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Help Us Choose Movies' Most Badass Dad

By Jeremy Taylor (Subscribe to Jeremy Taylor's posts), Posted Jun 17th 2011 6:30PM
Filed under: Features, Hot Topic, Best and Worst

Happy Father's Day!

Being a dad is tough, but being a movie dad is really tough. The chances that your offspring are going to be put in mortal peril by terrorists or mercenaries or sex traffickers are much, much higher than they would be in real life.

Luckily, movie dads tend to have the confidence, courage and hand-to-hand combat skills required to rescue their children when the bad guys strike.

In honor of Father's Day, we want you to help us figure out the baddest badass of a dad in recent film history. Below are the nominees, plus the details of their extreme feats of parenting. At the bottom, take part in our poll to help select movies' Most Badass Dad.
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2011 Summer Movies: Independents, Part 2

By Jeremy Taylor (Subscribe to Jeremy Taylor's posts), Posted May 7th 2011 2:17PM
Filed under: Features, Hot Topic, Summer Movies, Coming Soon


'Beginners'
Opening: Friday, June 3 (Limited Release)

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent

What It's About: Director Mike Mills' father came out of the closet as a 75-year-old, and then died of lung cancer not soon after. In "Beginners," Mills' homage to his late father, a quirky love affair between Oliver (McGregor) and Anna (Laurent) plays out amid the memories and the life-lessons of Oliver's recently deceased and recently un-closeted father.



'The Troll Hunter'
Opening: Friday, June 10 (Limited Release)

Starring: Otto Jespersen, Glenn Erland Tosterud

What It's About: Trolls are very much a party of Norwegian folklore, and in 'The Troll Hunter' a group of Norwegian film students search for evidence of trolls in what could be thought of as the Scandinavian "The Blair Witch Project." The film garnered strong reviews after its home-country run, with critics praising its humor and special effects.



'Terri'
Opening: Friday, July 1 (Limited Release)

Starring: Jacob Wysocki, John C. Reilly, Creed Barton

What It's About: Terri (Wyscoki) doesn't have a lot going for him: He's an orphan, who lives with his sick uncle. He's teased mercilessly by his high school classmates, and ignored by his teachers. He's slipped so far into the margins that he wears pajamas to school because they're "comfortable." However, a friendship he forges with another unpopular figure -- the school's vice-principal (Reilly) -- starts to turn his life around. Eventually Terri gains acceptance, on his own pajama-wearing terms.



'Project Nim'
Opening: Friday, July 8 (Limited Release)

What It's About: Oscar-winning 'Man on Wire' director James Marsh's latest documentary tells the story of Nim, a chimp raised by humans from birth to see whether he could acquire sign language. Nim turns into a loveable but strong-willed creature, who likes to drink and smoke, and seems to be studying the humans as closely as the humans are studying him.

'Sarah's Key'
Opening: Friday, July 22 (Limited Release)

Starring: Kristen Scott Thomas, Mélusine Mayance, Niels Arestrup

What It's About: Based on the international best-selling book "Elle s'appelait Sarah," Kirsten Scott Thomas plays a present day American journalist living in France. She figures out that the Parisian house she lives in with her French husband was once home to a Jewish family, who were to be rounded up in 1942 during the Nazi occupation of France. During her investigation into what ultimately happened to the family, she makes some grisly discoveries.


What Summer Indie Are You Most Excited For?
Passion Play2 (0.6%)
Hobo With a Shotgun28 (8.9%)
Daydream Nation20 (6.4%)
Skateland14 (4.5%)
Hesher70 (22.3%)
The Tree of Life92 (29.3%)
Beginners18 (5.7%)
Sarah's Key8 (2.5%)
The Troll Hunter31 (9.9%)
Terri19 (6.1%)
Project Nim12 (3.8%)



Moviefone's Summer Movies 2011 Guide

2011 Summer Movie Guide: Independents

By Jeremy Taylor (Subscribe to Jeremy Taylor's posts), Posted May 7th 2011 2:17PM
Filed under: Features, Hot Topic, Summer Movies, Coming Soon

This summer, fans of independent cinema will be treated to tales about a hobo with a shotgun, a chimp raised as a human child, and troll hunters -- as well as a whole bunch of stuff about teenage angst. Check out our list of the summer's most interesting indie offerings.
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2011 Summer Movies: Family and Kids, Part 2

By Jeremy Taylor (Subscribe to Jeremy Taylor's posts), Posted May 6th 2011 3:00PM
Filed under: Features, Hot Topic, Summer Movies, Coming Soon


'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part II'
Opening: Friday, July 15

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Robert Grint

What It's About: The eighth and final installment of the Harry Potter film franchise has the not-as-young-as-he-once-was wizard on a quest to foil Lord Voldemort's plot to make himself immortal and conquer the wizard world. 'Deathly Hollows, Part I' was the second-highest-grossing of all the massively successful series, so expect 'Part 2,' which is being released in 2D, 3D and IMAX, to cap the series off with boffo box office numbers.


'Winnie the Pooh'
Opening: Friday, July 15

Starring: Craig Ferguson, Jim Cummings, Tom Kenny

What It's About: Everybody's favorite binge-eating bear is back in the first big-screen adaptation of the children's classic in over 30 years. The plot, based on three of A.A. Milne's classic tales, has Winnie searching for honey, Eeyore needing a new tail and Tigger being Tigger. The movie features an old-fashioned animation style which captures the spirit of original Pooh illustrator E.H. Shepard's etchings. The film checks in at barely an hour, making it perfect for kids (and parents) with short attention spans.


'The Smurfs'
Opening: Friday, July 29

Starring: Neil Patrick Harris, Katy Perry, Jonathan Winters, George Lopez

What It's About: Purists, beware: Instead of animated blue characters smurfing in a village full of mushroom-shaped houses, this movie has the Smurfs as three-dimensional CGI critters who find themselves right in the middle of live-action Smurf York City. Why are they there? Well, Gargamel has forced them from their bucolic, smurfy homestead, and now the evil wizard has followed them to the Big Apple so he can do away with his smurfy rivals for good. Smurf smurfing the smurf smurfily, right?

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'The Help'
Opening: Friday, August 12

Starring: Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia L. Spencer

What It's About: Based on Kathryn Stockett's bestselling novel of the same name, when Skeeter (Stone) returns home to 1962 Jackson, Miss., after graduating college, she finds that the black maid who raised her has disappeared. During her search for the maid, she learns more about the other African-American women who raise the wealthy white children of the South. Skeeter decides to challenge the status quo and tell their story.

'Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World'
Opening: Friday, August 19

Starring: Joel McHale, Jessica Alba, Jeremy Piven

What It's About: It's been eight years since the last 'Spy Kids' film, and the original undercover tykes are now all grown up, so this one is a bit of a reboot. Jessica Alba comes aboard as a retired spy thrust back into action with reluctant help from her two twin stepchildren. Piven plays the diabolical "Timekeeper," who threatens all of Earth.

What Summer Family Film Are You Most Excited For?
Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom43 (7.7%)
Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer4 (0.7%)
Mr. Popper's Penguins11 (2.0%)
Cars 260 (10.8%)
The Zookeeper11 (2.0%)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part II321 (57.6%)
Winnie the Pooh38 (6.8%)
The Smurfs24 (4.3%)
The Help31 (5.6%)
Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World14 (2.5%)


Moviefone's Summer Movies 2011 Guide

2011 Summer Movie Guide: Family and Kids

By Jeremy Taylor (Subscribe to Jeremy Taylor's posts), Posted May 6th 2011 3:00PM
Filed under: Features, Hot Topic, Coming Soon

With the kids home for the summer, sometimes a couple hours in a comfortable, air-conditioned movie theater can be a parent's best friend. Here are 10 movies that will be on the tyke's mind during their extended break, some of which may also appeal to some your more sophisticated sensibilities.
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2011 Summer Movies: Chick Flicks and Romantic Comedies, Part 2

By Jeremy Taylor (Subscribe to Jeremy Taylor's posts), Posted May 5th 2011 2:30PM
Filed under: Features, Hot Topic, Summer Movies, Coming Soon


'Larry Crowne'
Opening: Friday, July 1

Starring: Tom Hanks, Julie Roberts, Bryan Cranston

What It's About: Downsized because he never graduated from college, Larry Crowne (Hanks) enrolls in community college and develops a crush on the professor of his public speaking class (Roberts). She's having a bit of a mid-life crisis, and Crowne's attention makes her feel alive for the first time in a while. This is the second on-screen pairing of Hanks and Roberts, and the first feature film Hanks has directed since 1996's 'That Thing You Do.'


'Monte Carlo'
Opening: Friday, July 1

Starring: Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester, Katie Cassidy, Andie McDowell

What It's About: Three friends take a trip to Paris after their high school graduation. Their vacation gets a serious upgrade when one (Gomez) is mistaken for a local celebrity. The trio finds romance in French high society, but in the end they learn the value of their relationships with each other. At least that's our guess.



'Friends With Benefits'
Opening: Friday, July 22

Starring: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Emma Stone, Jenna Elfman

What It's About: Not to be confused with 'No Strings Attached,' this movie about casual hook-ups starring a former 'That 70s Show' cast member takes a more comedic look at the (decades-) old question of whether friends can be sex friends without being in a proper relationship. And the answer? Well, you'll just have to see the movie.



'One Day'
Opening: Friday, August 19

Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Romola Garai

What It's About: From the bestselling novel of the same name, Hathaway is a grounded, working-class gal who meets a wealthy playboy (Sturgess) on July 15, 1988, the day of their college graduation. They go their separate ways, and the film revisits their lives and their relationships every day on July 15 for the next 20 years.


What Summer Chick Flick Are You Most Excited For?
Something Borrowed86 (11.9%)
Jumping the Broom18 (2.5%)
Last Night31 (4.3%)
Midnight in Paris41 (5.7%)
The Art of Getting By51 (7.1%)
Larry Crowne73 (10.1%)
Monte Carlo46 (6.4%)
Friends With Benefits200 (27.7%)
One Day176 (24.4%)


Moviefone's Summer Movies 2011 Guide

2011 Summer Movie Guide: Chick Flicks and Romantic Comedies

By Jeremy Taylor (Subscribe to Jeremy Taylor's posts), Posted May 5th 2011 2:30PM
Filed under: Features, Hot Topic, Summer Movies, Coming Soon

You don't have to be in a hot and heavy romance to get your fix of summer love during the coming months. Instead you can just head on over to the cineplex and check out one of these films exploring the often hilarious interactions between men and women that make our world go around.
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