Starring Forest Whitaker as a longtime White House butler and Oprah Winfrey as his boozy wife, the Weinstein Co. biopic debuted in the top spot with $25 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. But the weekend’s three other major new releases, including the action romp “Kick-Ass 2,” failed to find traction with fans.
“We expected to do well, but we didn’t expect to do this well,” said Erik Lomis, president of distribution and home entertainment for Weinstein Co., adding that “The Butler” is the company’s first No. 1 debut since 2009’s “Inglourious Basterds.”
Even with a full slate of newcomers, last week’s top movies claimed the second and third spots in the box-office race. The Jason Sudeikis-Jennifer Aniston Warner Bros. comedy, “We’re the Millers,” held onto second place in its second week of release with $17.78 million, while last week’s No. 1, Sony’s “Elysium,” dropped to third with $13.6 million.
“It was tough if you were any other film opening other than ‘The Butler,'” said Paul Dergarabedian of box-office tracker Hollywood.com.
’90s R&B figurehead Toni Braxton is ending her musical hiatus with the release of a collaborative album, Love, Marriage And Divorce, on 3rd Decemberwith fellow genre-pioneer Babyface and as a taster of the relationship-themed record to come, one of the album cuts, “Hurt You”, has hit the net.
A lawsuit was filed Thursday in California federal court by Ribin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and Clifford Harris against Marvin Gaye’s family and the owner of some of Gaye’s compositions, Bridgeport Music.
The purpose of the suit is to protect Thicke’s Summer hit Blurred Lines. At issue are complaints about similarities between “Blurred Lines” and at least two songs.
According to the suit, a copy of which was obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, “Plaintiffs, who have the utmost respect for and admiration of Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic and their musical legacies, reluctantly file this action in the face of multiple adverse claims from alleged successors in interest to those artists. Defendants continue to insist that plaintiffs’ massively successful composition, ‘Blurred Lines,’ copies ‘their’ compositions
The suit claims the Gaye family is alleging that “Blurred Lines” and Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up” “feel” or “sound” the same, and that the “Gaye defendants are claiming ownership of an entire genre, as opposed to a specific work.”
As for Funkadelic, there’s said to be claimed similarity between Thicke’s hit and Funakedlic’s “Sexy Ways.”
“But there are no similarities between plaintiffs’ composition and those the claimants allege they own, other than commonplace musical elements,” states the lawsuit. “Plaintiffs created a hit and did it without copying anyone else’s composition.”
A New York TImes critic has noted that “Blurred Lines” is “influenced heavily” by Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up,” but the lawsuit makes the point that “being reminiscent of a ‘sound’ is not copyright infringement. The intent in producing ‘Blurred Lines’ was to evoke an era.”
The Gayes and Bridgeport are said to be threatening litigation should the plaintiffs not pay a monetary settlement. Rather than wait for such a lawsuit to proceed, the plaintiffs are going to court to determine the parties’ respective rights and obligations.
WWE superstar Darren Young just dropped a bombshell, telling TMZ, he’s gay … and no, this isn’t part of the act.
Darren was at LAX Wednesday when we asked whether a gay wrestler could succeed in WWE, and Darren laughed, saying, “Absolutely. Look at me. I’m a WWE superstar and to be honest with you, I’ll tell you right now, I’m gay. And I’m happy. I’m very happy.”
For the record, Darren is now the first openly gay wrestler ever at WWE … and the first headlining wrestler ever to come out while still signed to a major promotion.
Other pro wrestlers have been rumored to be gay, but that’s it … just rumors.
Bottom line: this is big, big news. For all its chauvinism and testosterone-driven bravado, coming out in WWE is tantamount to coming out in the NFL
I’ve been waiting for this game for quite a long time and two days into playing, I am in love.
Payday 2 is a team based game where you are a squad of criminals who embark on various missions. Doing so, you receive cash which can be used to buy new weapons, new masks, and can be also used to customize all your gear.
What I love: -The first Payday was also team based but just wasn’t very good at it. The HUD was too limited, the missions could be done without a team, the classes showed no major difference, and you really never needed help. In Payday2 the HUD now shows your entire team, their health, armor, ammo, and equipment. Each mission requires you to work with them and use their special skills to accomplish each heist. -Every time you level up, you gain a skill point that can be used to level up certain classes. Now thankfully each class is significantly different from one another and each has a special ability -The first Payday had..uh maybe 5 or so missions? Now we have upwards of 12 missions (probably more) and certain missions has various parts to them. -I love being the bad guy in a game, it’s something you rarely are in video games. There’s a certain essence of “badass” about it. -The guns! Oh how I love the choices of them all! The first Payday was limited to just a hand few, Payday 2 has over 9 standard weapons and just as many secondary weapons. -The graphics! Oh this game looks beautiful compared to the last game. Then again a video in 360p would look better than the first Payday. -The options to do each Heist are endless. You can stealth it or go in guns blazing. A door can be opened in four different ways, cameras can be taken down in numerous ways, locks can be broken or picked; Oh the choices are wonderful!
What I dislike: -Nothing honestly.
Bonus section! What I hate: -The leveling system is just stupid. Each skill costs 1 skill point and a large amount of cash. To “Ace” a skill requires three points and an even larger amount of cash. Tier 3 level skills cost three points and a six figure cash amount…. -The guns are so expensive that I want to cry. A G36 rifle costs $200k and each upgrade can vary from $10k to even more. Thankfully we don’t have to pay for ammo, otherwise I’d quit. -Grinding every level. I’ve put five hours into the game and hit have hit level 24. Once I hit 24 I spent the next hour playing a serious heist, earned a ton of cash, but gained next to nothing in experience. The grind begins. -Crime.net. I don’t even know where to start with this. In the first Payday, you simply went to the multiplayer menu, selected a map and difficulty, and you were shown the available games. For Payday 2 they introduced Crime.net. A large, constantly updating map which shows all the available heists, their difficulty, pay, experience, lobby leader, and the open slots available. As nice as it sounds, having all that info shown to you, the map is glitchy move around, it updates too slow, and new missions aren’t able to be set up by yourself so you must play what the game says you must.
-You’re being shot! In a normal first person shooter, when you’re being shot at a red arrow or something of similar nature pops up in the direction you’re being shot from. It’s a tried a truth method that nearly ever shooting game uses. In Payday2 a half red circle shows up from what part of your is being shot it, in example an enemy can be in front of you but shooting at your left arm, thus it’ll show your left side is being shot. This has completely confused me and led me to be spinning in circles to find a guy who’s probably just right behind me.
Don’t get me wrong, I will max out my level in Payday 2 and continue to play this game till I find something more exciting to play with my friends. It’s a fun fun game and can be replayed till time ends. I love being a criminal, love the new improvements they’ve made, and love the gameplay. It’s not a perfect game, but I’m quite alright with that.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Miss. Winfrey explained that her intentions were not to cause a media feed fest when she mentioned what happened to her in Switzerland.
“I think that incident in Switzerland was just an incident in Switzerland. I’m really sorry that it got blown up. I purposefully did not mention the name of the store. I’m sorry that I said it was Switzerland. I was just referencing it as an example of being in a place where people don’t expect that you would be able to be there.”
The incident became international when Oprah suggested that it was racism that caused a store clerk in Switzerland to deny her seeing a handbag of her choice because it was too expensive.
She told Entertainment Tonight: “I was in Zurich the other day, at a store whose name I will not mention. I didn’t have my eyelashes on, but I was in full Oprah Winfrey gear. I had my little Donna Karan skirt and my little sandals on. But obviously ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ is not shown in Zurich.”
Oprah’s apology comes after the sales clerk accused her of lying. In a recent interview, the clerk emphatically denied being a racist and said she was shocked that Oprah made such a claim.
“It is absolutely not true that I declined to show her the bag on racist grounds. I even asked her if she wanted to look at the bag,” she said.
This has the makings of a lawsuit. Its the natural progression.
A federal judge has dismissed the racial discrimination claims in a lawsuit filed by a former employee against Paula Deen, the celebrity chef’s representative said Monday.
The former employee can’t claim to be a victim of racial discrimination targeting African-American workers because she is white, U.S. District Judge William T. Moore Jr. ruled. “At best, plaintiff is an accidental victim of the alleged racial discrimination,” Moore wrote.
Other aspects of the lawsuit, including sexual harassment and abusive treatment, are still pending.
“We are pleased with the Court’s ruling today that Lisa Jackson’s claims of race discrimination have been dismissed,” Deen’s representatives said in a statement to CNN. “As Ms. Deen has stated before, she is confident that those who truly know how she lives her life know that she believes in equal opportunity, kindness and fairness for everyone.”
Soulja Boy has a lot in common with Alec Baldwin — not that he’s as talented, but he’s definitely as disrespectful on American Airlines, because the renegade rapper got booted from an AA plane after causing a pre-flight scene.
Just like Alec, Soulja was on American Airlines Friday when the flight attendant took the mic and told everyone to sit the f**k down. Soulja, who was standing and walking the aisles, didn’t follow the command.
Just like Alec, a flight attendant approached the rapper and repeated the order and explained the consequences if he didn’t obey.
Just like Alec, the rapper blew her off.
And just like Alec, he was “removed” from the plane.
Unlike Alec, Soulja was actually contrite, telling TMZ, “It was a bad night and me and the flight staff didn’t see eye to eye. In hindsight, I’m extremely sorry for all inconvenience caused to the passengers and employees of the airline.”
Unlike Alec, Soulja probably will not get a Capital One commercial because … well, you know — he’s Soulja Boy, right?
She is horrified that someone as powerful as Oprah would make up such a story. In an interview with a Swiss newspaper, the clerk said:
“I don’t know why she is making these accusations. She is so powerful, and I am just a shop girl.
“It is absolutely not true that I declined to show her the bag on racist grounds. I even asked her if she wanted to look at the bag,” the woman said.
“I didn’t hurt anyone. I don’t know why someone as great as her must cannibalize me on TV. … If it had all taken place as she claimed, why has she not complained the next day at the wedding of Tina Turner with Trudie Goetz, my boss? She was there also at the Turner wedding as a guest. I don’t understand it. … I spoke to Oprah Winfrey in English. My English is OK but not excellent, unfortunately. … I didn’t know who she was when she came into the store. That wouldn’t have made any difference if I had.”
If a billionaire like Oprah Winfrey cannot escape those who judge her based on the color of her skin, people we affectionately call racists, what chance do you have if you’re just a member of the common folk group?
Oprah Winfrey must not be a household name in Switzerland because a store clerk at an expensive Zurich boutique didn’t know that American media mogul was a billionaire.
During a recent trip to northern Switzerland for Tina Turner’s wedding, Oprah said a saleswoman at Trois Pommes refused to show her a $38,000 handbag because it was “too expensive.”
“She said: `No, no, no, you don’t want to see that one. You want to see this one. Because that one will cost too much; you will not be able to afford that,’” Winfrey said in an interview with “Entertainment Tonight.” “And I said, `Well, I did really want to see that one.’ And she refused to get it.”
“I didn’t have my eyelashes on, but I was in full Oprah Winfrey gear. I had my little Donna Karan skirt and my little sandals. But obviously ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ is not shown in Zurich,” she added
She went on to say the sales assistant suggested she look at cheaper bags.
“There’s two different ways to handle it. I could’ve had the whole blow-up thing,” she said, but “I left the store but it proves that racism is still an issue.”
Just hours after “Entertainment Tonight” aired the interview, Swiss tourism officials and boutique owner Trudie Goetz offered their apologies to Ms. Winfrey.
“We are very sorry for what happened to her, of course, because we think all of our guests and clients should be treated respectfully, in a professional way,” said Swiss tourism spokeswoman Daniela Baer.
Goetz insisted that the whole incident was a misunderstanding.
“I’m very sorry about this incident,” she said during a radio interview. “This can only happen because of a communication problem and a misunderstanding.”
“The shop assistant apparently asked her (Oprah) if she would like to see the bag, but she apparently said `No, I just want to look’. And then she (Oprah) asked how much the bag costs and she (the employee) told her how much the bag was,” she explained. “I believe she rather said something like `we have some less expensive’ – `we also have some less expensive bags’ and not `it’s too expensive for you.’”
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