June 16, 2008

Here's your Box Office Recap for the past weekend:
1. The Incredible Hulk, $54.5 million
2. Kung Fu Panda, $34.3 million
3. The Happening, $30.5 million
4. You Don't Mess With the Zohan, $16.4 million
5. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, $13.5 million
6. Sex and the City, $10.2 million
7. Iron Man, $5.1 million
8. The Strangers, $4.1 million
9. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, $3 million
10. What Happens in Vegas, $1.7 million

Hollywood special effects genius Stan Winston died Sunday. Maybe you know his name, maybe you don’t but you definitely know his work. He’s responsible for creating the look of Edward Scissorhands, the Alien Queen in Aliens, the metal robots in the Terminator movies, the T-Rex in Jurassic Park and the Predator in Predator. He was a winner of four Academy Awards. Former Terminator himself, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger told us, “The entertainment industry has lost a genius, and I lost one of my best friends.” Stan Winston was 62.

Lindsay Lohan doesn’t believe she’s worthy of an Emmy…yet. According to her rep, Lindsay is pulling out of contention for an award this year because her guest role on Ugly Betty was, “brief.” Lindsay’s rep also told us she presumes to wait which must mean for next year when she’ll be on six times as many episodes (6 episodes). I don’t get it, she’ll accept TWO Razzie awards but won’t even try for an Emmy. No matter how “brief” her success is, she should enjoy it while it lasts.

Megastar Oprah Winfrey was at Stanford yesterday to deliver a commencement speech. She told the grads to persevere through difficult times and that it’s important for people to grow and evolve as human beings and blah, blah, blah. You know what those broke college graduates really needed to hear? "You get a car! And YOU get a car! YOU ALL GET CARS!!" At least, that’s what I would have done.

Is the lead singer of STAR Artist Coldplay turning into a diva? He stormed out of an interview with BBC Radio 4 last week, saying he wasn't "enjoying" the line of questioning. According to the BBC, the interviewer asked Chris whether the title of the band's new CD, Viva La Vida, Or Death And All His Friends, was an example of their obsession with death. Chris responded, "I wouldn't agree with you at all there, no. I'd say you're journalistically twisting me into saying something I don't really mean." A few minutes later, Chris was asked about the lyrics of the band's hit single, "Viva La Vida," and Chris said he was, "not really enjoying this." Then he walked out of the studio. Their new album in question hits stores tomorrow.

STAR Artist Mariah Carey has released her second perfume, this one called Luscious Pink. What’s it smell like? It's described as a "floral melody as enveloping as Mariah's voice," with hints of bergamot, lily of the valley, peony, sandalwood, musk and the petals of Mariah's favorite flower, Tahitian Tiare. I don’t know what half of those things are but they sure sound like they smell good. Per bottle, Luscious Pink will set ya back $40.

There’s already too many music awards out there but the search website Yahoo! is handing out another, the Purple Award for artists whose songs have been played more than 10 million times through various branches of their website. STAR Artists Pink and Christina Aguilera will grab one as will Snow Patrol for “Chasing Cars”.

Good for them! STAR Artist John Mayer and Jennifer Anniston have gone public with their relationship. They went to a humanitarian event over the weekend with friends David Arquette and Courtney Cox.

NBC has spotted a potential replacement for ER once the medical drama concludes its 15-season run next year. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the network has ordered a pilot for a new drama from ER producer John Wells titled LAPD. As you might guess, the show will center around a group of police officers in Los Angeles. LAPD could potentially succeed ER in its Thursday-night time slot...

Seven Tour de France titles only carries you so far if you're Lance Armstrong. According to the New York Post, Armstrong recently brought reported girlfriend Kate Hudson to Rao's Restaurant in New York City, which has a notoriously long waiting list. The couple walked in without a reservation and was told to wait with everyone else.

Tim Russert's autopsy results showed that the “Meet the Press” host died from a heart attack. His doctor told us, "Tim was known to have asymptomatic coronary artery disease, which resulted in hardening of his coronary arteries. A fresh clot ruptured in his left anterior descending coronary artery, causing the fatal heart attack. The autopsy also revealed that Tim had an enlarged heart.” Tim's son Luke appeared on The Today Show in a moving 15-minute interview:

It may have been a Father’s Day weekend but in Jennifer Garner’s life, the focus was all on her skills as a mother. A mother-aughter bonding day went awry for her after she locked her car keys in her Lexus SUV, along with her two-year-old daughter Violet. Don’t worry, Violet was eventually able to follow instructions on how to push the button to open the door and let her mommy in.

An unlikely reality show has decided to embark on a nationwide roadie. Top Chef: The Tour launches its 20-date trip this month. Talk about "rouxing" the day... Four "cheftestants" from the show will host interactive programs in each city, providing cooking demonstrations, meet and greets, food tastings and offering show secrets to the culinary fans in attendance. Look for it in Madison on August 27th.

Briefly:
A private memorial service was held on Saturday for the late Oscar-winning director Sydney Pollack, who died last month of cancer at the age of 73. Friends, family and acquaintances from the entertainment business were on hand for the service, the details of which were not publicly disclosed.

It seems like an odd pairing, but STAR Artist Natasha Bedingfield has been tapped as the opening act for the New Kids on the Block reunion tour.

STAR Artist Jesse McCartney actually helped write the song “Bleeding Love” for Leona Lewis with fellow STAR Artist Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic. Jesse tells us, “bleeding love” is a non-corny way to say “I love you so much it hurts.”

No comments: