It Was Only a Matter of Time

Things have been a bit busy around here lately, so I haven't had much of a chance to write. I'm hoping my schedule frees up a bit more soon so I'll have a chance to write more. Luckily, I have a little bit of time today, so here we go.
The biggest story that happened this morning was Kanye West. He's been all over the place lately, starting and ending feuds left and right. First he was never going to be on the Mtv Video Music Awards again, then he closed the show. Stuff like that. It was only a matter of time before he started a feuds with the paparazzi. Unfortunately, this was not a feud of words. Here's the scoop:
Kanye West and one of his bodyguards were arrested Thursday at Los Angeles International Airport after an altercation with paparazzi in which the rapper allegedly smashed a camera on the floor. Airport police arrested West and his road manager, Don Crowley, who also serves as a bodyguard, on suspicion of felony vandalism shortly before 8 a.m., LAX spokesman Marshall Lowe said. He said early reports indicated that a camera valued at more than $10,000 was broken. The incident happened before West and his bodyguard passed a security checkpoint at an airport terminal that houses American Airlines. The pair were scheduled to board a flight to Honolulu, Hawaii, Lowe said. West's publicist declined to comment Thursday. (source)
I can't say I'm surprised by this news. Kanye's a powder keg waiting to explode. What I'm surprised about is that it took him this long to explode at the paparazzi. I think this is the first time he's been arrested for assaulting the paparazzi, which must have taken a lot of restraint on his part. The details are still emerging on this one and West is still in jail, though I'm sure he'll be out by the time my lunch break is over. Then he gets to join the illustrious group of celebs who've assaulted a camera man. Welcome to the club Kanye, we've been waiting for you!
In other timely news, Warner Bros. studios announced today that they will indeed be re releasing The Dark Knight in movie theaters sometime in January. This is basically to generate more Oscar buzz for Heath Ledger and crew. Here's the story:
No exact date has been settled on, but Warner Bros. is planning to rerelease the box-office behemoth in January, just in time for a final Oscar-season push before Motion Picture Academy members have to turn in their ballots. The relentlessly bleak and critically beloved Batman sequel is already the second-highest grossing movie of all time in the U.S., where it falls about $78 million short of Titanic's $600.8 million in box-office receipts but towers over fellow comic-book-inspired films. But it was the early Oscar buzz for Heath Ledger, who curdled blood as the murderous Joker, as well as for Christian Bale, director Christopher Nolan, and the film's effects and visual artistry that really differentiated The Dark Knight from its superhero brethren. And while Ledger's performance will still be rattling around in most brains even without the extra theater time, the fact that the film will be back on the big screen just in time for the one-year anniversary of his death on Jan. 22 will make the late actor doubly hard to ignore when it comes time to pick the '08 Academy Awards field. (source)
I've been saying this was going to happen ever since the movie was released. Many summer movies that are considered award favorites use this particular technique to remind voters and the public of their movie, which can get lost among the deluge of Oscar baiting films that are released from October through December. Now, I kind of doubt that Warner Bros. would be so tacky as to re release the movie on the anniversary of Heath Ledger's death, but I wouldn't be surprised if they released it the week before, just to generate some buzz. The only way The Dark Knight is going to surpass Titanic as the number 1 grossing movie of all time is by re releasing it in January. The movie's been out for over two months and its losing steam. It needs to keep a low profile, then burst back onto the scene at just the right time in order to make that last $78 million that its missing to become number 1. And pick up a few Oscar nominations. And I'm the kind of gullible movie viewer who will go back to see it in January. What can I say, I loved this movie!
That's about all I've got time for right now. I'll keep tabs on the Kanye thing and see if anything interesting comes of it. More than likely, he'll make bail and get probation, but it is Kanye, so you never know.
Well, I'm off to lunch!
Later!

Its a Sad, Sad Day

Well, I'm totally bummed out right now. There has just been a plethora of depressing entertainment news today. I could go into huge amounts of detail, but that would take a long time and make me sad all at once, so I'll just go over the two most depressing stories (at least, the most depressing to me) and be done with it.

First off, the very sad news that Estelle Getty has passed away at the age of 84. Most people know her as Sophia on The Golden Girls. Here's the official announcement:
Getty's longtime manager, Alan Siegel, told PEOPLE on Tuesday: "As of 5:35 this morning, surrounded by her family in her Hollywood Hills home, Estelle Getty passed away peacefully in her sleep of natural causes. Her family and close friends thank everyone for being so loving and supportive of Estelle in her last few years." For many years, Getty had suffered with Lewy's Body Dementia, which has been described as a type of Alzheimer's disease. (Source People Online)
Very sad new indeed. I used to watch The Golden Girls every Saturday night when I was little and have watched the show in repeats ever since. While I probably haven't seen every episode, I've seen a good many and always loved the character of Sophia. Estelle will be missed.

The next sad news story broke earlier than the death of Estelle Getty, but I figured that she deserved to be honored first. This morning it was reported that The Dark Knight star Christian Bale was arrested in London for assault on his sister and mother. Here are the details:

Batman star Christian Bale has been arrested in London after turning himself in to a police station to undergo questioning on allegations that he assaulted his mother and sister. The incident allegedly took place in the box-office champ's Dorchester Hotel room in London on Sunday, the day before the blockbuster film's European premiere. It's unclear what exactly went down, but the Welsh-born Bale's 61-year-old mother, Jenny, and 40-year-old sister, Sharon, reportedly went to a Hampshire police station to make the allegation. The local cops subsequently turned the case over to London's Metropolitan Police. Although his family lodged the charges prior to Monday night's premiere, police waited until today to question Bale to allow the event to go on without headline-grabbing interruption. (Source EOnline)

Bale has since been released from police custody and has released the following statement via his lawyer:

"Mr. Bale, who denies the allegation, cooperated throughout, gave his account
in full of the events in question, and has left the station without any charge being made against him by the police," the actor's lawyers at the high-powered London firm Schillings said in a statement. "At this time, there will be no further comment by Mr. Bale." (source EOnline)

There's still a lot of information missing from this story and, more than likely, the public will never know what really went down between Christian and his family, who have apparently been estranged for quite some time. TMZ has had a lot of "sources" come to them with different conjectures of what went on in that hotel room and has also clarified that an assault charge in England can also mean a verbal assault, not just a physical one, however, it appears to have been a minor physical assault. Here's what they've got:

Sources directly connected to the Christian Bale case tell TMZ there was physical contact between Christian and his mom, but it amounted to next to nothing. We're told Bale pushed his mom out of the way during the altercation. She was not hurt and did not fall down. There's a division of opinion on whether the contact was a "push" or a "brush." (Source TMZ.com)

Still others are saying that the mom and the sister showed up at his hotel room all drunk and obnoxious and demanding money and the "brush" or "push" came about when Bale was trying to either leave the room or get them ejected from the hotel. Like I said, its all speculation, but I've always liked Christian Bale as an actor and would be truly disappointed if these allegations turned out to be more serious than a simple light push that cause no injury. I would be really sad if the actor, who's career I've followed since Newsies (I don't care what anyone says, I love that movie!), turned out to be a mom beater. But somehow I don't believe that is the case.

So yeah, that's pretty much how the day has gone. One sad, disturbing story after another. At least we've managed to have some fun here at the station. The boss is gone, so we're keeping a tally of how many times he calls between now and Friday to check his voice mail. Yeah, we're childish like that here at Wine Country Broadcasting, but I say its good for company morale;)

Later!