Here's the Scoop...

It's now 2018! It's also time to check the weekend box office results...

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the No. 1 movie in North America for a third, consecutive weekend, earning $52.4 million in receipts, BoxOfficeMojo.com announced Sunday.

Coming in at No. 2 is Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle with $50.6 million, followed by Pitch Perfect 3 at No. 3 with $17.8 million, The Greatest Showman at No. 4 with $15.3 million and Ferdinand at No. 5 with $11.7 million.

Rounding out the top tier are Coco at No. 6 with $6.6 million, All the Money in the World at No. 7 with $5.5 million, Darkest Hour at No. 8 with $5.3 million, Downsizing at No. 9 with $4.6 million and Father Figures at No. 10 with $3.7 million.

I did see Star Wars: The Last Jedi. I want to review it, but it's hard to because I don't want to spoil anything for those who have yet to see the film, and I'm still digesting it, and because my review would go beyond "I liked it" or "I didn't like it".

Did you see it? What did you think?

Be Well,
Steve

Comments? Questions? Nooz? Email Steve



************************
Hoda Kotb announced as co-anchor of 'Today'
Hoda Kotb is replacing Matt Lauer as the co-anchor on NBC's Today it was announced Tuesday.

Kotb was unveiled as the new co-anchor and was seen sitting next to Savannah Guthrie to kick-off Tuesday's edition of the long-running morning news program.

"We are kicking off the year right because Hoda is officially the co-anchor of Today," Guthrie said as Kotb smiled.

"This has to be the most popular decision NBC News has ever made," Guthrie continued.

Weatherman Al Roker congratulated Kotb on Twitter alongside a selfie he took on the set of Today featuring himself, Kotb and Guthrie.

Kotb will co-anchor Today from 7 to 9 a.m. and will also continue co-hosting the 10 a.m. hour of the show alongside Kathie Lee Gifford.

Kotb is the replacement for Lauer who was fired from NBC in November due to sexual misconduct allegations.


Carrie Underwood says she injured face in fall at home: 'I'm still healing'
Carrie Underwood says she's "still healing" after injuring her face in a fall at home.

The 34-year-old singer said in a post to her fan club members that she got more than 40 stitches in her face following a November incident where she also broke her wrist.

"There is also another part of the story that I haven't been ready to talk about since I have still been living it and there has been so much uncertainty as to how things will end up," Underwood explained, according to Entertainment Tonight.

"In addition to breaking my wrist, I somehow managed to injure my face as well," she shared. "I'll spare you the gruesome details, but when I came out of surgery the night of my fall, the doctor told [my husband] Mike [Fisher] that he had put between 40 and 50 stitches in."

"Now, here we are 7 weeks later and, even though I've had the best people helping me, I'm still healing and not quite looking the same," the star said. "I honestly don't know how things are going to end up but I do know this: I am grateful. I am grateful that it wasn't much, much worse."

Underwood had thanked fans for their support Nov. 12 after confirming she broke her wrist and suffered cuts and abrasions after falling on the steps outside her home.

"Thanks so much for all the well wishes everybody...I'll be alright...might just take some time...glad I've got the best hubby in the world to take care of me," she tweeted at the time.

Underwood said in her update that she isn't ready "to get in front of a camera" but is "determined to make 2018 amazing." She posted a photo of herself Dec. 27 on Instagram with the majority of her face obscured by a scarf.

"When in 5 degree weather, wrap your @caliabycarrie scarf around your neck and face...you keep warm AND look like an awesome winter snow ninja! #WinWin #StayThePath #LetItSnow #BabyItsColdOutside," the singer captioned the picture.


LOOSE LIPS:
"My momby had an otherworldly obsession with the northern lights, but I never got to see them with her. We journeyed to northern Norway to see if we might 'see the heavens lift up her dark skirts and flash her dazzling privates across [our] unworthy irises.' And she did. I love you times infinity."
--Billie Lourd, honoring mom Carrie Fisher one year after her death, on Instagram



??? Guess Who ???
Which member of 'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' has announced she's pregnant with her first child?


Justin Timberlake announces new album titled 'Man of the Woods'
Justin Timberlake announced a new upcoming album Tuesday titled Man of the Woods alongside a teaser trailer for the project.

"This album is really inspired by my son, my wife, my family, but more so than any other album I've written, where I'm from," Timberlake says in the clip released on Twitter as the singer is seen exploring grassy fields and a river. "It's personal."

Timberlake's wife Jessica Biel also makes an apperance in the teaser alongside musician and producer Pharrell Williams.

Man of the Woods is set for release on Feb.2, two days before the music star is set to perform during the halftime show of Super Bowl LII.

Timberlake tweeted "Friday," alongside the teaser, hinting that the first single from Man of the Woods will be released soon.


Alphabet mystery author Sue Grafton dies at 77
Sue Grafton, the author of a series of alphabet-themed mystery novels featuring investigator Kinsey Millhone, died in California, her husband announced Friday. She was 77.

Grafton, a native of Louisville, Ky., died Thursday of cancer.

"She was marvelous and fabulous and adored by everyone who knew her," her husband of more than 40 years, Steve Humphrey, told The Courier Journal in Louisville. "She was very successful as a writer; very dedicated and very talented."

She is perhaps best known for her alphabet mystery novels, which she began writing in 1982 with A is for Alibi. Each subsequent novel featured the next letter in the alphabet -- B is for Burglar and so on.

She published her last novel, Y is for Yesterday, in August. She did not start on a book for the letter Z before her death.

"She was trying to come up with an idea, but she never got one she liked," Humphrey said. "With chemo, she didn't have much energy or interest in that anyway. There will just be a 25-letter alphabet, I'm sorry to say."

Her novels have been published in 26 languages in 28 countries.

A graduate of the University of Louisville, Grafton was named Kentucky's 2007 Distinguished American by the A.B. "Happy" Chandler Foundation, and was inducted into the American Academy of Achievement.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer mourned her death in a post on Twitter.

"The world has lost a great talent and prolific author in Sue Grafton -- and in Louisville we have lost a citizen, friend, neighbor, a master gardener and hometown hero. Her legacy will live on through her words, which will entertain and thrill readers for generations to come," he wrote.

Humphrey said there will be a memorial service for Grafton on Sunday in California, where she lived part of the year.

"There is talk about doing a larger memorial service in New York in April," he said. "Her literary agent is thinking of doing that before the Edgar Awards Ceremony."


??? Guess Who ???
Which member of 'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' has announced she's pregnant with her first child?

Actress America Ferrera has announced via Instagram that she and her husband are expecting their first child.

"We're welcoming one more face to kiss in 2018! Wishing you #MásBesos in the New Year! #babybesos #HappyNewYear," Ferrera wrote in an online post Sunday.

The message accompanied a photo of Ferrera and actor Ryan Piers Williams wearing novelty 2018 glasses, while the actress holds up a tiny infant onesie outfit. The expectant parents did not reveal the child's gender or anticipated birth date.

The Superstore, Ugly Betty and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants star married Williams in 2011 after about six years of dating, People magazine said.