A Little Of The Old In And Out



In: The Dark Knight DVD. As someone who appreciates, like Rachel Maddow, graphic novels (And: when are they going to make the Dazzler movie?), it is interesting to watch how quickly this genre is dominating Hollywood. From Nikki Finke's DeadlineHollywoodDaily:

"I just heard that Warner Bros' Batman Blu-ray discs alone sold 600,000 copies on Tuesday, the first day of release. By contrast, Marvel/Paramount's Iron Man sold 250,000 Blu-ray discs when it premiered on September 30th and ended up selling 400,000 Blu-ray units in its first week. But wait til you see what The Dark Knight sold in both formats, standard def and hi-def: 3 million copies bought by customers in the U.S., Canada and the UK on its first day in stores. That's 3x the norm. This isn't a superhero, it's a cash cow!"

(image via necn)

Out: The Auto Bailout. The Republicans are presenting a unified front in opposition (Why should they liusten to a President with an approval rating below 30%?) Lacking the votes in the United States Senate, the Bush administration’s $14 billion automaker bailout plan is in dangerous territory. It is a sad thing indeed when neither a sitting President nor the President-elect can budge the Congress to save an industry that holds millions of American jobs. From The NYTimes:

"The House vote on Wednesday was 237 to 170, mostly along party lines. Voting in favor were 205 Democrats joined by 32 Republicans mainly from states heavily dependent on the auto industry; 150 Republicans and 20 Democrats voted against it.

"But the more crucial test is in the Senate, as Thursday’s developments demonstrated. Senate Republicans on Wednesday rejected an appeal by the White House chief of staff, Joshua B. Bolten, who urged them to support the bill. Instead, some Republicans have called for the automakers to seek bankruptcy; others said there should be steeper concessions by labor and creditors.

"For procedural reasons the measure needs 60 votes to advance in the Senate, where Democrats currently hold a 50 to 49 majority, including two independents. There is one vacancy because of the resignation of President-elect Barack Obama.

"Because of the procedural hurdles, Mr. Reid could not force a vote on the auto measures on Thursday. If the Republicans refuse to allow immediate votes, he has laid the groundwork for a vote Friday morning that would end the discussion if Republicans refused to support the bill."

At post time, shares of general Motors were down 11.30% at $4.08.