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Kevin Hart/Ice Cube Vehicle "Ride Along" Rolls into No. 1 Spot at Box Office

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Ice Cube, left, and Kevin Hart in a scene from "Ride Along." (AP Photo/Universal Pictures, Quantrell D. Colbert)
This image released by Universal Pictures shows Ice Cube, left, and Kevin Hart in a scene from “Ride Along.” (AP Photo/Universal Pictures, Quantrell D. Colbert)
The Kevin Hart/Ice Cube film Ride Along arrived in first place at the weekend box office.  The buddy cop comedy debuted with $41.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The strong opening for Ride Along marks the biggest debut for a film released during Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend and puts it on track to top the $40.1 million record set by the 2008 monster movie Cloverfield for the biggest opening of January.
Ride Along is the first starring role for Hart, whose box-office status has been on the rise since the success of his 2013 stand-up film Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain and memorable roles in such movies as Think Like a Man, This Is the End and Grudge Match.  “He’s everywhere it seems,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak. “I know he was co-starring with Ice Cube in Ride Along, but this really was marketed as a Kevin Hart movie. There’s no question he’s a movie star now who doesn’t require any qualifications before his name.”

Uganda’s Stacie Aamito Crowned Africa’s First Next Top Model

Stacie AamitoThe African edition of Next Top Model recently came to a close and Ugandan beauty Stacie ‘Queen’ Aamito claimed the crown.
Aamito beat out 11 contestants from eight different countries—including three women from Nigeria and two from South Africa—to become Africa’s first-ever Top Model winner. The 20-year-old won a contract with New York-based agency DNA Model Management, an endorsement deal with P&G, a one-year contract as ambassador for South African Tourism, along with $50,000 in prize money.
After her win Aamito told reporters, “I would like to thank everybody for their support and for believing in me. It is a dream come true for me and it is truly awesome.”
Africa’s Next Top Model is the brainchild of supermodel Oluchi Onweagba. Onweagba, who’s married to Italian designer Luca Orlandi, has been in the business for over fifteen years, gracing runways for designers like Victoria Secret, Christian Dior, and Giorgio Armani, and snagging covers for publications like Italian Vogue, i-D, Elle, and Surface.
Africa’s Next Top Model was a hit with viewers and many are hopefully this will help catapult African models to international success.
article by Britni Danielle via clutchmagonline.com

"12 Years A Slave" Nabs 9 Oscar Nominations, Including Best Picture

12 Years A Slave
This morning, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for its 86th annual Awards, and recent Golden Globes Best Picture winner 12 Years A Slave was honored nine times, including nods for Best Supporting Actress (Lupita Nyong’o), Best Supporting Actor (Michael Fassbender), Best Adapted Screenplay (John Ridley), Best Actor (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Best Director (Steve McQueen) and Best Picture (Brad Pitt is one of the producers).
Other notable nominations include Barkhad Abdi for Best Supporting Actor in Captain Phillips, Pharrell Williams for Original Song (“Happy” from Despicable Me 2) and U2 for Original Song (“Ordinary Love” from Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom).
American Hustle and Gravity tied for most nominations with ten nominations each, and will likely provide the stiffest competition for 12 Years during the March 2nd awards ceremony.
The full list of nominations follows below:
BEST PICTURE
“12 Years a Slave”
“American Hustle”
“Captain Phillips”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“Gravity”
“Her”
“Nebraska”
“Philomena”
“The Wolf of Wall Street”

"12 Years A Slave" Adding 500 Theaters after Golden Globes Win

twelve-years-a-slave-michael-fassbenderFox Searchlight plans to add about 500 theaters this weekend for director Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave after Sunday night’s Best Motion Picture – Drama win at the Golden Globe Awards, with a goal of reaching 1,000 runs in the next two weeks.  After getting such nods from the Globes and Oscar nominations, a studio often ups its runs of the film when it can using those awards and nominations as a marketing tool. New ads touting the nominations and wins are traditionally done and then blasted out into the marketplace. Award nominations and wins, especially for the Oscars, means cash at the box office.
The Golden Globe and expected Oscar nominations for picture, acting and directing categories for Slave is marketing you can’t buy. The critically-acclaimed film, having received a bevy of nominations from BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), just opened in the UK on 208 screens to quickly grab the No. 1 spot with a strong $4.2M take over the weekend. Internationally, it has yet to debut in Germany, France, Australia, Mexico, Brazil and Japan among others. Domestically, it has grossed $38.9M since being released in a limited run October 18. “What we’re looking at is what we call a two-step. We will be adding theaters both this weekend and next weekend, going back into some of the art theaters that we were in before,” said Frank Rodriguez, head of distribution for Fox Searchlight. “Based on the Golden Globe win and expectations for it do well with the Oscar nominations on Thursday, we will pop it up over the next couple of weeks and hope to get to into 1,000 theaters by Jan. 24th.”
article by Anita Busch via Deadline.com
 

Beyoncé Advocates for Gender Equality in Shriver Report Essay

beyone-girls-run-press-617-409
Beyoncé may sing about girls running the world, but she’s under no delusion that it’s actually true. The superstar recently penned an article for The Shriver Report about the lack of equality between the sexes.
“We need to stop buying into the myth about gender equality,” Knowles-Carter writes, “It isn’t a reality yet.”
Beyoncé’s essay is a part of The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back from the Brink, a “multi-platform nonprofit media initiative led by Maria Shriver that seeks to modernize America’s relationship to women.” The report, which can be downloaded for free until January 15, features essays and photos by some of our nation’s preeminent thinkers, activists, entrepreneurs, and celebrities including Anne-Marie Slaughter, Howard Shultz, Sheryl Sandberg, Jada Pinkett Smith, Hillary Clinton, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, LeBron James, and Tony Porter.
In her article, Beyoncé discusses the wage gap between the sexes and makes a passionate plea to men to step up to the plate and “demand that their wives, daughters, mothers, and sisters earn more.”
The essay marks yet another step in Beyoncé’s feminist journey. Recently, the singer made waves when she featured excerpts from Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk, “We Should All Be Feminists,” on the song “Flawless,” causing many to wonder if Beyoncé was simply calling herself a feminist to sell records or if she was actually identifying as such.
Despite referring to herself as a “modern day feminist” in the past, this essay may silence her critics and perhaps lend some much-needed support to The Shriver Report, which attempts to tackle some of the most pressing issues that face women today.
Check out out Beyoncé’s essay, Gender Equality Is A Myth! below:

We need to stop buying into the myth about gender equality. It isn’t a reality yet. Today, women make up half of the U.S. workforce, but the average working woman earns only 77 percent of what the average working man makes. But unless women and men both say this is unacceptable, things will not change. Men have to demand that their wives, daughters, mothers, and sisters earn more—commensurate with their qualifications and not their gender. Equality will be achieved when men and women are granted equal pay and equal respect.
Humanity requires both men and women, and we are equally important and need one another. So why are we viewed as less than equal? These old attitudes are drilled into us from the very beginning. We have to teach our boys the rules of equality and respect, so that as they grow up, gender equality becomes a natural way of life. And we have to teach our girls that they can reach as high as humanly possible.
We have a lot of work to do, but we can get there if we work together. Women are more than 50 percent of the population and more than 50 percent of voters. We must demand that we all receive 100 percent of the opportunities.

Download The Shriver Report for free from January 12-15th here.
article by Britni Danielle via clutchmagonline.com

Outkast To Embark On 40-Date Festival Tour

Outkast on stage
Ingenious and iconic recording artists and performers, Antwan “Big Boi” Patton and André “3000″ Benjamin announced via Outkast’s newly launched social media platforms and www.Oukast.com that their return to the stage for their 20th anniversary will include festival dates around the world. After headlining Coachella this April, the influential group will be the marquee act at over 40 festivals around the world throughout the Spring/Summer of 2014.
“It’s truly an honor to celebrate 20 years and still be free to do music the way we choose,” said Big Boi. “Don’t just think outside the box, know that there is no box. I’m looking forward to rocking the stage with my Bro Ski and to all the fans – stank you smelly much, this is for y’all!”
“And imagine, all we wanted to do was rap,” said Andre 3000. “I am thankful to have been a part of a group that allowed me to explore anything that came to mind and have fun doing it. Returning to the stage together is the most exciting way for us to thank everyone for their 20 years of supporting Outkast.”
It is impossible to quantify the creative impact and influence of Grammy-Award winning rap duo, Outkast, or the work of its members, André “3000″ Benjamin and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton. Together and individually, these Atlanta natives have set the bar for originality, blasting genre boundaries and combining mediums since their debut album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzikwas released in 1994.
In January 2014, to celebrate Outkast’s 20th anniversary, the duo confirmed plans for a headlining festival run that will begin Friday, April 11 at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, then continue with dates throughout the spring and summer.
article by via theurbandaily.com

Prince to Guest Star on Fox's "New Girl" After Superbowl

prince-2012-australian-tour-announced_hAccording to E! News, Prince will be cast on New Girl, because he is a “huge fan.”  The ever enigmatic 58-year-old will appear in post Superbowl episode, which came about when he personally contacted the producers.  “He knows everything about the show. He contacted Zooey [Deschanel] and Hannah [Simone] directly and asked to do [it],” executive producer Brett Baer said. “He’s a Nick and Jess shipper!”

Prince’s role in the show will be “right in the middle of trying to help [Nick and Jess] work through some stuff.” Apparently, “his thing was all about getting to Jess and trying to bring out this inner part of her that hadn’t been brought to the forefront.”
article by Lauren Duca via huffingtonpost.com

’12 Years a Slave’ Opens No. 1 in U.K. in First Big Overseas Box-Office Test

’12 Years a Slave’ Opens No. 1 in U.K. in First Big Overseas Box-Office Test

Slavery saga 12 Years a Slave opened at No. 1 in the United Kingdom this weekend, in the Oscar frontrunner’s first major overseas test. 12 Years a Slave took in $4.2 million from 208 screens, an encouraging number for Lionsgate, which is distributing in nearly every foreign territory. It’s currently playing in 16 international markets and has taken in $5 million, with most of its significant openings yet to come.  The R-rated “12 Years a Slave” is directed by Steve McQueen stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt. It has grossed nearly $39 million in the U.S., where Fox Searchlight is distributing.

article via thewrap.com

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson to Lead Viewers on "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey"

Neil Degrasse Tyson
NEW YORK — Bringing a long list of prepared questions to an interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson is a fool’s errand. That’s not to say a conversation with the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History isn’t illuminating — quite the opposite.  It’s just that the gregarious astrophysicist can’t help but find science lurking in every corner, turning even the most banal transaction into a teaching moment. An offer of bottled water, for instance, unexpectedly turns into a lengthy digression about the difficulty of freezing distilled water and the origins of Gatorade.

Tyson’s zeal for knowledge is intoxicating and irresistible, even if it means less time for the ostensible topic of the conversation — his starring role in the documentary series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, premiering on Fox and National Geographic in March.  “I see myself as a servant of the public appetite for the universe,” says Tyson, seated in his office overlooking the giant white sphere of the Hayden Planetarium.
Scattered among hundreds of astronomy books are, among other things, a vanity plate reading “COZMIC,” a life-sized bust of Sir Isaac Newton, a half-dozen or so globes, a quill pen collection, a can of Dole pineapples in “cosmic fun shapes” and a pink boa.
Tyson’s combination of humor, intelligence and accessibility have made him one of the most recognizable scientists in the country and put him atop many fantasy dinner-party guest lists. The author or editor of 10 books, he maintains an active social media presence (1.5 million Twitter followers) and produces a radio show and podcast, “StarTalk Radio.” He’s also become a late-night TV regular, through frequent visits to The Daily ShowThe Colbert Report and Real Time With Bill Maher.
Now he’s moving into prime time with Cosmos, a follow-up to Carl Sagan’s groundbreaking 1980 PBS series, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. In what may seem like an odd pairing, Seth MacFarlane serves as executive producer on the series. Tyson first met the Family Guy creator at a gathering of the Science and Entertainment Exchange in Los Angeles several years ago and later pitched him about getting involved in a Cosmos reboot.

Lee Daniels and More to Direct WGN America’s "10 Commandments"

lee-daniels
Director Lee Daniels (Foc Kan/WireImage)

According to Variety.com, Lee Daniels, the director of Precious and Lee Daniels’ The Butler, has signed on to direct an episode of the Bible-based limited-series project, 10 Commandments.  Each hour of the 10-episode scripted series will tell a different tale of drawn from the Biblical rule book, with a different filmmaker attached to each commandment episode. Creatives attached to the project as directors so far include: Daniels, Gus Van Sant, Jim Sheridan, Wes Craven and Michael Cera.

Bruce Cohen and Bob Weinstein are producing  the series. Details on Commandments were unveiled by WGN America head Matt Cherniss Sunday during the cabler’s Television Critics Assn. press tour in Pasadena. “Each of these directors is acclaimed for their own unique brand of style and genre, so it’s clear that we can expect ten wildly different episodes from this series,” said Weinstein, who is co-chairman of TWC.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson