Gross Behavior
by Leonard Klady

How did Metro-Goldwyn Mayer go from more stars than in the heavens to more sequels than in the library?

In the brief history of the American film industry nothing compares with the descent of the once golden lion, the studio's famous Leo that roared even before there was direct sound at the Bijou. There certainly have been rollercoaster careers from Mickey Rooney to Burt Reynolds to Kevin Costner but, despite a shared problem with a receding hairline (it's yet to effect Nicolas Cage and meant nothing to Sean Connery and Yul Brynner), anecdotal personal dilemmas don't amount to a hill of beans in this industry.

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Digital Nation
by Gary Dretzka

Next question: Did RTNDA honoree Ted Koppel make a dent in the numb skulls of the assembled news directors when he observed:

"We have been alienating many of our older viewers by skewing our coverage toward the young. Young people, meanwhile, are leaving us in droves and getting at least their first take on the news from the Internet and their analysis and commentary from the comedians.

"I can't prove it, but it seems likely to me that when we began processing news for the young and treating news as an off-shoot of the entertainment business -- when we began taking our journalism more lightly -- people began taking us less seriously …"?

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The Ultimate DVD Geek
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
by Douglas Pratt

Since there are no trees in Texas, residents have to do other things with their trimming appliances.  Hence, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a smart 2003 remake of a 1974 cult favorite.  The story is pretty basic.  Some teenagers go knocking at what looks like the mansion in Giant, asking for some help, and intense mayhem ensues.  While the first film, breaking new ground, sort of casts around in search of a style and attitude, the remake knows precisely what it wants to accomplish. There are a handful of marvelously grotesque moments (and a few more, hysterically over-the-top effects, in the DVD’s supplement), but there is mostly just the threat that another such moment is about to occur.  The characters are not explored with much depth, but they are precisely delivered, so that you know them quickly and are interested in their fates as the story unfolds.

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Weekend Report
by Leonard Klady

It was a little too close for comfort, but barring blizzards and other natural catastrophes Man on Fire burned just a little bit brighter than 13 Going on 30 in their respective weekend debuts. The films opened to estimates of $22.7 million and $22.1 million and most pundits had the two films within $1 million of each other, though pulling from different viewing pools.

It's rare to find a situation in which multiple national openers don't egregiously step on one another's metaphoric toes.
Weekend Estimates (Full List)

Hot Button Review
Man On Fire
by David Poland

What is genius about Denzel Washington's portrayal of Creasy, the lost soul at the center of Man on Fire, is that he, like so much of the film, embodies things we have seen at the movies a million times. But he is not doing an "it's a movie" wink or telegraphing the inevitable. He says what his intentions are and he never strays. Much like The Terminator, he lives - quite literally in the film - to serve the goal he sets out on at around the one-hour mark. And he is as unflinching as the audience is squirmy. But he is no machine. Creasy lives in the world of moral ambiguity and is suffering the consequences when the movie begins. As the story plays out, he can no longer allow himself to be simplified by the alleged complexity of it all. It is, as it turns out, right out of Kill Bill, V2. He is a natural born killer and happy endings are beside the point. When Chris Walken gives the often-advertised "This is going to be his masterpiece (of death)" speech, the audience laughs, but then swallows the laugh, because they recognize the utter truth of it

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Pride, Unprejudiced
by Ray Pride

"I've already got the whole mythology," Quentin Tarantino said in the April 16 Entertainment Weekly. (As well as "There's something very pretentious about a four-hour exploitation movie.")

At least those who suck down this Big Gulp are matched by a few honest voices that see only a Big Burp. Let us pit the wowed Elvis Mitchell --"It is rich, substantial and sustained, yet also greasy kids' stuff, a wrapper filled with an extra large order of chili fries, stained with ketchup, salt and cheese" against the repulsed Armond White: "Snickers of recognition that greet his references to Hong Kong action movies, TV theme music and 70s soul records are, in fact, the sounds of cultural retardation." Elvis? "Tarantino's deliciously perverse semisequel is the most voluptuous comic-book movie ever made." (Hellooooo, Harvey!)
Leonard Klady Review Kill Bill: Volume 2
Hot Button Review: Kill Bill Volume 2

Updated throughout the day
Updated: 1:09 am

Romijn Stands Alone

Movie Ads That Tease & Trick

Peter Chernin On The Ultimate (Financial) Disaster Movie

Meat Loaf Gets A Lobotomy In Tribeca

Disney Attaches Groundbreaking 2D/3D Hybrid Short, Lorenzo, To Raising Helen
Earlier - Excellent Article On Lorenzo By Bill Desowitz For Animation World

The Elvis Watch
Tomorrow's Elvis Mitchell Rumors Today
1. He's Coming To Work At Warner Bros In Some Mysterious Capacity
2. Elvis Will Be Replaced In The NYT Triumverate By A Female Feature Writer
3. Elvis Was Recently Sighted At A Mean Girls Screening Exchanging Hair Tips With Joel Siegel

It's The Old Summer Blockbuster/
National Museum Marketing Trick

A Happy Day At Time Warner

Comcast Goes Away

Translating The Life And Times Of Peter Sellers

Gibson Enters The Boadicea Fray

Maybe He Got HIt With Some Ripe Fruit At ShoWest ..
Cussler And Anschutz's Crusader Arm Wrestle Over Paramount's Sahara

Sony Penetrates New York's Gay Festival From Front & Rear

How Much Would American Media Pay Newly Divorcing Robert Downey Jr. To Marry Newly Divorcing Halle Berry?

Scumbag Friedman Outs Spacey's Scumbag Father

Anchutz's Regal Still Growing Via Acquisition

Gay Harden Drops Two

Jackson's Making The Big Ape Real

The Day I Will Never Forget, Because It's Important To Question

Radha Comes Of Age

Straight Eye For The Queer Legendary Composer Of "It's De-lovely" Guy

Kerkorian Sucks $1.4 Billion In Cash Out Of MGM As Sale Looms

The Elvis Watch
Tomorrow's Elvis Mitchell Rumors Today
1. He's Coming To Work At Fox In Some Mysterious Capacity
2. Star Wars: Episode III Has Been Sub-Titled "The Caveman's Valentine" And Elvis Has Been Tapped To Play Sam Jackson's Brother
EW Special - Elvis Metaphor Mania

How Many Actors Can Dance On The Tooth Of An Alien And A Predator?

Crowe Doesn't Run Away From Fire Bombed Jewish Day School

Berry's Back On The Market... A Little Overripe?

Metallica Wins Monster Award

Donnie Darko: The Little Movie That Newmarket Is Remarketing On The Day After Tomorrow

The Royal Society Of Chemists Rank Tracy & Hepburn The Best Equation

The Woz Follows Beckinsale From Werewolves To Howard Hughes

Leaping Way Over Man On Fire Into A Treatise On Hollywood, Violence And Race...

Visit The Village

Will They Stop Previewing 10 Minutes Of Every Film On Free TV The Day After The Day After Tomorrow?

Dudas Hire Certain For Curtin

Japanese Dreams Work For $100 Million

Turn Off Your Cell Phone... But The Crying Baby's Okay

The Passion Of The DaVinci Code

The Full Theatrical Trailer For The Terminal Lands On Apple

He's Right... But Also Sucks The Chrome Off Of Mel's Tailpipe Too!

Brazil Banning Box Boffing For B .O.?

Cate Knocks Another One Upton & Out

They Clone Morons, Don't They?

Mila Jovovovovovovich Firmly Sued For Residual Residuals

Newsweek's Summer Preview

The Real Prequel To Lord Of The Rings - The Hobbit Redux MTV Style

The Elvis Watch
Tomorrow's Elvis Mitchell Rumors Today
1. He's Coming To Work At Sony In Some Mysterious, Non-Classics Capacity
2. He's Still Negotiating To Stay At NYT
3. He's Replacing Mike Wilmington At The Chicago Tribune - BZZT! WRONG! Trib Says "Not Here"
4. He's Negotiating To Star In MGM's "Very Expensive Barbershop"

Surprise! Day After Tomorrow Not Based On Scientific Research - It's A Movie

Waxman On Dashed Teen Expectations

"Companies will protect us from media evildoers and exposed flesh and scary exploding things and that part in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind wherein the universe is blessed, for the briefest of moments, with the joy of Kate Winslet's radiant nipples."
Earlier - "You know that if Mary Magdalene looked the slightest bit like Monica Bellucci, who plays her in this film, well, Jesus would've been preaching a lot more of the gospel of oh my freaking God look at those lips."

Is Maddin Mad Or Madder?

Jehane Noujaim On The Ultimate Weapon Of Mass Destruction

Succession No Mickey Mouse Issue

Marr & Orwall On The Battles Of May

Disney Board In Retreat

How Do You Make A Butterfly on a Wheel

Ebert's Leaving Las Vegas

Mathews Blesses The Pythons

Tommy Steele And Christopher Lee Intrigue QT

Sunday Papers
New York Times
In Animation, It's All About How You Enter The Room
A Peek Into The Control Room And Al Jazeera
Mean Girls And Frozen Hot Dogs
It's High Noon In A Gunfighter Nation

San Francisco Chronicle
Tilda Swinton, Anti-Star
John Waters - "The Public Changed, I Didn't."

Guardian/Observer
The Other-Wordly BIllie Piper
How Well Do You Know Your QT?