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By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal popular culture writer
Published on Monday, Feb 18, 2008
Big Jump at Box Office. The action thriller Jumper topped the North American box office over the weekend, with about $27.2 million in revenue.
In second place was another newcomer, Step Up 2 the Streets, with $19.7 million, followed by The Spiderwick Chronicles, with $19.1 million.
In terms of per-theater average, Step Up 2 the Streets was in a virtual tie with Jumper, according to Box Office Mojo. Jumper was in about 1,000 more theaters.
Fool's Gold, the previous weekend's champ, tumbled to fourth with $13.9 million, followed by yet another debut, Definitely, Maybe, with $9.7 million.
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More Box Office. Those are just Friday-Sunday estimates. Several movies premiered on Thursday, taking advantage of couples deciding to cap their Valentine's Day celebrations with a film.
''Valentine's Day has become a great movie-going day,'' one movie executive told the Associated Press. ''Even though kids are not out of school and people are working, it's still a holiday in the sense that in the evening, men take their wives, or girlfriends and boyfriends go out. Everybody goes to the movies.''
In addition, AP noted that the current crop of movies ''offered something for everyone, with new films for action fans, teens, family audiences and the date-movie crowd.''
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Carpenters' Home Endangered. The old home of the singing duo of Karen and Richard Carpenter will be torn down if its current owners have their way. Carpenters fans are fighting the change.
The Downey, Calif., house and annex ''became a magnet for fans around the world when it was pictured on the Carpenters' trifold cover for the 1973 hit album Now & Then, the Los Angeles Times said. ''It is also where an anorexic Karen Carpenter collapsed in 1983 before dying.''
The Carpenters' parents continued to live in the house. After they died, Richard sold the place in 1997.
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Parade of Fans. While the current owners have reportedly been kind to Carpenters fans coming to the house, the Times said they have grown tired of the ''nonstop parade.'' They have torn down the annex and submitted plans to Downey officials to replace the main house.
Fans don't want to lose the connection to the group. ''This house is our version of Graceland,'' one fan told the Los Angeles Times, referring to the former home (and now tourist mecca) of Elvis Presley.
The Carpenters' hits include We've Only Just Begun, Close to You, Superstar and Rainy Days and Mondays.
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More Winehouse Troubles. Singer Amy Winehouse, a big winner at the Grammys a week ago, is still facing personal problems. Britain's News of the World says her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, recently suffered a drug overdose in prison.
Guards reportedly found him writhing in pain and vomiting in a cell after taking what he thought was heroin. He was rushed to the jail's hospital block and ''narrowly cheated death,'' the publication says.
Fielder-Civil has a long history of drug problems; according to the News, he has failed three random drug tests while in jail. He's in stir on charges of assault and of attempting to bribe his accuser.
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Bad Flavor? The New York Post says the current, third season of Flavor of Love ''could be the fakest show to hit the airwaves yet.'' Host Flavor Flav was dumped by the first-season winner, and never called the second-season winner. As for the third attempt to bring him love, he found it without benefit of TV cameras, according to the Post.
''Right after Season Two wrapped, Flav got yet another woman pregnant,'' a source said. (Flav reportedly had seven children with different mothers before this latest arrival.) ''He decided he was in love with (the pregnant woman) and they got engaged.'' He has a fiancee he's in love with, but he'd already cashed the check that VH1 gave him for Season Three.
Adds the Post's source: Flav was ''dead broke'' before the TV show, and it has resurrected his career, so he's going through with the charade. But a VH1 rep told the Post that Flav is not engaged. As for the eight babies, the VH1 spokesperson noted that Flav has said he wants 10. ''So there's two more to go.''
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in the HeldenFiles Online blog at http://www.ohio.com. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
Big Jump at Box Office. The action thriller Jumper topped the North American box office over the weekend, with about $27.2 million in revenue.
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