Top Torrented Movies Of The Week
Najla Ondik
This is all according to MUSO which tracks the most pirated movies out there for the studios, and the most-torrented movies and TV titles for the week of Nov. 29 to Dec. 5. Torrent is defined as the most-shared files between piracy peer-to-peer networks.
Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' tops the chart, followed by 'Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1'. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga'' completes the top three.
Downloading content without permission is copyright infringement. These torrent download statistics are only meant to provide further insight into piracy trends. All data are gathered from public resources.
This week I received over 1,000 calls and e-mails from constituents concerned about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). I want you to know that I am listening to these concerns and following this controversial legislation very closely. I wanted to take a moment to explain what SOPA is, why so many people are concerned about it, and where it is in the legislative process.
SOPA was intended to protect intellectual property by limiting access to foreign websites that give people access to pirated movies and music and other counterfeit goods.
Many people who contacted me said this bill would lead to government censorship of the internet and would restrict free speech. Others recognized the need to fight online piracy, but were concerned that the bill was written too broadly so that it would lead to websites and blogs being shut down even if they did not provide access to pirated material. Another common concern was that this kind of government regulation would stop the innovative nature of the internet.
The Senate version of the bill had been scheduled for a vote next week. However, today, Senate leadership announced the vote has been canceled due to widespread opposition to the bill. In the House, SOPA had been under consideration by the House Judiciary Committee, and was in the process of being amended and changed. However, immediately after the Senate canceled the vote on the bill, Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith announced that his committee will stop considering this bill entirely and will go back to the drawing board to try and reach broader consensus on this issue in order to address constituent concerns.
"Weekend at Bernie's" is one of those classic 80's movies that has a fan following. This is an instance where a viewer has to suspend belief when it comes to the plot, but if you can do that, you will find that the movie is funny.
Richard Parker and Larry Wilson are two young employees for an insurance company who discover an embezzlement scheme while reviewing financial data. The duo immediately go to their boss, Bernie Lomax, and inform him of their findings. As a result, Bernie praises their work, and invites Richard and Larry to his beach house for the weekend.
It turns out that Bernie is the one who has conducted the embezzlement, and he wants his gangster friends to get rid of Richard and Larry. A plan is formed to kill them. However, the leader of the gang changes everything after Bernie leaves and informs one of his hit men to take out Bernie instead.
Richard and Larry get to the beach and find their way to Bernie's house. Bernie is there, but has already been killed by the hit-man. Once they realize he is no longer alive, Richard and Larry panic, not sure of what to do. After this, a floating party invades Bernie's house, and the two do all that they can to make Bernie seem he is alive, and at the same time try to figure out what to do after the party leaves the house.
Jonathan Silverman and Andrew McCarthy were perfectly cast as Richard and Larry, respectively. The script is lowbrow, but does have many funny lines. Don Calfa deserves mention as the hit-man who kills Bernie. He plays the role very well and also garners laughs. And of course, Terry Kiser does a great job portraying Bernie, and he creates his share of laughs throughout the film.
"Weekend at Bernie's" is one of those films that can be watched over and over and still make someone laugh. As previously mentioned, you must suspend belief, and if you do that, you can enjoy this movie. I definitely recommend it.
Lotta fun with McCarthy and Silverman as two guys who uncover a scam in the office. They present the info to their boss who's so grateful he invites them to his kick ass house for Labor Day weekend. When they show up they find him dead and decide it would benefit both of them to let the parties go on with everyone thinking Kiser is still kickin'. Contrary to what most say, the core of this film is not the dead body antics. The real attraction here is the rappor between McCarthy and Silverman, who play very well off each other because their characters are such opposites. And occasionally Kiser is thrown into the mix and the three make one of the more odder comdey teams. When they do drag him along, its pretty good stuff, with them trying to fake everyone out that hes walking or waving. And then the battering of the body, which is hard to not laugh at. When Bernies being dragged or bounced or dropped its perfectly silly. Even before the main action starts, theres some good stuff in the beginning dealing with Silvermans love life and McCarthys constant annoyance of him about it. So at almost every point in the film theres usually something to laugh at.
This absurd comedy elicits no shortage of laughs. "Weekend at Bernie's" is one of those movies where a mishap snowballs. I laughed to think of how the main characters were feeling as they had to make it look as if their dead boss was alive. The whole thing is low humor, but anyone with a sense of humor is bound to enjoy it. At the very least, guys are bound to enjoy seeing so many women in bikinis (Gwen is one of the ultimate hotties).
Ted Kotcheff also directed "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz", "North Dallas Forty", "First Blood" and the original "Fun with Dick and Jane". Co-star Don Calfa also co-starred in "Foul Play" and "Return of the Living Dead".