Christian Toto - Page 57

Up until recently, demonic possession movies had the hardest of all acts to follow – the 1973 classic “The Exorcist.” How can you possible top the sight of Regan spitting pea soup and spinning her head like a top? [youtube

This weekend, a film which cost $1 million will go up against Tom Cruise, Robert Downey, Jr. and a bunch of other movie stars who pulled in that amount before arriving on their respective movie sets. Does it even matter

Actress Adepero Oduye may be in her early 30s, but she nails the emotional travails of a sexually confused teen in the new drama “Pariah.” Oduye is so convincing, and heartbreaking, as a 17-year-old lesbian afraid to come out to

The documentary “Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey” is like an 80-plus minute hug from an old friend. An old, furry friend to be precise. Turns out the man who gives life to the “Sesame Street” muppet is a tall, soft-spoken

The love between then-Sen. Barack Obama and the Hollywood elite was so deep Oscar winner Halle Berry proclaimed she would “collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear.” Director Spike Lee insisted history would be measured in

The past few weeks have seen plenty of think pieces on why the film industry is in the doldrums. Expensive ticket prices. Chatty cell phone talkers. Uninspired movies. Too many sequels. Actors who gleefully insult large segments of their audience.

Director Brad Bird is basking in boffo box office returns for his first live-action feature, “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.” But Bird proved he could tell a terrific story way back in 1999 with the beautifully crafted animated film “The

If you’re Jon Stewart, you know you can’t point to President Barack Obama’s record and say, “just check the re-election box here.” So that means Stewart and his fellow humorists, who more often than not set entertainment criteria aside to

What would happen if everyone around Nicolas Cage acted as creepily unmoored as he does in any given flop? The answer, the practically direct to video “Trespass,” gets as close to an answer as we’re likely to see. And it

Watching movies online means no one yapping on their cell phones or munching popcorn so loudly you can’t hear the actors on screen. Sometimes movie lovers actually want social interaction – the right kind, at least. Enter Constellation TV, a

How do you write a news story about incivility in our politically charged times and not name drop Occupy Wall Street? Just ask the folks over at USA Today. The company chided for its brief news stories pulled out all

Edward Burns’s tenure as Long Island’s version of Woody Allen didn’t last long. Burns’ 1995 film “The Brothers McMullen” suggested a new, exciting voice had entered Hollywood. But Burns couldn’t replicate the sly charms of his film debut, and his

Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot looks back at the year in music with a mournful glance. Where are all the great Occupy Wall Street songs we should be singing as 2011 gives way to a brave new year? After all,

It’s hard enough for a young actor to win over a casting agent, producer or even director to score a role. Child star Nathan Gamble landed his biggest part to date by charming a bottlenose dolphin. Gamble’s audition for the

Oscar-winner Ben Kingsley’s script radar is far from perfect. If it was, would he have signed on to appear in “The Love Guru,””BloodRayne” or “A Sound of Thunder?” But Kingsley is dead on when he describes how Hollywood has lost

Death will not be denied. And if young, beautiful people happen to cheat the Grim Reaper, he’ll be back … with a vengeance. Blah, blah blah. The fifth and hopefully last chapter in the “Final Destination” series may technically be

Audiences didn’t have to wait until December to see the best movies of 2011. In some cases, this year’s finest films were ready for their Blu-ray inspection by the time Oscar season officially began. That tells you a little something

Clive Owen seemed a lock, on paper, to become the new James Bond when Pierce Brosnan turned in his license to kill. Owen had all the prerequisites – rugged good looks, silky British accent with a hint of menace, thick

Occupy Wall Street types seemed like the perfect audience for “Margin Call,” a film which shows some of the fiscal sleight of hand that factored into the 2008 financial crisis. Not so fast, says “Margin Call” writer/director J.C. Chandor. [youtube

Actress Evy Ortiz went from recreating scenes from the film version of “West Side Story” as a young girl to belting out classic songs like “Tonight” to audiences across the country. The native New Yorker is currently in Denver playing

Audiences who meet Lisbeth and Mikael, the damaged heroes of director David Fincher’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” will wonder why Larsson’s saga took up so much oxygen in the first place. The American version of the popular European

What hath the sax-lovin’ Bill Clinton wrought? Then-Gov. Clinton appeared on “The Arsenio Hall Show” way back in 1992 to, A. play his saxophone and B. earn some cool points along the way. He likely did both. Now, it’s common

Innocence is a key reason why the 1985 horror film “Fright Night” couldn’t be effectively remade earlier this year. Yes, the new version starring Colin Farrell as the blood sucker next door, boasted superior effects and slick cinematography. But the

Fans of Herge’s scrappy comic hero Tintin have had to imagine what the young journalist sounded like while saving the day over and again. Jamie Bell not only supplies the main character’s voice in “The Adventures of Tintin,” Steven Spielberg’s

Actress Diane Keaton’s new memoir feels like we’re sitting beside the Oscar-winning actress on a therapist’s couch. “Then Again” lets Keaton, best known for roles in “Annie Hall,” “The Godfather” and “Something’s Gotta Give,” open her soul for a most

The folks at ReelzChannel know a little something about the power of controversy. The film-focused network bought the rights to broadcast “The Kennedys” earlier this year, and the consternation over the film’s alleged mistreatment of its source drew plenty of

Paula Patton provides a convincing action heroine in the new film “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.” But Patton might not last 30 seconds – on screen or off – against the star of the upcoming “Haywire. Gina Carano, a model-slash-actress-slash

Director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody sure have grown up since making the indie smash “Juno.” The duo re-team for “Young Adult,” and while it’s only been four years since “Juno” struck sleeper movie gold, it’s clear the filmmakers

Never mind the tweed jackets, bowler hats and turn of the century accouterments. The “Sherlock Holmes” franchise is all about the bromance between Sherlock Holmes and his faithful sidekick, Watson. In “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” said bromance blooms

If Tom Cruise’s tenure as a Big Movie Star is ending, he’s not going out without a fight. “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” isn’t just a rip-roaring yarn worth seeing in all its IMAX glory. It’s the most eye-popping installment

It’s the sequel everyone’s been waiting for. No, not quite. But at least it’s not “Next, Next” or “Season of the Witch: Fall’s Back, Baby.” “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” is coming our way in February, and that means Nicolas