FOX News Misunderestimates "Worlds"

It appears that the FOX News channel misunderestimated or made the mistake of speculating before getting the numbers in. Judging from the way ticket sales dropped off on its second day, the channel chose to run this headline on Saturday: "Bad Box-Office Omens for 'War of the Worlds'".

After checking out the E! Channel's website, it appears that FOX News should not have said anything. The thing to do would have been to wait until today and then evaluate its earnings. The E! Channel ran this headline: "'War' Cruises to Victory". Their report greatly contradicts what FOX News predicted (as do other articles that can be found by searching for the money it made over the 4th of July weekend). According to E!, "Steven Spielberg's latest batch of ETs put a world of hurt on the holiday box office". Paramount president Wayne Lewellen said:

This is the best opening in Paramount's history on several fronts--single day, three day, four day, etc. for both Paramount and Tom Cruise. It's the fastest film to get to $100 million for both Cruise and Paramount and also Spielberg

FOX also makes another flub which can be found in this article, "'War of the Worlds' Gets So-So Reviews". It says this:

The only rave review for the movie so far from a major publication is in the trade paper Variety. But the publication is famous for putting a brave face on anything Paramount releases. (Variety's editor-in-chief, Peter Bart, was long ago a key executive at Paramount, and still feels loyal to his old studio.)

But FOX News could not be more wrong. Just visit RottenTomatoes.com to see how "fresh" this movie really is. 71% of the "Cream of the Crop" say it is "fresh". This "Cream of the Crop" includes Entertainment Weekly, which says

War of the Worlds is an attack-of-the-aliens disaster film crafted with sinister technological grandeur -- a true popcorn apocalypse.
-- Owen Gleiberman, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

And the Washington Post which says

Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds is a close encounter of the blurred kind, an orchestration of chaos and panic and destruction as visceral as it can get.
-- Stephen Hunter, WASHINGTON POST

So you see, Variety does not stand alone. After visiting to see if they would have a report for today that "corrected" their previous thinking, I struck out. There is no report for the money it has taken in even though it was the highest grossing movie this weekend. FOX News is simply way too conservative to understand how to report on entertainment in America. That is why when Tom Cruise acts out, all they can do is laugh and harangue him.

Wouldn't it be nice if FOX News could just not say anything that had to do with Hollywood? It's too bad that will never happen.

True American

As the Fourth of July rolls around, it's important to bring up the idea of what it means to be a "true American". I think a great example this year is the rap superstar Eminem.



He recently saved Detroit's state-of-the-art fireworks show from being canceled. It was threatened by a budget dispute. The Detroit Mayor said of the budget that the cuts in it did not allow for enough police presence for the night of the fireworks show. Eminem came in and decided he would sing "Lose Yourself" right before a huge fundraiser that was to be held in Detroit with Detroit Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick. The tickets went for 175 dollars each and 2,000 were expected to be sold. Eminem issued this statement:

The fireworks are a big part of summertime in Detroit, and I want to support them and the mayor...I've come downtown to watch them since I was a kid, and I'll get involved in something that helps the city any way I can.

For this and his provocative rap music, I call Eminem one of today's "true Americans".

Do you find my thinking questionable? Still, wondering what a "true American" really is? Well, try this article. Maybe you will find the answer you are looking for.

Just What Is a True American?

Luther Vandross (1951-2005)

It is disappointing to see such a great singer die at such a young age in my opinion. But Luther Vandross has died at the age of 54. He was famous for hits like "A House Is Not a Home", "Power of Love/Love Power", "Love Won't Let Me Wait", "Stop to Love", "There's Nothing Better Than Love", and "Any Love." He had a stroke two years ago but was able to make a come back with Dance With My Father. Unfortunately, he went through some health complications and was not able to recover this time.

(Note: It seems logical that he was going to slip sooner or later when you look at his health over the past two years. Unfortunately, FOX News is polluting the world of news with this.)