Happy Monday!

HAPPY MONDAY! What a busy day for me here at work. I'd better get started....

The Plane! The Plane!!! Jack's dead! Everybody's dead! Move on, now! It's estimated that over fifty people or MORE watched the end of ABC's "Lost" last night. YAWN!! Tonight, another Jack, Jack Bauer and Fox's '24'does the same. Probably over 100 people may check THAT out.

Frequent near death guy/ rock legend Bret Michaels was named the winner of NBC's 'Celebrity Apprentice' season 3, ousting finalist Holly Robinson Peete.

Paula Abdul is taking part in a special send-off for Simon Cowell that will be shown during the finale of American Idol this week.

Shrek 32 made a paltry $71 million dollars according to weekend estimates. Can you imagine the totals if they WEREN'T charging $10 or $15 a ticket for 3D? The below are tentative until Tuesday AM.
1. Shrek Forever After 3D (DWA/Par) NEW [4,359 Theaters]
Friday $20M, Saturday $29M, Weekend $72M
2. Iron Man 2 (Marvel/Paramount) Week 3 [4,177 Theaters]
Friday $7.8M, Saturday $11.4M, Weekend $26M, Cume $256M
3. Robin Hood (Universal) Week 2 [3,505 Theaters]
Friday $5.5M, Saturday $7.9M, Weekend $18.5M (-49%), Cume $66M
4. Letters To Juliet (Summit) Week 2 [2,975 Theaters]
Friday $3M, Saturday $3.7M, Weekend $9M (-34%), Cume $27.2M
5. Just Wright (Fox Searchlight/Fox) Week 2 [1,831 Theaters]
Friday $1.3M, Saturday $1.9M, Weekend $4.3M (-48%), Cume $14.7M
6. MacGruber (Rogue/Universal) NEW [2,551 Theaters]
Friday $1.6M, Saturday $1.5M, Weekend $4.1M
7. Date Night (Fox) Week 7 [1,869 Theaters]
Friday $1M, Estimated Weekend $3M, Estimated Cume $90M

Google has reinstated its Pac-Man game after removing it from the main page of google.com earlier Sunday. The game, which saw the “Google” logo embedded into a playable Pac-Man game board, had been put in place in honor of the legendary arcade game’s 30th anniversary. Although temporarily not available at all upon its removal from the Google homepage, Pac-Man can now be found – and played for free – at google.com/pacman.

37 year old Jose Lima, former MLB pitcher has died of an apparent heart attack at his home in Pasadena, Calif Sunday.

Three vehicles in a motorcade taking former President Bill Clinton to Yale University to give a speech on Sunday afternoon were involved in a minor accident, the Connecticut State Police said. One person was taken to a hospital with a minor injury. Later on Clinton told Yale seniors on Sunday to listen to people with whom they disagree in order to work together to resolve differences.

The space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station at 11:22 am New York time Sunday on its last scheduled mission in orbit after almost 25 years of service, NASA said. Weather permitting, it should return Wednesday.

It’s official: Britney Spears has just become the top Twitter account, surpassing longtime Twitter king Ashton Kutcher by a margin of a handful followers. Each account’s actual number of followers continues to fluctuate by the second, but Spears seems to be maintaining a tenuous lead.

Whitney Matheson at USA Today's Pop Candy blog is reporting that on On July 8 select theaters will start screening Grease, the 1978 musical starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. This time around, the release will show subtitles during the musical numbers, so audiences are encouraged to sing loudly and proudly.

FOX TV phenom "Glee" has been picked up for a 3rd season. I don't get it, but millions of other viewers/fans do.

Speaking of which, Google Inc. is attempting to answer the increasingly difficult question posed by television viewers faced with hundreds of programming choices: What should I watch? At the company's developer conference last week in San Francisco, Google predicted it would "change the future of television" with an effort to bring order to programming chaos in the same way that it organized the fire hose of information on the Web. Known as Google TV, the new television platform would allow viewers to access Internet content on their televisions in addition to traditional broadcast and cable programming. Despite bringing even more choice to the mix, Google is pitching the initiative as an easier way for audiences to find television shows and Internet content through a single search box instead of fumbling with remotes and on-screen programming guides.

Scream 4 has begun pre-production. It's rumored to star Ashley Greene and Hayden Panettiere along with the old standbys including Courteney Cox, Neve Campbell, Lake Bell, and David Arquette. Actress Lake bell and Rory Culkin are also rumored to be in this one.

Actor James Franco has been attached to the soon to begin production of the prequel "Planet of the Apes" re-launch. The story will take place in today's modern timeline.

Prince Edward, who at age 46 is seventh in line to the British throne behind his brothers Charles and Andrew and their children, flies to GreenVegas on Thursday and will stay here until the following Sunday, with several events on the agenda, including something he's never done before; roasting marshmallows and making s'mores. I hope they take him to "The Beacon" in Spartanburg.

That's all for now, see ya"ll later God willin'.

John

Fang Face

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From the movie's website: " Benicio Del Toro plays Lawrence Talbot, a British expatriate who has returned to his homeland from New York City to inquire on the disappearance of his brother at the request of his fiancée Gwen (Emily Blunt). The village of Talbot’s home has been ravaged by brutal, unprecedented animal attacks. Talbot gets bitten by said animal and, of course, begins to endure a mysterious transformation while Aberline (Hugo Weaving), a Scotland Yard inspector, enacts a looming counter-investigation."

Like the revitalization of any franchise within the last few years, the story of The Wolfman is immediately recognizable. To me, what audiences want in films like this are two basic things, 1) creative but slight variations in their interpretation on this familiar material, and 2) a unique stylistic and entertaining approach to such familiar source material.

Don't believe the negative hype on this movie. The Wolfman is no way a terrible movie. It’s not a bad movie at all. Trade papers and movie reviewers will probably spin this movie to be the aborted realization of a troubled production, etc.

The Wolfman moves at a lightning pace at times, then slows down to a screeching halt at times. To me, the slow downs may be to allow the film to immerse the audience in – the world that it has created. The first half hour or so seems a little frantic and uncontrollable, which to me was kinda what I'd expect. A person with me stated he thought the movie looked good, but didn't care for the first few minutes of the film staing it was too confusing and frantic. To me, THAT'S the Wolfman. I could be wrong in teh grand scheme of things, though.

The film uses a lot of computer generated gore- kinda reminded me of all-too-familiar material, it becomes evident that the gore offers little more than a diverting replacement for where genuine suspense is supposed to be. The film is indeed entertaining in several moments, especially the first two scenes where Del Toro transforms into the creature. I was in pain too! I felt he pulled this off as good as anyone I've seen do so. I DID feel that the first few transformations were kind of rushed through – but still awesome to watch- especially seeing Del Toro’s fingers and joints become the Wolfman's appendages. You can’t help but become nostalgic for Rick Baker’s makeup talents utilized in 'An American Werewolf in London' thirty years ago. In my opinion, the CGI transformations were one of The Wolfman’s best sequences to see. The scenes involving the ice water pit were creepy and well presented too.

Though I'm not too smart or aware of technical or directorial methods or the ilk, my friend watching the movie with me said the direction at times reminded him of Francis Ford Coppola’s 'Dracula'. I liked that version of Dracula- it was closely related to the source material- from what I remember. Gee, now I've got ANOTHER movie to download and watch (Dracula).

I wanted to see the original "Wolfman" before I saw this one- but as usual, I failed to make the time to do so. My brother says this movie DID take a few liberties with the original. I'm too sleepy right now to remember those instances. But I DO agree with him that mine and his fears about this movie were unfounded. The scenery, acting, et al were superb. To me this is just as good as (I like it slightly better than)"Avatar" and you dont' need the 3-D glasses or the extra $3 to spend. Go see this movie or die realizing you missed a really good film.

OK, I'm rambling.. to see a much more authoritive, MUCH better written review by someone smarter and definitely more awake than I am, check out artvanhelsing.blogspot.com

Who Did YOU See This Year?

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U2 topped this year’s annual rankings for tours in North America. Despite disappointing sales for their new album, the Irish rockers were easily the most popular draw on the North American concert circuit this year, according to data issued on Wednesday. They sold $123 million worth of tickets, played to 1.3 million people at 20 shows on the North American leg of its world tour, and charged an average of $93.77. The average price on the band's 2003 tour, when it played 78 shows, was actually higher at $97.

Meanwhile Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band came in second with $94.5 million, said trade publication Pollstar. Among all-time tours, the U2 trek ranks at No. 5, Pollstar said. The Rolling Stones hold the record with $162 million from their 2005 outing. U2's 2005 tour is No. 3 on the all-time list with $138.9 million.

Piano men Elton John and Billy Joel's latest co-headlining stint came in at No. 3 in 2009 with $88 million, followed by rehabbed pop princess Britney Spears at No. 4 with $82.5 million, and hard-rockers AC/DC at No. 5 with $77.9 million.

Country star Kenny Chesney made the top 10 for the sixth consecutive year, landing at No. 6 in 2009 with $71.1 million.

As in years past, veteran rockers dominated the rankings, in part because they are able to charge more than developing acts. But the fresh-faced Jonas Brothers made No. 7 after selling $69.8 million in tickets to their young fans.

Fellow Disney star Miley Cyrus was No. 13 with $45 million, and country-pop starlet Taylor Swift was No. 35 with $25.5 million. Bongiovanni said he expected Swift to make the top 10 next year on the heels of a three-month North American tour that kicks off on March 4.

The top 10 was rounded out by the Dave Matthews Band at No. 8 with $56.9 million, Fleetwood Mac at No. 9 with $54.5 million, and Metallica at No. 10 with $53.4 million.

Pollstar editor Gary Bongiovanni said the overall concert business bucked the recession, mirroring a similar phenomenon at movie theaters. He said most people go to only one or two shows a year, and are willing to pay a premium for good seats.