Composer David Arnold this week reaffirmed his interest in having Amy Winehouse contribute the vocals to the next James Bond theme song, which Arnold will assist in writing for Sam Mendes's untitled 007 film set to shoot this fall. It's a natural inclination considering the singer's vintage '60s style and tone (assuming you want to go vintage; there's always the Duran Duran or Chris Cornell route, I guess), but then there's that minor problem of Winehouse being unshakably strung out on booze and/or drugs. Plan B might be in order. That's where you come in.
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Forbes compiled a (perhaps inexact) list of the highest paid women in Hollywood, and oh my gosh it's bleak! Oh my gosh! Specifically, the list highlights actresses who earned the most money from May, 2010 to May, 2011, which means plenty of tween starlets and longtime, fast-staling breadwinners make the grade. Gawk with us.
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He came back. On July 3, 1991, Terminator 2: Judgment Day arrived in theaters as naked as Arnold Schwarzenegger after time travel and came away with the then-biggest five-day opening in box office history. The James Cameron-directed film earned $54 million over its first five days of release, $3 million more than Tim Burton's Batman grabbed in its first five days back in 1989. Said an anonymous theater owner to the New York Times at the time, "At virtually all our locations, we were selling out well in advance of showings, and the word-of-mouth buzz out there is just phenomenal." Indeed it was: Terminator 2 went on to gross $204.8 million domestically, and over $500 million worldwide. All of which is to say: Happy anniversary to a cultural touchstone!
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Since arriving in theaters on Tuesday night, Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- the summer's most outsized, eye-popping and/or melting 3-D visual effects spectacle -- has grossed to $64.6 million, commencing what will no doubt be a prodigious (if not record-breaking) holiday box-office reign. And you know what that means: Now it's time to talk it over. [Advisory: Spoilers to follow!]
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As reported on Wednesday night, Disney is moving full-steam ahead on a film adaptation of the famed Matterhorn ride at Disneyland. Tentatively called The Hill, the new project will focus on five young adventurers who wind up tangling with some fairly upset Yetis atop a large mountain. Spooky, scary, etc. Instead of getting on your soapbox to complain about yet another Disney ride being co-opted for big screen doubloons, though, why not embrace the obvious and help Movieline suggest some other Disney rides that should become movies.
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A hearty, happy birthday this week to legendary animator Ray Harryhausen, who turned 91 on Wednesday and remains one of Hollywood's greatest living effects icons. His work in stop-motion animation brought believable larger-than-life effects to live-action cinema for decades before the ascendancy of CGI, and in a career spanning four decades, he brought movie magic to films like The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts, and Clash of the Titans. Which of his landmark sequences take the cake?
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On this day back in 1966, a baby boy named John Cusack was born in Evanston, Ill. Within two decades, Cusack had moved to Hollywood and was building the foundation for his long-lasting career on a series of '80s films like Better Off Dead, One Crazy Summer and Say Anything. Three decades later, Cusack remains one of our most beloved actors, capable of charming audiences as a lovelorn audiophile, a depressed puppeteer, a neurotic hitman, and a variety of onscreen personas in between. In celebration of the actor's 45th birthday, why don't you dust off your copy of Hey Soul Classics and join us below to decide which of Cusack's cinematic moments is his best.
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Reflecting on all my years (one) of reviewing Bad Movies We Love, I think the most epically bad is the '76 version of A Star is Born. Towering chestnut afros, Kneivel-like motorcycle accidents, the appearance of Gary Busey -- it's huge bad. But the newest update on Beyonce's planned remake could be a step towards an even worse production: Leonardo DiCaprio is rumored to be discussing the Kris Kristofferson role with new director Clint Eastwood. Is this a good or groan-inducing idea?
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