Category: test (Page 12 of 24)

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Eighties redos to battle at the box office

June 11, 2010 / Bob Westal

I’m severely limited for time — and more than a bit tired after a busy and reasonably productive day — so this may be one of my shortest box office preview posts.

This week’s two major new releases are reboots of properties remembered fondly by many children of the 1980s, “The A-Team” and “The Karate Kid.” Both movies have been supplied with some well known names, Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan for the former and Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, and Jessica Biel for the latter.

Jolly Carl DiOrio doesn’t go so far as to predict which film will emerge on top, with both having some fairly obvious broad appeal. I’ll say that my personal hunch is that Sony’s “Kid” will take the lead because, with a PG rating, it’s definitely more of a family film than the more violent and adult-oriented PG-13 “A-Team” from Fox. The martial arts flick also would seem to have more appeal for female audience members for similar reasons. It certainly seems extremely likely, in any case, that “Kid” will be the more profitable film by far, as we’re led to believe it cost $40 million, while the Joe Carnahan directed “Team” cost something more like $95 million. Both movies got mixed-to-meh reviews at “Rotten Tomatoes.”

Will these action flicks rescue Hollywood from the box office blahs? All I know is that I have no strong desire to see either of them and I’m not sure Hollywood deserves any better than its getting. In fact, without having seen these new movies, I feel safe in assuring anyone reading this that, if you’re at all open to them, you’ll be vastly more entertained by renting almost any of Jackie Chan’s amazing eighties and nineties Hong Kong films. I know I’d really like to see “Project A, Part II” — an ingenious slapstick comedy adventure — or any of the “Supercop” movies again soon. Like, right now.

Action Movies, Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External Movies, Movies, News, test

Bradley Cooper Headlines Jackie Chan Jaden Smith Jessical Biel Joe Carnahan Liam Neeson Project A Part II Supercop The A-Team The Karate Kid

The Benefits or Property Management

June 4, 2010 / Administrator

Real estate has always been a good investment. No matter the social or economic climate, a piece of property is always useful especially in a dense urban or suburban area where a single tract may house many individuals. But, operating a piece of property, especially one with multiple tenants and/or large facilities, can be a drain to those who aren’t properly prepared. That’s why contracting a company skilled in property management is beneficial to both your sanity and the bottom line.

Of the many responsibilities inherent in the daily operations of a residential facility, physical operations is one of the most demanding. Utilities can be compounded by the hundreds, with water, sewer, electric, and cable lines crisscrossing the property and buildings. Add in the structural upkeep, heating and cooling systems, and care to any grounds therein and you have a titanic job. A property management company takes care of these burdens for you by contracting out labor skilled in the various requisite fields, leaving you free to reap the rewards of ownership.

Bookkeeping is a task that eludes many, but one that is necessary to the successful operation of any apartment complex or condominium. Rent and various fees must be collected from tenants, while taxes and, possibly, some utilities must be paid out by the owner/s. A skilled accountant or bookkeeper working for the property management firm of you choice will ably dot the i’s, cross the t’s, and always carry the remainder.

While you may be skilled in one or more of these fields, for there are many more not discussed, often a small deficiency can lead to costly problems. That is why an adept property management firm will keep you ahead of the game even if they only handle a portion of the workload.

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property management

Know What You’re Paying For

June 4, 2010 / Administrator

To make sure your money is going where you want it to, it’s smart to have a good grasp on your finances. Companies are getting more creative in finding backdoor loopholes to charge you more than you may realize. To keep the most money possible in your pocket, become informed about what companies are charging you and whether you want to give it to them or not.

With credit cards, there are many fees you may not realize if you don’t read your statements carefully. Even if you pay your balance in full every month and do not accrue the sky high interest rates, you may be charged excessive annual fees as well as late fees that will jack up your interest rates exponentially, even if you initially had a low interest rate. Airlines charge fees for bags, food, in flight entertainment, and more. Cell phone bills have many fees that make your final bill more than the amount you were quoted when you signed up. Banks have gotten in on the fee tacking game too so be sure that you know the policies associated with your accounts and your bank in general. Some banks charge for talking to a teller, calling customer service, using ATM’s, and even if you have an overdraft savings account or line of credit, you may be charged huge fees for bouncing a check or debit payment, which hits especially hard if you have done multiple transactions without knowing you were overdrawn.

If you run into a short term jam like realizing that you may be overdrawn, payday loans can help you avoid the multiple fees if you only need to use them occasionally. Do the math to see which of the fees is lower and if that helps you out. Make sure to always read the fine print and shop around so that you know where your money is going.

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payday loans

“Shrek Forever After” to live up to its name?

June 4, 2010 / Bob Westal

Quite possibly, if three weeks constitutes “forever.” The final installment of the CGI animation series was considered a fairly major disappointment in its first week, earning a relatively anemic amount just under $71 million, tens of millions less than prior entries. However, “Shrek Forever After” has shown decent staying power, indicating that the relatively strong reviews this time around might be reflective of something that actually matters to audiences. If we are to believe jolly Carl DiOrio, it is once again the probable box office champion. Indeed, DiOrio expects the grosses to be between $25 and $30 million, which could easily double almost all of the four, count ’em, four major new releases coming out this week, assuming his lowish guesses for the other films are right.

To a lesser extent, the second week of the widely hated “Sex and the City 2” is also a contender for third place according to DiOrio — in his video, he doesn’t mention it in writing — but the Numbers see things quite a bit differently. I’d personally expect a bigger than average drop-off from it’s unimpressive debut simply because I get the feeling that hardly anyone liked it much, perhaps not even the franchise’s biggest fans.

Action Movies, Actors, Actresses, Animation, External Entertainment, External Movies, Horror Movies, Movie Comedies, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies, test

Ashton Kutcher Forgetting Sarah Marshall Fox Frankenstein Get Him to the Greek Headlines Joel Silver Jonah Hill Judd Apatow Katherine Heigl Killers Lionsgate Marmaduke Nicholas Stoller Paramount/Dreamworks Russell Brand Sex and the City 2 Shrek Forever After Splice The Hangover Universal Warner Brothers

Sunday morning movie left-overs

May 30, 2010 / Bob Westal

Think of this as the cinematic equivalent of cold pizza, which can be a surprisingly delicious breakfast. What follows, then are some trailers I’ve been meaning to run all week but haven’t had the opportunity as yet.

We’ll start with the latest trailer for Christopher Nolan’s much anticipated “Inception.” This Philip K. Dickish tale seems to be summer’s best hope for a quality megablockbuster and, if it fails to deliver, there are going to a lot of disappointed movie fans and film studio folks.