Hollywood

Stories 661 - 680 | << Prev   Next >>

5 Reasons Avatar Is a Mega-Hit
 5 Reasons Avatar Is a Mega-Hit 
Jan 6, 2010 5:21 PM CST

5 Reasons Avatar Is a Mega-Hit

Escapism, corporate tie-ins, and savvy marketing all help

(Newser) - James Cameron's Avatar is inventive and smart, but it's become such a huge success so quickly that one has to wonder if some larger cultural factors aren't at work. Here are five theories from io9 :
  1. Escapism. The Great Recession fills our lives with endless drudgery, and this film is the
...

Natalie Portman's Rules: No 'Boobs' or Jewish Roles

Actress has no plans for the full monty

(Newser) - Natalie Portman is proud of her heritage but tries to steer clear of Jewish roles—"I've always tried to stay away from playing Jews," she reveals in an interview with Elle UK. "I get like 20 Holocaust scripts a month, but I hate the genre." A...

Lessons From the Decade's Movies

 Lessons 
 From the 
 Decade's 
 Movies 
Richard Corliss
Jan 5, 2010 2:06 PM CST

Lessons From the Decade's Movies

Superheroes and big budgets ruled the aughts

(Newser) - Movies look a lot different in 2010 than they did in 2000. Richard Corliss of Time looks back at what we learned from a decade at the multiplex:
  • Superheroes Are Serious: Light comic book movies have given way to the dark, layered stuff of graphic novels. “Superhero movies are
...

Sandra Bullock's Blind Side Hits Record $200M
Sandra Bullock's Blind Side Hits Record $200M
GLASS CEILING DEPT.
Jan 5, 2010 1:12 PM CST

Sandra Bullock's Blind Side Hits Record $200M

Becomes the first flick anchored by a female star to cross barrier

(Newser) - Sandra Bullock has become the first female star to carry a film past $200 million in domestic box office. Her football flick, The Blind Side, has made $208.5 million in seven weeks of release. Earlier star vehicles like Julia Roberts’ Erin Brockovich have fallen short; that movie made just...

Bullock Rules 2009 Box Office
 Bullock Rules 2009 Box Office 
star power
Jan 1, 2010 10:20 AM CST

Bullock Rules 2009 Box Office

Cinema owners say actress was the biggest draw of the year

(Newser) - Cinema owners love Sandra Bullock, even if critics don't always agree. The owners named Bullock the Hollywood star with the most drawing power in 2009, thanks to her roles in The Proposal, The Blind Side, and even the widely panned All About Steve. The annual survey isn't based strictly on...

Top Conservative Flicks of the '00s
 Top Conservative 
 Flicks of the '00s 
decade in review
Jan 1, 2010 5:31 AM CST

Top Conservative Flicks of the '00s

Even Hollywood can make movies for the non-'lily-livered:' Nile Gardiner

(Newser) - "Hollywood may well be a bastion of liberalism, but it does continue to occasionally produce major films that advance conservative principles," Nile Gardiner writes in the Telegraph . His best of the aughts:
  1. Master and Commander, 2003: The Peter Weir flick starring Russell Crowe is "an epic tale
...

Up in the Air Will Edge Hurt Locker
 Up in the Air Will 
 Edge Hurt Locker 
oscar predictions
Dec 26, 2009 1:47 PM CST

Up in the Air Will Edge Hurt Locker

But Kathryn Bigelow will win best director for 'Locker'

(Newser) - Jay A. Fernandez has crunched the votes from more than 20 critics' groups but finds that predicting this year's Oscar winner for best picture remains a "head-scratcher." The Hurt Locker has gotten the most votes for its tense tale of an elite group of soldiers who disarm bombs,...

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 Pulls In $27M
 Avatar Pulls In  
 $27M 
Dec 19, 2009 3:57 PM CST

Avatar Pulls In $27M

Numbers are strong, but not record-setting

(Newser) - James Cameron's Avatar grossed $27 million in its opening day yesterday. The numbers for the 3-D epic are strong but unspectacular and may have been dinged by the East Coast blizzard. The storm will likely eat into overall weekend figures as well, but Cameron should take solace in the news...

YouTube Clip Wins Movie Deal
 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...

Idol Creators Dream Up 'Post-Reality' TV Show

Audience and cast members will interact online

(Newser) - The company that brought you American Idol is now straining against the limits of the medium with the first ever foray into “post reality entertainment.” If I Can Dream, Lisa de Moraes writes, will tell the “authentic story” of some authentic young Americans—a musician, an actor,...

Paywall Model Make-or-Break for Variety
Paywall Model Make-or-Break for Variety
jon friedman
Dec 10, 2009 2:50 PM CST

Paywall Model Make-or-Break for Variety

Audience loyalty critical as online competitors gain ground

(Newser) - Variety will phase in a paywall starting today, a return to its pre-2006 model and a big gamble that its long history as the Hollywood daily will spur users to open their wallets. The site's traffic has increased since it became free, but it failed to attract a bump...

Blind Side Overshadows New Moon

 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,...

Serious Moonlight a Dim Effort
 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
...

Everybody's Fine ? No, Everybody's Sappy
 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
...

Streep, at 60, Still Rewriting the Rules

'America's greatest actress' shattered glass ceiling for older women

(Newser) - Who says older women don't belong in Hollywood? Meryl Streep, who appears on the January cover of Vanity Fair, proves that bit of conventional wisdom—and others—dead wrong. Need evidence? "Mamma Mia! has grossed $601 million worldwide, despite some cringe-worthy reviews (for the movie, not its much-lauded heroine),...

New Moon Eclipses Blind Side

 New Moon 
 Eclipses 
 Blind Side 
box office roundup
Nov 29, 2009 1:47 PM CST

New Moon Eclipses Blind Side

Football flick tops vampire saga in Thanksgiving receipts

(Newser) - New Moon extended its domination of the the box office over the Thanksgiving weekend, but The Blind Side showed surprising resilience and even outdrew the vampire picture on the holiday. New Moon raked in $42.5 million in 3 days, bringing its 10-day total to $230.7 million. The Blind ...

India, DC, Hollywood Mix at Obama Shindig
 India, DC, 
 Hollywood Mix 
 at Obama Shindig 
WHITE HOUSE STATE DINNER
Nov 24, 2009 9:18 AM CST

India, DC, Hollywood Mix at Obama Shindig

GOP, Dems rub elbows with movie stars, media types

(Newser) - Swaths of green and purple surrounded guests tonight as the White House paid tribute to Indian PM Manmohan Singh at the first state dinner given by President Obama. The company was top-notch, with Washington’s elite (from both parties) rubbing elbows with Hollywood stars and media elites. For the guest...

New Moon Vamps to $141M Haul
 New Moon Vamps to $141M Haul 
box office roundup
Nov 22, 2009 1:54 PM CST

New Moon Vamps to $141M Haul

Latest 'Twilight' entry enjoys 3rd-biggest weekend ever

(Newser) - In the third-largest weekend debut ever, The Twilight Saga: New Moon rang up $140.7 million, riding records for a midnight opening and a single day to totals trailing only The Dark Knight and Spider-Man. Audiences were four-fifths female, with the remaining 20% mostly teen boys, USA Today reports. The ...

New Moon Breaks Opening Day Record

'Twilight' sequel earns $72.7 million, beating 'Dark Knight'

(Newser) - The Twilight sequel raked in $72.7 million yesterday, making it biggest opening day ever. New Moon earned $26 million in midnight showings alone, helping it trump the previous record of $67.2 million earned by Dark Knight. The feat is all the more remarkable because it's outside the usual...

Stories 661 - 680 | << Prev   Next >>