Hot and cold, can you make up your mind? It has been very hot during the day this past week but the nights turn to a chill. What has been nice is the evening sky and how clear it has been lately. I spotted Saturn and Mars while outside at night ... two familiar lights against the black canvas of night. Gazing at the lights of the night can be a nice thing ... they are always there.Weekly Update:
This past week should have been relaxing since I spent most of it at home watching and taking care of the dogs. However for some reason I still did not manage to get that much sleep and in some cases less! Not sure what that is about but oh well, what can you do. Wednesday was kind of fun though because I had lunch with James Hong and some friends at the Paramount Studio Lot. James is a funny guy, after lunch he had me take him to do some errands. Why not, spend an afternoon with him was fun. That guy has a lot of ideas and interesting stories to tell. Here is a funny spectrum, when we first arrived at the Paramount Lot he said, "Over there is where I filmed 'Chinatown' and over there was 'Wayne's World 2!'" Talk about diverse films there.
At the movies:Kind of a boring weekend at the box office but collectively the numbers were not terrible. New at #1 is the action drama The Town with 23.8 million in its debut. At #2 is the teen comedy
Easy A with 18.2 mil. Suspense horror film Devil stops at #3 in it's debut with 12.6 mil. Big drop down to #4 is "Resident Evil: Afterlife" with 10.1 mil more as it is now shy of 50 mil. Rounding off the top 5 is the family animated film Alpha and Omega with only 9.2 mil to open. Not a really exciting time at the box office till closer to Halloween and early November.Quote of the week:"Hitch your wagon to a star." - Ralph Waldo EmersonComment Response:I think seeing any game live brings on a whole new experience and atmosphere!Other News:
I missed this last week but that was because I did not see the news report till very early Monday morning. Hollywood loses one of it's classic actors as Kevin McCarthy who is best known as the star of the original "Body Snatchers" died Sunday morning in Hyannis, MA. McCarthy has been in countless TV and movie appearances ranging from thrillers to comedies. McCarthy was nominated for an Oscar for his first film role in "Death of a Salesman." He has appeared in such classics as "The Misfits" and "The Twilight Zone: The Movie." I have had the chance to meet him on a couple occasions and couldn't have been any nicer. I recently saw him this past summer as well and he did seem a bit under the weather or in ailing health. McCarthy was 96.
Facts & Tips:There is a town in South Dakota named Tea."I know what dude I am. I'm the dude playin' the dude, disguised as another dude!"- Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus in "Tropic Thunder."
LABOR DAY EDITIONNo BBQ's for me, just trying to rest but ended up busy with some semi-fun stuff. Semi being some of it was fun and other stuff was not really fun but wasn't terrible either. I mostly tried to stay warm since we got hit with another heat wave recently but the evenings have remained clear and cool which is always nice. I guess that makes for a nice holiday weekend for folks to enjoy before heading back to school and work (along with mass traffic) on Tuesday.Weekly Update:This has been a full week for me, at least it sure felt that way. Let me see, what was going on ... what can I remember!! Well had some lunches come up but Friday I went in to Fox for a BBQ but they ended up not having one. But still got lunch with some good friends so that was well worth it. On Saturday I went to the Dodger's Game (aka "DOYERS!") and despite them losing, it was still a great game with free food and 3rd row seats. We were almost eye level with the field and right behind first base thanks to my friend Mike. While there I ran into ...*Michael Voltaggio- He was the winner of "Top Chef" season 6 in Las Vegas, NV. He threw out the first pitch of the game and was a cool guy.Then EARLY Sunday morning I went to Camelot Golfland to help with a production shoot my friend was doing. I helped in the sense I set up the location for the shoot since my friend owns the place (well, his family does). He was fun but way early for me for a holiday weekend! But I did get a picture with this person who I sort of know ...*Valerie Perez- Has not done anything major, just some very minor stuff but she is trying to find work out there and is amazingly smart and beautiful.
At the movies:Kind of a surprise at the box office this weekend however these numbers are not complete since it has only projected Sunday and not the Monday holiday. But as it stands, in at #1 is The American with a 5-day total of 16.1 million since the film opened last Wednesday. Holding strong at #2 is "Takers" with another 11.5 mil. New at #3 is
Machete with 11.3 mil. Kind of a disappointing opening if you ask me. Big drop to #4 is "The Last Exorcism" with 7.5 mil. Rounding off the top 5 is the romantic comedy Going the Distance with only 6.9 mil which is very disappointing since this movie also had the highest screen count for the new films this holiday weekend ... the summer is over!Quote of the week:"The darkest hour in any man's life is when he sits down to plan how to get money without earning it." - Horace GreeleyOther News:
A list came out recently of the top movies for 2010 (so far) by AOL/Moviefone ... but I am not sure on what the criteria was for this list. Let's look at the top 10 so far ... #10: "A Prophet" - heard very little to nothing on this film so can't comment on it. #9: "Kick-Ass" - Have not seen it yet but heard it was a great movie with tons of action and comedy ... a HARD R film with violence and language which it did well at the box office this year. #8: "Despicable Me" - Another film I have not seen yet but heard it was a solid film with great characters and looked good in 3-D. One of the top 5 films of the summer in terms of box office receipts. #7: "Winter's Bone" - Have not seen it but this is more of an Oscar contender than anything else. #6: "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" - Have not seen it but heard mixed reactions to this film plus it had a poor performance at the box office. #5: "The Kids Are All Right" - and heard the film was alright, not worth seeing. #4: "The Secret in Their Eyes" - Another Academy consideration type of film and in the Foreign-Language categories. #3: "How to Train Your Dragon" - Heard this film had some heart and looked good in 3-D. It kicked off the summer for us this year and did very well at the box office. #2: "Inception" - Mixed on this film but mostly positive. Mid-summer release with strong box office coming in #2 or #3 in terms of gross millions. #1: "Toy Story 3" - Saw this one and loved it. Great closure to a terrific trilogy and the highest grossing film of the summer which also breaks other records in animation and Disney/Pixar Studio numbers.
Facts & Tips:Holland is the only country with a national dog."I'm Agent Johnson, this is Special Agent Johnson." - Grand L. Bush as FBI Agent Little Johnson from "Die Hard."
On Saturday I went to a charity event or part of it. It was our Young Variety 4th Annual Hollywood Bowl event and the show that evening was the Sound of Music Sing-a-Long. I didn't stay for the movie but just went to the pre-picnic which was SO FARGIN HOT but the food was awesome!! The beef brisket with the sauce was good but would you believe the vegetarian pasta was my favorite?! I know!! CRAZY! But you pick out the big chunks of mushrooms and its perfect with the sauce, penne and spinach. The sauce was the kicker because it was a white cream but was not heavy at all. An exceptional caterer was ended up using and I hope we use them again for any future events requiring catering.
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