PLANET movies

This is another one of those films with an interesting subject as well a title that isn’t so easy to pronounce. Neither of these facts keep The Taqwacores from being a coming of age tale that takes a fascinating look at a subculture that many people have never been exposed to.

With World’s Largest , filmmakers Amy C. Elliott and Elizabeth Donius have created an exhaustive look at the world of quirky small-town America. The kinds of towns you may never heard of, despite their best efforts. Places like Strawberry Point, Iowa, home of the world’s largest strawberry. Or Winlock, Washington, home of the world’s largest egg. All across this great land, small towns have — for years — sought to bring tourists to their struggling main street’s with gimmicky sights to see, the likes of which are giant fiberglass eggs or mammoth killer bees. This is their story.

The story of Gene Hackman, who quietly turned eighty just two months ago, is one of raw will and talent overcoming a host of limitations that would have defeated most people.
He was the child of a broken home who lied to get into the Marines at 16. Later, he would study at the University of Illinois on the G.I. Bill, while maintaining a series of menial jobs, from doorman to furniture mover. At thirty, he still had no idea what his true calling was.

Then he recalled seeing Brando in "A Streetcar Named Desire" years before. Compared to the traditional glamorous Hollywood star, there was something powerfully authentic about the way Brando looked and performed. Hackman remembered thinking that maybe he could do that. Now, a decade later, the idea came back to him, and he promptly enrolled in The Pasadena Playhouse.

If Hackman was seeking some validation of his abilities there, he did not find it. Receiving rock-bottom ratings for his efforts, he resolved to go to New York, where soon enough he'd be sharing an apartment with fellow Playhouse alum Dustin Hoffman. These were lean times, to put it mildly.

I had a chance to sit with the guys from Dance With the One , which was almost as fun as seeing the film. The film is one of those perfect storms in independent filmmaking when an exciting story, skilled director, and a good cast create an entertaining experience on screen.

There is an epidemic of sorts in the world of independent filmmaking. It’s something that I blame on the likes of Noah Baumbach and Wes Anderson. A thematic choice so perfectly interesting if done well, yet so painful to watch if done incorrectly. It is the cult of the unlikeable character. It’s a bug that’s going around. In these stories — often set in upper upper class, or otherwise hip neighborhoods in New York — we’re made to feel as if we might root for characters who we’d otherwise want to smack, if they were real. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. And in the case of Tiny Furniture , it doesn’t quite work. However, I will concede that it is the single most adorable movie I’ve ever seen that involves characters who I’d otherwise like to see get hit by a bus.

Simon Rumley’s Red, White & Blue is a film about grey areas. There are no heroes or villains in the unforgiving landscape of this film, a landscape featuring characters that make life-altering bad decisions or knowingly do unforgivable things. It’s a dense, serious study of unfortunate happenstance, one which implements a brooding quietude throughout. It’s a film that focuses on details and allows these details to slowly accumulate in the propelling of the story, deliberately manufacturing its enveloping mood and setting throughout. It’s an impressive achievement, even if one doesn’t take into account the small, independent scale of its production. It’s simply the exact opposite of what one would expect from a low-budget horror film, as it deftly explores the horrifying capabilities of men and women when pushed to the limits of reason in an unreasonable world.

1. "Alice in Wonderland" ($34.5 million)
2. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" ($21.8 million)
3. "The Bounty Hunter" ($21 million)
4. "Repo Men" ($6.2 million)
5. "She's Out of My League" ($6 million)

Given the massive success of James Cameron's "Avatar" and now Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland," it's certainly looking like 3-D is the format to beat. For the third weekend in a row, "Alice" scored the top prize at the box office with a $34.5 million haul, just a 45% drop from last weekend's $62.7 intake. As of now, the film is sitting on top of a domestic gold pile worth $265.8 million.

Audiences can't get enough of director Tim Burton's fantasy world with 'Alice in Wonderland' topping the box office for a third straight weekend, grossing another $34.5 million.

Click the pics to see what other films had a successful weekend in theaters.

Every Sunday, Film School Rejects presents a movie that was made before you were born and tells you why you should like it. This week, Old Ass Movies presents:

I was able to see The Runaways here at SXSW, which is kind of a cool experience. One minute you are watching some kick-ass girls rock out on the big screen, the next minute you can see some of the impact those girls had on rock n’ roll out on the streets of Austin. I loved the film, and I was pretty excited to be able to speak with the woman behind the curtain. When sitting with The Runaways director Floria Sigismondi I could tell that she was very much in control of how to tell the out of control stories of Cherie Currie and Joan Jett.

There wasn’t much in the way of surprises at the domestic box office as Alice in Wonderland continues to tear up the box office with another first place finish and a haul this weekend of over $34 million. Its total haul is now up to an impressive $265 million.

For some time now, we’ve been in love with the art of short filmmaking, but we’ve never found a good way to cover them. So once a week, we will bring you a short film that we’ve enjoyed, or that we find interesting, in a new feature we call Sunday Shorts. This week, Sunday Shorts presents…

Deepika Padukone was in Salman Khan ’s wish list ever since she starred in ‘Om Shanti Om’ but with the on-going tussle between Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Saawariya&rsquo..;.

Couple’s Retreat (2009) dir. Peter BillingsleyStarring: Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Kristin Bell, Malin Akerman, Kristin Davis, Faizon Love, Kali Hawk**By Alan BacchusJust about the only thing this movie is good for is as a tourism video for Bora Bora. The failed comedy ensemble/Vince Vaughn vehicle is stunning to look at, but too good to look at.You should never notice the

From the 1964 “T.A.M.I. Show”: the Rolling Stones, who closed the concert.

Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn in John Huston's “African Queen,” much of which was shot on location. The film is coming to DVD for the first time.

It is quite possible that large portions of Diary of a Wimpy Kid will be lost on some people. However, those folks out there in the target age of the books, those currently in middle school and those of us who vividly remember their middle school experiences should find something in there to relate to.

The greatest part about film festivals is never the parties, the press networking, interviewing filmmakers, or even sneak peeks of major releases.  The best part of film festivals is catching small, interesting films that, prior to the festival, you knew nothing about.  I had never heard of a British film called Tony ; no buzz did I behold on any horror site and even when it was announced as part of the slate the publicity was oddly stifled.  I really didn’t expect much from it, a bias based on nothing other than the fact that I had never heard of it and no one was talking it up.  Despite my completely unfounded preconceived notion, Tony was an unassuming little film that knocked me on my ass.

Jack Kirby, one of the most influential artists to work in comics, was instrumental in creating many of Marvel's characters, like the Incredible Hulk, which was made into a movie.

The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films and then check back on Monday for the final figures based on actual box office.

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland easily topped the domestic box office for a third straight weekend, earning an estimated $34.5 million to bring its total to $265.8 million. The film also topped the overseas box office a third time with $47 million, bringing its total to $300 million. Made for $200 million, the Walt Disney Pictures release has reached $565.8 million worldwide. Playing in 3D, 2D and IMAX theaters, the film stars Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Matt Lucas, Mia Wasikowska, Alan Rickman, Stephen...