After a summer of mostly lackluster debuts, Toy Story 3 demolished the competition this weekend, setting a Pixar opening record of $109M. Surprise powerhouse The Kung Fu Kid finished a distant second ($29M | $106.2M), well ahead of the mediocre and disappointing The A-Team ($13.7M | $49.7M). The unexpectedly funny Get Him to the Greek showed good legs in its third weekend ($6.1M | $47.8M) while Shrek Forever After continues to print money against all sound judgement ($5.5M | $222.9M). more ›

It isn't like we needed a Toy Story 3, but there's no doubt it will be awesome. Pixar's perfect string of massive commercial and critical hits continues with seemingly no end in sight. Barring the last minute addition of a full-frontal nude scene from Megan Fox, expect Jonah Hex to sink quickly to the bottom of the box-office charts. Who exactly is interested in seeing this movie? It still astonishes me how deeply the influence of religious weirdos runs in our society. In 8: The Mormon Proposition we see how a small group of devout lunatics prevents gay Californians from equally participating in society. People who supported Prop 8 hate America. more ›

The summer box-office season officially began on May Day this year as X-Men Origins: Wolverine slashed its way to the top of the chart with a huge $87M weekend. Despite generally poor reviews (even from the fanboy set), audiences filled the seats to see Hugh Jackman don the sideburns once more. The dreadful Ghosts of Girlfriends Past was a distant second with $15.3M to best last week's winner Obsessed ($12.2M/$47M). After that it was the unfunny 17 Again ($6.3M/$48.4M) and the unsinkable Monsters vs. Aliens ($5.8M/$182.4M). more ›

Despite passionately loving independent films and documentaries, I still get excited when the summer blockbuster season starts -- earlier every year it seems -- and so I'm jazzed to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine. How can anyone justify missing a cinematic rendering of the X-Men? Speaking of independent films, they don't get more so than the works of Jim Jarmusch. I loved Broken Flowers and so seeing Limits of Control is de rigueur. Early reviews are very poor, though. In fact, the awful Ghosts of Girlfriends Past is charting higher amongst a consensus of critics. What ever happened to Jennifer Garner? Wasn't she interesting once? more ›

Making a great film is truly an act of alchemy. How else to explain how an exquisitely and sumptuously crafted film like is a bad film. There are far too many moments of true wonder to consign to that status. Rather, it is an occasionally brilliant film that is interrupted too often by structural awkwardness, strange directorial choices and performance misses. It constantly entices you only to lose you when you're ready to fall. more ›

Wow! Most weeks I'm happy if there are a couple of new DVDs worth picking up. Today, I count at least eight that would be solid editions to any library. even though it inexplicably got better critical attention. Has Ang Lee ever made the same movie twice? Is he the most under-appreciated major director working today? Can you say the same thing about Paul Haggis--only in reverse? Having seen the Don Rickles special several times on HBO, let me tell you something--go buy it, you schmuck.
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After successfully resuscitating his movie titled, er, Rambo. Something tells me it may be tougher sledding this time around since John Rambo is hardly a beloved character in the same vein as Rocky Balboa. Personally, I think the franchises should be fused: Rambo versus a Drago/Clubber Lang hydra in a fight to the death. more ›