Artist: Jean Racine
Genre(s):
Other
Discography:
Ivre du Son
Year: 2007
Tracks: 12
Zyklon
Friday, 27 June 2008
Thursday, 19 June 2008
Panda kicks Sandler at U.S. box office
By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Moviegoers across North America
were in a fighting mood during the weekend, cheering the family
cartoon "Kung Fu Panda" to the top spot at a box office packed
with hits.
DreamWorks Animation's Jack Black comedy about a panda who
dreams of martial arts glory handily earned an estimated $60
million during its first three days, distributor Paramount
Pictures said on Sunday. The firms had hoped for an opening in
the high $40 million range.
But it was not a complete knockout. Columbia Pictures' Adam
Sandler comedy "You Don't Mess with the Zohan," in which the
comedian plays an Israeli commando-turned-New York hairdresser,
opened at No. 2 with $40 million. It also beat forecasts of a
debut in the mid- to high $30 million range.
But observers said top honors really could have gone either
way. In one corner, "Kung Fu Panda" was powered by rave reviews
and an underserved family audience; in the other, Sandler could
count on young male fans unlikely to be swayed by negative
notices from puzzled critics.
As it turned out, both played beyond their traditional
audiences. DreamWorks Animation said 71 percent of the audience
was older than 17, while Columbia said women accounted for 51
percent of the "Zohan" crowd.
'SEX' LOSES STEAM
Last weekend's champ, New Line Cinema's romantic comedy
"Sex and the City," fell to No. 4 with $21.3 million, a massive
63 percent drop from its surprisingly strong opening weekend.
Sales to date stand at $99.3 million for the big-screen
adaptation of HBO's fashion-and-relationship series.
Just ahead of it was "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the
Crystal Skull" with $22.8 million, down one place. The total
for the Paramount-distributed adventure rose to $253 million
after three weekends.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Moviegoers across North America
were in a fighting mood during the weekend, cheering the family
cartoon "Kung Fu Panda" to the top spot at a box office packed
with hits.
DreamWorks Animation's Jack Black comedy about a panda who
dreams of martial arts glory handily earned an estimated $60
million during its first three days, distributor Paramount
Pictures said on Sunday. The firms had hoped for an opening in
the high $40 million range.
But it was not a complete knockout. Columbia Pictures' Adam
Sandler comedy "You Don't Mess with the Zohan," in which the
comedian plays an Israeli commando-turned-New York hairdresser,
opened at No. 2 with $40 million. It also beat forecasts of a
debut in the mid- to high $30 million range.
But observers said top honors really could have gone either
way. In one corner, "Kung Fu Panda" was powered by rave reviews
and an underserved family audience; in the other, Sandler could
count on young male fans unlikely to be swayed by negative
notices from puzzled critics.
As it turned out, both played beyond their traditional
audiences. DreamWorks Animation said 71 percent of the audience
was older than 17, while Columbia said women accounted for 51
percent of the "Zohan" crowd.
'SEX' LOSES STEAM
Last weekend's champ, New Line Cinema's romantic comedy
"Sex and the City," fell to No. 4 with $21.3 million, a massive
63 percent drop from its surprisingly strong opening weekend.
Sales to date stand at $99.3 million for the big-screen
adaptation of HBO's fashion-and-relationship series.
Just ahead of it was "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the
Crystal Skull" with $22.8 million, down one place. The total
for the Paramount-distributed adventure rose to $253 million
after three weekends.
Friday, 13 June 2008
Could The Simpsons' days be numbered?
D�OH: Last week, I wrote a post about The Simpsons� ascension into the record books, signing with Fox for a 20th season that will tie the animated sitcom with Gunsmoke as the longest running show in primetime, and about the show�s voice cast bit of brinksmanship that rewarded them with big paycheques for the same season � some US$400,000 per episode for actors such as Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Hank Azaria and others.
Not long after I typed the last period on that piece, Verne Gay of Newsday�s TV Zone wrote that the triumph could be short-lived. �With the 20th season, The Simpsons has perhaps become prohibitively expensive; it's sort of like that 15,000 pound Escalade collecting a mantle of dust in your garage because it costs $500 to fill up the tank...�
Gay points out that, while the show has gotten more expensive to produce, it has shed more than half of its viewers since its high water mark 1998 season, dipping to an average of just 7.7 million viewers per episode. �What does all this mean?� Gay asks. �That as the audience declines, the show costs are going up.�
�In television, that always spells one thing, and I'll spell it out for you now: Cancellation.�
After receiving an ominous �No comment� from a PR exec at Fox, Gay lets us linger on that scenario, pregnant with its vision of a Simpsons-less future � except for the syndicated episodes running four times a day. I somehow wish the show�s writers could keep this image in their minds, as it might inspire them to make a potential finale season worthy of the show�s reputation at its best. Or it will mean another dull but profitable movie. In either case, it�s hard for me to summon up a convincing imitation of hope.
IT�S GOOD TO BE THE KING: Especially when, like Larry King, you can rely on your friends to make you look good by comparison. Wearing a neck brace for an unspecified injury, former Johnny Carson sidekick Ed McMahon appeared on King�s CNN show last week to talk about the imminent foreclosure on his house, to pay for some $4.8 million in unpaid mortgage loans.
�If you spend more money than you make, you know what happens," said the new poster boy for financial imprudence in the age of the subprime crisis. "A couple of divorces thrown in, a few things like that.�
McMahon�s wife told King that they were a victim of poor financial management, and that until she married Ed, she�d never even owned a house.
�I don't think you'll own one again,� said King, twisting the knife. Backstage, he offered to let the couple sleep in his motor home when he wasn�t using it, provided Ed follow him around laughing at his jokes. Who says there�s no love in showbiz?
See Also
Friday, 6 June 2008
Pete Wentz on marriage to Ashlee Simpson: “We have signed a pre-nup”
“We have signed a pre-nup,” the Fall Out Boy rocker insisted.
Speaking to Ryan Seacrest on his KIIS-FM radio show Tuesday, Pete said Ashlee “legally is a Wentz … I don’t know what she’ll do with her stage name, that’s up to her. She hasn’t decided that.”
And he said their honeymoon plans are on hold for now; and they’ve been hanging out in their basement in L.A.
See Also
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Tenor Giuseppe Di Stefano dies, 86
The legendary Italian tenor Giuseppe Di Stefano has died in Milan.
Di Stefano, who was 86, had suffered poor health after being attacked during a robbery at his Kenyan holiday home in 2004.
The tenor was treated for serious head injuries and went into a coma while in hospital in Milan last December.
Born in Sicily, Di Stefano made his operatic debut in 1946 and gave the late Luciano Pavarotti his big break when illness forced him out of a performance of 'La Boheme' at Covent Garden in London in 1963; Pavarotti performed as his replacement.
During his career Di Stefano made many records with Pavarotti and Maria Callas.
Di Stefano, who was 86, had suffered poor health after being attacked during a robbery at his Kenyan holiday home in 2004.
The tenor was treated for serious head injuries and went into a coma while in hospital in Milan last December.
Born in Sicily, Di Stefano made his operatic debut in 1946 and gave the late Luciano Pavarotti his big break when illness forced him out of a performance of 'La Boheme' at Covent Garden in London in 1963; Pavarotti performed as his replacement.
During his career Di Stefano made many records with Pavarotti and Maria Callas.
Metcalfe joins Douglas in thriller
'Desperate Housewives' star Jesse Metcalfe has been cast opposite Michael Douglas and Amber Tamblyn in the remake of the classic 1956 thriller 'Beyond a Reasonable Doubt'.
Variety reports that the film tells the story of a journalist investigating a corrupt district attorney who sets himself up as a murder suspect to highlight the flaws in circumstantial evidence.
But the district attorney discovers his plan.
Shooting on the Peter Hyams-directed film begins on 3 March.
For more on 'Desperate Housewives', read our TV blog here.
Variety reports that the film tells the story of a journalist investigating a corrupt district attorney who sets himself up as a murder suspect to highlight the flaws in circumstantial evidence.
But the district attorney discovers his plan.
Shooting on the Peter Hyams-directed film begins on 3 March.
For more on 'Desperate Housewives', read our TV blog here.
Sharon Osbourne to host VH1 Charm School
Sharon Osbourne is set to take over as the host of VH1�??s reality TV show �??Charm School�??, which will see her turn Bret Michaels�?? rejects into �??sophisticated rock & roll ladies�?�.
Osbourne takes the reins from former host Mo�??Nique, who hosted the first series, during which 13 rejects from Flavor Flav's �??Flavor of Love�?? show were trained to become more lady-like.
In the �??rock�?? version, Osbourne will attempt to spruce up 14 rejects from Bret Michaels�?? hugely-successful �??Rock Of Love�?? show, filtering them down to just one who will win $100,000.
Osbourne, herself the ultimate foul-mouthed rock star wife, will educate the girls to "learn and grow in areas of etiquette, fashion, manners, and moderation�?� and �??will attempt to strip the girls of their former rebellious and wild ways.�?�
�??Charm School�?? series two will premiere this fall on VH1.
--By our New York staff.
Find out more about NME.
Osbourne takes the reins from former host Mo�??Nique, who hosted the first series, during which 13 rejects from Flavor Flav's �??Flavor of Love�?? show were trained to become more lady-like.
In the �??rock�?? version, Osbourne will attempt to spruce up 14 rejects from Bret Michaels�?? hugely-successful �??Rock Of Love�?? show, filtering them down to just one who will win $100,000.
Osbourne, herself the ultimate foul-mouthed rock star wife, will educate the girls to "learn and grow in areas of etiquette, fashion, manners, and moderation�?� and �??will attempt to strip the girls of their former rebellious and wild ways.�?�
�??Charm School�?? series two will premiere this fall on VH1.
--By our New York staff.
Find out more about NME.
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