Category Archives: Entertainment

Cudder’s MOTM2 sells over 176,000 copies in first week

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Kid Cudi’s sophomore record Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager had a terrific first week in sales.  It sold 176,298 copies in just seven days!  Feel free to compare this to sales from last years debut; MOTM: The End of Day sold 104,000 copies.  Cudder’s heading in the right direction, that’s for sure.  And here’s a awesome stat for yah: 26,000 copies were preordered on iTunes, making this album one of the fastest selling records for Universal Music before it even released!  Speaking of iTunes, 55,000 copies of the album were purchased on iTunes on day one. Quite impressive, young Mescudi.  If you haven’t got your paws on this runaway hit, only lord knows what you’re waiting for.

[Via DatNewCudi]

The Beatles has arrived on iTunes

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After years of legal disputes, including trademark infringements, originating in the ’70s (it was Apple Corps. vs Apple Computer), the band and the tech company decided to make peace in 2007, and just three years later the two are able to celebrate with the release of the entire Beatles music catalog on iTunes.

Apple threw up a teaser page last night that said, “Tomorrow is just another day.  That you’ll never forget.”  This morning at 10AM ET the teaser disappeared to reveal an image of the Fab Four and it reads, “The Beatles.  Now on iTunes.”  iTunes now offers the band’s 13 studio albums, ranging from Please Please Me (1963) to Let It Be (1970).  Each remastered album comes with their respective tracks, a mini-documentary, and iTunes LP content (which includes liner notes and photos); they priced at $12.99 and individual tracks go for the standard $1.29.  The mini-documentaries are “album only” purchases.

In addition to the 13 studio albums, iTunes also offers Past Masters, Vols. 1 & 2, the 1988 release that bundles 33 Beatles songs that were not included on the original U.K. albums.  The store also sells The Beatles (1962-1966) collection known as “The Red Album”; it includes 26 popular Beatles songs ranging from their debut up until the release of Revolver.  The Beatles (1967-1970) or “The Blue Album” includes 28 popular Beatles songs from their later years.  The “Red” & “Blue” albums released simultaneously in 1973, three years after the band broke up.  Past Masters, Vols. 1 & 2 and the “Red” & “Blue” albums cost $19.99 each; like their studio album counterparts they come with iTunes LP content.

And finally there’s the Beatles-iTunes motherload.  For $149 you can make your life easy and purchase The Beatles Box Set which includes all 13 studio albums, Past Masters, Vols. 1 & 2, and a video of the band’s first U.S. concert–the 1964 show at Washington Coliseum.  The box set comes with every mini-documentary from the individual albums, as well as a ton of iTunes LP content.

That about sums it up.  The Beatles are on iTunes. Boom.  Besides adding all this amazing content to iTunes, Apple has put together a new ad campaign featuring Beatles songs and black-and-white photos.  Head over to Apple’s new Beatles page to watch all five ads.  There you’ll also find a link to watch the 1964 show at Washington Coliseum; the 41 minute concert (which is a “worldwide iTunes exclusive”) will be available to stream for free on the site for the remainder of the year.

Look after the break for the official PR.  In it Apple CEO Steve Jobs, the two remaining Beatles Ringo and Paul, Yoko Ono Lennon, Olivia Harrison, and EMI Group CEO Roger Faxon share their excitement and relief that the Beatles collection has finally arrived on iTunes.

I happened to purchase the physical Beatles box set when it released in limited quantities last year, but I’m glad the entire collection is available in the world’s largest online retailer of music.  The ease of previewing and downloading tracks will give newcomers a healthy dose of some of the greatest music ever produced.  With The Beatles: Rock Band and Beatles music on iTunes, the current generation of young people is pretty much golden.

[Via Apple; iTunes] Continue reading The Beatles has arrived on iTunes →

NBC announces midseason schedule

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Parks and Rec is coming, Parks and Rec is coming!  Sorry, I can hardly contain my excitement for the return of Leslie Knope and the entire Pawnee gang.  Today NBC announced its midseason schedule, which includes the return of The Biggest Loser, Minute to Win It, Parks and Recreation, and The Marriage Ref and Who Do You Think You Are?, four series premieres (The Cape, Harry’s Law, Perfect Couples, America’s Next Great Restaurant), and some program shuffling.  The biggest shakeup?  Starting January 20 NBC’s Thursday night comedy lineup will include six–count ’em–six comedies in the extended 8PM to 11PM block.  It’s the first time since the 1991-92 season that NBC is pulling such a stunt.  The lineup includes Community, Perfect Couples, The Office, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, and Outsourced.  Other scheduling shifts: Parenthood moves to Monday, Law & Order: Los Angeles to Tuesday, Chase to Wednesday, and Law & Order: SVU to 10PM on Wednesday.  In related news, NBC renewed 30 Rock for a sixth season.  Jump after the break to review the full sched.  Click here to preview the new NBC shows.

[Via Deadline] Continue reading NBC announces midseason schedule →

NBCU TV Chairman Jeff Gaspin departs as Comcast merger looms

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NBC Universal TV Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin will follow ex-NBCU CEO Jeff Zucker out the door as the NBCU-Comcast merger approaches.  Gaspin served as Chairman since July 2009, and before that he was President and COO of NBC Universal TV Group and VP of alternative series.  He helped develop shows like The Apprentice and The Biggest Loser.  Apparently he and newly appointed NBCU CEO Steve Burke “could not agree on an appropriate role” for him post-merger, and he plans to formally leave the company shortly after the merger takes place.  And so the network shakeup continues.  Look after the break to read Gaspin’s exit memo.

[Via Deadline; EW] Continue reading NBCU TV Chairman Jeff Gaspin departs as Comcast merger looms →

Classic Disney movies get radically remixed

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Pogo, an Australian electronic music producer, was commissioned by Disney to remix a bunch of their classic movies.  He is best known for his work recording small sounds from a single film or scene and sequencing them to form a new piece of music.  His latest creation “Wishery” combines vocal syllables, musical chords, and sound effects recorded from the 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  The video quickly became a viral sensation and started exposing people the rest of Pogo’s fantastic work.  For about a year Pogo was contractually obligated to keep his remixed video offline, but now that the Disney gag order has been lifted, you will find over a dozen of them at his YouTube channel.  Some of my favorites include sounds from Up, Toy Story, Harry Potter, and Alice; these are embedded after the break.  Pogo’s got a Pirates Of The Caribbean remix waiting in the wings; he calls it his best mix yet.

[Via PogoMix; YouTube] Continue reading Classic Disney movies get radically remixed →

Trailer #3: ‘Tron: Legacy’

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This just isn’t healthy anymore.  One more full length Tron trailer and my brain might explode.  No joke.  Well, what are you waiting for?  Sit back, relax, and enjoy 2 minutes and 32 seconds of pure bliss.  This latest trailer features more never-before-seen footage, including a lengthier look at the villainous Clu, the CGI’d younger version of Jeff Bridges.

Model Brooklyn Decker shines in the upcoming Adam Sandler comedy ‘Just Go With It’

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Super gorgeous model Brooklyn Decker–who showed off her bodacious curves on the cover of this year’s Sports Illustration swimsuit edition–stars alongside Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston in the upcoming Happy Madison production Just Go With It. The movie actually looks pretty funny, but that’s not why I’ll be going to the theatre to see it.  Time code 0:33 is precisely why.  It opens February 11, 2011.

OK Go’s latest music video stars 2,430 pieces of toast

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By now you should know that when it comes to making music videos, rock band OK Go never holds back.  From datamashing to Rube Goldberg-ing to training 12 dogs and a goat, OK Go knows how to wildly impress its fans by representing their music with imaginative and awe-inspiring visuals.  For their next experiment video, the band used–drum roll, please–toast.  But it’s not that simple!  Using a Samsung NX100 micro four-thirds camera they took pictures of 2,430 pieces of toast (or 215 loaves of bread) and effectively used the process of laser-etching and stop motion to tell a story.  They took 15 still shots for every second of video.  The animation stages must’ve been painstakingly difficult to produce, and yet there’s something quite beautiful about all of it and this helps direct your mind to the final aesthetic instead of towards the blood and sweat put into it.  As always, a nod of gratitude is due here.  These guys can do it all.

[Via OK Go website, Twitter, YouTube]

Music video: Rihanna – “What’s My Name” (Featuring Drake)

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You won’t find anything too extraordinary about this Philip Andelman-directed music video, but I gotta take a time-out to support my girl Rihanna.  Her third studio album Loud releases physically and digitally November 16.  See the tracklist here, and watch the music video for the lead single “Only Girl (In the World)” here.  Good to see RiRi back in full form; not that Rated R was a let down (in fact it was quite good)–I’m just happy she’s found a way out of the depressing times that dominated her music post-Chris Brown incident.

G.O.O.D. Friday: Kanye West – “Chain Heavy” (Featuring Talib Kweli & Consequence)

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Mr. West is back with another G.O.O.D. Friday cut.  And this one is special because we’ve been anticipating it for quite some time now.  Kanye first performed a verse from it way back in July at the Facebook headquarters.  With verses including lines like “I am the day Ice Cube met Michael Jackson / Keep him away, huh? Something might happen / This is the making of a masterpiece / So we broke out the chains and told ‘em master, peace!” and a heavy beat (pun intended) backed by a piercing theremin and Q-Tip on the keys, this has got to be one of the best Friday tracks yet.  And it doesn’t hurt that fellow rappers Talib Kweli & Consequence (Tip’s cousin) round out the solid number with their very own verses.  Preview and download “Chain Heavy” below.  Hopefully “Mama’s Boyfriend”, the other track ‘Ye previewed at Facebook, is not too far off from release.

Download: Kanye West – “Chain Heavy” (Featuring Talib Kweli & Consequence)

[audio: Kanye West – Chain Heavy (Featuring Talib Kweli & Consequence).mp3]

Look after the break to find last week’s G.O.O.D. Friday track “Looking for Trouble” (Featuring Pusha T, Cyhi the Prynce, Big Sean & J. Cole).

[Via KWBlog]

Continue reading G.O.O.D. Friday: Kanye West – “Chain Heavy” (Featuring Talib Kweli & Consequence) →

Trailer: ‘Winnie the Pooh’

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That’s right, people.  Winnie the Pooh and company are making their way back to the silver screen for the first time in over 35 years.  Disney brought back original animator Burny Mattinson (who will serve as senior story artist) to capture the classic essence that made everything so perfect about the original incarnation of Pooh and all the inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood.  The film is co-directed by Stephen Anderson (Meet the Robinsons) and Don Hall (The Princess and the Frog).  Craig Ferguson, Tom Kenny, and Bud Luckey lend their voices to the 2D animated film.  Zooey Deschanel is set to sing the new version of the “Winnie the Pooh” theme song.  You want a synopsis?  You got it:

Walt Disney Animation Studios returns to the Hundred Acre Wood with “Winnie the Pooh,” the first big-screen Pooh adventure from Disney animation in more than 35 years. With the charm, wit and whimsy of the original featurettes, this all-new movie reunites audiences with the philosophical “bear of very little brain” and friends Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Kanga, Roo—and last, but certainly not least, Eeyore, who has lost his tail.

Inspired by five stories from A.A. Milne’s books in Disney’s classic, hand-drawn art style, the film reunites audiences with the [honey]-loving, philosophical bear and friends Eeyore, Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet and Owl in a wild quest to save [their friend] Christopher Robin from an imaginary culprit. It turns out to be a very busy day for a bear who simply set out to find some hunny.

If the first trailer sitting above does not make you immediately tingle all over and feel so warm and fuzzy inside, there’s something clearly wrong with you.  Because Disney made the right decision of holding onto the original 2D animation (instead of opting for today’s 3D in-your-face pseudo-standard), this movie will undoubtedly hit all the right notes and shoot a wave of nostalgia goodness across our minds.  I highly anticipate the return of Pooh-bear; do you?

Winnie the Pooh hits theatres July 15, 2011.  Check out some beautifully crafted stills in the gallery below.

[Via CNET; JoBlo; @brianrudlof]