movies – News Stories About movies - Page 84

Oct 5, 2007 11:55 AM CDT

Darjeeling a Thoughtful Ride

(Newser) - The Darjeeling Limited is a melancholy road comedy that never quite derails despite occasional bumps, say critics. Effortless performances by Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman "evince with unforced ease the rewards and resentments of brotherhood," writes Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post.

Issue of Stars' Safety Delays Kite Runner

Oct 4, 2007 1:02 PM CDT

Issue of Stars' Safety Delays Kite Runner

Producers fear film may inflame Afghanistan's ethnic tensions

(Newser) - Paramount Vantage is pushing back the release of "The Kite Runner" to allow its child stars to leave Afghanistan, the New York Times reports. The studio, worried that a “Danish-cartoons situation” could erupt over an ethnically charged rape scene, has moved the film's release date to Dec. 14....

Will Lust, Caution Break NC-17 Taboo?

Sep 29, 2007 5:56 PM CDT

Will Lust, Caution Break NC-17 Taboo?

Producer lobbies theaters to show it despite kiss-of-death rating

(Newser) - Ang Lee, who turned taboo into gold with Brokeback Mountain, hopes theaters will show his new flick despite its NC-17 rating. And Hollywood is watching to see if the film — Lust, Caution, an erotic spy thriller — jumps hurdles for other filmmakers. NC-17 has been box office death for...

As Serious Film, 'Kingdom' Falls

Sep 28, 2007 11:47 AM CDT

As Serious Film, 'Kingdom' Falls

Unrealistic action movie doesn't carry the weight it wants to, critics say

(Newser) - The Kingdom, starring Jamie Foxx and directed by Peter Berg, wants to be a thoughtful action movie about terrorism—part Rambo, part Syriana, muses the Washington Post. Instead, Newsday says, it's a “clamorous and patronizing” popcorn flick, that EW calls “shameless” in pushing audiences’ buttons.

'Resident Evil' Tops Box Office

Sep 24, 2007 3:18 AM CDT

'Resident Evil' Tops Box Office

Zombie threequel beats out 'Good Luck Chuck' and 'The Brave One' in debut weekend

(Newser) - "Resident Evil: Extinction" ruled the box office this week, raking in $24 million over the weekend, more than either of the previous two installments. The video game-inspired zombie threequel trounced fellow openers "Good Luck Chuck" ($14 million), which ranked second, fifth-place "Eastern Promises" ($5.7 million), and...

'Eastern Promises' Makes Good

Sep 21, 2007 9:43 AM CDT

'Eastern Promises' Makes Good

Russian mob thriller a worthy follow up to History of Violence

(Newser) - Eastern Promises, like director David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence before it, is a crime thriller starring Viggo Mortensen. And like Violence, critics love it. Its Russian mobsters transplanted to London are not characters, Roger Ebert raves, but “plausible human beings.” Mortensen stands out, having “just...

Speilberg & Paramount Head for Divorce

Sep 21, 2007 3:35 AM CDT

Speilberg & Paramount Head for Divorce

Unhappy DreamWorks director will likely seek new backer

(Newser) - A split between the DreamWorks braintrust and Paramount appears inevitable amid reports that director Steven Spielberg and partner David Geffen will seek new backers as soon as they're free to do so. The duo have been upset almost from the moment they sold Dreamworks to Paramount two years ago, complaining...

Father Upset by Rape Scene in Kite Runner

Sep 18, 2007 5:29 PM CDT

Father Upset by Rape Scene in Kite Runner

Dad of Afghan actor afraid film will ignite anger against his family

(Newser) - The father of an actor in a film adaptation of The Kite Runner is worried about a pivotal rape scene and wants it nixed, the BBC reports. The production features Afghans in many roles, and the boy actor's father, Ahmad Jaan, is concerned that the movie could unleash sectarian anger...

Jodie Hits #1 With a Bullet

Sep 16, 2007 2:00 PM CDT

Jodie Hits #1 With a Bullet

The Brave One ranks first at the weekend box office, but fails to meet expectations

(Newser) - Jodie Foster's The Brave One ranked number one with a bullet this weekend at $13.5 million, although it failed to meet studio expectations, reports Deadline Hollywood Daily. Critic Nikki Finke laments the film's reviews and marketing, but applauds Foster as a rare actress able to open a hit movie....

Philip K. Dick
Is Ready for His Closeup Now

Sep 16, 2007 7:18 AM CDT

Philip K. Dick Is Ready for His Closeup Now

In death, troubled sci-fi writer is darling of Hollywood

(Newser) - Sci fi writer Philip K. Dick died paranoid, impoverished, and obscure. But since his death in 1982, nine movies have been based on his novels—including Blade Runner, Minority Report, and Total Recall—-and interest in his work , eerily prescient of the digital age, has never been higher.

Tarantino Recuts Flop for Euro Release

Sep 15, 2007 6:30 AM CDT

Tarantino Recuts Flop for Euro Release

'Grindhouse' is now violent, chatty chick flick 'Death Proof'

(Newser) - Quentin Tarantino has taken the first flop of his career, the violent schlock-fest Grindhouse, and shaved it down to a lean slasher-film with a lot of girl talk and car chases tossed in. Death Proof, the story of a Texas DJ and her posse, has done well in France,...

'70s Vigilantes Take '07 in Hands

Sep 14, 2007 6:51 PM CDT

'70s Vigilantes Take '07 in Hands

New slate of vigilante films in era that mirrors '70s anxiety

(Newser) - Our era of economic upheaval and political powerlessness mirrors that of the 1970s, and now we’re getting our own silver screen vigilantes to clean up the mess. Everyman killers like Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle took action when the system wouldn’t, says Slate, and this season “vengeance...

Affleck Flick Won't Run in UK

Sep 14, 2007 5:59 PM CDT

Affleck Flick Won't Run in UK

Gone Baby Gone plot closely resembles story of missing Madeleine McCann

(Newser) - Ben Affleck's directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone, won't open in the UK because of eerie similarities between the film and the disappearance of British 4-year-old Madeleine McCann, Variety reports. Affleck said it has been withheld out of concern for the McCann connection. A film release, he noted, "is just...

'Elah' Bares Iraq Rage, Sorrow

Sep 14, 2007 8:50 AM CDT

'Elah' Bares Iraq Rage, Sorrow

Critics hail 'lacerating' murder probe that lays bare social scars

(Newser) - "In The Valley of Elah," a murder mystery with an Iraq war vet veteran as the victim, is “a raw, angry, earnest attempt to grasp the moral consequences of the war,” writes A.O. Scott of the Times. He's one of several critics who hail the...

Dude Looks
Like a Lady

Sep 13, 2007 11:04 AM CDT

Dude Looks Like a Lady

Move over, Cate Blanchett: A list of the best cross-dressers on the big screen

(Newser) - Inspired by Cate Blanchett's best-actress award at the Venice Film festival for I'm Not There, in which she plays Bob Dylan, Entertainment Weekly notes other memorable big-screen cross-dressers:

John Travolta as Edna Turnblad, Hairspray
Divine as Babs Johnson, Pink Flamingos
The Kids in the Hall
Dustin Hoffman as Michael Dorsey/Dorothy

...

Here's to You, Mrs. Robinson, 40 Years Later

Sep 12, 2007 2:46 AM CDT

Here's to You, Mrs. Robinson, 40 Years Later

Anniversary marks movie that spoke to a generation

(Newser) - It seemed destined to be an art house anachronism. The director was inexperienced, the lead actor unknown and apparently miscast, the score cobbled together. The result, however, was one of the seminal works in the history of American cinema, "The Graduate. " As the 40th anniverary DVD is released,...

Dreamgirls Star Joins Sex and the City Cast

Sep 11, 2007 6:43 AM CDT

Dreamgirls Star Joins Sex and the City Cast

Oscar winner Hudson jumps in to play Carrie's assistant

(Newser) - Dreamgirls star Jennifer Hudson is joining the cast of Sex and the City: The Movie as Carrie Bradshaw's assistant, reports Variety. The Oscar-winning actress and former "American Idol" contestant is set to begin filming this month in New York with the stars of the TV series, which ended in...

'Yuma' Rustles Up Movie Fans

Sep 10, 2007 4:35 AM CDT

'Yuma' Rustles Up Movie Fans

Western lassos top spot and $14.1M in opening weekend

(Newser) - The '"3:10 to Yuma" pulled into the station $14.1 richer at the end of its opening weekend, a typically soft post-Labor Day figure. The Western beat out Rob Zombie’s swiftly declining "Halloween" remake for the top spot. Slower on the draw was "Shoot 'Em...

Format Wars Rage in High Definition

Sep 9, 2007 12:59 PM CDT

Format Wars Rage in High Definition

Blu-ray and HD DVD slug it out to become next-gen movie media

(Newser) - Meet the new VHS and Betamax. It’s unclear who’s winning consumer tech’s latest format wars, the Economist explains, but both Blu-ray and HD DVD claim to be the high-def successor to the DVD. The cheaper HD DVD sells more stand-alone players, but Blu-ray sells more disks and...

Critics Riding High on Western
'3:10 to Yuma'

Sep 7, 2007 6:47 AM CDT

Critics Riding High on Western '3:10 to Yuma'

Remake is fast paced, well acted, but ending is 'murky'

(Newser) - Critics are saddling up for "3:10 to Yuma," a remake of a Western that “moves like a barn on fire,” according to Newsday’s Jan Stuart. It's director James Mangold's "most sustained and evocative work," touts the New Yorker. The morally nuanced film...