"Twilight" movie wins slow box office weekend (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? The newest "Twilight" vampire movie ruled the domestic box office for a third time with $16.9 million in ticket sales over one of the slowest movie-going weekends of the year, studio estimates released on Sunday showed.

"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1" from independent studio Summit Entertainment beat a pack of family films at U.S. and Canadian theaters. The fourth and second-to-last film in one of Hollywood's most lucrative franchises added $40.2 million at international locations.

After three weekends in theaters, "Breaking Dawn" has soaked up $588.3 million in global ticket sales.

The "Twilight" movies are based on best-selling novels by Stephenie Meyer about a human-vampire-werewolf love triangle.

The third domestic win in a row for "Breaking Dawn" came during the post-Thanksgiving weekend, typically one of the bleakest of the year at movie theaters following big releases a week earlier.

This year, total U.S. and Canadian ticket sales rang up at an estimated $82 million for the weekend, making it the year's second slowest, according to Hollywood.com Box Office. Overall sales only slightly edged the $81.5 million take from the September 9 weekend that followed Labor Day.

With no new films released nationwide, sales also slumped 4.8 percent below the same weekend last year.

After "Breaking Dawn," the rest of the weekend's top five belonged to family fare.

Disney's "The Muppets" starring Jason Segel and Amy Adams alongside Kermit, Miss Piggy and their puppet friends, rang up $11.2 million at North American (U.S. and Canadian) theaters. The movie represents a comeback for the Muppet characters, last seen in movie theaters in 1999. Worldwide sales for the new film have reached $60.1 million through Sunday.

"Hugo," a 3D family movie about an orphaned boy who lives in a 1930s Paris train station, moved up to third place from its fifth place finish last weekend after expanding to more theaters. The film pulled in $7.6 million domestically, bringing its total after two weekends to $25.2 million.

Animated 3D movie "Arthur Christmas," which explains how Santa delivers presents around the world in one night, pulled in $7.4 million domestically to finish in fourth place. To date, the movie has brought in $70.6 million worldwide.

In fifth place, dancing penguin sequel "Happy Feet Two" earned $6.0 million at domestic theaters. Total global sales reached $85.8 million after three weekends of release.

Walt Disney Co released "The Muppets." Privately held Summit Entertainment released "Breaking Dawn - Part 1." "Arthur Christmas" was distributed by Sony, and Hugo was released by Paramount, a unit of Viacom Inc.. Time Warner unit Warner Bros. distributed "Happy Feet Two."

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Sandra Maler)

(Corrects spelling of Meyer's first name to Stephenie from Stephanie in 3rd paragraph)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111204/film_nm/us_boxoffice

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This Video Will Make You Smile This Sunday—You Should Watch It [Video]

You will like this hilarious 2-minute British short called School Portrait by filmmaker Nick Scott . Your friends will like it. Your mom will like it. Your grandma will like it. Your sixth grade teacher will like it. Watch it. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Hqe9T4_t56Q/this-video-will-make-you-smile-this-sunday++you-should-watch-it

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LSU locks up BCS title spot; Cowboys make case (AP)

LSU did its part to make sure both the Tigers and Alabama get into the BCS national title game. Then Oklahoma State gave the voters a reason to rethink the rematch.

The top-ranked Tigers locked up a spot in the championship on Jan. 9 in New Orleans with a 42-10 victory against No. 12 Georgia in the Southeastern Conference title game in Atlanta on Saturday.

Oklahoma State followed that with a 44-10 blowout of rival Oklahoma in Stillwater.

"They had their shot," Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said of Alabama. "Give us ours."

LSU (13-0) will be first in the BCS standings when they come out on Sunday. And this latest rout by the Tigers fortified Alabama's chances of holding on to the second spot and holding off Oklahoma State, which was third last week.

"I would certainly understand if college football decides it should be two SEC teams playing for the national championship," LSU coach Les Miles said. "It's a very special conference with very special teams."

The Tigers beat the Tide (11-1) 9-6 in overtime at Tuscaloosa, Ala., a month ago. Alabama is the only team in the country to stay within 13 points of LSU this season. Other than the Alabama game, the Tigers' closest game since September was a 24-point victory against Arkansas.

The Cowboys can claim to have more quality wins than the Tide ? Oklahoma State now has five victories against teams in the BCS top 25, Alabama has two ? but their double-overtime loss at Iowa State (6-6) two weeks ago has been a drag on their resume.

"I don't think there's any question Oklahoma State should play in the big game," Gundy said.

He added: "And if we'd have won this game 17-14, I don't know if I'd have said it. ... When you win by 34 points, we deserve the right."

Oklahoma State was fifth in both the Harris and coaches' polls, while Alabama was an overwhelming No. 2 behind LSU. The Cowboys caught another break when Virginia Tech, which was ahead of them in both those polls last week, was beaten 38-10 by Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game.

If the voters need any help making their decisions, Oklahoma State provided a mass email titled The Case for Oklahoma State in the BCS Title Game, which hit sports writers' inboxes a little after 1 a.m. EST.

There's no doubt Oklahoma State will move up Sunday, but will it be enough to catch Alabama?

Clemson's surprisingly easy victory in the ACC title game send the Tigers to the Orange Bowl with their first conference title in 20 years.

Oregon locked up its spot in the Rose Bowl by winning the Pac-12 title game Friday night.

The Ducks will face Wisconsin, which beat Michigan State 42-39 in a memorable first Big Ten championship game. The Badgers will be making their second straight trip to the Rose Bowl. The Ducks are in it for the second time in three seasons, with a national championship game trip in between.

Championship Saturday started with an upset.

Case Keenum and No. 7 Houston were pounded 49-28 by Southern Mississippi in the Conference USA championship game, a loss that will cost the Cougars a spot in the BCS and the millions of dollars that goes with it.

The high-scoring Cougars needed to complete their perfect regular season and win the league to become this year's BCS buster, and the first team from C-USA to reach the BCS.

A BCS bid would have netted the league about $7 million dollars.

With Houston out of the picture, it TCU has a shot to go back to the BCS for a third consecutive season.

TCU, which beat lowly UNLV 56-9, would need to move into the top 16 in the final BCS standings on Sunday to earn an automatic bid, because the Big East's conference champion ? West Virginia ? will most likely not jump ahead of the Horned Frogs.

TCU was No. 18 in last week's BCS standings.

The Big East was first to resolve its title race Saturday. When Cincinnati beat Connecticut 35-27, it moved West Virginia into position to earn a BCS bid by winning a three-way tiebreaker between the Mountaineers, Cincinnati and Louisville.

The Mountaineers are likely heading to the Sugar or Orange bowl.

Houston's drop in BCS standings could also affect how the at-large bids shakeout on Saturday.

Stanford seems like a lock for an at-large to the Fiesta Bowl, and speculation was that Michigan would receive an at-large bid to the Sugar. But the idle Wolverines need to move into the top 14 of the final standings. They were 16th coming into the final weekend.

____

AP BCS Projections

BCS championship game ? LSU vs. Alabama

Fiesta Bowl ? Oklahoma State vs. Stanford.

Rose Bowl ? Oregon vs. Wisconsin.

Orange Bowl ? Clemson vs. West Virginia.

Sugar Bowl ? Michigan vs. Kansas State.

____

AP Sports Writers Jeff Latzke in Stillwater, Okla., and Paul Newberry in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111204/ap_on_sp_co_ne/fbc_t25_bcs_rdp

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The Death of Television May Be Just 5 Years Away - Business Insider

It could take as little as five years for television as we know it -- broadcast and cable -- to enter its final death throes, according to census statistics and a recent report from analysts at Credit Suisse. The culprit: young people and new households who just aren't interested in signing up for paid cable and satellite TV service.

Credit Suisse analyst Stefan Anninger wrote in a recent report on TV media that 200,000 fewer subscribers will pay for TV services in 2012, and that of 1.8 million new households formed last year only 16.9% of them signed up for pay-TV services. Previously, Anninger had forecast a rise in the number of TV subscribers buoyed by the slowly growing economy.

Traditional TV penetration in the U.S. is still high, at 83.2 percent (down from 84.1 last year). But the fact that Anninger sees a secular decline in TV in the future, unlinked from cyclical recessionary belt-tightening, forces a question for advertisers and other Big Media folk: How long can TV last in the face of iPads, internet TV, web video and other wireless video sources?

One answer is to look at the history of the phone. And by "phone" I mean the hard-wired telephone that used to be plugged into the wall of nearly 100 percent of American households just a few years ago. In 2004, everyone had a plain old telephone and no one measured the percentage of households that survived with only cellphone service. That changed in 2005, according to the U.S. Census and CTIA, a wireless industry body:

• 2004: Unmeasured
• 2005: 7.3%
• 2006: 10.5%
• 2007: 13.6%
• 2008: 17.5%
• 2009: 22.7%
• 2010: NA
• 2011: 29.7%

The collapse of the telephone took just five years.

Nearly one in three houses now has no telephone. In houses that retain phones, they're often used only as the number you give businesses you suspect will generated unwanted telemarketing calls; or they're there by default as part of a cheaper wireless bundle.

The TV business has been aware of the "cord-cutters" -- people abandoning TV in favor of Hulu, Netflix and YouTube -- for some time. The scary new demographic, according to Anninger, is the "cord-nevers": young people and students who have never paid for TV and don't see a reason to start now:

"They are growing up in an Internet-based video culture in which the mantras of 'why would I pay for TV?,' 'pay TV is a rip-off' and, 'I can find that for free on the web' are getting louder. We fear that some of these consumers will find pay TV far less relevant to their lives than do today?s adults."

SEE ALSO: Business Insider's 10 Worst Ads of 2011

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-death-of-television-may-be-just-5-years-away-2011-12

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Report: Saudi draft terror law legalizes repression

DUBAI?? Amnesty International accused Saudi Arabia of widespread human rights abuses on Thursday and said a proposed anti-terror law would reinforce "draconian and abusive" measures.

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The world's biggest oil exporter has been spared the popular uprisings seen elsewhere in the region but has launched a new wave of repression in the name of security, the rights group said in a report released on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia said the report was based on "inaccurate information" and it was committed to human rights in accordance with Islamic sharia law.

Amnesty said the draft anti-terror law, a copy of which was leaked to the group earlier this year, indicated peaceful acts of dissent could in future be prosecuted as a "terrorist crime."

"The formulation of a new anti-terror law is another apparent sign of the authorities to use the law to silence dissent," said Amnesty.

The law would allow the kingdom to detain security suspects indefinitely and without trial, it said.

Amnesty criticized the kingdom's "vague and broad" definitions of terrorism, ranging from "destabilizing society" to "harming the reputation of the state."

"This opaqueness could be exploited to charge peaceful meetings of a group of people who make political demands or even engage in academic discussions with a 'terrorist crime' under this draft law."

The Saudi embassy in London said in a statement the report was based on "inaccurate information" drawn from a draft law that had been in circulation for several years and which was still subject to changes.

"The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is committed to and respects human rights in accordance with Islamic sharia, which is the foundation of our legal system," Saudi Ambassador Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf Al Saud said in a statement.

"The reality is that the kingdom continues to be targeted by terrorists looking for finance and attempting to recruit Saudi Arabia's young citizens for terrorist operations within the kingdom and internationally. It is our responsibility to do everything we can to combat this evil," he added.

Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy, has no written criminal code, which is instead based on an uncodified form of sharia law as interpreted by the country's judges.

Calling on Saudi authorities to immediately release all prisoners of conscience, Amnesty denounced as "extremely weak" the kingdom's institutional framework for protection of human rights.

Detainees are sometimes held for months without trial or access to a lawyer, Amnesty said, with confessions extracted under duress, from beatings with sticks to punching, suspension from the ceiling by the ankles or wrists and sleep deprivation.

Amnesty said when cases were brought to trial, the proceedings were often held behind closed doors and failed to meet international standards of fairness and transparency.

Earlier this year, an unknown group of Saudi activists urged people to take to the streets to demand the release of political prisoners, a fully independent judiciary, a minimum wage and greater freedom of expression.

That was met with a statement from the country's interior ministry, reminding citizens demonstrations were banned and it would take "all necessary measures" against those seeking to "disrupt order."

Only one person, 40-year-old teacher Khaled al-Johani, defied the warning and was quickly arrested. He is still in detention, according to Amnesty.

The group also mentioned protests by Saudi Arabia's Shi'ite Muslim minority in the oil-rich Eastern Province, but said it did not have enough details to conclude whether security forces had used excessive force in response to what appeared to be violent acts on the part of some demonstrators.

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45512038/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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Beckham:'Big decision' to make on future

British soccer player David Beckham of the Los Angeles Galaxy contemplates on his answer during a news conference Thursday Dec.1, 2011 at a hotel at the financial district of Makati city east of Manila, Philippines. Beckham and the LA Galaxy team are here for a friendly soccer match with the Philippine team known as the Azkals and also scheduled to hold clinics for young children. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

British soccer player David Beckham of the Los Angeles Galaxy contemplates on his answer during a news conference Thursday Dec.1, 2011 at a hotel at the financial district of Makati city east of Manila, Philippines. Beckham and the LA Galaxy team are here for a friendly soccer match with the Philippine team known as the Azkals and also scheduled to hold clinics for young children. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

British soccer player David Beckham of the Los Angeles Galaxy smiles upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at suburban Pasay city south of Manila, Philippines Thursday Dec. 1, 2011. Beckham and the LA Galaxy team are here for a friendly soccer match with the Philippine team known as the Azkals. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Soccer players David Beckham, third from left, and Landon Donovan, second from left, of the Los Angeles Galaxy, are driven to their hotel upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at suburban Pasay city south of Manila, Philippines Thursday Dec.1, 2011. Beckham and the LA Galaxy team are here for a friendly soccer match with the Philippine team known as the Azkals. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

British soccer player David Beckham of the Los Angeles Galaxy listens to a question during a news conference Thursday Dec. 1, 2011 at a hotel at the financial district of Makati city east of Manila, Philippines. Beckham and the LA Galaxy team are here for a friendly soccer match with the Philippine team known as the Azkals and also scheduled to hold clinics for young children. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Los Angeles Galaxy major league soccer player Landon Donovan walks to a bus upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at suburban Pasay city south of Manila, Philippines Thursday Dec.1, 2011. Donovan, , along with teammate David Beckham, is here for a friendly soccer match with the Philippine team known as the Azkals. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) ? David Beckham said he has a "big decision to make" after his contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy expires and reiterated his desire to play for the British team at the 2012 London Olympics.

The former England captain arrived in Manila on Thursday with his Galaxy teammates for the second leg of a series of exhibitions.

"I'm very proud of the time that I've spent with the Galaxy and it might continue," said Beckham, whose contract expires at the end of the tour. "I think at the end of the day I have a big decision to make, but I obviously haven't made one yet."

Beckham said he "would love to be part of the GB team" in the Olympics next year, especially since the games will be played in a part of London where he grew up.

"Hopefully, I'll be going back to London next summer," he said.

The Galaxy won 1-0 against Indonesia on Wednesday, play the Philippine national team on Saturday and head to Australia.

The exhibition on Saturday in Manila is expected to give a boost to soccer in a country where the national team is lowly ranked and basketball and boxing are the most popular sports in town.

Galaxy coach Bruce Arena encouraged Filipino soccer players to "work hard" and "chase the dream" of international competition.

The Philippine team is improving, reaching the semifinals this year at the Asean Football Federation Cup. Most of the players are half-Filipinos from European leagues who want to play for the country.

Before Saturday's game, Beckham and the Galaxy will hold a soccer clinic with children from poor communities in Manila.

"We always try to play diplomatic football ... but we want to win. It doesn't matter if its a friendly, we want to win the game," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-01-SOC-Beckham-Future/id-a16c6fc221df4d5e9f45e6b6d8dc3f96

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Kik?s Cross-Platform Messaging App Makes Its Public Debut On Symbian (Yes, Symbian)

Kik, the cross-platform messaging app that works on iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone, is today publicly?launching on Symbian after a month of private beta testing.?The new Kik Messenger for Symbian brings improved group texting, sent, delivered, and received receipts, notifications to indicate when someone is typing, support for photo sharing, and the ability to locate your contacts who already using Kik. But I know what you're thinking: why Symbian?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/guO_jmeN8Kc/

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