movies

File Under 'Duh': The Avengers Is the Second Biggest Friday Opening of All Time

Louis Peitzman · 05/05/12 03:37PM

For weeks, I've been reminding you all that The Avengers is on the horizon — it doesn't take a box office psychic to realize a film of this magnitude will do well. And wouldn't you know, The Avengers' Friday take was $80.5 million, making it the second biggest Friday opening of all time. (Number one remains Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, because wizards are cooler than superheroes, clearly.)

Sci-Fi Comedy Seeks to Distance Itself From Trayvon Martin Case

Louis Peitzman · 05/05/12 11:48AM

Fox's summer sci-fi comedy Neighborhood Watch has been renamed The Watch, after concerns that the film would remind people of the Trayvon Martin case. And it's tough to blame them: the original poster featured a "Neighborhood Watch" sign complete with a shadowy figure and bullet holes. Trayvon Martin was shot by real-life Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman, currently facing charges of second-degree murder.

Your Guide to Attending (and Surviving) Mid-Week Midnight Premieres

Leah Beckmann · 05/04/12 03:15PM

Last night I attended a midnight showing of the Avengers. I'm not particularly into the Marvel movies (never even saw The Hulk or Thor, so sue me), but it was a friend's birthday and it sounded fun and I thought, Hey I'm fun, I'm young. Sure I'll go.

The Dark Knight Rises and Channing Tatum Strips: Gawker's Guide to Summer Movies

Rich Juzwiak & Leah Beckmann · 05/03/12 09:55AM

The beginning of May brings us so many things to celebrate: warm weather, late sunsets, flip-flops, May-he-co. It's also the start of the summer movie blockbuster cash-grab. To commemorate it, we've provided our humble predictions for the summer's obnoxious hits, laughable misses, erstwhile sleepers, and inevitable trends.

Let's Discuss the Gay Classics

Rich Juzwiak · 04/05/12 05:41PM

When I watched Making the Boys, the documentary about Mart Crowley's seminal gay play Boys in the Band and its film adaptation, from which the clip above was pulled, I was a little horrified to see Christian Siriano conflating his ignorance with cuteness. (I'll concede that getting goofy could be his way of dealing with embarrassment, and it seems very gotcha of director Crayton Robey to spring this question without checking first if this small, smirking haircut of a human was familiar with the subject of his doc.) Regardless, don't do this. Don't neglect the work that helped facilitate the increasing levels of public acceptance you experience, and don't act like it's funny when you do. Don't be a Christian.

'I'm the King of the World' Titanic References Throughout Pop Culture History: A Video

Rich Juzwiak · 04/04/12 10:23AM

Today, Titanic 3D docks in theaters. Here's a supercut of almost 50 instances of Leonardo DiCaprio's (unfortunately?) immortal line, "I'm the king of the world," popping up throughout pop culture since the movie's original 1997 release. The phrase might be the most obnoxious thing you can say on a boat and otherwise. Sometimes the people making the reference note this. Sometimes, tragically, they do not.

The Odds Are Still in The Hunger Games' Favor

Louis Peitzman · 04/01/12 12:13PM

While tremendous box office success from Mirror Mirror would make a hilarious April Fool's joke, that's just not the case. For the second weekend in a row, The Hunger Games trounced the competition, earning $61.1 million. The film has now grossed more than $250 million with record-breaking speed.

Bloodthirsty Bully Harvey Weinstein Releases Movie About Bullies

John Cook · 03/30/12 04:00PM

Today marks the release of Bully, a "moving and troubling documentary" about the victims of adolescent bullying. It's being distributed by the Weinstein Company, which is co-run by Harvey Weinstein, a monstrous and violent bully who has hurt hundreds of people with his frequent rages and sociopathic lack of concern for the emotional or physical well-being of anyone with less power than himself.

When Dick Slips In: A Brief History of PG-Rated Penis

Rich Juzwiak · 03/29/12 06:05PM

As a companion to our earlier post about the sanitization of film through the PG-13 rating, here are a few examples of when things swung the other way. (It is namely dicks that are swinging.) Though the penis's on-screen presence virtually guarantees an R-rating today, we found a few examples of fully naked guys on PG-rated film. All of these instances date back before the introduction of the PG-13 rating in 1984, though that rating turned out to be even less permissive regarding penis (Cider House Rules contains the rare PG-13 dong flash).

The Reign of the PG-13 Rating: Sanitized, Safe, and Worth Shitloads of Money

Rich Juzwiak · 03/27/12 04:30PM

It's a great time for PG-13. Seven out of the nine films nominated for Best Picture at this year's Oscars were rated PG-13. Eight of the Top 10 grossing films of last year in the U.S. sported that rating. It's become something of a badge of honor: This Means War was edited to qualify (not that it made a difference in its paltry box office take), The Expendables sequel is being tailored to be a PG-13 "barbeque of grand scale ass bashing [that] will not leave anyone hungry" (according to Sly Stallone) and high-profile outrage met the MPAA's decision to slap Lee Hirsch's documentary Bully with an R instead.