Word: million
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...smart things about G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was the decision by Paramount Pictures to refuse to screen the movie for the press. The studio's previous summer toy story, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, had earned a sheaf of pans, then took in more than $800 million in its first six weeks of release. Hoping lightning would strike twice, but without the annoying critical thunder, Paramount showed G.I. Joe, which it hopes will be the first in a lucrative series, only to a few reliable bloggers. Less docile scribes like me had to catch a public screening last...
...filmmakers; my G.I. tract, in fact the communal contumely of critics, is irrelevant to box-office performance. G.I. Joe could be a Transformers-size hit, or it could be another The Golden Compass, the first episode of the His Dark Materials novels; that film cost $180 million and helped drive New Line Cinema out of business. Who knows? Nearly 30 years ago, director Robert Benton mused on a famous flop of the day. "When Steven Spielberg made 1941," Benton said, "he probably thought there...
While overall unemployment dropped from 9.5% in June to 9.4% in July, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased to 4.9 million, up from 4.4 million in June. Viewed another way, 32.5% of the total unemployed had been looking for work for longer than half a year, up from 28.9% in June. "This recession is taking people a very long time relative to past recessions to find another job," says John Irons, policy director at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington. Traditionally the U.S. has been able to maintain unemployment...
...this year, a foundation supporting Oregon's Lake Oswego school district has raised $1.6 million solely to fund teachers. The bulk of the fundraising was done through direct appeals - phone calls, e-mails, snail mail - and all money is spread out equally over the area's 13 schools through an agreement between the foundation and the district. Lake Oswego, an affluent bedroom community outside Portland, is able to leverage the wealth of its parents to help its 13 schools. "Our parents are willing to step up and provide money," says Bill Korach, Lake Oswego district superintendent. "But we are just...
...regime's security apparatus spared no measure to ensure that the opposition's plans for a million-strong march would not materialize: cell-phone networks warned in advance of "technical difficulties" on inauguration day; subway stations neared Baharestan Square were closed; the élite Revolutionary Guards told hospitals near the parliament to expect wounded protesters in large numbers; and some 5,000 Basij and Guards waited for the crowds, according to state television. (See pictures of the Basij in action: "Terror in Plain Clothes...