The Associated Press reports that one of the victims of the triple hotel bombings in Jordan a couple days ago — though he actually died in a hospital a little while later — was Moustapha Akkad, producer of the Halloween (1978-2002) franchise. The article also mentions that, before he launched the slasher genre, Akkad produced and directed a film about the life of Mohammed in 1976 — two films, actually, since he shot al-Risâlah in Arabic and The Message, starring... Read more

My review of Zathura is now up at CT Movies. Read more

Speaking of alternative interpretations of the life of Johnny Cash, the Associated Press reports that his daughter Kathy is none too happy with Walk the Line, the film about Cash’s early years: Kathy Cash, one of Johnny Cash’s five children, was so upset about how her mother is portrayed in the upcoming movie “Walk the Line” that she walked out of a family-only screening five times. She thinks the movie, which opens nationwide Nov. 18, is good and that performances... Read more

Whoops! I forgot to do this yesterday. The wife’s been in the hospital here this past week and I’ve been a wee bit distracted. 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. North Country — CDN $2,021,760 — N.AM $15,646,363 — 12.9%The Legend of Zorro — CDN $3,131,367 — N.AM $30,311,466 — 10.3%Prime — CDN $1,345,675 — N.AM... Read more

There were 100 films on last year‘s Arts & Faith Top 100 Spiritually Significant Films list. And there are 100 films on this year‘s Arts & Faith Top 100 Spiritually Significant Films list. But, by my hasty count, there are only 66 films on both lists. What changed? Partly the methodology by which the films were selected and voted upon; this year’s list even ranks the films. Partly also the composition of the group that voted upon these films (e.g.... Read more

Reuters reports on this weekend’s box-office figures: “Chicken Little,” the first fully computer-animated movie produced by Walt Disney Co., exceeded industry expectations by selling $40.1 million in tickets in North American in its first three days of release, the company said on Sunday. Film industry observers had expected the new box office champion to pass the $30 million mark, despite scathing reviews. The film is considered a key test of the ability of Disney, whose fortunes were built on hand-drawn... Read more

I’ve been stockpiling links, so it’s time to post another batch. 1. The Hollywood Reporter says Bob Saget — whose adults-only brand of humour was one of the more, um, noteworthy elements in The Aristocrats — is writing, producing and narrating a spoof of March of the Penguins, to be called Farce of the Penguins: “The penguin film, and wildlife films in general have been so hugely popular lately that they can certainly use some serious spoofing,” said Jeff Sackman,... Read more

Anybody else remember this comic book? Hello, I’m Johnny Cash was one of a number of Spire Christian Comics produced by Al Hartley in the 1970s, along with a bunch of religious Archie comics and adaptations of evangelical best-sellers like The Hiding Place and The Cross and the Switchblade. It came out shortly after Cash produced his musical life-of-Jesus movie The Gospel Road (1973), which — for whatever it’s worth — came out the same year as Jesus Christ Superstar... Read more

On the left, the American DVD. On the right, the Canadian DVD. I actually don’t mind the French bits on the front cover. But I really, really don’t like the way the DVD cover’s spine features two versions of the title, which means it features the Star Wars logo twice. This bugs me, because the Canadian DVDs for Episodes I, II, IV, V and VI all feature the Star Wars logo only once, like they’re supposed to. So now, when... Read more