The sci-fi epic “Avatar” has rolled right over that other James Cameron mega-hit, “Titanic” to become the highest grossing movie of all time. ”Titanic” held that record with $1.843 billion. No more. That record has been shattered by the alien adventure film. After 45 days, the worldwide gross for ”Avatar” stands at an incredible $2.039 billion, according to Box Office Mojo. 

 Amazingly, “Avatar” is still going strong in theaters. This weekend, “Avatar” nabbed around $30 million at the domestic Box Office, holding onto the number one spot for the seventh straight week. Mel Gibson’s new drama, “Edge of Darkness,” grabbed second place with an estimated $17 million. After an eight year hiatus from acting which included some, uh, personal drama, Gibson stars on the big screen as a homicide detective who uncovers secrets while searching for the killer of his activist daughter.

A new romantic comedy, “When In Rome” came in third with about $12 million.  Kristen Bell stars in this light-hearted story of a single art curator who scoops up some coins from a “love fountain” in Italy and soon finds herself pursued by the aggressive suitors who tossed in those coins. Josh Duhamel stars as well.

The family comedy, “Tooth Fairy” scored $9.5 million in its second week to land in fourth. Rounding out the top five, “The Book of Eli” with $8 million, bringing the three week domestic total for that action sci-fi drama to $74.3 million.   

Photo from http://www.dga.org

Director James Cameron is king of the Box Office right now, but the Directors Guild of America picked filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow as the best feature film director of 2009. The winner was announced last night at the 62nd Annual DGA Awards dinner in Los Angeles.   

The 58-year-old Bigelow won for the highly acclaimed Iraq-war drama, “The Hurt Locker.” She is the first woman to ever win the prestigious award, considered a reliable predictor of who will walk away with the best director Oscar. Bigelow is quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying: “This is amazing. I’m so deeply stunned, honored and awed.”

Bigelow and the film have won numerous awards, including the Darryl F. Zanuck producer of the year award from the Producers Guild of America, last Sunday in Hollywood. The Academy Award nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2, and the big money is on Bigelow’s name being mentioned for best director.

For a list full list of the 2009 DGA award winners click here.

Photo from http://www.whitehouse.gov

Quite a week for the 2009 NBA Champions, the Los Angeles Lakers. Last Monday, they were honored at the White House by President Obama and some local congressional Lakers fans among them, Jane Harmon, Laura Richardson, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Brad Sherman, and Adam Schiff.

President Obama belatedly congratulated the Lakers on their 15th NBA title — their fourth in the past ten years.  Here are some of the president’s remarks. 

“I want to congratulate everybody who helped make this team what it is -– from the assistants to the front office staff, to the trainers and the ticket-takers, all the fans back in L.A. who bleed purple and gold.  You all should be very proud. ”

“Of course, I’ve got to recognize Kobe Bryant -– one of the most competitive players I’ve ever seen — (applause) — for being named Finals MVP last year, obviously already MVPs under his belt, the youngest player ever to reach 25,000 points in his career.  And he’s playing with a broken finger.  Now, if I was — if I had a broken finger I would have trouble getting out of bed. (Laughter.)  And he’s still leading the team day in and day out.”

“This is a team that never lost its focus last season -– from the first tip-off to the final buzzer.  I know that the Lakers have a tradition of ending each team gathering -– whether it’s a practice, or a game, or a team meeting -– by with the chant, “1,2,3, Rings.”  As Lamar Odom said, “We kind of always saw that light.”  Everyone was willing to do what it took to get a little stronger, to play a little harder, and to bring home that title.”

“But I think it’s important to note that this team also knows that being a champ is about more than trophies and rings.  It’s about being a winner off the court as well as on it –- and giving back to those who are less fortunate.  The Lakers and the NBA have always been about serving others –- at home and around the world.  And that tradition continued last week, when the NBA and the Players Association, led by Derek Fisher, pledged to donate $1 million to support relief efforts in Haiti.  (Applause.) Jordan Farmar and Pau Gasol are also donating their money to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund.  Pau pledged $1,000 for every point he scored against the Knicks — and I’m glad he dropped 20 –- (laughter) — helping the Lakers to beat New York and changing the lives of Haitians thousands of miles away.”

“And earlier today, the team joined with our United We Serve initiative to hold a fitness clinic for kids from Stanton Elementary School right here in Washington, D.C. -– teaching them about a few moves, but also how to live healthy and active lives.”

“So I just want to again thank the entire Lakers organization for your service, for the great joy that you have given the city of Los Angeles, but also the incredible competition your organization has graced the basketball court with for decades now.  If this season is anything like the last one — I know that you guys have your sights on the NBA finals — so we might see you here before long.  But we are very grateful for your presence here today.”

The full text of the president’s comments is on the whitehouse.gov website.  The day before meeting the president, Sunday, January 24, the Lakers lost a close one to the Toronto Raptors 105-to-106. That White House visit may have helped the Lakers get their basketball groove back.

On Tuesday, January 26, the Lakers played the Washington Wizards and beat them 115-to-103. The Lakers continued their winning ways by taking out the Indiana Pacers 118 -to-96 on Wednesday, January 27. Then yesterday, they whipped the Philadelphia 76ers 99-to-91.

Tomorrow, the Lakers take to the court in Boston to square off against the Celtics.

Look who’s talking? Oprah interviewed Jay Leno yesterday about the much debated “Tonight Show” debacle. NBC executives jerked around both Leno and fellow talk show host Conan O’Brien. Last Friday, O’Brien gave up “The Tonight Show” rather than see it compromised. Oh, O’Brien walked away with a huge chunk of money and a ton of favorable publicity as well.

On the other hand, Leno did not come out the clear winner, either. He gets to host ”The Tonight Show” again, but has become the target of bad press and dissing from fans for not being a real stand-up guy. The reason: he didn’t call out the NBC executives over that tacky plan to shift “The Tonight Show” from its traditional 11:35 p.m. time period to 12:05 a.m., which would have allowed a half-hour version of “The Jay Leno Show” to start in the 11:35 p.m. slot.

In the interview on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” Leno answered some tough questions, and in doing so, smoothed out a few dents in his public image. I encountered the comedian a number of times when I  worked as a news writer at NBC and on occasion, in the local Burbank community. I once bumped into Leno, with a staffer, making a food run for “The Tonight Show” crew at a McDonald’s in Burbank. Each time I met Leno, he came across as a great guy. Also, I’m a fan. However, I was quite disappointed with the way Leno handled himself in “The Tonight Show” mess.

After reading the transcript of his interview with Oprah on Nikki Finke’s Deadline.com/Hollywood site, I better understand Leno’s position and perspective.

Leno admits NBC “broke his heart” when they told him in 2004, that despite being number one, he would get the boot from “The Tonight Show” five years down the road.

“…I was devastated. This is the job that I always wanted and it was the only job that ever mattered in show business to me. It’s the job every comic aspires to. And it was just like, “What’s–why–what is it?” “Well, we’re getting pressure here and Conan’s people want to make this announcement and to make sure you do leave we want to announce it right now, you know, prior to the five years.” And I said, “Can we at least wait and as I said the other night on my show, couldn’t we wait until I’m number two and then say, okay, he dropped to number two, that’s the reason we’re moving you.”

How did Leno feel when his prime time show failed?

“… I felt bad for everybody on the show and I felt bad for our affiliates. A couple weeks ago I called the head of the affiliate board and I said listen, they’re the ones that canceled us, and I said, “I’m sorry I let you guys down. I mean, you guys supported us, you went along with the decision. I’m sorry our show wasn’t successful for you.”

 Leno says that notorious late night talk show plan was a surprise to him, too.

“I never expected this to happen. People think you’re behind the scenes pulling strings. There’s no strings to pull. I have a show that’s been canceled. So why would I have any power to go, oh, I want that? What happened was NBC came to me and they said, “Look, your show was down 14%, Conan’s show was down 49%. We have a plan. We want to keep you both.”

 Why did he agree to return to “The Tonight Show?”

“You know, if you’re a gunfighter, you like to die in the street.”

Do you think you’re robbing O’Brien of his shot at the big time?

“No, because again, this is an affiliate decision. The affiliates felt the ratings were low. This was the first time in the 60-year history of “The Tonight Show” that “The Tonight Show” would have lost money and that’s what it comes down to. It’s really just a matter of dollars and cents. If the numbers had been there, they wouldn’t have asked me. And they only asked me after Conan turned down moving it back half an hour.”

What does Leno think about the way NBC handled the situation?

“Anything they did would have been better than this. Anything. Anything they did. If they’d come in and shot everybody, I mean, it would have been people murdered, but at least it would have been a two-day story. I mean, yes. NBC could not have handled it worse, from 2004 onward, this whole thing was a huge, a huge mess, yeah.”

Despite all that has happened, Leno thinks he can revive “The Tonight Show.”

“I hope so. I think so. Yeah. And I hope Conan gets a job somewhere else. I hope he gets on at Fox or somewhere and we all compete together. “Ooh, Conan’s back on,” and it raises the level of interest. And you know what happens? The best one wins. Maybe I’ll get my butt kicked, maybe we’ll win.”

If you didn’t get a chance to catch the interview on TV, check out the transcript on Finke’s site, it is well worth the read. Also, Talk Show Diva, Oprah, has more on the controversy on her website, too.

Photo: FLLewis/A Writer’s Groove — A Burbank city crew on East Angeleno Avenue, between Glenoaks Boulevard and 3rd Street, fixing some of the potholes created by that brutal week of powerful storms. 

City of Burbank work crews were taking care of serious business during the past couple of weeks. They were on the job during and after the recent big storms cleaning up debris, removing downed trees, repairing streets, and solving other weather problems. One major repair job over on Victory Boulevard, between Magnola Boulevard and Olive Avenue, was apparently not really storm related.

Photo: FLLewis/A Writer’s Groove — A giant sinkhole developed at Victory Boulevard and Palm Avenue last weekend.

This past Monday, I drove over the bumpy temporary patch that Burbank city crews put down on top of that huge sinkhole, which split open on Saturday, January 23. The day after, Sunday, I talked with James Truong who is a cook at the Great Wok restaurant at the corner of Clark Avenue and Victory Boulevard. Truong saw a trickle of water turned quickly into a rushing stream along Victory Boulevard Saturday afternoon, when a 12-inch water main broke. Truong says “…the water came up to the back door” of the restaurant, prompting him to scramble outside and move his car to higher ground.

That section of Victory Boulevard, and some of the side streets like Orange Grove Avenue, Clark Avenue, and Palm Avenue were blocked off for a while. By Sunday afternoon, crews were finishing up the heavy duty street clean-up and preparing to restore full water service to the mostly business district.

Photo:  FLLewis/A Writer’s Groove — A Burbank Water and Power crewman prepares to turn on the water.

BWP General Manager Ron Davis blamed the main break on “improper construction by an outside contractor,” according to a report on the Burbank Leader website Tuesday, January 26.

 Photo: FLLewis/A Writer’s Groove — Clean-up underway at Florin’s Auto Repair & Systems Tire, 225 North Victory Boulevard near West Palm Avenue, on Sunday, January 24.

Photo: FLLewis/A Writer’s Groove — Clark Avenue, where it intersects with Victory Boulevard, was still blocked off with yellow tape last Sunday afternoon due to the flooding created by that water main break. By the end of the week, the clean-up was done and very few signs of the problem remained.

At the Burbank City Council meeting last Tuesday, January 26, city activist Mike Nolan, who can passionately and articulately dish out both criticism and praise, singled out the Burbank city crews for some well-deserved verbal high-fives. Later, city council members praised Burbank city crews for their hard work and dedication as well.

White House photo: Pete Souza — President Obama delivers the State of the Union Address 01/27/10

More jobs and pumping up the weak economy were major themes in President Obama’s first State of the Union speech delivered before a joint session of Congress last night. And that’s the way it should be. The country, and especially the backbone of the our society — middle class folks — are still struggling under the weight of this recession. “ For these Americans and so many others, change has not come fast enough.  Some are frustrated; some are angry.  They don’t understand why it seems like bad behavior on Wall Street is rewarded, but hard work on Main Street isn’t; or why Washington has been unable or unwilling to solve any of our problems.  They’re tired of the partisanship and the shouting and the pettiness.  They know we can’t afford it.  Not now. ” President Obama said.

Interestingly a  New York Times’  piece today, points out that even when the president rightly boasted of tax cuts generated by his administration, Republicans in the audience, who almost always cheer anything or anyone that produces tax cuts, well, last night, they refused to applaud. This demonstrated to the country why gridlock in congress is hampering a national health plan and other legislation that would benefit average Americans. That kind of attitude and partisanship by Republicans are responsible for much of the mess our country is in now. I don’t vote along a party line. I vote issues and candidates and therefore, I find the partisanship battles extremely frustrating.

During eight years of a Republican President, you didn’t hear Republicans screaming loudly about the rapidly growing deficit, the ill-conceived and expensive war in Iraq, or even the major financial melt-down and the much hated Bush Adminstration plan to bailout the rich cats at the banks and on Wall Street. Republicians were in charge of Congress during those eight years and it’s ridiculous to expect a Democratic President to clean-up that mess in one year. Republicans and Democrats need to work together to get the country and the economy back on track.

I must say, I thought new Republican Governor Robert. F. McDonnell, who gave the rebuttal to the State of the Union, showed more class than many of his more senior Republican leaders. Virginia Governor McDonnell complimented the president on some points and criticized him on others. Overall, McDonnell faulted the federal government for “trying to do too much.”

I gotta point out, President Obama was left with a full plate of problems to deal with and many demand urgent attention. The President realizes this and made it clear in his speech he plans to push forward on a health care plan, a bipartisan commission to work on reducing the federal debt, a jobs creation bill, $30 billion of the repaid bailout money to go to small businesses and so on.

I agree with the president when he wrapped up the spirit and goals of his speech by saying, “… a new year has come.  A new decade stretches before us.  We don’t quit.  I don’t quit.   Let’s seize this moment — to start anew, to carry the dream forward, and to strengthen our union once more. ”  

For the full text of President Obama’s State of the Union speech click here.

Hello, sunshine!! The rain is gone and the sun is out in the Southland. Here in Media City this afternoon, the temperature is around 66, but feels warmer. The weather is expected to be sunny with comfy temps in the 60s and even low 70s in the Southland for the next few days.