The Bigger Picture: What’s most telling about the new Fame is the omission of one the most memorable lines from series (first a film in 1980, then a hit show). Every week, dance instructor Debbie Allen would proclaim to Gen-X types everywhere: “You’ve got big dreams? You want fame? Well, fame costs. And right here is where you start paying…in sweat.”

But the lesson for the millennial generation, apparently, is just show up and you’ll receive a dance number worthy of the best episode of So You Think You Can Dance.

Director Kevin Tancharoen has worked with Britney and the Pussycat Dolls, so the production value here is stellar. Even the tiniest of dance moves are given full glossy, slo-mo treatment. He and his choreographers have energy to spare, and the cast is gorgeously lit.

But the story of Fame is about becoming a star, not being one. Yet in scene after scene, the script by Allison Burnett can barely muster any type of conflict. Sure, down-home gal Kay Panabaker might be naive enough to think that an “audition” for a love scene is legit, but who hasn’t been there, right? And then there’s the young rapper (Collins Pennie) who doesn’t want to talk about his feelings. Oh the irony!

The students may be newcomers, but the teachers are played by veterans Kelsey Grammer, Megan Mullally and Fame alumna Allen, who all seem up for the challenge. But they don’t have much to do but look camera-ready. Former SYTYCD contestant Kherington Payne has been heavily featured in the trailers, too, but turns out she’s only in a few scenes. She has one Fosse-esque performance that impresses, but overall, she barely registers. Read More..

The Bigger Picture: Jennifer’s Body gleefully jumps over gapping plot holes and shoves characters into implausible situations—but no matter! Everyone here is having way too much fun to care. The movie has the darkness of Heathers, the edginess of Mean Girls and the absurd gore of Little Shop of Horrors. In other words, it’s tailor-made for screenings at midnight and slumber parties.

Here, Jennifer is the Megan Fox of her high school: an envied, desired sex kitten. Her bestie is a bookish, clingy, goofball nicknamed Needy (Amanda Seyfried). Needy exists in the world of pigeon-chested boys and algebra homework, whereas Jen spends her time in nightclubs and bars seducing the men of her small town. (Why they’re friends to begin with does get explained but is one of the story’s weaker points—flashbacks to the sandbox where the girls built their unlikely bond.)

When an indie band, in requisite eyeliner and skinny jeans, comes to town, bad things go down: The evil band boys abduct Jen (Adam Brody plays the delicious lead singer) though she manages to escape. Curiously, her rapacious desire for boys is still intact, and we discover that what she really craves from men is their blood! Full Review

How was it? “Rock hard,” she says.

Oh, really?

Read on to find out what Ms. Bullock told me about her boobs and butt, her hubby of four years, Jesse James, and what it felt like going skin-to-skin with Mr. Reynolds.

I have to tell you, I loved The Proposal—and I’m not just saying that because I’m talking to you.
You can lie to me. It’s OK to lie my face, as long as it’s positive. [Laughs]

Now, I know obviously a big deal is being made out of the nude scene you have with Ryan…
Nakedness, yes!

That scene will go down as a classic.
In the “anals” of history.

You’re really keeping abreast of these things here, aren’t you?
Oh, that’s great! You’re taking the bull by the horns.

The expression on your face as you’re sliding down Ryan’s body was so perfect. How did you do that?
I give all hats off to [director] Anne Fletcher, because she’s brilliant. It became very technical. It was like a dance. It was like we were doing “All That Jazz.” [Laughs] But if you use what’s on your body as a joke—my nakedness—and then you have another body that’s rock hard…

Really? Rock hard?
No! Ryan is rock hard, but no no no no, nothing was hard. I’m sure it gets hard, but not that time, and it was all fine. I mean, I wouldn’t know if he had anything down there because I never looked! Anyway, when my soft face, hit his rock-hard abs, there’s going to be a cause and effect.

Was there ever a time when you were like, maybe I should be wearing a towel in this scene? You’re really naked!
I had a washcloth, a hairdryer and a dog—and some little bits of my hair to cover some niplage. That’s all I was given. It’s like making soup. If we’re given these ingredients, let’s make the best soup we can!

How do you keep that body in shape? When I told a friend I was talking to you, he said, “Ask her how she gets that ass!”

Well, I wasn’t blessed in the upstairs department. Baby was given some back at birth. Didn’t know what to do with it at first, but it’s just what I got. The purpose is to maintain it and keep it where it is. I was an athlete all my life. I have an athlete’s body. I don’t have a model’s body. We also get paid to go to the gym. But you know, I get lazy just like everyone else. I’m not a fanatic. I love to feel good, but I’ll put on weight. But if you’re getting paid to be naked, you do put the incline on six and stay on there a little bit longer because it’s like, If my ass is going to be on camera, let’s make sure it’s in the right place when they start rolling film. Keep Reading

The movie kicks off without any exposition or structure. A death row inmate named Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) signs away the rights to his body for medical or technological experimentation. Skip forward to 2018 where John Connor (Christian Bale) and his team of men are trying to infiltrate a Skynet research facility that seems to be abandoned. If the jump seems random, that’s because it is. The entire movie continues moving from one action sequence to another, never relenting for a breath of plot or character development.

If you had to assign a basic plot to the cacophony that is Terminator Salvation, it’d be that John Connor needs to save teenager Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), who, as we all know, is his future (past, present?) father. Pre-climax, John Connor has no idea of Kyle’s whereabouts or a plan to rescue him from the machines that are inevitably chasing him. This makes Salvation high concept to the extreme: all you need to know is that it’s Man vs. Machine. Arguably the most interesting parts of the movie are left unanswered. You never find out much about Marcus’ or Kyle’s pasts or Kate Connor’s pregnancy. Character exposition, however minimal, would have brought this testosterone filled action movie into focus.

Summer movies can be full of high-quality action but also build an intelligent story. Live Free or Die Hard started with the same concept as Terminator (John McClane needing to protect Matt Farrell), but the plot wove into a full-bodied story with a fan-pleasing ending. The biggest crowd pleasers in Terminator Salvation are the two homages to the previous Arnold Schwarzenegger films. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s appearance is laughable to any non-fan. His appearance has no point of reference and does nothing but titillate the audience for two minutes and distract them from the small knowledge that they’ve seen nothing original or noteworthy for the past one hundred minutes.

There are three central problems in McG’s filmmaking that missed the mark. First, the violence in Terminator doesn’t seem to have consequences. A skilled filmmaker will make you feel the pain being portrayed onscreen. As an audience member, you have a visceral reaction to the violence or gore. If you don’t know what I mean, refer back to the hammer scene in Casino. Martin Scorsese’s 1995 epic makes you feel the pain the player goes through as Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro) has the cheater’s hand beaten with a hammer to teach him a lesson. Every time John Connor, Kyle, or Marcus gets knocked around, I didn’t care. My body did not shudder; I did not feel that the violence would have any repercussions.

Keeping the movie as PG-13 severely hurt it in style. The only thing that brought intensity to the screen was Christian Bale’s portrayal of John Connor. His character is so angry and intense; it’s no wonder Bale famously freaked out on set. The deep voice and yelling get old faster than a DP can set up a sound stage full of lights. Bale’s Connors seems boxed up tighter than a Robert Pattinson action figure.

Maybe Shane Hurlbut, the cinematographer and director of photography for the movie, gave up trying after Christian Bale’s on-set meltdown. The movie is the most visually bland thing I’ve seen since Two and a Half Men. If the creative team behind the beiges and grays wanted humanity’s future to look bleak, they accomplished their goal. But it didn’t feel bleak. Our visual reactions don’t match our emotional reactions, and the disconnect just leaves the audience visually (and emotionally) bored. With digital technology, there’s no excuse for unimaginative shots and scenery. Desolate, terrifying scenery is only acceptable when done right (see Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later).

I wasn’t impressed by the cinematography, I wasn’t shaken by the violence, and I wasn’t compelled by the story. Overall, Terminator Salvation was a failure to the action genre. I know, I’m almost as disappointed as you are.

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Who wouldn’t want to dive into our Poolside Partying gallery with Lauren Conrad, Audrina Patridge and a pair of pineapples?

Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. 

Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort’s defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry finds himself more and more drawn to Ginny, but so is Dean Thomas.

And Lavender Brown has decided that Ron is the one for her, only she hadn’t counted on Romilda Vane’s chocolates! And then there’s Hermione, simpering with jealously but determined not to show her feelings. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.

Small-town boy Shawn MacArthur has come to New York City with nothing. Barely earning a living selling counterfeit goods on the streets, his luck changes when scam artist Harvey Boarden sees that he has a natural talent for streetfighting. 

When Harvey offers Shawn help at making the real cash, the two form an uneasy partnership. As Shawn’s manager, Harvey introduces him to the corrupt bare-knuckle circuit, where rich men bet on disposable pawns. Almost overnight, he becomes a star brawler, taking down professional boxers, mixed martial arts champs and ultimate fighters in a series of staggeringly intense bouts. But if Shawn ever hopes to escape the dark world in which he’s found himself, he must now face the toughest fight of his life.

The movie ranks as the second-best Easter opening, following 2006′s ” Scary Movie 4 ” with $40 million.

“Omgomg! my fans rock! the movie is doing great you guys!” Cyrus, 16, said in a Twitter message, using the “omg” acronym as shorthand for “Oh my God.” Story

Fanning—who last appeared in The Secret Life of Bees, and provided her voice to Coraline—is indeed appearing as Jane, a vampire with angelic looks but quite sinister tendencies who works for the Volturi.  Summit Entertainment finally made the announcement after details regarding the sequel’s shoot leaked, and some media outfits all but confirmed the 15-year-old’s participation.

New Moon is set to start shooting at the end of this month—in Vancouver, rather than near Forks—with the film out by November.