Even though many other industries across the country are failing right now, the movie business is performing well. That was the main point of the 2009 State of the Industry Update, which was delivered by Dan Glickman, Chairman and CEO, Motion Pictures Association of America and John Fithian, President & CEO of NATO on Tuesday morning in Las Vegas at the Paris hotel's Le Theatre Des Arts. However, before Glickman and Fithian took the stage the audience was treated to a montage which highlighted all of 2008's $100 million-grossing films as well as exciting f...
Read moreWrestler-turned-actor John Cena doesn't necessarily see himself following in the footsteps of his fellow grapplers Hulk Hogan and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Both Hogan and Johnson have played off of their images in a comedic way in order to gain success in the movies. Hogan starred in a handful of gimmicky films in the mid-90's from Mr. Nanny to 3 Ninjas: High Noon. Obviously the most successful of the bunch, Johnson has carved a niche for himself by starring in such Disney family films as The Game Plan and Race to Witch Mountain. Mountain is on pace to bring in a respectable $65 million during its theatrical run.
Read moreAs with so many people behind famous pictures—the LIFE magazine shot of a ’50s audience in 3D glasses, the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima, a shadowy hump at Loch Ness—the fame of director Alastair Fothergill's images surpasses his name. As the producer of the wildly expensive television series Planet Earth, he brought little-seen wonders of the globe into the audience's living rooms, and was thanked with DVD sales that shot through the roof. ( Planet Earth ranked first on Amazon's best-selling box sets, with the Blu-ray and HD DVD version rounding out the top 15.) Now, as a director, Fothergill is bringing his astounding footage to where it belongs: the big screen.
Read moreDirector Greg Mottola has decided he’s most comfortable working behind the camera and not letting fame go to his head. After doing a small acting role in Woody Allen’s Celebrity and directing the monster hit Superbad, Mottola decided that instead of basking in the Hollywood limelight, he’d use his pull to recreate his own childhood memories in the new coming-of-age story Adventureland. Working on a movie is one thing but to direct a film that tells your life story is something different. In this case, Mottola used Adventureland as a platform to remember one hectic summer working in the world’s worst theme park and finding himself along the way.
Read morePhotographer Eddie Adams is responsible for one of the most haunting pictures of the Vietnam war. It brought him fame and widespread acceptance in the journalistic community. The funny thing is, he thought it was a pretty lousy picture. This is the main topic of Susan Morgan Cooper's latest documentary, An Unlikely Weapon. The film uses the way Adams felt about that particular picture as a jumping off point, but it is also about the life of an extraordinary man. Unfortunately, Adams will not be able to witness the reception to this film because he passed away in 2004 at the age of 71.
Read moreOne of the top selling non-fiction books of 2006, I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell started as the brainchild of Tucker Max, a disenchanted Duke law student who found his devil-may-care, live-for-the-moment life philosophy at odds with the confining demands of both his scholarly pursuits and the professional legal world. Rather than molding his behaviors to fit the social norms of his environment, Max poured his energies into living his life as he saw fit – and then cataloging his exploits in detailed anecdotes sent over email to his closest of friends. ...
Read moreI Love You, Man, the latest in a slew of modestly-budgeted comedies about male bonding, is set to hit theaters on March 20. If Man continues down the path set by similar films that have opened recently– Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Role Models –then it could do some damage at the box office. Based on the concept that having a best man is almost as important as finding the right woman to marry, Man focuses on Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) and his search for a best friend (Sydney Fife, played by Jason Segel) before his upcoming marriage to fiancée Zooey (Rashida Jones).
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