Box Office Report

Superbad rules the box office this weekend. The new comedy was the number 1 film taking in an estimated $31,200,000. Nicole Kidman's new pic The Invasion did not do so well despite a wide release. Congratulations to Hairspray for passing the $100 million mark domestically!

Here are the top 5 courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1. Superbad - $31,200,000
2. Rush Hour 3 - $21,830,000
3. The Bourne Ultimatum - $18,896,000
4. The Simpsons Movie - $6,675,000
5. The Invasion - $6,000,000

Miners Unlikely To Be Found

Sad news out of Utah as the owner of the mine where the miners have been trapped for nearly two weeks says it is unlikely that the six trapped miners will ever be recovered. Three rescue workers were killed trying to recover the 6 miners this past week. For more on the story go here.

New Music From Rilo Kiley

Indie band Rilo Kiley comes out with Under the Blacklight, their first major label release, this week. I'm in love with their last CD More Adventurous so I was super excited to hear about this new one. Rilo Kiley is known for their mixture of rock, disco, country, folk and pop, as well as lead singer Jenny Lewis. Critics are calling the new CD glossy and poppy, but still full of substance for their more devoted fans. I'm not exactly a regular on the indie music scene but I think Under the Blacklight is fantastic, and I think you'll like it too. Especially check out songs Silver Lining, The Moneymaker, and Under the Blacklight. Stream the entire album on their myspace, or buy it on iTunes this week.

High School Musical 2 Dents Cable

Everyone knew High School Musical 2 would be huge...but even Disney didn't expect it to be so huge. According to Variety, the premiere of HSM2 last night drew an impressive 17.2 million viewers making it the most-watched cable telecast ever (including sports). Disney is taking HSM straight to the bank. A third installment of High School Musical is already planned scheduled for a theater release next year.

Zac Efron to be Seventeen

The Green Room can report that Zac Efron is signed on to star in his first big-screen non-musical leading man role. Efron will star in the New Line movie Seventeen. In the film, a 36-year-old man wakes up in the body of a high school senior (Zac Efron). This film sounds a lot like Big and 13 Going on 30 in reverse.

Hurricane Dean Approaches

The United States and Mexico are bracing for impact as Hurricane Dean makes it way closer to the Gulf of Mexico. The first Category 5 storm of the season is expected to strike Jamaica in a few hours. Forecasters are unclear as to where the hurricane is headed. It seems like there have been so many disaster stories recently with bridge collapses, earthquakes, trapped miners, airline crashes, and now this hurricane, which is bound to damage somewhere.

Clinton and Giuliani on Freedom

My friend sent me this and I found it interesting to post. What do Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani think about the word freedom? Read below and find out. Definitely feeling Hillary Clinton on this one.

Rudy Giuliani:

"We look upon authority too often and focus over and over again, for 30 or 40 or 50 years, as if there is something wrong with authority. We see only the oppressive side of authority. Maybe it comes out of our history and our background. What we don't see is that freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do." - newly-elected New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, quoted by the New York Times at a New York Post-sponsored forum on crime in cities in New York, NY, USA (1994)

Hillary Clinton:

"Let me be clear. Freedom means the right of people to assemble, organize and debate openly. It means respecting the views of those who may disagree with the views of their governments. It means not taking citizens away from their loved ones and jailing them, mistreating them, or denying them their freedom or dignity because of the peaceful expression of their ideas and opinions." - then US First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking before the UN\'s 4th World Conference on Women Plenary Session in Beijing, China (1995)

There is clearly a difference between the two candidates.

Superbad/The Invasion

Seth Rogan's creation Superbad and the Nicole Kidman/Daniel Craig thriller The Invasion both hit theaters. Which one should you check out? Well, according to Rotten Tomatoes, Superbad is this week's pick with a current 89% fresh rating. Meanwhile, critics are warning to stay away from The Invasion which is currently at 19% with 47 rotten and only 11 fresh reviews. The choice is yours. I think I'll check out Superbad.

Peru Earthquake Death Toll Rises

The death toll in the magnitude-8 earthquake that rocked Peru a couple of days ago continues to grow. About 510 people have died with another 1,500 injured. Truly a devastating catastrophe. We're hoping the number does not continue to rise. Read more here.

Pollspot: Edwards is on the rise in Iowa

Here are some more polls courtesy of Political Wire:

Iowa:

According to a new ONE poll in Iowa, John Edwards leads in the Democrats presidential race with the support of 30% of likely caucus-goers, followed by Sen. Hillary Clinton at 22%, Sen. Barack Obama at 18% and Gov. Bill Richardson at 13%.

Edwards seems to be doing well since this is the only state he is focusing on. The Obama camp cannot be pleased that Bill Richardson is co close to Obama.

Nevada:

A new Research 2000 poll in Nevada finds Sen. Hillary Clinton leading the Democratic presidential race with 33%, followed by Sen. Barack Obama at 19%, John Edwards at 15% and Gov. Bill Richardson at 11%.

On the GOP side, Mitt Romney leads with 28%, followed by Rudy Giuliani at 18%, Fred Thompson at 18%, and Sen. John McCain at 8%.

One of the less talked about early caucus states shows Hillary Clinton in a comfortable lead as Mitt Romney also enjoys a 10 point lead over Rudy Giuliani.

National:

A new CBS News national poll finds Sen. Hillary Clinton leading the Democratic presidential race with 45%, followed by Sen, Barack Obama at 25% and John Edwards at 14%.

Hillary maintains a 20 point lead!

Pollspot: Some lesser discussed states

Courtesy of Political Wire:

Michigan:

An new EPIC/MRA poll in Michigan shows Sen. Hillary Clinton way ahead in the Democratic presidential race with 45% support, followed by Sen. Barack Obama at 26% and John Edwards at 16%.

On the Republican side, Fred Thompson leads with 22%, followed by Rudy Giuliani at 19%, Sen. John McCain at 16%, Newt Gingrich at 15% and Mitt Romney at 12%

+19 for Hill! Very close race for the GOP.

California:

Giuliani is backed by 35% of likely GOP primary voters, followed by Mitt Romney at 14%, Fred Thompson at 13% and Sen. John McCain at just 9%. McCain had been at 24% earlier this year.

McCain's campaign is crumbling down.

Florida:

A new Strategic Vision (R) poll in Florida shows Sen. Hillary Clinton leading the Democratic presidential race with 40% support, followed by Sen. Barack Obama at 20%, John Edwards at 16% and Gov. Bill Richardson with 9%.

In the Republican race, Rudy Giuliani is in front with 34%, followed by Fred Thompson at 18%, Mitt Romney at 10% and Sen. John McCain at 8%.

+20 for Hill.

Happy Birthday Madonna

I wouldn't normally do this....but it's Madonna! The Material Girl celebrates her 49th birthday today! Word on the street is that her royal Madgesty is planning a big Central Park gig for her 50th birthday in 2008.

Mandy Moore's Umbrella

Singer/Actress Mandy Moore has covered one of 2007's hottest summer hits...Umbrella by Rihanna. Not something people would expect Mandy would do. Check it out below.

Gyllenhaal and the Big White White

Jake Gyllenhaal is coming to Broadway. The Academy Award nominee will star in a play called Farragut North about presidential politics. The show is set to debut in the Fall of 2008.

Pollspot: All for Hill

Hillary Clinton continues to look well in the polls! I'm pleased! Mitt Romney continues to rise as well.

South Carolina:

A new Public Policy Polling survey in South Carolina finds Sen. Hillary Clinton leading the Democratic presidential race with 36% support, followed by Sen. Barack Obama at 33% and John Edwards with 12%. Clinton trailed Obama by three points in the last poll.

On the Republican side, Fred Thompson leads the race with 22%, followed by
Rudy Giuliani at 18%, Mitt Romney at 17%, Sen. John McCain at 11% and Mike
Huckabee at 7%.

Pretty much a tie here between Clinton and Obama.

New Hampshire:

A new Rasmussen Reports survey in New Hampshire finds Sen. Hillary Clinton leading the Democratic primary race with 37%, followed by Sen. Barack Obama at 22%, John Edwards at 14% and Gov. Bill Richardson at 9%.

In the Republican primary race, Mitt Romney leads with 32%, trailed by Rudy Giuliani at 20%, Sen. John McCain at 11% and Fred Thompson at 11%.

Solid leads in the very important state for both Hillary and Mitt.

National:

A new Quinnipiac national poll shows Sen. Hillary Clinton leading the Democratic presidential race with 36% support, followed by Sen. Barack Obama at 21%, Al Gore at 15%, John Edwards at 9%, and Gov. Bill Richardson at 3%.

On the GOP side, Rudy Giuliani leads with 28%, followed by Mitt Romney at
15%, Fred Thompson at 12%, and Sen. John McCain at 11%.

In a head-to-head match up, Clinton edges Giuliani 46% to 43% for the first
time in this poll.

Nice 15 point lead for Hill nationally!

NBA Ref Guilty

Photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated

Tim Donaghy could receive up to 25 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to "conspiracy to engage in wire fraud and transmitting wagering information through interstate commerce." Simply put, the NBA referee admitted to rigging games for cash. Every game Donaghy reffed is now tarnished, especially last year's Suns-Spurs series. See the story here.

Our Beloved Facebook

Ever wonder how our beloved Facebook got started. The creator of Facebook, 23-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, is on the cover of this week's Newsweek and you can read the article all about how he came up with the site and what he's got planned next. Facebook has undoubtedly become a big part of college life. You can read the full article here.

Gay Couple Coming To Wisteria Lane

Tuc Watkins

Desperate Housewives is getting a gay couple in the neighborhood. Tuc Watkins from One Life to Live and Kevin Rahm from Judging Amy will join the cast as the gay couple for recurring roles this coming season.

Kevin Rahm

Defending Hillary from Ben Smith

This article by Ben Smith from Politico once again shows me how biased he is and how much he doesn't like Hillary Clinton. When Hillary Clinton spoke at YearlyKos, Smith only focused on the fact that she was booed twice and did not provide even a semi-decent account of her speech, unlike Roger Simon, who reported on everything regarding her speech...the good and the bad. You can my article about Simon vs Smith at YearlyKos here.

Anyways, as I posted yesterday, Hillary Clinton has released her first campaign ad commercial to run in Iowa. Now...Ben Smith is at it again. In the short article, Smith writes, "No points for figuring out why Hillary picked Iowa for her first ad. Not only is she trailing there (or running roughly neck-and-neck with Edwards and Obama, depending on which poll you read) but she had to put out a fire this spring when an aide suggested she essentially ignore Iowa." That's all Smith writes before describing what is in the ad. Why wouldn't Hillary choose Iowa first? It is the first nominating state. Iowa has not been ignored by Hillary. She started off July campaigning there with President Clinton for 5 days. Also, Hillary has NOT been trailing in Iowa. Some polls (and there are many posted here at The Green Room) show her in a three way tie with Obama and Edwards while others show Obama narrowly leading and others show Hillary narrowly leading. So the word trailing is just flat out WRONG. Also, another reason the ad will run in Iowa....John Edwards and Barack Obama have already been advertising there with commericials for months now and both candidates will tour the state this week. Hmm...another reason...how about there is a big Democratic debate on Sunday...IN IOWA. If you are going to misinform your readers Ben Smith then make sure it's not so easy to refute what you are writing. That's all.

Pollspot: Ooo Baby Baby

I think this is the best poll I've seen!

A new CNN/Opinion Research Poll quizzing respondents on the various attribute of the Democratic presidential candidates holds some good news for Hillary Clinton. 59% of respondents felt Clinton had the best experience for the job, compared to
only 11% for Edwards and 9% for Obama. 47% thought Clinton was the strongest leader. Only 22% gave that honor to Obama and 13% to Edwards.

In a potential blow to Obama’s message of bringing change, 40% or
respondents felt that Clinton had the best chance of creating change, with only 27% giving Obama the best chance and 13% citing Edwards. Voters slightly favored Clinton as the most honest candidate (28%) with Obama polling second with 24%. Obama was thought by 34% of those polled to be the most likable, however, despite a large gap in Clinton’s and Obama’s unfavorability rating, this poll showed only a small gap in voters likability, with Clinton receiving 31%. And finally, Clinton was viewed by respondents as having the best shot at getting elected in November 2008, with 55% choosing her compared to only 19% or Obama and 12 % for Edwards.

A new American Research Group poll shows Sen. Hillary Clinton continues to lead among Democrats in the presidential race with 36% support, followed by Sen. Barack Obama at 21% and John Edwards at 16%.

Among Republicans, Rudy Giuliani stays in front with 27%, followed by Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney with 16% each. Sen. John McCain is now in fourth place with 13%.

She rises slightly in the poll while Obama falls slightly. Mitt Romney is on the rise. In the other one, Hillary is doing awesome!!! I hope her unfavorables are coming down! The fact that she is polling at 40% for bringing change, 59% for experience, and that her likability rating is close to Obamas is truly awesome.

Courtesy of Political Wire