Angels & Demons Has Wings

Director defends Angels & Demons from 'smear campaign'

(NEWSER) - Ron Howard wants to make something clear: He is not anti-Catholic, and neither is his upcoming film, Angels & Demons. The beleaguered prequel to the similarly controversial Da Vinci Code is under fire from the Catholic League, and Howard responds to the latest “silly and mean-spirited work of propaganda” on the Huffington Post: “I believe Catholics, including most in the hierarchy of the Church, will enjoy the movie.” More»

What will we still be talking about next decade? Britney, for one

(NEWSER) - The ‘00s were full of important contributions to culture, but which ones will we still be talking about in another decade? Here are some of New York ’s picks:

• TV: The Sopranos for inventing quality cable, American Idol for changing the music industry, and of course all things Oprah Winfrey.
• Books: The Da Vinci Code for singlehandedly sustaining the book industry, and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay for blazing the trail of combining geek lit with high lit.

(NEWSER) - Angels & Demons ascended to the box office heavens this weekend with a $48 million debut, Entertainment Weekly reports. That’s well behind The Da Vince Code’s $77.1 million opening in 2006, due in part to Star Trek’s strong second-weekend haul of $43 million. Wolverine came in third with $14.8 million, while sleeper hits Ghosts of Girlfriends Past ($6.9 million) and Obsessed ($4.6 million) rounded out the top five. More»

Nothing standout about this recycled comedy

(NEWSER) - No one seems to love Beth Cooper: The teen comedy about a nerd in love with a popular girl is nothing new, critics say:

• “I Love You, Beth Cooper is not a remake—it just feels like one,” writes Mark Olsen in the Los Angeles Times. It’s “a flat, tired rehash of teen movie story tropes.”
• The film may want to be Superbad, but it’s “just super bad,” notes Peter Travers in Rolling Stone.

Will Ferrell not enough to save picture

(NEWSER) - Land of the Lost remakes the 1970s TV series, sucking Will Ferrell into a parallel universe that mushes past, present, and future together. Keep this flick out of your own future, critics say:

• “The only marginally interesting, if unsurprising, thing about the pricey movie spinoff is that a lot of money has been spent on yet another cultural throwaway,” writes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times. “Not that I didn’t sometimes laugh anyway.”