Dude, Like, Keanu Is a Genius

Whoa— Day the Earth Stood Still remake scores Matrix star

(NEWSER) - Keanu Reeves is coming back to sci-fi—the Matrix star will play the mysterious alien Klaatu in an upcoming remake of 1951's The Day the Earth Stood Still, Variety reports. In the original, Klaatu threatened Earth with destruction if humans didn't stop fighting amongst themselves. No word yet on the casting of Gort the robot. More»

With the Evil Empire as the bad guy, Hollywood made some great flicks

(NEWSER) - Maybe the reason Betsy Sharkey is feeling nostalgic about Cold War flicks is that the era offered a clear, if flawed, idea that we were the good guys. Regardless, it made for some good movies. The Los Angeles Times critic's faves, by "capricious category":

• Aliens: With "subtexts rich in what the 'aliens' might be capable of," films like the original Day the Earth Stood Still shine. Also of note is the ghetto freakout Brother From Another Planet (1984).

'You’re supposed to be unusual' in Hollywood: Wishful Drinking author

(NEWSER) - Carrie Fisher’s shrink told her, “If you worked in a supermarket they would’ve institutionalized you at 20,” she recalls. Not so in Hollywood, where the erstwhile Princess Leia suffered through drug addiction, manic depression, and failed relationships—her own and her parents’. But electroshock therapy helped her deal with all that and turn it into a one-woman show—and it was “worth it!” she tells New York. “Totally. Fucking. Worth it!” More»

Golden Globe nominations give specialty flicks a boost

(NEWSER) - The Day the Earth Stood Still pulled in $31 million and topped the box office this weekend, but specialty films drew bigger buzz, Variety reports. Benefiting from Golden Globe noms, Milk cracked the top ten with $2.6 million and Slumdog Millionaire banked $2.2 million. Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino made $284,000 in only six theaters—a per-screen weekend high—and Doubt grossed $525,000 at 15 locations. More»

'Philosophical' meets 'camp' in sci-fi remake

(NEWSER) - The Day the Earth Stood Still brings “stone-faced silliness” to what’s intended to be a “philosophical discussion” of humankind’s foibles, writes Joe Neumaier in the New York Daily News. The human-extinction sci-fi remake's “major action sequences are never exciting,” and its attempt to make a point “results in something just as clunky as a mega-robot with laser-beam eyes,” Neumaier writes. More»