Contagion handily won this weekend’s unremarkable box office race , but it was an even bigger smash on Twitter, where 140-character raconteurs offered up every version of your standard germ/Purell/Paltrow jokes. In our new feature “Twit Wit,” we’ll highlight nine tweeters who make us laugh, make us think or just say likable things about a new movie. With Contagion , the tweets ranged from supportive to silly, and our No. 1 is a rigorously scrubbed gem.
At the risk of piling on, today we need to recognize the rare cultural milestone achieved by Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star . No, not its approval from a leader in the porn community , and not its status as one of the biggest mainstream flops in years. Nope. The Adam Sandler-produced, Nick Swardson-starring comedy has managed that ever-rare zero-percent approval rating among the critics of Rotten Tomatoes.
The ‘American Pie’ star recalls a prank played on him in this Saturday’s episode. By Henna Kathiya Chris Klein on “When I Was 17” Photo: MTV Chris Klein was already 20 when he played all-American lacrosse-player Oz, one of four friends trying to get laid by prom night in “American Pie.” But the movie’s hijinks and pranks weren’t far from his real-life experience in high school. In the latest episode of “When I Was 17,” airing Saturday at 11 a.m., Chris reminisces about a prank that was played at his expense in high school. “I went to public school, but I myself had a uniform, which was a white T-shirt, loose blue jeans and Airwalk shoes,” says the actor, who is reprising his Oz role for next year’s “American Reunion.” “Oh, and then there were the necklaces,” he adds, recalling the beaded necklaces in school colors that were made by the cheerleaders. “I was a huge fan of the necklaces.” Because the actor wore the same outfit without fail every single day, his fashion sense was something of notice for his fellow classmates. “One day, I walked into school and all of a sudden there is a bit of an uproar and everyone is clapping and laughing and having a good time. I look around and nearly everyone in my class was dressed exactly how I dressed every day,” he says. “It was dress like Chris Klein day.” His whole class showed up to school wearing white T-shirts and blue jeans, making sure not to forget the key element: the beaded necklaces. His classmates punked him for sure, which probably made acting in “American Pie” a piece of cake. For more stories from Chris’ youth, don’t miss the new episode of “When I Was 17,” also featuring Amy Lee and Theophilus London , airing Saturday at 11 a.m. ET on MTV. Related Videos ‘When I Was 17’ Sneak Peek Featuring Evanescence’s Amy Lee
‘You may never again be able to touch your face without asking yourself where those hands have been,’ one critic says of germ thriller. By Kara Warner Jude Law in “Contagion” Photo: WB Perhaps the most terrifying film opening in theaters this weekend is not one full of high-pitched screams, blood and guts, but rather the discomfort and cringing that accompanies the spread of killer germs. “Contagion” — featuring an all-star cast that includes Matt Damon, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne, Gwyneth Paltrow and Marion Cotillard — demonstrates how quickly a cough can turn into a worldwide epidemic, as the characters reel from the rapid progress of an airborne virus that kills within days. Ordinary citizens are forced to come to terms with disease and death, while the medical community scrambles to find a cure and control the hysteria that spreads along with the virus. With a certified fresh rating of more than 80 percent on Rotten Tomatoes , “Contagion” seems to be creeping out moviegoers in the best and most realistic way possible. The Story “Global in scale but very particular in focus, ‘Contagion’ unfolds as an engrossing, believable search for Patient Zero and an effective vaccine. (‘It’s not a good time to be a rhesus monkey,’ remarks one character dryly.) More grounded in science than suspense, its rhythms evoke the steady beat of the crime procedural as the Centers for Disease Control (represented by Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet and a terrific Jennifer Ehle) and the World Health Organization (fronted by Marion Cotillard) work to save lives and stem panic.” — Jeannette Catsoulis, NPR The Direction “From his very first independent films through the “Ocean’s” trilogy and the widely misunderstood, little-seen “Che,” Soderbergh has viewed human life and human actions from a voyeuristic, almost clinical perspective, and in that sense a movie about disease and science and bureaucracy — about systems, rather than people — is a perfect fit. … There’s really no arguing with “Contagion” on technical grounds. The story it tells is based on sound epidemiology (even if some individual plot events are implausible) and the composition and editing are masterful. Instead of the usual two and a half hours of a Roland Emmerich-style disaster flick, this one is an economical 105 minutes, none of them wasted.” — Andrew O’Hehir, Salon.com The Cringe Factor “What we have here is one of the finest “breakdown of society” movies I’ve ever seen. If you’re the type of person who finds the opening credits montage the most frightening aspect of Romero’s original “Dawn of the Dead,” the instigating event to the apocalypse in “Contagion” is (sigh) a very real threat. Read “Flu” by Gina Kolata — or better yet, don’t, because maybe you like sleeping at night.” — Jordan Hoffman, UGO The Final Word: Pro/Con/Pro Style “If you’re looking for some kind of poetry — some exalted dramatic arc that lifts this narrative out of the ordinary — you won’t find it here. ‘Contagion’ is as straightforward as an episode of ‘CSI,’ but it’s gripping from start to finish. Now, excuse me while I wipe down my computer keyboard. — Leonard Maltin, IndieWire “Juggling multiple plotlines proved successful in Mr. [Soderbergh]’s ‘Traffic’ (and even more so in Alejandro Gonz
Emma Stone and company fend off ‘Colombiana’ and ‘Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark.’ By Ryan J. Downey Emma Stone in “The Help” Photo: DreamWorks “The Help” managed to fend off competition from a new action movie, a horror flick and a comedy as the overall box-office suffered from stormy weather on the East Coast. The adaptation of the popular novel took in another $14.3 million over the weekend to remain at number one with a $96.6 million total. The Box Office Top Five: 1. “The Help,” $14.3 million 2. “Colombiana” $10.3 million 3. “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” $8.6 million 4. “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” $8.6 million 5. “Our Idiot Brother” $6.5 million Hurricane Irene certainly affected box-office receipts, according to studio estimates released Sunday. Ticket sales were down roughly 23 percent compared with the same period last year. AMC theaters closed all of its theaters in New York, Virginia, Philadelphia, Marlyand and D.C. while Clearview Cinemas and Regal Cinemas closed many locations as well, The Los Angeles Times reported. “The Help” has been in theaters for three weeks now and will certainly cross the $100 million mark domestically soon. Zoe Saldana, whose supporting turns in “Avatar” and “Star Trek” have made her a fan favorite, stars in “Colombiana,” the latest female driven action flick from Luc Besson. The filmmaker behind “Leon: The Professional” and “La Femme Nikita” served as co-writer and producer on the movie (it was directed Olivier Megaton), which has suffered from unfavorable reviews. The revenge-driven tale which stars Saldana as a drug dealer’s daughter turned assassin was #2 at the box office with a $10.3 million debut. “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” is another movie with a famous director as co-writer and producer. Guillermo del Toro told Comic-Con audiences that the original “Afraid…,” which was a television movie he saw as a kid, was one of the scariest things he’d ever seen. Katie Holmes stars in the creepy-house centered remake, which took in just $8.6 million in its debut to land at #3. “Our Idiot Brother” was the only of the weekend’s bigger new releases to receive mostly favorable reviews from critics, according to Rotten Tomatoes , but it opened with the worst box-office receipts. The Paul Rudd comedy earned just $6.5 million. This weekend’s new release schedule includes espionage thriller “The Debt.” Check out everything we’ve got on “Our Idiot Brother.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Photos ‘Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes’ Premiere ‘Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes’
A funny thing about low-hanging fruit: it’s easy to pick! As such, it’s not surprising that critics are piling on the latest Kevin James vehicle, Zookeeper . The “comedy” sports an impressively poor 14 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, worse even than previous summer punching bags Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer and Green Lantern . Ahead, the nine best of the worst reviews.
Critics praise the ‘stout farewell’ of David Yates’ action-packed franchise finale. By Terri Schwartz Daniel Radcliffe and Ralph Fiennes in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2” Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures The final installment of the “Harry Potter” series is primed to make magic at the box office, but it’s already getting raves from critics as well. Early reviews of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2” are positive across the board, earning the flick a whopping 100 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes . And although that number is likely to dip a bit once all of the reviews come flooding in next week when it hits theaters — we’ll be streaming live from the red-carpet premiere on Monday, July 11, at 4:30 p.m. ET on MTV.com — the overwhelming consensus is that “Deathly Hallows, Part 2” delivers on every level. Additionally, it seems that splitting the “Deathly Hallows” into two parts was a good call. While reviews for “Deathly Hallows, Part 1” tended to find that the movie felt too much like a prelude to the climax of the upcoming “Part 2,” the early reviews for the final film make it clear that the last installment doesn’t skimp on the action, emotional core or storytelling that has driven the franchise. The real question is whether “Part 2” is a satisfying conclusion to the “Potter” series, and the consensus seems to be that it definitely is. But don’t take our word for it: Read on and check out what the critics are saying. The Story “The film versions of J.K. Rowling’s stories have enthralled me, and I watched them with child-like wonder. The final film chapter had me literally sitting on the edge of my seat at times, particularly in the scene where Harry, Ron and Hermione (who for reasons too complicated to go into here has to look like Bellatrix Lestrange) break into a bank and escape over the London skyline on the back of a fire-breathing dragon.” — Baz Bamigboye, The Performances “The actors here have to make the most of their fleeting moments, and they consistently do. What the post-‘Potter’ careers of Radcliffe, Watson and Grint will be like is anyone’s guess, but at this point they know how to take these particular characters to the bridge without breaking a sweat. Alan Rickman gets to show us many sides of Snape, and he’s as compelling as always, even when the flashbacks use some freaky age-erasing special effects that leave his face looking odd. [Helena] Bonham Carter’s Bellatrix Lestrange is as goth-gorgon as ever, but she has some fun with some early scenes in which she gets to portray the Hermione-on-polyjuice-potion version of the character. And during the film’s big climactic battle, [Maggie] Smith and Julie Walters get some tasty moments that make their relatively small roles over the course of the series worthwhile.” — Alonso Duralde, The Wrap The Split “Fully justifying the decision, once thought purely mercenary, of splitting J.K. Rowling’s final book into two parts, this is an exciting and, to put it mildly, massively eventful finale that will grip and greatly please anyone who has been at all a fan of the series up to now. If ever there was a sure thing commercially, this stout farewell is it.” — Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter The Action “Perhaps the greatest triumph of this final film is its ability to overcome the deficiencies of J.K. Rowling’s writing. In the last Harry Potter volume, she failed singularly to muster the epic feel needed; as a result, on the page, the concluding battle at Hogwarts was a damp squib. But [director David] Yates here transmutes it into a genuinely terrifying spectacle, as bloodied students fight desperately against a horde of screaming black-robed Death Eaters.” — Philip Womack, The Telegraph The End “And if you think you know how it all ends, you don’t. Yates has wisely tickled the face-off between the rivals to make it even better than the version Rowling wrote in her book. Unlike many other franchises, the quality of the Harry Potter films never dropped. The producers could have broken box-office records with a basic cardboard set thanks to the dedicated fanbase. Yet they have blown a fortune to make a special experience for them.” — Grant Rollings, The Sun We’re streaming live from the red carpet at the New York premiere of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2” on Monday, July 11, at 4:30 p.m. ET. Visit MTV.com to watch interviews with the stars and see the winner of the Harry Potter World Cup announced live. Tweet your questions for the cast @MTVNews using the hashtag #AskPotter. Check out everything we’ve got on “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.” For young Hollywood news, fashion and “Twilight” updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com . Related Videos Scenes From ‘Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2’ Related Photos “Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Part 2”
John Goodman is reportedly negotiating to join Ben Affleck ‘s Argo , the period political drama about a real-life covert operation to rescue six U.S. diplomats during the Iran hostage crisis in 1979. The kicker, and where Goodman comes in, is in the unusual circumstances of said rescue, in which the Canadian government enlisted Hollywood make-up and effects experts John Chambers and Bob Sidell to help the Americans escape in disguise as crew members of a fake science fiction film.
Critics may have only found Cars 2 to be marginally better than Hop (at least judging from the two films’ Rotten Tomatoes scores), but that doesn’t mean audiences felt the same way. The Pixar sequel rushed to $25.7 million on Friday night — well ahead of tracking expectations — and could wind up with the second-biggest opening weekend in the history of the brand, behind only Toy Story 3 . In other surprising box office news: Bad Teacher also exceeded expectations — and how! With a $12 million Friday night, the Cameron Diaz-led comedy could beat the opening weekend of fellow R-rated girl comedy Bridesmaids , quality be damned. Your Friday box office is here.
Based on a new analysis of Rotten Tomatoes movie reviews, Slate has determined that Jennifer Love Hewitt is the worst-reviewed actress since 1985. If this statistic sounds impressive, that’s because it is.
