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Friday, March 29, 2013

Judge Joe Brown Television Show Cancelled in 2013

Judge Joe Brown



According to TheRoot.com, Judge Joe Brown has been cancelled from television. CBS has axed his show due to a 17% ratings drop. The Hollywood Reporter reported that Judge Joe Brown was making $20 million a year. CBS Television Distribution wanted Judge Joe Brown to take a salary cut due to his ratings drop, but he wouldn’t, and his show has been cancelled. It has been a good 15 seasons, and it is time for Judge Joe Brown to say farewell to judging cases on the air with CBS.

Judge Joe Brown is a former Criminal Court judge from Shelby County, Tennessee, but was born and raised in South Central, L.A. He got his degree from UCLA.

Wikipedia says, “Joe Brown is the first black male to preside over a courtroom television show and the first black person to preside over a “long-running” courtroom seres…” Obviously, this statement was before the breaking news that Judge Joe Brown's courtroom TV series has been cancelled.

Other television distributors could pick up where CBS left off, but chances are they won’t pay $20 million a year.

Judge Joe Brown was originally discovered by the producers of Judge Judy. His set is located next to the set of Judge Judy’s in Sunset Bronson Studios in California, and both are produced by Big Ticket Television and syndicated by CBS Television Distribution.

Judge Judy - which airs on the CW – apparently made $45 million a year (as of 2012). That’s more than any other personality on TV. David Letterman makes $28 million (as of 2012) and Jay Leno made $25 million (as of 2012). For scripted drama, Mark Harmon from NCIS is the highest paid television star making $11 million for a full season.

These salaries were shared in TV Guide’s “Who Earns What” survey.

Image credit: Phil Konstantin

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Meet the Dutch Justin Bieber Lookalike: Benjamin Lasnier

Benjamin Lasnier, the Justin Bieber Lookalike (picture from Instagram)


Benjamin Lasnier is the Dutch version of American music star, Justin Bieber. Some could even argue that little Benjamin is even cuter than Justin Bieber at that age. After all, Benjamin Lasnier is only 13 years old, and people are buzzing that he is a Justin Bieber lookalike. Benjamin Lasnier is from Copenhagen, Denmark, and is riding the wave of popularity that has already been paved by superstar, Justin Bieber.

Brief History

Benjamin Lasnier began to upload his picture to Instagram while sitting in a restaurant, Easter of 2012. Thirty minutes later, he already had 50 likes on his photo. Since noticing how popular his photos have been, he has regularly uploaded photos of himself, which are referred to as "selfies."

Fast forward to March 2013, and Benjamin Lasnier has over 2,100 photos uploaded to Instagram and already has more than 762,000 fans on Instagram.

Lookalike or not, with a fanbase of more than 762,000 fans, Lasnier obviously has gained such a following because of his incredible likeness to Justin Bieber. He has said that he wishes to "crack America" with his fame and music. So far, he only lip-synced to music.

Justin Bieber has his "Beliebers," while Benjamin Lasnier has his "Benzilers."

Despite not touting any actual talent, Sony has officially signed him in an attempt to market him to the U.S. in some form or fashion, most likely as a singer. Sony A&R Mads Kjaergaard says, "Every talent starts from scratch. If Lasnier can credibly establish himself and leverage his fanbase, there is 'no limit to where he could go.'"

According to the Examiner, his mother first noticed her son's popularity when mobs of young girls were following him around in public.

Now leave it up to Sony to make some money off of this uncanny resemblance to Justin Bieber.




Saturday, March 16, 2013

Battlefield 4 Will Blow Your Mind on a PS4

Battlefield 4 zoom on Box art

EA CFO Blake Jorgensen said that Battlefield 4 looked "stunning" on a Playstation 4. So Awesome.

Battlefield 4 Beta to be released by DICE in the Fall of 2013. According to GamingBlend, the beta will include "guaranteed access" to Medal of Honor: Warfighter pre-order customers.

Gamestop employees did get to see a preview of Battlefield 4. Gamestop, Inc. tweeted in late Feb. 2013: "Got to see Battlefield 4 today and all I can say is WOW! Thanks @EA for the sneak peek Can't wait for you all to see it. ^CEO #BF4"

The full picture (below) of the game was released on March 16, 2013.Various gaming outlets speculate if the storyline will incorporate a soldier and armored vehicles advancing through a city.

Gaming source Kotaku.com tried to use Photoshop to gain more information based on the full release photo. Writer Stephen Totilo speculates that a skyline of Shanghai is seen in the picture. This can be read here.

The official EA announcement for Battlefield 4 will be on March 26, 2013. 

Battlefield 4 Full picture released by GamingBlend


Source:

"Battlefield 4: First Image Confirms Modern Setting." GamingBlend.com

 

Original DICE spoiler about upcoming Battlefield 4:

Battlefield fans –
The team at DICE is hard at work on the next entry in the Battlefield series, and to ensure access to the exclusive Battlefield 4 beta, shooter fans can pre-order Medal of Honor Warfighter today. While there is no further Battlefield 4 news at this point – remember, if you don't see it published here, it's just rumor and speculation – we did want to take this opportunity to share a few thoughts on the state of the Battlefield franchise.
We are extremely proud of Battlefield 3, and with millions of fans out there, we're happy you're enjoying it too. When we launched the game, we introduced unparalleled levels of in-game destruction, all-out vehicle warfare and redefined online gameplay. Even with billions of bullets fired and millions of games played, we know the Battlefield 3 story is still just the beginning. As ever, we are humbled by the community's response to the game, and couldn't be happier with the feedback we have received to Battlefield 3 Premium. With the Back to Karkand and Close Quarters expansion packs already out, Armored Kill around the corner, and End Game and Aftermath still on the horizon, we're looking forward to many more hours of gameplay with you, and can't wait to see the stories you will tell through Battlelog and player created videos.
But we're not ready to talk about Battlefield 4 yet - in the meantime, we hope you will continue to enjoy Battlefield 3 and all the Battlefield 3 Premium content still to come. We invite you to check out Danger Close Studio's Medal of Honor Warfighter, which is also powered by the Frostbite 2 engine and the free social network, Battlelog. Don't forget that pre-ordering Medal of Honor Warfighter Limited Edition (at no extra cost) guarantees access to the exclusive Battlefield 4 Beta.
See you on the battlefield!

Sunday, March 03, 2013

The History Channel Presents Part One of 'The Bible' and Critics Squirm

The History Channel's 'The Bible' Part one


Part one of The Bible  (10-hour) series on The History Channel first aired on March 03, 2013. It is filled with action and drama, covering many events that occurred in The Old Testament.

The Bible Part One Highlights:
One of the biggest action scenes in part one happened at the event of Sodom and Gomorrah, which is found in Genesis 19. In THC's adaptation, the two angels come to Lot's house. Men surround the house, wanting the two angels. Lot escapes as the two angels use weapons to fight the men and causing blood to pour out of their eyes. While this was an artistic freedom, it was an action fight scene worthy of today's movies and television.

Then Abraham takes his son Isaac up on the mountain, and is willing to sacrifice him, when God stops him from killing his son. The next segment goes to a young Moses in Egypt, fighting Ramses in a sword fight, cutting Ramses on the face. Ramses later finds Moses' amulet necklace in the hand of a dead man, building the tension between the two. In the Bible, Moses was not aware that anyone saw him kill the man. In the TV series, a man says to "go" so he could hide the body.

Fast forward and old Moses has an encounter with the burning bush as an old man. Moses says: "With your power, I will set my people free." Then, an older Ramses is seen on the throne of Egypt as the Pharaoh, while Hebrew slaves work as day-laborers. Moses appears on the scene and speaks publicly at the labor camp, inspiring the Hebrews with his words. Aaron steps forward and confirms that Moses is who he says he is.

50 minutes into part one, Moses and Aaron meet Pharaoh Ramses. Ramses asks if Moses looks for forgiveness. Instead of forgiveness, Moses says to let his people go. Ramses is unwilling to yield to an "invisible" god, asserting himself as god.

In the next scene Pharaoh is bathing in the Nile River. The Hebrews spy on the Egyptians as Aaron plunges his staff into the water, turning it blood red on Ramses as he bathes.

"You are not a God, you are just a man, and you will set my people free," Moses says.

More plagues ensue, and Ramses does not give in, as his heart is hardened.

Part one comes to an end with Moses parting the Red Sea.

Critic reviews below:

Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe wrote this review for the Christian Post:

"Just recently I did a marathon session and watched the entire series in one single day. For someone that has read and taught the Bible for most of his life, I had a remarkable spiritual and emotional experience. The theme of God's love and hope for all humanity is the thread that holds the entire series together. I received a fresh new perspective on many of the famous Bible stories: Looking through the eyes of Sarah as she thinks that her husband, Abraham, has sacrificed their son Isaac; listening to Noah telling the story of Creation to his children on the ark; agonizing with Mary (played by Roma Downey) as she sees her son, Jesus, beaten and crucified. These and so many other stories allow you to connect with the characters on a deep emotional level."


New York Times critic Neil Genzlinger was disappointed with The Bible. He wanted a "make me believe it" challenge, rather than the spirit of the series capturing the essence of the Bible.

Los Angeles Times critic Robert Lloyd said:  "The series is ultimately a work of the imagination; indeed, it could have used a little more." Lloyd continued: "The Bible according to Burnett and Downey is a handsome and generally expensive-looking production, but it is also flat and often tedious, even when it tends to the hysterical, and as hard as the Hans Zimmer soundtrack strains to keep you on the edge of your sofa. The dialogue is pedestrian and functional — sometimes it has the flavor of having been made up on the spot — and often overacted, as if in compensation. It is 'psychological' only in obvious ways, with the poetry of the King James version all but ignored."

Critic Glenn Jarvin from the Miami Herald said: "The Bible, on the other hand, doesn’t amount to much more than a further piece of evidence that drama and reverence don’t mix well. (To be fair, it would be the prohibitive favorite if only there were an Emmy for Screenplay In Which The Sentences ‘God Has Spoken To Me’ and ‘God Will Provide’ Are Said the Most Times.) With the pace of a music video, the characterizations of a comic book and the political-correctness quotient of a Berkeley vegetarian commune — laughably, the destruction of Sodom is depicted without the faintest hint of the sexual peccadillo that takes its name from the city — this production makes Cecil B. DeMille look like a sober theologian. The Bible marks the first attempt at drama by reality-show maven Mark Burnett, whose soul I would consider in serious jeopardy if it hadn’t already been forfeited during the second season of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?"

The Hollywood Reporter's critic, Allison Keene said:  "The Bible never seems to figure out how to present itself. It spends a lot of time in the New Testament (at least, in the Gospels), which is already very well-worn territory on TV and in film.  Sometimes it stays true to scripture, but then does things like adds angels with ninja skills to spice things up. That's one thing the Bible itself really doesn't need -- it's a complex and lyrical work full of prophesies and call-backs and a sense of being one, organic, intertwined story. Unfortunately, The Bible is fractious and overwrought. Others are sure to pick apart the deviations from the sacred text, but that's just the beginning of the miniseries' issues. In the end, this is the most well-known and popular book in the history of humanity for a reason -- it's exciting and interesting and full of hope. The Bible is unfortunately none of these."

Publicly shared comments:
User "Teddybearmiller" commenting on part one of The Bible


Critics' Reviews Source:
The Hollywood Reporter