaigner Harvey Weinstein, who delivered such best-picture winners as "Shakespeare in Love" and "Chicago" while at Miramax, said he hoped his feel-good drama "The Great Debaters" would stand out for awards consideration among all the blood-soaked fare. The Weinstein Co. release, distributed by MGM, took in $6.3 million over the weekend and $13.5 million since opening on Christmas.
A Golden Globe nominee for best drama, "The Great Debaters" features director and star Denzel Washington alongside Forest Whitaker in a story of a black debate team in the 1930s South.
"We're late, but we're hoping we can get that last best-picture spot" for the Oscars, Weinstein said. "The other movies are pretty bloody, but this is an uplifting American story."
Oscar nominations come out Jan. 22.
Other films that debuted on Christmas had solid weekends. "Alien vs. Predator: Requiem," a sci-fi horror sequel from 20th Century Fox, took in $10.05 million, raising its total since opening day to $26.9 million. Sony's Loch Ness monster fantasy "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep" grossed $9.2 million and lifted its sum to $16.8 million.
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Wednesday.
1. "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," $35.6 million.
2. "Alvin and the Chipmunks," $30 million.
3. "I Am Legend," $27.5 million.
4. "Charlie Wilson's War," $11.8 million.
5. "Juno," $10.3 million.
6. "Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem," $10.05 million.
7. "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep," $9.2 million.
8. "P.S. I Love You," $9.1 million.
9. "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," $8 million.
10. "Enchanted," $6.5 million.
Ghostbusters 3 Not Ruled Out Completely
Ghostbusters is one of those films that achieved perfection to the point that everyone would love to see the story continue on. Nevermind that Ghostbusters 2 didn’t quite live up to the first movie. People still want to see more of Venkman, Egon, Ray, and Winston’s antics.
Thankfully, we know the story is continuing. If nothing else, there’s the upcoming video game that features the voices of Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, and even Bill Murray, who usually doesn’t want to be bothered with the franchise from the past. Hudson says the game may not be the only possibility for the future, however, and not to rule out the idea of a third movie.
Hudson told The Money Times that, "Danny Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, I know they want to do another film. It would be great if we could get back together again." We know Aykroyd wants to do another film as well. As Moviehole points out in their reporting, it’s pretty common knowledge that the writer has scripts penned out for two more chapters in the Ghostbusters saga.
In the meantime, Hudson is happy to be a part of the upcoming video game, appeasing one of his guilts of the past: "I'm really excited about that because when they came out with the cartoon (TV series,) none of us did the cartoon and I kind of regretted that because then I thought, 'It would have been fun to do it.' So, I'm glad that the game is happening.”
So are we Ernie, so are we.
Jessica Simpson Going Country On New Album
Believe it: Jessica Simpson has decamped to Nashville to begin work on her debut country album, due sometime in 2008 via Columbia Nashville.
Simpson declined to name songwriting collaborators, but tells Billboard.com she will most definitely be involved in the creative process. "Writing is a release for me," she says. "It's a way for me to tell my story. That's not to say I wouldn't record a song that I didn't write. It's just that it has been a while since I have opened the book."
But why country, and why now? "I am a country girl," she says. "I grew up in Texas, and country music was what I listened to. I always wanted to make a country album, but I wanted to wait until the time was right."
"I think there is a strength in female country artists," Simpson adds, citing Martina McBride, Shania Twain, Faith Hill and Reba McEntire as some of her inspirations.
Asked what has surprised her most since starting the follow-up to 2006's "A Public Affair," Simpson says, "Nashville is a very warm city. The people are friendly and kind. There is a sense of community, which thrives on music. There is no animosity ... only respect for one another's talent."
It's unclear if Simpson will hit the road in support of the as-yet-untitled country project, but she says, "Since the record is in the beginning stages, there hasn't been much talk about a tour just yet."
Letterman's show returning with writers
NEW YORK - "Late Show with David Letterman" and "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" will be back with their writers airing joke-filled new hours starting Wednesday, the shows' production company, Worldwide Pants, announced Friday.
An interim agreement between the Letterman-owned company and the Writers Guild of America will allow the full writing staffs for both shows to return to work, even as the Hollywood writers strike continues to shutter much TV and movie production. Both of those CBS late-night shows have been airing reruns since the strike began eight weeks ago.
"I am grateful to the WGA for granting us this agreement," Letterman said. "This is not a solution to the strike, which unfortunately continues to disrupt the lives of thousands. But I hope it will be seen as a step in the right direction."
The deal, which restores the two shows to business as usual, gives them an enormous advantage over their competition.
NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" as well as ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" had already announced they would resume Wednesday without benefit of their writing teams. Similarly, Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert" planned to return writer-less on Monday, Jan. 7.
Resisting such an arrangement, Rob Burnett, president and CEO of Worldwide Pants, had actively sought an interim deal. Talks between studios and networks and the guild broke down Dec. 7, but the guild has been pursuing agreements with several small independent producers that would allow at least some members to return to work.
"We are appreciative that the leaders of the guild dealt with us reasonably and in good faith," Burnett said.
Much speculation has been focused on how the other late-night shows will fill their time deprived of monologues, skits and other written material. All the hosts — with the exception of NBC's Carson Daly, who returned to the air Dec. 3 — are members of the guild, making those without an interim deal subject to union rules that would severely limit what they can do.
A related issue centers on whether their shows will face a problem booking A-list guests, who may not be willing to cross a picket line.
Central to the contract dispute has been compensation for work distributed via the Internet and other digital media. The guild also has called for unionization of writers working on reality shows and animation.
When writers went on strike in 1988, only two late-night shows were affected: Johnny Carson's "Tonight" show and Letterman's "Late Night," both on NBC. Carson made a deal with the guild shortly after returning to the air, but Letterman went weeks without his writers' services before the strike was settled.
Return of late night, or train-wreck TV?
NEW YORK - Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel and Jon Stewart all plan returns to late-night television the next two weeks, but aside from their familiar faces, viewers may not recognize much.
After two months away because of the still-unresolved writers strike, NBC's Leno and O'Brien, and ABC's Kimmel, resume their programs next Wednesday, Jan. 2. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert come back to Comedy Central the following Monday, Jan. 7.
Barring a New Year's miracle, none of their writers will be joining them.
David Letterman is also pushing to return Jan. 2, but his Worldwide Pants production company is still trying to reach its own deal to bring his show's writers back onboard.
The hosts — with the exception of NBC's Carson Daly — are also members of the striking Writer's Guild of America, making them subject to union rules that would severely limit what they can do.
The union's strike rules say members cannot write or perform any material that would normally be written for them. Under this interpretation, for example, Jay Leno couldn't perform a monologue, because his staff of writers normally crafts his jokes.
The comic skits that are a part of several late-night shows would also be off-limits without writers.
"I think that people will see some interesting television," said Chris Albers, former president of Writer's Guild of America East and a comedy writer for O'Brien. "Obviously, these are some of the funniest people in the country so they're probably going to do a very good job. It's just a different animal than what they're used to and what we're used to."
In a conference call with reporters last week, producers of NBC's "Tonight" and "Late Night" said they were still trying to figure out what their shows would look like. They weren't willing to talk further this week, a spokesman said.
Comic ad-libbing, musical performances and lengthier appearances by interview subjects willing to cross picket lines are the most likely recourse.
"I don't know what they're going to do," said Mike Sweeney, head writer for O'Brien's NBC show. "My obvious speculation would be more guests, and maybe talk to them more slowly."
Stewart and Stephen Colbert would appear to have the toughest time reconfiguring their programs, which have a large amount of scripted material. By a strict interpretation of the guild's rules, a member would be prohibited from performing as a character if union writers normally write material for the character.
Colbert performs his entire show in the character of a blowhard political commentator.
"We don't know how he's going to do it," said Sherry Goldman, spokeswoman for the Writers Guild of America East, "and I'm not so sure that he's figured it out yet."
Comedy Central would not let its executives talk about planning for the shows' returns.
Only two late-night shows were affected when writers went on strike in 1988: Johnny Carson's "Tonight" show and Letterman's program, both on NBC. Carson was not a writer's guild member, so he wrote his monologue himself for the few weeks that he worked without writers.
His monologue, part of the fabric of American life, was welcomed back but Carson's writer-less debut in May 1988 didn't draw raves: "The whole show seemed lame," wrote the Washington Post's Tom Shales at the time, "unfunny comic Joe Piscopo, Ed McMahon showing photos of his little girl, a hackneyed arrangement of Irving Berlin tunes by the band and film of mating condors."
Letterman's "Late Night" substituted comedy with freewheeling filler. One gag had the show's associate director playing "Lady of Spain" on the accordion, night after night.
"Fifty-five minutes, ladies and gentlemen, 55 minutes to go!" he said early in one show. "That's all we're really trying to accomplish, is to eat up valuable network time."
Letterman weighed in frequently on the strike, calling network management "money-grubbing scum."
While the strike raises the possibility of train-wreck television, some performers may thrive in without-a-net circumstances. A critic in The New York Times wrote that Letterman's strike programs were often "downright exciting," a throwback to the early years of late-night television when there was more improvisation.
It's uncertain whether Letterman will get the chance to repeat the experience. His representatives were still talking with the union on Thursday. Donald Trump and Shooter Jennings are booked as a guest for Letterman's Jan. 2 show — if there is one.
There's a difference of opinion among union members about whether cutting a separate deal with Letterman is wise, Albers said. Some believe it would put pressure on NBC to settle the strike because Leno would be at a competitive disadvantage; others think it would be wrong to effectively reward CBS with a show using the services of writers, he said.
Sweeney has his own secret wish for O'Brien if he returns without writers.
"I hope he tries to hold a telethon to raise money for us," he said.
Apple, Fox to offer iPod movie rentals
Apple Inc. is partnering with entertainment giant 20th Century Fox to offer movie rentals through its popular iTunes program, according to a news report.
Through the proposed online video-on-demand service, consumers will have the chance to download time-limited copies of Fox DVD releases, according to a source familiar with the deal cited in the Financial Times Thursday.
The deal is expected to be announced at the Macworld show in San Francisco on Jan. 14.
The news follows a similar move by Microsoft Corp. in 2006 in partnership with Xbox 360. Together, they launched a digital video download service that allows Xbox 360 owners to buy television shows and rent movies.
The service, which was made available to Canadians just this month, lets people with broadband internet connections purchase standard and high-definition content through the Marketplace store on its dedicated Xbox Live network.
However, analysts say the sheer strength of iTunes' popularity will make the partnership between Apple and Fox highly lucrative for the two companies, including a boost in sales of video iPods.
"Fox and potentially other studios are coming around to the idea that there is nobody out there to challenge iTunes," Jonathan Weitz, a principal with IBB consulting in the United States, told the Times.
"This deal is a sign that media mobility is coming to the mainstream."
Apple shares hit the $200 mark for the first time Wednesday — largely on the strength of the iPod brand. The company unveiled a new line of personal media devices this year, updating its flash-based Nano model to enable video playback as well as introducing the iPod Touch.
The touch-screen unit includes Wi-Fi wireless capability that allows users to connect to the internet, as well as Apple's online music store iTunes and purchase songs.
According to the Times, new Fox DVD releases will include Apple's FairPlay digital rights management system, allowing the films to be legally copied from the disc onto a computer or iPod.
Limited Disney, Paramount and other films are already for sale — although not for rent — through the iTunes platform.
Apple was also said to have been in negotiations with Sony, Paramount and Warner Brothers about similar deals to make their content available through the iTunes store.
'Back To The Future" And 'Wuthering Heights' among 25 top films
WASHINGTON - From "The Naked City" to "In a Lonely Place" and "Oklahoma!" the Library of Congress is adding 25 more classic American films to its national registry.
There are "12 Angry Men" to be heard, "The Strong Man" to be viewed and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" to be dealt with.
"Even as Americans fill the movie theaters to see the latest releases, few are aware that up to half the films produced in this country before 1950 — and as much as 90 percent of those made before 1920 — are lost forever," said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington in announcing the selections.
"The National Film Registry seeks not only to honor these films, but to ensure that they are preserved for future generations to enjoy," he said in a statement.
The 25 chosen this year bring the registry total to 475.
Both recent and early films are eligible for inclusion, and hundreds are nominated by the public each year.
The films are chosen because they are "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant.
Among those selected this year:
• "The Naked City," 1948, filmed on actual locations in New York; this movie won Oscars for best photography and editing. It was a gritty crime film combining slices of several stories.
• "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," 1977, an intelligent sci-fi film in which the climactic scene is set at Devil's Tower National Monument in Wyoming.
• "In a Lonely Place," 1950, a scathing Hollywood satire with Humphrey Bogart playing a screenwriter, brilliant at his craft yet prone to living with his fists.
• "Oklahoma!" 1955, brought the fun and famous musical to the screen.
• "Back to the Future," 1985, explored the possibilities of special effects when a man stranded in 1955 by a time machine must not only find a way home, but also teach his father how to become a man, repair the space/time continuum and save his family from being erased from existence. All while fighting off the advances of his then-teenage mother.
• "12 Angry Men," 1957, a classic filmed in a spare, claustrophobic style — largely set in one jury room — relating a single juror's refusal to conform to peer pressure in a murder trial.
• "The Strong Man," 1926, features Harry Langdon, widely considered one of the great silent comedians, as a meek man in love with a blind woman.
• "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," 1962, director John Ford's last great Western. The film shows that the conquest of the West meant the triumph of civilization, embodied in Jimmy Stewart, over wild innocence — John Wayne — and evil — Lee Marvin.
Also being added to the registry:
• "Bullitt" (1968)
• "Dance, Girl, Dance" (1940)
• "Dances With Wolves" (1990)
• "Days of Heaven" (1978)
• "Glimpse of the Garden" (1957)
• "Grand Hotel" (1932)
• "The House I Live In" (1945)
• "Mighty Like a Moose" (1926)
• "Now, Voyager" (1942)
• "Our Day" (1938)
• "Peege" (1972)
• "The Sex Life of the Polyp" (1928)
• "Three Little Pigs" (1933)
• "Tol'able David" (1921)
• "Tom, Tom the Piper's Son" (1969-71)
• "The Women" (1939)
• "Wuthering Heights" (1939)
Patriots game to make U.S. broadcasting history
New England's quest at a historic 16-0 mark will be broadcast Saturday night on American networks CBS, NBC and the NFL Network, the league announced on Wednesday.
The road game for the Patriots against the New York Giants, was originally scheduled to be shown only on the NFL Network, which is available in fewer than 40 per cent of homes with televisions in the United States.
The league announced Wednesday that the NFL Network feed will be simulcast on NBC and CBS.
It's a major concession by league officials, who repeatedly said they would not show the game anywhere but the NFL Network. The NFL had faced mounting pressure from lawmakers in recent weeks to make the game available to more viewers.
The game will be the first three-network simulcast in NFL history and the first simulcast of any kind of an NFL game since the first Super Bowl in 1967, when CBS and NBC both televised the first meeting of the champions of the newly merged National Football League and American Football League.
Local TV affiliates in the Boston, Manchester, N.H., and New York areas who were already set to simulcast the game under NFL policy will still air it.
The NFL has feuded with major cable companies, which have declined to carry the NFL Network as part of basic packages.
"We have taken this extraordinary step because it is in the best interest of our fans," league commissioner Roger Goodell said. "What we have seen for the past year is a very strong consumer demand for NFL Network. We appreciate CBS and NBC delivering the NFL Network telecast on Saturday night to the broad audience that deserves to see this potentially historic game. Our commitment to the NFL Network is stronger than ever."
No team has gone unbeaten since the league moved to a 16-game schedule. The 1972 Miami Dolphins went 14-0 and then won all three post-season games.
Envelope, please: Oscar ballots mailed
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Thousands of Oscar nomination ballots were mailed out Wednesday, heralding the official start of Academy Awards season.
U.S. Postal Service bins overflowed with ballots shipped to 5,829 academy members from the film academy's headquarters in Beverly Hills.
Accountants from PricewaterhouseCoopers counted, sorted and numbered the ballots before the massive mail-out. Voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have until Jan. 12, 2008, to return the forms.
Nominees for the 80th annual Academy Awards will be announced Jan. 22. The awards will be presented Feb. 24 at the Kodak Theatre.
Tributes pour in for 'giant in music' Peterson
Tributes are continuing to pour in for Canadian jazz musician Oscar Peterson.
The legendary pianist, considered one of the greatest of all time, died Sunday at the age of 82.
Peterson recorded more than 200 albums and won seven Grammy Awards in a career that made him internationally renowned.
Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean called him a "national treasure" and "one of our greatest ambassadors of Canadian jazz."
"Through his work, he has left us a rich legacy that will inspire many generations to come," she said in a statement that also recalled the courage Peterson demonstrated in the face of health problems, including a stroke that impaired the use of one hand.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper praised Peterson's most famous composition, Canadiana Suite, which pays tribute to each region of Canada.
"Oscar Peterson rose from humble roots in Montreal's Little Burgundy to storm the very heights of the music world," Harper said in a statement.
"A technical and creative master, he toured the globe in the company of the finest jazz artists of his era. More than four decades later the Canadiana Suite is secure as a signature element of the country's cultural fabric.
"A Companion of the Order of Canada and recipient of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Peterson was not simply a giant in Canadian music, but a giant in music period."
Tributes also came from overseas, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy saying Peterson had been a "bright light of jazz."
Within the jazz world, artists and musicians are recalling Peterson as a role model and friend.
"Oscar was an old man who lived a very big life, a wonderful life," said Canadian singer Molly Johnson, who opened for Peterson in his later years. "He was just amazing. Just amazing."
Johnson said Peterson was generous in helping her develop a new fan base.
"He was very real," she said. "I always felt that I really had to be on my best behaviour when I was around him."
"I just thought Oscar would be around for another 100 years," said fellow pianist Hank Jones, a jazz legend in his own right. "This is one of the saddest days of my life."
A tribute concert for Peterson planned for Jan. 11 in Toronto will go ahead as scheduled, despite the absence of the guest of honour, organizers said.
Peterson student and jazz composer Oliver Jones of Montreal will play Peterson's works with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra as part the concert, which will feature artists from Canada and the U.S.
It is being hosted by The Canada Council for the Arts and the U.S.-based National Endowment for the Arts during a conference of jazz lovers
Cuomo Keen On Archival Releases, New Weezer CD
Rivers Cuomo hopes that his new solo set, "Alone -- The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo," is not the last the world will hear of the prolific stash of material that hasn't made it onto Weezer albums.
"I would love to put out at least one more," Cuomo, who chose the albums 18 songs from seven CD's worth of potential tracks he's recorded over the years, tells Billboard.com. In fact, the possibility exists for a series not unlike Who leader Pete Townshend's "Scoop" albums, so Cuomo says that "I'm talking with the record company (now) to figure out what's the best way for me to get more of this stuff out, and if they're gonna be involved or not. But it's certainly my hope to put out as much of this stuff as I can."
For the moment, however, future vault-raiding will have to wait in line behind Weezer's sixth album, which Cuomo says is "almost done" and that he hopes to release in April or May. "I'm listening to the songs every day, trying to figure out which order they go in and understand what the spirit is behind this album," he explains. "It's still changing every day a little bit. It's still evolving."
Cuomo describes the new songs, which are being co-produced by Rick Rubin, as "dark and deep and beautiful," and "definitely more sophisticated and adventurous. You'll hear very long songs ... and non-traditional structures."
Cuomo says Weezer fans will also hear more from Weezer's other band members, who also wrote songs and even sing lead on some tracks. On one unnamed cut, drummer Pat Wilson sings and plays lead guitar while Cuomo takes over the drum stool.
"It was a blast," Cuomo says of the all-in approach. "It definitely feels like there's a lot more of our energy that over the years has been kind of pent-up and now has been released and is flowing freely between the four of us. It's really exciting."
Cuomo's other major project is a "deep and detailed" memoir tracing the period from Weezer's formation in 1992 to the release of its first album. He anticipates another year of writing before he's ready to turn it over to a publisher.
Film's big year could have been even bigger
Despite a fall movie season that had audiences and studios about ready to throw in the towel, ticket sales will top last year's pace, analysts predict.
With less than a week left on the calendar, ticket sales should eclipse $9.35 billion, up about 4.5% from last year, industry tracker Media By Numbers reports. It marks the second straight year of increased sales, though it probably will fall below 2004's $9.41 billion.
When adjusted for the rising cost of ticket prices (which averaged $6.58 a ticket this year), attendance is about even with last year, up just 0.5%.
Not bad, but 2007 hardly fulfilled the promise of summer, which raked in a record $4 billion.
"I thought we would do $10 billion for the first time," says Media By Numbers' Paul Dergarabedian. "And overall, I think studios have to be happy that revenues are up. But the fall, while providing some high-quality movies, didn't do much for the bottom line."
That could be because Hollywood got political and depressing. Despite boasting big-name actors, movies such as Rendition, Lions for Lambs and Reservation Road proved to be clunkers that nearly stopped Hollywood's box-office momentum. "Fall was flat," says Adam Fogelson, head of marketing and distribution for Universal Pictures. "It's hard to tell a year and a half in advance what audiences are going to want. There were a lot of serious movies this fall, when people wanted to be simply entertained."
The holidays came brimming with hits including Will Smith's I Am Legend and Nicolas Cage's National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Even Alvin and the Chipmunks will bring in more than $100 million.
"Heavy movies are fine, but, especially around this time of the year, people want to go out together as a family," says Chuck Viane, distribution chief for Disney, which released National Treasure. "They're getting that again, which is why I think we're finishing big."
Sales also got a boost from more product. According to Box Office Mojo, a record 619 films were released this year.
So what flourished and what flopped?
The hits:
•Threequels. They weren't much of a hit with critics, but the third installments of Spider-Man, Shrek and Pirates of the Caribbean together hauled in $966 million domestically and another $1.6 billion overseas. That got the summer season off to its record start.
And one of the threequels, TheBourne Ultimatum, managed to please reviewers and audiences alike. It made $227 million.
•Cartoons. They didn't have the oomph they once had, but animated films remain a favorite of family moviegoers. Two cracked the top 10: Ratatouille and The Simpsons Movie, which combined for $389 million. Even Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie, which got mixed reviews, mustered $123 million.
•Judd Apatow. The champion of the slacker produced two hits in Knocked Up ($149 million) and Superbad ($121 million). The only misstep came last weekend, when his biopic send-up Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story opened to a dismal $4.1 million.
•Digital filmmaking.300, the music-video-style epic shot entirely in front of a green screen, was the surprise of the year with $211 million. The computer-generated robots from Transformers morphed into $319 million. And Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer raked in $132 million — thanks primarily to the hip, digitally rendered surfer, who is getting his own movie.
The misses:
•The indie hit: Where was this year's Little Miss Sunshine? Juno may yet claim that mantle, though it's still in limited release. Movies that were expected to be the year's sleeper must-sees —The Darjeeling Limited, Waitress, Eastern Promises — managed to turn profits but failed to crack the mainstream.
•Gore. Once a bulletproof genre, gory horror and torture films were no match for suspense this year. Hostel Part II, The Hitcher and Captivity each took in less than $17 million — poor even for the genre's low production costs.
•Political films. Look at the lowest-grossing movies of the year, and they are littered with stories with something political to say. Blame the films' quality, dark tones or Hollywood's liberal leanings, but In the Valley of Elah, Rendition and Lions for Lambs all had big names behind them — and little else.
"No one is going to complain when you can make more money than you did the year before," Dergarabedian says. "But when you start the way you did this summer, there's going to be a lot of thought about what might have been."
Best of 2007: Five New Games You Must Play
Yes, we loved Mario Galaxy, Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, but we’ve compiled this list of the year's best with one rule in mind: all-new titles only. So, let’s take look at the new stories and characters that rocked our year.
---Bioshock (360, PC)
This got some of the year's best reviews, and the praise is all deserved. In this heady adventure set in an underwater city gone wrong, the only way to survive is to alter your genetic code. There are consequences to this, but hey, you do get powers, like lightning bolts and swarms of bees.
--- Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (PS3)
Games aren’t usually the place to find unforgettable characters, but we love Nathan Drake. Voiced by Nolan North, Drake’s a charming, sarcastic mix of Indiana Jones and Mal from Serenity. The gameplay is a mixture of Tomb Raider meets Gears of War, but that doesn't do it justice. Drake can jump, brawl and use a whole bunch of guns as he makes his way through a jungle rain forest and a lost city of gold. And did we mention this is also the prettiest game on the PS3?
---Rock Band (360, PS3, PS2)
Take what's cool about Guitar Hero—the guitar controller—and multiply by four: microphone, drums, guitar and bass. But just trying to get your pals to agree on a band name will make you realize why so many bands break up: too many egos!
---Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (Wii)
This Wii title uses intuitive control in a crazy all-new tale of pirates...and bunnies. You’re a little pirate out to solve puzzles in a quest to find a legendary treasure. Basically, this is a point-and-click PC game, but the puzzles are ingenious and the logic of those mind benders requires the player to think outside the box, which is just what the game designers did when they came up with this.
---Mass Effect (360)
The first great science fiction event of the 21st century is here—and why shouldn’t it be a videogame? Mass Effect features a fantastic character creator, hundreds of aliens and other folks to interact with and a vast universe to explore. The only downside is that when it's over, you’ll have nothing to do but play it again as a new character and relive all those unforgettable moments. Hmmm...come to think of it, there is no downside.
Record-breaking ratings for "Voyage"
Unofficial figures show that the 2007 Christmas special Voyage of the Damned was watched by 12.2 million viewers, a 50% share of the total television audience. This is the highest rating the show has achieved since its return in 2005.
The programme was the second most watched of the day, being beaten by the edition of EastEnders immediately following Doctor Who.
The audience peaked in the last fifteen minutes of the show with a massive 13.8 million watching, nearly 55% of the audience. The five minute breakdown shows that over 15 million watched the last five minutes of the programme.
The day was a triumph for the BBC, with BBC One taking nine of the top ten places. Against the Doctor, Emmerdale on ITV1 could only manage 5.8 million, with the Evening News only getting 3.8 million.
The previous highest rated episode of the new series was Rose, which got 10.8 million viewers. If confirmed these figures will make Voyage of the Damned the highest rated episode of Doctor Who in over 28 years. It has the largest audience since the 1979 Tom Baker story City of Death, which had the advantage of being broadcast when ITV was on strike and BBC1 was one of only two channels broadcasting.
In the Children's Charts, Doctor Who was top of the list with 2.2 million under 16's watching, an incredible 65.3% share of the audience.
Final figures, including data for those who recorded the programme and watched it later, will be released by BARB in two weeks time.
Several news sources are running stories on the BBC's Christmas Day dominance, including Doctor Who's large viewing figure. These include The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Sun, BBC News, The Daily Mail, Digital Spy and Reuters.
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.
Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.
Happy Holidays to one and all!!!
Dan Reynish
December 24, 2007
Jazz great Oscar Peterson dies at 82
TORONTO - Oscar Peterson, whose early talent, speedy fingers and musical genius made him one of the world's best known jazz pianists, has died. He was 82.
Peterson died at his home in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga on Sunday, said Oliver Jones, a family friend and jazz musician. He said Peterson's wife and daughter were with him during his final moments. The cause of death was kidney failure, said Mississauga's mayor, Hazel McCallion.
"He's been going downhill in the last few months," McCallion said, calling Peterson a "very close friend."
During an illustrious career spanning seven decades, Peterson played with some of the biggest names in jazz, including Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie. He is also remembered for touring in a trio with Ray Brown on bass and Herb Ellis on guitar in the 1950s.
Peterson's impressive collection of awards include all of Canada's highest honors, such as the Order of Canada, as well as a Lifetime Grammy (1997) and a spot in the International Jazz Hall of Fame.
His growing stature was reflected in the admiration of his peers. Duke Ellington referred to him as "Maharajah of the keyboard," while Count Basie once said "Oscar Peterson plays the best ivory box I've ever heard."
In a statement, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said "one of the bright lights of jazz has gone out."
"He was a regular on the French stage, where the public adored his luminous style," Sarkozy said. "It is a great loss for us."
Jazz pianist Marian McPartland called Peterson "the finest technician that I have seen."
McPartland said she first met Peterson when she and her husband, jazz cornetist Jimmy McPartland, opened for him at the Colonial Tavern in Toronto in the 1940s.
"From that point on we became such goods friends, and he was always wonderful to me and I have always felt very close to him," she said. "I played at his tribute concert at Carnegie Hall earlier this year and performed `Tenderly,' which was always my favorite piece of his."
The American jazz pianist Billy Taylor called Peterson one of the finest jazz pianists of his time.
"He set the pace for just about everybody that followed him. He really was just a special player," Taylor said.
Born on Aug. 15, 1925, in a poor neighborhood southwest of Montreal, Peterson obtained a passion for music from his father. Daniel Peterson, a railway porter and self-taught musician, bestowed his love of music to his five children, offering them a means to escape from poverty.
Oscar Peterson learned to play trumpet and piano at a young age, but after a bout with tuberculosis had to concentrate on the latter.
He became a teen sensation in his native Canada, playing in dance bands and recording in the late 1930s and early 1940s. But he got his real break as a surprise guest at Carnegie Hall in 1949, after which he began touring the United States and Europe.
He quickly made a name for himself as a jazz virtuoso, often compared to piano great Art Tatum, his childhood idol, for his speed and technical skill.
He was also influenced by Nat King Cole, whose Nat King Cole Trio album he considered "a complete musical thesaurus for any aspiring Jazz pianist."
Peterson never stopped calling Canada home despite his growing international reputation. But at times he felt slighted here, where he was occasionally mistaken for a football player, standing at 6 foot 3 and more than 250 pounds.
In 2005 he became the first living person other than a reigning monarch to obtain a commemorative stamp in Canada, where he is jazz royalty, with streets, squares, concert halls and schools named after him.
Peterson suffered a stroke in 1993 that weakened his left hand, but not his passion or drive for music. Within a year he was back on tour, recording "Side By Side" with Itzhak Perlman.
As he grew older, Peterson kept playing and touring, despite worsening arthritis and difficulties walking.
"A jazz player is an instant composer," Peterson once said in a CBC interview, while conceding jazz did not have the mass appeal of other musical genres. "You have to think about it, it's an intellectual form," he said.
Peterson leaves behind his wife, Kelly, and their daughter, Celine.
Dr. McDreamy Dempsey named Star of the Year by People magazine
It's a McDreamy year for actor Patrick Dempsey, anointed People magazine's "Star of the Year."
The 41-year-old actor, whose character of the TV hit drama Grey's Anatomy is known as "Dr. McDreamy," is featured on the cover of the celebrity magazine's year-end issue.
"I'm just enjoying life more than I ever have … I'm trying to enjoy the moment while it's here and to be able to provide for my family so that I can step away and enjoy raising them away from all this," Dempsey told the magazine.
The actor, who is also starring in the current box-office hit Enchanted, recently celebrated the birth of twin boys with his second wife.
The issues highlighted eight other celebrities who made a mark in 2007.
Dempsey's TV co-star Katherine Heigl was named "America's New Sweetheart" while his leading lady in Enchanted, Amy Adams, was simply called "The Breakout."
Matt Damon was named "The Sexiest Hero" for his turn in the Jason Bourne spy thrillers and Johnny Depp "Most Versatile Actor" after moving from a swaggering swashbuckler in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy to portraying a serial killing barber in Sweeney Todd.
Country singer Carrie Underwood, winner of the fourth season of American Idol, was named "The Chart Topper" as Will Smith was handed "The Biggest Legend."
TV actress Christina Applegate was "Comeback of the Year." The 36-year-old, who played teenage dimwit Kelly Bundy in Married … with Children, bounced back with this year's acclaimed new TV sitcom Samantha Who?
Not surprisingly, a poll of readers decided that the most talked about star of the year was Britney Spears.
The pop princess's year included a stint in rehab, all-night partying, shaving her hair off, estrangement from her mother and a continuing custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline over their two young sons.
Coming in on the reader's good side was actor and director Ben Affleck, voted as "Best Behaved Star" of 2007. Affleck kept a low profile, flexing his directorial chops with the movie Gone Baby Gone and had a baby with his wife, Jennifer Garner.
"Grey's Anatomy" actress Katherine Heigl marries
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Katherine Heigl, an Emmy-winning star of medical drama "Grey's Anatomy," married her musician boyfriend in Utah on Sunday, US Weekly magazine reported on its Web site.
Heigl, 29, and Josh Kelley, 27, tied the knot under a marquee at a resort in Park City, Utah. Among the guests at the black-tie ceremony were Heigl's co-stars Sandra Oh, Kate Walsh and T.R. Knight, the magazine said.
Heigl won an Emmy in September for her role as an adulterous medic in the ABC network's "Grey's Anatomy," which follows the lives and loves of physicians at a Seattle hospital. She met Kelley in 2005, when she was cast in a music video, and they were engaged the following year after Heigl forced the issue.
Kelley, a critically acclaimed singer-songwriter, is due to release a new album in February.
Director Scott favours this 'Blade Runner'
This holiday season, director Ridley Scott and science-fiction-film fans both get to cross a long-hoped-for item off of their wish lists: an ultimate home video version of his 1982 hit Blade Runner.
In making the futuristic noir classic, which starred Harrison Ford, Scott was coerced to add a happier ending and Ford's voice-over to the complex film about "replicants," or androids, who wanted to become human.
Studio executives, Scott says, found the film "too oppressive or even non-specific, and wanted to see did (Ford's character Deckard and Sean Young's Rachael) have a life after the movie."
Scott, 70, who has already earned best-director and best-picture Golden Globe nominations for his latest film, American Gangster, concedes that at the time, "I was not as experienced as I am now and kind of went along with the process of readjustments." But after the fact, he realized that the ending with Deckard and Rachael headed into the beautiful mountain range "was always a problem for me. It was too sweet."
For this 25th anniversary Blade Runner: The Final Cut, Scott oversaw an exacting digital restoration. He left off the original voice-over and happy ending, digitally tweaked some effects and restored a few extra bits of violence. Scott also reshot the death of Zhora (Joanna Cassidy), which was originally done by a stuntwoman with a bad wig, a fact that over the years grated on Scott and viewers alike.
This version, which played in some theaters and at film festivals, is just out in multiple editions, including a five-DVD "limited ultimate collector's set" in a numbered plastic briefcase ($79). That set includes the final cut and four other versions of the film — the original theatrical and international versions, the 1992 director's cut and a "work print" — plus a piece of film from the original movie, unicorn figurine, miniature car and photos.
Also available: five-disc HD DVD and Blu-ray ultimate limited editions ($100), a two-DVD final cut special edition ($21) and a four-DVD collector's edition ($35).
All editions include a new documentary, Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner, and a movie-length audio commentary by Scott, who considers this final cut his favorite version. After its digital makeover, Scott says the film looks as if "it could have been made this week. This isn't some old walnut I'm dragging out of the sock drawer. It could have been released now."
Police Collar Top Tour of 2007
Los Angeles (E! Online) - In a classic case of role reversal, it was the Police who topped this year's most-wanted list.
The trio's reunion tour, which kicked off May 28 in Vancouver, finished 2007 as North America's number one top grossing tour, per year-end figures released Friday by the concert trade Pollstar. Sting & Co.'s 41-city, 54-show outing grossed $132 million in ticket sales, nearly double the amount of country star Kenny Chesney, who finished second with $71 million.
The Police had the highest average per-concert take, with $3.2 million per gig. The reunited rockers also sold the most tickets, just over 1.15 million, followed closely by Chesney's 1.14 million. But the Police only had the fifth highest average ticket price ($114.32), behind Barry Manilow ($141.72), Celine Dion ($141.26), Genesis ($130.39) and Elton John ($126.76).
The Police were also the top ticket seller internationally, bringing in a grand total of $212 million worldwide. The trio, who finished the tour's Latin American leg earlier this month, restarts the tour Jan. 17 in New Zealand.
The reunited Genesis proved it could still turn it on again. Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford kicked off their North American jaunt Sept. 7 in Toronto and finished the year as the eighth highest grossing tour at $47.6 million. Genesis cracked the top 10 with the fewest number of shows, 25, but the band's high seat prices made up the difference. Genesis also scored the second highest grossing international tour, selling $129 million in tickets worldwide.
Showing that reunion tours were the rage this year, Van Halen finished in the fifth spot. On the heels of their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, the L.A. rockers launched their reunion tour last September, selling nearly $57 million in tickets to date.
The fourth highest grossing act wasn't really a tour at all. Celine Dion did 113 performances of A New Day at Caesar's Palace this year, with the Canadian chanteuse finishing her remarkable five-year run just last week. Her Las Vegas residency brought in $65.3 million in its final year.
Since opening her show in early 2003, Dion sold more than $400 million in tickets to nearly 3 million fans. The casino's 4,100-seat Colosseum, built specifically for her performances, limited her tickets-per-show average, but she led the pack in total number of shows.
While many singers would take a break after such a grueling schedule, Dion appears anxious to get on the road. Her yearlong Taking Chances tour kicks off Valentine's Day in South Africa.
Chesney's second-place finish kept Justin Timberlake at third, with about $500,000 separating them. The country star also exacted some revenge by topping Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's Soul2Soul 2007 tour, which finished sixth with $52.3 million. Last year, the Soul2Soul tour grossed $88.6 million, topping Chesney's 2005 Somewhere in the Sun as the highest grossing country tour of all time.
Among the other top-10 finishers, Rod Stewart and current Christmas king Josh Groban finished at seventh ($49 million) and ninth ($43 million), respectively. With $41.5 million in sales, Rascal Flatts finished 10th, giving country music three of the year's top-10 tours.
Just outside the top 10 were a clutch of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, with Billy Joel finishing 12th ($39.1 million), Roger Waters 13th ($38.3 million) and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band coming in 14th ($38.2 million). Elton John finished at 16th with $35.7 million, thanks to his Red Piano show, which he performed in the Colosseum during Celine Dion's breaks.
Tween concertgoers were represented by Miley Cyrus. The Disney Channel star's Best of Both Worlds Tour, one of the year's hardest tickets to come by, finished 15th, with $36 million in gross ticket sales.
Finally, Mexican rockers Maná had the top Spanish-language tour, and the 20th highest grossing overall, moving nearly $34 million in tickets over 46 shows.
North American ticket sales hit $2.6 billion for the year, according to Billboard. That's a drop of 10 percent from last year's record-setting mark, while the actual number of concertgoers—51 million—was also down 19 percent.
Here's a recap of 2007's top 10 highest grossing North American tours, per Pollstar:
1. The Police ($131.9 millon)
2. Kenny Chesney ($71.1 million)
3. Justin Timberlake ($70.6 million)
4. Celine Dion ($65.3 million)
5. Van Halen ($56.7 million)
6. Tim McGraw/Faith Hill ($52.3 million)
7. Rod Stewart ($49 million)
8. Genesis ($47.6 million)
9. Josh Groban ($43 million)
10. Rascal Flatts ($41.5 million)
Holiday albums can become classics fast
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks and Toby Keith have a couple apiece. Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton did one together. The ever-prolific Willie Nelson has at least four of them. Most country stars, and many of their pop counterparts, have a Christmas album or two in their catalogs, and for good reason: The records are relatively easy to make and have the potential for big payoff.
"If it's really good, it can go for 20 years," said Bill Kennedy, vice president of sales for Capitol Records Nashville.
Or longer.
Released in 1957, "Elvis' Christmas Album" is the top-selling holiday release of all time with 9 million in sales, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. The single "Blue Christmas" is a Christmas classic, even parodied by Porky Pig.
Other Christmas blockbusters are Kenny G's "Miracles: The Holiday Album" (8 million) and Barbara Streisand's "A Christmas Album" (5 million), according to the RIAA.
But the Christmas kings, at least in terms of sales, have to be Mannheim Steamroller with two albums topping the 6 million mark: "A Fresh Aire Christmas" and "Mannheim Steamroller Christmas."
Holiday records are unique in the way they're promoted and marketed.
"It is a very short window that begins in late October, hits its peak the first two weeks of December, and then falls off the cliff right after the holiday," explained Ben Kline, executive vice president of sales, marketing and new media for Universal Music Group Nashville.
Though the window is tight, successful releases will do well for at least a few seasons before trailing off, said Peter Strickland, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Warner Brothers Nashville.
That's what happened with Warner Brothers' "A Very Larry Christmas" by Larry the Cable Guy. In 2004, the first year, the comedy album sold 150,000 copies. That shot to 250,000 the second year and to 315,000 the third.
This year, sales fell to about 70,000, though some of that likely is due to the October release of a second Christmas album by the comic, "Christmastime in Larryland."
Because most Christmas albums contain standards, they can be easier and faster to record than an album of new material, but not always. Choirs and string sections can add time and cost.
And with marketing and promotions time compressed, TV appearances become key, said Joe Galante, chairman of Sony BMG Nashville.
"We think of Christmas CDs as albums that will sell mainly for three to five years and won't be driven by hit singles on the radio," Galante said.
There are exceptions, but in general, sales expectations for holiday albums are lower than for standard releases. And for every breakout record, dozens of others get snowed under.
"If it can sell gold (500,000) or better, that's hugely successful," said Capitol Records' Kennedy. "And if you can do a minimum of 250,000 as a base, that would be all right."
George Strait, as big a star as there is in country music, has two Christmas albums, both of which sold over 500,000. By comparison, Strait's regular releases typically top the 1 million mark.
Still, Galante said most singers view the albums as fun and as an artistic break. "It helps fill out the artist's catalog," he said.
This year's hot holiday release is Josh Groban's "Noel," a traditional collection that has already scanned more than 2 million.
But for many, the star at the top of the tree remains "Elvis' Christmas Album." Released at the height of Presley's fame, it's a must-have for the serious Christmas music fan.
Ironically, the album's biggest hit, "Blue Christmas," was the one track Elvis didn't want to record.
As Gordon Stoker, a member of the Jordanaires, the vocal group that backed Presley on that song and many others, recalls, Elvis at first refused to do "Blue Christmas" out of respect for Ernest Tubb, who had had a No. 1 hit with it earlier.
When the producers said he had to cut it, he told folks at the session to come up with something so bad that it would never see the light of day as a single, Stoker told The Associated Press recently from his Nashville home.
"We thought that 'oo-ooo-oooo' was bad enough that they wouldn't release it," Stoker said of the signature backing vocals.
To this day, he said, "It still sounds bad to me when I hear it."
'Treasure' finds $45M in box office gold
LOS ANGELES - Nicolas Cage followed his secret treasure map to another fortune at movie theaters. Cage's "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," the Disney sequel to its 2004 hit, opened as the weekend's No. 1 movie with $45.5 million as Hollywood continued a holiday spree at the box office, according to studio estimates Sunday.
With Cage reprising his role as a history buff on the hunt for a vanished fortune, the "National Treasure" sequel outdid the original, which debuted with $35.1 million on its way to a $173 million total.
The previous weekend's top flick, Will Smith's "I Am Legend," slipped to second place with $34.2 million, the Warner Bros. hit raising its 10-day total to $137.5 million.
The two action films led a crowded market filled with new releases, among them Universal's foreign-policy satire "Charlie Wilson's War," starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Directed by Mike Nichols, "Charlie Wilson's War" debuted at No. 4 with $9.6 million. The absurdist romp follows an unlikely trio — a congressman, a socialite and a scruffy CIA man — who shaped the United States' covert response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Playing in just 1,249 theaters, about half as many as "Charlie Wilson's War," the DreamWorks-Paramount musical "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" did almost as much business, coming in at No. 5 with $9.35 million.
Warner Bros. produced a dud in "P.S. I Love You," which had a so-so No. 6 opening with $6.5 million. The movie stars Hilary Swank as a widow whose husband arranged to send letters after his death to inspire her to go on living.
The latest from the Judd Apatow comedy machine, Sony's "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," was a surprise bomb, taking in just $4.1 million despite good reviews praising its no-holds-barred humor and John C. Reilly's giddy performance.
Produced and co-written by Apatow ("Knocked Up"), the spoof of music biopics stars Reilly as a country rocker who shoots to stardom and lives the ultimate artist's life of excess and self-indulgence.
With five new wide releases this weekend and two more opening Christmas Day — the action-horror sequel "Alien vs. Predator: Requiem" and the family flick "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep" — Hollywood is banking on the holiday week to provide a big finish for 2007.
After a sluggish fall, Hollywood business soared for the second-straight weekend. The top 12 movies took in $153.5 million, up 41 percent from the same weekend last year, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.
"The variety of films is really bringing out the audience," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers. "People are looking for all different types of movies, and everything is represented here."
Along with its domestic haul, the "National Treasure" sequel pulled in $22.3 million overseas, mostly in Asia.
The movie does not open in Europe until February, but with London and Paris locations, it should take in more overseas than the $173 million the first installment did, said Mark Zoradi, president of Disney's motion-picture group.
The movie follows Cage's character as he races to clear the name of an ancestor implicated in Abraham Lincoln's assassination, a trail that leads to a legendary city of gold.
Four-fifths of viewers for "Charlie Wilson's War" were 30 and older, an audience that does not necessarily rush out to catch films in the first few days. Universal is counting on the film's good reviews and word-of-mouth to gradually build the audience.
"Everyone knew going in this was a genre that doesn't pop big numbers on opening weekend," said Universal marketing and distribution executive Adam Fogelson. "We wanted to be the sophisticated commercial option for grown-ups."
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Wednesday.
1. "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," $45.5 million.
2. "I Am Legend," $34.2 million.
3. "Alvin and the Chipmunks," $29 million.
4. "Charlie Wilson's War," $9.6 million.
5. "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," $9.35 million.
6. "P.S. I Love You," $6.5 million.
7. "Enchanted," $4.15 million.
8. "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," $4.1 million.
9. "The Golden Compass," $4 million.
10. "Juno," $3.4 million.
The Couch Potato Report - December 22nd, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report peels a 4-DVD set for train enthusiasts, and my favourite film of the year!
With their only a few shopping days left, here are some ideas for your gift giving, and viewing pleasure...starting with a great box set that allows us to travel parts fo CANADA BY RAIL.
The 4-DVD Box Set CANADA BY RAIL features a stunning and quite unique look at our nation's railways lines in Alberta, British Columbia and along the Yellowhead Highway.
In addition to the great visuals, there are also some very unique facts included on the DVDs.
Sure, many of those facts will only be appreciated by train enthusiasts, but since they are the primary audience for this set, it is a success!
CANADA BY RAIL doesn't offer very much history on these rail lines, and I would have liked to see some footage of the railway in Eastern Canada as well, but as someone who likes to watch trains, I thoroughly enjoyed this set.
So get in the booth with the locomotive engineer and take a ride!
A ride through CANADA BY RAIL!
Up next this week is my favourite movie of the year!
This is a small, Irish film that never even played in a theatre in Saskatchewan, as much as I may have wanted it to....ladies and gentlemen, may I presnt to you a musical called ONCE.
And with that, ONCE begins. A busking musician on the streets of Dublin meets a young woman when she stops to listen to his song.
They become friends, write some songs together, and who knows, maybe more, after all...how often do you meet that special person in your life?
Yes, the title of this film is called ONCE.
Now, I mentioned that this film is a musical, but it is a modern day musical. They are no huge production numbers, no Bob Fosse style choreography, there are just two people who communicate with each other through songs.
And they aren't singing alone in a room, stranded in fabulous sets while they pine away for one another...they are singing with and to each other.
I could point out that in a day of film budgets exceeding hundreds of millions of dollars, ONCE was made for only $160,000, and it was shot in 17 days.
But all of that is just secondary to the fact that this is a spectacular film! The characters are real, their story is involving and the songs are great!
Since it's release in May, I have seen this movie - no word of a lie - over 20 times now, including twice this week, and it never once failed to engage me and move me.
ONCE is my favourite film of 2007.
If you are looking for a film to watch or give as a gift to someone you love, then I highly recommend it.
I have four more new releases to tell you about this week, and I will start with Canadian Director David Cronenberg's latest - EASTERN PROMISES.
Naomi Watts stars as Anna, a midwife at a London hospital who delivers a baby girl from an unconscious and hemorrhaging fourteen-year-old.
The teenager dies during childbirth and has no identification other than a diary.
Anna wants to find the baby's relatives, so she sets out to uncover the mother's identity.
What she ends up uncovering, is a plot involving the Russian Mafia.
Viggo Mortensen from A HISTORY FO VIOLENCE co-stars in this absorbing and interesting film.
Personally, I would go see any movie that Cronenberg films, so I happily saw EASTERN PROMISES.
If you are also a fan of The Fly, Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch, eXistenZ, A History of Violence or any of his other films, then this one is also a must see.
Otherwise, EASTERN PROMISES is not a movie for everyone. There are some moments of great suspence, and interesting storytelling, but the violence might be a turn off to some.
EASTERN PROMISES isn't Cronenberg's best film, but even his worst is still better than the majority of movies made in Hollywood.
Even movies that are remakes of old 1960's television cartoons...like UNDERDOG - THE MOVIE.
The movie version of the classic series isn't awful...unless you love the series...then it is.
Jason Lee from MY NAME IS EARL voices the title-pooch, and he just seems to be reading, not performing, but reading the lines...and that bothered me.
No matter how inane the dialogue was during the TV series, Wally Cox, always gave it his all.
I think kids might like the live action UNDERDOG movie...but Jason Lee's performance, the less-than-stellar computer graffics, and the fact that I have loved the cartoon since I was a kid, prevented me from enjoying ths movie at all.
BUT, after that film was over, I did enjoy sitting through the 3-DVD box set from the original show called UNDERDOG: THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION.
This set has eighteen COMPLETE EPISODES, as they originally aired, all digitally re-mastered, and yes, Tennessee Tuxedo, Klondike Kat, the Go Go Gophers, Commander McBragg, and all of the other characters you remember are all here too!!
I still love the cartoons! The movie...not so much!
Finally this week is another cartoon I loved as a kid, and one I am sure you did too!
Yes, the complete original series of PETER PUCK - HOW TO PLAY THE GAME is now available!
Peter Puck appeared on both NBC's Hockey Game of the Week and CBC's Hockey Night in Canada during the 1970s, explained hockey rules to the home viewing audience.
He also showed us things like pucks were made!
Peter Puck helped teach me all about hockey as a kid, and the nostalgia that I felt this week while watching this DVD made me feel young again!
I think this DVD would make a great stolking stuffer for hockey fans new, and old!
PETER PUCK, the 3-DVD set UNDERDOG: THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION, the live action movie of UNDERDOG, David Cronenberg's EASTERN PROMISES, the 4-DVD Box Set CANADA BY RAIL, and my favourite movie of the year, a small film called ONCE are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
72 COMPLETE is the ultimate collector's edition 8-DVD Box Set of the 1972 Summit Series, with over 26 hours of hockey action, and some great retrospective looks back.
Also next week, with this year's World Junior Hockey Tournament getting underway on Boxing Day, we will look back at past years with the new 4-DVD Set CANADA'S JUNIORS - THE GOLD STANDARD.
I also have two noteworthy, but non-exceptional films, RUSH HOUR 3 and INTERVIEW; plus I will tell you about the new 2, 4 and 5 disc editions of the classic 1982 film BLADE RUNNER.
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 next time on The Couch!
Tracking the awards leading up to Oscars
A list of honors the top movies are winning leading up to the Oscars:
AMERICAN GANGSTER
Best picture: Golden Globe nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
Best ensemble cast: Screen Actors Guild nomination
Best actor, Denzel Washington: Golden Globe nomination
Best supporting actress, Ruby Dee: Screen Actors Guild nomination
Best director, Ridley Scott: Golden Globe nomination
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THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD
Best supporting actor, Casey Affleck: Golden Globe nomination, Screen Actors Guild nomination, Critics' Choice nomination, National Board of Review
Best cinematography, Roger Deakins: Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
Top 10 lists: National Board of Review, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
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ATONEMENT
Best picture: Golden Globe nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
Best actor, James McAvoy: Golden Globe nomination
Best actress, Keira Knightley: Golden Globe nomination
Best supporting actress, Vanessa Redgrave: Critics' Choice nomination
Best supporting actress, Saoirse Ronan: Golden Globe nomination
Best young actress, Saoirse Ronan: Critics' Choice nomination
Best director, Joe Wright: Golden Globe nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
Best adapted screenplay, Christopher Hampton: Golden Globe nomination
Top 10 lists: National Board of Review, New York Film Critics Online, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
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AWAY FROM HER
Best actress, Julie Christie: Golden Globe nomination, Screen Actors Guild nomination, Critics' Choice nomination, National Board of Review, New York Film Critics Circle, New York Film Critics Online, Washington, D.C., Area Film Critics Association, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
Best directorial debut, Sarah Polley: New York Film Critics Circle, New York Film Critics Online
New Generation Award, director Sarah Polley: Los Angeles Film Critics Association
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CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR
Best picture: Golden Globe nomination
Best actor, Tom Hanks: Golden Globe nomination
Best supporting actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman: Golden Globe nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
Best supporting actress, Julia Roberts: Golden Globe nomination
Best screenplay, Aaron Sorkin: Golden Globe nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
Top 10 lists: Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
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THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
Best picture: Spirit Award nomination, Critics' Choice nomination, New York Film Critics Online
Best foreign film: Golden Globe nomination, Critics' Choice nomination, National Board of Review, Boston Society of Film Critics, Washington, D.C., Area Film Critics Association, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
Best director, Julian Schnabel: Golden Globe nomination, Spirit Award nomination, Critics' Choice nomination, Boston Society of Film Critics
Best screenplay, Ronald Harwood: Golden Globe nomination, Spirit Award nomination
Best cinematography, Janusz Kaminski: Spirit Award nomination, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Boston Society of Film Critics
Top 10 lists: American Film Institute, New York Film Critics Online, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
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EASTERN PROMISES
Best picture: Golden Globe nomination
Best actor, Viggo Mortensen: Golden Globe nomination, Screen Actors Guild nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
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ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE
Best actress, Cate Blanchett: Golden Globe nomination, Screen Actors Guild nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
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GONE BABY GONE
Best acting ensemble: Critics' Choice nomination
Best supporting actress, Amy Ryan: Golden Globe nomination, Screen Actors Guild nomination, Critics' Choice nomination, National Board of Review, New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Boston Society of Film Critics, Washington, D.C., Area Film Critics Association
Best directorial debut, Ben Affleck: National Board of Review, Boston Society of Film Critics
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HAIRSPRAY
Best picture: Golden Globe nomination
Best ensemble cast: Screen Actors Guild nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
Best actress, Nikki Blonsky: Golden Globe nomination
Best young actress, Nikki Blonsky: Critics' Choice nomination
Best supporting actor, John Travolta: Golden Globe nomination
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I'M NOT THERE
Best picture: Spirit Award nomination
Best director, Todd Haynes: Spirit Award nomination
Best supporting actress, Cate Blanchett: Golden Globe nomination, Screen Actors Guild nomination, Spirit Award nomination, New York Film Critics Online
Best supporting actor, Marcus Carl Franklin: Spirit Award nomination
Top 10 lists: New York Film Critics Online
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INTO THE WILD
Best picture: Critics' Choice nomination
Best ensemble cast: Screen Actors Guild nomination
Best actor, Emile Hirsch: Screen Actors Guild nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
Breakthrough performance, Emile Hirsch: National Board of Review
Best supporting actor, Hal Holbrook: Screen Actors Guild nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
Best supporting actress, Catherine Keener: Screen Actors Guild nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
Best director, Sean Penn: Critics' Choice nomination
Best screenplay, Sean Penn: Critics' Choice nomination
Top 10 lists: American Film Institute, National Board of Review, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
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JUNO
Best picture: Golden Globe nomination, Spirit Award nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
Best acting ensemble: Critics' Choice nomination
Best actress, Ellen Page: Golden Globe nomination, Screen Actors Guild nomination, Spirit Award nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
Breakthrough performance, Ellen Page: National Board of Review, New York Film Critics Online, Washington, D.C., Area Film Critics Association
Best director, Jason Reitman: Spirit Award nomination
Best original screenplay, Diablo Cody: Golden Globe nomination, Critics' Choice nomination, National Board of Review, Washington, D.C., Area Film Critics Association
Best first screenplay, Diablo Cody: Spirit Award nomination
Top 10 lists: American Film Institute, National Board of Review, New York Film Critics Online, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
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THE KITE RUNNER
Best picture: Critics' Choice nomination
Best foreign film: Golden Globe nomination
Best young actor, Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada: Critics' Choice nomination
Top 10 lists: National Board of Review, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
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LA VIE EN ROSE
Best foreign film: Critics' Choice nomination
Best actress, Marion Cotillard: Golden Globe nomination, Screen Actors Guild nomination, Critics' Choice nomination, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Boston Society of Film Critics
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LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
Best actor, Ryan Gosling: Golden Globe nomination, Screen Actors Guild nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
Best original screenplay, Nancy Oliver: Critics' Choice nomination, National Board of Review
Top 10 lists: National Board of Review
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LUST, CAUTION
Best foreign film: Golden Globe nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
Best actor, Tony Leung: Spirit Award nomination
Best actress, Tang Wei: Spirit Award nomination
Best cinematography, Rodrigo Prieto: Spirit Award nomination
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MICHAEL CLAYTON
Best picture: Golden Globe nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
Best actor, George Clooney: Golden Globe nomination, Screen Actors Guild nomination, Critics' Choice nomination, National Board of Review, Washington, D.C., Area Film Critics Association
Best supporting actor, Tom Wilkinson: Golden Globe nomination, Screen Actors Guild nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
Best supporting actress, Tilda Swinton: Golden Globe nomination, Screen Actors Guild nomination, Critics' Choice nomination, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
Best screenplay: Critics' Choice nomination
Top 10 lists: American Film Institute, National Board of Review, New York Film Critics Online, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
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A MIGHTY HEART
Best picture: Spirit Award nomination
Best actress, Angelina Jolie: Golden Globe nomination, Screen Actors Guild nomination, Spirit Award nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
Best first screenplay, John Orloff: Spirit Award nomination
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NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Best picture: Golden Globe nomination, Critics' Choice nomination, National Board of Review, New York Film Critics Circle, Boston Society of Film Critics, Washington, D.C., Area Film Critics Association, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association, Associated Press critics Christy Lemire and David Germain
Best ensemble cast: Screen Actors Guild nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
Best supporting actor, Javier Bardem: Golden Globe nomination, Screen Actors Guild nomination, Critics' Choice nomination, New York Film Critics Circle, New York Film Critics Online, Boston Society of Film Critics, Washington, D.C., Area Film Critics Association, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
Best supporting actor, Tommy Lee Jones: Screen Actors Guild nomination
Best ensemble cast: National Board of Review, Washington, D.C., Area Film Critics Association
Best director, Joel and Ethan Coen: Golden Globe nomination, Critics' Choice nomination, New York Film Critics Circle, Washington, D.C., Area Film Critics Association, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
Best adapted screenplay, Joel and Ethan Coen: Golden Globe nomination, Critics' Choice nomination, National Board of Review, New York Film Critics Circle
Top 10 lists: American Film Institute, New York Film Critics Online
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NO END IN SIGHT
Best documentary: Critics' Choice nomination, New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association
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PERSEPOLIS
Best animated film: Critics' Choice nomination, New York Film Critics Circle, New York Film Critics Online, Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Best foreign language film: Golden Globe nomination, New York Film Critics Online
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RATATOUILLE
Best animated film: Golden Globe nomination, Critics' Choice nomination, National Board of Review, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Washington, D.C., Area Film Critics Association, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
Best screenplay, Brad Bird: Boston Society of Film Critics
Top 10 lists: American Film Institute
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THE SAVAGES
Best actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman: Golden Globe nomination, Spirit Award nomination
Best director, Tamara Jenkins: Spirit Award nomination
Best screenplay, Tamara Jenkins: Spirit Award nomination, Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Best cinematography, Mott Hupfel: Spirit Award nomination
Top 10 lists: American Film Institute
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SICKO
Best documentary: Critics' Choice nomination, New York Film Critics Online, Washington, D.C., Area Film Critics Association
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SWEENEY TODD
Best picture: Golden Globe nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
Best acting ensemble: Critics' Choice nomination
Best actor, Johnny Depp: Golden Globe nomination, Critics' Choice nomination
Best actress, Helena Bonham Carter: Golden Globe nomination
Best young actor, Edward Sanders: Critics' Choice nomination
Best director, Tim Burton: Golden Globe nomination, Critics' Choice nomination, National Board of Review
Best art direction: Washington, D.C., Area Film Critics Association
Top 10 lists: National Board of Review, New York Film Critics Online
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THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Best picture: Golden Globe nomination, Critics' Choice nomination, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, New York Film Critics Online
Best director, Paul Thomas Anderson: Los Angeles Film Critics Association, New York Film Critics Online
Best actor, Daniel Day-Lewis: Golden Globe nomination, Screen Actors Guild nomination, Critics' Choice nomination, New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association, New York Film Critics Online
Best cinematography, Robert Elswit: New York Film Critics Circle, New York Film Critics Online
Best production design, Jack Fisk: Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Top 10 lists: American Film Institute, New York Film Critics Online, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
No deal for Letterman and TV writers
NEW YORK - David Letterman doesn't even need writers to have fun with this one.
The late-night comic's representatives met with striking writers on Friday in an attempt to reach a deal that will allow the "Late Show" to return to the air with its writing staff.
All the Writers Guild of America would say about the meeting: "A lively exchange of information took place." It was reminiscent of diplomat-speak for argumentative talks between hostile countries: "A frank exchange of views."
Absent a deal, the CBS show's goal of returning to the air with live episodes on Jan. 2 is still up in the air.
Late-night rivals Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Kimmel are all coming back that night without writers if the strike, as expected, is not resolved. Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert plan to bring their late-night shows back without writers on Jan. 7.
Letterman's hope to bring his writers back stemmed from the union's announcement last weekend that it was open to reaching contract agreements with separate production companies. Letterman's Worldwide Pants owns his show and CBS' talk show with Craig Ferguson.
Rob Burnett, president and CEO of Worldwide Pants, didn't say much more.
"We had a substantive discussion today with the WGA and look forward to continuing these talks next week," Burnett said.
"Into the Wild" leads surprising SAG nominees
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sean Penn's wilderness drama "Into the Wild" topped a surprising list of Screen Actors Guild nominees on Thursday with four nods overall, including best ensemble cast and best actor for its star Emile Hirsch.
Absent from the widely watched group of nominations for SAG's top honor, best film cast, were romance "Atonement" and musical "Sweeney Todd," leaving award watchers scratching their heads as they tried to handicap Hollywood's Oscar sweepstakes.
"SAG pulled some major surprises here. This really shakes up the race," said Pete Hammond, a columnist for awards Web site TheEnvelope.com.
Hirsch was nominated for his portrayal of a young man on a journey of self-discovery to Alaska, and Hal Holbrook and Catherine Keener earned supporting actor and actress nominations for "Into the Wild," which Penn directed.
Crime thriller "No Country for Old Men" and legal drama "Michael Clayton" earned three nominations each. "No Country" was nominated for best film cast, while co-stars Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones garnered supporting actor nominations.
"Clayton" snagged a best actor nod for George Clooney, who played the troubled title character, and nominations for co-stars Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton in the supporting roles. But it, too, was snubbed from the list for best cast.
Joining "Into the Wild" and "No Country" in that category were three other films: musical "Hairspray" and crime drama "American Gangster" and western "3:10 to Yuma," which had been viewed as largely out of the awards race only to gallop back.
"Yuma" stars Russell Crowe, Christian Bale and Ben Foster in a tale of old West bank robbers. The movie was a box office hit, yet none of the actors were nominated individually.
ACTORS BRING HEAT
"We're always hoping the synergy and heat between actors produces something greater than the sum of the parts, and that is something we are always looking to do in movies we make," said "Yuma" director James Mangold.
The Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will be handed out on January 27 in Los Angeles, often indicate who will be nominated for the film industry's top honors, the Oscars, because actors make up the largest group of Academy Award voters.
The Oscars are the world's top film award and are given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in February.
Joining Clooney and Hirsch among SAG's film actor nominees were Daniel Day-Lewis in oil prospecting drama "There Will Be Blood," Ryan Gosling for comedy "Lars and the Real Girl" and Viggo Mortensen for crime thriller "Eastern Promises."
Experts said they were surprised that Johnny Depp, who plays a barber on a killing spree in "Todd," was left off the best actor list, as he was widely seen as a shoo-in.
Best actress nominations went to Cate Blanchett in drama "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," Julie Christie in Alzheimer's tale "Away from Her," French actress Marion Cotillard as singer Edith Piaf in "La Vie En Rose," Angelina Jolie as the wife of slain journalist Daniel Pearl for "A Mighty Heart," and Ellen Page in teen pregnancy comedy "Juno."
Among supporting actor nominees, the fifth nod went to Casey Affleck playing Robert Ford in "The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford."
Cate Blanchett snared a second nomination as a supporting actress playing singer Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There." Joining her, Swinton and Keener were veteran Ruby Dee for "American Gangster" and newcomer Amy Ryan for "Gone Baby Gone."
TV nominations for best cast in a drama featured "The Sopranos," "Boston Legal," "Grey's Anatomy," "The Closer" and "Mad Men." Nods for best comedy cast went to "Entourage," "30 Rock," "Desperate Housewives," "The Office" and "Ugly Betty."
Colbert chosen AP Celebrity of the Year
While most TV characters remain boxed inside the frames of our sets, Stephen Colbert has routinely injected his on-screen persona into everything from the presidential race to ice cream.
In 2007, the mock pundit on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" exceeded the influence of most real pundits, orchestrating an ill-fated (and Doritos-sponsored) run for president and topping the best-seller lists with his book "I Am America (And So Can You!)."