SCHMUCKS‘ INCEPTION BEATS INCEPTION

Dinner for Schmucks edged out Inception at the box office on Friday. The comedy, produced by Universal, DreamWorks and Spyglass took in an estimated $8.4 million versus $8.2 million for the Warner Bros. dreamweaver. Sony/Columbia’s Salt was in third place with about $5.9 million, just ahead of the debut of Universal’s Charlie St. Cloud, which […]

ELLEN OUSTS HERSELF FROM IDOL

Delivering an appraisal of her performance on American Idol that was harsher than any she has delivered to a contestant, Ellen DeGeneres announced Thursday that she is quitting America’s most-watched TV series. “A couple of months ago, I let Fox and the American Idol producers know that this didn’t feel like the right fit for […]

ESPN MAKES ANOTHER CONTROVERSIAL LEBRON DECISION

ESPN was under fire Thursday after it pulled an article from its website by its Arash Markazi titled “A Kid in King James’ Court,” which described in less-than-flattering terms, a night out in Las Vegas by basketball superstar LeBron James. Rob King, head of digital media for ESPN, later issued a statement saying that the […]

SHERROD SAYS SHE’LL SUE BREITBART

Shirley Sherrod, the former Department of Agriculture official who was forced to resign after conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart posted a misleadingly edited video of her on his website in which she appeared to make racist comments, said Thursday that she intends to sue Breitbart. Following her resignation, an examination of the entire video revealed that […]

GROUP BLASTS THAI GOVERNMENT OVER REPORTERS’ DEATHS

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has demanded that the Thai government reveal the results of official autopsies into the shooting deaths of Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto and Italian photographer Fabio Polenghi that occurred during its suppression of protest demonstrations in Bangkok last April and May. In a lengthy statement that included comments from […]

UNIVISION HAS ITS BEST QUARTER EVER

Univision’s coverage of the World Cup lifted its second-quarter profits to record heights, it said Tuesday. The Spanish-language broadcast network reported net profit of $35.3 million versus a loss of $27.7 million during the comparable quarter a year ago. In fact, the soccer telecasts made Univision the No. 1 network among all broadcast networks with […]

DISNEY FINALLY SELLS MIRAMAX

It’s finally a done deal — Walt Disney’s sale of Miramax to an investors group led by construction magnate Ron Tutor, that is. The group, which includes real-estate firm Colony Capital, gave itself a new name, Filmyard Holdings, as it joined Disney in announcing the $660-million deal. Significantly, each side referred only to the Miramax […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: CATS & DOGS: THE REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE

Three new movies make their debut at the box office this weekend, and, judging from the reviews, they’re not likely to pose any obstacle to Inception‘s retaining its position as the No. 1 film.* First, there’s Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, which Mike Hale in the New York Times describes as a […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: CHARLIE ST. CLOUD

The box-office fate of Charlie St. Cloud probably hinges on the current status of 22-year-old Zac Efron as a teen idol. The former High School Musical star has probably been eclipsed by the Twilight stars, but he still has a sizable following of young female fans who are likely to turn out in droves to […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS

The worst thing about Dinner for Schmucks may be its title. Based on a French movie that was released internationally as The Dinner Game, the film is receiving some very decent reviews. A.O. Scott in the New York Times calls it: “an exemplary modern Hollywood comedy. It treads a careful boundary between nasty and sweet, […]

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