Say what you will about Armond White, at least the iconoclast film critic is a conversation-starter. Over at CityArts White has posted his annual "Better-Than" list, in which he pairs seemingly disparate films of the year to show you why the movies you love/think are great are, in fact, vastly overrated. Example: " Jack and Jill > The Descendants," White insists, in a clear trouncing of "humility" over "sanctity." "Adam Sandler’s affectionate, very broad ethnic satire defies Alexander Payne’s smug denial of America’s ethnic history," he writes. Don't stop there, Armond!
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How appropriate: Your Labor Day holiday is on track to be owned by The Help, a movie about domestic workers. The female-driven, '60s-set lit adaptation has been dominating the charts for three weekends in a row, plowing through the end-of-summer competition left and right, and you know what? Not even sharks and astronauts and spies can slow down the Help train. The pic's on track for The Blind Side-esque awards buzz and an estimated $121M cume by the end of the four-day weekend. Is it crazy to imagine franchise potential here? Drop your The Help 2 sequel pitches below on your way to those Labor Day BBQs!
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New Yorkers may have been left unimpressed by the magnitude of Hurricane Irene (not so much folks in the less fortunate cities in her path, let's remember), but the much-hyped weather event left an indubitable mark elsewhere: all the way across the country in sunny Hollywood, where studio execs were likely cursing the name "Irene" as the box office tallies rolled in. With hundreds of theaters shut down across the East Coast due to hurricane panic and ticket sale losses estimated at $25 million, how much did new releases Colombiana, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, and Our Idiot Brother feel the impact of Irene?
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Much of director Olivier Megaton's female assassin pic Colombiana coasts on a certain popcorn movie badass factor -- lithe star Zoe Saldana as stone-cold killer hell-bent on vengeance for the murder of her family, slinking through missions in skintight catsuits (or less) and gracefully blasting away bad guys with beautifully cold precision in the grand tradition of producer Luc Besson's most famous female killers. But Saldana feels a more weighty responsibility when it comes to her action heroine debut and how its success might affect opportunities for women in film to follow.
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