Tag Archives: films

Spidey Injury Update: Human Error Caused Accident

Here’s your final Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark update for Tuesday: Actors’ Equity says that the accident during the Monday night performance of Julie Taymor’s now-seemingly-cursed musical was caused by “human error.” Christopher Tierney — the injured stunt actor who feel into a pit beneath the stage when the line holding him snapped — is in serious condition at Bellevue Hospital after sustaining broken ribs and internal bleeding. [ NYT /ArtsBeat ]

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Spidey Injury Update: Human Error Caused Accident

Enough, Already, About Natalie Portman’s ‘Norbit’

Listen, let’s just make this quick: Friends With Benefits is not Natalie Portman’s Norbit . Don’t let anybody tell you differently. Of course, they won’t tell you per se — they’ll ask or insinuate or poll (or offer some epic, perverse combination of the three), pretending to be on the forward edge of a significant moral-cultural quandary that will define this year’s Oscar race for Best Actress, advancing and attempting to rationalize a conversation with no rational foundation in the first place. We’re better than this, folks, and now is the time to eradicate this non-issue from the Oscar 2010 books.

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Enough, Already, About Natalie Portman’s ‘Norbit’

Rejoice! Grown-Ups Officially Qualifies for Best Picture Campaign

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that 248 feature films have qualified for this year’s Best Picture Oscar race — a surprising downturn from recent years. (To wit, 274 films in 2009, and 281 in 2008.) But let’s face it: Like everything in Hollywood, we are dealing in quality, not quantity. With this in mind, let’s hear it for the official 2010 nomination ballot wherein the likes of Grown-Ups , The Bounty Hunter , Furry Vengeance and Hot Tub Time Machine will share space with The Social Network , The King’s Speech , Black Swan and the rest of the cognoscenti’s informally sanctioned seasonal darlings. They’re all after the jump if you want to see anything in particular you want to launch a dark-horse campaign for. [ Why Did I Get Married Too , FTW. ]

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Rejoice! Grown-Ups Officially Qualifies for Best Picture Campaign

REVIEW: Sylvain Chomet Conjures a Toon-Deaf Illusionist

The big drag about modern animation is the perception — which seems to be growing more prevalent rather than less — that it’s somehow better when it’s “good for you.” In the old days, anvils were dropped remorselessly on coyote heads and Popeye, under his breath, swore like a sailor (natch). Now we have Wall-E blinking out sad, cautionary tales about the horrors of environmental waste (or of simply getting too fat to leave your armchair), or wildly scripted tales, like those of Hayao Miyazaki, that follow the kind of noodly dream logic you might see in experimental film — this is serious stuff, with heavy-duty art-gallery weight. Much of modern animation is technically very beautiful. But what if the story being told leaves you wanting? To say you don’t like these so-called serious, not-just-for-kids animated movies has become something of a cutural offense, apparent proof of your coldness as a human being.

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REVIEW: Sylvain Chomet Conjures a Toon-Deaf Illusionist

REVIEW: Sylvain Chomet Conjures a Toon-Deaf Illusionist

The big drag about modern animation is the perception — which seems to be growing more prevalent rather than less — that it’s somehow better when it’s “good for you.” In the old days, anvils were dropped remorselessly on coyote heads and Popeye, under his breath, swore like a sailor (natch). Now we have Wall-E blinking out sad, cautionary tales about the horrors of environmental waste (or of simply getting too fat to leave your armchair), or wildly scripted tales, like those of Hayao Miyazaki, that follow the kind of noodly dream logic you might see in experimental film — this is serious stuff, with heavy-duty art-gallery weight. Much of modern animation is technically very beautiful. But what if the story being told leaves you wanting? To say you don’t like these so-called serious, not-just-for-kids animated movies has become something of a cutural offense, apparent proof of your coldness as a human being.

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REVIEW: Sylvain Chomet Conjures a Toon-Deaf Illusionist

Future Documentary Star Jimmy McMillan Wonders Why You Cheated on Him

Jimmy McMillan: The gift that keeps on giving. The former New York State gubernatorial candidate, party leader of The Rent is Too Damn High, and future documentary star took the stage in Brooklyn this weekend to…perform? That seems like the right word. He was certainly singing, there was certainly dancing and it certainly happened on stage. So, voila: Performing! In a perfect world, DAMN ! will get a theatrical release in 2011, receive nothing but plaudits and get Jimmy to the Oscars in 2012. That needs to happen, friends! In the meantime, click ahead to watch McMillan embrace his soulful side.

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Future Documentary Star Jimmy McMillan Wonders Why You Cheated on Him

SNL Scorecard: Did Jeff Bridges Host the Best Show of the Year, Son?

Perhaps I’m in the holiday spirit (maybe), perhaps it’s the amount of wine consumed from back-to-back holiday parties (more likely), but last night’s Jeff Bridges-hosted installment of Saturday Night Live was, well, quite great. Not the laugh-out-loud funniest show of the season, but, from top to bottom, there wasn’t a whole lot of “bad.” I mean, it was so good that the best sketch of the night was the third to last of the show. Bridges, who last co-hosted in 1983 with his brother Beau, did an admirable job as host but, more importantly, did an admirable job of not getting in the way of a cast that was obviously on a mission before they took a break for the holidays.

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SNL Scorecard: Did Jeff Bridges Host the Best Show of the Year, Son?

‘D-Bag’ Eric Braeden Responds to Neil Patrick Harris

And he didn’t do it on Twitter . “His choice of words bothered me,” The Young and The Restless star said to EW. com about Neil Patrick Harris’ Twitter slur. “It seems to me like a young whippersnapper, having seen himself on a few covers, who’s received a few awards, is now suddenly suffering from the first signs of hubris. I’ve been in the business for 50 years. I’ve seen people come and go and I’m still here.” For his part, Braeden says he only dropped out of How I Met Your Mother because of his busy schedule following hip surgery. “Everyone knows that I’m exhausted. I was not about to appear on a show for two lines.” There are no small parts… [ EW ]

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‘D-Bag’ Eric Braeden Responds to Neil Patrick Harris

Movieline’s Week in Review: Loaded For Bear

Whaaaa? You’re still here ? Come on, let’s skedaddle into the weekend — starting with all the linky splendor better known as Movieline’s Week in Review. What’s the worst that can happen? (Hint: Watch out for bow-tied ursine sidekick bearing rifles.) Let us reconvene on the morrow with the mellow stylings of weekend editor Dixon Gaines. Cheers!

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Movieline’s Week in Review: Loaded For Bear

How Do You Know that How Do You Know is a Bad Movie?

How Do You Know , the new James L. Brooks movie that’s about, well, something, I suppose, is not very good. The title, presented in the form of a question (sort of), offers no clue to the merits of the film let alone hints to what the plot of this movie might be about. Honestly, after seeing this movie, I’m still not 100 percent sure what it’s actually about. With that in mind, I did my best to come up with 10 questions, Jeopardy! style, based on the title of the film, to offer some clarity to this pressing issue of our time.

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How Do You Know that How Do You Know is a Bad Movie?