Entertainment Hunters

Notes:

• New Line/Warner Bros.' Anthony Hopkins exorcism pic The Rite opened on the lower end of expectations, but still won the weekend box office race with an estimated gross of $15 million.
• Last week's #1, Paramount and Spyglass' No Strings Attached, held better than expected. The romantic comedy came in #2 while grossing an estimated $13.7 million -- and now has a cumulative total of $39.7 million in its first 10 days.
• CBS Films' action remake The Mechanic, the weekend's other new entry, tied with Sony holdover The Green Hornet for #3 -- each grossing $11.5 million.
• For award favorites, Oscar nominations resulted in a definite box office bump, led by the Weinstein Co.'s The King's Speech, which jumped the $70 million mark domestically and came in #5.
• Paramount's True Grit (#6) showed a zero decline from the previous weekend, unusual for a film well into its run. The Western, receiving 10 Oscar nods, grossed an estimated $7.6 million for a cume of $148.4 million.
• Coming in at #8, Fox Searchlight's awards front-runner Black Swan was down only 13% from the previous weekend to jump the $90 million mark on its way to $100 million.
• Paramount's The Fighter also benefited from its top Oscar nods, coming in #9 and dipping just 5% from the previous weekend. The film grossed an estimated $4.1 million for a cume of $78.4 million.
• Across the board, the box office was hurt Friday by yet another storm in the Northeast. But business rebounded on Saturday and doesn't have any football to compete with today. While box office revenues were down 13-15% over the same period last year, it's a narrower decline than recent weekends.
• All figures are industry estimates. Final weekend figures will be released on Monday.
• Reviews of True Grit, Black Swan and other movies not in the top 10 can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• Sources: Hollywood.com, Hollywood Reporter
  

If you're a fan of the king of search and win sites, Swagbucks, then you should also check out iRazoo. Recently, iRazoo instituted a new point policy -- making it easier to win! Use iRazoo just like you would with Swagbucks (or the non-win search engines like Google and Bing). Each search will give you a random chance to win varied points -- usually between 10 and 50 points.

Once you reach 3000 points, you can cash out to receive a $5 Amazon gift card -- totally free! Within one to four weeks of cashing out, you'll receive your gift card code and can add it to your Amazon account balance. Amazon codes never expire -- and are stackable! You can also exchange your iRazoo points for other exciting prizes such as mp3 players, cameras, memory sticks and video game systems -- but the Amazon prize is the BEST bang for your buck.

The key to these sites is to join, get comfortable with how things work and then get some of your friends in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom to join under you as well. Each friend of yours who registers on iRazoo will earn you an additional 50 points. There is no limit to the number of points you can earn this way.

Even more importantly, you will automatically earn matching points each time your friend earns points. For example, if your friend wins 50 points while searching, you will also get 50 points added to your account as well -- up to a cap of 3000 points per friend.

And guess what -- you can even earn up to an additional 100 points a day recommending sites that you click on via your searches! Just click on a linked site in your search results page -- and then click on the recommendation button at the top right of the new window. Tada!


NEW: iRazoo has now added more chances to earn by completing special offers. To learn more, just click on "My Account" at the top of the home page and then click on the last bulleted item on the Rewards Center list -- "Earn MEGA Points." Just by clicking that link, you'll receive 5 points daily!


It's free to register and free to play -- so don't delay! Register here and start winning today-- you'll even get 50 points to start you off just for joining!

Here's the weekly roundup of the hottest Twitter contests. Entering is EASY. If you're not already a member of the social network site, sign up for your free account at Twitter.com.

A reminder: these contest promoters require you to follow them on Twitter -- and then tweet a message to enter. Check individual rules to see if you can tweet once -- or more than once -- it does vary! Here we go...

• Every Tuesday, the online search and win site Swagbucks offers up the Twitter Tuesday Phrase That Pays (TTPTP) contest. One very lucky follower will win 500 swag bucks just for tweeting the assigned term, phrase or request. Here are the steps you need to do to enter:

1. If you're not already a member of Swagbucks, click here to register -- or read my earlier post here for more details
2. Make sure you follow @Swagbucks
3. Create a message in 140 characters or less that has "#TTPTP" in it, along with whatever the TTPTP assignment is. Today's assignment is to answer this question (in 140 characters or less): "What happens to the pennies in a wishing well?"
4. Enter that message into the "What's happening?" box on the Twitter home screen; hit the "Tweet" button to broadcast your message to the world, and sit back and wait for The Swag Guy (TSG) to award you for your wit and creativity. Example: The pennies in the wishing well end up in the black hole of broken dreams. Deep! #TTPTP

• Panama City Beach, Florida is giving away a $100 AMEX gift card in a contest ending at 5pm ET today! Follow @pcbspringbrk and tweet the following: RT @pcbspringbrk #Contest ends at 5pm ET 2nite! Hurry and RT to win a $100 Amex gift card for your #SpringBreak vaca! #pcbspringbreakcontest
• Philadelphia Media Network has a weekly contest held every Wednesday at 12:30pm ET. It's a mini scavenger hunt contest. Follow @PhillyHunt for a clue on Tuesday and the question on Wednesday. Be the designated follower with the correct answer (e.g., first, first three, etc.) and you're the winner. Contest is open to anyone with access to its products -- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News and philly.com. This week's prize is a Flip video camera.
• StyleGuidance runs a weekly contest -- and this week's prize is an Apple TV! Click here for entry details. Contest ends January 30.
• Jet Luxury Resorts is giving away a weekend stay in New York City! Follow @jetset9 and click here for entry details. Ends January 31.
  
• AppPicker is giving away a $10 iTunes gift card every day through January 31. Follow @AppPicker and tweet the following: From 1/10 to 1/31, we're giving away for #FREE a $10 #iTunes GC EVERY DAY! Follow @AppPicker & RT this message each day to enter. #contest
• Rack Room Shoes is giving away a $75 gift card to its store in a contest ending January 31. Follow @myrackroomshoes and tweet the following: Win $75 #giftcard by simply following us @myrackroomshoes U could be our next lucky winner! #contest #sweepstakes #shoes #deals #fashion RT!
• Printafix is giving away an Apple iPad on February 1. Follow @printafix and tweet the following: 1 Week Away! Apple iPad giveaway. RT and Follow @printafix for your chance to win! #printafix
  
• Be Frugal is giving away away a $150 Sports Authority gift card in a contest ending February 2. Follow @BeFrugal and tweet the following: Win a $150 Sports Authority Gift Card! Follow @BeFrugal & RT to enter. Extra entry for Facebook like http://bit.ly/dXkoDB Exp 2/2
• Million Book Read, an anti-illiteracy campaign, is giving away a 16GB Apple iPad in a contest ending February 6. Follow @Millionbookread and tweet the following: Follow & RT for the chance to win 16GB #Ipad @Millionbookread (anti-#illiteracy campaign) to win #Ipad on Superbowl Sunday #contest
• ReviewAnyGame is giving away a PS3 and two top games in a contest ending February 24. Follow @Reviewanygame and tweet the following: RT @Reviewanygame -- New contest drawn 24th Feb PS3 with two top games, RT and follow to enter.
• KooBits is running a weekly contest through March 28 -- and this week's prize is Katy Perry's latest CD, "Teenage Dream." Click here for contest entry details. You can also enter their grand prize of a Xbox 360 4GB Console with Kinect IF you choose to download their free software (download at your own risk!). Details here.
• Scribendi is giving away an iPad when it reaches 5000 Twitter followers (plus another one on Facebook!). Follow @Scribendi_Inc and tweet the following: RT @Scribendi_Inc -- We are giving away two apple iPads. RT and Follow for your chance to win: http://su.pr/6R4jrG
• Yeehhaa is giving away a $100 prepaid Visa card when it reaches 2000 followers. Follow @Yeehhaa and tweet the following: Yeehhaa is giving away a $100 Prepaid Visa! Follow @Yeehhaa, details @ http://ow.ly/180nJ1 / they need 2000 followers!

Notes:

• Good Luck, Twitter fans! And if you know of more exciting Twitter contests currently underway, use the comment link below to share!
• I think it's time for another EntertainmentBlogger contest! I'll announce it when @Entertainment2u hits 1500 followers -- spread the word by tweeting: Contest Update: A new EntertainmentBlogger #contest will be revealed when @Entertainment2u hits 1500 followers! Follow, RT, spread the word!
• Like Swagbucks but looking for another search and win site to join? iRazoo recently introduced a new points system that will randomly reward you with large amounts of points when you search. You can win multiple times per day! This new system makes it VERY EASY to earn points. And there are lots of great prizes to earn with those points. It's also free to join and free to use. Details here.
  
• And if you're looking for a great way to win cash, now is a good time to check out Instant Cash Sweepstakes. The site has a daily $50 prize -- and who couldn't use some easy cash to pay off holiday bills? Click here for details.

Monday = Free Music Day!
Here's the latest list:

• Compliments of SPIN Magazine comes 16 tracks from its "Best of 2010" issue. Click here to download via iTunes. Offer expires next Monday, January 31.
• Also from SPIN, download a mix tape featuring one song from each of the albums the magazine deemed the "10 Best Albums You Might Have Missed in 2010." Click here.
• Timbaland has kicked off Timbaland Thursdays on his site -- offering up a free download each week. Click here to get the latest -- "Take Ur Clothes Off" (with Missy Elliott) and "Round Da Way Tim."
• Click here (or the image above) to download "Don't Shut 'Em Down," the first single off the forthcoming studio album from Flogging Molly.
  
• Smashing Pumpkins now has eight free downloads on its site --with the latest being "The Fellowship." Download them all here.

Want more free downloads? Well, don't forget to continually check the following sources -- new songs covering all genres are added frequently. Just click on the links below and enjoy some new tunes.

• AbsolutePunk
• Amazon singles
  
• Amazon albums
• The BoomBox
• eMusic
• Fuse.tv
• Guvera
  
• KickKickSnare
• MTV
  
• Spinner
• Stereogum
• VolumeVote
• YNot Radio
  
• Walmart

Notes:

• Paramount’s Natalie Portman/Ashton Kutcher R-rated romantic comedy No Strings Attached topped the weekend box office with a solid $20.3 million start -- on the higher end of expectations. The film obviously overcame mostly weak reviews with good word-of-mouth by a mostly female audience.
  
• No Strings Attached proved a strong return for Ivan Reitman in the director’s chair. The $20.3 million opening beat the debuts of recent R-rated comedy hits I Love You, Man ($17.8 million) and Forgetting Sarah Marshall ($17.7 million).
• Meanwhile, Portman is the darling of the box office -- with two films in the top ten. Fox Searchlight’s Black Swan is still doing strong business, coming in #6 for the weekend. Portman won the Golden Globe for best actress in a drama for her role in the psychological thriller. Jeff Bridges shares the two-fer feat -- starring in #5 True Grit and #10 Tron: Legacy.
  
• Sony’s 3D The Green Hornet came in #2 in its second weekend, declining a respectable 46% to an estimated $18.1 million -- and a domestic cume of $63.4 million.
• Colin Firth’s Golden Globe win a week ago for best actor in a drama likely boosted The King’s Speech, coming in #4 for the weekend. On Saturday, the filmed scored a surprise upset over The Social Network in winning the top award from the Producers Guild of America.
• On the downside is the 11th consecutive down weekend vs. last year with the ghost of Avatar looming large and making comparisons tough.
• The specialized fare of The King's Speech, True Grit and Black Swan should continue to do well next weekend -- not only because of good reviews, but due to the Oscar nominations they should garner come Tuesday morning.
  
• All figures are industry estimates. Final weekend figures will be released on Monday.
• Reviews of True Grit, Black Swan and other movies not in the top 10 can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
• Sources: Hollywood.com, Hollywood Reporter
  

By now, you've probably heard of search and win sites that offer free rewards for searching. Many of these sites have come and gone over the past several years. Only a few remain (see left menu). Well, the king of them all remains strong -- and continues to find new ways to grow. So the big question remains -- why are you still using Google or Bing when you can search and WIN free prizes with Swagbucks instead? Swagbucks is an online portal where you earn digital dollars. These 'bucks' can then be redeemed for exclusive FREE merchandise including:

• Gift cards from Amazon, iTunes, Target, Barnes & Noble, Starbucks and many others
• Sports memorabilia from MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL
• Music memorabilia from your favorite bands/solo artists
• Electronics from iPods to video game consoles

Besides winning on random searches, there are many other ways to earn bucks:

• Use links in the Shop & Earn section to gain bucks from completing purchases on 100s of reputable sites
  
• Trade in your old cell phones, mp3 players, video games and game consoles
• Redeem special swag codes that are given out periodically on the site's blog and downloadable toolbar -- as well as its Twitter feed and Facebook fan page
• Complete special offers from the site's partners
  
• Complete surveys covering varied areas of interest
• Watch videos in the Swagbucks TV section -- earn bucks as you watch!
  
• Now you can download coupons for your local stores -- and when they are redeemed, you'll earn bucks
• NEW! -- Play games and win bucks!
  
• You'll even get 50 extra birthday bucks on your special day
  

You can earn enough swag bucks for your first prize on the very first day you start using the site -- so what are you waiting for? It's free to join and use -- and you get 30 bucks to start you off!

So have fun -- and happy searching! The site remains free to join -- and free to use -- so register via the link or banner ad below today!

Click here to register now!

Don't forget to click on the "older posts" link below to read more entertainment updates. Here are just a few highlights:

• Overview of Instant Cash Sweepstakes, iRazoo and Swagbucks -- great sites to win free cash and prizes!
  
• Weekly movie reviews.
• A recap of my trip to New Orleans for Jazz fest (click here)
• A recap/review of a trip to see a Saturday Night Live rehearsal (click here)
• Past MusicMonday columns with music news and free download links

You can also access these posts by clicking on the archived listings found on the upper left area of the blog.