STALLONE AND CO. LIKELY TO REMAIN NO. 1

The old guys in The Expendables 2 are likely to clobber the fresh-faced contenders in three low-budget features opening this weekend. Box office pundits say that only the action flick Premium Rush has any chance of effectively challenging last week’s winner, but none is expected to earn more than $8-12 million. The other two are […]

STALLONE & CO. RETURN, GUNS BLAZING

The Expendables 2 arrives in theaters this weekend and is expected to make expendable three other new arrivals, two family films, ParaNorman and The Odd Life of Timothy Green, and the musical drama Sparkle, starring Jordin Sparks and the late Whitney Houston. According to box-office pundits The Expendables 2 is expected to debut with $35-40 […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: THE EXPENDABLES 2

Given the surprising success of the original The Expendables, Lionsgate quickly ordered a sequel, and voilá, just two years later, here it is — and it’s nabbing more favorable reviews than its predecessor. Mind you, most of those reviews appear to be written reluctantly. Neil Genzlinger in the New York Times, for example, remarks that […]

KATIE EXITS WITHOUT MUCH OF A RATINGS BUMP

Ratings for the NBC and ABC nightly newscasts were down significantly last week. NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams once again led the field with 8.61 million viewers, but second-place ABC World News with Diane Sawyer narrowed the gap with 7.84 million — just 770,000 viewers behind NBC. The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric […]

AHNULD WILL BE BAHCK AS THE GOVERNATOR

Former Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will return to the screen in an animated TV series he is developing with Stan Lee, who co-created such classic Marvel comic-book characters as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and the Incredible Hulk. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Schwarzenegger said he and Lee are developing an animated TV […]

SCHWARZENEGGER: HE’S B-A-A-ACK

Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sent out what he described as “exciting news” on Twitter Thursday: “My friends at CAA [his talent agency] have been asking me for 7 years when they can take offers seriously. Gave them the green light today.” After serving two terms as governor, speculation arose over whether he would seek […]

KING’S RATINGS SURGE ON FINALE

For one last time CNN’s Larry King Live was back where it once was as the most-watched cable news show in its time period Thursday night. The finale edged out Hannity on Fox News 2.25 million to 2.24 million. The margin of victory may have been statistically insignificant, but it looked good in the news […]

CALIFORNIA WORKERS TO PROTEST AT MOVIE OPENING

California state workers are mobilizing protest demonstrations at theaters throughout the state screening The Expendables on Friday to protest against mandated furloughs ordered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has an uncredited cameo role in the movie. “While state workers are being asked to do their job with less money, he is restoring his movie star […]

MOVIE REVIEW: “PREDATORS”

While its producers are hoping to revive an old franchise that originated with John McTiernan’s 1987 sci-fi thriller starring Arnold Schwarzenegger (Predator, singular), several critics would just as soon send it back to its grave. The New York Times‘s Stephen Holden is one of them. While the filmmakers seem to be intent on creating a […]

GOVERNORS OF THREE STATES BACK COMCAST-NBC MERGER

After receiving mostly negative comments about the proposed $30-billion merger of Comcast and NBC Universal, the FCC today (Tuesday) received a letter from the governors of New York, California and Pennsylvania expressing support for the deal, which would give Comcast a 51-percent controlling interest in the merged company. NBC Universal is headquartered in New York […]