Free Republic

The electrifying $90.2 million wide opening of “American Sniper” – shattering records for the best January openings by tens of millions of dollars — stunned box office analysts and even distributor Warner Bros. Sunday. “We’ve never seen anything like this,” Dan Fellman, head of domestic distribution at Warner Bros. told TheWrap. The Clint Eastwood-directed Iraq War saga starring Bradley Cooper was on pace to top $100 million over the four-day Martin Luther King holiday weekend, uncharted territory for a movie at this time of year. It was an explosive and historic start for Village Roadshow’s R-rated “American Sniper,” which was...

Double Feature night at the DFB theater! Technical Sergeant Jim Moore (Jack Webb) is a tough, no-nonsense D.I. with a problem - Pvt. Owens. Owens is the platoon screwup who apparently wants more than anything than to get out of the Marines. Moore, though, sees potential in Owens and won't give up on him - "There's a man under that baby powder."

From director Sidney Lumet comes this intense military drama about life in a WW2 British "Glasshouse" - a detention camp for offending British soldiers. Life in the camps is hard, but this camp is harder than most, due to the presence of the sadistic Sgt. Williams (Ian Hendry), and the camp's disciplinary measure of choice - a towering mound of sand and rock known only as "The Hill." Trouble starts when a small group of strong-willed offenders (led by Sean Connery, in one of the best performances of his career) arrives at the camp. Will they break on the hill...

When This is Spinal Tap came out over 30 years ago, it went over a lot of people’s heads. “Everybody thought it was a real band,” recalled director Rob Reiner. “Everyone said, ‘Why would you make a movie about a band that no one has heard of?’” It’s hard to believe that lines like “You can’t dust for vomit” failed to come off as anything but a joke. But, to be fair, Hollywood comedies were generally straight-forward affairs in the ‘80s. Think Blues Brothers or Fletch. Fake documentaries weren’t a thing. And This is Spinal Tap looks and feels exactly...

Rockin' the Wall Studios began when noted history professor and best selling author Larry Schweikart contacted Hollywood filmmaker Marc Leif about producing a documentary based on a chapter of Professor Schweikart's then forthcoming book, Seven Events that Made America, America. The result was Rockin' the Wall, an independent documentary feature about how Rock 'n Roll helped bring about the fall of the Iron Curtain. The film was completed one year after that first conversation and in distribution about six weeks after that; an absolutely astounding record for an independent film. Immediately after came the start of the sequel, Other Walls...

A South Korean activist said Wednesday that he will launch balloons carrying DVDs of Sony's "The Interview" toward North Korea to try to break down a personality cult built around dictator Kim Jong Un. Activist Park Sang-hak said he will start dropping 100,000 DVDs and USBs with the movie by balloon in North Korea as early as late January. Park, a North Korean defector, said he's partnering with the U.S.-based non-profit Human Rights Foundation, which is financing the making of the DVDs and USB memory sticks of the movie with Korean subtitles. **SNIP** It is not clear how effective the...

Several movie theaters said they will begin showing “The Interview” Thursday, seemingly putting the comedy back in theaters after Sony Pictures Entertainment canceled its release. The Alamo Drafthouse in Texas said on Tuesday that Sony has authorized it to screen the film starting Christmas Day. Atlanta’s Plaza Theater also said it will show the film.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (BP) -- What's the best movie ever made? A subjective question, if ever there was one. That's the magic of movies: some folks will enjoy a film that may seem an endurance test for others. While "Casablanca," "Citizen Kane" or "Lawrence of Arabia" may be prime examples of technical and artistic innovators, I challenge you to suggest a more important message than that found in "It's A Wonderful Life." In this film about an angel sent to Earth to rescue a man on the brink of suicide, James Stewart's George Bailey is given the opportunity to see...

"“The Interview”: Orgy Scene with Kim Jong Un and James Franco Might Have Caused Concern"

Adding creative insult to corporate injury in the wake of the massive hacking of Sony's computer files, the film that may have triggered the incident, The Interview, is an intensely sophomoric and rampantly uneven comic takedown of an easy but worrisomely unpredictable target, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. In the relatively sparse annals of irreverent major studio comedies that pissed off foreign nations, for big laughs this one doesn't rate anywhere near Borat or Team America: World Police; the latter prominently included the present North Korean boss man's father, Kim Jong-il, among its many targets. Given the unique cloud under...

The country's top five theater circuits have decided not to play Sony's The Interview, a knowledgeable source tells The Hollywood Reporter. Regal Entertainment, AMC Entertainment, Cinemark, Carmike Cinemas and Cineplex Entertainment have all decided against showing the film. Carmike Cinemas confirmed its decision to drop the film on Tuesday. The other chains did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sony also had no immediate comment.

TOKYO — Angelina Jolie’s new movie “Unbroken” has not been released in Japan yet, but it has already struck a nerve in a country still wrestling over its wartime past. The buzz on social networks and in online chatter is decidedly negative over the film, which depicts a U.S. Olympic runner who endures torture at a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp during World War II. Some people are calling for a boycott of the movie, although there is no release date in Japan yet. It hits theaters in the U.S. on Dec. 25. Others want the ban extended to Jolie, the director...

Tonight's second feature is much lighter fare. John Cusack stars in this surreal 80s teen comedy. Co-starring David Ogden Stiers, Kim Darby, and Johnny, a sociopathic paperboy who wants his TWO DOLLARS.

Tonight, a gripping British made-for-tv film about the true story of the massive Jewish revolt and overthrow at Sobibor, one of the Nazi death camps inside Poland. Adam Arkin, Rutger Hauer, and Joanna Pacula star.

Hollywood, still wet from the soaking it took from Noah, has headed for the desert with Moses in the new movie Exodus: Gods and Kings. Surely this time we have a foolproof crowd pleaser filled only with milk and honey? Or, instead, is it going to be a lot of grumbling at bitter herbs?The movie, which opens today, stars Christian Bale, best known for his Batman portrayal, and is directed by Ridley Scott, no stranger to big screen extravaganzas like his film Gladiator. In 3D, and costing an estimated $140, 000,000, this must have appeared a formidable proposition. I mean,...

A group calling itself GOP posted a message online on Monday that warned Sony to stop “immediately showing the movie of terrorism which can break the regional peace and cause the war.” GOP — which stands for Guardians of Peace — did not specifically identify the movie. Authorities have been investigating whether the hacker attack is in some way be connected to “The Interview,” the movie that has generated condemnation from the government of North Korea.

Against the vehement protests of his adult children, 51-year-old burger baron Harvey Howard registers as a freshman at Pinehurst University and promptly rushes a fraternity. Howard struggles to overcome his age in making friends and immersing himself in college life. But as Howard begins to adjust to the academic environment, he develops a crush on his beautiful French professor Helene Gauthier that results in a serious campus controversy.

Tonight's film is a superb spy thriller based upon actual events in WW2. James Mason stars as Diello, the trusted valet to the British Ambassador to Turkey. Unbeknownst to the ambassador, Diello is not at all satisfied with his position, and has some very definite ideas about how a life of comfort and gentlemanly leisure might be possible... Based upon the real life intelligence op "Operation Cicero." Co-starring Danielle Darrieux and Michael Rennie.

FULL TITLE: Gosnell Movie Reopens Record Breaking Crowdfunding Campaign After Earning $2.2 Million to Make 'House of Horrors' Abortion Crime Drama Magdalena Segieda, Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney share their plans to film a made-for-TV movie about abortionist Kermit Gosnell and the Women's Medical Society late-term abortion clinic in West Philadelphia, Pa., if they raise the .1 million needed for the project. After exceeding their $2.1 million crowdfunding goal earlier this year to make a crime drama about Kermit Gosnell and his West Philadelphia "house of horrors," late-term abortion clinic, starting Wednesday, Indiegogo is allowing the Gosnell movie producers to...

Believe it or not, but the Ouija Board — a game that some believe opens the door to the spirit world — is one of the top trending toys that is “making a comeback this season,” according to Google. And it’s a development that has some faith leaders warning of potentially disastrous repercussions. Attributing the recent resurgent rise in popularity of the Ouija Board to the October release of a movie called “Ouija,” Google reported on its commerce blog that online searches for the board game are up 300 percent since the film reached the big screen. An Irish priest who serves...