MOVIE REVIEWS: ARTHUR CHRISTMAS

Arthur Christmas has already brought the gift of smiles to the faces of generally hard-boiled critics. It’s one of those animated films, they say, that parents don’t have to merely endure but can actually enjoy. There are “plenty of sly jokes for grown-ups,” Neil Genzlinger assures his readers in the New York Times, while Amy [...]

NO SURPRISES AT MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS

The MTV Video Music Awards show was staged without controversy or surprise Sunday night (no interruptions by the likes of Kanye West, no meat dresses worn by the likes of Lady Gaga), with top awards going to Katy Perry for Video of the Year (“Firework”); Justin Bieber for Best Male Video (“U Smile”); Lady Gaga [...]

MOVIE REVIEWS: MONTE CARLO

You win some, you lose some, the saying goes, and Monte Carlo, starring Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester and Katie Cassidy, does both so far as the critics are concerned. Mick LaSalle in the San Francisco Chronicle begins his review by writing that the movie is “unpleasant where it should be pleasant, convoluted where it should [...]

CABLE NETWORKS PUT VIACOM BACK IN THE BLACK

With ad revenue at its cable networks up 12 percent in its second quarter, Viacom on Thursday reported higher-than-expected profits of $39 million. A year ago, it reported an $83-million loss for the same quarter. Each of the media company’s principal networks, including MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and BET, reported strong earnings. The company in particular [...]

BIEBER TO MAKE MOVIE DEBUT AS AN ACTOR — WITH ASHTON KUTCHER

Justin Bieber is being paired with Ashton Kutcher to star in a “buddy comedy” from Sony Films about “a relationship between a 17-year-old and his thirtysomething self, the Los Angeles Times reported today (Thursday), citing a person who was briefed on the project. Surprisingly for a movie featuring the squeaky-clean Bieber in his first acting [...]

DID FAMILIES STAY HOME TO SEE THE OSCARS SUNDAY?

Not as many parents took their kids to see Gnomeo and Juliet on Sunday as Disney had originally estimated. Final weekend box-office figures for the movie turned out to be $13.4 million — well below the $14.2 million that the studio had calculated it would make. (Weekend estimates are based on actual grosses for Friday [...]

WHEREFORE ART GNOMEO NO. 1?

Box office analysts were puzzling over the “whys and wherefores” of a wreck of a weekend that saw the two newest releases unable to fulfill even their worst forecasts. Most of the bewilderment was about the “wherefores,” as Disney’s animated Gnomeo & Juliet took over first place in its third week. The movie, which was [...]

ANOTHER DOWN WEEKEND AT BOX OFFICE LIKELY

Expected high viewer interest in this year’s Oscar telecast on Sunday is likely to take a bite out of box-office revenue on that day, some analysts are warning. Moreover, on Friday and Saturday, many moviegoers may pass up the latest releases in order to catch some of the Oscar contenders that they missed, like The [...]

BIEBER MOVIE TO BE UPDATED ON FRIDAY

Demonstrating yet again how the transition from film to digital exhibition is affecting the nature of motion picture production, Paramount announced Tuesday that it will remove 30 minutes of footage from Justin Bieber: Never Say Never and replace it with 40 minutes of new footage. The reedited version, to be billed as a “Director’s Fan [...]

BIEBER FILM BEATING MILEY CYRUS’S

The Justin Bieber concert documentary Never Say Never was another surprise performer at the box office over the weekend as it grossed an estimated $13.6 million to bring its ten-day gross to $48.5 million. By contrast, Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour took in $10.3 million during its second weekend three years [...]

Next Page »