Movies

11/05/2009

Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin to co-host Academy Awards ceremony
LOS ANGELES – Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will share hosting duties at the 82nd Academy Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Tuesday.

11/04/2009

VideoFest continues tradition of screening the serious and the offbeat
You may have seen T-shirts around town urging residents of our fair burg to "Keep Dallas Normal." If you need any reminder of how absurd the sentiment might be, here's a good one:

11/03/2009

'North by Northwest' gets Blu-ray treatment; new collection features 5 film noir discs
The Couch Potato's cushions runneth over this week with new releases guaranteed to induce downward gravitational pull. So, in the words of MC Hammer, let's get it started.

11/02/2009

'This Is It' tops charts with $101 million worldwide

AFP/Getty Images

Michael Jackson's This Is It pulled in $101 million worldwide in its first five days, and distributor Sony is extending the farewell performance film beyond its planned two-week run. The film was the No. 1 Halloween thriller domestically with a $21.3 million opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Michael Jackson's This Is It: Review, show times

10/30/2009

Films follow those who have to deliver bad news
AUSTIN – Tough times mean bad news, and most of us have received our share over the last few years. But what about the unlucky toilers who get paid to deliver the information you don't want to hear? Who are they? Does the ax swinger deserve our sympathy?

Tale of Nando Parrado's survival in Andes to be filmed by Dallas-based AMS Pictures
It was standing room only at Amarillo College recently as Nando Parrado told his story with video cameras rolling. In 1972, he and 15 other Uruguayans survived a plane crash in the Andes and two months of waiting for help. Finally, Parrado and another man trekked for 10 days through the snow to secure their rescue.

'Michael Jackson's This Is It' generating Oscar buzz
LOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson's This Is It comes too late to be considered for a documentary Oscar, but it could qualify for other Hollywood honors, including the Academy Award for best picture.

10/28/2009

Austin Film Festival draws eager young writers
AUSTIN – It's a busy week in the state capital as the Austin Film Festival drifts toward the Texas Book Festival this Saturday and Sunday. But Austin, as most should know by now, keeps it weird. Even busy weeks can feel lazy and laid-back. Proud mellow is the order of the day.

10/27/2009

'Michael Jackson's This Is It' premieres tonight
Michael Jackson will come back larger than life on the big screen tonight with 11 p.m. sneak-peek screenings of Michael Jackson's This Is It , a documentary-concert film made from footage of his last rehearsals for his comeback concerts of the same name.

Couch Potato: 40 years later, 'Z' still enthralls
The French-Algerian thriller Z arrived in the United States at the end of a decade marred by political assassinations (John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X). But Costa-Gavras' frenetic masterpiece is no less startling today than it was 40 years ago, when it could have been ripped from the headlines.

10/26/2009

'Paranormal Activity' tops weekend box office
LOS ANGELES – Paranormal Activity has won a weekend battle of fright films over part six of the Saw franchise.

10/25/2009

Michael Stuhlbarg cracked up the Coens and got the part in 'A Serious Man'
He's in the ads and on the posters, standing upright on a roof, his arms elbowed out, fists on his waist, like some neurotic Clark Kent. There's a TV antenna behind him, and a lot of blue sky.

Art that emerged from Great Depression combined escapism, enlightenment, new book says

10/23/2009

Pop culture: Author Derek Haas on hit men and his book, 'Columbus'
The economy may be going through down times, but in the world of pop culture, it's high times for hit men. On the big screen, we have Jason Bourne in his globe-trotting, body-stacking adventures. On the little screen, we have Showtime's Dexter , whose not-for-profit hit man is a reminder that an assassin is just a serial killer with an entrepreneurial spirit.

10/21/2009

Anthony Daniels talks about being C-3PO, narrating 'Star Wars' concert at Cowboys Stadium

DAVID WOO/Staff Photographer

Anthony Daniels

Anthony Daniels, a.k.a. C-3PO, visited Dallas recently on a promotional tour for "Star Wars in Concert," Friday night at Cowboys Stadium. The show, with a choir and full symphony orchestra led by Mark Watters, performing John Williams' music from the films, features footage from the films with Daniels narrating the story live.
Event details: Star Wars Concert at Cowboys Stadium
Video: Anthony Daniels talks about new Star Wars Concert

10/18/2009

Partisan politics pervade pop culture world
Billions of years ago, we had the Big Bang. Today, we're living through the Big Blur. Politicians becoming celebrities, news turning into entertainment. With the explosion of media and technology, every area of public life seemed to go pop.

10/16/2009

'More than a Game' isn't a LeBron James movie
Everybody is calling More Than a Game "the LeBron movie." It's not. The new documentary is about the bond between James and his high school teammates at St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio.

10/13/2009

The Home Front: 'Monsoon Wedding' gets Criterion treatment
M onsoon Wedding was my No. 1 film of 2002, but at the time I had trouble explaining why. When asked, as I frequently was, the best I could come up with was some variation of, "It made me happy."

10/11/2009

Horse-racing Triple Crown winner Secretariat to get big-screen treatment
DOSWELL, Va. – In an era defined by a dispiriting war and a surreal Washington scandal, Secretariat gave Americans and their bruised psyche something to cheer about when the big thoroughbred captured the Triple Crown in 1973.

10/09/2009

Fatherhood is prevalent at the movies
Clive Owen has two daughters, the oldest 12. He never really saw any connection between his role as a father and his roles on the silver screen.