Will Americans See Ledger's Last Film?

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»

Andrew Garfield will play Peter Parker in 2012 reboot

(NEWSER) - Andrew Garfield has been chosen to play Spider-Man in the sequel that will reboot the franchise in 2012, Zap2it reports. Garfield, 26, who appeared most recently in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, beat out actors like Jamie Bell, Logan Lerman, and Josh Hutcherson in a grueling casting process. Director Marc Webb said Garfield has "a rare combination of intelligence, wit, and humanity. Mark my words, you will love Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker." More»

Female directors lack 'male gaze,' author says

(NEWSER) - Bret Easton Ellis is likely to find himself scratched from a few Christmas card lists over a MovieLine interview in which he insists women aren't made to be good movie directors. "There’s something about the medium of film itself that I think requires the male gaze," said the American Psycho author. "We’re watching, and we’re aroused by looking, whereas I don’t think women respond that way to films, just because of how they’re built." More»

Even George Clooney can't save 1997's Batman and Robin.

(NEWSER) - So he's up for a best actor Oscar and his movie Up in the Air has gotten tons of buzz. That doesn't mean George Clooney's beyond the occasional flop. His 1997 "franchise-killing" flick Batman and Robin, with Chris O'Donnell and Alicia Silverstone, was picked by Empire magazine readers as the worst movie ever made, Reuters reports. Others in the top—or bottom—10:

• Battlefield Earth (2000) with John Travolta "as a dreadlocked, 9-foot-tall alien."

Broderick mopes about in sentimental, cliched dramedy

(NEWSER) - Critics are not sold on Wonderful World, a creaky indie starring Matthew Broderick as a misanthropic children’s folksinger. Here’s what the critics are saying:

• World is “a checklist-indie that offers up clichés with gusto,” even flirting with Magical Negro stereotypes, writes Nick Schager of Slant . “Broderick mopes and grouses admirably,” but this treacle is still “pretty close to the bottom of the barrel.”
• Keith Uhlich of Time Out New York agrees, crediting the cast with giving a “committed, nearly convincing effort” in what’s ultimately “fey Indiewood bullcrap.”