the buzz log
Katie Featherston Stirs the Web
Word-of-mouth made the low-budget horror flick "Paranormal Activity" a hit. But fans of the "Blair Witch Project" style movie have also boosted the unknown Katie Featherston into breakout star status — onscreen and on the Web.
The Texas born-and-bred actress has a very short resume — she completed the 2006 direct-to-DVD "Mutation" before responding to an online ad on Craigslist for the role of Katie in "Paranormal Activity." The Southern Methodist University grad waited tables during the filming, and received $500 for her acting efforts.
Coming to the project as a relative unknown cemented the movie's quasi-real feel. Featherston plays a young woman terrorized by a demonic ghost. Her boyfriend (fellow newbie Micah Sloat, a computer programmer in pre-"Paranormal" life) videotapes the couple sleeping at night to capture, any, well, paranormal activity. Mayhem ensues.
With help from major kudos at LA Screamfest and Slamdance, the thriller went viral — and is now scary successful. The $11,000 indie has, um, killed at the box office, bringing in a whopping $62 million to date — and is well on its way to minting $100 million.
Web searches are just as huge. Fans of the fright fest want to know more about "katie featherston." Her searches have increased almost 100% in one-day Yahoo! searches alone. Viewers also are curious about "the cast from paranormal activity," "the real story of paranormal activity," and "was paranormal activity a real story."
Nobody is more surprised of the newfound fame than Featherston. The suddenly "somebody" learned firsthand that she needs to guard her privacy after she posted photos of her hotel suite on Twitter and fans quickly figured out its location. Featherston's meteoric rise is already doing wonders for her next project. Originally titled "Walking Distance," Entertainment Weekly reports that the moviemakers chose to re-dub the pic "Experimental Activity." Perhaps the scream queen can work her scare-tactic magic for her next movie, too.
Filed under: Actors
The Buzz Around Gabourey Sidibe: Wonderfully 'Precious'
"Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire" has broken some theatrical records—and in no small thanks to newcomer lead Gabourey Sidibe.
The Sundance Festival favorite had been building massive buzz on the Web and off. New York audiences talked up the film, directed by Lee Daniels (the man behind "Monster's Ball") and produced by Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry. Opening weekend searches were coming from about two-thirds of the nation, led by Southern states.
All this has translated into a box-office record for a film opening in under 50 theaters: Playing on only 18 screens, "Precious" pulled in $1.8 million for the opening weekend. That works out to a staggering $104,025 per theater, which slips the drama into the top 15 per-theater-averages of all time. (Only a mere $5,460 kept it from cracking the Top 10 slot, currently occupied by "Brokeback Mountain.")
The clamor has rippled even more online: Search numbers have leapt up 525%, putting the drama into the top 600 searches on Yahoo! in the past seven days.
Much attention has been focused on the cast, and now even more people are turning their eyes (and focusing their searches on) Sidibe—her Web profile's up about 480%. Here's a look at the Hollywood neophyte who might be making a date with Oscar one day soon.
Odds Against
Stepping into the lead role, Sidibe had to take on some monumental tasks, besides just holding her own in a standout cast that includes mega-stars like Mo'Nique, Mariah Carey, and Lenny Kravitz.
The 26-year-old had to play an abused, obese 16-year-old convincingly. She had to be good enough to satisfy fans of a 1996 literary classic. And, she had to portray a character, Precious Jones, who weighs in at more than 300 pounds in an industry that tends to slim down its leading ladies.
Turning on the Charm...and the Talent
It turned out that Sidibe, a psychology student and receptionist, couldn't have been more perfect for the role. The New York native wasn't unfamiliar with bright lights, hanging out at the performances of her gospel-singer mom. But that hard lifestyle of constantly trying to get gigs was exactly why Sidibe aimed for a steady desk job. Her best friend convinced her to audition, and so Sidibe competed with 1,000 others testing for the part.
As The New York Times puts it, "she blew everyone away." The director fell in love ("with all my soul"). Since then, others have fallen in line. She has already received one prestigious award. Rolling Stones critic Peter Travers calls her "glorious," and her talk-show appearances literally leave people cheering.
Far From Precious
While she was Brooklyn-born and Harlem-raised, Sidibe's similarities to the character Precious ends there. Sidibe is one of six kids, and her mother Alice Tan Ridley is a loving teacher as well as a gospel singer—known by NYC locals as the godmother of soul of the Times Square subway station. To understand the horribly abused Precious, the college student fell into familiar academic mode and delved into research about abuse. Given all the Oscar talk around her performance, Sidibe's studying more than paid off.
Level-Headed Grownup
In a Huffington Post interview, Sidibe said she felt "immense responsibility" to do Precious justice, and that her confidence came from her age (24, when she auditioned): "I know Precious because I know who I am." Sidibe keeps it real. She also said that a role model doesn't come "because I'm in a movie. My first responsibility is to my family and to myself."
Fame isn't over yet, although Sidibe understands that her background and build, atypical for Hollywood, mean people make snap judgments. “I think people look at me and don’t expect much," she told an Indiewire reporter, "even though, I expect a whole lot." In her new career as an actor, Sidibe sees her new life as "an office job...and my office happens to be a red carpet or a room full of interviewers." Now that's a grownup attitude.
Ed Norton: Marathon Man
It's always good to have goals when you're running a grueling race like the New York City Marathon. For actor Edward Norton, who joined in with the other 43,000 runners on Sunday, it was to smash former Alaska governor Sarah Palin's time of four hours. Done and done. Norton ate up the 26.2 miles in 3:48:01.
Not only did the star beat Palin at her game, he came in first among all celebs in the footrace (yes, someone is keeping track of these things). That included "ER" star Anthony Edwards and singer Alanis Morissette.
And, oh yah, he raised a bundle of money for an African charity, too. Reportedly, one lucky Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust will receive $300,000, thanks to the star's efforts.
Sure, it would have been way easier to just write a check without the run. But some people just can't be stopped. Literally.
Buzz Multiplex: The Sisterhood
Not quite the autumn doldrums, but the Buzz Multiplex's stoking up only slightly-better-than-mild interest in the weekend's offerings. Urban teen boys are favoring apocalyptic animation, Southern women the latest Madea project, the under-30 crowd the doomed sorority girls, and not that many people into artic terror.
One strange coincidence from these latest releases: An awful lot of women are converging on the screen. "Sorority Row" alone offers up six sisters (and a shotgun-toting Carrie Fisher a la Lillian Gish in "Night of the Hunter"). "Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself" focuses on Oscar-nominated Taraji P. Henson and Perry (in his guise as the popular Madea). Kate Beckinsale, leaving "Underworld" for Antarctica chills, plays a top cop in "Whiteout."
Okay, so except for possibly "I Can Do Bad," these roles may not be worth lighting up a feminist torch but hey, at least these ladies are something to watch. Below, a ranking of which femmes are drawing the most attention in searches on Yahoo!.
Most Searched Actresses in a Movie Opening This Weekend
- Kate Beckinsale ("Whiteout")
- Mary J. Blige ("Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself")
- Tyler Perry (honorary woman in "I Can Do Bad All By Myself")
- Jamie Chung ("Sorority Row")
- Taraji P. Henson ("Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself")
- Rumer Willis ("Sorority Row")
- Briana Evigan ("Sorority Row")
- Audrina Patridge ("Sorority Row")
- Carrie Fisher ("Sorority Row")
- Leah Pipes ("Sorority Row")
The Force Is Not With Him: Anakin Skywalker 10 Years Later
The plucky kid with the pod racer from "Star Wars: Episode I" is not a kid anymore. And Jake Lloyd wants you to know that having a major role in a George Lucas film really put a damper on things when he was growing up.
OK, fine: The guy doesn't really deserve our pity, but think of it from his point of view. Ten years old, getting blamed for ruining the Star Wars series. (Well, that was mainly the fault of George Lucas, but the kid was there, wasn't he?) And people just won't let it go.
The Sci-Fi Australia blog caught up with the glum "Stars Wars" alum Down Under, who sounds more Eeyore than "Episode One."
While every word drips with sarcasm (he is 20, after all) the Anakin actor also can still speak geek. On college: "You'll never find more intelligent, charming people than the drunk students of the college world." 'Nuff said.
Hey, Jake, don't worry: We know how you feel. Jar Jar Binks pretty much ruined the whole Star Wars thing for us, too.
Here's the video of the interview.
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford 400 | Breakout! |
| 2 | Indonesia Ferry | Breakout! |
| 3 | Jordan Chandler | 3481% |
| 4 | Evan Chandler | 2322% |
| 5 | American Music Awards | 1841% |
| 6 | John F. Kennedy | 1529% |
| 7 | Turkey Stuffing Recipes | 1361% |
| 8 | Liam Hemsworth | 1172% |
| 9 | Lou Dobbs | 1142% |
| 10 | Hendrick Motorsports | 888% |
top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black Friday | +340 | 1290 |
| 2 | NFL | +489 | 670 |
| 3 | Jennifer Lopez | +451 | 515 |
| 4 | New Moon | -67 | 250 |
| 5 | American Music Awards | +236 | 249 |
| 6 | UFC | -36 | 239 |
| 7 | Miley Cyrus | +66 | 169 |
| 8 | Hulu | -11 | 154 |
what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
For more detailed information, visit our FAQ.