First Nicole, now this? http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/29/27047/

I am not in the least little bit interested in getting into a debate over Rick Santorum's famous statement that "In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever to my knowledge included homosexuality. That's not to pick on …

Bang! Director Steven Soderbergh checks off another box on his list of genre pics. This time, it's the showbiz story, featuring a minor star with bigger dreams (Channing Tatum), a young up-and-comer (Alex Pettyfer), a sleazy manager (Matthew McConaughey), the …

At first blush, Woody Allen's latest entry into his grand European tour bears a close resemblance to Monica, the character played by Ellen Page in the film: very pretty to look at and just smart enough to suggest hidden depths, …

Widowed Elena and her men — an indolent son and a gamy gamer of a grandson — look to her wealthy second husband to finance the younger boy’s way out of the army. From the well-appointed Moscow apartment in which …

Dear Katy Perry Fans, Did you know Katy Perry is starring in her own movie, entitled Katy Perry: Part of Me? It's true. I know because she recently appeared with film reels over...parts of her. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/28/26997/ Silly Katy - hasn't …

According to the terms of his estranged father’s will, Sam (Chris Pine) must deliver $150,000 in a shaving kit to Elizabeth Banks, the 30-year-old sister he didn’t know existed. Initially reluctant to hand over the cash to Dad’s hippie love …

So there was a screening for Magic Mike on Monday night. And before the screening, the rep stood up in front of the screen and said, "Ladies, if you need oxygen during the film..." The rest was drowned out in …

Above, the fantastic web promo stretching across the atrium at Reading's Gaslamp 15. Below, a list of promotional activities for the film happening around San Diego over the next few days. Wednesday, June 27, 2012 Costume contest at Comicaze. Comicaze …

Scorsese's hand and footprints have yet to be immortalized in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Who needs Marty when the brilliance of Kobe Bryant (I've seen all his movies) and now Uggie, the pooch from The Artist, have been forever …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/25/26792/ From the look of this video just released to TMZ, Channing Tatum has as much difficulty dancing to Y.M.C.A. as he does spelling it. Tatum's Magic Mike, in which he stars as an exotic dancer, opens this Friday at …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/25/26769/ If there's one thing we know about retired government operative Bryan Mills, it's that he likes chatting on the phone. Here are a few shots from the trailer for Taken: http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/25/26770/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/25/26772/ Other people in the film also enjoy …

Armed with little more than three required elements (a TV newsperson named Gary or Gretta Greenberg, a cell phone, and the line "Where are we going?") and a two-day shooting schedule, the finished products in this year's 48 Hour Film …

Finally saw Moonrise Kingdom over the weekend. I agree with David Elliott's enthusiastic review, and would only add this from my friend Sophia: "[Director Wes] Anderson is a humanist in the very best sense of the term. The idea that …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/24/26738/ The same day Andrew Sarris -- the Dean of American Film Criticism -- passed, cinephiles were presented with a new exacting voice to consider: Vili Fualaau. For those of you who didn't pick up a newspaper in 1997, Fualaau …

The cuteness doesn’t stop at the title. An asteroid set to collide with earth brings together a freshly-dumped insurance salesman (Steve Carell), a man whose television beams nothing but exposition and clumsy non-sequiturs, and a free-spirited neighbor (Keira Knightley). Lorene …

My mind was set on skipping Rock of Ages altogether until Lickona brought out the bomb. He went so far as calling Julianne Hough and Tom Cruise a "plasticine nymphoid" and "ageless nostalgia bot," respectively. Then this headline caught my …

Perhaps surprisingly, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is not just a showcase for director Timur Bekmambetov's relentless and varied barrage of combat-related special effects. (This is one of those films where 3-D really makes a difference, perhaps especially in its treatment …

Well, critical opinion on Brave does seem to be divided - yes, it's tracking pretty well on Rotten Tomatoes, but look at the actual reviews. Nearly all of them damn with faint praise, or qualify every compliment with a criticism. …

Johnny Depp in Tim Burton's Ed Wood. Can we all agree that Tim Burton is, for all his box-office brawn these days, pretty much dunzo as a creative force? Let's ignore the fact that he's dipping into his own past …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/21/26624/ With another wild-haired royal at the helm (and only one-tenth of Tangled’s wit, charm, and stereoscopic invention), Pixar’s latest amounts to little more than Rapunzel redux. What begins as a standard Disney fairy princess outing takes a turn for …

Barbara Brenner, highly persuasive breast cancer activist, argues her disease is “the poster child of cross-marketing.” Léa Pool’s gutsy documentary calls into question what exactly the pink ribbon culture does to bring about change. (With billions raised, why have breast …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/21/26612/ Absolutely nothing. Anne Hathaway simply does not pack that much back. Clearly a prosthetic butt. Everyone knows that Catwoman wears stripper heels, not combat boots. It's Catwoman, not The Human Invertebrate. Warner Bros. is taking this cross-branding thing too …

Remember this handsome devil from 1995's Cold Comfort Farm? http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/21/26603/ Yep, that's Rufus Sewell. A man who is able to be broodingly handsome even as he parodies a man who is broodingly handsome is one to watch. And in 1998, …

For the most part, the only leaders one sees in movies nowadays are of the countdown variety. It's good to learn of a film festival aimed at 14 to 18-year-old students that encourages personal growth, social action, and positive change. …

While we're on the subject of Pixar - yep, they're doing a sequel for Monsters Inc. Or, I guess, a prequel, since they're taking us back to the monsters' college days: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg-akC951Us The voices for these younger versions of Sully, …

Yeah, yeah, Disney ≠ Pixar. But how long before Merida winds up a Princess? When Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross picked Sean Bailey to take over as Disney's head of production in 2010, it was (according to reports), partly because …

The movieblog world went a little nuts yesterday with the release of the new poster for Explodables 2, er, Expendables 2. Now I understand why. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/19/26493/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/19/26494/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/19/26495/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/19/26496/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/19/26497/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/19/26498/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/19/26499/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/19/26500/

A second visit to Snow White and the Huntsman reminded me of the the remarkable similarity between the Queen's magic mirror and a certain Academy booby prize. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/18/26431/ Either this is the most flagrant bid for an Oscar in motion …

Stallone and Che — coincidence? We think not. The stare off to the right of the camera, the mustache creeping down the sides of the mouth, the beret, the palpable sense of resolve in the face of overwhelming odds, the …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVKwKhqin0Y I haven't seen Brave yet, so take this for what it is: the worryings of a Pixar fan who just isn't feeling the magic from this latest effort. I thought for a while it was the reliance on physical …

For years Adam Sandler has been threatening to remake several Jerry Lewis pictures. The closest he's come is borrowing the title of a 1951 Martin & Lewis picture for this insipid, deeply misogynistic excuse for a comedy. Doing a gravely-voiced, …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/17/26377/ How's that for a Father's Day double-feature? The animated Nemo and Marlin won't be back in theatres until September 14. I wouldn't be plugging the re-release of Finding Nemo -- or drooling over the thought of it being converted …

On July 6, American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood will host a special theatrical screening of local Reelin' In The Years Productions' documentary The Pretty Things: Midnight To Six 1965-1970, which features 20 full-length performances, including their historic, …

So, word is going 'round that even without werewolves, the budget for the Lone Ranger reboot is pushing $250 million, in part because director Gore Verbinski wanted to build his own trains for the thing. Time for a captioning...what is …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/15/26302/ "Men are always looking for something better. Women settle for what they get." That's the war cry of freshly dumped Lola (Greta Gerwig), the 29-year-old New Yorker unceremoniously kicked to the curb by her dreamy but hopelessly hollow boyfriend …

Opening Wide: Rock of Ages and That's My Boy. Um, what shall we say? Tom Cruise certainly is fit for a man of his years. Limited Release: Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap, Lola Versus (review forthcoming). Arthouse fare: …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/14/26227/ It must have been all the farkakte Scientology in the air that caused show biz legend Jerry Lewis to collapse Tuesday evening. The mavelous 86-year-old filmmaker/funnyman/humanitarian/pussycat mush was rushed to the hospital after collapsing at his Manhattan hotel with …

You all remember Patrick Bateman, right? American Psycho's connoisseur of pop? (For those of you who don't enjoy depictions of dismemberment by axe, you can stop the following at about 1:25.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvBAEp3Znn4 Well, as fate would have it, the boys …

The 11th San Diego Film Festival will host a Gus Van Sant tribute and retrospective this September with the director in attendance. Festival president Kevin Leap tells The Hollywood Reporter, "This is the first time he's had a film-festival retrospective." …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/13/26194/ Dave and I can (and have) argue taste and opinion until they unearth the missing reels from Greed. What he sees in red-baiting Orson Welles or clothes hanger Audrey Hepburn I'll never know. There isn't a finer writer of …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/13/26184/ Hey, kudos to Edward for the Anne Rice reference!

The Reader's senior movie critic is leaving. Also departing: associate critic John Rubio. They will be sorely missed. The Big Screen will carry on, and while we will not replace what has been lost, we hope to offer something with …

To paraphrase Norma Desmond, android phones are smart. It's the operators' brains that got smaller. The iPad proved mightier than the iPhone in an electronic battle to the finish in a Los Angeles movie theatre. iPad: Bringing a Gun to …

She played Mickey Rooney's go-to girl, Polly Benedict, in M.G.M.'s durable Andy Hardy series, and appeared as Scarlett O’Hara’s youngest sister in Gone With the Wind. Ann Rutherford, one of the last surviving cast members of GWTW, has died at …

You have to take the Spielberg and Rocky Horror with the good, but the schedule of midnight movies at The Ken is a terrific excuse to spend your weekends staying up late this summer. True, there are Ninja Turtles, a …

The Full Moon Drive-In has announced their debut weekly screening will take place in a converted space at Pacific Beach Middle School, set up as a kind of third-scale model of the classic drive-in theaters that used to flourish in …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/11/26029/ Hooterville wholesaler -- and a character actor responsible for providing audiences with many a hoot -- has died. Frank Cady, who played Sam Drucker, the bald-headed general store proprietor who served the townsfolk in The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, …

What, did you think we were finished? [Yes, more spoilers.] Okay, so let's suppose Peter Weyland wasn't delusional - that we really are the new gods, thanks to our ability to create super-lifelike androids like David: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOOJl5lWNfM (Or super-handsome androids …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUxdAWrsag8 Speaking of that fake TED talk that Prometheus used in its publicity campaign, and speaking of last week's Questions for Discussion, here's one last possibility for who's who in the reboot of the Prometheus myth, courtesy of Peter Weyland: …

Today's entry: older actors who could have played an older version of Guy Pearce's Peter Weyland character more convincingly - and more movingly - than Guy Pearce in old-man makeup: Max Von Sydow Seriously, Prometheus people. I get that it …

You know, for after you've seen it... It should go without saying that there will be spoilers here. In the original Prometheus story, Prometheus steals fire from heaven for the sake of man, and is punished by having his liver …

It took a moment (and a phone call to SD Latino Film Festival programmer Glenn Heath) to sort things out. Was the ever-industrious Maya Kroth set to teach the Media Arts Center's class on 3-D and Lighting Design for DSLR …

So this was interesting: "Legendary horror maven Clive Barker -- who's responsible for the 'Candyman' and 'Hellraiser' franchises -- gave his ex-boyfriend HIV ... and then kicked him out on the street ... this according to claims in a new …

San Diego’s Mainly Mozart Festival will soon do something it has never done before: Present a movie with live orchestra accompaniment. The movie is Suzie Templeton’s Peter & the Wolf, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film …

An afro wig. Chris Rock is just playing us now. Don't forget, I Wish and Where Do We Go Now? are finally opening today, even though they were reviewed last week... In other news: Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted Or, …

Mea culpa continues to runneth over the amount of misinformation this blogger unleashed concerning the La Paloma Theatre, 471 South Coast Highway 101, Encinitas. The La Paloma is alive and thriving, showing movies every night. You have one more week …

Django Unchained - Quentin Tarantino - Trailer... by 6ne_Web No, it's not Jamie Foxx doing his best impression of Buster Brown [Ed. - dirtiest rap name ever?]: http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/07/25802/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/07/25803/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/07/25805/ Silly Django - time was made for slaves! No, as …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oMA2u_OPzY&feature=relmfu So I attended a screening of Rock of Ages last night, and because it's in the trailer above, I'm not breaking any embargoes when I tell you that in one scene, Catherine Zeta-Jones leads a bunch of angry anti-rock …

Charlize Theron's Queen Ravenna from Snow White & The Huntsman has a definite goal. But apparently, Charlize Theron's Meredith Vickers from Prometheus isn't really feeling supportive. All dialogue taken from the films' respective trailers. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/07/25788/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/07/25789/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/07/25790/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/07/25791/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/07/25793/ Also, …

What is the sound of a thousand fanboys sighing disappointedly? Prometheus, writes David Elliott. "The story is a lurching carnival of budget blasts. The 3-D does not much help stuff such as the storms of metallic dust. This movie could …

Thinking back on all the films my father took me to it's a wonder I'm not a plumber instead of a film critic. Dad carted me to everything from Call Me Bwana and Billie to The Longest Day and The …

It's not that it's a retread of the Matt Damon Bourne movies. It's that it's a retread of...everything else. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VrcOv5jHwk http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/06/25705/ "There is nothing that you wouldn't do for this country." http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/06/25706/ "What are you prepared to do?" (And while …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/05/25677/ Plop-plop, fizz-fizz, I now know what grief is. He stood only 4' 6", but the everlastingly boyish Dick Beals was a Goliath among voice actors. Dick Beals, the voice of Gumby, Speedy Alka Seltzer, cartoon favorite Ralph Phillips, and …

Had I revisited Boeing (707) Boeing (707) since my dad took me to see it first run at Chicago's Balmoral Theatre? Bit and pieces here and there, but I don't recall ever subjecting myself to a repeat viewing. Next to …

He gained fame as the wise-cracking panelist on Match Game and oh-so kissable host of Family Feud. The Munster Go Home co-star, Laugh-In regular, and one of Hogan's Heroes on TV's premier Stalag sitcom is dead. The survey said Richard …

Squee! Apparently, Tony Stark likes to collect metal outfits the way Brian Fantana likes to collect fragrances: http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/04/25558/ And apparently, Iron Man 3 will introduce the idea of the "occasional suit" - event-specific superhero attire for the discerning and sophisticated …

Here is the short version: Handsomely photographed but pious and simplistic story of the Cristeros – Mexican Catholics who fought back against a government crackdown in the 1920’s. It’s never really clear why the bad-guy soldiers take such delight in …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/01/25476/ Celebrate the best in Jewish Latino Film when the San Diego Jewish Film Festival and San Diego Latino Film Festival join forces for the second in their continuing series of summer films. Salsa Tel Aviv, a Mexican comedy starring …

I screwed up big time by not being aware that the single-screen La Paloma Theatre (471 South Coast Highway 101, Encinitas) shows movies every day. By way of apology, here's a reminder that the Dardenne Brothers' exceptional The Kid With …

"Welcome to rock bottom," says Baywatch legend David Hasselhoff as he prepares to make a celebrity appearance at The Big Wet, a water park in Merkin County, Arizona that has been overhauled by sweet star Danielle Panabaker's creepy stepfather into …

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/01/25426/ Director John Stalberg’s debut film sat on the shelf for two years and should have held its world premiere at a Red Box. Releasing High School at a time when the city has put just about every medicinal marijuana …