Why Do We Cry at Movies?

For those who grew up with cowboys and spacemen, bring a hanky

(NEWSER) - Owen Gleiberman would like to get something off his chest: He cried at Toy Story 3, and he doesn't mean a few sniffles. "I’m talking about that soppy, awkward thing where you make sounds," the Entertainment Weekly critic fesses up. He also suspects he's not alone among the movie's male fans, and he wants them all to know that "it's okay!" More»

Hollywood provides much-needed escape in bleak times

(NEWSER) - Americans are dealing with the recession by hiding in dark rooms with a band of brothers, a gun-toting grandma, and a bumbling mall cop, the New York Times says. Hollywood’s ticket sales have jumped 17.5% this year. Ticket prices rose, but so did attendance, by nearly 16%. “It’s not rocket science,” says one expert. “People want to forget their troubles.” More»

Seinfeld vehicle passes American Gangster for number one spot

(NEWSER) - In a rare second-week coup, Bee Movie topped the weekend box office and passed fellow sophomore American Gangster, Variety reports. The Denzel Washington flick dropped 44% after leading last week, while Bee fell just 32%. Newcomer Fred Claus took third, with a less than stellar $19.2 million, while Lions for Lambs banked just $6.7 million. More»

Flicks with cancer sticks will draw tougher rating

(NEWSER) - Cigarette and cigar smoking will be considered alongside violence, profanity, nudity, and drug use in assigning ratings, the MPAA announced yesterday. Any film that glamorizes the habit or features lighting up outside of "an historic or other mitigating context "could face a box-office-busting R. More»

But Nicolas Cage seems to get it: critics

(NEWSER) - Critics agree: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is ridiculous. But they're divided over whether the silliness of the sequel, once again starring Nicolas Cage as the devilish superhero, is funny or just bad.

• In the Merced Sun-Star , Roger Moore calls the movie "a profoundly silly mash-up of comic book and quasi-religious 'prophecy' about a motorcyclist who sold his soul to the devil." It beats the original: "This time around, Cage and everybody else on board are in on the joke," and that makes it "almost a great bad movie."