SO close, yet so far

So, after all the hoopla and frenetic wishing by me and Stephanie, "New Moon" held onto the No. 1 spot at the box office.

If you could see my face right now, it's one of sadness and soul crushing apathy for "Twilight" fans.

According to Box Office Mojo, it made about $42 million, which is a hefty 70 percent loss from last week. But, then again when you make $142 million it's always going to be a big drop off.

Enough of "Twilight."

"The Blind Side" had an amazing weekend, actually increasing it's take over last week with $40 million. It's not every weekend that a movie makes more in its second weekend. With the $40 million and the holiday numbers, the film has now crossed the magical $100 million mark.

Word of mouth in action right here, that is all I can say.

"A Christmas Carol" also was up over last week with $15 million. It also crossed the $100 million mark.

The other new releases "Old Dogs," "Ninja Assassin" and "The Road" were kind of left in the dust with $24, $21 and $1.9 million each.

The best per screen average of the week went to "The Princess and the Frog" which is playing on two screens and made $393,095 on both. As a point of reference, the best per screen average ever was "The Lion King" with $793, 377. "Pocahontas" is No. 2 with $448, 285. That makes "The Princess and the Frog" No. 3.

Not a bad weekend overall. Expect "New Moon" and "The Blind Side" to battle for No. 1 again since the only releases for this week "Armored," "Brothers" and "Everybody's Fine" don't appear to be ready to set the box office ablaze.

'Twilight' didn't protect its 'Blind Side'

And the award for cheesiest headline ever goes to...

*Rips open the envelope*

ME!

Anywho, big news in the world of box office numbers. For Thanksgiving Thursday, "New Moon" was not the No. 1 movie in America.

"The Blind Side" was!

Yeah, amazing right?

But, it was razor thin close.

According to Box Office Mojo, "The Blind Side" made $9.4 million, while "New Moon" took in $9.2 million. Yes, in the world of box office receipts $200,000 is very close.

Another way to look at it is that "The Blind Side" is playing in almost 1,000 fewer theaters than "New Moon" and still made about $1,000 more per screen.

In a preview of the weekend totals, the other new releases "Old Dogs" and "Ninja Assassin" are doing much less with both hovering around $7 million for Wednesday and Thursday.

Black Friday deal

Two posts for today to make up for laziness yesterday.

Got an amazing deal at Target this morning.

"Psych: Season 3" for $12.99! Original price is $39.99!!

Of course they were sold out of that big screen TV I wanted though.

New episode up...

Giving thanks for TV

For me the long Thanksgiving weekend is as much about TV as it is about turkey, stuffing and sweet potatoes. Here is a quick list of the best stuff on this weekend.

Thurs Nov. 26:

• "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" 9 a.m. NBC
• "The Closer" marathon 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. TNT
• "House" marathon 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. USA
• "Twilight Zone" marathon 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. KTLA
• All day James Bond movie marathon beginning at 8 a.m. SyFy
• "Moonlight" marathon 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Chiller
• "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" 8 p.m. ABC

Fri. Nov. 27

• "Law and Order" marathon 11 a.m to 7 p.m. TNT
• All day James Bond marathon beginning at 8 a.m.
• "Beverly Hills 90210" marathon 1-9 p.m. SOAPNet
• "NCIS" marathon 6:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. USA
• "White Collar" marathon 1:30-7 p.m. USA
• "Moonlight" marathon 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Chiller

The best Thanksgiving episodes ever

One of the best things about long running TV shows is that you get fantastic holiday episodes every year. This is my list of the best Thanksgiving episodes.

"WKRP in Cincinnati"-"Turkeys Away"-"As God is my witness I didn't know turkeys couldn't fly." That closes the funniest Thanksgiving episode ever.

"Friends"-"The One with the Rumor"-This is the Brad Pitt episode where he plays an old friend of Ross's who got ridiculously good looking post high school.

Most of the comedy comes from Pitt's character's extreme hatred of Jennifer Aniston's Rachel. At the time this episode first aired they were married, so it made a lot of the jokes funnier. This was the first time audiences really got to see Pitt's comedic side.

"Friends"-"The One with Rachel's Other Sister"-Christina Applegate in a hilarious turn as Rachel's self-absorbed sister Amy, makes this one of my favorites. However, the ongoing comedy about Monica obsessing over her good china is laugh out loud funny.

"The West Wing"-"Shibboleth"-This episode is filled with fantastic story, including the plot about the Chinese refugees who are seeking asylum and CJ having to pick a turkey to pardon, but for me, the crux of this episode is the relationship between President Bartlett and his aide Charlie.

The president wants Charlie to find him a new carving knife, a task that proves impossible, but it isn't until the end of the episode that we find out that the president needs a new knife because he is passing his on to Charlie. It is a family heirloom passed on from Paul Revere, it is in this moment that we understand the depths of the relationship between Bartlett and Charlie.

"The Cosby Show"-"Cliff's Wet Adventure"-A huge Huxtable Thanksgiving means Cliff must make multiple trips to the only open store, that just happens to be off in the middle of nowhere and there's a crazy storm.

This all adds up to Bill Cosby proving why he's a comedy legend and the show proving why all these years later it's still a classic.

"The Fresh Prince of Bel Air"-"Talking Turkey"-Aunt Vivian makes the kids cook Thanksgiving dinner by themselves and hilarity ensues. It is one of the funniest episodes of the series.

'American Music Awards:' The recap

First up, what in the blue hell was Adam Lambert doing? His performance on last night's American Music Awards was over-the-top and ridiculous in all the worst ways. He kissed a male band member, simulated oral sex and treated back-up dancers like pets, none of which I have a problem with.

What I didn't enjoy was his off key screeching of a truly awful song. I also felt that his performance was just a reason to grab headlines. He tried to say that some of the controversial moments were spur of the moment, but they were so clearly orchestrated ahead of time.

There is also the idea that you have to earn the right to do a crazy performance. Lambert has just released his first album and has barely released his first single.

Adam Lambert you are not Madonna or Lady Gaga, try more singing and less theatrics.

Other notes from the show: Kelly Clarkson had the best performance of the night with her subdued version of "Already Gone," Jay Z and Alicia Keys brought the house down with "Empire State of Mind" and Janet Jackson is still awesome whether or not she lip syncs.

I always loved the AMAs because it was the cool awards show, but, the last few years it's felt irrelevant. It may be time for ABC to retire the AMAs or completely revamp the show.

New episode up...

Scary Weezer song

With the recent release of Weezer's new CD "Raditude," I've been talking with people about my favorite and least favorite Weezer songs. I already did a post about my favorites, but one song does stick out in my mind.

Now, musically, it's not a bad song. I actually like the music in the song.

It's the lyrics that make me question what the song is about, and when you really think of it, how utterly creepy it is.

That song is "Butterfly" from the second CD "Pinkerton."

Here are the lyrics and pay close attention to them:

Yesterday I went outside
With my momma's mason jar
Caught a lovely butterfly
When I woke up today
Looked in on my fairy pet
She had withered all away
No more sighing in her breast
I'm sorry for what I did
I did what my body told me to
I didn't mean to do you harm
Everytime I pin down what I think I want
It slips away
The ghost slips away
Smell you on my hand for days
I can't wash away your scent
I'm a dog then you're a b***h
I guess you're as real as me
Maybe I can live with that
Maybe I need fantasy
Life of chasing butterfly
I'm sorry for what I did
I did what my body told me to
I didn't mean to do you harm
Everytime I pin down what I think I want
It slips away
The ghost slips away
I told you I would return
When the robin makes his nest
But I ain't never coming back
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry

See, creepy.

Box office Monday

So apparently America loves watching the world end. The No. 1 movie this weekend was "2012" by a mile. It brought in $65 million, well above "A Christmas Carol" in second place. It only brought in $22 million.


Then there was a huge drop to "The Men Who Stare At Goats," which only brought in $6 million.


The huge story of the weekend has to be "Precious" which brought in $6 million on 174 screens.

Hey kids, Tim here. Stephanie agreed to an experiment where she had to give up the Internet for a week. Guess what she was doing when the project started?

OK, so I'll finish up here.

Two other big stories of the weekend were "Couples Retreat" and "Paranormal Activity" both crossed the $100 million mark. Making them the twenty second and twenty third films to do so this year.

This year still needs a few more hits as 2008 had 29 films that crossed $100 million.

"Pirate Radio" did well in it's per screen average, $3,293, but with a reported budget of $50 million they sure didn't try hard enough with it. Especially only releasing it on 882 screens.

This week is "Planet 51" and "The Blind Side." Both of which should find a good audience with children and people looking for a heartwarming story.

No other movies opening, despite what you might see on the news or on the cover of EVERY freaking magazine.

Nope, no other movie...

New episode up...

And here are the links to the new trailers we talked about during the show:

"Clash of the Titans:" Trailer

"Salt:" Trailer

"Date Night:" Trailer

Check out James Franco on 'General Hospital'

The brand new promo for James Franco's two month appearance on "General Hospital" has been released. His character begins airing on Nov. 20 and has a weird obsession with Jason Morgan (Steve Burton).

This story is a big deal for daytime, which has been hurting lately. It will be interesting to see if this inspires other big stars to make guest appearances.

Click on the link for the amazing video of Franco joining the best show on daytime.

FOX screws Joss Whedon again

Though it's not surprising or unexpected, news broke today that FOX would not be ordering additional episodes of "Dollhouse."

I suppose the headline is misleading because the network did give the show a surprise second season pick up. However, that does not make the news any less upsetting.

"Dollhouse" is one of the most innovative and fresh series on television and FOX never really gave it a fair shot. Once they moved it to Fridays, what did they expect the outcome to be?

Joss Whedon keeps giving FOX a chance to stab him in the back. Maybe it's time to end their dysfunctional relationship and move on to a new network.

I just hope that another network considers giving the show another life. Are you listening Syfy and USA?

Great moment in recent comics

One of the biggest, and best, events in comics today is DC's "Blackest Night."

The event, which is running in its own series and through several books, is not only selling like crazy, but is really, jaw-droppingly awesome.

Remember back to Comic-Con when DC Comics went out of its way to showcase "Blackest Night" and "Green Lantern?" So worth the effort.

For those "Blackest Night" virgins, the event follows the Green Lanterns (along with the other colored lantern groups) fighting zombie-like entities called the Black Lanterns. The Black Lanterns are all deceased former heroes and villains brought back to kill... well, kill everything. They do so by taunting a victim or causing an extreme emotional reaction then ripping their heart out.

Think of them like vampires who feed off of emotion instead of blood. Those killed that way are then turned into Black Lanterns themselves.

There have been plenty of great moments from writer Geoff Jones so far, including Barry Allen, The Flash, telling The Atom and Mera (Aquaman's wife) that for all intensive purposes in this fight they are Superman and Wonder Woman. Mera then asks who Allen is supposed to be and Atom responds with "He's the Flash."

Another great moment is when four lanterns from different groups, Hal Jordan from Green (willpower), Carol Ferris from Violet (love), Sinestro from Yellow (fear) and Indigo-1 from Indigo (compassion) team up and take down the previously indestructible Black Lanterns.

Recently, in the first few pages of "Green Lantern" No. 47 came a really, freaking sweet moment.

That's Atrocitus, leader of the Red Lanterns of Rage, who just got his heart ripped out by a Black Lantern. The black ring tries to convert him, but his red ring just bypasses the need for a heart and keeps him going.

His next move is obvious in the picture above, he goes nutso with rage.

A shocking moment in an event that has had its fair share of great moments. And it won't be the last, for sure.

"Blackest Night" No. 5 is scheduled to come out Nov. 25 and the solicitations from DC Comics calls it "a game-changing issue."

New episode up...

And here is the "Paranormal Goat" YouTube video we talked about during the show.

Adventures in Austin part two

One of the main reasons for my travel to Austin was to check out The Alamo Drafthouse.

The Drafthouse is a chain of theaters in Texas that are known for being unconventional. For starters they are a full service restaurant and they show movies... at the same time.

That alone is worth the price of going to Texas. But, they also show films that you might not be able to find anywhere else.

For instance, the night I arrived they were showing "Ghostbusters" in something they call a "Quote-a-long" where they encourage the audience to speak the lines along with the characters. Sort of like a "Rocky Horror Picture Show" late night showing, just for normal people.

But, the main attraction that was showing when I was available was "A Nightmare on Elm Street." Not just the movie though. There was live comedy with the movie. Think back to "Mystery Science Theater 3000," just without the robots and instead of outer space it's in Austin.

The live comedy track was done by the comedy troupe Master Pancake. And they do all sorts of shows every week.

I was very excited when I got to the theater and stood in line to get inside. Once they started letting people in we were led up a staircase into the theater. The theater looked almost like a normal theater, but with bar counters in front of each row of seats.

As I sat down I was treated to 45 minutes of trailers playing on the screen. And not just any trailers, but old school, foreign horror movies. Really creepy ones from Japan and Italy. Stuff that nightmares are made of. Near the start of the show the trailers took an odd turn with an old Halloween safety instruction video made by the Norfolk (I think) school district. It was super cheesy and went through all the Halloween problems like sticking together, not talking to strangers etc. So cheesy that it was extremely funny.

The screen went black then a warning came on screen. If you talked once, they would ask you to be quiet. Talk again and you get thrown out, no refund. That alone made my night. The warning ended with a creepy whisper of "Shut the F**** up!"

Master Pancake took the stage and talked a little about the film and talked about a drinking game for the film. At the same time the food that I had ordered had arrived, chicken tenders and fries. In a movie theater. Awesome.

The film experience was beyond great. The live comedy was hilarious and I was laughing almost non-stop throughout. I was even one of the only people in the audience to get a Tasha Yar joke.

Nerd pride right there.

I wanted to get a total experience out of the theater, so I ordered some popcorn and a orange cream shake halfway through the film. The popcorn came in a big metal bowl, which freaked me out a little bit. I am so used to either a paper bag or a paper bucket. Saves the environment at least.

Here are some more pictures of the night. And yes they didn't come out too well.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38594757175

http://www.drafthouse.com

Adventures in Austin part one

I had the unique opportunity to spend a few days in Austin, Texas last week. Ever since I got back I have been trying to put into words how to explain Austin.

"Interesting" comes to mind. I saw a lot of logos and slogans for the city that said "Keep Austin Weird" and nothing makes that clear more than Sixth Street.

My hotel was two blocks away from Sixth Street, which is said to be the music capital of the nation. I made sure to take several trips to the street to check it out and see what I could find.

Music, of course, is a big part of the area. But, not just one type. It was a mash up of all sorts of different music clubs in one (relatively) small area. Think of it like The Grammys being held in a clown car.

As I walked down Sixth Street I passed a club playing rock music, right next door was a place with country music. Directly across the street was a hip hop club and next to that a jazz club. One would think that would create this giant mess of combined musical sounds, but it works.

In between the clubs are hole-in-the-wall pizza places (I counted five) including a "Death Metal" pizza place blaring death metal music and looking very dark and scary. Even my super brave journalistic curiosity couldn't get me to go inside... or take a picture of it in business.

If you love live music, drinking a lot or maybe a nice mixture of both then Austin seems to be the best town to do it in.

It's like a dinner buffet of musical choices.

Box Office Monday

Halloween weekend is usually a time for horror films to rule the box office, however, with very few big releases opening, "Michael Jackson's This Is It" was able to grab the No. 1 spot with $21 million. Its current total stands at $33 million with $101 million worldwide,

This news has made Sony make the unsurprising announcement that the film will stay in theaters until the Thanksgiving weekend.

"Paranormal Activity" continued its Cinderella story with a strong $16.5 million second place showing. "Law Abiding Citizen," "Couples Retreat" and "Saw VI" rounded out the top five.

"Saw VI" has had the poorest showing of all the "Saw" movies, could it be that we've reached our torture porn limit.

The only other new release of the weekend was "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day" which only brought in $462,000 on 68 screens. Its per screen average was just under $6,800 which tells me that the cult following of the first film is not rubbing off on the second.