“The Dark Knight Rises” is finally shaking off the box office blues it suffered in the aftermath of the Aurora tragedy. While it doesn’t make up for the  human losses, it also has nothing do with them. But “TDKR” wasn’t getting the expected audiences because people feared going to the theatres. Not so much anymore. Over this weekend, the Christopher Nolan film made $36 million, ten million more than the second place finisher, the remake of “Total Recall.” “TDKR” is finally getting on track, and people who were nervous are coming to see it.

Meanwhile, Oliver Stone’s “Savages” is doing very well for Universal. The film has made $46 million and isn’t done. It’s Stone’s biggest non-sequel hit in a long time. Universal’s already had a great year with “Ted” and “The Lorax.” The new owners of Universal should keep that mind if they think replacing Ron Meyer is a good idea. The most solid studio exec in the business–and the best liked–knows how to ride out down cycles and come up with good ones. I’m just sayin’….

Oprah’s OWN Network is a pretty public failure. No one’s watching it, and I frankly have no idea where it is. The Discovery Network is trying to figure out how to save OWN. So what does Oprah do? She takes her “team” to Barbados and posts a picture of it on Instagram. Even better the six people seated around the table are eating enough food for 20 people at some kind of beautiful villa. There’s an Instagram of the brunch spread, too. How utterly decadent! Oprah fiddles while Rome burns. How will the other people at OWN and Discovery enjoy this photo?

Meanwhile, Oprah did indeed have Mickey Singer on and told the world how much she loves his book, “The Untethered Soul.” She mentions that he was indicted and lets Singer get away with saying he was innocent and that all the charges were dropped. Not so simple, Mickey. Singer paid a $2.5 million fine to the government in a settlement. Two defendants had their charges dismissed over a lapsed statute of limitations. Singer used the best lawyers money could buy to defeat local Florida prosecutors.

I found OWN on my iPad thanks to the Time Warner app. Super Soul Sunday was very enlightening. But I’d rather listen to real Super Soul Sunday on WBLS when Debi Jackson plays an afternoon of super soul classics. And she plays them with conviction!

I don’t know how she does it: it was only six years ago that Oprah Winfrey was touting new age nut Eckhart Tolle as the all time genius of the world. He was her spiritual mentor. Winfrey actually ran podcasts and internet classes with the guy who has since quietly vanished from the spotlight. Now, maybe because she’s in her own personal crisis with her OWN network, Oprah is pushing a new guru. (She still hawks Marianne Williamson.) This guy is named Michael Singer, author of a book called “The Untethered Soul.”

But Michael Singer is indeed better known in his hometown of Alachua, Florida as Mickey Singer. And in 2005 he was indicted in a massive government fraud case against his company Medical Manager Health Systems, which was an offshoot of WebMD. http://www.gainesville.com/article/20051216/LOCAL/212160339 Singer was accused with nine others of inflating Medical Manager Health Systems profits, and of conspiring to launder money.

Two years after the indictment, Singer donated $100,000 of new computer software to the Alachua Police Department. By the time the case was over in 2010, Singer settled with the government by paying a $2.5 million settlement. The government dropped all charges. Singer acknowledged that the accounting practices of his company were illegal but–according to the agreement hammered out between his powerful Washington DC lawyers from Baker Botts and local Florida prosecutors–didn’t know it was taking place at the time. http://tinyurl.com/c9u3y4m

Later, the people actually convicted by the government had their verdicts overturned based on a lapsed statute of limitations. http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100303/articles/3031013

Now Singer will appear on Oprah’s Sunday Soul show this weekend on OWN. After his long adventure with the government, Singer–who was an early software multi-millionaire in the medical systems field–became a guru. He started something called the Temple of the Universe outside of Gainesville, Florida. He has lots of followers, but I’m not sure you could call it an actual cult. Temple of the Universe is registered with the IRS as a religion and has non profit tax status. But they’ve filed no public papers about their finances. They don’t even come up on Charity Navigator. But Singer is selling books and CDs and conducting new age classes and lectures.

Odds are Oprah will not be asking him about all this other stuff on Sunday’s show.

(republished from earlier this week)

Esther Kartiganer, the beloved and long standing producer and sort of “show runner” of “60 Minutes” during its heyday died on August 1st age 74. According to a report in the Brandeis University newsletter, Esther succumbed to a heart attack on a chairlift in Aspen, where she had a second home. I met Esther around 1983. She was sort of the unofficial show runner of “60 Minutes” and worked for Don Hewitt alongside such other CBS veterans as Shirley and Joe Wershba. This was during the time when “60 Minutes” was the only prime time news show, and when anything that happened on it changed lives and rocked our worlds. Esther was a serious journalist who took Don Hewitt and Mike Wallace’s business seriously. She was a true professional and a great friend when I was a book publicist in the 1980s and later when I’d pitch ideas to her just for fun. Here’s the Brandeis link. Condolences to her family, and to her friend Geri who at least paid for a proper posting in the New York Times. CBS News should take out a full page ad for Esther Kartiganer. She was their wise owl and loyal soldier. http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2012/august/kartiganer.html

Janet Jackson and siblings Rebbie and Randy are not stopping the fight to overturn Michael Jackson’s Will. They seem to have lost Jermaine, however. Janet put a statement from their lawyer, Blair Brown (not the famous actress) on her website, in which she and the remaining three vowed to keep fighting for “what Michael wanted.” What Michael wanted, however, was for all them to go away, and not be interested in his money. Paris Jackson Tweeted something to that effect today. Janet Jackson is no longer “the normal Jackson.” Her interest in this is peculiar to say the least. So is her antipathy to Michael’s co-executor John McClain. Without McClain, Janet would never have had a singing career. At this point, she’d be better off writing Randy a check and shutting this thing down.  Janet, Randy, and Rebbie’s letter is beyond clueless. They’re claiming the estate is managed badly. When Michael was alive, he was the defendant in dozens of lawsuits, and had nearly $400 million in debts. He had no home. Since he died, the estate has earned hundreds of millions of dollars; his children are secure for life. What the heck are these people talking about? Here’s a reproduction of the letter:

For many weeks I’ve kept the secret that Rosie O’Donnell’s beloved fiancee was very ill.  I can tell you that lovely Michelle Rounds became ill on May 13th and was rushed to the hospital. Ever since then it’s been back and forth as tumors keep re-forming inside her. Rosie had managed to keep the whole thing quiet, but I guess someone found out. She’s posted a poem to her blog and indicates that the tabloids were about to pounce. Here’s the poem. The tumors are called Desmoid Tumors. http://www.dtrf.org/#

from rosie.com:

took mish 2 malibu
drove to napa
stopped in big sur
heaven on earth

it was a honeymoon
before the wedding
pure bliss
we laughed loved listened

then blink – it begins
on mothers day
morning pain
that won’t let up

we wander thru the maze of medical mystery
confused – scared
mish gets even smaller
i get even bigger – sugar my solace

i wake many mornings
in a darkened room
on a roll away cot
with good n plenty stuck in my matted hair

undiagnosed – again and again
her pain grew worse
it seemed impossible
no one knew what was wrong

life changes in an instant

desmoid tumors
odd and curious beasts
strong and sneaky
a non cancer that acts cancerous

only 900 cases a year in the US
an orphan disease – beyond rare
only 3 people per million get this
michelle is one of them

she is recovering from surgery in june
getting stronger every day
we have joined the fight against this disease
raising money and awareness

we had to postpone our wedding
re scheduled for next summer
in lieu of gifts –
we ask for donations

good thoughts
wishes
prayers
all welcomed

Patrick Page, the Tony nominated actor who stole “Spider Man: Turn off the Dark,” is leaving the show. He’s been with it for almost two years and was never injured–that we know of. Page stole every performance, and was the real star of “Spider Man.” His role was actually increased in size when the show retooled in the spring of 2011. Alas, the Green Goblin aka Norman Osbourne, has had enough of tinkling the giant piano keys on stage while aerialists all around him flew by. His last show is this weekend, and he’ll be replaced by Robert Cuccioli of “Jekyll and Hyde” fame. Patrick Page is married to TV’s Page Davis, by the way, making her Page Page. She and Lauren Lauren (originally Bush) should start a club!

Anyway, reports from London are that “Spider Man” cannot find a home there. No exiting theater is suitable. They’re not big enough. They’d either have to build a theater or put on the show in the O2 Arena. This may be a problem everywhere. And if theaters are hard to find, “Spider Man” will face financial trouble. Its whole model is about bringing it to other cities. Of course, the producers will have to pay creator Julie Taymor royalties if they do set up shop elsewhere. It was decided in arbitration that she wrote the show. She’s still suing over her copyright, however.