CHURCHGOERS MAKE CHRISTIAN DRAMA COURAGEOUS NO. 1 ON DVD

Churchgoers flocked to the video stores and DVD sales counters last week to make the Christian drama Courageous tops in sales. The movie, written and directed by Alex Kendrick, who also costarred, took in only $35 million in its theatrical release, but it only cost $2 million to produce. No. 2 on the Nielsen VideoScan […]

’80’S REVIVAL AT BOX OFFICE

Two movies from the 1980s are being reincarnated this week and will join a comedy about the unlikely subject of bird watching to try to unseat last week’s robot fight film, Real Steel, from the top position at the box office. Analysts are saying that the remake of 1984’s Footloose has the best chance of […]

REAL STEEL WINS ROUND ONE

Real Steel may have wound up as the No. 1 film at the box office, earning $27.3 million and making it one of the top earners ever in October, but several analysts were saying that the film, which reportedly cost $125 million to make, will eventually cost the Disney/DreamWorks partnership tens of millions of dollars. […]

REAL STEEL EXPECTED TO PUMMEL RIVALS

Disney and DreamWorks’s Real Steel, starring Hugh Jackman, is expected to light a fire under a sluggish box office this weekend, with most forecasters suggesting that the movie will earn around $25-30 million. That would amount to more than twice the expected ticket sales for Sony’s The Ides of March, starring George Clooney and Ryan […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: DRIVE

Once again Ryan Gosling is drawing exceptional notices, this time for his performance in Drive, playing a race-car driver (referred to, as it so happens, as “Driver” — who also moonlights as a getaway driver for a criminal gang. “Anyone watching Drive won’t be able to take their eyes off Gosling. … He rocks like […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE.

With a title like Crazy, Stupid, Love., the producers would appear to be making it easy for critics to bash it. The remarkable thing is that many are turning that title inside out. A. O. Scott in the New York Times, for example, begins his review by writing, “Crazy, Stupid, Love. is, on balance, remarkably […]

CLOONEY FILM TO OPEN VENICE FILM FESTIVAL

George Clooney’s political thriller The Ides of March has been selected to open the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 31, organizers said today (Thursday). Clooney directed the film and stars in it with Ryan Gosling. Some 22 films will be presented in competition, including Roman Polanski’s Carnage, starring Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and […]

THE TREE OF LIFE IS A GOLDEN PALM

Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, starring Brad Pitt, was the controversial winner of the 64th Cannes Film Festival’ top prize, the Palme d’Or, on Sunday. Major critics attending the festival either hailed it or scorned it; few gave it merely so-so reviews. Malick, who shuns the spotlight himself and declined to participate in a […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: BLUE VALENTINE

Fresh off their victory in persuading the MPAA ratings board to reduce the rating of Blue Valentine from NC-17 to R, the Weinstein Brothers are receiving much critical praise for the film as it opens in limited release today (Wednesday), in time for Oscar consideration. Betsy Sharkey in the Los Angeles Times calls the film, […]

THE KING’S SPEECH LEADS GLOBES’ NODS

Harvey Weinstein’s famed talent for capitalizing on the awards season to market his films was once again on prominent display this morning (Tuesday) as The Weinstein Co.’s The King’s Speech garnered seven Golden Globes nominations, leading all other films. They included best dramatic picture, director (Tom Hooper), actor (Colin Firth), screenplay (David Seidler), supporting actor […]