Free Republic

Hollywood's problems at the box office last year may come down not so much to quality (or the lack thereof), as many have supposed, but to taste. There are plenty of talented craftsman in Hollywood, but—and this will come as no surprise—the prevailing tastes in Hollywood may not match those of the general movie-going public. Just look at the films that people actually went to see last year, and compare that list to what Hollywood is now recognizing as 2005's best. The 15 top-grossing films released in 2005, in descending order, were: Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith; Harry...

...Whatever the merits of [gender differences elsewhere, in] movies... the classic trope of female vulnerability and male strength has been upended and replaced with the childish and somewhat delusional notion that women can surpass men in every area of competition. One of this summer's biggest movies, "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," about a married couple who don't realize that they are both paid assassins, stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and received a lot of buzz for the supposedly heated off-screen romance between the two actors. Less remarked upon, however, was the violence their characters inflict on each other onscreen and...

Hollwood's 'golden couple' are going through a rough patch, and Pitt's closeness to Angelina Jolie is reported to be the cause.On September 10, Pitt attended an 'I hate George W. Bush' fundraiser without his wife, and has also been spotted dining alone at local restaurants. Friends of the couple have expressed concern over the amount of time Pitt and Aniston have spent apart. The couple have appeared together in public once in the last two months --at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Spetember 19.Pitt, 40, has reportedly grown close to the 29 year old 'Tomb Raider' star Jolie...