Charlie Wilson
Charlie Wilson, a former congressman whose efforts to arm Afghanistan against the Soviet Union were dramatized in the 2007 film Charlie Wilson's War, has died. He was 76.
Wilson died Wednesday of cardiopulmonary arrest at Texas' Memorial Medical Center-Lufkin, hospital spokeswoman Yana Ogletree told The Associated Press. Wilson, who had trouble breathing while attending a meeting, was pronounced dead on arrival, she said.
See clips from Charlie Wilson's War
From 1973 to 1996, Wilson represented the 2nd District in east Texas in the House of Representatives and ...
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Alvin and the Chipmunks courtesy 20th Century Fox
While Nic Cage's National Treasure: Book of Secrets repeated as the weekend box-office champ (taking in another $35.6 million, for a gross of $124 mil to date), the big story belonged to three furry little fellas. In its third week of release, Alvin & the Chipmunks seized the No. 2 spot from Will Smith with a $30 mil haul, and is now on pace to be one of the year's top-10 grossing pics. (Its tally stands at $142.4 mil.) Rounding out the weekend's top five were I Am Legend ($27.5 mil, $194.6 mil to date), Charlie Wilson's War (up 23 percent from last weekend, with $11.8 mil) and Juno (surging 201 percent in wider release, with $10.3 mil).Also this weekend, Katherine Heigl's 27 Dresses is said to have sneak-peeked extremely well, selling out most of its 539 screenings.What's your take? Did anyone out there catch 27 Dresses? Is this the film that shoots Heigl into the movie-star stratosphere?
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National Treasure: Book of Secrets courtesy Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
National Treasure: Book of Secrets, starring Nicolas Cage, topped the weekend box office with $45.5 million, besting the original's $35.1 mil opening. Last week's champ, I Am Legend, came in second with $34.2 mil.Rounding out the top five were Alvin and the Chipmunks ($29 mil), Charlie Wilson's War ($9.6 mil in its debut) and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (scraping together $9.35 mil across just 1,249 screens).Among other new releases, P.S. I Love You came in at No. 6 with $6.5 million, while the widely praised Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story disappointed with an eighth-place finish, taking in just $4.1 mil.Update: Jessica Simpson's Blonde Ambition reportedly grossed $384 — no typo there — on its opening day. See film critic Ken Fox's A Beautiful Fraud blog for that story.
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