BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND TO PERFORM DURING BRIDGESTONE SUPER BOWL XLIII HALFTIME SHOW ON NBC
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND will perform in the BRIDGESTONE SUPER BOWL XLIII HALFTIME SHOW on NBC Sports at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Sunday, February 1, the NFL announced today.
The Super Bowl halftime show is annually the most-watched musical performance. More than 148 million viewers in the U.S. watched last year's show. The Super Bowl and halftime show will be broadcast worldwide in more than 230 countries and territories.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band join an esteemed list of recent halftime acts that includes the Rolling Stones, U2, Paul McCartney, Prince and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
The BRIDGESTONE SUPER BOWL XLIII HALFTIME SHOW is an NFL NETWORK PRODUCTION and will be executive produced by Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss of WHITE CHERRY ENTERTAINMENT and by DON MISCHER PRODUCTIONS. Don Mischer also will serve as director.
Blue Jays end season with big win
BALTIMORE -- It's not difficult to decipher what went wrong for the Blue Jays this season. In the early stages of the 2008 campaign, Toronto labored in the batter's box, and that made for an intimidating game of catchup down the stretch.
On Sunday afternoon, the Blue Jays showed that they've made some positive strides in that department, enjoying a 10-1 romp over the Orioles in their season finale at Camden Yards. That early hole proved too deep, though, and Toronto is now peering toward 2009 rather than moving on to the postseason.
"Hopefully, next year, if we're going back to Toronto [after the season finale], we're going back for a playoff game," said manager Cito Gaston, while his players packed their suitcases and prepared to welcome the coming winter.
The finale in Baltimore served as another reminder of the Blue Jays' potential. There was stellar pitching -- the one constant of Toronto's season -- in the form of a strong seven-inning performance from Jesse Litsch. There was also plenty of offense, led by a pair of home runs by Vernon Wells.
It was that combination that made for an easy victory. Throughout much of this season, the Blue Jays struggled to have both elements working in unison. Often, Toronto's dominant pitching went wasted in light of low run support. And on the days the bats did show up, it wasn't always enough.
It wasn't until the Jays' season was on life support in late August that the offense, pitching and defense all clicked, producing a 10-game winning streak, the longest such run for Toronto since 1999. That push temporarily put the Jays in the American League Wild Card discussion, but a fourth-place finish in the East was the end result.
"We just didn't get on the same page early on," first baseman Lyle Overbay said. "I think when we started winning all those games -- 10 in a row -- we did get on the same page. All three cylinders were clicking."
The pitching staff rarely was the issue.
Toronto finished with an 86-76 record, marking only the third time in the past 10 years that the team achieved at least that many wins, and the club led baseball with a 3.49 staff ERA. That represented the second-lowest team ERA in franchise history and the group's 1,184 strikeouts established a new club record.
Against the Orioles (68-93), Litsch yielded just one run over his seven innings, scattering three hits and ending with five strikeouts and one walk in the win. The victory gave the 23-year-old right-hander a 13-9 record this year and lowered his season ERA to 3.58. Litsch was one of three Jays starters to win at least 13 games this year.
"That's definitely good going into next year," Litsch said of Sunday's win. "Not just for me, but for all of us."
The offense will prove integral in 2009, considering the pitching staff includes more than its share of question marks heading into next year.
Toronto is at risk of losing starter A.J. Burnett to free agency, if he opts out of his contract, and the club will likely be without Shaun Marcum (right elbow) until 2010. Right-hander Dustin McGowan, who had season-ending surgery on his right shoulder in July, is expected to be out until at least May.
Needless to say, depending on what the Blue Jays do to acquire pitching help this winter, the offense may have to bail out its staff more often in '09 than was required this year.
"I think our pitching has, obviously, led this team the last couple years," Wells said. "Offensively, that's where we need to turn things around and support those guys a little better."
Wells did just that for Litsch, slamming two home runs to give the center fielder a team-high 20 on the season. The Blue Jays also received a solo shot from Overbay, giving Toronto 126 long balls this year. That total represents the lowest power output by the club since the Jays belted just 106 homers in 1982.
The 10 runs scored by the Blue Jays on Sunday gave the team 714 this season, marking the fewest in a campaign since Toronto plated 654 in 1997. The Jays also ended with a .264 team average, a .331 on-base percentage and a .399 slugging percentage -- the last figure being the lowest by Toronto since '97 as well.
It wasn't all doom and gloom, though.
The offense did gather steam after Gaston replaced former manager John Gibbons on June 20. Toronto held a 35-39 record upon Gaston's arrival and had hit just .231 with runners in scoring position with 49 homers in the first 74 games. With Gaston at the helm, the Jays went 51-37, launched 77 homers and hit .285 with runners in scoring position.
"Any time you make a change like that, something's going to change," said Wells. "You realize that you weren't doing enough, and you consequently ended up getting a good man fired.
"A new philosophy came in. It was more, just go up there and get your pitch and get to swinging. Guys responded and, unfortunately, it took a firing to do that."
The offense under Gaston produced the type of numbers Toronto hoped it'd put up when the season began.
"I think everybody knew that that was there, the offense," third baseman Scott Rolen said. "There's a lot of talented offensive players on the team, and everybody talked about, 'It's a matter of time.'
"I guess everybody was right, but maybe the timing was a little too late."
That's why Gaston and the players stressed that opening 2009 the way the club ended this season is important.
"I think we have to get off to a good start," Gaston said. "Early in the year, the problem we had was no hitting. I think it's getting better. We'd like to get it to a point where we're more consistent with scoring runs. That's what I think we really have to do."
Next year's Opening Day is more than six months away for the Blue Jays. That gives Toronto plenty of time to sort out what went awry in 2008 and to enjoy the few bright spots within this trying season.
That includes Sunday's win.
"It was nice to finish up with a win today," Gaston said. "The guys played hard, and they finished up good. I'm very proud of them."
Actor Bill Murray Excited For ‘Ghostbusters III,’ Thanks To ‘Ghostbusters’ Game
Fans have clamored for a third “Ghostbusters” film for years, but it’s never happened. One reasons is because actor Bill Murray (aka Peter Venkman) was against it.
But in recent weeks, that’s started to change. Writers behind “The Office” are working on a script for a brand-new “Ghostbusters.”
The question has been whether Murray will show up for it. It looks like he very well might, actually, and the reason comes from an unlikely source: the video game.
Movie site Ain’t It Cool News attended Fantastic Fest this week, where Murray made a surprise appearance to promote his new movie, “City of Ember.” During a Q&A, someone asked him about his thoughts on the proposed “Ghostbusters III.” And that’s where the game comes in!!
“[Murray] also went on to say that his enthusiasm for Ghostbusters was heightened after recording the voice of Peter Venkman for the video game over the summer. In fact, he said he found himself walking down the street singing the Ghostbusters theme song and then thought people walking around him were going to start yelling at him to “get over yourself, Bill,” so he stopped… But the enthusiasm was there. “
As a fellow “Ghostbusters” fanboy, this has me extremely excited. Now, we just need news on who’s picking up the publishing rights to the “Ghostbusters” game so it can come out.
Best Buy Snags Guns N' Roses Album Exclusive
Best Buy is set to be the exclusive retailer for Guns N' Roses decade-plus-in-the-making new album "Chinese Democracy" before year's end, sources close to the situation tell Billboard. Some details of the deal are still being worked out, including the release date.
The news brings a semblance of closure to the bizarre history of "Democracy," which Guns N' Roses has been working on since the mid-1990s. Since then, every original member of the once mighty group has left besides vocalist Axl Rose, and millions of dollars have been spent working on the new material.
"Democracy" was most recently on the Interscope release schedule in March 2007. The endless delays encountered by the project reached comic levels this spring, when soft drink manufacturer Dr Pepper offered to send a free can of the beverage to "everyone in America" (excluding ex-GNR members Slash and Buckethead) if "Chinese Democracy" were to arrive anytime during the calendar year 2008.
In June, nine purported "mastered, finished" tracks from the album were leaked online, prompting an FBI investigation into their source. A sign "Chinese Democracy" was perhaps finally nearing release came in July, when the band agreed to debut new track "Shackler's Revenge" in the video game "Rock Band 2," which hit stores earlier this month.
Guns N' Roses is now managed by Irving Azoff's Front Line Management, and Azoff is a well-known proponent of issuing albums exclusively through retailers. He released the Eagles' "Long Road Out of Eden" through Wal-Mart in 2007, much to the chagrin of other merchants, but the album was a runaway hit, having sold 3.1 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Scarlett Johansson, Ryan Reynolds marry in Canada
LOS ANGELES - Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds did a little rushing into it after all. The couple married this weekend, according to publicist Meredith O'Sullivan. She did not provide details.
Us Weekly reported on its Web site Sunday that the small wedding took place at a resort outside Vancouver, British Columbia. Guests included Scarlett's mother, Melanie Sloan, and her brother, Adrian Johansson, the magazine said.
The couple announced their engagement in May.
"We're just enjoying our time," the actress said last month. "We're just recently — very recently — engaged. So, you know, we're just taking it easy. And no big plan yet. But it's a good time and we're just ... enjoying our time to be young and engaged.
"I mean, I'm 23. There's no reason to rush into it. Everything feels very natural and relaxed."
Johansson most recently starred in the Woody Allen film "V CB." Reynolds starred on the TV show "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place" and the romantic comedy "Definitely, Maybe."
'Eagle Eye' soars to No. 1 at box office with $29M
LOS ANGELES - Shia LaBeouf's conspiracy thriller "Eagle Eye" debuted at the top of the weekend box office with $29.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The Paramount-DreamWorks release was the second No. 1 premiere for LaBeouf and director D.J. Caruso, who also teamed on 2007's hit "Disturbia."
Opening in second place with $13.6 million was another reunion, the Warner Bros. romantic drama "Nights in Rodanthe" featuring "The Cotton Club" and "Unfaithful" co-stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane.
The previous weekend's top flick, Sony's thriller "Lakeview Terrace," slipped to No. 3 with $7 million, raising its 10-day total to $25.7 million.
The Samuel Goldwyn release "Fireproof," a Christian drama starring Kirk Cameron as a firefighter who turns to God to help save his marriage, premiered in fourth-place with $6.5 million.
"Eagle Eye" helped pull Hollywood out of the box-office doldrums that have lingered the last two months. The top 12 movies took in $87.8 million, up 15 percent from the same weekend last year.
"You put a summer-style movie in the heart of the fall, and you can take advantage of the marketplace," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers.
Spike Lee's World War II drama "Miracle at St. Anna" opened weakly with $3.5 million, coming in at No. 9. The Disney release features Derek Luke in a saga of four soldiers from an all-black unit stuck behind enemy lines in Italy.
Two other movies — Fox Searchlight's "Choke" and Lionsgate's "The Lucky Ones" — opened in narrower release of about 400 theaters each, compared to 3,510 cinemas for "Eagle Eye."
"Choke," starring Sam Rockwell and Anjelica Huston in a quirky tale of a sex addict who feigns choking in restaurants to get money for his mom's psychiatric care, opened outside the top 10 with $1.3 million.
"The Lucky Ones," a road trip tale among three Iraq War veterans (Tim Robbins, Michael Pena and Rachel McAdams), bombed with just $208,000.
"Eagle Eye" stars LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan as strangers hurled together in an escalating series of politically motivated adventures, their lives controlled by a mysterious female voice directing their actions through technology.
"The conceit of the film is intriguing to all," said DreamWorks spokesman Chip Sullivan. "Between GPS, employee codes, bank PIN numbers, this could conceivably be within the realm of possibility within a few years."
The movie secures LaBeouf's position as a steady box-office draw. His other credits include "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "Transformers," along with the latter's upcoming sequel.
"Nights in Rodanthe" features Gere and Lane as strangers who fall for each other over a weekend at a secluded inn as a hurricane approaches.
The romance made for good counterprogramming to the action-oriented "Eagle Eye," said Warner Bros. general sales manager Jeff Goldstein. Female movie-goers made up three-fourths of the audience for "Nights in Rodanthe," he said.
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. "Eagle Eye," $29.2 million.
2. "Nights in Rodanthe," $13.6 million.
3. "Lakeview Terrace," $7 million.
4. "Fireproof," $6.5 million.
5. "Burn After Reading," $6.2 million.
6. "Igor," $5.5 million.
7. "Righteous Kill," $3.803 million.
8. "My Best Friend's Girl," $3.8 million.
9. "Miracle at St. Anna," $3.5 million.
10. "Tyler Perry's the Family That Preys," $3.2 million.
Appreciation: Newman was among rare breed of star
Paul Newman couldn't have existed today — at least, not the way we came to know him.
Sure, the talent would have been there, the classic good looks, the magnetism, the easy charm. But the privacy he demanded (and won), which helped establish and solidify his mystique as a bona fide movie star, never would have been afforded him in our tabloid-driven, celebrity-obsessed culture.
Sad but true. Part of why we were fascinated with Newman, who died Friday at 83 of cancer, was because we didn't know every gory detail of his life, even though he'd reached the zenith of fame and popularity. He left us craving more — and that he lived and died far from Hollywood's glare in the small town of Westport, Conn., in the converted farmhouse he shared with his wife of 50 years, Joanne Woodward, speaks volumes not only about who he was but who he didn't want to be.
It's hard to think of an actor today who compares in that regard: someone who's blazingly confident on-screen but maintains some mystery about who he really is off of it, someone who would make even hardened, cynical journalists go weak in the knees upon meeting face-to-face. Newman's longtime friend and co-star, Robert Redford, certainly qualifies. But of the current generation of stars? We know too much about Tom Cruise. Will Smith? Leonardo DiCaprio? Johnny Depp, maybe — though he's carved out a path of quirky character roles, despite his leading-man looks.
George Clooney springs to mind, but even he has fought public battles with the paparazzi over the need to respect celebrities' privacy. Clooney himself seemed to recognize the legacy Newman left in reacting to his death Saturday morning: "He set the bar too high for the rest of us ... not just actors, but all of us. He will be greatly missed," he said — through his publicist.
Larger than life? Sure. But looking back at Newman's career, which encompassed nearly 60 feature films over the past half-century, it's the range that leaves an impression. You never forgot you were watching Paul Newman. He was a superstar, after all. He was the draw. But he could fit into a wide variety of parts — unlike some other actors with longevity and stature, who shall remain nameless for these purposes, who have devolved into caricatures of themselves as they've aged.
In just a sampling, Newman played:
• A washed-up football player in Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1958).
• Pool shark "Fast Eddie" Felson in "The Hustler" (1961), the role he would reprise in "The Color of Money" (1986), which, surprisingly, earned him his only Academy Award in 10 nominations.
• A bad-boy cowboy in "Hud" (1963).
• A rebellious prisoner in "Cool Hand Luke" (1967).
• A train robber alongside Redford, iconically, in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969).
• The player-coach of a small-town hockey team in the comedy cult favorite "Slap Shot" (1977).
• A wrongly accused suspect in a rare film that gets journalism right, "Absence of Malice" (1981).
• A cantankerous grandfather in "Nobody's Fool" (1994).
• A formidable mob boss in "Road to Perdition" (2002).
Newman came up in the Method-acting tradition, a la Brando, but there was never anything obviously studied about him; he made the swagger look natural. And his evolution over the years — from young and dangerous to middle-aged and struggling to older and wiser — constantly carried with it the aura of dignity.
"His powerful eloquence, his consummate sense of craft, so consummate that you didn't see any sense of effort up there on the screen, set a new standard," said Martin Scorsese, who directed him in "The Color of Money."
Newman himself didn't enjoy talking about acting, and could come off as a bit distant in interviews when asked about it. He did offer some insight to his motivation, however, in 2002:
"I used to make three pictures a year, and now I make a picture every three years. Things change. There have been a lot of good things out there, but they weren't the kind of pictures that I wanted to make. I didn't want to do pictures about explosions. I don't want to do pictures about shattered glass and broken bodies and blood. That just doesn't interest me."
Of course, we came to understand what interested him through his off-camera pursuits later in life. His passion came shining through in his love of, and talent for, auto racing. But it's through his philanthropy — the Newman's Own Foundation, which has raised more than $250 million for charities worldwide, and the Hole in the Wall Camps for children with life-threatening diseases — that he showed his true heart.
Maybe Paul Newman wasn't so hard to figure out after all.