Millions of fans and movie memorabilia collectors around the world tuned in to the 82nd Annual Oscars last evening, one that made big winners out of Kathryn Bigelow, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Bridges and Christoph Waltz. While the demand for cinema posters and other pieces of celebrity memorabilia grew to new heights in 2009, it was the intensity of Bigelow’s the Hurt Locker that swayed and awed audiences the most. The Iraq war film took home the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, Best Picture and Best Director last night, making Bigelow the toast of Hollywood in a field usually dominated by men. The Hurt Locker, starring Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie, finished the evening with a total of six Oscar wins.
Fans and historic music memorabilia collectors know it’s synonymous with rock and roll greatness, so many were surprised when rumors floated that London’s Abbey Road Studios were up for sale. Home of the Beatles’ iconic 1969 record, Abbey Road is owned by struggling music publishing giant EMI. The building that came to house the recording studio was built in 1830 and was converted to studio space in the early 1930’s. Along with the Beatles, iconic music acts Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder and U2 have also recorded at Abbey Road Studios. Despite soaring debts, EMI proclaimed early Monday that the historic building is not for sale.
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The Beatles’ legendary cover art for Abbey Road is one of the most recognizable music posters of all-time.
As his new film Shutter Island is released in the United States, Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio says their one role he’d absolutely love to play. In a nod to director and good friend Martin Scorsese, DiCaprio listed Travis Bickle, the lead character in 1976’s Taxi Driver, to be his dream role. While fans who’ve collected Leonardo DiCaprio autographs and Al Pacino memorabilia likely can only imagine the 35-year old playing the demented Bickle, Shutter Island, the fourth collective effort between Scorsese and DiCaprio, will look to make it’s own marks starting today.
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The film is about the disappearance of a woman on the remote and ultra-creepy Shutter Island. Home to the criminally insane, DiCaprio’s character Teddy Daniels scours the island while encountering some less than desirable company. The film also stars Hollywood heavyweight Ben Kingsley and the up-and-coming Mark Ruffalo.
It was a great night for entertainment and television memorabilia collectors as a star-studded cast lined 30 Rock’s sarcastic ode to Valentine’s Day last night. The weekly ratings powerhouse welcomed guest appearances from Horatio Sanz, Jon Bon Jovi, Elizabeth Banks and Jason Sudeikis in Thursday’s “Happy Anna Howard Shaw Day” episode, one that saw a hilarious take on celebrity stalking and the romantic shortcomings of characters Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy.
In one of the funniest skits of the show’s fourth season, Jane Krakowski finds her character Jenna being stalked by Maynard (played by Sanz), who goes as far to mail her pictures of him breaking into her home. Krakowski’s character also receives butchered television show photos and collages from Sanz, at each point letting out a high-frequency shriek.
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Tracy Morgan’s character chimes in with a note about celebrity stalking: “That’s a real problem in the celebrity community. But if Beyonce would just answer one of my letters, I’d stop trying to break into her house“.
After seven weeks, the James Cameron-directed blockbuster Avatar was finally knocked out of the domestic box office’s top spot by romantic drama Dear John. Avatar’s run has been nothing short of historic, with box office revenues totaling a record $630 million and creating a buzz for Avatar movie items amongst cinema and film memorabilia collectors.
Dear John is a romantic drama based on the Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name. It’s based on main characters, played by Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried, falling in love before Tatum’s character’s deployment to the military.
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Avatar’s slip to number two in domestic movie sales comes just days after being nominated for nine Oscars including Best Picture.
Film giant Paramount Pictures recently launched their own direct to consumer e-store that allows fans and entertainment memorabilia to browse film merchandise from such cinema classics as Braveheart, the Godfather and Saturday Night Fever. Paramount joins the ranks of many entertainment conglomerates like Warner and NBC who turn large profits offering movie and television merchandise for sale.
The film company is also in the news for the controversy over the development of Transformers 3. Word has it that while the studio wants to do the film in 3-D, director Michael Bay wants no part of it. Whether a glance at the global earnings in Avatar in 3-D will change Mr. Bay’s mind is yet to be determined.
Grammy Night is always an exciting time for fans and music memorabilia collectors, and tonight’s awards show has no shortage of headlines.
After his untimely passing last year, Michael Jackson will be awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award that will be accepted by his children Paris and Prince Michael. As one of the most popular and unforgettable musical acts in history, it’s no wonder that many celebrity autograph investors set spending records for Michael Jackson memorabilia over the past six months.
With over a dozen combined nominations, three of music’s top women; Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga, will all share the spotlight tonight. It looks to be a big night for Taylor Swift, who just two weeks ago was given the nod as the highest-selling digital artist in music history with over 24.3 million downloads.
The Grammy Awards are set to air at 8 p.m on CBS.
Already one of the music memorabilia and entertainment merchandise industries’ must-have autographs, Justin Timberlake will soon have a new honor to call his own. The 28-year old will be named Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Man of the Year early next month, joining actress Anne Hathaway who won the female counterpart of the award just two weeks ago. Known around the world as both a hit-maker and a pop culture icon, Timberlake entered the realm of Hollywood with his major movie debut in 2006’s Alpha Dog. When fans from his days as lead singer of boy band N’SYNC were stealing Hollywood movie posters from cinemas around the country, the demand for Justin Timberlake autographs steadily increased as the performer made numerous appearances on Saturday Night Live and even a voice role in Shrek.
Based on the popularity of Avatar movie items, it comes as no surprise that the blockbuster movie has become a major hit around the globe. The James Cameron-directed blockbuster has now reeled in a record $1.24 billion outside of the United States, passing Cameron’s 1997 hit Titanic by almost $46 million. While Avatar remains a hit amongst movie goers and movie memorabilia collectors looking for original cinema posters, the science fiction film still trails Cameron’s Titanic by $50 million for the highest-grossing movie in domestic box office sales.
After three weeks of very public bickering and amidst gargantuan ratings, NBC and soon-to-be-ousted Tonight Show host Conan O’Brien have reportedly agreed to terms on a separation. After boiling down the fates of Conan’s characters like Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and Pimpbot 5000, the two sides spent much of the past four days hammering out severance packages for many of the nearly 200 employees currently employed on the Tonight Show. While Robin Williams joked about NBC having a yard sale for the set’s couches and desk on Thursday’s show, there’s no word if the network will hold an auction or sale for the show’s television memorabilia. When Leno left the Tonight Show in May of last year, there was a bevy of celebrity autographs made available through a private auction in the following weeks.