Animated flick wins weekend box office
Variety Nov 9, 08 4:27 PM CST
(Newser)
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Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa had the year's best opening for an animated family flick, pulling in $63.5 million to win the weekend box office, Variety reports. R-rated gross-out comedy Role Models, meanwhile, surprised by taking second place with $19.3 million. The remaining top five: High School Musical 3: Senior Year ($9.3 million), Changeling ($7.3 million) and Zack and Miri Make a Porno ($6.5 million).
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MOVIE REVIEW
Rotten Tomatoes Nov 7, 08 9:09 AM CST
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Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa brings back the on-the-run New York menagerie, and DreamWorks hasn't monkeyed much with the first movie's winning, if slightly tired, formula, say critics. The celebrity-voiced animals' new adventure "is aimed mostly at children and should score a direct hit," Kirk Honeycutt writes in the Hollywood Reporter .
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Universal Studios to distribute up to 6 films a year
Hollywood Reporter Oct 14, 08 10:29 AM CDT
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Steven Spielberg is returning to the Hollywood studio where he made his classic blockbusters Jaws and ET. Spielberg's DreamWorks, backed with $1.4 billion in new financing, has struck a seven-year distribution deal with Universal for as many as six new releases a year, according to the Hollywood Reporter .
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Divorce accomplished without years of litigation, projects divvied up
Hollywood Reporter Oct 6, 08 2:25 AM CDT
(Newser)
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It may be one of the most amicable Hollywood divorces in history. Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks announced a division of 200 movie projects in development as golden-touch producer Steven Spielberg leaves to launch a new company, according to the Hollywood Reporter . The unexpectedly easy split comes in defiance of Hollywood experts who had predicted years of litigation. The two companies will even remain partners on up to 40 projects.
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Copyright owner says Disturbia rips off Rear Window
Associated Press Sep 9, 08 10:12 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Steven Spielberg ripped off Rear Window when he made last year’s thriller Disturbia , a lawsuit filed yesterday alleges. The 1954 Alfred Hitchcock classic was based on a 1942 short story, and the owner of the rights to the story has sued for compensation from Spielberg, DreamWorks, and Paramount Pictures, the AP reports. The defendants declined comment.
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OPINION
'Retard' a painful word for mother of daughter with Downs
Washington Post Aug 16, 08 7:09 PM CDT
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Patricia E. Bauer suffers every time her Downs syndrome daughter hears the word "retard." When Bauer saw ads for Tropic Thunder, which jokes about retardation, they echoed every insult that her blond, blue-eyed daughter had endured for 24 years . After weeks of debate, Bauer remains stunned by ads that feature "the word ‘retard’ without a thought to the consequences," she writes in the Washington Post
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Actor's new role is trying to revive his own career
Hollywood Reporter Aug 14, 08 6:49 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The next mission impossible for Tom Cruise may be reviving his own career, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Cruise's business partner Paula Wagner is quitting her job as CEO of United Artists just weeks after her husband, Cruise's agent Rick Nicita, left CAA. The changes likely reflect the star's unhappiness with his career as he casts about for suitable roles and a new screen image, say industry observers.
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MOVIE REVIEW
No targets are safe in Ben Stiller's gross-out war comedy
Rotten Tomatoes Aug 13, 08 11:00 AM CDT
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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 a secret weapon, he writes: It's "laugh-until-your-stomach-hurts hilarious."
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Major coup in battle between rival chipmakers
Wall Street Journal Jul 8, 08 12:29 PM CDT
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In an important win over its sometimes-struggling rival, Intel has wooed away AMD client DreamWorks Animation. DreamWorks will replace its current servers and computer workstations, which use AMD chips, with new Intel-powered ones. The studio said the change will make its computing faster and help it start producing 3-D animation, reports the Wall Street Journal .
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Deal would speed Spielberg team's Paramount departure
Wall Street Journal Jun 18, 08 10:09 AM CDT
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Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks venture is closing in on a deal with an Indian media conglomerate that could fund a break from Paramount Pictures, the Wall Street Journal reports. Mumbai-based Reliance, a conglomerate with stakes in telecom, finance, and entertainment looking to expand into Hollywood, could bring as much as $600 million. The Spielberg team's relations with Paramount have grown chilly recently.
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Dreamworks' flick grosses $60M
Variety Jun 8, 08 4:07 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Kung Fu Panda kicked Adam Sandler's new comedy You Don't Mess With the Zohan at the box office, raking in $60 million in the biggest opening weekend for a Dreamworks flick after the Shrek sequels, Variety reports. Zohan grossed $40 million, while Sex and the City is just shy of the $100 million mark in its second weekend.
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movie review
Old story becomes a fun journey in fast-paced martial arts animation
Rotten Tomatoes Jun 6, 08 9:10 AM CDT
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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 sweetness," Owen Gleiberman writes in Entertainment Weekly .
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