They are quite popular with audiences

By Tudor Vieru, Science Editor

Softpedia.com

Horror films are not the standard in cinema, and are sometimes considered to be something of a niche genre. In spite of this, they cash sufficiently large sums of money at the box office, and have dedicated fans that form strongly bound communities. In recent months, a number of horror movies have taken theaters by storm, showcasing the supernatural and the frightening. Experts have been puzzled at what makes these films popular for many years, and finally decided to investigate the matter thoroughly.

In fact, the question that had scientists scratching their heads was why people keep coming back to the theaters when these movies are running, if they were scarred out of their minds the first time around. Ask a horror buff, and they will tell you that, as soon as they get up from the edge of their seats, they are ready to go at it again. If we find the sequences in these movies so repulsive, why do we keep watching them?

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Image: Horror movies gross big at the box office even if they are a niche genre (Flickr / insertinanename)

By Chris Nashawaty

EW.com

Last night, some very lucky Star Trek fans who believed they were walking into a screening of 1982's Wrath of Khan instead got a surprise sneak peek at J.J. Abrams' new enterprise. While Abrams' reboot/prequel, Star Trek, isn't scheduled to officially hit theaters until May 8, those fortunate enough to be on hand at the Alamo Draft House in Austin, Tex., were the giddy victims of a blockbuster bait and switch. And nudging the event into total nerdvana territory, the hotly anticipated summer tentpole was reportedly introduced by the film's writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, its producer Damon Lindelhof (Lost), and (get this) Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy.

Needless to say, those in attendance -- no doubt very familiar with making their sci-fi opinions known in cyberspace -- immediately posted early reviews of the film on the Internet. And so far, the reactions range from wildly ecstatic to only barely less ecstatic. On his AICN site, Austin's blogging poobah Harry Knowles dedicated about 40,000 words to the screening, reporting that it concluded with a standing ovation that lasted five to six minutes. "After the film, the audience was a collective smile, some crying they were so happy," Knowles wrote.

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Photo Credit: Industrial Light and Magic

February 22, CNN

Perhaps it really was destiny.

"Slumdog Millionaire," the little film that overcame tremendous odds simply to earn an American release, won eight Oscars Sunday night at the 81st annual Academy Awards, including best picture.

"Most of all we had passion and we had belief, and our film shows if you have those two things, you have everything," said producer Christian Colson, surrounded by many members of the film's huge cast and crew.

It was a supremely unlikely success story. "Millionaire," which combines elements of Bollywood melodrama and documentary grit, features no stars.

It's set largely among the poverty-stricken districts of Mumbai, India, and one-third of the film is in Hindi. Its initially reluctant director, Danny Boyle, is better known for brash British films such as "Trainspotting" and "28 Days Later." And the film almost went straight to DVD in America, thanks to the folding of initial studio Warner Independent Pictures (like CNN, it's a unit of Time Warner).

But the film's orphaned, poverty-raised hero, played by Dev Patel, overcomes his challenges to earn a spot on the game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" -- not necessarily to win money, but to connect with his lost love. On the show, he's told that perhaps he is a figure of destiny.

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photo: Dev Patel and Freida Pinto star in "Slumdog Millionaire," which won eight Oscars, including best picture. (By Fox Seachlight)

By Asher Moses

September 1, The Sydney Morning Herald

The creator of US TV drama The West Wing, Aaron Sorkin, is making a film about the controversial origins of Facebook.

The social networking site, which now counts more than 100 million users, has already distanced itself from the yet-to-be-named movie, saying it has not agreed to cooperate with any film project.

Harvard alumni magazine 02138 reported the film would be an adaptation of Ben Mezrich's upcoming book, Face Off, which includes allegations that founder Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea for the site from classmates and started it in 2004 as a way to meet women.

Through an assistant, Sorkin recently started a group on Facebook with the hope of learning more about the site and gathering interesting stories from users.

"I've just agreed to write a movie for Sony and producer Scott Rudin about how Facebook was invented," he wrote.

"I figured a good first step in my preparation would be finding out what Facebook is, so I've started this page. (Actually it was started by my researcher, Ian Reichbach, because my grandmother has more Internet savvy than I do and she's been dead for 33 years.)"

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photo: Aaron Sorkin (by SMH)

By Paul Bond

July 21, Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - It seems that 4,366 theaters weren't quite enough.

As hype for new box office champ "The Dark Knight" reached a fever pitch over the weekend, moviegoers were surfing eBay and Craigslist for tickets, sometimes paying five times face value for them.

The hottest items were tickets to Imax showings. The movie opened on 94 Imax screens, and company executives did a good job letting folks know that director Christopher Nolan shot many of the biggest action scenes with an Imax camera, making it was the best venue for viewing the film.

All the publicity didn't hurt Imax stock, either: It gained 18 percent last week. "The Dark Knight," meanwhile set a new weekend record by selling $155 million worth of tickets.

The going online-auction price for an Imax "Dark Knight" ticket seemed to be around $50 -- with many sellers asking $60 and many buyers offering $40.

An eBay spokesperson said she didn't recall seeing this many, if any, offers to buy and sell movie tickets on the site before.

And eBay has seen a surge in activity related to Batman in general, with nearly 23,000 items listed on Friday. As for movie-related Batman gear, Christian Bale paraphernalia is the most popular.

The online auction house said that 2,147 collectible items related to Bale's Batman were listed, ahead of Val Kilmer (823), Michael Keaton (768) and George Clooney (184).

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photo: Actor Christian Bale as Batman is shown in a scene from director Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" in this undated publicity photo released to Reuters July 18, 2008 (REUTERS/Warner Bros. Pictures/Handout)

Jack Black's animated film grossed an impressive $60 mil to beat Adam Sandler's ''You Don't Mess With the Zohan'' and finish first on a strong weekend at the box office

By Joshua Rich

June 10, EW

On a robust weekend when the four top movies each earned over $20 million and the cumulative box office take was way up from a year ago, it was Kung Fu Panda that led the way. With an impressive $60 million debut gross, the Jack Black animated film easily finished in first place, beating Adam Sandler's strong new flick You Don't Mess With the Zohan and the long-legged holdovers Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Sex and the City.

For Kung Fu Panda, that blockbuster $60 mil opening ranked No. 9 on the all-time list of animated premieres, and it was the best yet for a non-sequel from DreamWorks Animation (only Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third banked more on their first weekends). It was almost exactly in line with the $60.1 mil that Pixar's Cars bowed with on this weekend two years ago. It was the best opening ever for a movie starring Jack Black's voice...or body (topping King Kong's $50.1 mil). It was the third No. 1 movie to be distributed by Paramount in this six-week-old summer (Iron Man and Indy 4 were the others; none were produced by Paramount, however). And, yep, it was exactly — exactly! — what I predicted. Judging by the film's nice A- CinemaScore review from a crowd that, remarkably, skewed older than many pundits anticipated (45 percent of its audience was over the age of 25), Kung Fu Panda should cruise to big box office returns for several weeks, until Wall-E opens at the end of the month.

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image: KUNG FU PANDA Jack Black's animated movie was a force to be reckoned with at the box office this weekend (EW).

May 12, News.com.au

PIRATES Of The Caribbean director Gore Verbinski will make a movie based on the hit videogame Bioshock, Take-Two Interactive Software has announced.

"Gore is an avid video gamer and true fan of Bioshock. That was extremely important to us in deciding to move forward with this project," said president of Take-Two's 2K Games label Christoph Hartmann.

The movie will be made by Universal Pictures and John Logan, the screenwriter behind Gladiator and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street, was in talks to pen the script, the company said.

Take-Two did not disclose financial terms of the deal or other details, such as when the film would be released.

The company is currently the target of a $US2 billion ($2.12 billion) takeover bid by rival game publisher Electronic Arts.

Released last August for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 game console, Bioshock won praise for its complex story, haunting art deco atmosphere and creepy characters such as Big Daddies and Little Sisters.

The game has sold more than 2 million copies and Take-Two is working on a sequel.

The Bioshock movie deal is the latest sign of the growing importance of video games in popular culture.

Earlier this week, Take-Two said its Grand Theft Auto IV criminal action game racked up more than $US500 million ($531 million) in global sales in its first week.

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photo: Coming soon ... a film based on the award-winning videogame Bioshock has been announced / 2K Games

By Betsy Schiffman

April 15, Wired

Studio execs have an odd conundrum: Box-office receipts have steadily grown but the number of ticket sales have not. Thanks to the proliferation of home theaters, movies-on-demand and portable video players, moviegoers have fewer reasons to actually "go" to a movie. The studios' solution? Hike ticket prices by a couple bucks apiece and ramp up production of 3-D movies.

"It's pretty clear right now that you can charge a premium for 3-D," says Doug Creutz, an analyst with Cowen & Co., who covers the entertainment industry. "We're probably talking about the difference between $15 and $10 [tickets]. And attendance is much better for 3-D movies."

Filmmakers and studios alike have pledged their allegiance to 3-D. Disney and Pixar announced this week that it will release all of its films in 3-D, starting with Bolt, which is slated for a November release. Dreamworks Animation says that by 2009 all of its movies will be released in 3-D. James Cameron is working on big-budget 3-D sci-fi flick called Avatar, and George Lucas is working on remastering all the Star Wars movies in 3-D.

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photo: DreamWorks Animation's Monsters vs. Aliens is the studio's first movie produced in 3-D technology. It's slated for a March 2009 release.
Courtesy DreamWorks

Horror remake bumps ‘21’ to No. 3; Keanu Reeves’ ‘Street Kings’ takes 2nd

AP

April 14, MSNBC

LOS ANGELES - Audiences made a date with “Prom Night,” the remake of the 1980 slasher flick that took in $22.7 million to debut as the weekend’s No. 1 movie, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The movie, released by Sony’s Screen Gems banner, stars Brittany Snow as a teen terrorized by a psycho killer on prom night. It overcame the critical drubbing handed to most fright films, which have a built-in audience that often turns out in big numbers on opening weekend regardless of reviews.




“Audiences today, they’re so savvy in regards to what they want to see or don’t want to see. Particularly a younger audience, they pretty much make up their own mind,” said Rory Bruer, Sony head of distribution.

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One of the key scenes in the upcoming "Dark Knight" movie might get cut due to negative feedback from test audiences

By Monica Gaza, Entertainment News Editor

April 11, Softpedia

The upcoming movie in the Batman series - "The Dark Knight" - is set to turn into one of the biggest Warner Bros releases of all times. The cult developed by the Batman franchise and the very positive critical acclaim gained by "Batman Begins", together with Heath Ledger's remarkable performance as the "psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with
zero empathy" that goes by the name of the Joker, already provide the movie an aura of dark glamor, promising audiences a real feast when it hits theaters in July. However, in the light of Heath Ledger's tragic death in January this year, news got out that a key Joker scene in the movie is about to be cut due to its potentially disturbing character.

The scene in question involves Heath Ledger's character the Joker playing dead inside a body bag. Apparently, at the preliminary screenings, audiences have not reacted well to seeing Ledger seemingly dead - of course, this is due to the young actor's tragic accidental death in January this year. When the "Joker playing dead" scene first came up on screen, test audiences reportedly reacted in a very uncomfortable way, "gasping, shuffling and murmuring", with an overall atmosphere of strain and unease. However, the scene in question is also said to be crucial for the movie's plot development. As a result, the producers are currently in limbo, not being able to figure out what to do: leave the scene and risk controversy, or cut it and lose one the key moments.

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photo: One key Joker scene might get cut from "The Dark Knight" on account of negative feedback from test audiences (Womics)

April 10, MTV

Disney and Pixar join forces for this computer-animated tale about a wide-eyed robot that travels to the deepest-reaches of outer space in search of a newfound friend. The year is 2700, and planet Earth has long been inhabitable. For hundreds of years, WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) has been taking out the trash, and collecting precious knick-knacks in order to stave off the boredom of his dreary routine.

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* Release: 6/27/2008
* Director: Andrew Stanton
* Starring: Fred Willard, Jeff Garlin, Ben Burtt

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March 28, Photobucket

Plus: Matthew McConaughney dishes on new movie; box office predictions

March 28, MSNBC

Considering all the speculation that surrounded the casting of the upcoming “Star Trek” movie, it wouldn’t seem like a stretch to think that Tom Cruise might be one more late addition to the roster.

“Tom visited the set of the movie and chatted with J.J. Abrams,” a source close to the actor said. The last time Cruise was spotted on a set for a movie he wasn’t said to be signed on for — “Tropic Thunder” — it turned out he had a small role. Unfortunately for Cruise fans, the visit to the “Star Trek” set was just a social call — Cruise and Abrams are friends, and apparently, Cruise is a fan of the television series and in particular, Dr. Spock.

“He asked J.J. if there’s a way he can meet Leonard Nimoy. He said he’d always really respected his work,”

“Star Trek” isn’t due out until summer 2009, “Tropic Thunder” arrives in theaters this August, and Cruise’s sophomore effort from United Artists, “Valkyrie,” will be released in October.

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photo: Tom Cruise reportedly is a big fan of the “Star Trek” television series and of Dr. Spock in particular (Paul Buck / Corbis)

By Joal Ryan

March 25, Yahoo

If you've been holding your breath for The A-Team movie, well, we feel sorry for you.

But help is on the way for you and your oxygen-deprived brain. So just hold on. Until June 12. Of next year. Feel better? You should, actually.

The release date, as reported by Variety, is the first for the long-discussed, long-suffering project.

John Singleton, who last yelled cut on Four Brothers, will direct; Michael Bandt and Derek Haas, who helped shoot the lights out with 3:10 to Yuma, are writing the screenplay.

As reported, the movie will follow the basic recipe of the 1983-87 TV series: Take four ex-military men; add one war crime they didn't commit; mix in chases, pursuits and more chases.

Given the source material, Singleton has promised an action movie, a serious action movie—"wall to wall kicking ass and talking s--t," as he put it to Collider.com. The film presently is sans actors, A-list, B-team or otherwise, as Singleton himself has made very clear.

"I don't know who is in the cast yet, so all this bulls--t of who is saying who is this person and who is [this person]," Singleton told Collider.com.

Singleton did allow that he "really, really want[s]" Woody Harrelson to play "Howling Mad" Murdoch, the sanity challenged pilot given life on the TV series by Dwight Schultz.

In the interview, conducted in January, Singleton sounded a lot like a man who's been a little bit hounded by fans demanding to know who's going to play Mr. T.

"Nobody is playing Mr. T—the character's name is B.A. Baracus," the filmmaker reminded.

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photo: Mr T (by Yahoo)

Find out who went home with an Academy Award.

Feb 24, MTV

It's time for the 80th annual Academy Awards, and there will be no silver or bronze handed out tonight — only Oscar gold. We're keeping track of the winners in every category right here, so bookmark this page and don't be afraid to answer the doorbell when the pizza guy arrives.




Best Motion Picture
· "Atonement"
· "Juno"
· "Michael Clayton"
· "No Country for Old Men"
· "There Will Be Blood"

Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role
· George Clooney in "Michael Clayton"
· Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood"
· Johnny Depp in "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
· Tommy Lee Jones in "In the Valley of Elah"
· Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises"

Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role
· Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
· Julie Christie in "Away From Her"
· Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose"
· Laura Linney in "The Savages"
· Ellen Page in "Juno"

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photo: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (MTV)

Feb 15, YouTube

Real lessons in love you can learn from the movies

Feb 14, Yahoo

Four Weddings and a Funeral
Lesson: Don't be afraid to mingle at weddings
While making the scene at a string of weddings with his best pals, lovably bumbling Brit Hugh Grant meets a sweet (but kind of dull) American girl and then proceeds to lose her and get her back repeatedly. Next time you dread buying a gift and suiting up for a wedding, look at the bright side, your bland and beautiful soul mate might be seated at your table!


Say Anything
Lesson: Do make a grand romantic gesture
Sure the trench coat looks a little stalker-ish now but, who can forget John Cusack as Lloyd Dobler the ultimate slacker cutie holding a boom-box (yes, it was the '80s) over his head blasting Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" outside his beloved Diane Court's (Ione Skye) house. That dude was willing to do whatever it took to get his woman back. It was bold, a little bit goofy, and it worked.

When Harry Met Sally
Lesson: Don't rule out an old friend
In this classic romantic comedy Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal look everywhere for love but with each other. Their friendship is contentious, sometimes sulky, but it's consistent. They are always there for each other (even during her bad perm and shoulder-pads phase). As is always true in this genre, they have to lose each other before they realize what's right under their noses: true love!

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photo by Yahoo

Feb 13, Reuters

LOS ANGELES - He said "Revenge of the Sith" would be his final "Star Wars" film, but creator George Lucas is taking another shot at silver screens with the animated "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" in movie theaters in August.

Lucasfilm Ltd. and the Warner Bros. film studio said on Tuesday they would release the movie on August 15, ahead of the fall debut of an animated TV series of the same name on cable television's Cartoon Network and TNT.

"I felt there were a lot more 'Star Wars' stories left to tell," Lucas said in a statement. "I was eager to start telling some of them through animation and, at the same time, push the art of animation forward."

The six-film "Star Wars" series is one of Hollywood's most lucrative franchises. It started with the initial "Star Wars" in 1977 and ended with 2005's "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith."

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photo: Director George Lucas and girlfriend Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Capital Management, arrive at the American Film Institute's 40th anniversary event featuring screenings of classic films in Hollywood, California October 3, 2007. He said "Revenge of the Sith" would be his final "Star Wars" film, but creator Lucas is taking another shot at silver screens with the animated "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" in movie theaters in August (REUTERS/Fred Prouser)

Feb 12, news.com.au

DANIEL Radcliffe insists rumours Steven Spielberg is to direct the seventh Harry Potter film are "absolute rubbish".
The 18-year-old star, who plays the boy wizard in the franchise, says as far as he knows the legendary filmmaker is not involved in the final installment of the series.

Speaking on the red carpet at yesterday's BAFTA awards ceremony in London, he said: "It's absolute rubbish that Spielberg is directing the final film. It's not true. There's absolutely no foundation in that at all.

"I have no idea how that rumour started or where it came from. It's not true. How's that for a definitive answer?"

Daniel also revealed filming on the sixth movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is going well.

H e told British radio station Heart: "We're getting through it alright. I'm really enjoying it. We're about six months in and we've only got four more to go."

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photo by news.com.au

By DAVE KEHR

Feb 11, NY Times

Roy Scheider, a stage actor with a background in the classics who became one of the leading figures in the American film renaissance of the 1970s, died on Sunday afternoon in Little Rock, Ark. He was 75 and lived in Sag Harbor, N.Y.

Mr. Scheider had suffered from multiple myeloma for several years, and died of complications from a staph infection, his wife, Brenda Seimer, said.

Mr. Scheider’s rangy figure, gaunt face and emotional openness made him particularly appealing in everyman roles, most famously as the agonized police chief of “Jaws,” Steven Spielberg’s 1975 breakthrough hit, about a New England resort town haunted by the knowledge that a killer shark is preying on the local beaches.

Mr. Scheider conveyed an accelerated metabolism in movies like “Klute” (1971), his first major film role, in which he played a threatening pimp to Jane Fonda’s New York call girl; and in William Friedkin’s “French Connection” (also 1971), as Buddy Russo, the slightly more restrained partner to Gene Hackman’s marauding police detective, Popeye Doyle. That role earned Mr. Scheider the first of two Oscar nominations.

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photo by Bob Riha Jr/WireImage.com