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Eminem's "Bottle" breaks download record

enterient — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 02:45:20 GMT

By Silvio Pietroluongo and Jonathan Cohen

NEW YORK (Billboard) - The rap triumvirate of Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent soared 77 places to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on Thursday, setting a new first-week record for download sales.

"Crack a Bottle" sold 418,000 downloads, surpassing the prior record of 335,000 downloads shifted last October by T.I.'s "Live Your Life" featuring Rihanna.

Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent, each with highly anticipated albums on the way, previously collaborated on "Encore," which peaked at No. 25 on the Hot 100 in January 2005.

Elsewhere on the latest tally, Kanye West's "Heartless" rose one place to No. 2, trading places with Lady GaGa's former chart-topper "Just Dance" featuring Colby O'Donis. Last week's No. 1, Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You," fell to No. 4, and Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" dropped three places to No. 5.

The All-American Rejects' "Gives You Hell" remained at No. 6, Taylor Swift's "Love Story" fell two to No. 7 and the Fray's "You Found Me" slipped one to No. 8. The Denver-based rock band's self-titled album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Wednesday. The Hot 100's top debut was also from the Fray, with "Absolute" at No. 70.

T.I.'s "Dead and Gone" featuring Justin Timberlake rose two to No. 9, and Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" held at No. 10.

(Editing by Dean Goodman at Reuters)

http://www.reuters.com/

Madonna the top-earning musician of 2008

enterient — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 02:38:39 GMT

By Ray Waddell

NASHVILLE (Billboard) - If anyone had any doubt that touring is where the money is in today's music business, a look at Billboard's top moneymakers of 2008 should hammer the point home.

Regardless of genre, retail sales or radio play, each of the 20 acts on the moneymakers list toured last year. For almost all of them, touring generated the most revenue. And in a year when recorded-music sales declined yet again, many earned more at the box office than ever before.

Madonna was No. 1 on the list with $242.2 million. She had the 50th-best-selling album in the country and ranked 14th on the list of digital track sellers -- but had the highest-earning 2008 tour.

Madonna was followed on the moneymakers list by Bon Jovi with $157.2 million, Bruce Springsteen ($156.3 million), the Police ($110 million), Celine Dion ($99.2 million), Kenny Chesney ($90.8 million), Neil Diamond ($82.2 million), Rascall Flatts ($63.5 million), Jonas Brothers ($62.6 million) and Coldplay ($62.2 million).

The top-five moneymakers are also the five acts that earned the most on tour, and in the same order, according to Billboard Boxscore.

Those questioning whether Madonna rates the reported 10-year, $120 million multi-rights deal with concert promoter Live Nation might reconsider. Madonna's Sticky & Sweet tour took in $229.9 million at the box office, although the extravagant production might have cost up to 40% of that gross, according to industry estimates. The margin is much better on tour merchandise, where Madonna probably raked in more than $18 million in sales, not counting her licensing business.

Of course, nothing helps reduce tour production costs like more touring. So Madonna will perform another run of concerts this summer -- 25 shows in the U.K. and Europe -- which will add to the take of the top-grossing tour by a female or solo artist.

Outside of the U.K., all of Madonna's concerts will be in stadiums, so she'll gross several million dollars per night. By fall, Sticky & Sweet will have run for 80 shows and earned a place in the top-five grossing tours in history.

(Editing by Dean Goodman at Reuters)

http://www.reuters.com/

2008 meltdown? Not for movies

enterient — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 08:49:10 GMT

By Scott Bowles

Nothing serves Hollywood better than a world on the brink.

Look at the year in film. War and a full-blown recession haven't stopped moviegoers from plunking down $10 a ticket. Brisk business over the Christmas weekend pushed 2008 ticket sales to $9.5 billion — within striking distance of the record set last year of $9.6 billion.

Of course, rising ticket prices means that attendance remains relatively flat, and it could dip slightly from last year.

TOP 100: See which movies made the list

COMING IN 2009: How will these film fare next year?

But given the economic climate, "you'd have to say that this has been a pretty good year. The movie business is a lot healthier than most industries," says Gitesh Pandya of BoxOfficeGuru.com.

"It's clichéd, but it's true that movies do well when other things are going poorly," Pandya says. "Movies are still relatively cheap compared to other forms of entertainment, and more importantly, they're the best way for people to escape reality."

That may explain why superheroes enjoyed unprecedented success at the cineplex. Comic-book adaptations raked in more than $1.2 billion this year — and that doesn't include non-comic crime fighters such as Hancock, Indiana Jones and James Bond.

"The movies that are going to resonate most with people are the ones that reflect the times," says Christopher Nolan, director of the Batman sequel The Dark Knight, the year's biggest film at $530.9 million, the second-highest-grossing movie of all time.

"I think people want to see stories about good and evil," he says, "and people trying to do the right thing."

Whether audiences turn out in similar numbers next year, however, is in doubt. A strike by the Writers Guild this year rushed some movies into production or halted some pictures altogether.

On average, 600 movies hit theaters every year. Analysts and studio executives expect that number to drop 10% to 15% next year due to the strike.

"Normally the complaint is that we put out too many movies," says Rob Moore, vice chairman of Paramount Pictures. "But with the writers going on strike, you're going to see a real dropoff, especially in the last half of '09."

Moore says that will put more pressure on big movies to perform. "If you look at this Christmas, we had five big new movies, and they were very different," he says. "If one movie didn't do well, there were others to take up the slack. I think next year, you won't have that safety net."

A few movies have staked out Christmas Day 2009: Disney's animated The Princess and the Frog, Alvin and the Chipmunks II, an untitled Hugh Grant-Sarah Jessica Parker comedy and an untitled comedy from writer/producer/director Nancy Meyers (Something's Gotta Give).

Another question, even some executives admit, is the caliber of 2009's movies.

"The real impact of the strike could be felt next year," says Erik Lomis, head of distribution for MGM. "Some things were put on hold, some things were rushed to beat the strike, perhaps to a lesser quality. You never want to see that happen, but it's a concern."

Still, studios have a two-pronged attack to lure moviegoers: franchises and 3-D.

There will be a few stalwarts in next year's slate, including new installments of the X-Men, Harry Potter and Transformers series.

But 2009 will be seen largely as a test of technology as theaters go digital and studios go three-dimensional. More than 1,100 theaters will be equipped to show 3-D movies next year, up from about 800 this year. Disney alone has five 3-D films on tap, including concert flicks with Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers.

"In the next two to three years, most theaters are going to be capable of showing 3-D movies, and it could become the norm," says Disney's Chuck Viane. "You have to keep offering people something they can't get at home."

But 20th Century Fox's Bert Livingston says 2009 also could test whether the industry will rely more on gimmickry than script as technology advances. "Within five years, most movies are going to be in 3-D," he says. "But it's only going to work if 3-D is an additive. If you substitute it for story, it will never work."

And those stories need to be more positive next year, says Sheila DeLoach, senior vice president of Fox Searchlight.

"Movies typically do well in tough times, but lately the movies that are also uplifting are doing the best," says DeLoach, whose studio has a small hit in Slumdog Millionaire. "We need to carry that into next year. Look at the movies this year, and the escapes from reality were hits. There were a lot."

Winners

Batman. For all the publicity surrounding Heath Ledger's death and the anticipation following director Christopher Nolan's hit Batman Begins, The Dark Knight met expectations — and then some. The movie has raked in $530.9 million, and the DVD sold 10 million units in its first week. "It was a bit unreal, watching the (box-office) numbers come in each week," Nolan says. "I don't think anyone realized just much this franchise meant to people."

Older women. Once seen as a second-thought demographic, female moviegoers 30 and older propelled some of the year's biggest films, including Twilight ($167.3 million), Sex and the City ($152.6 million) and Mamma Mia! ($143.8 million). "They may not always come out on opening night like teenage girls, but older women love a good movie as much as anyone," says Nikki Rocco of Universal Pictures, which released Mamma. "Their time has come."

Animation. Though it might not enjoy the huge opening weekends it once did, the genre remains one of the most dependable; four of the top 10 films this year are cartoons. "The thing animation has that a lot of genres don't is repeat viewings," says Disney's Chuck Viane, whose studio had what looked like a disappointment in the animated Bolt, which opened in third place last month with $26 million. This weekend it crossed the $100 million mark. "Kids will see animated movies three or four times. (Animated films) have become the marathon runners of movies."

Tom Cruise. What a difference a year makes. After last year's flop Lions for Lambs, epitaphs abounded for the star. But his turn as a ruthless studio mogul was the talk of Tropic Thunder and won him a Golden Globe nomination, and Valkyrie earned $29.5 million on its opening weekend, far exceeding projections. There have even been murmurs of director Ben Stiller returning for a Tropic Thunder spinoff centered on Cruise's character, Les Grossman, though nothing has been finalized. "I had no idea Les Grossman would take off like that. I just knew it would be crazy and fun," Cruise says. "But that's the beauty of movies. It doesn't matter what the press says. The people are the only ones who decide."

Losers

Politics. Hollywood had its best shot at generating a hit off of current events with Body of Lies, a $70 million action film by Ridley Scott with Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio. It took in just $39.2 million. It joins Oliver Stone's W. ($25.5 million) as the latest Hollywood political casualties.

Speed Racer. The film that was to get summer in high gear got stuck in neutral. The action film from Andy and Larry Wachowski cost $120 million in computer-generated effects but could generate only $43.9 million, one of the biggest bombs of the year.

Sports movies. Usually a pretty bankable genre, sports flicks flopped this year, even with big stars behind them. George Clooney's football comedy Leatherheads did a paltry $31.2 million, while Will Ferrell's basketball laugher Semi-Pro netted just $33.5 million.

Crude comedy. Who would have thought movies geared toward immature males would flop? But as Mike Myers' The Love Guru ($32.2 million) and the raunchy Sex Drive ($8.4 million) prove, audiences weren't in the mood to pull your finger.

Jamie Lynn Spears decoy suing LAX police for duping her

enterient — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 08:46:26 GMT

BY Nancy Dillon

A pretty blond Ohio woman used as a decoy for Jamie Lynn Spears in a ham-handed switcheroo to fool paparazzi wants Los Angeles airport police to pay for duping her, too.

Adessa Eskridge, 27, has filed a claim seeking more than $100,000 from the city over the bungled hoax at LAX in September, her Houston-based lawyer Chuck Vernon said.

He said a group of six to eight uniformed cops plucked Eskridge from Jamie Lynn's flight, told her to keep her sunglasses on and marched her to a paparazzi scrum as if she were Britney Spears' kid sister.

"They didn't ask her, they told her. They said, 'You're going to help us,' and she was stunned, just obeying the police. The only time they mentioned Jamie Lynn's name was on the escalator, three seconds before paparazzi surrounded her," Vernon said.

Eskridge, who works in the medical field, flew to Los Angeles for a college football game and felt "publicly humiliated" when video of her supposedly acting as the famous teen mom saturated gossip Web sites, he said.

If the city rejects Eskridge's claim, Vernon said she'll sue.

"For police to protect a celebrity and treat an innocent, normal person the way they did, there should be compensation," he said.

The Los Angeles city attorney's office did not return a call seeking comment.

Taradise Lost: Tara Reid Goes to Rehab

enterient — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 19:44:58 GMT

Actress checks into Promises Treatment Center for undisclosed addiction

Only a couple of months after telling People magazine that her party days were behind her and that she's merely a "social drinker," actress Tara Reid has checked into Promises Treatment Center in Malibu, Calif.

Reid, 33, checked herself in on Tuesday (Dec. 9) for an undisclosed addiction.

Despite acting credits that include the Coen brothers "The Big Lebowski" and Robert Altman's "Dr. T and the Women," is more known for her party girl ways and making a spectacle of herself.

In 2005 the top of her dress fell down exposing her left breast in front of photographers while Reid was on a red carpet and pictures of scars on her abdomen left by botched liposuction became widely circulated on the Internet during the airing of her 2005 series "Taradise" where traveled the world to get her drink on.

source :

Hollywood Foreign Press rewards old favorites with Golden Globe nominations

enterient — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 19:40:57 GMT

No freshman network show is recognized, but HBO's 'In Treatment' and 'True Blood' get nods.

By Matea Gold

Reporting from New York -- A raft of familiar names in the television industry were nominated for Golden Globes on Thursday, underscoring the difficulty new shows have had gaining traction this season.

Among the series nominated for the awards, which recognize the best programming in 2008, there was not a single freshman show that debuted on broadcast television this fall. The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. ignored "The Mentalist," the one significant hit of the season, as well as programs like "Fringe" and "Life on Mars" that were launched with high expectations.

Instead of crowning hot new shows, the organization focused largely on returning programs such as "House," "30 Rock" and "Brothers & Sisters." The actors singled out for recognition included many past nominees such as Tony Shalhoub, Sally Field, Kyra Sedgwick, Alec Baldwin and Steve Carell.

source : http://www.latimes.com/

Sci-fi fan Keanu Reeves jumped at alien role

enterient — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 06:04:51 GMT

By Iain Blair

Keanu Reeves admits to being a big science fiction fan, so when offered the chance to play an alien for new movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still," Reeves said he jumped at it.

But before his fans think the "Matrix" star has signed on for just another big-budget space flick that is long on action but has little to say, Reeves wants them to know this remake of a 1951 cult classic speaks to today's audiences.

The movie is released in U.S. theaters on Friday.

"It's about the world we live in and the destructive nature of man, so it gives you a lot to think about," Reeves told Reuters. "It's very timely."

Growing up in the 1970s, the Canadian-born Reeves, 44, said he loved the "Stars Wars" movies and read books like "1984" and "Brave New World." As an adult, Reeves has always wanted to play characters in sci-fi films.

He burst into the limelight in an escapist fantasy, 1989's "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," as one of two bumbling, time-traveling teenagers, and throughout his career he has worked in the genre in films such as "Johnny Mnemonic."

Even love story "The Lake House" had a supernatural element to its tale about two people living in different time periods who trade letters dropped into a mailbox.

By far, Reeves' biggest foray into sci-fi was the three "Matrix" movies in which he portrayed a computer hacker who is suddenly thrust into the role of being humanity's savior from machines that rule the world. The trio of blockbusters raked in more than $1.6 billion in global ticket sales.

But Reeves calls his new "The Day the Earth Stood Still" more than a standard sci-fi film.

"It's also a suspense drama, and it hopes to entertain in a "lets-go-to-the-movies-and-eat-popcorn way," he said.

PANIC AND FEAR

As in the original "The Day the Earth Stood Still," humans react with panic and terror when an alien craft lands in New York and an alien Klaatu (Reeves), backed up by the towering, indestructible robotic figure of Gort, emerges to warn people and world leaders that the planet is facing a crisis.

Klaatu has come to Earth to judge whether or not humans should continue to exist because of their harmful effect on the other animal life on the planet.

"Of course, the welcome committee don't exactly help the human cause as they immediately shoot him," laughs Reeves.

But he noted that his version of Klaatu is different than in 1951 because this new version is more sinister, and is both a judge of humanity and its executioner.

Reeves said a key aim of the film is to explore human nature and how people react in a time of crisis.

The message, he said, is that "when we are faced with a crisis, we can change for the better."

Despite being one of Hollywood's most successful leading men, Reeves has managed to remain an elusive, even enigmatic presence in a town where scandals and 24/7 tabloid coverage are seen as badges of honor.

"I'm a very private person and I like to lead a pretty low-key lifestyle," admits Reeves. "I don't go out of my way for the whole partying scene -- though I did have my phases back in the early '90s. But I've grown up since then."

He also admits to being "a bit of a loner, at least some of the time...I'm really happy getting on a motorcycle and just riding alone across France like I did last summer. No one bothered me and I had a great time."

source : http://www.reuters.com/

Widow of Travis Barker's late assistant Chris Baker is suing mad

enterient — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:55:53 GMT

By SHALLON LESTER

Chris Baker, Travis Barker's assistant, died after a September plane crash.

The widow of Chris Baker, Travis Barker's assistant who was killed in a September plane crash, has slapped a tire and aviation company with a wrongful death lawsuit.

Otilia Villar Baker and her son Sebastian claim that the pilots "negligently decided to abort and/or reject the takeoff," TMZ.com reports, meaning that they knew the tires were faulty but went ahead with the flight anyway.

L.A. County Superior Courts will rule on the suit, which asserts that Baker suffered "severe pre and post-impact injury, damage to property, pain, suffering, and emotional distress, and ultimately [death] due to fatal injuries sustained from said crash including but not limited to the post-impact fire. The death was not immediate."

Barker and fellow passenger DJ AM suffered severe burns in the crash. They were the plane's only survivors.

Mrs. Baker seeks an unspecified amount of compensation.

source : http://www.nydailynews.com/

It's worth revisiting 'Dark Knight— on DVD

enterient — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:54:24 GMT

By Barry Caine

As if the "The Dark Knight" needs any more cash in its coffers; reportedly, it's already taken in more than half-a-billion dollars worldwide. And now it's in stores, just in time for the holidays. I want a cut of that action.

Heath Ledger's stunning performance as the Joker and the superb stunts and visual effects carry the film and make it worth a second look. Every time Ledger's on screen as the psychotic, demonic criminal mastermind with the sardonic wit, director Christopher Nolan's dark and violent pastiche approaches nirvana.

Christian Bale is still strong as the repressed title character with the split personality (Bruce Wayne/Batman: Psych 101), but this remains Ledger's movie, with Batman secondary as a brooding crime fighter with woman troubles. The love of his life — as much as he's able to love — Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is dating the people's hero, District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), and it looks serious. Luckily, there's enough razzle-dazzle to distract from the melodrama.

The movie seems more episodic and feels too long on the small screen — like a compressed serial with multiple cliffhangers; on single disc, two discs and Blu-ray.

Extras: Vary by version, although none offers a tribute to or insights into Ledger; a look at the six action scenes shot in Imax; pieces on creating the Bat-suit and Bad-pod, the score, the city and the effects; more.

Hears a what?

No, a Who. Jim Carrey is much more fun voicing Horton, the happy elephant in the computer-animated "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who," than he was as the Grinch in the live-action "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." The film's more entertaining, too. "Horton" is colorful, lively and sweet, and a fine pick for kids or adults drawn to this sort of whimsy.

The story follows Horton after he hears cries for help from a speck of dust — containing the town of Who-ville and its befuddled Mayor (Steve Carell letting it all out).

In that oh-so-Seussical way, Horton's neighbors thinks he's a nut case when he tells them about the minuscule town and its residents, prompting the lesson: "A person's a person no matter how small." On single disc, two discs and Blu-ray with digital copy, and as a two-DVD set with a Horton plush toy.

Extras: Cute new animated "Ice Age" short "Surviving Sid" and commentary on single disc and sets. Sets also have deleted footage, making-of shorts, more.

Step carefully

"Man on Wire," a delightful documentary in color and black and white, plays like a caper film as it tells the fascinating story of Philippe Petit, a French high-wire artist who, with a little help from his friends, walked on a wire between the towers of the then newly built World Trade Center in 1974. An art-house staple, the complex movie smoothly mixes vintage footage and interviews with new material, including an enthusiastic narration by Petit.

Extras: Interview with Petit; short on his 1973 crossing of the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Australia; animated short "The Man Who Walked Between the Towers."

Loving the 'Wolf'

This contemporary re-imagining of Prokofiev's "Peter & the Wolf" picked up an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film at this year's ceremony, and boy, does it deserve it. A British-Polish collaboration, the mesmerizing film was shot with stop-frame model animation and digital technology.

Told with music only — watch the version that includes an introduction — it's the story of the frightened boy who lives in Russia with his grandfather and has a scruffy duck for a companion.

When the boy leaves the safety of his house — with the duck, a bird that uses a balloon to fly and Granddad's fat cat in pursuit — to visit the ice-covered pond outside, he and the animals are stalked by the wolf.

The characters have great faces, with expressions that change just enough to give them personality. I loved the film (shot on the largest animation set ever made). It's suspenseful, witty and, ultimately, poignant.

source : http://www.mercurynews.com/

Tom Cruise laughs about Oprah interview

enterient — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:52:55 GMT

Tom Cruise, publicly maligned for over-the-top behavior in two TV interviews, has admitted to People magazine he could have "handled things better" and even joked about his couch-jumping antics on Oprah Winfrey's talk show.

Cruise's admission comes three years after he leapt onto a couch on Winfrey's daytime chat show in front of millions of viewers and proclaimed his love for then-girlfriend Katie Holmes. In a separate incident, Cruise got into a testy exchange over psychiatry with Matt Lauer on "The Today Show."

"I think I could have handled things better," Cruise told the magazine in an interview for its December 22 issue.

Cruise called the incident on Winfrey's show, "My year of jumping dangerously," in a comedic reference to "The Year of Living Dangerously," a novel turned into a 1982 movie.

The 46 year old stars in the upcoming film "Valkyrie," which opens on December 25 and chronicles a failed German assassination attempt of Germany's Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

In recent years, the actor's public image has taken hits from detractors over his vocal support for the Church of Scientology, whose adherents oppose psychiatry.

He called psychiatry "pseudo science" in his 2005 interview with Lauer, when the actor was asked about his public criticism of actress Brooke Shields over her use of medication to treat postpartum depression and reacted by calling Lauer "glib."

On the Lauer interview, Cruise told People, "All I want is to help people. I could have communicated it in a way that was better, no question."

People, with Cruise on the cover, features the actor in photos spanning his entire 25 years as a movie star, going back to the 1983 film "Risky Business."

The photos show Cruise with his wife, Katie Holmes, their daughter, Suri, and his adopted children, Bella and Connor.

They also show images of actors with whom Cruise has co-starred, including Brad Pitt and the late Paul Newman, who died in September at age 83 after a battle with cancer.

source : http://www.reuters.com/