Showing posts with label Entertainment News. Show all posts

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Oscar's tumultuous week ends with Governors Awards

After a tumultuous week that saw the departure and replacement of the Oscar show's host and producer, the film academy enjoyed a night of good vibes Saturday at its third annual Governors Awards. You might even say the force was with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Armed storm troopers ensured guests were in their seats and paying attention as Darth Vader opened the evening honoring James Earl Jones, Oprah Winfrey and makeup artist Dick Smith. Under Vader's helmet was academy president Tom Sherak, who welcomed the audience of industry insiders with, "How was your week?"

Latest 'Call of Duty' game breaks sales record

By the third time around, it really shouldn't be a surprise. The latest "Call of Duty" video game set a first-day sales record this week, generating $400 million in sales in its first 24 hours in stores. That breaks the record its predecessor set this time last year.
"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" is the third game in the military shooter series to set such a record. Last year, "Call of Duty: Black Ops" raked in $360 million in its first 24 hours on sale. "Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 2," sold 4.7 million copies in its first 24 hours to reap $310 million

Universal, Sony/ATV to buy EMI for $4.1 billion

EMI Group Ltd., the iconic British music company that is home to The Beatles, Coldplay and Katy Perry, is being split and sold for $4.1 billion.
The deals will open EMI's buyers, Universal Music and Sony/ATV, to regulatory scrutiny as they increase their dominance of the music industry.
Universal Music Group said Friday that it will pay 1.2 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) for the recording division, joining Universal artists including Lady Gaga and Eminem with EMI superstars such as David Guetta and Lady Antebellum.

New book offers glimpse of Jackson's personal life

A personal assistant-turned-personal manager to Michael Jackson said the King of Pop had been taking propofol as early as 1999, and that the singer was drugged up ahead of his 2001 30th anniversary concerts.
Frank Cascio, who became a family friend to Jackson at age 5 and eventually one of the singer's closest friends and employees, writes in a new book that he first noticed Jackson taking the drug Demerol while accompanying the singer on his "Dangerous" tour in 1993.
He writes in his new book, "My Friend Michael: An Ordinary Friendship with an Extraordinary Man," that Jackson started the first of two anniversary shows in 2001 an hour late as a result of being drugged up in his dressing room.
"My naive belief that Michael wouldn't let his medicine interfere with the show blew up in my face," Cascio writes. "I can't begin to describe my disappointment and panic at this moment."

Film on Lejeune water comes home to where it began

Jerry Ensminger ticks off the list of cities where he's traveled with the documentary that tells the story of water contamination at the Camp Lejeune Marine base: Woodstock, San Diego, New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and this weekend, an emotional homecoming in Jacksonville, N.C.
Finally, both the retired Marine master sergeant and the movie about him, "Semper Fi: Always Faithful," are coming back to where the story began in July 1983, when his middle daughter was diagnosed with leukemia.