The Cricket's Daily 3: 'Thor' fends off 'Best Man'

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Here's what's being talked about in pop culture:

• "Thor: The Dark World" won the weekend at the box office, with $38.5 million — but "The Best Man Holiday" surprised with a stronger-than-expected second-place take of $30.5 million. [Box Office Mojo]

• Legendary screenwriting teacher Syd Field, who literally wrote the book (several of them, in fact) on the classic three-act script structure, died at the age of 77. [BBC]

• Two authors of very different types died over the weekend: Nobel Prize-winning novelist Doris Lessing, who wrote about her liberated and unconventional life, died at age 94; and Barbara Park, creator of the "Junie B. Jones: First Grader" children's book series, died from ovarian cancer at age 66. [AP, via The Salt Lake Tribune; Los Angeles Times]