Jacko Rules the World

Pop star wants to follow in Michael Jackson's footsteps

(NEWSER) - Not content with entrancing Bill O'Reilly , Lady Gaga is planning her next pop-culture triumph: a blockbuster movie. "Gaga wants to emulate what Michael Jackson did during the 80s. You can already see that with her music videos," a source tells the UK tabloid News of the World . "Every one of them is a mini event. So it's only logical she moves that on to the big screen." More»

Documentary follows four infants in four countries

(NEWSER) - Critics are generally won over by Babies, a documentary that follows four infants' first years in San Francisco, Mongolia, Tokyo, and Namibia. Some samples:

• Wesley Morris, Boston Globe : "As an advertisement for the wonders of figuring out how to be alive, the movie is an engaging proposition."
• Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times : "The 'awww' without the 'shock' definitely makes Babies a very huggable movie experience, just not a primer on parenthood."

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»

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»

Gone with the Wind may trump Cameron's epic

(NEWSER) - Avatar will soon gross $1.85 billion worldwide, but becoming the box office champ doesn't mean it's the most successful movie of all time. Remember, a ticket to Gone with the Wind cost an average of only 23¢—45 times less than an Avatar ticket. This list ranks films by inflation-adjusted domestic gross, and the big picture is quite humbling for Avatar—its $560 million places it 26th, between Grease and Thunderball. More»