Pop Culture/Entertainment Watch 8/18/06
Box Office Preview: Samuel L. Jackson looks to seize control of the muthaf*ckin' box office with his new muthaf*ckin' film Snakes on a Plane, which invades theaters on a wave of internet buzz. (New Line is taking the step of launching 'Snakes' a day early on Thursday night with showtimes starting at 10pm.) It should be a smooth trip to number one for the action thriller which will face competition from the teen comedies Accepted and Material Girls plus the expansion of the indie darling Little Miss Sunshine. Attacking over 3,300 theaters, "Snakes on a Plane" could open with around $31 million this weekend. Hoping there are younger folks out there who would rather steer clear of those pesky "Snakes", "Accepted" should be able to grab the second place slot, with around $13 million, while Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby should drop 48%, falling out of the top spot for the first time, to earn around $12 million, taking third place. The top 5 is rounded out by film's already in rotation, including World Trade Center (in fourth place with $11 million) and Step Up (in fifth place with close to $10 million.) So, where is the aforementioned "Material Girls"? Oh, that's going to tank way down near ninth place with a dismal $4.0 million. Look for the complete box office results on Sunday afternoon.
TV Watch "Big Brother: All Stars": A lot has happened this week within the Big Brother: All-Stars house, and the most exciting this isn't the reveal of the Coup d'Etat or even Janelle winning Head of Household in a do-ever of the challene, a first for the show. (Poor Erika must have felt like a loser when she got stripped of the title.) No, the most exciting thing was the return (albeit briefly) of Busto from Season Six! I loved when she participated in the PoV challenge, and Howie announced her arrival by proclaiming, "Hi Busto" with his usual exuberance and gusto. (Hey, Busto rhymes with gusto; cool, huh?) After winning HoH, Janelle didn't hesitate for a second by putting Danielle and Erika on the chopping block. However, with the Legion of Doom behind her back, Danielle had no trouble getting her hands on the coveted Power of Veto. With it, she took herself off the block, forcing Janelle to replace her with Marcellas. It was hardly shocking when Marellas (sometimes known as Marcie or Marjealous) was voted out in a vote of 6-0. (You think someone would have thrown the poor boy a bone.) Mike "Boogie", the winner of the Coup d'Etat, chose not to use it this week, allowing him 2 more weeks to use it. Dressed in a retro prom outfit with matching afro, he told Julie that during his stay in the house he was able to put his hatred of Danielle to rest once and for all. Now, seeing how this battle had been raging for close to 4 years, I'd say burying the hatchet is long overdue. I loved the HoH battle with the old prom pictures (was it me or did Howie look exactly the same?). I was shocked that George won the HoH; I was starting to suspect him of throwing challenges on purpose or something. I guess he just isn't really that good. In another shock, Julie Chen told George that with a double eviction week coming up, he needed to nominate 2 houseguests for eviction right then and there. Without a moment to think (thanks to Julie's incessant nagging), George nominated James and Erika, who seems to be getting very comfortable on the dreaded nomination chair. I loved seeing James go on the block, since he backstabbed by girl Janelle and no one gets away with that. (Oh, and I know this is totally random, but how bad at math are Danielle and Chicken George? The correct answer to the tie-breaker was something ridiculous like 6,500 minutes and they guessed 380 and 308? Did they both misunderstand the question? What were they trying to figure out? Beats me. Anyways, the next eviction drops on Sunday night. Until then, keep your eye on these crazy folks in the house.
Trailer Blazer: 'Flags of Our Fathers': Here are 2 trailers I have been waiting for: Flags of Our Fathers (Oct.20) and Letters from Iwo Jima (2007). This trailer, pictured, clearly aimed at Asian markets, actually teases two very solemn films: Flags of Our Fathers tells the story of Iwo Jima from the U.S. perspective; Letters from iwo Jima will depict the same story from the Japanese point of view. The films' bleached-out colorization recalls Saving Private Ryan, as does a rousing speech by the very blond Neal McDonough about Japan being sacred ground, which sounds an awful lot like the actor's work in both Band of Brothers and Minority Report (it's from the "Listen up, men!" school of acting). Ryan Phillippe, Ken Watanabe (Batman Begins) and Jesse Bradford pop up, as do a bunch of Japanese actors that I don't recognize. Like I said, it's all very... solemn.
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'Desperate Housewives': New season-3 promo: How does this season's promo clip for Desperate Housewives compare to the second season clip featured here? Well, for starters, it has the housewives all airing dirty laundry (or so it seems, quite literally) so maybe they are all going to come clean in the third season of the show. Or just that, after season 2 proved to be such a wash, this show's future is on the line? Either way, what is up with Eva Longoria? Is her hair blonde or is it me? This could be a disatarous choice, sort of like when Keri Russell went short in that fateful season of Felicity. And don't even get me going on that ugly cover of ''You Really Got Me.' It's almost bad enough to make me forget how Zayra butchered the song twice (twice!) last month on Rock Star: Supernova. Could everyone please stop beating up on the Kinks? What did they ever do to you?
Until next time, Peace out!
Anthony