movies

Stories 1561 - 1580 | << Prev   Next >>

Time Warner Focus Turns to Possible Breakup

Investors want stripped-down, agile company

(Newser) - What do you do when you take over the world’s biggest media company? If you’re new Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes, you probably sharpen some knives. Bewkes may soon spin off AOL as well as the conglomerate’s cable and magazine divisions, Bloomberg reports. “There’s nothing...

Wal-Mart Scraps Online Movie Service

Move comes as HP nixes software that supported the site

(Newser) - Wal-Mart shuttered its 10-month-old video download service without fanfare last week, ending a disappointing experiment for the bargain retailer, Reuters reports. The site was scrapped after Hewlett Packard canceled the software that supported it, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman said. HP said it made the move after the market failed to perform...

Apple Wants Slice of Movie Rental Biz
Apple Wants Slice of Movie Rental Biz
Dec 27, 2007 11:53 PM CST

Apple Wants Slice of Movie Rental Biz

Fox deal presages plans to shake up online distribution

(Newser) - Apple is getting ready to formally announce the launch of its online movie rental business, the AP reports. Fox is already on board, as the FT reported yesterday, and other studios are expected to follow in making their movies available for rent through iTunes. Apple's also planning a widespread licensing...

Jessica Alba to Get Hitched to Baby's Dad

Actress, due in the spring, will marry longtime boyfriend

(Newser) - Jessica Alba, expecting her first baby in late spring, is now engaged to the child's father, Access Hollywood reports. The 26-year-old actress was spotted over the holidays wearing a rock on her left ring finger, leading Access Hollywood to speculate that husband-to-be Cash Warren popped the question during Christmas.

Blood Makes Critics Swoon
Blood Makes Critics Swoon
NEW RELEASE
Dec 26, 2007 10:50 AM CST

Blood Makes Critics Swoon

Oil film impresses with strong performances

(Newser) - There’s no avoiding it: There Will Be Blood is another long, “indie-flavored, male-centric American art film,” says Variety’s Todd McCarthy. But the “boldly and magnificently strange” flick still has critics enthralled. Following an unsavory and maybe unhinged oil tycoon’s rise to power, the film...

Debaters Inspires, Critics Argue
Debaters Inspires, Critics Argue
NEW RELEASE
Dec 25, 2007 5:01 PM CST

Debaters Inspires, Critics Argue

Film may play it by wrote, but it does it with conviction

(Newser) - The Great Debaters, which follows a Jim Crow-era black debate team, aims only for “inspirational pop entertainment in the Oprah Winfrey mode,” but it still manages to resonate, says the New York Times’ Stephen Holden. It is conventional, and sometimes clichéd, in telling the classic underdog story....

Persepolis an Animated Triumph
Persepolis an Animated Triumph
NEW RELEASE
Dec 25, 2007 12:24 PM CST

Persepolis an Animated Triumph

Critics enthralled with 'landmark in animation'

(Newser) - Persepolis isn’t just a good animated movie. “It’s a small landmark in feature animation,” writes Nick Pinkerton of the Village Voice. Rendered with handcrafted charm in black and white, it tells the poignant-yet-funny story of a girl growing up amidst the Iranian revolution. But “bare...

Dallas Dilemma: Where to Reshoot JR
Dallas Dilemma: Where to Reshoot JR
Dec 24, 2007 1:51 PM CST

Dallas Dilemma: Where to Reshoot JR

City battles to live down TV show, competes to be movie location

(Newser) - Dallas has tried for years to disassociate itself from 'Dallas,' the cheesy '80s soap opera that's so iconic that the fictional scheming oil baron JR Ewing is still the city's biggest celebrity—16 years after the show was canceled. So it's with considerable cringing that officials find themselves wooing...

Rampaging Bad Santas Shut Down Movie Theater

It's Santa anarchy as drunken vandals trash cinema & trip fire alarm

(Newser) - What the ho? Moviegoing New Zealanders were forced out of a theater when some 50 drunken hooligans dressed as Santa invaded a cineplex, trashing posters and other property, shouting "Ho f---ing ho!" and setting off a fire alarm before running off. Police think the troublemakers were college students,...

Book of Secrets Opens Big
Book of Secrets Opens Big
Dec 23, 2007 4:25 PM CST

Book of Secrets Opens Big

Spurs record sales on oft-quiet weekend

(Newser) - National Treasure: Book of Secrets dug up $45.5 million this weekend, taking top spot and spurring record sales at a time often stymied by Christmas prep, Variety reports. I Am Legend helped by clearing $34.2 million in second place, and Alvin and the Chipmunks kept singing with $29...

Charlie Wilson's War a Winner
Charlie Wilson's War a Winner
NEW RELEASE
Dec 21, 2007 10:45 AM CST

Charlie Wilson's War a Winner

Sorkin writes, Nichols directs, Hanks stars, movie shines

(Newser) - Charlie Wilson's War, the darkly comedic true story of the largest and most successful covert operation in US history, leaves critics mostly charmed. The Mike Nichols project featuring Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Julia Roberts "is that rare Hollywood commodity these days," writes Variety's Todd McCarthy, "...

Depp Pipes Up on Singing Role
Depp Pipes Up on Singing Role
Dec 16, 2007 6:58 PM CST

Depp Pipes Up on Singing Role

Johnny 'was scared to death' he couldn't cut it in Sweeney Todd

(Newser) - Johnny Depp has more acting chops, hotness, and wealth than anyone could want, but even the superstar's knees buckled when he agreed to make his singing debut in the new silver-screen musical, Sweeney Todd, opening this Friday. "I was scared to death," he told the Chicago Sun-Times. Yet...

Overlooked Christmas Movies
Overlooked Christmas Movies
Dec 15, 2007 10:28 AM CST

Overlooked Christmas Movies

Slate has a list you better watch out for

(Newser) - Slate has come up with a list of overlooked Christmas movies to watch out for. Remember, the Christmas party at Nakatomi Plaza is more naughty than nice.
  1. Die Hard (1988)
  2. Yogi's First Christmas (1984)
  3. All That Heaven Allows (1954)
  4. The Ice Harvest (2005)

Smith Carries Legend
Smith Carries Legend
NEW RELEASE
Dec 14, 2007 8:31 AM CST

Smith Carries Legend

Movie has its flaws, but it's also a lot of fun

(Newser) - I Am Legend, a tale of the last man on Earth, who, through some freak of immunity, avoids a killer virus, isn't a perfect film. But despite its lack of surprises and its ending, which feels like "a studio-sanctioned reshoot," writes Chicago Tribune critic Michael Phillips, "you’...

Jackass 2.5 to Have Web-Only Debut
Jackass 2.5 to Have Web-Only Debut
Dec 13, 2007 1:34 AM CST

Jackass 2.5 to Have Web-Only Debut

'First Internet movie', studio heads say

(Newser) - Paramount is moving into uncharted territory by premiering Jackass 2.5 online, the New York Times reports. The December 19 premier on Blockbuster's Movielink service will be the first time a studio-backed feature film has made its debut on the Web. Executives hope that a successful experiment will pave the...

Vudu to Match DVD HD Releases
Vudu to Match DVD HD Releases
Dec 10, 2007 10:37 PM CST

Vudu to Match DVD HD Releases

Service will offer HD downloads same day DVDs hit stores

(Newser) - The Bourne Ultimatum, the Matt Damon action movie, will be available online Tuesday - the same day as the DVD reaches video stores. AP reports it's the first of many high-definition movies to be released by Vudu, the on-demand video service. Vudu, which sells its set-top box for $399, will...

Golden Compass Hard to Follow
Golden Compass Hard to Follow
NEW RELEASE
Dec 7, 2007 1:10 PM CST

Golden Compass Hard to Follow

Movie has great special effects but little soul, critics say

(Newser) - Critics are mixed on The Golden Compass, praising the controversial film's special effects but complaining about a lack of engaging storytelling. "The film is dominated by computer-generated effects and they're most of its problem— they don't give us anything to emotionally attach to or invest in," wrote Paula...

Atonement Is a Sexy Spellbinder
Atonement Is a Sexy Spellbinder
NEW RELEASE
Dec 7, 2007 10:30 AM CST

Atonement Is a Sexy Spellbinder

Adaptation of McEwan novel brings its 'A' game

(Newser) - Adapting a brilliant, broodingly introspective novel into a movie is risky business, but critics say Atonement—based on Ian McEwan's chronicle of  the effects of a young girl's lie on an English family—gets it surprisingly right. "In the almost spookily capable hands of 34-year-old director Joe Wright, the...

Gucci Clan Wary of Scott Film
Gucci Clan Wary of Scott Film
Dec 6, 2007 4:34 PM CST

Gucci Clan Wary of Scott Film

Granddaughter fears 'aggressive' flick will focus on 1995 murder

(Newser) - A member of the Gucci family tells the Guardian she's nervous about a planned Ridley Scott film that will chronicle the fashion dynasty's high times in the 1970s and '80s. Patrizia Gucci is concerned that the "aggressive" movie will devote too much attention to clan infighting, which culminated in...

Kite Runner Kids Flee Country
Kite Runner Kids Flee Country
Dec 4, 2007 2:26 PM CST

Kite Runner Kids Flee Country

Filmmakers feared reprisals against Afghan actors in controversial scene

(Newser) - Four child stars of the upcoming movie The Kite Runner have been whisked out of their native Afghanistan to protect them from possible backlash over a rape scene in the movie, the Guardian reports. Paramount Pictures helped relocate the boys to the United Arab Emirates after months of worry and...

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