Monday, August 22, 2016

Monday's Doors Shut

It's the third one down first:

"Matt Roberts, 38, founding guitarist of 3 Doors Down" Associated Press  August 22, 2016

WEST BEND, Wis. — Guitarist Matt Roberts, a founding member of the rock band 3 Doors Down, died Saturday in Wisconsin.

The 38-year-old was in West Bend to perform at a benefit. The West Bend Police Department said someone called authorities around 7 a.m. Saturday to report an unconscious man in a hotel hallway. Police and firefighters found Mr. Roberts dead.

The police statement said there were no signs of trauma and the cause of death was not immediately known. An autopsy was planned for Sunday.

Mr. Roberts left 3 Doors Down in 2012 for health reasons.

I don't want to speculate, but did he have a heroin problem?  

It's a reasonable deduction considering his industry. 

Wouldn't be the first time, and likely won't be the last. 

The paradox is such abuse is what often leads to their incredible talents, or at least enables them to draw it out for the rest of us to marvel at. 

According to Billboard, he helped found the band with vocalist Brad Arnold and bassist Todd Harrell. They were all natives of Escatawpa, Miss.

The band’s biggest hit was the 2000 song ‘‘Kryptonite,’’ which was nominated for a Grammy Award.

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I've heard of the band because they played at some Bush function back in 2004 or so. If I ever heard one of their songs I didn't know it. 

Shutting the theater doors so the light doesn't shine in:

"‘Ben-Hur’ crashes, ‘Suicide Squad’ remains on top" by Jake Coyle Associated Press  August 22, 2016

NEW YORK — A big-budget remake of ‘‘Ben-Hur’’ was trampled under a herd of holdovers and new releases at the box office, the latest casualty in a bruising summer for Hollywood.

The Paramount Pictures release, which cost about $100 million to make, debuted with just $11.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. That makes it one of the season’s more pricy flops, albeit one that never had anything like the ambition of 1959’s Charlton Heston epic. 

The ad campaign was muted (learned from Ghostbusters, did they?), and all it proves is the tapped-out, can't-afford-a-ticket anyway public isn't interested in endless Jewish victimhood.

Instead, Warner Bros.’s much-maligned DC Comics supervillain team-up film ‘‘Suicide Squad’’ held the top spot for the third straight week with an estimated $20.7 million over its third weekend. It has now made $262.3 million domestically (fourth best for the summer) despite steep declines and poor reaction from critics and fans alike. 

It went from 135m to 43m to 20m, so the 50% rule of thumb drop per week is actually generous! 

The only place I heard where they liked it was the post office; otherwise....

Seth Rogen’s foul-mouthed food animated comedy, ‘‘Sausage Party,’’ continued to do well for Sony Pictures. In its second week, it took in $15.3 million, good enough for second place, and bringing its two-week total to $65.3 million.

My math added up to 49m, but maybe they had a big Monday or something.

Two offbeat debuts slid in behind ‘‘Suicide Squad’’ and ‘‘Sausage Party’’: the Iraq War comedy ‘‘War Dogs,’’ with Miles Teller and Jonah Hill; and the stop-motion animated ‘‘Kubo and the Two Strings’’ from Focus Features and Laika Entertainment.

That was considered a comedy?

‘‘War Dogs,’’ the first movie after ‘‘The Hangover’’ trilogy for director Todd Phillips, was lambasted by critics, but it had a decent $14.3 million in ticket sales.

‘‘Kubo and the Two Strings,’’ an acclaimed fantasy about a boy in ancient Japan, debuted with $12.6 million, the weakest opening of any film from Laika, the Oregon-based animation studio behind ‘‘Coraline,’’ “ParaNorman’’ and ‘‘The Boxtrolls.’’ “Kubo and the Two Strings’’ was fashioned as Laika’s most ambitious film yet, with the company’s chief executive, Phil Knight, making his directorial debut.

But after the fifth place opening of ‘‘Ben-Hur,’’ the second coming of the sword-and-sandal movie appears to be attracting dwindling flocks of moviegoers.

I missed the first, and it must have been the LOTR phase.

A coproduction between MGM and Paramount, ‘‘Ben-Hur’’ is the third adaptation of Lee Wallace’s novel, ‘‘Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.’’ With producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey (“The Bible’’ miniseries), the film courted Christian moviegoers. But it was unable to turn them out as successfully as Paramount did for ‘‘Noah’’ (which debuted with $43.7 million in 2014) or even Fox’s less popular ‘‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’’ (a $24.1 million opening in 2014).

Still, fueled by ‘‘Suicide Squad’’ and ‘‘Sausage Party,’’ the box office was up more than 22 percent over the same weekend last year, according to comScore.

Despite the ups and downs of individual films, the box office overall is enjoying a potentially record August — usually a sleepy month of summer stragglers.

That's it, keep lying to yourselves and believing your own scripts.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to comScore. Final three-day domestic figures will be released Monday.

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Looks like they are shooting another movie to be presented as real:

"Yearlong Mars simulation nears end on Mauna Loa" Associated Press  August 21, 2016

HILO, Hawaii — Six scientists are close to wrapping up a year of near isolation in a Mars simulation on a Hawaii mountain.

No kidding?

The scientists are housed in a dome on Mauna Loa and can go outside only in spacesuits.

They manage limited resources while conducting research and working to avoid personal conflicts.

Why would there be any conflict (unless you left a man behind, right)?

Communication from the dome is delayed for 20 minutes, the length it would take to relay messages from Mars.

Kim Binsted, principal investigator for the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation, said this simulation is the second-longest of its kind after a mission that lasted 520 days in Russia.

‘‘They’re doing OK as far as we can tell,’’ Binsted said of the scientists.

Previous simulations in the Mauna Loa dome have lasted four to eight months. Mauna Loa soil is similar to what would be found on Mars.

NASA funded the study run through the University of Hawaii.

‘‘They are clamoring to get into the ocean,’’ Binsted said. ‘‘I think they will enjoy having a beer as well.’’ 

I feel like I need one but that door is closed.

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I know I'm evil for no longer believing in the moon landing, but that's okay with me!

UPDATES: 

Scientists exit Hawaii dome after yearlong Mars simulation

That's where they filmed "The Martian."

"The horror movie "Don't Breathe" has reason to let out a big sigh of relief. Audiences turned out in droves for the late summer thriller, which brought in $26.1 million and unseated "Suicide Squad" from its three week run atop the box office, according to studio estimates Sunday. "Don't Breathe" is about a group of Detroit teens who chose the wrong house to rob — that of a blind, vengeful veteran. "Suicide Squad" grossed $12.1 million, bringing its domestic total to $282.9 million. "Kubo and the Two Strings" took third place in its second weekend in theaters with $7.9 million. "Sausage Party," earned $7.7 million for fourth place. "Mechanic: Resurrection," was with $7.5 million."

Most of 2016’s movies have been soulless, noisy, and dull

"Propelled by the popularity of Paula Hawkins’s best-seller, the fast-tracked big-screen adaptation of ‘‘The Girl on the Train’’ led North American theaters in ticket sales with $24.7 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The thriller starring Emily Blunt is about an alcoholic suburbanite woman who becomes embroiled in a mysterious disappearance. Last week’s top film, Tim Burton’s ‘‘Miss Peregrine’s School for Peculiar Children,’’ slid to second place with $15 million in its second week. The real-life disaster film ‘‘Deepwater Horizon’’ took in $11.8 million in its second week to finish in third place. Less successful was Nate Parker’s Nat Turner biopic, ‘‘The Birth of a Nation,’’ which opened with a disappointing $7.1 million (AP)."

Also seeThe Boston professor on trail of the real Nat Turner

Related: The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews

Jewish Involvement in Black Slave Trade to the Americas

That in the film?