How Thunder's Joke Hurts the Disabled

(NEWSER) - Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa brings back the on-the-run New York menagerie, and DreamWorks hasn't monkeyed much with the first movie's winning, if slightly tired, formula, say critics. The celebrity-voiced animals' new adventure "is aimed mostly at children and should score a direct hit," Kirk Honeycutt writes in the Hollywood Reporter. More»

(NEWSER) - Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder is just the latest example of how the word "retard" has become a pop-culture phenom, but the movie also has served as a catalyst for disability advocates who claim that the word is offensive and must go, writes Lynn Harris in Salon. Are they right? Don't be too quick to join the these-people-can't-take-a-joke-camp. The advocates simply want people, and Harris includes herself among the offenders, "to at least think twice about the insult's real-life impact." More»

(NEWSER) - Hollywood spoof Tropic Thunder bombarded the box office this weekend by banking $26 million in top spot, Variety reports. Batman flick The Dark Knight fell to second but raked in $16.8 million and became the second-highest grossing domestic pic ever. Filling out the top five were Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Mirrors, and Pineapple Express, Bloomberg reports. Woody Allen's Vicky Cristinia Barcelona debuted on 692 screens and came in tenth. More»

No targets are safe in Ben Stiller's gross-out war comedy

(NEWSER) - The action comedy Tropic Thunder, a send-up of Vietnam War movies, crosses some lines—intentionally. In fact, Peter Hartlaub writes in the San Francisco Chronicle, "if you're not offended by at least one aspect of this film, then you're probably not getting out enough." But it has a secret weapon, he writes: It's "laugh-until-your-stomach-hurts hilarious." More»

Risqué humor draws smaller crowds, but stars can cut loose

(NEWSER) - Movie studios are gambling on R-rated comedies more than ever as audiences open up to raunchier humor and stars push to showcase their talent in a less restricted setting, the AP reports. PG-13 flicks almost always draw bigger crowds, but R-rated features like Sex and the City, Wedding Crashers, and Knocked Up are proving that more risqué comedies can still do well. More»