There is perhaps no greater mystery than what happens to each of us after we die, and in a healthy family, perhaps no greater love than that between its members. Two new films of uncommon depth and emotional power tackle those issues and are arriving in theaters this week, as director Clint Eastwood teams up with Matt Damon to explore the Great Beyond in “Hereafter” and Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell deliver performances that might set the standard for this year’s Oscar gold in “Conviction.”

“Hereafter” applies “Crash” and “Babel” school of storytelling, interweaving the stories of three distinctly different people in different parts of the globe in an intricate fashion. The film kicks off with a bang as Marie (played with a touching sense of fear and wonderment by French actress Cecile de France) is knocked out by the notorious Indonesian tsunami of 2004 before springing back to life and finding herself haunted by the visions she had while unconscious.

Marie’s a newscaster and is expected to keep a level-headed scientific mindset, but she is soon obsessed with her quest to figure out what happened and risks losing her reputation, career and relationship. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, a lonely man named George (a surprisingly vulnerable Damon) struggles to ignore the psychic abilities that have haunted him since he nearly died in a childhood accident. (more…)

I’m tired of ignoring the elephant in the room, so I’ll just come out and say it. Christians are corny, out of touch, lonely creepers who generally end up becoming murderers or rapists…. At least that’s what Hollywood’s taught me.

Not to mention they’re all a bunch of minority-bashing fear mongers. Why does anyone continue to allow this hateful, extremist group to exist? Am I the only one who feels that they could stand to learn a lot from the peaceful, Muslim folk?

If I hadn’t been raised in such a logical household, the entertainment industry would have elicited only one reaction from me in regards to “Christians”; “Good God, these people are crazy.”

It all started with the flick “Carrie.” Who can forget Sissy Spacek’s loopy, evangelical mom citing Bible verses amidst insane spiritual tirades until she was finally skewered with every kitchen utensil in the cabinet…all to a disturbing orgasmic moaning session. The scene was used to drive the point home: Christians are dangerous and nuts, but they’re great to make fun of. (more…)

There is a phenomenon known as “the Oscar bounce.” When a movie receives Academy Award nominations, especially one of the five coveted Best Picture slots, ticket-buyers generally follow. The Oscar seal of approval used to mean something to the rank-and-file moviegoer, but that seems to have changed.

Only one of this year’s Best Picture nominees has inspired any real passion from the broad public. The almost-certain Best Picture winner is Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight), and its devotees, including critics and members of the Academy (not to mention yours truly), have made it a word-of-mouth smash hit. The Danny Boyle-directed feel-good Bollywood fusion movie made for a meager $14M added another $2.05M or so on Friday and is charting a 3-day course for about $7.4M. That will give the Slumdog a $77.4M take, and it could reach $90M-$95M before it’s through in American theatres.

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The Drew Barrymore-produced romantic comedy He’s Just Not That Into You has made the jump from catch-phrase to self-help book to movie hit. With an all-star cast this classic ‘chick flick” appears to be winning the weekend after posting a spectacular $10.5M in opening day ticket sales. That should mean a 3-day start of $27.4M or so, easily out-pacing holdover Taken (Fox) and three other new wide releases. With this kind of opening, Not That Into You could reach almost $60M by the end of next weekend (a 4-day Presidents/Valentine’s combo), which would forecast a potential $90M in US ticket sales.

The new movie developed by New Line and now released by Warner Bros is based on the book of the same name co-written by former Sex & the City scribes Greg Behrendt and Liz Tucillo. The line itself has come to be a reassuring fallback for women in the dating scene (and I’m guessing single guys have adopted the mentality as well in the rough-and-tumble world of dating).

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