Saturday, November 30, 2013

Box Office: 'Catching Fire,' 'Frozen' Making Thanksgiving History


In regards to records, Frozen is easily on course to nab the top Thanksgiving opening of all time, eclipsing the $80.1 million five-day debut of Pixar's Toy Story 2 in 1999. It's also destined to score the top opening for a Disney Animation Studios title, besting the $68.7 million debut of Tangled over Thanksgiving in 2010.

Catching Fire, now in its second weekend, will mark the top-grossing Thanksgiving film of any movie, topping previous record-holder Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ($82.4 million). It also nabbed the best gross ever for Thanksgiving day -- $14.9 million from 4,163 theaters -- besting the $13.1 million earned by Toy Story 2. Globally, the tentpole has earned north of $423 million.

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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Walt Disney's Daughter, Diane Disney Miller, Dies at 79


Diane Disney Miller, the daughter of Walt Disney and a force in making sure architect Frank Gehry completed the Los Angeles concert hall that bears her father’s name, died Tuesday at her home in Napa, Calif., after suffering a recent fall. She was 79.

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Review: Microsoft Xbox One


Many game consoles aspire to be more than just a game console, but Xbox One really means it. Xbox One wants to be your everything and run your TV, your Blu-rays, your streaming, your music and, oh, sure, your videogames too. It wants to do it all with Kinect, the camera controller that’s included in every box, letting you use voice commands to control everything.

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Friday, November 15, 2013

No TV Show Has Ever Loved Math as Much as Futurama

WIRED spoke to Singh and Futurama executive producer and head writer David X. Cohen about Futurama’s legacy, mathematical and otherwise.



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Wednesday, November 13, 2013

'I Love Lucy' Actress Shirley Mitchell Dies at 94


Mitchell, who was believed to be the last surviving adult castmember from the legendary CBS sitcom, died Nov. 11 of heart failure at her condominium in Westwood, her sister-in-law, the Oscar-nominated Sunset Blvd. actress Nancy Olson, told The Hollywood Reporter.

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Netflix’s New Look Is a Glimpse at the Future of TV


On the surface it just looks like a sleek new interface upgrade – better images, more integrated program information – but underneath there’s a hint of things to come: the idea that soon, viewers will look at the video-streaming service no differently than they do the guide channel piped in through their living room’s cable box.

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Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Video Accounts for 53 Percent of Internet Traffic


Netflix represents the lion's share of that traffic at 31.62 percent. YouTube trails with 18.69 percent but still accounts for the second-highest amount of traffic.

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Thursday, November 7, 2013

Marvel to Make 4 New Superhero Shows and a Miniseries for Netflix


The new series will focus on the company’s “ground level” super-characters, launching with Daredevil, then Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage before all four characters combine Avengers-style for the mini-series The Defenders.

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Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Blockbuster To Close Remaining Stores

Dish Network, which paid $234M to take Blockbuster out of bankruptcy in early 2011, said today that it will close the 300 remaining U.S. retail stores as well as its distribution centers. Blockbuster’s DVD by mail service will also end, although franchisees and licensed Blockbusters stateside and overseas will be unaffected.

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19 Films Submitted for Animated Feature Oscar


Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Epic
Ernest and Celestine
The Fake
Free Birds
Frozen
Khumba
The Legend of Sarila
A Letter to Momo
Monsters University
O ApĆ³stolo
Planes
Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie – Rebellion
Rio: 2096 A Story of Love and Fury
The Smurfs 2
Turbo
The Wind Rises


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Monday, November 4, 2013

New FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler: 7 Things to Know

Wheeler was confirmed along with a Republican, Michael O'Reilly, a former Senate staffer, bringing the commission to full strength for the first time since Julius Genachowski resigned as chairman in May.

This isn't just another chairman, however. Wheeler arrives with the explicit endorsement of President Obama, who, in announcing the appointment May 1 at the White House, praised Wheeler as someone who has been at the forefront of dramatic changes in the way people communicate.

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'The Simpsons' Pays Tribute to Marcia Wallace in Show Opening

"We'll really miss you Mrs. K.," Bart Simpson wrote on the chalkboard in the credits sequence ahead of Sunday night's new episode, "Four Regrettings and a Funeral."

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