Devoted to show business and the entertainment industry

Jessica Simpson recently admitted in upcoming September issue of "Elle" magazine that one of the songs on her upcoming country album "Do You Know?" was based on her personal experience.

When questioned about the assertion, Simpson responded saying, "I don't want to talk about it, but I have definitely experienced abuse in a way that I would tell people to take their heart and run."

She's referring to the words in one of her singles, Remember That, which says, "It doesn't matter how he hurts you ... You don't deserve it ... Take your heart and run."

Here's actual footage of the earthquake yesterday at the moment it hit during the taping of the Judge Judy show.

The audience and Judge Judy attempted to exit the area, while the plaintiff and defendant just froze up and watched everything going on around them.

Judge Judy Sheindlin "All Shook Up"

If Catwoman becomes part of the growing Batman franchise, it looks like Angelina Jolie may be the next actress to take on the role.

According to the actress who first made the character famous on TV, Julie Newmar, she's heard from friends in the industry that Jolie has made overtures to take on any future role connected to the character.

Newmar said to the New York Daily News, "Angelina would own the part. My industry friends tell me (she) has made inquiries about the role. I can understand how it would pique her interest. Catwoman is Batman's one true love. She's tremendously popular with women because she's both a heroine and a villainess."

Miley Cyrus seems to be as confused professionally as she is personally, saying one minute she's looking at seriously quitting the Hanna Montana series this year, while at the same time speaking through her rep saying, "We do not know if this is the last season."

The rep added: "We start production on the third season of Hannah Montana on August 4 and have an option for a fourth season beyond that.  We look forward to the Hannah Montana feature film coming to a theatre near you in Spring 2009."

Saying that she's been working on the series since she was 11, it sounds like at the age of 15 she's starting to feel burnt out. She also hinted the heavy load of shows she starred in last year were comparable to two entire seasons of most other shows, which are typically 16 episodes. Cyrus said they did close to 30 Hannah Montana episodes last season.

"The Dark Knight" ended the weekend at No. 1 again, as it broke a slew of new records, feeding fans' craving for escapism movie fare.

Probably the biggest record it broke in its second week was the largest box office take for a second weekend, generating another $76.4 million; a seemingly impossible feat. It's performing so well that it is the fastest film in history to surpass the $300 million mark. Not only that, they did it six days faster than its nearest competitor, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," which held the former record of 16 days. It took The Dark Knight only ten.

The total earned for the film so far is $314.2 million. That already lands it at the No. 23 spot all time, and gives it a shot at probably landing in the top three. If it continues to have strong legs, who knows how far up it can go.

The only question that needed to be answered for Batman to reach this high level, was if it was frontloaded to the extreme, and the second weekend would plunge. Historically, the better performance on the first weekend usually results in a strong fall the second. This wasn't the case, as its drop was only at 52 percent; a great number.

Finishing in second place this weekend was "Step Brothers," which performed better-than-expected, and ended the weekend at $30 million, an average of $9,696 per venue.

This would probably have been a pretty big story if not for The Dark Knight, as it hailed the comeback of John C. Reilly and Will Farrell, who had bombed in their last several performances.

Holding strong, and finishing in a surprising third place was "Mamma Mia!" which garnered another $17.9 million, only a 36 percent drop. That brings its domestic total to $62.7 million, against production costs of $52 million. It's also earned another $80 million internationally.

In what can only be called a disaster, "X-Files: I Want To Believe" brought up the fourth-place position, only able to generate $10.2 million in sales. This isn't surprising in any way, as the film never gained any legs, and the marketing wasn't compelling.

It just seemed to be something more nostalgic and taking you back to a time that was long gone for moviegoers. I'd be surprised if there is a future attempt to revive this depleted franchise.
 
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A number of industry onlookers think the traditional media industry - especially the studios - don't get what the new digital age means; and in the beginning that was true, as they resisted the transformation going on right before their eyes. That's understandable, as it's human nature to resist change in the beginning.

But they definitely get it now, but still face major challenges on that front, which aren't understood by those not familiar with the inner workings of the industry.

As Thomas Lesinski, President of Paramount Digital Entertainment said, "The trickiest part of it is that a lot of these distribution windows make a lot of money for the studios and a lot of them are tied to long term agreements.'

He's talking about sequential distribution, which includes the release of a film; retail video distribution four months later; download-to-own; and about a month later pay-per-view. Then you add the DVD release to that as well.

Even though he had been dealt a death sentence through pancreatic cancer, "Last Lecture" author and video star Randy Pausch fought and embraced his destiny in one of the more inspirational stories over the last several years. Early today he lost the physical battle, as he died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 47.

The Randy Pausch story became an online phenomenon, as Pausch told the story of how he wasn't discouraged from the hand he was dealt, as it was how you handle the hand that is important, he said. Millions viewed the video, which I included below, where he gives what is called "The Last Lecture."

It talks about what someone would do if they knew it was the last lecture they would give. Pausch knew ... and did it! The rest is history.

Definitely set aside some time to listen to the video, as it's an extraordinary look into the mindset and courage of an extraordinary man.

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

After opposition from Democratic members of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), concerning the merger of Sirius (NASDAQ:SIRI) and XM (NASDAQ:XMSR), Howard Stern said he'll never vote for a Democrat for the rest of his life.

At this time the makeup of the five-member panel of the FCC is two Democrats and three Republicans.

Stern said concerning the Democratic opposition:

“I go, ‘That’s it!’” Stern said. “[I] go, ... I’ve voted Republican and I’ve voted Democrat. I have vowed I will never vote for a Democrat again. I don’t give a [expletive] – no matter who they are. I don’t care if God becomes a Democrat.’ I said, ‘I backed Hillary Clinton, I backed Al Gore, I backed John Kerry. I am done with them.’”

Stern wasn't through though, as he went on to assert that it was a "fact that these Democrats on the FCC are communists. They’re for communism. They don’t want to see companies – this is gangsterism. I said, ‘This is crazy.’”

After all was said and done, the merger was approved, and it was at that time that Stern started his comments.

News today is much of the battle between Christian Bale and his mother and sister, was in connection to his sister trying to get him to pay her "£100,000 to help raise her children," said the Daily Mail.

Sister Sharon and mother Jenny, 61, aren't exactly hurting, as they live in a £275,000 home in Southbourne, Dorset. That's equal to about $550,000.

When Bale refused to hand over the money, that's when his mother started insulting Bale's wife and the big argument insued, which allegedly resulted in Bale pushing his mother and sister.

A little more clarity is coming out from the incident between Christian Bale and his mother and sister, as he says it was his mother that started everything by insulting his wife Sandra 'Sibi' Blazic.

Citing an unnamed source, earlier today the Daily Mail online said Bale cussed out his mother, after "saying some outrageous things about him, and his wife.

"Normally Christian would just call a friend and go out to a pub to cool off. But he was literally trapped into this confrontation with his mother and sister because there was an army of fans and paparazzi outside.

"Christian's attitude is that this was his mother's fault because she became very provocative in an argument they were having."