movies – News Stories About movies - Page 55

NO 'BASTERDS' HERE

Dec 30, 2009 8:00 PM CST

10 Best Movies You Didn't See

Other than 'World's Greatest Dad,' these are pretty obscure

(Newser) - Sick of reading “Best of 2009” movie lists that contain endless references to Inglourious Basterds and Up in the Air? Then check out the picks Grady Hendrix made for Slate : The top 10 films of the year that you probably didn’t see.

Nine Has 7 or 8 Too Many Stars

OVERSTUFFED FILMS

Dec 30, 2009 12:40 PM CST

Nine Has 7 or 8 Too Many Stars

Please, Hollywood, stop cramming A-listers into movies

(Newser) - In addition to its lack of critical love, Nine is “gargantuanally over-cast, the latest in a long tradition of jam-packed ensemble films”—and it’s not a good trend. The upcoming Valentine’s Day is even worse, looking to be “only slightly less crowded than a SAG...

Movie 'Chastity' Sells
Better Than Sex

Dec 30, 2009 4:40 AM CST

Movie 'Chastity' Sells Better Than Sex

Viewers prefer innuendo to full nudity

(Newser) - Filmmakers looking to score a box-office hit should follow the lead of Twilight, Lord of the Rings, and Spider-Man: keep the love scenes chaste. So claims a new study of more than 900 films released between 2001 and 2005, which shows that, contrary to popular belief, nudity and explicit sex...

Tom Waits Wows
Film Critics,
Ticks Off
His Mom

Dec 28, 2009 6:07 PM CST

Tom Waits Wows Film Critics, Ticks Off His Mom

Singer's turn as Satan causes trouble at home

(Newser) - Tom Waits is 60 years old, but his mom can still get to him. The gravelly-voiced singer plays Satan in Terry Gilliam's latest trippy film, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, and that isn't going over well with his mother. She's religious, you see. "She's really upset," he says....

Eerie Final Films
of Stars Who
Died Young

Dec 24, 2009 9:11 AM CST

Eerie Final Films of Stars Who Died Young

Brittany Murphy's last movies follow a morbid trend

(Newser) - In the wake of Brittany Murphy’s death, her latest film roles take on an especially creepy symbolism. The Frisky points to the just-released trailer for her upcoming movie Abandoned, in which she plays a woman under psychiatric care—and E! notes that the box art for another recent film,...

Brittany Murphy
Autopsy: Cause
of Death
'Deferred'

Dec 21, 2009 6:27 PM CST

Brittany Murphy Autopsy: Cause of Death 'Deferred'

Final report must await toxicology test results

(Newser) - Brittany Murphy's autopsy is complete, but the LA county coroner's office won't determine an official cause of death until after the completion of toxicology tests, which could take as long as 2 months. The 32-year-old actress, who died yesterday after suffering cardiac arrest, was bleeding internally before her death, a...

Clueless Co-Star
Brittany Murphy
Dead at 32

UPDATED

Dec 20, 2009 3:16 PM CST

Clueless Co-Star Brittany Murphy Dead at 32

Troubled starlet suffered cardiac arrest

(Newser) - Brittany Murphy, who made a splash playing the makeover victim in Clueless and later battled substance abuse, died today in Los Angeles. She was 32. The LA Fire Department was called to a home owned by Murphy's husband, Simon Monjack, where she was found in cardiac arrest and could not...

Avatar Wraps
Weekend
With $73M

bOX OFFICE ROuNDUP

Dec 20, 2009 1:41 PM CST

Avatar Wraps Weekend With $73M

James Cameron scores 2nd-biggest Dec. opening ever

(Newser) - Avatar plowed through an East Coast blizzard to score $73 million at the box office this weekend, falling short of only I Am Legend for a December opening, reports Variety . The James Cameron blockbuster recouped its hefty $220 million pricetag with worldwide sales. The Princess and the Frog fell to...

YouTube Clip
Wins Movie Deal

Dec 19, 2009 10:34 AM CST

YouTube Clip Wins Movie Deal

Panic Attack! will be turned into a $30M feature

(Newser) - A Uruguayan man who spent $300 creating a YouTube video called Panic Attack! has been offered a $30 million contract to make a Hollywood film. "I uploaded on a Thursday and on Monday my inbox was totally full of e-mails from Hollywood studios," the creator tells the BBC...

Streep's Reefer Moment
Hardly R-Rated

OPINION

Dec 18, 2009 1:43 PM CST

Streep's Reefer Moment Hardly R-Rated

It's Complicated spotlights MPAA's wacky marijuana rules

(Newser) - Insiders say the only reason Meryl Streep’s new romantic comedy It’s Complicated has an R rating is a scene in which she smokes marijuana, and that’s causing a “minor ruckus” in Hollywood. A source close to the hearings tells Robert Ablon of the Los Angeles Times...

Top Cultural Game-Changers

decade in review

Dec 7, 2009 2:11 PM CST

Top Cultural Game-Changers

What will we still be talking about next decade? Britney, for one

(Newser) - The ‘00s were full of important contributions to culture, but which ones will we still be talking about in another decade? Here are some of New York ’s picks:

TV: The Sopranos for inventing quality cable, American Idol for changing the music industry, and of course all things

...

Blind Side
Overshadows
New Moon

box office roundup

Dec 6, 2009 2:22 PM CST

Blind Side Overshadows New Moon

Football flick capitalizes on strong Thanksgiving weekend

(Newser) - Building on strong word-of-mouth and an unexpectedly lucrative Thanksgiving weekend, The Blind Side caught and passed New Moon at the weekend box office. The Sandra Bullock vehicle pulled in $20.4 million to $15.7 million for the teen vampire sequel. Both dwarfed Brothers, which underperformed despite stars Natalie Portman,...

It's High Time We Get a New Classic Christmas Movie

no more 'elf,' please

Dec 6, 2009 7:10 AM CST

It's High Time We Get a New Classic Christmas Movie

A critic says 'bah humbug' to another year's worth of mediocre movies

(Newser) - When it comes to films, the Christmas canon is made up of old favorites like It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, and Miracle on 34th Street that are, well, old—and it's high time that changed. The 21st century is the "dark ages" of holiday movie going, writes...

The '00s' Most
Disappointing Movies

decade in review

Dec 5, 2009 8:00 PM CST

The '00s' Most Disappointing Movies

'Tropic Thunder' leads the way

(Newser) - The decade had lots of lousy movies, but 11Points rounds up the most disappointing—those that didn't live up to their promise:

Tropic Thunder (2008): Amazing cast, great premise. Slam dunk, right? Not when "your go-to bit is a retarded joke." Such a lazy waste.
Bruno (2009): Sacha

...

Serious Moonlight a Dim Effort

MOVIE REVIEW

Dec 4, 2009 2:52 PM CST

Serious Moonlight a Dim Effort

Filming slain writer's script a fine sentiment, poorly executed

(Newser) - When Waitress writer-director Adrienne Shelly was murdered, in 2006, she left behind the script for Serious Moonlight. Critics speculate that she might have made it work, but that hasn't happened:

"A wife duct-tapes her husband to a chair and tells him that she will make him fall in love

...

Russia, Georgia
Fund Dueling
War Movies

Dec 4, 2009 1:21 PM CST

Russia, Georgia Fund Dueling War Movies

Propaganda is the better part of valor

(Newser) - More than a year after they stopped shooting at each other, Russia and Georgia are still fighting—on movie screens. Each side is backing high-profile films sympathetic to their take on the war. Russia’s first effort, a documentary entitled Act of Betrayal, fell flat because its claims that Georgia...

Brothers Has Strong
Acting, Weak Heart

movie review

Dec 4, 2009 12:20 PM CST

Brothers Has Strong Acting, Weak Heart

Critics wonder: Why did Jim Sheridan need to do this remake?

(Newser) - Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman, and Jake Gyllenhaal deliver solid performances in Jim Sheridan's war movie Brothers, but the film doesn't measure up to the 2004 Danish original, say critics:

Peter Howell, Toronto Star : "It's still a film worth seeing, if only for the performances, but it seems to be

...

Everybody's Fine?
No, Everybody's Sappy

Movie Review

Dec 4, 2009 11:10 AM CST

Everybody's Fine? No, Everybody's Sappy

De Niro the best part about predictable holiday treacle

(Newser) - Critics are divided on Everybody’s Fine: Some think the family drama is okay because of Robert De Niro, and others think it’s awful despite him. What they’re saying:

It’s “a thoroughly fake movie that is about, of all things, the need for truthfulness,” writes

...

Stern Gives
His SAG Votes Only to Pals
of the Show

Dec 3, 2009 6:52 PM CST

Stern Gives His SAG Votes Only to Pals of the Show

Acting chops? Who cares, host contends

(Newser) - Howard Stern is making waves today for filling out his Screen Actors Guild nominations during his morning radio show—and explaining that his votes are going almost exclusively to actors who appeared on his show. “I'm going to take this seriously and reward our friends. I don’t give...

Entourage Will End With a Film

hollywood buzz

Dec 3, 2009 3:58 PM CST

Entourage Will End With a Film

Walhberg says show might go longer than 2 more seasons

(Newser) - Look for the boys on Entourage to be making the leap to the big screen. Executive producer Mark Wahlberg tells the Hollywood Reporter that plans are in the works for a movie when the HBO series wraps up after two more seasons. Of course, that's if it wraps up after...