Monday January 12, 2014

 

Taken 3 Opens Over $40 Million

The third and final film in the Liam Neeson-led trilogy opened to some very high numbers over the weekend. Taken 3 brought in $40.4 million in its debut weekend, which is the second-highest January movie opening ever according to BoxOfficeMojo. Taken was far and away the top-grossing film of the weekend. Selma came in second place with $11.2 million in receipts over the weekend. Into the Woods took third place by a narrow margin over The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, $9.75 to $9.4 million. Unbroken rounded out the top five with $8.4 million.

We’ll have a more in-depth look at the numbers on Thursday in our Weekend Movie Guide. We’ll also look four movies either opening or expanding theaters this weekend; Paddington, American Sniper, The Wedding Ringer and Blackhat.

Packers-Seahawks, Colts-Patriots To Play For Spot In Super Bowl 49

In the NFC, the Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys yesterday by a score of 26-21 for the right to play the Seattle Seahawks, who beat the Carolina Panthers 31-17 on Saturday. On the AFC side, the New England Patriots edged out the Baltimore Ravens 35-31 on Saturday and will play the Indianapolis Colts, who beat the Denver Broncos 24-13.

The Cowboys nearly took the lead over the Packers with four minutes to go in the game on Sunday. Dez Bryant made what looked like a spectacular catch on a 4th-and-2 play. Officials said that Bryant did not maintain possession of the ball throughout the process of catching the ball and going to the ground. Bryant in no way, shape or form agreed with the call. Most pundits agreed that the officials made the right call, however, 30 seconds were allowed to run off the game clock that shouldn’t have. Nothing much looked right about Peyton Manning in the Broncos’ loss. It is now being reported that Manning has been playing recently with a torn right quad.

The AFC and NFC Championship games will be played Sunday January 18th. The Packers and Seahawks will play first at 2:05 PM CST for the NFC crown and the Colts-Patriots will follow at 5:40 pm for the right to face the winner in Super Bowl XLIX. This 49th Super Bowl will be played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. University of Phoenix stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals, was awarded the game in 2011 after plans fell through to host the game in Kansas City, Missouri. Katy Perry will headline the Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show and will be joined onstage by Lenny Kravitz. It’s been rumored that Blake Shelton has been asked to sing the National Anthem before the game.

Oregon and Ohio State Play For National Championship Tonight

The University of Oregon will play THE Ohio State University tonight for the National Championship of college football. Here are ten things to know before watching Oregon vs. Ohio State play for the College Football Playoff Championship presented by AT&T. Nevada sportsbooks currently have the Oregon Ducks as 6.5-point favorites. Marcus Mariota, this season’s Heisman Trophy winner and he of “Jesus, Girls and Marcus Mariota”, will attempt to close out his illustrious college career on top of the world. John Burroughs product Ezekiel Elliott, the Ohio State running back who became a superstar in two games, will attempt to lead the Buckeyes to their first National Championship since 2002.

Someone forgot to tell Nike that Oregon’s official color is green because they unveiled some ridiculous white and silver jerseys for them to wear tonight. It’s the latest in the disturbing trend of apparel companies being able to dress these athletes up in whatever clownsuits they damn well please.

Keurig To Launch Cold Beverage System

Keurig, the big dog of single-serve coffee brewing, is set to launch a single-serve cold beverage system in the fall. They’ve just signed a deal with the Dr Pepper Snapple Group to make single-serve capsules for the machine. The new product will put them in competition with Sodastream.

Boyhood Takes Home Top Prize at Golden Globes

Amy Poehler and Tina Fey drew great reviews as hosts of the 72nd annual Golden Globe Awards last night. Boyhood was named Best Drama, Director Richard Linklater won Best Director and Patricia Arquette won for her supporting role in the film. “Glory” from Selma by Common and John Legend won for Best Original Song. The Amazon-original show Transparent won two awards, overall for Best TV Comedy or Musical and Best Actor in a TV Comedy for Jeffrey Tambor. The awards were the first for Amazon-original programming. George Clooney accepted the Cecil B. DeMille Award and gave a speech honoring his wife, Amal.

Margaret Cho played a North Korean general who showed up throughout the night for a running joke about North Korea and The Interview. Poehler and Fey also made jokes about Bill Cosby, Civil Rights and the lifetime achievements by George Clooney’s wife throughout the night. Jennifer Lopez wore a caped Zuhair Murad gown. Vogue has a great slideshow of 2015 Golden Globes fashion, including whatever the hell Melissa McCarthy was wearing. Benedict Cumberbatch photobombed Meryl Streep. Taylor Swift, Lorde and Jamie King were among those that shook their tail-feather  various Globe after-parties.

Here is the complete list of award-winners and nominees from the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards. Here’s the opening monologue from hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

 

House Of Cards Season 3 Trailer

The trailer for season three of House of Cards debuted yesterday during the Golden Globes. Season three of the Netflix-original series premieres on February 27.

When the stakes are this high, Frank and Claire Underwood have but one option: fight to stay on top.

 

United States Absent From Paris Unity March

President Obama and his administration were targets of criticism from the U.S. and abroad yesterday when high-ranking officials were notably absent from a unity march held in Paris. A million people reportedly showed up at the rally in the face of the terror the city has faced since 12 people were shot at the offices of Charlie Hebdo. 40 World leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were at the front of the march while the United States was only represented at the rally by the country’s ambassador to France and assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry brushed off the criticism, calling it “sort of quibbling”.

Reporters Without Borders criticized some of the world leaders at the event, like the leaders of Egypt, Turkey and Russia, who have dismal press freedoms in their own countries.

Brothers Build Amazing Snow Turtle In Front Yard

These three brothers, Austin, Connor and Trevor Bartz are clearly masters at snow sculptures. The trio built a 12-foot-tall turtle from snow in their front yard in New Brighton, Minnesota. Check out their portfolio of snow sculptures on the Bartz Snow Sculptures Facebook page, including this amazing shark.

 

Kraft Screws Us All On Cadbury Creme Eggs Recipe Change

Cadbury Creme Eggs are delicious. They’ve always been delicious. But now, because Kraft is evil, they’ve changed the recipe used to make the delicious outside chocolate shell that holds the delicious inards. A Kraft spokesman recently admitted that the company changed the recipe in the United States to use a “standard cocoa mix chocolate” rather than the traditional “Dairy Milk shell”. Cadbury screwed people in the UK as well as they went from selling the eggs in packages of six to packages of five while leaving the price the same. Lovers of delicious Cadbury Creme Eggs across the pond have voiced their displeasure on social media.

Kelly Clarkson Debuts “Heartbeat Song”

“Heartbeat Song” is the first post-baby single for Kelly Clarkson.

Couple Marries 20 Years After Meeting As Flower Girl And Ring Bearer

BuzzFeed picked up a story today about a couple that originally met when they were the flower girl and ring bearer in a wedding as children. The story about the Minnesota couple originally appeared on Fox 9. This isn’t a story of the two lovebirds staying in touch since they first walked down the aisle. They were sitting in the same college class 15 years after that fateful wedding when Brittney turned around in her chair and told Briggs Fussy that she thought she had a picture of him on her wall at home.

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