January 30, 2006

This time it's Fox's turn to display wide smile for its "Big Momma's House 2" has managed to secure the top position on U.S Box Office charts, opening at $28 million which surprisingly turns out to be the second best gross ever for January. Taking place behind this comedy flick is "Nanny McPhee" with $14.1 million, followed by the former number one movie, "Underworld: Evolution", on the third rank and the PG-13 entry from Disney, "Annapolis", on the fourth.

The rest from the fifth to tenth rank compiled in order are "Hoodwinked", "Brokeback Mountain", "Glory Road", "Last Holiday", "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", and last but not least, "The Matador" which has amazingly moved up 18 slots from its previous position.

Following her triumph at Golden Globe Awards, Reese Witherspoon gloriously added one more honor to her awards list as she has been named Best Actress at the 12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards through Walk the Line (2005), accompanied by Philip Seymour Hoffman who won the Best Actor category from Capote (2005). The title of Best Supporting Actor was presented to Paul Giamatti for starring in Cinderella Man (2005), while the Best Supporting Actress to Rachel Weisz, her second major award in this year after the Golden Globe Award she received earlier from The Constant Gardener (2005), just like Witherspoon. In the television feature, it's Kiefer Sutherland who finally came out as the Best Actor in a Drama Series through "24" and Sandra Oh as the Best Actress for starring as Dr. Christina Yang in "Grey's Anatomy".

Paul Haggis's Crash is honored an award of "Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture" meanwhile ABC's hit series "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" won top acting honors for television with category "Drama Series" and "Comedy Series".

"A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" successfully obtained two honors at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival held on Saturday, gaining a Special Jury Prizes for Best Ensemble Performance and the Dramatic Directing Award for its director, Dito Montiel. Top honor went to Christopher Quinn's "God Grew Tired of Us" which received the Grand Jury Prize for documentary feature while also acquired the Audience Award in documentary category. The same thing happened to "Quinceanera" as it was granted both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for dramatic picture.

French thriller, "13 Tzameti" won the Dramatic Jury Prize for World Cinema along with "In the Pit" which earned the Documentary Jury Prize for World Cinema. Meanwhile, The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award was presented to writer-director Hilary Brougher for "Stephanie Daley."

Carrying a mission to raise fund for students affected by earthquake happened in Pakistan last October, Bryan Adams boldly crossed the ocean to show up in front of 10,000 fans at a concert in the country's port city of Karachi on Sunday. Scheduled to meet President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in Islamabad on Monday, the Canadian rocker performed most of his hit songs and moving the audience with "Summer of 69" at this first concert by a Western singer in the country since the 9/11 incident.

Huge accolades keep coming on Ang Lee's way indeed, and this time it's the title of Filmmaker of the Year he has been bestowed of at the 2006 Directors Guild of America Awards, none other than for his remarkable work in "Brokeback Mountain." "Ang Lee is fierce in his timidity, his humbleness and his respect for everyone around him," so "Brokeback" actor, Jake Gyllenhaal, lauded when presenting the director with a medallion in honor of his nomination.

Winning this top honor on Saturday, the triumph certainly strengthened his position as the strong contender for being the 2006 Oscar nominee in Best Director category since the event is one of Hollywood's best barometers for the Academy Awards. Only six times in the 57-year history of the Guild honors has the winner failed to go on to win the directing Oscar.

Fans of Jennifer Lopez who have waited in anticipation for her first all-Spanish album, Como Ama Una Mujer, to come out could as well be excited for this piece of work is really on the brink of its completion. Estefano, the producer and writer of this record, has been reported to be on the process to give it finishing touches, making it for sure that the album will become a collection of "big ballads" he has heralded of. "You will be surprised with this woman's album," he promoted. "You will be surprised to see this singer. These are big songs that require a voice."

Harry O's on Main Street in Park City, Utah on Wednesday night got more rock sounds as Metallica showed up there to perform for the premiere party of "The Darwin Awards" following the film's presentation at Sundance Film Festival. Appeared on one scene in this feature, the band played about 14 songs witnessed by the film's cast members, like Winona Ryder, Joseph Fiennes, and Wilmer Valderrama among others.

In the anticipation of their new studio album to come, Pearl Jam has completed working on their holiday single, sent annually to members of its Ten Club fan organization. Expected to be released by early February, as stated on their official site, the single features the collaboration with Robert Plant on the live cover of the Elvis Presley-popularized "Little Sister" on side A while side B contains the demo version of their new song, "Gone", which previously debuted in October 2005 during a show in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

A gritty drug-dealing drama based on a real story about suburban boys, "Alpha Dog", delightfully has been chosen to close the Sundance Film Festival on Friday night before this main U.S gathering for independent films presents some awards for the best features. Star of the film, pop idol Justin Timberlake, responded warmly to this selection, saying that it is the perfect movie to end the festival because it "tackles real issues in a real way." "You don't have to worry about things you have to worry about with big-budget studio film and that's why it's appropriate," he commented.

Composing a collection of romantic pop standards, Italian singer Andrea Bocelli finally is ready to spread love all over the world with his new two-version album. Set to be released in the international market is "Amore" which will come up on January 31, 2006 in U.S and February 24 in much of the rest of the world, while the all-Spanish version called "Amor" follows on March 22 for the Latin market.

Slated to be promoted through a massive TV campaign, an iTunes promotion, also partnerships with retailers in U.S, the album contains a duet track Bocelli collaborated with Christina Aguilera popularized in English as "It's Impossible" and another with Stevie Wonder on vocals and harmonica entitled "Canzoni Stonate."

More artists have given their confirmation to perform at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards as Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay, and Sugarland have been added to the list along with Christina Aguilera, Herbie Hancock, Maroon 5, John Legend, Joss Stone, plus Robert Randolph. The award show itself will be aired live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 8 while also is going to be broadcasted on the Westwood One Radio Network.

Amid the speculations about the date of her wedding ceremony with Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie apparently gets reluctant to make her way to the marriage altar, even she has reportedly kept telling director Robert Rodriguez that she and Pitt will never marry. "If the kids get older and demand that we have a ceremony, we might. But that's a touchy subject with us," so she said as reported by Star magazine. However, she seems quite enthusiastic when talking about her baby, revealing that she along with Pitt have intended to have the baby born near her birthday on June 4. "My mom suggested it," she admitted. "She's really into astrology and thought it would be great to have a Gemini like me."

Those who still curious about the failed marriage between former Hollywood golden couple of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston are likely to rejoice on this report. Yes, the actress is about to unveil all the unknown truth behind this matter on a book she will write herself. Being rumored to have kept a diary during her marriage with the Hollywood hunk, the former "Friends" star, according to Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper, is reportedly looking forward on the book as a revenge for Pitt's romance with Angelina Jolie. Looking forward to see your book come up quickly in stores too, Jen.