Hollywood – News Stories About Hollywood - Page 35

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

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

Dec 17, 2009 10:15 AM CST

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

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

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

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

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

GLOSSIES

Nov 30, 2009 10:50 AM CST

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

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

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

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

Nov 21, 2009 2:09 PM CST

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...

Composers Seek Pay Tune-Up With Teamsters

Nov 18, 2009 4:58 AM CST

Composers Seek Pay Tune-Up With Teamsters

Hollywood composers, lyricists form alliance with Local 399

(Newser) - A group of composers for movies and TV seeking a better deal now have the Teamsters in their corner. The musicians, who complain that their pay is shriveling as studios expect them to absorb more costs, were one of the few groups of Hollywood workers not covered by union contracts....

Lauren Bacall
Wins an Oscar

finally

Nov 15, 2009 3:24 PM CST

Lauren Bacall Wins an Oscar

Roger Corman, Gordon Willis, John Calley share the spotlight

(Newser) - A mere 65 years after her unforgettable screen debut, Lauren Bacall has won an Academy Award. The honorary Oscar was a high point of a ceremony last night in Los Angeles that also celebrated the careers of filmmaker Roger Corman, cinematographer Gordon Willis, and producer John Calley. "I can't...

2012 Soars
to Top Spot

box office roundup

Nov 15, 2009 1:23 PM CST

2012 Soars to Top Spot

Apocalypse flick does $65M as 'Precious' cracks top 5

(Newser) - Apocalypse preview 2012 raked in $65 million domestically at the weekend box office, the high end of the prerelease estimate range, en route to a $225 million haul worldwide. The doomsday action flick handily beat A Christmas Carol, which performed strongly in its second weekend in release. A new entry...

The Best of
Cold War Cinema

OLD RELEASES

Nov 9, 2009 2:30 PM CST

The Best of Cold War Cinema

With the Evil Empire as the bad guy, Hollywood made some great flicks

(Newser) - Maybe the reason Betsy Sharkey is feeling nostalgic about Cold War flicks is that the era offered a clear, if flawed, idea that we were the good guys. Regardless, it made for some good movies. The Los Angeles Times critic's faves, by "capricious category":

Aliens: With "subtexts rich

...

Hottest Hollywood Star: Toys

Nov 5, 2009 12:07 PM CST

Hottest Hollywood Star: Toys

Transformers raked it in; expect more of the same from Tinseltown

(Newser) - Move over Denzel and Julia: In a bid to replicate the second Transformers' $833 million box-office take, toys are usurping flesh and blood stars as Hollywood's hottest property—and yes, Barbie and Candy Land have agents. Big-name agencies are working with the likes of Mattel and Hasbro—toys are "...

Gentlemen
Broncos
Falls Flat

movie review

Oct 30, 2009 12:09 PM CDT

Gentlemen Broncos Falls Flat

No magic this time from Napoleon Dynamite director

(Newser) - Director Jared Hess became a critics' darling with Napoleon Dynamite. Safe to say he's a darling no more thanks to Gentlemen Broncos , a farce about a teen sci-fi writer.

Sean O'Neal , AV Club: "Every frame of Hess’ new film—the wood-paneled walls coated with winking unicorn posters, its characters’

...

The Best Horror Movies

Oct 28, 2009 5:34 PM CDT

The Best Horror Movies

'Shining' prevails, but Polanski classic is No. 2

(Newser) - Stanley Kubrick's the Shining is the best horror film ever made, say the editors of TotalSciFi.com. The film's ''expansive sets, surreal visuals, and an intense performance from Jack Nicholson add up to a film guaranteed to give viewers a sleepless night." The top 10:

The Shining (1980)
Rosemary's

...

'Strong Women' Do Like Movies—Good Movies

SADY DOYLE

Oct 26, 2009 1:56 PM CDT

'Strong Women' Do Like Movies—Good Movies

Female protagonist is a poor argument for stodgy Amelia

(Newser) - This weekend's battle at the multiplex, where sci-fi trounced Amelia Earhart, has carried over into the world of virtual opinion. Washington Post critic Ann Hornaday fired the first shot, and Sady Doyle fires back, explaining that she senses a “note of condescension.” See Amelia, Hornaday implores. “No...