The debate over Bill C-10, the proposed law that would permit the government to deny tax credits to Canadian films that are deemed to be offensive in some way, has now been kicked up to another level or two. First, the Globe and Mail reports that the federal finance minister has said he considers this bill a matter of confidence, meaning the opposition parties could trigger an election if they vote the legislation down — and it looks like the... Read more

A friend of mine wrote to ask if I felt any “outrage” over the kiss that takes place in the newest TV spot for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. In a nutshell, no I don’t, at least not yet; I am willing to wait and see how it fits into the broader film, though I must say the kiss should be deeply awkward for Caspian, at least, since to him Susan is no ordinary girl but, rather, one of... Read more

A few days ago I posted a trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull that had apparently been filmed surreptitiously and leaked onto the internet. By the end of the day, however, the trailer had been taken down. Well, now it’s back online again — and in high-definition — on the movie’s official website. As before, it gives us new glimpses of the crystal skull and of the John Hurt character, so I have added screen-captures... Read more

Last week saw the release of Baby Mama and Then She Found Me, two movies that, as Carina Chocano of the Los Angeles Times pointed out, both concern “a woman in her late 30s who is desperate to have a baby.” But one of those films opened in over 2,500 theatres across the continent, while the other one opened in only 9, so it wasn’t really a fair fight — and I’m sure you could always find some obscure flick... Read more

I won’t post anything spoiler-ish here in this post, but suffice it to say that Official Pix has some new photos from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull for sale, including a couple shots of the reclusive John Hurt character and a few brand-new shots of the crystal skull itself, which I have added to my “crystal skull sightings” post from three months ago. Hat tip to ComingSoon.net. Read more

I haven’t had a chance to listen to the director’s commentary yet, but I checked out the bonus disc that comes with The Golden Compass today, and one comment in particular stood out from the nearly three hours of behind-the-scenes documentaries. In the featurette on the film’s production design, executive producer Mark Ordesky states: Dennis Gassner started with the idea of Lyra and her world as this pure place, so to use — to sort of take that into a... Read more

Very cute. And not just because I happen to be watching Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica as I type this. Hat tip to Alissa Wilkinson. Read more

Time to unload another stockpile of links ‘n’ things. 1. Bridge to Terabithia (2007) was a modest hit, so now, reports Variety, it is time to convert one of Katherine Paterson‘s other children’s novels to the big screen, namely The Great Gilly Hopkins. Like the film version of Terabithia, this one will be based on a screenplay by Paterson’s son David. I read the book once, a couple decades ago, and I remember very little of it beyond the fact... Read more

It doesn’t happen often, but there are times when I wish I had that boxed set of the original Batman films, just so I could fact-check stuff like this. Is the trailer below for Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) the real deal, in which case Chris Nolan and the marketing team on The Dark Knight are mimicking the earlier film’s ad campaign and are thus twisted geniuses far beyond anything I ever realized? Or did someone edit the trailer for Burton’s... Read more

Here are the figures for the past weekend, arranged from those that owe the highest percentage of their take to the Canadian box office to those that owe the lowest. Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay — CDN $2,340,000 — N.AM $14,570,000 — 16.1%21 — CDN $8,360,000 — N.AM $75,775,000 — 11.0%88 Minutes — CDN $1,280,000 — N.AM $12,632,000 — 10.1%The Forbidden Kingdom — CDN $3,690,000 — N.AM $38,255,000 — 9.6%Deception — CDN $206,776 — N.AM $2,225,000 — 9.3%Forgetting... Read more