Christian Bale knows what he's talking about when he says parents should resist the temptation of allowing or encouraging children to become a child star; Bale has worked in Hollywood since he was 8-years-old, and starred in his first major role at 12 in "Empire of the Sun."
When considering the large number of child stars that have been destroyed by, or in the process of being destroyed by the industry, Bale is right on with his comments.
He said the major struggle is with the enormous pressure the industry brings on young people. Look over the last year and young stars like Vanessa Hudgens and Miley Cyrus to see what the industry attempts to do to young stars; even ones grounded like Miley.
Americans will be celebrating their Independence Day on the Fourth of July. Here's several patriotic videos from major music artists singing songs commemorating the day.
In a hit piece on Limbaugh this coming weekend by the New York Times (NYSE: NYT), they will claim Limbaugh has received a 9-figure signing bonus and he is buying a G550 jet, while making $38 million a year.
As you can see in the photo below, Limbaugh is portrayed as a Godfather-like figure in the Times, with as The Drudge Report says, in a "dark and sinister" persona. Sounds like envy from the liberal and fading Times.
In the season ending that everyone has been waiting for...no, not to find out what happened, but hopefully to find out that MTV axed the stupid show, Tila Tequila was humiliated and turned down by her final selection for the one she wanted a "shot at love with" Kristy Morgan.
Evidently Kristy used the show as a premise to get herself known, and wasn't really interested in the deviant Tequila, who was made famous by whoring herself on MySpace.
At the home of the band - where Johnny Schou lived - he was found dead today, the same day the up and coming band released their CD "Madeline." Schou was 22. The cause of death at this time hasn't been released.
"Tickle Me Pink" is the newest part of the burgeoning Colorado band scene, where a number of groups have signed on to major labels. Tickle Me Pink released their album today under Wind Up Records.
Playing a big role in the increasing popularity of the band was KTCL/93.3-FM, who's program director Nerf, said about Schou's death, "I was talking to him on Sunday at the Warped Tour, and he was roaming around saying how nice it was to be back home, saying how excited he was to be selling their CD at the Warped Tour."
Of the major broadcast networks, Fox (NYSE:NWS-A) continues to draw the youngest viewership by a wide margin, as the average age of those tuning into the network was 44 for the 2007-2008 season.
In contrast, CBS (NYSE:CBS-A) has the oldest audience watching, with 54 being the average age of those watching. Next is ABC (NYSE:DIS) with 50, and NBC (NYSE:GE) right behind at 49. The CW, which almost no one watches, skews younger at 34.
The numbers from the study by Magna Global, don't include the viewers using DVRs, which typically brings the numbers a little lower, as normally younger people use them.
As people look for less expensive forms of entertainment, the movie theater has become a big hit again, as viewers are coming out in droves so far this summer as the price of gasoline and some food items continue to rise.
This weekend was no different, as the family-friendly film Wall-E led the strong box office with a good $62.5 million in its debut. As usual, Pixar has their act together, as the meticulous attention to detail and telling great stories continues to be a recipe for success.
It's amazing to me that Hollywood doesn't take more notice of the Pixar success and begin to emulate them more. The key to their success is the development of the story above all else. Animation is simply the means of telling the story, not the reason it's so successful. This is why so many special effect movies are duds. Just because their are "cool" effects in a movie doesn't guarantee people will want to view it. That new has already worn off, and it's back to good storytelling.
The experiment by Activision to launch a Guitar Hero video game as a niche band, will be interesting to watch to see if there is a large enough market to support the initiative.
In this case, they're working with Aerosmith, in a game called of course: Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.
Although dubbed and marketed as Aerosmith, it will include some of the artists the group has worked with throughout their careers, such as Run D.M.C.'s "'Walk This Way' and 'I Hate Myself for Loving You' by Joan Jett." Users will also be able to work with 30 of the best known hits of the band with the game as well.
Developed through Activision's RedOctane unit, the co-founder of the division, Charles Huang concurred it was a trial run saying, "This is an experiment for us. There are certain artists that have so much great music like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen ... but we wanted to do something much bigger."
The upcoming release of "Hancock," which was created to be some type of dark, anti-hero to the populur superhero genre, will end up being a unmitigated disaster when released over the July 4 weekend.
There will probably be some frontloaded success for the film in the first couple days, but when parents who think it is the usual family-friendly fare, subject their children unto a vulgar-filled, adulterous and loser-of-a-character film, it won't be long before they turn back to the great family show Wall-E, which is releasing this weekend.
So what's the problem here? It's the weekend it's being released and the audience it should have been tailored to. It fails on all counts in those areas.
As Roger Friedman said about the film, "In the end, a Will Smith movie with special effects released on July 4 weekend has to be family- and early teen-accessible. 'Hancock' is neither. It’s often violent in realistic ways, the plot hinges on an extramarital affair and the main character lacks swagger, confidence and manners."
It is billed as "The first and only industry-wide tradeshow, conference, and media event dedicated to promoting the dynamic industry of blogging and new media."
Included with the event will be a number of leading blogging personalities, along with over "50 seminars, panel discussions and keynotes."
Not only is the conference a must for anybody that blogs, but also those with podcasts, Vloggers, video creators or those streaming audio.
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