The Hangover Part II proved instructive in ways the filmmakers never intended. It reminded us that some directors think a bit too highly of their own work – director Todd Phillips compared the film to The Godfather Part II in terms
Is there creative life after The Daily Show for Jon Stewart? The liberal comic is set to find out this summer when he takes on his directorial debut, Rosewater. The project sounds noble to the core, the true story of
Far-left filmmaker Michael Moore led a triumvirate of celebrity Hugo Chavez apologists in mourning the socialist leader’s passing yesterday. “You won’t hear much nice about him in the US media in the next few days. So, I thought I’d say
Arguably the hoariest trend in recent horror history, and that’s saying plenty, is the notion that the tale you’re currently watching really happened. Honest. Blame The Blair Witch Project for officially kicking off this instantly tired meme, but several subsequent
Bill Cosby joined a growing chorus of President Obama defenders this week who can only see any and all GOP opposition to the Commander in Chief in terms of race. And did Cosby throw down the race card with alacrity
AMC’s The Walking Dead may be the most gripping show on television, brimming with superlative effects and wonderfully flawed heroes. The show’s most noteworthy element is Daryl, the redneck rebel played by Norman Reedus. He’s a southern boy to the
Jamie Lee Curtis couldn’t hold back any more. The actress best known for her work in Halloween, Trading Places and A Fish Called Wanda, took to the cyber pages of The Huffington Post to blast Seth MacFarlane’s I Saw Your
Will Smith once stood as arguably the most bankable film star in Hollywood. That was so 2007. The actor suffered a rare box office disappointment a year later with Seven Pounds, and then he kept out of the limelight until
Did a collective light bulb turn on in the minds of Saturday Night Live’s writing team this week? “You know, this President Obama guy doesn’t really have a firm grasp of economic matters,” one writer suggests. The next, growing bolder,
Adam Carolla and Dr. Drew Pinsky proved Saturday night that the confused teens who grew up listening to Loveline all those years ago haven’t forgotten their wisecracking mentors. The former radio partners performed the first in a series of live shows
The minds behind the new HBO show VICE probably wished the Worm had turned the other way. Former basketball great Dennis Rodman joined a delegation of athletes–including the Harlem Globetrotters–as part of a cultural outreach effort with North Korea. The
The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 made me a conservative. Andrew Breitbart convinced me to put on a helmet and join the culture war. My political awakening began under the gimlet eyes of conservatives like Charles Krauthammer, Rush Limbaugh
Don’t you miss those days when political humorists kept the president honest through smartly observed jokes without stooping to mean-spirited assaults? Me, too. Today, we have a comedy community (save Jay Leno who remains an equal opportunity cutup) that either ignores President
Producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey consulted with a battery of theologians while preparing The History Channel miniseries The Bible. The spiritually strong couple wanted to get every detail right for an adaptation of the most popular book of all
Hollywood’s latest obsession is turning children’s fairy tales into gritty adventures not meant for kiddies under 10. It’s a dubious genre filled with both clunkers (Red Riding Hood) and generic time wasters (Snow White and the Huntsman). That makes Jack
The jaw-dropping story of con man extraordinaire Frank Abagnale, Jr. proved irresistible to Steven Spielberg. The Oscar-winning director’s 2002 movie Catch Me if You Can, featuring Leonardo DiCaprio as the precocious con artist, seemed to close the book on Abagnale’s
Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master arrived in theaters with enough Oscar buzz to rock Nigel Tufnel’s amplifier. Audiences mostly rejected the filmmaker’s inscrutable story of a lost soul and the Scientology-style mentor who tries to make him whole. Oscar
When was the last time a mainstream horror film really scared us? If you answered, Insidious, then you’ll want to hit play on the following trailer. The Conjuring, from director James Wan (Saw, Insidious), offers the kinds of shocks that
The directors behind the new hunger documentary A Place at the Table graced The Daily Show’s stage last night, and they boiled the current food crisis down to one bumper sticker-sized slogan. Blame President Ronald Reagan. Documentary filmmakers Lori Silverbush
The senators behind an investigation into the ties between the film Zero Dark Thirty and government intelligence have closed the book on the subject. A Congressional aide today confirmed to Reuters that the Committee led by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Senators
Seth MacFarlane’s politics will never be considered right of center – unless he has a Dennis Miller-esque transformation. Still, MacFarlane is willing to reach across the aisle for both comedy and common decency, witness his work with radio titan Rush
Folks on both sides of the ideological aisle will be debating First Lady Michelle Obama’s appearance on the Oscars for some time, but one matter is instantly clear. The First Lady was flanked by several members of the U.S. military
Conservative movie lovers didn’t suffer any serious Red State taunts during the just-wrapped Academy Awards telecast. Michael Moore wasn’t on hand to bash the GOP, and show host Seth MacFarlane trained his immature wit on George Clooney, breast-baring actresses and
Conservatives managed to avoid any major sucker punches through tonight’s interminably long Oscar ceremony. And then … POW. First Lady Michelle Obama, via satellite, announces the Best Picture winner. Of course, she gave a speech first, one filled with the
When you hire an edgy comic known for potty humor to host the Oscars you shouldn’t be surprised when he trots out edgy jokes brimming with potty humor. Still, the folks behind the Oscars surely hoped Seth MacFarlane would class
The clumsiest part of any Oscar telecast is the In Memoriam segment. Either the crowd starts up an applause contest, or the list of the dearly departed leaves out someone who had a real impact with viewers. Tonight, George Clooney
Anne Hathaway made us forget all (or mostly) about Michelle Pfeiffer, Julie Newmar and every other Cat-performer thanks to her turn in The Dark Knight Rises last year. Her crowning achievement for 2012, however, was shattering our hearts in Les Miserables.
I’ve always been aghast at how many musical numbers an event honoring film manages to squeeze in each year That said, the just-wrapped musical numbers (Les Mis, Dreamgirls, Chicago) really brought the show back to life. I’m not a movie
The Best Documentary category often lets Academy voters flex their political muscle. Just consider that both Al Gore and Michael Moore have golden statuettes on their respective mantles. Tonight, with two films casting a negative light on Israel competing in
You don’t have to mention boobies or George Clooney to get a standing ovation on Oscar night. Just invite ageless crooner Shirley Bassey to belt out arguably the best Bond song of all time, Goldfinger. Done and done. Wished the
The Oscar telecast usually serves up one major award before descending into a blurry parade of technical achievements. Tonight, the Best Supporting Actor Oscar presentation opened the festivities, and Christoph Waltz walked away with the award. Not Robert De Niro,
The folks at NOW are probably firing up their fax machines as we speak … Scarlett Johansson, so beguiling as Black Widow in The Avengers, was a no show when the film’s (all male) heroes gathered to present an award
We can’t say Seth MacFarlane didn’t warn us. The Family Guy creator’s opening monologue had singing, dancing and Capt. James T. Kirk from the future. Huh? MacFarlane let loose with a few funny, button-pushing gags, but some of the jokes
Bless Me, Ultima showcases the power of faith, the mystery of magic and the uplifting nature of your standard coming of age yarn. Combining the first two elements packs the power to offend, but writer/director Carl Franklin avoids rubbing Catholics
Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger all struggled in recent weeks to bring that ’80s action movie vibe into 2013. Bullet to the Head and The Last Stand tanked at the box office, while A Good Day to Die
Director Ric Roman Waugh grew up on movie sets watching larger than life stars like Clint Eastwood and John Wayne go through their paces. For Waugh’s new movie Snitch, he got to work with arguably the largest action hero in
“Alex, I’ll take climate change fear mongers for $400, please …” The syndicated game show Jeopardy! doesn’t typically allow stars to appear on the show to hawk their latest projects. Actors do that on the late night talk show circuit,
Comedian Bill Maher and Alec Baldwin appear to have nothing in common on the surface. Maher is the hard-left pundit behind HBO’s long-running Real Time with Bill Maher, while the 30 Rock star transitioned from handsome leading man to comical
The snub heard ’round the world might be the best thing that ever happened to Argo. Director Ben Affleck’s Argo, the thrilling tale of the other Iranian hostage crisis, failed to net him a Best Director nomination. Since then, virtually
A micro-indie project like FrackNation should get trounced by a film promoted by one of the biggest movie stars on the planet. Matt Damon’s Promised Land, an anti-fracking polemic gussied up as a Serious Oscar Contender, got shellacked by FrackNation
