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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Jack Black

Jack Black stories: 16 news summaries
movie review

 Year One Offers 
 Unevolved Laughs 

Prehistoric comedy aims low and hits the target

Jun 19, 09 6:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - The jokes in caveman comedy Year One with Jack Black and Michael Cera are prehistoric, say critics, but it's still passable fun for anybody not expecting a comic masterpiece.
  • Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: "More or less indefensible, but I'll gladly defend parts of it." It won't rank
... More »

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comedy • movie review • Michael Cera • Jack Black • Harold Ramis

 Jack Black Lands Office Gig 

Comedian will star as himself

Dec 16, 08 10:22 AM CST
(Newser) - Not only did The Office score the sought-after post-Super Bowl slot, it will also feature Jack Black as a guest star. The comedian will play himself in a bootlegged movie the Dunder Mifflin workers try to watch, Entertainment Weekly reports. Black, who rarely appears in guest spots, is not the... More »

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television • Super Bowl • The Office • sitcom • Jack Black • TV series • guest appearance

Snarky Stars Wage Protest in Prop 8 Musical

Jack Black is Jesus in 3-min. online rip on gay-marriage ban

Dec 4, 08 11:50 AM CST
(Newser) - Hollywood found a new way to protest California’s passage of anti-gay-marriage Proposition 8: song and dance, the AP reports. Prop 8: The Musical, posted on FunnyOrDie, features Jack Black as Jesus reminding the religious right that shrimp cocktail is also a Biblical “abomination.” The hero of... More »

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California • Hollywood • gay marriage • celebrity • Maya Rudolph • Jack Black • John C. Reilly • musical • FunnyOrDie.com • homosexual rights • Election 2008 • Neil Patrick Harris • Proposition 8 • Margaret Cho • Marc Shaiman

 Thunder Holds Onto Top Spot 

The House Bunny hops to second place

Aug 24, 08 6:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - Tropic Thunder banked $16.1 million to become the third flick this summer to win two straight weekend box office crowns, Variety reports. Sorority laffer The House Bunny earned $15.1 million to debut in second, followed by Universal’s remake of Death Race ($12.3 million), The Dark ... More »

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Hollywood • film • box office • Robert Downey Jr. • The Dark Knight • Ben Stiller • Star Wars • Jack Black • movies

MOVIE REVIEW

 Rocker Sinks Like a Stone

Comedy recycles ideas from funnier films

Aug 20, 08 12:11 PM CDT
(Newser) - We’ve seen The Rocker before: It was called School of Rock, and it was funnier, critics agree. “The only brazen thing about the film is how shamelessly it rips off School of Rock, recycling its flaky-educator loser-of-the-gods premise, only this time in high school,” writes Owen... More »

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movie review • Jack Black • Rainn Wilson

Thunder Rolls at Box Office


Aug 17, 08 6:44 PM CDT
(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 ... More »

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Hollywood • film • box office • Robert Downey Jr. • The Dark Knight • Ben Stiller • Star Wars • Jack Black • movies • Tropic Thunder

MOVIE REVIEW

 Tropic Thunder
 Declares Comedy War

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

Aug 13, 08 11:00 AM CDT
(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... More »

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Tom Cruise • comedy • movie review • DreamWorks • Robert Downey Jr. • Ben Stiller • Jack Black • Tropic Thunder

Glossies

 The 'Summer of Downey'

For the first time, he's a genuine superstar

Aug 11, 08 8:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - After "many long, cold, hard winters," it's finally the "summer of Downey," writes Erik Hedegaard in Rolling Stone. The success of Iron Man has turned the 43-year-old mercurial actor into a certified mega-star, raising the question of how he will deal with it all. "I'm... More »

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Rolling Stone • Robert Downey Jr. • Ben Stiller • Jack Black • Iron Man • Tropic Thunder

Studios Bet Big on R-Rated Comedies

Risqué humor draws smaller crowds, but stars can cut loose

Aug 5, 08 8:45 PM CDT
(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... More »

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Tom Cruise • MPAA • comedy • Sex and the City • Ben Stiller • Jack Black • Knocked Up • movies • Tropic Thunder • R-rated • Wedding Crashers

movie review

 Kung Fu Panda Kicks Butt 

Old story becomes a fun journey in fast-paced martial arts animation 

Jun 6, 08 9:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - Dreamworks' animal extravaganza Kung Fu Panda isn't packed full of surprises, the critics say, but top-notch visual and voice acting lift it above the standard animal adventure fare. Jack Black gives the lead character, a pudgy panda who dreams of becoming a martial arts master, a "slightly abashed suburban-couch-potato... More »

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Angelina Jolie • animation • movie review • DreamWorks • Jackie Chan • Dustin Hoffman • Jack Black • kung fu • Lucy Liu • animated movie

 Angelina: It's Twins! 

Angelina confirms there's two on the way after Jack Black spills the beans

May 15, 08 9:02 AM CDT
(Newser) - The rumors are true: it's going to be a double bundle of joy for Brangelina, AP reports. Angelina Jolie confirmed she was expecting twins after Jack Black let the news slip while the Kung Fu Panda co-stars were being interviewed for the Today show. The new twosome will be the... More »

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Angelina Jolie • Brad Pitt • twins • Jack Black • celebrity pregnancy

 Stars Align as Cannes Kicks Off  

Blockbusters and indies premiere on the Riviera

May 14, 08 10:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Cannes Film Festival gets under way today with the premiere of Blindness, a new film by City of God director Fernando Meirelles that stars Julianne Moore. A jury led by Sean Penn will award the Palme d'or to one of 22 films. But as the Telegraph reports, paparazzi will... More »

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Indiana Jones • film • France • Cannes Film Festival • Palme d'Or • Sean Penn • Jack Black

 Miley Snags
 2 Kids Choice
 Awards, Stays
 Slime-Free 

Hannah leads Kids Choice Awards with 2 wins

Mar 30, 08 8:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - Kids love Miley Cyrus and flying green slime, and both graced the stage last night at the 21st annual Kids Choice Awards, where the Hannah Montana star was named both favorite singer and favorite TV actress. But while the squeaky-clean star stayed just that, celebs like Laila Ali, Orlando Bloom,... More »

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Heidi Klum • Harrison Ford • Nickelodeon • Hannah Montana • Miley Cyrus • Jack Black • Cameron Diaz • Orlando Bloom • Kids Choice Awards • Usher • Jason Lee • Drake Bell

NEW RELEASE

Rewind Spins Out of Control

Jack Black comedy too experimental for its own good, critics say

Feb 22, 08 8:13 AM CST
(Newser) - The Jack Black comedy Be Kind Rewind isn't predictable, but at times it's not coherent either, critics say. The film—about a guy who inadvertently erases a video store's VHS inventory, then, using a camcorder, re-creates popular movies for the store to rent—"never stops experimenting, even when the... More »

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comedy • movie review • videotape • movie rentals • viral video • Jack Black • guy movies • Be Kind Rewind • movies

NEW RELEASE

Margot Annoys at the Wedding

'Annoying' or well crafted? Critics are split

Nov 23, 07 3:46 PM CST
(Newser) - The estranged sisters at the heart of Noah Baumbach's talky Margot at the Wedding are well portrayed but just too unlikable to win over most critics. Nicole Kidman's short-story writer Margot, who Newsweek's David Ansen calls a  "brittle nightmare," descends on the wedding of her pregnant sister, Jennifer... More »

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Nicole Kidman • David Ansen • movie review • David Denby • Jennifer Jason Leigh • Jack Black • Noah Baumbach • Lou Lumenick

Critics Paddle Balls of Fury

Lame ping-pong
 comedy lacks bounce,
 reviewers grumble

Aug 31, 07 4:47 AM CDT
(Newser) - Balls of Fury is barely getting it over the net, according to most critics, who find the ping-pong-meets-martial-arts comedy lifeless and unfunny. “It's the kind of comedy that finds Asian people hi-lar-ious because they're...Asian. (Are you laughing yet?)," writes  Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman. More »

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comedy • movie review • Jack Black • movies

16 Stories


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