Giants stun 'perfect' Pats in Super Bowl
GLENDALE, Ariz. - The Giants had the perfect answer for the suddenly imperfect Patriots: a big, bad defense and an improbable comeback led by their own Mr. Cool quarterback, Eli Manning.
In one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history, New York shattered New England's unbeaten season 17-14 Sunday night as Manning hit Plaxico Burress on a 13-yard fade with 35 seconds left. It was the Giants' 11th straight victory on the road and the first time the Patriots tasted defeat in more than a year.
It was the most bitter of losses, too, because New England (18-1) was one play from winning and getting the ultimate revenge for being penalized for illegally taping opponents' defensive signals in the season-opener against the New York Jets.
But its defense couldn't stop a final, frantic 12-play, 83-yard drive that featured a spectacular leaping catch by David Tyree, who had scored New York's first touchdown on the opening drive of the fourth quarter.
"It's the greatest feeling in professional sports," Burress said before bursting into tears.
The Patriots were done in not so much by the pressure of the first unbeaten season in 35 years as by the pressure of a smothering Giants pass rush. Tom Brady, the league's Most Valuable Player and winner of his first three Super Bowl, was sacked five times, hurried a dozen more and at one point wound up on his knees, his hands on his hips following one of many poor throws.
Hardly a familiar position for the record-setting quarterback. And a totally strange outcome for a team that seemed destined for historic glory.
Oddly, it was a loss to the Patriots that sparked New York's stunning run to its third Super Bowl and sixth NFL title. New England won 38-35 in Week 17 as the Patriots became the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to go spotless through the regular season. But by playing hard in a meaningless game for them, the Giants (14-6) gained something of a swagger and Manning cast off older brother Peyton's shadow and found his footing.
Their growing confidence carried them through playoff victories at Tampa, Dallas and Green Bay, and then past the mightiest opponent of all.
Not that the Patriots were very mighty this day. They even conceded with 1 second on the clock as coach Bill Belichick ran across the field to shake the hand of jubilant Giants coach Tom Coughlin, then headed to the locker room, ignoring the final kneeldown.
That it was Manning taking that knee was stunning. Peyton's kid brother not only matched his sibling's achievement of last year with the Indianapolis Colts, but he showed the brilliant precision late in the game usually associated with, well, Brady.
Peyton Manning was seen in a luxury box jumping up and pumping both fists when Burress, who didn't practice all week because of injuries, caught the winning score.
The upset also could be viewed as a source of revenge not only for the Giants, but for the other NFL teams over Spygate back in September. That cheating scandal made headlines again late in Super Bowl week, and could have placed an infinite cloud over New England's perfection.
The Giants became the first NFC wild card team to win a Super Bowl; four AFC teams have done it. They also are the second team in three years to play nothing but away games and come away with the big prize; Pittsburgh did after the 2005 season.
'Blood' fans drink up milkshake catchphrase
LOS ANGELES — If you have a milkshake, and I have a milkshake, then you have Hollywood's hottest catchphrase.
Every year, we seem to get at least one. "I see dead people." "I wish I knew how to quit you." Anything from Napoleon Dynamite.
This year's latest cinematic must-say comes from There Will Be Blood, the oil drama in which Daniel Day-Lewis delivers a crushing insult to a nemesis with the punch line "I drink your milkshake! I drink it up!"
Relatively few people have seen the movie — this past weekend, it expanded to about 1,500 theaters and its gross so far is $21.1 million — but the dialogue has taken off nonetheless.
A "There Will Be Milkshakes" video, with scenes from the film playing to Kelis' song Milkshake, has more than 60,000 views on YouTube.
IDrinkYourMilkshake.com has become a popular forum to discuss the films of There Will Be Blood director P.T. Anderson.
New York magazine even offers a user's guide to the phrase. It suggests using it as sports metaphor ("The Celtics drank the Knicks' milkshake last night"), a sexual double entendre or a taunt, as in "You'd best back down before I drink your milkshake."
Anderson concedes that he's puzzled by the phenomenon — particularly because the lines came straight from a transcript he found of the 1924 congressional hearings over the Teapot Dome scandal, in which Sen. Albert Fall was convicted of accepting bribes for oil-drilling rights to public lands in Wyoming and California.
In explaining oil drainage, Fall's "way of describing it was to say 'Sir, if you have a milkshake and I have a milkshake and my straw reaches across the room, I'll end up drinking your milkshake,' " Anderson says. "I just took this insane concept and used it."
So have the movie's fans.
Kevin Kunze, 18, a student at the University of San Francisco, says he created the YouTube video "just to get people to see the movie. I loved it. I had no idea it would take off like this."
Nor did Jurgen Fauth, the website creator.
He says he wanted simply to have an audio clip of the line, delivered in Day-Lewis' booming baritone.
"But (Anderson's) fans started using it to talk about his movies, so I made it a forum," he says. "Although I think some people turn up the volume and hit refresh to drive their co-workers crazy."
Not that Anderson minds — or worries that it will undermine the gravitas of the movie, which is up for eight Oscars, including best picture, director and actor.
"I love the YouTube video," he says. "It's completely insane and hilarious. It's crazy what people latch on to."
'Hannah' holds box-office sway with $29M
LOS ANGELES - First, she sells out a nationwide concert tour. Now Miley Cyrus and pop-star alter-ego Hannah Montana are selling out movie theaters in such record-breaking style that the film's run has been extended.
"Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert," the 3-D film chronicling her recent tour, was the biggest debut ever over Super Bowl weekend, pulling in $29 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Distributor Disney planned to have the movie out for only a week but now has decided to keep it in theaters until it runs its course.
The concert film — featuring 15-year-old Cyrus both as herself backstage and as her Disney Channel character, pop sensation Hannah — filled the void for fans unable to catch one of the live shows on the Hannah Montana 54-date tour.
The digital 3-D technology also gave fans the illusion of practically being at a live show, said Mark Zoradi, president of Disney's motion-picture group, who visited several packed theaters where the movie played over the weekend.
"The screaming level was unbelievable. It almost plays like a concert. At the end of a song, you have audiences clapping like you do at a concert," Zoradi said. "Parents who weren't able to get concert tickets, now they were able to take their kids and satisfy that demand, and kids were in a way able to be up close and personal, with the best seats in the house."
The film surpassed the previous Super Bowl record of $21.6 million set by "When a Stranger Calls," which opened over the same weekend two years ago.
Lionsgate's "The Eye," a remake of the Japanese horror hit, opened at No. 2 with $13 million. "The Eye" stars Jessica Alba as a blind concert violinist whose vision is restored by a corneal transplant that also results in terrifying visions.
"Desperate Housewives" co-star Eva Longoria Parker delivered a dud with her first top-billed movie, "Over Her Dead Body," which opened with a weak $4.6 million to finish at No. 11. Distributed by New Line, the movie stars Longoria Parker as a dead woman whose ghost tries to break up a romance between her fiance (Paul Rudd) and his new girlfriend.
Playing in just 683 theaters, "Hannah Montana" broke another record: never before has a movie in so few cinemas premiered at the top of the box office chart.
The movie averaged a whopping $42,460 a theater, compared to an average of $5,337 in each of 2,436 cinemas for "The Eye" and about $2,327 in each of 1,977 theaters for "Over Her Dead Body."
The grosses for "Hannah Montana" were boosted by higher admission prices many theaters charged because of the 3-D format. Tickets for "Hannah Montana" ran as high as $15, roughly 50 percent more than the top price for other movies.
The success of "Hannah Montana" showcased the commercial prospects for an upcoming wave of 3-D releases, both new movies such as this summer's adaptation of Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and rereleases such as the first two "Toy Story" films in 3-D versions.
Digital projection allows sharper and more realistic images than old-fashioned film 3-D, a 1950s fad revived only occasionally over the decades. Now, many big studio films come out in 3-D versions.
Those releases typically do three times more business than 2-D versions, said Michael Lewis, chairman and co-founder of Real D, whose digital-projection 3-D technology was used in most theaters showing "Hannah Montana" and will be used in an upcoming wide release of another concert film, "U2 3D," now playing in limited release.
The 3-D technology eventually could expand turn theaters into venues showing live concerts and sporting events, Lewis said.
"There are a lot of places, a lot of small towns where we have Real D in place where U2's not going to go, Hannah Montana's not going to play there," Lewis said. "They'll be able to see it in theaters, and in my view maybe with a better seat and better experience than if they were actually there live."
Hollywood's box-office roll continued, with the top-12 movies taking in $101.5 million, up 43 percent from Super Bowl weekend a year ago. Movie attendance so far this year is up nearly 11 percent, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.
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 Monday.
1. "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert," $29 million.
2. "The Eye," $13 million.
3. "27 Dresses," $8.4 million.
4. "Juno," $7.5 million.
5. "Meet the Spartans," $7.1 million.
6. "Rambo," $7 million.
7. "The Bucket List," $6.9 million.
8. "Untraceable," $5.4 million.
9. "Cloverfield," $4.9 million.
10. "There Will Be Blood," $4.8 million.
Alanis Morissette heals heartache
TORONTO - Some 13 years after Alanis Morissette exploded onto the charts with her angst-ridden kiss-off anthem "You Oughta Know," the candid singer-songwriter is writing about break-ups again.
This time the pain is drawn from the collapse of her well-publicized four-year relationship with actor Ryan Reynolds, now romantically linked to Hollywood beauty Scarlett Johansson.
Morissette says she turned to writing as a way to cope as the union unravelled, a painful experience that forced her to examine her own destructive patterns as she searched for wholeness again.
"It was the perfect time for me to write the (new) record, basically," Morissette says of the period that led to the split, which she refers to as "the shift in our form."
"And the songs are in order, so it chronologizes the rock bottom and then the phoenix rising and everything after it."
"Flavors of Entanglement," is due in the spring, although a firm release date has yet to be set, she says.
The 11 tracks were co-written by U.K. songwriter/producer Guy Sigsworth (Madonna, Bjork, Seal), featuring new sonic paths for Morissette that include electronic hues and Eastern percussion and strings.
"I just wanted to surprise myself a little bit and stretch," Morissette says recently by phone from Chicago as she tours the U.S. with Matchbox 20 and MuteMath.
Lyrically, much of the disc focuses on the 33-year-old's relationship with herself, and less so on her romantic partners, she insists.
"I notice that the stronger my relationship is with myself, the healthier my relationships are, especially over the last year," she says.
Still, Morissette is known for writing one of the most aggressively frank break-up songs in recent years, so one can't help but ask: Is there a song on the disc about Ryan?
"Well, you guys can tell me. I never confirm anything about who I write about so I think it'll become self-evident when people hear the songs and people can make as many guesses as they would like," she says.
"I'm not writing to seek revenge," Morissette later adds.
"I think there would be an element of it being a violent thing if I were to write songs and publicly berate someone. I just think that's horrifying, but the act of writing a song or writing in your journal, I think is really healthy."
The Ottawa-native says she and Reynolds don't hang out, but she is supportive of his new relationship and wishes him well.
In the meantime, she's keeping busy with performances and an unusual book project set to collect selections of her free verse, anecdotes and photos.
Morissette says she plans to structure the eclectic publication in such a way that it can be read in a random fashion or from cover-to-cover.
"I've always wanted to write a book, I've wanted to do it for a long time but I don't want to write a memoir," she says.
"It's scary, though. I'm terrified of putting everything in one spot. It's one thing to write a three-minute song but it's another thing to write a 200 or 250-page book, or however long it will be."
Morissette, an occasional actress, is also set to star in the sci-fi film "Radio Free Albemuth," based on a Philip K. Dick book and set for release in June.
She's also toying with the idea of releasing independent music videos for songs that didn't make it on the album. Morissette says these projects would likely be sent straight to YouTube, the same video-sharing site that helped make her "My Humps" video spoof an Internet sensation last year.
The Black Eyed Peas cover featured a tarted up Morissette crooning the club hit as a sombre torch song. Morissette says she did the spoof on a whim, after complaining in the studio about how difficult it was for her to write simple lyrics. She says it was not intended to slam the Peas or their sexy singer, Fergie.
As for her ailing heart, she says she's focusing on tackling harmful patterns that lead to bad choices.
"You know, I always thought that my orientation - and some of this I think is because I'm a woman, and some of it is because I'm Canadian, and some of it is because I'm sensitive, or whatever - but my orientation was always to kind of look outside myself. And over the last year, especially, it's just so much been about an inward-looking journey and really applying the wisdoms that I'm learning, not just singing about them, not just talking about them intellectually, but really applying them."
"There is a little bit of an irony in that me, having been known for being so authentic and so direct and so intimate through my songs, I wasn't always applying it to my relationships, so my challenge now is certainly to keep doing it in my songs, there's no reason why I need to stop, but to start to really apply that courage in my day-to-day relationships, too."
Morissette stops in Toronto on Feb. 22, and Vancouver on March 9.
'No Country' wins another top award
LOS ANGELES - "No Country for Old Men" grabbed another award before the Oscars later this month, winning the best feature film award presented by the Producers Guild of America on Saturday.
The film, which stars Javier Bardem as a determined hit man pursuing Josh Brolin, beat out other nominees "There Will Be Blood," "Juno," "Michael Clayton" and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."
Scott Rudin and Ethan and Joel Coen were given the Darryl F. Zanuck producer of the year award. The film was released by Miramax/Paramount Vantage.
"No Country for Old Men" has already garnered the top prizes from the Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild. The film is nominated for eight Academy Awards.
"Ratatouille" from Disney-Pixar was chosen as best animated film by the producers guild.
The award for episodic TV comedy went to NBC's "30 Rock," while HBO's "The Sopranos" won in the drama category.
Other PGA awards included HBO's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" in the long-form television category; Michael Moore's "Sicko" in the documentary division; and Discovery Channel's "Planet Earth" won for best nonfiction television program.
Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" won a PGA award for live entertainment/competition.
Source: Breakthrough in writers talks
LOS ANGELES - A breakthrough in contract talks has been reached between Hollywood studios and striking writers and could lead to a tentative deal as early as next week, a person close to the ongoing negotiations said Saturday.
The two sides breached the gap Friday on the thorniest issues, those concerning compensation for projects distributed via the Internet, said the person, who requested anonymity because he were not authorized to speak publicly.
A second person familiar with the talks, also speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to comment publicly, said that significant progress had been made and a deal might be announced within a week.
The people did not provide specific details on the possible agreement. Major points of contention include how much and when writers are paid for projects delivered online after they've been broadcast on TV.
The studios have been insisting that programs be streamed online for a certain period, deemed promotional, during which writers would forgo residuals. When payment kicked in, the companies sought to limit it to a flat $1,200 fee, while the guild wanted a percentage of a distributor's revenue.
The Writers Guild of America did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the trade group representing the studios, declined comment, citing a news blackout agreed to by both sides during the talks.
Guild leaders have said they are fighting for a piece of the future, reflecting the widespread belief that Internet-delivered entertainment fare would inevitably claim an increasing and perhaps even dominant market share.
Although work remains to be done on elements of the agreement, prospects for a deal appeared solid, said those close to the situation. The tentative agreement would have to be approved by a majority of guild members.
The guild, whose 3-month-old strike has brought the entertainment industry to a standstill, began informal talks with top media company executives Jan. 23 in an attempt to reach a new deal covering governing work for film, TV and digital media.
Negotiations between the guild and alliance negotiators collapsed Dec. 7 after the alliance demanded that proposals for unionization of animation and reality shows be taken off the table. The guild refused.
During the negotiations impasse, the Directors Guild of America began its own talks with studio chiefs and swiftly reached a tentative deal that was announced Jan. 17 and covered some of the digital media issues key to the writers guild.
Major studio executives called on the writers guild to begin informal talks, which essentially are standing in for formal negotiations, according to those familiar with the situation.
The guild extended its own olive branch before the informal talks started by withdrawing the reality-animation unionization proposal and by deciding to keep pickets away from the Grammy Awards. It has since decided to allow the music ceremony to proceed with full union support.
However, the fate of the Feb. 24 Academy Awards has remained in question, with the guild so far declining to grant its blessing to the show. A union refusal to cooperate with the Golden Globes decimated the ceremony, which was boycotted by supportive actors.
Oscar organizers and producers have vowed they will stage some type of show, with or without union support — but a writers guild deal would allow this ceremony to proceed in its full, star-studded glory, providing an invaluable promotional showcase for movie studios and their films.