“Red vs. Blue”: “I won. A+”
In Chapter 12 of “Red vs. Blue: Reconstruction,” Church has to explain his ghostly appearance to Special Agent Washington. Washington then reveals an ugly truth about the teams and the war of “Red vs. Blue.”
It’s not my favorite episode of the series, but it has some funny moments. Plus, the ending promises some slam-bang action to come.
Keep an eye out for the flying obscenities as you go to www.roosterteeth.com to check it out.
-BAM
Reba shares memories; Toby and Carrie defending titles
Oklahoma native Reba McEntire is among the country music stars who share their memories of their children in the latest issue of Country Weekly magazine.
McEntire, George Strait and Alan Jackson and their children appear in photographs from the past and present to show how much their children have grown. Since McEntire seems perpetually youthful, it’s hard to believe she has an 18-year-old son, Shelby Blackstock.
Also, the Country Weekly Web site is offering country fans the chance to vote on the sexiest man in country music and the most beautiful woman in country music. Toby Keith of Norman and Checotah native Carrie Underwood won top honors in the magazine’s 2007 polling. Keith, Underwood and several other Oklahomans are among this year’s choices.
To vote, go to www.countryweekly.com.
-BAM
New releases
Add a little Lemmy to your life this week, with the release of Motorhead’s new CD, “Motorizer.”
The collector’s edition of Tim Burton’s animation film “The Nightmare Before Christmas” comes is out on DVD today.
In the books arena, British author and former jockey Dick Francis turns 88 on Oct. 31, but he has a new book out this week with his son Felix.
Here’s the complete list of this week’s new CDs, DVDs and books from Amazon.com, VideoETA.com and BarnesandNoble.com.
CDs
Motorhead, “Motorizer.”
Slipknot, “All Hope Is Gone.”
The Verve, “Forth.”
Little Feat, “Join the Band.”
The Game, “LAX.”
DVDs
“August”
“Chicago 10″
“Entourage: The Complete Fourth Season”
“Everybody Hates Chris: The Third Season”
“Heroes: Season 2″
“The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning”
“My Sassy Girl”
“NCIS: The Fifth Season”
“One Tree Hill: The Complete Fifth Season”
“Postal”
“Redbelt”
“The Shield: Season 6″
“Son of Rambow”
“Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”
“Virgin Territory”
“What Happens in Vegas”
“Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?”
Books
“Devil Bones (Temperance Brennan Series #11)” by Kathy Reichs.
“Fade Away” by Harlan Coben.
“The Gypsy Morph” by Terry Brooks.
“Silks” by Dick Francis and Felix Francis.
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on Aug. 26
Families check out the new exhibit “Extreme Machines” at Science Museum Oklahoma. (Photo by Jaconna Aguirre/The Oklahoman)
Today’s featured event:
Explore the new interactive exhibit “Extreme Machines” at Science Museum Oklahoma, 2100 NE 52. The exhibit includes a dumbbell gyroscope, a bicycle with mechanical legs, a vehicle differential and more.
The exhibit will be on display at the Oklahoma City museum until February, when it moves to another state science museum.
For more information, go to www.sciencemuseumok.com.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
Bonus Feature Track
The song that has been on my brain for the last few days:
- “Holiday” by Madonna, from her 1983 debut studio album “Madonna.”
Along with a Friday Featured Track, this week you get a Bonus Feature Track on Monday. How’s that for a deal?
“Holiday” was the Material Girl’s third single and first real hit, reaching the top 20 on the Billboard Top 100 chart in the United States. It’s an incredibly catchy song, and it came out before Madonna became less about infectious songs and more about cone-shaped bras, children’s books, terrible movies and myriad other distracting bits of non-music-related nonsense.
Mostly, I’ve been thinking about this song lately because I’m taking a vacation this week. If I took some time to get away, in this case, just one week out of life, indeed it would be, it would be so nice. So, that’s what I’m going to do.
Never fear, loyal readers, I’ll still have posts going up here on BAM’s Blog, but if things occasionally seem a bit quieter around here, you’ll know why.
Sing it with me now: “Holiday, celebrate … It would be, it would be so nice …”
-BAM
Monday Catchy Quote
A catchy quote from a movie, TV show or other source to brighten the beginning of your week:
Clark: This is no longer a vacation. It’s a quest. It’s a quest for fun.
- Click here to learn the source.
-BAM
Box office report
The star-studded Hollywood satire “Tropic Thunder” rumbled past a deluge of new offerings to top the box office for the second weekend in a row.
The Paramount-DreamWorks action-comedy, starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black, made $16.1 million over the weekend, the Associated Press reported, citing Sunday studio estimates.
The Sony comedy ”The House Bunny” hopped into second place in its opening weekend with $15.1 million. The movie is a star vehicle for mostly comic actress Anna Faris, who stars as a former Playboy bunny who becomes a den mother to a group of socially inept sorority girls.
Roaring into third place was Universal’s futuristic actioner”Death Race” with $12.3 million in its debut weekend. Starring Jason Statham, Ian McShane and Joan Allen (yes, Joan Allen, and no, I can’t get over it either), the movie is a mostly-in-name remake of the 1975 Roger Corman film ”Death Race 2000.”
The other two new wide releases – the underdog sports flick “The Longshots” and the second-chance-at-fame comedy ”The Rocker” – both opened outside the top five.
“The Longshots,” which stars Ice Cube and Keke Palmer in the story of the first girl to play Pop Warner football, made $4.3 million.
“The Rocker,” starring Rainn Wilson of “The Office” as an over-the-hill drummer who joins his high-school nephew’s garage band, took in $2.8 million for 12th place, accoring to the AP.
With summer winding down and school starting back, the studios repeated their yearly ritual of unloading a slew of mid-level, mediocre movies. With the dearth of blockbuster or award-worthy fare, “Tropic Thunder” was able to roll to a repeat.
“The Dark Knight,” the year’s biggest blockbuster, continued snatched up another $10.3 million for fourth place. The “Batman Begins” sequel has nabbed $489.2 million and seems destined to become the second film in box office history to top $500 million. The other is “Titanic,” the all-time box office leader with $600.8 million.
According to the AP, overall box office revenues total $3.9 billion, which is a bit ahead of last summer’s record pace. But higher admission prices mean the actual number of tickets sold is down about 3 percent compared to last summer, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.
Regardless, Hollywood should cap off the summer with a box-office record and a second straight summer to surpass the $4 billion mark.
“Thank you, `Dark Knight.’ That’s added close to half a billion dollars,” Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers, told the AP. “One film like `The Dark Knight’ can make a huge difference.”
In limited release, including here in Oklahoma City, the Sundance hit comedy “Hamlet 2″ made $435,000 over the weekend. The Focus Features release starring Brit Steve Coogan as a desperate high school drama teacher making a sequel to Shakespeare’s tragedy expands Wednesday into nationwide release.
Here is the weekend’s top 10, from the AP
1. “Tropic Thunder,” $16.1 million.
2. “The House Bunny,” $15.1 million.
3. “Death Race,” $12.3 million.
4. “The Dark Knight,” $10.3 million.
5. “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” $5.7 million.
6. “Pineapple Express,” $5.6 million.
7. “Mirrors,” $4.9 million.
8. “The Longshots,” $4.304 million.
9. “Mamma Mia!”, $4.303 million.
10. “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” $4.1 million.
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on Aug. 25
Today’s featured event:
Get hardcore with Austin, Texas-based thrash-metal band M.O.D. (Method Of Destruction) at 8 p.m. today at the Conservatory, 8911 N Western. Also on the bill are Fueled By Fire, Dwell Within and Ommadon.
For more information, go to www.conservatoryokc.com.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
Book review: “Rock Band Name Origins”
From the Sunday Living section of The Oklahoman.
Behind-the-scenes stories may surprise artists’ fans
From Journey’s radio contest gone awry to Sugar Ray’s legal battle with the Hasbro toy company, Greg Metzer shares fascinating rock ‘n’ roll stories in “Rock Band Name Origins: The Stories of 240 Groups and Performers” (McFarland, $45).
In his handy reference guide, the Edmond attorney and first-time author tells how some of the most popular rock bands, pop groups and solo artists of the 1960s-2000s picked their now-famous names.
The band’s stories are told in a few paragraphs and arranged alphabetically, making it easy to flip to your favorites. Every entry includes the group’s founding date, signature song and original and later members.
Along with the tale of the name, Metzer delves into each band’s history and legacy, but occasionally leaves the reader wanting more. A few stories fail to get at the true core of the group’s moniker, though it might be impossible in some cases.
Metzer’s fun behind-the-scenes stories should appeal to both casual and devoted rock fans.
-BAM
Edmond rock fan investigates band names
Edmond attorney and first-time author Greg Metzer poses with his book “Rock Band Name Origins” in his home office. (Photo by Chris Landsberger/The Oklahoman.)
From Sunday’s Living section of The Oklahoman. To hear an audio clip of Greg Metzer talking about his book, click here.
Edmond attorney shares fascination with origins of band names
EDMOND – Before picking the name the Grateful Dead, legendary psychedelic rocker Jerry Garcia preferred a more rhythmic moniker: Mythical Ethical Icicle Tricycle.
“The Grateful Dead is way better. Their entire history would have been changed if they had done that,” according to Greg Metzer.
While he doesn’t care for Garcia’s first choice, Metzer, 47, enjoys a good behind-the-music story so much that he wrote his first book on them.
The Edmond attorney’s recently published reference guide “Rock Band Name Origins: The Stories of 240 Groups and Performers” tells how some of the most popular rock bands, pop groups and unusually dubbed solo artists of the 1960s-2000s got their names.
“It’s kind of like giving birth; everybody had a different take on it,” said Metzer from his home office, where framed autographs from Prince, Madonna and Fleetwood Mac adorn the walls.
“It is a watershed event in every group’s existence. I mean, they have to have a name and a lot of them don’t give it a lot of thought until they have to.”
The self-described “rock snob” got the idea for the book in 2006 while listening to local radio show “Rick and Brad.” They were talking about the name Nickelback, which came out of frontman Chad Kroeger’s days as a Starbucks cashier.
Fascinated, Metzer researched and wrote about 300 words on how one of his favorite bands, the Eagles, picked their name.
“I’ve always wanted to write a book, and I finally found a subject that interested me enough and I thought other people would be interested in, too,” he said.
Each chapter covers a different band, detailing the genesis of the band’s name, along with its best-known song, founding date, original and later members.
Through his research, he uncovered bizarre discarded names (Mythical Ethical Icicle Tricycle is just one) odd naming trends (Pearl Jam and other modern bands are secretive about their name origins) and convoluted stories (he used a flowchart for Heart).
“There have been great bands with lousy names and lousy bands with great names. … The talent of the band will override the name of the band any day,” he said.
-BAM
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