film – News Stories About film - Page 31

BOX OFFICE ROUNDUP

Mar 15, 2009 4:56 PM CDT

Witch Mountain Wins Weekend

Watchmen drops to second, Last House comes third

(Newser) - Race to Witch Mountain sped to the box office summit this weekend by banking $25 million, Entertainment Weekly reports. Last week’s big earner, Watchmen, dropped to second with $18.1 million, while upstart The Last House on the Left scared up $14.7 million in third. Taken ($6.7...

Witch Mountain a Fun Ride

movie review

Mar 13, 2009 1:19 PM CDT

Witch Mountain a Fun Ride

The onetime Rock is well-cast

(Newser) - Kids’ adventure flick Race to Witch Mountain—the story of a pair of alien teens who meet Dwayne (don't call him the Rock) Johnson and try to save Earth—is good fun, critics say. Here's a rundown:

"Thoroughly modern in every way, Race to Witch Mountain bears little resemblance

...

Heathers Musical
Bound for Broadway

Mar 12, 2009 1:57 PM CDT

Heathers Musical Bound for Broadway

(Newser) - The high-school comedy/murder cult film Heathers is set to be reborn—as a Broadway musical, the Hollywood Reporter notes. Readings have already happened with the likes of Kristen Bell, and much of the original production team is on board. “‘I love my dead gay son,’” the...

Watchmen Sees
Tepid Weekend Win

BOX OFFICE ROUNDUP

Mar 8, 2009 4:29 PM CDT

Watchmen Sees Tepid Weekend Win

Blockbuster doesn't live up to opening-weekend projections

(Newser) - Who watches the Watchmen? Too few moviegoers to live up to box-office projections, says the Hollywood Reporter. The much-hyped flick earned only $55.7 million this weekend as Madea Goes to Jail locked in $8.8 million, Taken took $7.5 million, and Slumdog Millionaire kept riding its Oscar wave...

Watchmen Just Watchable

NEW RELEASE

Mar 5, 2009 10:54 AM CST

Watchmen Just Watchable

Film 'bites off more than it can chew'

(Newser) - The task of putting graphic-novel classic Watchmen onscreen may be more than any filmmaker can handle, critics say—though director Zack Snyder did win over Roger Ebert. Some impressions:

"Stumbles and sometimes falls on its top-heavy ambitions. But there are also flashes of visual brilliance and performances that drill

...

Watchmen
Sure to Blow
Wilson's Cover

GLOSSIES

Mar 2, 2009 3:59 PM CST

Watchmen Sure to Blow Wilson's Cover

(Newser) - Patrick Wilson has had many brushes with fame, but it’s fairly certain his role in the hotly anticipated Watchmen will finally make walking down the street a chore, New York reports. He’s done studio films before (remember The Alamo?), won praise for his role in Little Children, even...

Can Mel Make a
Comeback?

OPINION

Mar 2, 2009 1:21 PM CST

Can Mel Make a Comeback?

Gibson aims for rehabilitation, but Mad Max is 'gone'

(Newser) - Mel Gibson appears to be making an effort to revive a career stalled after his 2006 arrest and accompanying anti-Semitic tirade, but “it seems unlikely he can ever really come back,” writes Roger Friedman for Fox News. “Like Tom Cruise, Gibson has sent himself into a weird...

Jonas Bros Lose
Beat at Box Office

Mar 1, 2009 3:37 PM CST

Jonas Bros Lose Beat at Box Office

Oscars help Slumdog to third

(Newser) - Madea Goes to Jail kept the Jonas Brothers at bay this weekend, Entertainment Weekly reports. Madea banked $16.5 million to the highly anticipated Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience's mere $12.7 million. Slumdog Millionaire enjoyed an Oscar boost, earning $12.2 million, while Taken continued its hot streak...

Paltrow: Madonna a 'Survivor'

Feb 26, 2009 1:12 PM CST

Paltrow: Madonna a 'Survivor'

(Newser) - Madonna and longtime friend Gwyneth Paltrow might not have the same kind of personal lives, OK! reports, but the actress sees the singer as an inspirational figure. “She’s a real survivor,” Paltrow said. “Every problem that I’ve had, she’s had 10 problems worse.”...

Warren Beatty
Courts LiLo ...
No, Not Like That

Feb 26, 2009 10:29 AM CST

Warren Beatty Courts LiLo ... No, Not Like That

Actor will consider Lohan for role, but only if she lives with him

(Newser) - Warren Beatty wants to cast Lindsay Lohan in his upcoming film, but he’s not willing to gamble on the troubled starlet's reliability. The film icon will require the 22-year-old to live with him—or at least on his property—during production, Fox News reports. Lohan is said to be...

Tarantino's Basterds
Looks as Lousy as His Spelling

OPINION

Feb 25, 2009 2:27 PM CST

Tarantino's Basterds Looks as Lousy as His Spelling

(Newser) - The trailer for Quentin Tarantino’s new film, Inglourious Basterds, is just 100 seconds long, but that's enough. "Perhaps there will prove to be a level of postmodern self-ironising,” Paul MacInnes writes in the Guardian. “Perhaps serving up Kill Bill with the Holocaust as a backdrop will...

Slumdog's
Pinto Joins
Woody Flick

Feb 24, 2009 10:59 AM CST

Slumdog's Pinto Joins Woody Flick

Naomi Watts takes part in forthcoming Allen picture

(Newser) - Slumdog Millionaire’s leading lady is set to be Woody Allen’s next muse in his next project, Variety reports. Oscar sweetheart Freida Pinto will play an ingénue in the untitled picture, which will also feature Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin, and Anthony Hopkins; it will be the first post-Slumdog...

Madea Laughs Up
Box Office Win

Feb 22, 2009 5:25 PM CST

Madea Laughs Up Box Office Win

(Newser) - Tyler Perry showed his box office muscle this weekend by grossing $41.1 million with Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail, Entertainment Weekly reports. Perry's biggest opening ever—and Lionsgate's too—roused audiences on a normally slow Oscar weekend. Filling out the top five: Taken ($11.4 million), Coraline...

The Most Undeserved Oscars

Feb 22, 2009 6:07 AM CST

The Most Undeserved Oscars

SF Chronicle serves up its 'Titanic Awards'

(Newser) - Oscars go to undeserving flicks so often that the San Francisco Chronicle has a prize for them: the Titanic Award. Pop culture critic Peter Hartlaub targets some of the most egregious offenders:

Best Picture: Titanic. The award’s namesake, which somehow beat LA Confidential, needs no explanation.
Best Actor: Al

...

Bashir Is Deceitful Propaganda

OPINION

Feb 21, 2009 5:09 PM CST

Bashir Is Deceitful Propaganda

(Newser) - Waltz With Bashir is a beautifully made movie, and Gideon Levy will be rooting for writer/director Ari Folman to win the first Israeli Oscar tomorrow night, along with the rest of the country. “However, it must also be noted that the film is infuriating, disturbing outrageous, and deceptive,”...

Must Read a Must-See

MOVIE REVIEW

Feb 20, 2009 1:44 PM CST

Must Read a Must-See

Doc realizes the horrors of dysfunctional family life

(Newser) - If you’re looking for a fright at the movies, skip Friday the 13th and hunker down with Must Read After My Death. Using archived audiotapes and home movies, the documentary chronicles the tumultuous suburban marriage of the filmmaker’s grandparents, who “lived on the unmapped border between Revolutionary...

Katyn Horrific, Excellent

Movie Review

Feb 20, 2009 11:15 AM CST

Katyn Horrific, Excellent

(Newser) - American art houses are finally getting a taste of Katyn, legendary Polish director Andrzej Wajda’s acclaimed film about the World War II-era massacre of the same name, and critics are heaping yet more acclaim on it. AO Scott of the New York Times calls it “solemn and searing,...

Oscar Win Is
No Career Boost

Feb 19, 2009 5:34 PM CST

Oscar Win Is No Career Boost

Past winners haven't had big hits in years

(Newser) - That gold-plated statuette actors take home Oscar night may as well be a parting gift from Hollywood. Past winners—like Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry, and Adrien Brody—have had little luck at the box office in subsequent years, Reuters reports. The problem, says one film critic, is that the winners...

Phoenix: Music Is My Legacy

Feb 17, 2009 4:03 PM CST

Phoenix: Music Is My Legacy

Not my acting

(Newser) - Joaquin Phoenix thinks he’ll be remembered for his music, rather than his Oscar-nominated acting, he tells the Mirror. Phoenix is a lot wordier than he was in his monosyllabic appearance on Letterman, telling the paper he’s serious about becoming a rapper. “I feel like everything in my...

Nate Silver Turns
Crystal Ball
on Oscars

OPINION

Feb 16, 2009 2:40 PM CST

Nate Silver Turns Crystal Ball on Oscars

After number-crunching, Slumdog is tops

(Newser) - FiveThirtyEight.com stats-cruncher extraordinaire Nate Silver shifts his sights from politics to the Oscars in New York magazine. He compiled data from 30 years of Academy Awards to discover the best predictors of success, and found that other awards (SAGs, Golden Globes) carry the most weight. Genre is also key;...