THE DRUMS are "Down By The Water." NEW RELEASES: Spinner didn't update on Labor Day, but they probably will today, so check in throughout the day. SUPERCHUNK is advance streaming Majesty Shredding. OF MONTREAL is advance streaming False Priest. BLONDE REDHEAD is advance streaming Penny Sparkle. MAVIS STAPLES is advance streaming You Are Not Alone. ROBERT PLANT is advance streaming Band of Joy (featuring Buddy Miller). Plant also talks to the New York Times about the album. JANIS JOPLIN with BIG BROTHER & THE HOLDING COMPANY play "Summertime" and "I Need a Man to Love" -- in one of their last performances together -- for Twofer Tuesday. JENNY & JOHNNY: Jenny Lewis talks to the L.A. Times about leaving the Bob Dylan Fantasy Camp. BILLY BRAGG talks to Billboard about working with Rosanne Cash and Joe Henry on a new LP. THE SWANS: Michael Gira talks to the New York Times in a meaty profile marking the band's reunion. PASTE: An associate editor writes about the death of the print version of the magazine. WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The American topped the Labor Day chart with 16.4 million; it took in 19.5 million since opening Wednesday against a 20 million budget. Machete placed with 14 million, also against a 20 million budget. Takers dropped to a close third with 13.5 million; its total is almost 40 million against a 32 million budget. The last Exorcism dropped a big 57 percent to the No. 4 slot with 8.8 million; not so bad considering its 33.6 million total on a 1.8 million budget. Rounding out the Top Five was Going the Distance, which took in only 6.9 million against a 32 million budget; Drew Barrymore has been on a bad streak in recent years. Overall, the box office came in about where it has the past couple of years. MACHETE was the best-reviewed flick of the weekend, but it really did not work for me. Robert Rodriguez expanded his faux trailer from Grindhouse into a full-blown Mexploitation flick that starts with great promise, but the plot ends up meandering, and the action at the end is so poorly-directed that I found myself waiting for it to end. There has also been a discussion of the politics, which are an especially over-the-top version of that found in the original flicks of the genre. The politics are largely window-dressing, and would have been forgiveable if they didn't produce a very out-of-character moment for Jessica Alba that strained credulity, even for a cartoonish movie like this. Machete wasn't a bad movie, but it failed to rise above the mediocrity of the grindhouse genre to which it pays homage. LINDSAY LOHAN has "multiple offers" for her first television interview since getting out of jail/rehab - and one of her biggest suitors is "Today." Meanwhile, Lohan apparently struck a baby stroller with her car, and reportedly saw it before hitting it. JOHN TRAVOLTA requested that charges be dropped against the two men accused of attempting to extort 25 million bucks from him after the death of his 16-year-old son. CHRIS KLEIN did four days in jail on his latest DUI bust. SPENCER PRATT may be sued by the Playboy Playmate claiming he removed a sex tape involving her and her boyfriend. WYCLEF JEAN & SEAN PENN are feuding. WILLIAM SHATNER was profiled by the New York Times Magazine. IRAN is paying Taliban fighters 1000 bucks for each US soldier they kill in Afghanistan, according to a report in a British newspaper. An Iranian woman who'd already been condemned to death faces another sentence of 99 lashes because of a case of mistaken identity in a photograph, according to foes of the execution. The UN atomic agency expressed alarm Monday about Iran's decision to bar some of its inspectors, suggesting that its efforts to monitor the country's nuclear program were suffering as a result. IRAQ: Will the Iraqi military seek US assistance after 2011? SNEAKY CAT is watching you. SKINKS: Scientists have caught the process of evolution in action as a species of Australian lizard abandons egg-laying for live births. RABBITS need to turn off their cellphones before sticking them in their pants. ALASKAN MOOSE end the summer with a pool party. HUNGRY BEARS plague towns from coast to coast.
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