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Influential director made 'Bonnie and Clyde,' 'Little Big Man'

(AP) - Director Arthur Penn, a myth-maker and myth-breaker who in such classics as Bonnie and Clyde and Little Big Man refashioned movie and American history and sealed a generation's affinity for outsiders, died last night, a day after his 88th birthday. Daughter Molly Penn said her father (no relation to actor Sean) died at his home in Manhattan of congestive heart failure. More»

Movies disappoint, but rarely go the way of Ishtar

(NEWSER) - It's rare these days to see a big-studio movie truly bomb, and that's a shame, laments Tom Shone of Slate . Sure, we get our share of misfires like Jonah Hex or The A-Team , but few reach the depths of those glorious financial busts of yesteryear like Ishtar, Waterworld, and Cutthroat Island—"the swashbuckler that derailed the careers of Renny Harlin, Geena Davis, and Matthew Modine—and the last film to actually force a movie studio to close, Heaven's Gate-style." More»

Recommended only for Jon Hamm die-hards

(NEWSER) - Stolen, in which finds Mad Men star Jon Hamm in a mystery involving the search for two missing children, is getting panned by most critics.

• "First-time feature director Anders Anderson brings nothing to the table in terms of style or modulation," writes Noel Murray for the Onion .
• "Hamm is unable to do much with his underwritten role," writes Frank Scheck for the Hollywood Reporter , while co-star James Van Der Beek "sports some of the worst old-age makeup in memory in the present-day sequences," Lou Lumenick adds in the New York Post .

It's as unhealthy as it was 15 years ago

(NEWSER) - Figure 1,600 calories, 60 grams of saturated fat, and 980 milligrams of sodium—that’s what you’re eating when you scarf down a medium helping of movie popcorn at the nation's biggest theater chain. Add a soda and it’s the equivalent of eating a pound of baby back ribs and a scoop of ice cream, or three Quarter Pounders with a stick and a half of butter, an analysis by a nutrition watchdog group says. More»

We need government help, say small-budget movie-makers

(NEWSER) - With no public funding and credit lines frozen, American independent filmmakers are finding it tough to make a movie these days. “I mean if Osama bin Laden gave me money to film, I’d take it,” Todd Solondz tells Bloomberg . The financial crisis has heavily curbed bank financing, while hedge funds have almost completely abandoned the film industry. The two sources previously accounted for about 60% of funding. More»