3-D Format Will Foil Film Pirates

The answering machine, the broken cell phone, the lack of GPS...

(NEWSER) - Ever notice that movie trailers are constantly employing the record scratch sound effect—even though today’s youth have no clue what that sound actually is? "Pop culture has shown no inclination to discard obsolete tropes simply because they are obsolete," writes Adam Sternbergh, who points out five other cinematic offenders in New York :

• Answering machines: Hey, if the protagonist were to use voicemail, how ever would the audience hear the serial killer’s scary message?
• X-rays: Nowadays, X-rays are displayed digitally, on a screen. But hanging a big, floppy piece of film on a light board is so much more dramatic!

High-quality copy has been downloaded 75,000 times

(NEWSER) - An almost-done, high-quality rip of X-Men Origins: Wolverine has been leaked online and downloaded 75,000 times a month before its scheduled release, the BBC reports. 20th Century Fox hasn’t said how its summer blockbuster, starring Hugh Jackman, got out, but there’s at least some solace: “The CGI is missing and the movie looks horrible without it,” comments a disappointed viewer. More»

Pre-release bootlegging on the rise despite studio security measures

(NEWSER) - The high-profile Oscar hopeful American Gangster opens next week—but it's already available as a pirated DVD for $5 or for free via internet file-sharing sites. American Gangster is the latest example of the upper hand that bootleggers have gained of late in their war against security measures, the Wall Street Journal reports. And the bootlegs are pristine quality, too. More»

Soi-disant epicures love the intricately realistic animated chef flick

(NEWSER) - Legions of French citizens are crowding theaters for a first taste of Pixar's latest 3-D animated feature Ratatouille, the story of a rodent chef in Paris and now the 4th highest-grossing movie premiere in France's history. The French, known for their devotion to everything food-related, are raving about "Ratatouille" for its fastidious faithfulness to gourmet food and the art of cooking. More»

Order of the Phoenix casts a spell on critics—well, most of them, anyway

(NEWSER) - Holy Quidditch! Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix flies onto the silver screen tomorrow just two weeks before the ballyhooed release of the final book of the wizard saga. It seems to have cast a spell on critics, like Rolling Stone's Peter Travers, who says it will "keep you riveted" with a "pulse-quickening urgency." More»