Hollywood Is Fatal to Fabulous Books

Hating on the suburbs is the cheapest, easiest move in art

(NEWSER) - Revolutionary Road, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, “is the latest entry in a long stream of art that portrays the American suburbs as the physical correlative to spiritual and mental death,” Lee Siegel writes in the Washington Post. Everyone from Allen Ginsberg to Sylvia Plath has given the ‘burbs a bad rap, painting a picture of “materialism, lack of imagination, and conformity.” More»

Read it and weep, perhaps literally

(NEWSER) - With warm weather comes the usual wave of summer blockbusters, but sometimes the best story is buried in a book. Entertainment Weekly lists 23 disappointing adaptations, including:

1. The Da Vinci Code: An utter lack of chemistry between Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou and an uber-creepy Silas (Paul Bettany) made this sure thing a misfire.

Record orders for boy wizard's final book flood publisher

(NEWSER) - Advance orders for the final book in the Harry Potter series are up 17% over the last installment, British publisher Bloomsbury reports. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will bring down the curtain on one of the biggest money makers in publishing history on July 21. The latest Potter movie, which has already premiered in Tokyo, is also casting a spell on fans. More»

6 highest-grossing films all have it

(NEWSER) - One key to The Avengers' record success this weekend: its PG-13 rating. The top six highest-grossing movies ever made are all rated PG-13; the rating points to a film that's titillating enough for teens but isn't likely to offend adults, the Los Angeles Times notes. The rating has become a Holy Grail for movie execs, particularly lately. Last year, R-rated movies accounted for 21% of US box office takings—the lowest figure in decades. More»

One blogger thinks her brand of humor is to blame instead

(NEWSER) - In her new book, Girl Walks Into a Bar, Rachel Dratch says her looks have cursed her career. "By Hollywood standards, I’m a troll, ogre, woodland creature, or manly lesbian," she writes, and that's prevented her from getting the roles she wants—NBC replaced her as a 30 Rock lead, for instance. Jezebel generally agrees with Dratch ("if she were a dude, she'd have her own show"), but at Slate , Torie Bosch isn't so sure. "What if her particular brand of acting—and she has admitted that she is more a character actor—just isn’t right for leading-lady-dom?" More»