Loving Stuff
I have a confession to make: I love my car. It’s not a particularly snazzy or pretty car, mind you. It’s a Honda Fit—a vehicle slightly bigger than a skateboard that requires me to switch out the gerbils every other month or so. But since I’m not particularly snazzy or pretty myself, we seem pretty […]
Movie Monday: Unknown
The box office was a misty, mysterious place to be this weekend, with four movies packed tightly together at the top of the standings, looking like a handful of cinematic sardines. And since we still have a Presidents’ Day worth of box office receipts to tabulate, the entertainment industry’s cash counters aren’t yet willing to […]
Humans in Jeopardy?
So for those of you who missed it, Watson—IBM’s wicked smart supercomputer—beat renowned Jeopardy champs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter in a much-hyped three-day smackdown on the game show. Watson pocketed $77,147 in cash (along with a $1 million grand prize), while Jennings and Rutter won $24,000 and $21,600 respectively. And, as you can see […]
Movie Monday: Just Go With It
It was a box office showdown between a 16-year-old superstar and a 44-year-old superstar who still thinks he’s 16, with the oldster showing the whippersnapper how it’s done. Adam Sandler’s Just Go With It barely edged the concert biopic Justin Bieber: Never Say Never this week, $31 million to $30.3 million. It was the 11th […]
Anxious America
I’m not exactly sure when it struck me. Maybe it was when I brushed my teeth this morning and found the bathroom floor littered with bristles. Maybe it was when I bit through my cereal spoon. Maybe it was when I shook my fist at the plastic pink flamingo in my neighbor’s yard. But at […]
Oh, Yeah, There Was a Game, Too
Game? There was a game? Yeah, there was a game of some sort yesterday, one in which the Green Bay Packers scored 31 runs on the Pittsburgh Steelers, with Aaron Rogers dribbling the ball for all its worth and sinking it into the net several times to take the checkered flag. The Packers won something […]
Movie Monday: The Roommate
Is it time for Hollywood to begin biting their collective, metaphorical nails? D-grade horror film The Roommate snagged box office honors this week with $15.6 million, but the real scare might come from the weekend’s cumulative bottom line. Revenue was down 25% compared to the same time last year—a familiar refrain thus far in 2011. […]
Movie Monday: The Rite
The faith-inflected frightfest The Rite scared up $15 million to claim No. 1 at the box office this weekend. It proved Anthony Hopkins, at the age of 73, can still be a pretty scary guy. In a way, from Plugged In’s perspective, The Rite wasn’t nearly as frightening as second place No Strings Attached—the sexually […]
Oscar: The Movie World’s Kingmaker
Oscar, America’s favorite naked golden statuette, bestowed its shiny favor on a handful of films this morning, honoring the fighter in all of them, their true grit. From their inception and through the more than 127 hours of their making, they’ve inspired us, enthralled us and occasionally even depressed us. They’ve toyed with us, told […]
Movie Monday: No Strings Attached
Get ready, America, for the year of Natalie Portman. Portman’s No Strings Attached (which also stars camera pitchman Ashton Kutcher) roped in box office honors this weekend, threading its way to $20.3 million. It’s one of two films she has in the top 10 this week (the other is Black Swan, settling in at No. […]