By Armando
Category Archives: Celebrity
Hugh Jackman Breezes Through CBS’s Ruthlessly Upbeat All-Star Tony Show
About midway through CBS’s live telecast of the 68th Tony Awards on Sunday night, host Hugh Jackman told the audience at Radio City Music Hall that the first show he’d ever been cast in was Meredith Willson’s The Music Man. To prepare, in fact, he’d learned all eight parts to Rock Island,’ the opening number of that signature piece of syncopated Americana, and to prove it, he performed a minute or so, sprecht-singing all eight parts.
The first words are: Cash for the merchandise/Cash for the buttonhooks, which sounds like the beginning of an ode to Broadway, 2014. Then he ushered out LL Cool J and TI, and all three of them rapped “Rock Island,” which sounded a lot like Sesame Street, 1995. It was funny and toothless. Much the same can be said for the most breathlessly upbeat Tony broadcast in memory. Almost nothing memorable happened over the course of just over three hours of good cheer.
Jackman looked somewhat raffish and ragged of beard, as though he was coming from an audition for a revival of Sunday In The Park With George.
Oscar 2014: “12 Years wins”, “Gravity” dominates
By Armando
As expected, 12 Years A Slave won the Academy Award for best picture on Sunday. But it was Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity that took most of the trophies with seven including the best director honor for Cuaron, a first for a Latin American director.
It was also a good night for the low-budget film “Dallas Buyers Club,”. Both of the movie’s stars Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto won in their respective categories. In a remarkable career comeback, McConaughey won Best Actor for his role of an early AIDS activist Ron Woodroof, while co-star Leto, won best supporting actor for his role as Woodroof’s sidekick.
In a night with few surprises, other top acting prizes include Cate Blanchett for “Blue Jasimine”, and Lupita Nyong’o for “12 Years a Slave”.
Here is the full list of winners > Continue reading
Creative Media Times: Best movies of 2013
by Armando
10.Prisoners
9. American Hustle
8. Her
7. The Heat
6. Man of Steel
5. 12 Years a Slave
4. The Conjuring
3. Mud
2. Captain Phillips
1. Gravity
Paul Walker’s “Fast and Furious 4″ car for sale at $1.4 million
By Armando
Paul Walker’s “Fast and Furious 4″ Nissan GT-R for sale at $1.4 million
A few years ago Steve McQueen’s GT40 fetched for $11 million on a Pebble Beach Auction block, becoming the most expensive American car ever sold. Following the unexpected death of Paul Walker, the tradition of collecting celebrity vehicles is back in business.
Check out the car here: http://suchen.mobile.de
The car in the ad is allegedly the same one used by Paul Walker’s character in Fast and the Furious franchise, a Nissan Skyline GT-R of the R34 which appeared in the fourth film. Apparently, the car was seized by the US government a few months ago, along with many other cars, due to auto safety and emission rules non-compliance.
So how did it end up being in Germany?
A few months ago, a German car magazine posted a review of the car, wherein the owner also reveals its in his possession and has on sale for 300,00 euros (around $400k). Within the last few days, another ad for the car has come up, only this time with a new price: 1 million euros (approximately $1,373,000).
It is kind of creepy when someone cashes in on a former celebrity ownership. But in this day and age, we all know it won’t be the last.
‘Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ Tracking for Massive $185M Box-Office Opening
By Todd Cunningham
“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” is tracking for an opening weekend that could go as high as $185 million when it debuts on Nov. 22, based on box-office marketing data released Thursday.
The higher pre-release tracking goes, the less reliable it becomes, and we’re still three weeks away from the opening. But the Jennifer Lawrence sci-fi sequel looks like it will be a box-office monster for distributor Lionsgate Entertainment.
If it does hit that mark, “Catching Fire” would be the year’s biggest opening, ahead of the $174 million May debut of “Iron Man 3.” And it’s within striking distance of the all-time record for a weekend debut of $207 million, established by “The Avengers” in May of 2012. The record for a November opening, the $142 million rung up by “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” in 2009, is well within reach.
TheWrap >>
Warners Exec Talks Wonder Woman Speculation
By Garth Franklin
The rumors have been swirling for a while now that Diana of Themyscira (aka. Wonder Woman) might make an appearance in Zack Snyder’s upcoming “Batman vs. Superman” film at Warner Bros. Pictures.
Appearing at the Variety Entertainment and Tech Summit, Warners’ president of creative development and worldwide production Greg Silverman was asked about the possibility of this scenario actually taking place.
The surprise is that Silverman doesn’t offer an outright denial, wording his answer in a carefully non-committal way:
“We have been doing a lot of thinking for years about how to best use all those characters and we love them. Wonder Woman is an amazing character. I think it’s a great opportunity both for box office success, but also to have an amazingly powerful female superhero.
Batfleck Wants to Save the Day — And Detroit
By Emily Coyle
Batfleck is brushing Detroit’s bankruptcy blues aside and is here to save the day. That’s right, Superman and Batman are officially heading to Motor City to shoot the sequel of Warner Bros’s (NYSE:TWX) blockbuster Man of Steel, and the good news is it only took a $35-million state incentive to get them there.
According to USA Today, the Michigan Film Office announced the news Thursday and told the largest city in Michigan to expect Batman and Superman on its grounds sometime in the first three months of 2014. The original Man of Steel hit U.S. theaters on June 14 of this year, and was a blockbuster success not only domestically, but also in theaters overseas with a worldwide opening of $196.7 million.
That means good things for debt-ridden Detroit, which will benefit from the $131 million worth of in-state expenditures that the film will require, as well as its widespread popularity and far-reaching audience. Officially announcing its bankruptcy earlier in the summer, the metro area needs all the help it can get to rebuild — help to regain consumer and investor trust, and make Detroit a more appealing place to live once again.
Filmmaker Lucas Purchases $10 Million in Starbucks Shares
By Miles Weiss
George Lucas, the “Star Wars” creator who reaped $4 billion selling his company to Walt Disney Co. last year, invested a fraction of his fortune in Starbucks Corp. (SBUX), the world’s largest chain of coffee shops.
A trust controlled by Lucas bought almost $10 million of Starbucks shares, according to a filing yesterday by Mellody Hobson, the billionaire’s wife and a member of the Starbucks board. The couple married in June at Lucas’s Skywalker ranch in Marin County, California, and announced the birth of their daughter, Everest Hobson Lucas, this month.
Lucas, 69, in December sold Lucasfilm Ltd., whose movie franchises include “Indiana Jones” as well as “Star Wars,” to Disney for about $4 billion of cash and stock. The next month, he announced his engagement to Hobson, the president of Ariel Investments LLC, a Chicago-based money-management firm with $6.3 billion in assets as of June 30.
Hobson, 44, didn’t immediately return a telephone call seeking comment. Connie Wethington, a Lucas representative, said in an e-mail that “no comments or statements will be issued with regard to stock inquiries.”
More >>
‘Avengers’ Cast And Stingy Marvel Ready To Rumble Over Sequel Cash & Strong-Arming
By NIKKI FINKE
Robert Downey Jr is set for another huge payday from a mega-hit Marvel movie, this time Iron Man 3. I’ve learned he’s already made $35 million from the actioner, which grossed $680 million worldwide in its first 12 days. He should exceed his biggest payday to date — that $50M from The Avengers which I’ve learned was more like $70M-$80M now that the film is all in. But it’s really Avengers 2 where he’ll clean up big-time — if he wants to reprise the role. He’s hinting to some media it may be time to retire Tony Stark. And saying to other outlets that Marvel better show him more money for Avengers 2. ”I don’t know,” he said on The Daily Show. ”I had a long contract with them and now we’re gonna renegotiate.” (“You are Iron Man! You are!” cheered Jon Stewart.)
I’ve learned that Marvel and therefore owner Disney are going to run into big trouble on that sequel because the upfront pay, backend compensation, break-even points and box office bonuses aren’t pinned down yet for several big stars and castmates. This is major hurdle that Walt Disney Co Chaiman/CEO Bob Iger hasn’t even mentioned to Wall Street or shareholders though he’s already been hyping Avengers 2 for more than a year now.