'The Hunger Games' Newest TV Spot

Lionsgate has released the newest TV spot for The Hunger Games on Feb 29th...  it also received a PG-13 rating...  Check out the TV spot and enjoy a few new scenes or moments:

 

(YouTube Link)

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Will 'Fringe' Have a Season or Series Finale?

In case you weren't tracking it, ratings for Fox's Friday night sci-fi series Fringe, haven't been hitting it out f the park.  They don't suck, but with ratings and advertisers, you never know. Plus, with Fox saying that they're losing money airing the series, well, if that's not writing on the wall, or negotiation strong-arming, I don't know what is. (Renewal negotiations were in full swing at the end of January)

At least that's why, I think, the showrunners behind Fringe are looking at their season finale and considering wrapping up some story lines... just in case.

In a piece over at E Online, chatting with executive producer J.H. Wyman, they say there's no word on a renewal yet and that they have be prepared, just in case.

With that thought, they're looking at how much story is left to tell and after four years of following the adventures of the Fringe division, they don't want to leave fans hanging if the unspeakable (cancellation) happens.

Wyman says they want to leave fans with closure, because if it's  one thing fans HATE, it's being left hanging when a show gets canceled on a cliffhanger or with no stories having resolution. (Fox might be sensitive to the everlasting ire of Firefly fans and not repeating that event.)

For Fox to NOT lose money airing Fringe, it's been said that Warner Bros. Television would have to consider reducing their licensing fees to Fox.  IF that could happen, that would probably mean reduced production costs moving forward.  That's not a show stopper, but it could bring forth some interesting changes to the show.

'Survivor One World' Recap, Matt Gets Served Some Papers

It's day 6 of Survivor: One World and the girls are in bad shape.  The rain put their fire out.  They're soaked, they didn't sleep and I bet their makeup ran some too.  The girls were allowed to go visit the boys fire to warm up.  But the girls are uncomfortable cavorting with the enemy, but it serves them well.

Of course the lawyer Matt doesn't think it's cool that the come back from jungle browsing and the wet girls are sitting in their beds.  Call that boy a wah-bulance!  (But he does have a tactical point!)

The Survivor reward challenge for the day, is a memory test.  The girls are going at this with no sleep but it's not a physical challenge.  And they DUST the guys.  Finally, a challenge that evens the odds because the last three episodes, the challenges were physically based.  Too bad it wasn't for immunity, but a reward is a reward.

But after the challenge, the boys are getting a bit annoyed because they're totally taking advantage of the guys and NOT trying to cure their own situation.

The Survivor immunity challenge itself is one of those that have teammates tied together and navigate a maze of obstacles while being blind-folded and guided by a teammate's voice.

The men had a huge lead coming out of the physical part of the challenge, but the women made up the difference at the puzzle that needed to be put together.

The boys had to go to their first tribal council and the next several scenes are of the boys sorting out their testosterone hierarchy and sales pitching to stay. 

At council, Colton did not play his immunity idol... but I guess he knew something.

And after a near voting landslide, the cocky lawyer, Matt, was served his eviction notice from the tribe and he's the first guy out of Survivor: One World.  (I wonder if he'll file an appeal?)

'The Hunger Games' 24 Advanced Screenings

Hey gang, this press release about The Hunger Games just landed in my inbox, and rather than try to word it up and make it fancy, I thought I'd just share it with you... it's related to the premise that The Hunger Games is only 24 days away.  (I love this count-down process!)

As you can see above, Haymitch is totally excited about this announcement.

via press release:

LIONSGATE ANNOUNCES 24 ADVANCE SCREENINGS BROUGHT TO YOU BY NOOK BY BARNES & NOBLE

Be the first to see THE HUNGER GAMES in theaters - Search #HungerGames24 on Twitter Now!

 

In celebration of another milestone in the countdown to the release of THE HUNGER GAMES- with under 24 days until the film’s release mirroring the 24 tributes in the story, Lionsgate® has announced 24 Advance Screenings brought to you by NOOK^® by Barnes & Noble.    

 

Fans can show their support for #HungerGames24 by visiting Screenings.TheHungerGamesMovie.com and tweeting a unique hashtag assigned to their closest city to unlock Advance Screening locations. Starting tomorrow, March 1, the top four cities with the most Twitter volume will be announced each day and fans will then be able to enter to win tickets to those locations.

 

In addition, Barnes & Noble is giving NOOK fans in select cities the opportunity to gain exclusive access to see THE HUNGER GAMES before its official theatrical release. On March 10, while supplies last, the first customers to purchase any of Barnes & Noble’s award-winning NOOK devices – including NOOK Tablet^™, NOOK Color^™ or NOOK Simple Touch^™ – at select Barnes & Noble stores will receive two complimentary tickets to the official Advance Screening on March 21. To locate participating Barnes & Noble stores, visit www.nook.com/hungergames. 

 

In the story, Tributes are sponsored based on their first impression at the opening ceremonies, training scores, impressions made in the interviews, performance in the arena, as well as a number of other factors. Donations from sponsors range from medicines to food to weapons and more. Because of this, Lionsgate brought on 12 DISTRICT SPONSORS to each host two of these Advance Screenings and offer 24 fans the chance to win a pair of tickets.  

 

The digital campaign follows those for #HungerGames100, #HungerGames74, and #HungerGames50 which marked milestones in the campaign with similar interactive fan activities. 

Be sure to register for a District here and learn more about how to impress your sponsors on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thehungergamesmovie?sk=app_240978099326011

Fans who don’t have an advance screening near them may be able to meet and greet the cast at their local mall during the National Mall Tour beginning in March.  Visit the film’s facebook events tab for more information. 

About THE HUNGER GAMES

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the evil Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games.  A twisted punishment for a past uprising and an ongoing government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which "Tributes" must fight with one another until one survivor remains.

Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy.  If she's ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

THE HUNGER GAMES is directed by Gary Ross, and produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. Suzanne Collins' best-selling novel, the first in a trilogy published by Scholastic that has over 26 million copies in print in the United States alone, has developed a massive global following.  

Lionsgate will release THE HUNGER GAMES on March 23, 2012. 

To experience The Hunger Games online, please visit:
Official Website: http://www.thehungergamesmovie.com/

Hey!!!  I better get out there myself!!!

'The Avengers' Latest Movie Trailer, From the UK

The latest movie trailer for Joss Whedon's Marvel ensemble movie, The Avengers, hit the web today, Feb 29th, and it embelishes a bit more on some material we've already seen.

And it looks pretty cool... but it raises questions, of which I presume I have answers for.  But let's see what you think.



(youtube movie trailer link)

First up...

Why is it comic cannon that when heroes meet, they first have to fight?  Aren't they smart enough to know the other guy is a good guy?  That has always peeved me throughout all of time!

I LOVE the new armor disrobing mechanism for Tony Stark!

Now we have Hawkeye, Black Widow and Captain America... more or less, incredibly talented and skilled humans.  Up against huge space ships and the god Loki?  If you need Thor, well, sheesh, I'd be nervous and feeling more like distraction fodder!  This is the part where I presume the answer is that they are heroes and will stand up for what's right, no matter what the odds.  And that they're part of a team.  But still, if Hawkeye ticked off Hulk, one finger-flick and he'd be in orbit!

New Movies This Friday 3-2-12, 'Project X,' 'The Lorax'

This week new movies coming out this Friday, March 2nd, 2012 include the acting chops of Thomas Mann, Alexis Knapp, Danny DeVito (voice), Zac Efron (voice), Taylor Swift (voice), Robert Pattinson, Christina Ricci, Robert De Niro and more!
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•      Project X, the party down movie... from director Nima Nourizadeh in his directorial debut, with Thomas Mann and Oliver Cooper, in a movie about

"3 high school seniors throw a birthday party to make a name for themselves. As the night progresses, things spiral out of control as word of the party spreads."

A movie about out of control teens and a newbie director.  Hmm.
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 •      Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, from director Chris Renaud (Despicable Me) and starring the voice power of Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Betty White and many more.  The story of The Lorax is about

"A 12-year-old boy searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find it he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world."

Lots of talent, experienced director...  looks like a promising family movie that will dethrone Mysterious Island as the #1 family movie.
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'The Biggest Loser' Home Town Challenges and The 5% Challenge

This week on The Biggest Loser, the gang challenge is lose 5% of your bodyweight and get immunity.  How hard can that be?  Oh, and they go home too and face their personal demons.  But while they're at home, they get a rowing challenge.  THe challenge being that they have to row a total of 10k meters and the winner gets $1 per meter... yep, $10k to the winner.  (I'm thinking of that TV ad withthe hamster that calls "Row...  Row...").  During the challenge, The Biggest Loser kept us abreast of who was where, but didn't tell us right then.  They made the viewer wait.

While everyone is at home, they test themselves and face their old demons, but they all appear to beat their past habits.  Man, these visits are mean.

Once they're done at home, they have to return to the camp, and they sort of don't want to go back.  But they do, and the coaches were just licking their chops, waiting, like sick little torturers.
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At the weigh-in, we learn that Chism won the rowing challenge at home by getting to the prescribed distance of 10k meters by a mere 7 seconds over the next fastest rower.  (Is that even a word?  Rower?)

So up to the scale they go to see if they managed to lose their 5%.  Red vs Black team.  If folks on a team don't lose their 5%, they're up for elimination, IF, their team loses less weight. 

So what did they lose?

The Red Team

• Buddy: Lost 23 lbs while at home...  wow!!! Down to 294.
• Jeremy: 20!  Down to 289.
• Kimmy: 10 to 169.
• Mark: 11 to 215, but did not achieve his immunity goal weight.
• Kim: 7 to 186, also did not lose her 5%.

Mark and Kim are on the elimination bubble.

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The Black Team: 

• Conda: 14 to 231
• Emily: 17 to 199
• Megan: 12 to 205
• Chris: 11 to 185
• Cassandra: 13 to 175

Chism needed to have lost 12 pounds for the black team to beat the red team.  But after weighing in and a great operatic soundtrack in background...  commercial break...  we learn that he only lost 11 pounds.

Because the black team lost by his weight loss, this automatically eliminated Chism from The Biggest Loser.

His dad offers to let him go instead of Chism because Mark is already down to 215.  But Chism fesses to making his dad staying and gives a great speech about going home doesn't mean he'll gain the weight back.  It was an impressive statement from Chism.

Bob called Chism "like the son I never had."  It was a touching exit from The Biggest Loser.

'The Bachelor' Terse Recap of Swiss Dates and Holey Cheese!

Here's another snarky take on this week's episode of The Bachelor looking for love in all the wrong places.  This week was the week of overnight I mean "Fantasy suite" dates with Nikki Sterling, Lindzi Cox and Courtney Robertson, where everyone gets to test drive the night away.  

Each date was the usual, and as it was the other week, with Courtney away from the women, she seemed more sedate and sweeter than normal.  (As if.)

During the episode, we got a lengthy preview of the upcoming season of The Bachelorette with Emily Maynard.  During the preview, it was more an ad for Titanic 3D as the girls, Emily, Ali and Ashley hit up the movie theater and, well, that and the pitch for the upcoming season and how Emily is taking a big risk doing this again.  And yet...  Look, I believed her the first time around and how sweet she seemed and all, but this show is for the egotistical minded.  So I'm seeing her in a different light this time around.

Back to the show, Kacie B can't stay away... to get some clarification and because she loves him, she warns him yet again about Courtney's behavior with the rest of the women.

Ben has a long chat with Chris Harrison...  He's confused but that's what happens to folks in his position.

first rose to Lindzi, and in the end, because Courtney tells him what he wants to hear, he sends Nicki packing.

I'm smacking my head, but then again, is this really a surprise?

Psst... want some inside info?  All I'm seeing is a strong suggestion to ignore the tabloid BS that's floating around out there.  BUT I thought the tabloids told the tooth, and nothing but the tooth!  As far as next week's "Women Tell All" episode, look for everyone to be on the attack... because Courtney shows up!

Alrighty, that's enough of this... on the next piece...

'Prometheus' Viral Video for TED Convention Talk

Prometheus is the new Ridley Scott movie that is set in the Ridley Scott's Alien movie universe, but in a time before the Alien movies took place.  It's been referenced as the Alien prequel but Ridley Scott et al have been downplaying the prequel status and referring to it as a story with some Alien DNA in it! 

The movie summary goes as follows for Prometheus:

" A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race."

It stars Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Noomi Rapace, Patrick Wilson and Guy Pearce, amongst a cast of many. 


Today a viral video came out that shows one Peter Weyland, of Weyland Industries talking about the future.  For Alien fans, you recognize the company name, right?

I found it interesting and mildly entertaining...





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Here's the Weyland website!
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'Star Trek 2' Behind The Scenes Video Comes Out

Below is our first look at a scene from J.J. Abrams' Star Trek 2...

It looks like Spock (Zachary Quinto) is getting into with Benedict Cumberbatch's character!

We saw that some pics of this scene were released yesterday or the day before that, but I didn't bite... but video, I guess I'll bite!

The video is from Splashnews and has what you might call a funny or annoying voice-over, depending on your frame of mind, coffee intake status, time of day, etc., etc..

Star Trek 2 is coming out in theaters on May 17, 2013.


Exclusive: Behind The Scenes Of Star Trek 2 by splashnews

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'The Walking Dead' Season Two Recap So Far

Does this dress make me look fat?

With only 3 episodes of The Walking Dead to go in this second season, you have to admit, it's getting tense filled and exciting. 

And don't forget the TV news or word on the street is that David Morrissey has joined the cast of The Walking Dead to portray The Governor in season 3.  The other word on the street is that he's a pretty important character in this story, period.
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The tensions at the farm house are riding at an all-time high, the tensions within our group are razor sharp and some of the sexual tensions are leaving their mark also.

So far this season, in the season premiere, called "What Lies Ahead," Sophia (Madison Lintz) ran off from the group while they en-route to Fort Benning.  But things got no better in as Carl (Chandler Riggs) got shot while search parties were out looking for Sophia.  This is when they discover Dr. Hershel Greene (Scott Wilson) in "Bloodletting."

Hershel was very welcoming, and went to work on Carl, but supplies were needed and Shane (Jon Bernthal) and Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince) headed to town.  It's here, when Shane makes an ugly decision and leaves Otis as bait for a herd of walkers, in "save the Last One."  It's here when we start to understand there's a darkness within Shane that is uncomfortable to address.
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But after a close call, Hershel manages to save Carl from his gunshot wound and now the group, based out of Hershel's farmhouse, can once again start looking for Sophia in "Cherokee Rose."   The most adamant searcher in the group is Daryl (Norman Reedus), who makes more search runs than anyone else.  It's during one of these runs that Daryl finds himself injured and on his own in the woods.  It's here we see Merle (Michael Rooker) again...  if only in Daryl's head.

Also in "Chupacabra," Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) figures out she's pregnant.  Oh, the sparks (the wrong ones) are going to fly!

Of course it's here, in "Secrets," that our party learns that Hershel has been herding walkers in the barn on the other side of the property...  because he thinks there's a cure.  His wife is one of them.  Well, Glen (Steven Yeun) finds out, and as you all know, Glen is the WORSE person to tell or let have a secret.  Period.  Even if his new love interest, Maggie Greene (Lauren Cohan), begs him to not tell anyone.  (What were you thinking girl!?)

It's in the episode "Pretty Much Dead Already" that Glen blurts everything out and it is also about this time that with Carl pretty much mended, Hershel asks Rick to take his group away from his farm.

But then Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) gets very sanctimonious on the group, and makes a unilateral decision and steals everyone's guns and hides them in the woods.  He thinks he's doing what's best for the entire group, while leaving them defenseless from whatever they might encounter.  (He reminds me of Locke, from Lost, who kept making group calls for the group, when mostly the group had no clue and had to abide by his decisions.)
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FOX Reschedules 'House' & 'Alcatraz' After 'Daytona 500' Preempting

After that Daytona 500 6-hr marathon on Monday night, if you're wondering like many House and Alcatraz fans, where the House mid-season finale and the prison ghost series got preempted to Monday night, I did find one early bit of info where a resource on the web is reporting that House's winter finale will now be aired on Monday, March 19th, and Alcatraz's March 5th night will have back-to-back episodes aired.  This info is from a Kansas City Fox affiliate and I'm not sure if that applies to everyone.

Over at Fox, a press release they had set up, starts out like this:

"TOUCH" WORLD PREMIERES on THURSDAY, MARCH 22 ON FOX

"BONES" MOVES TO MONDAYS AND "HOUSE" SHIFTS TO 9:00 PM, STARTING MONDAY, APRIL 2

"HOUSE" RETROSPECTIVE KICKS OFF TWO-HOUR SERIES FINALE EVENT MONDAY, MAY 21

FOX's 25th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL to Air Sunday, April 22

But then the Daytona 500 happened and here's the footnote to that same press release:

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Due to the Monday, Feb. 27 primetime NASCAR race preemption on the East Coast (and potentially West Coast),  the schedule for Monday, March 5; Monday, March 12; and Monday, March 19 is not final and to be announced.

The TOUCH World Premiere was previously announced as Monday, March 19 and FOX's 25th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL was previously scheduled on Sunday, April 1.

THE SIMPSONS, BOB'S BURGERS, FAMILY GUY and AMERICAN DAD are preempted on Sunday, April 22.

BONES is preempted on Monday, May 21.

Man, I would not want to be in the scheduling department at Fox right now.
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If I hear more, I will pass it on gang!  I know you folks care about things like this and want to know as soon as possible...  if you ever have questions, feel free to leave them in the comments of any post or contact me at bruce AT CinemaStatic.org, or zing me an '@' note on Twitter or Facebook...  see below.

On a similar note about a missing TV show, if you're wondering what happened to CSI: NY, don't fret.  See this:  Where Did CSI:NY GO?

Kansas City Fox Affiliate: House and Alactraz Rescheduled.

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[Cinema Static on Twitter, Cinema Static on Facebook ]

FX Swoops In On 'Act of Valor' and Other Movie Rights

Was that fast or what?  FX already plopped down bucks for the TV rights to Act of Valor, Safe House, and The Vow and  a few other movies out in theaters!  In fact, the list of movies that FX has nabbed also include Contraband, Chronicle, This Means War, Red Tails and Wanderlust.

The money that FX drops on securing TV rights to various movies is rediculous! (As in BIG $$)

When FX went after Avatars' rights, the estimate for TV rights is about 12% of a film's domestic gross, and usually there's a cap, so that's not an endless percentage, and the estimates then were $30 million for the rights to the Cameron flick.

Other reports in the past had FX paying an estimated $100M for the four Twilight movies.

And if your eyes are bugging out at these numbers, don't worry.  Advertisers spend, well, for the 2011/2012 TV season, advertisers dropped $10 billion on air time with the basic networks.  So as you can see, these meager millions aren't as frightful as they seem.  (Though when I see that advertisers spend billions to sell things to people, I wonder how our local schools can suffer and lose equipment, supplies and teachers?  But that's just me.)

[source:  THR: FX Nabs Movie Rights]

'John Carter' Four Minute Teaser

John Carter movie news:  Below is a four and a half minute teaser clip from Yahoo from the upcoming Taylor Kitsch starring movie, John Carter.

Finally, something that is close to on par with that fan made John Carter trailer that outdid all the other Disney trailers!

John Carter comes to movie theaters March 9th, 2012, and has a 132-minute run time!  Wow, sounds epic... in length!

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Breaking TV News: 'House' & 'Alcatraz' May Be Preempted by "Daytona 500" Tonight 2-27-12

For fans of House and Alcatraz on Fox, there might be a scheduling conflict for the east coast viewers for the Winter Season Finale of House.

It turns out that though the NASCAR event, the Daytona 500, was scheduled to run yesterday, for the first time ever the event was rained out and postponed until today, Monday, February 27th.  It was scheduled to run at noon, Eastern.  But the rains kept coming and that start time was delayed and now NASCAR has announced that the race will start at 7PM Eastern, and it's been further confirmed that Fox confirmed all affiliates will carry the race.

That means that shows slated for 8pm Eastern start times are hosed.  (Granting that weather doesn't delay the race start even further.)

I'm not sure what the east coast and probably mountain time zone affiliates are going to do, but it seems that Fox will be showing the Great American Race, (AKA, the Daytona 500) tonight.

Of course, it seems that Fox hasn't told their 'HOUSEonFOX' Twitter account pilot.  They're tweeting along cheerfully about tonight's winter finale.

I've tweeted them and I have other fans bugging them too... if we find out anything, I'll update everyone.

-- [NASCAR Bits and Pieces ] --

UPDATE 2-28-12:

The latest on the rescheduling of House and Alcatraz.

New DVD & Blu-ray Releases This Week, Feb 28: 'Hugo,' 'Justice League: Doom'

This week, the new DVD and Blu-ray releases coming out on Tuesday, Feb 28th, 2012 include the Hollywood anticipated release of Hugo, and the animated feature, Justice League, coming to your TV to kick some butt.  Then there are a smattering of other movies and TV shows new on DVD and Blu-ray disc for the home entertainment market.

Check it out...

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Hugo Starring Chloe Moretz and Jude Law
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Justice League: Doom Starring the voice power of Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly, Susan Eisenberg and Nathan Fillion
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Midsomer Murders, Set 19 Starring John Nettles and Jason Hughes

Voyage : Celtic Thunder

My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: The Friendship Express
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Johnny English Reborn Starring Rowan Atkinson, Gillian Anderson, Rosamund Pike

The 2012 Academy Awards, The List of Winners

This year the 2012 Academy Awards delivered the usual amount of funny, drab, homage and were delivered.  Billy Crystal stepped up and hosted with his usual comedic style.  But were there any surprises tonight?

This year the big nominees for the Academy Awards was Hugo, with 11 and The Artist, with 10 Oscar nominations.  Below, are the winners listed, as they were announced and to compare, the number of nominations.

As you can see, Hugo came out of the gate strong, with The Artist right on its tail.  Transformers 3 had 3 nominations but found themselves dusted each time dangit.  (The TV Guide Magazine twitter helmer reminded me, that's why they have the MTV Movie Awards.  LOL.)


Below is the list of winners, as they were presented during the Oscar telecast:

Category	Oscar Winner
Achievement in Cinematography	Hugo
Best Art Direction	Hugo
Best Costume Design	The Artist
Best Makeup	The Iron Lady
Best Foreign Language Film	A Separation (Iran)
Best Supporting Actress	Octavia Spencer (The Help)
Best Film Editing	Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Best Sound Editing	Hugo
Best Sound Mixing	Hugo
Best Documentary Feature	Undefeated
Best Animated Feature	Rango
Best Visual Effects	Hugo
Best Supporting Actor	Christopher Plummer!
Best Original Score	The Artist
Best Original Song	Man or Muppet
Best Adapted Screenplay	The Descendants
Best Original Screenplay	Midnight in Paris
Best Live Action Short	The Shore
Best Documentary Short Subject	Saving Face
Best Animated Short Film	Fantastic Flying Books of  Mr. Morris Lessmore
Best Director	Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Best Actor	Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
Best Actress	Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
Best Picture	The Artist

Top-10 Movies This Weekend, 'Act of Valor' Razes the Competition

Over this last weekend, it would seem that the military themed movie called Act of Valor topped the list of top-10 movies, pulling in an estimated near $25M for the weekend.

It would seem that despite what critics say about the story, movie-goers wanted to go see what amounted to a tribute documentary to the military, and that's all good.

Another new movie this weekend, titled Good Deeds, starring Tyler Perry, had caught your imagination also, pulling in an estimated $16M for the weekend.

It seems that Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston don't have quite the pull some Navy SEALs have, thus, Wanderlust only pulled in around $6.6M bucks and Amanda Seyfried might look extremely hot, but not hot enough, with her thriller, Gone, only  pulling in $5M.

You'll be seeing the same marketing again this week, as the TV ads have been saying, the number 1 family film in America right now is Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, starring Dwayne Johnson.  Journey 2 pulled in almost $14M this weekend, giving it nearly $77M gross.

(Hey, if you had not heard, Dwayne Johnson might be playing Hercules in an upcoming movie down the road...  I'll keep you apprised as things develop.  Right now they're reporting that he is in negotiations.)

The other double-digit million money makers this weekend were Safe House ($11.4M) and The Vow ($10M).

The 2012 Indie Spirit Awards, 'The Artist' and Other Winners

Hey, for some general movie fans, independent movies (indie films) aren't on their radar.  But independent movies are becoming more mainstream than you think.  But first, a short list of some of the winners from last night's Spirit Awards and then after the list, check out what I have to say about independent films:

If you are a fan of the Indie Spirit Awards, I thought I'd toss out some winner names from last night...

• Best Feature: The Artist - Producer: Thomas Langmann
• Best Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash - The Descendants
• Best First Screenplay:  Will Reiser - 50/50
• Best Female Lead: Michelle Williams - My Week with Marilyn
• Best Male Lead: Jean Dujardin - The Artist
• Best Supporting Female: Shailene Woodley - The Descendants
• Best Supporting Male: Christopher Plummer - Beginners

If you want to see more, check out their website: spiritawards.com
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But a bit on Indie Movies:

'Gretl: Witch Hunter' w Paul McGillion & Emilie Ullerup; A Review

This is a TV review of the Syfy Saturday night movie, called Gretl: Witch Hunter which was also produced by Syfy (Battle of Los Angeles, 51, Titanic II, Mysterious Island) and stars some fan-favorites like Shannen Doherty, Emilie Ullerup & Paul McGillion.

Back in 2010, when I snagged the press imagery for the movie that Emilie shared with fans, it was being called either "Hansel and Gretl," or "Hansel," or "Witchslayer."  Heck, looking at the above splash image for the movie on Syfy's website it doesn't even have the right name.  I'm confused by the wishy-washy marketing support but be it as it may, it seems they settled on today's title... 

We last saw Shannen in the 90210 remake. 

Emilie Ullerup has been pretty busy.  She's had a role in The Means War, A Little Bit Zombie & Hunt to Kill.  She's also going to be seen in the series Artic Air, and for many, she sparked a huge bit of ire with her fans when she was rather abruptly killed off in Syfy's Sanctuary.

Paul McGillion was last seen (as a regular) in (the probably cancelled) Sanctuary, but left a legacy as Dr. Carson Beckett in Stargate: Atlantis.

Now, let's chat about the TV movie, shall we?
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'Black Forest' on Syfy; A Quick TV Review

This is one of those snarky TV reviews of the Syfy channel Saturday Night Original movies.  In this case, the movie is called Black Forest.  And it was part of a double-feature, with it being followed up by a second Original movie titled Gretl: Witch Hunter.  It's unprecedented to have two new movies on in one night.

According to the on-screen summary, the Syfy movie Black Forest is about tourists who become lost in a magical forest, where they encounter evil fairytale creatures who plot to steal one of their babies and kill the rest of them.

Black Forest was directed by Patrick Dinhut and produced by UFO International Productions, whose past credits include the "TV hits" such as Triassic Attack and Super Tanker.

They're now working on upcoming (TV) movies Deadly Descent and Vampyre Nation!  (You've been warned!  LOL)

The cast includes Oliver James, Tinsel Korey and others.
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Black Forest starts out with an animated opening, seeing what looks like Red Riding Hood, a wolf, a witch and then the intro slides into a live-action scene with a couple running from some unseen horror.  The guy keeps telling his female companion to keep quiet or she knows what will happen.   They crawl into a car and it lands on the car.  Of course she says a word, changes into a monster and she kills the guy.

Indie Comedy Flick "Pulp:" a British independent film

The guys behind Pulp have been sending me an email here and an there, talking about their new comedy indie film, Pulp!  I checked out their exclusive trailer and Star Wars scene from their movie.


It didn't really catch my attention because it felt like Jerry Seinfeld crossed tracks with The Office, and headed to Comic-Con.  The first two of three noted projects never really caught my attention in past years, so I ignored it.  Shame on me I guess.


Now that their preview trailer for Pulp has hit a million page views on YouTube, (and yes, they sent me an email pointing that out... rub it in why don't you!) I thought, well, O.K., maybe there's something to this that Cinema Static readers might take away from the clip.


Their latest email said that, 

"Pulp has yet to secure a distribution deal and, as a low budget, but commercial comedy aimed at a mainstream audience, has been spreading news of the film using grass roots activism."

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So, on the off chance that any of you folk might like it, here's the deal, followed by the preview clip.  (NSFW language!  The clip is fully populated with foul language... so if you have little ones that might ask what those words are, use the headphones, or send them out to play for a few minutes!) 


About PULP, THE MOVIE:

Tony Leary, the nice-guy owner of Junk Comics, is gearing up for one last roll of the dice. Nothing will stop his new superhero comic The Sodomizer from being a success except a gang of Geordie criminals who are using another comic company to launder their dirty money. Aided by his trusty geek sidekicks, Rick and Keith, Tony must defy the odds if he is to become a real life hero.

Pulp is directed by Adam Hamdy and Shaun Magher, and produced by Phil Bland, Phil Chalk and Adam Hamdy.

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Pulp Preview Trailer/Star Wars Argument Clip:





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You can view the trailer and exclusive scene here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGE0q_bQN4M

www.pulpthemovie.com

San Diego Comic-Con 2012 Registration: You Need to Start Planning Yesterday!

If you've been to the San Diego Comic-Con International event in years past, then I presume you have received your emails chronicling the new process involving creating a new ticket-purchasing account and then how to deal with the process of buying tickets when the time comes to do such.


But...

If you are someone who has never been to Comic-Con, but you have been considering the idea of attending, you need to know some things.

The Comic-Con attendee registration is necessary, but it closes on February 28th.  You can go to the Comic-Con Attendee Registration page NOW.


Then, your new ID will be your login info for subsequent interactions with the website.


With that all said, I then received an email today from the Comic-Con International org with some info about the ticketing process for registered users.  It has this to say...

'Ancient Aliens' Premiere & HD Camera Giveaway

(Update: This contest is over and I'm awaiting the winner to contact me with their contact info.)

Ancient Aliens airs on History 2 (H2) on Fridays at 9p.m.  And in conjunction with the series, H2 is working in conjunction with Cinema Static and we're giving away an H2 branded HD Camera to one lucky Cinema Static visitor to celebrate the event.  (Not to mention, I also provide a link to be able to win $10k!  No, I'm not giving away the cash.)

"Through ancient religious texts, personal sightings and exquisitely constructed wonders come the belief by some that ancient astronauts once inhabited our world among, and pre-dating the existence of, human beings and that they will indeed come again.  In Season 4 of Ancient Aliens, H2 resumes the investigation of these curious marvels while questioning truth vs. phenomenon via 75 million years of the most credible alien evidence here on Earth as seen in a myriad of forms from biblical texts to massive stone ruins aligned in perfect Pythagorean sequence."

In conjunction with H2's Ancient Aliens series, History Channel has also put together a unique Facebook Page/App supporting the show.  In the app, Ancient Aliens fans can decipher the Ancient Aliens Code for a chance to win $10k in Earth Dollars in addition to customizing their own crop circle by uploading a picture.

Check out the FB App here:

Dishnetwork Ancient Aliens App on Facebook

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Enter the HD Camera Giveaway

 

Ah, the other juicy part.

To enter the Cinema Static H2 Branded HD Camera giveaway contest, I only ask two small favors of you, my readers:

1)  Go "like/follow" Cinema Static on Facebook,

AND

2) Leave a comment here at this article, saying you liked CS on FB and if you think Ancient Aliens have visited Earth in the past!  (And I don't want to see any notes about your in-laws, parents, siblings, etc.  Be nice!!!)

Where Did 'CSI: NY' Go? Is It Cancelled or What?

Before I say another word, I will advise all CSI: NY fans to calm thyselves!  All is well.  Some folks were starting to wonder what happened to CSI: NY since it didn't air in its usual time slot recently and fans started to panic!  Yet.

CSI: NY is on a break until it returns to the air on March 30th!

But...

Over the years, ratings would seem to be on the decline and it looks like in general, folks are starting to get weary of the New York based TV show.  (Yes, even despite some of you, the hard-core fans, loving it still, the general viewing crowd is thinning out and going other places.)

In January, Nina Tassler, the entertainment president for CBS, made note in a Deadline TV article from the TCA executive panel, when it was touched on that CSI is in its twelfth season, she said that she'd love to see the CSI franchise continue forever, but that one must respect the audience, cast and be sensitive to how one would wrap up any series.  (Eh?)  And that was prefaced with "Nothing runs forever."

Did that just sound like some light at the end of some tunnel to you guys?

She did end her chat about CSI by noting that they are now in the talking stages as they address how to end the CSI shows.

That sounds ominous.  But I'm not sure how pressing.

You have to keep something in mind, and that is that networks are beholden to who pulls their purse strings.  That would be the advertisers willing to spend their money on ads, during TV shows.  That money, (which accounted for $10 billion this season to the basic networks), is reactive to the Nielsen ratings which tells the ad execs who is watching what.

As actor pay goes up and advertiser funding slips, the likelihood of a show continuing gets bleak!

The sad part is that as fans get comfortable with a show, they sometimes move on to watch other new TV shows, and catch their favorite show on VoD at a later date.  But time-shifted viewing doesn't hold as much weight with advertisers as live TV ratings go!

As CSI has three shows running, which also dilutes the viewership...  I was just peeking at the Nielsen top-10 TV shows for the week of January 16th, and the non sports programs listed were

American Idol; The Big Bang Theory, The Mentalist, Person of Interest, NCIS and Criminal Minds.

But then in a later reporting period, for the week of January 23rd, CSI was 4th on the chart, beating Criminal Minds and NCIS.

But...

Is 'Act of Valor' Worth Your Time? A Look at Collected Movie Reviews

This week, one of the new movies hitting movie theaters is Act of Valor, starring real-life Navy SEALs.  I'm on the bubble if I want to take the time and spend the bucks to go see it in theaters or wait until it hits Video on Demand.

Over at Movie Review Intelligence, they say that Act of Valor has opened to 'fair' movie reviews.

• The Associated Press calls it weak;
• Roger Ebert says it's 'good.'
• The New York Times is weak.
• Chicago Tribune movie review says it's moderate.

Rotten Tomatoes, the land of sharp-eyed critics, gives it 27%, while their audience scored it at 85% liking it.

Hence, it seems to depend what you base your review on.  The above movie reviews are looking at Act of Valor as a movie.  But Cinema Blend is noted as calling it very good, because it's the closest thing you can come to experiencing this kind of action with actually enlisting.

If you're looking for a real story kind of movie experience, this may not be the movie for you, but if you love watching the action of military units like the Navy SEALs, then I'm betting you will come away having had a good time.

For me, the breaking point for wanting to see a movie would seem to be the website, Entertainment Weekly.  They have a good track record of being in agreement with how I feel about movies.  But they don't have a movie review up of Act of Valor.

My reservations, aside from the directors who are former stunt men taking a stab at directing, is the timing of the movie.  Obviously NAVY SEALs have been in the news of late.

Hollywood's Disgruntled Acceptance of Piracy & the Internet - For Now

First and foremost, piracy is piracy.  Theft is theft.  If you steal content (watch without paying) from any studio, it's theft.  And no, theft doesn't involve getting up off your butt and going out to steal.  Now a days, you can steal without ever leaving the cozy confines of your couch and laptop. Yet folks out there seem to think that stealing content that is for sale through legal, proper means, is O.K..  And I've seen some whopper excuses for being thieves.  And you folks should be comedians.

I'm not sure I get that mindset, except to note that once I'm done writing this piece, I'm going to go out and steal a Lamborghini to see if I want to buy one.  But before I do that, I thought I'd pull up some facts from an infographic that the website Paralegal has produced.  It's pretty interesting.  (Actually, if I stole a car, I would feel guilty about it and pressured into buying it later... without question.)

In a nutshell, it addresses how "Hollywood" is tackling (or not) the issue of piracy.  Because when you look at piracy and the venue in which it's procured, is a two-edged sword for studios.

On one hand, the internet is the place where they are "losing" their money.  They're still finding it hard to monetize and have sponsors/advertisers pile on.  Yet, that same internet is where a huge majority of their free marketing comes from.  Free marketing, as in websites and blogs like this one, that try to capitalize on TV news or movie news with parroting (repeating) the news of the day.

But aside from that, there's this 'infographic' that Paralegal produced and in it they point out that New Jersey used to be the center of the movie industry.  That is, until heavy copyrighting of equipment use pushed filmmakers out of Jersey, and into Hollywood!  But this was so they could pirate some equipment.  Which I find so very fascinating that Hollywood got started by the pirating of copyrighted material.

The graphic then points to a revenue breakdown for Hollywood:

• DVD sales: 20%;
• Movie Theater Fees and Charges: 26%;
• Movie Ticket Sales: 37%.

As you can see, Hollywood double-taps the movie theater owners!

And Hollywood made $87 billion last year.  Which is how some of them can drop $10 billion on a single season of TV advertising for just the major networks alone.  (Never mind that schools are losing funding, hence, teachers getting laid off left and right.)

Paralegal's infographic goes on to point out how Disney made Snow White off of public domain material, but clamped down and restricts how others use their material.  So the practice of how material is pulled together and redistributed is still in active play!
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'The Hunger Games' First Day Ticket Sales Break Records

In more of a bit of good news for the anticipation for The Hunger Games, Fandango is reporting that early ticket sales for The Hunger Games broke the previous record of first-day movie ticket sales previously held by Twilight's Eclipse!

Due to the response of ticket sales, movie theaters are furiously adding new movie times for the adaptation of Suzanne Collins' book series.

[ Fandango Blog ]

TV News: Is 'Sanctuary' Doomed? + News on BSG's Spin-Off, 'Blood and Chrome'

Here's some TV news or updates on the concerns of fans and whether Sanctuary is returning for a fifth season or not to Syfy.  And fans finally get a whiff of development news on the Battlestar Galactica (BSG) spin-off, titled Blood and Chrome!

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Sanctuary News -

(I swear, the two on the right look like they're asking... "Do we have a job next season?"  While Amanda Tapping and Robin Dunne are looking at their new jobs off, stage left.)

In the continuing mystery of whether Syfy's Sanctuary is coming back or not, Cinema Static's bud/cohort, Tim, was scouring the internet when he came across in interesting bit and fired me off a link that addresses a wee bit of new information on the situation with the show's renewal or lack there of.

As you know, I have addressed some observations on why I think Sanctuary may be getting canceled.  In a nutshell, the major players from the show, from showrunners to starring cast, seem busy working on other things.  (That's not a foregone conclusion they're gone.  They just might be making extra dough on the side.)

In an article over at TV Wise Co UK, they addressed how Sanctuary being renewed, could be dependent on the BSG spin-off, Blood and Chrome. (More on that in a bit...)

That dependency being on what market, domestic or overseas, tests out and gives Blood & Chrome the thumbs up.  If the international market looks promising for this BSG spin-off, then according to TV Wise's sources, there's a good chance Sanctuary is coming back for a fifth season.  (Though it could be its last.)

But the bottom line, for my money, TV Line's source says there's been no news on a Sanctuary renewal/return.  And that in this case, no news is probably bad news, because in years past, we've heard about renewals in the January time-frame of the year, and so far, we have heard nada! 

But that is just my opinion, and I could be wrong!
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Blood and Chrome Development News -

Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome, is another prequel to the wildly dark and popular Ronald D. Moore series/reimagining of Battlestar Galactica.

Blood and Chrome takes place between the eras of Caprica and BSG, and will follow the adventures of a young William Adama during the first Cylon War.

Blood and Chrome is being brought to us by David Eick (Caprica, BSG, Bionic Woman, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys) with Luke Pasqualino (Skins, The Borgias) cast as the young William Adama.  Ben Cotton (Hellcats, Harper's Island, SGA, ) was set to play Coker Fasjovik & Lili Bordán (Silent Witness) will play Dr. Becca Kelly.  These are the three primary characters.

'The Hunger Games' Movie Tickets Are On Sale NOW

Many folk I know are pretty hyped about The Hunger Games.  The readers of the books are excited, and the hype about the movie drive the book sales just over the top!  That's good.

I found The Hunger Games book series to be rather compelling, sucking me in and not letting me go until I finished all three books.  I was a reading zombie that needed more text for my brain as I lugged my kindle... everywhere to keep reading to see what happened next!  And it was a fun read...  Though I'm not quite sure how they'll do the Twilight rip get four movies out of three books, but I'm sure with enough fluff and huge amounts of filler like in Breaking Dawn, anything is possible!

Be it as it may, check out the press release below on the movie tickets for The Hunger Games going on sale today, 2-22-2012!

'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' "Massacre" Preview & Behind the Scenes Clips

In the upcoming episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, titled "Massacre," Count Dooku is at it again.  Dooku wants his revenge against the Nightsisters and General Grievous commits an all-out droid attack on the sisters.

But more importantly, this episode sparks two events within the realm of the animated Clone Wars series:

First, is the coming of the most dangerous Sith in the universe.

And secondly, this episode starts a four-episode story arc that takes us into the season finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Cartoon Network.

“Massacre,” airs at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT Friday, February 24th on Cartoon Network.
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Three videos are included with this article... two preview clips from The Clone Wars and a behind-the-scenes clip of Sam Witwer voicing Darth Maul.



(youtube)
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Survivor: One World Recap from Feb 22: The Girl Power Is Lacking

Tonight's episode of Survivor: One World exemplified the fact that it is not one world, for anyone.  Not even in the same tribe.
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We start the Survivor episode with the standard recap from last week, but then we knew about Courtney (No, not The Bachelor's Courtney) breaking her wrist.

The guys were miffed that the girls didn't have to vote anyone off since Courtney took leave for wrist surgery.  The guys are such gallant men!

This week, Sabrina was voted in as a group leader so that they aren't all running around helter-skelter without focus. 

Today both gangs get tree mail and it brings a competition of untying knots and opening a box.  Whoever wins, gets a tarp.  The boys ended up with a tarp.

Colton seems to be the odd man out... on both sides!  Man, that has to be some kind of record!

But then Colton made an idiot move and let the guys know he had the hidden idol... 

The Survivor Immunity challenge was a balancing beam stunt, where the tribe members had to traverse a log over the ocean water.  Oh, they had to sort of climb over each other to traverse the log.  The boys seemed to just GET IT DONE and the girls seemed to want to talk about it and fall in.  Jeff Probst just shook his head.

'Spartacus: Vengeance' Marathon on February 25th

If you've missed any of the first episodes of Starz original series, Spartacus: Vengeance, and you have a little time on your hands, Starz is planning a Spartacus: Vengeance marathon on Saturday, February 25th, 2012.

The TV marathon will start at 9pm ET/PT and run episodes 1 through 5 back-to-back.  Then, you will be all caught up!

If you have been keeping up, the 2nd half of the season will commence on March 2nd.

Another tidbit they threw out there was that the show has already been picked up for a third season.  And why not?!  Despite the obvious gore and sex, it is a well written piece of drama.

Check out the press release after the break:

Exclusive Interview with Kevin Chapman From 'Person of Interest'

Cinema Static's Interview with Kevin Chapman:

Person of Interest is about a man named Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) who invented a machine that can track people and determine when a crime will occur.  Finch employs an ex-CIA agent, John Reese (Jim Caviezel), to carry out most of the physical labor involved in preventing these crimes.  While Finch and Reese do their thing, they catch the attention of Detectives Lionel Fusco (Kevin Chapman) & Joss Carter (Taraji P. Henson).

(Taraji P. Henson and Kevin Chapman in Person of Interest)

If you've been following Person of Interest, you know how the Detectives are doing in regards to their case regarding Finch and Reese.  (I am not spoiling it for anyone who is planning on watching it on DVD later or who may have serious time-shifted DVR sessions planned.)

Also, if you've been following the show, you know that it just won a 2011 People's Choice Award for Favorite New Drama.  Congrats to the cast & crew on that one!=


This interview/article is continued over on Brusimm.com

'The Hunger Games' Nationwide Tour, The Schedule and What Cities

In support of the upcoming release of The Hunger Games movie, which opens in theaters March 23rd, 2012, the cast will be hitting the road promoting their new movie in a tour.

Starting on March 3, 2012, cast members such as director Gary Ross, Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth will kick of this tour in Santa Monica, CA..

It's an eight city tour that's sponsored by the Microsoft Store, China Glaze, and h2O Spring Water, and they'll be visiting Los Angeles, Atlanta, Seattle, Phoenix, Dallas, Miami, Chicago, and Minneapolis.

And the cool part is that fans can partake in cast Q&A's and enter contests to win Hunger Games schwag!  Sweet!

Check out the schedule below:

'The Hunger Games' Soundtrack List

EW's Music Mix column put out the official lineup of music for the soundtrack for The Hunger Games.

Artists behind some of the music include Taylor Swift, Maroon 5 and others.  The selection of artists and music was done by T-Bone Burnett...

Here's the Hunger Games soundtrack list:

1. Arcade Fire “Abraham’s Daughter”
2. The Secret Sisters “Tomorrow Will Be Kinder”
3. Neko Case “Nothing To Remember”
4. Taylor Swift “Safe & Sound ft. The Civil Wars”
5. Kid Cudi “The Ruler and The Killer”
6. Punch Brothers “Dark Days”
7. The Decemberists “One Engine”
8. The Carolina Chocolate Drops “Daughter’s Lament”
9. The Civil Wars “Kingdom Come”
10. Glen Hansard “Take The Heartland”
11. Maroon 5 ft. Rozzi Crane “Come Away To The Water”
12. Miranda Lambert “Run Daddy Run ft. Pistol Annies”
13. Jayme Dee “Rules”
14. Taylor Swift “Eyes Open”
15. The Low Anthem “Lover Is Childlike”
16. Birdy “Just A Game”

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Can't wait to hear 'em.

Cinema Static says thanks to Tim for sending me the link...

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'The Biggest Loser' Recap from Feb 21, Conda Wins The Fight

The Biggest Loser started tonight and we saw they had one of those ugly food challenges, where they were teased with their favorite foods.  And who ever eats the most calories, they get to reshape and control the formation of the teams.  

Daphne won the challenge and the only thing she did was swap two people, Jeremy to the red team and Conda was put on the black team.  There seemed to be no tactical process behind this.

And it seemed that everyone knew who did this.  The Biggest Loser episode went on with the usual challenges and such, but the big news started taking place at the end of the episode.

Everyone on Daphne's team pretty much tossed the towel in and lost the team weigh in, setting the team up to be able to eliminate Daphne at the elimination. 

But Daphne looked like she was working her a** off, trying to lose the most weight so she wouldn't end up going home.  But she ended up gaining 2 pounds.  I can't be sure if she intentionally threw it or it was one of those weeks where someone just gains weight.

At the elimination round the inevitable fight broke out between Daphne and Conda.  Those two pesky contestants. 

Daphne and her brother came in with fiery spirits instead of quietly settling into the Biggest Loser ranch.  This didn't rub folks right, even though they were only stating their personal achievements.

But then Condra developed issues with Daphne and Condra couldn't let go, ever.