Stone's W. Aims for the Center

Stone's third presidential biopic his weakest

(NEWSER) - If early reviews are any indication, Oliver Stone might want to avoid waving a “Mission Accomplished” banner. His George Bush biopic, W., is “a gutsy movie,” writes Kirk Honeycutt of the Hollywood Reporter, “but not necessarily a good one.” The movie comes too soon to have perspective—or an ending, writes Todd McCarthy of Variety: it “feels like a rough draft of a film” Stone should remake in 10 years. More»

Right-wing pol vows to air anti-Muslim film

(NEWSER) - The Dutch government expects violent protests in response to an anti-Muslim film—said to include images of the Koran being shredded—that a right-wing lawmaker has vowed to make public this month. Geert Wilders, one of nine members of an extremist party in the Dutch lower house, aims to expose the Koran as a “source of inspiration for intolerance, murder and terror,” the Guardian reports. More»

Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones return for alien flick

(NEWSER) - Sure, no one was that desperate for a Men in Black 3—but it's actually a pretty good summer movie. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are back defending the planet from aliens, and this time, Josh Brolin's along for the ride as a young Jones.

• The movie "turns out to be so much fun," writes AO Scott in the New York Times . While it "carefully fulfills its blockbuster imperatives—with chases and explosions and elaborately contrived plot twists—it swerves into some marvelously silly, unexpectedly witty, and genuinely fresh territory."

Really? 'Hot Tub Time Machine' is the best we can do?

(NEWSER) - “2010 very possibly is the worst year in the history of motion pictures,” declares Joe Queenan in a hilarious Wall Street Journal piece bemoaning the downfall of American cinema. You know things are bad in Hollywood when:

• “Shia LaBeouf—who looks a bit like the young George W. Bush” is being passed off “as the second coming of Tom Cruise.”
• The top contenders for Next Big Action Star are Jake Gyllenhaal and Adrien Brody. “None of these are logical heirs to the throne abandoned by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Harrison Ford and Sylvester Stallone. They may not even be legitimate heirs to the throne vacated by Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme.”

Josh Brolin and Megan Fox are stuck in a badly executed flop

(NEWSER) - Critics pretty much hate Jonah Hex, the new Westernish flick with Josh Brolin, Megan Fox, and John Malkovich.

• Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times : A "smoldering ash heap. ... Brolin's intermittent voice-over narration proves to be the most powerful stuff, with the rest curiously sputtering."
• Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune : "Industrially processed entertainment at it cheapest, nastiest and greasiest."