Monday, February 26, 2007

Last week I forgot to mention some people I got to snap some pics with at a collector's show in Burbank ...

**David Lander- Best known for Squiggy on Laverne & Shirley TV show, such a very warm and nice guy to meet.
**Julie Adams- Best known as the damsel in the classic Creature from the Black Lagoon movie, incredibly nice lady.
**Adam West- TV's Batman, was a nice enough guy.
**Julie Newmar- best known as Catwoman from the classic Batman TV series, very nice lady.
**Bill Dana- best known for The Nude Bomb movie, very nice guy.
**Terence Knox- best known for Tour of Duty TV series, nice guy.
**Frank Sivero- Best known for being in The Godfather: Part II and Goodfellas, cool guy.

Weekly Update:
First part of the week I took a train ride up to Sacramento. Never taken one before but it was pretty fun. LONG trip though but I would definitely do it again for a shorter destination. The scenery was great, the coach chairs made me fall asleep and the dining was nice. Taking the train has a very nostalgic/romantic feeling about it.

Last Thursday I attended the Will Roger's Pioneer Dinner Assistance Fund Honoring Jeff Blake of Sony/Columbia Pictures ... or the WRPDAFHJFoSCP for short. It was a packed event full of studio execs and producers, long speeches and the usual mixing/mingling. I did spot and got to meet very briefly with Jeffrey Katzenberg who was a nice guy and for those who don't know, he is the "K" in "Dreamworks, SKG" with the "S" being Steven Spielberg and the "G" for David Geffen. Even though the company Dreamworks is no longer since Paramount took over, Dreamworks Animation still exists with the name and continues to crank out movies which are released by Paramount.

Also last week on Friday night I went to a cool party hosted by Hansen's, Netflix, Belvedere Vodka, Cadiallac and about 2 other sponsors. It was in the hills of Beverly Hills and it was also freezing with a strong breeze going. They had a little performance from Cirque du Soleil which was cool and got to meet Alan Arkin and the little girl from Little Miss Sunshine, Abigail Breslin. Both of them were very nice.

At the movies:
The Oscar Weekend box office crown goes to "Ghost Rider" who takes #1 for the 2nd weekend in a row with 19.1 million and a cume of 78.6 mil. It did suffer a big drop of around 57% but honestly, I thought it might go into the 60's. New at #2 is the thriller The Number 23 with 15.1 mil, a good solid number for this time of year. Holding onto #3 is "Bridge to Terabithia" with another 13.6 mil, good hold over. New at #4 is the comedy Reno 911!: Miami with only 10.4 mil. Not a great number but for this TV show gone movie, its ok. Rounding off the top 5 is "Norbit" with 9.7 mil more.

New movies that did not make the top 5: At a disappointing #9 spot this week, The Astronaut Farmer launches with only 4.5 mil to its name and it can only go downhill from there. In at #10 is a smaller release from Samuel Goldwyn studios, Amazing Grace with only 4.3 mil. Considering the release pattern was under 1,000 runs, this number is not too bad. New at #19 spot with over 1,000 runs is The Abandoned with only 817k, not even a million to make a mark. Obviously the theatres this film was showing at describes the scene, not the movie.

Comment Response:
None at this time.

Other News:
The 19th Academy Awards took place on Sunday and the Oscar went to ... Best Picture and Director nods went to Martin Scorsese for "The Departed" after so many years being left out. Helen Mirren for "The Queen" which was no surprise as well as Forest Whitaker for "The Last King of Scotland". Alan Arkin (who I just met on Friday) won Best Supporting Actor for "Little Miss Sunshine" while Jennifer Hudson takes Supporting Actress in "Dreamgirls". Ellen DeGeneres hosted the evening which I thought was a decent job but not the best ... however definitely not the worst! Musical numbers (that I saw) were pretty boring for the most part. All-in-all, a good evening to watch.

Facts & Tips:
A tune that gets stuck in your head is called an earworm.

"Everything they say about water movies is true. Anything that *can* go wrong *will* go wrong."- Gore Verbinski (Director) quoted from "An Epic at Sea: The Making of 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'"

posted by McDuck @ 00:00 2 comments

Monday, February 19, 2007

PRESIDENT'S DAY SPECIAL
As we celebrate the birthday's of two historic US Presidents (not on the same day of course but we celebrate on one day) and are given the day off, I have to wonder what happened?? When I was growing up, in Elementary through High School we got 2 days off in February and now, you only get one ... CHEATED! We are cheated that extra holiday, what happened?? Happy Birthday George and Abe.

Weekly Update:
Last week was a very busy work week as I was trying to catch up from being away most of the previous week. Traveling for work has kind of gotten sucky as of late because of the pointless trips. Honestly, most of these small trips are a waste of time and money and then coming back when you have lots of other things to take care of ... just adds to everything else. This week I am in half and out the other half, greeeaaaat.

At the movies:
Another comic book come to life takes the weekend crown as Ghost Rider kicks up an estimated 51 million for the 4-day holiday weekend. Word-of-mouth is so-so on this film so probably will see the standard 35-45% drop next week. New at #2 is the family adventure Bridge to Terabithia with about 22.1 mil. Disney can't be too thrilled with that number but its still a solid gross. Holding in at #3 is "Norbit" with an additional 20.6 mil however that is over a 50% decrease given the holiday weekend compared to last weekend. New at #4 is the romantic comedy Music & Lyrics By with a holiday opening of about 16.4 mil and a cume of 21.9 mil since it opened mid week on Wednesday. I guess the romance wasn't there for this film as its 6-day gross was fairly weak. Also opening on Wednesday and new to the scene at #5 is Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls with a holiday estimate of about 15.1 mil and a 6-day cume of 20.8 mil. I guess the Tyler Perry fans didn't want to see a film by him unless he is in it.

New this week and not in the top 5: Only one film did not make the top 5 that went into a wide release. Universal's Breach opened to the #6 spot with 12.1 mil for the holiday weekend. Not a strong number but an ok one. Over the past week I have heard on the radio and seen the TV ad almost non-stop that I lost complete interest in this film ... too much was enough.

Comment Response:
None at this time.

Other News:
So it was announced on Tuesday that the Mayor of LA wants to cover the entire city with WiFi ... that is a bit crazy. I am not sure if for public/free use but to cover that much area with one network seems kind of insane. I can understand places like Manhattan or San Francisco (which they are doing) but LA? If they were to isolate it to downtown but then you will get folks just outside that will complain and its just too over-populated. I think the idea/plan is still up for approval but hey, instead of spending money on that, hire more police or continue to work on road improvements?

Facts & Tips:
The first sport to be filmed was boxing in 1894.

"Oh man! How'd you get the beans above the frank?"- Keith David as Charlie Jensen in "There's Something About Mary"

posted by McDuck @ 00:22 1 comments

Monday, February 12, 2007

On the road this week as I make my way to Milpitas, CA and into cooler climate weather. Afterwards spend the weekend in San Francisco to relax and just get some GORDO'S BABY!!! Yeah!!! Mmmmmmm, love me the Gordo's!!

Weekly Update:
Other than traveling around, some in the rain, it has been a pretty slow but at the same time hectic week. The slowness of the days and giving about 50 presentations from Tuesday through Thursday was BORING. Driving home in the rain from SF was interesting, times I couldn't see more than 10 feet in front of me. Passing trucks was fun, couldn't see anything at all from the mist being kicked up from the trucks. Good times, good times.

At the movies:
Eddie Murphy and Eddie Murphy take the box office crown with Norbit earning a whopping 33.7 million at the box office. That is a great number considering all the Oscar-buzz films and time of year. A BIG surprise at #2 is MGM's Hannibal Rising with 13.4 mil at the box office. This is more of the typical number for this time of year but even more surprising is that MGM had a decent hit finally. Almost took them a full year since they re-opened! Holding in at #3 is "Because I Said So" with 9 mil more. In at #4 is "The Messengers with an extra 7.2 mil and on its way out. Holding strong at #5 is "Night at The Museum" with an extra 5.6 mil and a cume of over 232 mil now in its 8th week of release.

Comment Response:
I thought David H. was always cheese-factor. I am also not a huge sports fan but I do like going to certain games and I do keep track of the playoffs ... otherwise nada.

Other News:
One of the big news stories is the bizarre death of Anna Nicole Smith last Thursday while she was back in Florida for several different legal battles. Sad how a story like this over-shadowed a US Helicopter killing 7 soldiers was shot down in Iraq and several suicide bombings killing over 50 Iraqi civilans throughout Baghdad. How many deaths does it take to equal the death of Anna Nicole? Well, apparently more than 57.


Facts & Tips:
February is Black History Month.

"My ancestors sent a little lizard to help me?"- Ming-Na as the voice of Mulan in "Mulan"

posted by McDuck @ 11:30 1 comments

Monday, February 05, 2007

Summer in the winter, that is what SoCali is all about. Sure it gets very cold at night but compared to other places in the country, its a heat wave! But over the weekend we had some pretty warm weather and I guess we can thank Punxsutawney Phil for that because he didn't see his shadow and wasn't afraid. Means an early spring but here, it means summer. Thanks Phil.

Weekly Update:
So at work on Friday they were doing some promotional stuff on the upcoming movie Reno 911!: Miami with the entire crew. It looked like they were having a ton of fun and at lunch time, I got me some free In-N-Out made to order and snuck in some pics with:

*Ben Garant
*Niecy Nash
*Kerri Kenney
*Thomas Lennon

All of them were incredibly nice and couldn't have met a cooler group of folks! I only got half the cast, the others were gone as I was working my way around. OH well, I am sure they would have been just as nice too!

At the movies:
Horror takes the box office this week as The Messengers opens with 14.5 million. New at #2 is Because I Said So with 13 mil at the box office. Holding in ok at #3 is "Epic Movie" for an additional 8.2 mil and holding strong at #4 is "Night at The Museum" with an extra 6.8 mil and a cume over 225 mil! Taking a big drop to #5 is "Smokin' Aces" with 6.3 mil and also a 56% drop.

Comment Response:
None at this time.

Other News:
Mother nature strikes back in Florida, mass suicide bombings in Iraq and helicopters being shot down in Iraq ... but this week bowls down to: Colts or da Bears? Superbowl Sunday and who did you want to win? Personally I am not a fan of either team but I did want to see the commericials. The ads this year were kind of lackluster and the ones that tried to be funny, I actually found distasteful. The Fedex on the moon, I thought it was horrible when the guy was hit into space and then killed by the meteor. Or for careerbuilders when all those people went off the cliff like lemmings to their death. There was maybe two marginally good commercials but this year, they kind of sucked.

Facts & Tips:
Americans on average eat 18 acres of pizza everyday.

"I need ya buddy!"- David Hasselhoff as Michael Knight from the TV series "Knight Rider"

posted by McDuck @ 00:00 2 comments