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Weekend Box Office: 'Mission: Impossible' Rules Over Robust Holiday Session

By Gary Susman (Subscribe to Gary Susman's posts), Posted Jan 1st 2012 3:00PM
Filed under: Movie News, Box Office
'Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol'

You may be starting the new year with a hangover, but the box office, for once, is lively and robust. 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' easily repeated last week's holiday victory, but the weekend's other holdovers, in a session without any new wide-release competition, also performed strongly. The top 14 movies, and all but three of the top 33 movies, saw their earnings rise over last weekend's takes.
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25 Things You Didn't Know About 'Straw Dogs'

By Gary Susman (Subscribe to Gary Susman's posts), Posted Dec 29th 2011 9:00AM
Filed under: Columns, This Week in Movies

You'd never know from the way this past September's 'Straw Dogs' opened and closed with so little fanfare that it was a remake of a movie whose unflinching depiction of graphic violence created a controversy that has never fully abated. Nor would you know that the original 'Straw Dogs' (released exactly 40 years ago, on December 29, 1971) was a landmark film that gave Dustin Hoffman one of his meatiest roles, made a star of Susan George, solidified Sam Peckinpah's reputation (fairly or not) as Hollywood's most macho and bloodthirsty director, and influenced countless filmmakers who followed (most notably, Quentin Tarantino and Edgar Wright, who wear their 'Straw Dogs' fandom on their sleeves). As notorious as 'Straw Dogs' was in its day, you may not know the story behind the making of the film -- a tale of mismatched lovers, alcohol, rage, and bloodshed that seemed to echo what ended up on the screen.
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Weekend Box Office: 'Mission: Impossible' Takes Christmas Crown, as 'Dragon Tattoo,' 'Tintin,' 'Zoo' Stumble

By Gary Susman (Subscribe to Gary Susman's posts), Posted Dec 25th 2011 2:50PM
Filed under: Movie News, Box Office, New Releases, Holiday Movies
'Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol'

A return to the days when Tom Cruise was a top domestic box office draw might have seemed like an impossible mission, but 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol,' easily fended off several highly-touted newcomers, including 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' and 'The Adventures of Tintin,' to take the holiday box office crown.
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Academy Awards 2012: One Star, Two Oscar-Worthy Performances

By Gary Susman (Subscribe to Gary Susman's posts), Posted Dec 23rd 2011 8:00AM
Filed under: Features, Oscar News, Awards


As the Oscar race shapes up, several top stars and filmmakers may find their biggest competition for a nomination is ... themselves. At least 10 of this year's biggest overachievers have a chance of being nominated for not just one but two movies. Or maybe even more than two; if you're running odds for, say, Jessica Chastain, how do you decide whether 'The Help,' 'The Tree of Life,' or 'Take Shelter' is most likely to earn her a shot at an Academy Award? By reading our handicapping, below.
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25 Things You Didn't Know About 'Harold and Maude'

By Gary Susman (Subscribe to Gary Susman's posts), Posted Dec 20th 2011 10:00AM
Filed under: Columns, This Week in Movies
'Harold and Maude'

He was a depressed 20-year-old whose hobby was faking suicide in vain bids for his mother's attention. But then he met the world's oldest Manic Pixie Dream Girl and learned to enjoy life and risk heartbreak. Their unlikely romance, 'Harold and Maude,' flopped at the box office when it was released 40 years ago today (on December 20, 1971), yet the movie became one of the most beloved cult hits of all time. Today, there are fans who've seen it dozens of times, yet even they may not know all the bizarre stories behind the film -- from its beginnings as a Hollywood pool cleaner's pipe dream, to how the film's influence extended even to car-design engineers, to star Bud Cort's real-life May-December relationship with an aged Hollywood legend.
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25 Things You Didn't Know About 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'

By Gary Susman (Subscribe to Gary Susman's posts), Posted Dec 19th 2011 2:00PM
Filed under: Columns, This Week in Movies

It has been 10 years since the hobbits took over the planet. On December 19, 2001, 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' opened and accomplished the impossible. It proved that, despite a half-century of abortive attempts, J.R.R. Tolkien's supposedly unfilmable trilogy was not only filmable, but could be a magnificent achievement on its own terms. It changed the business of filmmaking, with innovations ranging from motion-capture and computer-generated special effects to social media marketing. It made an A-list director out of an obscure New Zealand filmmaker and made stars of newbie Orlando Bloom and journeyman Viggo Mortensen. Plus, it turned the whole world into Middle-earth fantasy geeks for at least three years as we watched the installments come out every December. Still, as celebrated as Peter Jackson's magnum opus has been, there's still a lot you may not know about how the three-part epic was made, from how the movie almost became a low-budget condensed version of Tolkien's massive saga, to the risqué ways the hobbits spent their downtime, to the real-life collision of Tolkien's universe with George Lucas' 'Star Wars' cosmos.
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Rating the Movie Santas, From Best to Worst

By Gary Susman (Subscribe to Gary Susman's posts), Posted Dec 19th 2011 11:00AM
Filed under: Features, Best and Worst, Holiday Movies


Sure, Santa Claus is super busy on Christmas Eve, but what does he do the rest of the year? Apparently, he makes movies. IMDb lists him as a character in more than 800 movies and TV shows. How, then, to rate all the cinematic St. Nicks from best to worst? We narrowed the list down to 21 Santas who had a prominent role in big-screen features. Some are the real Father Christmas, some are shopping mall impostors. Some are the stars of their movie, some are subordinate Clauses. Some are naughty, some are nice. And some are stellar in movies that are otherwise lumps of cinematic coal, while others offer moments of tough sledding in otherwise fine films. Read on to see if you agree with our list. Check it twice.
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