Nothing too exciting out of this weekend's box office, which is fine because it's Oscar season! Entertainment Editor Mark Meszoros has made it a little easier to get in all the important films, listing where the best picture nominees are playing. (If you've seen all the nominees and just know who's going to win, how about entering our Academy Awards contest?)

From The Associated Press:

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. “The Grey,” $20 million. (Review by The AP's Jake Coyle)
2. “Underworld: Awakening,” $12.5 million.
3. “One for the Money,” $11.8 million.
4. “Red Tails,” $10.4 million. (Review by Jake Coyle)
5. “Man on a Ledge,” $8.3 million. (Review by The AP's Christy Lemire)
6. “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” $7.1 million. (Review by The News-Herald's Mark Meszoros)
7. “The Descendants,” $6.6 million. (Review by Lemire)
8. “Contraband,” $6.5 million. (Review by Lemire)
9. “Beauty and the Beast,” $5.3 million.
10. “Haywire,” $4 million. (Review by Lemire)

-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

You've seen the list of Oscar nominations for best picture.

There are nine of them.

Gulp. You have a lot of work to do between now and Feb. 26.

No time like this weekend to get started, right? Let's dig into where -- or how -- you can see each of the nine films.

"The Artist." After being a tough-to-find delicacy for a couple of weeks in Northeast Ohio, the wonderful ode to the silent-film era is everywhere. See it at Regal Willoughby Commons Stadium 16, Atlas Cinemas Great Lakes Stadium 16 in Mentor, Regal Richmond Towns Square Stadium 20 in Richmond Heights, Regal Severance Town Center Stadium 14 in Cleveland Heights and Cedar Lee Theatre, also in Cleveland Heights, where it's been playing.

"The Descendants." George Clooney''s Hawaii-set dramedy is still tearing up theaters. Catch it at the aforementioned Great Lakes, Regal Willoughby and Richmond Town Square, as well as Phoenix Theatres Eastgate 10 in Mayfield Heights and Atlas Cinemas Diamond Center 16 in Mentor.

"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close." Grab your tissues and check out the post-9/11 family drama at Atlas Great Lakes and Diamond Center, Regal Willoughby and Richmond and Phoenix Eastgate.

"The Help." The powerful drama about black servants in 1960s Mississippi is already out on DVD and Blu-ray and available through Netflix,but you can also see it on the big screen and on the cheap at Phoenix Theatres Willoughby Hills Movies 10.

"Hugo." Apparently (and much to my surprise), it's not too late to see Martin Scorsese's family-friendly drama and homage to filmmaking pioneer George Melies in 3-D. Put on some glasses at Regal Willoughby and Severance and Chagrin Cinemas, or see it in a mere two dimensions at Regal Richmond.

"Midnight in Paris." The best work by writer-director Woody Allen in some time is out on DVD, so you can be whisked away to France via your couch quite easily.

"Moneyball." The adaptation of the book about Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is out of theaters and available on disc at stores and through rental services. In my opinion it's not worth a best picture nod, but as far as entertainment goes, it's a home run.

"The Tree of Life." Look, we all should of seen writer-director Terrence Malick's dreamy and visually stunning meditation on the origins and connectivity of life in theaters and away from distractions at home. But at this point, you'll have to watch it at home. I can't promise you'll get anything more out of the visually arresting film the first time through than I did, but maybe, like me, you'll want to watch it again.

"War Horse." Too sappy for many critics, Steven Spielberg's equine-powered World War I drama hit me just right in my typically blackened heart, and I think back on it fondly. I encourage you to see it on a big screen Atlas Diamond Center, Regal Willoughby, Richmond or Severance or Chagrin Cinemas.

If you need me, you'll find me working on the best actress category by catching "My Week With Marilyn" (Michelle Williams) at Chagrin Cinemas or "Albert Nobbs" (Glenn Close) at Cedar Lee.

-- Mark Meszoros | Entertainment@News-Herald.com | @nhfeatures

The WWE Royal Rumble is one of the few pro wrestling events you can have a pool for without worrying because the results are rigged.

The main event of  Sunday's pay-per-view show is an over-the-top-rope battle royal, with participants entering every 90 seconds. The last man standing gets a world title shot at WrestleMania.

Putting a pool together makes the match, which can last more than an hour, much more fun to follow. The options include awarding points based on how long a participant stays in and how many others he throws out.

Pools that draft participants in advance are almost obsolete because the list of entrants is almost never fully revealed. Sometimes the list changes based on matches earlier in the card, too.

The more popular pools involve drawing numbers. Whoever comes out at that number is who you get.

The pools that award points based on how many others one throws out are for the die-hard fans. When there's a scrum near the ropes, you need a spotter to call out who's doing what and someone else to write it down.

Our group from the office does a pool, but we we're not as labor-intensive. Here's how ours works:

(Based on five people)
Draw Nos. 1 through 20, four each
Draw Nos. 21 through 30, two each - guaranteeing everyone two of the final 10 evens it out and keeps everyone happy.

First wrestler out - 1 point
Second wrestler out - 2 points
29th wrestler out - 29th points, etc.

The player whose six wrestlers' points add up to the most wins. You just have to root for your guys to stay in the match.

- Howard Primer

I’m going to start by making an excuse. 

It’s going to be really tough to correctly predict the exact nominees for the best picture Academy Award this year – nominations for the Oscars are to be announced early Tuesday morning in Los Angeles – because we don’t even know how many there will be.

For many years, there were five. The last two years, there were 10 – and I correctly predicted nine of them last year.

This year, I like the idea of picking seven nominees. I doubt Oscar voters will stick to just five, but this was, in my estimation, a weaker year in film, so 10 seems a bit much. (That said, having 10 nominees is better for the overall business, so I think it’s more likely there will be 10 than five.)

As everyone knows, the Golden Globes are the best predictor of the Oscars, so my choices largely will be picked from winners and nominees of the Globes’ two film categories – best drama and best comedy or musical. 

I’m going to take four of the five nominees from the best drama category: “The Help,” “Hugo,” “The Ides of March,” “War Horse” and the winner, “The Descendants.” From the comedy or musical pool, I will take only “50/50” and the winner, “The Artist.”

For my seventh pick – my wild card, if you will – I’ll go with “J. Edgar,” if only because Oscar voters love director Clint Eastwood.

How confident am I in these picks? To be honest, not very. Truthfully, the only two I would put money on are “The Descendants” and “The Artist.” The latter – a wonderful homage to the silent film era – is likely to win the big prize, and that would be just fine with me. 

 The Weinstein Co.

Jean Dujardin stars in the sure-to-be-nominated film "The Artist."

These picks might be a bit of wishful thinking. I have “50/50” in the mix because I loved it and would like to see it get nominated. There’s a good shot it won’t. The same goes for “War Horse,” a Steven Spielberg-directed film that tugs at the heartstrings. I simply didn’t find the movie as sappy as many critics did. 

And I wouldn’t be shocked if another film from the musical or comedy category – Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” – gets nominated, but I’ve yet to see it. (I hope to wrong that right, tonight, in fact.)

Find out how close to the mark I hit by checking www.News-Herald.com Tuesday morning for a rundown of all the nominees.

-- Mark Meszoros | Entertainment@News-Herald.com | @nhfeatures

 Kate Beckinsale, vampires and lycans easily took the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office. I'm surprised "Haywire" didn't finish higher, after getting such a positive review from The Associated Press. I saw the weekend's No. 4 finisher, which was a pretty emotional experience for me (I previously read the book and enjoyed the movie more).

From The Associated Press:

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Underworld Awakening,” $25.4 million ($13.4 million international).
2. “Red Tails,” $19.1 million. (Review by The AP's Jake Coyle)
3. “Contraband,” $12.2 million. (Review by The AP's Christy Lemire)
4. “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” $10.5 million. (Review by The News-Herald's Mark Meszoros)
5. “Haywire,” $9 million. (Review by Lemire)
6. “Beauty and the Beast (3-D),” $8.6 million. 
7. “Joyful Noise,” $6.1 million. (Review by Lemire)
8. “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” $5.5 million. ($9.4 million international). (Review by Meszoros)
9. “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” $4.8 million. ($18.1 million international). (Review by Meszoros)
10. “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” $3.75 million ($15.7 international). (Review by Meszoros; "'Dragon' tattooed: Rooney Mara may never be the same" by The AP's Jake Coyle)

-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

I love checking out photos from the red carpet at awards shows. I'm not a fashion person, but I get pretty interested in the choices celebrities make before strutting their stuff in front of paparazzi.

In the past week I put together two slideshows -- one of images from the 2012 People's Choice Awards, and one of images from the 69th annual Golden Globes. I think overall, the quality of looks was better at the Golden Globes (and that's probably the way it should be).

I'm still trying to decide my favorite look from both red carpets. Jessica Alba looked incredible at the Golden Globes, but there is something about Sarah Michelle Gellar's dress that I love more every time I see it.

Watch the People's Choice and Golden Globes slideshows to see the looks for yourself:




What did you think were the best and worst looks of both shows?


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

Star Wars creator George Lucas told The New York Times Magazine he's done making "Star Wars" movies.

Lucas has made six "Star Wars" films, beginning in 1977 with Episode IV: A New Hope (aka Star Wars), and then the first three films of the mega-hit series in the late 1990s and into the 2000s.

However, fans of the films have criticized Lucas for adding to the original films on DVD releases, and other nitpicking. Lucas apparently has had enough.

“Why would I make any more,” Lucas said in the story, “when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?”

To read the entire story, click here:

- Mark Podolski | @mpodo

Fox's new drama "Alcatraz" debuted Monday night with a two-hour episode (though, it was more like two episodes played back-to-back). I have had a "Lost"-sized hole in my heart since the night of May 23, 2010, and am hoping this will fill it.

"Alcatraz" has a lot of similarities to "Lost" -- an island, a mystery, some supernatural happenings, and Jorge Garcia playing a very Hurley-like character.

Other first impressions of the show:

• Interesting concept. Alcatraz closed in 1963, but this show supposes the prisoners weren't transferred elsewhere, and now they're showing up in present day, having not aged a bit.
• The lead lady is kind of annoying. Sorry, Sarah Jones, but I don't buy you as a cop/detective/FBI special agent. I wish dramas wouldn't cast for looks because it makes the leading ladies seem generally helpless instead of strong.
• How long can this go on? In the two hours so far, we've had two criminals appear and the lead characters have worked to track them down. The show will get boring if that's all that happens. 
• Can the mystery be revealed without the show jumping the shark? Maybe it's preemptive of me to say that. I'm just worried the build-up is going to be too much and the reveal too weird/incomprehensible/ridiculous. We probably won't find out until the end of the season, but it's going to have to be enough to keep viewers interested in watching a second season.

Are you watching "Alcatraz"?



-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

I made it to the movie theater this weekend and almost wished I had contributed to "Beauty and the Beast" taking second place at this weekend's box office. (I saw "The Artist", which was beautiful and which you all should see.)

From The Associated Press:

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Contraband,” $24 million ($1.5 million international). (Review by The AP's Christy Lemire)
2. “Beauty and the Beast,” $18.5 million.
3. “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” $11.5 million ($16.8 million international). (Review by The News-Herald's Mark Meszoros)
4. “Joyful Noise,” $11.3 million. (Review by Lemire)
5. “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” $8.4 million ($27.4 million international). (Review by Meszoros)
6. “The Devil Inside,” $7.9 million.
7. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” $6.8 million ($16.5 million international). (Review by Meszoros; "'Dragon' tattooed: Rooney Mara may never be the same" by The AP's Jake Coyle)
8. “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked,” $5.8 million ($14.4 million international). (Review by Coyle)
9. “War Horse,” $5.6 million ($8.5 million international). (Review by Lemire)
10. “The Iron Lady,” $5.3 million ($3.4 million international). (Review by Lemire)

-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

People seem to have problems with the Grammy awards for whatever reason, but at least this year it looks like the show will be entertaining.


From The Associated Press:

NEW YORK (AP) — Foo Fighters and Bruno Mars both have six Grammy nominations, including album of the year. And now both acts will perform at the award show.

Bruno Mars

Foo Fighters

The Recording Academy announced Thursday that Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj, Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson will also hit the stage at 54th annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 12. Kanye West leads with seven nominations.
Adele is also up for six Grammys, including album, song and record of the year. She’s currently recovering from surgery on her vocal cords and her sophomore album, “21,” was last year’s top seller.
Other multiple nominees include Skrillex, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Chris Brown, Bon Iver and Mumford & Sons. The Grammys will air live on CBS from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

I'm looking forward to some of those performances, though not so much the awards part of the show.


Those of us in the office during the show usually predict winners (for bragging rights only). I get teased for being the most enthusiastic about making picks but generally picking the fewest winners. It seems the Grammy tends to go to musicians I've never heard of or know little about. (Though I did love when Arcade Fire won Album of the Year last year, because I do really like that album.)




-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

This is a terrible idea. I'm having trouble finding the words to explain how much I think this idea is a miserable failure.

"Napoleon Dynamite" the animated television series premieres at 8:30 p.m. Jan. 15. It's based on the 2004 film "Napoleon Dynamite," and for some reason, the execs over at Fox thought that nearly EIGHT YEARS LATER it could be turned into a cartoon. (And for some reason, the original actors are back and all lending their voices [because they have nothing better to do?])

I love me some Napoleon Dynamite. I still quote it. I saw it in the theater a few times. I own it on DVD. I have a button that says Vote for Pedro. I'm training to be a cage fighter, and I've been chatting online with babes all day. But I will not watch this show.

The Wikipedia page for the show lists six episodes. I hope it doesn't make it past one.

Please, Fox, don't ruin this cult favorite.


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

The first time I heard of this weekend's first-place movie, "The Devil Inside," was when I was looking at this weekend's box office numbers. I don't do a very good job at getting to the movie theater ...

Also, "New Year's Eve"? What are you still doing in the top 10????

From The Associated Press;

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “The Devil Inside,” $34.5 million.
2. “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” $20.5 million ($27.7 million international). (Review by The News-Herald's Mark Meszoros)
3. “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” $14.1 million ($43.4 million international). (Review by Meszoros)
4. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” $11.3 million ($12.6 million international). (Review by Meszoros; "'Dragon' tattooed: Rooney Mara may never be the same" by The AP's Jake Coyle)
5. “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked,” $9.5 million ($30.1 million international). (Review by Coyle)
6. “War Horse,” $8.6 million. (Review by The AP's Christy Lemire)
7. “We Bought a Zoo,” $8.5 million. (Review by Lemire)
8. “The Adventures of Tintin,” $6.6 million ($5.3 million international). ("'Adventures of Tintin' finally in U.S. theaters" by The AP's David Germain)
9. “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” $5.8 million. (Review by Lemire)
10. “New Year’s Eve,” $3.3 million ($5.3 million international). (Review by Coyle)

-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

I've blogged a few times before (here, here, here, here, here, here and here) about my love for all things Bravo, but I don't think I've ever mentioned how much I love the live late-night show after the weekly drama with the Housewives.

"Watch What Happens Live" features the cable network's executive vice president of original programming and development, Andy Cohen, chatting with stars from Bravo's reality shows and beyond (the guests from the final show of 2011 were Lea Michele and Chris Colfer of "Glee"). The show includes recaps of what's aired that night, as well as what's happening around the world. Each episode features a drinking game (for those 21 and older, Andy stresses) as well as a game for the guests to play. Andy takes questions and comments from callers, emailers and Twitterers, and guests are often put on the spot (especially if they're involved in controversy on their reality shows). Essentially, it's a half hour of fun television after some often too dramatic drama of reality television. And beginning Sunday, the show will air FIVE NIGHTS A WEEK!

OK, maybe this won't be of interest to you at all if you don't watch anything on Bravo, and if you tune in without watching the shows, you might not understand a lot of the jokes or references. But (maybe I should be ashamed to admit) I am pretty excited about this news.


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

We're barely into 2012, but I'm worried you're already behind.

Hey, I get it. The end of the year is a stressful and busy time. You'd have loved to spend your free time glued to a computer. Unfortunately, you didn't have any free time.

Well, now you do, and it's time to see the hot new movie trailers you've missed. There are some cool movies coming out in 2012, and we're starting to get our first official looks at them.

Let's dive in:

"Prometheus" (June 8) is the maybe, sort-of, at-one-time-was-meant-to-be prequel to "Alien," directed by Ridley Scott.





"The Dark Knight Rises" (July 20), the conclusion of brilliant director Christopher Nolan's trilogy of fantastic Batman films. (If you can't tell, I'm very excited about this one.)




"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (Dec. 14), which brings Peter Jackson, "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy back to Middle-Earth for the first half of a prequel story based on "The Hobbit" by "Rings" author J.R.R. Tolkien.




"Brave" (June 22) is a new adventure from Disney-Pixar. Really, that's all you need to know.




"The Avengers" (May 4) trailer has been out some time, but part of the superhero blockbuster was shot in Cleveland, so you should probably watch it again. Just to be safe.




"The Amazing Spider-Man" (July 3) is a reboot of the superhero story, which, like "The Avengers," stems from the world of Marvel Comics. (OK, I know you've seen this, too.)




"The Hunger Games" (March 23) is the adaptation of a book you or a young person in your life has read. It takes place in a bleak future. Enjoy!




"Snow White and the Huntsman" (June 1) has Snow White, an evil queen and a mirror on the wall, but no sign of drawfs.



Hope you enjoyed the show.

-- Mark Meszoros | Entertainment@News-Herald.com | @nhfeatures

Not a bad weekend at the box office -- unless you are behind a movie that is named for the holiday weekend and you ended up at No. 8 in the weekend box office.

From The Associated Press:

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:
1. “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” Paramount, $38,325,000, 3,455 locations, $11,093 average, $141,214,000, three weeks. (Review by The News-Herald's Mark Meszoros)
2. “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” Warner Bros., $26,510,000, 3,703 locations, $7,159 average, $136,514,000, three weeks. (Review by Meszoros)
3. “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked,” Fox, $21,000,000, 3,724 locations, $5,639 average, $97,359,335, three weeks. (Review by The AP's Jake Coyle)
4. “War Horse,” Disney, $19,219,000, 2,547 locations, $7,546 average, $45,248,000, two weeks. (Review by The AP's Christy Lemire)
5. “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” Sony, $19,000,000, 2,914 locations, $6,520 average, $60,011,000, two weeks. (Review by Meszoros; "'Dragon' tattooed: Rooney Mara may never be the same" by Coyle)
6. “We Bought a Zoo,” Fox, $16,500,000, 3,163 locations, $5,217 average, $43,987,317, two weeks. (Review by Lemire)
7. “The Adventures of Tintin,” Paramount, $15,000,000, 3,087 locations, $4,859 average, $50,841,000, two weeks. ("'Adventures of Tintin' finally in U.S. theaters" by The AP's David Germain)
8. “New Year’s Eve,” Warner Bros., $7,735,000, 2,225 locations, $3,476 average, $47,397,000, four weeks. (Review by Coyle)
9. “The Darkest Hour,” Summit, $5,250,000, 2,327 locations, $2,256 average, $14,228,000, two weeks.
10. “The Descendants,” Fox Searchlight, $4,250,000, 758 locations, $5,607 average, $40,274,646, seven weeks. (Review by Lemire)
11. “The Muppets,” Disney, $3,782,000, 1,541 locations, $2,454 average, $83,649,000, six weeks. (Review by Meszoros; Q&A with Kermit the Frog by The AP's Derrik J. Lang)
12. “Hugo,” Paramount, $3,150,000, 951 locations, $3,312 average, $50,165,000, six weeks. (Review by Meszoros)
13. “Young Adult,” Paramount, $2,700,000, 987 locations, $2,736 average, $12,667,000, four weeks. (Review by Lemire)
14. “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1,” Summit, $2,650,000, 1,411 locations, $1,878 average, $276,094,901, seven weeks. (Review by Meszoros)
15. “The Sitter,” Fox, $2,255,000, 1,348 locations, $1,673 average, $26,899,061, four weeks. (Review by Germain)
16. “The Artist,” Weinstein Co., $1,664,500, 167 locations, $9,967 average, $5,400,000, six weeks.
17. “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” Focus, $1,428,726, 57 locations, $25,065 average, $4,298,998, four weeks.
18. “My Week With Marilyn,” Weinstein Co., $1,173,933, 630 locations, $1,863 average, $9,184,000, six weeks.
19. “Puss in Boots,” Paramount, $1,015,000, 389 locations, $2,609 average, $145,767,000, 10 weeks. (Review by Lemire)
20. “Arthur Christmas,” Sony, $900,000, 1,524 locations, $591 average, $46,118,000, six weeks. (Review by Germain)

-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl