Wild Things Runs Rampant

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»

Fey-Carell vehicle wins down-to-the-wire weekend battle

(NEWSER) - Steve Carell and Tina Fey held off a challenge from a horde of 3D Greek gods as Date Night recorded a narrow preliminary victory over Clash of the Titans at the weekend box office, Variety reports. The mistaken-identity caper raked in $27.1 million to $26.9 million for the action fantasy flick. In third place, the animated How to Train Your Dragon ($25.4 million) turned in another solid performance. More»

Critics split on 'sweet,' 'stale' kids' movie

(NEWSER) - Diary of a Wimpy Kid is like your average middle schooler—loved by some, hated by others. Reviews, in short, are mixed. Here’s what critics are saying:

• “It is so hard to do a movie like this well,” but Diary of a Wimpy Kid pulls it off, raves Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times . “It's nimble, bright and funny. It doesn't dumb down. It doesn’t patronize.” It even deserves mention alongside the glorious A Christmas Story.

'Dark Knight' director Christopher Nolan is called in

(NEWSER) - Warner Bros. has hired Dark Knight impresario Christopher Nolan to be the “godfather” of its next Superman movie. Nolan probably won’t direct, but he will guide the film through development, insiders tell Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood . The studio doesn’t know much about the film, but one insider can confirm that “it would definitely not be a followup to Superman Returns.” More»

With $32M haul, tearjerking chick flick unseats blue beings after 8 weeks

(NEWSER) - For the first time in 2010, a movie other than Avatar ruled the weekend box office, as the Nicholas Sparks chick flick Dear John unseated the sci-fi phenomenon with a $32.4 million debut. James Cameron's latest, which opened Dec. 18, did $23.6 million to finish second and run its domestic total to $630.1 million. It has already passed Cameron's Titanic as the all-time international box office champ. More»