The final milestone Avatar hadn’t reached has now been passed.
On Feb. 2nd, Avatar grossed $2,688,514 at the domestic United States box office, bringing its grand total after 47 days to $601,141,551. This puts it in the top position on the domestic box office chart, finally breaking Titanic’s 12-year run of $600,788,188.
In other words, James Cameron beat himself.
Seeing as the film brought in $30 million this past weekend, pushing it past the $2 billion dollar mark internationally, it is not inconceivable that this film is going to hit $700 million domestic. The true trick would be for it become the number 1 film on the chart for adjusted totals based on inflation, but I don’t think even this film can beat Gone With The Wind’s staggering $1,507,252,900 adjusted total. (adjusted totals are based on the number of tickets sold, multiplied by the current average price of tickets)
Welcome to another week of the daily edition of CobWEBs, the flagship podcast of The Cynical Bastards!
For those who don’t remember from the other episodes, this is a new format for the show as we are going to try giving you daily bite sized chunks of our patented brand of cynicism over everything in the tech universe. The show will have a rotating host schedule between Steven Hodson, Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins and myself. You’ll always get two of us, you just never know which two!
In this episode, Steven and I take a look at the new Verizon ads which, well they’re just funny and making AT&T look sillier and sillier. Here was my favorite of the two.
We also discuss the silliness of how Microsoft employees seem to turn into Mac evangelists once they leave the company. And, of course, what is an episode without some talk about Twitter? And fourth story for the night … Italy is getting nasty with YouTube … in a completely silly fashion and one that may not be entirely legal.
Capt. Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie, one of the ships on the popular Deadliest Catch series, has suffered a stroke.
News has come out that Capt. Phil Harris suffered a stroke on Jan. 30th while the Cornelia Marie was in port at St. Paul Island in Alaska, off loading a cargo of Opilio crabs. Fans of the series Deadliest Catch will be familiar with this being the second half of the season, which is always the rougher portion of the show.
He was was immediately taken to the medical center in St. Paul, the same facility he was taken to when he suffered a blood clot two years ago.
Upon further examination he was medivaced to Anchorage, where he underwent surgery sometime during the evening of Jan. 30th. His sons Jake and Josh were both at his side during the surgery, and a family friend named Derek Ray has flown to St. Paul to become relief skipper of the Cornelia Marie for the remainer of the Opilio season.
Jake and Josh updated the Discovery Channel on Feb. 1st that their father was resting comfortably, and was recovering. They promised to pass along more information as it became available.
Fans of the show will remember that two years ago, Capt. Harris suffered a blood clot while out at sea, and was informed not to return to fishing for the remainder of that season. The following year he skipped the King Crab season (the first half of the season each year on the television series), but did return for Opilio season. While his health was not back to 100 percent, he did seem to be improving as the season wore on. There is no word as of yet as to how he had been fairing this year.
As the Cornelia Marie is one of the featured ships of the series, Capt. Harris’ stroke is sure to be a central focus of the Opilio portion of this season, which should premiere sometime in April, although no official announcement has been made yet.
My most heartfelt well wishes to Capt. Phil for a speedy recovery.
Update Feb. 3rd: According to TMZ, Capt. Harris has awoken from his medically induced coma, and is talking.
One really good sign — his sons tell us that shortly after waking up, Harris told his doctors and nurses: “Don’t f**k up.”
The awards show will air Sunday, March 7th, at 8 PM est/5 PM est on ABC in the United States, hosted by Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.
The films with the most nominations are:
Avatar – 9
The Hurt Locker – 9
Inglourious Basterds – 8
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire – 6
Up in the Air – 5
Best Motion Picture of The Year
“Avatar” A Lightstorm Entertainment Production
James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers (20th Century Fox)
“The Blind Side” An Alcon Entertainment Production
Nominees to be determined (Warner Bros.)
“District 9” A Block/Hanson Production
Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers (Sony Pictures Releasing)
“An Education” A Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production
Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers (Sony Pictures Classics)
“The Hurt Locker” A Voltage Pictures Production
Nominees to be determined (Summit Entertainment)
“Inglourious Basterds”
A Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg Production
Lawrence Bender, Producer (The Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures)
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
A Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Production
Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
“A Serious Man” A Working Title Films Production
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers (Focus Features)
“Up” A Pixar Production
Jonas Rivera, Producer (Walt Disney)
“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
A Montecito Picture Company Production
Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers
Achievement In Directing
James Cameron – “Avatar” (20th Century Fox)
Kathryn Bigelow – “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)
Quentin Tarantino – “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures)
Lee Daniels – “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Jason Reitman – “Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role
Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
George Clooney in “Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Colin Firth in “A Single Man” (The Weinstein Company)
Morgan Freeman in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)
Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role
Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)
Helen Mirren in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Carey Mulligan in “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role
Matt Damon in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones” (DreamWorks with Film4, Distributed by Paramount)
Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)
Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role
Penélope Cruz in “Nine” (The Weinstein Company)
Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Best Animated Feature Film Of The Year
“Coraline” (Focus Features) Henry Selick
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) Wes Anderson
“The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) John Musker and Ron Clements
“The Secret of Kells” (GKIDS) Tomm Moore
“Up” (Walt Disney) Pete Docter
Adapted Screenplay
Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell – “District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Nick Hornby – “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche – “In the Loop” (IFC Films)
Geoffrey Fletcher – “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner – “Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring and DW)
Original Screenplay
Mark Boal – “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)
Quentin Tarantino – “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)
Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman – “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – “A Serious Man” (Focus Features)
Bob Peterson, Pete Docter – “Up” (Walt Disney)
Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy
Achievement In Cinematography
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Mauro Fiore
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Warner Bros.) Bruno Delbonnel
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Barry Ackroyd
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Robert Richardson
“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics) Christian Berger
Achievement In Costume Design
“Bright Star” (Apparition) Janet Patterson
“Coco before Chanel” (Sony Pictures Classics) Catherine Leterrier
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics) Monique Prudhomme
“Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Colleen Atwood
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Sandy Powell
Best Documentary Feature
“Burma VJ” A Magic Hour Films Production
Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
(Oscilloscope Laboratories)
“The Cove” An Oceanic Preservation Society Production
Nominees to be determined
(Roadside Attractions)
“Food, Inc.” A Robert Kenner Films Production
Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
(Magnolia Pictures)
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” A Kovno Communications Production
Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
“Which Way Home” A Mr. Mudd Production
Rebecca Cammisa
Best Documentary Short Subject
“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” A Downtown Community Television Center Production
Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” A Just Media Production
Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” A Community Media Production
Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
“Music by Prudence” An iThemba Production
Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
“Rabbit à la Berlin” An MS Films Production
Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra
(Deckert Distribution)
Achievement In Film Editing
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Julian Clarke
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Sally Menke
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Joe Klotz
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
“Ajami” An Inosan Production Israel (Kino International)
“El Secreto de Sus Ojos” A Haddock Films Production Argentina (Sony Pictures Classics)
“The Milk of Sorrow” A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogràfica/Vela Production Peru
“Un Prophète” A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production France (Sony Pictures Classics)
“The White Ribbon” An X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production Germany (Sony Pictures Classics)
Achievement In Makeup
“Il Divo” (MPI Media Group through Music Box) Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore
Achievement In Music Written For Motion Pictures (Original score)
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Horner
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) Alexandre Desplat
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.) Hans Zimmer
“Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino
Achievement In Music Written For Motion Pictures (Original song)
“Almost There” (Walt Disney)
Music and Lyric by Randy Newman from “The Princess and the Frog”
“Down in New Orleans” (Walt Disney)
Music and Lyric by Randy Newman from “The Princess and the Frog”
“Loin de Paname” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Music by Reinhardt Wagner, Lyric by Frank Thomas from “Paris 36”
“Take It All” (The Weinstein Company)
Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston from “Nine”
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)”
“Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett
Best Animated Short Film
“French Roast” A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production
Fabrice O. Joubert
“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” A Brown Bag Films Production
Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
(Brown Bag Films)
“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” A Kandor Graphics and Green Moon Production
Javier Recio Gracia
“Logorama” An Autour de Minuit Production
Nicolas Schmerkin
(Autour de Minuit)
“A Matter of Loaf and Death” An Aardman Animations Production
Nick Park (Aardman Animations)
Best Live Action Short Film
“The Door” An Octagon Films Production
Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
(Network Ireland Television)
“Instead of Abracadabra” A Directörn & Fabrikörn Production
Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
(The Swedish Film Institute)
“Kavi” A Gregg Helvey Production
Gregg Helvey
“Miracle Fish” A Druid Films Production
Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
“The New Tenants” A Park Pictures and M & M Production
Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson
Achievement In Sound Editing
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Wylie Stateman
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
“Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Silvers and Tom Myers
Achievement In Sound Mixing
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro, Distributed by Paramount) Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson
Achievement In Visual Effects
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton
Art Direction
“Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
“Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
“Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray
Welcome to another week of the daily edition of CobWEBs, the flagship podcast of The Cynical Bastards!
For those who don’t remember from the other episodes, this is a new format for the show as we are going to try giving you daily bite sized chunks of our patented brand of cynicism over everything in the tech universe. The show will have a rotating host schedule between Steven Hodson, Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins and myself. You’ll always get two of us, you just never know which two!
In this episode, Steven and I talk about baking your video card in the oven when you have a problem with it.
No … we’re not kidding.
We also address the Amazon/Macmillan dispute, and how it’s obvious publishers have no idea what they’re doing. (links by Steven)
Apparently nothing can stop the freight train that is Avatar.
Over the weekend, James Cameron’s Avatar became the first film to ever break the $2 billion dollar mark for international gross sales. In the United States it added another $30 million to its take to remain the number one film for a seventh week, and is now within $6,316,188 of tying Titanic as the all-time highest grossing film in the United States; this should happen either Tuesday or Wednesday of this week.
Here is an updated chart of its grosses:
Dollar Amount
% of total
Domestic
$594,472,000
29.2%
Foreign
$1,444,750,000
70.8%
TOTAL
$2,039,222,000
So, why do I keep reporting about the record breaking box office film that I have stated time and time again I have no interest in seeing? Because, at the end of the day, I am fascinated by the business of film, and this thing, despite my misgivings about it, has certainly set the box office on its ear. Say what you will about James Cameron and his enormous ego, he does bring in the bank for film studios.
If you need a good laugh, check out this two part “review” of the movie that probably isn’t too safe for work.
The final milestone Avatar hadn’t reached has now been passed.
Capt. Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie, one of the ships on the popular Deadliest Catch series, has suffered a stroke.
The nominees for the 
