Disappointed that Black Swan wasn’t playing in your area this past weekend? Me too, but hold onto your tutu—the ultra-buzzworthy film will soon see a wide release.
The talk of the film world for the past several months, Swan will hit a theater near you on December 22. While the film is not exactly your typical let’s take the kids to see a movie on Christmas-type fare, this news is sure to bring some holiday cheer to moviegoers who were forced to miss out on last weekend’s limited release.
A limited release, by the way, that scored a remarkable $80k per venue average. Apply that to the 1000 theaters that the film is headed for later this month, and you’ve got an $80 million weekend. Not too shabby, but not surprising either. Swan has received a herd of media attention since its debut at the Venice International Film Festival in September.
Turning his attention to the unforgiving world of ballet, director Darren Aronofsky tells the story of two up-and-coming dancers as they compete for the lead role in a production of Swan Lake. Aronofsky takes a dark look at the lifestyle, including what dancers go through to advance their careers and how it consumes them—not unlike his examination of the world of professional wrestling (another underappreciated art form—and yes, it is an art form) in his previous film, The Wrestler.
Just as Mickey Rourke did in that film, Portman and Kunis underwent a rigorous training regiment in preparation for their roles. According to USA Today, the actresses each dropped around 20 pounds, and learned proper ballet techniques for their roles. Additionally, Portman suffered a collection of injuries throughout filming.
The result—according to trailer that I saw a few weeks ago (see below) and those who have actually seen the film—is nothing short of spectacular. While I don’t always latch onto psychological thrillers, this one has my attention—and it has nothing to do with the love scene. I will at least be making an attempt to break away from all of the holiday celebrations to give Swan a view later this month.
Were you lucky enough to catch Black Swan over the weekend? If so, what did you think? Does it live up to the hype? If you haven’t seen it yet, will you—like me—be heading to the theater on the 22nd? Be sure to share your thoughts as comments below.
Millions of people anxiously watched the clock on December 4, awaiting the stroke of midnight. No, they weren’t practicing for New Years. Instead, they were gathering with fellow Twilighters and Twihards at local retail stores for the DVD release of the third installment of the Twilight Saga, Eclipse.
Originating as a paranormal romance novel for young adults, Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga has become a pop culture phenomenon, gaining popularity in multiple realms of entertainment—books, film, and music.
Due to the increased popularity of the series, the Twilight Saga has since been adapted into five films. The last book, Breaking Dawn, will be split into two films tentatively scheduled for release in theaters on November 18, 2011 and November 16, 2012. And as gross sales for the first three films have steadily increased with each release (Twilight, $192 million; New Moon, $296 million; Eclipse, $300 million), the final two films are expected to do even better.3 Released in November 2009, New Moon set a Guinness World Record for highest opening day sales by grossing $72.7 million.4
Twilight and New Moon have gained popularity among young adults, earning accolades at both the MTV Movie Awards and the Teen Choice Awards. Meanwhile, the most recent release, Eclipse, has been nominated for eight People’s Choice Awards including Favorite Movie, Favorite Drama Movie, and Favorite Movie Actor and Actress, among others.
Released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 4, Eclipse sold three million copies in just two days. Over the next four weeks, Steve Nickerson, president of Summit Entertainment, expects sales to increase dramatically for both original and special edition releases. Summit is committing three times as much on marketing in the post-street window compared to Twilight and New Moon, which both sold around four million units in their first two days in stores and over nine million units since.5
The overall booming popularity of Twilight has turned the city of Forks, Washington into a major tourist attraction. Every month, an average of 8,000 tourists flock to the tiny Seattle town to eat from Twilight-inspired menus at local restaurants and venture on local tours.8 Even those not able to make the trek can see the town and its splendor by watching the documentaries, Twilight in Forks and Destination Forks – Real World of Twilight.
However, despite the unparalleled popularity of the Twilight Saga, parents and educators often dispute the novels, labeling them unsuitable for young adults due to subtle religious and sexual notions. In 2009, the series ranked number five on the American Library Association’s Top Ten List of the Most Frequently Challenged Books.9 But that hasn’t stopped readers from catching Twilight fever. As of March 2010, the print series sold over 100 million copies worldwide.8 And Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse have grossed over $1.7 billion in theaters worldwide.3
Midwest Tape is Here to Re-Vamp Your Collection
Midwest Tape has created a collection of audiobooks, CDs, and DVDs from the Twilight Saga. To view our collection, click on the Twilight panel on the Midwest Tape homepage.
Has your library seen a large demand for Twilight materials? What other popular culture materials are in high demand at your library?
What do you do when no one cares about your award nominee announcement? Adding a little Bruno Mars is a good start.
For years, the announcement of nominees for the Grammy Awards, music’s highest honor, consisted of a few randomly selected artists, a podium, and a slew of reporters—all of which assembling at an ungodly early hour in Los Angeles. The artists would then read names from a card as photographers clicked away and giddy entertainment writers feverishly scribbled on their notepads.
The problem was that no one really cared. After all, the nominees would be up on the internet minutes after they were announced.
The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the driving force behind the Grammy Awards, recognized this as an opportunity. Last year, they decided to add a little pizazz to the proceedings by turning the event into an event—an hour long television special that intersperses live performances from top artists between nominee announcements for each of the major award categories. Think of it as a sort of dress rehearsal for the actual award ceremony in February.
With hip-hop legend—and multiple Grammy winner himself—LL Cool J retaining his spot as host, the second annual edition of the special aired last night.
Performers ranged from pop starlet Katy Perry to country sensation Miranda Lambert to rockers Train, but two standout performances of the unplugged variety—the aforementioned Mars’ stripped down rendition of his smash hit “Just The Way You Are” and Best New Artist nominee Justin Bieber’s heavy-on-the-guitar acoustic version of “Favorite Girl” (straight from the recently released My Worlds Acoustic)—were a step above the rest.
Mars would go on to pull double-duty, later performing the Record of the Year-nominated “Nothin’ On You” with rapper B.o.B, who himself returned to close out the show with “Don’t Let Me Fall.” Viewers may have witnessed the future of the Grammys as Mars and B.o.B., both in the infant stages of their careers, received a combined 12 nominations—and their performances certainly justified such accolades.
In between performances, nominees from five different categories were announced. Aside from a curveball or two, the nominations stuck fairly close to what the experts had predicted.
As expected, Eminem’s name was called more than once. The Detroit rapper picked up an Album of the Year nom for his comeback album Recoveryand was also nominated for both Song of the Year and Record of the Year (in case you’re wondering, the Song of the Year award goes to the writer of the song, while the Record of the Year goes to the performer) for “Love The Way You Lie,” his revered collaboration with Rihanna. Em ended up with ten nominations in total by night’s end.
Other prominent nominees included a pair of “Ladies”—Antebellum and Gaga—each nominated for six awards, including Album of the Year. Jay-Z also picked up six nominations, including his song “Empire State of Mind” featuring Alicia Keys, which received a Record of the Year nom.
Surprises on the night included Ray Lamontagne’s “Beg Steal or Borrow” picking up a Song of the Year nomination, the Best New Artist category (which is generally reserved for pop acts) recognizing jazz bassist Esperanza Spalding, and Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream being nominated for Album of the Year despite being left out of most experts’ predictions.
A full rundown of the nominees can be found on our website by clicking the Grammy Nominees panel on our homepage, or by selecting the “Grammy Nominees 2011” collection in the Browse section.
Let the discussions begin—who should win? Who got snubbed? Who put on the best performance last night? Leave your comments below!
Start off on the right foot as a new user or obtain a refresher course with a free introductory webinar to Midwest Tape's website on December 8th at 1:30 p.m., hosted by Inside Sales representatives Elaine Schlagheck, Courtney Wolfe, and Lisa Smith.
In this 60-minute session, we’ll discuss the basics of our user-friendly website, including navigation, new features and tools, and our homepage. We'll also teach users how to search for products, create and build acquisition carts, and submit orders.
Midwest Tape is a full service DVD, music CD, and audiobook distributor,conducting business exclusively with public libraries since 1989.
Because customer service is our top priority, we’ve launched News and Views, a blog dedicated to presenting you with newsworthy information and updates. You can always access our blog through the Midwest Tape homepage, or you can subscribe to News and Views through our RSS Feed.
So stay tuned for upcoming posts. We look forward to your comments!
The talk of the film world for the past several months, Swan will hit a theater near you on December 22. While the film is not exactly your typical let’s take the kids to see a movie on Christmas-type fare, this news is sure to bring some holiday cheer to moviegoers who were forced to miss out on last weekend’s limited release.
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