Damon's Next Step: Directing

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).

Disappointing debuts for The Informant! , Love Happens , Jennifer's Body

(NEWSER) - Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs satisfied hungry audiences this weekend, slurping down $30.1 million at the box office, Variety reports. Steven Soderbergh dramedy The Informant! debuted in a distant second with $10.5 million, just ahead of Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself ($10.1 million). Jennifer Aniston’s Love Happens ($8.5 million) and Megan Fox’s Jennifer’s Body ($6.8 million) opened to disappointing numbers at fourth and fifth, respectively. More»

Movies disappoint, but rarely go the way of Ishtar

(NEWSER) - It's rare these days to see a big-studio movie truly bomb, and that's a shame, laments Tom Shone of Slate . Sure, we get our share of misfires like Jonah Hex or The A-Team , but few reach the depths of those glorious financial busts of yesteryear like Ishtar, Waterworld, and Cutthroat Island—"the swashbuckler that derailed the careers of Renny Harlin, Geena Davis, and Matthew Modine—and the last film to actually force a movie studio to close, Heaven's Gate-style." More»

The answering machine, the broken cell phone, the lack of GPS...

(NEWSER) - Ever notice that movie trailers are constantly employing the record scratch sound effect—even though today’s youth have no clue what that sound actually is? "Pop culture has shown no inclination to discard obsolete tropes simply because they are obsolete," writes Adam Sternbergh, who points out five other cinematic offenders in New York :

• Answering machines: Hey, if the protagonist were to use voicemail, how ever would the audience hear the serial killer’s scary message?
• X-rays: Nowadays, X-rays are displayed digitally, on a screen. But hanging a big, floppy piece of film on a light board is so much more dramatic!

Cinema owners say actress was the biggest draw of the year

(NEWSER) - Cinema owners love Sandra Bullock, even if critics don't always agree. The owners named Bullock the Hollywood star with the most drawing power in 2009, thanks to her roles in The Proposal, The Blind Side, and even the widely panned All About Steve. The annual survey isn't based strictly on numbers but on which star brought in the most moviegoers by name alone, notes Reuters . Following her were Johnny Depp, Matt Damon, George Clooney, and Robert Downey Jr. More»