Christian Toto - Page 58

The year’s best actor might not even grab so much as an Oscar nomination. Then again, it could be hard to choose only one film where Andy Serkis excelled. Serkis, the man who gave life to Gollum in “The Lord

All the elements found in the new French film “Point Blank” feel like repackaged parts from an ’80s action yarn. You’ve got your Everyman hero, a kidnapped wife, a killer on the loose and a deluge of dirty cops. The

Adam Carolla is the first one to tell you he’s literally a millionaire. Literally. The podcast king will complain about first-class airline service or share stories of his impressive car collection without worrying what a blue-collar listener might think. He

Twenty-four World War II veterans gathered in Hawaii last Friday to pay their respects to fellow soldiers who died during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 70 years ago. A Denver-based news reporter on the scene says the elderly veterans,

‘Tis the season for Oscar-bait films to get called on the carpet for their fidelity to the truth. Of course, not all films get this kind of scrutiny. “My Week with Marilyn,” celebrated for its vibrant lead performance by Michelle

Shelly Maxwell understands those who think people won’t want to spend their hard-earned cash watching ballet or opera at their local cineplex. “Will people schlep to a movie theater to see the Metropolitan Opera? That was a question we had

It’s bad enough the new Jonah Hill comedy “The Sitter” is getting blasted by most movie critics. More than a few film scribes are claiming the R-rated comedy is racist to boot. Let’s back up a moment. The film casts

Rapper Jay-Z wants to pay more taxes. He’s practically pleading for the president to make it so. Jay-Z, whose worth is estimated at a half billion dollars, told CNN Money recently that he’s perfectly fine with sharing more of his

Think Snooki and her “Jersey Shore” pals are harmless reality show fun? The Parents Television Council begs to differ, and it has the research to back up its claims. The PTC’s latest study, “Reality on MTV: Gender Portrayals on MTV

A gaggle of conservative sites, including Big Hollywood, rallied around Adam Carolla’s recent anti-Occupy Wall Street rant. The clip went viral, with media personalities like Glenn Beck embracing Carolla’s targeted rage. Now, the podcast king is opening up about the

Look what happens when you’re handed a monster franchise like “The Avengers” – even your mustiest film projects get a second lease on life. Director Joss Whedon, the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” creator chosen to helm the upcoming superheroes flick,

Alec Baldwin’s political career is likely over before the first campaign check could be cashed thanks to this week’s imbroglio with American Airlines. Baldwin got the boot from his airline seat after failing to obey the orders given by the

It’s been more than three years since we last saw Will Smith up on the big screen. That’s an eternity for actors in their prime, let alone arguably the biggest movie star on the planet. Smith was riding a gaudy

They’re back, and they’re more violent than ever. “The Three Stooges” revisits the slapstick antics of Moe, Larry and Curly for a new generation as if technology didn’t exist to rent, watch or stream classic “Stooges” bits. —– We’ll say

Wouldn’t it be a hoot if those rascally Fox News types blasted the beloved Muppets as Communists? Kermit the frog is green, not red, Bill O’Reilly! The folks over at The Huffington Post turned a sensible critique of how the

Want your band to get a rave review in a nationally respected newspaper? You can make a killer record, or you can grossly insult a Republican on TV. The Roots, the house band for “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” may

Comedian Pablo Francisco confesses he doesn’t know how to attach a photograph to an email. But Francisco is more than savvy enough to leverage the web to bring his comedy to a worldwide stage. YouTube videos of Francisco imitating everyone

Audiences have no idea whether Daniel Radcliffe will forever be known as Harry Potter, or if the British actor’s career has only just begun. Either way, his first major post-“Potter” screen assignment looks like a step in the right direction.

Sports psychologist turned film producer David Cook thinks Hollywood is starting to grasp the faith-friendly film market thanks to hits like “Soul Surfer” and “The Blind Side.” Yet Cook says when industry executives circled around the film adaptation of his

It’s clear the assembled directors behind “Chillerama” love movies – old-school horror romps, to be precise. But an anthology mash note to the Ghost of Horror Films Past needs more than just unabashed genre love. “Chillerama,” available now on Blu-ray

TV talker Regis Philbin isn’t as politically chatty as, say, Sean Penn or Tim Robbins. But Philbin opens up about one particular politician in his new book, “How I Got This Way.” Seems a future politician named Ronald Reagan made

There’s nothing less punk rock than changing a smelly diaper. The new documentary “The Other F Word” shows what happens when some of the biggest punk rockers around are confronted with fatherhood. It’s not what they teach you at Rock

Paul Rudd is hardly an idiot. He’s a sly combination of leading man and comic goofball, but there’s nothing Rudd can do to salvage the 2011 comedy “Our Idiot Brother.” The film surrounds Rudd with comedy heavy hitters who take

I may be a movie critic by trade, but I still love me some television. Yet this week I ordered a new Blu-ray player capable of streaming services like Netflix and Hulu Plus to my flat-screen set. It’s the first

The new horror comedy “Tucker & Dale vs. Evil” actually has something in common with the “Harold and Kumar” trilogy. No, it’s not a copious amount of marijuana, medicinal or otherwise. The two films both shatter stereotypes with alacrity. When

Didn’t we learn the dangers of genre mashups with “Cowboys & Aliens?” “John Carter,” the new wannabe franchise heading our way March 9, 2012, looks like another attempt to fuse multiple genres into one popcorn-pleasing adventure. The first trailer doesn’t

Spend a few minutes watching Regis Philbin on “Live! With Regis and Kelly” and you’ll come away with some pithy anecdotes, a groan or two and a warm, easy feeling. It’s what made the personable Philbin a morning TV fixture

Stop us if you’ve heard this movie synopsis before. A crooked L.A. cop is his own worst enemy, treating suspects like convicted criminals and drinking himself into a near-daily stupor. Oh, and he stumbles from one woman’s bed to the

If a big-budget, star-laden film like “Cowboys & Aliens” can’t make a killing at the box office, what chance does a little ol’ indie film have? The odds have been stacked against independent film for some time now, and even

Monster movie fans will forever be indebted to special effects guru Ray Harryhausen. Today’s filmmakers can conjure up any creature they can imagine courtesy of computer technology. But for much of the 20th century directors had two stark choices –

Bringing the Muppets back to the big screen smacks of everything that’s wrong with movies today. It’s yet another attempt to squeeze a few dollars out of a moldy franchise. Don’t tell that to Jason Segel. The “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”

Director Martin Scorsese is giving movie goers a reason to put on those funny 3D glasses. “Hugo,” Scorsese’s first attempt at three-dimensional movie-making, may just change the way we think about 3D films. If only the story being told wasn’t

Officials at Comedy Central literally couldn’t believe their eyes when the huge ratings came in for ventriloquist Jeff Dunham’s debut special for the network. “There’s got to be some mistake,” Dunham recalls them saying after seeing the gaudy numbers. “We’ll

Somebody in Hollywood didn’t get the memo that rebooted TV properties from the ’80s are a dicey proposition. Just ask the folks who gave us “The A-Team,” the wannabe blockbuster that made us pity the fools who sank good money

Will Reiser beat the odds to triumph over a rare but potentially fatal form of cancer. Now, can the movie inspired by his brush with death pull off an Oscar upset? “50/50,” the serio-comedy starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the role

Director Anna Mastro pines for the day when Hollywood falls in love with movie musicals all over again. But when it came time to direct her own, she realized she didn’t know the first thing about writing a song. So