Monday, July 29, 2013

I still don't understand how people when crossing a lane in the parking lot don't stick to one side but instead decided to either walk down the middle or go across the lane at an angle.  I mean really, when a car is coming and you see them, go to one side please.  But this week, two different times, one group of people walk down the middle but I was behind them, they didn't notice the car following them ... geez.  Another couple was walking towards me and crossing the path so I stopped to not scare them but instead of going in a straight line, they go criss-cross so it takes at least twice as long ... what is wrong with people?!

 Weekly Update:
Had an overall nice week, went to some awesome dim sum on Sunday for lunch with a couple of friends and that friend ended up bringing her a couple of her co-stars from the Starz Channel show "Spartacus" which was a surprise.  One guy I already met before a that final season premiere of "Spartacus" which was Daniel Feuerriegel, who is a great guy by the way.  The other guy I didn't get to meet before so had a nice picture after lunch:

 *Nick Tarabay - played on the side of the bad guys as a former gladiator turned street dealer but in real life a cool guy.

 Aside from that, my week was just simple and nice ... like they all should be!

 At the movies:
No surprise here as the comic-book world takes over the box office again this summer ... in at #1 is the continuing story of The Wolverine earning an OK 55 million which is way below industry expectation.  Not sure if the summer is just coming to end or what.  Holding good at #2 is "The Conjuring" with another 22.1 mil as it quickly approaches 100 mil.  Still earning strong is "Despicable Me 2" with 16 mil extra and now just over 300 mil cume for domestic box office.  Not giving up at #4 is "Turbo" with 13.3 mil more as it looks like it will fall short of 100 mil.  Rounding off the top 5 is "Grown Ups 2" with another 11.5 mil as it passes the 100 mil cume mark ... surprisingly.

 Quote of the week:
"Like every writer, I am asked where my work originates, and if I knew I would go there more often to find more." - Arthur Miller

 Other News:

Ten strange facts about Disneyland Parks ... #10) Nicknamed the "Happiest Place on Earth" it turns out for those who work there are miserable than most other jobs.  #9) The Wizard of Bras - at one point the Hollywood-Maxell Brassiere Co. of Los Angeles operated a store inside the park. 8) Cremation - in 2007 a security camera caught a woman dumping an unknown substance on the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride and was later discovered to be cremated human remains. #7) Club 33 - the secret VIP lounge and was once the only place in Disneyland itself to sell and serve alcohol. #6) Feral Cats - a legion of 200 feral cats roam the grounds after sunset ... keeping the rodent problem at bay.  The animals are actually cared for, spayed and neutered as well as regular food stations throughout the park. #5) The Beatles - John Lennon while vacationing in Disney World's Polynesian Resort signed the paper work on December 29, 1974 that finally broke up The Beatles forever. #4) Kim Jong-Nam - Under false ID's, the current ruler and his brother of North Korea visited Toyko Disney in 2001 as children. #3) Richard Nixon - made frequent trips to Disneyland and visited it when it first opened while still Vice President. #2) Flash Mountain - in 1990 a campaign started for woman to flash their breast during the flume part of the ride.  Since then employees have been better at catching the photos before they go public for those to pick up their souvenir.  #1) Character Gropings - apparently several claims against Disney characters of inappropriate groping took place and some settled out of court.  There was one case where a man was accused of battery for groping a Minnie Mouse.

 Facts & Tips:
Porcupines each have 30,000 quills.

 "We're out of time, we have to come up with a plan right now." - Nicole Gale Anderson in the direct to DVD "Redline."

posted by McDuck @ 02:13 0 comments

Monday, July 22, 2013

SAN DIEGO COMIC CON EDITION

The annual mega NERD fest just took place this past weekend and of course it remained just as crazy.  It seems like it continues to spread out over the SD Gaslamp district so I'm sure attendance increases but the congestion isn't as bad as it could be.  No official numbers for the con have been given out but I am sure it will reach at least 125,000 with the big announcements being the "Metallica Through the Never" movie and the collaboration Superman/Batman film.  TV continues to dominate with "Game of Thrones" and "Walking Dead" to name just a few.

Weekly Update:
Busy week and now it is over, finally!  On Wednesday attended the 3rd Annual Variety Poker Tournament and had some old friends and new acquaintances.  It was a great night for a great cause as always.  While there ran into:

 *Jesse Spencer - best known from the show "House M.D." and a nice guy.

 Then the next morning I left to San Diego Comic-Con but this time for work!  I got to play a little bit but I do mean little.  At least this time I go to stay at one of the hotels in the middle of it all so walking around wasn't terrible.  Managed to spot some folks and grab a quick pic:

 *Aimee Teegarden - best known from the TV series "Friday Night Lights" and a nice person.
*Ansel Elgort - from the upcoming film "Divergent" and a really nice guy.
*Shailene Woodley - from "Divergent" and a very sweet person.
*Theo James - "Divergent" and a really cool guy.
*Miles Teller - also from "Divergent" and a great guy.
*Ben Lamb - "Divergent" and a really great guy!
*Mekhi Phifer - appearing in "Divergent" but for me best known from "8 Mile" and a very cool guy.
*Samantha Jo - coming soon on the youtube series "Mortal Kombat: Legacy" and very sweet.
*Jesse Heiman - from various TV and films, always playing the background nerd and a nice guy.
*Kate Micucci - more recently from "The Big Bang Theory" and very sweet.
*Dane DeHaan - upcoming star who will be in "Spider-Man 2" and 3 along with the Metallica movie and a cool guy.
*John Bradley - one of the Night Watch from "Game of Thrones" and a really nice guy.
*Kevin Bacon - I am finally 0 degrees of Kevin Bacon!

 At the movies:
Horror wins the weekend of Comic-Con as The Conjuring takes #1 with a hefty 41.5 million to open!  Hanging on to #2 is "Despicable Me 2" earning an extra 25 mil as it passes the 275 mil cume mark and still going strong.  New at #3 is the fast action family film Turbo with a weekend total of 21.5 mil and 5-day cume of 31.2 which is well below expectations for a summer film of this nature.  Holding on to #4 is "Grown Ups 2" earning another 20 mil as it approaches the 100 mil cume mark.  New at #5 is the action-comedy Red 2 with above than expected opening of 18.5 mil.


 New movies that did not make the top 5:
Unfortunately just one this week as the other action-comedy with some supernatural elements in it R.I.P.D. opens with only a 12.8 mil weekend and enough to take the #7 spot.  Many compared it to the "Men in Black" series but instead of aliens, the undead.  It is a valid point but still a different movie all the same.

Quote of the week:
"Every show is its own little miracle." - Charlie Fink

 Other News:
How about top 10 Cheesy films of the '90's?  #10) Armageddon (1998) - Michael Bay is pretty good with cheesy films with patriotic themes constantly being mentioned in over the top and subtle ways. #9) Broken Arrow (1996) - Never really saw this one but it looked pretty cheesy based on Travolta's performance. It is considered one of John Woo's best US made films though. #8) Battlefield Earth (2000) - just bad acting to bad concept to bad special effects. #7) Demolition Man (1993) - This is when Sandra Bullock was cute and funny but this movie wasn't half-bad. #6) Days of Thunder (1990) - never saw this one either but I heard it was pretty bad. #5) Dragonheart (1996) - was pretty boring but this has one of the best musical scores ever! #4) Con Air (1997) - some mis-casted parts and over the top action. #3) The Chase (1994) - the what?  I vaguely remember seeing this one coming out but never saw it. #2) Point Break (1991) pictured - overall fun movie with some killer surf but bad lines and acting throw in. #1) Face / Off  (1997) - Yet another John Woo film but better than the predecessor ... I think he needs help with casting though.
Facts & Tips:
All dog breeds except chow-chows have black lips to prevent them from getting sunburned.

"One thing's for sure, if we don't sell papes, then nobody sells papes. Nobody comes through those gates until they put the price back to where it was." - Christian Bale as Jack Kelly in "Newsies."

posted by McDuck @ 01:41 0 comments

Monday, July 15, 2013

The heat is on ... a pretty warm week but not terrible compared to the one before 4th of July.  But I think the heat makes people stupid or something because I watched someone walking down the street with a shopping cart (was in a grocery store parking lot) but instead of going to the left or right side, they go down the middle.  Well ok, I've seen that before but as you approach facing them, one would think they would move to one side or the other ... nope, not this larger lady.  She kept coming towards me and then maybe a car length left, she turned right and went into the next parking row!  She wasn't even parked in the row I was in.  I don't understand some people ... ok, I mean MOST people.

 Weekly Update:

Man what did I do this past week ... I don't even remember.  I guess not a lot if its all a blur or lack of worth noting!  OH wait, I went to a big meeting at IMAX, that was pretty cool seeing their offices and our latest trailer on an smaller IMAX screen, sounded awesome though.  Then just some more conference calls and other small meetings.  Trying to stay cool all week, the days were pretty warm but the nights were very cool.  This upcoming week however, looks INSANE!!  Report on it next week but I feel several days of no sleep coming up.  I haven't been really sleeping that much because for some reason I can't fall asleep till 3 to 4AM yet I wake up just before 8AM.  However this Saturday night my body just shut off at 10PM and I didn't wake up till close to 10AM Sunday morning.  I guess it just simply caught up to me.

 At the movies:
Not a big surprise but Gru and his yellow army of minions claims the box office for the 2nd weekend in a row!  At #1 is "Despicable Me 2" earning another 44.8 million now with a cume of 230 mil!  No doubt it will break that 300 mil threshold fairly soon.  New at #2 is the comedy sequel of Grown Ups 2 with 42.5 mil.  Crashing in at #3 is the sci-fi big action film Pacific Rim with 38.3 mil.  Not a great number but it did beat most expectations.  Hanging on to #4 is "The Heat" with another 14 mil as it passes the 100 mil cume m
ark.  Rounding off the top 5 is "The Lone Ranger" with 11.1 mil as it looks like it will fall short of the 100 mil mark for domestic box office.

 Quote of the week:
"There is a fine line between genius and insanity.  I have erased this line." - Oscar Levant

 Other News:
Very tragic news as Hollywood loses yet another bright star cut so short in a career just starting.  One of the lead actors of the hit TV show "Glee," Cory Monteith was found dead on Saturday in his hotel room in Vancouver, BC just weeks after he was out of rehab for drug addiction.  Cory's character on the show was Fin Hudson, Captain of the high school football team turned from jock to glee nerd and his closing song on the first episode was amazing ... Journey's "Don't Stop Believin."  That performance had me hooked for the first season and following the show went on to win awards for its music arrangements.  I had the great pleasure of meeting Cory after his win at the SAG awards when the cast won.  I remember meeting him very well, just before taking the picture with him he said to me, "Check out how heavy this thing is!" referring to his SAG Award statue.  He then proceeded to hand it to me to hold while we took the picture together.  Incredibly nice and humble guy ... he will be greatly missed.  I'm sure he would simply share one simple message to everyone ... Don't Stop Believen!
Cory was 31.

 Facts & Tips:
Bloodhounds can track a man by smell for up to 100 miles.

 "Yo yo yo, it's lunchtime!"- Matt Prokop as Jimmie Zara in "High School Musical 3: Senior Year."

posted by McDuck @ 02:00 0 comments

Monday, July 08, 2013

4th of July Edition

4th of July Edition!!
This holiday is pretty much all about the fireworks!  But what brought it all to be was the day Congress made the revisions and wording finalized for the Declaration of Independence but July the 2nd seems more went on before the 4th.  But did you see fireworks?  I think I saw maybe 2 to 3 shows because living in the OC you are a little surrounded with communities having their own show and we are not as densely populated like all of Los Angeles is.  So stadium and field gatherings were at the plenty and they are always fun to watch but careful of your pets!  But of course this warning comes way too late but just remember it forever!!

 Weekly Update:
Not to bad of a week, pretty quiet overall but it was sure getting hot still, Summer is here!  But the nice thing is the nights were very cool.  Had to go to LA a bunch of times but for the most part, it was for fun and having lunch with a bunch of friends.  But with a slow and easy week, not really much to report on ... boring can be good, at least to me it can be because breaks are needed and wanted and that is what boring is!

 At the movies:

Some pretty good numbers coming out of the box office weekend.  We had some slightly above than expected numbers and then others who bombed but overall, it was a good holiday weekend.  Showing up strong at #1 is Despicable Me 2 with a hefty 5-day total of 142.1 million for it's debut.  Showing up at #2 is the remake of The Lone Ranger with only 48.9 mil for its 5-day total.  Much below industry expectations but not by mine!!  Holding strong at #3 is "The Heat" with another 25 mil as it speeds it's way to 100 mil cume.  Still going at #4 is "Monsters University" with an extra 19.6 mil as it passes the 200 mil cume mark.  Rounding off the top 5 is "World War Z" crawling in with an extra 18.2 mil as it reaches 150 mil cume and could possibly reach 200, hard to say at this time right now with so many summer releases still to go!

 Quote of the week:
"Don't worry about people stealing your ideas.  If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats." - Howard Aiken

 Other News:
This is a pretty good list that I stumbled across the other day.  7 iconic brand names that disappeared ... and I didn't even really notice to be honest with you.  #7) Lehman Brothers - one of Wall Streets financial companies that went bankrupt when the housing market crashed and never returned. #6) Cingular Wireless - this was a surprise because I didn't realize they had vanished.  They were eventually bought out by AT&T. #5) Wachovia - was once the 54th most valuable brand in the world and the 4th largest US bank but another victim of the housing crash. #4) Saab - not a big fan of this company/car so not surprised either.  They were very niche in their audience and also way too competitive to keep up with everything. #3) Sony-Ericsson - Joint venture between Sony Corp and Swedish telecom Ericsson in 2001 but like most Sony products, can't keep up with the times and no corporate synergy. #2) Washington Mutual - another banking institute but they were pretty aggressive with their ad campaign.  They ended up becoming America's largest bank failure. #1) Compaq (pictured) - a computer brand that felt outdated even when it was introduced.  Image and functionality already felt 2 years old and that is like 100 years in real time.

 Facts & Tips:
Napoleon suffered from a fear of cats.

 "I saw a man, not a machine." - Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams in "Terminator Salvation."

posted by McDuck @ 01:08 0 comments

Monday, July 01, 2013

Hot Hot Hot!!!  The summer heat finally showed up and in force!  Most of the week reached the high 80's but the weekend almost broke 100 each day.  Parts of Los Angeles went as hot as 106 and I hope we have seen the worst of this.  I know summer is warm but not crazy hot.  Sunday was a bit cooler but humid!  So even though it was cooler, every time you went outside you felt like you needed a shower.  This coming week did show some hot days again but it feels like the weather reports are 75% accurate which isn't that great of a percentage if you think about.  I am not sure but it felt like 10 years ago they were almost 100%  Did the equipment get overly sophisticated that they are off in the long term but more accurate in the short?

 Weekly Update:
A pretty quiet week in general but had to make several trips to LA for meetings and lunches, it was tiring because certain days I went up just for a meal with someone and then came right back.  That seems more tiring than going up in the morning, spending almost 10 hours and then coming back.  But going up, spending an hour and then coming back, that felt more draining for some odd reason.  Other than that, I had a pretty slow week and just tried to be at places to stay out of the heat!!  Overall, pretty successful!  Now let's see how this coming week goes.

 At the movies:
School is still cool at the box office as "Monsters University" holds the #1 spot with an extra 46.2 million and a cume of 171 mil, fast approaching 200!  New at #2 is the comedy The Heat with a solid 40 mil.  Slight drop to #3 is "World War Z" earning an extra 29.8 mil and now has a cume of 124 mil for its initial 10 days.  New at #4 is the action thriller White House Down with 25.7 mil.  Hard to follow this film after we just saw it back in November called "Olympus Has Fallen!!"  Rounding off the top 5 is "Man of Steel" earning another 20.8 mil and a cume just shy of 250 mil domestic box office.

 Quote of the week:
"Keep true to the dreams of thy youth." - Johann von Schiller

 Other News:

Oh computer, you perplex me so.  It is amazing how technology is designed to simplify our lives yet at an instance it can turn it upside down just like that.  The other day my main computer went out, not sure of the issue yet but unfortunately it is past warranty.  My back-up computer (which I am using at the moment) is so incredibly slow and non responsive, it is taking me to finish out this post an about 2 hours in which it would normally be 30 minutes or so.  Due to the slowness and pauses, I have to sit and wait, and wait, and wait to see something appear on my screen I might have typed over a minute ago.  As far as I know there is nothing wrong with the computer other than it being old but I don't see why that makes a computer slower than its original state.  Along the lines of technology, phones.  They are now a mini-computer to carry around yet they are designed to only last for 2 years or less.  We have become a very disposable society in which we don't keep things as long as you one would but instead replace it because it turns out it is more inexpensive than trying to have the older device fixed.  Plus the process it takes to set up a new phone is very short compared to waiting to get an older unit fixed and returned.  Stuff is just not what it used to be (pictured is one of the first portable computers, Osbourne which I had when I was a little kid).

 Facts & Tips:
Christopher Columbus brought the first lemon seeds to America.

 "We take Pete's car, go round Mum's, go in, deal with Philip - "Sorry, Philip!" - grab Mum, go to Liz's, pick her up, bring her back here, have a cup of tea and wait for this whole thing to blow over." - Simon Pegg as Shaun from "Shaun of the Dead."

posted by McDuck @ 01:04 0 comments