Wire Entertainment - Movies

MAN OF STEEL

If Batman suddenly gave up crime fighting to join a rock band, that band probably would be the dark and menacing Rolling Stones.

Seventy-five years after he sprang from the imaginations of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Superman is making another visit to movie screens, in "Man of Steel," with Henry Cavill playing the superhero.

Ratings by the Motion Picture Association of America are: (G) for general audiences; (PG) parental guidance urged because of material possibly unsuitable for children; (PG-13) parents are strongly cautioned to give guidance for attendance of children younger than 13; (R) restricted, younger than 17 admitted only with parent or adult guardian; (NC-17) no one younger than 17 admitted.

Ratings by the Motion Picture Association of America are: (G) for general audiences; (PG) parental guidance urged because of material possibly unsuitable for children; (PG-13) parents are strongly cautioned to give guidance for attendance of children younger than 13; (R) restricted, younger than 17 admitted only with parent or adult guardian; (NC-17) no one younger than 17 admitted.

The world won't end with just a bang or a whimper, but also a truckload of sophomoric humor and Hollywood in-jokes. At least that's the way Seth Rogen and a bunch of his movie-star buddies see it in "This Is the End," a riff on the apocalypse that's closer in spirit to Harold & Kumar than Genesis and Revelations.

An aspiring actress has helped police track down a suspect in her father's 1986 slaying.

The sanity evaluation of Colorado theater shooting suspect James Holmes probably will be conducted by a psychiatrist and two psychologists, the state hospital chief said in a letter released Tuesday.

LOS ANGELES - Look, up in the sky! It's a bird. It's a plane. It's the expectations for Warner Bros.' "Man of Steel"!

Environmental activist and movie namesake Erin Brockovich will face a misdemeanor charge of operating a boat while intoxicated at Lake Mead, the district attorney in Las Vegas decided Tuesday.

Every couple make compromises: From the dinner menu to the number of children they'll have, love is about negotiation.

A cloud is hanging over free trade discussions between the European Union and the United States after France said it would veto any deal that includes the film, radio or TV industries.

It has been a black eye to Hollywood that throughout this, the unending and increasingly repetitive age of the superhero blockbuster, the comics' most iconic son has eluded its grasp like a bird or, if you will, a plane.

A cloud is hanging over the upcoming free-trade talks between the European Union and the United States after France said it won't back any deal that threatens the country's prestigious film, radio or TV industries.

In "This Is the End," a horror comedy about the apocalypse, a slaphappy bunch of funky comedy stars, including James Franco, play themselves before and after Hollywood burns. It's a gross-out extravaganza, with comic heroes and antiheroes who are more like pathetic victims, effects that echo torture-streaked horror films as well as the Book of Revelations, and a generally debauched sensibility.

The son of a Bollywood couple has been arrested on suspicion of abetting the suicide of his girlfriend, actress Jiah Khan, police said.

The lads of Hollywood's "Pot Pack" get together for a riotous riff on The Rapture in "This is the End," an often hilarious / generally irreverent comedy about the Biblical apocalypse as seen through the windows of a movie star's mansion.

Made for just $3 million, the suspense thriller "The Purge" scared up more than 10 times that in its opening weekend at the box office.

"A Hijacking" is every bit as straightforward as its title. This Danish drama depicts the seizure of a cargo ship by Somali pirates and the months-long negotiations for the release of ship and crew, and tells this story partly through the eyes of the crew that experiences it, and partly in the corporate offices where a CEO takes charge by playing hardball, capturing the pressures on both fronts to secure the release of the ship and the seven sailors on board.

The essence of a great car chase is editing, that combination of shots - points of view, inside and outside the car - that make the viewer share the sense of speed, danger and G-forces that the drivers must feel.

A tourist from northwest Ohio says actor John Malkovich played a starring role in rescuing him when he fell and gashed his throat on scaffolding in Canada.

NEW ORLEANS - The music is blaring inside James Franco's house and there's booze - and drugs - everywhere. Actor Michael Cera is snorting lines of cocaine, while comedian Aziz Ansari is trying (and failing) to hook up with Rihanna. Dozens of scantily dressed women mill about in Franco's architecturally sleek crib, which is decorated with artwork made by the actor himself.

Why does Hollywood have to make everything so complicated?

MIAMI - The Man of Steel had gotten rusty. While his DC Comics counterpart Batman was conquering the world via the Dark Knight trilogy, and the rivals over at Marvel Comics were raking in the cash with "The Avengers" and all its spin-off films, Superman had been put into mothballs.

Hobbits, elves and dragons appear to be luring tourists to New Zealand as fans await their first glimpse of the second movie in "The Hobbit" trilogy.

"The Internship" got bossed around at the box office this past weekend as the film starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn appealed to far fewer moviegoers than the low-budget thriller "The Purge."

Environmental activist Erin Brockovich, portrayed by Julia Roberts in a 2000 movie about her fight over the pollution of a California town, was arrested on suspicion of boating while intoxicated at Lake Mead near Las Vegas, authorities said Sunday.

The suspense thriller "The Purge" topped the weekend box office with a shocking $36.4 million that doubled industry expectations, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The world's future filmmakers got a preview of the kind of Hollywood glamour and glory that could be theirs someday as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented its 40th annual Student Academy Awards.

A gentle, honest and shrewdly realized film such as "Tiger Eyes," based on the 1981 Judy Blume novel, shouldn't have to fight for a moviegoer's attention or an exhibitor's screens during the crowded summer movie season. But it's worth seeking out.