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9 articles
The Return of “The Tudors”
26 December 2009 3:49 AM, PST
The engrossing Showtime series about the reign of England’s Henry VIII kicks off its fourth season Jan. 3.
Tune in to see who survives.
The Tudor court is full of ambition and intrigue — personal, political religious, and often all three mixed together. This is office politics writ large as those close to Henry, spouses and advisors, had an unfortunate tendency to suffer beheading when they displeased Henry. Displeasing Henry was not hard to do. A daughter followed by a miscarriage or stillbirth was sufficient provocation.
Henry’s biggest claim to fame was breaking with the Catholic Church when it refused to grant an annulment of his first marriage, which would have enabled him to take a new bride. Season 3 ended with his divorce from his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, a marriage that lasted six months. She was one of only two wives to outlive him. Henry ultimately married six times. »
- pattirosenberg
Charlie Sheen Charged with Domestic Assault
26 December 2009 3:47 AM, PST
Charlie Sheen was arrested Christmas morning in Aspen, Colo., on felony domestic assault charges, the Denver Post reported. The “Two and a Half Men” star was released about 10 hours later on an $8,500 bond.
Police did not identify the alleged victim. But TMZ and other celebrity gossip websites say it was Sheen’s wife, real estate investor and actress Brooke Mueller. The couple married last year and had twin sons in March.
Sheen’s contentious divorce from Denise Richards led to her reality show “It’s Complicated” on the E! network.
Sheen and Mueller have been living apart recently, with Mueller renting a house in Aspen, according to the Web site Associated Content.
Sheen has a history of troubled relationships and substance abuse issues. But TMZ reported that Sheen and Mueller were both given blood alcohol tests — and only Mueller was drunk.
“I think ultimately what you’ll see is there was no criminal conduct whatsoever, »
- pattirosenberg
The Young Victoria
25 December 2009 5:24 PM, PST
You hear the synopsis: A historical dramatization of the sordid politics surrounding a young Queen of England’s rise to power. You feel you know this film. “Historical dramatization” puts it at a movie excursion of epic proportions, trip to the bathroom beforehand. Don’t buy a soda. Then the word “Queen” dictates pockets of tissues for a tale of immobilizing propriety and manipulation in marriage. Then comes the tagline, “Love rules All.” Well, now you find you’re quite unprepared for The Young Victoria.
Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. with Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend and Paul Bettany, The Young Victoria remembers Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as the greatest love story ever told. It lays the foundation for a widow in black until her own death, and the statue she erects in her husband’s honor.
From history we know her reign as the Victorian Era, a time marked by industrial, »
- jyates
Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes
25 December 2009 10:53 AM, PST
The best surprise behind Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes is it’s ultimate faithfulness to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s titular detective.
While the new film is certainly more action oriented than previous iterations–there’s very little of Basil Rathbone’s tweedy Victorian here– it gets the intellectual and physical energy of Holmes right. Despite a few out-of-place cgi sequences and an over-eager mystery plot, the movie works as the kind of pulpy adventures Doyle made famous.
Downey’s Holmes is brasher, more cock-sure and physically imposing than his cimenatic predecessors but his interpretation is in many ways more accurate to the Bakerstreet detective. Holmes boxing and using a martial arts prowess to defeat adversaries is not an extreme departure but a return to details that Doyle himself included as part of Sherlock’s make-up. He was trained in both street-fighting and various mixed martial-arts as was popular in the London of his time. »
- Nathan Bartlebaugh
Atomic Popcorn’s Top 10 Movies of 2009
25 December 2009 7:11 AM, PST
So I would like to start this Top 10 list off with something I call the 5.. oh who am I kidding. Here are five films that, had I seen them, might have been in my Top 10 List for 2009.
1. Up in the Air – Had the chance to interview Reitman and due to family reasons was unable to do it. Also had a chance to see the film weeks in advance and couldn’t make it.
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox – this is a movie that I am sad I missed. Something special about this world that they have built, and something special about this all-star cast of actors. A truly special (-looking) film.
3. The Hurt Locker – I don’t know how many folks have said, “Watch this movie — it’s amazing!” Well, so far, I haven’t touched it. I have nothing against it, just matters of time and priority.
4. Up – I know, I know, »
- Matthew
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Is Still A Thing That Is Real
24 December 2009 10:58 AM, PST
Disney’s big May tentpole, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time has been slowly but surely building up its marketing campaign since this past year’s Comic-Con, and now the Mouse House has released a new online featurette.
We’ve had the first official trailer available for some time now, but buzz for the film has remained muted at best. We could soon be experiencing a Kingdom of Heaven-esque box office disappointment from this film, dropping as it does at the beginning of the summer box office season. It’s an understatement to say that Gyllenhaal appears miscast in the film, but the film itself doesn’t seem particularly appetizing either. With CGI spectacles approaching such as Clash of the Titans and Iron Man 2, it’s easy to see how Prince of Persia: Sands of Time could be lost in the hubbub.
However, there are a handful of bright spots. »
- Andrew Ford
New Tron Legacy Image Released
24 December 2009 10:52 AM, PST
Disney has released a new image from next winter’s tentpole mega-blockbuster Tron: Legacy, which, in and of itself, doesn’t call for much celebration – but issued alongside it is a laundry list of writers credited with the story and screenplay, which at this point numbers a whopping Seven. This is rarely a good sign.
Of course, alongside this information is the reassuring mention of Daft Punk providing the score for the film. We’ve seen Joseph Kosinski’s pitch video for this film, and I think we can all agree it’s far more impressive than such a thing has any right to be, so let’s approach the sure-to-be-blitzkrieg marketing campaign for the film with a sense of cautious optimism.
It helps that the original Tron has aged surprisingly well, and that Jeff Bridges is back on board for this sequel. And that Disney’s confident enough »
- Andrew Ford
‘The Princess and The Frog’: Soundtrack Review
22 December 2009 5:04 PM, PST
I was part of the lucky generation of moviegoers that were privy to some of the biggest Disney hits. One of the first movies I remember seeing in the theater was The Little Mermaid, and from that point on I was hooked on Disney movies. Even at 22 years old, I’m still a sucker for anything Disney. Thus, I was really excited about the release of Disney’s newest film, The Princess and the Frog.
There was a lot about The Princess and the Frog that had me enthused about the movie’s release. First off, I’ve always been–and probably always will be–a much bigger fan of the classic 2D style of animation than the CGI animation with which Hollywood has decided to bombard us in recent years.
Don’t get me wrong, I think CGI animation can have an awesome cinematic effect, and since the release »
- Carly
Jersey Shore: Even Some Haters Get Addicted
21 December 2009 3:56 AM, PST
Eight Guidos and Guidettes, the beach, a bar called “Karma” and a plot driven by drunken hook-up attempts, what more could you want?
Not much, apparently. Between its debut Dec. 3 and its fourth episode last week, the audience for MTV’s new Jersey Shore series has grown from 1.4 million to 2.5 million, according to TVbytheNumbers.com.
Cast members were guests of Conan, Leno and Jimmy Kimmel last week. SNL spoofed the show Saturday night. Ashton Kutcher has gushed that Jersey Shore is “blowing my mind” and acknowledged that he’s a “huge fan.”
The series has also attracted its share of critics, especially among tourism officials and members of Italian-American organizations.
The show follows the lives of a group of twenty-somethings — all self-identified “Guidos” and “Guidettes” — sharing a bungalow in Seaside Heights, N.J.
As one of them explains: “I was born and raised a ‘Guido.’ It’s just a lifestyle. »
- pattirosenberg
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