Sensei. Sensei. Last week he predicted a “Twilight” win while the vast majority of other prediction sites picked “The Muppets.” We jokingly refer to this as “Sensei clearing the field,” and he’s had more than his fair share of those experiences. This week, it seems “New Year’s Eve” is in a race to cram as many actors possible into a single film while “The Sitter” tests Jonah Hill’s box office potential.

This weekend’s predictions and revenue results go as follows:

1. New Year’s Eve ($24 million) – The sub-par frame will hold it back from a “Valentine’s Day”-like opening, but it will still conquer the weekend easily. The biggest boost will come from those seeking glimpses of Sofia Vergara.

2. The Sitter ($10.5 million) – Jonah Hill’s films benefit greatly when he’s surrounded by other stars and not when he’s on his own. He’s basically on an island here as the lead. Most family audiences will hold off this one to wait for next week’s “Alvin and the Chipmunks.” (more…)

Bobby (Peter Facinelli) is living the high life in the new drama “Loosies.” He works on Wall Street, dates beautiful women and has a great boss (Vincent Gallo).

Well, that’s what it seems like on the outside to those closest to him (which would basically just consist of his mother). Dig a little deeper, and you find out that Bobby’s actual profession is that of a pickpocket, and his boss is a man who his late father owed $500,000 in gambling debt. Now, Bobby is slowly paying it off by working for him as an elusive street thief.

Oh, and the beautiful women? Well, one of them is three months pregnant and runs into Bobby. That becomes the central conflict of this hidden gem, available now via Video on Demand. Well, and the fact that Lt. Sullivan (Michael Madsen) is doing everything in his power to catch Bobby on account of the fact that Bobby got a little too greedy and pick pocketed his badge.

“Loosies” works mostly due to a strong and very likable script (which Facinelli wrote). The film gives us real characters with real reasons to dislike them, but what drives the film is how the actors and script show show us small details about each character that are positive. We want everything to be OK.

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“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part I” hit theaters over the weekend, hauling in a hefty $138 million. That’s a lot of dough for a 28 percent “rotten” rating at RottenTomatoes.com. But we all know the real reasons why “Breaking Dawn” did so well – teen girls, “Twilight” moms, Twi-hards and parents who chaperoned their kids to the midnight showings.

Edward can hear vampire baby’s thoughts

And, despite the poor rating, “Breaking Dawn Part I” is perhaps the most loyal installment in the franchise spawned from Stephenie Meyer’s beloved novels. For its PG-13 rating, director Bill Condon really worked in as much as he could to make it tasteful yet risqué, from a visually enchanting wedding to a horrifying birth sequence.

Of course there is a huge audience that dislikes “The Twilight Saga” as well; probably a good portion of that includes Big Hollywood readers. They think the acting is horrible, the story is cheesy, the melodramatic moments are too much and the fact that a girl could be in love with a stone-cold vampire is out of this world.

However, can we really deny the fact that “Twilight” exhibits conservative values?

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The more things change in Hollywood – CGI, franchises based on toys and Taylor Lautner, movie star – the more things stay the same. Like the fact that women are poorly represented in front of the camera, and the situation is far worse behind it.

The LA Times reports a new study by USC’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism uncovered some alarmingly consistent trends in the film industry:

In a survey of the top 100-grossing movies of 2009 — including “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,’ “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” and “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” – researchers found that 32.8% of the 4,342 speaking characters were female and 67.2% were male, a percentage identical to that of the top-grossing movies of 2008 …

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Part one of the “Twilight” saga’s finale hits theaters this weekend, and although I’m a (relatively) cool guy in his mid-thirties I’ll be waiting in line to see it.

After all, how can you go wrong with vampires, super-powered wolves and a drop-dead knockout like Kristen Stewart? Trust me guys, it’s really not that bad. What fascinates me most about “Twilight,” however, is that the very ingredient that makes it so irresistible to young women is what also makes it so dangerous for them.

“Twilight” reinforces an age-old myth perpetuated by Hollywood and the media that young women should identify themselves through their relationships with men instead of figuring out what kind of person they are on their own. Consider the fan culture that “Twilight” has created – the whole concept is really a long-running feud or whether you’re on ‘Team-Edward’ or ‘Team-Jacob.”

Edward is the dark, mysterious guy that Bella becomes obsessed with, and Jacob is the supportive friend who is constantly competing for her attention. Despite how intelligent Bella is, her criteria for romance is flawed because it’s not based on whom she loves, it is based upon which guy she thinks she should be identifying herself through.

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Last weekend saw “Immortals” take the crown to help improve the box office gross. This weekend marks the beginning of the end for the enormously successful “Twilight” franchise with part one of its “Breaking Dawn” finale.

As with all “Twilight” films, the conversation quickly changes from “will it be successful” to “how many records can it break?”

This weekend’s predictions and revenue results go as follows:

1. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part One ($140 million) – This one’s concept is more directly focused on personal drama than overall events. Because of this, it will not play like previous entries which had broader appeal and even lured in some of those hard-to-get action audiences. Still, an impressive opening is expected. Look for a trial run here as the next one will have the best opportunity to challenge all-time box office records.

2. Happy Feet Two ($38 million) – This children’s film is hoping for a “Puss In Boots”-like opening. Compared to the “Kung Fu Panda”s and Pixar classics of the world, this one never really felt like a huge franchise player. The characters are not household names or carry much interest in storyline. Will draw the much younger audiences but was very expensive to produce. It also carries the burden that its predecessor was released five years ago. That’s a long time to hold audience interest. Film will boil down to the film’s music choices. If the tunes come off great, it will fuel enough positive word of mouth to over perform. If the music comes off bland, then the film could fall very quickly.

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The freakishly popular “Twilight” saga is finally growing up, and just in time, since there’s only one more film left in the franchise.

“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1″ is yet another installment sure to baffle those who didn’t fall in love with author Stephenie Meyer’s novels. This time, our star-crossed lovers face some difficult choices involving life, death and the perils of bringing a baby into a mixed marriage – vampire and human, that is.

The first of the two-part franchise finale finds Bella (Kristen Stewart) and the ghastly pale Edward (Robert Pattinson) prepping for their wedding day. Edward tells her he once lived a more “traditional” vampire life but only chose murderers to snack on. Yet Bella probably wouldn’t care if he confessed to driving a busload of nuns into a ravine; she’s still madly in love with the handsome bloodsucker.

The wedding is everything a Twi-Hard fan could crave, and the film blends some gentle humor into the picture-perfect proceedings. Bella’s jittery pa (Billy Burke) looks more troubled than a man giving away his 18-year-old daughter to a man more pale than Uncle Fester.

The trouble really begins when Bella and Edward consummate their love at long last, a sequence directed with care by “Twilight” newbie Bill Condon (“Dreamgirls,” “Gods and Monsters”). The franchise has never been so PG-13 before, but parents will be relieved that the moment of passion is treated as delicately as possible.

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Well fiddle-dee-dee … another fairy-tale inspired story in the making in Hollywood!

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Guess Universal Pictures decided to get on board with the fairy tale trend after “Alice in Wonderland” and “Red Riding Hood” were received so well from the critics. Not! “Alice” scored a mediocre 52 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while ‘Red’ sits at a measly 11 percent.

But Hollywood doesn’t make movies for critics, they make them for the money, and any film that bounces off of a fairy tale is likely to bring in major dough. With director Tim Burton’s “Alice” raking in more than $300 million, I’m sure “Alice” producer Joe Roth is looking to bring in a similar dollar amount with his new spin on a classic yarn.

The Roth-produced “Snow White and the Huntsman,” hitting theaters in Summer 2012, is Hollywood’s latest attempt to turn a fairy tale into a blockbuster. In a twist to the genre, the Huntsman (a “Thor”-reminiscent Chris Hemsworth) is ordered to take Snow White (Kristen Stewart) into the woods to be killed. He ends up becoming her protector as they battle to take down the Evil Queen (Charlize Theron).

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But … but … where are the shirtless young men and white-faced heartthrobs?

“The Hunger Games,” Hollywood’s latest attempt to turn a young adult book series into a franchise, won’t hit theaters until March 2012. But the film’s new trailer offers some hints about the wannabe blockbuster.

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Jennifer Lawrence, so good in both “Winter’s Bone” and “X-Men: First Class,” stars as a woman chosen to compete in a ghoulish competition set up by a power-hungry government. It’s a futuristic yarn where citizens yearn to break free from their oppressive regime.

The trailer doesn’t give us much in the way of political commentary, and it’s doubtful the minds behind the movie have anything but “Twilight”-esque box office figures in mind.

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Being a conservative in Hollywood is much like getting your face tattooed in college; it’s a lot of fun if you never want a career.

Throughout the three-year history of this space, we’ve posted countless stories about the Hollywood blacklist. In the American capital of free speech and tolerance, conservative leanings are tantamount to career suicide.

We know most Hollywood conservatives keep it in the closet, but it turns out there is one secret far more dangerous — a secret so closely guarded among the trade unions, a lawsuit was filed to prevent a website from leaking the data. That big secret is actors’ real birth dates.

As movie audiences have become younger, movie roles for the elderly have become quite sparse. Being a Hollywood star is a really sweet gig, kinda like being a rock star in normal clothes. Who would ever want to give it up just because Father Time is sounding the gong? It’s a lot like the new film ‘In Time,’ where you’re dead at twenty six unless you have enough money to fix yourself.

Through the use of computer graphics, actors can still be action heroes long after receiving their AARP cards, and thanks to high-tech plastic surgery, actresses who should be eating brunch with a host of ladies in red hats can still work nude. So when IMDB started publishing birth dates on the Internet, well, you can just imagine the chaos that ensued.

In a town where a woman like Cher (born May 20, 1946) still wants to play a single mom, revealing birth dates can be tragic.

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DIXIE CHICKS’ VH1 STORYTELLERS AVAILABLE NOVEMBER 29

What are Dixie Chicks again?

All I seem to remember are three mouthy narcissists who were so desperate for attention they posed nude on the cover of Entertainment Weekly and then had a flop documentary made about them that portrayed the pampered multi-millionaires as victims of their own wildly stupid use of free speech.

Those Dixie Chicks?

Can I get a “whoa whatever”?

BREAKING: ZACHARY QUINTO IS STILL GAY

We have now entered day two of Zachary Quinto being gay. Rumor has it, he will still be gay tomorrow and possibly through the end of the week. Obviously this means that everything he does is more important than it was last week and it is now our duty to ooh and ahh over the profundity of everything He Who Is Above Using Capital Letters says.

Such an inspiration.

And why didn’t someone tell me that being gay suddenly makes everything you do so precious and important–you know, when there was still time for that information to do me some good?

HERESY: ‘TWILIGHT’ STARS JOIN IMMORTALS AT GRAUMAN’S CHINESE THEATRE

“Bloody Disgusting” has this exactly right. Over 80-plus years only around 250 recipients have been honored with immortality at Grauman’s and to have these three–who have done nothing other than star in a popular franchise–join is like having some one-hit wonder enter the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

I love movies but, man alive, do I hate pop culture.

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What’s to Like: The trailer’s opening has a strong ominous feeling to it that’s really intriguing and well-done. It’s too bad that the payoff to that intrigue is a wedding invitation for the nuptials of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and her vampire fiance Edward Culling (Robert Pattinson).

What’s to Dislike: This film looks like an episode of a teen soap opera complete with a romantic triangle, fighting and a troubled pregnancy. As usual, Jacob (Taylor Lautner) wastes no time before taking off his shirt. If he attends the wedding, let’s hope that he can keep his clothes on during it.

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It was either Kayser Soze or some French poet with an unpronounceable name who said something to the effect of, ”The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” Not everyone believes in the Devil but we all know Hollywood exists, and isn’t six of one just a half dozen of the other? After all, the greatest trick Tinseltown (with the help of the MSM) ever pulled was convincing the world that a belief in a moral code is what’s abnormal because all the cool kids are into a collective degeneracy.

Though liberals only make up 20% of the population, they’re still able to pull off this sinister bluff because conservatives took their eye off the ball and allowed the Left to infest the institutions in charge of documenting and portraying who we are as a society. Unfortunately, these socialist engineers aren’t stupid and figured out almost immediately that with a near-monopoly on sound and image they could make a majority of the population feel like the minority; with the goal in mind of using peer pressure to shape our culture into a godless orgy of anything goes hyper-sexuality.

The result is that those of us made nauseous by the idea of loveless sex are intentionally made to feel like the oppressive party-poopers – the weirdos, the prudes, the uncool outsiders lacking in compassion, enlightenment and sophistication. This devil has so perfectly executed this ruse that even those of us on to him can forget what’s happening until a genuine phenomenon like “Twilight” comes along to remind us. (more…)

After seeing the third entry in the popular “Twilight” series, there’s good news for non-fans. This movie is almost watchable. Unlike the first film, which suffers from bland characters and a lame plot; and the second, which suffers from melodrama and a lead character who’s always half-naked for no logical reason, number three is a serious improvement. However, there are still numerous and obvious weaknesses that detract and make it unworthy of a ticket purchase.

Bella (Kristen Stewart) continues to push Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), her vampire boyfriend, into turning her into a vampire. A bit of time has passed since the events of “New Moon” transpired and Bella’s friendship with her other beau, Jacob the werewolf (Taylor Lautner), has suffered since he fell in love with her. In the meantime, an army of vampires is being formed by the villainous Victoria, who still wants Bella dead because she blames Bella for the death of her boyfriend.

The love triangle is more prominent here than it was in the first two films because the three main characters are together more often throughout (unlike the second chapter where Edward disappears for a long periods of time). In the beginning of this film, Bella decides to visit Jacob, who has not been returning her calls. Edward, who continues to be creepy in his affection for Bella, prevents Bella from going but she eventually does go and this allows Jacob to reveal his long-held affection for her. Eventually, Edward and his team of vampires and Jacob and his team of werewolves have to work together to protect Bella from Victoria. Both sides will ultimately battle. (more…)

Kurt Loder at MTV News:

“Eclipse” might be as good as the “Twilight” films are going to get. The main actors have settled comfortably into their roles in this third installment of the franchise. Jackson Rathbone, Nikki Reed and Ashley Greene, the more interesting of the home-team vampires, have a welcome new prominence, and Robert Pattinson even has a scene in which he displays a twinge of character-development. The movie also has some actual action, as everyone must know by now — a big vampires-versus-vampires-versus-werewolves battle sequence at the end of the picture.

However, having imposed something like narrative clarity on the story, new director David Slade is still stuck with the story — which, deriving as it does from the paceless goop of Stephenie Meyer’s books, and having been wrestled into a script by Melissa Rosenberg, is a threadbare quilt of pre-teen romantic clichés padded out unconscionably with long character flashbacks and rambling dialogue that’s deader than any of the vampires in attendance. (The picture runs two hours, and might have been more enjoyable — and certainly less exasperating — if it had been cut down into a one-hour TV special.) (more…)

The payoff for sitting through a dozen craptacular releases is that one movie where you actually say, “Damn, that was worth the $11.50 and the kidney I spent to see it.”  As a modern moviegoer, you must be an eternal optimist.  You must hope against hope that the trailer you liked didn’t contain every single good scene and funny joke in the movie, and that the reviewer who raved isn’t covering up some pinko agenda that’ll make you choke out on your Goobers. 

You have to believe that out there somewhere is an action movie director who knows what a tripod is.  That there is a young lead actor who has never starred in a CW television series about beautiful but sensitive teenage male models with supernatural powers.  That there is a comedy screenwriter who can imagine a “funny” situation not involving a bodily fluid.  That Michael Cera will one day play a different character.

In that spirit, a spirit of Pollyannaish hope in the face of overwhelming evidence indicating that Hollywood’s product will almost certainly continue to demonstrate that evolution is a two-way street, I present ten movies that are coming within the next six months that might actually be good – or at least not make me throw things at the screen and slap around the ushers. (more…)

Stop the servers!  Jackson Williams at the Huffington Post has a newsflash:  Actor Matthew Marsden Hides His Right-Wing Political Views.

This raises a couple of questions.  The first is, “Who is Mathew Marsden?”  Well, he was an up-and-coming young English singer and actor with athletic roles in Rambo and Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.  Which leads to the second question – why would writer Jackson Williams be so giddy about the revelation that Marsden apparently does not hew obediently to the Hollywood left’s party line?

Well, it sure isn’t because he’s interested in giving Marsden’s career a boost.  Like the grinning little snot in every elementary school class who gets off on the high of narc-ing out the other kids to the schoolmarm, Jackson’s purpose was to tattle to every producer, agent, actor and other Hollywoodoid that Marsden had been a bad, bad boy.  He exercised his right to think for himself. Maybe Jackson should wear a sash:  “Political Hall Monitor.”  But it’s clear that his article is simply a nomination of Marsden for a spot on the New Hollywood Blacklist. (more…)

This past weekend, over 12 million people voted with their entertainment dollars to see “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.” Several million were no doubt church-going teenagers and young adults..” Several million were no doubt church-going teenagers and young adults.

“New Moon” is a spiritually confused, dangerous work.

On the one hand, it metaphorically asks the question, “How can I overcome my sinful nature and save my soul?” Thus, the “good” vampires in the movie are constantly trying to overcome their lust for human blood, often succeeding but sometimes failing. On the other hand, the movie’s heroine decides she wants to risk the possibility of losing her soul by becoming a vampire so that she can be with the vampire she loves.

Jesus Christ is very clear about the real spiritual dangers in this second message when He asks His disciples in Mark 8:36, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (more…)

“The Twilight Saga:  New Moon” is the second of four vampire stories by Stephenie Meyers, a Mormon. It continues the love story between Edward and Bella, two unique teenagers. Bella spirals down into a deep hole of depression when the vampire she loves leaves her, in an effort to protect her. She finds herself picking up the pieces of her broken heart with her best friend, who happens to be a werewolf.

Picking up where the first movie left off, “New Moon” opens with Bella (played by Kristen Stewart), having recovered from the vampire attack that almost claimed her life, starting her senior year of high school and celebrating her 18th birthday with Edward Cullen, a vampire who refuses to attack humans, and his family. After an ill-fated accident resulting in Bella’s blood being spilled at the Cullen residence, which is almost too much for certain members of the family, Edward (played by Robert Pattinson) decides to leave Forks. He believes he is protecting Bella from the dangers of the vampire world by doing so. He asks her to promise him not to do anything reckless. (more…)

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Kyle Smith: (more…)