Moore Rips Tinseltown Moneybags at Film Fest

Woody Harrelson vehicle dethrones Meatballs in debut weekend

(NEWSER) - Zombieland raked in $25 million to dominate the box office in its debut weekend, easily dethroning Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, which had held the top spot the previous two weekends. The R-rated comic horror movie starring Woody Harrelson drew an overwhelmingly young audience, with 56% under 25, Variety reports. Director Drew Barrymore's Whip It disappointed, taking in just $4.85 million and tying for sixth place with Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story. The top five: More»

Filmmaker's 'magnum opus' sticks up for the little guy

(NEWSER) - Michael Moore’s latest film, Capitalism: A Love Story, which had its debut last night at the Venice Film Festival, isn't likely to match the “political impact” of Fahrenheit 9/11, but you might still call it his “magnum opus: the grandest statement of his career-long belief that big business is screwing the hard-working little guy while government connives in the atrocity,” writes Mary Corliss in Time. A series of “instructive and appalling” anecdotes make his point. More»

He's working on two screenplays

(NEWSER) - Michael Moore’s upcoming Capitalism: A Love Story might be his final documentary, he tells the Detroit News. "While I've been making this film, I've been thinking that maybe this will be my last documentary," Moore says. "Or maybe for a while." Instead, the most successful documentary director of all time is setting his sights elsewhere at the box office. More»

6 highest-grossing films all have it

(NEWSER) - One key to The Avengers' record success this weekend: its PG-13 rating. The top six highest-grossing movies ever made are all rated PG-13; the rating points to a film that's titillating enough for teens but isn't likely to offend adults, the Los Angeles Times notes. The rating has become a Holy Grail for movie execs, particularly lately. Last year, R-rated movies accounted for 21% of US box office takings—the lowest figure in decades. More»

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.”