the buzz log

Outbursts, rebukes, and undercover videos made for a raucous week, but the Buzz sat up and took notice of some tough femmes going on the offensive this week.

Prey Tell
In their maiden alligator hunts, two females armed with crossbows bagged some mighty big prey. New mom Arianne Prevost, 23, took a break from diaper duty and snagged an 11-footer in Florida. Over in South Carolina, 16-year-old Cammie Colin was better known for being a softball player and a junior varsity cheerleader, until she went out in the dead of night with her male kin and brought down a gator measuring 10' 5" and 353 pounds. Their beginner's luck have made them Fox News darlings for being straight shooters. Both Florida and South Carolina issue limited hunting permits for alligators as part of state programs to control their reptile populations.

Drill Major Drill
Teresa King—or Command Sgt. Maj. to you—will be the first female top honcho of the U.S. Army Drill Sergeant School in Fort Jackson. The daughter of a sharecropper, King learned about strict discipline from the get-go with her dad being a strict disciplinarian to his 12 kids. A 28-year army vet who has served in South Korea and Europe, she'll start her new job Sept. 22.

Telling West Where to Go
The celeb sisterhood rallied around singer Taylor Swift after Kanye West lost his mind and his manners at the MTV Video Music Awards. West, who has a long history of speaking out, interrupted the 19-year-old's acceptance speech for Best Female Video. His behavior got a chorus of boos and even two presidential vetos, but the firmest slap-downs came from Pink, Katie Perry, Kellie Pickler, and Kelly Clarkson, who used firm and decidedly unladylike language in angry tweets and blog posts. Since the Sunday outburst, West apologized on "Jay Leno," his website, and finally to Swift herself after she appeared on the ultimate sisterhood cocoon, "The View."

Also buzzing this week...

• A passing of three entertainment eras with the deaths of Henry Gibson; Mary Travers of Peter, Paul, and Mary; and Patrick Swayze...
• Dan Brown's instant bestseller's out, but don't forget Jane Austen's sea monsters...
• One year after Lehman Brothers falls, the recession's over...

Follow Buzz Log on Twitter.

Filed under: Music, Hunting, Military, Women, Week in Review, Scandals, Wrap Up

"Singin' in the Rain." "Saturday Night Live." "Star Wars." "Purple Rain." "Dirty Dancing."

If you are of a certain vintage, you know these titles aren't just generational films. The soundtracks provide the musical backdrop of their era. For this week's movie releases, the songs for "Bandslam" and "The Time Traveler's Wife" debuted in stores and online Tuesday. "District 9"—the most-searched movie of the week and the touted "stealth" summer hit—features some unusual music and an African-influenced score from Clinton Short. He's been called " composer to watch, but the deal for releasing his soundtrack didn't close until days before the premiere.

That might be a coincidence, but even in the digital download era, soundtracks just aren't the money-makers they used to be. Industry execs told The Wrap that studios think this hallowed tradition is "a waste of time." Universal Pictures hasn't bothered with a musical "Bruno" release. Likewise with Sony's stalker thriller "Obsessed," even with Beyonce as its star.

Plus, now that consumers are used to picking out a tune at a time, compilations from a film experience aren't doing that well, even when iTunes requires that folks buy the whole album. The Wrap gives examples of weak sales compared to past hits, such as "Transformers 2" versus the first, or "500 Days of Summer" vs. "Garden State." (Notable latter-day exceptions: Hannah Montana and, of course, "Twilight.")

One columnist from "The Wrap" spreads the blame around, and believes the soundtrack's downfall started in the 90s, when studios opted for cheap tunes rather than original music. Record companies also may have charged too much (and ended up selling the same song over and over).

But some people do. Weak sales or not, below's a Yahoo! Search playlist of popular movie soundtracks from the past 30 days. Incidentally, in the past 7 days, soundtrack demands have been high for films from the late John Hughes, who really knew the score for a generation. Could any of these below define the current one? 

Filed under: Movies, Music, Soundtracks