Bloggin The Rock

In her first public appearance since settling a very public divorce trial with ex-husband Peter Cook, Christie Brinkley went out to see another ex — piano man Billy Joel.

Joel, who was married to Brinkley from 1985-1994 and is the father of daughter Alexa Ray, headlined the final concert in New York’s Shea Stadium on Friday night.

The performance came 43 years after the ballpark’s first concert, the Beatles’ famous 1965 show that came at the height of Beatlemania. Former Beatle Paul McCartney joined Joel onstage on Friday for the historic occasion, telling him, “Came here a long time ago. We had a blast that night and we’re having another one tonight,” according to the Associated Press.

The stadium will be razed after the baseball season to make way for new one, Citi Field, across the street.

Joel was joined by other guests including the Who’s Roger Daltrey and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, but it was her ex’s music that most impressed Brinkley — she was reportedly sighted singing along to ever word of the chorus of “She’s Always A Woman.”

“She was having the best time singing to the music,” an onlooker told People. “She was smiling so much.”

In the July 10 divorce settlement, Brinkley earned sole custody of her two children with Cook, Jack, 13, and Sailor, 10, as well as retaining various real estate properties.

Brenda Walsh is coming back to Beverly Hills.

Shannen Doherty will reprise her “Beverly Hills, 90210″ role in multiple episodes of The CW’s new spin-off, “90210,” the network announced on Saturday.

Doherty starred as Brenda from 1990-1994, but was fired from the series after reported on-set clashes with co-stars, some of whom she’ll be reuniting with — “90210″ alumni Jennie Garth, who returns as Kelly Taylor; Tori Spelling, as Donna Martin; and Joe E. Tata, who will once again play Nat, owner of The Peach Pit.

According to a statement released by The CW, in the intervening time between her last appearance and the present, Doherty’s character went on to become a successful theater actress in London and New York, later becoming a director. Now, West Beverly Hills High School has asked her to be guest director for the school’s musical production.

“90210″ will premiere on September 2.

Batman’s joust with the Joker has set another box office record.

Stoked by fan fever over the manic performance of the late Heath Ledger as the Joker, “The Dark Knight” set a one-day box office record with $66.4 million on opening day, Warner Bros. head of distribution Dan Fellman said Saturday.

The movie’s Friday haul surpassed the previous record of $59.8 million set last year by “Spider-Man 3.” “The Dark Knight” might break the opening-weekend record of $151.1 million, also held by “Spider-Man 3.”

“I think they’re in jeopardy,” Fellman said of the “Spider-Man 3″ records.

“The Dark Knight” began with a record $18.5 million from midnight screenings, topping the previous high of $16.9 million for “Star Wars: Episode III — The Revenge of the Sith.”

The opening day grosses for “The Dark Knight” far exceeded the full weekend haul of its predecessor, “Batman Begins,” which took
in $48.7 million in its first three days in 2005.

Reviews were excellent for director Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins,” but they were stellar for his “Dark Knight.”

“We’ve really never seen anything like this,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. “The death of a fine actor taken in his prime, a legendary performance, and a movie that lives up to all the hype. That all combined to create these record-breaking numbers.”

Buzz had been high for the Batman sequel well before Ledger died of an accidental prescription-drug overdose in January. Trailers last fall revealing Ledger’s demented Joker, with crooked clown makeup, turned up the heat even more. The critical acclaim over his performance that built from advance screenings left fans in a
frenzy. 

“It’s a combination of things. Certainly, that’s a great part of it, but I think this movie’s gross was partly because of the reviews it received and the incredible buzz and word of mouth that preceded it with our early screenings,” Fellman said. “And the success and quality of the last one, `Batman Begins,’ delivered by Chris Nolan just set the tone for the opening of this movie.”

“The Dark Knight” reunites Christian Bale as Batman, the vigilante crime-fighter tormented by personal tragedy, and co-stars Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman. Maggie Gyllenhaal
also stars.

The film spins an epic crime duel as Ledger’s Joker orchestrates a reign of terror on the city of Gotham aimed to spread chaos and break down the restraint that keeps Batman on the right side of the law.

While critics are taking the film seriously enough to suggest Ledger could be in line for an Academy Award nomination, the action-packed movie also delivers as pure summer movie escapism.

“If you’re worried about mortgage payments and gas prices, when you’re sitting in `The Dark Knight’ for two and a half hours, you’re not thinking about any of that stuff,” Dergarabedian said.

Angelina Jolie has left the Lenval hospital in Nice, France with her new babies, Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline. It has been a week since she gave birth.

“Mrs. Angelina Jolie left the clinic Santa Maria of Foundation Lenval early in the morning, on July 19,” the hospital said in a statement to Access Hollywood on Saturday. “The mother and her babies are doing very well.”

According to People, Jolie left the hospital at around 4 AM, taking a grey Volkswagon minibus through the courtyard entrance and avoiding a crowd of journalists at the front of the hospital. She’ll be rejoining her family at Chateau Miravel, the multimillion-dollar chateau that Jolie and partner Brad Pitt rented in May.

Jolie delivered on July 12 by ceasarean section. After the birth, her doctor, Michel Sussman, said that the delivery went “perfectly.”

Eva Longoria Parker is looking forward to having a family with her husband of one year, Tony Parker — just not right now.

“Not in nine months,” the actress told Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush in a new interview for “The Billy Bush Show.” “I can guarantee you a baby will not be here in nine months. Longer than that, maybe. We’re definitely wanting a family and when it happens, it’ll happen, but it’s no rush and there’s no timeline that we’ve set for ourselves.”

Bloggers speculated Eva was with child after she was pictured with a less-than-perfectly-flat tummy while on vacation with her husband last week. During her call with Billy, Eva explained her figure was the result of celebration.

“I was busy celebrating my one-year anniversary,” Eva told Billy. “It was great. We ate and ate, and drank wine. We just kind of lived European.”

Eva also took the opportunity during their chat, scheduled to air on Billy’s show Monday evening, to explain her short crop. Though it looks similar to a cut her pal Victoria Beckham recently sported, Eva actually cropped her locks for her role in “Desperate Housewives.”

“I had to cut my hair for Gabrielle because she’s a mom now and so she’s cut her hair,” Eva said. “She’s really simple, she has no makeup, she’s frumpy, and so I cut my hair.”

OK, this is probably not gonna be a very popular post. Let’s face it, an increasingly smaller and smaller group of people actually care about dance / electronic remixes nowadays. There was a glimmer of hope back at the turn of the 21st century, when dance music almost got “cool” again, but it was quickly eclipsed. Sure, every once in a while the occasional Paul Oakenfeld mix crosses over, but dance ain’t what it used to be.

Still, I’m a big fan of the genre. And believe it or not, Billboard still tracks it on their Singles Charts.

So, without further adieu, here are my Top 10 Club Remixes of Summer 2008:

1. “Take A Bow” (Tony Moran & Warren Riggs mix) — Rihanna
Without a doubt, the anthem of summer! Tony Moran has been in resurgence in his production skills over the past few years, and this is his crown jewel. A ballad, that becomes a high-energy, happy dance song, which can’t keep you from smiling.

2. “Let Me Think About It” — Ida Corr vs. Fedde Le Grande
The only “non pop song” on my list. Probably not many people have heard of these folks, but in the house music world, Fedde is quickly making a name for himself. He was selected by Madonna to do official remixes of her latest, “Give It 2 Me.” The hook on this track is unforgettable. Unlike anything that anyone else is doing right now.

3. “Handle Me” (Soul Seekerz mix) - Robyn
Robyn has been the indie pop comeback story of 2008, but this remix is just so catchy it’s hard to not hit “repeat” on your iPod at the gym over and over again. Watch out for remixes of her next single too, “With Every Heartbeat.”

4. “Just Fine” (David Morales mix) — Mary J. Blige
I don’t think this remix was ever officially released, but if you can get your hands on it… do so!

5. “Give It 2 Me” (Paul Oakenfeld mix) — Madonna
The granddaddy superstar of the DJ world, Oakenfeld gives his treatment to this third official Madonna production (he’s previously handled “What It Feels Like For A Girl” and “Sorry”). The original song isn’t as good as “4 Minutes,” but this remix is much better!

6. “Touch My Body” (Seamus Haji mix) — Mariah Carey
Mariah… big room anthem… hot British DJ who’s on fire right now… ’nuff said.

7. “Into The Nightlife” (Soul Seekerz and Jody den Broeder mixes) — Cyndi Lauper
Not only is the original song a hidden ethereal ode to club life, but the remixes make this work of art float even higher.

8. “Leavin’” (Bimbo Jones & Ralphi Rosario mixes) — Jesse McCartney
OK, I’ve written about Jesse before in this section of the site, and yes, I’m slightly embarrassed about how much I like this single. The remixes are even more fun! My co-worker, Joe, agrees.

9. “When I Grow Up” (Ralphi Rosario mix) — The Pussycat Dolls
Who’d ever have thunk that there’d be life past “Don’t Cha”? But there has been… and continues to be… and this song makes me want to be careful what I wish for (’cuz I just might get it!).

10. “We Break The Dawn” (Mr. Mig mix) — Michelle Williams feat. Flo Rida
Yes, THAT Michelle Williams - Destiny’s other child! With a great summer song, that might cross over to mainstream (too soon to tell still). Ditch the gospel albums honey, club music is your calling!

My Honorable Mentions:
- Stamp Your Feed (DJ Escape & Matt Coluccio mix) - Donna Summer
- No Air (Future Presidents mix) — Jordin Sparks feat. Chris Brown
- Fall (Bimbo Jones, Scotty K and Almighty mixes) — Kimberley Locke
- I Decided (Freemasons mix) — Solange Knowles
- Closer (Stonebridge mix) — Ne-Yo
- Spotlight (Johnny Vicious and Quentin Harris mixes) - Jennifer Hudson

Thanks to legions of curious fans who can’t get enough of teen band, The Jonas Brothers, the boys - Kevin, Joe and Nick — are up to their ears in reporters. Journalists aren’t the only ones after the band though - everyone is name-dropping them, from the Obama family, who talked up the Brothers in their exclusive Access Hollywood interview, to Coldplay.

“Last night, at their concert, Coldplay went up and introduced themselves [to the crowd]. They said, ‘Hi, we’re the Jonas Brothers’ older brothers,’” Joe said. “Just the fact they knew who we were — we’re huge Coldplay fans so it’s just so cool.”

The band of brothers is making the most of its moment in the sun. Their latest star vehicle, Disney Channel original movie “Camp Rock,” scored 8.9 million viewers in its June 20 debut, and the group is currently on their U.S. “Burning Up” tour to promote their upcoming third album, “A Little Bit Longer.”

Despite all the hard work, they recently found time to take a vacation.

“After the Disney Channel Games, we took a [week's] vacation down to the Bahamas,” Nick said. “It was unbelievable, we played golf everyday.”

The band stayed at the 10-room Bridge Suite at the Atlantis Hotel, where there was plenty of space to accommodate their entourage.

“Our band, those are our best friends and we bring them out on the road,” Nick said.

But life on the road isn’t just fun, games and interviews. They’ve also been working on their charity, the Jonas Brothers Change for the Children Foundation.

“Our main focus is kids with diabetes,” youngest Jonas brother, Nick, said. “Because I am a diabetic, that really has become a major thing for all of us as a family and as a band. [Kids] come up and say that we’re an encouragement just by singing a song - [it] makes you think, well if I just sing a song, what I can do if I really spend time to focus on this?”

“So many times kids come to the meet-and-greets and they have diabetes and they’ll say to Nick, they finally feel like they’re not the only ones out there,” Joe added. “It’s really cool to see that he can be such a leader for these kids.”

With support like that, it’s easy to see why there seems to be no sibling rivalry among the brothers Jonas.

“We’re each other’s best friends,” Nick said, noting that if things get tense on the bus, they blow off steam with a day on the links.

“We leave it on the course,” Kevin said.

Of course, there are a few things the young heartthrobs don’t have much time for - like dating.

“[We're] single guys,” Nick said.

The younger brothers are also waiting for an opportunity to get their driver’s licenses.

“I have to do the driving test so maybe that can be an exclusive for you guys,” Joe joked to Access. “You can come with me [to] get my driver test.”

Joe and Nick are planning on getting their driver’s licenses in September, with the elder brother looking to buy a Corvette. As for Nick’s pick?

“It’s a Mustang GT 68,” he said. “It’s beautiful.”

As Chris Finegan watched Heath Ledger’s stunning
portrayal of the Joker on Friday in “The Dark Knight,” he couldn’t help but think of another actor who wasn’t on the screen:

James Dean, who also died prematurely and tragically, nearly 53 years ago.

“Heath Ledger is going to have the same impact on our culture as James Dean did,” said Finegan, one of many fans across the country who were both awed and saddened by Ledger’s performance.

“He went out with a hell of a bang,” said Finegan’s son, Alex, 18, who wore a T-shirt emblazoned with Ledger’s leering Joker face in cracked white makeup and those red lips frozen in a sickening smile. “He stole the show. It was everything I expected and more.”

Manhattan movie theaters are not usually packed at 9 a.m. on weekdays, but there was not a free seat to be seen at the AMC Lincoln Square multiplex on Friday morning, and lines lengthened all day. Many fans were back after trying and failing — like the Finegans — to get into packed midnight performances.

Media By Numbers, a tracking firm, said the Warner Bros. film, directed by Christopher Nolan, set a box office record for a midnight debut, bringing in $18.5 million Friday from midnight screenings in 3,040 theaters — many of them open 24 hours. That bested the 2005 performance of “Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith,” which took in $16.9 million at its debut. “The Dark Knight” figure didn’t include any of its 3 a.m. or 6 a.m. showings.

“When we were leaving at 3 a.m. people were still streaming in,” said Susan Pepsin, 31, who saw the film at the Arclight theater in Hollywood.

Of course, as the latest installment in the Batman series, “The Dark Knight” likely would have been an event even without the added interest over Ledger, who died at 28 in January of an accidental prescription drug overdose. But Ledger seemed at the top of everyone’s mind. During the show, fans applauded many of the actor’s particularly demonic moments.

“He was unbelievable,” said Michael Loizon, a 23-year-old asset manager in Manhattan. “I had no idea he’d be THAT good.”

His and his colleague, Michael Holmgren, played hooky from work to see the film. They didn’t get in trouble, though — their boss came, too.

“I was the ringleader,” confessed John Pileggi, a big comic book and action-film fan. “It was intense, overwhelming,” he said of Ledger’s performance. “It’s sad to say that it was the role of his life, because his life is over. He was so young. I have a son about his age, so I kept thinking about it.”

Yet he and many other fans said they hoped the hype over the death wouldn’t somehow diminish what they saw as the brilliance of the performance. And they said the portrayal was so absorbing that during the film they forgot about Ledger the man.

“The whole time you know it’s Heath Ledger, but at the same time you have to remind yourself that it’s him. He is so convincing,” said Katie Burns, 23, who went to a midnight screening in Paramus, N.J.

Pepsin said her screening in Hollywood was interrupted by a fire alarm — and even that didn’t ruin it.

“The character is so crazy, I felt at times, Oh my God, I can’t believe I’m watching this,” said Pepsin, a financial planner. “These are images that will stay in my mind for a long time.”

Online, “The Dark Knight,” which also stars Christian Bale as Batman as well as Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman, was selling an average of about 12 tickets per second on the movie-ticket site Fandango.com.

The movie was Fandango’s second best-selling movie in pre-sales — “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” was No. 1 — and made up 94 percent of this week’s sales.

For Jared Yates, an engineer in St. Louis, Ledger’s performance was “perfect,” and there was only one moment where he was reminded — and jarringly, too — of the actor’s death.

“It was where Joker tells Batman that the two of them ‘could do this forever,”‘ said Yates. Of course, the moviegoer was reminded that that wouldn’t be possible.

Nothing dark about Batman’s first night at the box office.

“The Dark Knight” lit up cash registers during its midnight debut, stealing away with a record $18.5 million from 3,040 theaters, distributor Warner Bros. said Friday.

That bested the 2005 performance of “Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith,” which took in $16.9 million during its midnight debut in 2,915 venues.

“The Dark Knight” figure did not include any of its 3 a.m. or 6 a.m. showings.

And while Batman only strikes at night, all indications are that “The Dark Knight” will keep landing blows: Advance ticket sales were booming.

The early numbers mean “The Dark Knight” will likely join the ranks of 10 other films that debuted on non-holiday weekends and cleared more than $100 million from Friday to Sunday, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of tracking firm Media By Numbers LLC.

“There is an unbelievable demand for this movie,” he said. “The Heath Ledger factor is a major part of this. Beyond that, the movie is so good, it’s worthy of all these accolades.”

The movie directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale as Batman cost $185 million to make, excluding money spent marketing, Fellman said.

Critics have heaped praise on the movie — especially the late Heath Ledger’s turn as the Joker, which has already generated whispers of a posthumous Oscar nomination.

“We’re very proud of the film,” said Dan Fellman, Warner’s head of distribution. “It’s the magic of the movie business, how one film just stands out above the others.”

Khloe Kardashian was released from jail on Friday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

She served four hours and 37 minutes of her 30-day sentence.

Kardashian was taken into custody at 8:45 AM on Friday morning after a hearing at Los Angeles Superior Court, according to a booking sheet obtained by Access Hollywood.

The reality star was booked seven minutes later.

Kardashian was set to serve a 30-day jail sentence for violating her probation for a DUI charge.

She was sentenced to 36 months’ probation on August 27, 2007, following pleading no contest to driving under the influence on March 4.

The “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” co-star will have a job to come back to now that she’s been released - the E! reality show has been renewed for a third season, the network announced Thursday.